The three year re-fit. In three months.

5/15/15

Several years ago I learned about a race called the Bermuda 1-2.  Race single handed from Newport to Bermuda, then race back to Newport double handed.  For some reason this kept nagging at me and when we were looking for a boat of our own I wanted one that would be able to go offshore safely.  Fast forward to 2014 and having raced to Bermuda several times, once double handed, I decided it was time to go solo. 
Last September I went outside the Bay and did my 100 mile/24 hour qualifying sail figuring I better get that out of the way before I invested a lot of time and money in prepping the boat.  Thus started a 9 month project of research, buying stuff, emailing and organizing to be able to race starting June 5, 2015
Another wicked cold, icy, snowy winter put the kibosh on doing any kind of work on the boat until about March, hence the title of this post.  Following is a list of most, but not all that has been done this spring.

Starting last fall at the Annapolis Boat show I bought an EPIRB; the boat show price with rebates was only about $75 more than what it would have cost me to rent and pay overnight shipping fees for the time period I needed it; a no-brainer decision.  I also bought some Navisafe back-up LED nav lights.  Excellent product!
Then in October I ordered new sails from Chesapeake Sailmaker in Annapolis as well as had then make up some canvas work for the boat. (roll up cloth doors so I could take the teak doors of the head and V-berth, lee cloth for sleeping in the main cabin settee, and weather cloths for the cockpit with my race number.
After the rig was pulled and the boat shrink wrapped for the winter (highly recommend this as it keeps the snow off, as well as leaves and debris!) the rigger came and did an inspection and came up with an action plan for the spring.
I helped keep the economy rolling w/ multiple purchases from various marine chandlers especially DEFENDER.
I then:
Removed the old POS traveler, installed the new Lewmar traveler
Removed the end caps from the boom and found some corrosion as well as the fact that two of the bolt holes were completely torn out of the end of the boom from a crash jibe the previous owner had. That necessitated having the rigger cut 1/2" off the forward end of the boom and me drilling new holes to attached the end fitting.
Replaced the VHF cable....  more on THAT later. Replaced the VHF antenna!
Replaced the steaming/deck light that was wonky and the deck light never worked.
Replaced the wonky stern light with an LED light.  Another job that got bigger and bigger.  Also resulted in the only piece of varnished teak on the exterior of the boat!
Having previously replaced most of the running rigging over the past 2 years I replaced the reefing lines, vang sheet and furling line.
Installed the new VHF radio w/ AIS and internal GPS that I bought last year but hadn't installed.(also, more on that later!)
Bought an ATN Galesail Storm Jib from Bacon Sails in Annapolis and had the sailmaker add an International Orange patch to the all white sail.
Went back to Bacon's and bought a "chicken chute", a flat cut 1.5 oz. spinnaker that's a little smaller than normal for use in higher wind conditions in case I get ballsy.
Also found a great waterproof bag at Bacon's to use as an Abandon Ship bag.  Or hopefully to NEVER use.
New blocks for the base of the mast to lead lines aft.
Lots of AMSTEEL on sale at APS to make soft shackles of various sizes
A new PLASTIMO MOB module (inflatable pole w/ light and safety gear you throw over the side if someone falls overboard.)  Again, hopefully to NEVER use.
A new DSC enabled handheld VHF.
Fabricated a G10 wedge to hold the batteries in place
Bought 4 new double clutches and 2 single clutches to replace the 10 single clutches on my cabin top.
Bought a "Q" flag and a Bermuda courtesy flag.
Registered with Customs and Border Patrol and got the sticker so I can clear back into the US easier.
Reserved a liferaft
Reserved a Satphone
Borrowed a whole flare/smoke bomb kit from my buddy George along w/ some other goodies

All of this obviously took lots of time to research, buy, take to the boat and install.
So that leads us to mid May.  And a rotating list of NUMBER 1 PROBLEMS.  This is not good because we're leaving for Newport RI in  less than a week.  I need to get the boat there, come home and work a week before going back to Newport for the race inspection and pre race stuff.

NUMBER ONE PROBLEM  (Part one)  The VHF doesn't work.  Okay, must be one of the crimp on connectors I put on.  Nope, they all test fine.  But why do I receive weather stations, but can't hear or talk?  Ask my dock mate Scott.  We put our heads together and figure out it MUST be the connector up at the antenna.  Up the mast I got with Carol grinding the winch to raise me 50' in the air.  Seems all right but I remake it to be certain. Try out the emergency antenna and it works so the radio isn't the problem.  More muddling about.  Get another buddy to crank me up the mast.  Finally call in a pro.  Decide to pull the cable and solder a connector on.  UP the mast I go.  I pull about 2' of the cable out of the mast and go AWWWW   $&*@&^%$(*#&$^!      We're leaving in LESS than a week!

Seems that back in January when I pulled the new cable while the mast was on the rack I used the existing cable, taped the new cable to the end and pulled it through.  Then, because it was winter and nasty I left just a little bit of the OLD cable sticking out of the top of the mast and the NEW cable still taped to it INSIDE the mast so it wouldn't be out in the icy, snowy, wintry crap for 2 months without a connector.  Then in March when I got some connectors and the guys in the yard told me what to do, I went back to install them and walked up, crimped the connector on the cable at the top of the mast, plugged it in and was done.  NOT! Never did pull the short piece of cable out and get to the NEW cable...  ugh.


NUMBER 1 PROBLEM   (part two)

This past Wednesday I went back to the boat (3 time in 6 days) and went out for a solo sail in gusty wind to try out some gear.  Had a blast then went back to the dock to pick up crew for the weekly race.  Wind was mid teens so we were seeing high teens Apparent Wind Speed going upwind.  On a starboard tack I happen to look down and see a crack about a millimeter wide  at the aft end of the turning block that WASN'T THERE BEFORE!  When we tacked it closed up and just the usual gelcoat crazing was present.  Tacked back and it opened up again.  #$)%&*)$%T*)$(*%!   
So first thing Thursday morning I go find JB, the yard manager and tell him what's going on.  He sends his fiberglass guru, Josh down to take a look but tells me I have to do the prep work b/c they're behind schedule.  So 31 years after I swore I'd never grind fiberglass again... I'm grinding the gelcoat off and prepping it for glass work. Things are progressing quickly and it doesn't appear the glass is cracked.  This will be an easy fix and will be done in a couple of days.  We're still leaving in LESS than a week!

NUMBER 1 PROBLEM (part three)
The sailmaker still hasn't delivered my new mainsail.  The new jib looks and sails great.  I see him at the marina this morning and ask if he has my new main.  It's supposed to ship TUESDAY from S. Africa.  TUESDAY!!!!  I was supposed to have it a month ago.  ARRRGHHHHHHH!


Here are a few pics...

The new traveler.

Removing the old clutches.

The new clutches in place!

Nice corrosion and torn out hole... The rigger lopped off that much of the boom.

My G10 block to lock the battery in place.

My new "chicken" chute.

Storm Jib.  Actually works really well in about 20 knots AWS.  Hopefully I won't have to have it live up to its name!

Gelcoat ground off.  No cracks in the glass thankfully.

I then used some Vinylester putty to fair out the pad and soften the transition to the deck to eliminate stress cracks.

Summer Racing and more

Summer 2014

So after racing to Bermuda on WIDOWMAKER and spending a few fun days at the villa George rented we returned home to the realization that we were woefully behind in our training for RAGBRAI  (www.ragbrai.com) the 400+ mile bike ride across Iowa w/ 20,000+ of your closest bike riding friends.  We had been training since April to prepare and now after being gone for 2.5 weeks we needed to get back on the bikes.  And we only had 3 weeks to go.

In the meantime, the third series of races had started and we were doing pretty well in the Non Spin class.  It usually boils down to us and our friends on CARIBBEAN MAGIC, a sister ship to WIDOWMAKER, as to who gets first.  They are much faster but owe me time.  Interestingly, one light air night I was right on their heels as we rounded the first mark and slowwwwwllllllyyyyy  started reaching for the finish line.  We actually beat them boat for boat by 2 seconds.  The whole way down that leg both crews were making smart@$$ comments back and forth teasing each other, all the while providing comic relief to the folks on the committee boat who could hear every word in the still night air.  That leg was so slow I think any decent swimmer could have beaten us!

But Off to IOWA and 25,000 of our closest bike riding buddies!

 TEAM TABOR ready to take on RAGBRAI; all 418 miles!

Just one of the many unusual scenes greeting us as we rode into yet another town!

  Ever been in a BIKE traffic jam?

 PIE!   Lots of pie.  I ate 9 pieces plus some shortcake.  And let's not forget the homemade ice cream!
 
Okay, nice break, back to sailing!  The Maryland Yacht Club Challenge Cup was approaching and as the defending Non/Spin champs we were psyched for the race.  Unfortunately the wind Gods conspired against us.  As in the wind was almost non-existent by the time we approached the first mark although we were leading most of the boats as evidenced by this picture.

Our nemesis, CARIBBEAN MAGIC took first and a last minute entry MOLTOBENE took second.  Amazing was several more feet of waterline will do for your boat speed.  Oh well.  We had a revenge on CM a few weeks later when we not only beat them boat for boat for the second time, but by 2:31!
And we did win the Fall Series even if it was b/c the last race was cancelled and thus there was no "throw out" race.  That meant that by showing up for every race and not missing one we had a better score than our main competition.  Sometimes it really is about being there.

We also had an unpleasant experience in a fundraising race that we've done 3 times on this boat and crewed on WHARF RAT three other times.  Finished second but got protested for flying a double headsail in the Non/Spin division.  Told "that's the way it's always been" and "it's always been *understood* you don't fly two headsails".    HUH?  Gee, it wasn't in the Sailing Instructions.  And if it's not in the SI's then it isn't legal.
Very ugly situation where they wanted us to take 4th instead of 2nd (so the other local boats would place).  I told them we get 2nd or you boot us out, but it's up to you to figure out how to do that.
Then they wanted us to SHARE 2nd place.  They finally decided to let the standings as we finished, but then we get booed while getting our crappy little second place plaque.   So much for being a gentlemanly sport.

The last race of the season we raced Spinnaker and didn't do badly but could have done better.  It was a nice blustery fall day and one of my club members was out sailing and took this pic of us which Carol has since redone in watercolor.

AND now for the big news:  

DIANTHUS will be racing in the Bermuda 1-2 this June.  That's single-handed from Newport RI to Bermuda, a week to recuperate and then Double handed racing back to Newport.   www.bermuda1-2.org

As part of this I needed to do a qualifying sail of at least 100 miles and at least 24 hours on the open ocean.
So in early September I left and sailed/motored down the bay.  A frontal system was going to pass through bringing some good wind and my goal was to ride that out to a weather buoy 64 miles East of Va Beach and then turn around and sail back.  After getting a decent night's sleep in Cape Charles City I left and by 9am had passed through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel channel and was heading out to sea. Wind was about 17 knots or so just forward of the beam and waves about 4-5, sometimes 6 feet.  Even reefed down the boat was making 7-8 knots and handling things well.

 Making 7+ down the bay flying the symmetrical solo!

While the Asyms are easily to handle, I love the way this sail looks and flies.

About an hour after passing the CBBT on the way out to sea.  
 

NOAA buoy 44014, my turning point on the qualifying sail.

Here is a short video from about 6 hours into that passage.

The sail was a success although as I re-entered the bay the next day the wind was just dying out completely.  I then spent the rest of that day and the next motoring up to just south of Annapolis with a stop in Reedville to spend the night.  After another night on the hook I motored back to Rock Creek.  After cleaning up the boat, Carol came over and we fulfilled our duties as Race Committee that night.  All in all a VERY busy 6 days of working on the boat and sailing.  Between down the bay, out to sea and back up the bay I put 410 miles on the boat single handing.


And THAT wraps up 2014....













 

OPB: June Delivery to Newport

ANOTHER YEAR . . .
               Has passed and I've not updated the blog!

It started off busy and got busier.  First I had the usual Spring rush to get things done on the boat.  Then in June Carol, me and another couple took George Bauer's boat WIDOWMAKER (C&C 44) to Newport RI to position it for the Newport Bermuda race.  We left on Friday the 13th and promptly sailed through a short summer squall just north of the Bay Bridge.

Notice the Sh!t eating grin on my face!

Then we passed through the C and D canal arriving in the Delaware Bay late Friday night. Dark as all get out and LOTS of shipping traffic to watch out for.  Morning dawned blustery and we headed up the Jersey coast.  The forecast was for the wind to slowly subside but it kept blowing 18 to 22 knots the whole next night.  Made for an interesting sail up to NYC.  As planned we made our approach to New York Harbor in the daylight hours but then had several hours to kill so we could make our passage up the East river w/ the tide.

In the meantime we took advantage of the layover to check out the Statue of Liberty, the new World Trade Center, Brooklyn Bridge and went as far up the Hudson as the GW bridge.  We also got a few up close and personal looks at the Staten Island Ferries that DO NOT YIELD to other traffic.

This pic of a buoy will give you an idea of just how fast the current is ripping down the Hudson.  

We finally headed up the East river and out past Throg's Neck.

The skipper tactfully decided everyone could use a good night's sleep and was going to anchor out, when the light bulb blinked and I called City Island Yacht Club to see about a transient mooring for the night. SCORE!  For $40 bucks we got a mooring, free use of the showers and facilities and we even walked into town and had a really good breakfast.  Then it was off to Newport.  Bright sunny day, but not a lot of wind so we motorsailed out Long Island Sound.

Motored through the night and then had a grey, chilly, overcast and slightly misty sail from abeam Block Island into Newport harbor making fast to the dock in bright sun.
Our intrepid crew:  Rick, Lori, Carol and me.

Next up after getting the boat all cleaned up and ready to race was the 2014 Newport/Bermuda race.  Almost 170 boats in over a dozen classes race w/ the start taking place just off Castle Hill Light.

ARRRGGGGHHHHH!

Sometimes I REALLY hate racing.  And I really hate going sailing and having a frustrating experience.  In fact it's been almost three weeks now and I'm just getting around to posting what happened the last time out.

So, between foul weather, the cruise on the Bay and life in general I had missed a couple of Wed night races.  Took 2nd in one, got a bullet in the other.  I knew a bunch of other NonSpin boats were missing races and being the competitive person I am I wanted to do well and win the fall series.  (and the $10,000,000 first prize that goes with it!)
So on a light air night me and two of my lady crew started.  The wind was about 6-7 knots at the start. Maybe.  And dropping.  Within about 20 min. the Race Committe announced they were shortening the course.  Right after that the only other N/S boat dropped out.  I was bound and determined to finish the course because then we'd get credit for the race, plus I was letting Lori helm for the race and she was all excited.
We finally get around the windward mark and are making slow (very slow), but steady progress downwind.  All the spin boats pass us, it's dark but moving as we are we'll make the time limit. 
And then we start slowing down.   1.1 knots.   1 knot.  0.9.    0.5.   Until we stop. Completely dead in the water.  0.0 Speed over Ground.  Not even moving w/ the current.  Or at least not enough to even register on the GPS.  We sit there, 50 yards from the pin end of the finish line staring at the buoy while the 2 hour time limit expires.   The RC even gave us a few extra minutes hoping we'd make it across.  Nope.
Two hours of racing and .... nada.

Well, not true.  Lori had a blast steering, Wendy enjoyed getting out on the water, we found out just how little wind it takes to move the boat and we saw THIS SUNSET.

Ayyy, they'll be another race... And I did find that I won the tie breaker to take the fall series so all is good!

Ahhh, September Sailing

September is one of my favorite months.  While I have mixed feelings about the month because fall is starting to set in which means cold weather approaching, it also provides some of the best sailing weather.  Warm days, cool nights, decent wind, usually NO thunderstorms like July and August on the Bay.  And it reminds me of my days in college and right after graduation when I'd often find myself sitting down by the sailing center looking out over the river as the sun set.

So with that background information here's what Carol and I did last week.  While we have daysailed a lot and even overnighted on our boat and others we had not taken a lengthy trip just cruising.  In fact, other than a week I spent in the Spanish Virgins with some sailing buddies I had never cruised before; it's always been racing or a delivery.  So with a week's worth of vacation and a great weather forecast....off we went.

Friday the 13th was the first day of our cruise.  (Yes we set out on a Friday and on the 13th; talk about tempting fate!)  We sailed down to our friend's Rick and Lori's house outside Annapolis and tied up on their mooring ball and had CRABS!  Rick catches them and puts them in his floating box till he gets enough for  a real meal.  Saturday the four of us took off in the NASS Race to Oxford with 130 some other boats.

Just a few of the spinnakers flying down the Bay.  Wharf Rat is the blue spinny at the far left and WIDOWMAKER is the white spin w/ the spider.  Two Naval Acad. boats w/ their blue and gold spins.




This was our first venture into spinnaker racing in PHRF B.  Needless to say we did not place well but we had a great time, flew the Red, White and Blue spinny and even did a gybe and takedown flawlessly; somewhat of a surprise given that we were shorthanded and the ladies were not schooled in spinnaker 101.

 Carol on the wheel, Rick trimming and Dave contemplating!



Here's a pic that our friends at SPINSHEET took of us unbeknownst to us.

So we get to Oxford, raft up w/ our friends on WHARF RAT and WIDOWMAKER, two boats I've previous served as bowman on for offshore and Chesapeake racing.  Fun time had by all!  And unlike some past Oxford races the party on shore was pretty tame.
Sunday we set sail heading south.  This was our only day in 9 days of cruising where we had to beat to windward.  Reedville was out of the question so we put into Solomon's and anchored out for the night.

Monday we took off under gray skies, the only day all week that looked sorta ominous.  Felt a dozen or so raindrops but never got wet.  Being as the wind was almost right on our arse and we couldn't keep the jib or the asym full going DDW, we finally went w/ just the main.  Even then we were almost never below 6.5 knots SOG since we caught the ebb tide.
Part of the reason for our visit to Reedville was to look as some property.  Neat lot, lots of shoreline but not so neat house.  We did tie up to their dock for the night so that was cool.  I also discovered the source of the water in the bilge that had been bugging me for the past week; the packing gland needed tightening and so Tuesday morning we put into Jennings Boatyard and Charlie fixed the problem right away.  (My wrenches just weren't big enough)  Or maybe I wasn't muscled enough...

Anyway, that issue dealt w/ off we went heading to Deltaville.   Now Deltaville was, and somewhat still is a HUGE Boatbuilding town.  Several marinas and yards and a mix of power and sail boats.  We sprung for the nightly docking fee at Deltaville Marina and borrowed their one speed bikes to ride into town.  First stop West Marine b/c you always need something there and then off to dinner at The Galley.  Or at least that was the plan.  We hadn't ridden very far when first Carol's chain popped off the rear wheel, then mine.  And thus started the dance; we'd pedal a ways, a chain would pop off, we'd coast to a stop, hop off, put it back on and pedal some more.  Oy Vey.

Wednesday we hooked up w/ a realtor and went looking at property; saw some neat houses, but they really didn't FLOAT OUR BOAT so to speak.  To say nothing of the fact DIANTHUS wouldn't have floated in the shallow water either!  Finally we shoved off about 2:30 and started sailing.  Sorta.  The wind was light but steady and as evening approached we were moving along nicely if slowly.  Carol made yet another tasty meal as evidenced below.

The moon came up and it was such a nice night I decided to keep on sailing right past the Great Wicomico river and Reedville.

Carol caught some Zzzzzzs for a few hours and then joined me after midnight.  We eventually made our way back to the Solomon's and anchored out just down from where we had a few days earlier.  And fell into our bunk at 5:15am!
After catching a few hours sleep and pumping out our new holding tank which was almost full, and a quick trip to the Calvert Marine Museum and West Marine (see the pattern here?) as well as smoothies from Roy Rogers, we stopped in to see Clark @ Quantum sails to discuss how I can spend lots of Boat Units.  

Departing Solomons Thur afternoon we cleared Drum Point and headed north.  Being daring, and since the wind was too far aft to fly the asym we put up the RWB spinny.  By ourselves.  Made nice time up the Bay and saw another gorgeous sunset and moonrise.  And just the two of us did a takedown w/o even getting the kite wet! 

Thursday night we anchored outside the entrance to Herrington Harbour South in Rose Haven, an area I knew very well from sailing there w/ my sailing club over the past years.   And just the spot to anchor out and watch the HHS 4th of July fireworks.  Slept in, and then had the bright idea to motor into the marina, borrow the key to the head that our friend George keeps on his boat and freshen up w/ a shower.  Sure felt good!
Eventually we headed north to Annapolis w/ the idea of catching up w/ friends but they were busy.  Called Rick and Lori to have them meet us in town but they had a better idea; come on back to theire house and have more crabs!  Plus two other couples were coming that we knew.  Cool! More the merrier.  So back we went for more crabs. 

Saturday was blustery and we had a short sail back to our marina so we just used the jib and made decent time.   Final tally was 310 miles over 9 days and about 14 hours on the engine, most of which was going in and out of anchorages.  All told we probably only motor-sailed about 3-4 hours the entire week.

Carol and I both agreed w/ needed another week.  But alas, work awaited me on Sunday; for Carol on Monday.  

RACING:

Oh the highs and lows.  Earlier this year (see previous posts on Excuses) I raced and sailed too long a course thus costing myself a few places in the Wednesday night race.  Over the course of July and into August I was much better, even beating out a faster boat on corrected time. In fact I did well enough that I won the 3rd series of Wednesday night races.  July and August sailing is usually pretty crappy; hot, little or no wind but the Wednesday night races have generally been pretty nice.

Two weeks ago was the MARYLAND YACHT CLUB CHALLENGE.  MYC is just down the creek from my marina and they ran a pursuit style race where everyone starts at different times based on your handicap rating for the length of the course.  Slow boats start first, fastest boat last; the idea being that theoretically everyone would finish together.
Rick and Lori were crewing for me and while the skipper almost blew the start and was 10 seconds late for our start time we sailed a good race and held off a late charge upwind and a dying, shifting breeze to take the gun for the NonSpin class.  Only we didn't get the "gun".  The RC didn't realize we were the first NS boat to finish and gave the gun to Caribbean Magic!  


Regardless, that Friday night was the dinner and I got a nice shelf ornament.  We even got a nice write-up in the Capital Gazette.



Then Saturday was the Boatyard Bar and Grill Regatta to benefit CRAB.  72 boats were entered in the various classes and SPIN/NONSPIN.   With George, Bob and Shawn as crew we had a splendid day on the water and finished a respectable 14/42.  Sailed back that evening and rode the flood tide from the Bay Bridge all the way to Sparrows Point.  Beautiful evening, moon rising over the Eastern Shore and a fast ride.
65 miles total for the day.  Phewww!

PROJECTS

Winter projects.  Well, the fact that it's the end of August and I'm just now posting this should tell you that I've either been A) REALLY busy  or B) really lazy  or C) both.  Actually, now it's already September but I started this post in August.  See, I told you I was busy!

So when DIANTHUS was built it wasn't a problem to have a thru hull that threads onto a ball valve.  However that does not meet ABYC  standards and I really didn't feel comfortable w/ this arrangement so I removed the three in the V-Berth and replaced them w/ brand new GROCO thru hulls and ball valves mounted on a G10 fiberglass disc I epoxied into place to spread the load.  Looks like THIS:

Now I'm in the process of putting in a holding tank to replace the bladder the boat came with.


And to make it easier to access the sink drain seacock and offshore flush valve I cut an access door that I am in the process of trimming out and putting a door on.

Meanwhile I bought new VPC halyards and spliced them myself.  

Did the same on some spin sheets too. Like so:

The yard put on a MISEA Led Tricolor/anchor light which will use a lot less battery power and is wayyyy more visible.  I also had them wire up the engine hour meter I installed as well as the battery monitor.  When you only have 190 Ah's of juice you need to keep an eye on how much you use!

Come spring time Carol and I compounded and waxed the hull one nice April Saturday.

Life wasn't all work and no play.  We did find time to go to Rob Floyd's Annual Sock Burning Party which takes place around the Vernal Equinox.

This is a particularly "Annapolis" like tradition.  Time to burn those smelly socks you were forced to wear all winter b/c it was COLD and now that spring has sprung you can go back to being sockless.
Of course some of us always wear socks.  Just the way I am.