Its been a while sine my last post, but it is starts and stops at this point.  Since my last post I have been to Little Cranberry Island, Maine (by car which proceeded to break down once I arrived) and then with John and Nancy Knight aboard S/V Adventuress - Island Packet 420 (below).

We had a wonderful sail down to Beaufort, SC where the boat was staged for their voyage to St. Martin in November.  Below is a scene from just outside of Hampton on the day we left.   It took us 62 hours to sail from Hampton to Beaufort with a glorious following breeze and seas to match.



John and Nancy have asked me to sail with them next year from St. Martin to Falmouth, England, via Bermuda and the Azores.  I have accepted and am very much looking forward to the trip.

More to follow...

For now, I am getting ready for the Caribbean 1500 aboard a Hallberg Rassy 43 - Starburst.

Dave

Catching Up

I just received a photo of the Mahi I caught on the trip up from Florida on the Hylas.  Really good eating!

Aboard S/V Patriot off of Cape Hatteras

Last week I sailed on the Helberg Rassy in prep for the the 1500 and then went to the Corsica River on Eau de Vie for a Bastille Day party with the Corinthians.  There was not a lot of wind but we all did get to see the Log Canoe Races.  They were in the Chester River near the Corsica.  If you have never seen them they are a must.  You can check out the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to learn more about them.  They have no keel, but are kept from capsizing by the weight of the crew sitting at the end of long boards. When you tack, you need to do so slowly so the crew can come in, move the boards to the other side and hike out on them.  

Woman on the helm / off the stern

Vintage Boat supporting the race 

Offshore Adventures Planned

OK, the best laid plans.....

There is actually good and bad in that intro.  The bad is that I will not be going to Maine this year...  The good is that it is because I will be racing in the Governor's Cup on August 2nd and 3rd from Annapolis to Saint Mary's.  This is to provide an sailing trip for the entire crew of a Hallberg Rassy 43 in preparation for this year's Caribbean 1500.

  I could go after that but have now been invited to sail to Beaufort, SC beginning in Mid September to prep for a Crossing to either Falmouth England or Portugal (not decided yet) on an IP 420 "Advernturess".

I am really looking forward to all the trips but this means that I only have from August 5th to the end of August for any travel on Eau de Vie.  I am therefore biting the bullet and remaining in the Chesapeake in August.  More to follow...

Two days after returning from France I flew to West Palm Beach to help a friend bring his new boat back to the Chesapeake.  What a beautiful boat - a 2004 Haylas 46 with custom hard top and custom Arch.  They now have to sell their 39' Pearson once they get it ready.

S/V Patriot

There was quite a bit to do to get the boat ready as the former owner had taken everything off and moved it to a storage locker.  Everything had to be put back on, all systems checked and the boat provisioned (luckily there was a Wynn Dixie within walking distance of the marina.  In addition, we had to get familiar with the boat and plan for the passage.  Thursday and Friday were consumed by the prep work and by Saturday morning we were ready with the Corky and Deb (the owners) me and Dick Tudan as crew.  The forecast was as good as could be hoped for with wind out of the South or SW for the next several days as we proceeded up the coast toward Norfolk.  The only hitch was the possibility of scattered or isolated T-storms.  We did hit rain, sometimes heavy but no thunder or lightning nearby.  Winds were as predicted and ranged between 13 - 18 kts on most of the voyage, hitting 22 - 28 for one small portion.  Much of the voyage was under sail, which was GREAT.  The icing on the cake that made the trip even better was that we caught 2 mahi on the hand line I had rigged as we approached Cape Hatteras.  The biggest one was about 15 pounds.  

Corky

Deb 

The route

We left the Dock in West Palm on Saturday 6/29 at 6:30 am and pulled into the slip in Annapolis on Wed 7/3 at 10:30 pm - very fast and very much fun!!

This week I meet with the owner of "Starburst" a Halberg Rassy 43 on which I am potential crew member for this year's Caribbean 1500.  

Navigation - Air; Land and ala bateau.....

The week before our trip to France and cruising on the River Lot in SW France with the Little Ship Club, we learned that there was a planned rail strike for the week of our travel that would not affect us (as we decided to rent a car) but it would affect our crew members and their arrive to Cahors.  Then the Sunday before our planned Wed. departure we learned of a planned strike by Paris Air Traffic Controllers but not to worry as it was focused on the short distance flights and Trans Atlantic would not be impacted... Wrong.  Monday morning we had a call from Useless Air that the flight had been cancelled and after working with them found that the best we could do was to leave a day early for Frankfurt.  After confirming with Grace Giraldo, who was joining Barb and I, that this was doable we cancelled our car in Paris and booked on in Frankfurt.  We were just about to leave on Tuesday when Useless Air called to say that the Paris flight was back on and did we want to switch back.  No way, there were bound to be disruptions on Paris and lets just get there.  over 1,000 km of driving and on night's stop, we arrived in Cahors.  In fact all of out crew had made it.  Who would have thought that Air and Land Nav would have been the most difficult parts?  

Barb avec Wine

At the Chateau du Caix vineyard owned by the King and Queen of Denmark.

The trip and thew Crew were wonderful!!!!  Grace provide gourmet meals throughout the entire voyage and she loved doing it as she did not have time to do so at home with work and school (she is going for her PHD).  Highlights follow:

Valentre Bridge in Cahors

Peter Jenkins

Sue Lyons

Gordon Oscroft

Petie Oscroft

Grace Giving Sue Salsa Lessons

Spices on Market Day in Cahors

Flotilla Raft up in Cahors

Multiple Lock (manually cranked) - up to 9 in a day

We left Rock Hall at 11:00 on Sunday May 12th (Mothers Day).  My crew member is Phyllis Kucharczuk who joined the Corinthians 3 years ago and this is her first real event.  The wind was 25 out of the NW and we set sail with a heavily reefed Jib and a double reefed Main.  Current was also in our favor, so in 3 hours we had reached Bloody Point on the southern end of Kent Island.  Speed reached 8.5 kts and we kept extended our objective for the day from Annapolis to Galesville and finally decided to keep going and we dropped the sails off of Oxford at 5:15.  Wow - this was the best sail in a couple of years.  The Corinthian Cruise started on Tuesday with a dinner at the Tred Avon Yacht Club.

First Point of Aries

INSSA - "I'll Never Say Stinkpot Again"

First Point of Aries and Willoway

After the cruise we hit Antipoison Creek (where the indians treated a stingray sting with a potion remedy).  We had planned on seeing Onancock on Wed but the forecast called for heavy winds on Thursday and beyond so the 5 boats decided to book it for Solomons.  This time we had winds just off our port quarter and @15 to 20 and we went for a Spinnaker Run - Wow!  Another GREAT Sail.  We again hit 8.5 knots and actually caught a 34' catamaran that was ahead of us.  We dropped the Spinnaker off of Smith Point on the southern end of the Potomac when the wind shifted and increased and sailed with just a reefed Jib.  We arrived in Solomons at 3:00 and took a mooring for Wed Night and moved to a Tee Head for the rest of our stay (Winds are now out of the NW at 25 gusting to 30).  This actually worked out very well because Thursday was Phyllis's 70th birthday and her boyfriend drove down here 3 hours to spend the day with her.  He took her to dinner and spent the night on the boat.  Winds are expected to remain high until Sunday, so we are sitting tight until then.

I leave on Sunday for the Corinthian Spring Cruise of the Chesapeake.  The boat is ready and I have started the provisioning list.  There are 23 boats in the cruise, with 55 skippers and crew members plus 7 Drive along guests. The Itinerary is as follows:

Tuesday, May 14th: Tred Avon Yacht Club - Opening Dinner

Wednesday, May 15th: Zahniser’s Marina, Solomons

Thursday, May 15th: Point Lookout Marina Smith Creek

Friday, May 16th, Mill Creek, Great Wicomico - Progressive Dinner aboard.

Saturday and Sunday May 18th and 19th Chesapeake Boat Basin , Kilmarnock.  (This stop includes a Bowling competition.... How many years has it been since I have been in a bowling ally???)

Monday, May 19th: Urbanna, Virginia (there are several Marinas from which to select)

The week will be followed by a second week of informal sailing and coordination back to home ports.
I should be back just in time for final prep for the trip to the River Lot, in France aboard a charter with the Little Ship Club of the UK.

This spring I replaced the thinning and faded painted on name with a new vinyl one and it does look nice.  The bottom has been painted, the hull compounded and waxed and the toe rail refinished and the boat is nearing its launch date on Monday.  There is still work to do on the topsides and on the interior, but that work can be done once we are in the water.

The to do list still includes:

• Reseal the rest of the teak.
• Polish all stainless
• Wax the topsides
• Refinish the cabin sole
• Bend on the sails
• Verify that the problem with air in the fuel lines has been resolved (I think it has been from late last year but it deserves final hard shakedown to ensure that it has)
• Provision the boat for the Corinthian Spring Cruise in May.

In June, Barb and I will go to France for our power boating on the river Lot, after which I will begin plans to head north again.  Barb is planning to join me in Maine this year at Little Cranberry Island.  A fun time will be had by all!!

I am toying with the idea of taking the boat south for the winter this year and perhaps the Bahamas.  Nothing definite yet but the idea has taken seed.

Let the season begin!!!

On 2/18 I attended a presentation on the book "Overboard!" by Michael Tougias.  The presentation was by the author and Loch Reidy who survived more than 24 hours in the water after being washed overboard during a passage to Bermuda in May 2005.   At the time, I had remarked on my facebook page that there were several things that had run through my mind that they had done wrong.  I take that back, the thing done wrong has its source in one main issue - rushing to leave in order to keep to a schedule.  The need to keep to that schedule led to the captain discounting the potential risk of a low developing into a major storm on the voyage.  It also lead to leaving the black out panels off of the forward windshields in the rush to get underway, one of which smashed and was the source of water in the main cabin that kept filling the boat.  There were many more things that were done right and I really cannot put fault or have any real blame on anyone.  Loch's perseverance in particular is awe inspiring.  How the Coast Guard, Navy and AMVER vessels contributed to Loch's rescue and that of the remaining 3 crew members who were left on the boat is riveting. 

We have all at least felt the temptation to leave because people are waiting for us at a certain place on a certain date.  The main lesson to take away from this is that the decision on when to leave and when to stay in port is the most critical decision you can make for the safety of your boat and crew.  We saw that with the story of "Triple Stars" a year and a half ago.  There are other lessons in the book that we could all benefit from - such as how the wind wants to rip a life raft away from a boat once its deployed.

The book is very well written and a quick read.  I highly recommend it!

http://www.msc.navy.mil/sealift/2005/june/seay.htm

There is a complete list of lessons learned assembled by the author that can be found at this site:

http://www.soundingsonline.com/news/home-waters/101-new-england/253002-almeisans-lessons

Spring is here and the blood is flowing again!  I was at the boat on Monday to start the Spring commissioning.  It looks like a mid-April Launch, although there's a lot to do over the next month.  The past 2.5 months have been consumed with Coast Guard Auxiliary and house chores, although the later seems to never end.  Barb does like the fact that I have pretty much taken over the grocery shopping and am cooking most of the dinners now (Cooking Channel @ 12:30 - French Food at Home with Laura Calder - Highly recommended).

This year's boat list includes applying a new Vinyl Name (the painted on one is 12 years old and is wearing off); repainting the bottom; re-doing most of the teak; applying Poly Glow to the Hull and verifying that the engine problems from last year have been solved.  On the watch list are the batteries, they have not been giving me any problems but they are 10 years old and I am considering changing them out to avoid an issue.

The plans for the year include the Corinthian Spring Cruise in May in the Chesapeake and a trip north to at least Long Island Sound, although I really did have a good time last year in Maine and there is a strong draw to do it again.

The posts will be more active now that the boating season is upon us.  I will even try to convert some of the recipes to boat friendly versions.  For example: Roasted Veggies in Vacuum Sealed pouches and frozen work wonderfully.  Poke a hole in the top and put them in the microwave to reheat.  Veggies that work well include Beets; Baby Carrots; Green Beans; Asparagus; Yams; Red Onions; Leeks; Potatoes.  Roast them separately at 325 and then place them in pouches - I like to mix the up into various combinations.  Bon Appetit!

Yes, with the boat on the hard I have not posted in a bit but now we are planning for the coming year and a continuation of the voyage through life.  Oh God, is that too philosophical or what??  Well here is the news...

Eau de Vie is still in its cocoon for the winter and will not likely emerge until mid April.  This is because I pulled it earlier than I had wanted to because of Hurricane Sandy and there are now rows of boats behind her.  Plans for the year are coming together, although not along the originally hoped for path.  I had wanted to do the ARC Europe but the only 2 boats listed are a racing boat that is described as "Spartan inside to say the least" and the other whose captain extols his virtues in an email and asks for 350 Euro deposit with another 500 due on arrival at the boat but gets the first leg of the trip wrong by saying twice that it is to the Bahamas instead of Bermuda.  Be afraid, be very afraid.

It now looks like we will be able to participate in the Corinthian Spring Cruise in May as the alternative.  This will be followed in June by a cruise with the Little Ship Club on the River Lot in France.  Barbara is really excited about this, in particular the opportunity to see real Cave Paintings!  Here is the overview...

The River Lot has been chosen because of its:

• dramatic scenery
• magnificent prehistoric cave paintings
• lots of sight-seeing en route
• renowned for its wildlife, particularly birds
• swimming
• canoeing
• fishing
• delicious local food and wine.

DAY 1

Pick up boats in Douelle and make our way up-river to Cahors

DAY 2
Morning - Cahors market, the biggest and best in the area
Afternoon - explore Cahors - Valentre Bridge, Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle, the old town, Cathedral, museums, secret gardens
Evening - wine-tasting followed by first rally meal, featuring local specialities

DAY 3
Up-river, exploring the riverside villages, all with beautiful scenery that get increasingly dramatic, including:
    Arcambal - a brewery, ancient mill, 14th century chateau
    Vers - well-known art gallery, remains of aqueduct, cascades
    St Gery - great for bird-watching
    Bouzies - tow paths carved into the limestone cliffs, canoeing in River Cele (tributary of Lot)

DAY 4
Continue up-river arriving at St Cirq Lapopie in the afternoon
It is one of the 'Plus Beaux Villages' and is perched spectacularly on top of the cliff overlooking the river, with stunning views
Pontoon party

DAY 5
Morning - visit caves of Pech Merle with prehistoric cave paintings - unlike the more famous ones at Lascaux you see the originals, some of them 25,000 years old
Afternoon - look round St Cirq Lapopie - lots of crafts and galleries as well as the amazing views

DAYS 6 and 7
Back down-river past Cahors and Douelle, to Luzech

DAY 8
Back up-river to Parnac - visit to vineyard
Then back to Douelle
Final rally meal in Douelle
Leave boats 9.00 am next morning

This makes the 4th sailing with our friends of the Little Ship Club and we have had such fun that I have decided to become a member.

We are looking forward to the year ahead