Cold Water

Zoe went for a short swim yesterday, but the water was too cold for me. I'd planned to wait for slack low tide a couple hours after noon, but by that time it was overcast, so I decided cleaning the bottom could wait, and let her swim by herself.

The water temperature here is about 60 -- too cold to swim -- but it's close to 70 at Cape Canaveral, and even warmer farther south.

Here's a link: http://www.tropicalweather.net/Florida_water_temps.htm

I'm hoping to go outside again at Cape Canaveral, so I'll do the bottom there. It should only take me a couple days to get there.

As for what happens after that, I'm not sure. I started looking into the gulf part of the trip, in particular the locations of offshore oil rigs, and was surprised at both the number, thousands, and their condition, many older ones aren't even lighted.

Since I'm singlehanding with no radar, that pretty much means I'll have to stay in the ICW for much of that part of the trip, especially as I near Texas. The Florida coast is fine, I'm not sure about Alabama and Mississippi, however, I think I'll have to go inside at Mobile anyway.

Here's a link to map from 2006: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/media/platform_600.html

Pretty tough to avoid that many.

Bill, KI4MMZ, and Roger, W2ZDB, came by yesterday and took me to Home Depot to pickup a couple of 9' 1x2 red oak strips to fix the gunwales on my dinghy. It was great to finally meet them. They are both vets, and Bill is a fellow net controller for the Maritime net. Roger is a fellow cruise who checks in often and has singlehanded up and down the east coast and Central America.

Bill invited me to come stay at his home through Christmas, but I wasn't comfortable leaving the boat unattended that long, so I'll probably just visit them on Christmas day. I don't think there would have been a problem, but without an automatic bilge pump, and even with one, I worry about taking on water. I've only noticed her leaking when the engine's running, but you never know.

I spoke to Roger about it, and boats in general, and he gave me some good advice. The best of which was that it's easy for others to be cavalier about the boat, but for he and I, our boats represent our total net worth, and we can't afford to be cavalier. So, I came back to the boat. I actually prefer being on the boat, but Zoe likes going ashore and meeting people, so I need to balance things.

I had to inflate the dinghy to go aside, so we'll use it to go for a swim today. I'd planned to check the bottom when I got here, but the water was a bit cold, so I put it off and spent most of the time reading instead. Zoe needs a bath anyway -- guess it wouldn't hurt me either.

Dinghy watch:

I forgot to pickup additional fasteners for the gunwales when I was at HD -- didn't want to make them wait for me too long, so I rushed in and out. I think I might have enough on board, but will need to organize everything first. In any case, it'll take a while to bend the new pieces, so I couldn't put it together yet anyway.

Also, the plugs I picked up weren't the right size, so I still have to keep using the wooden plug. I actually picked up both the 3/8" and 1/2" just in case, but the 3/8 was too small and the 1/2 was too big.

I'm going to remove the forward seat today and fix it while I start bending the new gunwales. The mast is stepped through the forward seat, so it's pretty important to get it solid. Unfortunately, the dinghy maker didn't have the sail in stock, so once I get the step and gunwales fixed, I may try to bend on one of my smaller jibs for the time being. I'm anxious to see how she sails.

Heatwave

We're anchored in the Matanzas River a few hundred yards off Fort Matanzas. It's a nice quite area, and we're having a mini heatwave, so we're going to stay here a few days -- it might reach the low 80's this week. I want to inspect and clean the bottom and do some work on the Dyer dinghy.

I was a little concerned about alligators, but Paul, KM4MA, told me not to worry about them, especially during the daytime. I don't think I've ever actually seen one, but with the water in the river being a bit cloudy, I wouldn't see them anyway, so it's good to know they're not a problem.

I'm also going to run a net for Bob, K5HUT, this afternoon. I ran an open slot a few days ago, but since it was a last minute deal, I wasn't really prepared. I'll make sure I'm ready this time -- I couldn't find my copy of the preamble last time.

Dinghy watch:

It looks like I'm going to order a new sail from the dinghy maker. They aren't cheap, but the quality is high and I doubt I could find one any cheaper anyway. I'm also considering getting a few other things, including new oak gunwales and a drain plug. I might need a few other things, but will wait till I get the fenders off and inspect her. I'm really excited about sailing her, so the new sail will be my Christmas present to myself. If I'm lucky, I might even have it before Christmas.

I also need to rethink stowing her on deck. I currently have her stowed before the mast, but she interferes with some of the running rigging, in particular the preventers, but to a lesser extent the jib sheets. She'd also partially obstruct the dorade vents, which I'm ready to re-mount. The other option is abaft the mast, between the mast an the sliding hatch.

I'd originally rejected this location because it interferes with the control lines run to the cockpit as well as the boom vang. However, I've pretty much decided to mount my extra winch on the mast and not to run all the lines to the cockpit. Other boats might be different, but on mine, raising, lowering, and reefing are much easier if all lines are at the mast.

I was also unhappy with the current boom vang, and will probably add addition attachment points on both sides of the coach roof and attach it there instead of the base of the mast. However, I haven't really needed it yet anyway, so I just removed it yesterday. The boat originally had boom roller furling, so she has an odd ring the slips over the boom that's used to attach the boom vang. Since I use slab reefing now, I plan to add fixed bales instead.

With all of this out of the way, I hope the dinghy will fit -- I may try it later today. Of course, it'll block the solar panel, but I need to move it anyway -- it gets shaded by the boom most of the time. In retrospect, I should have gotten several smaller ones instead of one big one. Perhaps I can mount it to either side of the dinghy once she's stowed. That would definitely improve it's efficiency.

Zoe watch:

There's a beach nearby, so if I can get the dinghy work done this morning, I may take her over in it this afternoon.

St Augustine

Although I'd planned to go outside down to St Augustine today, I decided to stay inside after looking at the latest weather reports and the current state of the inlet. The inlet is badly shoaled and several of the cruising sites recommend avoiding it, especially in bad weather.

The weather really isn't that bad today, but there is a warning for small craft to exercise caution, with winds up to 20 knots from the north. That isn't that bad in and of itself, but it does make the bad side of the inlet a lee shore, i.e., the wind will blow you into it.

So, I decided to play it safe and stay inside. On top of that, I was in a small crowded anchorage last night and didn't get much sleep, so I figured I'd make it a short day today.

I stopped early because I didn't feel like making it another long day. It's a little bumpy right now since the current has me beam to the wind. I may try a riding sail to see if that helps. I thought of moving, but the winds should die down soon, so we'll wait it out.

Finally Made it to Florida

We finally made it to Florida yesterday, but even though it's much warmer here, we still haven't seen any bikinis yet. I guess we better keep moving south.

We made it to Fernandina Beach yesterday afternoon and picked up a mooring for the night -- I needed a shower, and Zoe needed to get off the boat. The trip only took about 30 hours, but without much wind, I had to motor and hand steer almost the entire way.

It wasn't very cold, but I did have to put on my jacket early in the morning. However, cold wasn't the problem, fatigue was the problem -- I tried to take a nap in the evening when we had some wind, but it didn't last long and I couldn't sleep anyway. However the wind vane worked great when there was wind.

I sure was glad when the sun came up. I was also very happy with my engine, she worked flawlessly. I poured in one of the 5 gallon jugs I keep on deck just in case, but after filling up this morning, I found that I'd only used around 24 gallons since leaving Charleston. That's after motoring for over 34 hours. It's not quite as good as I'd expected, but most of it was at cruising speeds, close to 3,000 rpms, so it's not too bad. Normally, I like to keep it around 2,700, but I needed to make sure I made it in before dark.

Blog watch:

I just heard from Kieran who reminded me that yesterday was the one year anniversary of my GTT post. Well, I guess I have made it pretty far, but Texas is still a long ways away. I think we've traveled a little over a thousand miles, but I'm not sure exactly. I'll sit down an calculate it all out when I get a chance.

Trip watch:

We motored about 25 miles south of Fernandina Beach today so we can go out the St John's River and sail down to St Augustine tomorrow. It should be easy to make it during daylight from here, but would have been close from Fernandina. I'd thought about leaving late and sailing overnight, but it's going to get down to the low 40's for the next couple of nights, so I figured this was a better idea.

Once we get to St Augustine, we'll stay inside and visit Bill, KI4MMZ, in Flagler Beach. He's a fellow net controller on the Maritime Net, and the first one who suggested I become one. After that, we'll probably continue down to Titusville and visit Paul, KM4MA, another net controller, then go back outside at Cape Canaveral.

However, since I'm unfamiliar with the area, I'll need to take a look at the charts first. At this point, I just want to continue going south, avoiding the ICW as much as possible -- you can't sail in it, and fuel is getting expensive.

Radio watch:

The new wire I ran next to the backstay seems to be working pretty well. She'll tune and work well on both 20 and 40 meters, so I no longer have to switch back and forth and raise and lower the dipole. In fact, I took it down completely so it wouldn't clutter the deck.

Dinghy watch:

Since we were on a mooring, we had to use the dinghy to get in to the dock. I didn't want to go to all the trouble of digging out and blowing up my inflatable, so I used a wooden plug to stop up the drain hole in the hard dinghy and used it instead.

It worked pretty well, but I haven't quite got the hang of rowing yet. The oars kept coming out of the locks. I'm going to see if I can get a sail for her too. That should be a lot of fun. I can order one from the manufacturer, but want to check a few local sail makers first. I also need to find a good place to hang out for a while and wait for it -- perhaps Titusville.

Zoe watch:

Zoe loved Fernandina. I took her ashore with me when I checked in, and after a quick shower, we took a walk around town. It's a nice little place, but very touristy. It's also very dog friendly -- Zoe was welcome everywhere.

I was looking for an inexpensive place to eat outside with Zoe, but inexpensive and touristy don't seem to go together well. We heard live music coming from a bar with a porch, so I went to the door to see if I could take Zoe onto the porch.

I stood at the door for a minute and several people at the bar waved me in and said dogs were welcome inside. We didn't stay long, but it was nice to relax after the long overnight trip -- she made a lot of friends.. We made it back to the boat before cruiser's midnight, about 2100.

Going Outside

I got everything I needed to get done in order to go outside, including the wind vane, so I plan to start out bright and early tomorrow and go directly to Fernandina Beach. I'll stay close in so I can tuck in if I run into any problems, but the boat and weather both look great, so I don't foresee any.

I'm going to try to sail only, but the winds might be a little light. That means I may have to use some power, alter my destination, or go an extra night. With a multi day weather window and such a short trip, about as far as Sandy Hook to Cape May, it should be fun and relaxing.

I've still got a lot of work to, but I did get up the mast and take care of the topping lift and antenna. Did I mention I don't like heights? This was probably the best climb so far, but I can't say I liked it. I got my work done and came down. Then I had a scotch, which made it much better.

Working on the Boat

We anchored in Tom Point Creek at sundown last night, and it's such a nice place, I've decided to stay here a day or so and get the boat ready for the next trip outside. Other than a little current, and not much wind protection, it's a very well protected spot, perfect for going up the mast, one of the jobs I need to do.

I'd planned to do some of this in Charleston, but with marginal weather and a poorly protected marina, I didn't get much done. So, my goal was to continue down to Beaufort and do it all there. However, I doubt I could find a better anchorage, so I'm just going to stay here and get as much done as possible.

I need to go up the mast, remove the old topping lift line -- didn't have a marlin spike with me and couldn't get the knot untied when I switched to a block and halyard a while back -- and tie off my long wire antenna. I'd tried to use the uninsulated backstay, but it never worked very well, so I hoisted up the wire I setup inside a rope a few years ago.

It works great, but interferes with the topping lift, so I need to move the attachment point higher to clear it. For now, I plan to just tie it off above the backstay connector. I'll come up with something more permanent later. The other end is tied to the stern pulpit.

Other jobs include reinstalling stern chocks, moving and hooking up the shore power plug, and fixing the wind vane. The wind vane is the most important, and really the only thing needed to go outside. It bent about 15 degrees at the weld connecting the rod to the all-thread adjustment at the top.

I'm going to wait till it warms up, then heat it with a torch before trying to straighten it. I hope it doesn't break. If it does, I'll head over to Beaufort to get it welded. I think my mistake was not removing the steering blade when I tacked in high winds.

I'll straighten up the cabin and re-stow some gear too, but the rush to get south is over now. I'm tired of rushing and can't wait to get out of the ICW. I had several close calls again yesterday where we got into shallow water and had trouble finding the channel -- I don't need the stress.

Zoe watch:

She really enjoyed Charleston. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to visit again when the weather's better. She's sleeping on the solar panel right now -- guess it's warmer.

The sun's up, but it's still a little cool, so I plan to read a while and do some work below this morning, then go up the mast in the afternoon. I haven't checked with her, but I think Zoe's plan is to sleep on deck all day.

Winter and Holiday Plans

While Judah was down, we talked about the trip, and I've pretty much decided to go a bit further south and wait till spring before continuing on to Texas. I guess my choices are the Keys or the Bahamas. The Bahamas will cost $150 for a three month cruising permit, but other than that, it shouldn't be too bad.

The Keys would be free, but in either case, I'll still need to buy provisions from time to time, so the Keys, or southern Florida, might be a better option. I may also try to work on the boat a bit and do some sailing. I'm not sure which one would be better, perhaps both, but I'll look into it and decide once I get a little further south and into the warmer weather.

I've spent a lot of holidays traveling, so that's no big deal. In fact, I might have spent a majority of them either traveling or at least by myself. I like to move around a lot, but tend to prefer moving to a new place for a while as opposed to vacation traveling -- don't take many conventional vacations.

I just got back from shopping, so we're about ready to go -- just need to get water and fuel. We'll stay in the ICW till we reach Beaufort, SC, then go outside down to Fernandina, either Thursday or Friday, so we have plenty of time to get there.

Charleston

We made it to Charleston a little after noon on Friday and tied up at the Charleston Maritime Center. It got up the 70 in the afternoon, so I walked down to the local grocery store, picked up some beer, and hung out in the cockpit in just a pair of shorts most of the afternoon relaxing, catching up on my log, and straightening up the boat.

Judah drove over from Warner Robbins to visit and arrived just before dark. We took Zoe and went out to dinner -- Charleston is a pretty dog friendly place -- but made it an early night since both of us were pretty tired, me from sailing and him from driving.

He had to go back the next afternoon, so we got an early start and took Zoe and explored the city in the morning. It's really a very beautiful city. We walked around most of the morning, then had lunch and drove over to see the Citadel and a few other sites. He dropped me off at the marina at 1600 and headed back -- he had to supervise some work on the base today and couldn't stick around too long. Judah and I were in TOW Company, 2nd Tank Battalion at Camp Lejeune back in the early 80's.

This marina isn't well protected, so we're bouncing around a bit, but with gusts forecast to 30 knots today and tonight, I think we'll stay here one more day before heading out. At least that's the plan. I'll reevaluate after lunch.

There were a lot of horse drawn carriages in the old city, so Zoe had a great time yesterday. I'm still not sure what it is about horses, but she just can't seem to resist them. She pulls and whines and makes all sorts of noise as though she's in pain. We took a long walk again this morning, so she's pretty well worn out and sleeping next to me.

Lots of Wind

We stopped a little early today, just after noon due to high winds. We're going mostly south on the Waccamaw River, which is sorta wide, with the wind right on the nose. Although we could have kept going, we're only a few miles from Georgetown where it opens to a good size bay, so I decided stopping early was a good idea.

Boat watch:

I got most of the engine work done yesterday, but didn't re-align the engine. I was hoping we could get away without doing it, but didn't like the sound it made coming down this morning, so I'll probably do it this afternoon. Another good reason to stop early. Other than that, everything looks good, i.e., the various leaks seem to have stopped.

Zoe watch:

When I checked into the MMSN this afternoon, Dave, W7GOX, mentioned he hadn't seen many Zoe updates lately, so I figured I'd better post one before I start working on the engine.

We stayed at Osprey's Marina off the ICW near Myrtle Beach for a couple of days, and on our walks, we found a pasture full of goats right next to the marina. Zoe got real excited, and the goats seemed pretty curious as well. They wouldn't come right up to the fence, but several did come within a few feet.

Then, we took a walk last evening after dark and went all the way to the road, about a quarter mile or so. As we walked, Zoe got more and more excited. I thought it was the goats again, but she started pulling hard in the other direction and going nuts. It turns out there's a horse farm across the road. For some reason, she goes crazy for horses.

The first time it happened was just after we moved to Manhattan and walked down to Central Park. Once we got within a few blocks she started going crazy and pulling hard. As soon as we got to the park I saw the horse drawn carriages and figured it out. I'm not sure why she likes them so much, but she's practically uncontrollable when they're around.

Later, after we'd moved down near the village, we would see mounted police all the time. She still got excited, but not as much since we'd see them so often. One morning, we saw one crossing the street, so I stopped so Zoe could watch. The police officer asked if she liked horses, and I answered I didn't know, I'd never let her get close to one.

He said his horse was good with dogs, so he rode over and they went nose to nose. It was pretty cool, but all the sudden she got scared, pulled back and started barking. I pulled her back, but it didn't phase the horse a bit, he just moved on and continued his walk down to the park.

I think last night was the first time she'd seen any horses since we'd left Manhattan.

Another Night in Myrtle Beach

I had some problems with the engine this morning, so I decided to stay another day and work on it. She started and ran okay if I gave her enough throttle, but would run rough and die if I cut it back all the way, which meant there was probably air in the lines.

I had trouble bleeding them, but another sailor came by and gave me a hand, running the starter while I bled each injectors. That helped, but I ended up bleeding them multiple times before she started running smoothly again.

I also had to re-tighten and wire the adjustment nuts on forward port side engine mount that had come loose again, fix a small fuel leak from bleeding the lines the day before after I changed the fuel filter -- most likely the cause of my engine failure this morning, -- and finally fixed the transmission fluid leak.

It looks like the hard to get to drain plug was leaking. I tightened it, and will keep an eye on it for the next few days to see if that fixed it. I'd thought it was leaking around the seal, but the seal was dry, so I think the drain plug must have just vibrated loose.

The weather outside isn't expected to improve anytime soon, so I plan to continue down the ICW for a few more days. It's already significantly warmer here than it was up north, so there's no longer any pressure to get south quickly. I'll probably find a good place to hang out for a while and wait for the next window, perhaps Beaufort or Savannah.

Slowing down

I'm near Myrtle Beach and sorta worn out from all the excitement of the last few days, so I'm getting a slow start this morning. I'm only going to try to make Georgetown today before dark. That's only 30 miles, so I should easily make it if I leave before 1100.

The weather outside is still too lumpy, so I'll stay inside for a few more days. I'll be in Beaufort in about three days, and would like to go outside from there and cut the corner down to Fernandina Beach on an overnighter. Hopefully the weather will improve by then.

Other than being really tired, all's going well. I think I'm even learning something -- at least I hope I am. I can't wait to get back outside to try a few things. The ICW down here is too narrow and protected to do any sailing at all. I might be able to do some in Charleston, but haven't checked yet. I'm also anxious to try out my new sailing dinghy, but need to get a sail first. Maybe I can find one in Charleston.

Dolphins

I forgot to mention all the dolphins we've seen since we passed through Beaufort. We were in the narrow channel in a large shallow bay approaching Beaufort when all of a sudden there's a big splash on the port side right next to me in the cockpit -- I almost jumped out of my skin. Turned out to be a dolphin, and he did it a few more times, close enough to touch if I hadn't been steering. Then I saw several more off the starboard bow. They seemed to be circling me and looked like they were having fun. That's the first time I'd ever seen a dolphin in the wild,at least up close -- pretty cool.

I had another visit after we got off shore before dark, then two more the next day. They seemed to like jumping out of a wave and getting a bit of air, and they had plenty of opportunity, I can assure you.

My only regret was that Zoe didn't get to see them, she was safely down below. With the nice weather today, I kept her on deck, and we had a few more visits, so she finally got to see one.

However, she didn't get nearly as excited as the time she saw a seal rise near the boat in Buzzard's Bay -- she went nuts that time and would have jumped in if it weren't for the tether. I guess the dolphins disappeared a little too quickly to be of much interest. The seal stayed there a while, breathing deeply, before diving down again. Rob, from West Marine in Marion, said she must have thought it was just a big dog in the water.

Trip watch:

We're anchored in the Shallotte River about 20 miles south of Cape Fear. It looks like we'll have to stay in the ICW until at least Georgetown, South Carolina -- none of the inlets between here and there appear to be deep enough to get out.

I'd like to visit Charleston, just south of Georgetown, so I might stay in the ICW until then, but we'll see what the weather looks like when we get there. It was great today. It even got warm enough to take off my shirt for a couple hours. There wasn't a lot if wind either, at least not inside, but as we passed a couple of inlets, I could see the ocean still covered with white caps. It's still a bit too bumpy for me.

Gear watch:

The wind vane stopped working early in the morning, forcing me to hand steer for close to 9 hours in moderately heavy seas. That's after hand steering the day before for about 15 hours (we were motoring with little wind, so we couldn't use it) and little or no sleep. I had a really hard time adjusting it and figured the shaft was bent, but even after I got it adjusted, it wouldn't hold a course.

I'm not sure when or how it happened, but this morning I noticed the actuator arm was bent near the top just below the threads. I hope I can bend it back without breaking it. The tow boat ran into it when when we got a tow the day before Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure if it happened then or yesterday during the heavy winds. Well, they weren't that heavy, so I'm leaning toward the collision. I'll try to call them tomorrow.

Also, once we got anchored tonight and I turned on the anchor light, I noticed another problem -- my batteries were down to 50%, and that's after a day of motoring. They should have been fully charged.

I started checking all the wires and found the power cable for my voltage regulator had broken off at the connector to the alternator. It might have happened the last time I adjusted the belt, or it could have been due to the rough conditions -- I'll add another item to my morning PM list.

Zoe watch:

She loved Wrightsville Beach and liked staying on deck today. I really feel bad about bouncing her around in bad weather, but she seems fine as long as she has a secure place to hide and wait it out.

Wrightsville Beach

We made it into Wrightsville Beach by early afternoon yesterday. The winds were supposed to pick up in this area in the afternoon, but I'd hoped to be around Cape Fear and into more protected waters by then. Unfortunately, it actually started picking up about 0300, and was blowing around 20 by dawn.

After a while, wind will cause waves to build, and by 0800, we were plowing through some as high as 7-8'. These were mostly off our port quarter, so we got thrown around a bit -- we had to go a little more west, out to sea, to clear the shoals off Cape Fear.

At that point, I checked the chart and found we were 26nm from the shoals. Since the winds and waves were expected to pickup and there was a SCA for the afternoon, I decided it was time to make for the closest safe harbor. However, the rough conditions made it very difficult to search the charts on the iPhone, and there was no way I could leave the helm to go below.

We were pretty far out, essentially on a rhumb between Beaufort Inlet and Fryingpan Shoals (off Cape Fear), so it took several hours to close with the shore. I steered as far north as I could under double reefed main and a small jib, but it was tough with the wind now on my starboard quarter. Luckily we we averaging hull speed, 6.7kts, for most of the time, and surfing down waves that continued to build at close to 8. I figured the wind and waves would be better closer in, so I wanted to get within 5 miles before heading north to look for an inlet.

We finally got close to shore and headed north, but the conditions were no better, and probably worse. There were several waves that were well above my head coming off my starboard side (10'?). We had no choice but to surf down the bigger ones. Occasionally, we get caught beam to and end up with the port toerail under water. I could hear stuff getting thrown around below -- luckily Zoe stays in her protected cocoon under the forward v-berth -- but couldn't leave the helm to see what was going on.

When we turned north, I had to drop the jib and sheet the main in tight in order to point that high. We slowed to under 2knts, so I turned on the engine and started motor-sailing. At that point, I just wanted to make it in and hoped the fuel filter wouldn't clog up before we got there. I'd put a new filter before we left, so I wasn't too worried, but with conditions that rough and a history of clogging, the thought never left my mind.

I learned that Wrightsville Beach was the closest inlet, and a little over 12nm directly north of me. I still couldn't use my charts, but confirmed this on the radio with the Coast Guard -- I must have a loose connection because my VHF doesn't work well at all. It took about three hours to get there, which was good, because that's about how long it takes to get an answer out of the Coast Guard.

They eventually sent out a boat to escort me in -- I made it clear I was fine and was only asking for information, but I guess it was a slow day for them. They also told me to let them know where I was staying so they could send an inspection boat out to make sure I had all the required safety gear -- which I do. I think their slow response, and in some cases no response at all, along with the safety inspection is designed to discourage people from calling them. I tried to call them as requested, but got no response.

The waves are still pretty big outside, but otherwise the weather is excellent, so we're going to stay inside and make it a short day today. I'm still exhausted from yesterday. It was sorta fun, but a lot of work when you're by yourself. Plus I'm constantly worried about Zoe down below. While we were motor-sailing into it going north, we had a few waves break just over the bow and a lot of spray -- I was soaking wet by the time we got in -- glad it was relatively warm, though I did start to get cold toward the end.

Hal Roth

Hal Roth was a pretty famous American sailor and prolific writer. Most if his writings were about his sailing experiences. I've read a couple of his books and am currently reading about his first singlehanded BOC round the world race. I really enjoy his writing and wish I could have met him. Unfortunately he died on 2008.

I've mentioned before that I'm not interested in racing, but I do appreciate the challenge. I highly recommend his books, and can't wait to finish this one. He's racing, but as a singlehander, he's really competing against himself -- testing his limits. I think I'd enjoy that sort of race. I'm pretty much testing my limits every day, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Trip watch:

I plan to shove off early tomorrow morning, take the ICW to Morehead City, then out into the Atlantic. The forecast calls for good weather and mostly northerly winds through Tuesday, so I plan to do a multi-night trip and see how far I get.

I'm tentatively planning on going all the way to Jacksonville, Florida, but would be happy to make Charleston. The mild conditions should give me a chance to try a few things and get used to the boat. One of the things I want to play around with is a preventer, which keeps the boom from swinging across the cockpit during an uncontrolled gybe, and a better way to reef.

I also want to continue my experiments with my wind vane. I tried to use it the other day, but I was motor sailing in a narrow channel and wasn't able to adjust it properly. It's not designed for that, so I'm not surprised, but I still think I need to make a few more adjustments.

Zoe watch:

Oriental is a very dog friendly town, so Zoe has enjoyed herself immensely -- I think she'd like to stay here. I have to admit, I sorta like it too.

Another ham, Tom, K8TF, heard me check in to the Waterway net this morning, and came over to say hi. He ended up taking me to the grocery store to pickup provisions. What a nice surprise...

Oriental

We're tied up to the town dock, free for 48 hours, here in Oriental, North Carolina. (see http://towndock.net/harborcam) We spent the first night at the marina next door -- the town dock was full -- which was great because I could take a hot shower and hook up my heater.

The trip down the Neuse River yesterday was short, only about four hours, but really wet and cold. A cold front came through, and the heavy rain cut visibility down so much that I couldn't see the next marker -- it also got really cold. I had my iPhone in a plastic bag, but my fingers got so cold the touch screen stopped working. I had to stop about half way, take her out of gear, turn on the anchor light, go below, put on warmer clothing, and get my bearings.

I dried the iPhone, put it in a fresh plastic bag, and put on my wool mittens. That made all the difference, and the second half of the trip was actually pretty good even though it was directly into the wind and rain.

However, as I approached the harbor entrance, the engine began to cut out again. I'd actually gone over two weeks without changing a filter, including a lot of rough weather in the Chesapeake and during my grounding. The rough seas yesterday weren't bad, but they did kick up some spray and bounce us around a bit.

When the engine started to cut out, I was already committed and had to enter the harbor, so I throttled down to idle so she wouldn't die, left her in gear, quickly put up a small jib, and sailed into the narrow harbor. Luckily, I'd already dropped the main, and the winds were only around 10 knots, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

I sailed the 1,000 yards to the dock, furled the jib, took her out of gear, and coasted into the slip. I had enough power left to put her in reverse and stop her as a guy on the dock grabbed my bow line and helped me tie up.

I only had one spare filter left, so I ordered another four, along with two sets of spare belts. One of the boats on the town dock left this morning, so I changed the filter this morning and moved over to the free dock.

Dinghy watch:

Zoe and I walked down to the consignment shop this morning and looked around. They had a used Dyer sailing dinghy that wasn't in bad shape. It didn't have any sails, but the spars looked good, and the only damage was the rotten teak gunnels. I checked their web site and found that new ones sell for almost 4k, so I decided to make an offer. I ended up buying it for 300, no tax.

It fits on the foredeck, so I think it will be okay. I'm not sure I want to use it before I fix the gunnels, but it came with oars, so I might try it out just for fun at my next stop. I still have my inflatable, but will probably get rid of it once I get to Texas. I'd really prefer a hard dinghy, especially a sailing one, to an inflatable.

Trip watch:

The trip down from Portsmouth was pretty good. We made good time and mostly had good weather. There was a bit if wind and waves on the rivers adjacent to Pamlico Sound, but it didn't bother us too much, nor did it slow us down much.

I guess the best part of the trip so far was Thanksgiving day at Tidewaters Marina. They put on a complimentary meal with all the trimmings, including an open bar. I ate a lot, but only had one beer -- I prefer ice tea with my Thanksgiving meal.

Radio watch:

I finally picked up my radio in Virginia Beach. Jason, another sailor I met on Cruiser's Forum, gave me a lift the day after Thanksgiving, and actually drove me over to a couple of marine supply stores to pick up some stuff I needed.

I picked up a new depth sounder to replace my dodgy one. After I explained the problem I was having, he said he'd had a similar experience and had solved it by drying out the head unit and cleaning the connections.

I'd had some moisture problems, but had already solved them by re-caulking it. I took his advice and cleaned the connections and saw an improvement immediately. I've only had a few failures since leaving Portsmouth, but it keeps getting better each time I clean it, which is great because I haven't had time to install the new one yet. However, I think I'll keep both just in case.

Portsmouth

We made it to Portsmouth, Virginia just after dark yesterday. We'd anchored in Willoughby Bay the night before -- not recommended, see below -- after a great trip down from Fishing Bay. We sailed almost the entire day and the wind vane worked great too. I'd bought some extra locking nuts and readjusted the arm at Solomons, and that made all the difference.

However, the trip over from Willoughby Bay turned out to be an all day ordeal -- should have taken under three hours -- ring a bell? First, the wind was already gusting to 20, and had been all night. The forecast called for 35 knot gusts from the west in the afternoon, so I wanted to get out while the getting was good.

So this time, I tied in a double reef first, then raised the main so she's sail to anchor, making it easier to pull in the chain. That part went well, and we were underway by 0915 -- plenty of time to get into the Elizabeth River and to the marina before it got ugly, or so I thought.

We ran aground at the north end of the Willighby channel about 30 minutes later. The chart shows a channel of about 10 feet, and most of it is. However, the north end has shoaled and is really only 2.5 -- I draw 5. There is a note at the bottom if the chart that alludes to this, but I failed to notice it until too late. There's also an additional green buoy right in the middle of the channel -- I guess that should have been a clue.

I called the Coast Guard on 16, and asked them to contact Tow Boat US, but they never did. I finally called the marina -- I still had their number in my phone -- and they called them for me. Otherwise, I'd still be there. I've lost a lot of respect for the Coast Guard.

Apparently, the watch stander has a form she needs to fill out and won't actually do anything for you until she's got all the boxes filed in. I grounded a little after high tide, so the 30 minute delay only made maters worse as the water got shallower.

They finally got me off at around 1500. At that point, I was taking 35 knot gusts and heavy seas, 3-5', on the beam. The waves are what finally helped the tow boat get me off. Actually, it was the second boat, the first one lost his engine after about an hour, and we had to wait another half hour for the second one to arrive. His tow line was old and parted twice before he got us off.

Then we had to motor directly into to 35 knot gusts for an hour to get into the river. It was rougher than what we'd experienced in the mouth of Delaware Bay, so I was expecting to loose the engine at any moment. However, she ran flawlessly all day, so hopefully those problems are behind us.

I'll have more to say about the Coast Guard later.

Back in the South

We crossed the mouth of the Potomac just before dark last night, and anchored in Virginia waters a couple hours later. We're finally back in the South after a little over four years. We're still a long way from home, but it should start to get a bit easier now.

The weather looks good for the next couple of days, so we hope to make Norfolk by tomorrow night. I need to pick up a radio, and will probably hang around through Thanksgiving. It looks like we'll take the ICW down as far as southern North Carolina -- the engine's working better now, so a few days of motoring shouldn't be a problem.

I did have another belt break during the trip yesterday. We had just crossed the mouth of the Potomac and I noticed a different sound coming from the exhaust -- it had stopped pumping water. I quickly shut her down, pulled of the cover, and saw that the small belt for the impeller was missing. I'd tightened it up a couple of days ago because it was really loose, but I probably got it too tight. Anyway, we were up and running again in a few minutes.

That might have been a little exciting, but no where near as exciting as tying in a reef earlier. We were under a SCA until noon, so we didn't get underway until 0900 -- figuring we let it settle down a bit before we got to the bay. I raised the main in the Patuxent River, but had to motor sail to make it around the channel markers. At that point, the wind was about 15, gusting to 20, which was consistent with the forecast.

However, once we rounded the point and turned south, it picked up considerably -- I learned later that it was gusting to 30 knots. It wasn't real bad, but I decided it might be a good time to reef the main. I'd never done it in strong winds, so this was a good opportunity to try it and get some experience. It was also a good spot with no traffic and lots of sea room.

A job that should be completed in a few minutes at most, must have taken me at least 30. First of all, I'd run the main halyard into the cockpit, which meant gong back and forth to the mast to loosen it and drop the main. Since I haven't done this much, it's not marked, so I can't just loosen it and go forward and pull down the sail.

Secondly, I don't have my jack lines setup right now, and with the netting laced onto the lifelines, my tether won't slide along, so I have to continually hook and unhook as I move along -- it's only 6 feet long. Couple that with a trial and error method, and you get the picture. Oh, and did I mention it was blowing 30 knots? When I lowered the sail and tried to hook the tack and pull in the clew, she essentially hove to, which kept the sail full and made it tough to do anything.

I finally had to drop it completely in order to finish tying it it, but after that, she was fine and we continued on. I'll work in my technique, but I think it boils down to speed. Once you get caught broadside to the wind, your options are limited.

Belts

After struggling to keep my alternator belt tight and chewing up a few belts, I decided to tackle the problem while waiting for the next weather window. I was able to get Yanmar belts from the marina, but they weren't even close to the length of the current belts. I've mentioned before that the tensioning bracket for the alternator looked like a homemade kludge, so that probably explains the difference.

Armed with the correct length and photos of the engine in my service manuals, I realized that the previous owner moved the attachment point for the tensioning bracket lower on the engine and used the homemade extension to lengthen it and push the alternator out further. This requiring a longer belt.

I'm not sure which came first, but it could be due to replacing the original alternator. After moving the attachment point back to where it should be, I had to file one edge of the bracket arm so she would slide freely along the alternator and allow me to tension the belt.

She looks pretty good now, but I still think she's slightly out of alignment. I might be able to adjust or perhaps flip the pulley on the alternator to make it line up better, but I'll let her run for a while before messing with it again.

Norfolk watch:

My radio is waiting for me in Virginia Beach, so I'm anxious to get down to Norfolk -- a two day trip. I'm thinking about leaving tomorrow morning, but that would mean more motor sailing. However, the winds should be better on Saturday, as well as the temps -- it'll drop to near freezing again tonight. It won't cost me anything to stay another night, so I'm leaning that way, but won't decide till later.

Astros Moving to American League

I'm a baseball fan, and have followed the Astros for years. However, I just read they've been sold and will be moving to the American League after next year.

I don't like the American League or the DH, so it looks like it's time to find a new team. Luckily, I've been following St Louis ever since they picked up Lance Berkman, so it won't be too hard to make them my new team.

The DH just isn't baseball. It removes all the drama when the pitcher doesn't have to bat.

Solomons

It cleared up nicely on Tuesday, so we took advantage of it and motor sailed down to Solomons, Maryland. The forecast for Tuesday had looked good, then became marginal, so I'd planned to wait a few more days, but when I checked again in the morning, it looked really good for the afternoon. So good in fact, I couldn't resist.

It was a great trip down, and I was tempted to go further, but once the sun went down, it got really dark, so I decided to make for Solomons. It was overcast, and although the moon would rise well before our next anchorage, I was having difficulty dodging crab pots in the dark -- their floats are painted black -- and didn't want to tempt fate.

We anchored the first night in St John's Creek, but it was so tight, it made me nervous. The winds were forecast to gust up to 25-30 over the next couple days, and temps should dip to freezing tonight and tomorrow night, so after we got fuel, I decided a few nights in a marina wouldn't be a bad idea. We're in Spring Cove Marina, right next to shore.

I'm going to try to pick up spare belts, filters, and additional provisions while we're here. I'm also going to check the coupling again, but it's already lasted longer than the last time, so I think it's fixed.

Zoe watch:

We took a long walk down to the local West Marine last night, and she got to socialize and get treats, so she's pretty happy right now. We've got a little rain, but we'll try to take another long walk this morning. I also need to hook up shore power and turn on the heater this morning. The low last night was 46 and the high today is only 47 with the low tonight of 33, so it's about that time. We're both ready to get down south.

Interesting Article

Here's an interesting article I found today about why people buy sailboats and go cruising -- and why many of then give up relatively quickly, sell the boat, and move back on land. Hope you enjoy it...

http://dennisonberwick.info/?p=2527

Weather Window

I spoke to the skipper of another sailboat anchored nearby this morning about the weather. It turns out he and his family, a wife and young son, live in Annapolis and are from Austin. They motored down from Annapolis yesterday, and he said the same thing about the waves -- very steep and close together. His boat is bigger, around 40', so they didn't bother him quite as much, plus Annapolis isn't very far away.

All I know right now is that if they forecast 3' or bigger, I'll sit and wait. At this point, it'll be mid-week before the next weather window, so I'm trying to get a few things done while we wait.

I finally hooked up the tuner yesterday, and the performance, though not excellent, is at least acceptable. I was able to check in to the MMSN on 20-meters, the Waterway Net on 40-meters, and WLO on one of the marine frequencies in between. I didn't do anything special, so improving the ground, should help a lot. I may also add tuned radials, but as long as it works, I'm not too concerned.

I moved the am-fm radio over to the starboard side with all the other radios this morning. That allowed me to hook it back up to the antenna. So, now I can listen to NPR and Car Talk, plus jazz and classical music. It's been a while, so this morning was a real treat -- sorta like Christmas.

I also plan to do some more rearranging before our next trip so Zoe can find a better place to hide in rough conditions. That'll mainly consist of stowing as much as I can instead of keeping it in boxes stacked on the v-berth. Zoe likes to go as far forward as possible, so she ends up climbing over all that stuff, and I'm worried she might get hurt.

Staying Put

It looks like we'll be staying put for a while. We want to go south, but with the winds out of the south for the next few days, we'd have to motor most of the way. However, the forecast calls for 3' waves and there's a small craft advisory (SCA) through Sunday night.

I looked at the forecast this morning, and although there was a SCA in effect, the 3' waves didn't look too bad, at least on paper, so I figured we give it a whirl. Once we got out beyond the lee of Curtis Point and started taking those 3' waves, I understood the reason for the SCA. Since the wind was against the current (that was in the small print) those 3' waves were more like 4-5', with a very short period. It was more like hitting someone's wake, over and over.

We took a few pretty good ones, and I decided it would be better to wait a few more days. Other than the thought of loosing the engine again, they didn't bother me, or the boat which can take a lot more than I can, but poor Zoe can't see what's coming and gets thrown around down below.

It looks like early next week should be good, so we'll sit here until at least Monday morning. Once we get to Norfolk, which is about 3 days away, the weather won't be that much of an issue. It's just getting there that's the problem.

I still have plenty of things I need to do on the boat, as well as catching up on sleep, so a short delay isn't a big deal. It's relatively cold right now too, so the warmer weather next week will make the sailing much more enjoyable. It was 36 in the cabin when we got up this morning.

Happy Birthday Marines

Just wanted to wish the Corps and my fellow Marines a happy birthday.

We made it down to the Rhode River last night and anchored a little after midnight. After sitting for about three hours waiting out the fog in the early afternoon, and with more fog and high winds on the way, I decided to go ahead and make the trip down after dark.

I was afraid the fog might catch us, but it looks like we made it just in time. We were completely socked in this morning when we got up. It cleared up by mid morning, but then the winds picked up. It should blow pretty hard through Saturday, so this is a good place to sit and wait.

As the winds kick up, I'm watching the GPS to make sure we don't drag. After dragging a couple times over the last couple weeks, I'm really paranoid. We're in 9' of water, with about a half mile of fetch, and 150' of chain out. I put up the riding sail, which only helps a little, and my small anchor off the bow to help reduce sailing, or hunting, at anchor.

We shouldn't have any problem, but again, I'm still concerned. At this point, I can only drag to a soft shore, so it's not that big a deal. However, you never know how well the bottom will hold, and we should have 30 knot gusts tomorrow. It's actually gusting pretty close to that now. (Just looked at the chart, and it shows a soft bottom, and it looks like I'm slowly dragging, so I may move later when the wind dies down a bit. That way I can drag a little without getting into trouble. It's going to blow harder tomorrow, but not till the afternoon.)

Trip watch:

The leaves are changing, and the trip down the Sassafras was beautiful. It's really pretty here in the Rhode River too. There was little or no wind, and the waves, which started out less then one foot, became glassy like a lake after dark. On top of that, we had a full moon.

I passed a few large vessels, mostly barges, before dark, but after the sun went down, I only saw two more over a seven hour period, and one was a small boat, perhaps another sailboat, but too far away to really tell.

However, I did have another engine problem after passing under the Bay Bridge. An alarm sounded, which turned out to be overheating, so I shut her down, turned on the anchor light, and went below to check it out. With no wind, no traffic, and only a slight current, I just let her drift. -- we had a few miles if sea room all around and were in 40' of water, so anchoring wasn't an option.

Once I got the cover off, I could feel the heat, and thought she'd just overheated. However, once I got out my flashlight, I saw she'd thrown a belt. I quickly put the old one I'd changed out a few weeks ago back on, and got back underway.

Even though I was still worried about beating the fog, I kept the rpm's down just in case. I have one more spare, but I'm not sure where it is right now and didn't want to dig for it in the dark. I'll buy a few more before I leave this anchorage. I'll also try to figure out why they keep wearing out.

On to Annapolis

We had to go up the Sassafras river a few miles to get fuel, so I stayed at a marina for the night. I was down to less than 5 gallons -- I have a 30 gallon tank, with an extra 5 gallons on deck, so I was already into my reserves.

I'll PM my engine this morning, then head south with the tide, bound for the Annapolis area. There's still not much wind, so I'll probably have to motor much of the way. I'd prefer to sail, but the weather's getting colder, and we need to get going -- hope Zoe understands. Depending on how things go, I'll either anchor just north or just south of Annapolis. I've been to Annapolis before, so no need to visit on this trip.

In fact, I went to the Marine Corps Rugby Training Camp there while I was still with 2nd Tank Bn at Camp Lejeune. I helped all the good players get orders, so I figured I'd get a set for myself as well. It was a lot of fun, and for those interested, I wasn't selected for the team, but did get to play on the second team against the Army's second team -- I think we won our match (in spite of me) and our first team won the inter-service title. I don't remember the date, but it was summer, and prior to my joining the 26th MAU in the fall of 1985.

Fogged in

We woke up from a bumpy night to calm seas and a bright blue sky, so we weighed anchor and got underway by 0645. I was able to do close to 5 knots, so it looked like we'd make Chesapeake City before dark.

However, after about an hour motor sailing -- still not much of any wind -- I noticed what looked like fog just to the north of my course about 5nm away. With the bright sunshine, I figured it would burn off by the time I got close. Unfortunately, it met me about halfway. I tried to slow down and wait for it, then killed the engine and hove to to hold position, but it quickly engulfed me, and I had to anchor. I'm only about 3.5 miles from where I started -- probably lost a couple miles while hove to.

That was a few hours ago, and I still can't see more than about 100 yards. It looks like CS is a no go for today (heard on the radio that the canal was closed due to the fog anyway), but I hope it'll burn off soon enough to allow me to make it a bit further up the bay to a better anchorage. I'm a little over a mile from shore right now in a shoal area, and have already been buzzed by one small fishing boat.

Zoe watch:

She doesn't like the engine much, but the repairs I've made have reduced the vibration and noise a bit. She and I are relaxing on deck, enjoying warmer weather -- well, she's relaxing, I'm keeping a sharp lookout for fishing boats.

Anchored in Delaware Bay

There wasn't much wind, and the 4 to 7 foot waves on the beam shook up my fuel tank, so I couldn't motor either. Gave up after she died halfway across the mouth of the bay, and limped up the bay. Not a great anchorage, a bit rough, but I'm beat and it's better than nothing.

Getting Underway Again

The special tool I needed to torque on the locking nut finally arrived Friday. I put it on the same day and aligned the engine yesterday. While I was waiting for the tool, I filled and re-drilled several of the lag bolt holes for the engine mounts -- they were loose. I also glassed in one of the supports that had come loose, then bedded the aft mounts in epoxy.

It was hard to get to, so it isn't real pretty, but it's nice and solid now, and that's what counts. I plan to pull the engine in Houston and beef up everything, so I'm not too worried about looks now.

Trip watch:

It's about 0400, and I've been up for a while getting ready for the next leg. With the weather improving steadily, I've decided to go outside down to Norfolk. I'd planned to go inside down the Chesapeake, but with the delay, I'd have to either go in the middle of the night or fight the current -- up to almost 3 knots in places.

I'd also have to put up with much colder weather for several days -- the low tonight in Norfolk will be 47, but it'll only be 33 in Chesapeake City. That's a big difference on a boat with no heat. The engine will heat the cabin a little, but I can't run it all the time.

I'm having coffee and oatmeal right now, and hope to leave shortly after 0530. With any luck, I'll be at anchor in Norfolk Monday night. I just hope I have enough wind. If not, I'll have to do some motoring. Depending on how things go, I might stop for the night in Ocean City, but I'd still have to do an overnighter down to Norfolk, so we'll see.

Leaving Cape May

If all goes well, we'll leave Cape May early in the morning. The part and the tool finally arrived on Friday. It didn't take long to put it back on, but I'm not totally satisfied with it.

However, the tool allowed me to torque it on tight, and I hope the locktight will hold it. The staking will help too, but I don't think I did a very good job -- too hard to get to.

The weather is looking better and better, so I'm probably going to go outside down to Norfolk. It's not really any further than the leg from Sandy Hook to here, but I do have to go an additional 30 nm into Chesapeake bay to get to an anchorage, so it'll end up being longer overall.

I just checked the weather again, and it still looks good, so I'll make one final check in the morning before committing. I can still do the Chesapeake, but it's so much colder -- don't have heat on the boat -- that I'd really prefer going straight to Norfolk.

Plan to use the wind vane this time, so I may be able to post during the trip. I think the outboard hanging on the stern pulpit disturbed the airflow to the wind vane on the port tack, so I'm going to stow it in cockpit locker for this trip. That should make the trip much more relaxing and enjoyable.

Waiting on Part

The new locking nut wasn't shipped until today -- should arrive tomorrow -- but I'm not sure about the tool yet. I need a special tool to tighten the nut enough to keep it from vibrating loose.

I may try to realign the engine as well. I think I can use epoxy to hold the mounts in place -- the runners are either rotted or just wallowed out and the lag bolts won't hold, at least on a couple of them. I may not be able to get it perfectly aligned, but I think I can make it better than it is now.

Anchor watch:

If you read Roger's post concerning the high winds we got the other night, you no doubt recognized the reference to me. Based on his telling of the story, his suggestion I put out a stern anchor kept me off the rocks.

Well, that's completely untrue. In fact, it was the stern anchor that kept me beam to the 50 knot gusts when the wind shifted to the north, and caused my bow anchor to drag. The stern anchor didn't drag, but neither did it hold me, we just swung on it like a pendulum until the wind abated and my bow anchor reset.

Had I not put out the stern anchor, I would have been bow to the wind, and the anchor would have held, just as it did during the hurricane. Or it would have slowly dragged and given me a chance to start the engine, hold position, and put out more scope. With an anchor off the bow and the stern, the engine was useless. I just had to ride it out, and hope for the best.

So, his "patting himself on the back," is pure BS. He knows that, but gets paid to write about sailing, so maybe he figures telling the whole truth might hurt his bottom line. Anyway, no one was hurt, and I learned another valuable lesson, or two.

By the way, the original problem, for which he suggested the stern anchor, was that a couple boats had just anchored south of me which meant I wouldn't have enough room to swing once the wind shifted. I told them that, but they ignored me -- lots of people out here seem to think they know everything. Instead of taking Roger's advice and putting out the stern anchor, I should have moved. That was the correct solution, and I take full responsibility for not doing the right thing.

The rest of Roger's description is more or less correct, however, he neglected to mention he almost dragged as well. He barely got his stern anchor eased and to the bow in time -- I didn't have enough rode to do that, and waited too long. Stern anchors have their place, but this wasn't one of them, and never in a storm.

I think about half the boats, at least four, dragged, and one sustained damage.

Trip watch:

If I get everything tomorrow and get it fixed, I can leave Thursday morning and head up Delaware Bay. However, if the part or tool is late, or it takes me longer to reinstall it or align the engine, then it'll be at least another day.

I've been watching the weather, and it looks like Sunday/Monday is shaping up to be really nice all the way down to Norfolk on the outside. So, if I'm delayed, I may just sit at anchor another couple days and go down outside as originally planned. There are too many unknowns right now, but I'd prefer to go outside.

Zoe watch:

She really likes the marina life. She gets to see lots of people, sun herself on the deck, and take a few walks everyday. I like the hot showers, but since I've been using the extra time rearranging everything, we'll both be more comfortable once we get underway again.

False Start

The dodgy nut holding the transmission coupling came loose again, so I'll be here at least another day. I may try to reuse the one I have, but will wait to talk to a mechanic before I decide. I'd actually be more comfortable with a new one, so that's probably what I'll do.

So, I'll be here at least another day, perhaps two or three. It's a little expensive, but well worth it in the long run. It'll also give the weather a chance to warm up. We had frost this morning, but it should be about 10 degrees warmer today. Needless to say, I don't like frost.

Staying Inside

The weather has been pretty bad lately, so all of us, me and four other boats, have decided to sail up Delaware Bay, through the C&D Canal, and down the Chesapeake. The weather down the coast toward Norfolk isn't expected to improve anytime soon, and the anchorage here is too small and unprotected -- every single boat out there had to go into a marina to ride out the nor'easter that just roared through.

We all plan to leave well before dawn tomorrow morning. I'm probably the slowest boat, but think I can make all the way to Chesapeake City with everyone else before dark. If I can't, there are several places I can anchor for the night before continuing on the next morning.

I might stay there for a few days to take care of a few things. Other than today, the weather's been too bad to do anything other than sit and wait. I walked into town and picked up a few things along with Roger and Dale this afternoon. They're both singlehanders, and Dale has a really nice dog that Zoe got to play with.

I just finished getting everything more or less ready for tomorrow. Now I'm going to take a shower, my last for a while, then take Zoe for a walk before hitting the rack. I'll probably walk around the deck first to make sure I haven't forgotten anything first, otherwise, I won't sleep well.

I had dinner with a nice Canadian couple in the slip next to us tonight. In fact, that's the second time -- they invited me and Roger over last night too, and Roger had the three of us over the first night we got here. a couple time, and at Roger's the first night here.

We also traded a few books. Last night, they gave me a copy of 1491 -- the year before Columbus arrived -- and tonight, I gave them my copy of Chichester's Gypsy Moth. I haven't had much time to read lately, but as soon as I get a little ways into the Chesapeake, I hope things will settle down a bit -- there's been just too much excitement, weather-wise, lately. I'm still working on Robinson Crusoe.

Dockside

I'm dockside at a marina in Cape May. We had a bit of adventure last night, and with more high winds expected, I decided it wasn't safe to share a small anchorage with the same neighbors I spent most of last night dodging.

I'm too beat to write about it now, but Roger has a pretty good description here if you're interested:

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=135160

He was a few hundred yards away, so I'll fill in the details later -- I'm just too tired right now.

Cape May

We made it to Cape May on Sunday, and are now at anchor in Cape May Harbor, just off the Cape May Coast Guard Station. It's well protected here, but there's a lot of traffic through the harbor, so we're taking a few wakes. We lost track of the Canadians shortly after rounding Sandy Hook, so we came straight here without stopping at Atlantic City.

The Cape May station is a recruit training depot, so I get to see and hear a lot of familiar things. It's impossible to really compare, but it seems a little tame compared to my days in MCRD, San Diego, 31 years ago -- different service, different time. I'm only a few hundred yards offshore, so I get to watch formations and hear what sounds like PT. I also enjoy reveille and taps. Always enjoyed that aboard ship as well.

Perhaps I should get some recordings and play them throughout the day, e.g., "Reveille, reveille, reveille, all hands heave out and trice up. Sweepers! Sweepers! Man your brooms...." I also liked being in foreign ports where we'd play both national anthems when raising the flag in the morning -- promptly at 0800. Either that, or bring a wave on board as a mate, and have her do it.

Trip watch:

We weighed anchor and got underway at 0845 Saturday morning. I'd planned to sail along with the two Canadian boats, but they had a falling out just after we cleared the breakwater and turned into the wind to raise sail. I was a few hundred yards back, and didn't realize anything had happened, but after I caught up with them at the anchorage here at Cape May, John came over and filled me in.

Apparently, his main got stuck about half way up, so he went forward to clear it -- no big deal, I have the same problem from time to time. However, while he was freeing it, Len's boat bumped into him. John was in the lead, so he had the right of way. I'm not sure what Len was doing, but he should never have gotten that close. John was livid and took off. By the time I rounded Sandy Hook, he'd motor-sailed far ahead, and disappeared over the horizon within a couple hours.

I didn't know what was going on at the time, but there wasn't much wind, so I was only doing a little over 3 knots. I spoke to Len on the radio, and found out he was motor-sailing. I figured they'd planned to motor-sail all along, and since I don't do that, I wouldn't be able to keep up unless the wind picked up to at least 10-15knts. I still didn't know there'd been a problem, but told Len he should probably catch up to John -- Len didn't have any charts -- because I wasn't going to use my engine. Had I known they were no longer on speaking terms, I would have told him to stick with me.

Anyway, he motored off, and as I said, I didn't see either of them again until I anchored. However, the wind did pick up a little later, and we did better than 5 knots, sometimes better than 6, for the rest of the day, and throughout the night. I guess those few miles they picked up motor-sailing were just too important to them.

The sail was pretty uneventful except for a few times when mega-yachts passed close by at 20+ knots and gave us big wakes. I didn't want to go too far out, makes the trip longer, so we stayed about 5 miles off until it got dark, when we slowly let it increase to about 10-15. I think we were a little over 10 offshore, and 15 from Cape May at sunrise.

We passed Atlantic City around midnight, and could have made Cape May earlier if I stayed in a little closer, but I was getting really tired, and having trouble staying awake, so I hove to a couple times, and steered a bit more easterly to get some sea-room. Unfortunately, I couldn't get her to really heave to, so we ended up fore reaching at 1-2 knots while I took a break and made coffee. The wind was about 15 knots most of the night, but as I approached and dawn broke, it died off fairly quickly.

Once the sun came up, everything was fine. It had gotten really cold during the night, mid-40's I think, but by noon, I'd stripped down to shorts again. We steered straight for Cape May, but as soon as we got within a couple miles, around 1000, the wind died completely.

I could have motored in and anchored in less than an hour, but prefer to sail. We were still making way, 1-2 knots, so we just hung out, cleaned up from the night before, had some coffee, and enjoyed the sunshine.

I hooked up the wind vane as the winds abated a little after dawn. The winds were light enough to play with it and get it adjusted, and after a few minutes, she was working perfectly. Even after the winds died down, she kept us orientated to what little wind was left. It steers much better than I do.

The wind finally shifted around 1400, and I could see there was a breeze a few hundred yards south of us. I tacked and tried to reset the wind vane, but she didn't work well at all on a port tack -- needs some more adjustment -- so I pulled it up and hand steered the rest of the day.

We weren't making enough way to have steerage, so I pulled out an oar and began to paddle. That gave us enough to get over the hump, and we found the wind within about 30 minutes. It slowly picked up, and kept increasing as we got closer to shore.

In fact, for a while there, it was stronger than the day before, and we was peaking close to 6 knots, pointing as high as we could. I'd wanted to round the cape, but after an hour, realized I'd never make it before dark, so I tried to come about and sail back up to the harbor entrance which was now less than a mile west of us.

Unfortunately, my roller furling jammed, so I pointed into the wind, lowered the main, and was going to try to lower the genoa too, but she was flogging so badly against the spreaders, I was afraid she might get torn apart. So I figured it was time to start the engine, and I pointed her away from the wind and ran with it. This gave us a much lower apparent wind, 5-10knts, and allowed me time to lower the genoa and secure it on the foredeck -- the netting really came in handy.

Then we turned and motored into the harbor and anchored on the south shore near the coast guard station. I noticed the Canadians were already there, and got an obscenity laced history of the preceding day's incident from each of them in turn, mainly from John.

No one got hurt, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal, however, I did have trouble convincing Len later that he was really at fault -- the vessel being overtaken, John's, always has the right of way, especially if he's under sail. In any case, I'll give both of them a wide berth from now on. In fact, I pretty much give everyone a wide berth.

Float watch:

I have a few things I need to do before getting underway again, but after the nice trip down, we'll probably do another overnighter outside down to Norfolk later this week or early next week. We've got a bit of wind right now, which shouldn't be a problem, but I'm not in any hurry, so we'll wait it out. This is also a nice place to fix things and finish up a few projects.

In particular, I need to stow things better, adjust the wind vane, and install the tuner and antenna -- had to pull down the dipole because I was afraid it would chafe my sails. Unless I can figure out a better way to hang it, I'll have to leave it down unless we're at anchor or in light winds.

I also need to pull my foot pump and fix it. It pumps okay, but since I attached both it and the electric pump to the same feed line, the negative pressure created by the electric pump caused the check value to fail. So any time I pump any water, I have to pump it all the way up. It's just sorta annoying, and hopefully easy to fix without having to buy anything. I never use the other pump, but did run it to test the wiring I fixed the other day.

Zoe watch:

Well, she didn't enjoy the trip that much, but likes it here. Part of the work I want to do before we leave is making things a little better for her on the next leg. I've got some ideas, but want to run them by her first -- it's important for her to feel good about whatever we do.

Frost Warning and Other Weather Issues

I got a signal report from Harry last night after I repaired my antenna. I had been checking and re-tuning the rig so I could pin the turnbuckles, so I dropped the boom down to the deck in order to take tension off the mast, but forgot to loosen lower line on the antenna. In doing so, I broke the thin speaker wire I'm using for my dipole. I pulled it down and re-soldered it once I'd finished the rig, but wanted to make sure I was still getting out.

Harry told me I was coming in fine, pretty much like normal, then asked me if we were still in the same place. I told him yes, but we'd be leaving in the morning -- I'm up early waiting for it to get light right now. Then he mentioned that we'd been here a long time, and I told him we'd been waiting on the weather. Harry served on board an aircraft carrier, and although they can, and do, go out in any weather, it's a little different for a small sailboat, especially this time if year. In fact, for us, pretty much everything, including destination, is dependent on the weather.

Right now, we're trying to balance two things (three things if you count repairs). First of all, with hurricane season active through the end of November, we don't want to go too soon. However, as it gets colder, the weather windows get shorter and less often. We missed a short window at the beginning of the week, but hope to take full advantage of this one.

Len, one of the two Canadians anchored nearby, came by just before dark last night, and told me they were only going as far as Atlantic City today, and on to Cape May tomorrow, i.e., no overnighters. He also invited me to go along with them. This is Len's first trip, but John, the other skipper, has done it many times.

We'll see how it goes, but unless I just can't keep up, I'll probably go along with them at least as far as Chesapeake City, which we should make by Monday or Tuesday. That'll put us a few days from Norfolk, but we'd have to wait there for the next window anyway, so why not do it in the Chesapeake.

Oh, and speaking of weather, there was a frost warning on the weather report this morning for Sunday night. I think it was for northern New Jersey, so it shouldn't affect us here or in Cape May, but it's definitely time to get out of here -- my decks are down right dangerous when covered with frost.

It's getting light, so time for that second cup of coffee.

Leaving Tomorrow

I've been watching the weather, and it looks like the window down to Norfolk should last through Tuesday afternoon. At four knots or better, that should be plenty of time, but since I don't really know what sort of speed I can maintain, and I don't want to get caught out in the system that should arrive around Wednesday, I've decided to go through the C&D Canal and down the Chesapeake.

There are two Canadian boats anchored nearby, one of which is skippered by a very experienced sailor named John, and that's what they plan to do as well. Although, in their case, I think it has more to do with enjoying a leisurely trip than it does with the weather. Like me, they're both singlehanders.

It'll take a few more days to get to Norfolk, but hopefully we'll arrive about the time the next weather window starts to open up.

Gear watch:

I'm going to try to superglue my starter switch, and if that doesn't work, I'll use some 5200 -- might use the 5200 anyway. (5200 is a permanent adhesive caulk used extensively on boats) I'm just waiting for the wind to lay down a bit before tackling it and making final preparations for tomorrow. I thought about buying a new one, but it's just the plastic mounting threads that broke, the switch itself is fine.

I was planning to send my Gill offshore jacket in today, but don't really have time. It's only a few years old, most of which was spent in the closet of my Manhattan apartment, but one of the wrist closures has separated, and it's leaking badly around the neck. I've always noticed there was a problem with the way the neck was sewn on, but never gave it much thought. However, I think it gets pinched and rubs -- all the lining has worn off on the inside.

I spoke to one of the warranty reps at Gill yesterday. She was very nice, and suggested I send it in. I may try while we're in the Chesapeake, otherwise, it'll have to wait till we get to Houston. In the meantime, I can still use it in dry, windy weather (best jacket I've ever owned), but will have to use my North Face jacket when it rains. (I've actually got a really good offshore jacket I bought in France over 10 years ago that's still waterproof, so I might try it too, but it doesn't breath well)

I'm sure I'll find some combination that works. I got soaked during the gale on Wednesday, and there's nothing worse than being wet and cold on a boat without a heater. So anything's better than that.

Zoe watch:

She's hanging out on deck in her life jacket, tethered to one of the lifelines. I want her to get used to it so there won't be any issues tomorrow. It doesn't seem to bother her at all, and she might even like it with the winds we're getting today.

It's gusting to about 25knt's, but mostly pretty calm at around 10-15. Since it's from the west, the breakwater's keeping the waves down. However, we are hunting a bit. Unfortunately we lost the other bucket I was using as a sea anchor during the gale. It really helped, but can't be used in rough weather.

I saw it float by while we were taking some of the larger waves. They were about 5-6' with a period of 2 seconds, which ripped the handle right off -- sorta reminded me of the bull at Gilley's. Maybe I can get a real sea anchor while we're in the Chesapeake.

Windy Day

It's about 0200 local time, and I'm still up waiting for the wind to shift so I can adjust my anchor rode. We had a lot of wind yesterday, and several boats got into trouble, including mine.

I had out 100' of chain, which would normally have been sufficient, but with 25-30 knot winds, gusting to almost 40, and breaking waves up to around 5-6', it wasn't enough. In fact, I started to slowly drag long before it got really bad.

These winds weren't as high as the ones we got with Irene, but the waves were nearly as bad and lasted a lot longer. Several boats dragged, and one called the Coast Guard for assistance. He was by himself too, but had a bigger, newer, nicer boat, and everything, including his engine seemed to be working okay, so he was eventually able to re-anchor. He had to run his engine for a few hours just to hold his position.

As for us, we were being blown slowly past a winter stick -- they pull the mooring balls in the winter and replace them with sticks that can't get ripped off by the ice -- and decided to let out more chain, both to stop the dragging, and get away from the stick. I didn't want to hole the boat. Unfortunately, there was already a lot of tension on the chain, so I had a bit of a problem -- I actually almost lost it, but after over 100' of 5/16" galvanized chain ran through my bare hands, the thin line I had tied to the bitter end held it long enough for me to pull in about 10' and secure it -- that left about 190' out. Hopefully, there won't be another time, but I've had all day to nurse my bruised hands and think of a better way to do it. So if there is another time, I won't make the same mistakes.

After a while, I could see we weren't dragging any more, but it sure was a rough ride. I should have known better and moved back over to Horseshoe Cove, but didn't realize how bad it got here when the wind blew in from the east.

The wind's starting to shift to the south, but the high hills are shielding us, and it's nice and smooth now. I just need to make sure we don't bump onto that winter stick or the channel marker as we swing back to the east. I've already pulled in about 25', but may need to pull in more. The winds will shift to the south-west today, so I'm worried the extra rode will put us on top of the channel marker.

I'd just re-anchor now, but my ignition switch broke off this afternoon, so I can't use the engine till I replace or hot wire it. It shouldn't be hard to fix, but I don't feel like doing it in the dark.

Well, time to go back on deck. I think I can hear the winter stick bumping up against the hull -- it's almost 0300 now and the tide's going out.

Atlantic Highlands

After waiting out the fog for a couple days, we moved over to Atlantic Highlands on Friday. Now we're just hanging out, working on the boat, and waiting for the weather to improve, hopefully by Saturday.

I've actually gotten a lot done while we've been here, including re-tuning the rig, replacing the alternator belt, cleaning the fuel filter bowl, wiring up a new bilge pump, remounting the radar reflector, cleaning the prop and bottom, and climbing the mast to add a block and halyard for the topping lift. I still need to do about half a dozen things before we leave, but at least all the hard stuff's out of the way.

Departure watch:

It looks like the high coming across the southern US should get here around Friday night, so we're planning to leave Saturday morning. We'll head down the coast and either go in at Cape May Sunday or continue down to Norfolk -- just depends on how things go. In fact, if things continue to go well and the weather holds, we might not pull into Norfolk either. It's good to have options -- it's a boat, so you need to be flexible. (hope that doesn't mean coming back here, but you never know)

As always, you can keep track of me here:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=NV5L

I try to update my position daily when underway,

Zoe watch:

She's doing great, but seems to be getting a little restless. I think I'll take her ashore tomorrow for some exercise. There's a sandy beach a few hundred yards away, so that should work out well, assuming the weather holds. It's a little too cold to swim, though I did go in for about 30 minutes the other day to inspect the bottom and clean it and the prop. I might go in again and get her nice and clean before we leave -- I just knocked all barnacles off the prop and big stuff off the keel.

Waiting for Fog to Lift

We need to move to a better anchorage behind the breakwater at Atlantic Highlands today, but have to wait for the fog to lift. We'll sit there until the weather breaks, probably Sunday or Monday. Since I'm just hanging out, I figured this was a good opportunity to catch up on the Zoe watch.

Zoe watch:

When we pulled into Huntington last week and tied up to the public dock, Zoe got to go ashore -- in every sense of the word. We picked up a mooring that night and stayed a couple more days, but after her time ashore, she held out for another visit.

At about noon on Sunday, I motored over to the dock at Gold Beach to dump my trash and top off my water tanks. As we approached, I shutdown the engine, threw the stern line to a guy on the dock, then jumped off with the bow line.

However, as soon as my back was turned, Zoe jumped off and ran down the dock toward shore at full speed. It took less than minute to secure the boat and follow her, but she'd already disappeared and was taking care of business.

It was a beautiful day, so there were lots of people around who helped point her out. I picked up after her as I followed, so she got another head start on me, but when she stopped for a second time, I caught up. There were other dogs around, so she got to socialize a bit on the way back to the boat.

Once we got back, she curled up on the deck in the sun and went to sleep while I rinsed the deck and filled my tanks. After that was done, I collected all my trash, mainly cardboard containers from the shopping the day before, and stepped onto the dock. Someone asked me about my wind vane, so I quickly explained it to him, then headed up the dock towards the dumpster.

About that time, I heard a splash, and someone yelled there was a dog in the water. Zoe had heard me talking and didn't want to be left out, so she jumped ship, but didn't quite make it. There were several people around, and they were all concerned and excited, but Zoe's such a good swimmer, she just swam over to me and I pulled her out. I'm glad it was such a warm day, because after that, we were both soaked.

I put her back on board, found her leash, and took her with me to the dumpster. After all the excitement and exercise, she slept all the way back to Oyster Bay.

So that's two escapes and one dog overboard (DOB) in one day.

Sandy Hook

We made it to Sandy Hook yesterday, and anchored right as the sun was going down. There was a full moon, but the weather had started to deteriorate a little after noon, so it was completely overcast by the time we got here. The wind picked up a bit too, and is now gusting around 20kts from the east. I'd hoped this spot would offer some relief, but Sandy Hook is too low to provide much protection, so we're getting pushed around a bit.

I wish I could say that the trip was enjoyable, and uneventful, but if I did, I'd be shining you on. I did enjoy it, Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty are beautiful from the water, but with the wind and waves, and especially the wakes from large vessels passing close by, we had engine trouble from start.

We got up before sunrise, weighed anchor, and got underway by 0745. It was blowing about 15kts, and a little choppy, but not bad at all. It took about 30 minutes to round the point at Throgs Neck, where SUNY Maritime is located, go under the bridge, and enter the East River (which isn't really a river a all), but even during that short time, I noticed the engine sounded a little strange -- periodic, short, slight, losses of power.

It didn't take long to realize what was happening. All that bouncing around had mixed up the sediment in the bottom of my fuel tank, and it was clogging the filter, preventing my engine from getting any fuel. At first, It wasn't too bad, so I decided to continue on -- I still had time to turn back and sail out if need be.

However, I got passed by a couple of large, fast moving vessels (for some reason, they only seem to have two speeds, stopped and full throttle). We bounced over their wakes, and the engine began to cut out and almost die. I did what I could to keep her going -- didn't have up any sail or much room either. Luckily, there was a shoal on the outside of the bend on the north side, so we limped over there and anchored.

I quickly changed the filter and bled the petcock -- spilling a bit of fuel into the bilge, but I'll deal with that later. Then, I had the bright idea to check the other filter on the engine. It was fine, but because of how it's made, checking the filter means you have to bleed the air out of the system, which took me another 30 minutes.

At this point, it was already 0930, and I'd wanted to be at Hell Gate by 1011, which was still about 8 miles away, or 2+ hours at the speed I'd been able to maintain. After a bit of thought, I decided to give it a whirl. I wasn't yet at the point of no return, and as the tide turned, I'd be able to pick up speed with the current. Also, the current isn't too bad an hour or so either side of the ebb, so if I could make it by say, 1130, that was still good.

So, I quickly weighed anchor and was underway again by 0945.. Everything went well for the next half hour, but as I approached Riker's Island, an alarm went off. I'd been running her at close to full throttle, 3,000 rpms, and she was overheating. I shut her down, and pulled the engine cover off to make sure I'd reopened the seacock for the raw water intake. I'd closed it while I was running the starter to bleed the fuel lines. It was open, and everything else looked fine, so I left the cover off and restarted her to see if she was still pumping water -- perhaps the impeller had failed.

The alarm was still sounding when I looked over the stern, but she was pumping water just fine. About that time, the alarm stopped, so I left the cover off and got underway again -- there's not much ventilation down there, so I'll have to fix that at some point. For right now, running her at lower speeds or with the cover off seems to work. I also decided this might be a good time to raise the main, just in case. It doesn't take long to raise her, but in confined spaces, every second counts, and anyway, it can't hurt. I got her up quickly and left her up for the rest of the day.

I continued on, passed between the two brothers, and noticed my SOG was averaging better than 6kts. I was overtaken by the Seawolf, a 60+' commercial vessel, between the two bridges off Ward Island, and spoke to him on the radio. I told him I was having some engine trouble, but was okay, and he told me that there wasn't any traffic up ahead and that I should be fine if I stayed off to the side.

A few minutes later, around 1130, I passed under the second bridge and was in Hell Gate. Other than a few small power boats and the Seawolf up ahead, it was wide open. The problem with Hell Gate is the current, which can run almost 5kts, and it makes a sharp turn. It was running around 3knts when I went through and climbing, which was a good thing because it helped me maintain almost 7knts all the way down to the tip of Manhattan.

However, about the time I cleared Roosevelt Island, I passed more boats and the engine problems started again. I didn't actually loose it, but did shut her down once and try to sail. Unfortunately, there wasn't any wind to speak of, however, I was still doing better than 3knts with the current. I restarted her after a few minutes, and she seemed to run fine again until the next guy passed and buffeted us with his wake. I cut back on the throttle, let the boat settle, then continued, which seemed to work fine. This became SOP for the rest of the day -- every time I took a large wake or heard the engine bog down, I'd cut power, let things settle down, the increase throttle slowly -- not only does the sloshing mix up the muck in the tank, it also washes off the filter if there isn't too much suction. I had to do this at least a dozen more times before I got to Sandy Hook, limiting complete failures to only two or three, but she always started back up.

It was a good learning experience, but I think I'll wait a few days before the next lesson. We've got a small craft advisory in effect for at least the next day or so, and I figure it won't lay down enough for me to go out until at least Sunday. I have a few more things I need to do before I go out anyway, so this'll give me plenty of time.

The list is short, but includes securing stuff in the cabin, making final adjustments to the rigging and pinning and taping the turnbuckles, re-rigging my jacklines, and PM'ing the engine again. That's only about a day's worth of stuff, but I've got three, so I'll try to do more planning as well.

Trip watch:

We got a late start on Sunday, 1330, and with little or no wind, only made it back to the mouth of Oyster Bay a little after dark, 1930. We anchored there, and since it was just off the Sound, figured it was a good place to start out for Throgs Neck the following morning.

I fixed a couple rigging problems I'd noticed on Sunday, then weighed anchor and got underway by 0830. We motored out of the bay, and other than the last 30 minutes, sailed the entire way. The wind finally died as we approached Hart Island, so we motored the last mile or so and anchored in Eastchester Bay just north of Throgs Neck right at dusk.

After I shut off the engine, secured everything, and reported my position, I heard water trickling, and upon investigation, found the bilge half full. The stuffing box for the rudder, which always leaked a little, had loosened and was leaking about a gallon or more an hour. Not enough to really worry, but enough I make me go ahead and fix it in the dark. I didn't want to chance getting my feet wet the next morning.

I pulled everything out of the port cockpit locker, and crawled down with my headlamp and a pipe wrench. It was a little tough to get to it due to all the drain hoses in the way -- when I had reinstalled it a few years ago, all the hoses were out. I loosened the locking nut with the wrench, then tightened it by hand and stopped the leak, then re-tightened the locking nut, but it was tough to tell how good of a job I did. I'll take another look from the other side today, but had no leaks on the trip over yesterday.

Zoe watch:

I let her sun herself on the foredeck for the first part of the trip, but as we began to get bounced around, I brought he back into the cockpit, put the life jacket on her and tethered her to the wheel pedestal. I even put mine on once we got into the lower bay, just in case...

I have more Zoe stories, but they'll have to wait till the next update -- including 2 escapes and one dog overboard incident in Huntington.

Fixin to Head South

Well, it's finally that time, and we're fixin to head south. Kieran and his two boys took me shopping today, and I got pretty much everything I needed for the trip.

The only thing I couldn't get was a wet suit, but that's not a big deal -- the water's not that cold yet. I'd wanted to clean up the prop and depth finder this afternoon, but ran out of time. It'll be really nice and warm tomorrow, so I may try to do it either before I leave or after I anchor.

I did get all my provisions stored, but will probably need to adjust everything to trim the boat and make it easy to get to. It looks like the bow is sitting a bit low right now, but it's hard to tell -- the boot stripe may not be accurate.

Radio watch:

I picking up another net this evening after the sun went down -- couldn't really do any more work anyway, so it won't affect my departure. I'd also spoken earlier to Michael, KC2QYR, who's moored about a mile away. I really enjoyed talking to him, and he gave me some good advice about going through Hell Gate.

Trip watch:

I plan to fill my water tanks tomorrow morning, and bring the dinghy on board. I also plan to PM my engine in the morning to make sure it's ready to go.

I still haven't decided, but I may try to go through Hell Gate Sunday night to take advantage of the great weather. Another option would be to go through Monday morning, then continue directly out into the Atlantic in the afternoon. Either option would help me make Cape May before Tuesday night when the wind is expected to pickup.

Anyway, I plan to keep my options open and play it by ear, but I'd really like to take advantage of the weather while it lasts. I'll continue to check in and post my progress, plans, and positions with the MMSN, so you should be able to follow me on shiptrack or winlink.

Back to Huntington

I finally made it back to Huntington yesterday. The weather cleared up, and it was a beautiful day -- really enjoyed the sail over. It should stay nice up until Wednesday, so I'm going to try to run all my errand today, then go with Kieran and his kids to Costco tomorrow morning for provisions, and sail back down to Throgs Neck either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. I'll anchor there for the night, pass through Hell gate the the following morning, then sail down to Cape May the next day. Not sure where or how far I'll go after that, but at this time of year, it's all dependent on the weather.

Coneys is letting me stay on an empty mooring for a couple days, so I'm sitting near the north end of the harbor just off the Gold Star Battalion Beach while I'm here (don't know the history, but will try to look it up). It's a little far to the town dock, but the harbor is well protected, and I don't have to worry about the anchor, so I'm happy to have it.

Once we picked up the mooring last night, Zoe and I took the dinghy down to the dock and had dinner at the Rock. It was the first good meal I've had in almost three months. Kieran came by to say hi, and Zoe got to see her friend Frazier, a big English bulldog. I also got to watch the first few innings of the Tigers-Yankees game, but we were both so tired, we left after the 4th inning. We had to take the dinghy back to the boat in the dark.

Radio watch:

Unfortunately, I need to send my new Icom IC-7000 back for service. I'm not sure what happened, but the internal amplifier stopped working, so I'm only putting out an ultra QRP signal (QRP is ham-speak for low power, normally <10 watts -- I'm probably putting out less than 1 watt). There's a UPS store within walking distance from the dock, so I'll pack it up and send it in sometime today. Hopefully, I can get it back somewhere along the way, perhaps shipped to a marina or a fellow NCS along my route. Otherwise, I'll have them send it to Paul's business in Baytown.

For the time being, I'm using my marine rig, an IC M700Pro, which still works great. However, without the filters, I have trouble hearing the really light stations, and without compression, my transmission doesn't have quite as much punch. I'd gotten it setup to the point that if I heard them, they heard me, and vice versa, but with the marine rig, it's sorta a crap shoot. I think I can hear more than can hear me, but both are noticeably less than the 7000 which only puts out 100 watts. It's a really nice radio when it works.