Sumner Point Marina Capt Chris, squalls 01/12/2008, Rum Cay, Bahamas

Sumner Point Marina

Capt Chris, squalls
01/12/2008, Rum Cay, Bahamas

So far I have been pretty good about updating the blog daily or at least every two days. But the anchorage here at Rum Cay is really really rolly. So much so that just setting down the computer to connect the sat phone would have risked all the equipment.

But now I am in the marina. You may be asking why didn't I just get a slip in the first place? Well the entrance into the marina is downright treacherous. With the current weather prognosis I will most likely have another three or four days. I didn't want to sit in the anchorage for another moment so I decided to enter the channel as the marina said they would help "guide me in" on the radio. A dangerous debacle ensued that just about put Christa and I on a reef. The entrance has markers maintained by the marina that should have made the entrance crooked but manageable. As I am closing the third marker the guy on the radio tells me that the rest of the markers are missing and come right and steer 110 degree's. He also started pouring on way to much information. Keep in mind that I have zero margin for error with coral heads all around. Now the electronic chart is pretty accurate and provided me with some guidance. I asked the guy on the radio if he could see me and if I was in the ballpark. He tells me that he is 1/2 inland and later on I meet him and he tells me he actually was sitting on the toilet. I was not amused. I am unable to steer, talk on the radio, identify coral heads, sight the white house on the hill and watch the chart at the same time.

Team Adamo to the rescue. Philip (14) and Doug (16) come wizzing in their RHI. Doug hops onboard and starts spotting coral heads, Phil strikes out in front of Christa in the dingy sounding the water. Between all three of us and the chart we made it in. Thank you Team Adamo. The marina has no surge and that is a delight. Plus the wi-fi.......but my frustration with the Bahamian attitude is growing rapidly.

I shall vent here and lay out some opinions. What we have is a culture clash that, at least for this American, cannot be overcome. It is the attitude of "no problem mon." I have come to realize what they mean is that when things go bad It ain't my problem "mon." Bahamas is a very poor country and will always remain so until a huge shift in attitude takes place. I'll give you a couple of examples of minor frustrations. At a previous stop I asked the staff if they had wi-fi. They answered in the affirmative and I paid my $20 fee for the day. What they failed to tell me was the network was down and had been down for a few days. Two hours later I learn this little tidbit and they say "no problem mon" parts are coming on the plane. Never occurred to them to tell me or refund my money. Now I'm forced to be the ugly American and ask for a refund. You see they have wi-fi, whether it works or not doesn't seem figure into the equation.

My poor Maui Jim's were shipped December 28th from Florida. They sit in Georgetown Exumas at a shipping agent who just won't communicate. Does not keep to posted office hours but does respond to emails. Unfortunately he keeps emailing asking where he should forward it to. I respond each time with Luperon Dominican Republic. He simply pushes reply and asks the same question. I am flummoxed. I have many more examples, especially from others that are much worse but my rant is over.

The plan of attack from here is to leave maybe Monday morning. I have hired a local pilot to guide me out on Monday morning. I asked if he will be here at the dock Monday. "No problem mon." But remember my rant is over. I will be traveling with Adamo and they even plan on loaning me their 16 year old son, Doug who you all are now familiar with. Please take the time to check out Adamo's blog that I have linked. They are so much fun. Anyway the wind and seas are forecast to be nearly calm. So we plan on motor sailing the 125 miles to Mayaguana, get a little rest and then push the 50 miles to Turks & Caicos. See you Bahamas.

I'll post soon! Hope all are well. Gotta go mon.

Capt Chris

PS: New photos added under My Google Photo's and I uploaded one new video in Youtube.com
Blam!

The Before Boomkin Shot

Capt Chris, NW Breeze, not so humid
09/28/2007, Deltaville VA

Here is a picture of the old boomkin prior to pending replacement.

Capt Chris

The Yards

Capt Chris, humid
Deltaville VA

Hello All. I left Reedville VA after spending a quiet night at anchor bound for Deltaville Virginia which is my spot for some respite and repairs. The wind has swung around to the southwest for the first time in at least two weeks. Even though we observed the autumnal equinox on the 21st were in a summertime like weather pattern down here in the Chesapeake. So I had some head winds to contend with for a few hours which slowed my progress. But not to worry as all is well. I moored port side too Chesapeake Bay Marine Railway, which is the shipyard I'm hauled at.

So yesterday morning Christa was hauled out and hung from the 50 Ton travel lift. With trepidation I stood as Christa was raised. It's always a curiosity to see how well the bottom paint has held up and even more importantly if any of the dreaded blisters have reared up. She had not been raised for three years and knowing this would be the case I gave the bottom job in California extra attention. So a good lesson learned, it paid off. Christa's bottom is in near perfect shape which means less expense and hassle during this yard period and for the first time ever I will pay the yard to do the bottom job since it will be less labor intensive.

After lunch Christa was blocked up and my work began. Lots going on, time is money as the saying goes. I contracted with the yard to mill new Douglas Fir wooden boomkin pieces to replace my existing one's. This is a big job and I estimate it will take the next four days of my life to complete. The boomkin is two pieces of wood that extend off the stern that provide the anchor point for the backstay, which prevents the mast from falling forward. Attached to the boomkin is my self steering vane, radar and wind generator mast, the block and tackle that attaches the tiller to the self steering and maybe other stuff, I don't know. It's a Clampitt type situation back their. But I spent the whole afternoon removing all the equipment and the old boomkins. The yard carpenter took measurements and milled two beautiful pieces of wood. I was able to put two coats of epoxy penetrate on the new wood in the yard shop.

Today, I should be able to put a coat of Cetol on the new boomkins and fit them in place. A rigger will swinging by to take measurements to replace the babystays, which attach to the boomkin and provide the counter pressure to the upward pull of the backstay. Confused? Don't worry about it! Then a metal fabricator will swing by to figure out a new mounting method for the base of the radar, wind generator
and the Racor fuel filter in the engine room.

So, gottta go time is money!

Capt Chris

John Gamble Guest Entry

 Atlantic City, New Jersey


Well, my time aboard Christa is coming to a close. She is a stout vessel and Christian was smart to choose her for his travels. My trip began at Point Judith, Rhode Island, where, coincidentally, was where I met Christian. I was stationed at PJ from 1989 to 1993 and Chris and I were often on the same duty schedule, making him my immediate supervisor. Like so many, I'm a big fan of his. So, from Point Judith Pond we left for Long Island. We did a fair bit of motoring for the first days of the trip. As you've probably read here, we were held up in LI waiting for weather and a bit of engine/ battery reworking. Leaving Long Island was great as the weather seemed to be on our side for a good portion of the following 27 hour leg. Our trip through the East River was surreal. I've been to NYC many, many times, but this trip felt like we were sailing into Hong Kong or some far off destination. Then, passing the Statue of Liberty we were continued to be helped along by a favorable current and Capt. Chris' planning. We scooted by Lady Liberty and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge at a significant clip. Next thing I knew, we were sailing under an incredible star filled sky. No moon, just billions of stars. Chris had put up Big Bob (his custom made spinnaker rig that he couldn't stop ogling) and we were making impressive use of the light winds. One of the highlights of the night sail (as Chris likely mentioned) was a small pod of dolphins that were illuminated under water by the phosphorescence. Glowing dolphins is a sight to see. They were playing in the bow wave and as always, disappeared the second I broke out the video camera. For the last 10 to 12 hours of the 27 hour leg, we saw lots of the USCG. Two Dolphin helo's, a C-130 and a 47 foot small boat. We happened to sail right through the middle of a search for a poor fellow that had dumped his kayak and apparently hadn't returned to the beach. As we sailed into Atlantic City the search appeared to be winding down. We kept a vigilant lookout, but to no avail. We finished the trip with a walk along the boardwalk in AC (not for the faint of heart). After a nice peaceful sail, there is nothing like walking through a casino full of ringing slot machines and cigarette smoke. Well, my feelings for Atlantic City aside, this was an incredible journey. The last time I sailed with Christian, we were caught in a nasty gale that lasted well over 36 hours (between Catalina and Santa Cruz Island aboard my father's sloop, Iris, with my father and two college friends - we can talk about that another day). Needless to say, this trip was a joy and Chris is maintaining the vessel as though she were his flesh and blood. I yearn for the next opportunity to join the two of them. I'm thinking warm water, big fish and Spanish speaking locals... or frankly whenever he'll allow me back aboard. Many thanks to Christian and the S/V Christa for taking such good care of me and for letting me share a small piece of Chris' (soon to be fulfilled) dream of sailing the world's oceans. Fair winds and following seas, John Gamble

Staged For a Push Through Hell Gate

Manhasset, Long Island New York,

John Gamble

John and I have been spent a couple of very long days of motor sailing since the last post from "The Race" in Long Island Sound. We had about a 16 hour day yesterday after leaving Point Judith. We pulled into Port Jefferson on LI north shore just as the sun was setting. I am bummed to report that Christa is in the throes of some kind of charging or battery problem. Either the alternator is not putting our juice or the batteries refuse to except the charge. The only way to fire up the engine is to have "big red" which is my portable Honda generator running and driving the installed battery charger. But I digress......

Today.....John awoke at 4 am with some kind of notion that someone or something had climbed aboard and that he "had heard voices." Well since we were 45 minutes from our scheduled waking time and since I wasn't sleeping well anyway due to alternator worries..... we made coffee. We weighted anchor and were underway by 530 am. It was foggy and drizzling, but much to our surprise we had a very nice 10 to 15 knot easterly breeze to push us down the sound. We also timed the tide to give us a fair current. We moved along a 6 knots plus the entire distance.

We moored along the fuel dock at Manhasett Bay Marina around noon time. We filled up Christa's fuel tanks which is the first time I've ever filled up at a gas dock. I usually jerry can in all my fuel. One thing to note is the vacuum gauge on the Racor fuel filter is showing some movement which means the filter is starting to clog up. This is also a first for me, but then again I've never drained the tanks as low as I did today. Anyway, John and I got a slip at the marina for the evening. I've been working on trouble shooting the battery situation and haven't solved the situation, but believe maybe the batteries need to be replaced. But I'm still trying to figure it out.

Tomorrow we plan on being at Hell Gate which is the confluence of the East River, Harlem River and the Long Sound. The current can be brutal. We hope to go through the gate at slack tide about 10:15 am and proceed down the east side of Manhatten. We will anchor up somewhere near Sandy Hook New Jersey. Looks like the winds are favorable for an early morning departure Weds to make the transit down the New Jersey coast. More later!

Capt Chris

Navman Chartplotter

 
Well I survived the Nor'easter that came ripping through Cape Cod. We had sustained 50 knots for most of the night.

 I was bivwacked aboard Christa and actually slept soundly considering the noise.

 So I took this picture today. It is my new chartplotter that I was able to mount on a swing arm that makes viewing from the cockpit a snap. A really nice upgrade.

Tomorrow I have a flight to Baltimore to help recommission the CGC Tybee homeported in Woods Hole. I should be back Friday.

If the weather improves and I have a decent weather window, I will set sail for Newport Rhode Island. Newport will be my homeport for the summer. I'm done with Woods Hole.

More later...

Capt Chris

April Storm Warning

Today's forecast.....not good. The image above is a weather model overlay on my navigation system exported to Google Earth. Pretty cool....here is what NOAA has to say!

COASTAL WATERS FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
343 AM EDT SUN APR 15 2007
COASTAL WATERS FROM THE MERRIMACK RIVER MA TO WATCH HILL RI OUT TO
25 NM
ANZ232-151915-
/O.EXT.KBOX.SR.W.0003.070415T2200Z-070416T1200Z/
NANTUCKET SOUND-
343 AM EDT SUN APR 15 2007

STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY
MORNING

TODAY
E WINDS 15 TO 20 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 KT...BECOMING SE 25
TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT...BUILDING TO 4 TO 7
FT THIS AFTERNOON. RAIN. VSBY 1 TO 3 NM.

TONIGHT
SE WINDS 35 TO 40 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 KT. SEAS 7 TO 10
FT...BUILDING TO 9 TO 12 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. RAIN. VSBY 1 TO 3 NM.

MON
S WINDS 30 TO 35 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 KT...DIMINISHING TO
20 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 KT. SEAS 8 TO 11 FT. RAIN IN THE
MORNING...THEN RAIN LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON. VSBY 1 TO 3 NM IN THE
MORNING.

MON NIGHT
SE WINDS AROUND 20 KT...BECOMING E AROUND
MIDNIGHT...THEN BECOMING NE LATE. GUSTS UP TO 25 KT. SEAS 6 TO 9 FT.
A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

TUE
NW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 KT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT.
SHOWERS LIKELY.

TUE NIGHT
N WINDS 15 TO 20 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 KT. SEAS 4 TO
6 FT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

WED
N WINDS AROUND 15 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 20 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT.
A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

THU
NW WINDS AROUND 15 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 20 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT.
A CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH EARLY EVENING. 
THIS PRODUCT IS NORMALLY ISSUED TWICE DAILY AT APPROXIMATELY 4 AM
AND 4 PM...AND UPDATED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

Important Piece of Gear

Capt Chris
04/13/2007, Woods Hole MA

I received another important piece of gear in the mail. This is something that is really critical for a single handed sailor. This gizmo will mitigate the possibility of me getting run down by a large ship. Below is the manufacture explanation of what it does.
Once I get it installed and tested I'll post a critique.

he AIS Radar receives VHF transmissions from vessel's carrying AIS transponders to display target data from up to 30 vessels on 5" monochrome LCD matrix, radar like display.
Any vessel on the screen can be selected to display vessel's MMSI number, name, course over ground, speed over ground, range, latitude and longitude.

Each vessels status is independently labeled so the user can see if a vessel is underway, at anchor, fishing etc. This information is sent continuously and is useful in navigating, traffic monitoring and collision prevention.

Receives NMEA input (RMC) from the vessels GPS which puts the user at the center screen. All other AIS carrying vessels are displayed with bearing and range relative to the user.
Zoom feature allows 6 ranges to be selected from 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 NM.

An alarm can be selected to give an audible warning if a vessel enters a preset range ring.

161.975 and 162.02 MHz operation.

Easy to install, requires optional standard marine VHF antenna and GPS input.

It is a receive only unit and designed for voluntary fittings on recreational vessels and light commercial vessels not needing the mandated class "A" AIS units.

Case Size: 6"W x 4 1/2"H x 1 5/8"D.

T-Minus 6 Months and Counting!!

Capt Chris/Sunny high 40's, SW 10KTS
04/11/2007, Woods Hole MA

Today is a great day. 6 months from today I will be released and will go on terminal leave from the Coast Guard.

This means that I'm on "vacation" until Feb 1st 2008 which is my official retirement date. Then may pay gets cut.

So Oct 11th 2007 is the day I'll have a small retirement ceremony in the morning......and then I will start my cruising life! Jazzed? You bet.

Capt Chris

At the End of the Cape Cod

Weather is still cold
04/10/2007, Provincetown MA

 I'm up at P-Town this week conducting a Ready for Operations inspection this week. Staying in the Sheraton Four Points in Eastham.

Should be a straight forward inspection week. Thursday were expecting some weather, a spring Nor'easter. Could effect things

More later
Capt Chris