A Sailboat Once Again

Kingston NY

41 55.12 N 073 57.89 W

 

Ah, it feels good to be a sailboat once again. The picture shows Tarwathie today at about noon with the mast up. We departed the boat yard at 1330 and we reached this anchorage 5 minutes after sunset. Not bad.

It didn't come easy though. It was a greuling days work. Well sleep well tonight and we will feel the aches tomorrow. Despite having done this a dozen or more times before, I screwed it up. When the mast came vertical hanging from the crane, the bundle of ropes and wires did not sort themselves out. Instead, they formed a snarl 30 feet above our heads. Eventually, we got it sorted out. What a mess!

I continued working as Libby navigated us 20 miles to Kingston. A few more hours of that tomorrow, and we will be nearly shipshape again.

Tomorrow, we will try the longest Hudson leg down to Haverstraw Bay. I should start looking for a weather window right now but we are tired and hungry --- tomorrow will do.

Considering how deep we were in trouble two weeks ago, we've come a long way.

Deck Clutter. To Do List.

En Route, Hudson River

42 44.21 N 073 41.26 W

Welcome back to sea level Tarwathie. We are done with the NY Canal System for this year and back into the world of tides and tidal currents. But still a few days away from salt water.

 

We will Both be very happy to get the mast back where it belongs. As you can see in the photo above, our top decks are fouled and cluttered in this state. It seems very unseaworthy, which of course it is. It makes both of us uncomfortable, but it is unavoidable with the mast down.

Most inconvenient is the dark red wooden frame that holds the forward end of the mast up. You can see it in the picture. It blocks access to the windlass which makes anchoring with the mast down very awkward. However, on the canals we never need to anchor. Tonight we hope to tie up to the Athens, NY public dock to avoid anchoring again. Tomorrow morning the mast goes back up at Riverview Marine in Catskill.

To finish our preparations to go to sea we have a short list:

• Leave the red wooden frame behind in Catskill.
• Honda generator and diesel jerry jug stow away and lash down in the engine compartment.
• Gasoline jerry jug lashed on deck. Water Jerry jugs have permanent teak chocks and ties to secure them.
• Dinghy stows under the boom in its own teak chocks.
• Canvas tarps, drop cloths, and oars stow under the dinghy.
• Bucket, and docking lines all stow in the lazarette.
• Danforth anchor detaches and stows in the lazarette. Only Betty, our CQR plow anchor, stays mounted and lashed fast to the bowsprit.
• Bicycle lashes to the side of the dinghy. Up there it is out of the way of all lines and it does not hinder crew movement.
• Bolt down the cockpit sole.
• Mount the wind vane on the Monitor self steering.
• Raise the lee cloths in cabin bunks.
• Secure latches on the cabin sole hatches.
• Rig jacklines port and starboard to clip our harness tethers to. Bring out harness/life jackets and tethers.
• Prepare a route plan and enter it in the chart plotter. For this passage, we plan to go New York City to Norfolk, Virginia in 48 hours. At the 24 hour mark we pass close to Cape May, NJ and have the option to put in there if necessary. From Cape May, we can choose to go offshore again (the outside route), or go up the Delaware and down Chesapeake Bay (the inside route).
• Start checking passageweather.com 3 days in advance to find a weather window.
• Top off the fuel and water tanks.
• Lash down the outboard motor on its brackets.
• Lower flags and pennants.
• Raise the radar reflector.
• Check function on VHF, AIS, GPS, SSB, and radar. (Whoops, I need to reinstall the airmail software to post blogs with SSB. I had a disc crash this summer. The software allows us to get weather forecasts and to post blogs while at sea. )
• Do an oil change if within 50 hours of the due time. Check water levels in the batteries. Check filters. Check coolant.
• Position the boat to a jumping off point; likely the Statue of Liberty or Sandy Hook, NJ.
• Prepare a big pot of chili or goulash in advance. Those dishes are easy to rewarm, filling, and good. That minimizes fancy cooking while at sea.
• Since it is October, we will dig out long johns, gloves, wool hats, long pants, flannel shirts and foul weather gear. The only other time we did the Jersey coast in October, it was bitterly cold in the open cockpit at night. (beautiful though; those conditions make lots of photo-luminescent bacteria in the Jersey Shore waters, leaving a glowing train in our wake) Remember, we go only on a north wind. By the time we approach the Chesapeake, it should get warmer.

After writing it, the list does not look short, but it all takes less than an hour to do (except software installs)

Lock 9's Claim To Fame

Waterford, NY

42 47.22 N 073 40.76 W

 

We made faster time than expected yesterday. We got all the way to Waterford before 1700. We will reprovision today and be on our way tomorrow.

Lock 9, near Fort Ann, is in a very rural location. There is not much remarkable to comment about it. That is except its unique approach to unisex bathrooms below. The signs say hers and his.

 

 

Happy Travelers

En Route Warmward, Champlain Canal
43 20.48 N 073 30.09 W

We are so happy to be en route once again.   Yesterday around noon the new damper plate arrived.  Kieth Longtin, our trusty mechanic, came down, put everything back together, we made a few adjustment, and everything worked.  No parts left over.   We heartily endorse Kieth to all cruisers who need mechanic services near Whitehall.

We got underway around 3.  The canal locks close at 5 this time of year, but we did make it 13 miles down to Lock 9 before dark.  Lock 9 is  a very rural location, totally quiet and still.

Today we hope to make it as far as Mechanicville and then on Wednesday to Waterford.  Waterford will be our major provisioning stop between now and Deep Creek Virginia.  As you can imagine, our provisions are a bit depleted after 2.5 weeks since visiting a supermarket.

The weather is a bit milder than recent days and the fall colors are beautiful.  That's a side benefit to our delay.  However, the forecast calls for 4 more consecutive days of cold and rain.  In this case though, I don't think it will dampen our spirits.  

Best case scenario, mast up on Friday, Statue of Liberty by Sunday night, and departure for Norfolk on the first window starting Monday morning.  Arrival in Virginia's warm weather, 48 hours after departure.  The wait time for a window though is indeterminate.

Escape From Whitehall

At 1500 today we are underway once again and heading south.  Hip hip hooray!!!  Details tomorrow.

By the way, that is two weeks to the hour since our engine failure.