Sail Pandora

As I write this I am less than a month from giving up my position as president of the Salty Dawg Sailing Association at our annual rendezvous at the Annapolis Sailboat Show.

My role as president was not quite typical as it was a position that I did not seek. As they say “if called upon I will serve” and I was… There was a bit of a vacuum in succession when my predecessor Hank decided to step down and no takers in the wings. In spite of my best efforts, I was unable to convince anyone on the board to step up so it was me…

It has been a big job for the last three years and I can still remember the first board meeting when I became “official” and how totally out of my depth I felt in front of the others. Over the last three years they have given me the opportunity to shape the position in a way I wanted, taking on jobs that I really enjoyed and letting others take the parts that I was not suited for. And, it’s been a great experience that I will miss.

One of the nice things about a volunteer position is that you can choose to shape it in a way that suits, and I did. I chose to focus a good deal of my energy on the core activity of Salty Dawg, rallies, and that meant continuing my role as rally director. Historically, that position was stand alone from the office of president but I was able to readjust who did what and continued to work with our executive director Tatja to vet boats that applied to participate in our rallies. While there isn’t much to do to manage the more experienced skippers, I have focused a lot of my effort on those skippers that don’t have a lot of experience. As I often say, “I want to be sure that your first big run isn’t your last” and to be sure that they have plans in place for boat and crew that, hopefully, will keep them safe.

When I say “last” I am generally talking about the differences between a miserable run and one that is fun. Is the crew experienced? You fairly sure that they aren’t going to get sick? We often have boats that must stop in Bermuda to drop off a crew member that just can’t recover from seasickness.

Our boys, now men, have often reminded me not to engage in what they call CLMs. As in don’t subject Mom to “Career Limiting Moves”. Meaning that I should avoid making her miserable…

This year, more than ever before, we have a lot of skippers for whom this run will be their longest to date, more than 25 out of more than 100 boats. And, in a few cases, they have never been out of the Chesapeake Bay, much less sailed 1,500 miles to Antigua. This calls for additional preparation for the boat, crew and skipper. In these cases, we offered “provisional” approval to participate. This meant that we were recommending that they think about certain issues such as having experienced crew on board and sometimes professional captains as well as a plan to complete a “qualifying voyage” of several overnights offshore in the time leading up to departure.

For those who have not been out of sheltered waters, they “don’t know what they don’t know”.

The ocean can be a lot of things. From dead calm. Sort of like The Chesapeake or Long Island Sound.

And the wonder of seeing a whale like this Sperm Whale that we encountered off of Dominica last winter.

Or, well not so calm.

In a few cases, I received pushback but mostly my recommendations were met with appreciation as they understood that being properly prepared was important. Those that put up a fuss generally fade away and decide not to participate in the rally.

And, as I have done so many webinars and talks over the years, my contact information is posted in many places so hardly a week goes by that I don’t get a call or two from someone asking questions about blue water prep or Salty Dawg.

While I will be stepping down as president, I will retain the role of rally director as it gives me regular contact with those wishing to make the transition from coastal sailing to ocean voyaging. It is rewarding to spend time working with those that are getting ready for their first big voyage and to hear their enthusiasm and offering what help in some way is something that I really enjoy.

Often success is a matter of good timing and a lot of luck and that has certainly been the case for me. Hank, my predecessor, did a masterful job of bringing SDSA through the worst of the pandemic, guiding us through the wrenching process of deciding to require vaccination to participate. That process cost us two board members, one who was vehemently opposed to the requirement and the other who was exhausted by the back and forth for months that lead up to the controversial decision to require all participants to show proof of vaccination.

While the pandemic was devastating to so many lives, both in the US and around the world, an argument could be made that Covid 19 “made” Salty Dawg the vibrant organization that it is today.

I still remember when Brenda and I were aboard Pandora in Rodney Bay, St Lucia when the whole world suddenly came to a screeching halt, with businesses closed down and everyone tried to figure out what was going to happen next. I wrote a post at that time about how I thought that things would unfold. I was so wrong. When everything shut down, we were at a marina in St Lucia and I wrote about our dilemma in this post. I had no idea how badly it would go.

The world came to a screeching halt, even in “paradise”. Facemask? None available so we made do with a bilge diaper and ribbon. Lots of making due…

Stories were shared on Facebook and as everyone was “locked down”, some wondered what was so bad about being “locked down in paradise”. We, and other cruisers didn’t see it quite that way as somehow being stuck aboard a boat about the same size as a large bathroom, potentially for months, didn’t seem all that appealing.

Additionally, we had no intention of staying in the Caribbean over the summer and yet getting crew for the run home was impossible.

As all of that soaked in, I spoke with Frank and we agreed that perhaps the best option was to expand our spring rally into what we ended up calling the “homeward bound flotilla”. In past years we had always offered a rally home to the US and generally had about a dozen or so boats participating.

However, with everyone struggling to find a way home, suddenly our “flotilla” became a lifeline and ended up helping nearly 200 boats make their way back to the US.

In order to make the decision to join us easy, so we could help as many cruisers as possible, we decided to make the rally free and to give boats the opportunity to make a donation to SDSA, a decision that proved to be a good one as most everyone was very generous.

Board members and volunteers really stepped up and worked with officials in the Bahamas, a country that had closed their boarders and locked down everyone, to accept our rally boats who needed to rest on the long run north with very limited crew. In many cases, like me and Brenda, often with partners that had never taken a long voyage with little options to stop along the way.

Sadly, that was the case for me and Brenda who has never been an “offshore sort of girl” for the more than 40 years that we have sailed together. After months of trying in vain to find crew to fly to meet us, we finally gave up and did the run with just the two of us.

I won’t go into any more detail on all of this except to say that the work that Salty Dawg did to help so many put the organization “on the map” with our story written about in just about every boating magazine in the months that followed.

All of this is to say that Salty Dawg went from a fringe group to a name that is now very well known in the cruising community.

And, after all that, and sort of against my will, I became president of SDSA a position that in many ways now feels like “what I was born to do”. It’s been a lot of fun.

I retired in 2012, a goal to retire “early” that I had first hatched when I was in my early 20s and on our first boating vacation, a goal that came true, by hard work and a LOT of luck. Brenda has been very supportive as sailing has never been her passion but she is a good sport nearly 50 years later.

When I retired I vowed to spend time on what really mattered to me and that has turned out to be Salty Dawg and it’s been great fun.

Oh yeah, we are heading to our 50th high school reunion and we are told that we are the only ” high school sweethearts” that are still together. Knowing me as I do, it seems like a miracle. Lucky me…

So, under the “what’s next” category, I would never have imagined as we are now preparing for me to take Pandora trans-Atlantic as part of the Salty Dawg rally to the Azores next June.

However, there are lots of issues that need to be sorted out with Pandora to prepare for that run including how to deal with European power 220v 50 cycles verses our 110 60 cycles. It turns out that the 220/110 is easy. The Cycle issue, not so much. Details to come on that front.

And, something as simple as propane US fittings verse butane European fittings. Ugg…

And I don’t even want to think about the constantly changing rules for Starlink. Thanks Elon…

All and all, it’s going to be quite a ride as we prepare for Pandora’s next most excellent adventure. The first thing will be to get Pandora back in the water after her BIG refit. But that’s another story to be told.

With so much going on, perhaps it’s best to think soothing thoughts. How about a rum punch on the beach?

Way back in early May I left Pandora in Trinidad to begin a major refit. If you have been following this project, recall that I left Pandora at Powerboats Marine in Chaguaramus to have a number of big jobs done that I have been putting off for a while. I hired a group, Perfect Finish, headed by Amos who was recommended by a number of friends that have been keeping their boats there for years.

It is a very nice facility, one of a small number of yards for cruisers in Trinidad.

The process of engaging with Amos about this job began about a year ago when I discovered, much to my distress, that a good amount of the side decks had become wet. Ugg…

I did several video calls with him over WhatsApp and went into detail of what needed to be fixed and as honest a sense of the scope of work that I could muster. We agreed on a price…

Anyway, off to Trinidad at the end of last season where she has been for months now. There has been a small army of guys working on Pandora and I have been getting weekly video tours of the job from Amos which has given me a great deal of confidence in the quality of the work.

In addition to the live video tours, Amos has sent me dozens of photos each week and regular video clips as things progress.

I will not review all of the steps but there have been many and if you are interested, you can scroll back a few posts to see all the gory details.

Today is a big day as Amos sent me a 3 minute video this morning at 07:00, they get to work early, to show what the boat looks like as they prepare for spraying all of the non-skid finish coat. In addition to replacing the wet deck areas, they sanded the entire boat, rail to rail down to fiberglass, to prepare to repaint everything and finally put down a medium grit non-skid. Of course, a gloss finish on deck would be terrible, especially when the decks are wet.

Note the hundreds of feet of masking to keep the areas that have been already been sprayed to a high gloss, from getting the new dull and somewhat rough finish. The masked areas, along with cabin sides and other selected areas, will retain the high gloss finish as they do not need to be non-skid. This contrast between glossy and matt will provide for a very professional look that goes way beyond what Pandora sported when new. Basically, all of the grey areas will become non-skid.

Sure, a lot of tape throughout but as you get near the bow the attention to detail is particularly impressive.

And in the cockpit under the hard dodger. Note how shiny the underside of the dodger and cabin sides are. Brenda thought that they were wet…

And, speaking of shiny, they are even painting the Hoyt boom. For the moment, it is pushed off to the left and all the hardware has been removed.

An issue with a Hoyt boom is that they are hard to control on a deep reach so I am having a local welder fabricate a break system that I have designed. Here are the drawings. There is no way that I could hire someone to do this sort of complex job here in the US at a reasonable price.

No, I am no draftsman but the welder, Mitchel, seems to feel that he can fabricate one. He declared the job “easy”. We’ll see about that. He hasn’t begun to work on it yet, beyond taking some measurements when I was in Trinidad in May, as we wanted to get the painting and deck work completed before he started that project.

Oh yeah, one more thing. You might have noticed a few photos above in this post, that the floor of the cockpit is a bit torn up. Sadly, there are wet spots in that area too. I won’t go into how that happened but it is sufficient to say that the problem is a result of two small fittings in the cockpit sole that were not properly sealed. Of course, that is being fixed too. Details to come. Sadly, there is no end to it but that is the first part of the job that has fallen outside of the agreed scope of work.

All and all, the project is going well and I am getting very excited about heading back to Pandora to get her ready to run north to Antigua to meet up with the Salty Dawg rally to the Caribbean in early November. To that point, registration is going really well and we will likely see upwards of 100 boats heading south this fall. Exciting stuff.

With regards to Trinidad as a place to store a boat, off season, and also considerations on getting work done and of course, the likelihood of a direct hurricane hit, I have scheduled a Salty Dawg Webinar on this subject for August 28th. You can sign up by following this link and scroll down to the last webinar listed and register. It’s free for all and you don’t have to be a Salty Dawg member to participate.

As the webinar will be recorded, I will come back and modify this post later to include a link to the recording.

As I sit here in CT, it has been just about a year since I had my first video call with Amos to review the scope of work that would be needed to get Pandora in near perfect condition. It has been 17 years since she was loaded on a ship from Helsinki so I guess it is high time that she gets the full treatment.

When I first “met” with Amos, via video link, I had mapped out all of the areas that were damp in the decks in blue tape and discussed, in detail, what I hoped he would accomplish. The list was long and beyond the details of the cockpit issue mentioned above, there have been no major surprises.

Had someone told me that I could have work done so far from home and to be able to follow it in such exquisite detail as things progressed, I would not have believed it.

Actually, I didn’t believe it in spite of years of prodding but here we are a year later and it’s nearly done.

Who knew? Not me…

It has now been several months that Pandora has been “under the knife” in Trinidad and while the images suggest that the finish line is a way off, as they say, “It’s 95% preparation” or perhaps in the summer heat of Trinidad, “perspiration”. One way or the other, a remarkable amount of work has gone into getting her to the stage that she is at now.

As I write this they are getting ready to do the final spray coats of gloss paint to the entire deck, cockpit and hard dodger and based on the recent “video tour” by Amos, of Perfect Finish, who is responsible for the job, I expect that the final product is going to be pretty amazing. After the full spray is done, certain areas will receive a non-skid treatment to ensure that time on deck is safe. His plan to paint gloss first and then mask off certain areas of the boat to keep them shiny before adding non-skid with make for an amazing job.

As of a few days ago, this is what the decks looked like, silky smooth, with a number of primer coats.

Amos has been very communicative, providing weekly photo and video tours of the job. It is very helpful to get live video tours of what’s going on via WhatsApp. These detailed discussions give me confidence that things are progressing. And, so far, the job is pretty much on time.

One of the things that I have been told about getting work done in Trinidad is that you have to stay involved so they know you are thinking of them. I have to say that Amos, has kept me informed every step of the way and there have been a LOT OF STEPS.

This is the crew, well most of them. Amos, the boss, is on the left.

I have written a number of posts about what has been involved and things are now really getting serious with every inch of Pandora’s decks, cabin top, hard dodger and cockpit sanded down and primed. After each coat of primer they comb over the deck, fixing minor imperfections and prime again.

This shot of the cockpit show just how many nooks and crannies there are that needed attention. There were a number of small cracks that had been there as long I have owned Pandora. Not any more.

They filled and smoothed all of the buggers that have accumulated since her launching in 2007

You’d never know what it had looked like “pre Amos”.

My mother used to say that “it is darkest before the dawn” and I’d hate to think about being responsible for a job of this complexity. It’s overwhelming to see the condition of everything as the job progressed and all of the work that has gone into getting her to this point.

Just about all of the deck hardware has been removed and the paint carefully sanded off in preparation for refinishing. Note that the tempered glass windows for the dodger have been removed.

Now it looks so much better.

From the bow, looking aft, you get a feel for the scale of the job and what had to be done to get her to a point when she was ready for paint. At this point in the job, much of the remaining prep was hand sanding tiny areas that need final prep before priming and finish paint.

A few weeks ago, it was hard to believe that the job would ever be done.

Up near the bow there are many nooks that can not be reached by mechanical sanders. Very fiddly work. I can only imagine.

The dust in the cockpit was epic. And everything is masked to protect it from damage.

Much of the hardware was removed but some was just lifted and left in place prior to painting. These clutches had leaked for years so it’s good to have them rebedded.

All and all, the job has gone about as expected and while this is the rainy season in Trinidad, they expect to be doing the topcoat in the next week or so. After that, masking to then add non-skid . Good idea as it would wreck my whole day if I slipped and fell off of the boat 🙁

There has been one major setback in the job when they opened up an area at the aft of the cockpit that also appeared to be damp. It’s more extensive than anticipated but I suppose that’s par for the course.

However, from the time that I did a series of video calls with Amos and his team from Essex when Pandora was on a mooring in the river last summer, we were able to come up with an estimate that has basically stuck all through the job.

My only regret is that I did not listen to my friends that have been keeping their boats in Trinidad over the years as it would have been better if I had taken Pandora there for work sooner.

From my perspective the experience has been positive enough that I am going to put on a webinar on August 28th with Salty Dawg talking about Trinidad as a good place to keep your boat during the hurricane season. Chris Parker, the weather router, will cover that portion of the program. I will also share details of the work done on Pandora and will have Amos talk a bit about what sorts of services are available on the island. Finally, Jesse James, who helps cruisers on the island with tours, taxi service and general support clearing into Trinidad with join the discussion.

If you are curious, you can sign up to participate in this free webinar that will be held on August 21st. Follow this link to sign up. No need to be a member of Salty Dawg. It is open to all and if you miss it live you will be sent a link to the recording.

Finally, I should thank my friend Lynn, pictured below with Jesse, for relentlessly encouraging me to consider Trinidad as a place to leave Pandora and have work done on her.

Good call Lynn…

As they say about well done projects, “it’s 95% preparation” and especially in Trinidad, perspiration”. Yes, it has been a big job and I can’t wait to see Pandora when she’s done.

Soon, it seems. Soon.

In my last post I commented on how glad I was that Pandora is in Trinidad and generally safe from hurricanes. As I continue to follow the effects of Beryl, the strongest recorded storm to hit the Eastern Caribbean so early in the season, it has driven home to me something that I have long believed, that it is just not prudent to store a boat anywhere in the Caribbean in an area that is at risk of being struck by a hurricane.

A few days ago I talked to Chris Parker about Trinidad and how safe it is/or isn’t as it relates to a hurricane strike. His comment was that the risk of a direct hit from a hurricane in Trinidad, in spite of warming seas, still remains relatively low. He went on to explain that as Trinidad is so close to the equator that a storm is unable to spin up as the Coriolis effect is so week and absent at the equator itself. As Trinidad lies at 10 degrees north of the equator, it is very rare for a hurricane to be able to sustain itself. And while there can be storms, hurricanes are generally not a threat. However, just short distance north, in Grenada for example, things can be much different.

For a description of this effect, and why hurricanes do not occur close to the equator, check out this link.

Prefer a video example of why?

He went on to say that had Beryl tracked even 30 miles south of her swath of destruction, that Grenada would have seen devastation on the scale that ravaged islands to the north. We have all seen photos of wrecked homes and jumbled boats but nothing could prepare us for some of the images that have emerged. It is worth noting that the big island of Grenada sustained terrible damage less than a decade ago.

I have been looking for footage that gives a good feel for what the storm did to home and boats and came upon a segment from a popular video series, Sailing Fair Isle, produced by a couple that are cruising the world on a Hans Christian heavy displacement cruising sailboat. You may enjoy watching their programs which can be accessed from this link.

I can not say that I have been following them but when I was hot on the trail of the story of what happened when Beryl struck the SE Caribbean, I found one of their segments that seems to capture the impact on the islanders as well as cruisers that found themselves in the eye, literally, of the storm. What follows is a series of screen shots from that post and at the end is the segment that I found so moving.

All of the images that follow are from this segment and are attributed to them and those that they interviewed.

Some years ago we passed Dominica after a hurricane decimated that island and we were struck by the fact that the mountain looked like New England in February, with no green at all. This is what things looked like in Carriacou in the wake of Beryl.

This is what the island looked like prior to Beryl.

It is conventional wisdom that the best place to put a boat during a hurricane is in the mangroves and dozens sought shelter in what was widely believed to be a safe “hurricane hole”. The eye passed right over the island and swept all the boats into a jumble. After the eye passed, all the boats were then swept to the other side of the mangroves. What a mess.

In the video segment just after the storm they included footage taken by a cruiser who was aboard his boat at the height of the storm. It must have been a harrowing experience. Interestingly, the owner is interviewed in he second segment below and his boat is well on the way to being seaworthy again. Sadly, his experience does not represent the norm at this point.

This little pink boat was totaled and in the second video her owner talks about what has happened since this image was taken.

Perhaps the nicest boat that they featured sustained a lot of damage. This image is heartbreaking.

She was raised within a fairly short time and refloated.

She is now in Grenada and undergoing repairs. The owner was interviewed for the second segment and to see the footage of the boat and her condition makes me wonder what it will take to make needed repairs. There is little left in the interior worth saving and that doesn’t begin to describe the condition of the electric and engine systems. It is hard to imagine it ever being right again.

Virtually nothing survived in Beryl’s wake. Even commercial ships were swept up on the beach.

The boats that were on land did not fare any better and just about every one tossed about. I received a report that at least one member of Salty Dawg had their boat there and it was badly damaged.

Catamarans had their own special ending, flipping over from the ferocious winds.

Within days aid began to arrive from nearby islands and Trinidad in particular.

However, much of this aid was directed at the shoreside residents and not the cruisers. And, I have heard that a ship with a crane showed up and was demanding $15,000 just to lift up the damaged boats. As most if not all of the owners were basically self insured, as insurance generally does not cover hurricane damage, this sort of cash payment isn’t realistic for many.

In those cases it comes down to cruisers helping each other, patching things up enough to allow a powerful pump to raise the boats.

There is no doubt that the destruction caused by Beryl will have a profound effect on the yacht insurance business already working to adjust to a changing climate and surely the restrictions on yachts will only get more difficult in the coming years. As careful as owners may be, the cost of insuring a boat, regardless of how focused owners are on keeping their boats safe, will continue to rise.

I do fear what this might mean to the cruising community and their ability to even head to the Caribbean in the coming years.

I encourage you to view these videos, the first filmed a few days after Beryl’s passage and the second taking a look at the salvage efforts of owners who’s boats were damaged in this powerful storm.

Subsequent to their initial segment, they just published a new, and shorter episode, that details some of the boats that have been salvaged and are on the road to recovery. While it is heartening to see the progress being made it is overwhelming to imagine having to address such a mess aboard Pandora.

In the wake of Beryl, it is even more clear that to keep a boat anywhere within the hurricane belt is increasingly risky and only time will tell what effect this will have on cruisers who wish to roll the dice during the hurricane season. 

Pandora has been in Trinidad for two months now and work is progressing well. I have been in touch with Amos, who is overseeing the projects, on a regular basis including weekly video briefs, reviewing the details of what has been done.

All and all, I have been impressed with the attention to detail that is going into the job.

Amos estimates that the jobs will be completed by late August or early September. The work was begun in May so that’s a lot of days and with so many communications, I am confident that they have been working hard to keep the job on track.

The transit of Beryl through the SE Caribbean, not far to the north of Trinidad, has been shocking as we have learned more details of the devastation wrought by the massive storm.

In my last post I wrote about some of the details and showed images of the destruction in the wake of the storm.

Cruisers have really stepped up and are delivering relief supplies to the stricken islands.

And at least one large yacht has also carried some of the bigger items such as generators.

Years ago when the BVI was trashed, it is rumored that much of the aid, particularly money, did not make it to the intended recipients, which was very unfortunate. It is also difficult to coordinate the arrival of aid from individuals verses more established organizations. I hope that this time things are handled correctly. Clearly, there are a lot of well intentioned people doing their best to help.

I can only imagine how long it will take for the islands so severely damaged to get back on their feet.

This video is by a local vet in Carriacou who has been posting videos regularly. His latest post illustrates that ten days after Beryl trashed the island, cleanup is well underway but that there is so much that will need to be done to get the islands back to some semblance of normal. As I look at the footage of the damaged boats, I can not imagine how there will be an infrastructure in place to repair them any time soon, much less get them back into the water.

I heard about a Salty Dawg member’s boat that “mostly” survived the storm but the hull was punctured by the jack stands that were holding it up. And, surrounded by s many destroyed boats, they have no idea how they will be able to get the boat back into the water any time soon.

A friend told me that after many years keeping his boat in the Caribbean, Trinidad actually, his policy was canceled and now he has a new policy that does not distinguish a “hurricane box”. This means that he can go wherever he wants at any time. The bad news is that there is no payout for damage from a named storm, regardless of location or timing and this even applies to a Nor’easter outside of the hurricane season. Simply stated, the insurance companies are happy to underwrite you but if the boat is lost in a storm, you are on your own.

He was told that he could get storm coverage for an extra fee but with coverage already so expensive, any additional fees are likely not practical.

This change, and I expect that it will be more common than not, will surely make storing boats in any area that has even a remote likelihood of being hit, a really bad idea. The fact that Trinidad has only limited storage options suggests that many who want to keep their boats south for the summer will have a tough choice given the history of storms damaging boats in Grenada, traditionally considered fairly safe.

I was curious about why Trinidad has generally been safe from storms and did some digging. The primary reason is the islands proximity to the equator and the inability of storms to develop in that area. While Trinidad is at 10 degrees north of the equator, intense storms do not generally form there. This short video provides some explanation of this effect.

And while Trinidad is rarely hit by hurricanes, there was one notable exception in 1933 when an unnamed hurricane devastated the island. This was an extremely rare event but with warming conditions, who knows. This report is an interesting look at the history of storms in Trinidad.

On the other hand, just 80 miles to the north, the Island of Grenada has been hit a number of times in recent memory, most recently when Ivan passed right over the island of Grenada in 2004 causing enormous damage. This link highlights some of the notable storms to damage the island. That was a long time ago and people forget.

Even though Ivan passed just to the south of the island of Grenada, the damage to Trinidad was not significant. In part, this was because to be hit by the south side of a hurricane is generally nowhere as damaging as the northern quadrant where the wind speed is added to the forward motion of the storm. On the southern quadrant of the storm, the wind speed is subtracted from the forward motion. This means that no matter how close to Trinidad a storm hits, it is not as likely to cause as much damage as it will in Grenada, even though it is less than 100 miles to the south. The physics of the Coriolis effect will not allow it to pass south of Trinidad. It’s just too close to the equator to allow a storm to be sustained that far south.

See this graphic of Ivan’s track when it devastated Grenada. And follow this link to a detailed look at Ivan and the destruction in his wake.

And this newscast clip, broadcast as Beryl approached the eastern Caribbean, is a good explanation of why such a strong storm formed so early in the season.

For those that might wish to keep their boats in a fairly safe place during the hurricane season, there is a question of available space. The fact is that the yards in Trinidad were basically full when I arrived in May and had been so for some time so when nearly 100 boats headed south from Grenada to escape the path of Beryl, there was no space left to be hauled, even if they wanted to. There is clearly an opportunity for someone to open a new yard in Trinidad but there really isn’t a lot of room in the area for expansion.

So, back to Pandora and how the work is progressing. The work is going very well and I am having video tours of what’s going on every week with Amos, who walks me through the details of what has been accomplished to date.

Since my last post the re-coring of the decks is done and the finish coats of epoxy are being applied after the area is fully leveled.

Once the surface was fully faired, a number of coats of primer are applied and then sanded with long boards to be sure that are no dips or raised areas. This is backbreaking work and takes many hours.

I have a video of him using the larger board, the one he is sitting on, but you get the feel for what I am talking about.

After all of the deck areas are fully leveled and match the areas that were not damaged, a layer of fabric and more epoxy will be applied and further faired. By applying another layer to the undamaged deck areas, this will insure that this problem will not recure. When the new decks are fully painted and the cabin top is sanded down and sealed, a non-skid surface will be applied and then sealed yet again with a layer of Awlgrip paint.

After months of work, the decks, cabin top and the entire cockpit and transom will be painted. And, that doesn’t even count all the work being done down below, varnishing and some work on the headliner. And, don’t forget that the entire hull, below the waterline, has been stripped and prepared for priming and two coats of bottom paint.

Oh yeah, and there is a spot on the cockpit floor that needs to be re-cored. All of this adds up to being a huge job and I feel pretty good about how it is going.

All and all, Pandora will emerge in better shape than when she was launched in 2007 and ready for many more years of service.

In the next few weeks I have to decide when I am going to head to Trinidad to inspect the work close up. I expect that this will happen in late August or early September.

When I think about what’s going on with Pandora and try to relate that to those who have lost their boats and the locals that lost their homes on islands where nearly every structure was destroyed, it drives home just how easy I have it.

I never seriously thought about leaving Pandora anywhere but Trinidad and seeing the path of destruction that Beryl slashed through most of the islands between Grenada and St Lucia, is a reminder of just how bad things can get.

Anyway, back to the US and what I am up to right now.

As I write this I am in Onset, MA on the western end of the Cape Cod Canal waiting for a weather window so we can make the overnight run to Rockland. Most of the other boats in the Down East Rally are here with us and waiting out a rainy day. We expect that we will be able to make the run beginning on the morning tide in the Canal and arrive in Rockland on Monday late Monday morning.

The fact that we are waiting for Beryl, or what is left of her to pass, is a sobering reminder of her power when she ripped a swath of destruction from the most eastern parts of the Caribbean, more than 2,000 miles south ten days ago, moving through the Gulf of Mexico, making landfall in Texas where millions remain without power an up to New England.

The wind that we faced for several days in the Gulf of Maine was not all that terrible, in spite of including gusts in excess of 30kts, as it is from the South West. If I was here with Pandora, designed for strong winds, we would likely be on our way. I did hear from a friend who was making the run a few days earlier on a boat somewhat larger than Pandora, who shared that conditions were breezy but manageable.

The problem is that the little trawler that I am on isn’t really designed for “sporty” conditions and George, the owner, isn’t about to test it out. With that in mind, we plan to head north tomorrow when the winds have passed and the seas should be calm again. Not so perfect for a sailboat that needs wind but for us, perfect.

With all that is going on in the Caribbean I am certainly glad that I made the decision to leave Pandora in Trinidad or I might be worrying about what to do about a destroyed boat instead of dealing with more manageable projects to make here perfect.

For now, it’s nice to spend time in Onset, secure from the wind and waves. Not a bad view. I’ll take it.

Over the years I have wondered about the wisdom of keeping a boat anywhere in the Caribbean during the hurricane season.

And, with Beryl breaking records for her intensity and how early in the season she developed, is also making many wonder what the future holds. This link reviews a number of factors that make Beryl an outlier.

To name a few: Beryl was…

1. The strongest July Atlantic hurricane on record with maximum sustained winds of 165mph.
2. The earliest category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record, two weeks sooner than any prior recorded storm.
3. The strongest to ever hit the southern Windwards. Only two other category 4 hurricanes had ever been recorded to hit near Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
4. Earliest 150-mph hurricane in any season and the farthest south ever recorded.
5. First June category 4 hurricane. Beryl gained Category 4 intensity in the Atlantic basin. Only three other hurricanes gained Cat. 4 intensity prior to August.
6. Easternmost “major” June hurricane on record as a Category 3 storm this early in the season, roughly 2,000 miles farther east than Alma in 1966.

All and all, this season is forecast to be intense, with many storms expected and to see the path of destruction of Beryl, especially in areas that are not normally struck so violently, is sobering.

So, back to summering in Trinidad. With so many of our friends singing the praises of Trinidad for years we opted to leave Pandora there to get some major work done. Seeing the destruction that Hurricane Beryl has brought to the area has certainly given me pause for thought.

We chose Trinidad as it is the island that has the lowest frequency of hurricanes of any in the Caribbean, with, I think, a single hit by a major storm in 100 years.

Many opt to stay in Antigua, St Lucia and other islands assuming that those areas are fine for a number of reasons like: “the boats are tied down with straps” or “the yard is protected by nearby hills”, or “the odds are that a hurricane will hit a particular island in any given year are low”, or “Well, my insurance company covers my boat during the hurricane season, even in the hurricane zone.” and what now seems like the best one “Well, Grenada hardly ever gets hit with a hurricane”. Sadly, Beryl proved that otherwise with extreme and widespread damage.

The problem with these arguments are that “you just don’t know” and in any given year a hurricane can strike just about anywhere in the eastern Caribbean with perhaps the notable exception of Trinidad but with warmer sea temperatures, it’s possible that this will change in the future.

One of my friends says “well, any given island may only get hit once in a decade so the odds are in your favor.” Not sure I buy this logic as I think about it this way. Imagine that you could cross a busy street without looking and that the likelihood was that you’d only be struck and killed on one out of ten crossings. I doubt that you would take that risk and yet cruisers leave their boats in yards that have a history of being hit by major storms assuming that the odds are in their favor.

Many cruisers choose to summer in Grenada in the water as it is a quick overnight run to Trinidad if things look iffy. This AIS screen shot taken the day before Beryl hit the island. I am told that upwards of 100 boats ran south in advance of Beryl and took shelter in Trinidad and most are still there with many loading up with donated supplies to take back to Grenada and the islands to the north that sustained the worse damage.

Some choose to roll the dice and stay put, assuming that they can keep their boat off the beach. I don’t know exactly where this photo was taken but a day like this would not be my first choice.

For those that stayed in Grenada, a place that many feel is safe from most hurricanes, and did not head south to Trinidad, and some didn’t fare so well.

And while many consider Grenada to be safe during the hurricane season, the northern part of the island sustained a lot of damage but noting quite compares to the hit that nearby Carriacou took. This video illustrates a level of destruction that is hard to imagine.

And, this is certainly not the first time that the eastern Caribbean has been faced damage of this magnitude. Let’s not forget how things ended up for the Moorings fleet in the BVI following Irma, in spite of being well prepared to weather a storm. When a major storm makes a direct hit there is really nothing that can be done to keep the infrastructure intact. Think sustained winds of nearly 200mph,

A common reason that cruisers feel safe in leaving their boat within the hurricane zone is that their boat will be tied down with heavy straps, designed to keep the boat upright. Here is a screen shot from the video above illustrating how little good strapping down a boat does when conditions are this severe.

In fact, the reason that the Salty Dawg Rally goes to Antigua was the result of the last major storm to hit the BVIs. I had campaigned to move the rally to Antigua as a better option for the rally as the island has more resources and entertainment options for the Dawgs than the BVIs but it wasn’t until the BVIs were so terribly damaged that the switch happened.

The following year the rally was split between Antigua and the BVIs but that was the last year and now Antigua is the destination and most everyone seems happy about that decision.

I do worry about what would happen if a major hurricane were to strike Antigua and the effect that it would have on the destination of the rally. It is sobering to see the destruction that has occurred on islands that have suffered direct hits over the years and how long it has taken to rebuild. Given the fact that Barbuda, only 25 miles from Antigua was flattened the same year that the BVIs were hit, I suppose that it is only a matter of time until something terrible happens in Antigua as well.

With rising sea temperatures, this year and into the future, it is likely that the region will see a greater number of more powerful storms.

With insurance premiums increasing so much over the last few years, I am also assuming that seeing such a powerful storm so early in the season will lead to further increases in what it costs to insure cruising boats.

In spite of the terrible destruction, the cruising community has really stepped up and many boats that took shelter in Trinidad will be heading north in the coming days to deliver supplies to those who have lost so much.

Many business in Trinidad have donated supplies.

Here are some of them, under cover, at Powerboats Marina in Trinidad, ready to load.

Unfortunately, there is ample evidence that the frequency and strength of storms will be increasing and it is safe to say that storing your boat on any island within the hurricane belt is a gamble, perhaps now more than ever.

For now, unless you live aboard and are able to make a run for it when a storm is heading your way, Trinidad seems like the best option and hopefully changing weather patterns will not rob us of what appears to be the last place for safe storage.

Is your boat safe from a hurricane? Time will tell but for sure it has a lot to do with “location, location, location”

In my last post I reviewed how the problems with Pandora’s decks developed and talked about the plan to bring her back to new, or better.

A huge amount has been accomplished in a short time since leaving Pandora in Trinidad in May and I am excited about how things are going.

The guy who is leading the way on this project is Amos, of Perfect Finish and the work that they are doing is first rate.

Mid project, Pandora is a mess, as you’d expect. But, with four guys working every day, a lot is getting done.

In my last post I showed how the old deck had been removed and core cleaned out completely. It was hard to believe that this mess would ever be cleaned up.

After removing all the damp core and running high speed fans for days to be sure that everything is dry. They tested again with a moisture meter, just to be certain. After that a barrier coat of epoxy was applied with a spatula to fully seal the lower laminate.

A barrier coat is critical, and had the lower and upper laminates been properly sealed when Pandora was built, the problem of dampness would not have happened in the first place. After the exposed lower deck was fully sealed, all areas that were anything less than perfectly level and smooth were filled in with fabric and thickened resin and then sanded perfectly smooth.

As you can imagine, with the deck core and laminate removed, there needed to be additional support down below to keep the decks from loosing proper shape so they set up a series of carboard tubes to shore up the deck and keep it perfectly level. That was a nice touch and something that was not obvious to me as important.

Then the area of the decks that separated the cabin top from the deck and rail from the outboard section of the deck were sealed with thickened resin and fiberglass fabric before the loose areas above the joint were cut out and ground down flush with the deck. This ensures that there is now way that moisture could migrate from one area to the other.

This is a closeup of the finished deck, cabin, rail joint after the extra fabric is ground off. With that sort of positive barrier from one area to the next, there is no way that any moisture will ever migrate where it doesn’t belong.

Amos has told me that he expects that the project will be mostly complete by early August and I think that I will try and head to Trinidad for a few days to be sure that I am comfortable with the work.

As I mentioned some time ago, I was a bit anxious about having so much work done when I am so far away and now that we are less than two months into the job, I am so pleased with progress.

When I think back to the battery installation two years ago and how badly that went, the contrast is huge. To work with vendors that truly appreciate business it is refreshing and so different than getting work done at many places here in the US where it seems that vendors often treat you like they are doing you a favor.

My only regret is that I didn’t take Pandora there sooner.

My work with Salty Dawg has me hosting a number of webinars for our members and, based on my experience with the businesses in Trinidad, I am planning a “why Trinidad” webinar in a few weeks.

I have asked Amos to describe how he has approached the Pandora job as his attention to detail is worth sharing. I have also asked Jesse James, a self styled “cruiser’s guide to all things Trinidad” to talk about visiting the island.

The island and work that’s being done is so much better than I had expected and I am looking forward to sharing the story with others.

Of course, Pandora’s refit is not yet done but so far, I am impressed.

More to come.

Last month I left Pandora in Trinidad to have a number of major projects done to prepare her for her next big adventure, the run next June to the Azores and onto Portugal.

While I have been spending plenty of “boat dollars” over the last 8+ years to keep her in good shape, the work that is being done this season sets a new high bar on upgrades and maintenance.

For years now, friends have been encouraging me to make the run south to Trinidad instead of bringing Pandora home but I just couldn’t bring myself to be without a boat for such a long time. To have her “on the hard” from May through October, thousands of miles from home, seemed terrible to me but after over a decade slogging south in the fall and north in the spring, burning nearly 3 months a year, thousands of ocean miles and wear an tear on the boat and me, it was time.

The list of work being done has grown to include the complete removal of all bottom paint, some major deck work, varnishing down below and other items to numerous to mention. The list is so long that the group doing the refit only has three jobs planned for the summer and is fully booked.

The first part of the process to prepare for the jobs was to install a proper cover as the sun is very intense and showers are common during during the summer rainy season. The details of the cover are impressive, far more intricate than what you generally see in the US. And, as it is very hot in Trinidad, good ventilation is critical. The entire structure is constructed of hoops of PVC pipe covered with shrink wrap and the sides are set up in such a way that the cover stands out from the sides of the boat, allowing for good ventilation.

The cover is done to a very high standard and is set up in a way that it leaves the solar panels open to the sun. Note the details at the stern with an awning over the transom and yet allows for easy access. And, having good ventilation is also key to keeping the AC unit operating efficiently.

I am impressed with the attention to detail in how the cover was constructed and the fact that the cover does not touch the paint in any area is a big plus. It also allows for any work on deck to be covered and yet still keep it from getting too hot. Well, “too hot” is a relative issue. It’s always hot…

The first part of the job was to remove the many layers of bottom paint that have built up over the years. It is the first time that all paint has been removed since the boat was commissioned in 2007. The paint was so thick that it was flaking off in all sorts of areas and impossible to keep smooth.

The first part of the job was to apply paint remover and give it all a good scraping.

Then the boat was tented and all remaining paint sanded completely off. I can only imagine how hot it must have been to do this job in full gear.

See the bottom, paint free. Then they turned their attention to the hull, polishing it to a high shine.

The next step is to coat the topsides with a thick coating of protective wax that will keep any contaminants or overspray from messing things up. It will be fully removed in the fall and any nicks and scratches repaired.

The biggest component of the refit will be to remove sections of deck that are wet. Fortunately, the damage is limited to the side decks and the rail, cabin top and dodger are completely dry. When I first discovered the problem last summer and took a moisture meter to the entire boat, inch by inch, I was relieved to discover that the problems were concentrated in areas that were fairly simple to repair. Don’t get me wrong, it is a huge job but when it is done all areas that could conceivably get wet will be replaced with foam core along with unaffected areas treated to ensure that no problems occur down the road.

In all honesty, after more than a decade running back and forth to points south, I should have taken Pandora to Trinidad two years ago. However, the decision was clear when I discovered the moisture problems last summer when I was planning to paint the decks myself.

Pandora, hull #3 of only three built of this design, might as well be a custom boat and when the side decks were laid up, the builder did not use a proper fairing to seal the decks and when the paint wore thin, water leaked into the core and made a huge mess.

The good news is that the moisture is limited to the open expanses of the side decks and virtually no hardware is affected so the repairs are fairly straight forward. The bad news is that it means ripping up about 40′ of deck. That sounds terrible but with labor rates in Trinidad relatively low, compared with US prices, it’s not nearly as bad as it would be in the US. Never the less, this will be the most expensive refit to date.

I hired a group aptly named “Perfect Finish” to do the job and over a period of about a month last summer, I shared details of the problem with them, did a number of video calls from aboard Pandora and we settled on pricing with a firm quote to do the job. Happily, now that the decks are all opened up and they now see the details first hand, they are standing by their quote.

The first step, beyond checking moisture levels was to carefully cut the perimeter of those areas that are to be replaced. Note that the portions of deck that have been removed do not invade the toe-rail or cabin sides which makes the fix much more straight forward.

The photo below shows the extent of the damage and it looks terrible. The plan will be to replace the soggy balsa core with foam and then replace the fiberglass before putting on a substantial epoxy barrier coating. After that Awlgrip and a non-skid surface. The problem, that lead to this, was that the fabric itself was not thick enough and there was not not a substantial enough epoxy barrier applied before painting the decks so when the deck paint became worn, water got in.

Opened up it looks plenty scary. The good news is that I know a number of boats that have had this sort of work done by this group and it worked out very well. And, the guy in charge of the job knows that I am a very fastidious owner.

After all the decks are repaired, the entire deck, cabin and cockpit will be barrier coated and repainted with non-skid in the mix along with the entire cockpit. Basically, every thing above the rail will be newly finished. As the topsides paint has been kept up every year, Pandora will look like a new boat.

Because of the deck moisture problem, the wainscoting in the forward cabin sustained water damage and it is all being stripped down to clean wood, bleached and coated with 10 coats of varnish.

The companionway has received a fair amount of spray over the years and was not finished to withstand conditions like that. As a result, it was quite water-stained. Again, sanded, bleached and ten coats of varnish, along with the steps which will have integrated non-skid applied.

Additionally, I have asked them to refresh the varnish on the dining and cockpit tables along with cleaning up a number of other worn varnished areas below along with a refresh on some of the cabin headliner.

I also arranged with a canvas guy to service all parts of the enclosure and replace most of the vinyl as well as the top of the sail cover which is sun damaged. All and all, all of the canvas and glazing in the enclosure and bimini etc. are getting a refresh.

And, as if all this is not enough, all of the tempered glass windows in the hard dodger are being removed and re-bedded. This image is from some time ago but there are two tempered glass windows on the front and really big ones on the side. All will be removed and replaced with new adhesive. And, the center section, that is showing age now, is getting new glazing.

As big a list as this is, there’s more and when Pandora emerges sometime later in the summer she will look like a new boat. I am quite excited and look forward to visiting in August to inspect the work.

After reviewing everything in August, I will return home and then go back in late October to put her back in the water and move her up to Antigua to welcome the Salty Dawg fleet in mid November.

Pandora has been well used and driven hard for thousands of miles since we purchased her in 2015 so it is time to take a hard look and address whatever is needed to keep her in good shape as we prepare Pandora for our next big adventure, crossing the Atlantic and time aboard in the Mediterranean, beginning next year.

It’s hard to imagine what the future holds but I can’t help but wonder what my Dad, now gone for ten years, would say if he was with us now. I can still remember when he said to me “Bob, wouldn’t it be great to take Pandora through the straights of Gibraltar?”

Yes Dad. That’s the plan.

Our next big adventure? Pinch me…

Today at 06:00 George and I pushed off from the dock in Chesapeake City to transit the Delaware River and head north to New York and onto Essex. Our next planned stop is perhaps Sandy Hook or perhaps somewhere in NY Bay. I guess we will have to see how the run goes. It was a simple departure compared to a sailboat where there are plenty of lines to pull and very different accommodations.

I, for one, have always imagined heading to a trawler at some point, although I am not above declaring those who have as having “gone to the dark side”.

The tides heading east through the Canal run fast and while the charts called for a strong tide against us this morning, that wasn’t the case. We had a fair tide and a bit of a push for the full transit.

Once we began heading down the Delaware River we began feeling a bit of foul tide, as expected but that should turn in our favor in a few hours. As George runs at a bit over 8kts, we do make a bit more progress than I’d be doing with Pandora under power when we move about 6kts. Not a big difference but that’s another 50 odd miles in a 24 hour run.

With 50 or so miles between the Canal and the mouth of the Delaware River, we should get there mid afternoon and then turn left and up the NJ coast for NY.

There’s not much to photograph along the way. How about the Salem nuclear plant.

In honor of the nuke, a photo of solar aboard. Both green? Tough to say but there is clearly a renewal of interest in nuclear as an option for carbon and global warming. Funny how the threat of everyone’s TVs turning off is changing some attitudes toward nuclear power and, I suppose, nuclear waste. As long as it’s NIMBY!

Salem has been in operation since 1076 and is certified to continue through 2036 and 2040 for units one and two respectively. That is a long time and given the growing concerns about carbon emissions, we are likely to see more plants being built in the coming years. More to come on all that, I guess.

It’s a busy day on the river with a number of small trawlers doing the run along with us. I expect that we will all arrive at the mouth of the river at about the same time.

George uses the Navionics charting program on his iPad and taught me something about that program that I had not known. It seems that the program will automatically chart a course for you adjusted for water depth and air draft, to pick the fastest route.

In the case of Pandora with a 63′ mast and gear, we’d be run down to the mouth of the river but with George’s boat set to a safety water depth of 10′ and a air draft, clearance, of 15′, the program routed us across some more shallow areas and through Cape May. I did not know that the program would do that. You learn something new every day.

Here’s the route, compliments of Navionics. It’s magic!

Departing from the dock this morning was a very simple affair. George fired up the engine, I tossed off the lines and off we went. Not a lot of fuss, no pulling up sails, and due to his shallow draft, 4.5′, no fear of running aground.

More to come I guess. One thing though, if the engine quits, no sails.

With apologies to Scarlett O’Hara: “I won’t think about that today, I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

Or, as Rhett Butler, sort of, said, “frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Well, not until something bad happens, at least…

Besides, if the engine were to die, sailboat or not, there’s no wind today. Flat calm.

I could get used to this. Perhaps the dark side isn’t all that dark after all.

As I write this, I am on passage from Baltimore to Essex, helping to bring a friend’s, new to him, 36′ Nordic tug. Oddly, as a boat owner for decades, this is the first time that I have helped someone else move a boat any distance and my first time on a powerboat.

I could get used to this. Lots of room.

My friend, and often crew member, George and I drove down to Baltimore on Wednesday evening and, after a bit of provisioning this morning, headed off to Chesapeake City, one of my favorite spots. George has helped me on the Caribbean run a number of times and has been a longtime sailor.

This week was a big one for him as the day before he closed on the sale of his old boat and now we are bringing his new boat up to CT.

He seems pretty happy to be at the helm although some of the systems are still a bit of a mystery to him. We won’t dwell on our runup on a mudbank shortly after leaving the slip. No, we won’t talk about that. Spoiler: We got off and George is still smiling.

Chesapeake City, located on the C&D canal, connects the upper Chesapeake with the Delaware River, it is a great staging place for a run down the river, up the NJ coast to NYC and then down the Sound to Essex.

As the weather isn’t looking all that for another day, we decided to spend two nights in Chesapeake City before heading down the river. The run down the River and up the NJ coast will be an overnight. It has been years since I have been up past NYC, through the East River so that will be fun.

In fact, the last time I was through there was with Brenda on our first run south in 2012. It was quite an experience knowing that we were heading away from home for many months and that our trip would take us all the way south to FL and the Bahamas.

Our son Chris was a grad student at Columbia at the time and raced us down the East River, all the way to the Battery.

We beat him and waved to him as we pointed the bow to the lower harbor and a bit bitter-sweet to head toward Sandy Hook and begin a new chapter afloat. I wrote about the experience in this post, Brenda’s tears and all.

At the time I had no idea how far our travels would take us. Neither did Brenda… But that’s another story as we gear up to head to the Mediterranean next spring.

Anyway, I have now been to Chesapeake City a number of times over the years and it is nice to be here again, this time with George. However, nothing will quite compare to that first visit with Brenda so many years ago. Since you asked about that visit, here is a link to a post about that first visit in this post.

Last night we anchored in the basin, newly dredged by the Army Corps. Last time I was here I ran Pandora aground when we rounded the point to enter the basin with our 6’6″ draft. It’s a lot deeper now as the entire basin has been dredged this year.

This morning we pulled up to the free dock. Pretty nice spot.

The town was originally formed to support the canal, which was much more primitive at that time, only a few feet deep and the boats had to be towed through by mules who walked along on a path alongside the canal. It is much improved now. The downtown streets are lined with tiny homes, many with beautiful gardens.

I’ll bet that the owners of these homes had mixed emotions about the addition of this bridge that now looms over the canal. The good news is that the bridge opened up the town to many more visitors but it can’t be fun to have a huge bridge tower over your quaint little home, I’d think.

Tomorrow we will head out early and make our way, sadly against a foul tide, to the Delaware river for what will be our first overnight on George’s new boat. Our run will take us up to NYC and his first up the East River. George has crewed for me to the Caribbean a few times but always directly from Montauk south.

We visited the Canal Museum that tells the story of what is one of only two sea level canals, those without locks, in the US.

The most amazing thing about the canal is that it was originally dug by raw human labor including the most major work that was done during the depression when it was enlarged from a modest waterway to one that can handle many of the largest ships in the world today.

Before it was dug deep enough to avoid the need for locks, it required a way to pump in water to feed the locks and allow boats to be raised and lowered. The pump was steam powered and moved 1,000,000 gallons of water per hour. That’s amazing as the engines were only 125hp and each scoop of the wheel moved 20,000 gallons, enough to fill a swimming pool. A remarkable feat of Victorian engineering.

The pump no longer functions but is preserved in the museum.

The two engines and water wheel combined take up three rooms. This small model shows the two steam engines that power the water wheel. The photo above is the left pump.

Some of the specs for the engines that ran for over 80 years with only a single breakdown.

As you can imagine, it took a lot of people to service the canal, including dining and lodging, workers and visitors that were transiting the canal.

Many of the modest homes, Inns and shops are still here, lining the streets of the tiny downtown area.

One cuter than the next.

So, tomorrow at 06:00 we head out for our 65 mile run down to the mouth of the Delaware and the 110 miles up to the lower harbor of New York, at Sandy Hook.

That will be the first big trip for George and his new boat but this visit has been more of a trip down memory lane for me.

I like being here. A lot has happened since that visit…