August 19 - an August event...

Well, we made it to Norfolk, with no excitement in the last several
days.

Or, at least, none of the "perils of PaulinePig" variety :{)) Being
asked by a huge ship to hurry through the railroad bridge, as they
didn't think we'd both fit, what with all the tugboats attached, was
attention getting. Having a couple of bulk carriers in front of tugs
heading straight for us, on two different occasions, was pretty
interesting.

The ride up the intra-coastal waterway was boring, in that there were
huge stretches of nothingness other than wilderness on either side.
However, there were several spots along the way where we stopped and
smelled the roses, and played with the doggies, and had way too much
to eat, fueled and watered the boat, and otherwise gave in to our
inner sloth.

The boat is starting to shake out very nicely. All systems seem in
order:

The batteries and the charging system are fine, despite our abuse of
many hours of computer time as we try to keep up with others, do our
planning and put up the umpteen pictures we've taken (see the
galleries), and all the other things we run.

The refrigeration continues to keep everything either cold or frozen,
depending on the appropriate compartment, and we are spoiled by the
cold water whenever we want it in the hot times that have predominated
so far.

The engine is doing marvelously, with higher oil pressures than have
been seen before, running faultlessly at anywhere from just ticking
over to close to wide open throttle all day yesterday in order to get
to our anchorage after a huge section of no-anchoring possibilities.
On that subject, for those in the various cruising forums who are
reading this, there's shoaling north of Coinjock right about where the
cut goes between the two little islands. I cleaned the slime off the
bottom of the keel, but only because I'd not been paying close
attention, but found that no matter how hard I went to left and right,
the deepest it got in the channel was only about 7 feet. So, we did
fine there, but it wasn't the 12' minimum we'd heard about. That said,
it was fine the rest of the way, with no anxiety moments.

The electronics, too, have been faithful, never failing to light the
radar on request, nor move up to whatever next spot we were checking
out in the chartplotter. I even calibrated all the speed instruments,
and they are now all very close in their readings, and more
importantly, better aligned with reality.

The satellite pictures continue to inform, never mind amaze, which the
technology does, to me, anyway, still. How marvelous to be able to see
what's happening in several hundreds of miles, as it's developing.
Taking several repetitions over time gives a very clear picture of the
way the weather is going. As the hurricane season gets under way,
that's very comforting, as we'd have a great deal of notice even if we
weren't anywhere we could receive weather.

And, on that subject, the wifi setup is also a pleasure. With one
exception, where we were in the middle of the boonies with nothing
around us, we've pretty much had reliable and fast internet. The last
few days, we've even had a good enough signal to utilize our Vonage
internet phone system, which has allowed us to pick up the phone and
call Lydia's mother in England (and if my son were still working
there, Ireland, or 3 other European countries), all in the basic cost
of the service. We won't have that offshore, unfortunately, but we do
have both ham and single side band connectivity to others so equipped,
some of whom also do phone relays.

Not that we've had any difficulties with it recently, but the plumbing
is working very well, to boot. When I've wanted to wash down the
stern, or save fresh water with the raw water faucet in the sink, or
picked up the anchor from the gummy bottoms we've been in, the
pressure salt (well, whatever kind of water we were in) water came
reliably out of the hose and washed off the mud and whatever-else from
the chain as it came up, and the anchor.

And, on that subject, the windlass part finally arrived, and is
installed. Tonight was our first use, and, while we won't have proof
until it comes up tomorrow morning, it should last even under severe
conditions. Ya never know what you're missing until it's gone from
your regular routine!

Our inverter, though somewhat spastic, seems to work, if you assign it
enough of a load. That is way more than should be needed, but since we
only use it on relatively high load items (saving the charging of
toothbrushes and other small-load items for when other stuff is
running), it's not a huge deal, but getting up in the middle of the
night to reset it, and/or add load, in order to get the fans to work
is a bit annoying.

Our night lighting, and the LED lighting in general, has been very
enjoyable. We've found that the red LED ropes we have put out,
actually, way more light than we need just to avoid running into
stuff, and so during the night, if we have to navigate below, it's
like daytime to our night eyes. Of course, the night vision is
preserved, so we go back to the cockpit still enabled.

Even the dinghy is proving a joy. While I puttered in planning and
picture sorting, Lydia went ashore from our anchorage in Willoughby
Beach's lagoon. It's her sports car :{))

Our autopilot, and the steering, have performed flawlessly since our
adventures in Charleston. Those who have had none, and swore they'd
never need it, and had it later, agree, that having an autopilot isn't
a luxury so much as it's a lifesaver for any long voyage.

Not that ours is such a long voyage, but it will be the longest we've
done alone. All the weather we can find suggests that our route from
Norfolk to Sandy Hook is clement, if not benign, though it looks as
though some of it will be on our nose, for the next several days.
We're thinking in terms of 4 days' travel, but weather could make it
shorter or longer.

We'll check in on the Maritime Net on the Ham radio each night, if
conditions will allow. Lately, they haven't, and tonight was
particularly bad, with several stations having challenges, and, while
I could hear some of them, nobody, again, could hear me. It's the luck
of the draw, with atmospheric conditions, as to whether it works well
or not. Perhaps, once we're out at sea, again, we'll be able to
connect. Mostly, that's the only place we've been successful in making
contact at all, let alone good contact.

So, barring any surprises, we're gone on the 19th, from Norfolk VA to
Sandy Hook/Atlantic Highlands NJ. We'll be out of touch other than if
we're successful in the Maritime Mobile Net, which will post our
positions and conditions on the web, and relay info to any who would
like me to send it on that way, through another relay.

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
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"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make
it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

Skip Gundlach wrote in
oups.com:

higher oil pressures than have
been seen before

As the blowby adds carbon black to the oil, the pressure always goes up.
Change the oil and oil pressure drops back down.

Be not afraid of INCREASING oil pressures.....BE afraid of DECREASING oil
pressures, which usually means either water or FUEL is contaminating the
oil...especially fuel....not good.

Well, you'll be offshore and shut off the stinky beast, soon. If the wind
is on the nose, just head off E a couple of hundred miles and tack back for
a great ride across it with the handrail spray in your face...(c;

Larry

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:14:56 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote:

August 19 - an August event...

(snipped so much success it was almost cloying)

As Colonel Smith of the "A Team" used to say, "I love it when a plan
comes together."
Nice going Skip and Lydia!

--Vic

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:14:56 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote:

So, barring any surprises, we're gone on the 19th, from Norfolk VA to
Sandy Hook/Atlantic Highlands NJ. We'll be out of touch other than if
we're successful in the Maritime Mobile Net, which will post our
positions and conditions on the web, and relay info to any who would
like me to send it on that way, through another relay.

Cape May and Barnegat Inlet are both good points to duck in for some
rest if you need it. Cape May is "all weather", Barnegat can be
dicey on an ebb tide and easterly swell, otherwise no problem.

SeaTow cheerfully gives advice on NJ inlet conditions.

I like to run close in on the NJ beaches in good weather, staying in
about 20 feet of water for the best shore scenery.

I'm glad to hear that everything has finally come together. Personally, I
would have preferred to have resolved most of the issues *before* leaving
on such a long trip, but later is much better than never!

-- Geoff

P.S. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but every time that I've posted
a trip log like this where I commented on how well things were working,
things rapidly went to hell! :-) Best of luck and don't get complacent!

On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:57:33 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:14:56 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote:

So, barring any surprises, we're gone on the 19th, from Norfolk VA to
Sandy Hook/Atlantic Highlands NJ. We'll be out of touch other than if
we're successful in the Maritime Mobile Net, which will post our
positions and conditions on the web, and relay info to any who would
like me to send it on that way, through another relay.

Cape May and Barnegat Inlet are both good points to duck in for some
rest if you need it. Cape May is "all weather", Barnegat can be
dicey on an ebb tide and easterly swell, otherwise no problem.

Atlantic City (Absecon Inlet) is another very nice and safe all
weather inlet. And you can have a go at the casinos if you're feeling
lucky.

Also, if you notice in this pictu

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=3...&t=k&z=14&om=1

as you're coming in the inlet, just before the bridge, there's a cut
in the beach on the right. If you go all the way in it leads back to
a nice anchorage that's right next to a shopping center in Brigantine.

Once you're in, follow along the left shore and go slow. I can't tell
you what it's like there now because I was last there a couple of
years ago.

Or you could always stay at one of the marinas. The big one to the
left is Trump Marina Hotel/Casino.

Steve