Heading south

We had a sleigh ride after we left Beaufort Nc. The first 1 ½ days were spent under reduced Genoa and mizzen as we headed south before a 25/30 kts breeze that ran us along at 7 kts + (sometimes hitting high 8 kts while surfing down big waves). In other words it was NO FUN. But, we made 180+ miles in that run from Beaufort to Winyah Bay running the Frying Pan shoals in the dark with 5-7 foot seas. YAHOO! In reality it was a long miserable night of wild sailing. The inside of the boat was so violent and noisy that you couldn’t sleep so the next night we stopped in a Winyah Bay for a much needed rest.

After a day on the intercostal we will left Charleston harbor and head south again. This time the waves and wind were tolerable and after two 1/2 days we headed into Ponce Deleon inlet at 4:30AM (translate this to scary) and dropped a hook. During the last night at sea there was a large swell right on the beam that would violently roll the boat every 14 sec. So, again not much sleep. Over all we had one of our fastest passages but paid for the speed with rough conditions. The happy ending is that it’s 75 deg during the day down here and sailing down the Indian river (a wide, 100+ mile long sound behind the space center) is just delightful… no waves and soft, warm breezes.

Under spinnaker heading south on the Indian River

 (OK, I must like this picture since I used it in back to back posts... It was a great sail though!)

New dinghy

 

As the date for our departure loomed brightly in front of us I was troubled by the choice of a dinghy that we were taking with us. Last year Anna had purchased a Walker Bay 10. Which in subsequent use had turned out to be a bit "tender" (if you'll pardon the pun) and I didn't want to take it. 2 days before we were to leave we had a used dinghy offered to us. 



the ropes are holding the glue job together

OK, it’s not new. In fact the first thing that I had to do was repair it. (So, what’s new?) It’s a cast off from a boat that I did a lot of work on at Deaton’s and the owner gave it to us. (Thank you Fordyce!) Just in time too since I had just cut up our old inflatable and tossed it into the trash. I guess that God looks out for fools and sailors, I just don’t know which category I fall into… maybe both!

old dinghy and good riddance!

On another note, on the way down from the Chesapeake we were using the mizzen staysail and it ripped apart. I tried to repair it but the tear was to extensive and the fabric was just to old. I called and checked many sites on the internet that sell used sails and no one had any mizzen staysails. Then the next day we got a call back from a place in Fl. They just had a person bring in a used mizzen staysail that was about the right size! So, the Goose now has a new (used) sail. Just hope that it lasts as long as the old one did.

Notice the date on the old sail ? It was built in 1958!

 We're headed off shore for the next bit. Should be in Fl. in 6 days or so. See ya there!

And the work begins

The next day after we arrived at Deaton’s we were hauled out and found this. We had a total failure of our boats bottom paint. It took us an hour of scraping, powerwashing and more scraping to clean them off. Then a few weeks later I had to rough sand the entire bottom to remove the round pads that they leave behind.

thousands of barnacles

They set us in the side lot and that's when the real work began. I removed the transmission and sent it in for rebuilding. It sounds like such an easy thing… just remove the transmission. NOT!

To  remove the transmission you have to disassemble the sound box around the engine, and remove the exhaust system, but to do that you have to remove the: house batteries, battery box, battery box frame, and then exhaust which is 30 lbs. of steel! Then you have to remove the turbo charger from the engine (only to find that the heat exchanger has been leaking and the engine, rear mount, etc. are is rusty). In this process I also found that the raw water pump is leaking and the front mount, etc. is rusty also. Now, disconnect the propeller shaft, remove the coupler, remove the PSS rotary seal on the shaft. These items are (of course) very hard to reach no less work on. Then grind the side of the rudder away (so that the shaft can slide out of the boat), remove the propeller and slid the propeller shaft out of the way. Finally, you can disconnect the transmission and rig up a 3 part tackle to lift it out of the bottom of the boat. Oh and in the process of cleaning the exhaust (previously removed) you also discover that it has rusted thru and needs to be replaced. Now, you have major clean/repair to do to the bilge area too. Other than that, it’s just another day on a boat.



6 of our 8 house batteries. Each one weights about 60lbs 

While grinding I discovered... 

So, I hit it with a screwdriver and this hole appeared!



One month later, the transmission was back, everything was rebuilt, replaced, sandblasted and repainted, and ready to go. It was a scary yet satisfying day when we put the Snow Goose back in the water and had her running along under her own power. Now for the next job, and the next and the next…..

Binoculars

We were motoring along the intercostal when I knocked the binoculars onto the floor. Of course, they broke. Well, don’t let the thought of “precision optics” ever trouble you. Just unscrew the suckers and find out what is wrong! One of the prisms had moved out of it’s place. I gave it a push and ‘click’ it dropped back into place. While apart, I had also cleaned the inside of the lenses (how they got dirty I’ll never know). All while motoring along… it was a boring day.

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Back on the Goose

10/23/2015

We got back to the Snow Goose and found NO cockroaches, mold, or other critters crawling around the boat…YEA!!!

What we did find was a bumper crop of barnacles. We tried to motor over to the gas docks at buzzards Bay Marina and the boat would hardly move. I put on 3 wetsuits (the water is really cold) and jumped in. The prop looked 80% covered with barnacles and the hull was about the same. Some of them were the size of quarters!

The next morning we were off before dawn heading south on the Chesapeake to Norfolk and the intercostal waterway. We should be in Deaton’s marina by Tuesday.

The Chesapeake in the early morning... That's a fishing boat

 

We met this container ship as we approached Norfolk. We were under sail but gave way to this big boy

That's the harbor police escorting the cruise ship out of the Norfolk harbor...
we had to almost get out of the channel to let it go by. 



This is an interesting old guy. At 68 yrs. old he sailed across the Atlantic!
 Now at 78 he and his dog are still going strong.

 While sailing 2 days later on another high wind day (25 gusting to 35) on the Pamlico Sound We came upon the Brant Island shoal. It's a tricky "S" turn that you have to make to avoid the shoal. This 65 ft. power yacht didn't make the turn and ran full speed up onto the shoal. While watching this happen Anna shouted at me "hey! it's getting shallow!!!" We almost joined them on the shoal. A mad scramble and a 180 deg. turn saved us but not them. They had to sit there for 2 days while 3 tow boats tried to get them off. The boat was declared a salvage and the final bill might be as high as $100,000+ between the salvage cost and the repairs. All because they didn't read the chart correctly.
(Click on the pictures to make them larger.)

Sitting in 3 foot waves as the boat is pounding on top of the shoal.

Back home

9/22/2015

Well, I’ve gotten some harassment from people for not keeping up the blog. I’ve in turn given it to Anna for not updating the website. What can I say but it’s been a busy summer. Now, though it’s fall and I should get on with it.

This summer’s trip to Maine turned out to be a 3 week trip to NY City, which was good, but not Maine.

After returning to Michigan I took up a heavy load of contracting and rebuilding of our house. Both went well except for the fact it proved that I’m not 35 any more and at times I felt more like 75!

The lake house had the roof collapsed from the snow load 2 years ago and after a year long fight with the Ins. Co. we won and they wrote us a big check and I got to work.

One of the major things that we did was to remove the entire roof structure from the front of our house. This is the new inside of our living room. Now trussed roof with a vaulted celling too!

I'd like to give a shout out to all of the grown ups and grand kids that helped with the roof job. You all did a fantastic job! Thanks!

Taking the old roof off

 

New trusses. This was open sky yesterday!

 

Not only a new roof but all 5 of the roofs were striped and re-roofed

We also had a visit from the grand daughter of the builder of the house and she brought along a picture of our house taken in the mid 60's before the pole barn was added. The trees sure are a lot smaller! (If you 'click' on the pictures they expand larger)

 

The only truly 'fun' thing that I did this summer was to go for an airplane ride with my friend Ralph up to Beaver Island for the day. A great trip, Thanks Ralph!

 

 

 

Then Just as we were ready to leave a family crises arose and we had to stay for another 2 weeks to watch grand kids… Storms, hurricanes and boat breakdowns are nothing compared to a rambunctious 2 year old!

 

Carter with his mom's shoes (were working on left and right!)

 

Heading home

7/23/2015

Heading home

Well, the trip to Maine has been cut short. The transmission is starting to slip so we decieded to call Maine off this year and turn back south and to Reedville.

New York City was a blast and we ran the legs off the grand kids. Maybe Maine next year.
Here's a few Pictures from the trip



NY city as we sailed in

My loyal crew

The girls on the bow as we sailed by the statue of Liberty

Over looking central park

Silly hats! (she bought it!)

Meg and I at Times square just before dark

Laundry day!

In the crown of the statue of liberty... this is the temp.