Rainy Hampton Roads

It was time to give up our nice free spot in Portsmouth to some other deserving cruiser. Unfortunately, we hadn't come up with a better plan so we really didn't have a destination in mind.  I looked around and found a small anchorage in Hampton that claimed to have free WiFi and a nearby dinghy dock.  This sounded like as good of a place as any to hang out for another night or so as we continue working on the plan for the next couple months.

An interesting replica ship we ran across at Hampton Roads

The past few days have been sunny and hot, but we awoke this morning to overcast skies.  It is interesting, but the last time I was here it was nice when I arrived and rainy when I was departing north.  In any case, we untie the lines and, after determining that the tugs playing around the battleship across the river were not going to be in our way, we departed.

Small Anchorage. Image from ActiveCaptain

It was a short trip down the Elizabeth river, across Hampton Roads, and up the Hampton River. When we got to the anchorage location, we found a very small area with a string of crab pots going through it.  Even though it was a nice location, we decided there just wasn't enough room for our catamaran. We decided the other options that were marked up in this river were likely not any better and decided to go to an anchorage we heard of near Fort Monroe.

Fort Monroe Anchorage - Image from ActiveCaptain

This anchorage sits between the Hampton Roads beltway and Fort Monroe so we didn't expect much quiet but it actually was.  It was also pretty well protected from north through east winds, but some waves seem to sneak in from the south.  Just after we dropped the anchor, the rains started.

Wall of Rain Approaching

It rained on and off for the next 3 days...mostly on.  But we were still able to launch the dinghy and take the dogs exploring at Fort Monroe.  This was the first time the dogs had been in the dinghy, and I'm not sure they enjoyed the ride.  Maybe they just hate the life jackets, I'm not sure.  They did enjoy getting off the boat and roaming around the fort.

Ft Monroe Lighthouse

Dogs exploring the fort with us

View of the Chesapeake from the fort

We were able to come up with a new plan as well.  We have decided to go to a marina here in Hampton Virginia for a little while so we can sort out our cars (and maybe get them sold), have family come visit, and get some work done.  Then we will make our way to a yard to get the last few bigger items done.  At least that is what we have scribbled in the sand for now.

Bellhaven and An Alligator That Eats Anchors

We didn't exactly get up early that morning in Bellhaven, but we did get some much needed rest. This day's trip would start with a long stretch of man-made ICW ditch known as the Alligator - Pungo canal. It is a few hours of very straight and wind less canal with only a single turn. After that is the Alligator river and Albemarle sound.

As we motored up the canal with the drone of one engine slowly depleting our diesel supplies, we listened to the weather reports. It sounded like the strong winds would be returning again in the afternoon.

The Albemarle isn't a place you want to be in strong winds as the shallow depths and long fetch can make for very rough conditions. The one automobile bridge that crosses the Alligator river won't even open in strong winds. Add in the fact we got a pretty late start and it was a sure bet that we would be anchoring out in the Alligator river this evening.  And that is exactly what we did.

I figured we might end up anchoring here and had scouted out several locations on both Active Captain and Skipper Bob's publications. What I found is that the river is known for a lot of submerged stuff that, as one site mentioned, could be hazardous to your anchor system. I guess some people drop anchor and then are never able to pull it back up. To try and avoid that issue, or at least help, I rigged up a trip line using a fender and some old dock line.

We checked out a couple different anchoring sites. With the large number of dead trees that surround much of the shore of the river, I can see why anchoring might be a bit hazardous to your anchor and chain. After a bit of debate, we finally decided on a location that was protected from the south-southeast winds but not from anything west...so I hope the winds don't shift. We dropped the hook and settled in for our first night together "on the hook".

I even managed to play with the remote feature on our new camera and got a picture of us at anchor.

And We're Off

For the first time since we bought the boat over a year ago, our entire household is on the boat. The house back in Colorado has sold and just about everything we own is floating in Hammock Beach. Or, it was anyway...

We have been rushing up against our insurance deadline to be north of Cape Hatteras by June 1 so we needed to start our move north.  Given the tight time frame, we can't really just meander up the coast as we would have liked, but instead need to make it a quicker trip.  The plan was to take the ICW up to St. Augustine, the next inlet, and then sail on the outside up to Southport NC.  The weather forecasts looked like it was going to cooperate for the trip, so on Sunday afternoon we departed.

The trip up the ICW went fast as we were riding the current out.  We left just after 3pm and made the 6pm opening of the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine.  While waiting for the bridge, a Gemini catamaran pulled up behind us, and it was no other than my friend (and former broker) Pete.  He was moving a newer Gemini Legacy to another local marina after it had been at a local boat show (as I've said before, maybe the hardest working man in the boating industry).  It was a nice surprise to see him as we were heading out.  He even managed to snap a few pictures of us.

Waiting on the Bridge of Lions...or pirates.

Pete following us through the bridge.

After making our way out of the inlet, we found the ocean was a little more active than forecast.  Instead of the 2 foot seas on an 8 second period and 15 knots of wind, we were greeted with 3 foot seas on about a 4 second period with winds of 23~26 knots. The one plus was that both the waves and the winds were from the south to southeast so it would feel more comfortable going northeast than any southerly direction. Not the ideal conditions for introducing my wife to a night passage, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

Unfortunately she did get a bit seasick that first night.  After taking some Bonine she started feeling better.  Over the course of the night the winds and waves did finally calm down. By 5am the seas were around 1 foot on a 6 second period and she was feeling good.

For my non-sailing readers...or those not familiar with the above numbers, the quick rule of thumb on sea state is that it is usually pretty comfortable when the wave height in feet is one-half (or less) the wave period in seconds.  As the ratio approaches 1:1, things start feeling pretty rough.  So, in general you would rather be sailing in 4 foot seas on a 12 second period than in 3 foot seas on a 3 second period.  Hope that makes a little sense.

Another sunrise on the Atlantic

That first morning we were also visited by our first pair of dolphins.  They were having fun playing in the pressure wave at the front of the boat.  Later on in the trip we were visited two more times by dolphins that came to play.  Of course, I think I run across photo-averse dolphins since each time I decide to go get a camera, they generally disappear.  Oh well, it is nice to see them and superstition claims their visits bring good luck...and we could certainly use that.

Along with the gentler seas the second day came more fickle winds, so we ended up doing a a combination of sailing and motor-sailing most of the day.  Winds cycling between 3 and 8 knots during the day.  By that evening the fickle winds had allowed the seas to calm to 1 foot on a 9 second period.  A good time for the wind to pick up a bit so we could sail...and it did.  Maybe it was the luck of the dolphins, but regardless of the reason I'll take it.  We were able to sail through the night on 8 to 14 knot winds, and by our second morning we were abeam Charleston, SC.

There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when sailing at night.  During the day, you can look in all directions and see nothing but the ocean for the entire day.  Once night falls, it seems that all the big cargo ships appear as if out of nowhere.  Maybe it has just been the timing of my passages that I seem to go by all the traffic lanes in and out of the major port cities during the night, but both my wife and I have noted that these large ships appear like The Flying Dutchman in the movies. In any case, trying to decipher the navigation lights from the myriad of deck lighting on these large ships can keep you entertained at night.

A rare daytime cargo ship sighting.

Well, there are things that need to get done today, so I will have to save the rest of the story for next time.  Until tomorrow...

Finally a Nice Day

Since arriving in Brunswick Georgia, the weather hasn't been all that cooperative. Lots of colder days and rain and wind...great for finding leaks on your boat, but not so good for getting any work done outside. Today it finally dried out and warmed up, so no more excuses, time to get some work done that has been on my list for a while.

First task was to wash the boat. There is still dirt, pine needles, and a few other things left over from Deltaville that really needed to go. So, around 10am it was warm enough to start playing with water outside. In addition to my biodegradable wash soap, I added a little bleach in hopes it would help cut through the "Deltaville stains" and started washing.

This is one time I definitely don't like owning a catamaran. All that interior space equates to a lot of exterior surface to wash...and wash...and wash. I scrubbed every nook and cranny on the deck of the boat and didn't finish until around 2:30pm.  4.5 hours to wash the deck...and while it looks better, it still needs more work to get rid of some of the stains that seem to have soaked deep into the gel coat. Once I get that resolved, then I need to wax. Guess it takes 2 to 3 days to thoroughly clean and wax our new home.

Since there was a little more daylight left, and I wasn't completely exhausted yet (ok, I was pretty tired after all that scrubbing), and since I had a couple people available to help, I decided to go up the mast and see what I could figure out about the nonfunctional anchor light. I gather up the supplies (screwdriver, pliers, multi-tester, wire brush, Scotchbrite pad, best guess at the bulbs that might be used, etc.) and get the chair and rig setup to go up the mast. And, naturally, while I was doing this, some bird decided my boat looked too clean and left his mark on my clean hull. I remember when I used to like birds.

I again used the block and tackle system that I borrowed from my boat neighbor Bill (more on this setup in this post). Unfortunately, this proved to be a mistake. The added blocks in the setup cost an additional foot or so of lifting ability. The result is that I was about a foot short of being able to reach the anchor light that sits at the very top of the mast. It wasn't a complete loss though, I did manage to get a picture of my first trip up to (almost) the top of the mast.

It was too late in the day to remove the block and tackle system and try again, so I guess I'll be heading back up there tomorrow...if the weather cooperates.

Fiddling Around

Work continues, slowly, on the boat.  A few days ago I decided to fix the other side of the arch since it seemed pretty obvious that a prior delamination repair attempt was poorly done.  So more epoxy has been applied and cured, some faring compound has been added and sanded, and if the weather holds tomorrow I'll probably apply the gel coat.  Given the mess I made spraying it last time, I think I'm going to try brush application this time.

While things were curing/drying, I decided to go up the mast to attempt to figure out what has happened to my deck light.  Last time I was in Brunswick I fixed a broken wire and on the trip up to Virginia it went out again.  When I was in Southport, I tried replacing the bulb and that is when I found that it wasn't the bulb but somewhere in between.  So, today I went up to see if I could figure out anything more.  The only thing I really figured out was that 12 volts was available at the connector below the mast but disappears before it reaches the bulb.  They must be magic electrons.

While setting up to go up the mast, I noticed some chafing on my spinnaker halyard line.  It appears to be rubbing excessively against the spreaders, so I found a new place to secure it when not in use that should alleviate the chafing.  But this got me thinking about replacing that line.

Unlike the other lines that I have replaced on the boat thus far, this line has an eye splice at the end for a shackle so you can easily attach the spinnaker.  Now I know one can order lines with splices, but I think knowing how to splice lines is a good skill for a sailor to know so I decided I should learn how to do it.

I consulted the oracle, and found some links to instructions and videos.  There are varying techniques, but they all follow the same basic process.

Of course, in order to splice line, you need the special needle-like tools called fids.  They are kind of like knitting needles except instead of the standard end they have a tapered cut and are hollow so they can be used a bit like a sewing needle.  Of course, I didn't have these handy little tools.  I tried using a partially deconstructed ball point pen, but that didn't work.  I was talking with Mark, one of my new friends at the dock, and he said he had a set and since they are "swallowing the anchor" he gave them to me.  Thanks Mark, I hope to put them to good use.

On a side note...if you are looking for a 50' mono-hull, their completely refitted '87 Gulfstar is an impressive boat.  Mark is a woodworker and engineer and the boat is gorgeous and systems seem to be immaculate...right down to the wiring behind the electrical panel that would put every boat maker to shame.  And for the James Bond in all of us, the dishwasher that pops out of the galley counter at the push of a button and the companionway steps that automatically raise to provide access to the immaculate engine room are just jaw dropping.

Anyway, this evening I decided to try a practice eye splice in some 1/4 inch double braid I had on the boat.  Figured I would see if I could manage it before I ordered new line for the spinnaker.  Armed with the couple Youtube videos I had watched and the instructions from Samson, I added an eye splice to the end of my line.  I think it turned out really well for a first attempt.  Seems to be a very solid splice even without the locking stitching that everyone seems to recommend.  What do you think...

I'm betting if I can do it with the 1/4 inch line, the larger line should be even easier to complete.

Getting Rid Of Our Stuff - The Estate Sale

As is usually the case, by the time I get to write about an event it has come and gone and so it is for our estate sale.  But let me take you back to the beginning of the process...

When I came back to Colorado to help wrap things up, one of the big items on the list was to sell all our stuff. Having lived in our home for about 18 years, we certainly managed to collect a lot of stuff (I guess George Carlin was right).  Looking around our house, and after dealing with my father-in-law's estate, we thought it might be a good idea to hire an estate sale company to come help us get rid of everything.  Yes, indeed, there is an entire industry devoted to getting rid of your stuff...wouldn't George be proud.

While looking for estate sale companies, we quickly found the EstateSales.net site and decided it might be a good idea to check out how some of the businesses run the sales.  So, one Saturday we found a few sales from the companies we were interested in and went to check them out.  Some were better than others, but the basic idea is that an estate sale is kind of like a garage sale, only on a larger scale and more organized.  They also seem to generate a lot more traffic than the usual garage sale.

We came up with a short list of the companies that we liked that seemed to be doing a professional and organized job and started giving them calls.  A few of them were not interested since we wanted to remain in the house during and after the sale (having to stay in a hotel for a week or two as the house was set up was not an option).  A couple others came over to the house to give us their pitch and look around at what we had for sale.  The estimates on how much they thought we could get out of our roughly 2000 square foot (186 square meter) home was between $7000 and $8000 U.S. This is where we found out that the companies would take 40% of the proceeds as payment.  Doing the math here...the fee for the sale would be around $3000.

Since I'm no longer employed, we thought it would be nice to keep that $3K ourselves to put toward the boat improvements.  I also found out that EstateSales.net and other estate sale advertisement companies allow private individuals to advertise sales on their sites and to their subscriber mailing list.  We pondered the potential loss we might have being less experienced in pricing for the sale.  In the end we decided it is unlikely we would be off by more than $1000 so we would do the sale ourselves.

We started digging through our stuff, throwing away the trash and cleaning up the stuff we wanted to sell.  We moved around furniture and started to set up our house and all our stuff for display.  We learned some tricks from the estate sales we attended like how to use a board and a couple small waste baskets to make a second shelf for your displays on folding tables. And we learned what the standard prices are for many smaller priced items like clothing, bedding, CD's and DVD's, flatware, stemware, and kitchen utensils.

We spent several weeks slowly going through stuff and separating it into:

• Stuff headed to the boat (the smallest group)
• Stuff headed to storage
• Stuff to sell
• Stuff to donate
• Recycling
• Garbage

You don't realize how much stuff you have acquired in almost 20 years until you try to go through and sell it all.  It didn't take too long until we realized we were going to need more tables.  This is where we also found out that renting banquet tables at the local rental places ran $10 a day per table.  That can get pretty expensive when you consider the amount of time needed to rent the tables (in addition to the 3 day sale, the set up and tear down time makes it a pretty long rental).  This is where having friends comes in handy.  I pleaded for help from a few friends and one had tables we could borrow for the sale.  Thanks Tom!

We planned on a little over a week to get everything set up and really turn our home into a showroom for all our stuff.  We set up the ad on EstateSales.net including a preliminary list of items, a few pictures, and our terms and conditions of the sale (Cash only, no moving labor provided, everything sold as-is/where-is, etc.).  Half way through the week, we realized we were not going to be anywhere near ready and ended up pushing the sale off by a week.

Not how our master bedroom usually looked

We continued to set up tables in our house, clean and collect like items together (it is recommended that you put similar items together and in the rooms they are used in as that makes for a more organized sale).  Kitchen appliances and cookware in the kitchen, dishes and decorations in the dining room, entertainment related stuff in the family room, etc.

Living Room or Showroom?

We bought some white corrugated plastic signs from the local quick sign shop and a really fat permanent marker and made signs for the sale.  To keep the signs easy to follow, they simply said "Estate Sale" in big letters and a big arrow indicating direction and in smaller print the hours of the sale (10am to 4pm for us).  When we used to go to garage sales, we found an arrow was far more useful than writing the address on the sign (who memorizes where every street in their part of town is) or a list of contents at the sale (usually too small to read as you are driving by).

After getting a lot of the stuff set up, we started going around and pricing items.  For cheaper stuff we generally took our best guess on prices.  For more expensive things or items we simply had no clue on, we checked retail prices as well as the sold prices of items on Ebay or similar sites.  The general rule of thumb we were using for pricing was to price items that were practically new at 1/3 of retail and reduce down to 1/10 of retail for more used items and a little below the bottom line Ebay price for items of a more collectible nature.

We had a few surprises on prices.  For instance, my wife had a Beatles White Album vinyl record and I had a hunch it might be worth a bit more than the $2/record standard price.  I checked and they can go from thousands of dollars down to a few dollars or so.  The pressing and condition of the one we had put it's price at $20~40.  I had purchased an electric bass guitar my senior year of high school and, as it turns out, the guitar is apparently pretty rare.  Ovation made the Celebrity BC-2 guitar and apparently it was a flop so the best information I can find says they only produced them for a single year.  I was having a hard time finding information on it and most of that was in forum threads that usually started by asking questions related to their existence or legitimacy.  I found one thread that indicated someone found a beat up one in a pawn shop, bought it for $100, and then sold it to a collector for $750. And the one I have is in near mint condition.

The day before the sale we were busy pricing items and still digging out more for sale.  We worked through the night to try and get everything ready.  Finally around 4am the morning of the sale my wife and I decided we should try to get at least a couple hours of sleep before the sale started.  So we pushed all the stuff that wasn't even close to being ready to sell into the closets and bathrooms, blocked them off and went to bed.

Were we ready for the sale....no.  Were there things out that were still unmarked...you bet.  But we were out of time and needed to push forward.  In one of my next posts, I'll cover how the first day of the sale went....it was definitely interesting.

Flying Boat to Land-based Home.

In the past few days, I've watched my boat become a land-based home.  In Deltaville, I had one of the local yards haul it for a couple reasons.  First, there have been a couple through-hulls that need attention and they are notoriously difficult to replace while in the water (you know, that whole water rushing in through a hole in the bottom of the boat thing).  I also planned to head back to Colorado to help my wife with purging our house and the other unnecessary belongings we had acquired as good little American consumers.  Since we needed to haul the boat anyway, might as well store it on the hard while I am gone.

The Travellift raising Rover from the water.

Hovering over land ready to pressure wash.

The haul out and blocking of the boat makes me a bit nervous.  Other than the brief haul-outs for surveys (I feel more experienced at that with 3 surveys under my belt), I've never hauled and blocked a boat for storage on land.  Of course, the owners manual has little useful information on the subject.  I looked through pictures online and made sure that the boat stands were positioned under bulkheads and that load is spread out as much as possible on the stands.

The past couple days I have lived on the boat while it sat out in the boatyard.  This is much less pleasant than sitting at anchor.  In the boatyard the scenery isn't quite as nice (although the Deltaville area is pretty, it just isn't the same as being surrounded by the sea). The worst part is the temperature though.  When we were at anchor, the boat would point into the wind and the airflow would keep the boat fairly cool without the need for air conditioning or fans.  In the yard, the surrounding trees prevent most of the breezes, and the few that do make it to the boat are from random angles that even make the breeze boosters useless.

And, since you are not sitting in the water and the A/C units require raw water to operate, that isn't an option.  Throw in the dust and dirt of the yard, and it just isn't the most comfortable way to live on a boat.  I'm not knocking the yard though, for as far as yards go, this one seems pretty nice.  The folks that work there are friendly and helpful and seem to know what they are doing (guess I'll know for sure after they've completed some work on my boat).  They do have a bathhouse and, although small with only a single shower, it is clean and nicer than some marinas I've stayed at.

It feels a bit weird leaving the boat on land.  It just looks so out of place.  And adding that this is the first time I've hauled and blocked a boat and the first time that I'll be leaving it for any extended period, I guess I'm a little nervous.  I've cleaned up, done laundry, thrown away all open food, defrosted the refrigerator, opened all cabinets so there is some airflow, setup a dehumidifier to help keep it reasonably dry, and the list continues. Hope I've done everything I need to do to keep her clean and safe until our return.

Rover sitting on land...just doesn't look right.

Of course, as I'm writing part of this I'm actually on board a plane heading back to Colorado.  Nothing goes to windward like a 747 (or in my case an A319) and Colorado is roughly windward of Virginia.  Interesting to think I was happy traveling along at 5 knots a few days ago and am now going closer to 500 knots. Of course Rover couldn't make it to Colorado so it really isn't a choice.

We arrive in Denver along with the usual summer evening thunderstorms.  In fact, after we landed we had to sit for about 45 minutes waiting for a gate.  Apparently lightning hit concourse A and knocked out all the communications with the gates.  This resulted in planes not being able to come and go on schedule.  The fun of commercial airline travel...wish I could sail to Colorado.

Dodge the Big Gray Iron Ships - Portsmouth to Chisman Creek Anchorage.

The weather was forecast to be better today, not great, but better and improving as the day went.  So, I decided it was time to move on.  We left the free dock in Portsmouth just a little before high tide (so we could get to the dock lines without getting our feet wet) and with gray skies greeting us.

Lots of Navy ships in Portsmouth/Norfolk.

There was other gray that greeted us as well, the gray of several U.S. Navy warships.  Shortly after leaving the dock, one of the ships came up from behind, backwards.  It didn't get that close and apparently found a place to turn around, because later, it passed us.  Actually, it was in the channel and passing a barge coming the other way in the channel and we, wisely, just moved off to the side and let them pass.  You can sure feel small when these ships pass by.

Navy Ship passing Barge.  Weather still wasn't great.

There is a causeway that goes into a tunnel north of Norfolk so ships can pass over the cars.  Just after getting through that part of the channel, we were passed by an aircraft carrier.  You really feel small when one of those giant floating airports pass by...even at a distance.

Aircraft Carrier with a 500 yard "protection zone" enforced around it.

Once we got away from Norfolk, there were no other encounters with the Navy.  We did hear on the radio that they were doing exercises in the area, I guess that explains all the ships that were out and about.

About the time we got on course, what little wind there was we found to be dead on our nose again.  So, we did a little sailing and a little motor sailing to make reasonable time.  At one point near the end of the day's travels the winds died down a bit and we flew the spinnaker again.  Still pretty sure I've used this sail more since I've had the boat than it has been used the entire rest of it's life.

We found a nice anchorage location courtesy of Active Captain and after a little debate about where to drop the hook, we anchored for the night.  The few times I've anchored out, I've had a hard time choosing an anchorage location.  Maybe I just try to be more considerate, but I try not to anchor right in front of a house on the shore or too close to where I think a lot of boat traffic may be (don't want to be inconvenient to others and certainly don't want to be run in to by another boater).  By the time we were ready to anchor, the clouds had all parted and it was a nice evening.  We grilled up some hamburgers on my Magma rail mounted grill and then were treated to a nice sunset.

Not a bad place to spend an evening.

This will be the first night I've spent at anchor on our boat. The anchor seems well set and the weather is calm now, so hopefully it will be an uneventful night.  One more day and we should be to our destination.

Bridges and Locks - Coinjock to Portsmouth

Since I'm fairly new to this whole cruising gig, I wasn't sure quite what to expect for this leg of our journey.  It was all ICW and it had a few new potential challenges.  I've only had limited experience with bridges, most of which have been on-demand and not scheduled openings and I've never dealt with a lock before.  But all of that was ahead of us on this leg of the journey, so I had planned on a fairly short 45nm hop from Coinjock to just south of Norfolk.

We left Coinjock around 8am and were once again motoring up "The Ditch" (ICW).  I think the local osprey have decided that the ICW channel markers are their own version of government subsidized housing.  It seemed that just about every mark had an osprey nest on it with an osprey protecting her eggs.

Osprey with chicks living on a marker.  They seem to prefer the red ones.

As we continued motoring, the chart showed a bend in the river, outside the ICW channel, with a bunch of marked shipwrecks.

8 shipwrecks on the chart.

And, indeed you could see some of them from the boat.  One does wonder how so many boats met their end in this little elbow of water.

Broken boats all in a row.

Around noon, we made it to the first of the bridges that we needed to have opened that open on a fixed schedule.  The North Landing swing bridge opens on every half hour, and so naturally we arrived just a few minutes too late to make the opening.  This ended up giving me plenty of practice at station-keeping while we waited for the bridge.  Fortunately the ICW doesn't have a strong current and so this is pretty easy in a catamaran.  In fact, we ended up having lunch while waiting for the bridge.  Once the bridge opened and we were on our way, we figured out that we wouldn't be able to make the next opening of the next bridge on our route, so we throttled back to a speed that got us to the next bridge about 5 minutes before the following opening.

After the first two bridges, next was the Great Bridge and Great Bridge Lock.  The bridge opens in sequence with the lock since they are only a few hundred feet apart.  We had to wait for a few minutes, but pretty soon the bridge opened.

The Great Bridge opening up to let us through.

We then made our way to the lock.  We deployed fenders, found our boat poles, and setup a bow and stern dock line so we could take a ride in the lock. When we motored into the lock, one of the lock operators looped our lines around a couple of the big bollards on the shore and threw them back to us.  The idea is to keep your boat parallel to the lock wall without quite touching while the water raises or lowers.  There was only one other boat in the lock with us, Goose, as you can see below.

The Great Bridge Lock.

I admit I was a little nervous about the lock since I had never done it before and had heard of people having issues when locking, but it really was no big deal.  I imagine I might think differently if this were the Panama Canal and I was surrounded by big ships.

We were making good enough time that we decided to see how far we could get and ended up making it to Norfolk and had to go through the Gilmerton bridge.  I guess we got lucky that a barge was coming through the other way as I've heard this bridge doesn't open, except by reservation, during rush hours.

Gilmerton Bridge.  120ft clearance...I think we'll fit.

Passing through Norfolk and Portsmouth, you can really see these are big ship towns including a naval yard.

Norfolk waterside industry.

Naval Ship Yard.

An aircraft carrier can sure make you feel small.

We ended up at one of the free town docks in Portsmouth.  They are right downtown and convenient walking distance to a number of restaurants and stores.  The only downsides are the lack of marina amenities (water, power, bathhouse) and the fact that the dock is awash at high tide, but it is definitely nice for the price.  I'd recommend it for a short stay if you are in the area.

Rover tied up at the north Portsmouth free dock.

After the day's excitement, we decided to have dinner at one of the local sports bars as a celebration of making it through all the bridges and locks and ending up at a nice place to spend the night (and not having to pay for marina dockage).  I hear the weather is supposed to turn bad tomorrow, so we might be here an extra day if it sounds rough to travel.  Guess we will see if the weather guessers are right.

Goodbye Brunswick, Hello....Southport

As I'm sure you are aware, I am trying to move my boat from Brunswick Georgia up to the Chesapeake bay area before the end of the month.  As the result of a recent post, I had a few people volunteer to help out.  One blog reader that contacted me said he had taken the ASA courses and had done some sailing but might be a bit rusty.  Since he was nearby and was willing to do the entire trip, it sounded like a good solution to moving the boat.

We met a few days before the planned trip and talked a little bit about the trip and the boat and everything seemed to go OK so we planned to have him come down last Wednesday and spend the night so we could get an early start Thursday and hopefully make Beaufort NC by Saturday.  The winds were forecast to be in the teens for our trip with seas of 1 to 2 feet on a four second period (for those that aren't aware, the comfort level of the ride has as much to do with the distance, or period, between waves as it does the height of the waves...and the closer the period in seconds comes to the wave height in feet, the more uncomfortable the ride is supposed to be).

We get up and make our way to the fuel dock at the marina to get fuel and a pump out before departing.  While I had arranged to get fuel when they opened in the morning, apparently someone came the night before and bought all of the fuel they had so we had to go to another marina to get fuel for the trip.  This put us a bit behind on our ambitious schedule to make it to Beaufort by Saturday.

We headed out the inlet and into the Atlantic, raised the sails, and started heading north/northeast.  The wind wasn't as high as forecast initially, so we started out motor-sailing (using both an engine and the sails to power the boat).  After a little while the winds picked up to around 12 knots and we were able to shut down the engine.  Finally, really sailing, with no motors, toward a new destination.  It felt good.

Yes, this IS a sailboat.

The weather was great, the sea was comfortable and we were making between 5 and 6 knots.  Speed of just a little under half the wind speed seemed pretty good to me.  At one point I discovered a stow away on board, I have a feeling he will be surprised when we get to our destination....if he survives the trip and gets off the boat at that point.  At one point I felt a little bad for him and offered him a little fresh water but he didn't seem interested.  Don't know how long he can survive without food, but I hope he knows what he got himself into.

My little stow away.

As the sun set, the sailing conditions remained very nice, with one foot seas and winds from the east/southeast between 10 and 12 knots.  This gave us a nice beam to broad reach sail.  For safety overnight we reefed the main sail and that reduced our speed to between 4 and 5 knots. A little after sunset we were off the coast of Savannah, Georgia.  Savannah is a pretty large port and there were a number of large cargo and container ships moving about in the area.  I periodically fired up the radar to check for vessels in the area and we kept a look out for them.  Since it was a nice clear night, we were able to see and avoid (although I don't actually recall having to alter course...but perhaps we did).

Sunrise from the helm.

We took 4 hour watches overnight and it was uneventful.  The water rushing past the hull with only the occasional need to fire up an engine or the generator to recharge the batteries (I'd run the generator if I needed AC power for other things...like cheating and using the microwave, otherwise I would use an engine so we could get a few more knots for a little while).  As morning approached, the winds died down and so the "iron genny" (the motor) was started again so we could maintain a 5~6 knot speed.  During my morning watch there was a small pod of dolphin (I think I saw 6 or so jumping out of the water) heading directly for the boat.  I thought they might be coming to play at the bow as they often do so I went to get my camera.  Of course, when I got back out with the camera, they were nowhere to be found.  Oh well.  It was cool to see them.

Track of the first half of the trip

We passed by Charleston around 8 AM and continued motoring most of the day.  In fact, the wind was light enough from behind us that I couldn't keep the sails filled when motoring so I doused the sails entirely. Doing some calculations on where we were, I decided we weren't likely to make it all the way to Beaufort before sunset on Saturday, so I decided we would divert to Southport, NC.  Finally in the afternoon, the winds started picking up and we were able to raise the sails and once again shut down the engines.  By sunset we were in Long Bay and about 45nm from Southport.

Sunset.  There is land over there somewhere.

Naturally, the winds picked up a bit overnight and even with reefed sails we made it to Southport at about 4am.  Since I didn't want to navigate the channel at night and no marinas would be open anyway, I decided to heave-to and wait for daylight and the local marinas to open.  After sunrise we made our way into the channel and, after a little additional waiting, got a hold of the marina and we were back on a dock.

Track of the second half of the trip.

I wish I could say that everything went well on the trip, and as for the sail itself it did.  Unfortunately I made some decisions that led to quite a bit of frustration.  With the fuel fiasco and the added delay, I skipped doing a few maneuvers that I had planned before we headed off.  Had I stuck to the plan I think I would have realized earlier that my crew was more than just "a little rusty".  I'm no sailing instructor, but perhaps if I had better understood his lack of basic sailing skills I could have compensated before the frustration set in.  We ended up parting company in Southport and I shuttled him back to get his car and to pick up mine.

I learned quite a bit on this trip.  For one, I need to do a little better job evaluating crew skills before setting off on a trip.  I learned that, while it is easier to have a hand, I can single-hand the boat if I need to.  I learned the grace of a dolphin swimming through the ocean in the morning.  I learned the peacefulness of watching the sun rise over the ocean when no land is in sight.  I learned that I really need to get my wife out here with me soon.

P.S. If you are in the Southport, NC. area (or somewhere else) and would like to go sailing and help me move the boat, let me know.  You don't need to be an expert, just have some desire...and an honest evaluation of your skills so I can set proper expectations. And don't be offended if I quiz you on a few things so I get an accurate assessment.

P.P.S. If you are concerned with our stowaway...despite his occasional precarious perch (at one point I found him on the foot of the genoa when I unfurled it) and lack of food, I did see him roaming the boat after we made it back to dock.  So, he survived the trip too.  Hope he likes North Carolina.

Not The Way We Wanted To Arrive In Brunswick

After spending the night at Palm Cove Marina in Jacksonville Beach, we get an early start so we can make it the rest of the way to Brunswick.  The wind is again on our nose, expected to clock around to the northeast in the afternoon...so we might as well just continue motoring up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). This time was different though, for the first time there will be no captain or instructor or other help, just my wife and I and our Leopard 38. I know I am ready and my wife was too.

We cast off lines, depart the dock, and motor down the narrow channel back to the ICW and we were soon making our way north in the crisp morning air.  The clouds from the previous day were long gone and it looked like it was going to be a better day than the previous one.

Ironically, this part of the trip does provide a little more of a navigation challenge than the previous day, but we got good briefings on the route from the captain as well as my friend and former broker Pete, so we figured we were in pretty good shape.  It is always good to have local knowledge and on this section it would definitely help keep us out of trouble.

Turbulent Atlantic Avenue bridge in the distance.

The ICW is in a pretty wide river through Jacksonville, but there is one area where the most of the flow squeezes under a causeway bridge.  This was the first challenging spot on which we were briefed. Going under this bridge can be a bit tricky if there is much flow...and of course we were fighting the current a bit when we got there.  The boat speed dropped from 7 to 4 knots as we made our way under the bridge and steering became a bit squirrely. I'm glad I was warned about this and the passage under the bridge, other than slow, was uneventful.

Soon the ICW opened up into the St. Johns river and my wife and I were looking at a naval shipyard that had some large military vessel in dock.  We were admiring the ship while allowing a wide berth to anything military (seems like a prudent idea) when it donned on me that we were briefed about this as well.  Sure enough, I check the chart and the shipyard was where we needed to make a turn in order to stay on the ICW.  Glad I caught that before we motored for a half an hour in the wrong direction.  Of course, just after the turn there is also a bascule bridge (fancy term for a draw bridge) that we needed to open (unlike some motorboats, our 59 foot mast doesn't fit under these so well).

Marina at Fernandina Beach

In the confusion of getting back on course, I forgot to check the name of the bridge...but wanting to get a call in sooner rather than later I took a guess and haled the bridge using the name of the street I found on the chart. Now I've heard stories of bridge tenders that won't respond unless you hail them with exactly the right bridge name on exactly the right channel.  Perhaps it was the entertainment of my abrupt U turn or maybe this tender is just nicer than some, but fortunately for me he was more forgiving and simply responded with the correct name.  I requested the next bridge opening and he told me to continue my approach (I knew that the bridge was on-demand and figured this would be the response, but I've also been told to be as nice as possible to the bridge tenders because they can easily make your life difficult...and besides there really isn't any reason not to be pleasant to someone providing you a service).  As soon as we cleared the bridge I radioed back that we were clear, thanked him, and wished him a nice day.

Just like stacking dominoes...only bigger.

The next point that we were briefed on is the submarine base at Kings Bay.  The ICW comes right up along side this restricted area and you need to make very sure that you turn when you are supposed to, or I imagine you will have some explaining to do to with some people that have big guns and no sense of humor. You also cannot cut the corner here because, while the river seems wide, it is very shallow outside the channel markers.

As we motor up the inlet toward the base we seem to once again be fighting the current (the joke about the wind and current always coming from the direction you want to go in a sailboat seems to be holding true) and we were making between 4 and 5 knots again.  I move over to the edge of the channel in hopes that the shallower water might reduce the currents effects a bit and we did pick up maybe half a knot...better than nothing.  We come up to the base and I see warning signs and a patrol boat sitting at the entrance.  I keep a watchful eye for the ICW markers and make our turn right when we are supposed to.  So no conversations with grumpy military officials for us that day. And sorry, no pictures were taken in the area either.

Once we turned onto the ICW, the depth dropped from the 30 or 40 ft. we were seeing back to the 8 to 12 that is more typical of the ICW.  Even thought we were still fighting a bit of a current, our speed did pick up some as well.  We continued motoring up the ICW, meandering through the countryside and enjoying the sun and scenery that floated by.  I did wonder if we made the right decision going up the ICW since it wanders around a bit in northern Florida and Southern Georgia.  Probably best for us newbies to just enjoy the wandering up the ICW though...even if it does take a bit longer.

Eventually the wandering did get the best of me and I noticed that ahead in the Saint Andrew Sound, a little south of Jekyll island, we were going to be close to the ocean in a rather wide sound. The wind was going to be coming close to setting us up for a nice beam reach through the sound.  So, as we got to that area, we pointed the boat into the wind for a minute and raised the sails.  The wind was blowing over 20 knots so we did reef both the main and the genoa.  We turned back on course, trimmed the sails and pulled the engines to idle.  Finally...we were a sailboat...well, almost.  Since we didn't have a long time to sail, I figured it was best to just keep the engines running at idle instead of shutting them down and restarting them a few minutes later.  So, technically with the engines running (even in idle) we were still a motorboat, but we were sailing...and with the reefed sails we were making the same speed we had been with the engines engaged.  It felt good!

The 15 or so minutes seemed to pass by very quickly and we were soon at the point where we needed to turn into the narrow and shallow ICW channel behind Jekyll island.  Oh well...at least we finally got to sail our sailboat...and that was great.  We furl the genoa, engage the engines again and turn into the wind and drop the main.  Back to full motorboat mode again.  We throttle the engines up and with my wife at the helm I was forward to secure the main sail, halyard, and reefing lines.

As I return to the cockpit my heart sank.  I notice what appears to be steam or smoke coming from the starboard engine room hatch and that faint smell of hot metal from an engine overheating.  I quickly check the engine temperature gauge and find it pegged in the red even though engine alarm had not gone off.  My wife, still being very new to the boat simply didn't notice difference and since she was looking forward, she did not see the steam and (probably thanks to her encounter with Zicam) didn't pick up on the hot engine smell.  So, I quickly shut the engine down, grab a fire extinguisher, and go check the engine hatch.  It does seem like steam and not smoke so I slowly open the hatch.  Steam billows out of the engine room...but fortunately there is no fire.

If there is one thing I learned in aviation, it is that redundancy is a good thing.  One of the advantages of a catamaran is that it has two engines and in our cat one engine can push it along at a pretty respectable speed (at least 3/4 of full speed with both engines).  So, we continue to make our way along the ICW on our port engine while we try and figure out what to do. We are perfectly safe at the moment, but you see, this new captain is pretty sure he will have a problem trying to dock on a single engine in a crowded marina.  I've gotten pretty good at maneuvering with the two engines...but this was a bit much to ask of myself.

Not the way you want to arrive at a marina.

We decided to avail ourselves of the services of our newly acquired SeaTow membership (think AAA of the ocean) and get towed in to the dock. They get us into our slip and we get the boat tied up.  I'm sure glad I bought that membership, the "free" tow would have otherwise cost us $600.  I also have to thank the folks at Brunswick Landing marina, even though we got there late, they stayed and helped us get tied up and give us the key cards to the clubhouse/bathhouse before they left for the evening.

Rover sitting quietly in her slip as the sun set.

With all the steam in the engine room we weren't able to assess the situation with the engine even after we arrived.  The next day we rent a car in order to go shuttle my car from Palm Coast to Brunswick and then hopped on a plane back to Denver.  So, assessing the engine will have to wait until I return in a week. This certainly wasn't the way I wanted to end our first trip in Rover just the two of us, but it seemed like the prudent thing to do.