Miami Beach FL - Happy New Year !!!

We made it to Miami Beach FL !  yeah!   And, it's finally WARM !!  Double Yeah !!!
The wind was fluky but we flew the spinaker about 3/4 of the way down here... from Port Everglades.
That was fun....
We're anchored south of the Venetian Causeway, and today more of our cruising friends showed up (coming over from Dinner Key to celebrate the New Year with us.... and Ruth.

We had a pre-celebration tonight over on the S/V Double Exposure (PDQ-36 CAT)...  Great fun !!!
 
Happy New Year to ALL...   be Safe!!!

Cold in Melbourne's Banana River

It's cold here in Melbourne, FL...  Not as cold as other parts of the country.... and it does poke at the question of what ever happened to Global Warming ????
BRRRRR.... the weather forecasters on TV tonight are talking record cold (freezing) temps for all of central FL... with citrus damage, et al. 
We're anchored in the Banana River, near Dragon Point.  We must be hooked in very well... as we've been buffeted for the last 40 some hours with 24 to 36 knot winds....
Tomorrow we'll leave for Vero Beach....  I hope they have room for us....as very few cruisers are 'moving' anywhere....

Leaving Titusville's Westland Marina

We'd like to leave Titusville Marina this coming weekend, and go farther south quickly.  Another cold snap is coming down from the north. BRRRR   It has been nice being at a marina; a rare occurance for Autumn Borne, except in the Summer at Hop-O-Nose.  

The repairs to the dinghy, the cushions, and the anchor rode are all done.  That's why it was nice being at a marina where we could just walk on and off the boat, and not transport stuff by dinghy to shore... Of course when the dinghy is ONE of the things being repaired that last statement sounds silly.   Anyway... plugging into shore power is good for the batteries, once in a while.  

A gentleman, named "Gator" from Lifeline services, repaired the dinghy's air valves in about 9 minutes, once he had the correct part.  Yeah !!!   Then he sprayed the entire dinghy with a soap solution, and we found one very tiny pin-hole leak right at the bow, which I patched immediately.  SO... that should be good to go.

I modified the anchor rode, by putting 1-1/2 feet of chain in front of the swivel, so that the chain takes the torque of the boat swinging around the "set" anchor, and not twisting the anchor swivel sideways (something it's not designed to do)....  It was a recommendation of the anchor manufacturer, and I thought it had merit).
So.. that's done. 

Then the A-Team fixed the one cushion, from our cockpit, that had foam that must have been a defect, because after one year...it was deteriorating... like crazy!!   so they replaced that, no charge.  We also had them make a padded cover for the aft deck storage box, where Sydney sleeps all the time.   Nice.  The old cover had been up there so long... dry rot, and salt had taken its toll.   So that's done.

Oils and filters have been changed on the on-board Generator.... and stuff like that.... while we've been waiting for other people to complete their tasks....  
 
We did get to watch a non-shuttle rocket launch the other day....that was cool.
I guess we're ready....

It's nice here.... Lot's of the St. Marys Thanksgiving day crowd is here.... fixing, and/or leaving their boats here for the Christmas Holiday.   Actually we did that very thing last year... 

Moving South !

St. Marys GA to Daytona FL (Inside)

After trying to go outside (ocean) from St. Marys to Ponce Inlet, when Brian lost his engine, due to fuel clog, and wild change in weather, we turned back in, and anchored that night.  The following day we cured the clog in the Algea-X, then went South on the inside.

Today we're anchored south of Daytona, FL.   Tomorrow we'll weigh anchor again, before the sun rise, and head out for Titusville, where we, hopefully, will get our dinghy fixed (We had an air valve blow out when we were at St. Marys, the day before we were scheduled to leave). 

Without a servicable dinghy, we haven't been off the boat in days.   Looking forward to Titusville. 

Mid-November - Ocean hop (Beaufort to Charleston) - Inverter

It's been an interesting few days in November.  We're now anchored in the Ashley River in Charleston, SC.
Finally the 'butter is melting (well soft anyway)'.  What a difference an overnight sail from Beaurfort, NC to Charleston SC made.  
We're here, in Charleston, waiting for a 3000 watt Inverter to be shipped to us.  We lost the inverter and it's battery charging function while we were coming down the Neuse River (in NC).  We ordered the new inverter from West Marine in Beaufort, but they said "it was too heavy to ship overnight, or even two day ground"....So we suggested that "as we had a good weather window to do the ocean 'hop', why not ship the inverter to Charleston, SC, and we'd pick it up at the Savannah Hwy store?"  Good idea, eh ???   Guess what..???   They shipped the inverter to Beaufort, NC anyway... AND it was there Tuesday.  NOW the Beaufort Store is shipping it to the Charleston store.... and it should here Thursday!!!  What a 'circus'. 

Meanwhile we're using the main engine/alternator and solar panels (when there's sun) to charge the batteries.  TV watching, and computer charging (120 V) is done while the Northern Lights generator is running, having wired around the defective inverter charger switch.  So.. life on the water goes on..

This moring is sunny and the water calm.  Quite the change from Tuesday (winds up to 33.8 knots), and a harbor with white capped waves.   

We met up with Brian and Sheila Strutt (s/v Moonshadow), and Rodney, and Sue (s/v Glenlyon), and were almost with the Perkins' (Ed, and Nancy in Troubadour) at Beaufort.  Moonshadow, Glenlyon, and Autumn Borne did the outside hop to Charleston, and Troubadour is moving down the AICW.  We'll meet them again at St. Mary's GA for Thanksgiving.  
The weather is supposed to be wonderful for the next 4 or 5 days.... 
We're hoping to get the inverter... and then weigh anchor that same day... and 'beat feet' to St. Mary's Inlet at the FL/GA border.   If early for Thanksgiving we'll go up to Cumberland Island again.   

Great Bridge VA to Buck Island

Autumn  Borne at Great Bridge VA

Left Great Bridge, VA this morning (November 6th, 2010) bound south toward Buck Island.   Said a temporary 'good-bye' to Brian and Sheila Strutt on Moonshadow, as they're staying to have some work done on their boat. 

Beautiful day on the water... except for the normal waiting for bridge openings.  The north wind provided some nice sailing for most of the morning,  and afternoon.  

We're now anchored south of Buck Island, just above Arbamarle Sound.   There's 'small craft advisories' out for the next couple days... but we'll see if we can sneak across the sound tomorrow.



Moonshadow at Great Bridge



Through the Chesapeake Bay

We got a late start from the 'top of the Hudson River, but we're through Chesapeake Bay for this Fall (It's the 3d of November, 2010).  Today we sailed down from Deltaville, VA to Norfolk, and are now anchored in the large basin at the foot of the Lafyette River (near Mile Zero of the AICW). 

Our host in Annapolis was Deb Taber.  It's always tough to visit her, and then leave so quickly.  But this year, we're late, and the Taber's had plans for that upcoming weekend.

We've been talking to a lot of the cruisers, we've met along the way, and over the years
They're spread out all over the USA right now.... But sooner or later we'll all meet again. 

Hop-O-Nose to Gravesend Bay

 WELL, we're just about ready to jump around NJ in the Atlantic again.  We pulled the hook this morning in Haverstraw Bay (first days journey south), and motor-sailed in 15 to 22 knots of wind from the West down the Hudson to NYC. 
We're currently (Friday night) anchored in Gravesend Bay.  Ususally, Susan and I go on South to Atlantic Highlands, but this year, being so late in leaving for warmer climates... we're going to blow right out and around to Delaware Bay...
It's an overnight sail to Cape May, and hopefully we'll catch the flood tide up the Delaware.  

One interesting thing happened today...we lost the Autopilot for a while....
Turns out that the pump got 'air bound'....and needed hydraulic oil from a reservoir....  which I quickly fabricated while under way....   So with that in place and Susan at the helm we did a series of port-starboard turns to purge the air out of the pump, and hydraulic ram.   Seems OK now...
GOOD... because I'm looking forward to using it tomorrow on the boring trip down the NJ coast.
:)

Shoving off for the South - Winter 2010-2011

We're finally clear to shove off for the South.  Date of collecting the dock lines = 10/20/2010.
That should be easy to remember.
The Honda Element is back in WNY, thanks to Ed Speidel who rode out here on the AmTrak, and drove it "home" for the winter.  
The White Honda (the 2004) is now back in Albany with Ruth, and James, and that makes us "boat people" with no "wheels" again.
SO............ with it getting colder each and every day we stay here.....  YEP... time to GO !!!

Plans this year.... WELL ?????   First South to warmth.... then we'll decide what areas to cruise, or in which to anchor...

New AutoPilot system

It's been an uphill journey, but the new Raymarine AutoPilot system is nearly installed.
The Autumn Borne has a chain and cable steering system, but was fitted with a hydraulic linear ram, and pump system by Cetrek when we purchaced her.  Unfortunately, this system was flawed to begin with, as half of the helm display had been damaged by water intrusion.  So...as long as you "remembered" your keystrokes, you could use it to maintain a heading...  but after two years the rudder sensor broke, and the unit lost it's mind...(turning full to port, and popping the breaker).  No parts available any more... 

Anyway... we researched autopilots, and decided to go with the manufacturer we had on our Bayfield (Raymarine).  We ordered the X-30 corepack (very smart system !!), the ST6002 helm display (because it fits perfectly in the old Cetrek coaming opening), and the Type 2 hydraulic pump (with the intention of using it to power our existing hydraulic ram). 

We followed all the electronic checklists on the Raymarine site, and ordered what we thought were all the parts we'd need.  WRONG!!!  Until the pump actually showed up here at the marina, no one ever mentioned the required solenoid controlled bypass valve.   Intuitively, I sort of "knew" it had to be in the circuit, but IF no-one ever mentioned it... well maybe you could spin the pump backward when hand steering...  
The answer is  NOPE... without the bypass valve... the helm is LOCKED UP tight as a drum... when the air is bled out of the ram.

Installing the new gear required some planning to fit into the existing space, and not interfere with the movement of the ram, as the rudder quadrant moves.  I chose to reuse the two existing hydraulic hoses, from the ram to the new solenoid, because they're truly weird sizes (could be metric, but we could not duplicate them at Piping Plus (here in Catskill, NY).   We did purchase three new hoses (one extra) to go from the pump to solenoid controlled bypass valve.  We "lucked out" by having the correct number and sized wires already in place from the old Cetrek system... so all we had to do was 'extend' them to the new X-30 corepack location at the Nav Station (x-30 has to be installed vertically).

Fabricating two aluminum mounting plates allowed us to mount all the gear in accessible, and functional locations.  I'm now waiting for the Adapters (brass fittings) that Raymarine forgot to ship with the bypass valve.  [Both the Type 2 pump, and the by-pass valve are machined with British Standard Pipe (BSP) threads and are not compatible with the 'same size' National Pipe Threads (NPT)].  The last photo shows the system complete, with the container of hydraulic fluid for bleeding air from the ram, and pump.  The container is now gone, and the needle valve closed.  So far so good.  Now we need some sea-room for the seatrials, and associated calibration moves.   Yeah !!!

Storm at Catskill NY - Dock Collapse

It was a scary time, last Thursday.  The previous two days we watched a huge storm come up the east coast of the U.S.   We watched the radar, and weather carefully and thought that the main rain fall was passing safely to the west of us....  Well that part was correct, but unfortunately the rain was falling in the watershed area of Catskill Creek (where we're secured to the docks at Hop-O-Nose Marina).

There's a series of photos below... more or less in order...(at least that's the plan), showing Thursday from beginning (Dawn) to the end...(afternoon)...

We awoke, at dawn,to find the creek being very high, muddy, and fast flowing.  OH OH...it's happening...The same thing happened last year, but with no damage.
We started to disconnect TV cables, water lines, and power (anything that connected us to the dock that couldn't be easily cut or untied.
By 0800 the debris in creek was unbelievable... whole trees with root balls, and leaves were floating down, as well as all the dead trees.  The first boat to float by, and out to the Hudson was a pontoon boat, then a kayak (upside down - we hoped no one was aboard), then a canoe (just the bow visable)...
By 0820 Sean came by and advised us to vacate the boat... as the docks were beginning to compress, and take an accordian bellows shape, making walking dangerous.
At 0830 two sections of dock broke loose, and carried three power boats, and a small sailing vessel out to the Hudson River. 
Things stabilized for a short while, then while we were warming up, and having coffee in the Creekside Restaurant...and looking out toward the creek... People started yelling "there she goes".... and we watched (not being able to do anything about it)...all the boats upstream of the Autumn Borne, and a Power Boat called "Ti amo" slowly moved with the collapsing main dock, downstream... The cables, and deadmen to the shore held, but let the docks swing toward the shore as they ripped the wood out of the dock section corners...allowing them to stack line playing cards, (all at scary angles).  The access walkways were pushed high into the air or submerged in the creek flow, making access to the remaining docks impossible, or very dangerous. 
Fortunately for us, the Autumn Borne was on a straight section of face dock with no finger piers, and we were parallel to the creek flow... 
The power boat "Ti Amo" deflected most of the surface debris... and the dock on which it was secured held fast (thanks to angle bracing at the corners, and one very strong cable to the shore).
The Canadian transient boat "Walk-about" had the good sense to bring not only their passports ashore, but also a case of beer.  So, with nothing else we could do about our vessels... we sat in lawn chairs, had "breakfast beers", and watched the show in front of us... 
Just before the main dock collapse two sections of the main dock left with two more power boats attached...
Sean, and Mike Schmidt chased them down in an open john boat, and anchored them in the Hudson River... for later retrieval.  Nice Work !!!!

 the very next day, nearly all of the boaters, here at Hop-O-Nose, plus the workers for Sean pitched in and had the damaged docks removed, scavanged other docks from the north end, patched in the missing sections, and basically returned the docks to a functional system.  There's limited electrical service, no TV cable, and no water on the docks now...  but everyone that wanted to stay in the water... is still here, and secure.  Unbelievable effort on everyone's part.  

We have not been able to check underneath the AB, but believe we have suffered no damage.  Line chafe is about the extent of the above waterline damage...

We couldn't get to the AB on Thursday night, so Sean (Owner of Hop-O-Nose) offered his apartment at the marina to us, and the couple from the S/V La Vita (Kat, and Paul).   As nerve wracking a day as it was, the evening with Paul and Kat was a nice ending.  Good conversations, with a little wine helped us wind down a bit, before trying to sleep. 

Summer at the top of the Hudson River

We made it to our 'summer home' at Hop-O-Nose Marina (Catskill, NY) at the top of the Hudson River.  WELL.... it's not really the 'top' of the Hudson, but it's about as far up as we can go without dropping the mast.

So far this summer we've taken weeks away from the boat to do family cottage type stuff, and visit with friends in western NY.   We've watched Ruth's rugby team win the gold medal at the Empire Games.  Susan even followed the team out to RI to watch another tournement...    It's been a mobile summer so far...

BUT, while at the AB we've managed to completely remove the old refrigeration system, and replace it with a new, modern, and technically superior system... albiet a lot different.  We elected to go to a full 12 Volt system this time, instead of the mixed hybrid 110V compressor and 12 V pumps, etc....   Picture shows the new 12 volt sub-panel in the upper right hand side of the existing electrical center.

We love the digital 'stats' that show, and control both box temps ('frig / freezer).  The compressors even have a variable speed control for efficicient use of the power.

We got a chance to try out the kayaks of Ruth, and James on Grafton Lake...  That was great !! 
 
The spectator photo (The Besants, the Pomerhns and the Perrys was taken at the Empire Games at SUNY Buffalo....(Rugby pitch).   I swear we made more noise than all the other spectators, put together !!!

Haulout at Oxford, MD

The following are pictures from our haulout for the Autumn Borne at Oxford, MD on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Sydney in her "tree House"...

Seems bigger when it's on land... and you're underneath sanding it... !!! Prop config.  New Zinc !!Note: the generator's "diesel butt" is gone...  hull is now waxed, and ready for launch...  What a lot of work (by hand).

 The Pacific Seacraft 34 is the s/v Myosotis (presently owned by Jeanette, and Bill Rice), but is now up for Sale at Oxford, MD (broker).

:(

Sombrero Reef Pics - Marathon Key

The following pics are from Winter 2010 at Marathon Key (and Key West).
I'll add some descriptions later...
Ruth and James met us in Key West... Ruth then joined us on the return sail to Marathon key...
Anyway...  some of these pics are from that time period...

The number of fish that immediately claimed the shade of the Autumn Borne at Sombrero Reef.    We did find that the clarity of the water at Sombrero, was totally dependent upon the state of the tide.  Clear at "flood" and murky at "ebb".  

The beach pic is from one of our trips out to Hawk Channel (dinghy ride) when Ruth sailed back to Marathon, from Key West with us... 

Sail to Key West, and Back to Marathon - Ruth and James visit

This certainly has been one of those weeks that goes by in a blurr !!!  Actually it was more like two weeks... as we sailed the AB down to Key West, and took a mooring north of Garrison Bight.  The weather was great when we arrived there..   (See Sunrise picture below).  But the weather turned very windy, by the time Ruth, and James arrived.
 

The plan was to include diving the Vandenberg (wreck)... but even the professionals wouldn't venture out.  So... The week in Key West consisted of variations on the Duval Street Crawl...

including Mallory Square activities, and vegging at the pool (Dante's).

The anchorage was a long dinghy ride from Garrison Bight or the Raw Bar dock at Key West Bight.  Sometimes this ride was quite the adventure!!!  

"The Best Ten Minutes" spent was spent by Ruth, James, and Susan when they "hit" a tourist info center... and garnered gobs of coupons for dinner and drink specials, all over Key West.  It saved tons of money, but more important got us to frequent places in KW we probably would have never gone, otherwise.   Nice !!!

  We had a wonderful show at Mallory Square the one night... The Sailfish Tournament was starting, and just as the band finished playing the national Anthem, the US Navy orchestrated a fly-by, so low that we were looking level at the pilots when we were standing on shore.  The the USCG took over, and put on one heck of a show about air sea rescue, (dumping off and retrieving rescue swimmers from helicopters, and patrol boats...).  The performers at Mallory Square hated the demonstrations, because it was taking people away from their shows (and money)...

James left on Friday, for Minnesota, and Ruth sailed back to Marathon Key with us for kiteboarding lessons, and scuba diving on Sombrero Reef.   If the weather would have cooperated just a little on the way back... we would have stopped at Loo key for diving.  But it blew 20 to 25 knots all the way from Key West to Marathon.   

We did end up diving at Sombrero Reef the day before Ruth left for home.  Full day at the reef; (pictures to follow).    '

Ruth got to meet a bunch of our cruising friends, both at Key West, and at Marathon's Boot Key Harbor.

Sombrero Reef and Marathon Key

We were invited to go sailing, and snorkeling out on Sombrero Reef with Earl, and Kathy on the S/V Seeker.
Nice to sail again... I think we've been sitting still too long...  Although being in a protected harbor, with lots of services available has been nice... I admit it.

The photo to the left has the Sombrero Light in the background. (hard to miss).

The second photo is of Earl and Kathy on the S/V Seeker. 

The water at the reef was a little murky (not as clear as the Bahamas water), but the reef was quite impressive... tons of fish, eels, and nice coral.

Last night we walked over to Hurricane's restaurant with Kathy, Earl, and a canadian gentleman, Michelle, for dinner, and to watch the semi-finals of the Final FOUR (especially the DUKE/WV game).

Yesterday afternoon there was a Seminar here in the Marina on DSC (Digital Select Calling) on VHF/SSB radios.  Very interesting. 

We've got about one more week here in Boot Key Harbor (Marathon Key). 
Then we move west to Key West...to pick up Ruth, and James for a mini-vacation with them... Diving, sailing, the Duvall Street Crawl, and relaxation. 

The last photo was taken at the American Legion Breakfast (for charity).  Attendees, more or less around the table (clockwise from the top left) are Joe Pooler [hardly visible] (s/v C-Note); Carrie (our neice); Carla and Rick Rister (s/v Euphoria); me and Susan.

One of the many activities here in the Marathon Community.

On Easter Sunday there's another charity event (cancer soc.); a dinner (5 PM)  at the Latitudes Resort. 

The only thing that is really bad about sitting so long in a secure harbor like this is the growth on the bottom of the vessels (AB, and dinghy).

So the scuba gear comes out shortly to remove this growth before we sail west to Key West. 

Mooring Ball B-12 - Boot Key Harbor

Today we pulled both anchors from the bottom of the west end anchorage, and motored down to B-12 mooring ball.  This will be our home for the next month, sort of....     
From the mooring ball we can leave anytime, for scuba diving the reefs at Sombrero,  or trips down to Key West, and be assured that we'll have a place to return to... (aka mooring B-12).    Pulling the anchors in the west end... and leaving... not knowing if there'd be room when we got back... just didn't seem like a good thing to do...  So we waited for the Mooring Ball.  

Anyway here's some pictures of Boot Key Harbor.... Sunsets, moonrises, parties, etc.   

Party on the Aft Deck with the Perkin's from the S/V Troubadour.

Moonrise over the anchorage.  Full and yellow.

Anchored in Boot Key Harbor (Marathon Key, FL)

We're anchored out in Boot Key Harbor at Marathon Key Florida  (Feb 27 into March 2010). 
We've purchaced a new laptop (by necessity)... so as soon as we figure out how to transfer some of the pictures (of late) to this HP laptop.... we'll post some... 
Until then this sunset picture, while moored at Dinner Key (Miami) will have to do....

Kelvin Jones was just here for two days...  visiting, and assisting us in our quest to purchase this replacement laptop...
I hope we didn't bore him to death...   He got a few tours of the harbor here, because it's about a mile or so dinghy ride to the City Marina office, and dinghy dock....  

Wind is still blowing about 12 to 18 knots.... but it's sunny, and nice outside...  the storm that as expected yesterday PM, while Kel was here, split as it came over Key West, and part went north, and part went south... and we ended up spending the day under mostly sunny skies...  COOL !!

Southbound - presently in Miami Beach- FEB-2010

We sailed (really motor/sailed) down from Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.  We're now anchored on the south side of the Venetian Causeway near Miami Beach.  We'll stay here for a while...

We've been traveling on and off with the two sailing vessels shown here (S/V catamaran Double Exposure; and during the last few weeks the S/V Bewitched) 
Photo taken in Peck Lake (near Hobe Sound) on the way south.  

The next photo is of the crews of these vessels; (Rick, Sue, Mike, Vickie, Susan, Dean) 

When we arrived in Miami, and entered through the Dodge Cut we saw the container ship "Intrepid" from Panama... with the Containers ajar.  It began to list near Key West, and 30 containers broke loose and fell into the Gulf Stream.  Most sank. The USCG is tracking (sort of) those that continue to move north in the Gulf Stream.

These containers are very dangerous for boaters, as they float nearly submerged (with tops barely awash)  ---  very hard to see....

Christmas in Arkansas - Stay in Titusville FL

We spent Christmas this year (2009) at the home of Lori, and Joe Roberston.  Ruth, and James met us there for a wonderful, and white Christmas.  It was 60F in Bentonville AR,  the week leading up to Christmas, then SNOW....   COOL!!!      

We toured the Sam Walton Museum in Downtown Bentonville (picture), and recieved a personal tour of WalMarts computer center (Joe), and Crisis/ Event Center).  

Returning to Florida Susan and I took a detour through Seneca SC to see Nick and Lynn Geiben. 

We got lost a few times, but always seemed to recover well...   (There's really no easy way to get from NW Arkansas to Seneca SC, and then to FL until you get to I-95).  

When we returned to Florida the jet stream moved south and brought the longest cold snap to FL on record. Wow,  was it COLD....   Fortunately we were at a dock, and could plug into Shore Power for a little heat.

Mornings it was as low as 37F in the main Salon of AB.  BRRRR.... 

We'd move the little heater to whereever we were in the boat... but it was still very Chilly!!!!

(the Butter got very hard ..... so now we're seeking that point where it will MELT again!)

We stayed in Titusville over a month... from before Christmas, to mid-January...  It's time now to move South to Vero Beach, Miami, and the KEYS.

While we've been here in Titusville, Brian and Sheila Strutt have been gratious hosts, trucking us here and there... whenever....   WE drove up to Datona at one point and purchased a helm seat (picture below)....

Actually there's been quite a few boat improvement projects accomplished while we've been here...  That's the one advantage to sitting still for a while....   :)