Northern Phoenix blog

October 31st,

Today we got an early start heading to Norfolk, as the reports were for 30-40 knot winds today. Mom and Dad began the day with pulling up the anchor and starting the engine… which are loud… at 7:00 in the morning.  Needless to say it woke Devon and I up.  So that was how our uneventful day started.  Now I will skip to the part where it got exciting. We were just on the edge of Norfolk, in the beginning of the afternoon, and admiring the giant tanker heading our direction.  Mom was looking in the other direction-still don’t know why, as giant tankers tend to capture your attention- when she suddenly started yelling “Dolphin!!”  Of course, when he saw the fins in the water, Devon started yelling “shark!!”  Actually, it was a group of about 10 dolphins, off our port stern. We (meaning me and Mom) rushed to get the cameras to start the impossible job of trying to take pictures of them. Dad cut the engine, in the hope that they would get close to the boat, and Devon… well, sat there.  Me and mom ran around the boat taking pictures of whenever they came up close enough-they move around fast. This continued for 10 minutes. Just as we started getting the engine back up, a dolphin jumped fully out of the water two feet from our boat. And when it’s all quiet out and suddenly a giant animal jumps out of the water toward your boat, it tends to startle you.  Then one came up by our bow, again very close, and swam as if racing us for about 5 seconds. They can swim VERY fast. This one startled me the most, as I was looking over the very bow of the boat when it came up. As we continued on our way, the dolphins gradually fell behind, and we headed into the river of the ICW.  And in case you were wondering, no, we did not crash into the tanker, it passed in front of us.
 

October 30th we were motoring out of Deltaville and we were pretty much the only ones out. Suddenly, there was a really loud BA-BANG!! And I thought that the propane exploded or we were getting shot at. Since it was behind us, I ran down and checked the aft cabin but there was no damage. So I went back up, and a bit later there was a radio call that said it was the "sound of freedom" (a fighter jet going faster than the speed of sound.) So we were all relieved that no damage has been done to the boat.

P.S. we never saw the fighter.                                              

Devon. JJJ

  Not our picture   

October 29th
We stopped in Deltaville, at the Deltaville Marina.  If you have access to nautical charts, or perhaps zoom in on Google earth, the entrance is CRAZY.  We touched ground a few times on the way in and out.  Great for motor boats, not so great for Sailboats.  Marina had a courtesy car that we used to go pick up our parts and then took the time to do a few more repairs and upgrades.  Finished the generator and installed LED spreader lights.  Very bright for very little power.  Changed out the anchor light for an LED light (1/20th the power!!!!), and replaced the other nav light on the front of the mast (Steaming light, about 3/4 the way up).  Never fun to go up the mast, but the kids are great at getting my up there.  Good thing they are so strong.

How many people does it take to change a light bulb?  4.  One goes up the mast, one hold the safety line, one grinds the winch, and one tails the main line. (the horizontal bars, the spreaders,  are about 30 feet up the mast)



Generator is now fixed! (we also now have a spare one for the next time!!!)
 

We also installed an LED cockpit light, a light for the swim platform, a new bilge pump and automatic switch...again, backup carbon monoxide detector, new towel bars in the bathrooms, one way valve on the fuel system to the engine so the generator can't suck the fuel out of the engine, and a new anchor fair lead (A big thick line that attaches to the chain and then ties to the boat.  This line is easy to replace and takes all the ware and tare when anchored so you don't have to replace the entire anchor line).

Kids snuck up on a Heron on the dock....well, I guess he knew they were there, just didn't care.
  For fun...go look up the sound a Heron makes.  It is soo distinct and beautiful.......that only it's mother would appreciate.

They really sound like this.  Like an elephant trying to roar through it's truck, but a bullfrog that was eating a diesel bull dozier was stuck in it's trunk.  

I guess, if a bird gives up so much to look so graceful, it had to give up something else.

Oct 28th
We are finally saying good by to Reedville.  Just before we left, we invested in a new camera with some zoom capability.  Our other cameras are not so good at getting pictures of far away things.  This has a 40x optical zoom.  Our first set of pictures was of the monster that lives out in front of the Haas house on Owens pond. (no longer a pond, just another inlet on the Chesapeake).  Can you tell what it is?
 
A sea otter.  

Here are some pictures from the dock at the perfect house.  My parents were great having us hang out at their house.  They made us feel at home and let us use their place when we needed it.  They were great!  Thanks Mom and Dad.


As we left Reedville, we took a few pictures.  Found a flock of Canadian Geese on some Americans yard.  This is as close a Canadian bombing run on US soil as their may ever be.

Reedville was built around the fishing industry.  The long harbor is filled with ruins of old Fish factoryies from long ago.  Mostly the Menhaden Fisheries.  Here is a current boat.  The two boats on the back are launched and pull the nets around in a big loop, which is then pulled up by the mother boat.
 
Here are some pictures from the anchor we stayed at for 2 weeks.

This is a historic tower now, from an old fish factory.  It marks the big bend in the channel coming into Reedville and is an official navigation aid.

We were ready to head south today, but yesterday we ran into a little problem.  The impeller of the generator died.  This is part of the pump that pulls water into the generator for the cooling system.  The safety shutoff switch worked great, so no damage of overheating happened to the generator, but it meant more delays.  It was Sunday, so nothing was open to find spare parts.  We have since ordered two, that will arrive in Deltalville, our next stop south.  A few days without the Generator is not a big deal.  My guess is that the 1.5 years the generator sat not being used caused the impeller to weaken and crack.  Then when we started to use it, it broke up.  Not easy to get to on the generator, but were able to get the old one off.  

We have stocked up on food as well.  A couple hundred dollars in food to last a few weeks as we power south to get to warm weather as fast as possible.

We have been in Reedville for almost 2 weeks, are very anxious to get going.  We have seen some family and friends and relaxed, but really need to get going.  The leaves are starting to change, it is getting cold at night, and Halloween is around the corner.  Tara went to Toronto and accepted her award, then flew to Boston to attend her conference.  Lots of good work and got caught up with people.

Here are some things we have done:

History lesson : Jamestown.

We drove to Jamestown, the oldest settlement in North america (ok....successful settlement).  1607 was when they landed.  About 137 people on three tiny boats.  One had only about 12 people on it and was left behind to be used for fishing and scouting.  The 2 larger boats returned.
 

Took my dad for a sail
The kids and I took my Dad for a sail along with one of his friends.  A nice calm day with low winds, but enough to get the boat moving at 6 knots.  We passed an old schooner on the way out for the sail.  Sahara and the Devon did 90% of the work getting the sails up and down.  They are really "learning the ropes".


Bonfires and Moonrises
We had a couple of bonfires at the Perfect House in an outdoor fire pit.   It was very relaxing with the fires that Devon set up.  The weather was perfect for bonfires.  We had some amazing moonrises out over the water.  One was a deep red colour, the picture does not do it justice
. 

Boat fixes
We have done a bunch of little things to the boat to get it ready to head south.  Put in some new lights, replaced all the cabin lights with LED lights....much brighter and only a fraction of the electrical use.  Changed some of the fuel system around, redid the gasket around the freezer, added some hooks, non skid tape, all so important cup holders, and reorganized some spaces.

Uncle Peter
We had a short time to visit with Uncle Peter, who was in the area for a wedding.  It was good to see him again.

Crazy Crab
We ate at the Crazy Crab with the Schindler's.  We have been using their dock for the time we have been here, and they have been so nice.  Even gave us a big bag of home grown jalapeno peppers, that we made into poppers to watch during the redskin game.....but that didn't help them.  Denise grew up in fairfax a few doors away from my as a kid.  Her family and mine have known each other for a long time.

October 15th
We left Solomons island after a very peaceful night and a great sleep.  Everybody slept in.  It was so calm, there was no rocking at all.  No boat wakes, jet skies, early morning crab boats, no high winds, no waves.  It was really great. 
Sahara went half way up the mast for a quick fix.  A jack line came undone and she had to go up and tie a knot to fix it.  the jack lines are the lines that make a basket for the sail, so when lowering the sail, it keeps it from going all over the place.


We were going by a pump out dock and though we would do a quick stop, empty the holding tanks before our week long stay in Reedville.  but their pump was not working well, so the quick stop turned into an hour.  But the tanks are now empty.  

Then, as we were leaving the river, we heard numerous calls on the VHF from the Navy.  The target area was in action and they were turning all boats away from the electronic targets, 2 miles in all directions.  This put us a few miles out of the way, but then added even more time onto our trip.  We had lots of jet fighters coming out over the water.  A neat sight.  The were landing and taking off not far away.  Noisy!

You can see how clear the skies were.  It was raining by 2:00!!!  How the weather changes on the water.  Or, perhaps, because the weather is so much apart of your life, the changes are just noticed more.

We sailed till 1:00, but then calculated that even with the engine on we would not set the anchor until 5:30.  We are trying to avoid all night time sailing/motoring.  And we wanted to get to my parents for dinner on time!!!  We were making 6-7 knots with the sails up, but we couldn't go directly south, so the extra zigzagging would have added an hour to our trip.  So we motored.

The area where the Potomac river and the Chesapeake bay meet is notorious for bad waves.  With the currents from the river and the bay mixing, and the winds, the waves are knows as "Washing machine waves".  They come from all directions.  It makes controlling the boat difficult.  The main direction was from behind us, with some about 45 degrees off those coming out of the Potomac.  The auto pilot can not handle big waves coming from the back of the boat.  They lift up the back and turn the boat very quickly, so a human pilot has to start turning before the boat does to cancel out the affect.  but it is very tiring.  Tara and I took turns through out the day.  Eventually the kids will have shifts, but this was a bit beyond them at the moment.

At one point we had a big scare.  The bilge alarm went off!! That means we have large amounts of water coming into the boat!.  So after a few moments of panic, we realized
1.  not a lot of water was coming in.
2.  The little pump did not automatically go off, so the water was slowly coming into the boat.  
3.  The water was leaking in where the rudder shaft goes through the boat.  

There is a giant nut there with special packing in it to seal out the water.  It is one of those tricky spots on a boat, where the shaft must be lose enough to turn, so you can steer the boat, however, tight enough to keep water out.  When the boat is in flat water, no water can get up through the nut.  But with the following seas, the water can push up through the hole.  It took 1/4 turn with a pipe wrench to stop the leak.  The little bilge bump was working, but a wire to the float switch had broken, (now fixed).  So we just had to hold the button and pump out the water.  Panic over.....ate some M&M's to calm the nerves, and kept on going.  A sailboat keeps you on your toes!

Now we are hanging out at the Perfect house in Reedville.  Tara has gone off to Toronto to accept an award and give a talk, then Boston for a conference.  We will next continue south in a week.

Finally the rain and wind form the North Easter blew out to sea and we had great sailing weather.  We had a north to north east wind, 10-15 knots most of the day.  Seas 1-3 feet.  We motored out of the West river, about 4 miles and put up the sails.  It was a great feeling.  We put up all three sails for the first time.  Jib up front, main, and the back sail called the mizzen.   The little mizzen is the same size as the sail on our old 28 foot sailboat!  The boat was challenging to control at times because the seas were coming from the stern, but we got the hang of it.  We were sailing along with another boat we met at the Rendezvous, Tribute, and we took some pictures of each others boat.  We sailed right up to Solomons island, took down the sails, then another mile and anchored.  A great day at sea.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all the Canadians out there!

 

 

Proof of going fast:  8.3 knots, just outside of Solomons on a broad reach.

You can just make out the kids.  Devon is at the mast and Sahara is up on the bow.

 

For the last three days, we have had a LOT of rain in Gailville MD.  Over 5 inches of rain.  There has been strong  15 knot wind out of the North/ North East, with gusts from 20-30.  Something land lubbers don't realize, is that the gusts of wind are never in the same direction as the wind.  Strange as it is, it becomes supper apparent when in a sailboat.  For example, when at anchor, you boat points into the wind.  You feel the boat roll 5 degrees on its side as the gust hits from off centre, and then swings on the anchor.  It takes some getting use to.  The anchor chain makes weird noise when the chain is not straight out from the bow, so you hear that as well.  At about 15 knots, the wind start to "hum" through the rigging of the boat.  At 30 knots....it is more like a whistle.

The picture below is the dingy full of fresh water (I tasted it to make sure).  We have bailed it out at least 3 times with this much water in it.  The black bag is the anchor line.


Over the last 3 days we have discovered a few leaks in the top of the boat that allow rain in.  Nothing major....unless you get 5 inches of rain!  So we have a few places that will need to be fixed once things are dry.  Also, it has been so cold and humid that there has been lots of condensation on inside of windows. A few times we though there were even more leaks, but it was just condensation dripping.  All in all, we are mostly dry, but damp.  Looking forward to a nice dry spell to dry out.

We got some good things at the Annapolise Boat show.  The 90 foot...that is ninety..catamaran had a draft of 6'2.  We didn't want a boat with a draft over  6'0" so we passed on it.  It was 39 feet WIDE...our boat is 42 feet long!!!  It was a BIG boat.
Another great thing about the boat show was bumping into all the people we just met at the Whitby RV.  We made such good friends there.

We met up with an old friend Kristy.  We hadn't scene her in 15 years and had lost touch.  It was great to see her again and catch up her life.  We ate dinner at her husbands restaurant.  Chads BBQ.  IT WAS AMAZING!!  Everything is home made, from the important sauces, to the pickles.  Chad has been head chef at some very high end places, but has a love for BBQ.  Put a high end chef with a love for BBQ together and you have GREAT FOOD.  Not a big place, but it was packed.  Only has been open a few months.
You must go if you have the chance.  Here is a link:  Chads BBQ


We are now waiting out the weather to start heading back to Readville, where we will stay a week as Tara travels back to Canada and then Boston for work and a Conference.

kids found a neat sculptor in town

We have spent the last 3 days at the Whitby 42 Rendezvous.  It has been an amazing time, learning a lot about whitby 42's.  The best part is the people.  All the people we met are great people.  Many are going to the Bahamas this winter as well and it is nice to have people to look forward to meeting.  Some also live along the cost and we will be stopping to visit.  so exciting to see what others have done to their boats as well.  
    Although the weather has not been great, rainy with high North east winds, it has not affected the atmosphere of the group.  Instead of sailing to the boat show, with the bad winds and now late getting to a good anchorage we are carpooling with another couple and driving up on friday.  Perhaps start sailing south on Saturday.

We also had an old friend contact us out of the blue and we will most likely be meeting her as well.  So exciting!

Here is the group: