I HATE SHOES

 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 ...

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...

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...

TRENTON - In a dramatic move that has stunned not only Republicans in Washington but has sent waves from coast to coast, Chris Christie has announced that he will not be running for the nation's highest office in 2016. From his home in Trenton Tuesday afternoon, he stated he will instead "pursue a quietly held lifelong dream of living and cruising on a small sailboat."  When asked why this sudden change of course occurred, Christie looked away from the cameras and other press members, and gazed somberly into the distance for a moment before saying, "I just can't do it anymore. It's gotten to the point where even I don't believe half the crap that comes out of my mouth. I'm not apologizing for anything as Governor, but I have to admit I haven't been at my best the past few years." Sources close to the Governor said in recent months he has been furiously reading the blog and  newly publis...

It was a bittersweet decision. On the one hand, I wasn't using Soveraine  all that much and over $300 per month to keep her in wet storage was getting expensive. Sure, I visit Florida pretty often, about every second or third month, but by the time I got to her slip and started in on some projects I'd want to complete I would realize how far behind I was on basic maintenance. This was getting annoying. Two steps back for every one step forward, and it seemed like every time I would visit she would be in worse shape than before. The piles of bird poop, the dead batteries, surface rust on the bow pulpit, oiling some teak, cleaning a musty, moldy cabin...you get the idea. It left little time for any actual improvements to her let alone any time to actually enjoy a sail in a short 3-4 day period. On the other hand, I need to replace the standing rigging, build and install a windvane, finish repainting the interior, shore up some play in the rudder, get some new ground tackle, com...

Well, self-published but nonetheless, I am on Amazon and you can get your copy today! Here is a link to Amazon's site where you can get either a Kindle or paperback version. If you would like a signed copy mailed to you, simply pay me via PayPal (smkeddy@gmail.com) and don't forget to include your address! From the back cover: " Growing up a sun-drenched kid in Florida, it was a rude awakening when I became a desk driving engineer in frigid Boston. So began a five year odyssey to return home via sailboat, filled with adventure, tragedy, love and heartbreak. From humble starts in questionable boats to high seas sailing from Hawaii to Alaska, and ultimately restoring a 50 year old world cruising boat, no, the journey wasn’t always easy, but it was unquestionably worth it in the end. You only get one spin around this merry-go-round, you better make it count." My goal is to sell a few hundred copies to justify my time and expenses, so your purchase of this book today...

I've been in New York (well, technically New Jersey) since February. I moved here to be with my new fiancee Elizabeth, and things were very quiet on the sailing front until recently. I've been working for a charter/sailing lesson company up on 79th Street and its been going very well so far. The Hudson River is known for its currents, fickle and shifty winds, massive amounts of boat traffic, very surgey unprotected marinas and things in the river that, well, shouldn't be. It does have some nice views of the city and Statue of Liberty though. All in all, not a great place to sail, but I'm on the water, and that's something.  I also managed to get my NJ teaching certification and hope to be using it in a classroom this fall. My sweet Soveraine  is docked in Florida, where I visit her every few months. I still plan to cruise on her extensively, but it will be more piecemeal for the next couple of years. I need to do some work on her anyway, including installing a win...

After spending a week and half over Thanksgiving at my brother's place in Stuart, it was time to weigh anchor and head over to the west coast. I had a great time over there, and even met up with Scott and Kitty again which is always a pleasure. Stuart was not my final destination though, and I'm now starting to realize I'm not sure if I have one. I was getting desperate for some other crew and wanted to leave by the end of the week when a guy Chris responded to my ad on a cruising forum. I had sailed with people from that forum before, it was how I got in touch with Alex and got on the whole Hawaii/Alaska/San Diego expedition. Two days later he flew into West Palm and we left the following morning. I decided to take the Okeechobee Waterway across the state as opposed to going around the tip of Florida and through the Keys. I've heard with the Gulf Stream so close to the reefs it can get a little intimidating trying to shoot between them. It only took us two days to ...

Fernandina Beach is an interesting place. It had a cute, quaint downtown area with more bars per square mile than Newport, which is definitely saying something. A few days after I got there my good sailing friend Joey joined me and we spent the next few nights reveling in the small town and waiting for the weather to change. A cold front had stalled out over the eastern Florida coast and was not making an easy decision as to when to leave. After a few days we kinda just said the hell with it and proceeded down the ICW at about 4 pm on a Thursday. I didn't think motoring down the ICW at night would be a huge deal, turns out I was wrong. Thankfully nothing dreadful happened, but when a day marker that's not on your Navionics app, nor your paper charts appears out of the pitch black darkness a mere 15 feet to starboard, its a freaky experience. I've done this in twilight before, in a much wider waterway with many well lit buoys, however the narrow, dark channel between Ferna...

I've wanted to title a post "Florida" for a long time, four years actually, and today I finally can. The reason I started this blog, nearly four years ago, was to document my travels south, specifically to Florida. I was living in Boston at the time, winter was coming on and I needed a way to get out. The desk job didn't have any transfers down there and there was just no way I was spending any more time in New England. This is how I came into purchasing Winchelsea . It was a pretty basic idea: buy a boat and sail it down to Florida. That started a four year odyssey involving three boats, two oceans, an engagement, a captains license, a galaxy of new and wonderful friends, and roughly 10,000 nautical miles under various keels. I can't emphasize the friends part enough, it is the thing that has really made this whole voyage worth while. Anyone who has met me in the past four years has known I've had this one and only goal, a one-track mind if you will, it w...

It was cold leaving Baltimore. Damn cold. Mid 40s during the day and mid 30s at night. The wind was right though and within an hour of leaving the dock the sails were up and we were going at a good clip in the northwesterly breeze. My crew consisted of Pearce, the son of a friend of mine with almost no prior sailing experience, and Zach, a fellow 12 meter sailor from Newport. The breeze really picked up during the day and lasted into the night. It felt really good to be sailing Soveraine  again, even if it was bitterly cold with the wind that night. We motored into Norfolk the next day and slid into a slip at the public, i.e. free, docks in Portsmouth. We were putting the boat away when a troop of three people about my age came down to the boat. "What kind of boat is she?" "Allied Seawind." "Oh nice! My wife and I were looking at those. We ended up buying a Hans Christian 38." I invited the three of them onboard and after a few beers we talked about ...

Exactly eight weeks to the day after injuring my foot, I am back in Baltimore ready to continue to make my way south. Soveraine looks as good (if not better thanks to the rain and not dragging up mud with the anchor) as when she left, thanks to Chris for putting her to bed so well. Not a moment too soon either, the temperature has dropped considerably and is supposed to be in the upper 30s tomorrow night. We'll head out tomorrow or Friday morning, depending on when Zach (a fellow 12 meter sailor) can get his butt to Baltimore. Pearce is the third crew, he has some 420 sailing experience and should round us out nicely. We'll sail down the Chesapeake into Norfolk and through the ICW/Albemarle Sound to Beaufort, with a possible stop to see another friend who lives on the outer banks. That should take a total of 5 days. From there we'll wait for weather and hop outside to Charleston, just about the same distance from Block Island to Cape May so that should take around 4...

What a nightmare, I thought to myself in that state of half awake/half asleep before even opening my eyes. My dream consisted of a trip to the ER and a diagnosis of a broken heel, which would have certainly put a damper on plans for heading south. But wait, why does my left foot feel tight and constrained? I cracked my left eye open and an unfamiliar ceiling lay above me. Tilting my head up and gazing down at a mass of cotton and Ace bandages confirmed reality. The plan was to head south to Norfolk on Wednesday morning. On Monday night Chris and I went out for dinner and, long story short, I jumped 7' from a wall along the boardwalk to the sidewalk below and when I tried to get up, couldn't support my own weight. Some hours later, the ER doctor told me I had broken my heel. I took a taxi back to the dock where Chris was supposed to meet me, but his phone was on silent so I asked the driver to take me to a cheap hotel. He ended up taking me to Willdwood, a bizarre grid of chea...

Chris and I left Newport and motored out of Narragansett Bay on Wednesday morning, still a little groggy from the bon voyage blowout the night before. The wind was expected to build out of the southwest that afternoon and I wanted to be at Block Island before that started. And after a blissfully uneventful five and a half hour motor sail, we were anchored. We spent the next two nights there waiting for the southwest breeze to tire itself out and a fresh northerly one to take its place. On Friday morning we weighed anchor and set out for Cape May. The breeze was a gentle 5-10 knots until compeltely dying at noon, the sails came down and the motor pushed us along until it filled in, this time from the northeast, at around sunset. During that afternoon, I witnessed something I hadn't seen before at sea. What started as one or two small flies buzzing around the boat had turned into what seemed like at least three dozen, of all varities, as well as a couple of flying ants and wasps. W...

After many days in the 90s sanding, painting and fixing stuff below the waterline, she was back on the hook last Thursday morning. As far as the inboard goes, I have finally realized that it is indeed the shifting cable, and only have to tweak it. So there it is, shes ready to head south with fresh bottom and topside paint, a working inboard and all of the rigging set to go. It took a little over a year, but I brought a 50 year old "classic plastic" back from the verge of being hacked up and crushed. I have a couple of regattas in early/mid August on Weatherly  and after that I'll be pulling the hook up and starting the trip south. The plan is to head through Long Island sound, down the East River and pulling into an anchorage in New York harbor. I'll wait for a weather window and head to Cape May, possibly all the way to Norfolk if the weather holds. Then it'll be a few days of motoring along the ICW inside of Hatteras and through Beaufort, North Caro...

Soveraine  was hauled out on Monday afternoon. Things I was looking to accomplish: a bracket for the outboard I purchased, paint on the bottom and topsides, repair a through-hull in the head and take some play out of the rudder. There was a delay in getting my boat hauled so I figured I would get the transmission ready to take out since I had been talking to a guy in Connecticut who said he could get me in touch with someone who could rebuild it. About half way into the removal I discovered that the shifter cable was loose. This was interesting, could it be the cause of the sudden "slipping" of the transmission? I threw everything back together, turned the engine over and discovered yes, it certainly was. I now have a fully functional inboard again, and just after I purchased a brand new outboard! After she was out of the water, I scraped all the hard growth from the bottom which was in the amount of 5 gallons in volume, and roughly 10 lbs. A LOT of growth. I sanded the b...

After buying a used filter housing that kinda, sorta fit my engine and spending thirty something dollars on fittings, I threw in the towel on that option for a host of reasons. The weather cleared Friday evening and I had a revelation that I didn't need the hard copper piping since this was all upstream of the injector pump. A trip to West Marine ended in a bulkhead mounted Racor at 2 micron filtration downstream of my existing 30 micron Racor, plumbed to the fuel and injector pumps with flexible hosing. It worked perfectly. Elizabeth came into town on Friday and after picking up some supplies for lunch we were planning to sail to Block Island. When the key was turned and the ignition button pressed however, nothing happened: dead battery. I had read about, and knew I had, a manual crank starting option that I had not attempted before. With Elizabeth at the compression lever and my hands cranking as fast as possible, it started on the second try! By the time we had this sorted an...

Out of the 12 days so far in June, its rained for about 10 of them. Two more tomorrow and Friday, and it looks like three out of the seven of next week. This has put a damper on both the Weatherly  charters I make my money from as well as working on and sailing my own boat in prep for the departure later this summer. Which brings me to my next subject. I've been fielding a lot of questions as to when and where I'll be going once I leave Newport. In all honesty: it's still up in the air, the whole thing, and will be up until I'm actually there. I'd love to sail to Block Island. Sure, I'd also really like to make it to Florida. Maybe the Bahamas or Mexico, or even Cuba? Point is, I'm in Newport right now and this voyage isn't entirely about the destination. Wherever I am, that's where I'll be. To be frank though, there are some outlying engine issues that may put a hindrance on travel. In an attempt to fix a fuel leak, I found the filter housing ...

Great times last Monday, thanks to all who could attend. More to come! Note the chainplates in the first two pics, working hard! Nefertiti  in front of Clingstone. The boat I had the pleasure of working on this spring. I know the contours bottom of that hull more intimately than anyone ever should. Boom of Soveraine  in the foreground. Left to right: Seabass, Gretchen, Micah and Liz. And myself. Thanks to Miss Watson for taking the picture from the poop deck.

I motored out to the anchorage last week and dropped it for the third season I've spent in Newport.  Soveraine  is finally ready to go, with her name painted on the transom in a font I'd like to call "10 minutes with a chip brush", and you would think a child in elementary school did it for some milk money. It should be temporary, since I plan on painting the topsides sometime soon, but its also a nose in the air salute to Newport in general. I've gotten some guff for it however I'm almost positive vinyl lettering won't improve my performance or safety. Memorial Day finally came, after 5 days of no sun and pissing rain storms. And with it, myself, Elizabeth (actually, there were two aboard), Seabass, Micah and Gretchen took Soveraine out for an inaugural sail of the season (a season I'm planning to perpetuate indefinitely). It was blowing out of the west for awhile before the sea breeze kicked in, and kick in it did. We had full sail up while it was ...