Swarm

The Alligator River

35 40.21 N 076 02.76 W

SWARM.  It sounds like the title of a horror B movie.  In this case it applies.

We motored all day yesterday from Columbia into the Alligator River.  At sunset, we pulled over to the side and anchored.  It was a very light wind night so there was no need for protected shelter.  In retrospect, we pulled over too much and got too close to the swamp (about 500 meters).

Soon after dark I was reading my book.  I heard a mosquito buzzing my head, so I brushed it away.  Then another, then another.   I stood up to get rid of them.  What I saw was horrifying.   We didn't have 2 or 3 bugs inside the cabin, we had 2 or 3 thousand!.  I've never seen anything like it.

We had the companionway door in, but we didn't have towels stuffed into the small gaps at the edges.   We had the hatches closed, but one was cracked a little bit.  That's all the bugs needed to get in.  I grabbed two fly swatters, enlisted Libby's help and I set about closing the boat tight even as we swatted.   

It was a hopeless task.  There were far to many to swat.  Besides, we were creating ugly black stains of squashed bug bodies everywhere we hit.  One very big blessing; they weren't mosquitoes but some kind of non-biting relative.  

I heard a strange noise.  I turned off the radio to hear better.  It was completely spooky. Outside was the buzz of a billion bugs swarming around the boat.  I shone the flashlight out the window.  Solid bugs covering everything outside near the places where light leaked out.  

Libby got out the flying insect spray.  I said, "Wait! We're inside an enclosed space. I have to remove the plastic covering the screen and start the fans before you spray."  To remove the plastic, I had to open the hatch for 5-10 seconds.  That allowed another 2000 to enter.  Oh my God, it was like the swarm scene in "The African Queen" 

Well, the insect spray proved to be very effective.   Within 3 minutes all the bugs inside the cabin were dead, and we had the openings sealed so that no more got in.  Libby and I inhaled almost zero.  We set out with brush and dustpan to clean up the bodies of dead bugs.  Yuck.  Then we had to wash down the interior surfaces to clean up bug goo.  Yuck.  

Finally, with chores done we could turn out the lights and go to bed early.   I didn't sleep easy though because of the buzz sound coming from outside.

This morning, I went out in the cockpit, and found a big mound of dead bugs in front of the companionway hatch.  There were thousands of them in a heap.   I grabbed a bucket and washed them overboard.  The rest of the boat was untouched.  Only those places where light leaked out attracted the bug.

We're not very fond of the Alligator River in the first place.  Now we have even more reason to dislike this place.

Do I have pictures?  Hell no!

One wonders about the early settlers and the Indians native to this region.   Were they able to find relatively bug free areas for villages?  Could they make dwellings that kept them out?   Did they just tolerate the bugs around their faces?  Historical accounts never discuss that subject.

More Than We Bargained For

Abemarle Sound

Ah, The Abemarle sound is much feared and respected by cruisers because of its reputation for bad weather and nasty waves.   Yesterday and today though it is still as a mill pond.  We're taking advantage of that.

We visited Columbia, NC yesterday.  We've never been there before.   It turned out that we got more than we bargained for.   

As we approached Columbia on the Scuppernong River we saw a very strange sight.  It was an ironclad, the Monitor or the Merrimack (I never remember which is which).  She was under power and heading straight at us.   It turns out that the vessel we saw is a 3/8 scale reproduction of the ironclad CSS Abemarle.   She was there for the Suppernong River Festival.   We normally avoid festivals and boat shows because of crowding.  No problem this time, we pulled right up to the city dock.

Columbia is a very cute, but very small southern City.  Normally, I suppose the adjective sleppy should apply.  Not today.  All the streets are full of people.  The festival probably attracted everybody from 25 miles around.  Libby and I had fun walking the streets and people watching.   The crowd was very happy, and family oriented.  We really enjoyed ourselves.   As a treat, we bought a blooming onion.   We love those, and we haven't seen blooming onions for sale since the Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine.

In the evening, it turned out that Tarwathie gave us the best seat in the house to watch fireworks.   It was a great show, and we were close enough to feel each WHUMP in our chests as well as in our ears.  That makes it really fun.

After the fireworks, we were a little nervous.  The crowd cleared out except for a bunch of teen agers who were hanging out only feet away from Tarwathie.  We're not used to having people so close to the boat.   No problem though, they were well behaved and quiet and caused no trouble at all.

Now we're heading for the Alligator River.  Sorry, no sailing to Manteo or Ocracoke until our rigging is repaired.   To get there we have to take a big detour around a Marine Corps practice bombing range.  I don't think they bomb on Sundays, but we're not inclined to test that.

Cruisers: if you want to explore the Abemarle Sound, Columbia is a very nice stop, but Edenton is much better because of the many beautiful Antebellum houses in Edenton.

Alone Again

Abemarle Sound

36 04.89 N 076 07.59 W

Reluctantly, we said goodbye to David yesterday and let him return home.  It was a great pleasure having him aboard.  Dave is a gentleman through and through.  Even citizens of Elizabeth City said the same things about Dave.

I think Dave was surprised by the extent of the social live we enjoyed at Elizabeth City.  This was our 10th stop there.  By now we know a lot of people there.  Sadly, Fred Fearing, our favorite Rose Buddy passed away in 2007.   We also know many of the cruisers and we met several good cruising friends while there.   We also got to make some new friends who will be in Marathon this winter.  It really is a small connected world.

Libby took full advantage of the opportunity to do something every mother likes to do -- to spoil her son and shower him with kindness.   I got to ride along, and I have to say WOW; I haven't eaten so well for a whole week in many years.

Well, we have a week to get to Oriental to meet up with rigging parts in shipment.  We don't need a week to get there, so we have some time to kill.  We also have a window with delightfully warm and calm weather.   We're taking advantage of that to visit places we haven't seen before.

Today's destination is Columbia, NC.   It is off the Abemarle about 17 miles west of the ICW.   Tomorrow I'll report on how it was.

Live webcam

http://www.ecncweather.com/harborcam.php

Shows the Elizabeth City waterfront. Tarwathie should be visible. We will wave.

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Side Stay Failure

Pasquotank River

36 18.99 N 76 11.07 W

We've been having a couple of fine days at the welcome center and at our "secret" favorite anchorage on the Pasquotank. I've been neglecting the blog however. I know a lot of readers want to hear more about our bad experience at sea last weekend. I'll explain the biggest and scariest equipment failure today.

Absolutely the most frightening thing that ever happened to us on the boat was when the mast side stays fell down while at sea during a gale. I was scared to death that we would be dismasted, and we nearly were. Only good luck and solid Westsail construction prevented it from becoming a full scale disaster.

So what really happened? The mast on a W32 is supported by a forestay, a backstay, port and starboard cap stays, plus four sidestays, port and starboard. That is not to mention a staysail stay and two running backstays. A total of 11 stays if everything is deployed. In this case, we left our running backstays in Vermont, and I had temporarily removed the staysail stay to make it easier to gybe the jib (in retrospect I should have furled the jib and said with staysail only.) The cap stays go all the way to the top of the mast. The side stays fasten to the middle of the mast just under the spreader. They prevent the mast from bending like a bow.

The four side stays are fastened by a single bolt that goes all the way through the mast plus a nut on the far side. Stainless tangs adapt the stays to the bolted points. The nut is a 1/2" nylon locking nuts. In my experience, locking nuts never come loose accidentally, but in this case it did. When the nut fell off, the side stays on the port side fell to the deck. I believed that I still had support from the starboard stays so I changed course to keep the wind on the starboard side. It didn't do any good, the bolt pulled out most of the way, then it bent like a pretzel. The starboard side stays didn't fall down but they flopped loosely, not contributing any support to the mast.

From that moment, all the way in to save harbor, I was terrified by the actions of the mast. The mid part of the mast, near the spreaders, swayed about four inches from side to side, with every roll of the boat. Normally, the mast is rigidly attached and stayed and there is zero apparent motion of the mast relative to the boat.

I contacted Bud Taplin. Bud will send me replacement tangs, bolt and nut. Until then, I have some strong low-stretch lines from the spreaders to the chain plates to support and protect the mast. I won't sail at all until things are repaired.

Here are a few pictures. When everything is repaired and back in place I'll post a photo showing how it is supposed to look.

It is said that the W32 is the safest stoutest modern production boat ever built. I believe it. Nevertheless, loosing that nut is an extremely critical single-point failure mode. We lost four stays because of that one nut.

Why did the nut come off? I'll never know for sure. It is highly suspicious that only a few days before we used cranes to lower, then re-raise the mast. The ropes used for lifting snuggle right under those tangs. Suspicious as it is, the coincidence of timing is no proof of cause and effect. However, one thing I'll certainly to in the future is to make one last trip up and down the mast in a boatswain's chair for a re-inspection of all rigging after the mast is re-raised. We have had the mast down and up 10 times now; the first 9 times without problem. I'm afraid that I got too complacent about it.

The Fallen Port Side Stays From Fall 2010

The slack starboard side stays From Fall 2010

See the bolt and stays hanging under the spreader. From Fall 2010

A close up of the bolt and tangs before removal From Fall 2010

The bold and bent tangs after removal From Fall 2010

My analysis of lessons learned will take a few more days. I want to sleep on the lessons a few more days before publishing them.