Weather Delay

We're having a spell of unseasonably cold weather right now, just as we had unseasonably hot weather this summer. Weather extremes, both too hot and too cold, make working on the boat much more difficult. I'd hoped to have her ready to sail today, but it's been cold and windy for the last few days, so I still haven't had a chance to go up the mast.

The winds finally died down late last night, and it should warm up this afternoon, so I hope I'll be able to do it either today or tomorrow. Last night began a very short weather window, but even if I could have left this morning, I'd still have to stop somewhere from Sunday through Wednesday due to another system that's expected to reach this area late Sunday. That would mean I'd have to hang out for a couple days at Cape May.

In addition to not being ready to sail, my water system froze last night, so it took about an hour to thaw it out and get it flowing again this morning. It seems fine now, but when I started the engine, it wasn't throwing water, so I need to thaw that out too before I can run it. I've got the cover off in the cabin and both the shop light under the intake hose and the electric heater pointed at the face of the engine where the water pump is mounted.

I might need to add some insulation to keep it from getting too cold. However, the real solution for me is to get the hell out of here before it gets cold again. It's still below freezing outside, and I've been having trouble keeping the cabin above 50 -- it easily drops below 40 at night, even with the little electric heater running at nearly full blast. I took Zoe down to the little bar across the street last night to warm up for a while, and when I got back to the boat, it was only 28, at eye level, so I'm sure the sole was colder. I used the stove and heater to warm it back up, but gave up once she got above 50 and shut the stove off and went to bed.

There's a thin layer of ice around the boat. In fact, it goes out over 100 feet from the eastern shore, and pretty much stays frozen all day. It first froze up a few days ago and hasn't thawed yet. When boats go by and kick up a wake -- not too many this time of year -- the ice rubs against the hull and makes a hell of a noise.

Although I've read about that sort of thing in a book about Shackleton, but never thought I'd hear it myself. It's really thin right now, but it still makes a lot of noise. At first I didn't know what was going on, but quickly realized it was just the ice. It might scratch the paint, but chances are all it will do is help clean off the scum line.

At this point, I'll probably go ahead and finish getting everything ready here and delay my departure until Tuesday night. That means I'll have to traverse the Hell Gate and the East River at night, but NYC is lit up like a Christmas tree at night, so I don't think it will be a problem. Also, it should be light by the time I make it to Sandy Hook, and I plan to just continue directly out into the Atlantic.

The current forecast indicates I'll have mild weather for several days, maybe a week, beginning on Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, so I plan to leave here Tuesday night, go through NYC at night, and sail 24 hours a day as long as the weather holds, probably at least 5 days or so, but it's all depends on the weather. Hopefully, that will put me well south of Norfolk by the time I get into weather of any significance.