Where Is The Far Reach—Part II

[John Stone]

Copy. How long to you plan to be there?

[Jim Walsh]

Copy. How long to you plan to be there?

A couple months.....it’s takes me a while to satisfy my craving for wahoo tacos.

[John Stone]

Copy. How long to you plan to be there?

A couple months.....it’s takes me a while to satisfy my craving for wahoo tacos.

Copy. Sounds like a fun time. Never made it to Bermuda...and it’s only 600NM due east of where I live. We need to link up there sometime. Good place for a Cape Dory rendezvous....

[John Stone]

Departed Christmas Cove east end of St Thomas. Gayle and I sailed downwind in a light easterly wind with a sloppy NE swell for about 8 NM. Dodged a few squalls. Got a little rain but not too bad. Back on our borrowed morning in Elephant Bay, St Thomas.

On the way down the coast we passed Eros, a wooden 115’ Banks Schooner based out of USVI. She was launched in 1935 I think. I got a picture of her anchored nearby a few weeks ago. Posted it below.

[Frenchy]

That shot of the schooner's masts silhouetted against the clouds conjures visions of far away islands, distant
peoples that I'll probably never see. Thanks for your posts, John.

[John Stone]

It was a sad day to see Gayle fly home. We had a great time together. But the kids have to declare their college selection by 1 May. She needs to assist them with another round of campus visits so they can make a wise choice.

My attention has turned to some mid season maintenance. Namely, two coats of varnish to the cockpit coamings and possibly the bowsprit. The bulwarks need a little bit of touch up with some white Brightside one part LPU.

The varnishing is easy. It’s all about prep work though—namely accurate taping and proper sanding...especially in those inside corners.

I lashed the dinghy mast between the backstay and gallows frame. Next, I removed the spreader poles from the big sun awning and secured it over the dinghy mast so it forms a tent over the cockpit. I have used this technique before with good results. For varnish to flow best you need to avoid warm direct sun or significant wind, both of which we get here in spades. Also, we get a lot of pop up sprinkle showers so the boom tent buys me a little wiggle room. With good weather, varnish starts tomorrow morning. Two coats takes two days. With the varnish and bulwark touch up complete, and a quick greasing of the sheet winches, I am a free man for a month. Where should the Far Reach and I journey....?

[fmueller]

great John ...

which solar shower bag is that ?

Fred

[John Stone]

which solar shower bag is that ?

Fred

Talk about getting your ego deflated...all the things I have built for this boat...and you want to know about the shower bag?...now that’s funny. LOL.

I think it’s a two gallon bag. I mostly use it for post snorkeling wash down for body and equipment. Sometimes we hang it from the boom and shower off in the cockpit. Sometimes, we hang it on the port side jib halyard winch and run the extra long hose down through the portlight and shower off in the sitz tub. I have to admit, it’s a pretty good piece of gear. It’s at least four years old and between camping and two trips to the Caribbean, it still works perfectly. Just for saying that it will self destruct tomorrow.

[fmueller]

Ha John,

I was going to ask about the (fabric?) on your seahood/sprayhood, but figured there would be five pages and 20 pictures on your website already.



Fred

[Steve Laume]

A worthwhile modification to any boat shower is to add a sink sprayer nozzle to the end. I did this to my old solar shower and to my pressure water shower in the cockpit. The sink nozzle gives a nice spray pattern and is instant on and off with one hand operation. You can use little blasts instead of it being on and wasting water when it is not really doing much good. It will help reduce your water consumption while still giving you a good rinse, Steve.

[John Stone]

A worthwhile modification to any boat shower is to add a sink sprayer nozzle to the end. I did this to my old solar shower

A friend of ours did that very thing to his solar shower and it seems to work well. We plan to add the demand valve to the solar shower bag at some point. Our daily shower procedure is to use the spray bottle and sitz tub. We add a hot tea kettle of water to a gallon in the spray bottle which gives us a very nice hot shower. The sitz tub, gravity feed tank, and spray bottle shower system was one of the best mods we made to the boat.

[John Stone]

A morning of rain with another coat of varnish to go....damn.

All cozy aboard the Far Reach though. Breakfast was toasted homemade bread made by Gayle before she left along side a slice of Ed’s fantastic cranberry walnut bread (for more on Ed, see May Cruising World). After learning how to make homemade jam (that’s raspberry/blackberry jam) I don’t think I can ever go back to Smuckers. Downed it with a cup of Cafe Bustelo made in aeropress. I enjoy these quiet reflective times in solitude. There is a big difference between being alone and being lonely.

Currently reading Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific.” I found it in the book exchange at Tickles Pub. Fantastic. 1949 Pulitzer winner. Based on his WW II experiences. Insightful observations into the human character. Highly recommended.

[John Stone]

After yesterday’s morning squalls the sun came out. I waited a couple hours to let everything dry then sanded the the varnish (75 minutes) I had applied to the coamings the day before. It was late and I thought I might wait and apply the second of the two maintenance coats the next day (his morning). But the wx report called for 50 percent chance of rain for today so, I pressed ahead. It took an hour to apply the final coat. I was finished by 1510, much later than I would normally varnish. But the boom tent gave me confidence there would be no dew to interfere with the gloss and the temps in the shade do not fall much at night.

I pulled the tape this morning. It looks pretty good given the conditions I am working in. Number one rule with varnish is to get it on to protect the wood. Number two rule is all the other stuff after rule number one. Regular readers of my website will remember I spot treated a few breaks in the varnish last fall with a heat gun, scraper, and oxylic acid. Between traveling to BC for a month to splice Rigging in Kaj Jacobson‘s FC 34 and then the aftermath of Hurricane Florence there was simply no time to strip it back to bare wood. I thought the leopard spots would disappear with exposure to the sun but they are still quite visible. The breaks were all on the inboard side of the coamings. But, other than the discoloration the varnish is completely intact—so the wood is protected. Will strip it back once I return home.

After pulling the tape this morning it was time for coffee. I have become a devotee to Cafe Bustelo espresso grind coffee. Made with an aeropress it is the best coffe I have ever had. We still love our Lion Coffee and we still make it with the percolator when we need to make large amounts of coffee. But, if you love coffee and have not tried the aeropress or Cafe Bustelo I highly recommend them both.

[Sea Hunt Video]

John:

As a Miami resident for 54 + years (with a few TDYs) I am very familiar with Bustelo. As you note, it is a very good Cuban blend. It is interesting that the can label is very different than the can labels sold in Miami. Possibly (probably) the product is imported from somewhere to Central or South America and then some product is shipped up to the islands for sale. Interesting because several of these countries have their own proprietary espressso/cafe/coffee products.

Solely as an aside, the very BEST espresso anywhere is Medaglia D'Oro. It is an outstanding Arabica bean blend. Also, it is 100% Italian. Not that that is an important consideration but, as a Siciliano, well .....................

I don't know if they offer Medaglia D'Oro in the islands. You should try if available.

[John Stone]

John:

As a Miami resident for 54 + years (with a few TDYs) I am very familiar with Bustelo. As you note, it is a very good Cuban blend. It is interesting that the can label is very different than the can labels sold in Miami. Possibly (probably) the product is imported from somewhere to Central or South America and then some product is shipped up to the islands for sale. Interesting because several of these countries have their own proprietary espressso/cafe/coffee products.

Solely as an aside, the very BEST espresso anywhere is Medaglia D'Oro. It is an outstanding Arabica bean blend. Also, it is 100% Italian. Not that that is an important consideration but, as a Siciliano, well .....................

I don't know if they offer Medaglia D'Oro in the islands. You should try if available.

Roberto, I will be on the lookout for the Medaglia D’Oro. Who am I to argue with a Sicilian especially “when death is on the line.” Thanks. As for the Bustelo label. We started off with the old label but these latest cans are part of an “Artist Series.” Same coffee though.