Time after Time Sails Off into the Sunset

[RicM]

After 6 seasons with our Albin 28 TE, Time after Time, the story comes to a close, or more literally a closing. This past week we transferred ownership of TaT to Helen & Al, a lovely couple from Cape Cod that I know will treat her well and love her the way we have. TaT is very special yacht that has kept us safe through 3 named storms, 7 foot seas, and carried us with safety, speed, and style from Boston Harbor to Long Island, and Ft Pierce to Palm Beach. To say we'll miss TaT is a gross understatement. TaT was the vessel that quite literally held within it's gunnels the best times of our lives over these past seasons. She also held our very best friends and introduced us to many new friends. We seldom entered a new harbor anywhere without someone saying "nice boat". We were proud to be her owner and caretaker for these years.

TaT was a "willing" boat. No matter how cold it was or how long it had been since I put the key into the ignition the engine always fired right off on one pull. No balking, no stuttering, no excuses, she just ran. Easy on the eye and on the pocketbook, this boat was the best dollar to fun ratio of any motorized device I have ever known or owned.

I would like to thank all the members of this user group for all their help, encouragement and advice over the years. Thanks for reading my posts, listening to me whine, and sharing our travels and adventures. Miss K would like to thank you for making her feel welcome, she has come to enjoy and understand a whole new lifestyle and all our friends at AOG were a big part of that for her.

Of course this is not the end, it is just a transition. We are getting ready (in about 10 days) to pick up our new (to us) boat in Islamorada and start the trek north up the east coast. For those of you that don't know, the new ride is a 1993 42' Jersey Dawn III sportfish. Twin Detroit Diesel 6/71's. Full galley, roomy salon, flybridge seating for 6(!), quite literally a whole different kettle of fish. It's a boat! It's a condo! It's actually 2 World War II tank motors pushing a condo!
For a short video of our adventure in the Fl Keys on the Jersey see:
http://vimeopro.com/user8773489/keys-cruise-2012
We will continue to post here on occasion, to keep you up on the new adventures of Captain Ric, Miss K, and Sawzall Dave.
Again, thanks, and to all, fair winds and following seas!

[jcollins]

Ric,
You are a gentleman. Thank you for being a member here at AOG. Your posts have been informative, witty, wise, and helpful. You leave behind a wealth of information for us and it is truly appreciated. Sharon and I enjoyed meeting Miss K and yourself. Within minutes we felt like old friends.
Please do stop by occasionally and let us know how you are doing. If your ever on the Chesapeake give me a call. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner...on us!

Safe Travels

[waterhound]

Ric,

Thanks for your contributions! I heard that time after time will be in red brook harbor, bringing the count to 6 28s there, including Water Hound. Thanks for the help and inspiration!

Drew

[Nancy]

Ric,

Glad to hear she found a good home. The closing on our boat is in process (check in the mail to seller, bill of sale in the mail to us), and we hope to have her here the week of the 23rd.

[RobS]

After 6 seasons with our Albin 28 TE, Time after Time, the story comes to a close, or more literally a closing.

Is she physically gone or just on paper? I was expecting to see a transom shot as she literally steams away..

...I would like to thank all the members of this user group for all their help, encouragement and advice over the years. Thanks for reading my posts, listening to me whine, and sharing our travels and adventures. Miss K would like to thank you for making her feel welcome, she has come to enjoy and understand a whole new lifestyle and all our friends at AOG were a big part of that for her...

Erika, my girls and I are certainly lucky to have been part of your writing, sharing, traveling and adventures. From our first Rendezvous in Boston in '08 to our wonderful 2011 Columbus Day weekend in Saybrook, and many many in between, Life is Good!

We are getting ready (in about 10 days) to pick up our new (to us) boat in Islamorada and start the trek north up the east coast.

Do keep in touch so I can keep my schedule open, looking forwarding to the run

[RicM]

Here's a series of emails from the trip north (still in progress) on Air A Fare. No Albin talk, but thought you might get a kick out of hearing what happened to us,....

Day 1
Caloosa Cove, Islamorada, FL

Early Thursday morning, on the dock at Caloosa Cove. We had planned to leave for Miami first thing this morning but the boat says no. After a ton of work done at Coral Bay Boatyard, the engines are running great, water temp is down from 180-190 to where it should be a solid 170. They basically disassembled the whole cooling system, cleaned and waxed it and put it back together. The alternator on the port engine was not charging, so they replaced that and did mention that the port battery was "weak". I was hoping to nurse it to RI, but that was not to be. On a trial run yesterday and on the run from Coral Bay back to our dock at Caloosa Cove I noticed the port charging system getting worse, not better. A call to Buddy at the boatyard and some phone troubleshooting reveals the fact the battery is dead with a short in one of the cells. His reply was 'we told you about that battery'. I'm thinking 'weak and ready to catch fire are two different things' but I keep my trap shut. The battery is hot and "hissing" with gas coming out the two center fill caps. We have to shut all systems, including the 12v charger and they are sending 2 guys and a battery over this morning. Glad I kept my trap shut. It's something I actually could have done myself, but it would have meant keeping the rental car another day, driving all over the place as well as the back breaking job of lifting a 125 pound battery out of the engine room.

Ok, a lot of tech talk, but what it boils down to is this. Depending on how long this takes (not long if that's the only problem) we may or may not get out of here on time, and our window to rendezvous with Cousin Ron in NC was a narrow one to begin with. Our first stop was supposed to be Miami, we'll keep you posted.

Day 2 Pt 1
There's always a bigger boat
Well, after getting the new battery delivered and installed (Thanks again Coral Bay Marina) we left Islamorada dock at about 9:30AM and beat feet on "the outside" i.e.. Hawks Channel all the way to Ft Lauderdale. Found a relatively inexpensive tie-up ($1.25/ft) right inside Port Everglades at a place that specializes in Mega Yachts. Our neighbor, the boat pictured here, just took on 20,000 Gal (!) of diesel for it's trip to "the Med" and they ain't talking the club, they are talking the Sea! The aft deck has enough room for them to put AAF onboard beside their regular tender, and the crane looks fully up to the task. The white crane is the "little one" for cargo and inflatables. The black crane (to the left) is for the heavy stuff (35 ton, 81 ft reach). The aft deck is at least 60' from the stern to the overhead door. Dockage is $6.75 Ft/day, over $1000/day! Name of the boat is the Allure Shadow....

IMG_0497.jpeg

http://www.charterworld.com/index.html? ... arine-1616



But then there's always a bigger boat...

IMG_0496.jpeg

They backed this baby out and spun it 180 while we watched, can't hazard a guess on the fuel burn o this one!
Day 2
Ft Lauderdale to Vero Beach

We are slipping into the routine of travel bums. Up early, breakfast while underway, all life occurs while in motion, the boat never stops. We made good Northward progress just under 100 NM. Port engines still throwing a lot of soot, changed the Racor fuel filter yesterday on advice of Coral Bay mechanic who continues to answer our emails above and beyond the call of duty, but the secondary filter, a NAPA spin-off is a bit of an odd duck, and I can't find any spares on board, so we need an auto parts store. hmmm, not listed in the "Waterway Guide". Today we head to New Smyrna Beach. We are debating about inside or out. The Sebastion Inlet is just north of here and we may take a look. It's supposed to be a tough one on an outgoing tide but we will be there at about half flood. There is a marina there and we may stop, look for a filter and enquire. The "outside" looks very good today, SSW winds 5-10kts, seas 1.5 off Cape Canaverale.



Day 3 Vero Beach to New Smyrna Beach

That's New Smyrna Beach to you bucko, just say it out loud, "Smyrna", it's fun. Anyway, much better day today, less soot from the port engine since the first filter was replaced. The secondary fuel filter was another issue. Thanks to Mr Kevin Barry reminding me that NAPA delivers, we called NSB NAPA Autoparts, and bought ALL their 3120 fuel filters (3) and had them delivered to the dock masters office at NSB City Marina. Where there's an iPhone there's a way, thank you Kevin & Siri. Replaced the secondary filter and have great hopes for tomorrow. Perhaps the curse of the soot will be expunged.

photo-2.jpeg

Ran "inside" today ( in the ICW ) and it was a lovely break from the monotony of the sea, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Fuel burn lower, scenery better, FAC (flat ass calm, nautical term) until about 1 PM. Then we got to the Haul Over Canal Bridge. Vertical clearance 23'. With the outriggers and antennae up our air draft as measured by Sawzall Dave is 32 ft. Down? No idea. The Bridge Bitch tells us that she will open for us but will be "required" to file an " unnecessary open report" with the Coast Guard, and if found against us, the fine will be $5000. Now please, you are getting paid a salary to sit in a guard shack and push a button when a tall boat shows up. You get the same f&@King paycheck whether you push the button 12 times today or 18. Just push the damn button. NOOOOOO. We go all the way back out the channel (which is chock a block with tobacco chewing yahoos in aluminum john boats with wanna-be but too fat, stripper girlfriends fishing for mud) and learn how to put down the outriggers and antennae. The difference between me and the Bridge Bitch? I know there's no "s" in the plural of antenna.

We squeak through the damn bridge (air draft with gear down is 21' if IAOGAS ((If Anyone Gives A Shit, terrestrial term), and then we can't get the gear back up! We run all the way to NSB (another 30MI) with our gear ahoo, then have to maneuver into a slip without hanging up the outriggers on the various poles, pilings, direct TV antennae etc. We made it and eventually got everything back in place largely due to the persistent positive attitude, and sterling performance of my excellent first mate, MissK.

Down for the night, and ready to rock with 2 new filters tomorrow, we'll see if a $9 filter is the cause of our woes.

Day 4

Arrr! On Sundays I Polishes Me Nuts!
And bolts. See photo. Outside today (Sunday Day4) from Smyrna Beach (really, say it out loud and see if you don't smile) to Fernadina, on Amelia Island, our last stop in Florida. Long day, 120NM, but perfect conditions for eating up the miles. FAC this morning, SSE breeze later, less than 5knots to push us along. Bright, with high cloud cover, so the afternoon doesn't heat up and blow too much.

photo.jpeg

The bridge (of the ship, the high up command center) is an interesting place during a delivery, it becomes the world, 60 sq feet where everything happens. It becomes stationary, a world unto itself. The outside environment is a noisy, blue green globe of rushing water spinning underneath you, but the bridge is peaceful, the place you eat, the place you sleep, or at least nap, and do pretty much everything else. How fast that globe spins beneath you, and what direction it turns, is controlled by an odd array of levers and knobs, all of which gets corroded. With nothing much to do but stare at the horizon, a rag and a container of metal polish becomes a comfort. A true calling, a mission. So on Sunday, I polished.

photo-1.jpeg

Fernadina is a beautiful, historic, 19th century town stuck between several of the largest, ugliest paper mills in the world. It's a noisy little town, I think largly because they are trying to cover up the background noise of the mills, which, incidentally, don't stink (much). The guide book says it looks like a small New England town because of Union soldiers who settled here after the Civil War because of the perfect climate. It is beautiful, and the architecture is unique (including the oldest bar in FL) but New England? Not really.


Tomorrow the weather gods smile again so we go outside (again) and skip Georgia entirely, heading straight to Hilton Head, SC. The ICW through the great state of G is a torturous series of switchbacks that lengthen and slow down the travel considerably. It is pretty, but poorly maintained with lots of shallow water and sand bars. Oh, and there's the Masters golf thing and and racism, so we are skipping it for political protest reasons as well, though SC is not much better.

We are excited to finally exit FL, because we are, literally, pirates here, running from the revenuers. FL has a 7% sales tax on boat sales, which in our case would have been many thousand dollars. You are not required by law to pay that sales tax if you register the boat in another state, and pay the sales tax there. Because RI doesn't charge sales tax on boats, we are exempt, but only IF you get the boat out of FL within 90 days of the sale, which needless to say we have not accomplished. Technically speaking we are, indeed pirates. The Florida Dept of Revenue has already sent us one letter demanding proof of exit, a shocking experience for a Rhode Islander. I realize I have now lived in RI so long I expect other states to be as incompetent as we are. If this was RI you will tell the guy "Yeah sure" I'm taking the boat out of state and it would be two years, if ever, before anyone ever got around to checking. Here you must sign a NOTARIZED affidavit they you SWEAR that the boat is leaving, and you are supposed to provide them with proof of registration in another state and receipts for the trip, which of course we did not do. On the 95th day we got a letter demanding said proof. Almost inconceivable efficiency for a Rhode Islander.

Boat ran real well today, sooting at an acceptable, low level, and it's dry soot, not the oily mess we had from 2 days ago, so the fuel filters did change the outcome. Still some work to do there yet, but not a disaster. The Walker Air Seps (essentially complicated air intake filters) are the next suspect.

Day 5
Fernadina, FL-Beaufort, SC, Munch & Crunch
Today, about 9 miles off the coast of Georgia, pounding northward, I finally realize it. This is not a trip up the ICW. We are navigating the east coast of North America in the North Atlantic. Yes, the ICW is in there; when close enough to shore we hear the whiners and the ragbaggers pissing and moaning at each other about their wakes, and their slow passes, and their bridge openings. But no, we are doing "the outside". There's no freakin' trawlers full of retirees out here, we are not doing the "Great Loop" at 7 knots, we are doing "the outside" in a 20 knot battlewagon. Riggers up, snarling turbochargers diesels roaring, pedal to the metal, damn the horses. We are out here with the commercial traffic, the shrimpers, and a whole lot of ocean, and sometimes go 3-4 hours without siting another vessel. It is thrilling, and I realize that I am on one of the greatest adventures of my life.

In 2007 I traveled to the Middle East and saw the Great Rift Valley, the lost city of Petra, and the amazing city of Jerusalem. That was no vacation, that was an adventure. This is also an adventure, unexpected, planned, but unintended. Another journey in a life way more amazing than I thought of, or ever dreamed. I remember in 10th grade at Somerset High, quitting french classes because, as I told the teacher, "There is no way I'm ever going to get to France". Ha! Proved her wrong! Thank you whoever the hell does these things.

Then there's the latest boat issue. It's been getting worse every day. At night, at the dock, all is quiet, sleep comes early and easy. Then it begins. It sounds a little like frying bacon, or subtly foaming butter in a pan. Almost like a light rain, but it's not raining. I have spent 3 days trying to figure out what going on. Battery acid in the bilge? A bad electrical connection? All the fiberglass in the hull delaminating simultaneously? Ha! Just when you think it's all about you and your problems... it's shrimp, millions of shrimp, that eat the algae off the underside of boats! Like the goldfish that exfoliate women's feet, they are out there cleaning the hull, stripping it of food stuffs, feasting on the residue of my adventure. Thank you again, whoever.

[jcollins]

A pirates life for YOU!

Thanks for sharing Ric.

[DougSea]

Thanks Ric! Hope the rest of the trip goes as relatively smoothly as the start!

An excellent tale told by a master Pirate! Arrgghhh!!

[poillon1]

Rick, you are such a wonderful writer, thanks so much for sharing this with us as it is a journey John and I don't ever intend to make!!! BTW, my cousin is crew on Allure! He was formerly Captain of an 80' sports fisher out of Key West. Best to you both, Nannette and John McCoy

[RobS]

Rick, you are such a wonderful writer..

No doubt about that. I have been fortunate enough to be getting Ric's emails daily on this venture and it's certainly been the highlight of my recent mornings. And better yet, if our schedules don't collide, I am to be onboard during the second half of the trip

[Nancy]

Loved reading this, Ric! Thanks for posting.

[kathylsails]

Glad you are enjoying a new series of adventures! Thank you for keeping us posted.

[tbnolin]

Ahhhh yes, the adventure!! We thoroughly enjoyed our 6 weeks coming down the coast back in the Fall. A trip to remember. I hope that your travels north are as fun as ours were coming down. And do keep a log...I still go back and reread our entire trip....just to put a smile on my face and say "yep, that was a ride of a life time (though many do it twice a year every year)!
Good writing, good reading! Thanks!

[mikeydoit]

Congrats on the sail of T&T(sale)." I am an honest man, for awhile I have glared at the pics of her. You think the owners will rename her? I guess she would be recognizable(cherry wood dash). Thanks for the posts hope you enjoy your adventure before you and Miss K.

[waterhound]

Sighted at Kingman Yacht Center last week.