Sapphire Sailing Adventures
| Vessel Name: | Sapphire |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Bristol 41 |
| Hailing Port: | Rochester, NY |
| Crew: | Moby & Caroline Burton |
17 April 2019 | Laying out 200' of chain on deck
Haul Out Day
"I always feel like The Ghost from Christmas Past when we do this exercise of hauling the heavy chain out on our side deck to rinse it and let it dry." On our primary alone, we have 200' of chain and 120' of rope. Then our secondary anchor has 200' of rope and 30' of chain.
16 April 2019 | Prickly Bay, Grenada
Getting Ready to be Hauled Out
We enjoyed a lovely leisurely couple of days sailing down to Grenada from Bequia, arriving on Palm Sunday.
16 April 2019 | Prickly Bay, Grenada
Grenada's Cruiser's Net
The cruiser’s net in Grenada is always very lively. On Safety and Security this morning we heard that a sailboat coming up from Trinidad had a boatful of eight ‘Venezuelan looking’ men trying to overtake them. The sailboat was able to get away,. but the hull is riddled with bullet holes. They [...]
13 April 2019 | Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
New Way to Clear into Customs
How do you clear in to Customs, when you arrive at a port and don’t feel like blowing up your dinghy?
12 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, teaching William about reading music
Teaching William some Notes
I realized that if I set up my piano early in the morning, then I can play before there is too much sun in the cockpit.
11 April 2019 | Admiralty Bay, Bequia
Paddling around Bequia
As my buddy Joan Dwyer would say, “the goal in paddle boarding is to avoid looking like a little old lady pushing a Wegman’s cart.” Actually, I’ll be doing that soon enough as we are heading home in a week.
Sapphire gets a New Heart
“That timing doesn’t work for me,” Moby informed the Beta Marine sales rep.
So to accommodate Moby’s schedule, Beta Marine had the 700 pound engine air freighted to St Maarten. The rest went like clockwork. Moby did all the pre-op preparation and with the help of a yard mechanic, Sapphire’s old Westerbeke engine was removed on Nov 25 (They had to cut out the beautiful teak sole of the cockpit to remove the engine.) By December 5th the new engine was installed. A supporting frame was built and by Dec 7th she was dropped in the water for a sea trial. I am vastly oversimplifying all the hard work and technical details that needed to take place, but he got the job done, re-installed our teak cockpit sole, did all the finishing work and had Sapphire hauled out of the water to keep her safe while he flew on home.
Moby’s whole reason for flying home by Dec 8th was to be home in time for his buddy Phil Dery’s 80th birthday party. But a snowstorm grounded all flights in Atlanta and he ended up spending the night on the airport floor, being on standby for 5 different flights to get him home in time.
Naturally, our hero made it home in time, thanks to Tyler, my son, driving to Syracuse to pick him up. (Not that I’m a slacker, but I was involved in an all-day Paddle Benefit tournament and couldn't break away)
