The route has changed, Winchelsea's trial by fire

By Sailor Keddy -
After 4 days in New Jersey, leaving here couldn't have come soon enough. It's sad but true, people around here are only nice to you if you have something to give to them, and thats usually cold, hard cash. Its like they have some sort of complex about being so close to New York that they feel they need to stand out, but at the same time secretly wish they were New Yorkers.

Anywho, we are leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow, bound for Norfolk. I really can't wait to be in the south again, after over three years in the north. I know I was excited to move away up to Boston when I graduated college, but its just so much more...fun down there. Surfing, sailing, biking, the beach, long days in the sun, beautiful warm nights and its all year long. Sure, it gets a little steamy for a bit in the summer, but its a small price to pay.

Our original plan was to head towards Virginia and the mouth of the Chesapeake and keeping going south to Oregon Inlet, some 30 miles north of Cape Hatteras and head inside there to Pamico Sound. Being a responsible mariner, I called the local TowBoat US guys down there to see what the conditions were like at the inlet currently. Unfortunately, he said he strongly recommends we do NOT try and go through Oregon Inlet, it has severe shoaling and a really powerful current. He said he didn't want to tell us flat out not to, but if he had a 34' sailboat with only a 22 horsepower engine, he'd go the ICW route from Norfolk instead. So, thats what we are going to do. It will be 100 miles of straight motoring from Norfolk until we can again set sail in Pamico Sound. Thats 18 hours. Two nine hour days of Winchelsea using nothing but her engine in a narrow man-made channel. Her 39 year old gasoline powered tractor engine that, if you've been keeping up with this blog, has given me a fair share of trouble in the past. Now, I'm pretty sure I've worked out all the issues she had over the past summer, outside of completely rebuilding it, but this will be quite a test. It's a sad thought, but if the engine fails epically, this is probably the end of the Keddy/Winchelsea chapter of my life. I don't want that to happen obviously, but its an outcome I've thought about and have accepted if it comes down to it. The boat is 39 years old, and I can't justify putting another engine in there for more money than I originally bought her for. Wish us luck, this will be a great challenge!

Comments

Unknown said…
do the dismal! see you in Charleston... Edward Bleakley S/V Frankie Mt. Desert M.E. You'll love elizabeth city, free dockage for 48hrs and the grocery store gives free taxi service to and from. been lurking for a while... thought id say hello.
October 18, 2010 at 12:13 AM
Sailor Keddy said…
Thanks for the tip! See you there!
October 19, 2010 at 5:05 PM
George Boase said…
Good luck! I was in Newport before you left and had the Oldport launch operator point your boat out to me. I was hoping to say hello but you were not onboard.

The wife and I will be making that trip next September and ending up in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas. I'm following your exploits with great attention.
October 19, 2010 at 11:52 PM
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

The voyage that changed it all, Part III

By Sailor Keddy -
Since this will be the third and final part of this series, and although I could go on for just about ever about this trip, I should mention why this is "the voyage that changed it all." Before I got that fateful Facebook message, I was struggling hard with the job I have, my passion for sailing and all that is associated with the Ocean, and trying to connect it all together in a way I could put food in my mouth. The people I met opened my eyes to a field of work that was exactly was I was looking for. I had to leave the When and If  abruptly due to her being stuck in Charleston for what looked to be over 10 days. The weather around Cape Hatteras was less than favorable. I flew back to Boston, with a weepy eye and thoughts in my head that I would not return to her, and the wonderful people I had met, ever again. A week past, and during this time I applied to nearly half a dozen jobs within the realm of getting me on a boat. From the lowliest bilge rat position on a moto...
Read more

Goodbye Boston: A Sailor's Proclamation

By Sailor Keddy -
"The decision to flee came suddenly. Or maybe not. Maybe I'd planned it all along -- subconsciously waiting for the right moment." Hunter S. Thompson I am leaving Boston. There is a laundry list of reasons why, but it boils down to an essential few. This is my third winter up here, and to be honest I've had about enough. The cold is oppressive; it latches onto your soul, sucks your vital will to live and leaves you breathless and desperate. It inhibits activity on both a mental and physical level. I've tried to get used to it, but the thoughts of what I could be doing if it were 30 degrees warmer have overcome me. My career, more than likely, will be put on hold. Had I known that I would be spending 8 plus hours per day staring at a computer monitor in the middle of a cube farm, while the world, my youth and my life pass me by, I would never have signed up in the first place. I have been with the same company for three years, since I graduated college, and I hav...
Read more