Category Archives: Sailing

Sailing to Martha’s Vineyard: Float Plan

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I have been planning a trip for about a year now. I’m going to sail my little Seafarer (departing, hopefully, this Friday) to Martha’s Vineyard for a shindig over Father’s Day Weekend. I may have hinted at it in some previous posts; but now it looks like I’m actually going to get everything (or at least the important things) done. I need to run to the marina; but in the meantime, in order to keep those in the know, in the know, here is the planning I have done. Bear in mind that a wide range of events could cause an alteration to these plans. I have a new SPOT Connect by Spot that I will hopefully be able to use to send tracking information and float plan information to those who want to know. I’m going to try and link it to this blog, as well.

In any case, here is the float plan. I’ve got a pdf file as well.

Gotta run. Still lots of work to do…

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Preppin’ for the Vineyard

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In the extremely short time of one week from today, I will, in theory, be setting off on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. The route will take me from Middle River on the Chesapeake, up through the C&D canal, down the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, through the the Cape May canal to Cape May, and finally direct offshore from Cape May, NJ to Martha’s Vineyard. Theoretically. If I can get everything together in time. Fingers crossed.

The issue is that Godot (my Seafarer 24) is in need of some work. I’ve been feverishly working on getting my projects done in my frustratingly limited amount of free time. I’m getting close. LED nav lights are installed. My bow pulpit has been repaired. My mainsail is ready to be picked up. My replacement cockpit seat hatches are half built, and will hopefully be finished in a few easy evenings of work. My new anchor roller with my new Claw anchor is installed. My replacement fore-hatch is in need of paint; but otherwise pretty much ready to be bolted on. My replacement hatch-boards are done well enough. The projects should pretty much all be adequately ready to go by next Friday, mostly just needing paint to be finished. I can wait on the paint until I get back, I think.

Unfortunately, I still have one MAJOR problem. The stupid outboard motor won’t start. I hate motors. Hate them. But they are a necessary evil for getting in/out of marinas, and through various harbor entrances. I suppose I might be able to deal without having a motor for those times, although as a single hander now-a-days, it does make things rather tricky. But the one thing I absolutely can not do without a motor is transit the C&D canal. It simply isn’t permitted. To go around Delmarva the long way is simply not practical with the amount of vacation time I have. The motor is make or break.

I’m working Saturday; but I have Sunday and Monday off. Sunday is motor day. Here’s hoping I can figure out what the stupid beast is up to.

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Chesapeake Sailing, Sept 2011

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I just made it back from a nice little hike out on a nice little trail in Atlanta. Gotta get my training in where I can, after all. In any case, I was on the trail so naturally I was thinking about…sailing. Funny the way the mind works. It did occur to me that I never wrote up my two week little cruise from last September. Well, it’s too late now for any hope of an accurate write up; but I can throw some pictures up from the trip. The whole album is here, including a lot of so so photos, a bunch of which are geotagged if you are interested in checking them out on a map. The chronological order seemed to get screwed up. Below is a nice little selection…

My homebuilt Apple Pie Dinghy tows well

Penny The Cat Enjoying the evening after a long day’s sail

Tied up in Annapolis

Penny The Cat trying to find anyplace she can to grab a nap

The dinghy tows well

Debris from Hurricane Irene

Sailing Wing and Wing with my boat hook rigged up as a

poor man’s whisker pole

The Oxford Inn’s Pope’s Mobile

Anchored in Spa Creek Annapolis

Nicole keeping fit by hula hooping on a Bristol 27. Travis

and Nicole were on their way to the Dominican Republic.

Ego Alley early morning

The bridge I had to negotiate to get to my anchorage on

Spa Creek

You try telling a cat to not be wandering the deck while

under sail. Good luck.

There was a fair amount of shipping

Ashley aboard the Flicka “Sweet Pea”

Flicka “Sweet Pea”

At anchor in Dunn Cove

Oxford
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Hawaii or bust?

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I hate to make detailed plans about the Big Adventure too far in advance.  Far too many things could derail or detour the grand plans, and it just seems a little smarter to keep things simple until I know for certain what kind of circumstances I’ll be leaving with (meaning money, the condition of the boat, my health, world political issues, the zombie apocalypse, the worlds rotation suddenly reversing because of those pesky Mayan calendar makers, whatever).

BUT…

I had just had a thought. Every even numbered years the San Francisco Single Handed Sailing Society runs the Single Handed TransPac race, San Francisco to Hawaii. If I were to leave on the sailing portion of the Big Adventure at the end of 2014, I could spend a year and a half cruising to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, and north up the west coast of the Americas and could, maybe, make the late June start date of the 2016 race? Maybe?

OK, I’m probably stretching a bit here; but I’m allowed to dream. And, well, you never know…

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Joshua Slocum

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Been busy at work. Real busy. With all the beautiful weather we’ve been having, it seems that most of my days off are gray. Or I’ve worked overnight and need to sleep half the day away. The boat sits neglected, my housekeeping declines, and it is easy to enter a funk. But the Big Adventure plan still gnaws at me. In the meantime, I did find a very good documentary on Joshua Slocum on Youtube. If you’re the kind of person who knows who he is, it is worth a look.

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Updated Considerations for the next sailboat

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Blogs (or any journal/diary) can be like a time machine, taking a person back months or years. It can be real interesting looking at plans and such from a couple of years ago and match them up to reality. It can also be a shock to the system.

It’s been almost two years since I wrote Considerations for the next sailboat, and I’m a bit shocked and dismayed at how miserably I’ve missed my stated goals. All of them. Badly. Lots of things got in the way: divorce, economy, real estate market, etc… but I really thought I’d be further along rather than essentially in the same place. Well, the old plan didn’t work and a new (equally painful; but faster) plan is now in place. I have rethought some things.

First, I’m not so sure I’m going to be replacing my Seafarer 24 Godot (though I’m still thinking of renaming her). She’s small, cramped, a little homely looking. But she’s also paid off. I really would like to be taking off in a couple of years, and any money I spend on a new boat just delays further that trip.

That said, a new (to me) boat is still a possibility, especially given the current buyers market. My criteria has changed, though.

  • My desired length has shrunk… Figure 27-30′. This puts me back in sailfar territory, a place I probably belong.
  • Light air performance and shoal (under 5′ in this case) draft is still important as is reasonable seaworthiness.
  • Purchase price plus simple outfitting under $12,000 is desirable. Way under even better. I’ve read lots of promising advertisements; but I’m not sure what the reality is. If it costs much more than this, then I’d be better off staying with my current little boat. I do not want to delay departure too long paying for the damn thing!
  • Heat still matters. If I have to deal with a small electric space heater in the winter, I’ll deal with a small electric space heater. Electric heat ties me to the dock, of course; but when I’m ready to go I expect to be using the Latitude heater. That is, moving south. Fast.
  • Chart table? Bah. Who needs it.
  • Gimbaled stove? Oven? Whatever the boat has will be fine. I’ll use a small backpacking stove if I need to. Not a priority.
  • Screw the shower. I’ll shore-side it, sponge bath it, solar shower it, or figure something else out. Not a consideration.
  • A wet locker near the companionway would still be nice. Real nice. I don’t expect to find one on this size boat, though. Screw it. I’ll deal.
  • An enclosed head is necessary on a new boat. If I don’t get this little piece of comfort, there really is no point in changing from Godot. I’ll deal with what ever head system is installed. Or I’ll put in a composting toilet.
  • I still don’t care about electronics. They are nice, but I will happily buy a cheap handheld GPS and VHF if I need to. I still need 110v AC for running a heater, the laptop, and charging the batteries. I can handle installing that, though.
  • A dodger is probably the single biggest improvement I could make to any boat (either my current seafarer, or a theoretical future sailboat) for comfort. It’s on the list.
  • If I have to sleep in the main cabin, I’ll sleep in the main cabin. I no longer care if I have a separate sleeping compartment. I no longer care if there is a double bunk. I no longer care if there is a dinette.

Well, my selection criteria just got a LOT simpler. Shallow draft. Reasonable seaworthiness. An enclosed head. Cheap. Dodger. Surely I can find something that meets those needs. If not, I’ll go with what I have. Who needs the other junk.

Current favorites:

  • Bristol 27
  • Several of the 26-30′ Cals
  • Tartan 28
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Georgetown, Bahamas to Annapolis

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It’s official. I’m going sailing! I received an invite a few days ago to crew on a sailboat returning from the Bahamas to Annapolis in late December/January. This is an opportunity that just can NOT be turned down. Didn’t I say I was going to take opportunities and do things for me? I did. And I am.
The airline ticket is purchased, and I will be heading down on December 28th. The pain of being economical is that it will be a long day. Four flights. Happily, only one long layover (5hrs, 15mins). Still, I will need to be at the airport at four AM. This is after getting home from work around one or two AM. I think I’ll skip the nap as I might not wake up! I’ll be arriving in George Town (GGT) at 5:20pm, and hoping, seriously, that the boat will be there to meet me (I’m getting tired just thinking of the flight). No complaints, though. The pain of getting there is a small price to pay.
I guess I’m going to have a day or two in the Bahamas to get myself sorted out and maybe do the tourist thing a bit. Then, it is out to sea! The Skipper (Dave) expects it to be five to seven days of offshore sailing to get to Norfolk, VA, followed I guess by a day or two up the Chesapeake to get to Annapolis (I’m not sure how hard he is planning on pushing). I’ve taken off December 28th through January 15th just in case. Hopefully I won’t use all that vacation time; but if I do I can think of worse ways to spend it.
In any case, this trip will present a couple of challenges I suppose:
First, it is going to be my first long offshore sail. I’ve been out of sight of land once or twice; but not very far out of sight, and not for very long. The ocean behaves different out there, I’m told. Even though I usually don’t get seasick, I’m thinking that maybe I should take some Dramamine (or whatever the newest miracle sea sickness drug is) just in case. I hope there are some clear skies, as I’m really looking forward to star gazing far from the glow of city lights.
Second, it is going to be in January. If you haven’t checked a calendar lately I suppose you might not realize that January is winter. Winter equals cold. Well, maybe not in the Bahamas; but certainly as we get further north it will tend to get colder and colder. And while many think of Maryland as being “The South”, I’d like to point out that it isn’t the deep south, and it does get cold here. It snows, even. Brrrrrrr.
Still, I can’t wait. The countdown clock is ticking!!
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