On going preparation...

February 4^th 2012

Position N 27° 22.225’.

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL 

Over the past few weeks we have been concentrating on thinning out our clothes inventory, unwanted kitchen hardware and the mountains of photographs that we have begun to scan into our computers. We invested in one of those mini coffee and tea motel/hotel machines as the lack of counter space makes it difficult to use full size appliances and the storage of same is just as difficult. The little machine, basically a water boiler, has a footprint the size of two mugs, weighs virtually nothing and therefore creates no kinetic energy to cause it to become a missile in a seaway. In other words, although a simple example, we are visualizing our cruising life style and really trying to prepare the boat accordingly. All items either have to be stowable or screwed down, the last thing one wants in a situation where the boat lurches in a wave or wake is to have loose items start crashing and breaking around the boat. In a small craft which is moving violently in bad sea conditions it is imperative to negate the necessity of having to move around the boat clearing up fallen or broken items as these are occasions when injury can happen. We have special extendable bars that secure all refrigerator and freezer contents to avoid movement and spillage within. Attention to detail in all areas of the boat is important. 

On the outside I checked that all antenna mountings and their braces were secure and tight, again having an antenna crash down and perhaps causing the lack of ability to transmit on either the SSB or VHF radios could be disastrous. The foredeck, which in rough weather has the potential to take on water, means that the anchors and any other gear that may be there have to be secure.  I use an anchor line tensioner (Pictured below). This little gismo is mounted on deck or anchor pulpit in line with the shank of the anchor. On most anchors there is a place where one can secure a small but strong line, run the line back to the tensioner and rig it to where the line is tight with the tensioner open. When closed the line will be taught and the anchor tightly pulled into its stowed position, an easy to use and useful gadget.  

 

http://greatlakesskipper.com/product/5_261-boat-deck-and-docking-hardware-anchor-chains-and-tensioners/10678--custom-stainless-steel-boat-anchor-line-hook-tensioner.html

I make no apology for the ensuing Dremel ad...In the forward part of the companionway leading forward to the forward master cabin there is an inspection hatch in the parquet floor A Ring Pull Handle is provided to lift the hatch up. The ring was broken and was dangerous for bare feet! I bought a replacement at West Marine. It looked the same but needless to say it didn’t quite fit. This is a very good reason to own a Dremel tool. The Dremel allowed me to carefully rout out the recessed area so that the look-a-like would fit. Sounds like an easy job but with screw holes and the beautiful finish of the parquet to protect patience was needed to accomplish the task. The Dremel was invaluable. 

Generally speaking I think Lavinia and I have done well with settling into ‘Partners’, she is our home, the only one we have. We are getting to know her and are adjusting to the many different things and routines she requires. Her water capacity is 260 US gals; we do have a tank tender gauge to check the amount of water left in the tanks at any time. We have got into the routine now of checking the tank tender before doing laundry which is an automatic machine and therefore draws water as it needs it during the wash cycle. Problem, it doesn’t know when there isn’t any water in the tank! Yes, this happened and the water pump continued to try and find water for quite some time! I was not on the boat at the time and the Admiral didn’t notice the ‘whirring’ of the water pump in the background. Needless to say the pump didn’t like being dry and now, although it still works, it has different sounds and characteristics. I went into the engine room to write all the information down from the pump label, model # etc., so I can get a rebuild kit. The pump we use is a ShurFlo and a new pump head assembly which includes the diaphragm and pressure switch cost $85. Not a difficult job but one which could easily be avoided by checking. No blame here just education about our new home and the precautions we both need to be aware of on a daily basis. While we are at the dock we use water at will and the 260 US gals lasts us about a week. When we are cruising and not having to wash our work clothes and maintain a dirt dwellers lifestyle the transition to the cruising lifestyle of bathing suites and T-shirts should enable us to stretch this to 14 days. All the more reason to have a daily check list, it is so easy to forget.
  

Sitting here at the dock we are not using any diesel fuel so it is important to polish the diesel in our tanks to ensure that there is no sludge and algae in it. Our polishing pump can process 50 gals of fuel and hour, so with our 600 gal capacity it takes six hours to run the total through the Racor filter. I generally don’t do this all in one session but do it on a daily basis for a couple of hours. Any cruiser knows that the biggest problem with a diesel engine is the fuel. Contaminated or dirty fuel is the sole biggest reason for engine failure, just another little routine job. ‘Partners’ received new aluminium fuel tanks in 2010 install by Sailcraft Service, Oriental, NC and with that installation came a brand new, easy to understand and use fuel manifold setup. It is very accessible in the engine room and takes only a few minutes to set up for the fuel polishing routine. Convenience on a boat is paramount and most reputable experienced boat builders have their layouts down pat. We are number 72 of our model, the 42’ Kadey Krogen so my way of looking at is there have been 72 opportunities to refine the systems and make improvements. Each one built is an improvement on the previous one. Each owner gives feedback to the manufacture, gladly received by the way, and all of the suggestions are considered and some implemented on future builds. The mark gets better and more refined and becomes a better boat, in the process, a more user friendly beast.  Kadey Krogen built 206 42’s before halting production, shortly after the 44’ was introduced, so theoretically the owner of #206 should have the latest and greatest!

January, traditionally our worst winter month is coming to a close. The month has been one of the mildest on record the weather has been beautiful... January does for once 'go out like a lamb'. 

February 3^rd 2012 

The beautiful weather continues...it is the perfect weather for outside ‘jobs’, not too hot and sweaty just warm enough to be able to clad oneself in shorts and T-shit to make working easy. For one reason or another the Davis wind speed and direction indicator have not been showing the correct wind direction. The sending unit is mounted on the Single Sideband antenna and to correct the problem should be a simple matter of rotation. The positioning of the sending unit seemed to defy logic however. The labelling on the display is, of course, relative to the heading of the boat so that had to be taken into consideration. After a considerable work out, up and down, up and down, from the boat deck to the aft deck, up to the pilot house and back again several times, the job is done. As any readers who do not own a boat or do not do their own maintenance may not realize even a small job on a boat is physically demanding. Take teak deck cleaning using a two part chemical cleaner; the first time I did this I was not prepared, one needs knee pads, rubber gloves and something on ones feet. If you spurn this advice you, like me, will end up with raw knees, burnt hands and toes with no skin on the ends! Get the picture...today, without injury because I was prepared, I can stand back and admire the beautiful blond golden colour of the decks. I find that if I clean the decks about every two months, before they completely turn grey, it is a far easier job, much quicker and less expensive (less chemical needed). 

February 7^th 2012 

In the engine room of most small boats, even with great

layouts, to be a contortionist helps! Preparation also minimizes the need to continually get in and out of the ‘holy place’ to retrieve tools, paper towels and materials needed for the job, get it all prepared beforehand. Once in the ‘position’ to do the job one doesn’t want to be having to move much.
The reason for this preamble is our fresh water pump bit the dust. Unfortunately the Admiral, unfamiliar with all the things to check and listen for proceeded to do several loads of washing in the machine and did not check that there was enough water. Most boaters soon become very familiar with the ‘sounds’ of their boat and when a bilge pump or, in this case, the fresh water pump comes on subconsciously they are waiting for it to turn off; well, not the Admiral, she just continued with whatever else there was to putz around with. I was not on board at the time, when I did arrived I immediately heard the pump and noticed the ‘solid’ red light which is the visual tell tale that the pump is engaged. Oh dear...there was no water in the tanks, the washing had used the last drop. The pump should have stopped but there must have been something wrong with the pressure switch. The long and short of the episode was that upon filling the tanks the pump still worked! One thing though, it had a different sound so it was my assumption that the diaphragm had been damaged through running dry for so long. I did have a spare pump in inventory but put off changing it at that point. The saga continues; at eleven o’clock the other evening, teeth cleaning time, no water and no sound, the pump had given up the ghost. The next day Lavinia had to go to work without a shower, not a good start, and my task was to replace the pump without a helper...the beginning of this paragraph pertains! I did prepare, got all the tools, tape, tie wraps and connectors I thought I would need. I lifted three of the ‘two ton’ floor panels in the salon ‘phew’ and moved them to the back deck revealing the ’holy place’ and all her glory. Of course the pump is in an inaccessible spot wouldn’t you know, way over to one side and nowhere to kneel, at least not without making contact with a few sharp hose clamp ends which left their signatures on and below both my knees, should have put the kneepads on! After about an hour and twenty trips out of the engine room because I didn’t prepare well enough, the job was done...sweet music the pump was humming and we could flush the two toilets, yes, you guessed it they are fresh water flush models! This pump sounds different and is quieter so as soon as Lavinia came home I demonstrated the characteristics to ensure she was tuned in! 

This weekend we are planning our first trip on ‘Partners’ together, we thought that we would go to Boca Grande for a long weekend and visit Cabbage Key. We have been a marina queen at the dock here since the end of November and have had no need to stow everything for an open water voyage. So, it is the first test for the Admiral to hone her stowing skills. I too have been going around the boat making sure that nothing will become a ‘missile.’ I have triple checked the engine room as much has been stowed there and it is important that nothing will move and ‘foul’ and engine belt or knock into a wire and disconnect it, you can imagine.
  

February 9^th 2012 

It is now Thursday and the weather forecast it not up to snuff for our fist trip together so it is postponed, sadly. The exercise of making ready to go to sea, however, is still a good one to go through, eventually the boat will always be ‘ready’.  

Reality at the dock...a little techno and some real life accounts.

Your Dream

January 10^th 2012

Position N 27° 22.225’,

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL   

Last weekend was the memorial of our son-in-law Joey Harrison and we spent the time with our daughter, three grandchildren and all the other family members who had gathered in Pensacola. I think the weekend went well and that we gave Joey a great send off. Joey will always be remembered and obviously will be sorely missed by his family. The fact that he died at the age of 41 is a stark reminder of the fragility of life but one thing that was echoed by all is that he lived his life the way he wanted and that was the focus I came away with. Nothing much has been happening with ‘Partners' but I still have the urge to write about something. Obviously the Admiral and I are very enthusiastic about our forthcoming retirement and cruising adventure. In the meantime we are both being tormented by the possibilities yet are still having to manage the worrying about a missed phone call, rushing for an appointment etc., these are common dirt dwelling problems that all of us have suffered with or are still suffering from now. I am and it is stressful! The only difference for the time being is that instead of living in a house we live on a boat. Until the lines are finally cast off we are stuck with these landlubber problems. Don’t get me wrong, I have always had a good work ethic and have been admonished for putting in too many hours. In fact it was the major factor in the dissolution of a marriage. With a wife and four children the attention I gave the family was not in balance with the time I gave the ‘job’. Just remember it is definitely necessary to have a balance and we all hear that “family is the most important thing”...how many of us really put the job before the family?

Passage making most certainly affords one time and on our trip from NC to FL I reflect on a moment when a seagull landed on our bow pulpit and I remember ‘stressing’ that I hoped the bird would stay settled long enough for me to get my camera and record the moment. He did stay long enough. I am now able to remind myself of that moment when I look at the picture of the seagull taking a short rest before continuing on his journey to wherever. The part you don’t see here is that after taking the picture I walked up to within two feet of the bird without so much of a nervous flapping of his wings, he just calmly looked at me and remained at peace taking his (or her) rest. The point here is that this all took place 50 mile from shore while I actually had time to absorb the alternative to a land bases stressful living and the cruising life my Admiral and I are planning for our future. The life around us, it has become apparent, can completely fill and replace the attentions of the mind. One does not need all trappings of a successful life ashore. The phrase “stop and smell the roses”, the person who wrote that was definitely onto something. At the moment I was standing on my bow just observing our very own seagull I felt healthy, I felt free, I felt challenged by the nature around me, indeed scared at the responsibility of self sufficiency and the decisions’ that will have to be made every day to perpetuate ‘Partners’ future of travel and discovery. What a problem? The difference is alarming and eye opening...do we all spend too long having the one life we are allowed controlled by social expectations and a lifestyle that everyone thinks they want but only a few attain. Don’t live someone else’s dream chase your own and remember you are the only ‘judge’ that matters. Don’t judge anyone else and don’t worry about who and how others may ‘judge’ you. Control your own life, don’t be controlled.

I remember chairing a meeting once where I had the privilege of being surrounded with a staff of people that I had chosen as employees and therefore had the right to share my expectations with. My dream has been alive for a very long time, decades in fact; every since Lavinia and I were married on a small island offshore St. Vincent in the Caribbean, I told Lavinia that one day we would sail back to the Island but this time it would be under our own steam, we’re not quite there yet but a lot closer than when I uttered those words. In the meeting I was enlisting support for my dream and made reference to it which may have sounded selfish. On reflection it was not; everyone has the right to the fulfilment of their dreams, their life, and their way. I explained to the gathering that only those who perpetuated and subscribed to my dream were of value, we were a team trying to achieve a result which in turn would produce the revenue to achieve my objective, my dream. Any one of those people had choices and all chose to put their shoulders to the wheel and work hard towards our common goal which just happened to contribute funding to my dream. Just to have an audience to talk to about a dream is a privilege; I hope to this day that my talk of a goal and dream plus the motivation it provided me will have rubbed off on some or all of those employees and that they were encouraged to make dreams and goals of their own. I get the feeling so many times that so many people are just drifting along without a purpose. Have a goal, have a dream; the fulfilment of the ‘dream’ is indescribable...One last sobering thought for you all. I was having breakfast with two friends a few months ago and one of them said to me “you are the only person I know that is living their dream”. My reply "really?!" How many people do you know? 

The strange thing is that I did not realize that taking time to smell the roses would be so rewarding, all I can think of is how much I have missed for so long. One life, only so many times around the sun, I am not saying a cruising life is the answer for everyone, far from it, I am just advocating a balance in and during life. I chose my dream and am beginning to experience little tastes of it and am on the brink of living it full time. I am so excited...

Acceptance of one’s dream is relevant too. It is obviously important to seek approval from those close to you, friends and family. Support for as opposed to criticism against is desirable. In our case where we are leaving the proximity for significant periods and an understanding from friends and especially family is important to us. Conditioning to ones dream over time is a good thing, being ‘public’ with it is a self motivation to fulfil it too. See what I mean. My two sons, although ‘conditioned’ to Lavinia and I taking off, both asked me if I thought I was up to it! The point here is not questioning that we were going to go cruising but if we were capable of doing it!

Dolphins on the bow 30 miles off shore in the North Atlantic Choose your dream..

<> 

Happy New Year!

December 31^st 2011

Position N 27° 22.225’,

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL  

The last day of the year, phew! The past year has been a year of much excitement and change; it has also been one with happiness and great sadness. As I write this blog entry Lavinia & I are gathered with other family in Pensacola, FL offering comfort and some distraction to our daughter Lavinia and our three grandchildren from the sad recent event of the death of Joey Harrison our son-in-law. Joey passed on 27^th Dec. at the young age of 41. Joey had been sick for seven months after a terminal cancer diagnosis. We will all miss him greatly... 

From the personal point of view never in our lives have we experienced such a transition? Starting the year living in a large four bedroom home surrounded with all the trappings that go with a home, gardening equipment and machinery, large home appliances including the house sized vacuum cleaner, huge ironing board, large food processors, coffee maker, toaster etc., None of these things would work on the boat. In spite of these challenges we are ending the year in a few hundred square foot boat! Remarkably we did it with little or no time off work. All we have left is to empty a small storage unit and two car trunks! We have found homes for our cars when it is time to leave so we are almost ready to ‘cast off’. I have written before that our target month to set sail south is late October/November 2012. Between now and then we will both be working hard at our jobs and continuing to outfit ‘Partners’ to the specification we want. One important addition to the navigation electronics is a new Simrad autopilot which will give us complete redundancy. Steering a boat hour after hour is not my idea of fun so the autopilot redundancy is a priority as far as I am concerned. I will be adding another laptop computer loaded with our Nobiltec Admiral 11 software and C-Map charts to give us triple redundancy in this department. The existing Simrad pilot is interfaced with a Garmin chart plotter so we will have three navigation software sources able to drive two auto pilots. We also have three GPS/WAAS sources. One other ‘quirk’ that will need rectifying is the searchlight wiring...during our trip to Florida from North Carolina we had occasion to turn the searchlight on and when we did the autopilot failed, the alarm went off the pilot disengaged and we were left bemused. Turning off the searchlight enabled us to reset the pilot so I am assuming that both the pilot and the searchlight share the same power source and the current taken by the searchlight was great enough to ‘starve’ the autopilot. I will be rewiring the searchlight to rectify this problem. I had the stabilizer actuator seals replaced at Sailcraft Service; these need attention every three years. Again, during out trip south from NC, we experienced a failure of the starboard stabilizer fin. The oil alarm sounded, we were leaking oil somewhere. Needless to say the weather was the roughest of the whole trip, movement was very difficult and we had to get to the bowels of the boat to try and identify the leak. With difficulty we established the starboard fin was the culprit. It wasn’t a hose which would have been a relatively easy fix, so we would have to wait until the end of the trip to further investigate the source of the leak. FOJ and I have now dismantled the unit and think that the culprit and problem is the sensor feedback unit. We called Naiad and ordered a new seal and some o-rings; we were delighted to find out that the cost was a mere $16! I hate to think what the labour charge would have been had we called in the Naiad rep. The parts have arrived now so I will be calling John/FOJ when we return to Sarasota and ‘Partners’. All quality boats come equipped with very good manuals which usually include schematics and explicit maintenance instructions. By following and reading the manuals most people can perform most of their own maintenance which dramatically transforms the annual maintenance budget. FOJ, an excellent electrician has taught me much the one big thing is ‘find the book first’. I, in the past, had a tendency to ‘look’ at the problem and to blindly start disassembly only to find later, after encountering a problem, I should have followed a different procedure. FOJ’s methodical approach doesn’t have instant gratification but it sure beats doing the job twice! One is never too old to learn. One thing I do have, built up over many years and three previous boats, is a comprehensive collection of tools. Before leaving the boat maintenance subject I must say that not only when we called Naiad did the parts representative talk us through the repair and advise on the parts we would need but when the parts arrived they came with an easy to follow instruction sheet. We replaced the transmission cooler in Palm Beach during our voyage home the same great service came from American Diesel on this occasion too. You see a pattern here, doing one’s own maintenance is possible, with each job confidence builds. I am still working but when we begin our cruising I will have time which will make more projects possible. 

6.7 Litre Ford Lehman

Tonight we will be raising a glass to all readers, friends and family...Happy New year everyone!

One month today - Christmas two days away!

December 23^rd 2011

Position N 27° 22.225’,

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL 
  

Assuming we do have some readers, Good morning! It will be a month tomorrow that we have been in residence here at Longboat Key Moorings, so far so good. It is a quiet marina with normal daily activities of boat washing and occasional boat movement but all in all quiet. There is no traffic noise only an infrequent aeroplane taking off from SRQ international airport almost due east three to four miles away accross Sarasota Bay. We have met two of our neighbours Rudy & Teresa, weekend visitors to their motor cruiser and another live-aboard Jeff who has a sport fishing boat. As usual great first impressions; most boat owners are very friendly, very helpful and have interesting stories to both tell and learn from. Rudy & Teresa took a sabbatical from their careers in their 40’s, bought a Tayana 37’ sailing boat and headed south to the Caribbean, we are going to spend an evening together exchanging stories and hearing about their adventures; they did give us a taste of their adventure as we first met the other evening on the dock. You see, there are a variety of times in one’s life when ‘it is time’ Rudy and Teresa made a decision for whatever reason to ‘make it happen’ in their 40’s and not wait until retirement, the main thing is they made time to live life to the fullest for a few years and to make time to realize a dream of cruising before returning to the necessity of their career paths. One’s own life pattern and path will dictate the course, the main thing Rudy stressed is don’t lose sight of a life outside the one of your career. It is so easy to take each routine day for granted and not make time for ‘life’ or just be too frightened to make a difference for one’s self. More and more young couples with children are choosing the cruising lifestyle, experiencing the adventure, home schooling their children and at the same time exposing them to their own adventure of world cruising, which incidentally, I think, is the most marvellous education in itself. My own father always encouraged me to travel and after I joined the British Merchant Navy as a deck cadet for Trident Tankers, a subsidiary of P & O Shipping Company, he remarked on one of my leaves that “You went away a boy and returned a man”. I did leave for sea at the age of 16 so it was inevitable that I would ‘grow’ up some day! The Admiral, on occasion, however, may not totally agree with the last sentence though! Both of us feel it is necessary to take steps to stay young and stay in touch with the ever increasing pace of life. Messing around on boats definitely helps with the physical aging process and both of us have become a little more fit and agile as a result. Technology is another mental stimulation which we strongly recommend which stimulates ‘keeping in touch’ so there you have it, our philosophy for life, just kidding! There are so many ways of ‘skinning the cat’ the motto here is find your own but don’t just vegetate and waste your time away, there is only one ‘shot’ at this life thing, make it count. Okay, rant over...

Clean and golden teak

Port side deck

The past month has been a busy one going through ‘Partners’ correcting and tweaking this and that. The deck is now fully maintained every seam is caulked, every missing bung has been replaced and I spent the last day and a half on hands and knees cleaning it. By the way it is true what the cleaner bottles say...rubber gloves, and, if you are like me an on your knees cleaner, then knee pads. Oh, rubber boots are a must too unless you want skinned toes! Anyway it is now its original beautiful gold. Sailcraft Service in Oriental, NC did a marvellous job on our bottom peel and many other updating jobs which they undertook during the four months ‘Partners’ was there, however, everyone is human and two things were forgotten! The first was the refitting of the lower rudder post retaining ring which in the event a grounding would assist in stopping the rudder from jumping out of the shoe it sits in on the extension of the keel and the second was getting the new pilothouse pedestal table level. Sailcraft sent me a shaft zinc which comes in two halves and would tighten around the rudder shaft to act as the lower retaining ring. I will replace the zinc at the next haul out when we can slip the rudder down and put the original retaining ring back where it belongs. Chris the master carpenter at Sailcraft made a shim to fit between the top of the pedestal and the table thus levelling it out. All is well, the Admirals coffee will no longer slide away from her! 

I finally got the water maker pickled after again engaging FOJ’s help. The water in the marina is fairly clear but not clean enough that we intend to use the water maker and supply our own water. The marina water is very good and we have our own personal spigot at our slip. The new transmission oil cooler that FOJ and I fitted in Palm Beach on our way round from NC to Sarasota is now engine red to match the rest of the engine and while I was at it I touched up the other places in need, so we now have a beautiful shiny red Lehman as the centre piece in our ‘holy place’. I bought a supply of oil for the engine, generator and stabilizers. Two common causes of fire on a boat are loose battery terminals and old worn out shore power cables. The battery terminals have all been tightened and I bought brand new shore power cables and connectors in NC so this possible cause is not an issue for a while. A sink leak in the galley has been fixed, a simple one, just a matter of tightening the pipe fittings. This incident did prompt me to buy a small supply of PVC items as spares to meet future needs. We have a salt water spigot both forward and aft, both were frozen and needed new hose connections; a visit to the local Home Depot has solved these problems. So, you see slowly but surely we are getting ‘Partners’ ready for the adventure of our lives in 2012. 

In our effort to trim down our belongings and stow the necessities away we also embarked on a journey of exploration it turn out. We began discovering things that we were not aware of when we bought ‘Partners’; she had brand new canvas window covers for the pilot house tucked away which now are in place, many spare parts have been discovered and inventoried. The aft deck a/k/a the ‘back porch’ is now protected by the new enclosure curtains that Chet & Dixie, the previous owners, had just bought. Even though we are here in sunny Florida and have experience one of the warmest Decembers that I can remember in the 30+ years I have lived here, in the evenings the enclosure has enabled us to eat outside and remain comfortable in the cooler evenings of winter.

Christmas is only two days away now and ‘Partners’ will be hosting our two sons, one daughter-in-law and two of our grand children for Christmas Day. The Admiral is prepared; the boat is Ship Shape and Bristol fashion, ready for inspection. We will be visiting one of our favourite restaurants for a Christmas Eve luncheon with them all and then on Christmas Day have our Dinner on board. A Merry Christmas everyone.

The First Big Trip

November 25^th 2011

Position N 27° 22.225’,

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL   

The time has arrived for the ‘big’ trip…it is Nov. 3^rd 2011 and Admiral Lavinia and I are about to receive FOJ John and his wife Carol at our rented villa to pick up the items we are taking to Oriental, NC for our adventure. I call it an adventure as in spite of the experience that both FOJ and I have had this will be the longest non-stop trip that either one of us have made in the smallest boat that we have cruised on. ‘Partners’ is capable but she is a new boat to me and we don’t ‘know’ her yet so we want to be prepared. Our inventory includes tools, lots of them, the boat, fortunately, has a fairly good inventory of spares already on board and I have had Sailcraft Service check the systems for the trip.

FOJ and Carol picked up all our stuff and will again arrive at 05:15 tomorrow, the 4^th, to get us aboard for the trek to Oriental, NC. A quick plug for the Honda Ridgeline that FOJ has and will be carting us and the ‘stuff’ to NC, it is cavernous. It took all the luggage and supplies without encroaching into the passenger accommodation; it is very comfortable and was a pleasure to drive. John and I shared the driving and the journey seemed to fly by, what with the constant boat/trip related conversation interrupted only by meal and fuel stops, the 12½ hour journey was over. We found ‘Partners’ afloat alongside at the dock, heater on, it was cold around 50°F, lights on and very welcoming. The yard staff had cleaned the whole boat which was such a welcoming treat. We were able to unload in short order and head into the small town of Oriental for a well deserved dinner. We decided to go to the Broad Street Grill where we had a great meal and even met some of the ‘local’ and other out-of-town visitors, what a friendly place, we all loved it. For any beer lover that may pass through Oriental, boater or traveler, sample the local brews they are definitely worth a try! A long day but fun, time to go back to the boat for a good night’s sleep.

Saturday was a provisioning day with the Admiral and Purser Carol taking a trip to the grocery store and ensuring us men were supplied for what could be three weeks. John and I busied ourselves with boat chores, lashing this and that down and doing the best to stow all ‘movable’ items in preparation for the trip. The boat deck also needed attention as some items including the bimini top sticks, which were loose, needed lashing down too. We re-attached the boom to the mast with all its rigging as Chet and Dixie, the previous owners, had travelled much with the mast down to avoid bridge openings on the ICW. ‘Partners’ is 34’ 6’’ tall mast and antenna's up reduced to about 14' 6" with the mast down. My idea of fun is to travel in the open ocean 24/7 doing approximately 144 NM per day as opposed to the 60 NM that are possible in daylight hours using the ICW. I won’t travel at night in the ICW, too many hazards and changing ones at that. Having said that, if our progress, due to bad weather, is to be prohibited in the Atlantic Ocean, then, of course, I would make way during daylight hours using the ICW. Saturday afternoon FOJ and I used our time to familiarize ourselves with ‘Partners’ checking all systems. I also set up my laptop in the wheelhouse with the installed Nobeltec Admiral software and the necessary C-Map Megawide charts to get us home to Sarasota. The girls would be leaving us in the morning to drive back to Sarasota leaving FOJ and me to make ready the boat and get all the last details together before setting off south on the 10^th. The weather was not looking good for going out into the ocean from Beaufort, NC so we have made a decision to leave earlier than planned and do two days in the ICW as far as Cape Fear which would put us in a position to take advantage of a good weather window due on the 12^th.

We enjoyed two more of the local restaurants; on Saturday night the four of us visited M
& M’s for a farewell dinner, it was great. A great breakfast on Sunday was had, before the girls set off, at Brantley’s Village restaurant. In fact Lavinia commented that including our previous trip to Oriental as well as this one how good all the food had been and how reasonable the prices where too. Sarasota really has nothing to compare and all this from a village of around 875 people!

Monday arrived quickly and mild weather returned which was lucky for these two southern boys who had come from 60°/80° temps in Florida to the weekend weather of 40°/60° so Monday brought temps back into the 70’s. A few jobs remained so we entertained the electronics guy and watermaker technician on board. FOJ is the self elected cook for the trip and thank goodness because to rely on me for our grub would provide all the material an author would need to write a bad diet book!

11/10/11 ‘Partners’ left the dock at 06:30 having said good bye and thank you to the wonderful crew at Sailcraft Service. Our first stop at 09:30 was Jarret Bay along Adams Creek on the ICW from Pamlico Sound for a fuel stop. By the way, we used Active Captain to determine this stop, the information that other cruisers supply including fuel prices, we found invaluable. Jarret’s was easy in and easy out. I say easy out, it should have been! When we went to leave the engine wouldn’t turn over. After the required complaining (#$%^@^) diagnosis took place and revealed, or so we thought at the time, a faulty starter solenoid. We ‘jumped’ the starter and we were on our way. Our first night was not good and was definitely not peaceful, we stopped at Hammock Bay near Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, the wind was blowing 25 knots our anchor would not set and during the night we dragged ending up aground albeit not badly. Fortunately in the morning the tide was incoming and we were afloat! At 06:30 we were under way again on our way to Wilmington and Cape Fear. Along the ICW there are some sights! The picture you see caused both of us to do a double take, was it real or not? It was in fact a full size statue of a giraffe. After seeing this we would not be surprised about other sights yet to be seen, you will be aware of this reference when we get to the Ft. Lauderdale – Miami section!
  

We anchored our second night in an estuary leading south to the township of Carolina Beach just south of Snows Cut which, in the morning, would take us through to the Cape Fear River and the Ocean. Our choice of anchorage turned out to be great, the wind had finally dropped, the holding was good and finally we had a peaceful night.  

Saturday November 12^th fog! Proceeding through Snows Cut on radar was a focusing start to the day. The weather was good and we knew that the fog would burn off and we would be in for a beautiful day. After two days of travel FOJ and I were learning more about each other! I realized John is a very good cook; he had taken ownership of the galley and was producing ‘look forward to’ meals on a three square meal a day schedule…great! I adopted the roll of running the boat and ‘washing up’. The arrangement seemed to work well all trip. 

Before we knew it we were free of the ICW restrictions and cruising south in the Atlantic Ocean. Our next waypoint would be approximately 54 NM due east of Sapleo Sound, Georgia. Our idea was to cut as much of the ‘corner’ as we could without battling the northerly flow of the Gulf Stream. I think we did partially manage to achieve this goal although next time I would take a course slightly closer to shore.

The weather was perfect, seas smooth and the sun was beginning to gain some warmth. The long pants and sweaters were discarded in favour of shorts and t-shirts. Pantaenius, our insurance carrier, would allow us passage south of 30.5° N on November 15^th with our normal deductible or earlier with an increased deductible. I had made a decision to cross the ‘line’ a day early due to the excellent weather window which prevailed and deteriorating forecast for later in the week. We enjoyed being on autopilot and having the luxury of a relaxed cruising day. Dolphins came to our bow and it was the first time since 2003, when we sold our last boat, I had experienced this… always fun. FOJ had been trolling a line and yes, it went ‘off’. After a short fight a good size Bonita was boarded.  On the 14^th we were off Jacksonville and, oh boy, the weather was now rough. We learnt very quickly about the things that we had not stowed properly and also, on the plus side, how well ‘Partners’ could cope with a seaway. We tried to make some water with the watermaker but alas something wasn’t right with the plumbing and the attempt failed. We also discovered a leak! The transmission cooler had a pinhole leak in the water jacket and would need replacing. A plan was made to head for Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Inlet so repairs could be done and also for FOJ and I to recuperate a little after what would be two rough, tough, sleepless days at sea. 

November 16^th. We sailed through Lake Worth Inlet at 06:30 and into calm waters, which brought a smile to our faces. We sailed North around Peanut Island to New Port Cove Marina Center. I had ordered our part, the transmission oil cooler, from American Diesel and they would have it to the marina the next day. Two very helpful line handlers had us docked, safe and sound, which was not easy in the 20 knot wind that was blowing, by 08:30. Our day was filed with a walk to the grocery store, working on the watermaker and taking a well deserved sleep after the previous sleepless nights.

November 17^th. Our part arrived right on schedule and by 12:00 it was installed and we were ready to depart south again. With the wind still blowing hard we decided to make way south via the ICW, so off we went. It would take us two days to reach Miami. That evening we anchored in the shadow of Trump Tower in West Palm Beach. A great anchorage with good holding that afforded us a good night’s sleep.

November 18^th. Under way again at 06:30 for the last ICW transit to Miami. Today was a Friday and fortunately this normally busy stretch of ICW was quiet and easy to navigate, one exception however, as we approached the 17^th Street Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale I followed what I thought was the ICW only to hear the very helpful bridge tender calling me on the VHF advising me that I had taken a wrong turn! He could obviously see us from his high up vantage point and even held the bridge an extra few minute to allow us to pass through. Soon the highlight and entertainment of the day was to appear. This picture tells the story. As soon as the ‘jet man’ saw us at the pilot house door cameras in hand the performance began. He cruised over to our port side and ‘flew’ 20’+ in the air and waved. A pod which obviously containes a prepulsion system and a very high pressure water pump is all controlled from the hand grips the operator holds onto. The black hose carries the water to the jets. The amount of control seemed amaizing as ‘jet guy’ showed off the device. Fun! On we continued towards Miami, only one more hold up while we had to wait for a ship to dock in Port Everglades. We arrived at our anchorage just north of Belle Isle, in the designated ‘activecaptain’ marked anchorage. After difficulty in getting the anchor set we had a night of anchor alarms going off and not the greatest night’s sleep. My youngest daughter Georgina lives in Miami and although we didn’t have a visit we did talk on the phone. By 06:30 we were off again…the plan was to continue south in Biscayne Bay and then cut through to Hawk Channel. We were not sure which channel to use however. Ever since 2004 and the NAR( Nordhavn North Atlantic Rally) I have been an avid reader of ‘Voyage of Egret’ the blog of Scott and Mary Flanders on board ‘Egret’ their Nordhavn 46’. I had just written to Scott telling him that the inspiration and prodding he had been delivering over the years advocating the cruising lifestyle had finally helped us take the plunge. As I have previously written we are now ‘dirt less’ and are full time live aboard cruisers. Scott published part of my email in his November 14^th blog. This is the part of my e-mail he published:-

 "You and Mary have both been a great inspiration to Lavinia and I and I would like to thank you for all the writings, information and `prodding' that you have delivered over the years. The strange thing is that now we have completed the selling of our large family home and all the furniture etc. we feel refreshed and `free'. The trepidation, especially from Lavinia, that we experienced preceding the disposal exercise we now realize was unnecessary. Now, being free of the dirt dwelling life style, we have grown and take deep breaths not because of any anxiety or stress but because we are out of breath from some fun activity, isn't life great. It is our time…

We will be cruising in 2012 and who knows, it is a small world, and I hope that our paths do cross."

The purpose I reiterate is that soon after we passed under the Rickenbacker Causeway Bridge, guess who was on the opposing course, yes, it was ‘Egret’. Indeed our paths were crossing. I hailed on the VHF and Scott and I conversed for a few minutes. Scott comes from Ft. Lauderdale and I leant on his local knowledge to ask his suggestion of which inlet to traverse into Hawk Channel. Scott’s suggestion was Biscayne Channel so that was it we made an immediate course change and headed towards the inlet. As quickly as ‘Egret’ had appeared she disappeared, she quickly became a dot on the horizon on our port side as we entered Biscayne Channel. The channel is well marked although in the big waves the bar presents a challenge. Short steep waves battered us as we cleared. In Hawk Channel the seas were not too bad although without our stabilizers which had failed just before we arrived in Palm Beach we did rock and roll for the first part of the trip to Key West. The Channel is very clearly marked and an easy 24/7 transit. One thing, however, lobster pots! Yes, we hooked one on our starboard stabilizer fin which I discovered on my 01:00 – 04:00 watch. I cut the trap loose leaving the buoy and line jammed in the fin. I tied off the line to our rail with the intension of freeing it once we were anchored in Key West.

November 20^th arrived in Key West accompanied up the main channel by the pictured cruise ship. We anchored just north of Sunset Pier in the protection of Fleming Key. We did not go ashore although lowered the dinghy so we could free the lobster pot line and buoy from the stabilizer, not as easy as we thought, the clearance between the fin and the hull is minimal and the line was hard jammed. With me hanging from the side of the dinghy, giving myself profane encouragement, I finally cut the line free. As the dinghy and I drifted back to the stern I noticed another object streaming in the tide flow. It was a black plastic garbage bag stuck on the rudder. FOJ, from the swim platform, was able to reach the offender and that was the extent of our ‘fishing’. We spent two days in Key West enjoying the 80° weather and a water temperature which was still 79°.

Our final leg to Sarasota would take 30 hours of non-stop cruising and the wind abated enough on the 22^nd for us to set sail. The beginning was still pretty rough with 30° rolls frequent but soon the sea calmed to an acceptable motion and the trip was uneventful. I had originally intended using Longboat Key as the inlet to access Sarasota Bay but a front was fast approaching from the north so we decided to use Venice Inlet which would put us in protected water and not loose us any time. After a little altercation caused by lack of attention to the chart and transiting a green marker on the wrong side we ran aground. Fortunately we were able to back off and had no more excitement for the rest of the journey.

We arrived at the fuel dock in Longboat Key Club Moorings at 13:00 right on schedule. I wanted to get an accurate measure of our fuel consumption for the trip before transiting to our mooring. We made it back for Thanksgiving which was a goal, subject to remaining safe, that we both had. This picture is taken by Admiral Lavinia as she stood on Siesta Key Bridge watching as we came home…


The figures could have been a little better if the Gulf Stream had not affected us for so much of the trip, the seas had been a little calmer and the speeding up to make as much distance as possible in the ICW was eliminated. On a longer open water voyage I expect the figures to improve. Having said this I am still pleased with the numbers. Even at this consumption under these conditions on our 600 gal of fuel, at 6 knots, we would have a range of 2,300 NM with a 10% reserve.  (During 2010 the previous owners had replaced the old black iron tanks with new stainless steel ones and the original capacity of 700 gals had to be reduced to 600 in order to be able to get the tanks back in place).

Here are the statistics for the trip:-

Hours run – 185.7

Total Distance travelled – 955.2 NM

Average speed for trip – 5.14 knots

US gals consumed – 262.154

NM per gallon – 3.6436598

Gals per hr – 1.411707

TofP moves to a different phase now, we are aboard living our dream and we will continue to report about interesting places and things that we encounter. In the inimitable words of Scott Flanders upon his return to Ft. Lauderdale November 25^th2011 after a circumnavigation and voyage of discovery – “Two thousand, six hundred eighty eight days ago ‘Egret’ passed under this bridge (17th St.) in Ft Lauderdale on her way across the Atlantic as a participant in the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally. Let's make this easy on your conscience shipwrecked by VofE. We'll just say places our little white fiberglass ship has taken us, the sights we have seen and the people we met are beyond anyone's comprehension unless they have done it themselves. Mary and I have done a few out of the ordinary things in our past lives and these days were certainly the best of the best. And the best part? We can do anything we want because we are free. What will the next 2,688 days bring? We don't have a clue except we will make it as interesting and adventurous as we wish. Isn't that great? And you know the best part? You can as well...”

More Preparing

Today we will be having dinner with FOJ and his wife Carol to go over the last details of our trip. Agreeing a menu, clothing, tool requirements etc., etc., John and Carol are leaving the day after tomorrow, (Monday 24th. Oct.) on a trip out to Salt Lake City and will only be back a day before we travel to Oriental, NC so busy busy busy.

Nearing the Launch and making the final preparations.

The latest pictures arrived from Sailcraft on Monday this week and ‘Partners’ is starting to look seaworthy again. We had the hull pealed and some blisters repaired along with a complete new barrier coat applied. The coffee table is made and is ready for installation in the pilot house; this was an Admiral request, while on watch or first thing in the morning Lavinia must have her cup of Joe.

             I have plotted the course and have pawed over the charts many times in excited nervousness making sure that all is well – I am supposed to be the professional and I don’t want First Officer John (FOJ) to catch me out! The real ‘trick’ is the weather. I have consulted Omni Bob http://www.oceanmarinenav.com/ and will be engaging his services to give us the Go, No Go suggestions at the beginning of the trip. What we will be looking for is a four day window as this will be how long it will take us from leaving Beaufort, NC to transit the Atlantic Ocean leg and enter Hawks Channel, once there we will be continuing west to the Dry Tortugas where we will take a rest day. From there to Sarasota, FL we will be our own weather forecasters for that final 30 hour leg. All together, if the weather cooperates, the trip should take us eight days.  We hope to leave Oriental on the 13^th November  and cross the 30.5° N line on the 15^th so all being well we should be back in Sarasota by the 21^st. We will be giving up our rental villa on the 2^nd December so I will be able to have a few days on land to get organized before the move. Our new ‘digs’ at Longboat Key Moorings appear fabulous and we can’t wait to be aboard there.

As far as parting with all our worldly possessions: initially much trepidation prevailed and we both viewed the task as an awesome job neither one of us, especially Lavinia, thought it would be an easy thing to do physically or emotionally. Now that we are well into the process it transpires that most of the ‘stuff’ we had accumulated was not necessary to our happiness and an air of relief has taken over now we are becoming free of so many of the earthly obligations which go along with possessions. The hard copy photographs that took up so much space in both frames and albums are now digitized and are on a computer hard drive. We do plan to buy one of those electronic picture frames which will actually enable us to look at the pictures more often than in the past; both of us agreed that we couldn’t remember the last time we took out an album and looked at it! The treasured china sets (5) and the many different cutlery sets we possessed for every conceivable occasion would obviously not fit on Partners so they have gone, does the food taste any different, no…and so on with clothes, shoes, Tchotchkes, doodads and all the things we thought we would never be able to live without. As they say necessity is the mother of invention. Heading towards a simpler life free of the habitual encumbrances’ is now appealing to us both and we are reveling in the adventure. We, for the first time I can remember, are starting to appreciate and value life for what it is rather than for what we have. The future will be all about what we do with our time, what we see, explore and enjoy…smell the roses...

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