05/26/2010, Baltimore--on the hard
My first single handed sail started out a little stupid. I got Options perfectly angled and backing out of the slip only to get jerked around and discover the bow line still attached to the dock! A dock hand came and helped me off. From there, things went well. I motored most of the day to Baltimore with the wind on the nose. Around 6 pm, I finally had a little angle to the wind, so I raised sails and watched the wind die down from 11 knots to 5 knots within half an hour. When my speed dropped to below 3 knots, I went back to the motors to get anchored before dark.
I got hauled out with no problems. What little wind there was shifted to right on the nose--perfect for driving into the travel lift channel! I inspected the new rudders and they were noticeably heftier than the old ones. One of the old rudders was bent about 5 degrees. The new rudders have the rudder post moved forward about 2 inches, with only about 3 inches of rudder in front of the post and maybe 15 inches behind the post. Looking at the old rudders, there seemed to be more than enough surface area behind the post to make them return to center when moving forward, but maybe "lift" puts more pressure on the front of the rudder. That would seem to make sense.
Bad news: They shipped new bearings to match the new, slightly thicker rudder stocks. Only problem was the bearings fit the old rudders, but not the new rudders. So I arranged to have the new bearings sent to a machine shop to core out about 1/16" of an inch, while praying they could do it quickly enough that I could get back in the water Wed. afternoon in time to make my flight on Thursday.
Good news: Before taking the new rudders and new bearings to the machine shop, Chris (the mechanic) decided, what the hell, let's see if the new rudders fit the old bearings. They fit like a glove! (The rudders fit--no need to quit!) They were nice and snug, but rotated easily. So the old bearings were a match for the new rudders. Makes me wonder if Admiral decided to save some money at the last minute when building the boat and substituted cheaper rudder stocks. Or maybe they just screwed up and used the wrong bearings. The larger-than-required bearings explain the "rudder shudder" we've had when sailing through cross currents or turning sharply.
Got the rudders aligned with a very slight blip: Dead center is now with the Turks Head knot (thank you Chris the sailor!) 1" to stbd of center. That means the autopilot is also 1-2 degrees off. Actually, I think I adjusted the autopilot last summer to compensate for a 2 degree error, so that may be good. Still, it seems the wind angles for a close reach are slightly different on port vs. stbd. But that's why you have sailors.
It was a beautiful warm afternoon leading into an equally delightful evening, so I caught a cab to Camden Yards and watched the Orioles battle the Oakland A's. It was a tight game until the last few innings. It was great to take it the fabulous ballpark with attractive prices (compared to Busch stadium) on such a nice evening. And I had a seat only 40 feet from third base!
I even enjoyed the guys from New Jersey who were heckling the A's third baseman in a humorous way. They yelled 'Koooos" every time Kousamanoff did anything, including walking onto the field. They also had some organized cheers (i.e., perfect synchronization to the millisecond among the three of them) that made no sense to me, but everyone had a good time.
I can't believe this is my first blog update in over 7 months. I will try to be better. Yeah I know, "There is no try. Do or do not."
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10/18/2009, Tracey's Landing to Portsmouth, VA
It was a cold, rainy and windy day. And night. And another day and night. And yet another. We had planned this trip a couple of months ago to chase the changing fall colors. Unfortunately, about the only color we observed was gray. And the only temperatures have been cold and really damp. Add to that our generator has not been working, so we have no heat. Brooke is NOT happy.
On the upside, there have been no fall colors to distract us from our main entertainment of trying not to freeze! See, there is always a positive. This morning I (Brooke) first put on a pair of wind blocking knit pants, then a long sleeve t-shirt, then a second long sleeve t-shirt, then a hooded zippered fleece, then my foul weather over-alls (made from some sort of yellow and blue wind and water proof fabric) then another fleece, then my foul weather coat which goes to my knees and is made from the same yellow and blue fabric, and finally, my neoprene sailing gloves. For those of you mathematicians in the group that is at least six layers! And I was still cold. Plus, I looked like a cross between someone in full CDC protective gear and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. That's it for now. I have to go to the bathroom, which is a half hour project.
By the time we got to the dock in Portsmouth, VA, we had become somewhat conditioned to the cold weather. As I (David) rushed about the boat dropping sails, attaching fenders and dock lines, I had to peel off layer after layer and was still sweating! Once we were hooked up to shore power with the heaters humming, I came inside to a veritable sauna: It was 56 degrees and I had to strip down to shirtsleeves I was so warm. By Sunday morning, the cold conditioning is starting to fade and I'm now thinking it needs to be in the 60s to be comfortable in shirtsleeves.
While the weather was frightful on this segment of the cruise, the sailing was delightful. We had strong winds at our backs the whole way. The winds ranged from 15 knots up to 23: small craft warnings were in effect. For one two-hour stretch, we were sailing wing-and-wing with the mainsail out to one side and the jib out to the other side. Between the 20+ knot wind and the following seas (that is, waves that were pushing us forward), we were averaging about 9 knots with a max of 13 in a boat whose speed normally tops out around 8 knots. I (David) had a lot of doubly cool (i.e., cold and fun) hours at the helm on this journey south.
Here it is Sunday morning and I have been looking forward to a chance to go for a healthy jog. With wind chills in the low 40s and no cold weather jogging gear, I am probably going to wimp out. Maybe this afternoon when it warms up to the mid-40s.
Our friend Tim arrives this afternoon. I thought we might set out before dawn to get through the bridges before they are locked down for rush hour, but it turns out we need parts to fix the generator and one of our heaters, so tomorrow will be a short sailing day but with a new experience: Options will be raised above sea level through a lock into the Dismal Swamp Canal. Due to our late start, we will have to wait until Tuesday morning to reverse the process and return to sea level. Best of all, the forecast is for SUN tomorrow. That will be glorious. We have not seen the sun since a week ago Saturday.
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10/18/2009, Chesapeake Bay
I think we all had our trepidations: Seven guys for four days packed into a small boat that comfortably accommodates two couples or three guys with its three cabins and two heads. We thought we would sleep one in each cabin, one on each of the two big pads in the cockpit and one on each of the trampolines on the front of the boat. When the dew set in the first night, Jim and Karl moved from the tramps into the main cabin, Karl on the galley floor (with a pad) and Jim on the couch. Doug and Phil stayed mostly dry in the cockpit with its 360 degree wraparound canvas screens up. All four of those guys had high-tech sleeping bags that kept them warm as the temps hit lows in the 50s. In the three cabins, Scott, Dave R., and myself had to dig out blankets and bedspreads to stay warm. Options is meant to be a warm weather boat: Its "walls" are ½" fiberglass which means the temperature inside is just a few degrees warmer than the temperature outside.
After surviving the first night (Friday), we enjoyed a leisurely morning while Jim and Karl shopped for provisions. We headed out in the late morning for the best sailing of the trip on our way to St. Michael's. The sun was shining and wind was blowing nicely! While a little chilly, most enjoyed the sail from the vantage point of the foredeck with its all-around view. That turned out to be our favorite place while underway, sometimes with all seven of us up there, with Otto, of course, in charge of the steering.
Saturday night started with a couple of rounds of homemade Painkillers. From there we meandered to the Crab Claw restaurant where we had a long outdoor picnic tables (see the cover shot for this blog), some "pound and eat" whole dead crabs for the more adventurous among us, and too much fried food and pitchers of beer all around. Sometime later on the boat that night, I was aghast to discover that five of us had finished off the 1.75 liter bottle of rum I had opened earlier for the Painkillers.
The next morning, most of us felt like the s-word, maybe worse. We trudged off in search of a diner that had delighted us some years ago. Back then, Jim had asked the waitress how the food was there. She dissolved us into laughter when she replied "It's nasty as s**t!" That line became the theme of that trip and the answer to every question. Things had changed over the years. I think we found what used to be the "Nasty as s**t" diner but decided to go across the street to a nicer place that seemed to have a shorter wait. We eventually got our food there, but it was not memorable.
Someone had the great idea to go back to Options' slip at Herrington Harbor North for Sunday night. Free slip, nice harbor, plenty of restaurants in the area--what's not to like? We picked a restaurant across the water from Options on Deale Island and then attacked it simultaneously by land and by sea. (We only had one car, so three of us took the dinghy.) That worked well after dinner: After a short time in the bar, four of us were ready to retire, so the three hardier souls sailed the dinghy back to the boat a little later.
Our final sojourn was to Annapolis, the capitol of Maryland and the Mecca of U.S. sailing. We hit a snag on the way out of HHN when Options strayed a little out of the channel and ran aground. Dave R. had the great idea to gather everyone on the forward port side of the boat to shift the weight and that broke us free. We stayed at Eastport Yacht Center where I had a great challenge backing the boat into the slip while contending with tide and wind and traffic. From there we walked to Happy Hour and dinner.
The next morning, Jim, Karl and I were up early and went for a morning constitutional that included coffee at Starbuck's followed by a self-guided walking tour of the US Naval Academy, with midshipmen rushing off to class and great architecture. When we returned to the boat, we faced a mutiny: Dave, Doug, Phil and Scott had organized an escape to catch an earlier flight. We dropped them off at Pusser's dock after doing a boat stroll down Ego Alley and back out again to many oohs and aahs. Jim, Karl and I sailed Options back to her slip that afternoon. We said our goodbyes when they dropped me off at Avis on their way to the airport. So ended what all agreed was the best guys' sailing outing so far.
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10/17/2009, NYC to the Chesapeake
Here it is: The long awaited next blog entry! It's been a busy two months. Back on the boat now and posting some memories from the last two months. First up, the recently declassified sail from NYC back to Options' slip in the Chesapeake:
When I last updated the blog, we were headed for NYC to drop Brooke off at the airport and pick up my buddies Max and Howard. I got some good pics of airplanes landing as Brooke and I sailed past LaGuardia. After a great pizza meal and a short night's sleep, the three adventurers were up before dawn on Friday for the trip down the coast. On the way out of New York harbor, we dodged ferries and even a cruise ship that appeared from out of nowhere. I think it was using a cloaking device. We were concerned about Tropical Storm Danny and, between sailing and motoring, kept the boat near its top speed in order to avoid it. We ducked into Delaware Bay shortly after midnight, just missing Danny by--wait a minute, Danny never showed! A typical news story these days: Lots of concern and warnings, all about nothing.
By 9:15 a.m. Saturday, we were tied up to the dock in Chesapeake City near the end of the Chesapeake / Delaware canal. We had a relaxing day walking around the town, hanging around the boat and enjoying the restaurant/bar there. Apparently, it is the only happening bar for many miles around. It was packed with people from early Saturday evening on, and the partying was still going at 3:30 and 4:30 when certain undisclosed crew members visited the head. One guy in particular was amazing: He was drinking beer next to his boat when we got there Saturday morning. He had a beer every time we saw him on during the day Saturday and Saturday night, as we went to and from Options. And he was still drinking when we cast off Sunday morning. Talk about the last man standing!
Max brought a new dimension to Options--fishing! He caught two scary-looking Spanish mackerel off the coast of New Jersey. It took him seconds of trolling, literally, to catch each. The first one made a bloody mess before we could release it. We released the second one too--they were all teeth and no meat. In the Chesapeake, fishing was harder as Options was going too fast for trolling there. I guess ocean fish are faster or hungrier.
Sunday night we moored in Annapolis and did ourselves some damage with two rounds of #3 Painskillers at Pusser's before dinner at Middleton's. The highlight was right after we moored--a tour boat full of girls in bikinis (bachelorette party?) did a circle around the harbor and, as they passed Options, one of them did a pole dance for us in the tour boat's aptly-named cockpit. We, of course, couldn't have been less interested.
Next up: Seven wild and crazy guys cram onto Options for a 4-day weekend Chesapeake cruise.
David
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08/20/2009, Nan, Martha's and Cuttyhunk
Sunday morning, August 16, after a good jog, we were off to Nantucket to see "the Man." No, not Stan the Man. You know--the Man from Nantucket. I have been forbidden to share with you any of the poetry related to the Man, but you can Google "The Man from Nantucket" and get offended on your own initiative.
After a slow start with some uncooperative wind, we wound up blasting along the last two hours. It was a boisterous, fun sail. I took a shortcut over some shallows that were supposed to be at least 8 feet deep. As we approached the first shallow area, you could see waves breaking! Our depth gauge got down to 7 feet (we only need 4 feet to squeak by). The next shallow area had no waves breaking, but the charts were all wrong--it was shallow where it was supposed to be deep and vice versa! On the way back from Nantucket, we stayed in the more established sea lanes.
Our impression of Nantucket was mixed. It is such a popular destination that about half of the locals have gotten spoiled and have picked up some bad habits (or maybe always had them). Customer service ? Ha! How about customer abuse? We sensed they were thinking "Who needs customers, we have too many of them anyway. And they create extra work for us. What a bother!" Not to stereotype the whole place, we found an equal number of very nice people who were pleasant and eager to help.
On Sunday afternoon, we rented a scooter-for-two and took off for Sconset on the east coast of Nantucket at the advice of the rental guy. Who knew we were transiting the island's major thoroughfare where SUVs and occasional cars went upwards of 50 mph? The only problem was that our tourist-special scooter had a top speed of 25 mph, so everyone was either zooming by us into oncoming traffic (there are some really impatient people on Nantucket!) or queuing up behind us. When I saw more than a few vehicles behind us, I would nicely pull over and let them zoom by. At Sconset, we bought a Diet Coke (yes, we live an extravagant life) and walked down to the beach. We took a different road back that had much less traffic and enjoyed the ride much more.
The highlight of our Nantucket stay was our friend Jim Sivert's fly-in from New Hampshire on Monday morning. After a nice breakfast downtown, we took off in Jim's airplane along the south coast of Nantucket, did a circle around Martha's Vineyard and then back around the north coast of Nantucket. While it was a little hazy, I got some spectacular photos. It was absolutely stunning looking down on the islands! I will be adding a bunch of photos to the blog's photo gallery, so take a look. My only regret was not flying back to New Hampshire with Jim. When he landed, Jimmy Buffett was there doing a pre-flight check on his sea plane! Jim sent me a photo of Jimmy and his plane which is the cover shot for this blog entry.
After two nights in Nantucket and no encounters with "The Man," we sailed off to Edgartown in Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday afternoon. The Obamas had been pleading with us to stay until the weekend when they arrive, but we had to move on. In our 20 hours there, Brooke barely had time to get a taste of Martha's Vineyard. We were off at noon on Wednesday for a popular little harbor called Cuttyhunk, about halfway back to Newport. It lies at the end of a chain of islands opposite the west coast of MV. I had been expecting to have to motor the entire way but by the time we came around the top of MV, we had 15 knots of wind on the nose but 3 knots of current in our favor. The combination allowed us to sail like the wind, averaging over 8 knots!
"Options" is one of the few catamarans up here in the far north, among a sea of monohulls. In Cuttyhunk, we found ourselves in the most closely packed grid of moorings we have ever seen. There were boats no more than 20 feet away on every side of us! The grid was designed with monohulls in mind, so it was tight getting our 24-foot wide butt in and out. While barbequeing the chicken for dinner, I got into a fight with the BBQ grill which was thoughtlessly scattering ashes all over the just-cleaned cockpit. Heated words were exchanged, but there was no physical violence.
Thursday morning dawned a little misty in Cuttyhunk, but the rising sun was clear enough. As soon as we left the harbor, we were encapsulated in thick fog that lasted most of the way to Newport. Being a Thursday, there were only a few power boat nuts running wild. We did have a little scare from a 97-footer coming at us at 17.5 knots. We turned hard and New Moon II veered slightly. Due to the thick fog, we never did see NM II, but we sure felt her wake. How do we know these things about a boat we never saw? The miracle of AIS--Automatic Information System--which gives us info on nearby boats equipped with an AIS transponder--mandatory for all large commercial vessels and now available for all vessels.
We'll be in Newport soon. We are down to our last week of cruising New England. This time next week, Brooke flies home to StL and a couple of good friends fly into NYC to join me for a fast guys cruise back to Options' slip in the Chesapeake Bay.
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08/20/2009, Provincetown to Falmouth, MA
The normal concept of cruising around in a sailboat is to sail about 10% of the time. You sail from point A to point B only after you get bored with point A. Somehow we bought the wrong ticket. We are on the tour that goes something like "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium." We were actually doing OK there for a while: 3 nights in Boston followed by three nights in Provincetown. Then we decided to cram all we would into the remaining two weeks. Here's what we've been up to since the last blog entry for Boston and P-town.
Last Saturday morning, August 15, I was worried about going through the Cape Cod Canal before the current turned against us, so I got up at 5:30 in the morning and had us motoring from P-town to the CCC by 5:45. I got some good photos of the rising sun, one of which is the cover shot for this blog. We were to the canal in 3 hours, in time to catch some favorable current, got through the canal in about an hour and into the Woods Hole passage-from-hell by noon.
Sailors make jokes about the wind always being on your nose. My favorite is "the wind indicator is the most valuable gadget on the boat--it always shows you where you want to go!" As our course twisted and turned through the Cape Cod Canal, I couldn't believe how the wind kept shifting to stay on our nose, no matter whether we were heading south, southwest, west or northwest. I finally figured out the wind must have been channeling down the canal with its steep sides lined by tall trees.
We timed our entrance into the Woods Hole passage so the current would not be too strong. Of course, it was Saturday and every power boat nut in the area was zooming through the pass. All we could do was hold our course and hope that the nuts sorted out which way to go at warp speed without hitting us or each other. And if that was not exciting enough, all of a sudden the fog enshrouded everything. It was unbelievable--you couldn't see more than 100 yards. Thank God for our chartplotter/GPS that shows exactly where you are! The power boat nuts disappeared. I'm not sure if they left the area or whether we just couldn't see or hear them anymore. We had just gotten our stupid fog horn repaired (bad switch, or so we thought) and wouldn't you know it: after about 10-15 minutes of sounding our two blasts per minute, it stopped working! So there we were in the middle of a fog bank with no way to signal our presence. Arrghh! (Post mortem: Just for fun, I pushed the fog horn button on the way into the next harbor and it worked fine. So apparently it overheats? If anyone can figure that one out and explain it to me, I'd appreciate it!)
We got to Falmouth or "Fowlmut" as the locals say it (or "Foul-mouth" as I called it). Before we tied up to a nice floating dock, I had a chance to impress the small crowd when I turned "Options"180 degrees on a dime using one engine in forward and the other one in reverse. Everyone wanted to buy a catamaran after seeing that! We rented a 500 lb. bicycle for two and got some great exercise riding it about 4 miles. It was a killer just getting it rolling. We spent a good part of our 2-hour rental hanging out in a bar down by the beach.
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