Knowing Your Limits

Cruising might seem like fun and games. You get in your boat and sail to paradise. Everything is perfect and easy! Right? 

The truth is, cruising is a balancing act between what you can do and what you can't do. You will dance this line and occasionally cross it. When you do, you can either try and prove that the line doesn't apply to you or you can back off and retreat to your side of the line. 

Crossing the line momentarily may seem fun at times, but the punishment is always looming overhead. 

We have found that heaving to in a gale is a good method to survive the gale, but not a good method to enjoy a gale. Gales are much more enjoyable when experienced at anchor in a protected anchorage. The wind might seem "a bit stronger than usual" as the trees and landmass surrounding you shield you from the winds force.  The seaway is small, so there is no fetch for any waves to form and your anchor holds securely as you row to shore to enjoy a day in a new town. 

Likewise, we have also found that the ICW is best traveled downwind and downcurrent. The current in the ICW is a formidable force! We will frequently encounter currents in excess of 3 knots and if the current is working against you, you might find yourself moving backwards! 

While the current is strong, the wind is also a powerful player in this game. If the wind is on your nose and the current is pushing you, the windage of the yacht will cause you to slow to a stop as the current forces against your keel and pushes you along at a very slow pace. The danger here is that, while you are still moving at 2-3 knots, you are effectively motionless in the water and your rudder is not going to function properly. This means that you will have no steerage and will be at the complete mercy of the wind.  

We have tried to fight the wind and done stupid things like not use the motor and keep our sails down as we drift along with the current. The issue is the wind against the hull will drive you towards the banks of the channel and you will end up using all of your motor power just trying to keep in the deeper parts of the waterway. 

If the winds are very strong, you might find it impossible to motor against the wind, even if the tide is in your favor. These days are best spent at anchor where you can wait out the weather with a nice stroll through the local town. 

We have made it a rule that we will only venture out from our anchorage on days when there is no wind or the wind is behind us, and we will try to always go with the current.  

The wind is most important for us, being a sailboat. We can fly a lot of sail downwind and power against a weak current, but we can't seem to power against a strong wind! When the wind and current are in the same direction, and both pushing you, it may seem disheartening to find that the speed of the current will rob you of your true wind and your following apparent wind will feel very underwhelming. It is times like this that we have even opted to only fly the staysail, as the main just hangs limp and causes us to worry about an accidental jibe at any moment. 

With these simple rules, we stay well within the line of what nature allows of us while in the ICW. Wind and tide are formidable forces and fighting them will only remind you of the fact that you are a mere sailor and no match for such a force of nature. 

Bilge Pump Syphons

I discovered a rather dangerous situation today in our bilge. The bilge has always seemed to have a fair amount of water in it. I strive for a dry bilge, but this is an old boat and water makes its way into the bilge; in the end, I would rather go cruising than stress about a few drops here or there. 

Regardless, I check the bilge a few times a day and pump it out when it looks full. My go-to pump is the electric rule pump, as it only takes the flip of a switch to drain the bilge. I also have a manual bilge pump in the cockpit and a massive manual bilge pump that is operated from inside the cabin.  

Our water tanks in the bow are a little low, about 80 gallons shy and we are anchored with 100 feet of chain out. This is a lot of weight removed from the bow (640 pounds of water missing, 165 pounds of ground tackle missing) so the bow of the boat is sitting a bit higher than normal. We are also loaded up to go cruising so our waterline is a bit higher than normal. 

Since the bow is high and the rest of the boat is low, the through hulls in our stern are now awash. Most importantly, the through hull to the bilge pump is now submerged! When I ran the bilge pump, I drained the bilge and primed the line to create a syphon to fill the bilge back up as soon as I turned off the pump. Thankfully I was watching and saw about 8 inches of water fill the bilge in a few minutes! I turned the pump on again and the water vanished, only to return again when the pump stopped. 

I realized what was happening and needed a way to break the syphon! The cockpit manual bilge pump is teed into the electric bilge pump discharge hose, so in theory, pumping it when the bilge was dry would draw air into the line and break the syphon! It worked and the bilge stayed dry after the pump shut off. 

It is very important to check your bilge and to make sure that your through hulls are above the waterline, otherwise your bilge pump could turn into your water intake and sink your boat! Check valves are nice to have, but they are prone to clogging and stopping up your much needed bilge pump, so the best defense is to keep the through hulls mounted high and dry, where a syphon is not a problem. 

Electronics on a Yacht

If you have been reading the blog for some time, you might have noticed that while I try to offer a equal view on various topics, I, like all people, have my biases. I work really hard to keep them from influencing my writing, but I know they are always looming in the background, and you may have noticed that over the years too. 

I do not trust electronics. They are convenient, they are easy, and I feel they will let you down. 

The reason I don't trust electronics is simple, I have trouble fixing electronic items. Since I can't always fix it, I can't always get it up and running again, and that means that it will die on me before something mechanical would. 

When our Monitor Windvane broke, I fixed it with a single new bolt. It was an easy fix that allowed us to keep going without any hiccups in our sailing. When something electronic breaks and I open it up to find the fault that caused the entire problem, I am confronted with a tiny green board that is covered with electrical connections. Each connection is important and is prone to death by corrosion in the harsh marine environment. When I look at the green board and everything looks clean and fine, I get even more frustrated because, unlike the big bolt on the Monitor Windvane, I can't see the problem on the electronic board. 

Worst of all, I expect electronics to fail when I need them the most, and when they fail, I won't have the time or knowledge to fix them and keep them running longer.

This frustration presented itself today when we were getting ready to set sail on a broad reach to a new port. The anchor windlass is manual and easy to repair and maintain. The halyards and sheets operate on mechanical winches. Our charts are paper and I am proficient enough with a sextant to find our position. While this may seem old-school, I do dabble in the realm of electronic conveniences. 

We have a GPS chart plotter in the cockpit, our VHF radio also displays our coordinates. We have Navionics software on our iPad and iPhone, allowing us to view detailed charts in the palm of our hand and sail through unfamiliar waters without fear or concern of unknown shoals. 

These devices make our lives easier, but they can always fail us. The phone and tablet computer can easily fall overboard or get hit by an object, breaking their screen or rendering the device inoperable. The chart plotter could one day not turn on. The radio could stop working. All of these devices can die silently and without warning on a boat, only demonstrating their passing when you need them and go to use them, finding their current situation and reveling in frustration.

This happened to us on our voyage south. We are in the ICW, waters that are known as being unfriendly towards sails. We have previously avoided these waters since we have a rather deep keel and an electric motor. The motor is more of an accessory that we use to help us dock, not our primary mode of powering the yacht, that is what the sails are for! 

In the ICW, we had to put our trust in the electric motor, as it would be the main mode of propulsion as we moved along these narrow and shallow waters. We motored into an anchorage that is small and shallow, but also very well protected. There is a strong current near the rocks, but this is no problem with a motor that can keep you clear of the jetty and in the middle of the channel. 

Then one day, we decided to leave the anchorage because the winds would be in our favor as we headed to our next destination and the motor would not work. 

I do not know when the motor died, because we used it getting into the anchorage. We also used it in the anchorage to get us off a shoal that we swung onto, putting its last use only a day ago; but here it sits inoperable and silent. We were planning to leave, only discovering its deceased state when we needed it and went to use it, luckily before the anchor was raised off the bottom! This changed all our plans, as we had planned to leave today and head to a new port, but instead are now going to stay here longer as we await the arrival of replacement parts by mail. 

Electronics are fun and convenient, but I do caution one to not rely on the solely, as they could fail and leave you stranded if you do not have a manual backup. 

Trouble in Paradise

We left Hatteras, NC and sailed down the Pamlico Sound on a broad reach in 25 knot winds and a light chop. The sail was fast, maintaining a speed of 6-7 knots for a majority of the passage. Then we anchored in the harbor at Oriental, NC which is a very boater friendly town. 

They have marine consignment shops, and co-op stores that stock everything a cruiser will need to provision, repair, or relax as they cruise! They even loan bikes to boaters for free so you can explore the town with ease. The local grocery store also has a shuttle that will pick you up at the pier and take you to the store, and take you back to the pier with all your groceries! 

We greatly enjoyed our stay here in this small town where everyone knows each other and is very friendly towards us and other cruisers. Then the winds shifted and were blowing towards our next destination. 

I was preparing to raise the anchor when I decided to test the motor first: nothing. 

The engine display would not turn on and the motors did not respond when I would put the motors in forward or reverse. It seemed that our reliable and maintenance free motors were not responding and were not going to work today. 

I began trouble shooting everything, tracing wires and checking voltages. We had 51.3 VDC leading into the motors, and all the connections seemed to be corrosion free. I also checked for continuity in the circuits, and everything was operating as it should, yet the motors would not spin. 

Then I thought: "What if the propeller is fouled and wont allow the motors to spin!" So I tried turning the shaft by hand, and sadly, it spun freely without any hesitation. I was stumped, as everything seemed to be in working order, yet it was not responding. 

After talking with the manufacturer of the electric motors directly, they deduced based on the information that I had given him that the main controller has died and there is no way to fix it without a new control unit. 

The company is very kind, and since the unit is only a few months old, it is covered under warranty and they are going to ship it out to us so that I can swap the parts and get running again. 

We are anchored in a beautiful harbor, surrounded by many nice people, yet we wanted to go and were not able to. It looks like we will be here in Oriental, NC for another week as we wait for the parts to come in. Such troubles! 

We did consider raising anchor and sailing away without the motor working, but decided against it. Yes, we usually sail into and out of anchorages, traveling many miles without the use of our engine, but those are in much wider waters with calmer currents. Here, the current flows at around 2 knots down a very narrow channel with lots of shoals and obstructions along the way. We could brave it and venture off under sail alone, but it would be very unwise. The ICW is in the motor boats domain. The water is narrow and shallow, and the winds are blocked by trees and buildings along the way. There are also bridges that open on a schedule and a motor is needed to fight the current and hold one in place as all the boats wait in a line. 

Trying to sail through narrow Adams Creek and into Beaufort, NC is foolish. So instead we decided to stay where we are and wait for the parts to arrive so we can join the ranks of the motor boats that transit these narrow and crowded waters. 

Sunsets

While sunsets over the water are gorgeous, there is something special about seeing a new sunset on a distant shore, far from your home. 

You get off your boat and walk around the new landscape all day, lost in your mind as you aimlessly wander about, taking in the scenery as it unfolds before you. 

Then the sun gets low on the horizon and the sky turns into a blaze of fire, and the wet sand on the beach matches it in shimmer and beauty! You quickly get out your camera to snap a few pictures as the moment displays its beauty before you and you think to yourself "I'm here!" 

Sailing will take you far and away, and each day, you will watch the sun set as you relax in the cockpit as you await your next landfall. Sunsets over water are gorgeous, as the sea and sky begin to glow the same color and the horizon transforms into a singular radiance of beauty; but a sunset over a new land brings new meaning to the entire voyage. 

Standing on a beach as you watch the shadows stretch out on the sand lets you know that you made it here and all those days at sea were worth it!