Buying Foulies

We originally thought that Maddie wouldn't need foulies because she doesn't have to work in foul weather, I get to do that! When we are hit by a storm, I'm the one that goes forward to secure the headsails and set the reefs, I'm also the one who is at the helm as we heave to. I take the winds and the rains, which is why I have my foulies.

Maddie gets to hide under the dodger, protected from the wind and waves, where she can keep an eye on me while I work. If I were to need help, she would quickly jump to the task, but I usually don't so she can stay where it is very safe and very dry. In the interest of conserving our funds, we elected not to purchase foulies for Maddie.

Then we got caught in a gale out in the Chesapeake Bay with heavy rains which were being blown sideways by the intense winds. Maddie was safely tucked away behind the dodger, but the torrential rains crept right in Maddie got completely soaked. Meanwhile, I was getting rained on and staying completely dry with my foulies on. 

You might be wondering what is so bad with getting a little wet, you are on a boat after all? Yes, people use boats to go out on the water and then go swimming, where they get completely soaked. The difference lies with the conditions when the wetting occurs: wet from swimming occurs when you want it and for as long as you want it to, wet from foul weather occurs when it happens and for as long as it will occur for.

You will probably choose to go swimming when the sun is shining and the air is warm. Getting wet will actually cool you off and keep you comfortable. Foul weather is rarely this enjoyable. The sun is blocked out by the storm clouds and a chilling air will come over the water. Instantly, you will begin to feel cold and the storm hasn't even hit yet. The cold rain will pour down on you and the strong winds will cause you to cool even more as your wet skin attempts to evaporate the surface water. 

When you are swimming and begin to feel cold, you can simply climb out of the water and get back on the boat to warm up! In a storm, you have no control over how long the weather will last for. You might begin to feel really cold in the beginning and soon begin to shiver, but the storm will continue for hours as you miserably await the end.

Enter the Foulies! Foul weather gear's main purpose is to keep you dry. If you can stay dry you can also keep warm and comfortable. The ability to keep dry transforms the frigid rain from a discomfort to a nuisance that you have to wait out. As soon as the storm passes, you can shed your foulies and continue on while keeping completely dry and warm during the whole ordeal.

We bought bib-shorts and a jacket for Maddie at the boat show, taking advantage of the great discounts. The vendors will also bring the price down a bit further if you are paying in cash! 

Maddie's foulies are not as robust as mine, but at the same time she will not be exposed to the same severity of weather as I am. It's not that I don't trust Maddie to carry out the tasks that I perform, but instead that I don't want to put her in that risk. 

Going forward during bad weather is not a cake walk. The seas are throwing the boat around and the full force of the wind is hitting you. In really severe weather, waves can actually break over the deck and the force of the water can sweep you off your feet! This is why it is terribly important to clip in to the jacklines when going forward! I have everything rigged at the mast, so I usually only need to go as far as the mast during heavy weather. Standing on the cabin top while tucking in a late reef in large seas and high winds can be very challenging. The motion of the boat is accentuated since you are standing higher up and you can feel a little uneasy in these settings. I stand on the high side (windward side) of the deck so if I fall, I can catch myself on the mast or hang on the leeward lifelines when my tether stops me (which is clipped to the windward jackline). To sum it up, it is not fun and I don't want to put Maddie in this situation if I am able to do it for her.

Therefore, originally only I had foul weather gear since she could hide behind the dodger. Once we found that she could get very wet and cold in her hiding place, we decided to purchase her some light duty foul weather gear.

Water Tank Details

Your water tanks store your most valuable possession, water! Without fresh water, you will die in  a few days from dehydration. For these reasons, your water tanks should meet minimum criteria to be considered worthy of holding such a resource.

First of all, your water tanks need to be made of a material that will not react with the water. Plastic, fiberglass and stainless steel are preferred because they won't interact with the water inside the tank like an aluminum tank would.

The next most important function of a water tank is that it lets you get the water out of the tank. The first way to get water out of the tank is via the plumbing. This is the standard and easiest way to get water out of the tank, as long as the plumbing is working properly.

If the plumbing were to encounter a problem and you can't get water out of the tank, you need a second way to get the water out of the tank. A large viewing port on the top of the tank will allow you to gain access to your water and either scoop or pump the water out with a bailer or hand pump. Keeping an extra hand pump on board that is used exclusively for the tanks (and not the bilge) is imperative. If the plumbing fails, simply open the top access and drop the pump into the tank.

Having an alternate method to access your water is crucial, ensuring that you will never find yourself caught with a full tank and a thirsty crew. Your plumbing may seem fine at the moment with no possibility of failure; but if a hose gets clogged, your pump dies, or you run out of electricity, you will find yourself thankful that you have a contingency plan to access your fresh water stores.

Manual Bilge Pump Supports

After deciding where we wanted to stand while pumping out Wisdom in the event of an emergency, it was time to actually install the pump. Maddie wanted to be near the companionway so that she could hear me if I were at the helm while still being safely protected inside the cabin. 

The bottom of the wet hanging locker seems to be the best location for the pump, it can be easily operated by lifting a lid and inserting the pump handle into the top of the pump. Now we just need to make this location a reality!

First, we need to locate the pump in a position where we can comfortably swing the lever arm without the risk of striking nearby objects. Next, we need to make sure that all the plumbing can run to and from the pump with ease. To meet these two conditions, we decided to mount the pump as close to the top of the compartment as possible and angle the pump towards the midship a bit. This will set the pump lever further from the cabinet next to it and allow you to pump without leaning over the unit the whole time. 

Wooden supports were set in place to keep the pump just shy of the inside of the lid, and then marked and secured. I am securing the supports with brass L brackets during the mock up procedure. 

Once the position on the support boards is finalized, I will drill the large holes through the bulkheads to pass the 2 inch hose to feed the bilge pump. The output end of the bilge pump will run up the back of the closet and out the side of the hull, just under the rubrail. 

After all the holes are drilled, I will remove the wooden support boards and prepare the area for fiber glassing. The ends of the boards will be tabbed and filleted onto the bulkhead to produce a very strong connection which will augment the strength of the screws and brackets. After everything is glassed up and cured, the pump can be installed on its very strong and secure base. The hinge might end up being removed from the lid, converting it to a regular lid which can be placed out of the way should we need to gain access to the pump.

One last point about where to position the pump in the locker, if we had placed it at the bottom of the locker, junk would end up piled on top of the pump. By locating the pump at the very top, nothing will fit over the pump and we won't be tempted to pile junk on it. Should clutter accumulate under the pump, it will not impede our quick use of the pump in an emergency.

2016 Honeymoon Cruise vs 2015 Summer Cruise

Our honeymoon cruise was very relaxing. We spent more time at anchor than under sail, and enjoyed more meals off the boat than on board. Most of the trip consisted of calm weather with light winds, with a few isolated storms. We only sailed 190 miles and stopped in Harness Creek, Annapolis, Deale, and Oxford.

Our relaxed pace was the polar opposite to our previous years cruise. We traveled 190 miles, as opposed to 751 miles, and we stayed in protected anchorages for a much longer amount of time. 

On our 2015 cruise, we would sail from dawn to dusk, everyday and all day. We spent very little time relaxing as one of us had to be steering the boat at all times as we worked our way to windward. We anchored out in the middle of the bay, where the winds and tides would toss us all night long and make for a very rough anchor recovery in the morning. We suffered through this because our main goal was to reach the Atlantic Ocean and spend a few days out there beyond sight of land. 

For our 2016 cruise, we had much smaller goals: sail to Oxford to visit my grandmother. We had a week and a half to get there, so we took our time and enjoyed the trip. We spent our first night in the marina waiting for better weather, then made our way to Harness Creek. We stayed in the protected creek for a few days as we relaxed and took it easy. When the weather was favorable, we set sail and made our way to Deale, where we pulled into Herring Bay and enjoyed a delicious dinner ashore. Once in Oxford, we relaxed on the boat and did day trips by car to other nearby towns. Wisdom stayed anchored in the same spot for several days before we decided to make our way home. The return trip was equally as relaxed; we slept in, we sailed to the nearest protected harbor, we ate ashore, and slept well.

Our slow pace did greatly reduce the distance we would be able to cover in a set amount of time, but a combination of the two will yield a very pleasant pace for our future voyages. 

The goal of the 2015 trip was to give us a taste of sailing in the ocean and to make sure that Maddie wouldn't go stir crazy when land was not in sight for some time. Our next big trip is going to take us far out into the ocean, so we need to have some practice before we go. This trip to Oxford was simply a relaxing continuation of our honeymoon, and not a trip to test anything out (even though we did experience a wonderful opportunity to test out sail combinations for heaving to). We were simply going cruising for a week and a half and going to enjoy every moment of it.

Sailing South in the bay is a tedious process, the prevailing winds blow from the South meaning the entire trip is spent beating to windward. We will stop at convenient anchorages along the way and enjoy nice shore side meals while we are still close to land, but there will still be some nights when we anchor in unprotected waters in the interest of making it South as fast as possible. 

Once we are out in the ocean, we won't need to find protected anchorages because we heave to at night. This means that the windvane can steer us all day long and we will be able to relax around the boat while underway (in between sail changes and storms), until we heave to for the night and go to sleep again. 

The only reason we feel any rush when sailing, and the reason we don't sail everywhere with this relaxed pace, is because we do have a fixed amount of time to sail. I take time away from my dental practice and Maddie takes time away from painting and teaching to go on these trips. Without these time constraints, the only logical method to travel would be at the slowest and most relaxed pace. In our case, we need to work a bit at getting there first, then we can relax and meander our way back. The longer we take off for these trips, the more relaxed we can travel through the water.

Honeymoon Cruise: Day 12

Waking up in a full mooring field in the heart of the Annapolis, MD; the sailing capital of the world! What a sight to see. There were cruisers here from all around the world, enjoying the protection from the wind and the convenience of being in downtown Annapolis.

The winds were blowing 15 to 20 knots, but the water was very calm in Spa Creek. We decided to return to Baltimore today, so I got Wisdom ready to go early in the morning. A small craft warning was in effect, so I put in two reefs while tied up to the mooring ball. 

Instead of hooking the tack ring over a horn, I tie the tack line to the gooseneck. This provides a very secure attachment to the tack without any risk of puncturing the luff of the sail. 

The reefed main was raised and the mooring line casted off once we were pointing away from the mooring field. With the staysail up, we ghosted out of the harbor and into the river under very reduced canvas. Most other boats in the river were flying full sail as we slowly moved along under double reefed main and staysail.

As we left the wind protection offered by the harbor, the boats with full sail began to heel over excessively as they scrambled to reef their sails. We simply moved along at a comfortable speed, quietly sailing out of the bay. The winds in the bay were wonderful, blowing steadily from the South and pushing us home.

One of the best parts about sailing near Annapolis is you are bound to come across a gorgeous sailboat. Coming through the bridge, we saw the massive wooden schooner Woodwind, sailing back into Annapolis. 

We were making wonderful time this morning and I expected us to be back in Baltimore in a few hours. Maddie was pleased with the sound of water rushing past the forward berth, knowing that we were sailing along quickly, and Morty was excited to return to his old marking grounds. It looked like the forecast was correct, today would be a very windy day blowing us home!

As soon as we crossed under the Annapolis Bay Bridge, everything changed. It almost felt like if we had crossed into a different time and date! There was no wind, there was certainly no small craft warning, and most importantly there was no speed.

Before the bridge, we were cooking along at 5 to 6 knots; after the bridge, we were barely doing 2 knots. At first I thought the loss of wind was due to the bridges wind shadow. The Bay Bridge is a massive structure, with its roadway 186 feet into the air and its towers 379 feet into the air. This will create a wind shadow that extends 758 feet up and 7580 feet away from the bridge. This means that wind 1.4 miles away from the bridge will be disturbed. 

I accepted this to be the case and refrained from shaking the reefs out of the sails, instead we drifted along under double reefed main and staysail. Once we were 2 miles from the bridge, I knew we were in very light undisturbed air and we weren't getting back to Baltimore any time soon.

I shook out the reefs and eased the outhaul, letting the sail fill up with the little wind available. I didn't raise Josh, our jib, because Maddie was still sleeping, and also since the main blankets the headsails so much. It would be a lot of effort for a small boost in speed. I really wanted to raise Dill, our drifter, but I was leery that the winds would return and I would be forced to strike the sails without any help. 

Instead, I set up the barber hauler, which gave us a fraction of a knot extra without much effort or concern about returning strong winds.

Morty found himself a shady place to relax on the leeward deck near the shrouds. We all began to feel a little tired as we drifted along at a snails pace, slowly reaching our home. With all the pillows available in the cockpit, I decided to lean back and relax while the autopilot kept us on course. 

We sailed to the right of the shipping lane, where little boat traffic exists and the risk of a collision is negligible. This means I can lean back and relax, doing periodic watches where I scan the horizon. I prefer to do a 720 degree scan, in other words, do three spins to check everything three times. If you miss a boat on your first pass, you should see it the second or the third time. 

The only downside to these lazy and sluggish days is you never get very far. We passed the bridge hours ago, and it never seems to move away.

The light airs continued and we were toying around with the idea of anchoring close to Baltimore and completing the trip in the morning.  As if the weather heard us, clouds came in and the sky went gray. The winds shifted and began to blow much stronger, rocketing us back to our home port. I quickly put a reef into the mainsail and carefully sailed her up the river.

Maddie was quite pleased with the wind, as it meant we would be able to arrive this afternoon and not late tonight. We made it up the river with speeds between 3 to 4 knots, nothing outlandish, but we were moving steadily and predictably. 

As we approached the marina, we made the decision to dock the boat in a different manner. We usually drop our sails and motor in under the power of our electric motor, but the battery bank was almost depleted and we were concerned that it would die on us when we needed it most. Instead we decided to dock under sail!

The marina, and our slip was downwind from us, meaning we could run into the marina and slip, then hard reverse to avoid colliding with the pier. There would be no tacking or jibing involved and we would save our battery power for once we were in the slip and absolutely needed it.

We lowered Josh, the jib, and Marge, the mainsail, coming in on only Stan, our staysail. The dock lines were all set and ready to toss towards anyone who wanted to come give us a hand with tying up. I was at the helm while Maddie stood by the mast, ready to release Stan's halyard. We quietly and slowly came into the marina, turned into our fairway, lined up with our slip, dropped Stan, and drifted right into the slip. Once well into the slip, I used the electric motor to bring us to a stop as Maddie tossed the dock lines to our neighbor who saw us coming in and came out to help with the lines. 

We were home!