If you have seen a previous entry in the blog we recently tore our mainsail. While we are having a new one made we thought we would take the opportunity to haul our boat out of the water and bottom paint. At 12 noon Sept 24th I disembarked from Constitution Marina and headed over to Admiral's Hill Marina in Chelsea, MA. This was timed to coincide with high tide because the depths over there are not great. Actually, awful at low tide. I arrived and the service was fantastic. Bill the lift operator was very knowledgeable and helpful. We hauled Prairie Gold out of the water and put her on stands. Because we have had divers clean the bottom she was in good shape. Actually, if we hadn't hauled her she would have been fine until spring 2015. But because we couldn't sail we thought that we would use the time to clean and bottom paint so that she doesn't need to come out again until 2016 (hopefully). By 5pm bottom painting was finished. I must admit that I looked a little like a smurf afterwards but all is well. Tomorrow we can relaunch.
Also, Doyle sails has called and our new mainsail is ready for collection. Guess what I am doing this weekend?
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
A summary of around Cape Cod - an epic sail
I wrote a lot of entries in the live blog during our sail this past couple of days. Rather than rewriting (not my strength) I will post pictures and let them tell the story.
We left Boston at 6:35pm on Thursday 9/11/14 and headed east. The wind was predicted to follow us and make for great conditions. It did not disappoint.
After we left Boston we sailed SE with the wind initially from the SW. The wind turned to come from the north and assisted us all the way. Of course most of this was at night. But on Friday morning we were welcomed to a new day with a great sunrise. Rudy and I were both in the cockpit covered in blankets as it was getting chilly by 5am. But once the sun rose we warmed up quickly.
After we rounded the tip of Cape Cod ee headed south on the east side of Cape Cod mostly on a dead run. Near Chatham we were sailing on reefed mainsail alone. True winds were 25kts and the seas were building. It was glorious. We had a little trepidation about passing through the Pollack Rip Channel since we know it can be tough. However, we were to learn that was the easy part - today.
We gybed the main and it tore. The gybe was perfectly executed, we can only imagine that the sail life is over. We have put 10,000 miles on the boat and we take her out about 90 times a year. Probably the biggest wear and tear feature is the reefing into the mast. She has been a good sail. I called Yolande before I posted on the blog about this as I didn't want to hear from someone else or just to read it. Later she called back telling me we already had quotes and that Doyle sails would be able to help us quickly.
When the sail tore we quickly turned up into the wind and rode the bucking bronco. Rudy gallantly went out on deck, we unreefed and dropped the sail and used a dock line to tie it to the boom. See beneath.
With the situation now well under control we entered Pollack Rip Channel. Fortunately for us the conditions in the channel were perfect.
Once we had navigated through the channel we used autopilot to control our direction and determined if we could improvise another sail for the main. We have a 90% jib and we tried all sorts of configurations. Here you can see the sail hoisted with the toping lift, the tack attached to the deck with an improvised shackle attachment, and the clew attached to a block on the stern cleat using an old halyard that was relayed to the cabin top winch. Without cutting the length of the sail we couldn't get the luff sufficiently tight. Consequently we tried a couple of other configurations. In one of them we used the electric winch to raise the sail. It blew the fuses for all the electrics. Now remember, we are on autopilot, have hardly slept and are getting physically tired. We quickly scurried around, hand steered, sorted the fuses out and took stock of the situation. We decided that although there were other things we could try, we were getting tired and only making a poor situation worse. So we decided to sail with the 135% genoa only. It turned out to be a great decision - she is a work horse.
I went beneath and checked my tides and currents in Open CPN - after this trip I am a convert to this software - and we estimated we had until 7pm to get through the Woods Hole channel. Its not possible to fight against that current in a sailboat. So now we were focussed on the shortest safest journey and trimming our sail (singular) perfectly. We put the spinnaker on the deck ready for action in case we needed to try to get an extra knot or two, stowed the 90% jibsail. After sails were put away we decided it was time for an IPA and to put the fishing rod out. Soon thereafter we caught a nice bluefish which became our fresh dinner in Buzzards Bay. Things were looking up!
We made good time and managed to get the current in WoodsHole. Here is a buoy in the channel, as any of you know who have transited the Hole, we were close to slack current. We made it 10s of minutes before it turned against us.
We entered the Cape Cod Canal and did a steady 10 knots. Because the wind was low we decided that once past the Cape Cod Canal that we would anchor and sleep. Were we surprised, it was like a different climate when we arrived. The wind was from the NE and sending rollers in from the Atlantic. We close haul sailed up the MA coast and the wind grew and grew. Yolande's previous repairs of the 135% genoa held well (thank goodness). At one point in the night Rudy noticed that the waves were pulling the spinnaker out of the bag. He went on deck, recovered it and brought it back to the cockpit. As we were getting it into the safety of the cockpit a big wave hit and we both (Rudy more than I) got a full frontal shot of sea water. Thank goodness for our all weather gear.
A great vision at night was the sea water breaking and spraying over the bow and the red and green running lights making the water those colors.
Yolande and Rochelle made lee clothes for a previous trip. They worked beautifully in these conditions. We both managed to get some sleep while close hauled in 6 foot seas with 25kts of wind.
Here is one of our lee cloths installed on our starboard couch. It is fantastic. If you don't have one and sail overnight you need to make one. Well worth the effort. I know someone who can make them, or give you the plans.
The cockpit of Prairie Gold was the wettest I have experienced. Even with Dodger and Bimini we had water coming in with every wave. But we kept laughing and smiling and making comments such as "isn't this great", "this is life". I think we are both going to get checked out at the local clinic this week :)
Once we had returned to Boston, cleaned up, slept, oh and slept again we took a look at the mainsail on Sunday. Oops! Our order is being placed with Doyle Sails tomorrow and hoping for a fast manufacture so that we can get out and enjoy more journeys on Prairie Gold.
This can be classified as an epic journey, one I am glad to have taken. Its been my dream to do this trip non-stop. Rudy is a great person to sail with. He is a good friend, and very knowledgeable and calm in difficult situations. Its nice to have someone like that to share laughs, fears and fun times.
Stay tuned - we intend to bring Kalue down from Maine to Boston in late October (I am taking better clothing this time) which will be Phil and Rudy's great adventure Chapter 3. We are also planning a trip next year in which we have to break 200nm. This trip was only 197 nm. Any ideas for destinations? Nova Scotia? New York? Block Island on the outside returning through the canal? Anyone interested in joining us? Are you that crazy?
Time for bed as I am still tired.
We left Boston at 6:35pm on Thursday 9/11/14 and headed east. The wind was predicted to follow us and make for great conditions. It did not disappoint.
Leaving Boston
After we rounded the tip of Cape Cod ee headed south on the east side of Cape Cod mostly on a dead run. Near Chatham we were sailing on reefed mainsail alone. True winds were 25kts and the seas were building. It was glorious. We had a little trepidation about passing through the Pollack Rip Channel since we know it can be tough. However, we were to learn that was the easy part - today.
We gybed the main and it tore. The gybe was perfectly executed, we can only imagine that the sail life is over. We have put 10,000 miles on the boat and we take her out about 90 times a year. Probably the biggest wear and tear feature is the reefing into the mast. She has been a good sail. I called Yolande before I posted on the blog about this as I didn't want to hear from someone else or just to read it. Later she called back telling me we already had quotes and that Doyle sails would be able to help us quickly.
When the sail tore we quickly turned up into the wind and rode the bucking bronco. Rudy gallantly went out on deck, we unreefed and dropped the sail and used a dock line to tie it to the boom. See beneath.
Here is the sandy beech as we passed through the channel
Once we had navigated through the channel we used autopilot to control our direction and determined if we could improvise another sail for the main. We have a 90% jib and we tried all sorts of configurations. Here you can see the sail hoisted with the toping lift, the tack attached to the deck with an improvised shackle attachment, and the clew attached to a block on the stern cleat using an old halyard that was relayed to the cabin top winch. Without cutting the length of the sail we couldn't get the luff sufficiently tight. Consequently we tried a couple of other configurations. In one of them we used the electric winch to raise the sail. It blew the fuses for all the electrics. Now remember, we are on autopilot, have hardly slept and are getting physically tired. We quickly scurried around, hand steered, sorted the fuses out and took stock of the situation. We decided that although there were other things we could try, we were getting tired and only making a poor situation worse. So we decided to sail with the 135% genoa only. It turned out to be a great decision - she is a work horse.
Rudy checking if the new main is helping - it wasn't.
Here is the torn main in the saloon. At one point we had three sails down there. In addition to the torn mainsail we had the spinnaker and the 90% jib sail.
I went beneath and checked my tides and currents in Open CPN - after this trip I am a convert to this software - and we estimated we had until 7pm to get through the Woods Hole channel. Its not possible to fight against that current in a sailboat. So now we were focussed on the shortest safest journey and trimming our sail (singular) perfectly. We put the spinnaker on the deck ready for action in case we needed to try to get an extra knot or two, stowed the 90% jibsail. After sails were put away we decided it was time for an IPA and to put the fishing rod out. Soon thereafter we caught a nice bluefish which became our fresh dinner in Buzzards Bay. Things were looking up!
We made good time and managed to get the current in WoodsHole. Here is a buoy in the channel, as any of you know who have transited the Hole, we were close to slack current. We made it 10s of minutes before it turned against us.
The northern edge of the Hole
Looking back through the Hole
Sunset in Buzzards bay, still sailing.
A great vision at night was the sea water breaking and spraying over the bow and the red and green running lights making the water those colors.
Yolande and Rochelle made lee clothes for a previous trip. They worked beautifully in these conditions. We both managed to get some sleep while close hauled in 6 foot seas with 25kts of wind.
Here is one of our lee cloths installed on our starboard couch. It is fantastic. If you don't have one and sail overnight you need to make one. Well worth the effort. I know someone who can make them, or give you the plans.
The cockpit of Prairie Gold was the wettest I have experienced. Even with Dodger and Bimini we had water coming in with every wave. But we kept laughing and smiling and making comments such as "isn't this great", "this is life". I think we are both going to get checked out at the local clinic this week :)
In the early morning we hit 10,000 nm on Prairie Gold. Pity Yolande wasn't with us, but then again I imagine she was glad to be home warm and dry.
Once we had returned to Boston, cleaned up, slept, oh and slept again we took a look at the mainsail on Sunday. Oops! Our order is being placed with Doyle Sails tomorrow and hoping for a fast manufacture so that we can get out and enjoy more journeys on Prairie Gold.
Stay tuned - we intend to bring Kalue down from Maine to Boston in late October (I am taking better clothing this time) which will be Phil and Rudy's great adventure Chapter 3. We are also planning a trip next year in which we have to break 200nm. This trip was only 197 nm. Any ideas for destinations? Nova Scotia? New York? Block Island on the outside returning through the canal? Anyone interested in joining us? Are you that crazy?
Time for bed as I am still tired.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Phil and Rudys Adventure - Chapter 2 (read from bottom to top as this is a real-time entry)
10:07 am, Saturday: We return to Constitution Marina after accumulating 197nm without stop over 39.5 hours with an average speed of ~5 kts, 6 hours of sleep each, one blue fish, one destroyed mainsail and lots of fun stories. Now its time to sleep. Stay tuned for chapter 3 scheduled for live unrehearsed, non-stop acton commencing on October 24th 2014
Prairie Gold returns
6:35am - Prairie Gold just passes 10,000nm
Now 36h into trip and we have jet passed Minots ledge. Total elapsed miles in this non stop sail are 183nm which is 59nm in the past 12 hours.
4:43am Saturday
Not much time for sleep. Rudy and I each took a two hour rotation. Seas to active, 2 crew needed. Will sleep when I get to the marina. Sailing at 6.5-7kts with just the genoa
4:26am Saturday
Navigated through the Cape Cod Canal at about 10 its with the goal of anchoring at the other end and sleeping. There was little wind in Buzzards Bay so we thought rather than motoring toward Bsotn we would sleep and hope for wind in the morning. As we were nearing the end of the Canal, the air took on a chill and was damp - the climate was changing. As we got to the end of the canal the wind came up and we have been sailing close hauled since. Winds have grown to 25kts apparent and we are happy for a dodger which has stopped us getting soaked many times. However we have still received face fills of sea water and are glad to have fowl weather gear. About 12 nm to Minots Light.
Sunset
Trying to use the 90% jib as a main sail - we tried everything, even my underwear
7:08pm - I just realized that SPOT turns off 24hours after it is activated so it looks like we stopped. She is now back on again. If it looks like cut through land....
7:00pm - We made it - We made it through the Woods Hole channel locally known as the Hole. We passed through about an hour before slack water at 9.5kts. At 6:35pm we hit 24 hours of the journey, or should I say "adventure"? We checked the mileage and found that we covered 124nm in that 24 hour period. In the first 12 hours we had reported that we had covered 55nm. Thus, in the second 24 hours we managed 69nm. Significantly, a large portion of this transit was with a single sail. Initially, we were on a run with a reefed main only (until we tore it - no, destroyed it [pictures to come]) then since about 10am we have been sailing on a genoa alone. Of course the secret to the success is that we caught the current as we rounded the tip of cape cod, then as we passed through the Rip channel we caught a current and managed to maintain it through the Hole, and still in Buzzards Bay. Fortunately, the Cape Cod Canal has turned to our favor, so we are slowly sailing up to the canal then will pass through while its in our favor. Not certain if we will anchor somewhere for the night or will head non-stop back to Boston. TBD. Time to cook some fish
4:37pm - You may wonder why I haven’t posted for so long on this trip. Well ----- we only have one functional sail! We were heading south toward Pollack Rip channel and the wind was +25 from the stern. We had part of a mainsail only and were sailing nicely. As we gybed to begin our entrance to the channel an ENORMOUS tear formed in the mainsail. If you follow our track you will probably see that we did a loop. The reason was to head into the wind, unfurl the mainsail (what was left of it) and lower and tie to the boom. Once completed we headed back to the Rip Channel (aptly named) and passed through uneventfully. Once through the channel we have tried all sorts to get two sails. We tried using our 90% jib as a mainsail, with a lot of effort but little success. So now we are sailing on our 135% genoa and making good headway.
We need to make it to Woodshole by 7pm to get a favorable
current. If we do we can then get a good current at the cape cod canal.
While this has all be unfolding we caught a nice bluefish
just north of Nantucket – tonight’s dinner. Time for a nap and a rotation of
crew. Now we are physically tired as well as just tired.
7:20 am - First shark sighting. Now Rudy has the rod out!
7:10 am - Wing-on-wing. Current is now against us, we are on time for the channel. Time to make breakfast
6:35am - 12 hours elapsed, 55nm
5:50am gybe main, headsail out, broad reach 5.4kts, 24nm to pollack rip channel
5am: Twilight. It's going to be a glorious sunrise and we could do with some radiant heat to start warming us.
4:35am: Passed Highland Light. Can hear the surf crashing on the beech. A few minutes ago we heard a coyote! We have been sailing since 1am with mainsail alone and are making about 5kts SOW on a dead run, 6.5kts SOG.
3:53am: aout 1.5kts of current in our favor. At this pace we will arrive over 2h early to Pollack Rip channel
3:12am: Two cafe lates looking at the stars the moon and cape cod. Life is good
2:50am: Accidental Gybe wakes me. Preventer added. Off the tip of cape cod. We might be going too fast for timing the Pollack Rip channel current to our favor which turns at 12 noon.
1am: making fast progress again - 5.5-6 knots. Rudy awakes. Sleep time for me
Winds have picked up to about 20 kts true
Midnight - Gybe the mainsail.
4:35am: Passed Highland Light. Can hear the surf crashing on the beech. A few minutes ago we heard a coyote! We have been sailing since 1am with mainsail alone and are making about 5kts SOW on a dead run, 6.5kts SOG.
3:53am: aout 1.5kts of current in our favor. At this pace we will arrive over 2h early to Pollack Rip channel
3:12am: Two cafe lates looking at the stars the moon and cape cod. Life is good
2:50am: Accidental Gybe wakes me. Preventer added. Off the tip of cape cod. We might be going too fast for timing the Pollack Rip channel current to our favor which turns at 12 noon.
1am: making fast progress again - 5.5-6 knots. Rudy awakes. Sleep time for me
Winds have picked up to about 20 kts true
Midnight - Gybe the mainsail.
11:57pm - running wing on wing, speed back up to 4.7kts. wind still turning so will need to gybe the mainsail soon
11:37pm - gybed headsail
11:30pm - as predicted the wind is turning to the west and we are almost on a run. Speed dropped to 2kts but now back to 3.5hts
10:47pm - first watch shift. Rudy goes to bed. Phil hAs water, chocolate and a miller lite - just in case. Moon is lighting the sea.
8:31pm we have been sailing all the while. Just exiting the southern channel near Hull. 4-5kts SOW, 10kts apparent wind on a bean reach. Will soon make course correction for the tip of cape cod
6:50pm sails out - a beautiful evening
6:35pm disembark
6:15pm Thursday 09.11.14
You may remember that in the spring we sailed Kalue to Maine. Today we will go for a trip on Prairie Gold around the Cape. I will try to give real time up dates in this blog entry with a summary after the trip is over. Check out our location using SPOT on the right hand side of the blog entry.
Just finalizing preps for the trip.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Assisting a sailor through a discussion with the coastguard
On Saturday we decided to sail out to meet with Bob and
Linda on Argon as they were heading back from their 3 week vacation. Bob has
developed an app that shows in real time the location of Argon and we could see
that they had headed out from Manchester by the Sea early and in a straight
line course. Here is a link to the Argon blogsite and his real time app is linked on the right hand side. Given the wind direction (on their nose) we figures they were
motoring and anticipated that they might head to Peddocks island, on of their
favorite spots. The app, and a text message from Bob confirmed this so we
headed in that direction. Winds were
gusting to over 25 knots with variable direction and generally we were on a
beam or broad reach until we turned south to Peddocks, when we were close
hauled. Here is a link Linda and Bob's blog entry about Peddocks.
Image of Prairie Gold taken from Argon Voyages
We met Argon just as she was about to weigh anchor - a storm was forecast for later in the afternoon and we all wanted to be in harbor before then. As we turned we saw another anchored boat - ~30 foot Catalina sailboat – and on the bow a man waving his arms to attract our attention. Since my hearing isn’t the best I took over at the helm and Yolande went to investigate. The boat had a one man crew and in the strong winds he couldn’t pull up the anchor. He asked us to tow him forward to relieve the strain on the anchor rode. As much as I would like to help this seemed to invite disaster. He wanted to throw us a line as we passed him, then we should pull. I had bad visions of line getting caught in propeller etc etc. Instead we circled and I thought of other possibilities. At that point I saw a coast guard RIB ½ a mile away. I radioed on VHF 16 to the coastguard to ask for assistance on the behalf of other vessel, got a response, switched to channel 22 and gave the relevant information and the coastguard vessel sped over and helped. I wasn’t certain whether the coastguard would help since he wasn’t in danger. However, over the course of ten minutes they sorted the problem out. Thanks coastguard, we all hope never to need you but its great to know that you are there.
Image of Prairie Gold taken from Argon Voyages
We met Argon just as she was about to weigh anchor - a storm was forecast for later in the afternoon and we all wanted to be in harbor before then. As we turned we saw another anchored boat - ~30 foot Catalina sailboat – and on the bow a man waving his arms to attract our attention. Since my hearing isn’t the best I took over at the helm and Yolande went to investigate. The boat had a one man crew and in the strong winds he couldn’t pull up the anchor. He asked us to tow him forward to relieve the strain on the anchor rode. As much as I would like to help this seemed to invite disaster. He wanted to throw us a line as we passed him, then we should pull. I had bad visions of line getting caught in propeller etc etc. Instead we circled and I thought of other possibilities. At that point I saw a coast guard RIB ½ a mile away. I radioed on VHF 16 to the coastguard to ask for assistance on the behalf of other vessel, got a response, switched to channel 22 and gave the relevant information and the coastguard vessel sped over and helped. I wasn’t certain whether the coastguard would help since he wasn’t in danger. However, over the course of ten minutes they sorted the problem out. Thanks coastguard, we all hope never to need you but its great to know that you are there.
This VHF interchange adds to my classics. We try not to use
channel 16 as it is a working channel of great importance. But this reminds me
of a channel 16 discussion we had with a naval warship in San Diego. As we were
heading out of the harbor a fleet of warships were returning to port from the
Pacific. Warship #4 radioed to us to request that they could pass
starboard-to-starboard. Of course they could and we complied with their
request. At the time I had thought this was a strange as we were not actually
that close, they were one heck of a big ship and we had already made sure we
were out of her way. However, on returning to shore we had a discussion back at
the marina about this radio call and one of the locals told us that a cranky local
from San Diego had issued a law suit against the navy because a vessel had made
a starboard-to-starboard passage without requesting permission. Consequently,
the navy now makes these VHF requests. Drives me mad when people take out law
suits for no good reason.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Solo sail with high winds
My better half had work to get done so I set sail solo with
an unknown route. As soon as I departed Constitution Marina I knew it would be
a fun day. I tapped into the buoys and the winds looked to be consistent for
the next 24-36hs at 10kts from the SW. I took kit with me for an overnight,
just in case. Once I had reached the coastgaurd station sails were up and I
headed off. In the harbor I was on a beam reach, turned down the narrows, left
the harbor on a coarse to Minots ledge. As I got closer to Minots ledge the
winds grew and once past it I had at times 25 kts apparent on a beam reach.
Holy mackerel, this was fun. They say that when you wonder if you should reef
your sails is the time to reef your sails. I wondered, then the wind dropped to
a 12 kt apparent: the first violation of the reefing principle. I continued on
a course to Provincetown and slowly the winds grew.
When the winds were high I tapped into Boston buoy and it
was showing 8kts. The great winds off Minots ledge must have been a local land
effect.
The joy of cell phone coverage is its possible to monitor
weather patterns and tap into buoys to get wind forecasts and current
speeds. Deep down my goal was to try to
break 100nm solo non stop and to do this I would sail to the P’town breakwater
and back to the marina. However, I had been watching a weather system in Indiana,
Virginia, Pennsylvania and anticipated it would hit Boston and the Cape at
about midnight, and possibly for several hours. Since this would coincide with
my tired phase and could be while trying to navigate Boston harbor I decided to
turn back. That being said, I did want to beat 50nm on this trip. I sailed on
one tack until 12:55pm at which point I had sailed about 27nm (wanted to give
myself a 2nm buffer as at would have been bad if I needed to turn circles back
in the harbor to achieve my goal).
As I was heading out to my turning point I had made notes in
my log book of true wind speeds at various phases of the trip which was a great
guide allowing me to anticipate reefing just in advance of when needed. As I
was sailing back the wind had turned very slightly to my favor so I made most
of the trip on a close reach and managed to keep good speed and relative
comfort. As I was about 5nm from Minots ledge I reefed the main by about 2feet
(in mast reefing), shortly thereafter, I increased the reefing, then yet again.
I have never sailed with so little mainsail but it did the job of balancing
weather helm beautifully and I was able to keep speed pushing us forward. Every
time I reefed, speed increased. I was sailing at consistent winds speeds of 25
kts and gusting. But it felt safe and under absolute control.
Once past Minots ledge the winds dropped and I was able to
sail with a full sail all of the way home. Coming through the harbor was fickle
since there were areas with only 5 kts of wind and I refused to put on the
engine. I returned to the marina area for putting out fenders at 6:31pm.
Elapsed journey time of 10hours 31 minutes, total distance 55nm.
After cleaning and putting things away I headed home for
dinner and at about 10pm it started to pee down with rain. I felt dry and wise!
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