Jim Lowe
10/17/2012, Willoughby Harbor

I girded my loins with warm oatmeal and coffee in order to endure the cold plunge into Willoughby Harbor this morning. It took about 20 mins worth of shallow dives but I did manage to clear the blockage that was causing my engine to run so warm. I even had a visit from a school of curious dolphins which made it all worth while.
Then it's up anchor and a short run to the Willoughby Harbor Marina for a pump out and a chance to eat someone elses cooking, excellent fish and chips at the Sunset Grill. Very friendly staff and quite a nice marina. This will be a regular stop for Sea Otter in the future. After lunch I'll work my way through the Norfolk waterfront with it's gauntlet of draw bridges.
About 1300 (1pm) I leave Willoughby behind and head into the channel leading up battleship row. Secure in the knowledge that I have figured out and repaired my engines overheating problem. Alas, about an hour into the trip the temperature gauge begins to climb. Still too hot. What could be causing this? I'm forced to reduce speed once again and idle through this channel. Now you need to understand that this is not the place to have mechanical troubles. Like breaking down in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a very large channel, with lots of tidal current and large ship traffic, much of which is Naval War Ships. With the hightened security in this area I'm surprised one of the patrol boats didn't come over for a talk. Eventually I made it to a place where I could leave the channel and anchor long enough to have a look at the engine. First thing I check is the coolant level. It's low. I know It was full when I left. I topped it off. The temps come down, the engine is happy. Ok, that was easy. Up anchor and throttle up. Cruising speed at last. Sadly, it doesn't last. An hour latter the temps are climbing once again. I Throttle back to "limp along" speed. I eventually make it to the public docks in Portsmouth. I was here a few years ago with a friend so I knew it would be a great place to hole up for the night while I contemplate the mystery of the disappearing coolant.
Perhaps a nights rest and the morning light will present an answer.
The bridges of Norfolk will have to wait till tomorrow.

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Jim Lowe
10/16/2012, Willaby Bay

Twenty five knots of wind is an awful lot for a single handed sailor. The waves were fairly impressive as well. If I had a do over, would I have still left today? Yes. I think it was a good call. Sea Otter had no trouble dealing with the weather. I'm the one that flubbed things up. I knew the wind and seas would be strong in the morning but get lighter as the day went on. I also knew that the wind would be out of the South tomorrow and stay that way for a week. So, this was the window of opportunity for heading South.
I decided to leave the sails furled and motor till things improved. I also decided to carry the dinghy on deck rather than tow it astern. Both were good calls however, I buggered things up when I tied the dink on deck because somehow I managed to entangle the roller furling so I couldn't get the headsail up. I would have gone forward to try and sort things out but I didn't have a harness. So I decided not to make a bad situation worse (like falling overboard) and I motored all the way to Norfolk. A real shame to, cause the weather turned fine just as advertised.
About an hour out I noticed my engine starting to run warm. It wasn't off scale high, but it was pretty warm. So I decided to ease off on the throttle and limp in at half impulse. This turned the last hour into two hours but the engine did cool down. I suspect that there is something blocking the intake or an impeller has died. I'll dive down in the morning and make sure the intake is clear.
Finally, as if my day wasn't going well enough already. I ran hard aground coming into Willaby Bay. I was right in the middle of the channel entrance. Exactly where I was supposed to be but the channel had silted up. Fortunately, all the shipping traffic going by made so much wave action that I was able to back out fairly easily.
All these little flubs and mishaps added about 3hours to the 8-9hours that the trip should have taken. So I'm beat. My back hurts. I'm sun and wind burned and I'm starvin. Guess you could say that its been a pretty full messin about in boats kinda day. It certainly did have the potential for turning out considerably worse. The good news is, I'll be able to learn from this experience since I'm still alive and I'm on my way.

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Winds NW@320, 2ft chop, skies clear
10/16/2012, Jackson Creek

My journey begins today on the first new moon of October. I would have left earlier but the wind has been out of the South since I launched last Friday so I've remained anchored here in Jackson creek. If at all possible I try to have the wind and tides working for me. There are enough potential challenges in a crossing without my making them worse by impatiently sailing against wind and tide. It can be done, and often is, but it is slow, uncomfortable and wasteful of fuel. Much better to be helped along though it does require a casual attitude regarding personal schedules. Last night a cold front blew through and brought a strong Northwest wind with it, which I will ride all the way to the mouth of the James River in Norfolk, about 40 nautical miles away. Planning to anchor in Willowby Bay. I expect this leg of the journey to take about 8hrs. The wind is really a bit too strong, with gusts to 25 knots but it is expected to ease to 15 knots by noon.
I woke at 5am to give myself time to be fortified with my traditional coffee and oatmeal breakfast. Sunrise is at 0715 so I'll get the anchor up around 0700.. If all goes well I should be safely anchored well before sunset, 1825 or 6:25pm.

Tides today for Old Point Comfort:
Low 0335 -0.2ft
High 1006 +3.6ft
Low 1620 -0.1ft
High 2227 +3.0ft

Tides are stronger today with the new moon just as they are with a full moon, since both the sun and moon are in line and pulling on the seas together.

Wish me luck mates.

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Jim Lowe
10/12/2012, Deltaville, VA.

All the preparations have been completed for Sea Otter to return to the sea. The bottom painting is done. My truck has been put into storage. my bicycle has been disassembled and stowed down below. Dan came by with the travel lift at 3pm and very skillfully lifted Otter from her shore supports. Then he carried her to the water. Splash. I started the engine and motored to the fuel dock. Once Otter was safely docked I went over to the dinghy dock and rowed the dinghy over to Otter. Then I started the engine again, threw off the lines and headed into the harbor to find a place to anchor. The winds tonight are expected to be fairly strong, gusting to 30knots. A good test for my new Rocna anchor.

Comments [1]

Jim Lowe
10/10/2012, Deltaville, VA.

Trinidad Red antifouling paint. Over 200.00 a gal. ouch! It has got to be done. Heading South means warm, shallow, salty water with lots of critters that would love to hitch a ride on Sea Otters bottom. If Otter were a wooden boat then bottom paint would be even more important because some of those hitch hiking critters eat wood! Thankfully Sea Otter is fiberglass and critters mainly slow her down. Sailboats are slow enough without any help, thank you very much. The yard crew came by this morning and moved the jack stands. Then I painted the parts of the hull they were covering. With fresh bottom paint Sea Otter is ready to be launched.

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Jim Lowe
10/10/2012, Deltaville, VA.

The last few days here in Deltaville have been gray and wet. Not good for painting at all. One thing you quickly learn about sailing is that the weather always has the final say. Anyway, when I woke this morning the skies were clear and cool. Painting day has arrived. However, I promised a friend that I would help him raise his mooring once he goes in the water and he just went in. It means differing my painting for a few hours or perhaps even a day but Michael is worth it. Mr. Michael Taylor is something of a legend around here. He is heading down to the Bahama Islands and this will be his 30th trip. Michael is 85 years old and has polio. He is a single handed sailor aboard his 30ft catamaran named "Wind in the Willows". I'm sure you can see why it is important to me to put my schedule aside and help send him on his way. I put my dinghy in the water and rowed out to Wind in the Willows. Michael, who is a proper British gentleman promptly set out a small lunch for us and then we turned to our work. First we put his dinghy in the water in order to clear the foredeck for action. Then while Michael started the engines, I began raising the mooring. The mooring consisted of two anchors and chain bridled together and shackled to another line which connected to the deck bridle. I'm sure that sounds rather confusing. Just think of all the different lines that are connected together which have been subjected to twice daily tides and currents and now they have twisted together into a gnarled mess made even worse by slime and barnacles which have grown into the rope fibers. It can be challenging to raise one large anchor with its chain without a windlass but two anchors with chains melded together is a daunting task. After some struggle the task was completed and I returned to Sea Otter nursing an aching back.
By the time I had marshalled my strength to begin my painting it was already 4pm. I managed to get much of the painting done. The rest will have to wait till tomorrow when the yard crew can come by to move the jack stands which support Otter. All in all it was a fine day messing about with boats.

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