Trailer Sailing on 'Wave Function'

[Captain Smollett]

Got out for a little weekend trip with the little ensigns.

Friday, 24 May

Sailed away from the NC Wildlife Ramp in Oriental at about 10 pm on Friday night and out into the Neuse River heading to South River to anchor for the night.  Don't ask why we got such a late start...just put it down to a dumb mistake on my part leaving a key piece of gear at the house (a key piece of safety/legal gear...the children's PFD's).

Out on the river, we had NW winds about 10-15 knots and full moon...beautiful sailing and I was really enjoying it.  We crossed paths with two other sail boats making way down river, possibly headed for Ocracoke or along the ICW northward.  It was cool seeing two boats sailing at night like that.

We should have had a nice easy sail to the anchorage at South River, but I misread a green light and took a side detour to the wrong creek.  Hence a 1-2 hour trip turned into fours hours total by the time I realized my mistake and corrected it.

The mouth of the Neuse near the junction with Pamlico Sound was very rough.  Wind data recorded for Pamlico Sound show gusts at around 26 knots.  We felt some of that as we entered South River and turned up Big Creek to anchor with some shelter from the wind.  Dropped the hook and lowered the sails right at about 0200 on the 25th.

Big Creek was a good spot to anchor given the conditions.  It may have been better to head further up South River and anchor around the corner, but that's where I picked.  We had a shoreline to break up the wind a bit, though the swells wrapped around and made for a bouncy anchorage....we took the swells on the beam most of the night, but all three of us managed to get a few hours of sleep.

Saturday, 25 May

Things were still howling when I awoke (as expected), and since the exit from the South River into the Neuse is a narrow channel (with only 1 ft of water outside the cut) AND the wind was dead foul for that channel, I elected to motor out of South River and raise the sails once out in open water.

This shot shows the sunrise scene in Big Creek looking out toward South River.  The picture does not capture how boisterous it was...you can barely make out the line where the creek runs into the River.  On the River, there were many whitecaps.



Here's a shot looking basically back the other way...a pretty little anchorage.  



What I did not photo was the other shoreline which had some houses.   :P

Motoring out was a wet affair.  Sheets of spray came over the bow with nearly every wave, and it was not long before I was drenched in salt water.  Yep, it would have been nice if I actually packed the foulies.   ::)

I had no trouble motoring into the 17 knot average winds with gusts around 20 or so.  I thought about posting about my 6 HP being up to the task here, but I did not want Tim to yell at me for resurrecting the thread again.   :P ;D

In truth, the seas were pretty rough and the ride pretty wet.  It was not "ideal" sailing conditions.

Out in the Neuse, clear of that narrow cut, we got the sails up and were a sail boat again.  Winds were from the NW at around 15 knots in the lulls, call it 20 or slightly more in the gusts.  Before pulling the anchor, I reefed the main so it would be reefed when I set sail.

A good part of the day was spent reefing and unreefing the main and raising and lowering the jib.  We were heeling 30 degrees or so in the gusts with reefed main and jib when I elected to drop the jib, but we were underpowered and could not point.  Later, as the wind dropped just a touch, we were underpowered with reefed main and jib up.

So, I think I found a sweet spot of wind conditions where the boat just was not truly happy...I really kind wanted a storm jib, something to keep some headsail on her while the main was reefed.  Something to try anyway.  Too much in the gusts, but was not really a good "rig for the gusts and call it good" because in the lulls, the seas pushed us around too much without ample sail up.  

At the end of it, though, I had full sail up and just luffed a touch in the gusts...sailed right on the edge of a luffing jib.  She seemed to do pretty good that way.  Too, by the time I did that, the wind had moderated just a touch.  We heeled 30 or so degrees by the clinometer with full sail up, compared to earlier heeling that far with reefed main + jib.

We beat closehauled into 15 sustained winds with (lots of) gusts around 20 for the better part of 12 hours.  That's about 24 nm to that night's anchorage, so call it 2 knots made good, or about 3 knots through the water.  I missed the Alberg 30, which would have been quite at home in these conditions.

Several bigger boats passed us.

On that subject, we saw a LOT of sailboats sailing, and a lot of sailboats motoring/motorsailing.  We sail a big group of boats heading down wind, and later a big group motoring upwind. I'm not sure it was the same group.

One of the big highlights of the day for me was the trick my daughter took at the tiller.  She asked if she could steer.  Part of the plan for this trip was to give them both some more experience sailing the larger boat, but with the conditions a little rougher, they were content to mostly stay below, read, draw, play and occasionally come out and just hang out.

When she asked to steer, I though, well, of course.  "Come on!"  I welcomed the break.  The first big puffs startled her a little bit, but she soon settled into the groove.  I really wish I had gotten some video of my 10 year old daughter sailing close hauled in 15-12 knot winds with full sail up and 2-3 ft average seas.  It was something to see.

Actually, I really think she did a better job than I did holding a good course.

Upper Broad Creek was our destination for the day, and as we approached the mouth of the creek, the winds turned a bit flukey.  I really wanted to get anchored before dark and have time to eat a quick dinner, so I fired up the iron jib and motor sailed the last couple of miles.  I dropped the hook, lowered the sails and set about getting ready to get some rest.  I was....quite tired.

I had hand steered most of the day.  Hunter did one trick on the tiller - a VERY welcome break - and I did rig the sheet to tiller gear for a bit.  But, with all the tacking, I really did not feel like rigging and unrigging it all day, so I resigned to just hand steering.

With the hook down, Hunter graciously fixed dinner for me and the three of us enjoyed a truly beautiful sunset in the cockpit at our second night at anchor.

After eating, I told the children I was pretty tired, but that they could stay up.  I hit the rack and was instantly out...they said they knew I was asleep in less than 3 minutes (they probably timed it).

Sunday, 26 May

Woke up to an absolutely beautiful morning on Upper Broad Creek.  Winds were light (forecast was "less than 5 mph" for the day, but we had more than that) and had shifted a bit to the north.  Raised the sails, pulled the hook and ran down the creek to the Neuse river.

Made the turn to head the last 5 miles to town and had some sweet, easy sailing.  The course was mostly an easy reach in air from Force 2 to 4.  The last bit before the highway bridge required a few tacks, but I got an excellent setup going under the bridge and did not need to tack 'inside.'

Continued to sail around the New Bern area for a short bit.  The battery (apparently gone bad) was dead on my VHF though earlier it had read "Full." so I had no way to call the Trent River Bridge to request an opening, and I did not have the truck keys to haul the boat.  So, I docked under sail at the Persimmons Resaurant / Galley Store dock to call my wife to ask if she had time to bring my back-up radio and keys.

I was not sure if I was going to be allowed to dock there and not become a 'customer,' but the folks at Persimmons were very gracious.  When I asked if I could hang out long enough to get some things from my wife, they said, "stay all day if you like.  Can we bring you anything?"  I got a cup of coffee and two soft drinks for the children.  Dockside service.

In fact, they thought is was cool as can be when "little faces" popped up out of the cabin.

The children left with my wife for me to just get the boat to the ramp and pulled out.  Starting the engine to tootle around to the bridge, through, and on to the ramp, I began to untie the docklines.  Engine died.

Retied docklines, restarted engine, waited a while, seemed to be running fine, untie docklines, engine died.  Repeated several times.  Finally got it to stay running and seemed to be fine.  Untied the docklines.

Got 20 yards from the dock, engine died.  Got it running, motored a few yards, engine died.  Repeat about 10 times.

A dude sailing came over to see if I was okay. He offered a tow, but I declined, figuring if I could persuade the bridge tender to let me sail through, I'd be okay.

I called the tender on the radio, explained the situation and he gave the okay to sail through.  When I got over there, he called back and told me he'd have to time it pretty close...which he did.  Of course I caught a puff right before the bridge, which freaked me out a bit given the bridge was not open yet!  I luffed and drifted for a short bit, but got right through when he opened.

I did 'cheat' a little...I figured I could get the engine to run it's 8 seconds to get a little boost to help out in case the wind died inside... ;D

Once through, I sailed to the ramp.  This is the short version..that was some challenging sailing.  Very light, flukey wind, short tacking up a tight channel (lined with crab pots, of course) and more than one motor boater going out at full throttle.

It took a little bit, but finally tied up at the dock, our mini adventure over.

Organized Chaos Below after 3 people spent two days and two nights on a 18 foot boat, including 12 hours of beating into 15-20 knot winds and associated seas (there are two children there, but the girl is hard to see behind the mast stanchion:

[Travelnik]

Great story!

It was cool that the kids wanted to steer for a while. You're bringing them up right!  ;)

[CharlieJ]

Nice story JR- made me want to sail along with you.

Few more years and you won't have to steer very much ;)

[Frank]

CJ.....Speaking of "low draw auto helms"   ;D :o

Great story!!

[Captain Smollett]

CJ.....Speaking of "low draw auto helms"   ;D :o

Great story!!

Hey, I still have to feed her!

And, her nickname lately has been "The Bottomless Pit."  I swear, how can a 60 lb 10 year old girl eat MORE THAN I DO?

;D ;D

[CharlieJ]

CJ.....Speaking of "low draw auto helms"   ;D :o

Great story!!

Hey, I still have to feed her!

And, her nickname lately has been "The Bottomless Pit."  I swear, how can a 60 lb 10 year old girl eat MORE THAN I DO?

;D ;D

Hah- just wait til the teens!! My youngest was a stringbean and he could put away food like a lumberjack when he was 13- 17.

[Captain Smollett]

I forgot to repeat the saying from CB..."You can count on engines to do one thing...FAIL!"

>:(

Looking back, I am so thankful it did not die yesterday morning motoring out of South River into the Neuse...that would have been....interesting, if not downright dangerous.  

In hindsight, it may have been good to have the jib up "just in case."  Then I could have swung around and run off under jib only...a good downwind plan on that boat in those kinds of conditions.  

Except for that one channel right at the mouth, South River is plenty big enough with enough sea room to allow sorting out a Plan B.

The sail may have been flogging like mad, though...

[Tim]

Great story thanks for sharing John.  I have come to the point especially with the Typhoon, of always have a sail either up or a sure fire quick way of getting it up, just in case.

[Captain Smollett]

I already mentioned that I forgot the PFD's and had to return to get them and that I neglected to bring foulies on that trip.

Thought I'd mention a couple of other problems of my own creation and some interesting "solutions." 

I did not bring any table ware!  We had a couple of tubs of chicken salad for sandwiches and some cole slaw, but no table ware to spread or eat them.

We did have a bag of carrot sticks.  Carrot sticks make nice spreading and eating utensils.   ;D

[Captain Smollett]

Wave Function got a heck of a Spring Cleaning / Commissioning in the preps for a trip to Amelia Island, Florida.

Hull and Deck, including cockpit

Annual pressure washing at the local car wash.

Trailer

Replaced side marker lights.  A new light kit was added last year (or year before...), but side marker lights not installed.  The new lights mount via a bolt and nut (which is also circuit ground), but trailer frame is square tube so cannot get to nut.  So, I drilled and tapped the frame and threaded the lock fixture onto the frame directly, along with a generous coat of Locktite.  Worked a champ.

For the first time in the 14 years I've owned this trailer, all lights work at the same time and all are bright and have clear lenses.  :)

New U-bolts were put on the trailer axle.  I took to shop for this, and the guys at Pamlico Marine did a great job and turned it around in a couple of hours (same day service).  I also had them inspect the leaf springs, which got a "good" report.  For less than $100, it was peace of mind given the u-bolt issue came up with only a few days to go before leaving for Florida.

The trailer also got new tires this year.

Bearings greased as well.

Sails

Several of the mainsail slugs were broken, missing or had broken (plastic) shackles.  These could not be replaced because the size was not available from numerous sources I tried.  So, we replaced all on the mainsail with metal shackles, plastic protectors and new slugs, all from Sail Rite.

Mainsail cover got washed; looks new.

Anchor

The primary anchor got a "new" (recycled sunbrella and velcro from old sail cover) anchor and rode bag.

The secondary got a new 100 ft nylon rode to replace the 75 ft of old stuff it used to have.

Docking

Tossed the old fenders (one was punctured, both were filthy and stained) and replaced with new.  Reused the old lines, but cut off frayed ends and added new whipping.

Rig

Built a mast crutch set-up for trailering to both better support the mast and to streamline rigging and de-rigging at the ramp.  Included in the new set up is a support mid-mast (at the step) which we've never had.

New velcro straps to hold things together in trailering mode.  The old straps were "commissioned" in 2006, so 8 years in direct sun.  Not bad for a few dollar investment that is much quicker lashing things on/to the mast than tying.

Brightwork

This boat does not have a lot of exposed wood, but what there is got due attention from 11 year old Hunter with sander and varnish.

This includes the handholds, hatch boards, hatch frame and teak cockpit seats.

Below Deck Cleaning

Everything, including cushions, (except the battery itself) was removed from below by the XO and 8 year old JP, and the interior of the boat was given not one but two very thorough scrubbings.  Cushions and locker covers were cleaned off the boat.

MSD was thoroughly cleaned and clean water pump resealed to base with 4200.

A LOT of junk was removed that was subsequently thrown away.  It is truly amazing to me just how much cruft even an 18 footer can accumulate in a few years.  Contrary to popular opinion, small boats have plenty storage...it's just easy to misuse. 

Stowage

Added two straps, one each side of cockpit, to secure heavy items that are prone to shift while heeling.  Port side is for gas tank and starboard is for the primary anchor (stored in cockpit for quick deployment).

Extras

Built a platform / step for boarding while at anchor or beached.  This was made out of cedar.  We ended up not using it on this trip after all.

Used scrap wood and quick-release mounts to mount bicycles in the cockpit while trailering.  We wanted to bring bikes on this trip (not to carry while sailing), but our bike carrier goes in the hitch receiver.  So, I bought fork mounts, screwed them to wood, added weatherstripping to the wood (to prevent marring of gelcoat) and mounted 3 of our 4 bikes in the cockpit.  The bike carrier and fourth bike was inside the boat.  This setup worked, but I do need to make some improvements for next time.

I'm probably leaving off something and certainly glossing over some of the more complex points, but that's the gist of the two weeks before leaving for the trip.

[Captain Smollett]

This trip to Amelia Island is what I call a "working trip."  That is, it was business related for the XO, and since we got to tag along, we turn the rest of the trip into a combination "vacation" and "homeschool field trip." 

I decided to bring the boat for the following reasons:

(a) Just because.  Yep.

(b) Cumberland Island...we've been "trying" to get there for nearly 10 years.


We elected to keep the boat in a slip in Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina.  I'll post more details about this facility in the Routes and Destinations board, but for an 18 ft boat, a slip was about as cheap as a mooring.  We tossed around the idea of anchoring her out, but really did not want to bring the dinghy and there was no water taxi service...AND...if we put her in the slip, they had a place for us to keep the trailer for the week.  It was not bad; the slip for a week was cheaper than one night in a mid-road motel room.

We did not sleep on board, of course...we had a place right on the beach that was part of the 'business trip' angle.

8 June 2014

Arrived Amelia Island / Fernandina Beach, Florida.  Got the mast up, boat launched and tied in her slip.  Engine died while approaching slip, but made it in okay.  Thought fuel line end fitting leaking air, so planned repair for morning of 9th.

9 June 2014  Boat Repair in Exotic Locations

Was supposed to get minor fuel line repair and some other minor boat chores done early while waiting for tide to head to Cumberland Island.

Spent the entire day chasing fuel problems, driving to store(s), replacing parts.  Ended up replacing tank and entire tank-to-engine fuel line (twice) before noticing fuel line from fuel filter to carb was in bad shape and a likely culprit to the problem.

Managed to get a piece from NAPA Auto Parts in the correct size, and the dude there GAVE it to me.  I bought a couple of other items from him and was adament about not expecting free fuel line, but though he had no problem charging me for the other stuff...he insisted the fuel hose was free.

Upon installation and a slight adjustment of the idle fuel-air mix, the engine ran better than I've ever seen it run. 

Seemed all was in train for ride out to Cumberland on the 10th.

10 June 2014 Boat Repair in Even More Exotic Locations

The 9th had nice wind, but the morning of the 10th was light air.

I should explain our strategy in working the tide for the jump over to Cumberland Island.

On the water in Georgia and north Florida, everything runs on the tide.  The range is 8+ ft and currents can run 5 kt.  We planned to get to the Ranger dock to check for availability, and if none, beach the boat.  The idea was to beach about 2 hours before low tide and thus be refloating about 2 hours after low tide...giving us a 4 hour window to explore while maintaining "wading depths."

Low tide was predicted to be about 1 pm, so we planned to be underway no later than 10 am.  With the light air, though favorable (so it seemed from the marina), we figured leaving early was okay.  We motored out of the marina, raised the sails and with Hunter at the helm, headed down the Amelia River.

Shortly after leaving the marina, that is, alongside the port facility, the wind shifted on us and we had to tack up the channel.  No problem, though, as we still mostly had wind, though it was becoming flukey.  As we neared St. Marys inlet, the wind slackened, until it finally died completely while we sat mid inlet, just off the beach of Fort Clinch.

That is, we sat totally becalmed just off the beach of Fort Clinch while the tidal ebb edged us out to sea.

At this point, I elected to motorsail until the wind filled back in (I assumed it would...), so we worked our way against the current, then across the current and past the mouth to the St. Mary's River.  All was going well.

Too well.  It seemed like some puffs of wind were hitting, and I tried once to stop motoring and just sail but we still had insufficient wind to make any ground good.  Refired the iron jib and continued up.

Til the shear pin broke.

We had no wind, no engine, and a current setting us back the way we had come.  We were not far off the beach, but I found no bottom with the boat hook.  I elected to try kedging with the secondary (lighter) anchor to work inshore, beach and attempt to repair the engine (confessing that I was not sure I had put the spare shear pin back in the spares box after the detailed Spring Cleaning).

I tossed the anchor a time or two and was making 10-15 yards progress toward shore with each toss.  I figured I'd find the bottom soon and while lining up for a throw, noticed there was, indeed, a slight breeze.  Raised the mainsail and let the breeze push us ashore.  We beached in about 12" water (consistent with our draft) and pulled up another boat length before walking the secondary up to the tide line and the primary out to deeper water (to pull us off later...hours later).

Less than ten minutes later, the prop had a new shear pin (yes, I had packed the spare) and all that remained was to wait four hours or so for the water come back in to float the boat.  The tide had dropped a good half foot in just those few minutes.

We shlogged ashore with our lunch and water and set about exploring.  We had seen one horse while sailing past and another was nearby where we 'landed.'  We worked our way south along the island's beach to a very large cedar tree where we made our temporary 'camp.'  A feeling of being 'castway' lingered, but did not get in the way of playing on the beach, enjoying lunch among the birds and in the welcome shade of that large tree. With temperatures in the mid 90's and the sun bearing hot, the shade of that tree was very welcome indeed.

I took a short walk after lunch to kill some time waiting for the tide and stopped counted horses at 11.  I also found myself knee deep in marsh mud on occasion, and found a wooden carved owl placed on a beach area, seemingly as a calling card announcing a meeting place.  Fiddler crabs were in such abundance I could hear them skittering across the mud.

At 2 pm, we broke our makeshift 'camp,' and hiked back northward toward the boat.  She was not yet afloat, so I set about getting things organized to get back underway.  I recovered the secondary anchor and reled the primary to the bow.  The rest of the crew ventured out through the mud and by the time we got everyone cleaned up enough to board, the water was in.  I few brief tugs on the anchor line got her afloat and pointed out, toward the anchor.

Alas, the centerboard was 'stuck' again.  We FINALLY figured out the issue...beaching the boat causes the problem, perhaps jamming the pennant attachment point in the trunk.  We wanted to make our way down to the Ranger dock to pay our day-use fee and scope things out, so we really did not need the board for the downwind / broad reach to get there.  And...the wind had finally filled in.

Under full main alone, we made our way to the other dock.  At one point, we were beam reaching (with no centerboard down) and making a fair amount of leeway, and had to cross a shoal.  Barely, but we made it across.  I think I could have thrown a biscuit and hit the bare mud as we passed.

Turning into the wind to drop the main and fire up the engine for our approach to the dock (which was vacant, except for the ferry), I could not get the engine to start.  Grrr.  Not at all.

Sailed to a spot to drop the anchor and figure things out.  It was a good "lesson" to the rest of the crew...buy yourself time to work the problem.  Interestingly, I got the engine running with no fuss, no muss, and we motored up through the other anchored boats and to the dock.

On shore, we paid our day-use fee and milled about for a while, just cooling off (again...) among the folks awaiting the ferry back to St, Marys.  While there, we saw an armadillo...a first for me.

We motored back, against wind and tide for half the trip, and against wind the rest of the way.  No further drama, and tied up in the slip.  It would have been a beautiful evening sail if that CB had cooperated.  I am going to fashion an tool to push it down if it gets jammed like that again; it happens each time we beach.

Though it went VERY different than planned, it was not a bad 10 hours on the water.

May have some pictures to add later.

[CharlieJ]

Some of MY old stomping ( sailing) grounds. I've been at anchor and dinghied ashore Cumberland several times and spent nearly a month in Fernandina (at a private dock on Egans Creek) while working on another's boat.

I've also beat out to sea out the St Mary's twice, through the jetties.

I've always enjoyed Cumberland. Hunting hasn't been allowed there for over 100 years so the wild life has little to no fear. Hope you saw the ruins of the mansion. Must have been a grand place a hundred years ago.

Great spot, and yes, the tide DO churn there.

Glad you guys had a good time there

[Captain Smollett]

A few of Hunter's pictures.

Requisite Cumberland Island photo...grazing wild horse as we sail past.

Beached boat, tide falling fast.

Footprints in the sand.

[Tim]

Another great report, thanks John. And nice photos Hunter

[Jim_ME]

Though it went VERY different than planned, it was not a bad 10 hours on the water.

Enjoyed your report. Appreciate your sharing the process, including your preparations for the trip, and on your sail, your thoughts as you encounter various unexpected events, and your options, solutions, etc.

Also a good reminder of, as you have said, to be ready for the motor to quit at any time.