August 22 - A Ripping Good Sail, or, Anybody NOAA good
forecaster???

We left you as I took over the dawn patrol, what we call the
shift for the one who gets to see the dawn. I was able,
eventually, to catch a relay on the Maritime Mobile Net on the
Ham radio, but signals are horrible in general, it seems What
little I heard of the net traffic control suggested there were no
checkins. As this is usually a very active net, that would mean
that not only were others not hearing him, but if they were
talking, he couldn't hear them - certainly, I couldn't...

Sailing started extremely slowly, with winds just a zephyr. All
the canvas out, and still we crept along, well out to sea. Then,
a breeze. Hooray. More than 3 knots on the meter! Oops. More
breeze. But right on our nose. Staysail doesn't seem very
effective at that angle, so we put it away. Up goes the speed on
the knotlog. Hooray!

Lydia goes to bed, and I take over. All the forecasts, not only
all the ones from NOAA and all the other sources such as weather
underground, virtual bouy and bouyweather that I'd pulled down on
our internet connections right up until just before we left, and
on the radio as we went along, were for winds to be in the 10-15
knot range, dying later. Some inland thunderstorm warnings were
heard over the weather channel, but hundreds of miles away (and
inland). No comment about the water parts of the coverage area
(other than the Chesapeake, and Delaware Bays, with 1 foot
waves), other than a chance of rain. Sounds like a really nice
sail.

And, initially, it was. The wind shifted altogether, requiring a
tack in toward shore, but it was very short-lived, turning around
nearly completely, and making another tack required. That should
have given me a clue.

When I tacked, the lazy sheet fouled on the Porta-Bote (our
folding dinghy), stowed on the rail. I saw that there was some
rain in the radar, so hurried and I put on my harness and clipped
in and not only unfouled, so we could tack and keep going, but
took the time and reattached the dinghy and the rowing sculls (10'
carbon fiber oars) I have for that boat. Fortunately, this wind
change and tack was such that it put us right on our course on a
rather close reach, and the breeze made it into double digits,
which produced a nice speed. If this keeps up, we'll make Sandy
Hook by Tuesday evening, a quick trip, indeed.

Hm. Now it's picking up, again. No problem. Getting up to 15
knots with our 110% genoa and full main will be a very nice sail.
Oops. Now it's raining. Waves are building. Still no problem;
Flying Pig muscles through all of them, if a bit squirrelly, what
with the angle of the waves.

But wait. It gets better. Now it's thunderstorms, and the wind
continues to build. No problem - this sail configuration can
easily take20 knots, and if it gets over 15, it will be just for
a tiny while, all the forecasts say. I'm in my foulies and
comfortable. It's just a squall, the wind will die down
completely, and we'll be stuck in the doldrums again.

Nice try. Think, instead, that it keeps going up. The gusts reach
over 20. Then the steady winds get over 25. Hm. Time to shorten
sail. Pull in the genoa on the furler, only, because it's so
godawful out there, with waves on the order of 8-10 feet and
confused, that Lydia refuses to let me go take in a reef on the
main. She goes back to bed and I continue on main alone.

Wind continues to build, waves, too, and the main isn't very
effective at these speeds and angle of sail. My friend Captain
Joe would call this a 5-ticket ride. We got our money's worth,
but, while I was ok, I knew that this motion was misery for
Lydia, and I didn't see any end to it, as it just kept building.
While it was exhilarating to see 7 and 8 on the knotlog, we were
being beaten up. And, lest there be misunderstanding, Lydia was
not seasick, having had not only the first patch, but a refresher
before going down to sleep. She just wanted to get back on with
her sleeping, as it was my watch.

So, 30 miles past Cape May, I turned around in winds reaching for
30 knots and gusting well over, and headed for shelter to rest
and let it blow itself out. Instead, it blew out the mainsail,
with a rip the entire length of the foot just below the first
reef. Fortunately, we'll be able to continue on a single reef,
but it will be a nuisance to have to repair it, whether we do it
with our machine, or have a sailmaker in the NY area do it for
us.

The 5-ticket ride has made the rigid inflatable dinghy look like
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This is a somewhat new product, from Walker
Bay, and the rigid material doesn't allow the addition of, which
would allow, well-spaced lifting points as would be the case in a
fiberglass rigid inflatable. So, we use a lifting strap.
Unfortunately for the dinghy, this strap puts pressure under the
seats, and the bouncing and flailing, despite our having very
tightly cross-strapped it, caused one of the dinghy seats to take
flight, and the other to hang on by one attachment point. We'll
have to figure out some other means of suspension, as this one
clearly doesn't work. In the meantime, the remaining seat is off
the dinghy and on the boat.

So, we make it into Cape May and manage to anchor after our first
attempt drags; one of the other boats there wound up reanchoring
just as our first attempt failed, too, so I didn't feel so bad,
especially since they were already anchored when we motored in.
In 10 feet of water, with 100 feet of chain on the 55# Delta
however, we're well stuck. In the harbor, it's still raining, but
not torrentially, as it did offshore, and the wind is only 15-20,
making for just a whoosh from the KISS, which had positively
howled out on the Atlantic at 30-35 knots. The good news was that
we were also getting 25-30 amps from it. However, I digress.

Of course, cold and wet, and having had nothing to eat in the
last 15 hours, the first thing I think of is a cup of coffee and
a munchie. What? The water isn't coming out of the tap?? The
pump's running.

What? The forward, huge, tank, is empty?? Do we have a leak? Or,
does the pump have a problem, and we just forgot how long it's
been since we filled the water tank (Beaufort, a very long time
ago, it feels like!)? That's my task for the afternoon, when I
really wanted to get some sleep, having had none in about 30
hours.

So, we lick our wounds, and while I tackle the problem areas and
let more satellite pix come down, Lydia jumps in the dinghy (her
"sports car") and goes exploring. For those who get her log, you
know that resulted in her getting drunk in Norfolk. Who knows
what adventures she'll find this time! (See below for resolution
on these two.)

Once the weather settles down (I have not yet explored that
reality - and I've learned, more than once, not to trust NOAA, so
I don't fully know how we'll determine that), we'll head back
out, under single reef, to Sandy Hook. It should be a one-day
sail, at a very leisurely pace, given that we looked like we'd
arrive this evening when we were only opposite Ocean City, MD at
6PM when I checked in on the net. However, as I type, the wind is
howling. I have little doubt that outside the harbor, it's still
miserable, so, assuming we can address the water issue, we'll
stay here for a while.

Meanwhile, in Coinjock, I got the right belts for the engine, and
did the alignment when I put it on. So far, so good, with only
the tiniest adjustment in the first 40 or so hours of running,
and the pulleys look straight, still (you could easily see the
misalignment in it previously). Other misadventures include a
flaky water temperature unit, some annoying tiny leak, still, in
the raw-water pump area causing dripping into the engine
catch-pan, and the very weird behavior of the inverter, which
seems to not only require a strangely large load to operate, but
an occasional reboot (switch off and back on - D'ya suppose
Microsoft made it??) in order to function. However, it's how I'm
online right now, so at least it's working to that degree. All
other systems seem in good order, so our normal (boats are
constant maintenance, and things wear out, which, despite a clean
bill of health from the last patch occasioned from our wreck, may
be the problem here, not just excessive wind), ongoing
adventures will surely included some form or maintenance or
replacements.

As I write this, the weather reports suggest a wind speed and
direction which would permit a reasonable sail up tomorrow, so we'll
continue to monitor the forecast, and likely will be gone and out
of touch again, assuming it stays good. However, it's only about
a day's sail (28 or so hours from the inside of the Cape May
Harbor to inside of Sandy Hook), so we won't be gone long...

Epilogue:

Both water tanks are empty. Last night we dinghy'd in and filled
the 6-gallon jug for washing, and showered in the local marina
facility. Lydia had thought that someone turned off her water in
Beaufort because she was overflowing, but it seems that it was
only because she wasn't standing there watching it. So, we got
only a partial tank. We'll fuel and water before the end of the
day, which will resolve that issue.

When Lydia went ashore and I caught up on the weather and other
chores, as usual, Lydia immediately befriended the first person
she saw, who, in this case, was feeding some cats outside a
restaurant. Well, kittens...

The short story is that the restaurant has become a dropoff point
for the locals, it seems, because the person and her mother were
very successful in placing them in new homes. The most recent
dropoff was a mother and a couple of kittens. Some sort of
domestic problem, they were house, not feral cat/kitties, but the
kittens had clearly been neglected and were teacup sized about a
week ago. However, this one (well, both, but this is the one
which came back with Lydia) has responded wonderfully to
treatment. She's also extremely affectionate, and it took 24
hours for her to stop purring nonstop, she was so pleased to have
someone to look after her, and not have to be out in the very
cold wind and rain.

A pet aboard isn't appropriate for umpteen reasons, but Lydia is
now trying to rationalize/come to grips with how it might work to
keep her. We have yet to see a flea, and she doesn't scratch, but
she's not been to a vet as far as the sponsor was aware. Her coat
is extraordinarily sleek, perhaps from all the petting, but is
clearly healthy. Not the first bit of white on her...

So, we'll be putting out feelers for how other cruisers have
managed leaving the boat for periods of time, international
travel and other niceties of having pets aboard in other than
home waters.

The excitement never stops.

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC


See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power
to make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in
its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:53:22 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote:

30 miles past Cape May, I turned around in winds reaching for
30 knots and gusting well over, and headed for shelter to rest
and let it blow itself out.

Good move, congratulations. Take your time, Cape May is an
interesting old town.

No comment about the water parts of the coverage area
(other than the Chesapeake, and Delaware Bays, with 1 foot
waves), other than a chance of rain.

TWC doesn't do marine forecasts - you can only rely on the fact that
the weather is going to be coming east.
Instead, it blew out the mainsail,
with a rip the entire length of the foot just below the first
reef.

We had the staysail rip at the top at a time when Bob didn't want to
go on deck to furl it. It was original equipment on the boat, and Bob
said it was dry rotted because the PO apparently didn't use it much.
We replaced it with a brand new (second hand, but still new) sail from
Bacons and made it a furling staysail and kept the self tending boom.
The 5-ticket ride has made the rigid inflatable dinghy look like
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This is a somewhat new product, from Walker
Bay, and the rigid material doesn't allow the addition of, which
would allow, well-spaced lifting points as would be the case in a
fiberglass rigid inflatable. So, we use a lifting strap.
Unfortunately for the dinghy, this strap puts pressure under the
seats, and the bouncing and flailing, despite our having very
tightly cross-strapped it, caused one of the dinghy seats to take
flight, and the other to hang on by one attachment point. We'll
have to figure out some other means of suspension, as this one
clearly doesn't work. In the meantime, the remaining seat is off
the dinghy and on the boat.

Something very similar happened to us and I do not trust NOAA
forecasts unless I have some corroborative data. When we go offshore
other than just long from one inlet to the next, we listen to
Southbound II on the SSB. This is what I wrote at the time.

April 16
Winds were forecast to be 15-20 knots decreasing to 10 with 2 foot
waves. We could deal with that. But, when we got out into the bay, it
was indeed 20 knot winds, but instead of decreasing the winds got
stronger. Bob cooked bacon for himself for breakfast, which made me
nervous because I thought he would burn himself.

Later, I saw one gust up to 31 knots. And the waves got bigger and
bigger and were very close together. I estimate 8 feet [Note - in the
Chesapeake we have square waves especially when the wind is in
opposition to the tide - not like out in the ocean]. We were only
doing about 2 knots over the ground against the wind. The boat was
rearing up, banging down into a wave trough and green water was
washing back with considerable spray back to the dodger. We had the
dinghy on the davits with the motor on it [Note - we had never had the
motor on the dinghy on the davits before, and never will again], and
the solar panel mounted on the brace between the davits. The solar
panel was torn off with the brace and disappeared which made the
dinghy bang around because the brace was gone. Bob kept having to go
back (clipped to jacklines) to re secure the dinghy.

Anyway, we had been going to go to the Windmill Resort (whose
answering machine message said they were open at 7, but I called them
on the phone at 7:20 and was on hold for 5 minutes and no one
answered), but I lobbied for going in the York River instead. So we
did. But it took us 4 hours to get into the York River enough for the
waves to decrease.

What? The forward, huge, tank, is empty?? Do we have a leak? Or,
does the pump have a problem, and we just forgot how long it's
been since we filled the water tank (Beaufort, a very long time
ago, it feels like!)? That's my task for the afternoon, when I
really wanted to get some sleep, having had none in about 30
hours.

One of the things on our starting checklist is to check the water and
fuel tanks.

Once the weather settles down (I have not yet explored that
reality - and I've learned, more than once, not to trust NOAA, so
I don't fully know how we'll determine that)

You listen to several different weather sources. You have the weather
faxes - you look at them to see if what they show is going to agree
with what NOAA says that you will get. Myself, I listen to NOAA and
TWC, but also the local TV broadcasts (we've got a TV antenna that
came with the boat from the PO, and also a DirectTV satellite which
works as long as we are in our home area)

My dear Skip,

I have responded to several of your posts yet no word from you. I will
offer another idea and hope you reply.

As I read this post I get the impression that NOAA is the red headed
step child who never does anythig right. My adivse to yo is to enjoy
the information. Why, cause mariners before yo did not have such a
luxury. Say thyan you to the NOAA people and send them alll a
christmas present


Bob who just got drunk with a Bosun 3rd class from east coast now
driving 47' motor boats on the west coast. Soon to go to surfboat
school. Anybody know Surfman Beth?

On Aug 23, 6:02 am, Bob wrote:
My dear Skip,

I have responded to several of your posts yet no word from you. I will
offer another idea and hope you reply.

As I read this post I get the impression that NOAA is the red headed
step child who never does anythig right. My adivse to yo is to enjoy
the information. Why, cause mariners before yo did not have such a
luxury. Say thyan you to the NOAA people and send them alll a
christmas present

Bob who just got drunk with a Bosun 3rd class from east coast now
driving 47' motor boats on the west coast. Soon to go to surfboat
school. Anybody know Surfman Beth?

Hi, Bob,

My apologies - on the water, I'm an equal-opportunity ignorer.
Actually, nobody's ignored - I just have very limited access and
worse, limited power with which to gain that access. Once we stop
moving so much it will get easier and you'll see more of the
interchange that used to be the norm once I open my digital mouth.

And, in general, this thread was just another of my log posts, not a
request for better weather. I know that you takes what you gets.

In this particular instance, just as was the case in our wreck's
journey, however, the system went to hell in a handbasket in a very
short period. This time, I turned around. I have no doubt that the
boat, under a double or triple reef main, sailing the weather rather
than the course, would have done just fine. However, when the Admiral
is adamant, I don't get into arguments. Since reefing (and its
attendant deck duty) was vetoed, I continued for a bit, but then
headed in.

I have not yet fired up the weather, but last night's forecast was
adequate for the Jersey coast. Unless it's deteriorated, we're off
again in just a little bit. Call it schedulitis, but I want to be in
NYC before dark, which means that going soon is a good idea, as it
should put us there in the early morning; the rest of the day
accommodates mother nature and Murphy fairly reasonably.

On which subject, how does anyone with a destination *NOT* have
"schedulitis" as defined in commentary on our travels? And isn't, as
it's defined, the very act of planning a voyage, a commission of the
sin? If not, how does one ever arrive anywhere, whether by accident
or because they just want to go there? I want to go to NY because
relatives live there. More will arrive. But if I'm not there on a
certain date, one will continue to be there as he has for the last 30+
years, and the other will enjoy his company. But somehow I'm taken to
task for looking forward to arriving...

I gotta go and do the pre-departures. I'll try to come back at some
of the myriad of prior commentary which begs response...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:59:17 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote:


On which subject, how does anyone with a destination *NOT* have
"schedulitis" as defined in commentary on our travels? And isn't, as
it's defined, the very act of planning a voyage, a commission of the
sin? If not, how does one ever arrive anywhere, whether by accident
or because they just want to go there? I want to go to NY because
relatives live there. More will arrive. But if I'm not there on a
certain date, one will continue to be there as he has for the last 30+
years, and the other will enjoy his company. But somehow I'm taken to
task for looking forward to arriving...

I've run across the "somebody is flying in" quandary countless times
in cruiser journals, and have no real answer for it. The closest I
can think of is to plan to be at a location at least a week before
guests arrive. But even that can fall prey to "The best laid plans"
syndrome, a malady especially common to sailors.

--Vic

On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:59:17 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote:

On which subject, how does anyone with a destination *NOT* have
"schedulitis" as defined in commentary on our travels? And isn't, as
it's defined, the very act of planning a voyage, a commission of the
sin?

Not at all. Planning where you want to go, and when you want to get
there are two different things. Unless you plan to continue taking
risks with your boat and safety, you've got to be more flexible with
the weather. If you head out and find unfavorable conditions, or
conditions start to deteriorate while your out there, it's time to
activate Plan B, Plan C, etc. This happens all too frequently and you
always need to have an alternative destination that you can reach in a
reasonable length of time. Sailing or motoring long distances to
windward is not something you want to be doing. It's tough on the
people, and tough on the boat and equipment.

We bailed out three times on our own trip north back in June. It
certainly cost time and distance but we never got over extended as a
result. As a fringe benefit we saw some very interesting places that
we would have missed otherwise. When the weather or sea conditions
hand you a lemon, make lemonade with it and enjoy. Discussions with
others about arrival times should always include "maybe", "probably",
"weather permitting", etc. Successful cruising is as much about
enjoying where you are as it is the enjoyment of getting some where.

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...
On which subject, how does anyone with a destination *NOT* have
"schedulitis" as defined in commentary on our travels? And isn't, as
it's defined, the very act of planning a voyage, a commission of the
sin? If not, how does one ever arrive anywhere, whether by accident
or because they just want to go there? I want to go to NY because
relatives live there. More will arrive. But if I'm not there on a
certain date, one will continue to be there as he has for the last 30+
years, and the other will enjoy his company. But somehow I'm taken to
task for looking forward to arriving...

I gotta go and do the pre-departures. I'll try to come back at some
of the myriad of prior commentary which begs response...


Skip, I think you're already well on the way to a cure by stating that you
will leave at a certain time "as long as the weather doesn't deteriorate."
Nothing wrong with having plans -- as long as plans don't overrule safety.
If the weather is good tomorrow, we'll sail and arrive at (blank) the next
day. If conditions are bad, we'll wait it out. If we have to wait a couple
of weeks, so be it.

So, 30 miles past Cape May, I turned around in winds reaching for
30 knots and gusting well over,
I check the buoy data for Cape May area, there was no 30 knot winds,
max was 20 with 6 ft seas,
so reality check: maybe it was 30 knot gust, and it was apparent wind.
The 10-15 doesn't include gusts and definitely doesn't include your
apparent wind.

Isolated storms not withstanding, NOAA does a pretty good job.
Last year I record the weather for the SE coast from Nov 5-Jan 5,
forecasts may have had the wind
direction off by up to 45 degrees and the strength off by 5 knots, but
other than that they were correct.

Sea stories are like fish stories....wind and waves get bigger every
time the story is told.
Tom

On Aug 23, 11:17 am, "KLC Lewis" wrote:
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message

oups.com...

On which subject, how does anyone with a destination *NOT* have
"schedulitis" as defined in commentary on our travels? And isn't, as
it's defined, the very act of planning a voyage, a commission of the
sin? If not, how does one ever arrive anywhere, whether by accident
or because they just want to go there? I want to go to NY because
relatives live there. More will arrive. But if I'm not there on a
certain date, one will continue to be there as he has for the last 30+
years, and the other will enjoy his company. But somehow I'm taken to
task for looking forward to arriving...

I gotta go and do the pre-departures. I'll try to come back at some
of the myriad of prior commentary which begs response...

Skip, I think you're already well on the way to a cure by stating that you
will leave at a certain time "as long as the weather doesn't deteriorate."
Nothing wrong with having plans -- as long as plans don't overrule safety.
If the weather is good tomorrow, we'll sail and arrive at (blank) the next
day. If conditions are bad, we'll wait it out. If we have to wait a couple
of weeks, so be it.


Cruising is boat repair in exotic locations...

I don't know that I'd consider Cape May exotic, but it's where we're
doing some boat repairs today instead of going out into OK weather,
because tomorrow looks even better.

And, all those times we were in marinas in the trip so far were, in
fact, just the making of lemonade. We've had some great times doing
what we're doing - and we're not in Sandy Hook yet :{))

Same old stuff on same old boats, new problems arise, and we deal with
them. We moved anchor to get closer to the action, and got better
internet for it, so I just got off an hour on the phone over the
Vonage VoIP which includes England in the base rate, talking with
Lydia's mom, who will be in NY on September 1 whether we're there or
not :{)) Lydia's off in the dink shipping a broken/non-functioning
instrument off for repair and getting supplies, and who knows what
she'll bring back this time (last time it was a cat, as seen in
another thread)...

Despite what it seems, we're not idiots nor do we have a death wish.
With an uninsured boat, we're, if anything, extra cautious. But we're
out here doing it, despite what is now, about 10 years of disbelief
from various quarters, with each stage having its new Thomases.

We continue to take counsel - it's one of the ways I got this far. I
don't take umbrage (or, at least, extraordinarily infrequently) - but
sometimes don't respond to some of the obvious stuff which we're
already doing, but which my reports sometimes suggest may not be
known, let alone exercised :{)) As seen, I'm not the least bit afraid
to make fun of myself and my foibles. If I couldn't, I'd be very
depressed at the various obstructions to smooth sailing which have
either arisen, or we've put in our way.

So, y'all keep on telling us what we should do, or should have done,
or might do in the future. We read it all, and absorb it. Lots of it
gets done...

And, I'll keep on posting about how I screwed up, or missed the
obvious, or overcame challenges - and, once in a while, when there's
no calamities to report, just comment on how we smelled the flowers :
{))

Gotta go fix stuff; then relax and get something to eat - too busy so
far today to do that, other than a cuppa.

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)