Far Reach Summer Cruise

[John Stone]

Well, I couldn't pull off getting to New England for the summers cruise. Maybe next year. But I have embarked on a five day cruise here in NC. It's not much but dang I am on the water in my boat. It's all good.

The plan is to snglehand down the Neuse River, then south on the ICW, then out Beaufort Inlet to the Bight at Cape Lookout. I'll spend a couple days there trying to escape the heat and enjoy being back on the boat. Gayle is home helping the kids with last minute preparations for their return to college on Sunday.

We are scheduled to haul out next week. We are going to do some camping up north later this month and perhaps Sept as well. I don't want the Far Reach in the water in hurricane alley while we are out of the area.

We will keep her on the hard till mid Oct then launch and make full-on preparations for returning to the Virgin Islands. Planned departure will be late Nov-early Dec--same as before. The next few days will allow me to get reacquainted with the FR and refine the list of what I believe to be a short project list to get her ready for sea. I also want to run the engine under load for an extended distance to ensure everything is correct and there are no lurking issues.

Today, I left the marina at 1400 under a blazing sun. Not a puff of air. Very hot. The new diesel and two blade folding prop worked well. We cut through the water at an easy 5 knots and about 2200 RPM. The wind arrived from the south about 1440--6 to 10kts. I hauled up the main and the genoa with the zipped on bonnet. We made about 4.5-6 knts on a beam reach as the wind was quite variable in strength. What out found out is my ever reliable Cape Horn wind vane has some issue. I was not able to resolve them. Some friction somewhere. I'll attempt to sort it out over the next couple days. Exactly why I am out here.

About 1530 I dropped sails and started motoring down Adams Creek which is part of the ICW connecting the Neuse River with the Beaufort ship channel. I anchored about 1700 in a wide spot in the creek. 8' of water. Got the awnings up. Putzing around the boat. I love it. Great to be back on the FR.

Reveille is about 0500. The tide will be foul but aligned with the south wind which will be important to a smooth entry into the Atlantic. So we will push against the tide for about 13 NM to catch the last of the flood. Then, we will sail across Onslow Bay (coastal Atlantic) to the Bight. The temps should be cooler there. The water a little clearer.
MTF.

[wikakaru]

Have fun on your cruise, John! Shake all the bugs out! Hope it's not too hot!

That slog down Adams Creek Canal and the Newport River can be slow going when the current is against you. It's something you may not have tried with the old drop-down outboard, but the new diesel should take it in stride.

Smooth sailing (motoring?),

Jim

[John Stone]

Thanks Jim. I have sailed that entire leg from the Neuse through the bridges and right out the Beaufort Inlet to the Bight without the outboard on board. North wind but still a major pucker factor. I have done it with the outboard. And now with the diesel. No question this was the easiest. Very solid feeling. No concern about swamping the outboard. But weirdly I felt a little unsettled the whole time. I think it's just because the boat feels different to me. It feels more complicated. It sense it affecting my decisionmaking. I'll get use to it I'm sure. Had the depth sounder going the whole time. Very strange to know how deep the water was all the way here.

Saw some tow boats this morning--always put a smile on my face. That's how I started my working life--before college and the Marines. I was a deckhand on an upper Mississippi River towboat.

Anyway, anchored at noon at the Cape Lookout Bight. Will spend a few days here. Decompress and, if possible, wean myself from the news....

Maybe this afternoon I will launch the dinghy and row about and take some pictures. Swim a little. Tough life but so far I am managing pretty well.

MTF

[John Stone]

I spent part of the afternoon investigating the Cape Horn wind vane. Basically, the air blade will not pass through vertical in wind less than 15 kts apparent. Essentially it is inoperable in those conditions. Sailing along I could see and feel the friction when I pushed the blade over with my finger. I am a big fan of the Cape Horn and let me tell you with it out of action my singlehanding got a whole lot more difficult by about a factor of 100.

I checked all the blocks for unusual friction. None. Control lines routed correctly. Sitting on the transom, I removed the servo blade (that's the blade that goes down into the water) I reinstalled the air blade and there was no friction. Perfect. I reinstalled the servo. No friction. I took the quadrant off inside the lazarett. Reinstalled it. Read the manual. There is a possibility for some adjustment inside the horizontal tube, a bushing the toggle control rod passes through. Truth be told there are not many working parts in this miracle of simplicity. I sent an email off to Yeves and his nephew Éric, the makers of the vane. I'll see what they say before so do more. I am confident it just needs some adjustment. Something simple. Something I am overlooking. But in the meantime...it's like my crew has fallen ill with scurvy.

Yesterday, after I departed the marina I tightened the stuffing box just a tad. I collect all the water that drips from the gland into a one gallon jug via the drip catch I built and installed during engine installation. I had collected a little less than a half gallon in maybe 3-4 hours of motoring (and perhaps when static at the dock) over the past two weeks. I incorporated Gore stuffing vice flax in the stuffing box. Anyway, this afternoon, I checked the container and there was maybe a cup of water. About 5 hours of motoring over 20 miles. The route today was too narrow and restricted for me to crawl down through the locker and put my hand on the stuffing box to check the temperature while underway. So, I am not sure if I got it right. The Gore stuffing is supposed to drip very little if at all so I don't know if I have it right. But, I think I am close.

I count nine boats anchored here. Two big trawlers and the rest sailboats. Supposed to be an active meteor shower tonight. The wx looks good for it.

[wikakaru]

John,

It's nice that you can keep the bilge dry with your stuffing box drip catcher. If it's too difficult to get down there while single handing, you could always mount something like this on the stuffing box: https://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Precision ... B099S9DZDJ. Then in addition to instant information about the temperature, you will have a much more accurate idea of temperature than "feels warm" or "not warm".

I think I know what you mean about the strange feeling of having an engine. This year I've been sailing Arietta in "virtually engineless" mode--the Admiral feels better with an outboard on the transom even if we never use it, just in case something happens to me and she needs to get out of a sticky situation by herself. (It has happened before, which is why it's such a big concern to her.) I act like the outboard isn't there, and I've been using a 9' sculling oar for those times when the wind dies completely and I want to get back to the mooring before it gets too late. Last week a neighbor of ours had some difficulty on her sailboat while we were sailing nearby, and we went over to offer assistance. Her mainsheet had disconnected from the boom and was flailing around in the breeze and she couldn't tame it. I was thinking we should sail back to her mooring (not very far away), pick up her powered launch, and user her launch to give her a tow back to her mooring so she could straighten things out. We started beating toward the mooring into about 15 knots of breeze and the Admiral says, "Why don't we just use the outboard?" Duh. I'd completely forgotten we even had it. We started the outboard and rendered assistance to the neighbor. It felt weird to just motor over and help the neighbor instead of handling the boat under sail, especially since just a minute prior I'd been under the self-induced delusion that we didn't have an engine. Anyway, that's a long way of sailing it is still possible to sail as if you didn't have an engine--just don't believe the fiction too much!

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

That's an interesting idea Jim. Would you just tape that probe to the stuffing box?

The USCG arrived at the Bight last night. They have a permanent mooring here. I have seen the big 200' cutters here but this one is smaller. Maybe 80'.

Launched the Sweet Pea this morning. Applied tallow to the oar locks and leathers which makes a big difference to rowing comfort and efficiency. Felt great to be rowing again. Took some pictures snd chatted with some of the other sailors.

Got in the water with mask and fins. Water temp about 84°. Visibility about 15'. I am sad to say the FlexOFold was covered in barnacles. I did not apply anti fouling to it because we needed to be able to swap the blades out till we got the pitch right. Also, FlexOFold recommended to hold off applying anti fouling as they say it often it works fine without since the prop contains a lot of copper. I was surprised how fouled it was. I scraped it clean. Since we haul out next week I'll pull the prop and apply a coating. The prop was in the water just six weeks.

There are two large thunderheads to the NW and over the mainland. Probably 20-25 miles away. I can hear booming thunder all the way here...upwind. NC like much of the rest of the country is getting scorched in a heat wave. It's pretty nice out here.

[Jim Walsh]

Seems like you’re having fun. Enjoy the warm weather. I’ve been at Block Island for a few days and today is the first truly sunny day we’ve had, lots of fog earlier in the week. Water temp 72° (visibility 5’), wind 17 to 22k, temp this morning 73° but it’s up to 79° now.

[John Stone]

Hi Jim Walsh. I am.

Block Island. Classic. Sailed past there last year on a delivery job. Hope to sail there someday and spend a few days. Glad to hear you are out on the water too. Sounds like great wx. Breeze is 18-20 here. But the heat index is 102° at my home. Other places have it worse. Glad I am out here though.

I wasn't too far off on my guess about the USCG Cutter. It's a Protector class. 87 footer. Took a photo with my phone through the Stiners. Poor man's telephoto lens.

[wikakaru]

That's an interesting idea Jim. Would you just tape that probe to the stuffing box?

I'd use plastic cable ties, or maybe monel wire. I'd be worried that tape would come off when it got wet. Definitely not any adhesives because there's no telling how long a non-marinized probe will last in that environment, and you want to be able to get it off easily. I'm sure you know (but it's worth mentioning for other less experienced people who may be reading this and considering the idea) that the temperature probe wire has to be secured in a way that it can't come loose and wrap around the prop shaft, but also allows a little play for vibration of the shaft when spinning.

Water temp 84...yikes! I used to have a steel-hulled boat and I really hated those warm water temperatures because the water temperature was also the temperature of the boat interior. It was always 90 degrees at night below decks in the Caribbean...I didn't sleep a wink for a whole year. I'm sure a fiberglass boat is different. Water temperature here is in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Yesterday was foggy on the water, so the air temp was about 61. Ashore it was about 80. This summer's been so hot that I am dreaming about one day moving to Iceland instead of Maine. Until then, I'm going to spend as much time as I can on the water.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

That's an interesting idea Jim. Would you just tape that probe to the stuffing box?

I'd use plastic cable ties, or maybe monel wire. I'm sure you know (but it's worth mentioning for other less experienced people who may be reading this and considering the idea) that the temperature probe wire has to be secured in a way that it can't come loose and wrap around the prop shaft, but also allows a little play for vibration of the shaft when spinning.

Water temp 84...yikes!

Smooth sailing,

Jim

Good points Jim. The easiest way to solve this is to have Gayle on board... Still, that prob is an interesting idea. I wander if just having the one small surface edge touching the stuffing box would work... you sure wouldn't want to get that think wrapped around the shaft.

Having a cool 60° bilge is quite handy for the beverage locker.

[Jim Walsh]

If you can get within 10’ feet of it without too much trouble an infrared temp. sensor gun would do the trick and come in handy for ensuring your beer is just the right temp. for serving.

[Jim Evans]

Hi John - carrying on with Jim's suggestion of monitoring your beer temperature, what are you doing for refrigeration now that you have an engine?

Thanks.

[John Stone]

If you can get within 10’ feet of it without too much trouble an infrared temp. sensor gun would do the trick and come in handy for ensuring your beer is just the right temp. for serving.

I like that idea Jim. Attached pictures looking down through locker. Maybe 2' away. I'd have to remove the little lift out hatch in the walnut sole before hand. The photos are a little dark when in reality there is more light.

It's a possibility and a good suggestion. I'd like to borrow a thermal gun and try it before I spring for one.

[John Stone]

Hi John - carrying on with Jim's suggestion of monitoring your beer temperature, what are you doing for refrigeration now that you have an engine?

Thanks.

Hi Jim E. I still use ice. It's a custom box with four inches of foam all around. I can just fit about 70 lbs of ice in there if I go with blocks and then fill the voids with cubes. I get about 10 days in the tropics. I might get 14 days in Maine but I'm not sure. It's not a huge box. If I remember is about 4.5 CF. I think if I ever went with a fridge I'd probably go with the isotherm Jim W has. But right now I can't make 25 ah a day with solar and I don't want to depend on the engine. If it only used 25 ah a day, and that's optimistic, I think I could go maybe 3-4 days before I'd have to charge the batteries at 50 percent.

I'm just not there yet. I have talked to Gayle about it but she said she is happy with the ice box. I think the key is being comfortable without ice. We are set up for no ice. We usually eat through all the perishables offshore before we run out of ice. We added a 35 liter 12v Engle to our Jeep for camping. Sure like that though.... We could not get ice to last more than two days even with a Yeti. It drove our daily activities. Maybe if we carried some huge icebox we could get more time. But we don't have the room. So I am open minded about the 12v.

I'm still trying to adjust mentally to the engine. I might go into a coma if I added a fridge. And if it broke down I would be all about "I knew that was a mistake." I don't like that. I need to be absolutely convinced.

I'm still pretty spry and stubborn as usual. But someday...a fridge maybe. Probably a furler too when I can't manage the 400 sqft jib any longer. I'll let the need drive the decision. Could be five days, five years, or never.

[wikakaru]

If you can get within 10’ feet of it without too much trouble an infrared temp. sensor gun would do the trick and come in handy for ensuring your beer is just the right temp. for serving.

An infrared gun is a handy tool to have on a boat for so many things, especially now that the Far Reach has an engine. It is super helpful to be able monitor the temperature of things like exhaust mixing elbows, alternators, water pumps, and, of course, beer.

The route today was too narrow and restricted for me to crawl down through the locker and put my hand on the stuffing box to check the temperature while underway.

It sounded like access to the stuffing box took too long to check casually, so a wired sensor not requiring any crawling around was my thought. But whatever works, use it!

If you do get an infrared temperature gun, John, be sure to note in the log the temperature of all those things I mentioned above (well, except the beer) now while the engine is new, so later on when things start slowly deteriorating you have a baseline. Also, you should log how much raw cooling water flow you have out of the exhaust--for example, how long it takes to fill a gallon jug at a particular RPM. Later on when (not if) the engine overheats you will be able to easily test and see if you should look at the raw water side of the system or the fresh water side. Same thing with your fuel vacuum gauge readings. Also log boat speeds in flat water and calm winds at various RPMs including Wide Open Throttle. It sure is nice to have a new engine for just this reason.

Smooth sailing,

Jim