fun stuff

The following is a copy of my journal that I kept while at sea. I know it's a long read but I figured maybe some people would like to read it.

11/01/06 - 9:30 a.m.

So here I am sitting in a beautiful 45 foot yacht about to set sail for the Bahamas. I have waited my whole life for an opportunity like this. This should be a voyage to remember. The boat is layed out very nicely. The cockpit opens up into the main state room and navigation table, moving past that you have the Galley and bathroom, followed by the main salon and the v-berth bed room. There is plenty of storage space and it is quite spacious in terms of living too. Of course it will still be quite a cozy trip for up to ten days. It's only 45 feet long and 12 feet at it's widest point. This should be fun.

Barry (the owner and skipper) seems like a nice guy. He takes great care of his boat. The rest of the crew is made up of John, Jim and I. They are very friendly people, and I think we will get along nicely. I was surprised though to find out that I was not the least experienced person on the boat. Jim claims that this is his first ocean sail too, but like me, he is eager to learn the ropes. John, however, seems to have crewed with friends of his in bays and such numerous times before. I plan on learning from hin and Barry as much and as often as I can.

Not to much longer now until cast off. We just need to top off our water and gas and then it's off to the open sea.

11/02/06 - 8:30 a.m.

We were hard pressed getting started. Barry brought down the roller furling in order to make sailing more efficient. After that it took a few more hours as we waited for fed-ex to deliver the sim card for the navigation equipment. We were underway at about half past 12.

First things first, this boat is much longer than my "windsong." There are far more lines to pull and buttons to push. In the beginning I felt like more of a hindrance than a help, but once we got going the boat practically sails itself. Literally! It has an auto pilot wind computer that steers the boat and tracks the course with respect to the wind. I took the midnight to 4 a.m. watch the first night. The winds were blowing at about 16-15 knots and we were making about 5-7 knots/hour on average. In a boat this size it felt like nothing. It's hard to believe that in my little "Windsong" that 6 knots is the fastest I have ever had her, and it felt so quick.

My next watch is from 12 noon to 4 p.m. It looks like a small storm is coming our way in the next few minutes. Hopefully it will pass before my watch, but it could still be a little fun to put up with it. It would be another learning experience.

11/02/06 - 11:00 a.m.

I guess Barry thinks the storm is to much. Two opposing fronts block out passage south, and are forcing us to tack east and west. It seems I'll have to visit the Bahamas some other time. Barry is coming about and it seems like we cant make the voyage. Were heading back to Bristol.

11/03/06 - 8:00 a.m.

We made it back to Bristol in one piece. The wind was blown in from a cold front that overtook us shortly after my last entry. The wind stung bitterly on our faces. Yet again my watch was the midnight watch, so that made things even colder. That didn't change my enjoyment of it though. Despite that fact that this sail was drastically cut short , I still had that time of my life. It was cold, damp, and hard pressed the entire time, but still, I enjoyed every second. The entire voyage we were keeled over so that the side rails were under water. I have never done ocean sailing before so I just figured it was normal. Come to find out the winds were over 30 knots at times and we had to reef the main sail and the jib twice just to stay upright. It never really occurred to me that we were in any danger. In truth, that's the kind of sailing I enjoy on the lake, but apparently I fund out after the fact that it was quite dangerous. So dangerous that when we got into Bristol Harbor we saw that the shroud (that is the thick stainless steal cable that holds the port side of the mast) had actually snapped under the strain of the wind. We are talking about a cable at least three quarters of an inch thick. The amount of pressure to do that must have been astronomical.

Last night I was at the help as we navigated through the shipping lanes coming into Rhode Island. I had to maneuver around and past super freighters, tugs, and at least half a dozen fishing boats. At one point a pair of dolphins came up behind the boat to check us out. It was cold enough to have frost on my face, but it was great fun.

We made it into Bristol at about 6 a.m. Someone is coming to pick me up at about 11:00. It was a short trip, and the end destination was slightly less exotic that I was hoping for, but still it was a good trip nevertheless. If nothing else I can know now, that I faced some of the worst of conditions out there (Barry's words) and it seemed fine to me. I never got sick, nor did I ever get nervous. This trip showed me that I could easily do this again. I think I will welcome the opportunity when it comes around again.

Well I was hoping that there would be more entries in this journal than there are, but here we are. It's time to head home.

Sorry I haven't kept this up to date I have a differant blog on Myspace.  I know I know, I'm a traitor.  :)

Monday Oct. 30th

So I leave tomorrow to head to RI where "Falcon" is docked, and after that it's the open sea.  Words cannot express how beside myself I am at this opportunity.  Up to two weeks at sea, and then some time in the Bahamas.  Life is good.    Keep me in your prayers though, because once I get to the Bahamas I'm kind of on my own with little or no advanced planning, but then again, that's how I like it.  I'll show up get off the boat and then see where my feet take me.  I'll try to post some entries about the voyage when I get back.  God bless all.

Lake George day one

Getting the trailer out of Saratoga Lake proved to be a bit more detailed than we would like.  We have taken the boat in and out of that lake numerous times, but we had never trailered the boat more than a few hundred feet before.  As it turns out, whoever the person was who had the trailer before had one 14 inch tire and one 15 inch tire on different sides.  Take that along with the information that the trailer had no lights or breaks or inspection and it makes for a very busy time leading up to the boats trip to Lake George.  We had to bring the trailer up to spec in order to safely travel the hour and a half drive north.  Once all was said and done we got the boat on the trailer and pulled her out of the lake only to find out that there was only about a 6 inch clearance between the metal of the trailer and the pavement of the road.  I am the only one in my family with experience towing large things, so I was the one who had to make the drive.  It was hairy, but we arrived with out incident. 

Our first day was beautiful.  You couldnt ask for a better day.  There was blue sky with a few dabs of white puffy clouds here and there.  Dad and I stepped the mast and prepped the boat for the week while the women made camp not to far from the mooring.  Once the boat was in Dad and I motored over to our mooring buoy and finished up setting up the boat for a week stay.  I ran a line from a cleat to the shore line so that our little raft could get back and fourth by pulling the rope, instead of rowing.  It was much faster that way.

After a few hours we all boarded the Wind Song for our first sail on Lake George in that boat.  The first thing you notice about Lake George is how unbelievably clear it is.  You could easily see ten feet straight down to the bottom.  The water sparkled like crystal, and the reflection of the mountains against the lake created an image that was like looking into a dream.  The wind was light at first, but once we made it out of the Rogers Rock cove, it picked right up.  We headed south west and rounded Friends Point to make it into a wider part of the lake.  Several other sail boats were out, and Wind Song passed them all.  She really is a fast boat if well handled.

We were out for at least three to four hours, and we had gotten a late start.  Several tacks were made and we saw some very beautiful small island groups and houses.  We had to stop just north of the village of Hague.  As the sun began to set we realized that when we stepped the mast the wires that power the masthead light had been severed, so we tacked around to head back to Rogers Rock in an effort to get back before dark.  The wind was fierce now and the boat was laid on her side more than once as we rode her as far into the wind as possible.  Thats the kind of sailing that I live for.  Once we got back into The Rogers Rock bay (Cooks Bay is the actual name for it) the wind died down again, blocked by the towering cliffs of Rogers Rock.  We sailed right to the mooring and headed to shore for dinner.  That was the first sail of the week. 

wow what a month