OK, so Dan outted me! I was waiting to reply to the account that delevi postedKayakDan wrote:Every trip is an adventure,isn't it? Seems like this year,every trip had some kind of mishap for us,fortunately none drew blood or costed a boatbuck!
Boston Harbor trip-managed to break the throttle cable,and the shift cable at the same time! We were returning to the marina after a nice weekend of sailing,with full genoa and main. As we approach the marina,we turn upwind,and drop the motor-no shift-no accelerator. Drifting into 3 ft of water,can't get the main down. A quick jury rig,and we limp to the dock.
Casco Bay trip-2 M's rafted on an anchor. Where's my boat??!! Oh...there it is..100yds down the anchorage!! drifted on a windless day in a 1 kt current!! I can only figure that the hook was snagged on a ledge,and slid off.
Cuttyhunk trip. There goes my boat again! Hook got loose in the grass and started dragging. My Bad. 100ft of rode(4 ft of water) and all is well.
Penobscot Bay trip-Just out of Burnt Coat Harbor-getting ready to put up sail in very windy conditions-motor starts coughing and misfiring. Water in the fuel??!! -and here comes a 70 footer bearing down fast under full sail.Quick tank swap and thankfully the correct guess-problem cured.
And then there's the Over Easy incident(K9Camper). We seperated in Jericho Bay,Over Easy sails South,we motor toward Fox Island Thoroughfare. We figure we'll see him on the other side. Can't reach him on the VHF. No cell phone service.
We arrive at the dock in Rockland at 3pm-where's Over Easy? 4pm...5pm..6pm. At 6:30 we head overto the CG station to see if there are any reports.Nothing. We try his home phone-no answer-cell-no answer. By 8:30,the CG has dispatched a high speed 47 footer to search.
We go across the street to get a quick meal. Police officer who assisted us with phone numbers,appears in the restaurant with a smile and thumbs up gesture. "We found your guy-he's broken down in North Haven,and he called his house-he's ok". CG pulls the rescue vessel back,and we give a big thank you to the CG guys. Just a fiasco of communication problems-but all is well in the end.
Nice to know the CG is there for us.
It sure has been a fun sailing season!
(Captn's log: Awful Delta trip), so here it is...
Now matter how difficult a situation is on the water, one thing is assured, someone else on this board had it worse. Dan gave away the ending, or maybe I did when I posted pics of my rudders!
On the Penobscot Bay cruise with SPICE, on what was supposed to be the final day and a 20 mile run back to the ramp at Rockland, I had chosen a SW course with reefed main and genny. I thought I would be able to tack back up to meet SPICE on their W tack at the entrance of the Fox Island Thorofare. The forecasted 15-20 mph winds were supposed to diminish, but if anything, there were (or felt like) 25+! The 2-4 ft. seas were now 4-6 ft. with a few 8 ft. rollers. Closer now to the southern tip of Vinalhaven Isl, I realized that sailing upwind was near impossible and brought the sails in to motor up. For what ever reason, the RF brought the genny in only 90% with a small triangle of sail hanging out. With genny sheets secured, the wind grabbed the exposed clew of the genoa, overpowering the RF & breaking the line at the drum. By the time I figured out what had happened, both genoa sheets were coiled around each other and the gen was straight out, snapping like a snare drum. Only thing to do was to let it be and make for a sheltered harbor.
Two hours later, I motored into Carvers Harbor, a very active loberstermans and ferry harbor for the town of Vinalhaven. Minus the waves, the wind was just as challenging with all the (lobster)boat traffic. Twice, while attempting to pickup a mooring, my out-of-control genny would fill, pushing me dangerously close to other boats in the crowded mooring field. Now, back out in the main channel, I had released the stopper knot from one genny sheet and was working on the other, when the wind took the sheet & the car out of my hands! Now picture a sheet / car snapping about like a horse's tail coming close to taking out passing boats. Back into the mooring field I go & one of the lines wraps the prop, stopping the motor. A very quick motor up-unwrap-motor down while drifting aimlessly thru the moorings. Fortunately, I didn't hit anything, and was able to pickup a mooring where I stayed for an hour while untangling sheets & fixing furler.
Underway again, motoring up the eastern side of the island to look for SPICE in the thorofare. Another two hours beating thru rough seas & taking wave splash over the entire boat, I headed to the relative shelter of the Fox Island Thorofare. Motored thru all of the anchorages & called repeatedly on the radio, but no SPICE. Low on fuel, I landed at the only fuel dock / boatyard in the thorofare as they were closing for the day. Only option was to take up a mooring for the night and gas up in the morning.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, SPICE had stopped here for gas just hours before, and continued on towards Rockland. A neighboring sailboat on the mooring listened to my story and said they saw SPICE earlier in the day on a mooring back in Stonington. So then I thought they had troubles and would come thru in the morning, and I'd go out to meet them. After-the-fact, I learned from Dan that they had left word for me at the boatyard, & when I explained my situation at the boatyard, no one relayed the message. After filling up with gas, I headed out to meet SPICE, calculating a time window and giving myself a no-later-than timeline to move on. While sailing about in the E end of the thorofare, I talked to other boats on the radio - no one coming over had seen SPICE and anyone going over would relay a message.
By 1PM, I've got my own deadlines to meet for the day and start motorsailing back thru the thorofare. Halfway thru, and still a good 13 or so miles to the ramp, my motor starts acting up, so I drop anchor near shore. (At this point, I'll skip over the details of the emotionally draining mental state I'm in & write about that some other day). Bottom spark plug is fouled - 3 days new - dress it up, back underway.
Out in the open water, I'm making 6 mph under sail - til the wind dies. Start motoring, 8mph - about 7 miles out now, good for a while til motor starts acting up again. Clean bottom spark plug and limp along at 2-3 mph. Decide to empty water ballast to lighten the load. Sure enough, the wind picks up a bit, but I question going to full sail with no ballast. Ended up sailing into harbor on 50% genny, then motored to the ramp - where I crunched my rudders hauling out.!
In retrospect...(will post on edit)
ModsEdit: Splitting K9 to his own cruise thread ~fc
