July 2009 Archives

While I had my friends visiting this past weekend, just after our daysail, I mentioned how we took out the dinghy for a spin. It was a real delight to explore the area a bit more with the dinghy. We took Coconut, our dinghy, over to the beach on the north side of Carolina Beach and took a closer look at the pristine protected marsh there.

On Sunday morning I took Coconut out again and went under Snow's Cut bridge and over to the Cape Fear river. I explored along the coast of the Carolina Beach State Park, and took a look at the park's nice-looking boat harbor - which is still undergoing some renovation. The entrance looks a bit small to take our catamaran through. Still, I think we'll drive over and check out the park sometime this summer. Looks like a nice park.

Here's a map showing the areas explored this weekend via Coconut:

View Dinghy Explorations in a larger map

Again, please note that the imagery for Carolina Beach Inlet in Google Maps/Earth is from the year 2002. The beach, and the inlet itself, have changed substantially since then. Read this GEB post for more details (and newer imagery).

Yesterday was actually a great sail. And, in the end, I think everyone had a good time. But, for some it was a little less fun for a while. Here's a map of the sail:

View 2009July25-Daysail in a larger map | View in Google Earth

Note: we did not cross the land as shown in Google Maps satellite imagery. Read why it looks that way.

I started out the day getting up early (like I usually do). Did some blogging and reading, and then started prepping the boat for a sail. We had my friend Andy and his wife on board already, and one of our daughters and two of her friends were planning to show up mid-morning. The weather was forecasted to be just partly cloudy, with light winds early and a nice summer breeze building late morning.

I rinsed and cleaned the windows, took off the instrument covers, inserted the chart data card, rigged the main halyard to move the dinghy, moved the dinghy to center (we keep it off-center at the back while in the marina so you can easily walk on/off the boat), put out safety equipment, configured the laptop for navigation mode, set up the GPS for track recording, checked the engines, cleaned the speed log, rigged the halyard to the main, took off the sail cover, etc. (this is a typical list of preparations before a sail)

About the time I was completing preparations, I noticed some rain clouds headed our way. Andy and his wife were enjoying some breakfast and watching the weather. Sure enough, we got a nice little shower for a few minutes. As the shower dissipated, the rest of our guests arrived. My daughter also brought her dog, so we had 6 guests. I wiped down the windows again, only to have another shower show up. Fortunately, I have this really cool squeegee that makes short work of wiping windows.

The tide was getting close to high, but there was little to no wind behind the rain. Fortunately, the weather was looking nice now that the rain cloud was out of the way. But, I waited a half hour or so looking for signs the wind was coming back. The guests were getting impatient, so we finally got ready to go. Turned off the A/C, took off the shore power, started the engines, cast the lines, and we were soon motoring out of the marina. We motored out Carolina Beach Inlet with less than 5 knots of wind. The seas were pretty calm, with just a slight swell of less than 2 feet. The winds gradually built up a few knots as we got out further, but we ended up motoring out about 4 miles before they were high enough to sail.

Before we got out that far though, my friend's wife started saying she was not feeling well. And, one of the girls also was having problems. I was really surprised because the conditions were not that bad. But, the swells were coming off the forward quarter which does make for a bit of undulating motion. We soon got the sails raised and the winds continued to rise a bit. It wasn't long before we were making 7-8 knots of speed on a nice reach.

Unfortunately, the sailing didn't seem to help those feeling bad (sometimes the sailing motion improves things). Both of those effected were feeling pretty ill. Soon they had both filled some trash bags. My daughter was getting uncomfortable too (although I think it was out of sympathy for her friend). Even the dog had problems. After a while, I decided maybe we should head back - a downwind sail might provide smoother motion. So, we tacked our way towards Masonboro Inlet a few miles north. Unfortunately, the quick change in motion when we tacked got our guests again. But, after that, the downwind sail was more comfortable.

Those of us who were really enjoying the sail, fixed up and ate some lunch while the others were laying on the trampolines near the bows of our catamaran. We were all feeling guilty enjoying ourselves so much while the rest were feeling ill. But, what can you do?

Near the inlet, we dropped the sails and motored in. The winds had built up to near 20 knots at this point. So, the seas were a bit choppy at the inlet. But, once inside the seas were calm. We had a nice motor down the ICW back to the marina. The sick ones were feeling much better on the way back. We fired up the generator and had the A/C running before we got to the marina.

We dropped our dinghy in the water before we parked so we could use it later. After we got settled and the girls left, we sat and enjoyed the A/C for a while. Then we got ready for a joy ride in the dinghy. We headed out to Carolina Beach and parked on the beach. There were dozens of cars parked on the beach (the only spot in the area where you can park on the beach). My guests were amazed at the paraphernalia - tents, jet skis, horse shoes, generators, etc. We had a nice swim and walk down the beach. We later went to the other side of the inlet and explored the fringes of the marsh.

After our second boat trip of the day, we took showers and prepared for dinner. We found a nice italian restaurant near Wrightsville Beach and had a very pleasant late dinner. We pretty much crashed after getting back to the boat. It was a great day!

This week was busy, busy, busy. On Sunday, after our postponed scuba class, I prepared for a trip to Washington, DC to attend the Moon in Google Earth launch event. Left at 5 AM to drive to DC, and spent 24 hours there. It was a great couple of events, and had lots of fun satisfying both my Google Earth interests and my space program interests. Saw both Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong (as well as all the other living Apollo astronauts) at the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing at a party put on by NASA at the National Air & Space museum (see pictures).

Things are really heating up with getting our house ready to be sold. We spent a lot of time this week working details on prepping the house. We ordered all new appliances a few weeks ago, but we had problems with wrong parts ordered and with the company which did the installation. That's resulted in further work and a lot of hassle and delays in getting the kitchen done. We also chose to make some custom changes to our cabinetry to make the kitchen look better. Finally, we need to get the new cabinetry painted and have had delays getting that done (we want to save it for last). And, that's just the kitchen!

Meanwhile, we started a campaign of cleaning out the rest of the house of everything we don't either need for the next few months, don't want to keep permanently, want to give away to charity, want to sell, or just throw away. This actually started gradually months ago, but starting two weeks ago we decided we would process 20 items every day. That has really helped accelerate the process. Our garage has started accumulating a pile of things that need further processing. We will soon start going to a flea market to sell items, sell some items on Craigslist, and make trips to donate the rest.

A good piece of news on the house front: the housing market is showing signs of improving. Maybe by the time we get the house ready we'll actually sell it quickly! That would be a relief after months of worry.

We also continue to make preparations to get our daughters set up on their own. We're having problems finding a good location for one them because she has two dogs (one being a large german-sheppard mix). That's been occupying a lot of time the last few weeks. They need their own student healthcare plans because we will soon be moving to travel healthcare plans. Having a reformed healthcare system would be handy right now. Also, I've started giving them more complete lessons on how to take care of things like auto maintenance, basic financial management, and other things going a bit beyond the usual preparations kids have when they leave on their own. Although we'll only be a satellite phone call away, we also have friends who can help them if they need assistance with something.

The maintenance kits for the heads (toilets) on Tahina arrived this week. So, I get the glorious job of repairing our slight leak on the master head this weekend. Believe it or not, I prefer that over the hassles with the house preparations!

This weekend we had a visitor (daughter of my friend Jim in Arizona), who was in town for some training for her job. She was a pleasant guest and we managed to take her down to Tahina for a visit on Friday evening and Saturday. After arriving at the boat Friday evening, we went to a nice restaurant on the beach (Ocean Grill and Tiki Bar). We walked on the beach a while after our pleasant dinner. This was our second time to the restaurant, and we enjoyed it both times.

On Saturday, I did some blogging while everyone slept in. Then, we went to the beach for a swim while waiting for the tide to rise. After lunch, we headed out through Carolina Beach Inlet and had a nice 3 hour sail (and we didn't even get lost on a deserted island - darn it!). During the sail, we had enough wind to get a bit of salt spray on the boat. So, after we got back, we rinsed down Tahina thoroughly. It was much faster with four people (my wife, daughter, our guest and myself) - it took only an hour! Soon we were packed up and headed back. We stopped first for dinner in Wilmington though. Finally back home by 10:30 PM.

On Sunday, Karen and I were scheduled to get a refresher course for our PADI diving certification. Unfortunately, they have a new process for signing forms that require my wife to get a physician to sign off. It wasn't anything new she had since last time, they just have more paperwork now. Wonderful... now we have to reschedule.

This week, we hope to get more items ordered for the boat. I also have a part coming to fix a toilet on board which started to leak recently (just a seal). We also have more projects going to get the house on the market. We're currently looking at end of August before all is ready. Much later than we planned. But, our house will look so great, we'll probably sell it in two days! (I'm not counting on it though).

He did it! Zac Sunderland, who just turned 17 a month ago, completed a solo circumnavigation by sailboat. Hundreds of fans escorted the sailor as he sailed his boat, Intrepid, the final miles into Marina Del Rey in California. He was covered by all the major news networks including CNN and BBC. And here's a nice LA Times story.

Congratulations Zac!

One of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about our trip plans is what we will do about piracy. Much fewer people seemed to be concerned about weather factors, burglary, man overboard scenarios, and maintenance issues (which are probably our greatest risks).

With regards to piracy, there are actually only a few areas of the world where piracy is a real threat. In fact, most places you go with a boat have had little or no reports of any type of crime. The people are friendly, and welcoming. That's what's so enjoyable about cruising!

The biggest threat of modern piracy is actually to large ships (the worst being off the coast of Somalia - which is widely reported in the press). The Somalia pirates are much more interested in multi-million dollar ransoms for ship cargos than trying to raid smaller cruising yachts. Regardless, the areas where pirates operate are well documented - and the easiest step is to avoid traveling in those areas.

I try to describe it this way to people who are unfamiliar with sailing: If you were visiting a large city, it's always prudent to avoid the sections of town which are known to have violent crimes. The same thing applies to your sailing route. If frequent crime is reported in a certain harbor or country - you just don't go there. Instead, we visit the places which welcome visitors and provide services to make life easier for sailing cruisers.

The bigger concern, from a crime standpoint, is actually burglary, or near-coastal boardings. Dinghy thefts (more often for the outboard motors than the boats) are the most common. But, there are also places where "cat burglars" have been known to swim out to boats at anchor and board your boat while you are sleeping and take money and other valuables. Once again, knowing the local areas is valuable. There's a web site called Noonsite, which lists all kinds of information on piracy and boating incidents involving burglary and other crimes, along with much other valuable information, organized by country.

We do take precautions on our boat regarding crime (locks for our dinghy and its outboard motor), security alarms and cameras on the boat, carry credit cards in favor of cash, several forms of communication (to alert authorities) while at sea, and a few forms of personal security. And, we will prudently check for reports of crime/piracy before each passage and before choosing each destination. Crime is always a concern (both on land, and while traveling). Prudent travel decision making and preparations can help for all, but the most random and violent crimes.

Our biggest concerns on the trip is properly forecasting weather and being prepared for bad weather, keeping up with the maintenance, being prepared for equipment failures, and personal safety during passages (particularly avoiding man overboard incidents). Fortunately, all of these issues (except freak weather incdidents), can be addressed with proper preparations and equipment.

One concern we have with piracy: making sure we have proper pirate costumes for the parties we're always reading about!

Zac Sunderland is about to be the youngest person to complete a solo-circumnavigation by sail boat (see his web site). He left on June 14, 2008 at 16 years of age, and within a few days will enter the history books. I've been following Zac off and on during the last year. His web site currently is using a combination of both Google Maps and the Google Earth plugin to show his position and route. Another sailor friend of mine (Chris with S/V Billabong) has created some nifty mapping gadgets and has used his tools to show Zac's position (along with another instance of Zac's blog). I'd like to hear what some of you think about these two different mapping interfaces, since we will need something to show Tahina's position as we go along.

Going back to Zac, I wish him fair winds for his final few days. He's currently preparing to tack for California off the coast of Baja in light winds. He is expecting to arrive sometime next week. A solo circumnavigation is very challenging, and it is a major accomplishment for a person of any age. Especially hard if you attempt to complete the route quickly (he has been gone just over 1 year). But, particularly amazing for someone so young. He is already getting major media attention (see recent People magazine article). I'm sure he will be all over the media next week.

This past week, I had some discussions with a boat insurance agent for the coming year. An important item on the list was when the hurricane season ends for the insurer we will use. End of hurricane season for that provider is October 31. This means we can leave as early as late-October/early-November. Our first destination will be Bermuda. This will be to position ourselves for a southward passage to the leeward islands in the Caribbean. The more direct route via the Bahamas is not a good route for sailboats because you would be beating into the eastward tradewinds.

This means we have less than four months to be ready for departure. We have a lot of work left to do! There are still several significant equipment upgrades to be made on the boat: new radios (SSB, satellite comm), new onboard computer and networking, new anchor and longer rode, more safety equipment, decorations, tools, spares, cameras, etc. We also have a long list of household matters (mail handling, bill paying, arranging for storage for items we're keeping, selling everything we're not keeping (including the house and cars), moving our DVD collection to a digital archive, and the list goes on, and on.