Day Two Solo

Hey, just what I needed more things to write about. Who knew “May your life be full of stories” was a curse?
Anyway. I woke up around three thirty and dumped my porta-potty at the park bathhouse, which wasn’t wholly unpleasant. Just mostly.
At 9 am I decided I’d spent enough time here, and that I should go on to Cape Vincent for an ATM and a Laundromat. When I pulled away from the dock there was a little breeze helping me along out of Long Bay. When I got into Chaumont bay there was a good breeze, but nothing I couldn’t handle. By the time I got half way down the Island the waves were at least three feet and the wind twenty knots at least. When it gusted to thirty and I couldn’t tack I decided that today was a bad day to be out, and as I turned around I watched in amazement as the knot meter rose from 2 to 4, to 6, and leveled off at around six and a quarter knots… Hull speed… It was a hairy ride from there back to the park, but it was not over yet. I still had to dock. I dropped sail in the lee of some trees and just as I motored past them the wind hit again, heeling the boat almost five degrees with no sail up whatsoever. When I finally reached the dock I put Jackson in neutral, letting the boat coast in, being slowed by the wind, but the wind was too much and I had to goose the throttle. And As I did so Cassandra’s bow banged into the rub strip on the dock’s edge. Nothing was damaged. As I brought her alongside I stepped off with a bow and stern line to hold her. As I bent down to tie off the bow line the wind gusted, blowing the bow away. Then it caught the stern. So there I am leaning with all my weight against these ropes, straining to keep my boat from blowing away. And as soon as the bow line went slack I wrapped it over a cleat and began hauling the stern in. After five minutes of wrestling with it Cassandra was tied off and Jackson sat on her stern purring softly. Well, at least I got one thing fixed…
… in time to break another.
I was tired of having water drip on my chest every night it rains. And since I’ve caulked the daylights out of the portlight, it can’t be leaking. So, the next obvious cause is the handrail. Which I decided to rebed last night at seven thirty or so. So, I get the thing off, scrub the deck where it was growing moss and mildew, and go to put it back on, only to realize that the bolts were cut when it was first installed, so I can’t get the nuts to thread back on. Long story short, I manage to break the thing in half trying to fix it. By ten thirty I finally have it all back together, rebedded, and epoxied where I broke it. It’s supposed to rain tonight, so I’ll know if it worked soon enough.

Day One Solo

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting at Long Point State Park for the third day in a row waiting on the winds. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let’s start with the beginning (a very good place to start). Christine left on Saturday at Sackets Harbor. I bought some head sanitizer at West Marine to kill the stench from the porta-potty and a new rigging knife to replace the one I lost at Fair Point. I also decided to buy a pool raft and paddle to use as a sort of dinghy to get away when I’m trapped at anchor. Anyways, after spending the night at the dock in Sackets Harbor I spent the morning viewing some of the historic sites waiting for the marina to open so I could have Jackson looked after. Well, I got sick of waiting and decided to sail off to Chaumont Bay and anchor for the night. I was rather impressed with myself when I motored away from the dock. Not a bump or a scrape or a scramble. Everything went better than I’d expected. Half way to Chaumont Bay the wind died and I had to motor, but Jackson was running fine so I didn’t mind. I motored into Long Bay, took one look at the docks and decided it was easier to anchor.
With the winds forecast from the South West I decided that I would be safe anchored on the West end of Chaumont Bay. I backed the boat down on the anchor, and tried out my little pool raft to make sure I had a good set. The anchor was in and the raft worked well. I could board from the swim ladder without even getting wet. Well, during the night the winds picked up from the West and I started to get tossed about a little. I woke up about four thirty and saw that I wasn’t quite the same place I was the night before, but I just figured I’d swung about on the anchor. So seven thirty rolls around when I’m awakened by the crashing sound of the bow plowing into a two-foot wave. I look out the windows and see nothing familiar. In fact, I can hardly see land at all there is so much fog. Immediately I realize that the anchor has dragged and I’d better do something to keep it from dragging any more. I climb on deck, slipping on the millions of dead mayflies my anchor light had attracted, working my way to the bow to let out another thirty feet or so of rode. Back in the cockpit I try desperately to figure out where I am. North doesn’t make sense and my charts aren’t helping. Well, we aren’t moving, so I sit in the fog and the swells just waiting for a little more light to figure out what happened. By eight it’s light enough I can make out three points of land one off the bow and two off the stern. I fire up my gps and get a fix showing that I’ve somehow drifted onto Herrick Shoal, three miles from where I’d anchored.
Ok. Now I know where I am good. Well, not good, but still… better. Now what? It’s obvious I can’t stay where I am, but will Jackson run in these swells? Could I sail if I had to? God I hope I don’t have to sail. I try the motor; good it’s staying in the water. But it won’t start. Crap. Try it again. Crap, nothing. I wish I’d put my reefing line in when I thought about it yesterday. One more try on the motor. Nothing. Ok, sailing it is. Tie a reef in before you raise. Good. Ok, pull in the anchor. Got that. Shit, we’re drifting. No it’s ok, we have room. Get the sail up and you’ll be ok. Got it. Good we’re sailing. Not making much progress, but still, moving. I’m in control again I can relax a little. Cassandra and I fought the wind a mile and a half before we finally dropped anchor in the lee of Long Point. Now to clean up and regroup. I spent an hour or so washing the disgusting mayflies off the deck. Why would anyone name their boat Mayfly? I split my toe open on one of the plexi patches I put in the cockpit, but a bandage and a minute or two and I was fine. Now for the motor. I’m not sailing to the dock. I opened the engine up and there was the problem, the kill switch wires shorted again. I motored into the docks without incident and tied up solo. Not a bump or a scrape or a scramble. I was proud. Scared, lonely, tired, but proud.
Since I still had the rest of the day to kill I decided I should find a repair shop for Jackson somewhere. Yeah, good luck. I picked the one island with nothing on it for miles. Well, after some help from Dad and Google back home I found out there was a service shop about five miles away. I had time, so I started walking… About half way my bandage began peeling off my toe and I was wishing I’d remembered a water bottle. When I got there it was just a summer cottage, with a barn in back and boats parked in the yard. But it was the place, and even though they didn’t have any new kill switches they did let me have some free wire to fix my old one. By seven PM Jackson was back in the water and running like new.
I celebrated with a peanut butter bar and a warm shower.

Finally, an Update!

Well, it has been a week since my sister and I set out on the first leg of our journey, and what a week it has been... We set off from Fairpoint Marina with my father Friday morning around eight or nine (I forget which.) My dad had to get picked up for work by two that afternoon, and as the wind was so light we had to motor most of the way to a ramp half way to our intended destination, Sodus Bay. Well, after dropping him off we anchored in the bay for lunch, then sailed all the way to Sodus, anchoring for the night. It turns out that the bottom where we (I) chose to anchor was a little more weeded than expected and I don't think we ever got a proper set on the anchor. Luckily the night was relatively calm.
After going over out options of ports headed west we decided to turn around and see what the Eastern coast had to offer. The next day we sailed off the anchor and all the way into Oswego Harbor.
While I was very pleased with this performance it masked an unfortunate truth. Jackson was not well. When motoring the last couple hundred feet to the dock he coughed a few times and finally was silent. One sharp pull was enough to revive him and I was not concerned, he just doesn't run well at low rpms, I reasoned. We spent the night there due to forecast thunderstorms, and the next day as well. When we finally went to leave I started Jackson only to hear an unfortunate studder which would not go away. That morning was spent attempting to solve the problem but to no avail. When we finally left oswego we sailed to a lovely little place, the name of which escapes me. The day after we sailed into a lovely inlet south of Southwick Beach to wait out further storms. This provided us the luxury of walking up the beach to Southwick for well deserved showers.
Another night was spent in the inlet waiting for weather. When We finally left Jackson was not behaving. He died on the way out of the inlet at a rather inopportune moment, but was kind enough to start again on a single pull. He nearly died at least two more times from swallowing the caps of waves on the way into the lake, and I was quick to get under sail and save him from choking. My sister and I had a rather invigorating sail in large (to me) waves up to White's Bay up by Henderson Harbor. That night was the first we shared an anchorage with anybody. We had two other sailboats pull in with us and anchor for the night. We were the first out this morning at 8:15. Our objective for the day, make it to Sackets Harbor and meet Mom there for Christine to take her leave.
Well, all has gone according to plan, and I am now sitting at Chrissy Beanz in Sackets Harbor drinking a hot chocolate and stealing their wireless and electricity to write this. I'm not sure where I will go next or what I will do, but from now on it seems I'm single handing it. I won't lie, I'm afraid. Christine handled raising and lowering the sails, as well as cooking and dropping anchor for me. I'm not sure how I will manage without her, but rest assured I will. I hope to get to a computer more often from now on, but I cannot promise it. Until then, I want everyone to know I am well and that I will see them and be thinking of them as much as ever. Look to facebook for occasional status updates and pictures.
-Brian McB.

This. Should Not Have Been Removed.

Jackson

After spending the night on the boat in moderate comfort amongst all the things that still have to find a home we killed time waiting for the rain to abate by chasing small deck leaks. When finally the rain cleared we made a satisfying breakfast of French Toast, then hunkered back in for another small squall, after which the rain and winds died off. Perfect for a shakedown cruise. We thought.
Now, you remember the outboard issues we were having yesterday, well, they weren't done.
We got everything ready, started the outboard, and as I put it in gear and began to motor out of the slip a mysterious crunching noise was heard, and the motor's tiller slipped away from my hand. I grabbed, just as the power head dunked itself in Little Sodus Bay. It turns out there is a LOT of torque generated in my cob job outboard mount and the wood mounting plate couldn't take it. It just decided it couldn't take the stress and let my all important mounting bolts slip through it's fibers, dropping poor Jackson in the drink.
So, God be praised, we drifted across the marina and ran lightly aground before hitting anything important, and by the time I looked up there were already marina personnel ready to give a hand. They got a rope around Jackson and hoisted him out, then pulled Cassandra back for another night in the slip where she'd been staying.
Both old an new mounts are at home in the garage now being modified so this will never again be a problem.

LAUNCHED!!

Today was the big day. We loaded everything into Cassandra and took her up to Fair Point Marina for a 1PM launch appointment. By 2 she was floating in a slip nearby. Those of you following closely may be asking yourselves, "But Brian, why weren't you sailing her?" Well, I'll tell you. It turns out that the outboard bracket I welded up was too high to actually get my outboard (Jackson) into the water enough. Despite having figured and plotted where is should go, the bracket just was too high. Luckily a friendly fellow who's name I'm afraid I've forgotten offered to sell us a swing down bracket. It was a great deal and a God send. The rest of the day was spent figuring out how to mount it to the boat. The Jackson is too big to just have the new bracket bolted to the stern, and removing the old one would have left seven holes to be filled. So, we opted to instead bolt the new bracket onto the wood plate on the back of the old bracket. Lost yet? Good. Finally, after finagling and tweaking the thing with all manner of wedges and a few busted knuckles we got Jackson sitting nicely in the water. By then it was 11PM and we were all ready to crash. Christine and I spent the night in the boat hoping to leave early the next day.

Launch Day Approaches. For Real.

Ok, so despite a few setbacks, things appear to be on track for a Tuesday launch this week. The weather is cooperating for the next week at least. Cassandra is aching to step into the water again with a freshly painted name and newly buffed and waxed hull. And, her captain is surprisingly not panicking despite the fact that in two days, my whole life gets flipped on its head.
I think I might actually be ready for this.
Anyways, the plan is to get Cassandra hoisted in at Fairport Marina in Fairhaven where I will step the mast and then sail and motor around the bay for sea trials. I can then pull up at the docks at Fairhaven State Park to finish provisioning and hopefully take on any passengers who would like to go for a short sail with me. I'll be spending the night at anchor there, and set off the next day to begin this insane dream I call adventure.

Launch day. Or not...

Well, this was supposed to be a post about launch day, and how everything went according to plan. Unfortunately, however, it did not. In fact, launch day never happened. The first planned launch was the 26th of May. Nothing was ready. The second was Tuesday, the weather didn't cooperate and nothing was ready. Tuesday we went supply shopping, and I did some more work on Cassandra. Wednesday the supplies and weather were ready, but the boat and her captain were not. Thursday, what was supposed to be launch day, the boat is nearly ready, but her captain is not. And so, since I have to be back in Baldwinsville on the 12th I made what my father called a "Captainly decision." I'm not leaving until June 14th. This gives me the time I need to make sure everything is in order before I leave, and doesn't have me rushing or leaving on a Friday or weekend. After the 12th I have no commitments and will be heading off for certain.