Antares Cruising East

Vessel Name: Antares
Vessel Make/Model: Endeavour 37 Ketch
Hailing Port: Toledo, OH
Crew: John and Evelyn
About: John started sailing as a kid and he hasn't stopped (neither sailing nor being a kid). He introduced Evelyn to sailing in 2000 and together have been cruising Lake Erie.
Extra:
Left the lake for the ocean late August 2013. We traversed the Erie Canal, headed down the Hudson River, and tried to keep up with summer weather on our way to Florida. Each winter season since, we leave the snow behind, drive to sunny Florida, prepare Antares for the nomad life for half a [...]
07 February 2023 | Glades Boat Storage
26 December 2014 | Ft. Myers Beach to Key West
24 December 2014 | Ft. Myers
13 December 2014 | LaBelle, FL
18 November 2014 | La Belle, FL
19 December 2013 | Marathon Key
19 December 2013 | Marathon Key
20 November 2013
02 November 2013
30 September 2013 | B-Ville, NY
15 September 2013
15 September 2013
09 September 2013
06 September 2013 | Buffalo, NY
Recent Blog Posts
07 February 2023 | Glades Boat Storage

Can we still do this?

John and I are back at it again. Finally, we are able to return to our s/v Antares after a long bout of physical ailments. So we lost the first 3 months of plan/preparation/upgrade/replace/reconfigure "to-do" list. That list is now reduced to just preparation. That may change, but as all things sailing, [...]

26 December 2014 | Ft. Myers Beach to Key West

Sailing the Gulf of Mexico

Wednesday, December 10, 2014. Engine won't start. John switched the battery indicator to "All" and that worked. The air temperature is 46 (perhaps that's the reason she wouldn't start), northwest winds 10-15 mph and diminishing, waves 5 feet and decreasing, clear skies, high today of 65, continual [...]

24 December 2014 | Ft. Myers

On the Caloosahatchee River

December 2, 2014. Today was to be a short day with a 14 mile trip to the LaBelle free docks. We could check systems, make adjustments, finish bending on the sails, and fill the water tank. We had to go through the Ortona Lock, an eight foot drop only a few miles from the Glades. It was a beautiful, [...]

13 December 2014 | LaBelle, FL

Glades Boat Yard

November 13 -December 1, 2014

18 November 2014 | La Belle, FL

Continuing the Journey, Round 2

Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Leaving Toledo is about to finally happen. I feel we spent the entire summer preparing for this moment. The van is stuffed to the rooftop; the seats removed for the added space. We expect to leave right after the water department shuts off the tap at the curb. All day [...]

19 December 2013 | Marathon Key

Day 104-107 Cruising the Keys

Our first visitors from home at Dinner Key Marina were so welcome. Stef and Roy (Anchor Pointe Marina!) found us at the dock and what a great greeting! We spent time with them and this is when I first found out that more people were reading our blog than just the few we knew of. I apologize for not [...]

Day 39-42 Becoming a Sailboat Again

07 November 2013
OK, now we’re out of the canal, we seem to have more choices and more freedom ahead of us. That also entails more responsibilities. Now we have to watch the weather, the time, the current, the tide, the wind, our direction, and our speed to make the best possible choices to a destination. Then you have to plan contingencies, just in case. This is the first time we depended on NOAA paper charts, too, much harder to read and interpret than a canal chart.

By noon, we went through the Troy Lock with no problem since this was the 36th lock to go through. The noticeable difference was that you had to use your own line around a pipe to hold you in place. After the lock, we were moving downstream at 8 mph. Doesn’t sound like much if you are not a sail boater, but it is such a great sail when we hit 7 mph and that’s with the sails up! Remember, our masts were lying down on the deck. Around 3 pm, we grabbed a mooring ball at Castleton on the Hudson. We learned quickly to have everything secured. This was a major traffic area and there were some very large barges and commercial pleasure crafts passing by. Their wakes caused some discomfort, but also knocked loose items around.

Next morning was so foggy, that we postponed our start. Instead we ate a hearty breakfast and downloaded marine charts. The clouds and fog gave way to blue sky and 46 degrees as we headed to the Catskills. We still got to Hop-o-Nose Marina in the early afternoon with an appointment for 5 pm to steppe the masts. Sean and his crew work efficiently and effectively. After two hours, we were a sailboat again, although we had yet to tighten and inspect the rigging and put on the booms, sails and lines. We celebrated by eating at the marine restaurant along with the crews of Ocean Cowboy and Amicus, who would be stepping their masts the next day.

Thursday’s start was later than usual, but the work began right away. John started with the stays and shrouds (the wires that steady the masts). I was the gofer… getting tools and materials…when suddenly the companion hatch stuck. I could not slide it back to enter the cabin of the boat. Push or pull, no movement. To go below, I had to crawl in backwards and down the stairs. Was it moisture? Was it deck compression? Did it go crooked? We let it go for a while since we really wanted to put the boat back together. The spreader lights kept snapping off, possibly from the water that had accumulated in them, so we thought some drying time would correct that problem. The roller furler line chafed and made it difficult to roll up the jib sail. That was solved by moving the four blocks to starboard so the angle of the line on the drum did not rub. Finally, John’s attention came around to the companionway. The companionway cover needed to be removed to figure out why the hood could not slide. Our beautiful curved teak, the main feature of an Endeavour sailboat, has to be cut apart in two places. John cut the teak along the original seams and popped the bungs out to unscrew and lift out the curved center. Luckily, the fiberglass hood stayed attached to this center piece and the whole top lifted off. Inside there were the broken hood pieces, rotted wood, and debris. I cleaned this up while John made new wooden slides and glued/screwed the broken hatch pieces to the slides and to the main hood. We removed all the old caulk around the edges and applied new to seal it all…for another 36 years. It was long past dark when all the tools were put away. As we surveyed the final product we both realized that it was a great job and everything that John needed was on board. We were tired after 12 hours of nonstop work, and a little hungry, too.

Friday, October 11 was a continuation of getting Antares ready for sailing. John had to go up the mizzen mast to change the spreaders. He had always noticed that something was wrong about them and now had the facilities and help to figure out what was so odd: the spreaders were on up-side-down and backwards. Now they look right (only to an expert; I couldn’t tell). He did so much more: fixed the main mast spreader, put the mast boot on, lashed fuel tanks, organized spare lines, hosed off the deck, and more. I went shopping with Annette from Ocean Cowboy in Catskill, and enjoyed looking out over the marina and Antares from the bridge we crossed. It was 32 days later, but yes, she was a sailboat again.
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