Home for Thanksgiving

I rowed the tender ashore. First I talked to the boatyard. They said they were very busy, trying to get the work done before the holiday. They would not be able to troubleshoot and repair my boat before next week. That was okay with me. I was going home for Thanksgiving.

Next I went to the Marina office to get a slip. The boat would be much safer in a slip, as I was leaving her for about a week.

The boatyard did send the yard foreman, Neil, to do some initial testing. After a while, he comes up from the engine and say "I have good news". I was thinking how odd that statement was. None of the probable causes could be considered as good. Then he says, " You have a bad pressure cap."  Okay I was wrong. That is good news!

There are two reservoirs an upper one in a cockpit locker where I filled the system with water, and also a lower one on the heat exchanger on the engine. He said the lower one should have a higher pressure rating. It doesn't. Also, it was not allowing the system to reach full pressure. It was overflowing into the bilge.

They will replace the cap with a higher rating and re-test the system.

I rented a car from Enterprise and drove home for the Holiday.

Last Day South Before Thanksgiving.

The plan is to get up early, get going, and don't stop until I reach Hampton, VA. In Hampton, I will leave the boat for a few days; renting a car to drive home for Thanksgiving. Grace got home from Ithaca on Friday night.

You've all heard the saying; "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor's take warning." Well there is a scientific basis for the first part of the saying, there is really none for the second. So, when I motoring out of Ingram Bay; back to the Chesapeake, I paid little attention to this sight.

It was pretty enough to snap a picture or two, but not ominous enough to cause angst over the weather for the upcoming day.

The wind was from the south, directly where I wanted to go. I'm on a time crunch of sorts. I wanted to make Hampton before sunset. There was a storm coming through later tonight and I wanted to beat it to Hampton. So, I motored... no sails. With this wind direction they would not help.

I was making good time. It was a little after 11 am and I had less than 6 hours to Hampton.

As a pilot you are trained to scan the instruments. While sailing, I still make regular scans of the engine instruments when the engine is running. That is in addition to the sailing instruments. On this latest scan, I noticed the engine temp was elevated, and not just a little. I eased the throttle, but kept going at a slower speed. I wasn't overheating yet, which gave me time to troubleshoot a bit. The temperature started to drop.

I wasn't pushing the engine hard;  certainly not hard enough to cause it to run hot. I decided to idle down and to neutral so I could have a look. There was no water in the upper reservoir. I went to the galley and filled a gallon jug and filled the reservoir

I started moving south again, at a slower speed. The temp was perfect, but I just added water. In the back of my head, I was wondering... where did the water go? After a while Increased the speed, and then increased it again. Once again the temp started rising.

I couldn't find any leaks, although I could smell antifreeze. I thought the odor may be coming from the exhaust; meaning the heat exchanger had a leak in it. The heat exchanger is the equivalent to a radiator in your car, but instead of using air to cool things off, it uses the sea water.

Then, not being the eternal optimists, I was thinking head gasket.. a simple, but costly engine repair. Costly in both dollars and time.

I decided to turn around and head for Deltaville, which is known to have excellent service facilities. There was no way at my present safe speed I would make Hampton before dark. With all the Naval ships in the area, and total lack of familiarity, turning around was the safest option in all regards.

I anchored out across from the Deltaville Marina.

A Cold and Frozen Anchorage

In an anchorage, you look for enough water at low tide so you won't hit; good protection from waves; and protection from the wind. I found all three my first night out. With a chilly 22 degrees in the forecast, and still some work to do on the boat, I thought it to be a blessing. That is, until the next morning.

It was definitely a cold night night. I burned through an entire bottle of propane (1lb) with the heater. When I woke up, there was ice in the sink. 

I immediately checked the engine, but that big mass of iron holds it's heat well. It was cold and damp, but no frost . There's antifreeze in the heat exchanger anyway, it's the fresh water side I was most worried about. 

The had ice formed in the entire creek, except a small boundary of about 18 inches around the boat.The current temperature was 20 degrees.

Now, this is a fiberglass boat not steel or aluminum. So, breaking through the ice would be a very delicate process.

First, I waited two hours to allow the sun to start melting the ice. I didn't have much room to maneuver around in, but I turned the boat so it was pointing in the direction we had to go.

Then I inched forward and dropped an anchor just far enough to break the ice. In doing this, I was able to see how thick the ice was... not very thick at all. So, I started to inch forward and then let the boat coast to a stop. As it did this I watched how the ice was breaking and running along the hull. The bobstay fitting was actually breaking the ice. That is a heavy stainless steel part. Then, the ice would fold over so the hull was rubbing against the flat side, not the thin sliced edge. So, I kept this up until we were able to get to running water.

You can see here the path taken. I took this picture just was we broke into the flowing current.

The air was so still over night the water didn't move and froze. That wasn't the case for the rest of the day.

It warmed up quickly to 40 degree. The wind was strong, about 20 kts, gusting to 30 kts and quickly built 3-4 foot waves. It doesn't sound like much, but salt water has a greater mass due to the volume of salt. So, they were more like 6 foot waves on Lake Ontario... just enough to keep me busy all day. I was tacking back and forth across the bay all day. This extends the distance to the next anchorage, but I also need to get accustomed to single-handing this boat. When the sun had set, I was still two hours away from my next anchorage.

The NOAA 6 pm weather reported 4-6 foot waves and winds over 30 kts. This was turning into a light gale. I was happy to pull into the entrance to Ingram bay and the Wicomico River. another mile up stream was my anchorage. When I arrived, there was another boat quietly at rest, but this anchorage could easily hold another ten boats. I picked a nice spot, dropped the anchor, and went about getting dinner and getting some sleep.

I had a two hour delay this morning due to the ice, So, I plan to get an even earlier start tomorrow.

Departure South

This morning I left the Yacht Yard around 7:35. 

The trip however, was a much better journey than that with the rigger.

It was cold; just 29 degrees when I left. I did not get chilled for a few hours. I think the excitement was keeping me warm. My hands and feet let me know first. At least my hands were compensated with a pair of warm gloves. I keep a pair of leather gloves in a small compartment above the engine. I swapped my fleece gloves and leather gloves a few times during the day. The feet weren't too bad, but I need cold weather footwear for the boat!

When the rest of me started to get cold, I knew I needed another layer. That is another on top of my Under Armour long johns, Under Armour mock tee, Under Armour long sleeve waffle shirt, and Carhart hoodie. So, the next layer was my foul weather gear; even tough the sun was shining. That did the trick! I'll start with that tomorrow morning.

The wind was blowing 15-20 knots; gusting to 30. So, the first time single-handing this boat was a challenge. I needed to make some adjustments to the mainsail. So, when the winds built up, the sail went down. It didn't matter, though. I was still doing around 6.5-7 knots. The waves were 3-4 feet, making it a good day to regain my sea legs too.

I had hot tea in a thermos to sip on throughout the day, which makes a nice hand warmer too.

All-in-all the trip from Annapolis was uneventful. I arrived at Solomons, MD around 4:30. I was going to see if the Holiday Inn Marina had an opening... then I could stay in a warm location for the night. I didn't though. I still had to make those adjustments to the mainsail, and that can't be done easily in a slip at a marina. I went the other way to find a good, protected spot to anchor.

After picking my location in Old House Cove, I immediately set myself to get all outside activities completed; including the mainsail. Once inside, I started the portable propane heater and cooked spaghetti for dinner with a Power Bar for desert.

After dinner, I went back outside to check the anchor and take one last look around the decks. Everything looked good. Just before opening the companionway hatch to get back into the boat, I looked up. The sky was amazing. This is a great, dark, anchorage since there are just a few houses nearby. It's not even in the cruising guides.

Well, tomorrow will be a long day with a very cold start. They are saying 22F overnight!

Ready for Departure!

It's been over a month since my planned departure of October 15th. 

It's been three weeks of the revised departure of November 1st. 

The rigging work is not done. That means, I am not fully satisfied and the rigger needed to fix some items. 

I gave him a list, but he only completed the essentials... leaving my teak decks covered with metal shards. I guess he is one professional who doesn't know to turn duct tape upside down and the shards will stick to it. After he walked all over the decks, the shards were embedded into the teak... no bare feet for a while!

I plan to leave in the morning.