8-1-09
Having had an anemic summer thus far cruising, we decided to steal my parent's boat and do an overnight to Essex. The last time we were at this harbor in my old Pearson Ariel we had run aground, dragged the anchor, keel wrapped, and then broke the rudder off of the boat in the process causing me to motor all the way back to Newburyport steering by hand with an outboard in the motor well. Needless to say that day SUCKED! Having that wonderful experience behind us we figured we might as well exorcize some ghosts and get a nice trip down during a beautiful weekend so that Eli can finally play on the beach he was promised three years ago. The sail down was nice, there was a 5-10 knot breeze on the beam. Plum Island was in view the whole time and we were about three miles off. Arriving at Essex was straight forward, but the green mark that starts the channel was placed in a very awkward place. The bottom was clearly visible at the mark and the depth meter read eight feet. It was half tide so there was about three more feet of water coming, but at a low tide, that five foot keel would have been close. Just off the mark about twenty feet was water that was even shallower. Clearly this entrance changes annually and this year was no exception. Following the marks, we made it around the point to Back Beach. We anchored off the point in about ten feet of water and settled in. We noticed our friends Gordan and Deb pulled in after us in their Hunter 33. They proceeded well up the river past us and after anchoring, came back down in their tender for a visit. After a quick conversation, we agreed with their assessment that we were in an area that will lose a lot of water and should find a new spot before we were able to stand beside the boat and check the prop at low water. Rick, out friend in his Cape Dory 27 did the same and followed us down toward Gordan's boat where we anchored in deeper water.
6-27-09
We convinced my folks to take aboard three sail-starved sailors through pure pity and to sail to Rockport Mass for the weekend. This was to be a club cruise with ten boats going, including Peregrine my parent's S2 9.2. It's a comfortably cruiser with ample space, but not the full-keeled, heavy ketch with nice overhangs and clipper bow that's easy on the eyes that we were accostomed too. The trip started out nice with a sail out the river with the current which is always nice. We sailed right on past the north Jetty which was dutifully breaking waves as it had done since the Army Corps put it in one hundred years before. Just three days earlier this had been the sight of a dramatic rescue at sea involving cutters and helicopters. Two men survived, one was never found again. Apparently they were traveling from Hampton Harbor to Newburyport and misjudged where the jetty was and plowed right into it. THis of course broke the boat up and put three men in the water in arguably the most dangerous stretch of water on the Eastern Seaboard, at night, in the fog, with large breaking waves surrounding them. Out the river we sailed and a right we took as we headed off to fog enshrouded Cape Ann. The sailing was decent and the winds fair, but visibility was fickle with Plum Island coming in and out of site by the minute. Once we reached Cape Ann, the fog was very thick. This is not a forgiving shore to the Lee of us as it is all granite and was once used as quarry. We could hear the waters breaking onto the shore but could not see it. This is always an exciting thing to be a part of. Without a radar and only a GPS (not chartplotter mind you) we felt our way in mark by mark to Sandy Bay which would be our anchoring destination for the night.the evening was nice, but chilly as a wind came out of the north. We had fun sitting on the deck of Swampfox, a beautiful Block Island 40 with the captains and crew of the other AYC cruisers. Down below my son and his boat buddy Nickywere playing hide-and-go seak as well as a spirited game of tag. Once back at Peregrine later that night, our friend Rick rafted up next to us. His guest Steve Crociere was very kind to Eli allowing him to try his guitar and entertaining to us with new songs about spiders and other silly things, all of which Rick the resident arachnophobic loved! With the setting of the sun, we all retired to the cabins of our our own boats to call it a day. With the setting of the sun however, the winds picked up and clocked around more to the northeast. Sandy Bay, while being a beautiful anchorage is quite literally a trap in a northeast wind. The shore is lined with granite bulkheads meant to protect the nice homes perched upon them. The wind created a nice short chop within the anchorage causing all the boats to pitch quite a bit. This posed a problem with our rafted up friend as the two attached boats were not playing well together. In the dark with a fresh breeze out of the northeast, in two foot chop, we set Rick free to anchor on his own, which he did of course with no problems. After that we all tried in vain to get a good night's sleep as the boat pitched and rooled all night. In the morning we all decided to dinghy into shore and decend upon a nice little breakfast cafe. Inside I got to touch base with Bill and Betty Neumyer who had spent the last year onboard their nice Catalina 36 Inspiration cruising down to the Bahamas and back. By the end of the conversation I was inspired myself. I can see a future that involves a one year sabbatical with Emily and Eli where we cruise to far off places and build our life experience exponentially. I also envision a floating retirement with Em aboard Excalibur in the distant future. After a nice breakfast we all worked our way back to the boats in a parade of dinghies. During the time we were at breakfast, the wind and waves had increased dramatically and the tide had rolled out considerably. Peregrine was the last boat in the harbor anchored closest to the granite bulkheads. We were literally at the point where waves began to break under the stern of the boat. We were at best fifty yards from a real problem, We started the engine and carefully pulled forward trying hard to not drift over the lobster pop positioned precariously off the stern. I was positioned in the on the bow (which was occasionally getting submerged mind you) and I was pulling rode as we crept forward. This was to be a delicate procedure, a dance if you will between my dad and I where a false coordination between us . As we were shortening scope with each foot of rode pulled in, it became clear that we had a lobster pot wrapped around the rode many times over. During this whole ordeal, the Rockport Harbor Master was standing by as each boat weighed anchor and left into the windy, choppy fog along a rocky lee shore. The harbor master at this point was paying close attention to us as we were on the verge of a disaster unwrapping a lobster pot from the anchor rode which was too short to be safe, with waves breaking under the stern of the boat. I spent a grueling 10 minutes carefully reaching over and untwisting. Once they were seperated, I threw the pot to port, quickly pulled the anchor the rest of the way in after dislodging it from the ground. In the meantime, my dad goosed the throttle and headed to starboard to go around the lobster pot which gave us so much trouble. At this point we had two feet of water under our keel and waves were still breaking off the stern. Once around the pot, we headed out to sea at which time the harbor master gave us a big smile and a thumbs up because we required zero assistance and did not have to cut the pot which would have complicated things. It pays to have forty years of cruising experience between us and it never ceases to amaze me that these types of things happen. Once out of Sandy Bay and into the deeper waters off Cape Ann, the fog increased substantially as did the wind and seas. I estimate the seas were approaching five feet in height and some were breaking although most did not so it was mostly an up and down elevator ride more than a wet crashing ride. After an hour or so of this weather, the wind began to calm as did the seas. and the fog began to lift. The trip into the river was typical and we were glad to be back to the club, especially Emily who gets sick on my folks boat while it's at the dock, let alone in five foot seas. I will say that it was great fun for me to be in the situations that arose that weekend with my dad. I feel like our best bonding occurs during such times and we all know there have been quite a few of them...
5-2-09
I took the cover off the boat today which is exciting, but bittersweet. Emily and I decided last night that I should take advantage of the fact that five courses I need for my grad program are being offered this summer. By taking the classes I would only have my thesis to write next year which was an attractive prospect as it in no small undertaking to write one. Taking these classes would literally tie up our eight week summer in terms of time and resources. The courses were to cost us almost $5,000 which is a hard check to write especially if we launched the boat. With no time to sail and a big chunk of cash being paid to tuition, we decided (reluctantly) to keep Excaliber on the hard this summer. This was not an easy decision, but the right one. My hope is that we can get onboard my folks boat a few times this summer and hopefully take advantage of the boat being out of the water for projects.
10-19-08
Today I winterized the boat and engine. I still need to make a better system for the tarp to shed water though. Because the mast is up on deck this year I plan to make three A-frmaes to hold it up so that the tarp drapes over nicely to shed the snow. I may also experiment with PVC tubes clamped to the stanchions which then get attached to the mast to relieve any pressure on the stanchions from heavy snowfall.
9-22-08
Today marked the end of an amazing season. We logged over 700 miles covering the waters from Cape Cod Mass to Penobscot Bay, Maine. The haulout was uneventful, which is always a good thing. I had the masts taken down the day before with help from my cousin Andy. Then we spend a very spirited evening with my brother sipping brew and catching talking fish from the Merrimack. After the haulout I was able to closely inspect the bottom of the keel where I went aground and twisted off of a large rock in Seal Bay. To my excitement, there was some gelcoat grinded off and one layer of fiberglass grinded away in a two square inch area. I have heard the fiberglass is about an inch thick in this area.
7-23-08
We had a very successful cruise to Maine that exceeded all of the expectations I had prior to launching. Our total mileage in Maine was about 550 nautical miles and we made it as far north as Castine in Penobscot Bay.
7-4-08
We did an overnight out to the Isles of Shoals in some real nutty weather. We took my mother-in-law and her friend who was visiting from Michigan. The waves were 4-6 feet and there was a 20mph sustained southwest wind. It was a fun wild ride and we were consistently traveling over seven knots, but it was not the kind of day you want to introduce the ocean to a landlubbing Midwesterner. Within minutes of picking up a mooring after arriving at the Isles, thick fog rolled in followed by a thunderstorm with lightning striking the island tens of meters behind us. After the storm cleared the stars were truly amazing. I rowed over to meet with my friend Jonathan whom I had not seen for a while. He has sailed from St. Johns, NB to the Florida Keys and back multiple times. The wisdom gained from that type of experience does not come often so when his ideas are flowing, I listen. The next morning he stopped by for breakfast and we poured over some charts and he gave us some good ideas for our trip north. That morning we left the Isles early to head back to Newburyport. The wind was dead and the seas flat. Not wanting to push the engine as I was still testing it to see if it was reliable, we motored at 4.5 knots and 1300RPM. It was a nice trip, but not ideal for someone who has never sailed before.
6-22-08
We had a great shakedown cruise this weekend to the Isles of Shoals and back with no problems. My head does hurt a little though due to an intimate encouter on Smuttynose Island with an angry seagull apparently mistaking me for someone that wanted to eat her chick. The lump on my head will decrease in volume, but the memory will haunt me for the rest of my life...I hate seagulls...
6-16-08
After ten hours of downpouring rain I was able to discover all the hardware and ports that need to be rebedded. I am not surprised by the deck leaking as water stains provided the evidence beforehand. The project list begins! With the weather clearing late morning we were off. We fired up the diesel and headed out to sea. We made it out of the river following the brisk Merrimack current. Once at the MR buoy, we pointed into the wind and raised all three sails starting with the main, jib, then mizzen. My cousin Andy was the first to sail this beauty as I was tending the sails making sure everything was set correctly. Once the sails were set and boat in a groove, I took the helm and it was every bit as wonderful as I dreamed it would be. She was balanced well and we were clipping along at 7knots effortlessly heading right toward Halibut Point at the tip of Cape Ann. It was the type of tack you want when heading somewhere far away. At that moment I felt like the boat could have sailed in that direction forever. I let go of the helm and the worm drive held a perfect course for five minutes before having to adjust slightly due to the wave action. If this sail is any indication as to the type of performance I am to expect from her, than this is going to be a wonderful boat to cruise in. After tacking back and forth for about an hour, we decided to head in. Of course the Merrimack was in true form with five foot breaking seas at the mouth as the wind and current were at odds with each other. This scenario creates the usual 300 meter section of nastiness. We were running with jib and jigger and had the diesel at 1400rpm. The boat did great and I was amazed at the control I had while surfing over and over again into the river. Once safely back into the river, we had a nice motor to my mooring at the AYC still running Jib and Jigger. The tying of the mooring pennant marked a very successful first sail aboard this wonderful vessel!
6-15-08
Launch day! Everything went as smooth as it could have for my first launch with Excalibur. My only major issue was a seacock that wasn't tightenedenough which prompy filled my bilge with 30 gallons on univited water before I realized what was happening and fixed the problem. We launched at 8:00am with an incoming tide and motored up to the marina where I had my main mast stepped. We then headed down river to the AYC with a bridge raising enroute. Once at the club, my dad, brother, cousin, and I stepped the mizzen mast. Fortunately my cousin was a monkey in a past life so he did all the gravity defiance needed to straighten things out and get the mizzen stepped. Next the booms went on, and then the sails. At that point the boat was ready to sail, but incoming thunderstorms prevented the first test sail. WIth the boat ready to go, diesel consistantly starting and running, and the bilge dry, we turned in ready to sail in the morning.
5-17-08
I was able to make the two hour drive to the boat today and changed out the fuel before running the engine for about an hour. So far no problems engine-wise and hopefully it stays that way. Next weekend I want to do a final push to get ready for a mid-June launch.
5-13-08
The successful starting of the diesel engine last weekend marked a turning point in the re-commissioning of Excalibur, We still need to put the engine raw-water seacock back on and replace the fuel filter elements before she is ready to be splashed next month, but things are starting to really come together. Once these two jobs are done, the focus will be on preparing the boat for the six mile transport to be launched. This summer's tentative plan includes a month in Maine followed by two weeks at the Cape. |
