Day two of the epic journey

   Another freezing cold day. I wish this cold front would have come later, after we had left. Today we did a bit of sail training in the morning. Teaching the first mate and crew the names of the line, parts of a sail, how to tack, and what it feels like to be under sail.

So with that training completed, and the 150% Genoa on the fuller, we pushed on under motor after 30 min of sail. Let me tell you, sailing on the Hudson, on a large yacht, is a chore.
Our goal today was Samalot marine. Another 6 hours downstream, and we arrived. As we pulled into the dock the girls started shouting "your going to slam into the dock!!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!! " Needless to say i did not. i guess i should have filled them in on docking in a wind that is pushing you away from the dock. Approach angles can be quite intimidating.

   After we arrived we went to a restaurant called "Babes"  George gave us a ride there, and we enjoyed the food, was a nice little place! We walking the 2 miles back to the marina, and met with George Samalot. George, as many people in the sail boat industry, has a history of racing. He runs a sail loft, and a rigging shop. So i had been in contact with him for awhile, i asked him to come inspect our rigging. He spent about 45 min going over all the terminals. He explained to us someone was smart when they rigged this yacht, and filled the terminals with bee's wax. This keeps the salt water out, and prevents corrosion. I am glad the PO did something right on this yacht. He also informed me my jackline was far too weak to even stop one person from going over, and i should replace it. Up to his shop we went, and talked politics while he went about sewing loops on the ends of the new jackline.
   He made some recommendations, including one to size our jib down to a #3 Genoa. Thats all for day two! 

Departure day

With a good nights sleep under our belts, our first adventure begins. We pulled away from the dock on the catskill creek at about 10am, high tide, and headed south. Wind on the Hudson is useless, so we motored, only a short hop, to Poughkeepsie. 32 miles for the day. We had a fantastic dinner at Shadows on the Hudson. This was actually a place i had stopped before.

A fender came untied, so we sent Liz to go get it back.

I was an overall calm day, no real issues, and everyone has been settling into the groove. There is a lot of teaching to be done, from sail handling to tying dock lines, and knowing how to shove off from a dock.

Now Boarding

   Wow, so today is the big day! Everything has come together. We finally have our coast guard paperwork, so we are 100% legal, woohoo! Now we can go anywhere! A bunch of projects have been completed. First one was of course the battery.

Here it is, in its new home. Me and the Interstate man had about a 3 hour talk. About the state of America, the future of America, and batteries.  The highlight is that this battery, srm-4D is just about as good as a forklift battery. He said properly taken care of i can expect 5-6 year life, with constant, daily use. So now its hooked in, and fully charged!

   The second project of the day was the main traveler.

   IT was a simple matter of putting in the new block, and as fortune would have it, a brand new block popped up on ebay, just in time, and now its mine, and installed.

   The next project was the jackline. This line will keep us from separating from the yacht, in case we lose our footing, and fall overboard. It would not be a fun ride, but we should be able to get the person back on board without delay.

   We had gone to retrieve the shackle at the top of the mast, and while we were there we picked up our 3rd crew member. Welcome to the boat Liz! After carrying on what seemed to be about 400# of personal possessions, she was moved in, and her hubby was gone.  So we now had 3 crew to move the yacht back to the other marina, to retrieve the dingy,  and get some photos!

Departing today!

Every day, a little bit closer

   Very close now.

Started off the day with a man, on a crane, up our mast. For $80 they went up and retrieved the main halyard, ran the spinnaker halyard, and inspected the mast top. The good news is everything up there is in great shape. no lose strands, no bird-caging, everything looked great he said. The wind was blowing nasty, so we decided to night over here. They will un-step the masts for $350 next year they said. AWESOME.

   Before the sun came up, and before anyone else was up i installed the battery selector switch.

I removed the dead battery, and got a new 200AH deep cycle. At 100# its not light, but i got it out of the boat without help. Carried the new one to the boat, and stopped at the cockpit. Tomorrow, we will have two house battery's, 400AH. Translates to roughly 2 KWH of power we can use without damaging the batteries.


   Tomorrows projects? Install the clutch for the jib furler, move the radio to the cockpit, move the new battery from the cockpit to the bilge.

The final countdown

   I still cannot honestly tell you what day we are leaving. All i can tell you is, its not today. Why? projects.
I have a list, i have the parts, i need to do them, then we will leave. Here is just a sample of the list:

Install jackline
Install new battery
Install new wiring for battery
Install new switch for house bank
Install fire extinguisher number 4
Change engine oil
Repair the sail
Retrieve the halyard

   Why would i have to retrieve the halyard? I was climbing the mast, using the main halyard for safety, when i lost my grip on it. it went the entire way to the top of the mast, and there it sits. I will send crew member number 3 up to get it. Who is crew member number 3?

   The person who tried to mutiny on her first visit. Dana's sister Liz.
She will help with the trip south, then, i have no idea. She could stay a month, or a year. lol

   I promised more photos will come, of the prep work, and there will be hundreds from the trip. It has been so hectic the past week, i have forgotten to take any.

Only 5 days???

   We have made a choice for safety. one that will make us leave a bit early, but will make sure we are safe.
On friday, we will see a rigger. They will be doing a full inspection on our standing rigging. What is standing rigging? Well if you know engines like i do, then i will give this analogy. If the sails are the pistons, the mast the block, the rigging are the bolts, that hold everything together.

   I have done a bit of inspecting myself, but i cannot see everything. A rigger, has done this before, many times. So they will send a man up on a crane, to inspect the top, while someone else inspects below, all for $100 an hour, GASP!!!!! He estimates, it will take 3 hours. So $300 to inspect something our life depends on? yeah, i will accept that.

   On other fronts i have replaced the cables for the steering, installed the GPS, moved the dogs to the boat, cut myself 12 times, and found a small engine oil leak. yeah, i cant wait to have time, and a good internet connection, to post photos. Sorry if this update is a bit dry and lacking, but its getting too close, not to post anything.


WE shall not be DOCK LOVERS, for long.

24 days

    In three weeks we will embark on our first big journey. No, we are not going to Tahiti, unfortunately, 
we are headed south for winter. Where we will stop is not yet known. So we have a list made, that i am sure will be unfinished. The good news is provisioning is complete. Our bilges are full of over $900 worth of food. From simple ramen noodles, to pizza kits. Chicken noodle soup, canned chicken, an orchard of canned fruit.

   Our bedroom is now 90% done, the other 10% can wait until we get south. On top of what you see here, we have a memory foam mattress. Its not a spring mattress, but it sleeps nicely. After our second night sleeping aboard, we both slept very well. The first night we both had sleeping issues.

   Time to go up the mast! I had to get a better look at the rigging, and put the new spinnaker halyard in place. This photo was taken about 5 minutes before i realized that the stitching on the sling i was using was torn. So down i came, job unfinished. From what i can tell the rigging is in great shape. Dana had the joy of sending me up.

   I also got the generator out, it took two people.