Captain's Log 24 October2007

[chase]

Here's some filler for you old salts, more of the lubberly farmer's nautical debacles. Maybe something new for my fellow novices.

I weighed anchor 0345 in Spring Creek, Bonner Bay, off of Bay River in the Pamlico Sound. The mosquitoes were keeping me up and I was antsy to sail anyway. I did too good of a job picking the protected anchorage, which meant the mosquitoes were given full access to my ship. I went with the heavy duty spray but they kept finding spots in my ears, face, lips. Bastards. The ears are the worst.....bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

A group of dolphins escorted me out to Bay River, never really see dolphins much in PAmlico.... They flashed silver in the moonlight and gulped for air. Raised staysail and reefed main, forecast was same as Tues, winds S 15-20 kts. Identified all of the lights and matched their pattern on chart whicle I made about 5 kts. Small rain squall, winds picked up a bit and rain squall created illusion of storm at sea. Properly canvasssed, so uneventful.

Turned around Neuse river Junction and raised yankee. Now we're cooking. First time ever running masttop lights. Identified a barge w/ tow. Passed Oriental at daybreak and made my way up the Neuse. Just before Minnesott Beach, before mid-day, I encountered a very strong gust that put the rail under water. I thought it was isolated but looked at the water and saw more wind coming. After a couple of times heeling over 30°, I rehearsed the forward trip in my mind to strike the jib. Eased main, headed up and went forward and ripped that sucker down with sheets whipping and rigging popping and clanging. This can't be good for the rig, I thought. I never have been able to make my downhaul work right. It was blowing so hard it took three tries to tack.

The reefed main and staysail were very comfortable then. After checking the Neuse River weather station today, I see the winds were regularly gusting to 35mph, so 28 kts or so. Too much wind for reefed main and all working headsails. "It just came on so quickly". With reefed main and stays'l the boat feels terrific in those conditions. A good confidence builder.

The boat was a wreck in the cabin. Things that had never moved in normal conditions were everywhere; the cabin sole was covered by the slide out berth, cushions, charts, etc. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but having the cabin helter-skelter really flustered me. I set the autopilot and whipped it into shape. Not only that, but all my halyards were trailing in the water. Normally I coil than and lay them in front of the mast, by dorade, etc. Do others tie their coil up? any good tricks here? Another lesson: In higher winds, make SURE halyards are running free before striking sail.

Most sailboats carried no canvas, and there were lots of them heading up to New Bern. Probably a good place for a snowbird to spend a few windy, rainy days. On the downwind run I passed a motoring cat with sails furled but not covered. I reasoned that everyone was gun shy after the last little blow. I bet that cat would have been making 10 knots under sail. Hard to find a vacant anchorage right now, the Neuse is definitely migration station. Bet the Chesapeake is really crowded right now. Saw one other CApe Dory, a 36 I believe, with a NY state port and a "for sale" sign on it.

This was my shakedown for Nov trip to GA. Hard to articulate, but the past few days sailing in upwards of 20 kts have taught me a lot.

Had to tell someone,

Chase

[Stan W.]

Not only that, but all my halyards were trailing in the water. Normally I coil than and lay them in front of the mast, by dorade, etc. Do others tie their coil up? any good tricks here?

Definitely hang the coils from the halyard cleats or some other convenient point on the mast. Otherwise, they will be dangerously underfoot and will want to wash, blow or just plain slide overboard, usually at the most inopportune time. There are several ways to do this. My way is simply to take the first loop of the coil and wrap it around the upper part of the coil a couple of times, forming a small hole at the top and a larger hole at the bottom, and then pass the end of the loop through the smaller hole and hang it on the cleat.

[Carter Brey]

Fun read! Thanks for writing it up.

I'm fanatic about keeping lines coiled and hung-- if not immediately, then as soon as possible. It's not just the safety issue, although that's paramount; there's a psychological aspect as well, as you discovered when confronting a mess down below in the cabin. Orderliness in seamanship follows orderliness in the boat herself. Looking at cockpit spaghetti has the same effect on me as grafitti spraypainted on a wall. It's visual noise and makes it hard to think calmly.

My way is to coil the line, holding it in my left hand with about 10" between the cleat and my hand, then reaching through the center of the coil with my right hand, grabbing the standing part and bringing it through towards me. Then I twist it once as I bring it over the top of the coil, forming a small loop at the top of the coil. I hang that loop over the cleat (or winch). It's secure but easy to undo instantly in an emergency.

Thanks again,

Carter Brey
Sabre 28 MkII #532 "Delphine"
City Island, NY

[Warren S]

I followed suit on the hanging-halyard-coil after the surveyor did it on the first sail. What I didn't do religiously was manage the docklines well. Judy and I were coming back from Bath up the Pamlico to Washington in a 20-25kt wind - beating the whole way. It's worthwhile to note that we had recently put a rebuilt transmission in after the old one failed. This was the first outing since the replacement.

Anyhoo, I'm not sure what happened first, I believe I was attempting to put a reef with power on to keep us into the wind and ready to definitively power into solid port tack as we were approaching a lee shore. Well, things with he reef weren't going so good - the usual "waited to long" revelations were occupying my thoughts when all of the sudden, and at the least appropriate time, POW!! from the engine space, then dead silence.

Waves were breaking over the bow at this point and the only thing I could think to do was to scramble up to the bow and dump the anchor over until we could get everything under control.

Convinced that a) the transmission had given up the ghost and that we were "dead in the water" and b) maybe this sailing thing was not going to be for me, We bolstered each other (ok, she bolstered me) and set about reefing the main down the the 3 set. All looked good to then try to weigh anchor against the wind, and burdened with the thought of another expensive repair and a long sail home (with no clear way of getting to the slip with no power), something caught my eye:

The port dockline had fallen over and was taught as a bowstring, still cleated. I knew right then in there what had happened. I rejoined Judy at the helm. I tried the engine with the transmission in neutral and sure enough, Old Red started perking away like nothing was wrong. Things looked a little brighter, but I sure wasn't up for a dive on the propeller under these conditions.

Judy then suggested I "try reversing the prop... maybe it will untangle itself". "Well, she's just a girl" I said to myself, affectionately, "There's no chance of that". Given the circumstances however, I opted to give it a try none the less with a strategy of bumping reverse ever so slightly. Well that was a stunning success, as I then saw the line go slack. Holding my breath, I went forward and gathered the line in, stowed the starboard line as well, and proceeded to weigh anchor (with green water washing the entire f'castle as I was a-haulin).

Can you all guess what lesson(s) we learned from that? For starters all docklines are stowed and the cockpit is cleared before the bending on the ole canvas.

On your other observations, we are constantly improving the stowage routine below before setting sail as well..

[Sea Owl]

I take my halyard slack and coil it quickly into loops, then shove the loops from the bow side into the space between the now tight halyard and the mast so that the coil dangles over each side of the top of the cleat, held in place by the halyard.

A skosh quicker than the wraps I read about, and for single handing, quicker is better I think! Loops can be pulled free with one quick pull.

Just a thought about another way of doing it. Looks good too!

Fair winds to all!

[Oswego John]

Russ,

Don't think I heard of that, before. Sounds good. Gotta try it

Take care,
O J

[chase]

Carter, Russ, Stan-

I promise I'll do better. I'll get lots of practice next week headed south. I'll do ten hail alberg's right now.

Warren, glad you were able to get out of that tight spot. Good thing Jude was there, huh? Diving under the boat with a knife would have been highly suboptimal if the river was honkin'. Glad I'm not the only one with good fortune.

Chase

[Andy Denmark]

Hey Chase,

Wow, you were sailing in that nasty weather mess? There were boats holed up all over the place trying to avoid being on the open water. Says something about Cape Dories (but we already knew that!)

Bonner Bay is Command Central for the local mosquitoes. Never been there that I didn't get eaten alive. Guess it's too far from the road system for the sprayers to be effective. Many think the mosquito plague this year is the worst they can remember. Local rumor has it that the little buggers are breeding with the geese and stand flat-footed to do it.

I'm a bit confused that your jib downhaul doesn't work reliably. This is a simple rig and should be bulletproof. Keeps you off the foredeck in the weather you're describing. Some people try to rig this with the downhaul line (I use parachute cord from the surplus store) run through the jib hanks. This is asking for trouble as the trapped line jams the hanks so they won't slide down properly when the halyard is released. Simply tying the line to the thimble at the head of the sail works just fine. The other consideration is the location of the turning block. This needs to keep the direction of pull roughly in line with the stay. I hook mine to one of the sliding bars on a bow chock. I'm interested in how yours is rigged if not as described here.

Anyway, your adventure continues to unfold and it is, as usual, fascinating and well written. You're out there doing it and that's what counts.
________
Extreme vaporizer review

[chase]

Wo is us when skeeters cross over....

Andy, I am very glad I chose a Cape Dory. I know there are plenty of other boats that when properly skippered work well in similar conditions. However, mine handles safely in those conditions despite my lack of experience! I have learned a great deal in the past couple of years with this boat.

Honestly, it really felt like nothing with proper canvas. Most of the time the wind was near 18 and it was a blast. It is a further lesson in NOAA forecasts; they are to be taken as general guidelines. Showers and thunderstorms in the forecast are the clue to keep a weather eye and be ready to reef and batten down in a heartbeat.

Anyway, I promise not to go around Frying Pan and will no doubt have more to share in a couple weeks after my 400 mile journey south. I'll work on my down haul, which does have a turning block mounted in line with stay. With someone at the helm I can take some time and refine some of my practices.

Have a great Sunday,

Chase