Where is the Far Reach?

[John Stone]

Tim (tjr 818), I just noticed the question on the teak cap on the coaming. Simple 3/4" thick teak cut about 3/8-1/2" wider than the coaming to provide a little lip. Cut the top of the coaming square, drill/ countersink for 1 1/2" #10 self tapping flat heads. Install. Glue in teak wood plugs. I bedded with Dolphinite.

I installed the bare teak because it requires very little maintenance. Also it provides protection for the top of the varnished coaming. Lines can run across it. You can stand on it. No damage to the varnished coaming. Also, vertical surface varnish is much more durable then varnish on horizontal surfaces.

There should be pictures on my website under installing deck hardware I think.

[Steve A]

Geez....There goes the Neighborhood

[Jim Walsh]

6 Jan 2016
Click clack. Click clack. I woke up about 0400 to a sound I could not immediately identify. "What is that?" "Ah, it's the sound of a mooring ball banging against the hull of the Far Reach." There was little wind so the ball was trying to occupy the same space as the hI'll. I got up and used the boat hook to push it off. The pendant with the pick-up buoy was on one side of the boat and the mooring ball on the other. Back to bed. When I finally got up Tricia had the coffee going and was standing at the foot of the companionway looking out over the bridge deck taking in the lovely sights.

We had a quick breakfast and took the dinghy into Cruze Bay to get some gas for the outboard and look for a chart of St Thomas as the one I had on board did not cover the whole island. In fact it only covered half of the main harbor at Charlotte Amalie. "No place sells charts here" I was told. "You have to go to St Thomas to get a chart of St Thomas." "But how do I get to St Thomas without a . . . Oh never mind."

We have used paper charts for the whole trip. I like them. I like plotting the Lat/Long on paper. I think it connects me to the surroundings in a way a chart plotter does not. It's timeless. It also connects me to those that went before. But charts are getting hard to come by. And they are expensive. I am using the grey scale reproductions sold by Bellingham Charts. They are OK. Reasonably priced but not especially durable. But let me tell you, when you don't have the chart you need it gets interesting pretty fast regardless the color.

We returned to the boat empty handed and slipped the mooring about 1055. A late start to be sure. The breeze was light. We sailed with the working jib, stays'l, and the main with one reef in it. We started on a broad reach but once we cleared Stevens Cay, came up onto the wind and were close hauled on a course of 180 degrees magnetic. We could not take the short cut past Great St James Island that I wanted to take because the chart I had did not have the details I needed to feel comfortable. So we sailed a couple more miles out, tacking twice, to get around Dog Island. We were back out in the Atlantic Ocean. The swells were not bad, only about 4 feet. The east wind was a pleasant 15-17 kts. Once we had the offing we needed we fell off the wind and steered about 285 degrees magnetic. We rigged the whisker pole for the jib and once again ran downwind wing and wing. Very comfortable. Tricia plotted our position on the chart. I sat in the cockpit identifying landmarks and terrain features. Our trust windvane steered the Far Reach unfailingly. We finally opened the East Gregorie Channel and spotted the cruise liners over on the east side of Hassle Island. We ran down Gregorie channel and gybed at the north end and then reached back along the west Gregorie channel where many cruising boats are anchored in the lee (west side) of Water Island. We sailed back and fourth a couple times looking for a spot to anchor amongst the mooring balls. This is a long stretch of water well suited to anchoring. We would get more seclusion if we pushed further south but would be further from the facilities we wanted--stores for reprovisioning, mail, laundry, etc. A quick dinghy ride to shore, or a long wet one. Easy decision this time. I picked a spot back near the head of the channel across from Crown Bay Marina. While sailing along, Tricia rigged the inflatable dinghy along the starboard quarter of the Far Reach in case we decided to use it as s yawl boat when it was time to anchor. As we were beating back a squall rolled in over the top of Water Island bringing light rain and about 25-30 knots of breeze. I told Tricia to raise the stays'l which she did and then immediately drop the jib after the stays'l was up. If we dropped the jib first we would have only had the mainsail up for a time, however brief, and it would have been hard to tack without a headsail so we needed that stays'l up before we could drop the jib and reduce our sail area. Tricia handled like she was in the NFL and sure enough as soon as she handed the jib we tacked around, the stays'l rapidly and reliably bringing the bow through the wind and onto the new tack. We ran back along the mooring field in the refreshing rain. We picked out a spot and made a trial pass shooting up into the wind to check our carry. Then, on the next pass we repeated our maneuver but this time we dropped the stays'l and anchored in 25' of water. I left the main scandalized and used it to back the boat down and set the anchor.

Tricia dove the anchor to see how it was set. It was upside down on a sandy bottom. Only the weight of the chain was holding us in place. She dove back down and flipped it over and watched it set. We were anchored in St Thomas, USVI.

Right behind us was one of two cruise ships that we crossed paths with on Christmas Eve off the north bank of the BVI. This one was not kind to us. She failed to respond on VHF as she closed with us. Initially we could not tell her direction as she was so lit up with white lights we could not see her running lights. It's nerve racking when closing with a large ship at night on the open ocean. Small boat sailors want to know the course and speed of these potential threats so they can ensure they stay out of the way. We flashed our spot light and used our strobe. Finally, she came up on the radio when we flashed the bridge. It took another 5 minutes for someone that spoke English to come on to the radio. By then, it was a non issue. She had steamed past. The Regal Princess had come up on the radio immediately earlier that evening, as did most of the ships we encountered during our trip. Probably another good reason for AIS.

While Tricia cleaned up, I took the dingy in and signed us up for a mail drop box. I also found out that AT&T covers the USVI so I had cell phone coverage without roaming. Hooray!!

I talked to some local cruisers and got some good insights into the local area for the supplies we needed.

Later, Tricia and I went in for a burger and Guinness to celebrate our fine day of sailing. Tomorrow we get Tricia ready to return home to NC soon.

John,
I noticed your AIS comment. What I did was replace my Standard Horizon DSC VHF with a new Standard Horizon unit last year before my Bermuda trip. It has all the normal DSC VHF features plus it is an AIS receiver. It's wonderful for keeping track of all the big ships and most of the smaller commercial boats ( and a lot of private yachts) also have AIS. The unit I have can be hooked up to your existing GPS antenna but it also has an internal GPS antenna. I chose to stick with the internal antenna just to keep it independent of my existing chart plotter and it works perfectly. It's very reassuring to know the range, bearing, and speed of those behemoths they call cruise ships. You have all their vital information at your fingertips even if you can't see them. You can then call directly bridge to bridge instead of just hailing "that big floating behemoth" on your VHF and hope the one responding is the one bearing down on you.
I was rather surprised to read that your anchor was sitting on the bottom upside down and had failed to set. Was it your Spade anchor? Setting an anchor properly under sail is a skill most of us don't practice very often because we rely on our iron jenny's.
I'm enjoying your updates. Best of luck to you. I'll bet your family can't wait to join you.

[John Stone]

Hi Jim,
Good info. I probably need to move that way. I don't have a fixed VHF just a hand held. So, I assume I'd have to install a VHF antenna on the mast. I put a conduit in the mast when I assembled it for this eventual project but I think I'd have to pull the mast to get access to the top of the conduit and to run the coax. I'm loath to start creating more 12volt loads but my understanding is the VHF and AIS are pretty low ah usage? By all accounts, AIS seems like a really good price of equipment to have on an offshore boat.

I have been really impressed with the capabilities of our little 30 watt solar panel. As I have thought about what electronics I'd like to add in the future I have begun to think about adding another movable 30 watt panel with its own controller. I think I could make all that work without to much fuss.

I am mostly happy with the simple systems we have. But, once practical issues have begun to reveal themselves, as I knew they would, I'll address them. I'll know more when we do a little family cruising.

[Jim Walsh]

Hi Jim,
Good info. I probably need to move that way. I don't have a fixed VHF just a hand held. So, I assume I'd have to install a VHF antenna on the mast. I put a conduit in the mast when I assembled it for this eventual project but I think I'd have to pull the mast to get access to the top of the conduit and to run the coax. I'm loath to start creating more 12volt loads but my understanding is the VHF and AIS are pretty low ah usage? By all accounts, AIS seems like a really good price of equipment to have on an offshore boat.

I have been really impressed with the capabilities of our little 30 watt solar panel. As I have thought about what electronics I'd like to add in the future I have begun to think about adding another movable 30 watt panel with its own controller. I think I could make all that work without to much fuss.

I am mostly happy with the simple systems we have. But, once practical issues have begun to reveal themselves, as I knew they would, I'll address them. I'll know more when we do a little family cruising.

A masthead VHF antenna only gives you better range. A stern, or stern rail, antenna is a viable option. Many of the racers will have theirs mounted on the stern because they don't wish to compromise the integrity of a mast which by cruising boat standards is fragile. Thin walled aluminum or carbon fiber and such.

[John Stone]

The Far Reach remains anchored in Elephant Bay, St Thomas, USVI. I am anxious to start moving but I'm waiting for some mail and family too, though they may not arrive for a couple weeks. I finally got my iPad mini connected to the Internet. We took some terrific photos with our Go Pro (and a lot of video too which at some point we will edit into a short video). I attempted to post some of the pictures here but they won't attach due to the size. I am not sure how to manipulate the photos without my PC laptop (the kids have it at home for doing math) as the iPad tablet format seems almost incompatible with the required action--or I have not not figured it out yet. I have a friend posting some things to my website.

I am getting restless, so I think in the next couple days I may sail over to Culebrita (15-20 miles away), a small island east of Culebra. By all accounts it is a terrific anchorage. I am also contemplating single handing over to St Martin. I didn't come all this way to sit anchored in St Thomas.

[John Stone]

Well what do you know, the darn photo posted. Here are a couple more. The colors and panorama of the horizon throughout our voyage were simply breathtaking.

[John Stone]

Tricia flew home on Jan 8. So I have been working on small projects and meeting other sailors. But the voyages runs over and over in my head. Fantastic is all that comes to mind.

[John Stone]

Tricia and I have sailed together since before we were teenagers and let me tell you that is a long time! I couldn't have asked for a better shipmate. She is a retired San Diego Fire Captian. Smart, athletic, tireless, fearless, and harder than woodpecker lips. That shot of me in the green shorts was taken just after we crossed the Virgin Island bank on Christmas morning. Anegada Island is about 14 miles east of us. The wind built up to about 30-35 knots that day. We are jogging along with just our staysail when that photo was taken. A little later, we hoisted the main with the stays'l and we were flying! The last few miles were dead down wind, a full on 30+ kts, and I sailed the Far Reach with the tiller between my legs and my hands on the mainsheet like she was a laser. As she surfed down the waves hitting speeds of about 9+ knots the tiller became very light almost as it it were a balanced vice barn door rudder. It was amazing.

[John Stone]

Though we did not have the down-wind run, or even the reaching, I had hoped for, the voyage was every thing I wanted it to be--long, challenging, physical, beautiful, and a test for the Far Reach and for me too. I am glad we sailed the whole way.

I can say now that it was worth the thousands of hours of work and the countless hours imaging how the many modifications we made would work out. I need more time sailing her to determine what, if any, additional equipment we might want to add. I like the fact she is simple, yet elegant. But she is also very robust. I talked to a sailor that has made the trip from the US to the VI a half dozen times and he said every time they break something to include a rudder one time. A sailor anchored next to me crewed on a 48 footer as part of the ARC Rally a few years ago and they had a unplanned gybe that ripped the entire traveler out of the deck. And at the moment he is tearing his inboard engine down to fix a blown head gasket. Simple, yet elegant seems delightful right now.

More to follow . . . .

[Skeep]

John, excellent thread, photos well-done and planned, and attention to detail and observations provides good perspective to us who follow you vicariously. I've sailed the pants out of the BVI on my own Beneteau over the years, and I do agree, your vessel is a classic on the water and worth every gaze! And a great tribute to an timeless design.

PS: Love the "Fatty Knees" too! A dingy of choice
PPS: Also did the New Years at Jost, ugh, did not care for it...

[fmueller]

Marvelous posts and pictures ... thanks so much for providing

noticed those belaying pins on your mast ... so cool !

Fred Mueller

[Steve A]

Hey John, anymore updates and pics ? I was just wondering how Y'all were doing down that way. I'm not sure if there was another thread to keep us up to date or if you still had your Far Reach homepage active. Hope all is well, good luck in your travels.

[John Stone]

Hi Steve,
All is well here. I have a friend update my website since I can't seem to manipulate it with my iPad. But we are only reposting the same things I post on this thread--I can post on the CD Forum with my phone!

I spent about a week sailing with my ex-brother-in-law around St Thomas and St John. Marvelous sailing. We sailed through current cut on the east end of St Thomas both ways, which was fun. We also had a wonderful beat up the East Gregorie Channel coming back from St John in about 20 knots on super flat water. It was just magnificent. The Far Reach was heeled about 30 degrees and just tearing up the channel like she was on rails. The panorama standing on the lazarette holding on to the backstay and looking down the length of the boat as we raced along with the mountainous islands on both sides along with the sky, clouds, wind, and water was spectacular.

Right now I am anchored in Elepaht Bay working on some small projects. I varnished the bow sprit, Planed the edges of a couple of black walnut floor planks that were just a little tight, got the high thrust 9.9 Homda outboard shipped down and mounted. I respliced the dux forestay to get a little more prebend in the mast. Today, I am touching up the bulwarks with a little white paint and also painting the black carbon fiber sleeve on the sculling oar. Stuff like that. My family arrives in a week. I am excited about seeing them and sailing as a family. It's the longest I have been away from them (about 10 weeks) since my last combat tour.

I don't think I have ever been anywhere with such consistently beautiful weather or enjoyed doing so little. It's just great to be here on the Far Reach, breathe, and marvel at the beauty all around.

[John Stone]

About midnight, couple of nights ago, we had a pretty good squall roll through the anchorage here in St Thomas. Nothing to get excited about but more severe than what I've seen since I have been here. After closing the portlights and hatches, I went up on the foredeck to see how the other boats, particularly those upwind, we're making out. Everything looked OK. Next day, I learned a 65' ketch came lose from her private mooring and was blown downwind while the owner and his wife were trying to get the engine started and put the steering wheel back on the pedestal -- they had taken it off during the day. Before they could get their boat under control they drifted down and put their six foot bowsprit between the upper and lower shrouds of a 54' ketch t-boning her in the process. Every one was OK. No one got hurt. I looked at the 54 footer today and chatted with the owner and his wife and she (the boat) did not look too bad considering what could have happened. Plenty of lessons here for everyone. Make sure you properly secure your mooring pendant. Put your wheel back on the pedestal as soon as the need for taking it off has passed. Have your anchor ready to go. And let's not even talk about insurance as that is a whole other issue.