tracking url

Should be launching SPARTINA sometime tomorrow morning just off the Pamlico River.  Here is the tracking URL, or copy and paste the link below.  

https://maps.findmespot.com/s/5LD8

Finishing with the packing this morning, then will start loading the boat and the trucking, using the old copy of the Watertribe required gear as a checklist.  Weather forecast has been shifting all week, mostly for the better.  Not quite sure which way I will head, depends on which way the wind blows.

 

from a friend

 

I had lunch with Adrin, a friend of many decades, today.  When I got to the restaurant, he was busy sketching in a little pocket-sized notebook that he carries around.  How nice!  It was good to see you, Adrin!

packing

I have been enjoying - and, yes, enjoying is the correct word here - packing for the upcoming sail.  I could really do it all in a day or two, but I prefer to take my time and do a little bit each day.  Above you will see the large duffel, towards the upper left, that will contain my clothes.  The clothes are kept in the small duffels, one each for shirts, pants, under garments and thermals.  Sleeping gear is at the right, sleeping pad, bivy and sleeping back.  Somehow it all disappears once on the boat.

Today I’ll select the charging cables.  This I do not enjoy.  I want the right number of cables, cables that are the right length and have the correct connectors.  USB, USB-C, lightning cables and mini-USB, too many choices.  I need to be able to charge my phone, the mini-iPad, camera batteries for the GoPro and the power blocks.  It is more complicated than I like.

There will be food for 28 days, though I will not consume all that.  With stops in towns along the way - Oriental, Beaufort, Ocracoke, Manteo and maybe a few others, I will probably use three weeks worth of meals.

Yes, those are jelly beans mixed in with the trail mix.

In a couple days we head to the west coast for a little while.  Then back, then hoping to cast off around the first of May.

 

a test sail

SPARTINA seemed to rig herself this morning.  Or maybe I helped and did not notice as I was too busy enjoying the clear blue skies, a gentle breeze and temperatures warming quickly from the 50s to the 70s.  Before I knew it, the boat was on the river.  The Pasquotank River in Elizabeth City, NC to be specific.

I had three people ask me at the ramp how old the boat was.  All were surprised that she is only 18 years old.  They all thought she was somewhere between 40 and 80 years old.  Credit John Welsford’s traditional design.

The purpose was a test sail to check out the new shrouds and bow stay.  The test was a success.  And the test was a joy, it is always a joy to be on the Pasquotank on a pretty spring day.

My old AM/FM/WX radio had died on me, the casualty of too much salt air.  Radios tend to last about two or three years on the boat.  My favorite model is no longer available, so I tried out a new radio.  I listened to some news.  All of it was bad, but I suspect that was not the fault of the radio.

The wire shrouds worked fine.  Just a hint of slack on the lee side of the boat, which I think is just about right.  The only negative is that the mast is heavier when I go to raise it.  But I seemed to be able to raise and lower it just fine.  The wire will work fine for the spring sail.  Afterwards I will decide if I want to give dyneema another go.  We’ll see.

 

four weeks, not three

Just a couple of weeks until the spring sail in North Carolina.  After a few weeks on the river for day sailing, I’ve got SPARTINA home for pre-trip maintenance.  Mostly touch up paint and bright work, all done with the work boat finish.  

I had thought I was nearly packed for this trip.  I had planned a winter trip down south, which I cancelled the morning I planned to start the trip as I realized nighttime temperatures would be in the 30s and sometimes in the 20s, plus snow.  I stowed all the food from that trip, all ready for the spring trip.  Right?  Wrong.  As I pulled out the tubs of freeze-dried meals, breakfast bars and cans of tuna, I realized the winter trip was planned for three weeks at the most.  So I had three weeks of food ready to go.  This trip should be closer to four weeks.  So I did some quick ordering from Amazon, and a run to the store for dried fruits and nuts.  I will repack the food supplies from scratch, just to be sure I’ve got the right amount.

They say dyneema doesn’t stretch.  I have found that eventually it does not stretch, but initially it does…

I was due for some new dynemma shrouds.  A friend who is pretty good with knots helped me splice the new shrouds using the locking splice on the “premium ropes” app.  They came together fine, and perfectly matched, stitched and whipped.  I used 1/8 inch dymeema, which seemed thin but according to the specs could lift three SPARTINAS no problem.  

After a few days of day sailing, maybe 12 hours on the water, the shrouds had stretched to the point the turnbuckles were flopping on the decks.  I have since heard the words set, stretch, creep and preloading.  Enough to make me think I should deal with the dyneema shrouds later, maybe a summer project.

I do not want to head to North Carolina with shrouds that stretch - there can be a lot of wind there this time of year.  So I made up some wire shrouds to get me through this trip.  It certainly makes the main mast heavier to raise, but at least the shrouds won’t stretch.

A few more days of maintenance, then a test sail, and then a trip to California.  Hope to cast off for the spring sail May 1.

 

shifting shoals and a lost shrimp burger

Thinking about the upcoming spring sail in North Carolina, I reached out to friend Chris Farr today for some information.  Last year I struggled with shoals on my sail north from Cape Lookout Bight to Core Sound.  Early in the sail, I misread the temporary buoys around a dredging project just north of Barden Inlet and found myself stuck on a shoal.  That was my fault.  Later in the sail, about midday, I was surrounded by shoals just below the town of Atlantic.  You can see those shoals in the satellite image above.  This was not my fault.  Those shoals seem to be constantly on the move, and the few navigation markers are useless.

Looking for better options, I reached out to Chris and had a text discussion about the shoaling and different canals.  Chris does a lot of sailing in the area with his family on board the Menger Cat TIGGY and knows the area well.  He confirmed that Salters Creek Canal, which begins below Atlantic, is navigable and leads north to Long Bay.  From Long Bay, I can head north, east or west.  Perfect.  Thanks for the information, Chris.  

Looking at the charts and satellite images of the area reminded me of shrimp burgers I had years ago when sailing Core Sound (back when there was less shoaling and the nav markers actually meant something).    I could not remember the name or location of this great little waterfront restaurant, so I had to dig back into the logs for some information.  The place was called The Grill and it was perched on the shore of Core Sound at Morris Marina.  

It was easy access from the sound, located just about where "Morris Marina Ferry" is marked at the bottom right of the satellite image below.  There was plenty of space for tying up SPARTINA, and it made for a nice lunch stop on the way up or down Core Sound.  

The image above shows that the marina is being (or was - there is no date on the image) developed and the The Grill, which only served a handful of locals and a wayward sailor or two, no longer exists.  I am glad for the memories or those early cruises, and the great shrimp burgers enjoyed along the way.

 

1200 miles…

I’ve got SPARTINA on the river and have been doing a lot of day sailing, spectacular day sailing.  Blue skies and some very good wind.  I was out a few days ago and saw this little trimaran come around the bend from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.  I was glad to see the boat, I had been the only sailboat on the river all day and was pleased to have the company of some local folks out for a nice day sail….or so I thought.

As the boat got closer, I could see lots of gear neatly secured on the boat.  They were cruisers!  “Where are you headed?” I asked.  The man on board pointed past me and said “That red buoy right there, that’s our finish line!”  It was Brian and Janet on board.  They had launched out of Key Largo on January 1 and spent 82 days working their way up the ICW.  How great is that?  “1200 miles, the long miles,” Brian said.  The destination was red channel marker “36”, which also doubles as Mile Marker “0” on the ICW.  We spoke just briefly, long enough to get the impression that they camped ashore along the way.  I knew they wanted to celebrate, so I said goodbye and sailed off.  What a great journey they must have had.

*quick update - Brian just sent me this link to the online journal about their trip

I’ve rec’d a few questions about the Pathfinder capsize test video in my last post.  Am I concerned about SPARTINA capsizing and going turtle?  Not in the least.   

I messaged ANTARES and was told that the only ballast on the boat for the test was the designed weight put into the centerboard.  My set of plans shows that to be 44 pounds of lead (my plans are about 20 years old so that might have changed).  SPARTINA carries about 200 pounds of ballast in the form of the steel plate centerboard (100 pounds), lead on either side of the cb trunk (60 pounds) and water stored below the bunk flat (somewhere around 40 pounds).  

Three guys in the video of the test had a difficult time of capsizing the boat.  Pathfinders are solid boats (the first comment for many people getting on SPARTINA for the first time is about how stable the boat feels).  As for turning turtle, with wooden spars above (ANTARES speculates about metal vs. wooden masts in the video) and all that ballast below, I have a difficult time imagining SPARTINA turning turtle.  I hope never to find out.

Add to the above, 18 years of sailing the Pathfinder in all sorts of conditions where I never even felt close to capsizing.  (I’ll point out the obvious: matching sail configuration to wind and wave conditions is critical to safe, comfortable sailing.). Yes, I’ve inadvertently put the rail under and taken water on board, one time putting a lot of water on the bunk flat and aft cockpit. (I knew it was a lot of water when I saw my brand new mini-IPad floating by in a cheap plastic case!)  No big deal, round up, bail out and keep on going. 

I do think there is value for any small boat sailor in seeing the capsize video and much appreciate it being posted.

 I’ll have SPARTINA on the river for maybe another week, then haul out for some maintenance prior to the spring cruise in North Carolina.