I HATE SHOES

We Hate Shoes

2024-04-06T06:59:00.000-04:00

She doesn't like sailing. And that's fine. It's boring, hot, and slow, says she. I can't argue.

My friend Eddie has a 14' Cape Dory in the municipal marina that he lets me use at my leisure. Can't complain about a free boat to use, so I took him up on it. My friends Moose and Danielle, along with Charlotte motored out past the breakwater, set the sails and headed out to the Reggae Fest on the other side of the pier. When we got there, and dodged the sunken boat, we thought we might drop anchor and stay for a bit. I told my friend Moose to take the helm while I figured the anchor situation out up on the foredeck. I found the chain and started to pull it out of the hawsepipe and was surprised to see that the 1/4" chain had been reduced to 1/16" at best by rust.

"Nope, were not anchoring today!" I said as I hobbled back to the cockpit, the boat bouncing in the motorboat created chop. We set the sails again and headed back to the dock. This was the first time I'd been sailing in almost two years and while it felt great to be back on the water, it was actually pretty hot, boring and slow. I don't blame her.

Great strength of feets: removing the old diesel

2016-01-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

After a blissful Christmas at brother's house with his family in Stuart, and my new little nephew, I drove back to Sarasota to start working on getting the engine out from under the cockpit. I got to my sweet Soveraine on Sunday morning and, after getting the lock open, couldn't slide the companionway hatch forward. This had never happened before. No amount of pushing could get it over the drop slides, it was as if they had swelled for some reason. I took out my sawzall and cut a tiny bit away from the top drop slide and it slid open.

I was dumbfounded. The entire cabin was submerged in four inches of standing water. Nearest I can tell, during the fall the oak tree, that the jackass trailer park owner let the jackass of a hauler park my boat under, had shed all its tiny goddamn leaves which clogged my cockpit drains causing water to spill into the cabin.

Luckily my dad was there to keep my spirits high and attitude in check, because I was in a throw in the towel, no good, dirty, rotten mood after I saw that. In addition, about three dozen wasps had moved into Soveraine and threre was mold EVERYWHERE. We piled into his truck and headed to Home Depot to rent a generator and 2" sump pump.

The pump worked quickly and dad and I called it a day to let the boat dry out. I checked the wooden bulkheads for any signs of rot and there were none.

I appreciate the juxtaposition of this one.

The following day the boat was aired out nicely and we got to work on the engine. By noon we had most of the accessories stripped away, including the instrument panel, wiring harness, alternator, fuel pump, starter, and the gear box separated from the block and the prop shaft. The volume of blood shed removing the coupling bolts on the prop shaft was minimal.

Next came the ordeal of how on Earth we were going to get it shoved out of the opening in the bulkhead forward of the engine compartment. We went back to the Depot and bought a single 2x8 which was just as wide as the bottom part of the bulkhead opening. Then using some pry bars and great feats of strength/great strength of feets, on the count of push (please tell me you got that reference) it popped out onto the board, resting on the oil pan. It was then fairly easy to shimmy it down a bit so it was completely out of the engine compartment. We cleaned up and were out of there by 4. It took less time than I had planned, how often does that happen on a boat?? I only want to rent a crane once, so there it shall sit until the new one goes in this coming summer.

Over the next few days I continued to work on the engine compartment and start the glamorous task of cleaning 40 years worth of sludge out from the bilge. Mat came along and his dad lent me his generator to run the shop vac. I only dropped the container filled with sludge once, which I'd say is pretty good.

I also put together a little system so that whole flooding thing won't happen again, which includes my existing bilge pump and 5 watt solar panel and a new battery and charge controller. In addition to a partial cover to keep those God forsaken leaves off the deck. I'll be back in two weeks to check on her.

aaand we're back...

2015-12-20T10:57:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know this is only my second post in 2015, which is almost over. Not much to report on however, just living in New Jersey and teaching math at a local public high school. Soveraine has been on the hard in that trailer park in Sarasota since last November, and I've been down a few times to work on her. As of right now, she is completely gutted with the exception of the engine, which will be coming out next week.

Elizabeth and I purchased a new Beta 25 3-cylinder diesel from the boat show in Annapolis in October. I decided a few months ago to go the repower route as opposed to trying to keep up with an aging foreign model for which spare parts are harder and harder to come by. The Beta was our choice for a few reasons, not the least of which is the support they offer along with many options that make a repower from an older diesel a breeze.

In addition to the new engine, I will be replacing her standing rigging with new stays and a set of swageless fittings, probably the Hi-MOD brand. I'll be upgrading her nav equipment to something more modern, possibly with AIS, as well as a new galley with a small fridge unit and a couple of 100 watt solar panels. A fresh coat of paint inside and out and replacing some ancient teak trim should round out the refit nicely.

It should be a busy 6 months, with a light at the end of the tunnel of some real cruising.

Chris Christie Says He Will Not Run in 2016...to Go Sailing?

2015-02-03T16:35:00.000-05:00

TRENTON - In a dramatic move that has stunned not only Republicans in Washington but has sent waves from coast to coast, Chris Christie has announced that he will not be running for the nation's highest office in 2016. From his home in Trenton Tuesday afternoon, he stated he will instead "pursue a quietly held lifelong dream of living and cruising on a small sailboat."

When asked why this sudden change of course occurred, Christie looked away from the cameras and other press members, and gazed somberly into the distance for a moment before saying, "I just can't do it anymore. It's gotten to the point where even I don't believe half the crap that comes out of my mouth. I'm not apologizing for anything as Governor, but I have to admit I haven't been at my best the past few years."

Sources close to the Governor said in recent months he has been furiously reading the blog and newly published book, both titled I Hate Shoes, of New Jersey resident and veteran seaman, Scott 'Sailor' Keddy. "He always keeps the blog open in a tab in his browser, and hits refresh a few times a day, at least," confessed a top aid to the former presidential hopeful. Keddy has been hired as the mental, physical and spiritual guide for Christie as he transitions from high-profile GOP politician to wayward vagabond sailor.

"I am genuinely looking forward to working with him" Keddy said in a phone interview following the Governor's announcement. "There is a lot of work to be done. He and Mary [Christie's wife since 1986] will be joining my fiance and me in Florida on our 30 foot ketch as soon as we can sever ties with his political career."

Christie is wasting no time, and has already put multiple items owned by New Jersey's First Family on Craigslist at the behest of Keddy. "It's the first step in a long process of shedding one's old life, habits and material possessions to clean the slate," Keddy explained. When asked what goals Christie was looking to achieve out of this radical and unexpected life decision, he replied, "The only goal Chris Christie has, for the foreseeable future, is to find out who Chris Christie really is. See you out in the chop!"

The (second) haulout

2014-11-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

It was a bittersweet decision. On the one hand, I wasn't using Soveraine all that much and over $300 per month to keep her in wet storage was getting expensive. Sure, I visit Florida pretty often, about every second or third month, but by the time I got to her slip and started in on some projects I'd want to complete I would realize how far behind I was on basic maintenance. This was getting annoying. Two steps back for every one step forward, and it seemed like every time I would visit she would be in worse shape than before. The piles of bird poop, the dead batteries, surface rust on the bow pulpit, oiling some teak, cleaning a musty, moldy cabin...you get the idea. It left little time for any actual improvements to her let alone any time to actually enjoy a sail in a short 3-4 day period.

On the other hand, I need to replace the standing rigging, build and install a windvane, finish repainting the interior, shore up some play in the rudder, get some new ground tackle, completely redo the galley with a fridge, the possibility of a complete repower (?), among a myriad of other small projects.

That entire decision was brought to the front burner a couple of weeks ago when I got a certified letter (almost never a good thing) saying I had to be out of my slip by November 15th due to the fact Manatee County found the docks unsafe and had to be replaced. Luckily I already had a plane ticket down and scrambled to find a place to haul out and someone with a hydraulic trailer to transport my boat inland where the rent was cheap. I found both and as of tonight my sweet Soveraine sits on the hard in a trailer park in Sarasota awaiting a nearly complete refit.

The purpose of this whole shenanigan? More cruising of course. I won't allude to what my grand plans are (never good luck to do so) but I will say that when she goes back in the water, 18 to 24 months from now, she will be as ready to cross oceans as when she was built 51 yeas ago.

I leave you with pictures courtesy of my mother who was kind enough to drive up and find her still on the trailer from the boatyard:

Book is published!

2014-10-14T19:25:00.002-04:00

Well, self-published but nonetheless, I am on Amazon and you can get your copy today! Here is a link to Amazon's site where you can get either a Kindle or paperback version. If you would like a signed copy mailed to you, simply pay me via PayPal (smkeddy@gmail.com) and don't forget to include your address!

From the back cover: "Growing up a sun-drenched kid in Florida, it was a rude awakening when I became a desk driving engineer in frigid Boston. So began a five year odyssey to return home via sailboat, filled with adventure, tragedy, love and heartbreak. From humble starts in questionable boats to high seas sailing from Hawaii to Alaska, and ultimately restoring a 50 year old world cruising boat, no, the journey wasn’t always easy, but it was unquestionably worth it in the end. You only get one spin around this merry-go-round, you better make it count."

My goal is to sell a few hundred copies to justify my time and expenses, so your purchase of this book today helps fund the next one! Thanks!

Windvane self-steering, sailing on the Hudson, book coming soon!

2014-07-08T14:01:00.001-04:00

I've been in New York (well, technically New Jersey) since February. I moved here to be with my new fiancee Elizabeth, and things were very quiet on the sailing front until recently. I've been working for a charter/sailing lesson company up on 79th Street and its been going very well so far. The Hudson River is known for its currents, fickle and shifty winds, massive amounts of boat traffic, very surgey unprotected marinas and things in the river that, well, shouldn't be. It does have some nice views of the city and Statue of Liberty though. All in all, not a great place to sail, but I'm on the water, and that's something. I also managed to get my NJ teaching certification and hope to be using it in a classroom this fall.

My sweet Soveraine is docked in Florida, where I visit her every few months. I still plan to cruise on her extensively, but it will be more piecemeal for the next couple of years. I need to do some work on her anyway, including installing a wind vane, redoing the galley and possibly installing a self-contained cooler/refrigeration unit. I've heard it before and its true: refrigeration makes the difference between living civilly and camping.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Scott and Kitty at their home in Connecticut. We went for a short cruise which allowed me to see how their wind vane self-steering system operates. I took many pictures and videos and Elizabeth was kind enough to hold the tape measure:

Over the course of the last week, I have built a model out of cardboard and balsa wood:

Which actually works, with a fan to simulate the flow of water over the pendulum...

I'll be visiting Florida next week and will be working on a full size model from plywood, which is what Scott's was made from originally when they went around the first time in Bebinka.

With all that said, I've been working on a book! Its a chronicle of this crazy sailing/life adventure I've been on for the past 5 or so years, and goes into much more depth than this blog. I decided to write a book mainly for my great-great-great grand kids. I would have loved to read about how Alexander Kady came over on Winchelsea in 1749. Why he decided to leave England/Scotland, what his thoughts were, his challenges and new life in Nova Scotia. This book will be for generations after me to look back and give some inspiration to step out on a limb and try a different lifestyle. Of course, if you'd like to purchase one and help fund my next adventures, that would be fantastic as well!

Stuart to Sarasota, with an ironic twist

2013-12-10T11:40:00.001-05:00

After spending a week and half over Thanksgiving at my brother's place in Stuart, it was time to weigh anchor and head over to the west coast. I had a great time over there, and even met up with Scott and Kitty again which is always a pleasure. Stuart was not my final destination though, and I'm now starting to realize I'm not sure if I have one.

I was getting desperate for some other crew and wanted to leave by the end of the week when a guy Chris responded to my ad on a cruising forum. I had sailed with people from that forum before, it was how I got in touch with Alex and got on the whole Hawaii/Alaska/San Diego expedition. Two days later he flew into West Palm and we left the following morning.

I decided to take the Okeechobee Waterway across the state as opposed to going around the tip of Florida and through the Keys. I've heard with the Gulf Stream so close to the reefs it can get a little intimidating trying to shoot between them. It only took us two days to get from Stuart to Ft Myers, with some great sailing on Lake Okeechobee.

We also traveled through 5 locks, two on the east side of the lake to bring Soveraine up to the level of the lake and three on the west side to lower her back to sea level. Most locks use valves to raise or lower the water level, but on these five locks they simply open the gates! It can be a shock the first time you see it, but it was pretty cool.

We spent the first night in Clewiston Rock City, at a dock that I was pressured into getting when I called to simply find the rate for the night. The guy at the marina called me all afternoon, assuring me he'd be there to show me where to go and tie me up, he kept saying his name was Little Man or something, odd and demeaning nonetheless. After navigating the narrow channel in total darkness with Chris on the bow with a spotlight, I gave him a call and he said he'd left for the night. I was kind of ticked since he had repeatedly told me he would wait, but he gave me another number to call, which didn't work. We found the dock, tied up and told ourselves that we would be out of there before dawn to give them the slip for such lousy service. Our plans were thwarted however when we met an Irish guy, totally out of place in Clewiston, who bought us round after round of Jameson shots. I forgot to set my alarm and woke up with Little Man standing right at the boat.

We were in Ft Myers the next night, after a thankfully uneventful motor the rest of the way across the state. I snapped this as the sun went down.

I saw Alaina for the first time in a year and half, she was living back in Ft Myers. Things went well considering the past and I saw her as nothing more than a friend. I invited her to sail with us the next day to Sarasota, which I didn't think she would take me up on, but she did.

We were off the mooring early afternoon the next day and promptly ran aground south of Lofton's Island in a spot that was not clearly marked on the chart. We could have waited until the tide came up at 6 that night, but I wanted to get going so Tow Boat US came to the rescue. Underway again, we cleared out of San Carlos Bay around sunset and motored on a glassy Gulf of Mexico into the night around Sanibel and Captiva. The wind picked up on my watch around two in the morning and I set the sails myself not wanting to wake my crewmates. I turned the engine off and Soveraine slid over the light chop at 5 knots with a gently easterly offshore breeze. This was, more or less, the moment I had been working towards for over a year and a half restoring the fifty year old Allied Seawind, with a little twist of irony that Alaina was sleeping below on the boat I purchased with her former engagement ring as I completed the trip home to Sarasota. I'd that's pretty much full circle.

The sails came down at dawn and the engine pushed us between the Venice jetties as we motored up the ICW to Sarasota. Just before noon, Chris snagged the mooring pennant in the bay that I had fought against two years earlier, another small ironic situation.

We took the dinghy ashore and walked up Main Street, back in my hometown.

Fernandina Beach to Stuart

2013-11-26T10:57:00.000-05:00

Fernandina Beach is an interesting place. It had a cute, quaint downtown area with more bars per square mile than Newport, which is definitely saying something. A few days after I got there my good sailing friend Joey joined me and we spent the next few nights reveling in the small town and waiting for the weather to change. A cold front had stalled out over the eastern Florida coast and was not making an easy decision as to when to leave. After a few days we kinda just said the hell with it and proceeded down the ICW at about 4 pm on a Thursday.

I didn't think motoring down the ICW at night would be a huge deal, turns out I was wrong. Thankfully nothing dreadful happened, but when a day marker that's not on your Navionics app, nor your paper charts appears out of the pitch black darkness a mere 15 feet to starboard, its a freaky experience. I've done this in twilight before, in a much wider waterway with many well lit buoys, however the narrow, dark channel between Fernandina and the St. Johns river was a different story. Oh yeah, and throw in a huge dredger who we had trouble getting in contact with just for kicks. Joey and I decided to anchor, but not without running aground coming into the anchorage (I blame the Navionics app, it switched from a color-coded chart with numbers marking the depth to a unitless contour map) and spending the better part of an hour trying to kedge ourselves off.

We motored down the St. Johns river the next morning, heading into the open Atlantic. The NOAA buoys still said there was a 7.5 ft sea and winds out of the northeast gusting to 20 knots. Neither was accurate. There was still a 5-6 ft swell from the east but zero breeze. Sigh...this would be a long 48 hours, and indeed it was. We motored the whole 210 miles down the eastern coast of Florida in little to no breeze for 47 straight hours. We did sail a little on the final morning when it finally picked up again out of the north.

One thing I've discovered about myself is that I am not a sailing purist. I used to think I might be, reading books by the Pardey's, Moitessier and other engineless sailors, but that's just not my bag. Sailing is a lifestyle and sport that demands patience as it is, even under the best conditions I'm only going about 7 miles per hour. If the wind isn't blowing in my favor, or at all, I'll admit I'm quick to turn on the "iron spinnaker" and just get somewhere. I really don't mind it either, for me voyaging is more about the experience of travel and discovery than bobbing about in a windless ocean for days at a time.

I'm at my brother's in Stuart at the time being. I'll be spending Thanksgiving here and then motoring along the Okeechobee Waterway that connects the east to the west coast of Florida and then sailing up to Sarasota next week. Its a great relief to be down here and out of the cold that is gripping the rest of the east coast currently and, more importantly, to be around family again.

Florida.

2013-11-16T11:48:00.000-05:00

I've wanted to title a post "Florida" for a long time, four years actually, and today I finally can.

The reason I started this blog, nearly four years ago, was to document my travels south, specifically to Florida. I was living in Boston at the time, winter was coming on and I needed a way to get out. The desk job didn't have any transfers down there and there was just no way I was spending any more time in New England. This is how I came into purchasing Winchelsea. It was a pretty basic idea: buy a boat and sail it down to Florida.

That started a four year odyssey involving three boats, two oceans, an engagement, a captains license, a galaxy of new and wonderful friends, and roughly 10,000 nautical miles under various keels. I can't emphasize the friends part enough, it is the thing that has really made this whole voyage worth while. Anyone who has met me in the past four years has known I've had this one and only goal, a one-track mind if you will, it was all I talked about and every single one of my actions and thoughts went into this one endeavor, almost to a fault. I would be here until next week thanking everyone who helped me get here personally, but you know who you are and you have no idea how grateful I am.

Pearce and I got into Charleston last week and were greeted by one of the best hostesses a city could ever ask for, a friend I met there a few months ago, Anita. She met us at her dock, her former place of employment, with mimosas and spent the rest of the day touring the city with us. On Tuesday a larger ketch pulled in and the captain was none other than my friend Drew, a guy I met on my first delivery on When and If! And, as it turned out, Hugh, another guy I met on that delivery was living in Charleston! I hadn't seen these guys in over three years and it was wonderful reminiscing and catching up with them.

On our last night in town (Drew and I had both decided to depart Charleston Thursday) Anita hosted all of us, as well as her three friends, for a spectacular dinner party.

Pearce and I were up at sunrise the next morning but couldn't get off the dock due to current issues. We waited for slack tide at noon and were off. It was a beautiful sunny day and the wind was about ten knots out of the northeast, which built throughout the afternoon. I'm usually pretty good about seasickness but I won't lie, on this day I wasn't. The seas were a very moderate three to five feet, but something hit me the wrong way and I spent the next 18 hours in agony. I think it may be the head cold I have, messing with my inner ear equilibrium and amplifying and feeling of uneasiness. I was pretty much over it by the next morning though, but the wind had died and then switched to the southwest so we motor sailed the remainder of the way into Fernandina Beach. It was surreal coming into St. Mary's inlet, with Florida to port and Georgia to starboard. I had done it. After four years the goal I had set for myself was finally coming to completion and at 10 pm last night, with my anchor resting on a sandy Florida bottom, it had.

Baltimore to Beaufort

2013-11-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

It was cold leaving Baltimore. Damn cold. Mid 40s during the day and mid 30s at night. The wind was right though and within an hour of leaving the dock the sails were up and we were going at a good clip in the northwesterly breeze. My crew consisted of Pearce, the son of a friend of mine with almost no prior sailing experience, and Zach, a fellow 12 meter sailor from Newport. The breeze really picked up during the day and lasted into the night. It felt really good to be sailing Soveraine again, even if it was bitterly cold with the wind that night.
We motored into Norfolk the next day and slid into a slip at the public, i.e. free, docks in Portsmouth.
We were putting the boat away when a troop of three people about my age came down to the boat.
"What kind of boat is she?"
"Allied Seawind."
"Oh nice! My wife and I were looking at those. We ended up buying a Hans Christian 38."
I invited the three of them onboard and after a few beers we talked about where we had all been, and I mentioned my previous trip down the ICW that ended in Beaufort three years ago. One of the women (not in the married couple) looked surprised and said she too was in Beaufort at that time, living on a boat. I looked back at her and it struck me.
"Were you living with your boyfriend on a Grampian 26?"
"Yes..."
"And were you working at a coffee and wine bar?"
"...yes..."
"Wow. I've met you both before!"
We stared back at each other for a few seconds before those around us started commenting on how serindipidous and bizarre this whole thing was. We all went out in Norfolk together that night and did was cruisers do when they meet other cruisers: talk about cruising.
Zach was with us for the next two days, motoring through Coinjock and down to our friend Rogan's place on Roanoke Island. Rogan cooked us shepards pie which was one of the best meals I've ever had, but this was coming off a night of Spam and instant mashed potatoes (now a staple on Soveraine, thank you Chris). Pierce and I took her the rest of the way to Beaufort, motoring across a sunny and eerily calm Pamlico sound, and we arrived on Halloween. It was pretty strange being back there (three years exactly), but not a lot had changed, which was actually pretty nice.
The forecast for leaving Beaufort was getting more menacing with each update. Initially it was calling for 15-20 knots, gusting to 25 out of the northeast. It would be at our backs but the seas would be confused coming right off a strong southwesterly. This would be OK, I thought, they would settle out before we got too far from shore, or we could hug the coast. Tony, a friend from Newport, thought otherwise and suggested we go inside. He said it was one of the better parts of the ICW, and he was right.
Saturday morning changed that when the forecast was upgraded to winds gusting to 30 knots. I may have attempted it with a more experienced crew, but with just Pearce and I was basically single handing, at best. No offence to Pearce, he's enthusaistic and a quick learner, but throwing him, myself and this boat in the deep end this quickly is not something I'm willing to do.
We left Beaufort yesterday at dawn to motor down the ICW to Charleston. I checked the oil dipstick and to my delight it was not white nor the consistancy of butter.

Back in Baltimore

2013-10-23T13:14:00.001-04:00

Exactly eight weeks to the day after injuring my foot, I am back in Baltimore ready to continue to make my way south. Soveraine looks as good (if not better thanks to the rain and not dragging up mud with the anchor) as when she left, thanks to Chris for putting her to bed so well.

Not a moment too soon either, the temperature has dropped considerably and is supposed to be in the upper 30s tomorrow night. We'll head out tomorrow or Friday morning, depending on when Zach (a fellow 12 meter sailor) can get his butt to Baltimore. Pearce is the third crew, he has some 420 sailing experience and should round us out nicely.

We'll sail down the Chesapeake into Norfolk and through the ICW/Albemarle Sound to Beaufort, with a possible stop to see another friend who lives on the outer banks. That should take a total of 5 days. From there we'll wait for weather and hop outside to Charleston, just about the same distance from Block Island to Cape May so that should take around 48 hours. I don't want to get ahead of myself though, I'm taking my time since I have just about all winter to get her down there.

The voyage continues!

Setback

2013-08-30T13:01:00.000-04:00

What a nightmare, I thought to myself in that state of half awake/half asleep before even opening my eyes. My dream consisted of a trip to the ER and a diagnosis of a broken heel, which would have certainly put a damper on plans for heading south. But wait, why does my left foot feel tight and constrained? I cracked my left eye open and an unfamiliar ceiling lay above me. Tilting my head up and gazing down at a mass of cotton and Ace bandages confirmed reality.

The plan was to head south to Norfolk on Wednesday morning. On Monday night Chris and I went out for dinner and, long story short, I jumped 7' from a wall along the boardwalk to the sidewalk below and when I tried to get up, couldn't support my own weight. Some hours later, the ER doctor told me I had broken my heel. I took a taxi back to the dock where Chris was supposed to meet me, but his phone was on silent so I asked the driver to take me to a cheap hotel. He ended up taking me to Willdwood, a bizarre grid of cheap motels spilling over from Atlantic City.

When I got back to Cape May the next afternoon, I asked about how much it would be to dock my boat there for a month or two while I healed up. The woman behind the counter said they only had a day rate, nothing monthly, and that it would come out to about $1500 for 30 days. She said this with a straight face and a tone that implied $3000 for two months was a reasonable price. New Jersey; that's all I'm going to say. I walked out dumbfounded and a little scared. Where was I going to put the boat while I was banged up? I immediately put a post to a cruising forum asking if there was any reasonable dockage within the Delaware Bay area. I got a response within the hour that there was a dock in Baltimore for $470/month. Much better. A few minutes later, I then got another message from the same user saying he had just found out his friend was leasing theirs for $125/month, perfect!

We left the next morning, motoring up the Delaware Bay and River and anchored in the C&D canal basin at about 9 that night. I had my splint/bandages wrapped in a plastic bag as it poured rain off and on all day, sitting at the helm in my foul weather jacket and board shorts, hood up and covering my face. Another 9 hours of motoring the next day got us into Baltimore at about 4 pm. Chris and I buttoned up the boat and Elizabeth picked me up last night. I'm now in Arlington, VA and will be going to Hoboken, NJ for awhile followed by Sarasota with Mom. It should take about 6 weeks to be in full sailing mode again, at which point I'll fly back to Baltimore to continue to the trip south. The adventure isn't over, not by a long shot!

Newport, Block Island, Cape May

2013-08-26T14:08:00.001-04:00

Chris and I left Newport and motored out of Narragansett Bay on Wednesday morning, still a little groggy from the bon voyage blowout the night before. The wind was expected to build out of the southwest that afternoon and I wanted to be at Block Island before that started. And after a blissfully uneventful five and a half hour motor sail, we were anchored.
We spent the next two nights there waiting for the southwest breeze to tire itself out and a fresh northerly one to take its place. On Friday morning we weighed anchor and set out for Cape May. The breeze was a gentle 5-10 knots until compeltely dying at noon, the sails came down and the motor pushed us along until it filled in, this time from the northeast, at around sunset.
During that afternoon, I witnessed something I hadn't seen before at sea. What started as one or two small flies buzzing around the boat had turned into what seemed like at least three dozen, of all varities, as well as a couple of flying ants and wasps. We ransacked the cabin looking for a source but found none. The only explination I could think of was they were being blown off the land and using us as their liferaft, that is until they met their fate with a rolled up magazine.
Later that night the breeze continued to build and clock around to the northeast. By morning we were running with a gusty 15 knot breeze and a 4' sea under jib and jigger and a cloudless sky, more or less ideal. Dolphins on the bow (and one running into the keel with a distinct thud) and sea turtle sightings rounded out a great day of sailing.
By 7 that night the wind died again and we motored the remaining 50 miles to Cape May, having to kill time outside of the harbor inlet to wait for the sun to rise.
We are now at anchor by the Coast Guard training base. Thinking back to three years ago, it had taken John and I over 12 days and two new(er) sails to get this far. So far so good on this trip though, not a hitch nor hiccup, knock on wood!

Back in the water, plans for points south

2013-07-23T14:40:00.001-04:00

After many days in the 90s sanding, painting and fixing stuff below the waterline, she was back on the hook last Thursday morning. As far as the inboard goes, I have finally realized that it is indeed the shifting cable, and only have to tweak it. So there it is, shes ready to head south with fresh bottom and topside paint, a working inboard and all of the rigging set to go. It took a little over a year, but I brought a 50 year old "classic plastic" back from the verge of being hacked up and crushed.

I have a couple of regattas in early/mid August on Weatherly and after that I'll be pulling the hook up and starting the trip south. The plan is to head through Long Island sound, down the East River and pulling into an anchorage in New York harbor. I'll wait for a weather window and head to Cape May, possibly all the way to Norfolk if the weather holds. Then it'll be a few days of motoring along the ICW inside of Hatteras and through Beaufort, North Carolina, the sleepy seaside village that rocked my world 3 years ago. After that, its a little less planned out, I'll just wait for weather windows that get me south and motoring along the ditch when its less than ideal outside.

But, of course (as a disclaimer), these are just plans. And plans can change in a heartbeat when it comes to boats and the sea.

Haulout

2013-07-13T14:32:00.001-04:00

Soveraine was hauled out on Monday afternoon. Things I was looking to accomplish: a bracket for the outboard I purchased, paint on the bottom and topsides, repair a through-hull in the head and take some play out of the rudder.

There was a delay in getting my boat hauled so I figured I would get the transmission ready to take out since I had been talking to a guy in Connecticut who said he could get me in touch with someone who could rebuild it. About half way into the removal I discovered that the shifter cable was loose. This was interesting, could it be the cause of the sudden "slipping" of the transmission? I threw everything back together, turned the engine over and discovered yes, it certainly was. I now have a fully functional inboard again, and just after I purchased a brand new outboard!

After she was out of the water, I scraped all the hard growth from the bottom which was in the amount of 5 gallons in volume, and roughly 10 lbs. A LOT of growth. I sanded the bottom and topsides over the next couple of days, got the through hull working again (after I was nearly about to cut it out with a grinder) and took the play out of the rudder. I'm now patiently waiting for the rain to pass so I can finish the bottom. Topsides will come tomorrow/Monday and I'll go back in Tuesday or Wednesday.

As far as the outboard, I'll keep it with me going south as a backup in case my inboard has other plans than functioning as it is supposed to.

I'm excited to her back in the water, I can't wait to see how she sails with a clean bottom and how great she'll look at 50 years old with new topside paint!

Blissful sailing, bittersweet ending, outboard ho!

2013-06-18T09:49:00.000-04:00

After buying a used filter housing that kinda, sorta fit my engine and spending thirty something dollars on fittings, I threw in the towel on that option for a host of reasons. The weather cleared Friday evening and I had a revelation that I didn't need the hard copper piping since this was all upstream of the injector pump. A trip to West Marine ended in a bulkhead mounted Racor at 2 micron filtration downstream of my existing 30 micron Racor, plumbed to the fuel and injector pumps with flexible hosing. It worked perfectly.

Elizabeth came into town on Friday and after picking up some supplies for lunch we were planning to sail to Block Island. When the key was turned and the ignition button pressed however, nothing happened: dead battery. I had read about, and knew I had, a manual crank starting option that I had not attempted before. With Elizabeth at the compression lever and my hands cranking as fast as possible, it started on the second try! By the time we had this sorted and weighed anchor though the wind had switched direction to an unfavorable southwest. No Block Island, but we'd have a great afternoon in the bay!

It blew a steady 10-15 out of the southwest all afternoon under a cloudless sky. I essentially single handed the entire trip from anchor to anchor, with Elizabeth only holding the tiller steady from time to time. One feature I was truly amazed about was how well Soveraine tracks. I essentially steered the boat using the sails alone, and leaving the tiller nearly hands free. This allowed me to go to the bow to take this picture:

And the reciprocal!

Up and down the bay we went, for over 4 hours, on every point of sail, playing with the currents, sail combinations, jib car placement, etc, etc. We sailed right into the harbor past Goat Island where I turned on the engine near the anchorage. I rolled up the jib, took the main and mizzen down, flaked and tied them up. I went to the cockpit and put the engine into gear. Huh, we didn't go anywhere, and there was no prop wash out the stern. Again: neutral, forward, throttle. Nothing.

In a drill familiar to Memorial Day I popped the jib back out and sailed to an open spot in the anchorage. I dropped and set the hook and then immediately dove into the engine compartment. I knew this adjustment well, I had made a similar one at the dock before I left. However, this time, even with the collar tightened to its maximum, I could still turn the prop shaft by hand with the transmission in forward: not good. My suspicions were confirmed when I started the engine back up and again, the prop did not spin. A call to the mechanic who worked on my transmission previously told me what I had thought: the discs were shot and need to be replaced. Those parts may or may not still be available, and if they are, they're coming from one place in Sweden, i.e. $$$$.

After working on this engine for a year and sinking some serious dough into it, I've decided to go the outboard route. A newer, albeit lower powered outboard will be a much more reliable source of propulsion when I really need it. And, apparently, between using the hip-tied 3.5 horsepower dinghy from Watch Hill to Newport last summer, catching a mooring under sail on Memorial Day and anchoring under sail on Saturday, I don't need it all that much. In all reality, the sailing is the easy part. It's an aging mechanical device that has really been the bane of this boat. The running and standing rigging; rebuilding the bowsprit; designing, making and installing new chainplates; that's the fun stuff. Working on an engine that continuously disappoints in new ways, making a mockery of my efforts, that's the drudgery.

There have been many successful sailors with under powered auxiliaries. It all comes from a standpoint of expectations. Can I expect a 8 horsepower outboard, mounted on the transom, to push me through 5 foot chop on the nose? Of course not. If there was that much chop, I'd expect there to be a fair amount of wind with it. Against a 4 knot current? No way. Wait for the current to change, I can think of very, very few places where any current flows that strong in only one direction. Bernard Moitessier, in his 13 ton Joshua, had a very modest 7.5 horsepower two stroke. Ben and Danielle on Ganymede have an 8 horsepower outboard, and they have done over 3,000 miles in a boat that weights 10 tons, 4 tons more than mine! A great link to an article Ben wrote about his outboard and their trip through the Panama Canal: http://www.bwi.org/bwicontest/files/727-amotoringmuse.pdf James Baldwin on Atom weighs in here (question 9): http://www.atomvoyages.com/planning/cruising-q-a-a/72-frequently-asked-questions.html

So there it is. An 8-9.9 horsepower four stroke outboard, with a long shaft and a high thrust propeller. Simple, efficient. I welcome any questions, comments or suggestions!

Rain, more effin engine trouble, the plan for heading south

2013-06-12T19:14:00.000-04:00

Out of the 12 days so far in June, its rained for about 10 of them. Two more tomorrow and Friday, and it looks like three out of the seven of next week. This has put a damper on both the Weatherly charters I make my money from as well as working on and sailing my own boat in prep for the departure later this summer.

Which brings me to my next subject. I've been fielding a lot of questions as to when and where I'll be going once I leave Newport. In all honesty: it's still up in the air, the whole thing, and will be up until I'm actually there. I'd love to sail to Block Island. Sure, I'd also really like to make it to Florida. Maybe the Bahamas or Mexico, or even Cuba? Point is, I'm in Newport right now and this voyage isn't entirely about the destination. Wherever I am, that's where I'll be. To be frank though, there are some outlying engine issues that may put a hindrance on travel. In an attempt to fix a fuel leak, I found the filter housing was cross threaded and they don't make these anymore. Thankfully I found a similar one in a marine consignment store and now have the issue of hooking it into the existing fuel lines (easier said than done, trust me). The water pump, which was professionally rebuilt a year ago to the tune of $300, is leaking. Nothing trifle either, about a gallon an hour when the engine is running, but its manageable. The take home message is this though: between the lack of charters and errant engine issues, if that damn iron spinnaker is not functional once past this fuel leak, there are serious doubts as to whether I'll make it past a Newport dock this winter. An outboard and bracket is about $1200 (plus a haul out), which as of now isn't in the cards financially. I'm optimistic though, chin is up that this is the last of the engine issues and the charters will come more regularly! I've got just over two months before I'd like to weigh anchor in Newport, wish me luck!

Pics from the shakedown sail!

2013-06-02T13:42:00.002-04:00

Great times last Monday, thanks to all who could attend. More to come!

Note the chainplates in the first two pics, working hard!

Nefertiti in front of Clingstone. The boat I had the pleasure of working on this spring. I know the contours bottom of that hull more intimately than anyone ever should. Boom of Soveraine in the foreground.

Left to right: Seabass, Gretchen, Micah and Liz. And myself. Thanks to Miss Watson for taking the picture from the poop deck.

Memorial Day shakedown sail

2013-05-29T13:27:00.000-04:00

I motored out to the anchorage last week and dropped it for the third season I've spent in Newport. Soveraine is finally ready to go, with her name painted on the transom in a font I'd like to call "10 minutes with a chip brush", and you would think a child in elementary school did it for some milk money. It should be temporary, since I plan on painting the topsides sometime soon, but its also a nose in the air salute to Newport in general. I've gotten some guff for it however I'm almost positive vinyl lettering won't improve my performance or safety.

Memorial Day finally came, after 5 days of no sun and pissing rain storms. And with it, myself, Elizabeth (actually, there were two aboard), Seabass, Micah and Gretchen took Soveraine out for an inaugural sail of the season (a season I'm planning to perpetuate indefinitely). It was blowing out of the west for awhile before the sea breeze kicked in, and kick in it did. We had full sail up while it was blowing a solid 20 and gusting to over 25 knots. Too much sail? Absolutely. I really wanted to get those chainplates working though, and we dipped the rail pretty deep a few times. Overall, it was a complete success. It turns out my main sheet isn't quite long enough, the main topping lift needs to be replaced, but that about sums up the necessary work on the rigging.

It wouldn't be a complete shakedown sail without at least a little bit of mishap/adventure. We dropped sail and were motoring back towards the anchorage when the engine RPMs dropped and it cut out completely. I tried to start her again, to no avail. Sloop Providence was to leward and Soveraine was close to being impaled on her massive bowsprit. I called for the jib to be unfurled and Micah and Gretchen ran forward. I handed the boat hook to Elizabeth while Seabass tended the sheets, we were going to grab a mooring but first had to get some way on to dodge Providence. Elizabeth grabbed the pennant while Seabass eased the sheets and within three minutes of the engine sputtering to a stop we were tied off safely. The take home message: don't coil your jib sheets until the anchor is dropped and the motor is off!

I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out what had happened. As it turns out, even though I had about a gallon of fuel left in the tank, the pickup tube sits about an inch and a half off the bottom. I suppose in a tank larger than 10 gallons this isn't a big deal, but I had no idea I'd lose 10% of my fuel capacity! So yes, long story short, we technically ran out of fuel. Just one of many lessons learned that day as I listen to what Soveraine has to tell me, both under sail and otherwise.

Chainplates are finished, sailing next week?

2013-05-08T14:47:00.000-04:00

I honestly didn't think this winter was going to end. Even after the first sail on Lyra, even after 7 charters on Weatherly, living aboard through a blizzard, a hurricane, countless smaller snow storms, freezing fog, a desk job, and a troop of high school swimmers, it still seems surreal I'm on the other side of it. Friends are making their way back into town, and have been trickling in over the past couple of weeks. Every day I count more boats in the anchorage and mooring field. The pulse of Newport slowly begins to strengthen as she shakes off a long, cold hibernation. It was a strange path that led me back here and this past winter punctuated it well.

Soveraine is reborn as well, and when I get a new turnbuckle this afternoon she will be seaworthy for the first time since I've had her, and I'd guess a long bit before then too. The chainplates are finally complete and they mark the end of a long, long list of essential items I knew I had to tackle when I purchased her at the end of last June.

After a new bowsprit, cushions, a complete new installation of cabin and running lights with wiring, plumbing a head and new holding tank, removing and installing the transmission, some interior paint, all that really remains is some rigging work and paint. The upshot for readers of this blog is that there will be less talk of repairs and much more talk of sailing! Weatherly has been going very well, I'll have some pictures and videos sailing her soon, as well as Soveraine when I leave the dock in a week or two.

Here are some pictures of the chainplate installtion, first the plate was cut into strips:

Then I bent them using a pipe wrench and a vice at the trailer of Nefertiti, this required a lot of bike riding back and forth to my boat to make sure they were bent just right.

Once they were all bent to shape I had holes cut in them and the backing plates to match. 46 holes in total!

Once that was completed, it was only a matter of placing them on the hull where I wanted, drilling the holes through the hull and bolting them through the backing plates on the other side. Easier said than done, there were shelves in the way and some of the holes were not lining up with the backing plates. Then the rigging was hooked up, here is the first one completed:

Then just yesterday I cut the tops of the old chainplates that went through the deck with a grinder. I'll fiberglass or epoxy over them to seal them up.

Finally, spring! First sail of the season, three years since leaving the desk job

2013-04-16T20:58:00.000-04:00

First and foremost Sunday marked the first true sign, in my eyes at least, that the sailing season had begun and winter has officially kicked it: we went for a sail. Green's charter business On Watch Sailing is open for customers and to shake things out after a long, cold and snowy winter he invited myself and Elizabeth to join him and his family on Lyra, their Reliance 44. We sailed down to Hammersmith Farm and up under the Newport bridge and got some great pics for his website.

The shrink wrap came off Saturday. After nearly 5 months guarded from the elements of a New England winter that included a blizzard in the top five most severe of all time, a half dozen snow storms and lots of the delightful "wintery mix", she emerged unscathed.

I wish I had the opportunity to paint the decks or something before her unveiling but most of my projects this winter happened below. Most recently I completely redid the head, which started a few months ago by removing everything. It all got a new coat of paint, a holding tank/plumbing (which it had never had before), and all new wiring for new LED cabin lights. See the before and after below.

Our first charter on Weatherly is a week from tomorrow. I've been working on Nefertiti, another 12 meter, in the shipyard. Lots of sanding (I'm on the scaffolding, looking like a white Darth Vader).

Last, but certainly not least, yesterday was Marathon Monday in Boston. Thankfully nobody I knew personally was injured in the senseless tragedy that occurred. For myself though, it marks three years since quitting the desk job. Still absolutely zero regrets.

An insight into inspiration (free books!)

2013-04-03T09:54:00.000-04:00

When I first bought Winchelsea over three years ago, I'll admit it was on kind of an impulse. I knew my roommates were terrible and I hated my job, the sailboat was my ticket out of both. I had been reading about the lifestyle of cruising and voyaging since I had broken my knee the July previous (this was the summer of '09, I was still driving the desk at the engineering firm), which all started with Slocum's iconic Sailing Alone Around the World. I read a lot of how-to books covering the technical aspects of sailing and the life aquatic aboard a boat, but they would only sometimes touch on the "why", outside of picturesque sunsets and pina coladas.

Bernard Moitessier was my first inspiration outside the realm of conventional cruisers (which is obvious to anyone who knows me well). He starts voyaging to escape the chaos of Indochina during World War II, and in his later works he starts to develop his "why" as a spiritual quest dealing with some demons from his past. I enjoyed this angle of looking at sailing as a place for calm, meditation and reflection, but it was not my own "why"; I had to dig deeper.

After selling Winchelsea I started to piece together what I thought my perfect boat would be. In my search I came across the Good Old Boats List on a website called Atom Voyages run by a circumnavigator by the name of James Baldwin. The Allied Seawind 30 is on there, but digging through the rest of the site, I came across a book he had written and published online. I don't want to put much of my own two cents in there, but allow you to read the first chapter yourself. This is what I had been searching for. A little less spiritual and more practical. His quote from Sterling Hayden headed me in that direction next and I read Wanderer cover to cover after my engagement went south, excellent timing.

I also came across Sailing the Farm, another great book that inspires simplistic living and shows you how to do it. Recently, I've (since high school) rediscovered the joy of Henry David Thoreau and his books and essays, especially Walden. It is amazing to read his accounts of mindless consumption, superfluous luxuries that are more shackles than anything else.

All of these works have one thing in common: a rejection of the so-called "luxuries" of a modern society to search for a simpler, more sustainable (in both economy and environment) lifestyle. This is something I strive to achieve on Soveraine every day and with every project I take on.

Visit to Maine and a name board

2013-03-06T15:54:00.001-05:00

Currently in Maine visiting dear old Dad who has a wood working shop, including a C&C router! I designed a logo a couple of weeks ago (see the top of the blog) and my dad helped with the toolpaths to carve it. We ran short of time to produce a finished product, but the mockup out of foam looks great!

Stuck in forward no more

2013-02-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

I knew full well when I got Soveraine that the transmission was stuck in forward. I thought it was probably a linkage issue that would be easily fixed. Once that possibility was ruled out, I toyed with the idea of leaving it stuck in forward, since I had throttle control. I would really only need reverse and neutral coming into a dock, and, and in all practicality not even for that. I got to the dock I'm at now slowly coasting in after cutting the engine a few yards before gliding alongside it. No sweat.

But, since I have the time, I decided to get it looked at professionally. A friend of all Newport boaters and a lifetime diesel mechanic John Whitney came over to look at it and promptly said it had to come out for him to really diagnose it. He said it probably was just a worn part that needed to be replaced (he even narrowed it down to one or two specific pieces, given an exploded diagram of the reverse gear), not a huge deal, just not something he could do with it sitting in my boat.

About 10 hours spread over two days later, with some great assistance from Green, it was out and in my cockpit. Most of that time was spent in various contortions trying to loosen bolts that had been ignored for decades. It was only 24 bolts, but some of them gave me some real guff. Oh, and right when we were about to pull it out, we realized the spline was too long and I had to get the engine off of its mounts and move it forward a few inches. Kind of a pain. Here are some pics of the progress:

One week later and John called me to say it was only a bolt that had backed itself out! The total cost for him disassembling/reassembling the whole thing was $250 for half a day of work! No new parts, no calls to Sweden. I had it back the next Monday and three hours later it was in place and reconnected to the engine and prop shaft.

With this issue now behind me, all I have left on my list of essentials are the chainplates and rudder. Outside of those its paint and some cushion covers, reassembling the head and minor electrical work. Soveraine will be ready for summer sooner than later, can't wait!