Cumberland Sound Sailing

Sailing with Tabitha

2012-01-31T17:48:00.000-08:00

Had a good 10kt wind out of the east then north east.

Tabitha and I from 1pm spent about 3 hours on the water doing circles and tacks around the St. Mary's Harbor. Not only did we have a good time but we watched a weird looking high-speed trimaran come in that belonged to the Army Core and get loaded on a trailer. Unfortunately my camera was refusing to read my memory card. Luckily the boat slowed down and made a wide circle around us.

While I'm at it I'll do a plug for Phil Jones our local marine electrician who was out working on sailboat at Lang's east.

Tabitha and I where on a circle and saw someone watching from the dingy dock. By the time we approaced the person was at the boat ramp dock and looked like they where waiting for us. It turned out to be Rick H. who went out and did some sailing around with me. Zachary finally showed up to go sailing around 3:45pm and Tabitha jumped out and went with Jenn.

On the way out we ran into a park ranger who is vice commodore at a sailing club down in Florida.

R, Edward

Saturday afternoon trip

2012-01-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

A little (9 mile each way) trip to Downtown Fernandina on Amelia Island. After a quick stop at the public marina for snacks and filling up the gas can with ethanol FREE gas. One bad point about the public bathrooms is they are all the way up the ramp, off the dock and across the street behind a little museum / visitor center in an old brick building. Good luck finding them without asking directions repeatedly, most people will tell you to just cross the street.
Wind was 5-10kts out of the SWS and a little overcast. The most exciting part of the day was coming back and watching a submarine (foreign we think) come in. Cutting across Cumberland Sound we stuck to the west side using the crab pot buoys as markers to keep off sandbars. Straight west from the signal light house we did run lightly aground and pulled up centerboard for a minute and went 20yds east, I had accidentally gotten beyond the crab buoy line.

The kids all practiced steering and with the exception of Joshua who was easily distracted (would realize it as we went in a circle) did pretty good. On the way back I did test out one of my expired red flares, Joshua thought it was going to be loud and covered his ears. I'm glad I tested it as I've never lit a flare before and had to read instructions. TIP: Tryout starting one of your flares before you have to do it in a real emergency.

After we got back and stopped at the www.stmyc.org floating clubhouse (houseboat), I took out a couple club members including Roger who is a new member for spin around the harbor.

We had a Nassau County Sheriff boat come up to us and stop as we where pulling down sails to motor back up to houseboat. The Sheriff Deputy was just interested in what kind of boat we where sailing (no safety inspection).
When we trailered the boat the no see-um's where out in force!! For anyone that visits long sleeve shirt/jacket goes a long way towards staying comfortable/not bit.

MLK Day Sail

2012-01-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

Joe my partner for the Ultra Marathon coming up in March went out with me today to see how well the boat performed and what we could improve and priority of projects. Zachary went with and we took a big themas of hot chocolate.

Weather was 40F ending at 40F with 5-10 -kt winds out of the ESE switching mid way to ENE then prolonged gusts up to 12kts from the east.

After we sorted out and rigged the boat we where in the water by 0930 then out by 1300 just in time for winds to die down. The 1958 Elgin outboard was tested out on the trailer and next to the pier before we went sailing. Coming back we pointed into the wind off the dock started the engine, ran it for a minute and dropped sails. About 30 seconds later the outboard died, and the something had moved and jammed the lean mix knob in a stuck position. No amount of sweat and blood would restart the engine. Sails went back up and we spent 20min tacking back and forth trying to beat the incoming tide (worse with east wind) and flaky breeze to get back to the dock.

Thinks we learned:
1) My sails I just got back from the sail loft only had one set of reef points added (required to have two sets for EC or UM, basically must be able to reef 65% of sail).
2) Definitely getting a new outboard.
3) Would have been nice to have oars installed (oarlocks on order last week).
4) Finish reinforcing seats
5) A little more caulking to do around top of trunk to prevent leakage from wave on STBD side.
6) Need to install Anderson Large Self Bailer sitting in my garage, would have kept out the water that collected.
7) We do take some decent spray over bow going upwind into waves... Need fowl weather gear in boat and handy to keep dry.

Overall Joe and I rated the boat in acceptable condition as is to go on expedition, challenge and get through several days of sailing alive. We found with the battens that where added the boat pointed up to 30 degrees into the wind.

2012-01-10T05:01:00.001-08:00

My new crew shirts from the MWR T-Shirt Factory in DGAR!

Everglades Challenge 2012

2012-01-06T02:38:00.000-08:00

My SHORT To Do List for EC2012:

1) Reserve Campsite @ Mullet Key. DONE
2) Reserve Spot Tracker
3) Order Oarlocks
4) Pay Registration Fee for race
5) Print out maps
6) Quick Dry Towels
7) Dry Suit
8) Buy various food for race.

Another Tropical Day

2011-09-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

Another hard day on tropical Diego Garcia!! After a day of work got off and had some Pork Adobo and watched the waves roll in.

Secluded Tropical Beach

2011-09-03T06:11:00.001-07:00

Just a little secluded beach on Diego Garcia in the evening. A little fishing, a little barbequing and enjoying the tranquility and waves breaking along with the crabs.
The camera didn't like taking photos from underneath dark trees looking out into a sunset type light.

Crooked River

2011-08-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday after church, we decided to try sailing down Crooked River to Cumberland Island.
The tides looked good (first mistake), and off we headed. Our first stop was at Advance Auto to pick up some 1/4" x1/2" bolts & lock washers for holding the tank/pull on the outboard, since the other ones fell out making the motor rattle. It turned out the nice lady working at Advance Auto is also a Coast Guard Axillary member, so I received an informal look-over/inspection of my boat. I wound up explaining why I didn't have Georgia registration numbers on the boat yet, and showed her my hull number tag (from the state, for home-built boats) on the back that made the whole process more complicated.

We got to the Crooked River Boat Ramp ($5 parking fee), put masts and sails up and got boat in water. The engine started up and I maneuvered over to the dock. At this point I had a few pangs of doubt because at full speed with the fuel mix leaned out I was moving slowly against the current. But knowledge of an immanent tide change won out.

Tides: At this point I'm going to inject and explain our mistake about the tides. Jenn and I had both looked up the tide tables for St. Marys GA, I had forgotten that Harriett's Bluff/Crooked river is usually about a two hours difference even though its only about a 7 mile difference north. The plan was to head to Cumberland at the end of a low tide and come back in with the incoming, know that Crooked River has some crazy currents. This difference meant we where going to be coming back in with a ebb (outgoing) tide, and full river current.

Going down the river we had a nice West wind of 6-10 knots. Most of the time we where running, and then we rounded the first major corner of the river. In the middle of the channel was a sandbar, I choose the right (inner route, around the corner) versus left. A few minutes later we lightly ran aground the first time, and the features of the CS17 having shock cord off the centerboard, and being able to pop the rudder up paid off. We where able to sail through about 6 inches of water just fine, before we where able to get out of the shallow we went over very shallow places 3 more times.

After this we headed for the channel to take us straight to Brickhill River (across the inter-coastal), and straight to the Plumb Orchard Mansion (think Kennedy's getting married). Well trying to get out of the main channel I had to use the engine because the current was really really strong, at this point (3pm), we decided to turn around because of the tide change being later we wouldn't have much wind in evening for getting back.

Riding back was slow, except in a few areas where we had enough wind to motor sail. The current was very strong, and I was worried about the old engine holding up.

We did do a man over-board drill with Joshua, he jumped out and we sailed around in a circle, picked him up within 30 seconds, let the strong current bring him to us. He also understands currents after practicing on a stationary platform last week, and swam with the current to get to us.

Safety & Kids: Teaching the kids what to do in an emergency on the boat is one of our big goals. In controlled circumstances getting kids comfortable in the water with life jackets is very important. Someone calm is much easier to get back in the boat. The easy way to reassure kids, so they'll practice jumping overboard is using a couple milk bottle tied together, to practice recoveries before involving kids. Our next stage will be teaching kids how to bring boat about if we go over.

Cooler from Target that I like.
The ones at Wal-mart have lids that are two thin.

Getting the boat back on the trailer was easy, and kids enjoyed spraying the boat down at the ramp with fresh water to get all the salt off. My next purchase is going to be a couple one gallon insulated water coolers for ice water, because nothing is better on a hot day.

Afternoon Sailing / Heavy Gusting Winds

2011-08-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I took some STMYC members sailing. The wind was gusting up to 24knots, and I wished the reef points had already been installed. We got the deck in the water a couple of times. The best part was my pull rope not retracting again. I fixed the problem after our sail and motored succefully out to the Saturday Barbeque on the water!
After the sail, it was fun but the dock feels so good!
s/v Steelaway parked next to me at the pier. John & Anne where offering an open house to all local residents interested in touring this wonderful ship. The best part was the cooler with ice and bottled water!!
Phil had a close call with a wave from a massive coast guard ship going way to fast partially swamping his center console when anchored off Cumberand Island.

Post Hurricane Passing

2011-08-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Post Hurricane passing off shore day of sailing.. Light winds out of the west in the morning, and a very very high tide.
Little did I realize that when the tide ebbed how nasty the harbor currents would be.
View of our turn around point on the river.
Bob standing on his boat!
He's always taking photos of us so I took some of him.
The engine not working made it very difficult to get back in with a light west wind and crazy current. Because of the light wind and heavy current I could not point very well, finally went way back up river and hugged bank, and marina all the way in to the dock.
Fixing the frozen up pull on the engine. I went and bought some snap pliers, and it turns out I just can't pull the rope out all the way or it locks up.

First Real Day of Sailing

2011-08-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

We decided to take the boat out to Cumberland today. While my outboard was getting repaired we borrowed a 2hp Honda long shaft. The Honda impressed me a lot but my eventual goal still is a 3.5 hp for better fuel economy at hull speed without having to do full throttle.

The wind died down around eleven so we turned back from Cumberland and did some man overboard drills with a bottle then had a picnic tied up to the club house boat in the harbor.

Later we had a man-overboard-drill (swim call) with the kids, and got them used to be in the water with life jackets and currents.

About 4pm the wind picked up and Bob H. and I went up and down the river trying a variety of tactics out on the boat. Our one mishap was the main clew coming loose from the boom, right after we had passed by Maverick anchored in the river.

Overall it was a fun day.

-Edward

STMYC - Commodore reviews my CS17

2011-08-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

www.stmyc.org

Tom C. the St Marys Yacht Club Commodore published a good review of trying the CS17 out the first day it was in the water!

The most impressive part of Tom's 15 minutes of skippering was parking my boat! He sailed straight for the side of the club house, then a boat length away turned STBD hard into the wind and neatly settled next to the house boat.

- Edward

Camo Beach CS17 Sailing

2010-10-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Core Sound 17 I got to go sailing on at the Small Wooden Boat gathering at Camo Beach on Cameo Island, WA. This boat is also featured on B&B's CS17 webpage.

The boat was anchored then another line run to shore and anchored. Makes the boat easily accessible but keeps it offshore.

Sailing in Washington NC

2010-06-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

Went sailing on a 2008 Hunter 25' shoal draft keel. The only problem was it was a very very hot day with little to no wind.

Approaching the opened railroad bridge on the way to downtown.

We decided the 2' draft was shallow enough to make it through here and come back out by the opening to head back down the sound. Boy was that ever a mistake! At least it was shallow enough to push off.

Camping on Cumberland Island

2008-10-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

I took the Hobie Cat camping out at Brickhill Creek campground on the north end of Cumberland Island. It was supposed to be a Scout Campout but I and Josh wound up being the only ones who went.

14 miles out from Crooked River, it took us almost 4 hours of tacking up the inter-coastal against a NE wind.

Coming back on Saturday we made the same distance in 70 minutes with one tack and one jibe.

On the island we where camping with a bunch of kayaks and we used the sail as a tent.

Selling my boat..

2008-01-13T09:16:00.001-08:00

Selling my boat..

Last week I sold my boat to a gentlemen who had been looking at it for about 3 years. When I bought the boat he had actually made an offer to the previous owner right after. I would like to thank my broker Hal*1 who gave some invualble help in the boat transfer help.

This week I picked up a 1983 Hobie 16' for a very affordable price. It has original rainbow sails in excellent shape, with beach wheels and a trailor. A minor tear is present in the canvas tramp which I will have to repair.

Più tarda, Edward

*1 America East Yachts – Hal Glazer
P (912) 729-3728 C (954) 547-7409
F (954) 587-2914 aey1@bellsouth.net

St. Mary's Nautical Info

2008-01-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Ken & I put together a great boater resource for anyone visiting St. Mary's GA. Attached is the PDF file. If you have anything to add, or want to write, an article please let us know. Someday in the future another issue will come out. I did find out the downtown merchant's council is very pleased about this resource, as it will get more word out about the services.

I started this project because I had a conversation with a man who walked two miles to a service station for a loaf of bread not know of a bakery two blocks away from the marine. Other boaters had mentioned how they felt nothing was present in St. Mary's not knowing about the many resources available.

If anyone's interested check out http://www.tintiger.net/ which has some great aerial photos of the many boats present for ThanksGiving.

Catching Up

2008-01-04T20:07:00.001-08:00

Well to start with I sold my boat Christmas week for cash!! Second Happiest & Saddest Day in my life...

I posted all my boat photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/ecgossett these photos are also mapped on Google Maps.

My business license was approved by the City of St. Mary's, my new business name is Cumberland Canvas. Repairing sails and working on canvas should be some fun. Currently we are helping Bob aquire a Dodger for Maverick and work on a cover to keep the bugs out of the cabin.

2007-07-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

Barge carrying big steel beams

Sunrise Saturday morning

Asymmetrical spinnaker flying
Me sailing with the rudder, the autotiller was used ocassionally as well.

Boat Equipment

2007-07-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p-1XmPgaXLOk4Q83FEUcSDQ

This list may be missing a few things but has about everything.

Tracks

2007-05-18T11:31:00.001-07:00

More boat photos and emergency layout plan

2007-04-21T02:21:00.000-07:00

2007-03-06T17:34:00.001-08:00

2007-03-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

2007-03-06T17:31:00.000-08:00