Monday, Monday

The riggers are working hard on Distant Horizon. Still, their latest news was a bit of a disappointment. They will try to finish up the work on Monday. I was so hoping for sooner. However, they do great work and that is what I really need. So, rushing them is out of the question. Beside, the realistic deadline would be a week or 10 days longer. They are doing everything they can to shorten the schedule and get me moving... except short-cutting the work. If you ever need rigging work, Key Rigging is the best! I've been to other riggers all over the east coast, and none compare.

The boat is out of the water. One of the tasks being done by Keys Rigging is replacing the cutwater, which is where some of the rigging (bobstay) attaches to the hull near the waterline. The new cutwater arrived today and has been installed. This new cutwater is heavier and thicker. A new bobstay is being installed as well.

Gavin - Keys Rigging - Finishing the new cutwater

In addition to the bobstay and cutwater, Distant Horizon is getting a new forestay and roller furler along with a new backstay and Single-Sideband (SSB) antenna. The forestay and backstay attach to the top of the mast.

Curt Johnson - Keys Rigging - at the top of the mast

Curt - Keys Rigging - at the masthead connecting the backstay

With the cutwater installed, the boat can go back into the water Friday morning. Then the riggers will begin tuning the rig. That's adjusting all those wires to the proper tension so the top of the mast is directly over the boat with no bends or twists.

In the mean time, I am doing some other projects on the boat. I removed one of the portlights (windows). I am cleaning it up a bit, but only so I can apply some sealer. This was the only portlight on the boat that dripped during periods of heavy rain. It gives me the opportunity to create a template, which I can use for the other portlights; allowing me to re-seal them all in the future.

Portlight removed

 As you can see here, I did not polish the portlight before re-installing it. I think the boat would look funny with one shiny portlight and four other green patina portlights on the same side.

Portlight re-installed

Some days when it's not too hot, I go for a run in the morning.... I'll also have take a few moments to relax.

Sailing The Distant Horizon South

On Monday, I waited for a rising tide to sail Distant Horizon out of Cortez, FL. In their typical fashion, the boatyard staff came together to help me off the dock.  It was more like a send-off from friends, rather than help from a boatyard.

It takes less than an hour to carefully navigate the channel, ICW, the bascule bridge, and Longboat Pass to reach the Gulf of Mexico. Some folks like to save time by shaving a little off the turns. The last two who tried that did not save time! The motor yacht had to return to the boatyard. He bent a prop shaft and both propellors. The sailboat... well he thought he could cut the corner; after all, it was high tide! It took two SeaTow boats to get him off the rocks... ouch!

I heeded every one of Fernando's warnings. An hour later, I was in the gulf ready to raise the mainsail. My autopilot connected to the WindPilot (wind vane steering system). Having taken the WindPilot off, I had no autopilot.  I have not fabricated an adapter for the autopilot to connect to the Hydrovane. It didn't matter, though. I engaged the Hydrovane for the first time with the boat pointed into the wind and the engine running just above idle. The mainsail was raised without any issues, which was new to me. The WindPilot almost always had issues when I was raising the mainsail. So, it was a nice relaxing start to my journey south.

The winds were light; around 10-12 knots. The waves were small; providing a gentle motion. Distant Horizon sailed wonderfully at 5.5 knots as we got reacquainted.

About two hours on the gulf, we crossed the path of an isolated thunderstorm. Once we passed by, we were able to use the downdraft winds (18-20 knots of wind) from the storm and sailed for a good 20 minutes at nearly 7 knots!

This thunderstorm gave Distant Horizon a nice boost

The winds gradually subsided and we had to resort to turning the engine on for a while before the wind picked back up.

We were able to sail through the night. This was a blessing because the Hydrovane could do the steering. I maintained a reasonable watch and updated the log books. With an old Timex digital watch, I set the timer to repeat every hour. This allowed me to get by with 20-40 minute power naps all night. On the ocean, I would do it differently. However, I planned this trip to be about 45 hours. So, I could do this for two days.

Tuesday, was quite different. The waves remained small, but the wind gradually went away; entirely by evening. So, I had to start the engine again and begin motoring to Marathon. Jimmy Buffet should write a song: "Motoring to Marathon".

Sunset, Sailing on the Gulf: Tuesday July 21, 2015

Tuesday night had the most amazing sky I have seen in years! Good thing too. No wind, no autopilot, Kevin is doing all the steering, so... no naps! The moon set early. I was well off the west coast of Florida. The sky was black, lit only by the stars and the Milky Way. In photos, the Milky Way is colorful. I wish I could have taken a picture, but the slow shutter speed does not work well on a moving boat. Still, the Milky Way looked fluorescent; popping out of the sky like a 3D picture. I know it is actually 3-dimensional, but we can not get that perspective from earth.

All night as I star gazed and counted shooting stars (12), I would be interrupted by a flash of lightning off in the distance. As morning approached, I realized we were headed toward the lightning. When the sun started to rise, I could see the storm.

The cloud looked like the result from an explosion! I used the sextant and radar to estimate the storm was about 8 miles wide at its base. My route took me right through the center.

Thunderstorm in my path

So... do I go right? Or should I go left? After consulting the charts, going right (where the lowest clouds were) could put me in much shallower water. It had to be left.

It took two hours to reach those clouds! By the time I did, the sun had time to do it's thing... heat the earth so the moisture could rise. Another storm cloud developed to the left... and it was shooting off lightning bolts every 2-3 minutes! I had to go between the two storms!

Luckily, all went well and it was an uneventful transit... and so here I am writing this.

Sorry, got to go. I just found a place to relax on these hot days!

Night Time Musing

In my last post I mentioned the second night: "No wind, no autopilot, Kevin is doing all the steering, so... no naps! "

At night, a dark night with no moon and no horizon to give you a reference,  your mind can mess with you. It's interesting to hear some people's experiences. 

With that in mind... Knowing it was a dark, moonless night and I was past exhaustion, fighting to stay awake... I wrote this:

It's 2am and I am on night watch. Since I'm the only person on board, I'm on all watches. But right now... I'm on night watch. I scan the horizon, check the radar, and chart plotter for AIS equipped vessels.

The moon was a bright crescent tonight. However, it set about four hours ago. So, it is dark. I'd say it's dark as a moonless night, but that would be redundant. The fact is, I cannot see the water on the port (left) side of the boat due to the blackness of the night. The water on the starboard (right) side has an eerie green glow. There is no definition to the water. It looks more like a green fog. Is a fog setting? I should get my sound signals prepared... just in case.

The seas are calm. I know this by the motion of the boat. There are no visual clues. Just the simple slow rolling motion. 

A look Astern (behind) gets even more surrealistic. I am towing my rowing tender. It's white hull glows in the darkness. The tender is blanketed in a thin white fog; making it look like I am being followed by a ghost ship. 

It was a very hot day; a clear sky has allowed it to cool; and no wind. A fog could settle in these conditions...

The sky is crystal clear. An amazing gift of starlight wrapped in a ribbon of fluorescent illumination we all call the Milky Way. Stargazing will have to keep me awake tonight. Oh, wow! two shooting stars just crossed paths going in different directions.

As  I scan to port once again, I become suddenly aware of the sound of rushing water; like waves lapping against a shore. There is a dark row of clouds hung low out of the sky. That explains the lack of stars to port. I didn't notice them before. That was a flash... lightning? Is that why I saw the clouds? Where did that come from? 

Still, the water lapping along a beach or shore. There are no islands on the charts. Is it a shoal.. a reef? Is this low tide? The angst is building. I have more questions than answers. Now I can see a thin white line. Is that the breakers I hear? 

I am intently focussed on the sound of the waves and the white line of breakers in the distance, just below the dark, low hung clouds. My heart starts racing as the boat begins to rise; a wave picks us up from astern. As we settle down gently, I notice the line of breakers also settled down. Oh.. that's the lifeline on my boat.

The lapping water... that's the tender being towed behind me. It's glowing white hull is due to the navigation stern light. The white fog is steam from my exhaust.

...and the green fog on the starboard side, that's just the glow from the navigation sidelight.

Your mind can play tricks on you during these very dark nights. That flash is not a trick, though. It's coming from in-front of us. What are we heading into? 

Well, I'm wide awake now!

The Long Wait Is Over!

The long wait is over. Last winter, I sailed the west coast of Florida to drop off Distant Horizon in Cortez, Florida. The plan was to have some preventative maintenance performed. The most important being the removal of the teak decks. Traditional teak decks are screwed down to the boat. With age, teak decks are known for leaking. The water makes it's way along the screw holes into the core of the deck. Then, the core gets saturated and may even start to rot; causing soft or spongy decks. This would be bad. On the ocean, you want a boat to be stiff.

After removing my old teak, the decks were found to be in great shape. No additional repairs were required. Since the old teak cannot be reused once it has been removed, new teak decks were in order. I could have left the decks fiberglass like most modern sailboats, but the teak adds character and is great for a firm footing on the ocean.

The new teak decks were manufactured by Teak Decking Systems in Sarasota, FL; a few miles from where I left Distant Horizon. These decks are not screwed in place. Jon... The short version is: they are epoxy bonded to the fiberglass. No screw holes... no future leaks.

Distant Horizon with her new teak decks and refinished brightwork

By the way, brightwork refers to the wood trim and polished metal. In this case, I am referring to the refinished wood trim.

I will let the decks weather. So the nice warm colour will gradually turn to a more patina. This will, however, provide much better traction when walking on the decks.

I brought Distant Horizon to Yachts Solutions in Cortez, FL to have the deck work done because the cost was far less than having it done in the Chesapeake or in Maine. In each of these locations, the decks would have been manufactured by Teak Decking Systems. The added bonus was the factory people: measured; built the templates; and installed the decks. That would not have been the case in the Chesapeake or in Maine. This was the primary reason for this particular shake-down cruise.

New teak decks

I have to thank Joe from Yachts Solutions and Mike from Teak Decking Systems for putting this all together. Several months of planning and a couple months work, and no issues or complications. By the way, it truly is a small world. Mike is from North Syracuse!

This next picture shows the refinished wood trim. In the foreground is a dorade box with a ventilator on top. The main piece in the middle is the butterfly hatch. Each side opens up to allow a lot of fresh air in, or a lot of hot air out.

Cabin top with finished brightwork

The staff from Yachts Solutions, Inc refinished all the bright work. Fernando and his crew were absolutely fabulous to work with. Especially Joe who was the project manager. He pulled everything together between the boatyard and Teak Decking Systems and communications between me and the boatyard while I was away in B'ville, South Carolina, or North Carolina.

Yachts Solutions, Inc completed a long list of other maintenance tasks for me also. So a special Thank you goes out to Fernando for everything... "Obrigado". Another thank you goes out to Manny for doing such a fabulous job removing the old Wind Pilot Pacific and installing my new Hydrovane.

Hydrovane Installed

I will depart Cortez on Monday, July 20^th and begin the next chapter of the shakedown cruise. Next stop, Marathon, FL. Yes, I am returning there. Keys Rigging will be finishing the refit of my rigging.

I'm planning to make a straight run for Marathon. Originally, I planned 36 hours. Now, with a series of small high pressure systems crossing the lower gulf, I'm planning 45 hours. It will be tough. The more I sail, the more I can use the Hydrovane. If the winds die and I have to motor, I have to hand steer. There is no autopilot at this time. I still have to fabricate an attachment for the autopilot to work with the Hydrovane.

I should be in Marathon for a week to 10 days.