Second November Sail

It was a nice-ish day and we were keen to get out on the water, so on Sat 11/21/09 we headed out on another adventure. I was working on the boat most of the morning and Brigite was catching up with her things. We got a late start around 1pm. We had prepared for an overnight trip, but with the short days, we had to find somewhere that was within 10 miles.

I wanted to visit the Kipoteake anchorage, and we decided to try that even though it was going to be a late arrival - around 1930, with darkness at 1800, because the 15 mile trip was straight upwind. We went with the big genoa, and the wind was just starting to create white caps. I decided that this is the upper end of this sail upwind. Wunderground reports it was between 12 and 15 mph.

It was quite chilly upwind, and after we ate, etc we decided that the overnight cruise to Kipoteake would have to wait. Instead we sailed out the first gap in the CBBT, tacked, hoisted the chute and sailed back. It was quite bumpy and we had our hands full. I could not leave the tiller for a second, as the boat would roll off course immediately. Brigite had her hands full with the boat at 20 degrees and pitching as she Teed up the Spinn.

Once up, it took a while to find the most comfortable and stable sailing angle, but after that it was smooth sailing - until the topping lift broke at one end! The pole fell to the deck, but we scrambled and attached it to the end of the pole and were off again. The lifting strop at one end broke, the wire just seems to have parted in the middle.

We had a great sunset in front of us as we sailed back to port, and took a ton of photos!

As usual after a sail - the engine refused to start! Dang it! And I was pretty confident my new starting technique would have fixed it! The symptoms only occur after sailing. At the dock or after motoring it starts great - but after some sailing; no dice.

So we sailed into our dock spot (again), and then after a while got the engine started. We had a glass of wine and a chat in the cabin with our clean cushions being very inviting.

Re the engine: I am now stripping the fuel system. I have the shut-off switch working again, cleaned the sediment bowl, and am replacing (and relocating) the fuel filter. Plus I will inspect the fuel tank for rust or other crud.

November Day Out

Thursday and Fri we got bashed by the Nov Noreaster (formerly Tropical Storm Ida). Saturday was the transition day, and Sunday the sun was shining! I took good care of Silver Fox during the storms, checking on her twice a day - except when we were trapped by the flooding (Friday). I had tons of lines holding her and monitored the tides that were 4 or 5 feet above normal!

Sunday was a completely different day, and made the previous 3 days seem like distant memories. We decided to go for a little sail. We mostly wanted to test the tempermental motor, which neither of us really felt we could trust to start at sea. I felt it was my starting technique that was partly maybe mostly at fault. The problem I had was that I did not respect the carburator. I did not pay enough attention to getting the fuel mix right to the engine conditions, and I believed I was flooding the engine. So this sail was to test my theories, and see if the engine would start when we needed it to. And it did. It behaved perfectly, and we now have more confidence in our girl!

It takes a while to get the boat prepped when she is in winter mode as the halyards are skied, and everything is put away. It was toasty warm, but there was little breeze when we got out. There was a big tideline just outside the entrance to the cut (see photo). We motored towards our place so we could drop the pick there, have lunch and then see if the engine would start - if not we could go ashore to the house!

We anchored and had a relaxing hour on the hook, but the leftover swells were abeam and could get a good roll going at times.

Then with the engine working great, we sailed for a bit in the 2 or 3 know breeze. We put up goofy, and full main and had a nice gentle sail back towards the cut, with a strong ebb helping.

Once again when needed the engine started on demand - giving weight to the theory that the problems may have been largly operator error in the past!