Making it to Cape Cod

First of all, I ended the last post with hopes for clear and easy sailing. That is NOT what happened... we had wind dead behind us, wind directly ahead, zero wind, heavy fog, flat calm, ten-foot waves....pretty much every weather (including beautiful weather) except rain.

The boat, with it's newly painted bottom, new cutless bearing on the propeller, and new AIS (Automated Identification System) went back on the travel-lift and into the water as planned on the morning of Monday June 3rd

and, by 10:30, Paul and I were sailing and motoring south on the ICW.

"South? But Cape Cod is north", I hear you wonder. We had a choice: motor for three days north on the ICW to Chesapeake Bay, sail a few hours east to a harbor entrance in shifting sand, marked as too shallow for my boat, or motor/sail south four hours on the ICW, south another half day in the ocean, then turn north. I find motoring the ICW stressful enough that going south seemed better...as well as likely being a bit faster.

Sailing through busy shipping lanes we were SO happy to have had my new AIS purchase on board to tell us what boats were coming and at what speed: VERY helpful for safety as they could avoid us as well as we avoid them.

We expected Wednesday night and Thursday AM to give us rather high winds and large (10') waves and that definitely came true. Unpleasant, but planning, preparing, and and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches saw us through this unscathed and we could see any other ships in the night on the AIS two hours before they came near us rather than ten minutes. Many times the wind and waves sped us along so the propeller shuddered and rattled: yes, the propeller seems to be unbalanced and I have now ordered a new one, hoping it arrives before the nice new cutless bearing is destroyed.... if it is not already.

After a windy Thursday, the wind died overnight and the Friday sun rose (apparently) on glassy waters and thick fog.

I unzipped one of the cockpit windows and it smelled like Cape Cod and Maine: briny, seaweedy, and fishy... I love it. We motored along, keeping an eye on the AIS rather than needing to sound our horn for collision prevention. And dolphins or porpoises visited, a different species than we see in North Carolina and points south.

Saturday night we crossed busy shipping lanes east of Long Island, VERY glad of the AIS as we essentially were crossing a maritime freeway and those vehicles, even though mostly spaced ten miles apart or so, come near deceptively fast.... and really have trouble slowing or turning much. And the AIS tells us exactly what the paths are likely to be and how close we will pass.

Sunday, with a sometimes favorable wind and much motoring, we reached Monomoy, the spur of sand south of the elbow of Cape Cod and dropped anchor at sunset. I had cooked dinner as Paul kept and eye out for lobster pots, so we sat down to a tasty meal of rice/lentils with pasta sauce, enjoyed the sunset, and REALLY enjoyed a full and uninterrupted night of sleep for the first time in a week in calm seas, starry skies, and light breezes.

We sailed into Stage Harbor in the morning where we rented a rather pricey but welcome mooring for a few nights.

Cynthia was due to arrive at the Cape about 9pm. but thunderstorms delayed her flight and she came in in the wee hours Tuesday morning. This morning (June 12) I drove Paul to Hyannis where he rented a car and is driving home to North Carolina.

The only breakage I can recall on our trip?... well, that must have been the loud "BANG" on day 4 when I looked out the portlight and found a section of the bronze traveler suspended from the jib sheet.

Examination later showed the (corroded) bronze bolts broken and the screws pulled from the (slightly rotten?) wood.

The temporary fix saw the car moved to one of the still sound sections of traveler, where it remains still while I consider options.

The cutless bearing and propeller concern me, but the new propeller should be built and delivered by late July and then we shall take a look.

SO...
For many years, I have imagined having my boat here. And the night Paul and I spent at Monomoy and the sail I took yesterday with Cynthia and my cousin Lisa surely fit those pictures.

And I love good times with friends and family.

Still, I doubt I will be as bold as I imagined: bringing my boat into Pleasant Bay seems a really good way to run aground, so it probably won't happen. But other things I had not really thought about, like fishing for bluefish (Cynthia caught three yesterday and several in NC) work well and foraging for food brings me even closer to the natural world I love.

Hot, hot, hot... and here I am, on the hard in North Carolina

Here I am, in the boat in the boat yard, up on stands, in incredible heat. The prior couple weeks was much nicer.

Cynthia flew in to Wilmington, NC on the 16th and I picked her up at the airport in the marina courtesy car. Very nice of them and we gratefully took advantage of it to go shopping for fishing gear and groceries. Our trip up the coast to Cape Lookout took about twelve hours and, since we didn't get started until noon-ish (better to catch the outgoing tide rather than fight it), we stayed out for the night.

In the morning, we wended our way through a thicket of boats fishing for cobia and anchored in Lookout Bight, surrounded by national seashore. Beautiful area: we all loved walking the beaches (Lucy most of all) and the shells lay in great windrows.

The weather stayed cool enough to cuddle at night and windy enough to sail well. Cynthia, although disappointed to have missed out on fishing the Gulf Stream, really enjoyed the little bluefish and Spanish mackerel that schooled in abundance in the bight. And, of course, there were sunrises and sunsets...

On the 22nd we made our way up the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) from Morehead City

to the Neuse River and, in the morning of the 23rd, squeezed into the creek at Sailcraft Services where I, adjusting to the situation, unexpectedly told Cynthia to take the helm as we attempted to back the boat into the lift bay.

Now, although this sounds mad (and left her rather "uneasy" to say the least), I needed to run about and fend us off from other boats and, with no wind to push us about and nearly no boat movement, the fellows on shore could push us with boat hooks and tell her what to do with no great rush or repercussions. And all was well.

Cynthia departed the next day, sad to leave but glad to avoid the oncoming heat wave. The boat sits on stands as we (my friend Paul, various neighbors, and I) work to set her back in the water Monday 6/3. In addition to the bottom paint I'm applying,

we discovered several issues that are being addressed: the cutless bearing (a bearing that helps prevent vibration of the propeller) needed replacing, the rudder turns 15 degrees one way and 45 the other (should be equal!), scars show that the propeller has been "cleaned" with a grinder and it also shows corrosion, and salt water leaks from the rudder. I'll deal with the rudder tomorrow, the cutless bearing is now installed in the housing and bolted into place,

I'll probably order a new prop in a couple weeks, and the rudder is a bigger project I'll tackle in a year or two when I pull the boat next. And, of course, there is a multitude of other little jobs to work on...

So... I plan to splash the boat Monday 9am, motor down to Morehead City and into the open, sail around Point Lookout, and head north to Cape Cod. I cross my fingers that water will be high enough to motor out of here into the Neuse River, that all our repairs and improvements will delight us, and that we will have fair winds and kind seas for the 500+ miles of sailing.