Work is Done!

The primary work to get the boat ready for our trip to the Dry Tortugas is complete. Grace and I  put (bent) the mainsail on and adjusted the Dutchman System. There is absolutely no wind, so the sail is wrinkled a bit, but Haarstick Sailmakers did a great job. The sail has a nice amount of draft built into it and the fit is absolutely perfect!

Before Putting (bending) the other sails on, Grace and I took the tender and rowed to a local restaurant on the water, Berdine's,  for lunch.

Berdine's is a Tiki hut on the upper floor above the marina store and gas dock. I believe it is called the Chiki Tiki.

Where else would you find a water fountain at a gas dock?

On the way back, I tried to take a nice picture of Grace. Like me, she prefers to be behind the camera instead of in front of the lens. So... I got "The Look" instead.

Upon our return to the boat, we bent the other head sails on. I was satisfied with completing all the work planned for the day. Grace, on the other hand, looked around at the remaining sails in the salon and suggested we store those away now; instead of waiting for tomorrow. Who am I to argue?

So now the sails are stowed and the V-Berth is once again usable, which is exactly where I will sleep tonight.

Return to Marathon, FL

Grace and I are back in Marathon. We arrived about 4am today. The new mainsail from Haarstick Sailmakers (http://www.haarsticksailmakers.com/) was waiting for us when we got here. It is now on the boat and partially installed. Tomorrow we have to install the battens and adjust the Dutchman System control lines. A big thanks has to go out to Doug, Tony and the guys at Haarstick's for making this sail on such short notice.

It was a wonderful day, all-in-all. Grace would have preferred I didn't get her up at 8:30am for breakfast, though. We accomplished all our goals for today and are ready to continue tomorrow. We were even rewarded with a beautiful sunset.

Marathon Sunrise

I was chatting with one of my High School classmates last night. The conversation ended with a request for sunset photos. Not being one who follows directions well, I got up early and took this sunrise photo. 

AIS - Position Reporting

One of the pieces of new equipment I installed this summer, is an AIS transponder. AIS stands for Automated Identification System. The transponder means I can receive information about other boats and ships in my area, and I also transmit my information. Some of the useful information transmitted is the boat/ship's name, speed, direction, and position. A lot more data is transmitted. This makes it easy for me to identify a ship from a long distance. For instance, when crossing the Atlantic I stay out of shipping channels for reasons of safety. However, I always see a ship every few days. With AIS, I can call the ship on the radio and ask for the latest 3-day weather forecast. The watch commanders love to help. English is the international language for the maritime industry and is rarely the first language for shipping crews. Since they are required to log all radio communications, they get an unexpected log entry, which is good for their professional ratings.

AIS is radio based, not satellite based. So, to have my position reported I must be within radio distance of  a receiving station. Even though a can use it for ships in the middle of the ocean, my position will not be reported because I am well beyond a receive site. The same is true for the ship.

A website has been developed that captures all the AIS signals and plots them... around the globe. You can got to HTTP://www.marinetraffic.com to see all the ships currently being reported, including me.

For anyone who is interested in following the boat using my AIS (Automated Identification System) information, I just finished wiring the mast and turned the transponder on. I checked, and my position is being reported.
Goto http://www.marinetraffic.com; click on the Search (magnifying glass on the left); Type: Distant Horizon in the Vessel,Port text field; then click on the Distant Horizon name when it comes up; You can click on filters (the icon below the search) and select "Show Ship Names" to easily find us.

We Have Arrived!

This morning, I met the boat in Marathon, FL. It didn't take long for the Marina owner to greet us (me, the boat, and Andy the truck driver). The owner got us situated and before long the yard was taking the mast and roller furler off the truck. Then a small fork lift came to lift the tender off the truck for us.

That was the opening act. The main event followed shortly after and Distant Horizon was once again in the water.

The riggers and I worked on preparing everything. A crane was scheduled to arrive after lunch. The crane was needed to step my mast. That is, put it in the boat standing upright.

The riggers worked hard in the South Florida heat getting the mast "in column". This means getting iit standing up straight so the top of the mast is properly aligned with the bottom of the mast. They continued until sunset tuning the rig. That means, the tightened everything down to the proper tension; ensuring the mast did not bend inappropriately.

As the worked, they checked on the concerns I had with the work done by the rigging company in Annapolis. They agreed that the previous tune was way off.

Since I single-hand the boat (sail it without any other crew), they also showed me how to do that efficiently He said he has singled-handed a 1200 mile journey once. In his 20+ years of sailing it was by far the hardest thing he has ever done. So, we talked about that and my future crossing of the Atlantic single-handed.

Tomorrow, I'll be doing a lot of work preparing the boat for Grace's trip to the Dry Tortugas.
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Taking the Fast Route to Florida

After the Deltaville Marina and Boatyard Christmas party on Friday night, I had to this weekend and Monday to prepare the boat. It is being trucked to Florida on Tuesday.

The mast must come down. So all the sails and rigging will have to be removed. The wind generator is too tall for the highway. That has to come down. The solar panels are too high and must be removed too.; as does the boom gallows, dodger and bimini.

The work went pretty will with only a few complications. The sun was setting on Monday night, and I was not done. I planned on working in the dark and cold until midnight to finish up my tasks. Then comes George who was preparing his trawler for the winter. He had a headlamp on and walks up to me; no hellos; he just says give me something to do. At first, my reflex response was about to come out. "It's all just one-man tasks..." Instead, completely out of character I said, "Can you finish this up, and I will start on the solar panels." I showed him what needed to be done.  Soon afterwards, he was on deck with me. The solar panels were already off and I was taking the wind generator down. By 6 pm, we had everything done. It was dark. So, I left the task to putting things down below and tying things down until the morning. Thanks George!

George wasn't the only one to help. On Friday night, I met a new arrival to the Marina, Prashantt. He was from India and was in the process of purchasing a boat. On Sunday morning, Prashantt helped me get the sails down, folded and bagged. Donna who lives on her boat "Mac Nab", a Bristol Channel Cutter, was there to help move the boom from the deck to down below, and then a hundred other small tasks I had overlooked.

On Tuesday, both Donna and Prashantt were there to help take the tender off the deck and lower it down so it could be placed on the trailer ahead of Distant Horizon, along with many other tasks. A Thank you Donna and Prashantt.

Here Prashantt and Andy, the truck driver, are tying down the roller furler.

Distant Horizon, taking the fast route to Florida.

Deltaville Christmas Party

Today there was a Christmas party at the marina. Everyone was invited, employees, customers and guests. The boatyard guys cooked up some roast pork. There was an old rowing dinghy full of beer. Everyone was asked to bring a dish to pass. We had a feast.
One of the guys brought a stockpot and made us hot Butter rum. Let me tell you! That will warm you  up from the inside out! ... I need that recipe!

This Bristol Channel Cutter was all decked out for the holidays

There was also a bonfire to keep us warm. This picture was taken early. I put the camera away when the fun began... read... when the rum started flowing.

One of the fishermen brought his boat and took us for a tour up both legs of Jackson Creek to see the homes lit-up with all their Christmas lights.

Deltaville, VA, specifically the Jackson Creek area, has some very nice homes along the water. They decorate and light up their homes just like anywhere else. However, with a backdrop of the water, can be special.

Boat Tour - Galley and planning food provisions

At the class reunion, Mr. Patternini asked me about planning the provisions on the boat when making a long voyage. We only had a brief discussion. So, I decided to add more here.

The way I go about it, is to plan a rough menu for the duration of the cruise; breakfast, lunch, dinner, and also snacks. Dinner is the primary meal of the day. To avoid boredom, I rotate the meal's focus; pasta for energy storage, protein for muscle nourishment; and a balanced meal for general nutrition. I figure  a few meals in those categories and then split them up through the course of the trip. This will give a basic grocery list for provisioning.

The menu is not cast in stone. It's a good way to identify the necessary provisions. The daily menu can always change to fit the demands of sailing.

To store these provisions, a wet hanging locker was converted into a pantry. It can hold canned goods for preparing meals for well over a month.

That doesn't mean we just eat canned foods. In fact, that is not true at all. We start with fresh foods: meats, fruits, and vegetables. The boat has a reasonably sized refrigerator where these foods can be stored. The planning of meals for a longer voyage starts with the fresh foods. Those that spoil the quickest, are eaten first. For instance, iceberg lettuce will last three days if you're lucky due to the moist environment. We can still have salads with our meals the first two or three days. After that, we use cabbage. Saute the cabbage for a softer salad; just chop it, add diced tomatoes, onion, a little fennel seed, and olive oil for a firmer salad.

The canned goods supplement the fresh foods, just like they do at home.There are also meals planned completely on the canned goods for the end of the journey when the fresh foods have been exhausted. Although, potatoes, onions, and cabbage last a very long time when stored properly.

All this talk about meals... here are a few photos of the galley where all the meal preparation is done.

Galley, looking aft towards the companionway. Taken from the salon.

View of the galley taken from the nav station.

The main appliance is the three burner gimballed stove. Gimballed means the stove top will remain horizontal as the boat heals over. 

On the right are the sinks. There are two sinks, just like home; a little smaller, but also deeper so water doesn't slosh out. Each sink has a cutting board cover. You can see four faucets if you look close. The closest is a fresh water from the water tanks, which is operated by a foot pump, so no electricity is required. Next is sea water, also operated by a foot pump. You can use a mixture of 60% fresh water and 30% sea water when cooking pasta. Thirdly, is your typical faucet, just like home. There is an electric pump on-board that brings fresh water from the tanks. Lastly, just beyond the Gatorade bottle is a filtered water faucet for drinking. This is also feed by the electric pump.

At the end of the counter top you can see a third cutting board top that is removable, just like the sinks. Under there, there is a vegetable bin made of stainless steel. The bin is removable and more storage is below and behind that where I store extra paper towels, napkins, zip lock plastic bags, potatoes, and snacks.

Since potatoes and onions can't be stored together, the onions and other firm vegetables go in the vegetable bin... along with bread.

Wrapping around the galley above the counter tops and stove are cabinets where the dishes, pots & pans, lots of food, containers of oatmeal, flour, sugar, olive oil, peanut oil, pesto's, spices, are all stored.

Still Waiting...

Well... I'm still waiting. I'm waiting for the cooling system to be re-installed. I'm waiting for the weather to clear.

As for the cooling system, the simple solution did not work. So, the mechanics took the heat exchanger off today. It is being acid dipped to remove any scale from the salt water flowing through it and then just cleaning it out. They did find some obstructions in there, but not a lot.

While they were doing that, I rebuilt the sea water pump that draws sea water into the heat exchanger and pushes it out the exhaust. Comparing it to the radiator in your car... the sea water is the equivalent to the air that flows through your radiator.

Tomorrow we re-install the entire system and give it another test. If all goes well, I plan to depart on Wednesday. Coincidentally, that is the start of the next favorable weather window. The low pressure systems bringing snow and ice to the North East, will have passed north of here. A cold front will move in bringing a nice high pressure system behind it. That means, I should have winds from the north gently pushing me south for several days.

I plan to go non-stop to Miami. I do not have time to make stops along the way. I'm not really in great sailing shape, but the conditions should not warrant more.

Tomorrow, I'll post the results of the cooling system test along with a few pictures . It's really nice here. The big houses along the water have all their Christmas lights up.