Year: 2017

Several folks have emailed to get an update on the prop. So here goes: When I arrived on Thursday, I was all ready to be hauled out, since the prop was supposed to be delivered by FedEx that same day. The haul-out was scheduled—all we needed was the part. End of day Thursday: no prop. The FedEx tracker said it was in Antigua, but no one could locate it. In fact, I was told that our customs broker went to the FedEx customs house to pick up the prop but, even though the tracker records said it was there and available, it wasn't. I spent the night on the boat at the boatyard (which has far fewer services like, uh, water and toilets, than a marina). Friday, late morning: Still…

With the last post, Ruth explained that I'd arrived in Antigua waters, but was waiting for daylight before heading into port. If you zoom in on the Google map associated with the tracker, you'll get an indication of how I spent the night—sailing up and down the leeward (in this case, west) side of the island, outside of the worst of the waves and wind. I sailed back and forth something like eight times, tacking 180° every time the wind built to 20+ kts and/or the seas got big. So I didn't get much sleep that night. Since I was sailing as close to the coast as I felt comfortable (less wind/waves), I had a shallow depth alarm set. At first I used 30'. But the alarm went off a…

Scott called about an hour ago to say that he was heaving to outside of Antigua for the night.  The winds are up to 20knts, so he will not be sitting still in the water.  He has a tow scheduled for 7:30am our time.  Hoping for a quiet night.  Ruth

I have 390nm to go. With winds forecast to remain around 20kts for the next two days, I could reasonably average 8kts over the ground, which puts my ETA at roughly 5pm Wednesday. But it starts to get dark by 4pm (all times EST), and I wouldnt sail into the harbor at night (remember, I have no way to stop on short notice). So I figure Ill plan my speed around arriving no later than 8am Thursday. That extra 15 hours means I only have to average 6.1kts. Should be easy. So, why does this matter? Well, to do 8+ knots, I was heeled 20 degrees, with the autopilot scalloping in the wind and wavesslowing as it turns toward the wind and up the wave, then accelerating rapidly as the…

Let me1 set the stage a bit. Last time I wrote about my lack of propulsion, I thought I had narrowed the possibilities down to three: 1) Something wrapped around the prop, restricting the blades from opening. This is the best caseit is easily fixed, costs nothing, no need for a tow in Antigua. All very straightforward. But unlikely. Its certainly possible if the prop were spinning, but I lock the transmission in reverse while sailing, which causes the blades to fold closed. So I heavily discounter this possibility. 2) The prop fell off. As you may recall, this was my bet for most likely. Its a bit expensive (Volvo props arent cheap) and would involve a tow and a short lift of the boat out of the water to…

Theres an old adage among sailors that, if youre beginning to think about reefing your sails, its time to do so. This was illustrated sometime between 9-10pm last night. It was a beautiful night sail: smooth seas, consistent wind, great visibility with an almost-full moon. I noticed a few clouds off to windward, but didnt think much of them (there are clouds around all the time). Then I saw a couple of flashes of lightening. Remembering the adage, I decided to put in two reefs in the main (this reduces its sail area by something like 60%). Now, I have a pretty good setup forefinger, and can do it in less than 5 minutes. When I started, the winds were 12-15 kts. When I finished, they were 18-22kts. Ten minutes…

Im now some 60nm south of Bermuda and due east of Darien, GA. A few showers ahead of me this morning has turned into a steady rain this afternoon. Its all goodsea salt had been building up on everything on deck: instrument displays, rigging, the lower part of the jib and the overall deck itself. This rain is washing away (at least diluting) the salt, which reduces corrosion. Unfortunately, this mornings modest winds on the port beam also shifted with the front now its well abaft the starboard beam and less than 6kts TWS. That means its difficult to keep the sails full on anything close to my desired course, and the sails are slatting (no matter what the course) due to wave action. Couple that with a nifty autopilot…

At 4am EST (5am Atlantic Time) today, I had a nice chat with Bermuda Radio. It was just after their regular weather broadcast. They hailed Resolute on VHF 16, confirmed that I did not plan to stop in Bermuda (a good thing, since Im west of the islands, where there are no safe passages through the surrounding reef), then asked for my voyage details (port of departure, number of persons on board, next port of call and expected arrival date). All very cheerful and professional. Then, noticing that Resolute was already in a database they maintain, they asked me to confirm my safety equipment details. After updating my sat phone number, they wished me a happy Christmas in Antigua and encouraged me to stop in to Bermuda in the future.…

Its been a beautiful day on the water. The wind has been consistent at 10-15kts, abaft the beam, so the boats been running flat(tish) and fast. After lagging my optimized performance projections, Im now ahead of the projected positions from yesterday and the day before. So Ive been working away on board: * took a hot shower (well, more like a sponge bath) * sorted out three duffels of clothing, so I now have one duffel packed with my winter gear (Cabelas GuideWear snowsuit, gloves, mittens, wool socks, etc.), ready to come back to Maine with me. * stowed a bunch of other stuff (food, spare parts, etc.) where they belong. (Everything was secure from the start, just not in sensible placesso the frequently used stuff is ready to hand…

[TL;DR version (if youre bored of this mechanism-technical stuff): Alls wellexcept mechanical propulsionand the winds are still favorable. Now you can skip below and wait for the next post.] Thank you for all your efforts to point me toward solving this mystery. Unfortunately, it remains unsolved. What I Did First thing I checked: oil level in the transmission (full). Second thing: the shifter cable. Sounds like a lot of you got this far. In my case, the cables running from the shift lever to the transmission are fairly exposed in an area where I store emergency water, etc. I thought it quite possible that, despite my efforts to keep the gear away from the cables, maybe something had shifted and damaged a cable. But the cables seemed OKwhen the shift…