Time after Time Sails Off into the Sunset

[RobS]

Looks weird without rods everywhere!

[RicM]

Just as I am getting ready to leave for NC Wednesday AM, I remember I forgot to post the rest of the reports from part 1...
So forthose who are interested:
Day 6
Pulled into Jeremy Creek, a lovely shrimping  village for diesel and to spend the night.

For more on Jeremy Creek:
http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/georget ... hotos.html

Very peaceful. Behind us at the dock is a Trumpy from Chicago, named Washingtonian. Beautiful boat and they know our friends Richard & Catherine that also own a Trumpy, small world (if you are a Trumpy owner).

Nothing big to report this AM, another excellent weather day predicted so we will go outside to Cape Fear, and meet up with Cousin Ron and his new Albin 31TE, All's Well. Looking forward to seeing a friendly face and hearing a Cape Cod accent!

Day 7

What a great name for any place! Cape Fear I mean, not Southport. I must admit to getting goose bumps on the way in the inlet yesterday, it is a fearsome approach even on a beautiful day with 2-3 foot following seas. Miles of shoals (shallows) on either side of the channel with waves breaking on both sides like Moses crossing the Red Sea. I can only imagine those old wooden sailing ships trying to choose between the storm on the outside and the hellish passage to safety and calm on the inside. Cape Fear. Say it out loud and see if it doesn't stir your imagination, and send a little cold chill up your spine.

Then there's the movie, the original of course with Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, and Robert Mitchum:
Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden's life becomes torturous when Max Cady re-enters his life. Cady went to jail for 8 years after Bowden testified that Cady attacked a young woman. Now that Cady has been released, he begins to terrorize Bowden and his family, particularly targeting Bowden's daughter, Nancy. Initially, Cady uses his newfound knowledge of the law (learned in prison) to annoy the Bowdens, then poisons the family dog... Who's next ?

 Me thinks we need a DVD of that for the boat movie library.

Anyway, met up here with Cousin Ron, we both fueled yesterday and we are starring out this morning going North up the ICW to the Masonboro Inlet, then the last "outside" run from Masonboro to Cape Lookout. There we duck back in and spend the night at Beaufort NORTH Carolina, then a short run to Oriental the next day. Ron's just bought the larger (31ft) version of our old boat, an Albin Tournament Express. His boat is in beautiful shape and when he turned over those little Yanmar 315's and I heard them burbling away I almost cried. Then we went to the fuel dock and I did, cry that is, but only briefly and with no bitterness.

Day 8
Beaufort is a great little town, but DON'T say its name out loud, you'll say it wrong. There's "bow-ford" "bew-fort" and "beuw-ford", all different places, all spelled the same and using the wrong pronunciation get's you a look. After a great day running outside, we only did 87NM yesterday, in, again, perfect conditions, Ron and us running side by each, at 19knts was just a spectacular experience. We are "living the dream".


So we arrive at the dock with assistance from the nicest dockhands so far, and when you land here they give you a "wooden nickel" which will get you a beer at The Dock House bar and restaurant. Cool! We sit down to drink our free drafts (Yuiengling!) on the outside deck facing the waterfront when someone yells fire! Sure enough, off in the mooring field there's black smoke...
Here's the account from the local paper. Speculation was rampant that the cause was propane as there was a considerable boom. The boat burned to the water line in about 20 minutes fueled by a stiff afternoon breeze.

It was a noisy night however, with a singer on the deck not 100 ft from our hatches, singing songs about shipwrecks, death, and the angry sea. We got laughing so hard we actually fell asleep while he was still "on". Then at 3 AM a crew showed up to set up a tent in the town square (about 200 ft from our hatches), dropping length's of steel pipe, hammering stakes into the ground, yelling directions at each other. It's still going on now, at almost 8 AM. Some kind of festival or something.

Beauford, NC, a nice place to visit but don't try to sleep here! Short run today to Oriental, about 2 hours, then a lay day on Saturday to get the boats buttoned up for their 3 week nap. We'll be back about the first of June to start the other half, and should be in RI between June 6-8 somewhere in there depending on weather. We'll keep you posted.

Day 9
Next to Last Post
Thank you all for following us on this trip. We are securely tied to the dock in Oriental, NC, where Air A' Fare will sit until June 1 or so. At that point Ron, Karen & I will return and start the second half of the trip ending up at our respective home ports of Cotuit and Wickford.This has been an amazing trip, with all it's highs and lows. I am really enjoying this boat, it is a great live-a-board, and performs well, if a bit pricey to run. We are slowly working through the list of deferred maintenance that we have inherited and I'm rapidly gaining confidence and experience in my close quarters handling. It will be a great boat for cruising NE waters this summer, fishing, and entertaining, hopefully all of you, at one point or another.

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming to you after Memorial Day, 2012!

AAFphoto.JPG

[chiefrcd]

Love it....made me come back....

[RicM]

Here starts Leg 2



Leg 2 Day 1

After a too quick 36 hours in Oriental and a lovely lunch at the M&G Raw Bar in New Bern, we have the boat ready for travel. Of course we had our brush with Tropical Storm Beryl, now our 4th named storm that we have spent aboard between TaT and AAF.  Torrential sideways rain that revealed the shortcomings of Captn. Tolley's Creeping Crack Filler Upper. The starboard front window is still leaking copiously when the wind blows from that quarter. More detective work will be necessary. We picked up Ron & Dianne at the airport, jockeyed cars around, provisioned extensively as we appear to have a gang of vikings stowed away somewhere that I have yet to discover. First leg was Oriental to Roanoke Island via Pamlico Sound. Another nice weather day until the end, when the wind gusted up to 30MPH in honor of our docking at Manteo, the lovely historic town where we spent the night. Today, (Sat) has dawned calm and sunny though the weather man is talking NW winds for our trip up Albermarle Sound, that is right on the nose. We are hoping to get through that part early and into the ditch to Coinjock before it gets too gusty. Norfolk tonight!


Day 2


Yesterday the dream of effortless travel floating through sylvan landscapes of bucolic southern climes ended with a thud. Albermarle Sound is notorious for the beating it administers to boaters and it did not shrink from it's reputation yesterday. The wind was 15-20 kts from the north, giving us a 3 ft head sea that just would not quit. Air A Fare handled it well, she's heavy with a sharp V forward so no pounding, but none the less a sporty ride for 2 hours. The good thing is that I finally broke down and taped the window joints and they stayed waterproof throughout a good soaking, so we have at least located and proved the problem and have a reasonable temporary fix. I brought the remains of a roll of Dr. Shrink's Preservation tape (fortunately in white). This is a 4 inch wide, very sticky waterproof plastic tape made for shrink wrapping boats in the winter. It is almost unknown in the south as they don't have to wrap their boats south of Virginia. It has a special adhesive that is made to release completely without marring the boat surface it has been stuck to for 6 months. Most of the tape is under the front window covers, so it doesn't even look bad. Add another project to the list, MissK, rebed the front windows upon return.

Traveling with Ron & Diane is delightful. They are a great couple and we share the ups and downs. Unfortunately there were more downs to come yesterday. After a lovely calm trip up the Northern River with little traffic and smooth water, we passed (once again to my regret) the famous Coinjock. As we were pressing on to Norfolk, we did not stop. After Coinjock in "the ditch" part of the ICW we encountered, as always, a crew of a$$holes on a large (70' maybe) floating plastic palace. They would roar from bridge to bridge at 30 knots, waking sailboats, trawlers, and bow riders out for a Saturday excursion with equal abandon. Of course they would then have to wait at the next bridge or lock, protesting the schedules on the radio, running right up to the bridge then backing off, and basically behaving badly. On one of their first passes Ron pulled over to give them room and promptly ran over a log floating just below the surface. Vibration ensued. Ron's (new to him) boat is a 2004 Albin TE with twin Yanmar 315's. A lovely boat that, along with Ron, reminds me how cheap TaT was to run every time we stop for fuel. Like by a factor of 10. Unlike many Albins, however, his does not have a skeg and one of the props was damaged. We could make 8-10 knots but no more planing speed for a while. 

Next we get to Steel Bridge properly timed for the 3:30 opening, and there's a four car accident under one of the gates that must close to open the bridge. Idle idle, circle circle. Finally the accident clears and now we must all roar off to the next bridge Ron pushing as much as he dares, then the lock, which are all timed to about 7 knots when things are working right. We make the next points OK and then get into the long no wake zone (enforced by military police with 50mm cannon) coming into the Norfolk area proper. At this point we'd been on the water about 8 hours and were showing signs of stress and wear. Next is a normally open train bridge and then a very low highway bridge that is stated to open on signal, but the operator has decided to only open on the half hour for some reason. We circle waiting for the 4:30 opening, the a$$holes in the floating palace are right up against the bridge when the railroad bridge starts closing almost crushing the superstructure and the 5 heinous humans on it. Sweet justice that would have been! He scoots out in time though (damn joystick) and the train bridge closes making the 4:30 opening useless to us. Half an hour later a coal rain arrives (300 cars), passes, and the railroad bridge opens. The highway bridge operator decides is so close to the regular 5:30 opening she's going to wait until then.

We arrive at the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, and almost kiss the dock. After 10 hours on the water we have had it. But wait, there's the diver on the way to look at Ron's props. Sure enough, he arrives with his cute as a button daughter & wife after their Saturday night dance recital. Miss K and Dianne thrill to the sight of formally military pecs in a wetsuit. Their evening is complete.  Diverman pulls the props and yes one is dinged up pretty good, but repairable. No damage to the struts. Dinner at 10 PM and sleep comes easy. Lay day today (Sunday) and will explore Portsmouth. Trying to get a prop shop to work on Sunday doesn't look good. Stay tuned.

[tbnolin]

Good times!!! We spent a couple days in Coinjock because of weather....I guess I can say "yep, I docked in Coinjock"....other than that, not much else to say!!

Good reading! Thanks!

[RicM]

Day 3

We have decided to keep the band together for at least one more day. Monday morning dawns sunny and beautiful. Sunday on the docks was peaceful and productive. Worked through Ron's battery mysteries, 3 4D's wired in a totally illogical pattern to my mind, but who knows why any 12V boat system is the way it is? Every one is a mystery until it's not. The girls walked into Portsmouth and loved it. I will get the tour today as we have decided to stay another day and see if the props will come back and get installed in time for a Tuesday AM departure. If not we will have to split up, as work commitments will start to bump up against the time pad we built into this schedule, and we still have a lot of miles to cover. We had planned on being to Wickford Wed or Thursday of this week, but between the prop incident and now we have some nasty weather brewing off the Delmarva Pennisular for Wednesday (NNE Wind, 20 knots, 6' seas) so we will be forced to go up the Chesapeake which adds another day due to increased milage and back tracking. Long legs (100 NM + ) could still get us home on Saturday, but that's assuming that we have no more "issues". Depending on good luck is usually a recipe for unhappiness. Oh and my fresh water pump has started "exercising" itself every 20 minutes, so we've developed a slow leak somewhere. That will be today's entertainment.

Should know later today when the props will be back, I'll keep you'all posted.

[jcollins]

Just north of Hart-Miller island look to your left. You'll see the BGE power plant. That's Seneca creek. Give us a wave.

Wed
Se winds around 5 kt. Waves 1 ft. A chance of showers

[RicM]

Day 6

The props are back and looking fine. So is Diverman who once again charmed the ladies, performed as hoped and delivered shiny clean, balanced props. All's Well purred on the sea trial like a giant kitten that loves to swim. We are off this morning at 7 AM (Tuesday) and going to try to make Annapolis (137 NM) but that's by no means a sure thing as the wind is predicted to be NW (on the nose) with 2-3' head seas. Better than the outside though, which is supposed to produce 3-5' seas. We have several possible bailout stops on the Chesapeake. The outside route is not indicated because there is virtually no place to stop between here and Ocean City MD, should the water prove too much or any mechanical difficulty with the boats means we would have to limp to Ocean City in the seas as they are, or turn back to Norfolk. The inside seems the better choice today.

Day 7

Wow! The weather gods giveth and the weather gods taketh away! Yesterday was a stinger even on the "inside". Constant north wind blew up a 3 foot chop in the lower Chesapeake Bay that kept us to about 12 knots average speed, and made standing up on the bridge an athletic event. Rain squalls hit the only exposed surface (the face) so hard that it felt like a sandblasting. The cold front dropped the temps to the low 60's, which after you become used to 80 and sunny everyday is a disappointment at the least. Ron's boat is running great however, the props, tuned by Prop Scan, are smoother than he's ever experienced before, and we did pass at least one large deadhead without getting tangled in it. We made the right decision however, as the "outside" was worse, 5-6' waves from the north.

Needless to say we did not make Annapolis, which was optimistic at best. We Bailed at Siolomans' Island which looks like a great little place to sit and pick crabs for a week, but we are now so far behind schedule that we need big day. The weather gods are predicted to give it back in todays' forecast however, light winds from the south and seas less than 1'. One can only hope.

[tbnolin]

Good decision on doing the Chesapeake. We ran south from Ocean City to Norfolk back in November. The 2-4's as predicted were double that anyway with a strong 15-20 knot head wind.....we got pounded!! Never again!

[RicM]

Day 8

Wednesday was a total payback for the previous day's misery. FAC seas (see earlier posts for nautical terms), water like glass for 100 miles. We are 2/3ds through the C&D Canal that will connect us to the Delaware River then Cape May NJ. Peaceful night, "riders up" at 8AM today and Atlantic City tonight. If the weather holds we'll be back to Wickford on Saturday afternoon.
Livin' the dream, baby!







Day 9

Friday morning finds us in Atlantic City. The trip here from the C&D Canal,down the Delaware River and around Cape May was filled with obstacles, literally. Stumps, trees, telephone poles, fence poles, all seem to start migrating to the sea in June. There were sections of the canal and upper Delaware that we had to slow down to pick our way through the debris fields. After Ron's previous episode with the log we are maybe over cautious, but that was an expensive episode in both dollars and days. A brief turn through the casino last night, and lost $40 at the craps table. Deduct the 2 free drinks and I'm not out that much. 

We seem to have found the short term answer for the soot on the transom, which is to travel light. Rather than fill the tanks with diesel, I have been putting in just enough for the day's travel plus a reserve. The boat rides higher in the water, and the exhausts are less restricted by water flow off the transom on plane. The diesel weighs about 7 pounds per gallon, so carrying 200 Gal more than necessary puts 1400 pounds in the back of the boat that's serving no purpose. Still have to determine whats going on to make the soot, but at least I know how to avoid the problem for the moment. Dodged thunder storms on the way in, dramatic views of Sin City East with lightning striking all around it. Good news is the leaky hatches and windows were all dry. Looks like that problem is solved, at least for now.

We have been a lot of places that I would really like to return to with more time to look around and experience, and one of them is Cape May. Looks like a really delightful coastal town with just the right amount of touristy stuff. It was fun to have the Jersey in Jersey.

Today we head to the south coast of the Isle of Long where we will meet up with the always gracious Schepis family for dinner and an overnight in Moriches. That will put us within striking distance of home on Saturday (only 85 NM for us to Wickford, and 115 for Ron & Diane to Cotuit). The weather looks good for another ocean run, light SW winds, 2-3 ft seas. We'll see if the weatherman is right. 

Day 10

Yesterday could not have been more perfect for an off shore run from Atlantic City to Moriches Inlet on the  Isle of Long. 110NM of sunshine, flat seas, and following winds. Blasting along at 18 knots about 18-19 NM off shore the port engine (the sooty one) stumbled and emitted a cloud of dark exhaust. Oil pressure fine, temperature fine, but shut it down anyway. Checked below and all looked normal. Restarted and very dark exhaust and running rough, sounding like one piston not firing. Shut it down and started thinking about bailout locations. Closest was Manasquan Inlet, about 19 NM NW. Started motoring on starboard engine, one of the good things about having two! Called Tow Boat US (AAA of the sea) and got a boat to come out and meet us and tow us into the Inlet. Ron ran ahead and got boots on the ground. Tow US recommended Hoffmans' Marine where we now sit. Amazingly accommodating, the staff here had a diesel mechanic on board within 15 minutes of tying up. There are a ton of HUGE sportfish boats here, beautiful and beautifully maintained. It was determined that cylinder 6 was not firing. The easy answer was bad fuel injector. I happen to have a spare injector on board, which they installed but didn't change anything. The next possibility is a bad valve or valves, but the head needs to come off for that to be determined. In any case we are dead in the water for several days anyway. I have work commitments first thing Monday AM so we are renting a car here for the week, and will drive home today (Saturday), then back down next weekend, return the rental car and start Leg 3, the leg that never should have been.

Interestingly enough before this happened we had been thinking about a different name for this vessel, "Third Time". It's our 3rd boat named "time", it's both of our third "marriages", and 3 is funny (A Jew an Indian and an Irishman walk into a bar). The third time is the charm.

Sooooo, we had a nice dinner here in Manasquan last night, and observed the locals, and "Jersey Shore" is no exaggeration. This place is somethin'! After the hospitality and graciousness of the south, this is like dropping into a different planet. We saw the tannest lady in the world last night, she was so sprayed on she looked like she might crack. As I said earlier, the boats are incredible. We'll get to see a bit of the town today I suppose then hit the road after noon.

The saga continues....

[JerseyNSC40]

Ric you are about 10 minutes from our house in Mantoloking , we come in and out of the Manasquan Inlet.
I am not offended by your accurate description of Jersey people, we are not original Jersey people and dread the summer influx. If you come to our town you will feel like you are back on this planet all single homes, private beaches, etc. I am presently on Amtrak to Washington DC for a business meeting , home Sat night.
I want to extend our hospitality to you. I guess you are heading home by car for now but when you return or if you need anything during the week let me know. Dinner next weekend? Stay at our house? The only issue at Hoffmans is the train bridge and accompanying siren. If you dump your car there is train service within walking distance.
Will send you a PM with my phone number. You visited us a year or 2 ago in Portsmouth on our 40 before we left NEB. I can tell you that on a good day you can get nome in 10-12 hours.
Let me know what we can do? Craig

[RobS]

I can tell you that on a good day you can get nome in 10-12 hours.

But the the Schepis family anxiously awaits thier visit to Moriches and we are the "half-way-point"

[DougSea]

So now Hoffman's has been the port of refuge for at least two AOGers!

When we went to bring Sonny IV home last year we got maybe a 1/4 mile out of the inlet before we bailed and turned back. Spent three days at Hoffman's, with a fierce onshore wind at one point putting the tide over a foot above the fuel dock! Ever have to climb UP into your boat when she's in the water??

Several meals at The Sand Bar and walks around the neighborhood. I don't think the Jersey Shore crowd was there yet (mid April)