Just over one week, and the adventure truly begins

By Sailor Keddy -
October 4th will be our planned departure date. We being Jon, a guy who works on the schooner next door; myself; Carla and of course Winchelsea. About three weeks ago I had an absolutely massive checklist, which I have whittled down to only getting the proper paper charts, which will be taken care of tomorrow morning. I've purchased an EPIRB, a harness to clip anyone working on the bow into the boat, a spotlight, patched a hole in the exhaust, installed the depth sounder, fixed the chart plotter/autohelm, as well as taken her on a couple of shakedown sails, among a galaxy of other tasks that don't come to mind right now. During our sails we discovered she really loves an early reef, and in 15 to 20 knots of breeze there is only a small trace of weather helm. I would have liked to get a new mainsail, the current one is sufficient but a little stretched out and baggy, but her sail plan calls for a 13' foot, when most modern rigged boats have a shorter one in the 10' range. Oh well, maybe in Florida.

I really can't wait to get south of the Mason-Dixon line again. Warmer, milder weather (it's already getting too cold for me here now), my family and friends are all waiting for me. We plan to stop in Charleston and Savannah for a few days at least; Jon has yet to truly experience southern belles and hospitality. Of course we are in no rush; trying to sail on a schedule is how you get into trouble. However, it would be nice to be south of Hatteras as soon as possible. Again, there is no crucial urgency, and I've been trying to keep this blog to strictly sailing, but I have a certain personal reason I met in Newport this summer who is waiting for me to get to West Palm sooner than later.




Comments

Anonymous said…
Sailor Scott,

Very well written, and a most interesting blog to follow. You should consider writing a book about your adventures.
September 26, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Miss McCannahannasullivannah said…
So hurry it up already!
September 27, 2010 at 4:29 PM
Christina Tobin said…
Easy come. Easy go!
October 2, 2010 at 12:31 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great strength of feets: removing the old diesel

By Sailor Keddy -
Image
After a blissful Christmas at brother's house with his family in Stuart, and my new little nephew, I drove back to Sarasota to start working on getting the engine out from under the cockpit. I got to my sweet Soveraine on Sunday morning and, after getting the lock open, couldn't slide the companionway hatch forward. This had never happened before. No amount of pushing could get it over the drop slides, it was as if they had swelled for some reason. I took out my sawzall and cut a tiny bit away from the top drop slide and it slid open. I was dumbfounded. The entire cabin was submerged in four inches of standing water. Nearest I can tell, during the fall the oak tree, that the jackass trailer park owner let the jackass of a hauler park my boat under, had shed all its tiny goddamn leaves which clogged my cockpit drains causing water to spill into the cabin. Luckily my dad was there to keep my spirits high and attitude in check, because I was in a throw in the towel, no good, d
Read more

We Hate Shoes

By Sailor Keddy -
Image
 She doesn't like sailing. And that's fine. It's boring, hot, and slow, says she. I can't argue. My friend Eddie has a 14' Cape Dory in the municipal marina that he lets me use at my leisure. Can't complain about a free boat to use, so I took him up on it. My friends Moose and Danielle, along with Charlotte motored out past the breakwater, set the sails and headed out to the Reggae Fest on the other side of the pier. When we got there, and dodged the sunken boat, we thought we might drop anchor and stay for a bit. I told my friend Moose to take the helm while I figured the anchor situation out up on the foredeck. I found the chain and started to pull it out of the hawsepipe and was surprised to see that the 1/4" chain had been reduced to 1/16" at best by rust. "Nope, were not anchoring today!" I said as I hobbled back to the cockpit, the boat bouncing in the motorboat created chop. We set the sails again and headed back to the dock. This was
Read more

aaand we're back...

By Sailor Keddy -
Yes, I know this is only my second post in 2015, which is almost over. Not much to report on however, just living in New Jersey and teaching math at a local public high school. Soveraine has been on the hard in that trailer park in Sarasota since last November, and I've been down a few times to work on her. As of right now, she is completely gutted with the exception of the engine, which will be coming out next week. Elizabeth and I purchased a new Beta 25 3-cylinder diesel from the boat show in Annapolis in October. I decided a few months ago to go the repower route as opposed to trying to keep up with an aging foreign model for which spare parts are harder and harder to come by. The Beta was our choice for a few reasons, not the least of which is the support they offer along with many options that make a repower from an older diesel a breeze. In addition to the new engine, I will be replacing her standing rigging with new stays and a set of swageless fittings, probably the Hi
Read more