Fifth Season in Newport

Well, the fifth season for Devante's Dream in Newport RI is drawing to a close. Jane and I spent a little time on her this year, several days in Block Island (with Elizabeth too) and Eric stayed on board for Block Island Race Week, and then later a few days at Cuttyhunk.

We may go out for the Mitchell Regatta on Columbus Day weekend is the weather is decent.

Here she is in Cuttyhunk. Looking pretty good in her 10th season!

Fourth Season in Newport

Hard to believe this is Devante's Dream's fourth season in Newport. We have enjoyed every moment of it, especially since she has been in the incredible care of Brian Blank with Bareboat Sailing Charters. Connect with Brian to book a great bareboat sailing experience.

I've been a little lax (understatement) with the blog the last few years. Here's a quick recap:

2011 

Eric Sr. is fully recovered from moving Devante's Dream back from Bermuda. Eric's mother and daughter were onboard for the 4th of July. We had a great front row seat for the fireworks from our mooring in Brenton Cove. 

2012 

The America's Cup. For sailors you don't need to say much more. It was an incredible experience watching the races from onboard Devante's Dream literally a few feet from the ridiculously fast 40 catamarans. We also had our long time good friends Jack and Joyce Clark onboard for a great trip to Martha's Vineyard as well as my brother Scott and his dad Joe. 

2013 

For most of 2013 Eric and Jane were in Salem MA sailing locally with friends. Eric and Jane got onboard for a couple of weeks in September. First sail completely around Conanicut Island (Jamestown). A few days of bumpy weather brought us into the dock at Newport Yaching Center, very cool but pricey! My brother Scott and his Dad, Joe, visited again.

September is a great time of year to be in Newport, cool weather, nice breezes, the first hints of foliage...it was hard to leave to go back to Atlanta GA.

Now

But...now we don't need to leave anymore. Eric and Jane moved to Newport in April of 2014.

We have already been busy getting Devante's Dream ready for her 4th season in Newport. Jane varnished all the brightwork (it needs it and now looks awesome) and Eric disassembled, cleaned and greased all of the winches. Other than that just a good cleaning and she is ready to go!

See you out there!

Really stoked that the America's Cup village is right next door to Devante's Dream at Fort Adams in Newport RI. Eric, Jane and EJ are heading out tonight. We are on board until the 29th with various guests.

Devante's Dream is still in Newport

Devante's Dream is still in Newport RI and will be for the 2012 summer season. One of the main reasons is the excellent care and feeding that she is receiving at the hands of Brian Blank of Bareboat Sailing Charters. 

This year the America's Cup World Series will be held in Newport. Wow are we excited!

Devante's Dream to Newport RI

Devante's Dream is bound for Newport RI!

Bowen's Wharf

We're excited to spend some time in the "Sailing capital of the world", earned during her days hosting the America's Cup. Now it's just all about sailing, and pubs, and mansions, and art, and festivals...

Bermuda to New England - June 2011

Bermuda to New England June 2011 has been successfully completed. Here's are the passage notes:

On Tuesday May 31, 2011 Eric arrived in Bermuda and meet one of the crew members, David Ritchey, at the Bermuda Yacht Services office. Devante's Dream has been in Bermuda for the winter having arrived in October 2010 from Marblehead Massachusetts.

My intention was to visit her over the winter and spend some time in Bermuda where the temperatures are moderate, mid 60's and sometimes warmer. However, every time I looked at the weather there was always a gale, sometimes blowing up to 69 knots. Not exactly cruising weather.

So here I am in May and the weather is much better. I found David on the Cruisers Forum message board. It's a great resource of knowledge and communication about sailboats and cruising in general. Last year I got crew from the same site.

David is a recent Naval Academy graduate and has the benefit of Newport to Bermuda experience. We've got a few days to get the boat ready before the second crew member, Chris Arias, comes in on Friday. So, time to get to it!

I can't say enough good things about Bermuda Yacht Services, Sandra, Mark and Frances. They watched over Devante's Dream for the winter and are extremely helpful. Sandra gave us a ride to their shop on the other side of the harbor where the dinghy was stored.

Frances shows us where the motor is and the dinghy is still tied to the tree where I left it rolled up tight last October. David and I untie it from the tree and carry is down to the beach. It's actually quite warm and the water is very inviting. I am already thinking about a swim.

We unroll the dinghy on the beach. It's dirty and also a cockroach hotel. David doesn't like them. I don't blame him. We install some new valve covers and get the new foot pump out and start inflating. It doesn't take long and the new pump is MUCH better than the old broken one that required you to remove the nozzle after EVERY pump to get more air in the chamber. David did all the pumping. Thanks David.The inflatable dinghy is nice and hard. We even have the keel inflated, thanks to the new valves, which hasn't worked for years.

Now it's time for a dinghy bath. It's in good shape for six years old, just a little dirty. The cockroaches don't like the bath and go off in all directions. We flip is over a few times to get them and the sand all out. When down she looks presentable.

We tie up to a boat on the quay and head over to get the engine after getting that swim in. I forgot how big the engine is. It's an 8HP but more importantly it is a four stroke so it's huge. Huge but strong and very fuel efficient and simple to work, no mixing gas and oil, which is nice.

This will be the moment of truth. The engine has been sitting for eight months. It's hard to believe it has been that long. When I left in October I ran all of the gas out so is should be okay, but you never know with outboard motors.

Frances checks the gas and pronounces it fine so we carry to motor down to the beach and get it all hooked up. A few pumps to the primer ball, pull the choke all the way out and pull twice. It starts right up.

We are cooking with gas! High fives all around.

We have a lot of gear and it all won't fit in the dinghy so we leave it at the shop and buzz over to Devante's Dream. She is moored on a BYS mooring ball in a protected harbor about a mile from the beach we are on.

We tie up the dinghy to the stern of Devante's Dream and hop on board. She's a little moldy on the inside and quite dirty on the outside but all in all she is in good shape. I crank up the engine and then David and I remove the massive mooring chain and extra mooring lines and head over to the St. Georges anchorage.

In the fall of 2010 Devante's Dream was the first boat in the harbor, except for Milo on Magic but he was there for most of the summer, he even went through a hurricane on board. This spring there are 20 to 30 boats in the harbor and Sandra said that the week before there were twice as many. Bermuda is really the crossroads of passage sailing in the North Atlantic. Even so we are able to anchor near the town dinghy dock. We run in for a bit at Somers Market buffet and get our things over at the BYS shed.

David was an incredible help for the first three days of preparation, cleaning and installing all of the gear. Thank you David! I had forgotten that the spinnaker halyard had come out of the mast and needed to be rerun. David gladly went up the mast, four times in all, to finally get it rerun. If we get a lot of downwind sailing we'll need the spin to keep the boat moving. Plus it's a blast to sail.

Uptown, my local Bermuda friend from the last trip, came by the boat on Thursday night to say hello and say he would be by later with Swizzle. Yahoo! He makes awesome Swizzle. We bought some wahoo off of a fishing boat at the dock and Uptown prepared us an amazing dinner with whatever spices and veggies we had on board. Scrumptious.

The third crew member, Chris Arias, arrived Friday afternoon. Chris is an audio engineer and music producer. He looks the part with long hair and a goatee. Since David and I have done all of the prep work we anoint Chris as cook. He says he loves to cook so great.

We get his stuff on board and take the boat out in to the main harbor for a trial sail. Everything went fine and the crew got a feel for the boat. We were ready to go. However, the weather was not cooperating. Nothing but N-NW winds forecast for the next 3 days, no fun there bashing to weather.

We could get the Internet, which we jokingly called the Interweb, from the sail loft while in the anchorage. It was spotty but it worked. We all checked the weather constantly. No changes. It is a persistent pattern. But we can't wait forever so we all decided to head out on Saturday and just deal with the head wind.

This means checking out of Bermuda with customs which I do Saturday morning but it becomes a major hassle when I don't have the "yellow" copy of the boat coming into Bermuda. Sandra comes over with here file portfolio but doesn't have it either. Eventually they relent and grant the exit papers without the "yellow" copy. But it was a hassle.

We finally motor out of the harbor and through Town Cut. Just as we get to the outer marker the engine starts squealing and smoking. Something is very wrong. We turn back in. Of course it is Saturday and I can tell you from experience that Bermudians do NOT work on the week-ends. I called a few mechanics and even spoke with one. "I can be there first thing Monday morning." Great, we are stuck until Monday.

It's not really that bad though. The wind is contrary and Uptown has invited us over to his boat, Mujan, for dinner on Sunday. So we motored over to his boat and picked up a mooring ball from one of his friends. For a 32' boat it held the five of us, including Milo who was rafted up, comfortably, even when it started to rain and we had to use the cabin.

Uptown made lamb chops with pasta and a bean salad. Yummy. Plus we had Swizzle. Chris had his first Dark and Stormy, the well known Bermudian rum drink. We listened to music and talked about boats and sailing for four hours.

Eventually we all got hungry again so we dinghy'd over to Devante's Dream and cooked up burgers and pasta, talking more about boats and sailing until sunset. What a great day and great friend to have in Bermuda. Thanks Uptown.

On Monday morning the 6th of June I met Mark with Bermuda Yacht Services in Somers Market and we talked about the engine problem. He suggested tightening the alternator belt. I did that and the problem was solved. Time to go!

A quick trip to the customs office to check, again, and we were on our way. The winds were still forecast to be from the N-NW but now there is a forecasted shift to the W on Thursday. We need to get up there to take advantage of it. We motor out of Town Cut again and headed north, into the wind, motor sailing or smotering as well call it, as best we could.

About 12 hours into the passage the engine starts sounding a little off, you can easily pick up subtle sound changes after a while, and then stalls. Not good. I restarted it with some difficulty and it stalled again. That is a very sinking feeling. No engine with 500 miles to go into a head wind. We could do it but it might take a month instead of five days.

We sailed for another half an hour and then I made the decision to turn back to Bermuda. The sail back was actually delightful, going downwind with following sea and no motor, very peaceful, except that we have to make landfall and get inside Town Cut, which is very narrow. We covered the same distance back in just 9 hours.

I had a feeling (don't ask me how) that the engine would start and that we would be able to motor in. We did but I kept the RPM's very low. Once we got into port we considered the possible causes, the most likely culprit was the fuel filter. Getting to it was difficult and it had to be removed from the bulk-head and turn sideways.

Opening the drain caused a cereal bowls full of water to come out and then some. Opening the filter was ugly with mucous looking growth all over the filter. It was a wonder that the engine ran at all. I took the filter to the gas station and washed it out with diesel fuel, reinstalled and we were running smoothly. Only one hiccup, David checked his email and was being recalled from liberty and would have to fly back to Annapolis immediately.

Interestingly though that this did not bother me in the least. Chris is a capable sailor and had a chance to get used to the boat. We can double hand the passage, I am sure of it. David books a 3:00 PM flight. We get him cleared off the boat through customs, which is now very busy with a lot of boats leaving for the Azores, one guy singlehanded, and we got a new departure clearance since they can't find our original one and we headed out to sea again at 11:22 on Tuesday June 7th.

It was a rough first 24 hours. We had to motor sail into a full head wind close hauled as tight to the wind as we can get. We're heading North, which is okay since that is where the counter current for the Gulf Stream is. Eventually though we'll need to make some westing. We burned 3/4 of a tank of fuel in one day. It was very disheartening to know that we still had 500 miles to go with at least another day of bashing and almost half of our fuel already used. We would have to be very cautious on our RPM's for here on out.

Day 2 saw more NW wind and more due north motor sailing, yet we had a favorable current most of those two days, even though we could not make any headway NW. At one point we had 30 knots of breeze close hauled.

I have used the word "bashing" to describe the type of sailing we are doing. It literally is just that, bashing. On the bigger waves the entire front of the hull comes out of the water. I can just picture the front of the keel exposed to the air during these launches off of a wave. On the other side the flat part of the hull hits the water and causes a huge shudder in the entire boat and a slamming sound. You grit your teeth when it happens, which is about every 30 - 60 seconds. I am dreaming of being home with my wife during this stretch and wonder why I love ocean passages so much...

On Day 3 finally the wind came more from the west and we were able to take a break from bashing, making good speed without getting beat to death. Still all to the North though.

On Thursday afternoon I called Jane on the sat phone. Oops, I forgot to call her on our Anniversary. I didn't feel like talking in that sea. I now owe her one. I think I owe her one anyway...

She gave me the weather report straight from passageweather.com. Good news. The winds is forecast to swing to the north and then east. This is perfect. We are about 200 nautical miles from Marblehead and with pretty stiff wind from the NW still.

We heave-to, which is back winding the head sail so that the boat rests quietly on the water. It's a nice way to take a break from bashing and cook some dinner, which I do. Speaking of cooking, Chris was a trooper. It is his first passage and his constitution took some time to adjust to the constant pitching and rolling and slamming of the boat. His first day out was rough be he got better. Going below though and looking down into the reefer (refridge) or cooking was pretty much out of the question, so I cooked most of the meals and tonight I had a treat planned.

I took everything we had and made a nice 7 layer dip that we ate with the nice thick panini bread we had. Here's the recipe by layer; cream cheese, chili beans, skillet fried hamburger, skillet fried onions, squash and zucchini, cheddar cheese, chili beans, hamburger, shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Yes, it was cool enough out now to run the oven!

We ate that for dinner while the boat slowly slipped in the seas. It was very filling and we had lots left over for tomorrow. After dinner Chris went to bed and I took the watch. We ran 3 hour shifts which worked out perfectly in my mind. The overnights were the biggies, sometime we alternated between my taking the 12-3 and Chris taking the 3-6 depending on how the day went. We always announced who was on watch. In hindsight we really didn't need David. It allowed for more room on deck and in the cabin with less food prep. Double-handing is fine in my mind.

So I have the evening watch. It is light very late, with nautical twilight where you can see pretty good all the way until after 9:00 PM. I let off the jib which put Devante's Dream on port tack. We were basically heading for Delaware. Not where we want to go but the wind is forecast to go north and clock to the east. No reason to stay on port tack and get driven further east, we need to start making some westing.

The evening was magic. I watched as wave after wave of 10 degree wind shifts in fairly light are rolled across the horizon in front of me. After each shift I adjusted the auto-helm (affectionately know as Otto) to bring us closer and closer to our needed NW course. After just a few hours we were on course. Amazing. Good call Jane.

At the end of my shift I roused Chris and told him we were on course. The wind is still predicted to go further east so we need to stay on our present heading and adjust our sails to suit. We're on the last run home. Yahoo! We had sailed three days on port tack barely deviating more than a few degrees straight north from Bermuda.

Chris did a pretty good job keeping the sails setup properly. The wind did clock around and we were now broad reaching for Marblehead. Put up the spinnaker? No, I am too tired for that and with the wind going ENE-E it will probably be raining soon.

Later it is comfortable in the cabin even though it is cold and raw outside with temps in the 50's. We expect landfall in Marblehead Sunday afternoon.

The wind has picked up in the afternoon. Now we were running into the Great South Channel off Cape Cod often making 9 knots over the ground with a following sea. Sweet!

We pop our head out of the cabin occasionally to check for traffic that does not show up on the AIS system, which shows all of the commercial traffic, heading, speed and closest point of approach. There is really no one out here, especially with the weather. There are a few commercial fishing boats running along the shelf but otherwise we have the sea to ourselves.

Sunday June 13th, we have arrived in Marblehead and are getting our mooring in Salem harbor. It is 11:22, almost exactly five days out of Bermuda (if you don't count the wasted second attempt to leave!)

We're excited and Chris gets his first opportunity to grab a mooring ball. It takes a few times but we eventually get hooked up. It's a tough mooring to pickup as the hawser is heavy and has several shackles on it that make it hard to pick up. Then we are on. Time for a ceremonial Dark and Stormy~

~Eric

Bermuda to New England - June 2011

Devante's Dream will be repositioning from Bermuda to New England in June. We're looking forward to having the Gulf Stream work in our favor on the this passage.

Bermuda Bound Oct 17, 2010

Bacchus


Latitude:32.3806

Longitude:-64.67554

GPS location Date/Time:10/17/2010 08:24:07 EDT



Message:Devante's Dream has arrived in Bermuda. Mike, Eric & Bill !!!!!!!
The passage was 2 days longer than Eric planned, so I have a feeling that they have a lot of sleep to catch up on.
Jane

Bermuda Bound Oct 16, 2010

Bacchus


Latitude:33.6594

Longitude:-64.32825

GPS location Date/Time:10/16/2010 16:36:20 EDT

Bermuda Bound Oct 16, 2010

Bacchus


Latitude:34.91315

Longitude:-64.06357

GPS location Date/Time:10/16/2010 04:32:24 EDT

Bermuda Bound Oct 14, 2010 12:47pm

285NM NOR OF BMD FOUL CURRENT SUNDY ARU LIKEKLY

Bermuda Bound Oct 14, 2010

Bacchus


Latitude:37.24711

Longitude:-65.66876

GPS location Date/Time:10/14/2010 07:58:41 EDT



Message: Bermuda Bound on Devante's Dream. Everything is going well. Mike, Eric & Bill

Bermuda Bound Oct 13,2010

Bacchus

Latitude:38.99701

Longitude:-67.46213

GPS location Date/Time:10/13/2010 07:12:40 EDT



Message: Bermuda Bound on Devante's Dream. Everything is going well. Mike, Eric & Bill



I have to admit that the findmespot.com is pretty awesome stuff. A good back up to the Epirb and if there is that dreaded emergency, I can actually speak coherently to the coast guard. We actually heard a guy on the radio in Maine that had an emergency and could not explain the type of boat he was on, never mind his location.
 
Jane

Bermuda Bound Oct 12, 2010

GPS location Date/Time:10/12/2010 16:14:42 EDT

Bacchus


Latitude:40.20621

Longitude:-68.29413

Passage to Bermuda Fall 2010

We're just about ready!

Here's the link to Mike's SPOT GPS location unit. It tracks our location every few hours.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0L8Yp8SFTpKceqlQLusy5TRGkJOaqYNaA

Passage to Bermuda Fall 2010

Devante's Dream is ready for the passage to Bermuda. She'll be departing Columbus Day, Monday October 11th in the early morning.

On board for this passage are returning crew Bill Spratt (my brother-in-law) and local New England sailor Mike Crawford. Bill has been onboard for a previous passage from Key West to Nassau Bahamas. This is Mike's first time aboard.

Why Bermuda? We had a great passage up from Key West at the end of May beginning of June. It took nine sailing days and 12 days overall. Going back to Key West takes longer, probably twelve sailing days and two to two and a half weeks and a general slog against the Gulf Stream. Not as much fun as coming up.

Next year I plan on being back in New England so Bermuda is an option. It's a lot closer, the passage will take about 4.5 days and it's a world class destination. Never been there but they tell me its nice. Coming back to New England is even easier than going down. Go a little bit to the Northwest and pick up the Gulf Stream, could make it to Marblehead in under four days.

So, there we are heading to Bermuda. Our destination is St. Georges Harbour and the town of St. Georges.

Eric

2010 Summer Cruise - Marblehead and Maine

Devante's Dream cruise in New England exceeded my wildest expecations. The weather was epic. Even in Maine, where we had 20 days of 75 degrees and sunshine out of 23. One of the days was foggy. Jane and I both said "Thank God, we can rest!". We hadn't stopped to catch our breath.

Stories coming soon and pictures like this one!

Isle au Haut
Cliff Trail lunch spot

2010 Summer Cruise - Passage to New England - Marblehead Landfall

Devante’s Dream has completed the off-shore passage from Key West to Marblehead, taking a little more than 9 days to cover 1400+ nautical miles. There were two stops, in Beaufort/Morehead City North Carolina, for two days and Edgartown Martha's Vineyard for two days.

Here are some passage notes.

Getting ready for an extended off-shore passage is a massive amount of work. I relished every moment of it. We were still putting the final touches on repairs the night before departure but everything came together.

Depart Key West FL Thursday May 27th 2010 at 1015.

Arrive Beaufort NC Monday May 31st 2010 at 0430
For this first leg Eric Sr. Vladimir and Gary were on board. Eric and Gary were sick for the first day. Gary did not really eat anything the entire trip. Vlad acted as cook for the most part and is an excellent one at that, making scrumptious meals out of our provisions.
Right outside Oceanside Marina in Key West we had dolphins. Although I am not superstitious it was a pleasant site. We initially had calm conditions with no wind so we took the time to “swing the boat” to adjust the computerized compass and auto-helm.
Interestingly, with the auto-helm we rarely manually steer the boat with the wheel. It is just too tedious to do for long periods of time, plus the auto-helm can do it far better than any human can. So for the most part the crew can sit back and enjoy the scenery and keep a watch out.

Speaking of watches, we stood standard 4 hour watches starting at 0800. Eric took the first watch, Vlad the second and Gary the third. This schedule meant that each crew always had the same watch. As Gary was a novice sailor Eric shadowed his watches or slept lightly in the cockpit which made for a slightly tiring total leg.

Gary practiced knots… Cooking the first meal Eric dumped and entire pan of onion and peppers behind the stove and had to clean it up… Motor sailing (smotering) for the most part as winds are light or slightly on the nose. However, what wind there is helps the motor to operate at very low RPM’s so we sip fuel yet still make good time.
Devante’s Dream holds 36 gallons of diesel in her single fuel tank. At full power she can motor for around 30 hours so 36 gallons is not enough for extended off-shore passages. I added six 5 gallon yellow plastic diesel jugs to the rails to extend the range. When she’s smotering we can burn as little as 1/3 gallon an hour and go a really long way. We ended up with plenty of fuel to spare at the end of the first leg.

You settle in to a routine pretty quickly on an off-shore passage. Once I got my sea legs under me I was good to go. After 36 hours I could comfortably eat and my performance improved. I think next time I’ll do some more day sailing before a long passage to cut down the acclimation time. Sitting here writing it is blustery and we’re rocking quite a bit at the mooring but it does not bother me at all now that I have been on board for 10 days.
The end of the first leg entails entering Beaufort Inlet. It’s wide and well marked however we were arriving at the peak of the ebb (outgoing) tide. This meant that we would be bucking a significant current. It was almost more than I bargain for.
Entering straight into the main channel it was around 0200 in the morning, the sky was clear with good visibility. We could easily spot the series of buoys leading to the inlet. I had the engine RPM slightly reduced and was using the auto-helm by the time we reached the 2nd buoy from the entrance.
The current in the location began to twist, spin and drag Devante’s Dream towards one of the marks. The auto-helm could not compensate. Plus, just at that time, a power boat was overtaking us from the rear, reducing my maneuvering room. I had to take manual control of the helm and increase engine RPM’s to avoid hitting the mark and the power boat that was also being spun and dragged. Yikes!
We continued on and the tidal rip subsided as we entered the main channel. The marina I selected to stay at was on a broad deep channel for easy access as night. However, fate is always out there waiting for you. Maneuvering near the marina I put the engine at idle speed and it promptly died. I restarted it and looked up. Just then Vlad noted that there was a channel marker to our right. Too late we bumped into the bar at very slow speed.
The rudder was free and I tried to wiggle off with no success. I left the engine in reverse while we discussed our options. It was 0300 so too early to hail Boat U.S. who would come out and help us. We needed to self-rescue.

How many doctors does it take to wash a boat?

Eventually we inflated the dinghy on deck, dropped it in the water and planned to skeg an anchor off the port quarter stern. Vlad was in the dingy and I was getting the anchor line untangled when Vlad called out something that something was wrong. We were drifting in the middle of the channel! Evidently the dinghy and Vlad weighed enough to lift the boat off the bar.

We motored over to the dock and tied up and promptly went to bed. We completed the Key West to Beaufort passage in 90 hours and 15 minutes, right at the best possible time that I had predicted prior to departing.

Depart Beaufort NC Wednesday June 2nd, 2010 at 0510

Arrive Edgartown Martha’s Vineyard MA Saturday June 5th 2010 at 11:45

For this leg crew consisted on Eric Sr., Vlad and new crew member Bob. Bob’s from Alabama, more on that later. Prior to departing we used Bob’s car to check out downtown Beaufort NC. We were docked in Morehead City just over the bridge.

It’s a quaint town with small cape cod style homes with picket fences and a great waterfront area with a lot of docks. It’s a popular stop over for sailing cruisers due to it’s entrance to the intra coastal waterway and ocean access for going around Cape Hatteras.

Vlad and I got out of the car to check out the waterfront area and left Bob and Gary in the car. After walking down the length of the dock for a while I spotted a couple washing their sailboat. I figured they would know what the transient dockage situation was. I couldn’t see any signs for a dock office or even the marina’s name.

I called over to the husband asking questions and he immediately stopped what he was doing to talk with me. He explained the dockage and where the office was. I inquired about his passage. He said that there engine had become disabled and that they had to be towed into the slip they where in. His wife came over and we talked some more.

My stomach was growling so I was thinking lunch. Since we were enjoying our conversation on the dock I invited them to have lunch with us. “Sure”, they said, “We’ll clean up and meet you in a few minutes.

Vlad and I checked out the dock office and got the brochure. We’ll stop there next time through. We also went back to the car and got Bob and Gary.

Our lunch and conversation was great. If you didn’t already guess by Vlad’s name he is from Russia, having immigrated to the States 20 years ago. He’s also a professional musician, playing the viola, as well as a music teacher. In our conversation with Linda and Dan music came up.

One discussion thread led to another and eventually they realized that they had hosted a family emigrating from Russia that played in an orchestra that Vlad had sponsored to come into the country. Wow. It really is a small world. We exchanged contact info and went on our way.

Vlad, Bob and I made the obligatory stop at the West Marine and the provisioning (super market) store. We planned for a 0500 departure to make the best of the ebbing tide in the morning of Wednesday the 2nd of June.

Bob had a tough day the first day out. He said he wasn’t feeling well even before he got on the boat and he, like Gary, did not really eat anything the entire trip. He was a trooper though.

Leaving Beaufort NC going north means a choice between going inside via the Intracoastal Waterway or outside at sea around Cape Hatteras. Since we wanted to actually get north in a reasonable amount of time we choose outside. Let me tell you it takes a long time to get around Cape Hatteras! Like all day, but we did make it.by smotering most of the way around.

Later that night we got our only bad weather of the trip. It didn’t last too long but it was on the nose and kinda wet. The next day the sun shown and the wind was on our tail, time to put up the kite (spinnaker).

I can count on one hand the number of times we had preciously used the spinnaker. It’s a bit of a bear due to it’s size. Vladimir and I worked on getting it setup. It has a long bag that it lives with a snuffing mechanism at the bottom. We raise the entire bag to the top of the mast and then pull the bag up to deploy the sail.

That’s the easy part, taking it down is another thing altogether.

We got the sail up and needed to make some rigging adjustments to the tack so we took it right back down again. Once those changes were made the sail was hoisted and off we flew, able to make the rhumb line towards Edgartown Martha’s Vineyard.

Downwind cooking (and eating) is easier

We shut the engine down. You have never seen three happier men, Vlad at the helm, Bob watching the chart plotter and Eric chilling in a lounge chair. We were making 7 knots flying the chute.

Later that evening the wind slacked off a little and we didn’t want to fly the chute at night so we took it down. Despite the snuffer it’s still quite a job. I need to rig up a snap shackle so that we can blow the tack, which is the guy on an asymmetrical spinnaker, which would make it easier to take down.

Without this aid we had to rely on easing the spin sheet so that the snuffer could come down. This works, with light air, be we had 20 knots so we had to muscle the snuffer down.

Easing the sheet puts it in the water once the sail is down. After easing the sheet I went forward to help Vlad put the sail away. When I was done with that I went to look for the sheet. It was under the boat.

Bummer.

Bob felt a tug on the engine and put it in neutral. I pulled on the sheet. It wouldn’t budge, double bummer. Vlad and I both pulled. Same result. We could see that it went forward around the keel which made sense since the sheet was on the starboard side. We pulled it back around to the starboard side and back towards the stern.

We shut the engine off. We couldn’t motor with the sheet wrapped up in the prop. We still had 18 to 20 knots of wind so I couldn’t dive on the prop for fear of hitting my head on the bottom of the boat.

We settled in for a long night going downwind with just the main. It was painfully slow at 4.5 to 5.5 knots and very lumpy. I slept very little.

In the morning I could feel the seas easing a little as the wind died down. I got out of bed and came on deck. Over the next hour or so the wind died completely and the seas went flat, time to get in the water.

I had all of my dive gear on board for just such and event. I suited up and used my pony bottle instead of a full size dive tank. Vlad took videos as I went in the water to but the line away. It was a brisk entry in the cold water but not too bad.

I could unwrap some of the line by hand but about two wraps were melted to the drive shaft. I cut those three and came aboard with the fragments of rope. There were only about 10 inches of line on the shaft.

Bob keeps watch on the downwind run

About 30 minutes after I got out of the water the wind came back up to 18-20 knots and we put the chute back up for another day of glorious downwind running. Can you believe it?

On our third day out of Beaufort NC we had heavy fog and light wind so we motored. I could see no vessels that posed a threat on the AIS (ship ID system) but not all ships are transmitting as we noted when we went by parked fishing vessel and several large buoys marking underwater fishing nets. We still needed to keep a sharp eye out.

I looked at the sky at around 0830 and told Bob that the fog would burn off at 11:30. By 11:45 we had clear visibility and within a few hours we had more breeze, again from the southwest, so we put the chute up again. We ran the chute until sunset.

Unfortunately our landfall timing was less than perfect. We were going to be entering the channel off Wasque Point during a full ebb tide. At one point, while in the narrowest part of the channel, we were doing 2.9 knots over the ground. It seemed like it took forever to get past that channel marker!

As we continued on the current slackened and we eventually had a favorable current taking us into Edgartown harbor. We arrived at 11:45 PM and promptly went to bed.

Edgartown Martha’s Vineyard

A lonely Devante's Dream in Edgartown Harbor

The next day was Sunday June 6th. We took the launch into Edgartown and ate at the Seafood Shanty, which has an amazing view of the Edgartown harbor. Amazingly, Devante’s Dream was one of only a few boats in the mooring field. I guess the season starts later here.

Bob, as I mentioned before, is from Alabama. He looks like an Alabamian should look. But he doesn’t fit the mold. For one he owns a sailboat and an airplane. Well actually that is two but that’s beside the point.

Downtown Edgartown

Our waitress came over to take our order. I ordered first, then Bob. Bob asked a question. The waitress just stared at him with her mouth open. Vladimir and I burst out laughing. She couldn’t comprehend his southern accent. Now Vladimir has a thick Russian but we joked that Vlad was going to need to translate for Bob.

Bob was a good sport about the whole thing. He states that that is the way we talk in the country I am from. The three of us toured Edgartown, which doesn't take long.

Brightly colored Gay Head

The next day Vlad and I took a bus tour of the island, stopping at Gay Head, which is so named because of the colorful cliffs. I had the absolute best lobster roll I have ever had there. At the end of the tour we got a chance to walk around Oak Bluffs, with its colorful cottages and buy t-shirts.












Marblehead


Later that afternoon we set off for Marblehead, catching a favorable current to the Monomoy Point channel. This last leg took just 16 hours. We arrived in Marblehead on Tuesday June 8th at 0830. No orchestra was there to greet us at Tuckers Wharf but we had high fives all around.
 
We walked up to Foodies restaurant on Washington Street and met the coffee cup gang that meets there regularly, including Margot, Tom, Jim and Paul. Bob and Vlad were able to regale them with stories of the sea.
 

Vlad setting up Goldeneye's rigging

Before we even had a chance to clean Devante’s Dream Peter Engle had all three of us on Goldeneye, his Jeanneau 37 which I race on, to setup the rig. She had just been put in the water the day before. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Dolphin Yacht Club with a spectacular sunset.
 
The next night was a Wednesday night race so Peter invited Vlad and Bob to come along. They were a little hesitant but Chris Caldwell was to be onboard to check on a new main sail that Peter had ordered so they relented.


Before the race we went to Marblehead Lobster Company and purchased some beautiful local scallops and veggies which Vladimir expertly prepared at Peter and Diane’s home in Old Town. Then Vladimir serenaded us with music on Peter’s Steinway piano in the living room. What an afternoon.

The race was enjoyable and we got to hang out at Boston Yacht Club afterwards. Vladimir purchased t-shirts.

The next day I took Vladimir and Bob to the airport. Our trip was over.

2010 Summer Cruise - Passage to New England, Landfall

We arrived in Marblehead harbor at 0845 on Tuesday June 8th. I was sad to see the passage come to an end but also excited to enter my hometown area sailing grounds on Devante's Dream.

We docked at Tuckers Wharf town docks and soaked up the moment. It was a beautiful early summer day with the brightest blue sky I and my crew mates Vlad and Bob had ever seen.

Later that day we all helped my sailboat racing friend Peter Engel setup the rig on Goldeneye and ate a lunch at Dolphin Yacht Club looking out over the harbor, again with the bluest sky we'd ever seen. On Wednesday night we all raced on Goldeneye and had a blast taking 2nd out of the 12 boat class.

I'll be writing up the passage notes when I get time, which may be a litle while as I am racing in Boston harbor on Saturday and off Marblehead on Sunday.

Eric

ERIC WAS 70 NM SW MVY @ 12:17pm today
j.