Friday, April 25, 2014

Finally out on the North Atlantic Ocean

Ok, the last couple days were not as planned nor as expected! We had to deal with a lot of smaller and larger issues. Finally we made it resolve ally the problems to go safely on a sail trip. Sure there is ore to do, but most of it is minor stuff and none of it is safety relevant.

The experiences from the past couple days were scratching on my self-confidence. Knowing the two of us we would be a bit short handed, when heading towards the Atlantic Ocean with a 41 ft sailboat, which we both don't really know. We had to pass the St. Lucie Inlet, of which you can read a lot of scary stories, to deal with navigational difficulties on the ICW with the passage of Cross Roads, current and tidal effects in sometimes very shallow waters along our way to the inlet.

So I decided to hire a local captain to help us out getting away from the dock, finding our way through the tricky waterway and stand aside with a hand and knowledge, whenever needed. It was a perfect decision. We found a fantastic local captain, who worked 25 years as a Marine Surveyor and captain of large yachts in the Caribbean waters. After a 2hrs inspection of the boat and many good recommendations, we were ready to go. We were heading to the North Atlantic Ocean for the first time!

It was a fantastic experience and we learned a lot about the area, the ICW and the St. Lucie Inlet. The weather was calm and the conditions just perfect. The passage of the Inlet was smooth and easy. We passed through at almost slack tide with only 8 kts of wind from the South. On the ocean we set sails, did some maneuvering and just enjoyed our time on the boat.

Back on the ICW Mark showed us some nice places where we could sail without going out on the ocean, nice places to have a rest or anchor at night. We also tired out the new Mantus Anchor. The ground was sandy. The Anchor was set immediately and did not move one inch, once it had reached the ground. Ok, the conditions were not right to provide an ultimate result. But I was more than happy with the first attempt.


Thank you very much Mark!

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Still at the dock!

Upon the arrival at the marine, the boat was in the water and looked just fine. I thought I only need to do some quick fixes, and we would be ready to sail on. Now I know how wrong I was! The issue with the alternator turned in to a nightmare ( you can read more about it on the project page). And as always, there were more issues coming up! I had to deal with a Dinghy loosing it's bottom, a generator spitting water high in the air, a seized anchor windlass and many more.

Although fixing all the issues can be very frustrating, I always enjoyed to work on the boat. I like to work on technical stuff because it is so different to what I do on my job. Nevertheless the Admiral was sometimes not so pleased. So we had to find the balance between working on the boat and enjoying our holidays by spending time on the beach and other leisure activities.

The weather was far from being perfect. It rained much more often than expected and we had higher winds of 25 kts for almost every day. So not really the perfect conditions for a relaxing introductional cruise on a sailboat.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Ready for a cruise?

After a comfortable flight, we are back in Florida. The plan is to resolve some issues such as with the alternator and then to cast off towards the Keys. We plan on sailing south on the outside  or on the inside of the ICW, depending on the weather and the sea conditions. Taking a break in North Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

The boat should be ready in the water. So we are confident to leave on tuesday by latest. There is no fix schedule. So let's see wehere the wind will take us!