Sailing with Nine of Cups

Vessel Name: Nine of Cups
Vessel Make/Model: Liberty 458
Hailing Port: Denver, Colorado, USA
Crew: Marcie & David
About: We've lived aboard Nine of Cups since 2000 and have managed to accumulate 86,000+ nm under the keel since that time. We completed a circumnavigation in April 2015 and managed to sail around the five great southern capes. Come along with us for the ride!
Extra:
Visit our website at www.nineofcups.com for more photos and info about Nine of Cups and her crew. We also have a more extensive blogsite at www.justalittlefurther.com. Are some of our links broken? Links break from time to time. Please let us know which ones are broken and we'll fix them. You [...]
05 January 2017 | Chesapeake, VA
07 July 2016 | Us: East Walpole, MA / Cups: Chesapeake, VA
06 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA
04 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA
02 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA
01 July 2016 | Virginia Beach, Virginia
30 June 2016 | Chesapeake, VA
29 June 2016 | Chesapeake, VA
28 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
27 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
26 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
25 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
24 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
23 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
22 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
21 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
20 June 2016 | Charleston, South Carolina, USA
19 June 2016 | Charleston, South Carolina, USA
18 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
17 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
Recent Blog Posts
05 January 2017 | Chesapeake, VA

Happy 2017!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

07 July 2016 | Us: East Walpole, MA / Cups: Chesapeake, VA

Taking a breather ...

Since we'll be off the boat during July and August, we plan to post only three times per week. The Captain will continue writing a practical Blue View post each week, we'll keep you up to date on what's happening with us and then throw in some cruising nuggets as well.

06 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA

Keeping fit

We’ve written before about keeping fit on the boat. David is so much better at a regimented exercise program than I am. I have all the best intentions, but I can always think of something better to do than sit-ups, push-ups, leg lifts and running in place. It doesn’t take much to distract me. Walking, [...]

04 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA

Happy 240th Birthday, America

Growing up in New England, I took for granted just how lovely a summer’s morning can be in Massachusetts. It’s comfortably cool and everything smells clean and fresh. Spider webs glisten with morning dew and it’s just great to be alive and breathe in the new day. Being back at Lin’s house conjures up wonderful childhood memories of summer mornings past. And this is not just any morning … it’s the 4th of July, the best holiday of the summertime in the USA.

02 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA

Leaving Cups and a Road Trip

Leaving Nine of Cups is never easy. We know she’ll pout while we’re gone and so we do our best to make sure she’s as comfortable as possible before we leave. We were whirling dervishes trying to get everything ready.

01 July 2016 | Virginia Beach, Virginia

Hunting & Gathering - Virginia Beach

We had lots to do before leaving Cups. David was intent on getting as many chores done in advance of our departure as possible so that once we return in September, we can spend time sailing in the Chesapeake rather than doing repairs and maintenance. Much of what we needed in the way of parts and supplies, [...]

Tasmania's Unpredictable Weather

02 February 2013 | Off Tasmania's East Coast
Marcie
The weather forecast for the last couple of days sounded something like this:
“A front moves over Tasmania today, followed by another and another and then a trough forms before another front moves through. Winds will be variable 5-50 knots from the North, South, East and West. Primary swell from the northeast at 3 meters; secondary swell from the southwest at 1.5 meters.” Three separate sources (who probably all rely on the same primary computer-generated source) disagreed as to what was supposed to happen. It made it kind of hard to decide where to go to anchor and when to head north. Our take on the GRIBs wasn't any better than what the forecasters were spouting. We ended up moving from Chinaman's Bay back to Spring Bay, Triabunna when strong W/SW winds were forecast, but actually strong north/northwest winds prevailed. We waited.

Finally, everyone agreed on 2-3 days of southeasterlies 10-15 kts increasing to 15-25 kts, then decreasing again. Sounded like a forecast we wanted to believe and after delaying another day to let the northerly swells subside, we gave a tot of rum to Neptune and began our trek north, expecting a fine downwind sail. Strong easterlies made for a brisk beam reach, but a stop at world-famous Wineglass Bay seemed inadvisable. We were disappointed, but we continued on.

We made good time up the coast. The switch to SE 15-25 kts presented itself sooner than we expected, but we were sailing downwind and that was no problem. The 35-40 knot SE winds, however, had us a little more concerned. We clocked a 56 knot gust and thought this was really a bit more than advertised. The trip was … boisterous. We like that word boisterous; it covers all sorts of conditions. It's comparable to exhilarating. This portion of the passage was like a downhill sleigh ride. The northern swells hadn't quite disappeared, but the SE swells built quickly. We'd surf down one wave and then hit a mogul of a northern swell. Below decks was absolute bedlam. Some things we thought were well stowed were flying in all directions, ending in a heap on the saloon sole.

The wind was ice cold. We were all bundled up in offshore foul weather gear, extra fleeces, sock, watch caps and still the sting of the cold made itself known. Salt water spray and then rain, made the night watch miserable. A grey dawn showed little relief from the swells and wind. It's funny, but describing the seas and even taking pictures, never quite do the sea justice. When it's angry and roiling around you, crashing and careening the boat from all sides, the strength of the it seems so amazing. The noise as the wind howls through the rigging is nearly deafening. Yet looking at photos after the fact, it looks like a normal day at sea.

David noted a broken sail slide on our reefed main around 10pm and we wrestled down the sail to find that two more sail slides had broken as well. We were relying on the jib alone, but it was doing just fine. Surprisingly, the autopilot was handling the seas and winds quite admirably. Though that didn't improve the bumpy ride, it was certainly better than manning the wheel as the waves broke and crashed around us.

We were heading to Lady Barron Port on Flinders Island in the Furneaux Group of island on the eastern end of the Bass Strait. Needless to say, it was a long, sleepless night. As we approached the entrance to Lady Barren Port, a narrow, shoal-lined passage, the southeast swells were rolling in. The tides were wrong and the rollers were stacking up. It just wasn't prudent to enter and we reluctantly passed on by.
Where to now? With continued S/SE winds, we figured we'd take advantage of the winds, turn northwest and head to Deal Island. A couple of dolphins swam past … this was the right decision.

Aeolus, god of the wind, heard us discussing our plans, however. The wind began clocking to the west almost immediately. It was 15 miles back to Lady Barron Port or we needed to find shelter somewhere in the many islands of the Furneaux Group.

Stay tuned. For pix, visit www.justalittlefurther.com
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