On A New Tack

Exciting! Time to actually hit the water!! (or did the water hit us...) 7am  and we were up and at 'em! Melinda made some delicious egg and asparagus scramble that we had on a tortilla, along with some diced melon.  The folks from American Yacht Outfitters were back by about  8am  to get the last few things done.  They wrapped up the rest of the items from their punch lists, the water tanks were topped off from the dock pedestal and we were heading to the fuel dock right around about 9:30am.  Right when we wanted so we could have the best/longest wind for our sail.  Nick, from the outfitters, took the helm to bring us to the fuel dock and after about 50 gallons of diesel, the half full tanks were topped off. Bob did a great job of getting us out from the fuel dock and back to the narrow channel to Charlotte Harbor, which we would take to get to the Gulf of Mexico.  The plan was to motor until we got out to open water in the Harbor before raisin...

Vendors meeting deadlines and submersible docks The trip to help move of friends Leopard 45 from Jacksonville to Ft. Lauderdale started with a flight down to Punta Gorda Airport.  We left the ground in Raleigh just in time to avoid the early AM thunderstorms that were forecast to become possible PM tornadoes. When we landed at PGD airport, Bob was already waiting in baggage claim to pick Sue and I up (which was super nice).  We then went to do perishable provisioning for the trip and divided and conquered the shopping list.  As we were driving to the Burnt Store Marina, Bob warned us that there were a number of people on the boat, trying to get things like their vinyl enclosures and cushions squared away before they departed.  They had been promised that everything would be done by that Friday.  They got close to completing on time. SV Counting Stars at the Burst Store Marina Our cabin (Port Aft) On the plus side, the folks working on the boat,...

Tech Article posts are those that came about because of something I was writing in a more typical blog entry and decided to break out as a reference item. Hull speed is nautical speak for maximum theoretical speed for a "displacement" boat. A boat is basically just plopped into a body of water and displaces an amount of water equal to the weight of the boat.  A boat's weight and it's displacement are the same.  That is true for every boat that is not moving. Once you add movement, that can change. A displacement hull is the name used to signify a boat design where the hull just pushes water as the boat moves. The fastest a displacement hull boat can move (Hull Speed) is determined with the formula: HS = 1.34 * SQRT(LWL) HS is the Hull Speed in Nautical Miles per Hour, aka knots   LWL is the  L ength at the  W ater  L ine in ft. As an example, as 38' monuhull sailboat, may have a 33' LWL.  Therefore, the Hull Speed for this b...

It's been a month and we haven't been on a sailboat, what do we do? Ever since our Learn to Sail vacation, we have been thinkin about another opportunity to sail.  We still had the potential to sail on S/V Counting Stars in April, and a possible trip with Lisa and Jesse to the BVIs, but that wasn't for a while, so we had to start looking at other options. A Google Search of "bareboat charter NC" returned a few results, one of which was Bow to Stern Sailing , located in Oriental, NC. They were exactly what we were looking for and they were an easy 2.5 hour drive from our home in Cary, NC.  Oriental is a small town on the Neuse River, a brackish tributary to the Pamlico Sound.  The Neuse River, which starts as a small freshwater river in Raleigh becomes a 2+ mile wide body of water by the time it reaches Oriental and the area sees great wind for sailing. We called and spoke with them and I wasn't sure if the ASA certifications would be enough, but after a...

At 7:45am we woke up to the sounds of voices in the cockpit of the boat.  Voices that we didn't recognize. Long story short, the Captain stayed out very late (4am-ish), eventually walked back to the boat, but "decided" to stop and take a nap on the front lawn of someone's house.  After his nap, we woke up and called an Uber to take him back to the boat, not quite sure of where he was.  It turns out he was only a 5 minute drive to the boat. Oh, and then there was Charles, he was one of the voices we heard in the cockpit, along with two others, all of which returned to the boat at 7:45am.  Charles was probably a little drunk, but his two drinking buddies were pretty well gone. It took some time to get rid of them, but after we did, we had breakfast, had a quick review and then took the final test for ASA 104 (we scored 95 and 99). We were 101, 103, 104 and 114 certified! We cleaned, packed up and said our farewells to the Captain, Charles, Caroline and "A...

Day 6 was the trip back up to Ft. Lauderdale.   We started the day early and were all eating breakfast before 8:00am. After breakfast we performed Engine Checks.  One of "About Time's" engine was new, the other was original.  It was quite easy to tell which was which (both visually and audibly). After the engine checks and topping off the oil in guess-which-engine, we took the ASA 114 test.  I got a respectable 94%. Before leaving the Harbor, we did some close quarter motoring drills and then left the harbor and  turned south to go around the Southern Tip of Key Biscayne. After getting just beyond the bottom of the Key, we turned, raising the sails and headed out to sea for a mile or so, then turned north to head towards Ft. Lauderdale. We had great wind and the benefit of the Gulf Stream, so we were moving along at a very respectable 10 kts! Eventually the wind shifted and weren't getting quite as much speed, but I ended up at the helm fo...

Another strong breeze for another great day of sailing! No test today, so we just had sailing and MOB (Man Over Board) recovery practicing.  We left from our mooring ball with Sue at the Helm and took us expertly out of the narrow channel, especially given the current and wind, which was stronger as we left the protection offered at the mooring ball. Captain Keith gaves just a destination and asked us to come up with the plan and the expected ETA.  We plotted the course, factoring in some tacks we would have to take and gave an estimate of 12:15p. We arrived to what was basically a wide open spot out in Biscayne Bay and we started learning and practicing four methods of MOB recovery: Figure 8 - Good if you are in warm water and are not really in a hurry to get the victim back on board and want to go on a bunch of points of sail. Broad Reach/Close Reach - A lot quicker and involves only two points of sale.   Quick Stop - By far the easiest and quickest wa...

This was a great day to sail.  A nice consistent 20 kt wind and otherwise nice weather in Biscayne Bay! So, I had to get up around 3am and re-apply bug spray because the mosquitos were finding me through the hatches we had opened to get some airflow.  I managed to walk up in time to re-apply before beocming light headed from lack of blood supply. I wake up for good around 6am to a beautiful sunrise above the Atlantic visible from across the small, 200yd wide key.   After breakfast, we walked up to the top of the Boca Chita Lighthouse, which is usually closed.  The view of Miami was pretty amazing! I took the helm to bring us out of the anchorage and into the narrow channel as we headed towards Coconut Grove; our next stop. We continued to take turns at the helm practicing points of sail and taking turns grinding the winches and were averaging around 8kts, which is about top speed for a 37 foot catamaran. Sue taking her turn at the Helm ...

Sue and I woke up at about 700 am and I decided to go for a swim in No Name Harbour.  It was a little cold at first, but I fixed that with a lap around the boat. It is a really nice State Park and would be happy to return here! Once everyone was up and moving, we pulled the hook and moved over to the face dock while there was an opening.  Captain Keith made us a breakfast of Pancakes and Sausage.  We gathered up the track on the boat and deposited that while we had the opportunity.   We then took the first our our tests, the written exam for ASA 101.  I aced it at 100%!  We left No Name Harbour around 10:00 and returned to Biscayne Bay were we headed mostly North, tacking back and forth until about 12:30p when we hove to so that we could have lunch. After lunch we all took turns practicing all the points of sail.  For those of you that don't know, that would be: Port Tack, Close Hauled (heading up as close to the wind as possible)...

We woke up early, un-tied and cast off with Sue at the Helm, motoring the 30 minutes down the ICW.  We timed our departure so that we could make the timed openings of the two bridge between the boats slip and the cruise ship port of Port Everglades, where we would access the Atlantic. We entered the Atlantic and turned South to head to Miami.  Unfortunately, the wind was directly on our nose, so it was about 6 hours of motor-sailing along the coast. Sure, we would have preferred to sail, but it was a really relaxing trip and Sue was driving the boat like a boss! After motor-sailing, we entered the Miami area, motored past the Miami Boat Show location and then down to No Name Harbour, where we dropped anchor and stayed the night. FYI, the mosquitos AND the no-see-ums both found me quite delectable.  Grrr. On the plus side, the first beautiful sunset of the trip! - Mike

Saturday night, after being introduced to the boat and each other, we sat down in the Galley and came up with a meal plan and then a shopping list, by grocery store department, for the week to come.  We walked about a half mile to a grocery store, broke up the list and went shopping!  We also walked across the parking lot to the liquor store for some other essentials ;-) With our three carts worth of bagged groceries, we hailed an Uber XL for a ride back to "About Time".  We stowed all of our groceries in the galley, which honestly all seemed to disappear in to so many nooks and crannies.  While the boat lacked in storage in the cabins, there is a surprising amount of storage in the galley/saloon.  We honestly probably could have provisioned for 150 meals instead of the 75 we provisioned for. For dinner, we walked about 10 minutes to go to a burger place called BRGR STOP.  Glutenous menu of piled high burgers and milkshakes, which were really good....

Time to Learn to Sail!! The Boat Show was fun and helpful, but not the main reason for the trip.  What is this sailing thing about anyways?! We started the day (Saturday) in Miami and took an Uber up to Dania Beach to look at a few boats for sale, just to get an idea of what'd out there and see some Leopard 44's currently on the market.  We're currently thinking that getting a 3 or so year old used boat will get us the best value; that's when the depreciation is worst and when the first owner is usually doing upgrades to the boat, that we would likely want or at least appreciate. The Leopard 45s are brand new and are selling at a premium.  Again, we love that boat, except for the 4'11" draft (and the brand new price tag).  The Leopard 44 is almost as nice, available on the used market (sometimes) and has a 1 foot smaller draft.  We looked at two 44s and it was obvious that the mainteance done by the previous owners makes a big difference in the look of...

Miami Boat Show - February 14-19, 2019 - Miami Marine Stadium Miami is not known for being a reserved, sleepy hamlet and that is reflected in the boats, yachts, electronics and people we saw at the boat show! We rented an Airbnb in downtown Miami, right next to the water taxi stop that would bring you to and from the boat show.  Unfortunately, Lisa and Jesse were not able to join us, last minute, because of a new job Jesse had taken that required him to be at the Pentagon for a meeting the Friday of the Boat Show.  Didn't seem like going to the Boat Show was more important than whatever the meeting was about, so we understood their not being able to make it, but were disappointed to not be able to spend a few days with them. Leading up to the Boat Show, we booked some appointments to look at Catamarans like piqued our fancy.  It is possible to schedule an appointment to see a yacht while at the show, but you may have to wait a while, but honestly, booking ahead o...

We are admittedly impulsive.  But I like to think we are not blindly impulsive.  We're good at research and impulsive or not, try to research our decisions, with more research going into more impactful decisions.  This particular change of course (getting On a New Tack?) was going to take a lot of research and a lot of reining in our (or really mainly my) impulsive tendencies. So, knowing that we liked the thought of living on a sailboat, it's probably time to spend some time on a sailboat and actually learn to sail.  We both love a challenge and we are both engineers so figuring our new things, especially thing that involve mechanics, levers and pullers, is second nature. So, how do we learn to sail? Fortunately, there are two large Sailing Organizations in the US; the ASA (American Sailing Association) and USSailing .  The ASA seems to be more prevalent when it comes to course availability and having sailing certifications from them makes things like ch...

Good friends of ours, Ray and Lisa, recently made there move to live on a boat after retiring.  I used to work with Ray at Device Solutions, a electronic/software contract engineering design firm.  His retirement plan went through a couple iterations, but he and Lisa ended up finding their perfect Motor Yacht, a trawler name "Scout", which they actually just untied from her slip in New Bern, NC to start travelling down the Eastern Seaboard. You can learn more about them and there adventures on their blog .  We went to visit them in New Bern and they turned us onto a couple of Vloggers, Jason and Niki Wynn, and their website and YouTube channel " Gone with the Wynns ".  The Wynns started by travelling the US in an RV and then a few years ago, sold that and moved onto a 43' Leopard Catamaran and are currently making their way around the world. Watching their videos gives viewers a great glimpse into what living aboard a sailboat and travelling really entail...

Before the fall of 2018, Sue and I had never really sailed, unless you count one Sunfish Rental at Lake Crabtree Park in Morrisville, NC and a daysail that Sue did in Buffalo, NY when she was co-oping at General Motors. We've owned a 17' Jetboat used in local lakes since June of 1998, but that's usually 4 or 5 hours max at a time on relative calm waters.  So what happened to get us on the Sailing kick?  Buying a Krispy Kreme box truck and visiting friends in Annapolis, of course!   Our business was expanding and needed an additional installation vehicle.  I found an ex-Krispy Kreme delivery box truck that fit the bill, being sold by Penske in Baltimore, MD. (It smelled amazing, by the way).  In order to get it back to Raleigh, I'd have to fly up to Baltimore on a Friday, pick up the truck and then drive back to Raleigh with Sue staying in Raleigh to keep things running.   Our super-close friends, and best-man (Jesse) and Matron of Honor (Lis...