Contents

Introduction
Plans versus Intentions
Classes
Boating Projects

Dinghy
Mainsail
Cockpit Cushions
Cabin Sole
Refrigerator
Roller Furler
Engine and Generator
Deck Leaks
Interior

Cruises

Memorial Day/ Slow Boat Cruise
Ocracoke
Long Summer Cruise
Cape Lookout
The Pirate Cruise

Introduction

It’s been a while since we’ve updated the website and I’ve made some changes. The format of the journal has been changed to allow for multiple sections, with the newest section on top. We have also added a section on recommended books and websites. There are even links you can use to purchase these books from Amazon.com.

Plans versus Intentions

I read that sailors should never make plans - only intentions, and the 2007 sailing season proved that to be true. We had scheduled our vacation time to coincide with several of the Raleigh Sail and Power Squadron cruises. We did not make one of them as planned, although we did have some fun times on the boat. We also made some improvements to Questeria and got some work done. We have also been reading books and taking classes on boating.

Classes

Since purchasing the boat we have taken classes the following classes from the Raleigh Sail and Power Squadron:

• Boat Smart
• Seamanship
• Piloting
• Engine Maintenance
• Cruise Planning
• Advanced Piloting
• Sailing
• Weather

Ron will take Marine Electronics in Fall of 2008 and then we will both take a break from classes for a while. You can see a list of books that we have been reading from the main page of our website.

Boating Projects

Once again we have proved to ourselves that B.O.A.T. stands for “Bring Out Another Thousand”. Since we returned from pulling Questeria to paint the bottom and replace the rigging, we have made many improvements and repairs.

Dinghy

We patched and painted the dinghy and made some repairs to the motor.

Mainsail

We bought a new mainsail and had it modified so it didn’t hit the bimini top.

Cockpit Cushions

We had new cockpit cushions made, by Fran’s Aunt Rachel.

Cabin Sole

We bought new teak and holly sole to replace the blue indoor-outdoor carpeting in the main salon.

Here are some before and after pictures. The before is actually after we pulled up the blue carpet.

Refrigerator

We bought a new marine refrigerator to replace the old Kenmore dorm fridge.

Roller Furler

We bought a roller furler, and had to have the head sail modified because the luff tape on it was not a standard size.

Here is a picture taken by Harry from the top of the mast.

Engine and Generator

We also made some repairs to the engine and generator, although the generator is still not working.

Deck Leaks

And all this time we have been working to stop deck leaks and fix the water damage that these leaks have caused (buying lots of caulk and screws).

Interior

Much of the interior has water damage from deck leaks. (Somebody told me that Irwins came from the factory leaking). So anyway we have pulled out a lot of bad wood. We are replacing the plywood and teak striped walls with tongue and groove teak and adding insulation while we’re at it. For cabinets, we are replacing plywood with starboard. We have also purchased some teak veneer for the other walls.

Cruises

We had lots of plans intentions to go cruising in 2007. Some worked out great and others, not so great, but they were all better than working in an office.

Memorial Day/ Slow Boat Cruise

25-May-07 – Great plans; we get to the boat early Friday and go to West Marine & Harris Teeter for some last minute provisions. We plan to leave at 0800 to meet RSPS at Moorhead City Yacht Basin. From there we go to Cape Lookout on Sunday. On Monday we head to South River, but pick up Alicia in Oriental first. Then we head to Ocracoke for three nights, then anchor out for Fran’s birthday and head back to Northwest Creek Marina on Sunday.

26-May-07 - We wake up at 0630 and realize that we had forgotten to buy bread and hamburger/hotdog buns. We go to Food Lion, and then we get back and hook up the computer and get the sails ready. Ron starts the engine to let it warm up, but it overheats. It looks like the freshwater system. We go to Napa, get a new thermostat and replace it. It still overheats.

We will call Coastal Diesel on Tuesday.

We spend the next few days working on our new teak and holly sole. Alicia shows up and helps us apply a few coats of finish. We waste a couple days waiting for Coastal Diesel to show up.

31-May-07 – By now it’s Thursday and Coastal Diesel finally shows up and cleans the heat exchanger. When trying it out the engine died because the fuel pump was disconnected from the generator. Walter plugged it and then bled the air out of the system. We get it running by using ether.

We leave the marina at 1410, planning on anchoring in South River for the night and then to Cape Lookout. Shortly underway, the CO detector goes off. It is new, so we think everything might be okay, since we are out in the cockpit. Then we start to see smoke in the engine room. At first we think that the new paint on the engine is burning, but at 1530 we realize the engine exhaust is leaking from the riser. We are at 34° 58.6’ N, 76° 53.6’ W. We shut off the engine and sail most of the way to Upper Broad Creek 35° 03.9 N, 76° 56.5’ W at 1845. We shut down the engine and open a beer. Tomorrow we will take the insulation off of the riser and see what we can see.

On 1-June-07 we get up early and take some sunrise pictures.

We look at the exhaust and discover that the elbow is cracked. We try to put it together the best we can and then slowly motor back to the marina. We get there at 1350 and air out the cabin.

Ocracoke

On 15-June-07 we get to the boat around 2200. We had been there the previous weekend and had put in the new cabin sole. Walter had replaced the exhaust pipe and everything had looked good. We had plenty of provisions for our week long cruise with Greg and Erika.

Greg and Erika arrive the next morning and we are ready to go. We start up the engine and ten minutes later it over heats. We turn it off, check everything, but don’t see any obvious problems. We start it up again and it seems fine.

At 1630 we put up the sails and turn off the engine. It starts to rain and its getting late so we motor sail to South River. We drop the anchor at 2045.

On 17-June-07 we pull the anchor at 0945 and head to Ocracoke. During the day the wind is nonexistent so we motor sail. The wind picks up just as we near the channel so we drop the sails and motor in. We anchor in Silver Lake at 1900.

The next morning we dinghy into the National Park Service dock and walk around. We meet Tom and Lloyd and decide to tie up to the dock in front of them.

We spend the next three days enjoying the island. We rent bikes and go to the beach. We try out some of the restaurants and shopping. We even get to go inside of the lighthouse.

On 21-June-07 we pull away from the Park Service Marina at 0815 and head back towards the Neuse River. At 0900 we put up the sails, but keep the engine running. At 1100 we alter course and turn off the engine. Seas are about 1 foot. At 1330 the wind drops to 0 knots and we motor the rest of the way to South River. We drop the anchor at 1800.

We dinghy over to the cemetery and discover there is not enough mosquito repellent in the state of NC for that place.

The next morning we pull anchor at 1049 and arrive at the fuel dock at 1645 with a combination of wind and engine power. We say goodbye to Erika and Greg and spend some time visiting the D27 rendezvous in New Bern.

The Long Summer Cruise

27-July-07 – The plan is to go on the RSPS Long Summer Cruise; New Bern to South River, to Dowery Creek (Bellhaven), to Manteo, to Englehard, to Ocracoke and then back to New Bern.

We take off Thursday night and drive to the marina. On Saturday we discover that our drain plug for our dinghy is missing. We make a trip to West Marine to get a replacement, and then Harris Teeter to buy some fresh tuna for dinner.

We get everything ready and leave the marina at 1500. We have good wind so we put up the sails and turn off the engine. We make 4-6 knots under sail. We see some bad storms so we take down the sails as a precaution, since we have no reefing system. We see only a bit rain and drop anchor in South River at 1930.

The next morning we wake up at 0600 and get ready for our trip to Dowry Creek Marina. The weather looks great. We pull the anchor and leave by 0700. Winds are not cooperating and we do not use the jib because we are sailing close into the wind.

Everything is going well until 1100 when the engine cuts off. Fran immediately drops the anchor. It will not restart. We call Sea Tow and wait. While we are waiting, the weather changes from good to terrible. There is thunder, lightning, rain, hail and 50 knot gusts of wind. Ron stays on deck to make sure we don’t drag. The Sea Tow guy comes (soaking wet) and we replace the fuel filter. But it will not start, even when we try jumping it. He tows us to Oriental Harbor Marina. We tie up at 1800. By now the wind is blowing at 15-20 knots.

The next day is Sunday and everything is closed. Ron diagnoses the problem as a bad solenoid on the starter. We remove the old one and wait until the stores open on Monday morning.

On Monday morning Fran’s mom comes and picks us up. She is amazed at all the new construction since she was last there.

Our first stop is Sail Craft, but they say it will be 1-2 days before we can get a part. Then we go to NAPA in Alliance. They find a matching part for $42. We stop a few places and buy some fruit and other items. They we go back the marina, put in the solenoid and start the engine. We plan to go to Ocracoke and wait there for the rest of the group on Saturday.

31-July-07 – The alarm clock does not go off at 0600. We wake up at 0650 and it is stormy outside. We check the weather and finally leave at 0945. When we get out into the Neuse River the seas are 2-3 feet and the winds are 30 knots. We decide to head to South River. We make it to South River at 1130. The wind is still blowing 15-20 knots. We relax the rest of the day.

1-Aug-07 – We think about sailing to Ocracoke, but the winds aren’t ideal and we are lazy so we stay where we are. We piddle around and read. We make some lines so we can reef the mainsail and then we figure out a way we can do it using the winch for the center board. Oh, the center board decided it would like to be down today. I think the center board is connected to the alarm clock; they both work only when they want to.

2-Aug-07 – We wake up at 0500 and it is foggy, so we sleep until 0615. There is no wind in South River. We motor out and the wind is blowing from the SW. We decide it will take too long to sail to Ocracoke this way so we head to Broad Creek.

We motor in to Broad Creek, but don’t know where to anchor, so we decide to make lunch and head back to South River.

We sail back all the way to South River. As we approach R “2” we slow down, so Ron starts the engine just to maneuver in the channel. Then we keep it in neutral. We anchor under sail at 1500.

3-Aug-07 – There is no wind in South River when we wake up. We decide to head back to the marina. We start motoring at 1030. It rains a little bit before we get very far. Later we put up the sails and turn off the engine. After dawdling around at 2.5 knots, we realize that the holding tank is full. It is now too late to make it to the marina for a pump out, so we anchor in Upper Broad Creek at 1730.

We now know that the holding tank vents into the front head. We clean up the mess and use the port-a-potty.

The next morning we motored back to the marina, pumped the holding tank, dumped the port-a-potty and filled diesel tank.

Cape Lookout

3-Sep-07 - We plan to spend a week anchored in Cape Lookout bight. First we will anchor in Cedar Creek and head down Adam’s Creek to Cape Lookout. We spend Saturday and Sunday at the marina getting the boat ready. We get the dinghy motor running and after messing around we get the generator running. We leave the marina at 1140 and head for Adam’s Creek. At first there is no wind, but then there is 20-28 knots blowing right at us. We put up the mainsail and then the jib, but it is too much so we take the jib down and motor sail on a tack all the way to Cedar Creek anchorage in Adam’s Creek. We drop the anchor at 1740.

The next day we get up at 0600 and there is a half moon directly overhead. We see a tug pulling a bunch of barges with dredging equipment. It must be over 200 yards long. After that we watch the sun rise. We pull anchor at 0840 and head for Cape Lookout. Starting out there is no wind, but when we get farther we are heading into 20 knot winds.

We hear a weather report for Cape Lookout that calls for NE winds 10-15 knots. We read about Cape Lookout not being sheltered from NE winds so we change our plans and turn around and head for South River.

We get to South River at 1720. After dinner we fire up the generator, but it overheats after about 5 minutes. We decide to make an early trip to Ocracoke.

5-Sep-07 – We wake up at 0600 and partially pull the anchor. We try to start the engine, but it won’t crank. After investigating, we discover that a battery cable has come loose. We tighten it and the engine starts right up.

We get underway at 0800. The weather report is sounding like it may be rough coming back on Friday or Saturday. At 1200 we hear an updated weather report and decide to go back to South River so we won’t have to deal with rough seas in Pamlico Sound. We drop anchor in South River at 1655.

6-Sep-07 – Today we stay in South River and clean the bottom of the boat. There are few barnacles on the hull, but the propeller is loaded. We spend the rest of the day putzing around. Around 2130 the inverter alarm goes off. We start the engine and run it until 2300.

7-Sep-07 – Today we decide to take Questeria sailing after a slow, relaxing start. At 1306 we pull the anchor and head to the Neuse River. The winds are East from 10-25 knots. We are thinking of going to Oriental and then hear that a tropical storm is forming and will most likely head towards NC. We decide to head to Upper Broad Creek. We motor sail most of the way so our batteries get a chance to charge. We drop the anchor at 1913, right after sunset.

8-Sep-07 – There is a tropical storm watch for NC coast. sub-tropical storm Gabriel is heading West towards NC. We pull the anchor at 0800 and head to NWC marina.

This trip did not go as planned, but it was a nice break from work.

The Pirate Cruise

We plan to join the Raleigh Sail and Power Squadron in South River for the annual Pirate Cruise. It was November 3 and the only NC hurricane of the year comes up the off the coast. We think it is too windy to leave the marina. Later that day, the winds subside, but it is too late to get to South River from New Bern.