Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Saying 'Goodbye'
Looks like tomorrow I'll be selling Justus. It's a melancholy affair, but necessary. I'm glad she'll be going to a captain that will enjoy her as much as I have.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Tough, but necessary decision...
Thursday, November 29, 2012
On the Hard for a week...
Friday, November 23, 2012
Finally done... pretty much.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
"Kestler? Chrestman? Kastor?... Green Sailboat!"
This morning, I woke to high winds again, but, since I had timed my departure with the rising tide, didn't think that the Cumberland sound would be that bad. I was wrong. Before I had even made it out to the sound, still in the river inlet, I was experiencing three foot waves and high winds, tossing me all over the place. At one point, I went to gibe, and lost control of my jibsheet, the jib went flailing in the wind violently, and popped the shackle off the block. I furled the jib, and quickly went forward to repair the block, there was no way I could cross this sound without my jib. I fixed the shackle, unfurled my jib, and took off at about 6.5 knots. Again, I ignored the marked channel, and cut straight across. Until today, I had never buried my rails while just using my jib, but in 25-30kt winds with 4-5 foot waves, it happens. I came out the other side of the sound, and made my way to Amelia Island Yacht Basin. I was very excited to finally be secured to a dock again, and have some shelter from the wind. My excitement was premature, as I still had to deal with the entrance channel to the marina. To get here, I had to run perpendicular to the wind, which was still blowing at around 21kts. My little outboard couldn't fight the wind at such an angle, and I was blown out of the channel and ran aground a few meters away from some railroad tracks. After a significant amount of trouble trying to get ahold of Towboat U.S. I was hauled out of there. Now I get to sit back and relax for a day or two, until this wind dies down and the sun comes back out. I've had it with nasty weather for a while. That's why I came to Florida after all, sun and sand.
Morton Salt, eat your heart out. |
Crossing St. Simons |
Monday, November 12, 2012
Freebird
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Happy Brithday, Marine Corps.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Belay my last...
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
And the beat goes on.
One thing this trip has done for me so far is renew my faith in the kindness of strangers. It almost seems as though every person I've met had a meeting before I started, and arranged a competition to see who can be the kindest and most helpful. That being the case, Mary at Savannah Bend Marina is shooting for the top spot. Not only has she let me use her car several times to go out in town and run errands, but the other day, she "forgot" to ring me up for some groceries in the ship's store. This morning, she stopped down by my slip with three bags full of stuff for me.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Rest in peace, HMS Bounty
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Well, THAT was anticlimactic.
Again, I've managed to find a great marina, Savannah Bend Marina, in Thunderbolt, GA. I've been here for two days now, and will be here for another couple days until my final paycheck from the Marines clears. Today, one of the ladies that works here, Mary, let me borrow her car to go run errands out in town. I had forgotten how amazing Goodwill is, I managed to get some new clothes, a strainer, and a new pot to replace the one at the bottom of the river in South Carolina, all for about $17.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing...
The dolphins keep me company most days. |
I came back in and continued on the ICW for a while. I stopped just north of Beaufort, SC and dropped anchor for the night. In the morning, I took off south again, and my first leg of the day was the Port Royal sound. I found it a bit ironic that I was sailing past Parris Island almost four years to the day after I first set foot on the yellow footprints for boot camp there. I linked up with two other sailboats, EZ Breeze, and Pyewacket, whom I had seen earlier in NC while waiting for a bridge. Usually, I'm the slowest boat on the water, but I managed to keep up with the two of them for the majority of the crossing.
Add caption |
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
What do batteries, anchors, and glowsticks have in common?
Thursday, October 18, 2012
200 miles down...
Had some company going through New River, NC |
Another victim of NC shoaling (and poor judgement) |
Justus felt big, until these two showed up. |
Thursday, October 11, 2012
First leg's over
I've started my journey down to Florida. I did about 25 miles yesterday, from New Bern to a marina near havelock. Good news, it was free beer night! Bad news, it was $45 to dock there. I set sail at around 9:00 this morning, with about 20kt wind across my beam. All was well until I got seriously rocked by the wake of a Navy vessel and heeles a little too far for my comfort. I righted myself, only to be rocked by another large boat with no concern for the measley sailboat it was passing, and decided that it would be better if I took down my jib for a while to make it a bit easier to handle in the busy waters of the Beaufort area. I made it out past morehead city to ICW marker 12 when my depth finder.decided that it didn't feel like working anymore. Shouldn't be a problem I figured, I'll just follow the markers. No sooner had I finished that thought than I ran aground on a shoal just past marker 13. I tried everything to free myself, but to no avail. I ended up calling the coast gaurd for a tow. They sent out a boat and got me unstuck, after which they told me the price. $643! Good news was, I'm a member of BOATU.S. and they have a tow plan. Bad news is, my tow plan membership only covers $50. So I paid half and told him to bill me the rest. After that I was on my way, but there was no wind! I sat there, stubbornly refusing to bring down my sails and motor, as a 32' Catamaran passed me by, happily motoring along, making gestures to me to see if I was alright. "I'm alright, just stubborn to the point of idiocy some times" I thought as I watched them glide away. Finally, I came to my senses and realized that I'd never make swansboro by sundown if I didn't motor. So I cranked my outboard and was on my way. I did enjoy the company of some passing dolphins and a few Marine Corps CH-53 helicopters. I pulled in to Dudley's Marina in swansboro at around 6:15 and am glad to be able to rest for a while... after I go to the bar :)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Getting ready to set off
Monday, September 17, 2012
Fredrika Stahl
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
"Never tell a man what he 'can't' do"
Monday, September 10, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
Once in a Blue Moon
The day started as many long weekends in the Marine Corps have; An unneccessarily early wake-up, followed by a room inspection to make sure that we were all good boys and cleaned up so we can go play on the weekend. A long span of nothing, followed by a formation at noon to get off for the weekend. Immediately after being released, Daniel and I loaded up the car and headed off base. After sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for what felt like an eternity, we made it to highway 17, and were on our way to Washington, NC to take a look at the boat Daniel was thinking about buying. At around 1500, we got to John's place and went to look at the boat, a 1970 Irwin 28.5' sloop. The boat was in great shape, and fits Daniel's needs perfectly, he made an agreement to buy it in October, and after hanging out for a bit longer, we headed off to the marina to work on my boat, Justus. On the way to my slip, I met a guy named Mark, (the second Mark at the Marina so far that I've met) who was very friendly, as has been everyone I've encountered there so far. I boarded Justus, and opened her up. I got down below, and checked her out to see how she weathered the recent storm. I was actually glad that it rained on Thursday, because it gave me the chance to ensure that the leak fix from last weekend worked. It did. I set up the coffee maker that I bought, and tested out the head, I had been concerned that the head wouldn't work, but was pleasantly surprised when, after a minute of pumping the manual handle, everything was in working order. One of my main missions for the afternoon was to take measurments for a board to turn my settee into a double berth, but I had forgotten to pick up a measuring tape. Daniel stopped by the office and asked Mike if he had one, and sure enough, he did. A few minutes after Daniel got to the boat, my port-side neighbors arrived, and we greeted each-other. David and Anna, a couple about seventy years old, invited Daniel and I aboard their boat to go out into the harbour and link up with eight other boats to watch the sun go down, and the blue moon come up. Being a very rare opportunity, we agreed. We boarded their ship and set off into the harbour. Along the way, we both learned a bit about marina navigation and regulations. Pulling up to the cluster of boats, a mixture of sailboats, motorboats, and one impressive catamaran, we came along the port side and tied off to the next boat. This was a learning experience in itself, effectively docking with other boats, all using one central anchor. I learned how to tie off a line to a cleat, and the difference between actual and apparent wind. It's pretty cool to know that the wind is blowing at around eight knots, and not be able to feel it at all because you're moving in the same direction at the same speed. After lashing together and settling in, David and Anna broke out the snacks and wine. We settled into friendly conversation, and people from other boats started coming over, soon enough, the deck was filled with people, all but us over sixty years old. We were enjoying the conversation, and suddenly, Daniel and the woman next to him began singing "Blue Moon" by Ella Fitzgerald. A fitting song. The sun set at 1924, and the moon began to rise at around 1938. We were invited to come aboard the center boat, an amazing thirty-six foot sailboat (I'm not sure of the make or model), and we hung out with the owner and his wife, and the owner and wife of the catamaran to port. We stayed there for about half an hour, until David turned on the deck light on his ship, signalling that he was ready to depart. We released from the boats on both sides of us, and headed off towards the marina. It was very dark, and David couldn't see the markers to guide us back in, so Daniel operated the spotlight to find the markers. Anna and I stood on the aft deck and watched the moon glisten on the water for a bit, "Isn't that amazing?" she said, to which I replied, "The way I see it, God saw fit to make the world 72% water, we were meant to be on it". We pulled back in to the dock and lashed the boat to the cleats. Daniel and I returned to Justus, where I finally took the measurments for the settee board, and tested out all of the lights on board. Before we left, Daniel got David and Anna's phone number so we could stay in touch. David has offered to go out on Justus with us and teach us the finer points of sailing. He had been considering buying her before I did, because he misses sailing so much, and is happy to have met, and befriended the new owner. All in all, there were many lessons learned, and many jokes told tonight. I still haven't stopped smiling, it has been a very long time since I've felt so satisfied and happy.