May 2012

It’s been a long process of hand steering all the way up the coast once the autopilot stopped working on Monday.  As I mentioned in my last post, the boat has  a strong pull to port caused by prop wash as it hits the rudder.  The pressure on the rudder increases dramatically as the RPM is increased so that means that the faster we push, the tougher the steering becomes.  If we are running at 8.5 kts and there is moderate wave action, it takes all my strength to push the wheel to compensate for the pull to the left.  One way that I have been able to adjust though, is to lock the wheel in place for a few moments when it is on course so that I can give myself a rest.  As I mentioned, we have broken up the day into watches with 4 hour watches beginning at 19:00 and continuing until 07:00 when we switch to 6 hour watches.  During watches, Bob and I have determined that steering for 45 min and switching off at that point works best.

The helm problem would be much less if we were sailing but the winds have not been favorable for us to keep up the needed speed.  Actually, there has been wind but the need to keep the engine running, combined with the helm issues, make it prudent not to put out any sail and rely on the motor alone.  This is because the wind has been nearly dead astern, and with the difficulty in steering a jibe would be a real probability.

We should be rounding Sandy Hook late morning and begin our run up the East River, a trip that I really enjoy.

Oh yea, we passed three sea turtles on Tuesday that were sunning themselves on the surface.  They were huge, perhaps nearly 4′ in diameter.  Quite a sight.  Unfortunately, they were too far away, and we were going to fast, for me to get a photo.

Looking forward to being home again.  I understand that the honey-do list is long.

It’s 0500 on Tuesday, and we are motoring along at 8kts on fairly flat water about 50 miles off of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.  As of 0100 the repaired autopilot was no longer repaired.  We feared that there may be problems again as we were not able to replace a deformed bushing along with the damaged gear in the unit.  We had hoped that the repair would hold out until Norwalk, but no such luck.  Normally, hand steering isn’t that big a deal but The Abby has a nasty pull to port under power.  As I understand it, the prop wash hits the rudder in an unbalanced way and kicks the rudder hard to the left.  I am unaware of a fix for this except to just “horse” the wheel to one side when under power.  If we had a favorable wind we could sail and the helm wouldn’t be a particularly big deal.  Alas, that’s not the way it is when you are making passage.

Fortunately, with calm seas, hand steering is easier than it would have been under more aggressive conditions.  Besides, we will be home on Wednesday so that means only about 18 hours more at the helm.  For now we seem to be doing well with half hour stints at the wheel and the plan is to adjust the watches so that we are on for 4 hours and off for 4.  We’ll see how that goes.

Memorial Day, May 28, 2012, 1700

We are about 15 km off of Cape Hatteras and are motor sailing.  It’s plenty hot down below and in spite of my best efforts, I was unable to get any sleep this afternoon.  It’s very sunny and warm but the breeze, about 10-15, while not sturdy enough to make good time under sail alone, is refreshing.  A while ago we were visited by a pod of dolphins who stayed with us for about half an hour, swimming and jumping along side and on both sides of the bow.  I have seen plenty in the past but this is the first time that I have seen them so close, darting up within a foot of the boat, jumping out of the water and darting off.
It was clear that they were playing and at eight plus knots, they were really making time.  I was able to shoot some great videos of them.  After about 15 minutes of hand held video I rigged up the attachment to the boat hook so that I could get a better angle for the shot.  Unfortunately, they lost interest and left us.  I am hopeful that they will be back and I’m ready to get some really fun shots.

Bob and I will be on watch at 19:00 until 23:00 and dinner, pork tenderloin with a fresh mango and marmalade glaze will be a nice way to welcome the evening.   Oh yeah, there will be mashed potatoes too.

As it’s the hottest down below that it has been so far, I am really hoping that the temperature will go down with the sun.  I made a special point of bringing a watch cap to ward off the chill.  Hmm…

Here we sit in beautiful Beaufort, NC, for a few more days courtesy of the second tropical storm of the season, Beryl.  Who would have guessed that we would have delays caused by two, count em, two (so far) named storms as we head north from Nassau?  I am not going home until I have enjoyed all of the named storms of this season.

However, I can imagine worse places to spend Memorial Day weekend than a place crammed with cruisers from all over.  I met a nice couple yesterday who live aboard a Hallberg Rassy 35 and have been cruising for the last two years.   As most insurance companies require their insured to be north of Cape Hatteras by June 1st,  the result is  there is a constant stream of cruisers coming through Beaufort as they move northward.

One particular draw of Beaufort is the fact that the Intra Coastal Waterway here offers a safe way to avoid going outside around Hatteras, sometimes called “the graveyard of the Atlantic”.  Boats with a mast height less than 65′  can travel inside and avoid bad weather off shore.   In our case, Beryl (remember her?) is out there with strong NE winds, the very direction you want to avoid in the north flowing Gulf Stream which kick up some really awful conditions.  As The Abby’s mast is plenty taller than 65′, we have no choice but to wait until things calm down and go outside.

So, what’s a sailor to do when stuck in a beautiful resort town on Memorial Day weekend?  EAT!!!

Fortunately, at least one of our crew, Mark, is a very good cook and with our able help, we are not starving.  Just take a look at this spread from lunch the other day, salad Nicoise and a nice rose´.Our chef is the grey haired gentleman on the left.  No wait, we are all grey.  Well, he is still the one on the left.  Me? I am an awesome dish washer.  It’s that fastidious thing and it does come in handy from time to time.

As far as our leaving here, that’s up to Beryl with a dispensation from Neptune.  More to come on that.  Monday?  we will just have to see.