The Calm Before the Storm

Eau de Vie came out of the water yesterday and all canvas and sails are off and stowed. Winterization will be completed tomorrow.   Saudade arrived in Hampton this morning and is secure.  It will be good to get down there and get familiar with the boat.

Sandy looks like it will make a direct hit on our area Monday night into Tuesday.  The spiral below is the expected position at Monday 11:00.  This is when I will leave for Hampton to join the boat.

Weather Watch

Saudade is leaving for Hampton today from Newport.  Today and tomorrow the weather forecast is fine, but Saturday's forecast is bad and getting worse.  I am not planning to join the boat until next week (depending on how Sandy will impact the Chesapeake) but I did ask Larry to consider transiting the Delaware and C&D Canal if conditions dictate.

The Current National Weather Service Forecast is below
 ANZ089-251500-  500 AM EDT THU OCT 25 2012      .SYNOPSIS FOR MID ATLC WATERS...A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL DRIFT S  ACROSS THE CENTRAL WATERS TODAY AND DISSIPATE TONIGHT. A HIGH  PRES RIDGE WILL BUILD IN FROM THE N LATE TODAY AND  TONIGHT...THEN WEAKEN FRI INTO SAT.    HURRICANE SANDY NOW WELL S OF THE AREA IS EXPECTED TO TRACK N TO  NEAR 28.1N 76.3W BY 2 AM SAT...NEAR 31.2N 73.7W BY 2 AM SUN...  NEAR 34.5N 70.5W BY 2 AM MON...THEN BECOME A STRONG  POST-TROPICAL LOW NEAR 37.5N 70.5W BY 2 AM TUE. SEE THE LATEST  NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER ADVISORY FOR HURRICANE SANDY.  $$  SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE  HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE  MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.     ANZ085-251500-  BALTIMORE CANYON TO HATTERAS CANYON OUT TO 36N 70W TO 34N 71W  500 AM EDT THU OCT 25 2012    TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS EXPECTED SAT  HURRICANE CONDITIONS EXPECTED SUN AND MON    TODAY  VARIABLE WINDS 10 KT OR LESS...EXCEPT OVER N PORTION NE  10 TO 15 KT EARLY. WINDS BECOMING NE 10 TO 20 KT THROUGHOUT  LATE. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT.  TONIGHT  E TO NE WINDS BECOMING 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS BECOMING 3  TO 5 FT.  FRI  E TO NE WINDS 15 TO 20 KT...EXCEPT OVER S PORTION  INCREASING TO 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS BUILDING TO 4 TO 7 FT...EXCEPT  OVER S PORTION TO 7 TO 11 FT LATE WITH S SWELL...HIGHEST SE.  FRI NIGHT  E TO NE WINDS INCREASING 20 TO 30 KT. SEAS BUILDING  TO 7 TO 12 FT...EXCEPT OVER SE PORTION 12 TO 17 FT LATE. HIGHEST  WINDS AND SEAS S. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS DEVELOPING MAINLY  S.  SAT  N PORTION...NE WINDS INCREASING TO 25 TO 35 KT. SEAS  BUILDING TO 9 TO 16 FT. HIGHEST WINDS AND SEAS SE. S PORTION...  E TO NE WINDS INCREASING TO 35 TO 45 KT. SEAS BUILDING TO 16 TO  26 FT. HIGHEST WINDS AND SEAS SE.  SUN  TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGHOUT...EXCEPT  OVER SE PORTION HURRICANE CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP.  MON  TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS EXPECTED...EXCEPT OVER E  PORTION HURRICANE CONDITIONS EXPECTED.  $$

Getting ready

I am slated to leave on Monday for Hampton to meet the boat which is also expected to arrive on that date. The big question is the weather.  Hurricane Sandy is expected to track out to Bermuda around that time according to the American Model but the European Model has it tracking up the East Coast, possibly making landfall over Long Island.  This could affect both the boat's arrival date as well as mine.  If the hurricane tracks up the coast, I would be at the boat to ensure that Eau de Vie was secure.  I am scheduled to move Eau de Vie to Worton Creek on Friday.

Professional weather routing is part of both the Caribbean 1500 and the Salty Dawg Rally.  Last year the Salty Dawg used Chris Parker who has a reputation of being more conservative than many other forecasters.    We had a window that we selected that enabled us to leave on November 6th, after a low had passed through Hampton.  Most of the other boats in the Rally waited for a more conservative window 4 days later. As it turned out that low remained over the Atlantic and developed into Hurricane Sean, but Chis's direction kept us well west of the bad weather and we did not have more than 30 kts of wind at any time

This time of year is very turbulent and the most important decision you make is when to leave.

More to follow...

Caribbean 1500

I am crewing again on the Caribbean 1500.  http://www.worldcruising.com/carib1500/route.aspx
This year I am aboard Saudade, a Tayana 48DS.





At this point there will be 5 of us on the boat, including Larry Cohen who was a crew member with me on my first 1500 in 2009.  I am in the process of packing and making sure that I have not forgotten anything, especially my passport as that is not something that I usually take sailing.  The key is to limit the amount of gear that I take while having enough for leaving in November and being hot by day 3.

More to follow from Hampton...

To update you all that may not have heard, I have decided not to sail to Europe next year with Eau de Vie, but I still want to do the voyage as a crew member on another boat.  There are several reasons for this decision including the lack of capacity for water, fuel and energy generation, which all can be overcome at a cost, and most importantly, once I get there and the crew leaves, I would be alone.  The time spent sailing back from Maine alone was lonely once the day was done and I had cleaned up after dinner.

That being said there is still Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean to consider.  Stay tuned as the plans evolve.

OK, its been far too long since I have posted on the blog and a friend pointed that out last weekend.  I will therefore be posting more often.  

Jim Elliott

Ron and Maryann - S/V Cavu

Al and Ann

Last weekend was the Annapolis Boat Show and I attended Thursday and Friday.  The highlight for me was seeing friends. David and Patty; Kurt and Monica, Jim and Norm, Corky and Deb; Al and Ann; Ron and Maryann; John and Linda; Denise and finally Jim.

The good thing about the boat show is that you can get good deals on a lot of equipment.  The bad thing is you can see so many good deals that you blow your budget.  Do I need the new Kiwi Prop or the Air Breeze wind generator?  No, not need but highly tempting....  My biggest purchase was new fowl weather gear from Helly Hansen at almost half off.  Yea, I know its Yellow and White but my existing Bibs and boots are also yellow.

The other good thing about the boat show was the party's.  There was a good get together with the Salty Dog Rally from last year and a get together with the Caribbean 1500, including Davis and his band performing at the Ram's Head,

I will be on the 1500 again this year for my 4th trip to the Caribbean.  This year I will be on a 48' Tayana and we will leave on 11/4, weather permitting.  More to follow...

Catching Up

OK, it has been a while since I had an internet access.  The last marina I stayed in (Sandwich, Mass at the eastern end of the Cape Cod Canal) claimed internet but it did not reach my slip.  I am now in Brielle, NJ (Manasquan Inlet) as it is one of only 3 inlets in NJ that I would attempt.  The other 2 are Atlantic City and Cape May.  Since my last post I have been basically single handing from Boothbay Harbor.  Not that I have not had offers for folks to be crew, but there are always timing and logistical considerations on when and where to pick them up and drop them off.  The exception has been that I have had Lucas Gunhart with me from Labor Day to last Sat.  He is beginning to study Sailing and he sailed with me from Block Island to Oyster Bay.  The engine problems with air in the fuel lines are now resolved as they were caused by a vacuum guage on the primary fuel filter that was installed in Boothbay on the way up.  This was to diagnose a problem with loosing RPM for short periods that was caused by a loose fitting.  Once that guage was removed, the problem went away.

Enough of that... from Boothbay I went to Portsmouth, NH and then to Marblehead for 2 days.  Dolphin Yacht Club only charges $30 and you get access to there clubhouse - great deal as the other clubs charge $50.  From there I went on to Scituate and ran across Bob and Laura Fleno - Bob sailed with me on Ilene on the Caribbean 1500. 2 years ago.  They left last year for 2 years of sailing in the Caribbean but came back a year early. I sailed from there to Sandwich, because I was not sure about the resolution of the engine issue and wanted a clean start at the head of the Cape Cod Canal.  3 days in Cuttyhunk, 3 days in Block and then up the LI sound, including 3 days in Oyster Bay  Today was City Island to Brielle and tomorrow is Cape May.  I will be home soon and can't wait.

Here are shots from the trip...

Why do people put stupid names on their boats?

Or have an OK name ...

And put something stupid on their boom?

I prefer to just live the good life and enjoy - Try the Oysters they are Great!

Cuttyhunk Rocks!!

And it doesn't get any better!