9/29/2014, Solving Our Engine Problem

After the SSCA GAM in late September, our new friend Robie couldn’t get the motor to start on his new sailboat, Celest, a 30 year old Bristol. On a very calm day, Chuck hip-towed Robie in Celeste with our dinghy, from the Rhode River, over to nearby Casa Rio Marina to see Chuck the Mechanic.

Chuck towing Celest with our dinghy (taken from Celest)

Our good deed turned this into our lucky day! We had been having trouble with our engine, which was chewing up engine belts at an alarming rate. The belts would loosen and slip. Then either the engine alarm would sound, or we would see the engine rpms varying wildly on the dial, and we’d know it was time for Chuck to run down below and tighten it up, while I kept watch above.

The last time we did this was in Maryland, on the way to the GAM on 9/26, just before the Bay Bridge near Annapolis. 

Annapolis Bay Bridge

We had just furled the sails, so the boat drifted toward the bridge with the fast tide, and I stayed vigilant in case we needed to change course.

Approaching the Annapolis Bay Bridge

I was nervous with the approaching bridge and the boat traffic, so I timed the operation: Four and a half minutes.

It turned out we were still an hour away from the bridge.

Annapolis “Bay Bridge,”
aka
 “William P. Lane Jr. Memorial Fixed Bridges”

On 9/29, we spent the day hanging out at the Casa Rio Marina with Robie and Celest. We watched Chuck the Mechanic work, and helped by handing him tools and turning switches on and off.  Robie made us a nice lunch in his galley. Celest’s problem was traced to clogged fuel filters, and some other minor things. By the end of the day, Celest was running and able to tow our dinghy back to the Rhode River anchorage.

Robie on Celest

While we were there, Chuck talked to Chuck the Mechanic about Balmar alternator mounting kits for Yanmar engines, and if and where they could get them, thinking that we needed to order a replacement for ours.  Chuck the Mechanic asked “Are the spacers in the mounting kit all there? And are they tight?” (If so, it can’t be moving around).

Chuck the Mechanic and Chuck, on Celest

When we got back to Summer Wind, Chuck found one of the spacers, a metal part that looks like a piece of stainless steel ziti, in the toolbox, and slid it over the mounting bolt. It worked! Since then we haven’t had any problem with the engine belts slipping or getting chewed up.

Sandy & Chuck

on s/v Summer Wind 

9/21/14 - 9/23/14, Sassafras River, Things Fixed, Kind People

9/21/14

Returning to the boat after our wonderful family reunion in the Elk River, we immediately loaded in the next chart chip that contained points south of NYC, including the Chesapeake. We were back on the map! Hurray!!

We proceed south and started up the Sassafras River, on the east side of the Elk River. Not far from the mouth of the river, on the south side, before the first bend, we found what looked to be a nice, calm anchorage and set the hook. Our only concern was that there might be mosquitos in the nearby swamp. We made dinner and got ready for bed, but then the wind started howling and the boat was rocking and rolling. I went outside to look. The sky was strikingly clear with bright, distinct stars. But the rocking and rolling continued, caused by a mix of the fierce wind and strong waves from the wakes of large boats traversing the Elk River. In the morning we’d move up the river for more protection.

9/22/14

Looking at our chart for another anchorage, we first tried “Back Creek” but it was too shallow and too windy. We continued upriver to an area just east of a cupola, on the north side of the river, just west of a marina, in Georgetown. 

Summer Wind at anchor near the cupola, Sassafras River

Skipjack Marina Resort

The weather was much nicer here, sunny and clear. The wind and waves calmed, and it felt warmer. We did boat chores, and swam in the water, which was comfortably warm. And it was fresh water, not salty, since the river is fed from inland fresh water. Our boat had only been in salt water until this day.

Chuck fixed my favorite little spatula, by adding a nut and bolt, where the two pieces used to fall frustratingly apart.

 Repaired spatula

Repaired spatula

Great News!! I received an email from the XL America Scholarship chairperson. My son, David, who is studying to be an actuary at CUNY, and is working very hard at his studies and doing very well, received the first place scholarship for this year. I’m so glad he was willing to take a few hours out of his vacation in Arizona this summer to fill out the application, write an essay, and get transcripts and recommendation letters.

I was also very happy to receive an email from one of my favorite office friends.

9/23/14

We went for a dingy ride to explore the area of Georgetown, MD, and to try to find a post office so we could mail back our original outdated chart chip. We dinghied up the river, past boats in covered slips (I had never seen this before, it must get very hot here in the summer) and through a low bridge.

Covered slips

We talked to an old live-aboard with a boat from 1947. He directed us to the P.O., where I mailed my package, and ended up chatting with Beth, who worked in the Post Office, about the economy and everything and anything. She mentioned her son who is a welder (Hey, WE NEED A WELDER!!), and we exchanged contact info.

We had lunch at the local restaurant, and bought a replacement flyswatter (much nicer than the old one!) in the marine store next door.

We went back to the boat and met our new neighbors on “Tarantella”, Jim and Jody, who, like us, are headed for the SSCA GAM. They had some great stories!

Later that afternoon, Beth's son, Allan, the welder contacted us. Yes, he could fix our anchor and yes, he could do it today. We put it in the dingy and met him at the post office. A few hours later, just before dark, we picked it up.

Allan, the welder

The ride back, in the dingy, with the repaired anchor

It looks fantastic. Allan, who is 23, loves his work and it looks to us like he did a great job. He said he really wanted to help us because we are away from home.

We feel very fortunate to know that there are such kind people in this world.

View of our anchorage, at sunset, from Skipjack Marina Resort

Sandy & Chuck

on s/v Summer Wind

9/20/2014 - 9/21/2014, Rough Seas and Huge Barges, Chesapeake Family Reunion

9/20/14

Rough Seas and Huge Barges

We left South Jersey Marina about 8 AM, refreshed, and with all electronic devices fully charged. We wanted to get through Delaware and inland before the expected bad weather, and we heard that Delaware Bay can be challenging in windy, rough weather, especially against the tide.

Getting out of Cape May Harbor and through the breakwater was very rough, with huge breakers and poor visibility. This is the ocean, and it was not calm on this day. There were no other boats in sight except for some small fishing boats inside the breakwater, one ferry and one distant sailboat.

We still didn’t have a working chart plotter, so we continued plotting our lat/long from the info on the chart plotter to the paper charts, and trying to use whatever navigation aids we could see.

The wind was about 15 kts, seas were 3-6 ft or more, very rolly and crashy, and the skies were grey until about 10 AM when the sun finally started to come out. We were running with 2 reefed sails and the engine at 2000 rpms, and only doing about 5 kts, due to the current and unfavorable wind.

We finally entered Delaware Bay and after a while the seas smoothed out. By the end of the day we were able to do 7 kts.

Sandy and Chuck in Delaware Bay

During the day, we saw huge tankers and tugs and barges in Delaware Bay, lighthouses to photograph, and a few other pleasure boats. 

 Tug and Barge in Delaware Bay

Lighthouse in Delaware Bay

Passing the huge barges, we were reminded of a conversation that we once heard on the radio between a sailboat and a ferry boat, in the fog. The sailboat was trying to warn the ferry of their presence, and the ferry finally responded, “Well, try to stay alert, and, uh, give way if you can?” (The ferry, being much larger and therefore less maneuverable, has the right of way.)

MRE Adventure

We experimented with the MRE’s that we had on board. These are “Meals Ready to Eat” that were given to us when we lost power for a week during Hurricane Irene, and they last a very long time. They are military “Happy Meals” with lots of components. There is the plastic wrapped entrée, which is heated automatically when a small amount of salt water (included in a tiny package, even though we had plenty outside) is added to the box. The box contains something like the pads that skiers put in their gloves and boots, which causes a chemical reaction and gets very hot, to heat the plastic wrapped entree. While the entrée is heating, you can have the “appetizer” of peanut butter and crackers (my favorite part). After the entrée, which is eaten with the included oversized plastic spoon, there is a package of raisins and a cookie (Chuck’s favorite part) for dessert.

At 7PM, just before dark, we anchored behind Reedy Island in Delaware, not far from our new friends on Celestial Melody, and within site of the nuclear plant on “Artificial Island,” with its eerie greenish evening glow.

Artificial Island in Delaware Bay, in the daytime

For the first time, we anchored with the Bruce anchor. Success!

9/21/14

Our First Canal

We brought up the anchor at 8:30 AM. The tide was in our favor. We traveled at 8.2 kts and by 9:30 we were at the end of Delaware Bay (for us) and entering the C&D Canal, the first of many canals on this voyage. C&D = Chesapeake and Delaware. The tide was slack in the canal and for a while we didn’t see any other boats. Then we passed an enormous tanker, high and empty. Then another tanker, low and full. Then a tug and barge. They passed very closely!

Tug and Barge, in the C&D Canal

Because our chart plotter wasn’t really working, it didn’t show the canal. Instead, it showed an image of our boat going across land from one body of water, Delaware Bay, to another, Chesapeake Bay!

Our Chart Plotter, the 48 NM view, boat over land

Chesapeake Family Reunion and XMAS in September

Just before 1 PM, we anchored outside the channel, in the just-deep-enough water, at Rogues Harbor, at Elk Neck State Park, in the Elk River, which leads to Chesapeake Bay. As we were putting down the anchor, I overheard a woman on a small motor boat, which was leaving the small dock at the park, loudly ask her companion, “Are they dawking there?” (Yes, we are, but we call it “anchoring,” not “docking” when there is no dock.)

We were there to meet Chuck’s daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Matt, and their two boys, Caleb (4) and Andrew (16 months).  We had a great picnic. The kids waded in the water. We collected shells and seaglass. Caleb, the entomologist, collected bugs. And we collected our packages. It was Boater’s Christmas, in September! We got Chuck’s sink drain replacement part, more engine belts and filters, and our chart navigation chips. Hurray!!

Chuck’s daughter, Sarah, with Caleb, 4 and Andrew, 16 months. 

Sarah's husband, Matt

Caleb, trying to avoid getting his shorts wet. 

Grandpa Chuck

Happy grandchildren, Andrew, 16 months, and Caleb, 4

Caleb with his bug collecting jar 

Rogues Harbor, at Elk Neck State Park 

Sandy, Family Reunion picnic day, at Rogues Harbor, on the Elk River, MD.

While we were there, a huge tanker came by and made an enormous wake. 

Huge tanker, and Summer Wind, Elk River, MD

It rocked our anchored boat and a big wave came to shore and almost washed away several plastic toys, sandals and bug collecting jars. But it didn’t dampen our spirits!

Sandy & Chuck

on s/v Summer Wind

9/15/2014 - 9/19/2014, NJ Coast, Little Egg Inlet, Cape May Adventures 1-5

9/15/14, Monday

We continued down the coast of NJ on a beautiful calm day. We were able to sail a little, but the wind, from behind, didn’t add much. So we motor sailed. One more time, Chuck adjusted the engine belt, while we continued sailing along.

For our night stay, we entered Little Egg Inlet. Earlier, as we looked for the entrance buoys on the chart, we had noticed a note: “Navigational aids not shown due to continually shifting sand shoals.” We got lost and grounded many times. We were looking for an anchorage between Seven Island and Fish Island, but it was no longer a clear path, and one or both of the islands might have been gone, as a result of the severe storms of the past few years. It was hard to tell what was what without a working chart plotter, and no one was around to ask except for 2 kayakers, who were too far away. It was getting dark, so finally we just “Columbus’d” a protected spot on the side of a little used channel, and spent the night. After we anchored, we realized that we had a very distant and colorful view of Atlantic City.

Atlantic City, in the distance

9/16/14, Tuesday

We woke up to a grey and drizzly morning in our beautiful, secluded non-anchorage, the first of many times in which we felt that we had almost the whole world to ourselves. This is an unspoiled and unsigned place. (Did I mention no navigational aids shown on the chart?) We were the only anchored boat, and the only traffic we saw was 3 small fishing boats going out and coming back in. We were nestled between one island with an abandoned house and a water tower, and another shore with marshes, a house with a cupola, and some bird nest stands. We knew it would be light rain today and decided to have a layover day in this gorgeous little spot, where we are the only people in the world, except for 3 small powerboats, 2 kayakers, and Atlantic City, far in the distance.

 Island with abandoned house and water tank

Island with marshes, bird stand, and house with cupola

I worked on the “inventory” project. It’s a fun one, trying to list every item in the boat and where it is.  I started with the food items, so I could try to make good use of everything, and try to reduce the volume of stuff we are carrying. We have food items in our tiny (dorm sized) fridge and freezer, on the shelves, in the cabinets, in the spare state room (the “garage”), in the closets and under floorboards. So far we’ve been able to avoid carrying things on the outside of the boat.

Eventually the rain subsided and the day cleared, and everything was wonderful at Little Egg Inlet. Until the horseflies moved in, that is. I found my one flyswatter and became the champion fly killer.

9/17/14, Wednesday

We got up and left early, 6:35 AM. (really? me?), heading for Cape May, NJ. Exiting Little Egg Inlet was tricky but successful, across breakers and rollers. We sailed down the NJ coast, (“Keeping the US on the right”, as instructed) past Atlantic City and Wildwood (looks like a permanent carnival).

 Atlantic City

Wildwood, NJ – looks like fun!

On the way, we were still battling the horseflies, and I broke my only flyswatter. It cracked and the swatting pad dropped into the sea, leaving me with just the handle!

We had additional problems with the engine belt, which slipped at least 3 more times during this trip. Each time, Chuck went down to adjust it while the boat continued to sail on autopilot, and I kept a lookout for boats or any other obstacles.

At about 2:30 PM, we reached Cape May, and navigated to the far end of the channel in search of diesel fuel. We successfully got the 3 things we needed 1. Diesel fuel, 2. Water, 3. Intelligence – this time it was info on a good local restaurant.

As we went back out into the harbor, we passed a worker who was scraping paint on the waterline of a huge workboat, who yelled “Take me with you!”

We anchored just east of the Coast Guard docks, with their enormous ships. We swam, showered, and dressed up to go out to dinner at “Lucky Bones,” which we thoroughly enjoyed. We had a great conversation with the couple at the table next to ours, who were locals, from one of the “Fishing Families.” The wife was so excited about our trip and really wanted to travel by boat like we are doing, but the husband, a commercial fisherman for whom the boat was his “office,” said he really didn’t like boats at all and was looking forward to traveling inland when he retired!

Summer Wind at Anchor in Cape May, NJ

9/18/14, Thursday

We awoke to "Reveille" and the “Star Spangled Banner,” care of the Coast Guard at 8 AM, which was actually really nice. And then the adventures began.

Cape May Adventure 1, “Secure Facility”: We decided to take a dinghy ride in search of a grocery store. Chuck had done an internet search and thought he found a place where we could provision.  We saw flags and pilings, and wove our dinghy between the pilings before beaching it and climbing out on to the rocky shore. We got up to the back parking lot and headed for the door, with our reusable grocery bags. As we did, a man approached us and told us “This is a secure facility!  I’ve already called the police.” What? We were only looking for a grocery store and this looks like one. We didn’t see any signs. “This is a secure facility!” (Well, no it really isn’t secure. Two people, over 50, just walked right in! And we’re not exactly “Special Ops”, we have no military training whatsoever, unless you count a couple of bank accounts with USAA and the fact that we were carrying MRE’s, leftover from Hurricane Sandy, on board.)  “OK, we’re leaving.” It was a Bumble Bee Tuna Processing Plant. (We still didn’t see any signs on the way out).

Secure Facility

Cape May Adventure 2 - Groceries: We dinghied to the Canyon Club, a very nice marina on the other side of the channel, to scope out where to get the engine belts that Chuck had ordered by phone. We were planning to pick them up first thing the next morning and leave immediately after that. Chuck found the parts department and we gathered more critical intel – where the grocery store really is. About 2 miles from the harbor. 

We went back and gathered our foldable crates and foldable rolling carts. We dinghied to the beach spot that we had used to access the restaurant, climbed up the steep sand hill once again, and walked to the store, where we stocked up. And then walked 2 miles back, with full carts and backpacks. We really did enjoy the walk, after a week on the boat.

 Foldable crate and rolling cart

  Foldable crate and rolling cart

 Foldable crate and rolling cart, in use

9/19/14, Friday

Cape May Adventure 3, Boarding Report: We got up early, dressed in foul weather gear for the rough dinghy trip across the harbor, and set off for the parts. We got what we needed, plus a few extra hose clamps, and were on our way again. It was worse going back. With the wind in our faces and the waves splashing into the dingy, we could barely see. We approached the anchorage, looking for our boat. We didn’t see it.

We are scuba divers, and divers have a sign language of underwater essentials, such as “I’m out of air!!” and almost as critical, “Where’s the boat?”

 Question: Where…

…is the boat?

We both said in unison “WHERE’S THE BOAT???” and scanned the anchorage. We turned 90 degrees to our right, and there, right next to the 100+ foot Coast Guard cutter, was comparatively tiny Summer Wind, tied to the Coast Guard dock!

We drove the dinghy over, got out, and met the Coast Guardsmen. “Thank you for saving our boat!!” we said, and they said, “Well, we didn’t really do anything. The boat started drifting. It was headed for those rocks, and then it just turned, came this way and DOCKED ITSELF on our dock." 

"So we grabbed those lines you had out on deck and tied it up.” Lots of official paper changed hands. We had to show our CG Documentation. They filled out, and we signed, a boarding report, since they had boarded our boat.

Tied up at the Coast Guard dock – view looking behind

 Bow (ours) to forecastle (theirs)  – view looking forward

While still tied to their dock, we pulled our anchor up with our windlass (anchor winch) and in the excitement didn’t give much thought to how easily it came up, when it really should have grabbed the bottom, somewhere.

It was blowing 29 knots, and the wind was pinning Summer Wind to their dock. They offered to tow us in their 40 ft inflatable boat off the dock, and back to the anchorage or anywhere else. We opted to go back out to the anchorage.

 Preparing to Tow with the 40 footer

Preparing to Tow

When we got back I realized that they had very quickly identified us and tried to call us. We didn't get the call because we had left our phones in the boat for the “short” and wet dinghy trip for the engine belts. I plan to be a lot more generous in the future when I get those annual contribution requests from the Coast Guard. They were really super!

We re-anchored in the anchorage, close to where we had been previously. Another boat alerted us that we were dragging. We re-anchored, we dragged again. We were making the nearby boats very nervous, so we tried to re-anchor in a different place, and dragged again. 

By this time it was mid-afternoon. We called the marina where we had gotten diesel fuel two days earlier to see if they had a slip. They could accommodate us for this night only. Bad weather was expected and they had other people coming in. We were happy to take the space they had, which was on the gas dock, with several other transient boats.

Cape May Adventure 4 – South Jersey Marina: SJM is a great marina. It is not inexpensive. However, after all we had been through, it was a most welcome luxury experience.

South Jersey Marina

First, there were the spa-like showers, quite possibly the best marina showers anywhere.

Then there was the laundry. Since it was there, we took the opportunity to do laundry. Lots of it. I haven’t been to a laundromat since college. They’ve upgraded! This one didn’t use coins, it used a credit card. And you could even get it to alert you by text message when your wash was done.

The marina also has other amenities, which we didn’t have enough time to try. They would drive us to the grocery store, which was still 2 miles away. They have a restaurant. They have a marine store, as well as a “shopping” store, with clothing and other fun things.

Then there were the other cruisers. This was our first opportunity to meet other cruisers, which we really enjoyed. Dave and Toni on Celestial Melody, from NC, are also headed for the Bahamas, Dawn and Paul, on BuBu, newly retired, and also from CT, are bound for FL, two trawlers from Michigan, with Janet & Gary and their friends, are also headed south, and Vic and Fred, the professional crew of the yacht "Bernadette" are on a schedule, doing a delivery.

Summer Wind is on the right. By nightfall the dock was full.

Cape May Adventure 5 – Switching to Bruce: Chuck was wondering why the anchor, which was fine for so long, was no longer holding. He decided to switch out our Delta anchor for the back-up anchor, which is a Bruce. We had never used the Bruce. In New England, the Delta works really well. We were a little apprehensive about trying the odd (to us) looking Bruce, but after talking with some of the other cruisers, he learned that they are very popular in the muddier bottom of this part of the country. Only after taking off the Delta did he realize that it had broken. The pin on the bottom that holds the two flukes together was no longer attached on one side. We think the damage originated with the slam into the pier in the East River of NYC, when the fluke bent, and then the strong winds of Cape May pulling on the boat in the anchorage completed the break.

The weather was still not great the next morning, but since we couldn’t stay at the marina, we headed south, for Delaware. More about that in another post!

Sandy & Chuck
on s/v Summer Wind