An Inn off the Battery.
Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 6:30AM:
This of spit of land provided a very nice photo op and then I made kinda B & W.
Wed 8/26/2009 The winds were light - but it didn't matter. We simply HAD to get away from the dock. With new sails installed, sika fully cured, and my triathlon now OVER -- we headed out of the Patapsco River. Our destination would be Hart Miller Island for an overnight rendezvous with fellow CAT travel companions Becky & Bob & family on "Our White Magic".
only accessable via boat. I kayaked to shore to get a bit of endorphins...and in the evening watched the setting sun. We dinghed to Our White Magic for delightful conversation....to finish a perfect day.
Thursday 8/27/2009: With the winds picking up - it was time to bring up the anchors, and sail somewhere. Anywhere. Annapolis was selected as the destination. We started sailing to some robust speeds...when suddenly we slowed as if we were dragging anchor. And we were. Well, not our anchor...but we caught the line of a crabpot.
The winds were delightful - making a perfect sailing day. We re-convened with Our White Magic - and dropped anchors just off of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Just in time too - as monohull sailors who had spent the day racing - returned to port. They made sure we noticed their sail handling skills, as they sailed within inches of our bow and stern...as if our boats didn't even exist. It was quite entertaining. By now, we are exhausted, and opt to crash early.
What started out as a minor "CLEW" repair, morphed into needing new sails. The clew, is the end of the main sail, that attaches to the stern end of the boom. It looked like the attachment had worn out...but apparently the entire sail had no life left in her.
Months ago, when researching HOW to install acrylic windows with SIKA 295UV - Captain Pat ended up having a conversation with the Sika Eastern Seaboard Tech Rep. aka...Mr. Sika himself.
Monday 7/27 Oh My!I’ve known Captain Bill for years. He has done hundreds of east coast deliveries, many east coast to the islands, the islands to the east coast, and one trans-Atlantic delivery. He is levelheaded, even tempered, completely competent, and has every quality required for a captain on a long offshore trek. Together we made a late September delivery from Hilton Head Island to Annapolis. That particular boat was a circa 80’s Mason 44 cutter rigged sloop. If I was going to have a tippy boat this one would be on my list. The Mason sailed very nicely and stood up well to a blow. The only thing I didn’t like about the Mason 44 was the weird off center companion way leading from the cockpit to the salon, the settee seating wasn’t very comfortable for sleeping, and with a full keel maneuverability in tight spaces is not so good. Otherwise, the Mason is a great boat.
This delivery is of a 45 ton 65 foot ketch built in 1981 named Lady Magdaline. Lady "M" for short. We will soon discover "M" stands for "Malfunction". Or maybe "Meltdown". You decide. Anyway, it is a custom one-off. The construction is stainless steel mesh re-enforced fiberglass. Say that five times too fast only if you have your health insurance card firmly in hand. The boat is in Fort Pierce, Fl and the destination is New Rochelle, NY.The owner returns and says, “Just cut the lines and leave them behind.” Captain Bill isn’t sure he has shifted the boats starboard engine into gear and struggles with it until it seems to be thrusting. The crew in a pirate-like fashion takes rigging knives to the dock lines and Lady "M" is free.
It is very beautiful night will a haze over Fort Pierce as it slowing slips below the horizon and the sun drenched afternoon fades to night. Captain Bill charted a series of GPS waypoints which followed the historic average center of the Gulf Stream. I set a rhumb-line course to Cape Hatteras and Captain Bill requests a course change stating that we need as much of an advantage as we can get with this boat.
Wednesday 7/29 Just Chillin'
We have food freezing in a Styrofoam container which has about 10 pounds of dry ice in it. The food prep plan is that breakfast and lunch you are to prepare your own meal but for dinner preparation each evening it is performed by a different person.Thursday 7/30. Lady "M" melts down
Sometime during the day I went down to use the head and noticed that water was running into the bowl. There was water on the floor of head and I couldn’t get it to stop running. I activated the foot peddle and eventually the water stopped.
I wear Keen brand deck shoes which have a closed toe and four leather straps which meet where there would be a tongue and the straps are laced together. The foot lever of the VacuFlush toilet should spring back into a closed position but the spring seems to be broken and the foot lever catches my shoe in such a way that I have to remove my shoe from my foot and then get on all fours to free the shoe from the toilet flushing lever.
Sitting in the cockpit we review the situation. We have rotting food in the AC refrigerator, no fresh water cleaning or for flushing the head, and problematic engine controls.
Mike says, “Life lines.” Very true, the life lines are corroded and some of stanchion tops are separating. That’s right; I haven’t mentioned that Mike has lashed some of the life lines to stanchions with 1/8 inch nylon.
Kyle says, “Leaving the inlet in Ft. Pierce." This proclaimation qualifies him as the smartest guy on the boat.
Captain Bill doesn’t think we will have time to make New Rochelle and is calculating the days including a stop in Beaufort. He thinks we can make Sandy Hook, NJ on Tuesday. We all agree and a course is set for Beaufort.
Being on watch now simply means to monitor the course of the boat and the wind, provide a lookout for any ships and remain tethered at all times. Do not fall off the boat as there is literally no way to execute a rescue.
At the top of my 0400 shift we make the determination that it is time for our last jibe westerly. This tack should put us approximately at the Sea buoy off of Beaufort. Sea buoy “BM” is the rendezvous point with TowBoatUS. We hear the call from TowBoatUS at 0430 hours and they are planning to put a crew together and be off the dock by 0730. We rendezvous before 0900 with TowBoatUS. The foredeck is cleared of sails and any running rigging. They pass over of a bridle at the end of long length of blue Amsteel.
Tow boat is having a hell of a time keeping Lady "M" on track. The strain on the line is tremendous and in the process the bridle is broken three times until we’re down to the Amsteel only.
Finally TowBoatUS has us behind the protected waters of the natural jetty of Beaufort harbor. TowBoatUS begins the process of setting a hip-tow. The tow boat captain says, “That thing is some kinda ghost ship. Goes where it wants when it wants. I’ve been doing this for quite a while and have never had to call the Coast Guard for assistance. I'll tell ya, this is not my first time at the rodeo. Yes sir that there is a real Ghost ship.”
Tidewater Marina is located in a quiet industrial section of Baltimore - where the landmark highlights appear to be a cruise line pier, the Baltimore Sun, Walmart and Nicks Fish House.
And, in the meantime - the food at Nicks Fish House was fantastic!
As we departed from the Docks of Anchorage Marina with our big blue tarp draped over the windowless portals of the salon - the skies and waterways were a buzz with police copters and inflatable dinghies. Sure enough a B'more body was missing - and a massive search was underway in the harbor.
ed the "Farm" to the port stern rail. 12 plants including tomatoes, green peppa's and basil housed in a topsy-turvy would be traveling with us. I taught Emma and Mike a few line handling skills while still at dock, and by 11AM, we had departed our port - for destination Annapolis. The winds were 10-15knots from the south - not ideal for the direction we were headed, but we had the full day ahead of us - so tacking a lot was not an issue. OK, physically, it was an issue. My wimpy arms felt like they were going to fall off from all of the winching of the gib sail. For Mike, heave-ho brought on new meaning. Mike spent the rest of the day trying to win the battle over motion sickness.
Now we have about $1,800.00 in parts and the bigger number is the labor. If this project had just been to replace the windlass with a new windlass of the same make and model the project would have taken about a day. In this case we had to completely dis-assemble the old windlass, do deck work, create a new deck mount, dry-fit, and completely re-wire a new system.
There are two yards in this area that I would trust with a job like this, one is Tidewater Yacht Service in Baltimore and the other is Georgetown Yacht Basin. This is basically a one person job and the yards charge that at approximately $100.00/hour. So roughly speaking about $1,000.00/day. This is a 7 or 8 day job so I'll estimate 7 days labor. BOOOOM. BOAT! Break-Out-Another-Thousand. So the grand total for a yard to do this job is nearly $10,000.00.
This a very smooth functioning windlass and Maxwell makes it pretty easy to maintain. The capstan and gypsy can be used independently by using a winch handle to relieve the clutch tension.
We tested this installation by paying out all the chain. The counter shows that we have about 140' of 10mm chain. I'm thinking that we should add some line rode which we can now do because the gypsy will accept 10mm chain and 5/8" rode, but we'll save that for another day later in the summer and only if it appears that we will be heading south for the winter.
We'll be testing this installation over the summer.
Next project? W I N D O W S! We think that's next and have made some discoveries about this problem...
This installation will have a chain counter, foot switches on deck, and an activation switch in the chain locker. But the parts currently look like this:
ed, I scanned the waterways for Captain Jane's (and husband Chris) sailboat. Nothing. The winds were light, so maybe they were delayed. We waited...and waited. I noticed a cigarette boat off in the distance, but no sailboat.
r a table. More stares from passerbys. I guess we just have that boat look. Ordered some food, and had a delightful eve with our high-speed friends. A quick stop at the restroom before boat departure...and YIKES....who is that in the mirror?
After a winter in Baltimore, or for no other apparent reason, our automatic anchor windlass has decided to act up. The windlass is a motor that turns the chain holding the anchor...allowing either the anchor to get dropped into the water....or to bring it back on deck. Our best guess, is that the bearings are jammed or corroded, preventing the chain from dispensing.
We walk away realizing that we have just landed a new job. It's called the "boat window replacement job". An "art fix" is required to get started. I take a walk into Fells Point and stare at urban art. Creative juices start flowing.
When the local weather forecast began predicting 60 mph winds for the last day of 2008, I was somewhat skeptical. The weather weasels were mostly wrong about their forecasts. Whenever the forecasts were for severe winds, we might get 15 knot wind gusts at best. Alternately, when the forecasts call for calm skies -- it is THESE forecasts, that produces the weather drama - tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, high-octane winds, you name it. I'm thinking my next career will be predicting weather by suggesting the opposite of the mainstream meterologist...
...all stations....this is Cat Maudy with a mariner alert on Channel 16 for the Chesapeake Bay....there's a new captain in town....OVER?
PASSED my OUPV (Operator of Un-inspected Passenger Vessel 6-Pack) exam. whew! Within a few weeks, once all forms have been completed...I'll be submitting paperwork to the USCG for my official Captain's License. And, maybe get that pay raise too?
Bracing for high winds, cold temperatures and rain, topped off with a cracked salon window, meant we needed to protect the salon from the weather. We purchased the largest blue tarp sold by Home Depot, "Big Blu", and spent the afternoon trying to tie it down. Big challenge. Our first big test was just hours away. A cold front was moving in bringing 50 knot gusts.
The weather has begun to change. We're seeing more and more days of 40 knot winds out of the north. Temperatures are getting down into the 30's at night, and 50s and 60s during the day. Daylight hours are less. The jellyfish are disappearing, and those few that remain seem to float without purpose. Hot, homemade soups become standard fare in the galley. Kitties, Earl and Soxy, insist on sharing a warm body. Our 20 watt salon heater is running 24/7...and I find myself spending more time in the salon wrapped in blankets, and less time down in the unheated hulls. 
Irregardless of the cooler days and chilly nights, we wake up every morning, rocked by the gentle waves of the Patapsco River. Being "on" the water, a sense of calmness prevails over the daily work schedules and routine tasks. We are 'one' with the weather, tapping into solar and wind power, adding new lines or adjusting fenders when gale force winds try to push Cat Maudy around. The images thru the hatches constantly change. We can watch barges and commercial ships, the Amistad Freedom Schooner, coast guard and tug boats, and connect with other sailors who dock or anchor near our cat. As the weather gets colder, and Cat Maudy remains at dockside for the winter - it's all good...
...Cat Maudy's panoramic port side salon window develops a seismic crack. I love to meet people, work with them, solve their business and technology problems and walk away at the end of the day knowing that my clients are satisfied. Designing software business solutions is what we do for a living, and there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of keeping clients year after year, and making their business lives a little bit easier. Unfortunately, not all companies tackle customer service with the same zest. Meet Chesapeake Rigging.
Despite what your local politician or news media may tell you, a "fishkill" is not a natural phenom. There is a reason why the fish die "all at once". Lack of oxygen in the water. So here you have it, one fine day in the Baltimore Harbor, when the smell becomes wretched, and suddenly fish appear on the surface (including eels - which are supposto be the most resiliant!). Algae fed by excessive nitrogen (from fertilizer to get that dark green lawn, and fertilizer run-off from farms) - ends up in the water, and sucks out all of the oxygen...leaving the fish to die by the thousands.
help!
Departed the Baltimore Harbor at 9AM along with a fleet of Schooner Sailors - who were enroute to the start of the annual Schooner Race, just south of the Bay Bridge on the Chesapeake Bay. We were accompanied by our friends Dan Gliona and Randy Santos. The winds were light and out of the south, so it would be a 3 hour motor-sail to the Bay Bridge. Three hours at 6 knots of speed, gave us plenty of time to trade stories about eating healthy, getting fit, losing weight, eating 5-6 times a day and with all this talk of FOOD....it was time to FEAST! While Randy captured hundreds of photos, the remaining time was spent eating multiple helpings of fruit-veggie salad, BBQ chicken, fresh apples, pasta, tabouli - and a special "sail-mix" consisting of cashew nuts & dried cherries.
OK, back to the Schooner Race. It was a rather confusing start. Schooners appeared to be moving in all different directions.... Every time we heard the RACE HORNS go off - it didn't appear that the sailors were moving toward any goal. What are they waiting for? A few minutes later, another RACE HORN blast...and still no synchronized movement other than mass confusion from these multi-masted yachts. Maybe we could get closers to the yacht-ies, so that Randy could snag some good pictures? We maneuvered to a very nice spot of open water - with no other boats within yards of us - and close proximity to the schooners. Did I say this was a VERY nice spot? Maybe a little TOO nice? The Coast Guard was now heading our way. You guessed it - we had to move. We were positioned directly on the starting line.
...We motor/sailed north up the Chesapeake bay to mostly calm seas - and a light northerly breeze. It must have been an excellent day for fishing - because anyone who owned a fishing pole and had access to a boat - was either anchored or trolling. I thought about making use of our new fishing pole - but somehow we had managed to misplace the only lure that we owned (a Wahoo Wacker) - so there would be no fishing on Cat Maudy today.... Read More
...the Coast Guard boats came chasing after us. It appears, that the nice protection from winds close to shore, put us into a military "TARGET RANGE" (no trespassing zone) - and within 20 minutes the TARGET area would be surrounded by fighter jets who would be shooting at targets in the water. Come on guys….give a first matie a break here? Do you really need to shoot at the water right now? Can't you see there's a lot more wave action out in the middle of the bay?... Read More
...The crabpot was wrapped around the port engine prop -- along with a basket of crabs far below. We had actually sailed, dragging a crabpot wrapped around the engine prop for nearly 10 miles. Captain Pat had it in his head that the only way to set the crabpot free -- would be for him to dive under the boat - in cold Chesapeake Bay waters - and cut it free. As First Mate, I did my best to try to talk him out of this idea, but I was overruled by the Cap. We needed to make the best of this.... Read More
...The swells and waves continued to increase in size and intensity. I no longer looked at the apparent wind gauge. I just didn't want to know. The swells were far bigger than our boat - and I remember trying to focus on the horizon - only to be able to see land when we were at the wave crests, and not be able to see anything but water when we were at the trough... Read More
...Waiting on weather and taking in the sights in Georgetown SC. Many houses have both a street number and a DATE (like 1765 or 1810)…the oak trees are ancient (we met the State Champion Oak Tree -- nearly 600 years old!)…there are little landmark signs just about everywhere explaining either some American Revolution, Plantation or Civil War artifact. Georgetown can boast one of the few remaining working steel mills left in the US... Read More
...As we approached the Winyah Bay shipping channel -- we would be navigating thru a tricky entrance. The shipping channel was quite narrow PLUS it was surrounded by underwater jetty's….so you really cannot veer off course. Tides, currents and wave action would make this a bit of a challenge. It was time to change directions with a 90 turn to port in order to enter the channel. I was inside the salon calling out the headings….when I realized that something was wrong. Pat was at the helm turning the wheel frantically. "We have no steering" he yelled out…. Read More
...Waiting on weather to depart Charleston SC. Since my last boat entry, we have managed to experience some interesting weather in Charleston. Let's start with the tornado on Saturday, 3/15. On the prior day, Friday, tornadoes had done some hefty damage to Atlanta GA -- but Atlanta seemed so far away from us. It just wasn't on my radar. Born-n-raised in upstate NY -- we don't have tornados... Read More
40-50 degrees, overcast, rainy, and windy pretty much describes Charleston SC in February. Time to make the best of this dockside weather - by long walks along the peninsula, locate all the best sushi restaurants, watch the amazing sweetgrass basket weavers on Market Street, and become a tourista! Read More
In late October ‘07 when we discovered that the sprit stay was terribly unlayed, we sailed to Annapolis to have Chesapeake Rigging make the necessary repairs. This repair went really well but in the process they found that the forestay tang was compromised and that also needed repair. The problem then was scheduling the job. Chesapeake Rigging couldn’t do the job before we left for Charleston so we just put it off. We thought that the weather during the southern sail wouldn’t stress it any further. Wrong. Read more
I was "ok" with not being in the "Cat Maudy goes south story". After all, someone has to hold down the biz… Pat was departing with Captain Tim and crew on Cat Maudy at 6pm on Friday in 40 degree temperatures and a persistent drizzle of rain. The plan? They would sail all night to Norfolk….spend the next night at anchor…and then sail south via the ocean for the remaining 3 days. Projected arrival into Charleston SC was Tuesday am. Got it? That was the 'plan'. Read More
It was the day after Thanksgiving. After 4 long agonozing months of paperwork, land surveys, sea surveys, financial approvals, Swiss boat documentation transfer to US, wire transfers PLUS actual work on the boat (bottom job, install electric, get the heads to work...just to name a few.....before , Cat Maudy was ours to sail. We had just enough time to sail out of Georgetown Yacht Basin on the Sassafras River, to Baltimore Harbor - before it was time to winterize the boat. But, Cat Maudy was now ours to re-hab. She is in pretty rough shape cosmetically, needs to be upgraded to US standards (previous Swiss ownership, original owners & 2nd owners of Cat Maudy both Swiss), new solar panels and dingy davits will need to be installed, batteries replaced, running rigging replaced, power needs to be installed, the heads need to work...and the list goes on and on. But, Cat Maudy was structurally sound (as indicated by the marine surveyor), and would make for an incredible sailing vessel...once the long list of "to do's" had been checked off. Pat was ready to tackle her challenges...after all Pat had built a Wharram catamaran from scratch, successfully sailed it for 3 years on Lake Michigan, so he was the "man" for the job. We would soon discover, that it didn't take very long, before we could live aboard, and start cruising.
