Off We Go!

Master's Personal Log:

Getting underway about 4:30pm on the 14th in beautiful weather, it is what cruising is all about. The engine ran now without a problem and the temp gauge even worked, but not the tach. Oh well, you can't have everything. We had had enough glitches and we were looking forward to a nice cruise, a nice problem free cruise. It was what we expected and it was what we wanted.

The trip up the Chesapeake was wonderful. The winds were calm, the scenery was beautiful and we just lazed about in the cockpit following the Magenta Highway on the GPS. We passed and were passed by a number of boats going in all directions and we just enjoyed the day and the early evening. Chris played with the ancient radar and got it to work...after a fashion. The cursor wouldn't move and the contrast never quite got to where you could easily check the screen without loosing your night vision. It is an old Raymarine L90 with a bright screen and dark images. Not a particularly helpful arrangement but certainly it will be better than nothing when we cross the Traffic Lane going in and out of NYC on the run from Cape May to Montauk.

I hit the sack about 10pm hoping to start the Watch System (2hours on, 4 off) and was rousted by Chris at midnight. When I made it to the cockpit I saw that we had entered the C&D Canal and were being passed by what appeared to be a car carrier headed to the Chesapeake. The C& D Canal does not appear to be a particularly wide waterway, especially in the dark, and sliding by a ship several times our length and rising far above our 53ft mainmast, silhouetted by a few shore lights and our combined Nav lights does give one pause to consider the location of the PFDs.

My 2 hour shift was uneventful and was most enjoyable. I was bonding to the boat and it is a process that requires a little time alone with each other. I was really feeling quite peaceful and happy when my shift ended and I hit the rack again. Things were going perfectly and the boat and crew had settled into a cruising mode. Next stop was Cape May and then on to Montauk. Did I just hear someone giggle?

When I woke for my next turn at the wheel things had changed. We had cleared the C&D Canal and we were headed down Delaware Bay for Cape May. The wind had picked-up and it was on the nose. It was being pushed by a big storm in the South and, with the tide ebbing, it was producing lots of nice square 4-5ft waves right into the bow. There was no rhythm to the waves but it seemed that the 5th, or the 6th, or the 7th seemed to be especially square and brought water over the bow. We discovered that the forward hatch had a bit of leak problem as it drove Kenny from the forepeak complaining that it was raining in there. It was a tiring trick at the wheel as I couldn't get into the rhythm of the boat, if there was one. My hands got sore wreatling with the wheel. Checking the compass or the GPS guaranteed that the boat would get punched in the nose and pushed one way or the other necessitating a course correction which often went too far. That required a re-correction and, after several of these back and forths, having settled back course, another punch would send the boat off course and we had to do the whole dance all over again. It was quite the 2 hour trick.

Unfortunately, Kenny began to suffer from "Mal de mare". The bilge had 30 some odd years of oil and assorted other effluents in it and it produce a rather pungent nose. We had bought a couple of bottles of bilge cleaner and micro-biotics into the bilge, all of which promised a wonderful transformation of the bilge contents. They may have made a start at making a beginning to cleaning and rectifying the bilge but progress was not particularly noticeable...nose-wise. Suffice it to say that this did not aid Kenny in trying to keep from feeding the fishes. No matter what he ate, it did not settle his stomach and he never quite got it under control. Some ginger gum he bought just before we shoved off helped some but not completely. After one particularly spectacular Technicolor yawn, he lay down on a seat in the cockpit and philosophised, " Just because you would like to do something and have the opportunity to do it, doesn't mean that you should."

It was along run, or should I say slog, to Cape May. It took 18 hours of wave punching. It was easier in the daylight when you could see the waves coming, but not by a lot. We pulled into the South Jersey Marina in Cape May for fuel, food and showers. I felt almost human again and it was very pleasant to sit in the non-moving cockpit and enjoy lunch. There was a big Deep Sea Fishing Tourney being sponsored by the Canyon Club and the Marina was filling up fast and since we didn't want to pay for tying up, it meant it was time for us to go and go we did.

Exiting Cape May and setting course for Montauk we discovered the wind was on our Starboard hip and the 4-5ft waves were now more rollers than square cut. Still no rhythm but now we surfed every now and then and occasionally dropped off a wave if they were too closely packed. It was a much more pleasant motion for us...except for Ken. The run to Montauk would be a 189 miles. With the tide and the current and the wind all in our favor, we did quite well, doing better than 7.5 knots average and sometimes topping out at over 9. It was a better run than had been the Delaware.

Getting out of sight of land for the first time is eerie. Even though we never got more than 35 miles out, it is still a little disconcerting to look around and not see land. At night you can see the the light blooms from big towns and cities and you know they are they, but during the day, aside from passing ships, you are all by yourself in your little 39 ft world. It is difficult to express it exactly.

2 hours on, 4 hours off, breakfast, 2 hours on, 4 hours off, lunch, 2 hours on, 4 hours off, dinner, 2 hours on, 4 hours off, snack time, 2 hours on, 4 hours off and so on. The wind moderated and drop to a light breeze. Few boat were seen which was surprising especially crossing through the Ambrose Traffic Lanes out of New York. At night, long line fishermen, identifiable by their lights, wanted to chat, usually about nothing in particular, just to pass the time. 2 on, 4 off and a major discovery. The port settee pull out into a double and, being in the center of the boat, moves almost not at all. It was perfect, right at the bottom of the ladder from the cockpit. Just climb down and fall down and go to sleep. Of course, this change in sleeping arrangements nearly gave Chris a heart attack. He came down to call me for my watch and went to the rear cabin where I had been sleeping. I wasn't there and his first thought was "Man Overboard." He was rushing back to the cockpit when he saw me on the settee. I think his deep sigh of relief was what woke me.

It was a unanimous crew decision that we would over night in Montauk. It would be another chance for showers, fuel, more bilge cleaner, a restaurant cooked meal and a stable sleeping platform. Dinner cost us almost all our cash as we picked a restaurant with a good reputation which we discovered, too late, did not take credit cards. We had a great dinner and returned to the boat and slept the sleep of the just or the dead, or whoever sleeps the soundest.

We got underway on Friday morning about 9am and headed for Mystic and the haul out. On this short jaunt we complied a list of things that needed to be worked on. It is quite extensive and will not be completed before I take off again. As many as possible will be addressed during the haul out, but even if I should get through the last items in this list, others will be added to it. Things-to-do lists, boat project lists never come to an end. Work ends only when money and/or time and /or a lack of materials causes a cessation. It is a never ending list.

We arrived at the West Mystic Shipyard just about noon, tied up and closed up the boat. It was a good shake down cruise. I found out what works, (most things) and what doesn't(a few things). I bonded with the boat which will make putting holes in her, riping things out and replacing others a whole lot easier. I realize that the Giggler had the plan. One of the things I have wondered about was crossing the Gulf Stream in the future which I will have to do at some point or other. I've only done that once and it was mill pond smooth that time. But this little jaunt, especially the Delaware Bay and the run to Montauk ,was a good example of what the Stream can throw up and I feel a lot better about it now. It was a great trip.