Captain’s log 10-30-06

Departure Point / Start Time Great Bridge ICW VA 11AM
Arrival Point / End Time Midway Marina ICW NC 9:30PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 35 NM
This is our first true encounter with the ICW, and first lesson learned: NEVER TRAVEL THE ICW AT NIGHT. I was convinced that at night, it would be nicer to travel. No powerboats, no traffic, no wake, nobody around to bother you. Peaceful, and quiet, you have the road to yourself. Well, it was like that until we got into whole lot of trouble that took us hours to get out of. We started the day filling up the water tanks and emptying the holding tank at the AYB marina. Free water, that’s hard to find in the Northeast! We started the trip through the series of restricted bridges and with bunch of powerboats on our back eager to make it through all the bridge openings. Waiting for the bridge to open became a nightmare. One time, we were all alone waiting for a bridge, first in line to pass. As the time approached, bunch of big trollers came up and tried to squeeze their way in front of me. I warned them that I have very little maneuverability. It didn’t help, that is apparently the trend all along the ICW. Anyhow, by early afternoon the traffic and bridges cleared out and we had a stretch of open water to crosss. This was North Landing River leading to Currituck Sound, with depths of 3-5 feet and a narrow ICW canal going through it. The anchorage just before it didn’t work out as we got stuck in the mud trying to enter it. So we proceeded through the sound realizing that night would fall just as we passed it and entered another narrow section of ICW, Currituck-Abemarle Canal, connecting Currituck and Abemarle Sounds. It seems that narrow canals had plenty of deep water and that the problems with shoaling was in the open bodies of water with ICW going through them. And so it was, at the end of the Currituck sound at around sunset we wondered off a merely 10 yards off the channel and ran aground. There were couple of trollers behind me and they got on the radio as they saw me roll out the jib trying to heel the boat and get out of shallow water. One of the trollers had a 6’ draft, so he waited for me to get out and follow him through the critical section. It worked, and we went through this particular bad section. Soon after, the night fell, and we were all alone. Troller on the radio advised us that another bad sections is coming but that there was plenty of water in the middle of ICW. So Crystal was on the computer guiding me each step of the way. The lighted marks are far and between in this section and wondering off is very easy. However, things worked out, and it seems that with Crystal keeping an eye on the boat’s position on the computer and keeping us between the dotted lines of the channel, thighs were moving along. We entered the Currituck-Abemarle Canal which was a breeze. Our next anchorage was about a mile after this canal. In the canal, we saw two marinas, Midway and Coinjoc and I was tempted to pull in there, which Crystal also suggested. I should have! But the thought of paying $50-$100 for overnight dock made me try to go to the next anchorage. Looking at the chart there appeared to be a tricky section of the ICW just after the canal in the next open body of water. And tricky it was. Crystal kept me between the lines but just as we rounded the green daybeacon, and headed for what should be next red marker, we ran aground pretty hard. The funny thing was that we were smack in the middle of the dotted line channel on the computer chart. The GPS was showing the boat exactly in the middle. That scared me a bit. Which way to go? No idea. The boat didn’t heel, but were stuck in some deep mud. Our navigator (Crystal) said that we went too far to the left. I thought we didn’t go left enough. So I tried going further to the left ignoring her opinion, revving the engine and wiggling the boat from side to side. Well, it didn’t help after about 15 minutes of that, I decided to investigate exactly where we were. I went in the dinghy and took a ride with the flashlight to look for unlighted daybeacons. And fine enough, I found one on the right. It was too far to be visible with the flashlight. So I was wrong we should have staid more to the right. Luckily, we were in not so shallow water to even heel very much. The mud here stretches about another 2-3 feet, so you have chance to maneuver in 5 feet of water. The mud just gets progressively denser after that and then the boat heels. So I reved up the engine again and turned the boat 180 degrees to go to the right side of the channel. After about and hour of reving and overheating the poor engine, the technique didn’t seem to work. The only thing I was able to do is turn the boat around, but we made no forward progress. I had to take a break and try some other techniques. I first deployed the anchor with the dinghy about 50 yards in front of the boat. Meanwhile the engine cooled down, and with both the engine and windlass we tried to pull the boat. No way. That didn’t work. The anchor techniques, that I was reading so much about really doesn’t work! I got back in the dinghy and tried to pull the anchor out but that didn’t work either. I made a mistake of not using a trip line. So now I was really getting mad. We are stuck pretty deep in the mud, perhaps in the middle of the channel, at least that’s what the chart was saying, so any pasign troller or even worse, a tug boat with a platform will run into us. Second thing was the anchor. It is stuck and is not coming out. My cloths are covered in this black mud and so is everything around me, the dinghy, deck and cockpit. Its pitch black, and I hated myself for not taking that slip and paying the money for overnight docking about an hour ago. But I still had hope, and had plenty of options to try. My next thought was to deploy another anchor about 50 yards to the side of us, and attach one of the mast halyards to it. This way as we pull on the halyard, the boat would heel. After we reach enough heel, we would be able to maneuver in the radius of the anchor hopefully enough to get out to deep water. I took my reaching strut, about 10’ long aluminum pole, and went with the dinghy around the boat probing for how deep the water is. Amazing, near the mid section and stern, the pole would get stuck in the mud. But at the bow, I couldn’t feel the bottom. So we were only about 20 feet from deep water. With so little to go, I decided to abandon the second anchor plan, and just keep trying to wiggle the boat out of the mud. I had to let out more and more of the chain on our first anchor so that we could move around. The technique of getting out of the mud on a boat with fin keel, is to steer the boat all the way to one side with full throttle on the engine. The boat would turn there but at one point would stop turning. At that moment, I would turn the boat to the other side as far as the helm would go. This action actually makes the boat wiggle its way out of the mud. After about half hour of this we floated the boat. We were in 10 feet of water and the chain started coming out faster and faster. I remembered that the chain was free falling out. I ran to the bow and locked the windlass, and tried pulling the anchor. Unfortunately, the anchor was back in the shallow water. Well, it was actually somewhere on the edge. Things actually worked out ok. Our powerful windlass pulled the anchor without a problem and as soon as the anchor was free, I steered back towards deep water, and back towards where we came from. Without a hesitation, I took the marina option, and paying for the dock seemed like a cheap insurance for not running aground again. By now it was already 11PM, and people sleep early around here. I just tied up to the dock and we went to bed. The next morning I went and paid $55 for overnight docking and talked to the locals. It looks like charts are wrong and you have to follow the markers. The markers are not always lit, and traveling at night is not an option.

Captain’s log 10-27-06

Departure Point / Start Time Norfolk VA 11AM
Arrival Point / End Time Great Bridge ICW VA 2 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 15NM
Today we made a quck leg up the ICW to a place where we found a FREE dock. Just as we cleared the Lock and the drawbridge we stopped. One of the cruisers advised us on the radio that this was the last good stop for the next 50 miles or so. We grabbed the last spot on the dock on the seat side of the river. Yeah!. I had some problems with the engine leaking fuel and alternator running sporadically. I took off the fuel sender unit, which was the reason we leaked gas. I tried using the form-a-gasket sealer to help seal off the leaks at the top of the tank. Unfortunately I never realized that the material takes a long time to dry off. The next day I added more sealant and I am waiting for it to dry off. Meanwhile, I installed the temperature shutoff switch. If the alternator temperature becomes too high the regulator starts intermittingly shutting off the alternator. Better way, per manuals recommendation, was to install a toggle switch that shorts out the temperature sensing terminals on the regulator. We tried it and it works. I can cut the output of the alternator by a half, giving more horsepower to the engine, by flipping a toggle switch when needed. The next 500 miles we’ll be motoring in the ICW and we will probably need more horsepower than electricity. I think this was a good decision, but it remains to be seen.

Captain’s log 10-26-06

Departure Point / Start Time Wicomico River VA 8:00 AM
Arrival Point / End Time Norfolk VA 7:30 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 55NM 8h

Today was the day that NOAA finally had the forecast correct. They called for 15-20 knots out of NW, and they were correct. Few times it blew 23-25 but for the most time it staid in the 10-20 knot range. The waves were 2-3 foot coming from astern and the autopilot was able to cope with them. The sun was out and we had all the ingredients of a great trip. In the interest of getting to Norfolk before dark I started motoring in the afternoon. We were making 6 knots and I used the engine runtime to make water. We saw pelicans fly around and I never knew they were in Chesapeake Bay. I knew we were approaching Norfolk when we started hearing and seeing choppers and navy fighters fly low above our heads. The traffic was getting thicker and thicker in the air and on the water. I was just glad we made it into Norfolk before dark. That night, as we anchored in Lafayette river, while eating the pork chops, we heard a drowning cat meow. Crystal jumped up in panic and screamed for Bella. Without hesitation, I jumped on the port side of the boat and grabbed the poor little Bella. We never knew if it was the birds, the flatness of the water in the harbor, or something else, but Bella somehow decided to jump off. With all her hair wet, she was as small as a little mouse. My clothes felt very heavy in the water and I was barely able to reach up and lift her back on deck. The water was freezing. We were just talking about how cold the water was (50F) when we heard Bella fall in. I used the dinghy to come back up, turned the heater on, and used the remaining hot water to rinse off the stinky harbor smell. The next day we are starting the ICW. Hopefully we’ll have warmer weather and easier trips that the last week was.

Captain’s log 10-24-06

Departure Point / Start Time Little Choptank MD 8:30AM
Arrival Point / End Time Wicomico River VA 8:30 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 67NM 12h

We knew we would get a hand full since it was blowing 25knots out of NW, at least that was the forecast. So we tied everything up on deck and down below. Exiting Little Choptank was hard because waves were on the nose. I had to motor sail with mainsail double reefed. We were still only getting 3-4knots. The river had several bends and at the first one, we realized that strong NW winds and moved some sand bars. The chart was showing that we were in 10 feet of water but I felt the boat bounce several times on the sand. There was no hard grinding against the rocks, just the soft dragging through the sandy bar. Luckily, the strong winds had heel the boat enough to easily get out of this grounding. However, I knew that there was some shoaling due to NW winds. This made me stay in water 20feet or more and take wide turns around the bends. The winds have made the exit out of Little Choptank very uncomfortable, and I had several thoughts of turning back and waiting another day. But we gutted through the worst and made it out to a point where we could turn South, and have the wind at our back. By now, I was completely soaked in seawater and very cold. All my gloves were wet. The seas were too rough for Crystal to hold the helm and I ended up changing in the cockpit. With 30+ knot winds at our stern we were making 7 knots under double reefed main sail alone. Very soon we were nearing Potomac river, which looked like it could be a good alternative to Wicomico. Wicomico river was too far to be reached before dark. Chesapeake Bay is full of crab pots and getting to an anchorage at after dark is impossible. It would be even worse in strong wind and waves. Unfortunately, Potomac is wide open to NW and the winds at the entrance were blowing from both N and NW, and intensifying at the point. We were in a bit of trouble. No palce to go, gale conditions out on the water and sunset approaching. The flooding current was creating a dangerous rolling waves and the mouth of the river and I decided to revert from heading up Potomac and go for Wicomico. I knew we would have to make the entrance at night in gale force winds and 3-5 foot waves. Wicomico was another 15 miles away and traversing the Potomac river was rough. The rollers increased and so did the wind. At this moment I was mad at myself for not planing several other alternativers. Situation didn't allow for me to spend time browsing through the charts and look for alternative. At one point we recorded winds of nearly 40knots. It was becoming hard for me to steer down the crest of the rollers. We lost our jimbuoy, the horseshoe shaped thowable flotation device. The swell just came up and floated it away from te stern pulpit. At times I thought the dinghy would get washed up into the cockpit. We were trying to round the Smith Point Light at the south end of Potomac river, and our track had us dead down wind. Because I didn’t have the moment to setup the preventer on the boom, I just sheated it in to a point where I felt comfortable in case it would swing. And swing it did, at least it wasn’t too violent. Unfortunately it was enough to rip the mail sail in two. Just as we rounded the Smith Point Light House, the main sail started flapping violently. That’s when I noticed that the rip was across the mid section. By the time we came further behind the light house and the land the wind had died noticeably and I was able to drop the main altogether and just motor into Wicomico river. I was glad the engine had no problems and that we had made it just as it was getting too dark to see the pots. We were both exhausted from spending the last 12 hours getting pounded by the wind and waves. We had no food all day and drank only juice and water on several occasions. As I anchored, Crystal was making hot beef stu out of the can and we were asleep by the time we finished it. The next day I was just glad that nothing worse happened and I took a look at a mainsail which was good only for scraps. I pulled out our spare main, which was in great shape. We spent that day resting and cleaning things up, getting ready for another heavy weather leg. From now on I'll have everything planed out pefore we leave the anchorage. We'll have several destination options planed out in case the weather turns on us. The boom preventer will be set no matter what the wind and point of sail is. And everything will be tied up on deck and in the cockpit.

Captain’s log 10-22-06

Departure Point / Start Time Cambridge MD() 8:30AM
Arrival Point / End Time Little Choptank MD() 3:30PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 37NM 6h

We spent several days at Greg and Gracies house. It was very nice and the food in Choptank is very good. We went to the Suicide restaurant and it was the best seafood buffet ever with all-you-can eat oysters, and Chesapeake Bay crabs. But the cold was setting in and we knew we had to get going. The forecast called for two approaching cold fronts with winds out of the NW and I saw this as an opportunity to ride the winds south, down the Chesapeake bay and into Norfolk VA. Almost as though I didn't learn from the last Cold front experience in NJ. We spend Sunday morning motoring in no wind out of Choptank River. By noontime the wind had lifted out of the SW and it was already blowing 20-25 knots. The chop in the bay was heavy. New pieces of the rig were stretched out and the jib was no longer set correctly. It was hard to keep the main sail shape correctly as well. I used the breeze to motor-sail on each tack and adjust the rig. I put three turns on each upper shroud, and two on the lowers. The headstay still needed tensioning. Since it was so uncomfortable in the chop, we looked for an alternate destination. Original plan was to head for the Solomon’s island, which was a great cruising destination. Unfortunately we had to revert to the Little Choptank River. By afternoon we had already reached the entrance markers and after another couple of hours we found a good anchorage. We traveled 37 miles by water but we were only on the other side of the peninsula where Cambridge was. So in essence, we were a half hour bike ride from Cambridge. In any case, we were protected from the strong SW winds and the anchorage offered protection form the NW as well. The rest of the evening the winds shifted to W and then NW and increased severely. I am glad I locked the wind generator blades because it started blowing in the 30s. I had no doubt our anchor and chain will hold the boat. And it did, we spent Sunday evening and all of Monday in the same place listening to the weather forecast and planning our next trip. NOAA had the heavy weather forecasted for the rest of the week. I decided to head on further down Chesapeake bay on Tuesday. I also tentioned the head stay which was a major pain. I had to dismantel good portion of the roller furling system to get to the nut. I hope I put everything back in place correctly. But the rig is very stiff now. I'll pay attention to it and hope that it stays this way for a while.

Captain’s log 10-18-06

Departure Point / Start Time Worton Creek MD() 8:30AM
Arrival Point / End Time Cambridge MD() 6:30PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 50NM 10h

Next morning was very misty with patchy fog and sun, which was trying to find a way through. Tide was on our side for about 4 hours so I got us under way motoring in glass like water. The bay looked magical. Numerous fishing or crab boats were on both sides. I was careful of the numerous pots, which were everywhere. Soon after, the sun finally came out and made a day seem like a perfect summer day. Finally, after 18 days we got a summer-like day. Yeah, today is my sisters birthday. We just called her and had a great chat. That only made tings even nicer. Light breeze out of the NE was helping speed things up a bit. Crystal was baking cookies, and I was tightening the turnbuckles, which were under not so much tension anymore. I took 3 turns on the uppers and one on the lowers. As we passed the Annapolis Bridge the tide turned but the wind was helping. It ended up being a beautiful day filled with sunshine, autopilot steering and us lounging on the foredeck and getting some tan. By far the best day we had. I felt a bit bad that we had to skip all these beautiful places along the way but I didn’t want fall catching up with us so we proceeded up all the way to Choptank river and Cambridge to visit Greg and Gracie for the weekend. Cambridge has a beautiful downtown waterfront with everything nearby. This is a great place to spend a weekend. We expect to be under way by Sunday or Monday.

Captain’s log 10-17-06

Departure Point / Start Time Salem NJ() 8:30AM
Arrival Point / End Time Worton Creek MD() 3:30PM
Distance Traveled / Engine
It was crappy indeed. I spent miserable 6 hours sailing in the rain under full genoa. They called for small craft advisory for the upper Chesapeake bay but it was nothing. 15-20knot winds out of the east that allowed us to beam and broad reach all the way to Worton Creek which seemed like a good place to dry off and spend the night. The bay is very murky misty and at times seems like a perfect place for Stephen King to live and write. Wildlife sounds and noises would frequently wake us up. We would look out side only to see fog and mist.

Captain’s log 10-16-06

Departure Point / Start Time Delaware River DE() 12PM
Arrival Point / End Time Salem NJ() 5PM
Distance Traveled / Engine
Water was magically flat and the next mornings sunrise in the mist made water and sky look like one. Fair tide was afternoon and the winds were out of southeast. Crystal made nice smelling raisin bread while I motorsailed downwind. When I realized that the winds would stay between 5 and 15 knots, I decided to try and raise the radial floater. It took us few tries to do it with couple of them failing miserably. Finally the wet sail got up in the air and we were magically riding the small rollers with a magnificent parachute ahead of us. Who says two people can’t fly a spinnaker. Autopilot was steering, Crystal was baking and I was tending the sheets. When the situations allowed I would adjust the halyard so that the foot would not end up in the water. We picked up almost two knots and the engine was shut off. Brief moment of puffs of over 15 knots made me worry a bit, but they were rare and few. For the most part I was very glad we brought the extra sails. We sailed under chute alone all the way in passed the nuclear power plant whose smoke is visible all the way from Cape May. We consulted the guide and found a quiet spot to anchor in Salem river. It was quiet indeed. The ghost town of Salem scared us a bit. We wondered helplessly trying to find gas station and some food. Finally did after about mile and a half. I made a mistake of filling both 6.5 gallon tanks and had to carry them all the way back to the dinghy. We stopped by a pizza place and had dinner. The walk back was hard and I had to take a break every 200 yards or so. By the time we made it back to the dinghy I couldn’t feel my forearms. We spent that night peacefully and got plenty of sleep. The next day’s forecast called for rain and wind during our C&D canal trip.

Captain’s log 10-15-06

Departure Point / Start Time Cape May NJ() 12PM
Arrival Point / End Time Delaware River DE() 9:30PM
Distance Traveled / Engine
This was a tricky leg in a way that we had to navigate unmarked shallow channel just south of cape may. The other option was the three hour longer trip to the channel entrance. Everything worked out ok. The pump pulley was working ok, watermaker refilled the tanks, and we even managed to pump out the holding tank during the brief time period we were 3 miles offshore. The rest of the day was rather miserable with gusty winds on the nose that had us sail well on port tack but made things very uncomfortable on starboard tack. We motorsailed on the starboard tack, to make things a bit easier. The rollers in Delaware bay are steep and high. Terrible. The rail was steadily in the water and at time I thought our fuel tanks would wash over. But the rail held up very well. We sailed until about sunset when the winds died down and the bay became very flat. We decided to not continue at night due to numerous crab pots and oyster stakes. We ended up anchoring on the Delaware side somewhere half way up the bay. The night was very calm and nice.

Captain’s log 10-14-06

Departure Point / Start Time Atlantic City, NJ() 9AM
Arrival Point / End Time Cape May NJ() 6PM
Distance Traveled / Engine

This was our last leg of open water and the weather seemed to cooperate. Winds were the same as the day before and the trip was fast. Unfortunately at the approach to Cape May the winds backed on us shifting to Southwest and blowing right on the nose. They also increased to 20-25 knots. The main, which was on a flattening reef developed a rip about 6 feet down from the head. The rip stretched the entire length of the sail form luff to leech. On top of that the engine overheated and the smell of antifreeze was noticeable in the cabin. I knew I had to shut the engine down but wanted to make sure we can maintain some headway speed so we don’t get in irons. I set a tack for Crystal on a beamreach with the main alone. Her job was keep us on that tack, and to report the speed and depth every minute. We were approaching the beach just north of Cape May inlet, which provided a nice lee for me to work on the engine. As we got closer to the beach, I would tack for a while and then tack back. Even though the wind was favorable to navigate the inlet under sail alone, gusts were too strong to handle for just the two of us. I knew I had to get the engine running. I opened the engine compartment and it looks like the pulley driven by the raw water pump in the front of the engine had disappeared. Fell off the shaft, which was now badly worn. That’s new 250$ water pump! There was a lot of black tar from the worn, but still serviceable v belt. But there was no sign of a pulley. The pump shaft that was driving the pulley was badly damaged but it looked like the keyway could be filed back into usable condition. I turned the inverter on, got the machine drills and the rest of the tools out. I finally managed to find the pulley about 5 feet away in the bildge. How in hell did it get there I was wondering? It was badly worn but I drilled out the gauges and looks like it could work as a temporary patch job. I also had few other spare pulleys but for now I just wanted to patch up the existent one and keep it from falling off the shaft. I ended up remounting the pulley with another pulley next to it to keep it in place. The machine set screw was holding the pulley in place but the entire setup was wobbly. I tightened everything up as best as I could without stripping the set screw. Tightened the belt and refilled the spilled antifreeze. The engine was back to operational status. The temperature dropped and we were on our way. This time with companionway staircase opened and Crystal keeping an eye on the vibrations in the raw water pump pulley and me behind the wheel keeping a close eye on the water coming out of the exhaust. We prayed that the setup would hold and it did. Under strong gusts and opposing ebbing current we managed to get into Cape May and anchor next to the rest of the cruisers alongside the Coastguard station. I was relieved that we made it in and knew that I had some repairs ahead of me before we could continue.
The main problem was that the pulley was aluminum. Pump was mounted on the engine flywheel and engine vibrations were translating onto the pulley. Belt tension had the pulley warped and wobbling on the pump shaft. The entire setup failed due to vibrations and a loose set-screw, in the worst possible time. Murphy’s law never fails. Digging through spare parts I found a cast iron heavy-duty pulley with same shaft diameter and set-screw. The pump shaft needed a bit more filing but it worked. With this new pulley, the belt was even better aligned with the pulley on the flywheel mainshaft, and the new cast iron pulley had no chance of working loose. On top of that I backed the first set screw with another one. The setup looks 100% better and I think we are all set for a long time to come. Later on that night loud yelling and noise woke us up. We were amazed to see a large 50+ foot fishing vessel 20 feet from us with all the lights turned on drifting in the wind and current. A person on the bow was trying to calm us down saying that they lost steering but are under anchor and waiting for sea-tow to come in. Situation was more evident after I turned the VHF. The vessel was powerless and desperately floating in the channel dangerously close to our bow. The anchor they were on definitely wasn’t holding because they were closer and closer. Luckily, just in time sea-tow showed up. Unfortunately it wasn’t so trivial to get them out of the anchorage without bumping into anyone of the anchored boats and especially us. I turned the engine on and was ready to haul the anchor rode and move should the situation worsen. And I did. Sea-tow boat was not powerful enough to get them out of our way so after it was evident that they would bump our port side I motored ahead for about 100 feet just enough to avoid them. And that turned out to be sufficient, as the small sea-tow boat appeared to have a hold of the much larger floating chunk of corroded iron. The whole time Crystal was frantic. She was ready to go out there and yell and scream at them. I wasn’t in the mood for a lawsuit and pursuing damage repair. Heading south was the main thing on my mind.

Captain’s log 10-13-06

Departure Point / Start Time Barnegat Inlet, NJ() 10 AM
Arrival Point / End Time Atlantic City, NJ() 6PM
Distance Traveled / Engine

The trip to Atlantic City was much better. It was a very pleasant day with 10-15 knot winds out of the west making us beam reach and make fast headway progress. We even managed to fish and catch some bluefish and a seatrout. Genoa rip from last night’s flapping was clearly visible and needed repair. Mainsail was ripped even before our last leg but the gale force winds only made matters worse. I knew that its time to pull out our portable sewing machine, and make repairs in Atlantic City. Entrance to Atlantic City was well marked and we had a bit of head current slowing us down but we maintained 5 knots coming in. The city looks very square and boring. Casino, next to casino, next to casino. No culture or history whatsoever. But it was only a pitstop and it wasn’t that bad to spend a night there. We had fresh fish for dinner and I repaired the genoa to my liking.

Captain’s log 10-12-06

Departure Point / Start Time Sandy Hook, NJ() 2 PM
Arrival Point / End Time Barnegat Inlet, NJ() 11 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 55NM 5h

I spent considerable amount of time listening to forecast for the next few days waiting for our little weather window to make the trip down the Jersey coast. I checked various inlets and looks like Atlantic City is the next available stop, which is 85NM away. The option was also Barnegat inlet, which I got various mixed recommendations as to navigability of the inlet. Barnegat is 55NM away, and I kept it in the back of my mind. The forecast called for an approaching cold from the northwest with winds 15-20 gusting to 25kts out of the west and veering to northwest. That in my opinion seemed better than prevailing head winds out of SW so I decided to use the opportunity and ride the approaching cold front down the coast. I set the main at double reef and kept the #1 heavy genoa on the roller furling. Everything got tied up and packed away in anticipation of possible rough weather. The afternoon was beautiful with W-NW winds at 10-15kts but it was still warm. So my thought that cold front was already here was false. I kept listening to the forecast, which remained the same. At most 25kts gusts were the worst we were to expect. By the time evening came, we were comfortable cruising and counting the lights from the tugs in the shipping lane, trying to stay out of their way.
In a matter of seconds the cold front finally arrived. The sky remained clear with the moon and stars. The wind lifted to 30-35kts in a matter of few minutes. We had just enough time to throw Bella below, and roll up the partially unfurled genoa before waves and spray started crashing over the cabin. The sound of flapping genoa was making me worry. The entire rig was rattling and the thought of all the clevis pins and cotter pins I put on last summer was constantly on my mind. With just the main on a second reef the boat was making no headway. We tried to head west closer to the lee of the NJ shore. We were around 5NM offshore. The major problem was that Genoa was not rolled correctly and portion of it was flapping violently, sending vibrations throughout the boat. With the aid of an engine, we managed to make 4kts towards shore and in about few hours the waves had already eased off. The cold had already set in but the gusts were intensifying and I was getting readings over 35 constantly. Crystal was getting sick and nobody was comfortable. In the interest of comfort and our safety, I decided to try the Barnegat inlet to spend the night there. Our tack down the coast took on a beamreach and with just the reefed main we were making 7kts without the engine. Crystal was at the companionway reading the chart and our location. Barnegat inlet seemed like a very tricky place to navigate in 35-40kts winds. The thought of using windows laptop and a charting software with GPS fed into it for our location was on my mind for a bit, but it worked so far, and I am hoping it would work through this. To our fortune, a large fishing boat made its way to into the inlet as we approached it. I saw it slow down to nearly a stop before I relized that it’s the head waves and wind along with narrowly placed buoys that were making them navigate with caution. But the thought of a large fishing vessel entering the inlet put to rest all the doubts of the navigability. As we rounded the red-lighted buoy, the wind turned head on and the waves were still pretty large. The spray off the waves crashing into breakwater, were making things hard to see. Both Crystal and me managed to locate the barely noticeable lighted channel buoys. As we made our way in we realized that to the west of the inlet there is large open body of water making what little navigable water inside the inlet almost as dangerous as outside. Even worse, the buoys inside were not lit up. As it turns out, there apparently was an anchorage with a marked but not lit channel to it. At the center of the basin there was 30 feet of water next to red-green center channel mark. Then there was a red nun that was leading to the anchorage channel. The fuel dock and all other emergency docking piers were exposed to large chop and wind. My thought was to try to make our way into any kind of lee we can identify. I saw the depth drop to 9-8-7 feet while trying to enter the anchorage channel. I tried heading to windward side of the channel but it got even shallower so I assumed that the channel was on the other side. As I was trying to stay to port, I felt us dragging against the mud and finally come to a stop and the boat heeled almost immediately to about 30degrees. Tide was coming in but the gale force winds were healing us over and pushing us broad side onto the marsh. For a second I thought I’d use the genoa to heel the boat over and get out of it but I realized that the leeway was too great and room ahead was none to be found. So that was not an option. The only thing working for us was the rising tide for the next hour or so. We were now nearly 20 feet from the marsh, which was clearly visible under flashlight and was also ahead of us. It took us several hours to wiggle our way out of this mess. Numerous thoughts of getting stuck here crossed my mind. The biggest problem was the strong winds pushing us further and further onto the marsh. Finally I managed to turn the boat head into the wind and the next gust that healed the boat magically lined up with the incoming rise of the water, enough for us to motor out of the marsh. I was repeatedly thanking god and my new 3 blade fixed sailboat prop, which I bought on ebay. If we still had our old crappy folding martec 2 bladed propeller, I think our boat would end up a wreck, and a mark on the next set of charts that NOAA publishes. We still had no idea where to go so my priority was deep water as opposed to protected anchorage. I knew that my ground tackle would hold no matter what the circumstance, so I anchored in the middle of the channel in 25 feet of water. The anchor hooked on the first try and was holding good. I managed to re-wrap the genoa so that the thundering noise would finally stop. The cold was now here and the cabin was freezing. I started the heater for a little while and went to sleep in the main cabin. Crystal was trying to sleep in the v-birth. Few hours later, the coast guard was on the phone to let us know that we were in the channel. At least by then the wind had died down a bit and things were a bit more manageable. It was already getting light outside and the anchorage was now clearly visible. So was the channel to the anchorage in the middle of which we actually ran aground. So we ran aground in the channel at nearly high tide. Now is low tide and the coast guard wants me to go there? No thanks. We opted to head for the fuel dock and wait for favorable tide, get out of the inlet and head for Atlantic City. People at the fuel dock were big jerks with no sympathy that we ran aground and nowhere to go, and they wanted to kick us out. I just bought fuel from them and they wouldn’t even let me stay another hour. There is nobody around and it looks like we’ll be their only business for days. Still, the owner was screaming at us just as the explosive fume alarm started beeping. I realized that we had a fuel leak in the engine compartment and told the owner that I need to vent the engine room and stop the leak before starting the engine. Nop, the ignorant sob, insisted that we leave. I told him that we would blow up if I started the engine now. That shut him up really fast! I went below and found the leak at the top of the tank where the fuel sender unit mounts. The rubber seal was crap. That’s a new sender unit with very shitty rubber seal! Not something I can mess with at the moment. I needed a quicker fix. I quickly got one of our empty fuel cans, disconnected the fuel line from the fuel filter and gas was now coming out of the tank and into the fuel can. About 2 gallons came out before the gas stopped leaking from the tank. The alarm stopped beeping and I ran a blower for about 10 minutes before patching things up and starting the engine. Waved goodbye to these miserable and ignorant people hoping that I would never have to come back here.

Captain’s log 10-09-06

Departure Point / Start Time Hells Gate NY 12 PM
Arrival Point / End Time Sandy Hook, NJ() 5 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 32 NM 5 h
Today we had an exciting ride through NYC. We used the ebb in its peak to do 8kts over ground. NYC is magnificent from the water. There are many tugs, powerboats and sailboats going with the current. There were some big tankers going against the current, which produced a tremendous wake. After 15 years, I finally saw the shopping mall and the square-riggers near pier 17 again. I remember them from August 1991 when I first came to the US. From the water, NY seems smaller then when you’re in it. Maybe it was the current we were riding. By the time we reached Liberty island, the wind lifted out of S-SW and was blowing into the current which made seas a bit choppy. For a while I was worried about the inflatable and the 10Hp mercury which we were dragging behind us, but the chop eased off and we made our way all the way to Sandy hook. We chouse Atlantic Highlands because the guide mentioned laundry and grocery store near by. The anchorage was very protected behind the breakwater. We spent the next few days doing errands. One night was a bit choppy as the wind was blowing from the east. After a couple of days we were growing tired of the place and were aching to get on our way again. This time, it was the open ocean and a pretty large stretch of sea awaiting our voyage.

Captain’s log 10-07-06

Departure Point / Start Time Port Jefferson, NY 1:30 PM
Arrival Point / End Time Kings Point, NY 9:30 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 42 NM 7 h


After Maki left we went to the marina to fill up water and fuel. All in all, I got 17gallons in cans and 9 in the tanks. It looks like that the engine uses .8gal of fuel per hour at 1500rpms. I haven’t figured out how idling and load affect the gas usage.
We packed up everything and left for NY City. Outside, we encountered a strong easterly flow 15-20kts against an easterly current, which made the sound choppy. We had about 4-6 foot swell hitting us a stern, which made things a bit miserable for the first hour or so. But soon the wind died and so did the swell. We were already in too polluted water to fish and all we could do it motor and let the autopilot do the steering. By sunset we decided to keep on going deeper and deeper into the east river. The moon was full and made a beautiful moon rise on the east, directly astern. We made it all the way to Kings Point and anchored just off the Yacht Club in 14 feet of water. The plan was to catch the current next day at 11:30AM at Hells Gate.
Next day we went to Hells Gate and decided to anchor at Laguardia. We wanted to go to NY but soon got boarded by the coast guard. Everything went well but we had to stay onboard and wait for the next day’s current to continue. Spent a day stitching cockpit cushions. They came up pretty nice but I screwed up the sailboat on one of them.

Captain’s log 10-05-06

Departure Point / Start Time Breakwater at Clinton CT (N41 18.93’, W71 58.45’) 11 AM
Arrival Point / End Time Port Jefferson, NY() 7PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 32 NM 5.5 h

Today we had a great leg and a great day. Used the winds wisely to get us south fast on broad reach. Still had the main reefed as it was blowing 20+ kts. Genoa was changing from rolled partly to fully open. We tried to maintain 5+ kts but that varied as we hit mid LI sound current of about .5-1kt against us. Just pass the mid point we caught a 35” blue fish. It was a great feeling to finally catch something. This will be food for days to come. After 2PM we had to motor-sail and to our liking autopilot managed to cope with small 3-4 foot swell very well. It worked out well, as Crystal and I lounged on the foredeck catching some rays. Port Jeff seems like a great harbor protected from all sides. High cliffs protected us well from the NE and N winds, which were blowing in the 30s during the next day or two.

The next day we found starbucks with coffee that sucked and Internet that was too expensive. We used it to pay CC bills and that was it. This town charges 6$ each time you want to park the dinghy. What a rip-off. Not even Newport is like that. I can’t wait to get to friendly south. Even the town ramp charged people 55$ to launch the boat from the trailer. I tried parking there but the parking lot attendant pointed out to a slippery stairs of a fixed piling pier and said I have to park there and only for 10 minutes. The tides are 6+ feet and I had to leave plenty of line. Maki came a bit later on and we went grocery shopping. Spent time that afternoon catching up with news and watching a movie. The flat panel worked out really nice. Thank god we have a heater. It got pretty cold that night. Blue fish was great. It was a second night grilling it and it was still great. Maki left us about half-year supply of movies on DVDs. Awesome!! Next day I dropped him off and got gas. The parking lot attendant was giving me crap again but we managed to get allowance for 30 minutes to go to the gas station and get coffee and dounuts.

Captain’s log 10-04-06

Departure Point / Start Time Shelter Island (N41 21.88’, W71 31.01’) 1:30 PM
Arrival Point / End Time Breakwater at Clinton CT (N41 18.93’, W71 58.45’) 5:45 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 20 NM 1.5 h

Used the LI sound and The Race current to our advantage to sail close hauled on a south-western breeze and get to Long Sand Shoal. It was blowing 15-20 and our SOG would reach 8.5+ kts. I tried trolling for blue fish but we lost our best lure. That’s what happens the first time you try fishing. Anchorage was miserable. Breakwater didn’t provide much shelter. Winds were from the N-NE overnight blowing 20-25kts. Next morning we got up with urgency to make the trip to Pt. Jefferson. My plan in Mystic CT was to first catch te SW winds and get to Northern shore of LI sound and then wait for Northern winds to cross LI sound to Pt. Jefferson. It seems to be working so far. We had SW winds and now we have northern winds the same night we arrived to central CT.

Captain’s log 10-03-06

Departure Point / Start Time Stayed in Shelter Island Sound
Arrival Point / End Time
Distance Traveled / Engine 5 NM 1 h
I tried fixing the big outboard again and realized that high-speed jet had two components, which I never took apart. After opening the high-speed jet, I found a considerable amount of gum and dirt trapped in it, which made me happy. I was again hopeful that this would solve the problem. It worked. We finally had a fast runabout!

Captain’s log 10-02-06

Departure Point / Start Time Pt. Judith (N41 21.88’, W71 31.01’) 11 AM
Arrival Point / End Time Rams Island CT (N41 18.93’, W71 58.45’) 5 PM
Distance Traveled / Engine 21 NM 2.5 h

It was a brisk sunny day with winds from NW. Local lobsterman sold us three small lobsters for 10$. Sounded like a good deal. Set a flattening reef and sailed on starboard tack close hauled the entire way. I noticed that taking all the lead from under the floor boards during the summer projects made the boat heel more in same wind under same sail area. For instance the rail was getting buried in the water in 15-20kts under full #1 heavy genoa and flattening reef on a main. Last year this wasn’t happening until 20-25kts.Oh well, we lost some upwind performance but that could be contributed to the cruising setup and higher displacement. As we approached Watch Hill, we motor sailed and I tried the watermaker. It worked great. It took 1.5 hours to top off starboard tank and refill the port one. The water quality is still questionable but Crystal is not complaining about washing up with this water. Being so susceptible to bacteria and infections it was comforting to see that she didn’t get any skin reactions to water produced by my watermaker. We anchored in a lovely little bay behind Rams Island. Dinner was great with a lobster and white wine. Bella loved the lobster as well. I tried the 9.9 HP dinghy motor but it would stall at high speeds. That brought my mood down a bit. I worked so hard to get the motor to work and it always seems to have a problem.