Sea Stepping

A father's day to remember and a Crunch to forget.

2011-09-02T12:10:00.003-04:00

So much has happened, and so little at the same time. I've been assistant manager at West Marine for a few months now and am enjoying it quite a bit. I haven't had much time to go sailing lately for a few reasons I will discuss, but first it's story time.
It's a day or two before father's day and the wind is perfect, blowing from the west at ten to fifteen, My dad, sister, and I all have the day off, so we make the trip up to the marina and pile onto Cassandra. The plan is to sail up to the Salmon River, have lunch, and then sail back. It is so much different having three people on the boat that know what they're doing. I was able to ready the outboard while Christine hanked the jib on and Dad sorted our supplies.
We motored out into the lake, Dad took the tiller, and I was able to raise the main and jib myself without worrying about how much the boat was falling off, or whether we were going to jibe and kill myself. We fire up the GPS, point just north of the river mouth, and set the sails. I steer most of the way while Christine is riding in her usual spot in the companionway, and Dad sits on the leeward cockpit seat. I can tell by their smiles that they're both loving it. I think that may be one reason sailing with other people is so much more enjoyable.
Less than an hour later we pull into the mouth of the Salmon River and motor towards the break wall, I drop anchor in two feet of water just as the rudder touches the bottom, we back down on it and pull out our lunches. It's a tasty batch of sandwiches that we all share, smiling and chatting in the warm sun while a nice steady breeze keeps us cool and comfortable. While we eat the wind begins to shift to the north a little, so by the time we finish and motor out it's perfect for a starboard tack all the way back. We set the GPS again, and head off. This time Dad takes the tiller and I get to ride the bow over the waves under full sail, something I have never gotten to do on my own boat before. I remembered why I love sailing that day.
We sail on like that for another hour or so and come to the mouth of Little Salmon River. Dad and I decide we want to try to sail in. I've done it alone once before because I dimply don't like to use the outboard in the lake. Jackson is a short shaft, and doesn't always stay in the water; something I've never been comfortable with. So I just get sail up as soon as possible and take it down as late as possible. Anyway, we're sailing in, and this father and son are out kayaking. It's kind of obvious the son has done it before and the father hasn't. They're right in the middle of the entrance when the father rolls his kayak and falls out. He looks like he's having a hard time of it and he's drifting down the coast. Dad is on the tiller so I can drop the main, the jib is already down and tied up on the foredeck.
We get in without further difficulty, I drop the main and kick the outboard on. Dad turns to call to a passing powerboat that a kayaker rolled in the entrance and he might need help, unfortunately, Dad doesn't turn around as soon as this message is relayed and we start to drift out of the channel. I see it, and try to get his attention but it's too late, the mast crashes into a branch hanging overhead and we stop dead. I try to back out, but we're stuck fast. I climb onto the shrouds and shake the boat with the outboard it full reverse. Nothing. I'm confused, it looks like we should just be able to break free and back out, but for some reason it's not happening. I think, "we can't be aground, the depth sounder is saying five feet, we can anchor in three and be fine... Maybe Jackson just isn't up to the task, he's never been particularly powerful in reverse." Christine is down below getting into her swimsuit to check things out from in the water.
Just then a DEC boat comes up alongside with a big seventy horse outboard and asks if we'd like a tow. I'm still thinking we can get it ourselves, but dad thinks it's a good idea and I finally decide, yes, we'll get unstuck faster this way. They throw us a line and kick it into full reverse. We move a little, but not enough. They try again, nothing. So they swing around and try pulling in forward. That does it. After a few tries at full power a huge crunching crack sounds through the hull and a tree branch drops into the water. We're floating on our own again and start to motor back to the slip. I take the tiller from dad who's feeling very guilty. The boat feels sluggish as I steer. It's then I look down and see the centerboard is still down... all six feet of it... I pull the rope, it comes up slowly then jams half way. I think, "uh-oh.. hopefuly it's just a root or something wedged." I let go of the rope, expecting the board to drop back down and shake the root loose. Nothing happens. "shit..." We get to the dock, I get the boat hook and poke around at the board. I can feel something wedged along the side of the board. It feels like the pendant, but I can't figure out how it would get there. I manage to get the board unstuck, the climb back in and pull it up, it wedges again. "Not good.." The was a time in there I'm leaving out in there where we all think the board may have broken off and go walk around in the water where we went aground looking for it. We found nothing but a very deep trench where the centerboard wedged as the boat tried to pull us out.
Don is there tending to his marina and suggests we take the boat out into clear water and dive on it, we do. I can tell something is very wrong. The boat is slow and steers funny. We get out into the lake, drop anchor in fifteen feet of water, and I get in. I don't even have to go under, my feet touch the board as I hang off the gunwale, and I feel a jagged edge. We've snapped the board... somehow it's all still there, but badly cracked for sure. Dad feels terrible. He's offered to pay any repair fees. We get home and order a new board, new mounting hardware, the works. And that's where things stayed.. for two months.

A New Dawn on a New Season

2011-05-02T21:10:00.003-04:00

Well, as this sailing season begins with a cold rainy start, my second summer out of college is heading in an interesting new direction I had not expected. I spent this winter working part time at Syracuse Stage, but when the new year started, they didn't need my help and I was forced to look for more work. This search led me to apply at West Marine. I'd applied before last spring, but never heard anything about it again. I pretty much expected the same this time, and as weeks went by I had all but forgotten about it. Then I got a call, they wanted an interview.
Fast forward a month or two, now I'm working 10 hours a week at west marine. They hired me because of the experience I have with sailing... specifically building Adra, and everything this blog has covered. One day my manager comes up to me and says, "Do you want the Assistant Manager position, I don't have one yet, and you're qualified." So now, not even two months working there and I have a management position. I'm still trying to figure out how it happened. The Lord is good.
Anyway.. that is loosely connected to what is happening with Cassandra. At West Marine one of my fellow co-workers is a licensed USCG captain, and owns a marina up on the Little Salmon River. He writes articles and needed a boat to take pictures of, I'd told him I wasn't sure how I'd afford to get Cassandra on the water this year, eventually he proposed a trade, Cassandra gets a slip in his marina, and he takes his pictures of me and my boat.
Yesterday we both had the day off and were going to launch Cassandra, step the mast, and take pictures of the stepping process. Well, the day dawned, cold and pouring. Still we both showed up and waited for a clearing. None came. So, we launched Cassandra in the pouring rain. We were both soaked to the bone by the time she was in the water. On a side note, Jackson has a fever and isn't cooling properly. I need to replace a gasket, but in the meantime I was allowed to use the marina's 15hp outboard to get Cassandra to her slip. So, the Lord has provided me with a well paying job, a slip for Cassandra, and a friendly coworkers. I'm looking forward to see how this year continues. Mast stepping should hopefully happen next week, updates will follow as more happens.

See the World in a Small Boat, Says Hilaire Belloc

2010-12-11T03:39:00.004-05:00

"There is a simple and and easy way to find what the men who made us found, and to see the world as they saw it, and to take a bath, as it were, in the freshness of beginnings; and that is to go to work as cheaply and as hardly as you can, and only as much away from men as they were away from men, and not to read or to write or to think, but to eat and drink and use the body in many immediate ways which are at the feet of every man. Every man who will walk for some days carelessly, sleeping, rough when he must, or in poor inns, and making for some one place direct because he desires to see it, will know the thing I mean. And there is a better way still of which I shall now speak: I mean, to try the seas in a little boat not more than twenty-five feet long, preferably decked, of shallow draught, such as can enter into all creeks and havens, and so simply rigged that by oneself, or with a friend at most, one can wander all over the world."

I endeavor to do just that. This summer, I will set out by myself direct for Cape Vincent in my twenty-five foot sailboat, because I desire to see it. And I will enter into creeks and havens for shelter and wander all over that world... and if my friends wish to join me, I will be more than happy to oblige.
-Brian

This is it.

2010-10-12T19:58:00.002-04:00

For the last few weeks (months?) Cassandra has been sitting at anchor in Oswego harbor, too hard to get to for day trips and the weather not pleasant enough for longer trips. So there she sat, getting dirtier and lonelier. Finally, with Dad's help I was able to get the last of the trailer modifications finished. With the rollers lowered 6" and a 10' tongue extension retrieving Cassandra at the boat ramp was supposed to be simple. And, except for having to sail to the ramp when Jackson's fuel pump spewed everywhere, it was. We were able to pull two anchors and sail up to the ramp, despite the fact that I knocked Dad's glasses into the harbor... another bloop... Luckily mom was coming up anyway, and brought his spare pair. I was rather upset and impressed to see than my dad can sail better blind than I can with 20/20 vision. Anyway, we sailed to within a few hundred feet of the ramp, and let the North wind push us in the last little bit. Then we tied up, drove the trailer in, and floated Cassandra right on. Pulled her out, dropped the mast at took her home. All in all it was a day's job, and the only big problems were a motor that didn't start and a gutter on the garage that my mast got more closely acquainted with than it should have.
So, that's it for the adventures this year. I've got a job until January as deck crew for Syracuse Stage. Hopefully I can set aside enough money for the tweaks Cassandra needs over the winter. With everything else to do though, we will have to see.
Until then, my your life be full of stories.
-Brian McB.

2010-08-13T11:48:00.004-04:00

Well, Cassandra and I have been idle a lot longer than I had expected. Inertia set in I guess. Cassandra was able to stay on the wall by the lock almost the entire time. One of our neighbors on the river was kind enough to let me tie here up to his dock while they were away on vacation. A week or so ago my friend Brian helped me move Cassandra to the wall downstream of the lock.
This week was Vacation Bible School at church and I had to run sound for it in the morning, but every afternoon I took Cassandra a little further up the canal towards Oswego again in an attempt to get her to Fairhaven for this weekend. For those who don't know, my friends and I always attend the Sterling Renaissance Festival and afterward go to a beach to swim. This year I hope to have Cassie join us at the beach. Yesterday Dad helped me through locks 2 and 3 in Fulton, and then my friend Dustin joined me at lock 5 to go the rest of the way to Oswego. Today is Friday the 13th and I'm hoping to step my mast and sail to Little Sodus Bay this afternoon. I'm just waiting for my help to arrive.
As a side note I saw a neat little tugboat docked in Minetto (Lock 5) The pilot house was mounted on stilts, and the stilts had hydraulic rams in them so that the pilot house could be lifted to attain a better view over the tow. I thought it was pretty cool, but I didn't have my camera with me. There are pictures from the rest of the trip that should be uploaded in the next few days.

15 Miles on the Erie Canal.

2010-07-10T00:12:00.003-04:00

After giving up a significant value in tools to the Oswego Harbor it was time to embark on the next leg of the journey. My sister and I set out through the locks making good time (to my thinking) and made it through locks 8-3 of the Oswego Canal. By the way, there is no lock 4. We were lucky at lock 3. They close up for the night at 9:45 and they were just starting to close the gates when we arrived, at 9:42. We were able to lock through and pull into a small marina for the night that located between locks 2 and 3. Overnight tie up was free with power and water, but we didn't have a long enough extension cord. The next day we locked through locks 2 and 1, meeting Mom and Dad at the tie-ups upstream of lock 1 for lunch. Christine was tired of the sun and the heat and Dad wanted to go through at least one lock, so they traded out for the last lock, Lock 24 in Baldwinsville, my home town. We locked through, which Dad enjoyed more than I would have thought someone could enjoy a lock. From there we tied Cassandra up along the upstream wall where she is sitting patiently while I enjoy the comforts of home, friends and family. I'm not sure where I'm going to put her after the two days allowed at the wall are over, but I have to find someplace while I wait for my new winch handle and some cruising guides to come in the mail.
Oh yeah, still not sure where we're bound next.

Bloop...... is a Bad Sound.

2010-07-09T23:35:00.003-04:00

Sunday dawned bright and early as it always does. I was up and about around 8 AM and started prepping Cassandra to drop the mast. As I was loosening the forward turnbuckle my tired hands slipped and a moment later, Bloop. It was gone. Well, That was enough damage for now... The sails and boom were away, and the mast was ready to come down as soon as Mom and Christine got there to help. Since it was the Fourth of July and I was parched and bored. I decided to see what the down had to offer for drinks and entertainment. I grabbed a strawberry milkshake at the Subway/Hershey Ice Cream place I bought a mouthwatering sub at for dinner the night before. And then I went to peruse the books at the local bookstore.
I spent the rest of the day wandering looking for open stores and finding none because of the holiday, and when I returned to the bookstore it too was closed.
Finally Christine and Mom arrived. They brought a large magnet on a handle to attempt to fish my screw driver out of the harbor. I tied a rope to the handle and threw it in, repeatedly combing the bottom, but with no more results than small, rusted chunks of harbor wall. We decided that to drop the mast we should move the boat back closer to the floating dock nearby, and that leaving the magnet on the bottom while doing so would allow us one last chance to retrieve my screwdriver. We were wrong. As we pulled the boat, the magnet caught on something and pulled the magnet right out of it's handle, leaving just a forlorn piece of plastic hanging from the rope... Another victim claimed by the water.
As we let the mast down I heard a sickening crunch as the boom vang attachment I'd forgotten to remove ground into the deck. Not much harm done, marred gelcoat and a bent snatch hook. Fixable. We carried the mast up, and as I set the foot on the bow pulpit, Bloop. The handle I'd absentmindedly left in the halyard winch fell in. Bother.
So, one day three tools claimed. Bought a new screwdriver and I have a handle on order.

Homeward Bound

2010-07-09T23:06:00.002-04:00

So, after spending days away from... anyone... at the park I decided I could use a laundromat and some civilization, and since the weather was being less that cooperative, I decided I would return to Sackets Harbor. It was a wet and wild ride fighting the waves on the way down. Into the wind on the way out, and unable to sail straight south because the waves were trying to roll Cassandra on her beam ends. Anyways, I got in and got Cassie tied up to the town dock. There's a Laundromat out by Madison Barracks but it works on a card system so through odd circumstances, it basically would have cost $10 to do a load of laundry. Not worth it.
I then went and celebrated my first successful heavy weather trip with a burger and cheesecake at The Boathouse. I was also able to pick up a wireless signal at the dock, where I posted the last two updates.
The plan at this point was to sail from Sackets Harbor to Oswego so I could drop the mast and swing over to Lake Erie for a bit.
Well, the first day out I overslept a bit and wanted to see a museum before I headed out which meant it was noon by the time I got on the water. The waves were still high, and I couldn't get my jib to cooperate. I hadn't been able to get a full hoist on it, and the sheets were too short, so I'd have to chase them on every tack. I only made it to Stony Island that night and was so frustrated by then I was ready to run the boat aground and be done. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and I drifted off to sleep riding uncomfortably at anchor in a cove.
The next day I was up earlier and rigged my genoa sheet to the jib so I wouldn't have to chase it every tack, and I made sure to use the winch when hoisting the jib so it would be better behaved today. I departed the anchorage at 10AM and was just motoring up to the dock in Oswego at 9:30 PM after a long day at the tiller.

Day Two Solo

2010-06-29T20:41:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-28T20:27:00.001-04:00

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!

2010-06-26T18:25:00.003-04:00

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.

2010-06-17T00:35:00.006-04:00

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!!

2010-06-16T16:07:00.002-04:00

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.

2010-06-14T00:16:00.004-04:00

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...

2010-06-04T09:07:00.002-04:00

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.

Launch Day Approaches.

2010-05-31T10:40:00.003-04:00

Well, the time is nearing when I must throw off my bowlines and sail away from the safe harbor. I graduated from SUNY Albany on May 16 and have been home for the last two weeks, working on Cassandra. I’ve made significant progress on the to-do list re-coring soft deck sections, bedding hardware, wiring in my radio and various electronics. Holes have been patched, lifeline stanchions have been installed, and bottom paint has been re-applied. Now there is very little left to do. Which is a good thing as the launch is scheduled for this week. Most likely I will put the boat in the water and sail off Wednesday, dependent on weather and supplies. Cassandra, when I bought her, came with a 300’ anchor rode, but no anchor. Two weeks ago I ordered a danforth fluke anchor, and I am still waiting for it to come in. My father and did not feel comfortable having only one anchor, so I also ordered a navy anchor which I am also still waiting for. So, providing everything comes in before launch day I will be heading off into the wild blue yonder. There is question whether Cassandra will come off the trailer at the launch ramp, so where and how the launch will be taking place is up in the air right now. The other important bit of information is that I will not be sailing alone for the first week or so. My sister has agreed to join me for the start of my voyage. She has been quite helpful in preparing supply lists, cleaning Cassandra, and keeping me company as I work.
Those are the plans, and from here on out I hope to be posting at least a weekly update of progress.

Spring Shopping

2010-03-14T22:43:00.007-04:00

Well, the snow is melting in Albany and the air is getting warm. Now is the time when I start getting antsy. I was home for my birthday and cut plexiglass covers for some of the holes in the deck. I got the covers on where the old engine vents were. I have to install the remaining covers for the old fuel fill and the engine gauges. Sunday I bought 100' of Nylon line from Home Depot and spliced up four 25' docklines for nearly $30 less than buying them pre-made.
West Marine has been having a spring tune up sale, and lucky for me there is a store withing a few miles of SUNY Albany. So today I went in to check it out. I picked up a VHF radio on sale And clearanced for a very good price. I also bought some fenders, flares, and a signaling whistle. Cassandra will now be Coastguard compliant. I also picked up a compass, something Cassandra was conspicuously previously lacking.
And as a final act I've ordered new lower side stays from D&R Marine that I should be able to install when I'm back in Baldwinsville for Easter break.
Progress is being made, and more will come. There is a lot of buying yet to be done, and plenty of fixing and fabricating too. More soon.

Mid Winter Update

2010-02-15T18:08:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to post something to let everyone know that progress is still being made even if it is slow. A combination of cold weather, and being in Albany for school have greatly delayed any significant progress. Over Christmas break I Re-bedded Cassandra's chain plates, fixed the leaking anchor locker drain, reinforced the v-berth bulkhead, removed and priced lower shrouds, and added another coat of epoxy to her new hatch boards. I'll be installing a deadbolt on the main hatch when I have time. And when the weather begins to warm up I'll begin re-coring the side decks. Big on the list of things to do is installing the lifelines and stanchions which should start when the tarp comes off for the Summer. Today I pulled out my fish finder and tested it. Everything seems to be in working order, and I will be installing that before this summer too. Very little electrical work can be done until I can afford a battery, but once I have that I'll be able to check the Log and all the lights. So for now I'm mostly waiting on money an weather, but I still think I can have Cassandra on the water and ready for cruising this Summer.

Real Progress

2009-08-29T20:52:00.004-04:00

A significant step has been made. I have removed the old sail-drive and exhaust, as I said in my last post. However, since then I sold the old sail-drive and glassed in the hole for the exhaust. And now, I have made the big step of glassing in the hole for the saildrive. It took hours to cut out the old sail-drive plug, further hours to grind away the glass fairing compound from the inside of the hull, and probably as long as either of those to grind in the 12:1 bevel on the inside of the hull. But the result is what looks to be a strong, sturdy repair.

I began rebedding the winches only to find a sopping wet ply core underneath. So, I have cut out a section of backing and core to start drying it out. I will replace the ply when everything is dry enough.
I also had the chance to sit aboard during a rain storm to trace some leaks. I re-bedded a portlight that was leaking badly. I still need to re-bed the chainplates, a number of hinges, and some other fittings. The lifeline stanchions still need to be re-installed, but I need to get access behind them to install backing plates and bolts. I also need to install new through-deck fittings for the anchor light and spreader lights. The long and short of it is I've made big progress, and I have quite a bit more progress to make.
Picture have been added. Check out www.flickr.com/photos/seastepping !

A Little Progress

2009-07-26T22:49:00.005-04:00

Well, a little progress has been made as of late. The saildrive leg has been removed and the old exhaust system is no more. I ground the hole in the transom that the exhaust went through for glassing but had to wait on my epoxy from Duckworks.com. Now I have the epoxy, but I don't have enough glass. So, I need to make a trip down to the marina to get glass cloth, and rubbing compound. I also began scraping the hull, a messy job to be sure. It took four hours to scrape from the transom forward 4 feet. I'll be looking into bottom paint stripper when I'm at the marina as well. Although, part of me just wants to keep going with hand scraping and forgo the extra cost of stripper so that I can say, "Yeah, I'm blue, but it didn't cost me a thing"
Anyways, that's coming along.
I also put a coat of epoxy on one side of my hatchboards. I will probably be coating the other half tonight before bed and then doing touch-ups and varnishing later. I will eventually install a deadbolt latch to the top board and hatch for security.
Well, I think that's about it for now. Pictures and further progress will be coming soon!

The Work Begins

2009-07-13T16:06:00.002-04:00

Well, it has been two weeks now since I brought Cassandra home. The topsides were scrubbed down to remove the black mildew that covered the hull. Pinesol and water worked pretty well, and also did an amazing job of revitalizing the teak. I think everything might still need to be washed down with some chlorine to get the last of the grunge off. I removed the old seacock and thru-hul assembly with minor difficulty. The plywood backing plate was mush and so it needs to be replaced.
Very little of the deck hardware had a proper backing plate and so every fastener has leaked and may have started core-rot. I have oiled the teak to preserve it for a little while and will be installing a new seacock as soon as I have the money to buy it. I'm also waiting on the money for epoxy to begin re-bedding deck hardware and encapsulate the plywood backing plates I need to make.
If a boat-dollar is about $500 US, I think it will take 1 or 2 boat dollars to get Cassandra on the water, and that's without removing the old saildrive. It will cost even more to get everything to the condition where I would like it to be, but much of that can wait until I have the money. Progress will be slow until I get some more spending power.In that vein, I am selling my RC airplane on Craigslist to help generate some funds. I would post new pictures, but very little has changed since the boat was cleaned.
One last thought before I forget, I used Scotch's delicate surfaces masking tape to cover the various holes in Cassandra that leaked when it rained. So far it has held up quite well and has a 60 day clean removal guarantee; even when exposed to UV.
Anyways, next summer will be very different and quite fun and I'm taking one step closer to it every day I can work on Cassandra.

The Big Day

2009-06-29T20:20:00.002-04:00

Rejoice everyone for today has been a day of much progress! Today was the day that

Cassandra (technically still either Ken-Do or Coral Vette until I hold a denaming ceremony) came home.
The day began at 05:30. After a quick breakfast and picking up my cohort for the epicness that was today we were off, Dad leading the way in his Bonneville, Bonnie, and my friend Brian and I followed with the pickup, Clyde, towing my newly modified trailer.
The ride down was pleasant and uneventful. I plugged Clyde's radio back in so we could have tuneage for the trip. We arrived the house where Cassandra was being stored 15 minutes before the move was supposed to happen, but the truck was already there and working to maneuver itself into position. There is very little as impressive as watching two men effortlessly pluck a 4000lb boat from the field where it has been sitting for almost a year. The only thing more impressive was that they were able to do so with less than 2 feet of clearance on one side and not hit anything. You really have to have been there to get the full effect of it.
So, once the boat was out of the field and on it's way we took Bonnie and Clyde up to the Village Shores Marina in Hammondsport. Now, say what you want about Hammondsport, but I cannot over-emphasize how friendly and generous the people at Village shores were.
The two gentlemen who run the place were quite friendly, and patient as we adjusted the trailer for the boat. Although it took a few attempts to get everything where it needed to be, we soon had Cassandra situated. However, the hitch on the truck was too low to the ground once the boat was on the trailer. So, the marina owner called around until he found a suitable hitch extension, which he loaned to us to get the trailer home. He also was kind enough to loan a strap to hold the boat onto the trailer, since the one I brought was not long enough to reach.
I have to go back down to the marina later this week to dismantle the cradle for transport and to return the hitch and strap to the marina.
Leaving the marina was probably the most interesting part of the whole trip. You see, the marina is located at the bottom of a rather steep driveway that is only a couple feet wider than my trailer is. To get out I had to back the trailer part way down the launching ramp so I had enough room to turn around. Then I had to mucle my way back up the driveway onto the main road. I was a little nervous at times, but Clyde managed it in low gear. For the drive back I stayed under 50 mph the whole way and downshifted while I was stopping. Clyde handled it like a champ.
Once the boat was backed into the driveway Brian and I began pumping out the bilge to remove the rainwater from the big thunderstorms that had rolled through a few days prior. We managed to beat another wave of rain that chased us all the way back to B'ville. Then it was time to start scrubbing the muck of ages off Cassandra's once white hull and deck. That work will most likely continue for a day or two and involve much bleach and water. Then the real work will begin.

New pictures will be on Flickr in the next day or so. I forgot to bring my camera along for the road trip, but Dad took some photos with his phone, and snapped a couple shots of us cleaning the deck, so look for those soon.

Huzzah, It's a boat!!!

The Trailer

2009-06-24T13:20:00.005-04:00

After many months of unforeseen delays and setbacks my trailer is finally finished. The current plan is to meet the truck from Village Shores Marina at the boat. They'll put the boat on their trailer and take it to the marina where they can forklift it onto my trailer. If everything works out I should be able to just drop the trailer on and drive off. More likely it will take a few trials to make everything fit properly.
I'm not sure if I've mentioned it but I've got Jackson up and running about as well as I can. He'll need some fine tuning once Cassandra is in the water. Here's hoping.

(Jackson is my donated outboard for those of you who haven't been following the story.)

A day at the Beach

2009-06-20T23:30:00.006-04:00

Well, avid readers, my trailer is still at the shop. The parts were fabricated, but not yet back from the galvanizers in Utica yet. So the move get's postponed again. I do not yet have an idea of when I will actually get this boat home. I'm back to wondering if I should just motor it up the canal and pull it out on a trailer when I get it home. But that is not the point of today's post. Oh no, today's post is much more exciting and interesting.
This past Friday (the 19th) my siblings and I, and one friend, all took a day trip up to Lake Ontario. We started off they day with an 0900 departure. The weather was cool, but scheduled to warm up, and a light to moderate drizzle of rain was falling intermittently. Our first stop of the day was a trip to Oswego Harbor to view the Nina and the Pinta replica ships that were docked there for the latter part of the week.
The Nina and Pinta are accurate reproductions of two of the ships Columbus took on his voyage to the New World. The ships themselves were OK. Not much to see. I'm still upset we weren't allowed below; that's where all the cool stuff is anyways. Still they were just wooden planked ships, two decks (three if your count the raised quarterdeck)pretty open and surprisingly small. I find it very hard to believe that someone thought it smart to go to sea in such vessels. Then again, I am contemplating sailing Cassandra to God only knows where and she's a third the size of these ships. Needless to say, my sister and her friend were less than thrilled about the whole thing.
Our second stop, where we planned to spend the rest of the day, was Southwick Beach State Park. Located on the sandy Eastern shore of Lake Ontario Southwick Beach is usually a busy place for families and individuals to enjoy the lake. Such was not the case when we arrived. The wind was blowing somewhere around 6 knots and the water looked a little ominous. The beach was still wet from the rain storms we'd had that morning and the wasn't another vehicle or person to be seen. It was a little spooky walking down a deserted beach. It felt like, well, like we were doing something wrong just being there. I managed to get over that feeling though, and by the end of the day there were about four other cars in the parking lot.
Now, it has been a dream of my to get my PD Racer Adra out onto some real water. I was sort of expecting to do Oneida lake first, but the chance presented itself so I threw Adra into the truck and took her along for the day. Pulling a 110 pound boat across a sandy beach by myself was tiring, to say the least. I managed to sail around for 15 minutes or so before my GPS died, but I didn't feel like trying to fight back out across the sand bar and surf that characterizes the east coast of Lake Ontario, so I kept going. The wind was from the Northwest so I tacked my way up the shoreline to a spot where we rented a summer cottage when I was younger. I would have gone longer, but some darker clouds were skirting the shore in the east and I decided it was better to play things safe and head in until they either did something, or cleared up. I got back just in time to help cook lunch, hot dogs. After lunch the weather had cleared significantly and after popping some new AA's into my GPS I headed back out. I logged over 5 miles in three hours that day and I don't think I could have been happier, unless maybe I could have just kept going instead of turning around and heading back to the beach at the end of the day.
Adra took the larger waves pretty well. The only sign of any fatigue was at the mast step where some excessive wear was becoming a problem. I'll add a mast wedge at the partner to see what that does for it.
All in all, it was a good day. I was getting a bit tired by the end and had a hard time keeping my eyes open, partly because of the sun and partly because I had gotten up at 0800 that morning. Dragging the boat back up the beach was even worse since the sand had dried out since that morning. The "up" part of the equation didn't help much either. I slept well that night and am still a little sore from dragging the boat through the sand. Now if I can just get Cassandra home I can work on that "and just keep going" part. :D

Another Delay

2009-06-12T21:39:00.003-04:00

The move got pushed off another week. The shop refitting my trailer had a machine break which kept them from working on the parts for my trailer. The pieces were finished Thursday, but still had to be galvanized. They should be done Tuesday or Wednesday this week. ::fingers crossed:: I should still have the boat for my sister's party. Which will be nice. My Grandfather will get to see it that way. He's the one who donated a 2 stroke outboard to the cause. I guess that's all the news for now. From now on I should have posts with progress pictures. That should pique some interest.

Adra out of service.

2009-06-06T00:24:00.003-04:00

This doesn't pertain directly to the big Great Lakes trip, but it provided valuable heavy weather experience and makes for a good story.
I woke up this morning to a lovely gusty wind. Whole trees were moving. I looked up a live weather report that said 20mph winds today and thought. Boy, now I can really see what ADRA (PDR #172) and my 40sqft lug rig can do.
I had been sailing on Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, NY the previous 2 days and the boat was all ready to go in the truck. The day before my brother and I hit 5mph in a puff, so that was the top speed to beat.
It was a nice day and my friend, who enjoys a good sail, had off of work and I offered him a ride. Then we got out on the lake. Now THAT was a ride. The minute the wind hit the sail as we left the protection of the channel we were doing 4mph. Then it gusted and the GPS hit 5.3 The Bow started to dip dramatically and we both edged back to keep the boat sailing dry and level. This went on for about oh, five minutes. The whole time the sail was just aching to rip the sheet out of my hand (no traveler or anything.) After somewhere around five minutes a large gust came up, slammed the sail forward and drove the bow under. A quart or so of water washed into the cockpit before my friend could jump in back to level us out again. The boat suddenly became unmanageable and I had to let the sheet go. The sail swung into the wind and we both stared in amazement at the 15degree bend at the mast partner. My 1-1/4" EMT mast had wilted during the gust and (thankfully) depowered the sail some. After significant struggling we were able to come about and beam reach back to shore,
the sail constantly bouncing between luffing and being overpowered. We wound up beached on shore about 1/3 of a mile down the lake from where we started tired and laughing our fool heads off. We both knew we had gotten off easy with a bent mast. The thing that really got us laughing though, was the GPS reading a top speed of 6.3mph. And the boat hadn't even gotten on plane. So, morals of the story
-Know your limitations (Or try to find a less dangerous way of learning them)
-EMT is fine for a mast in lighter winds, but won't hold up in a HEAVY gust.
-Always build your sail and spars so you can trim the sail flatter.
-No matter how small you think your sail is, if you're going to be out in strong winds you should have a reef point.
-Learn from your stupid mistakes, or else you might not get to make them again. I will say that I don't think we were in any real danger. If Adra had gone over it would only have been an uncomfortable swim and a bit of work to get her back upright. The waves weren't too bad, and there was a watercross tournament going on in part of the lake so someone might have come out to assist, although that part I'm not so sure about. Still, I won't be doing that again. At least not until I re-design my rig. :P

In other news, my boat trailer is being modified this week and the the big boat move is scheduled for June 13th. So, anyone coming for my sister's graduation party will get to meet Cassandra. I'm getting pretty excited about it.

Site Updates

2009-05-08T20:39:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to write to say that I have added some links below the Title that will take you to posts with more about who I am and what it is I'm doing. Check them out and feel free to comment if you like what I'm doing or just think it's interesting.

Progress

2009-04-15T13:25:00.003-04:00

Huzzah, progress has been made! This last Tuesday, the 7th, I won an eBay auction for a trailer. The only catch was that it was in Virginia and I was not. So, Thursday night, once I got an address for the trailer, Mom and I packed ourselves into the truck and set off for Virginia. Eight hours later we arrived at a Sleep Inn hotel and crashed for three hours of sleep. When we awoke we continued making our way the last few miles to the marina. Once there we took care of the necessary paperwork, hooked the trailer up and were on our way. It was a blessing that the Virginia plates were still on it so I did not have to get a transport permit from the Virginia DMV. That alone probably saved us an hour or more. So I now have a trailer for Cassandra. It still needs new tires, a keel rest, and new bunk supports. Expenses seem never ending, but that can be overcome with time (sort of). In related news, I now have an outboard motor as well. My grandfather was kind enough to donate his Mercury 75 outboard to the cause.(This is a cause now?)I have named the motor Jackson as an allusion to Alan Jackson, the composer of "Mercury Blues." It's not quite the same kind of Mercury, but Jackson seems to fit the sleek looking little, black outboard.
To summarize, I have a boat a trailer and an outboard. Now I just have to get the boat to the same place as the other two and I can start preparing for Summer 2010.
- Peace be with you until we meet again.

Trailer Troubles Continue

2009-03-17T09:18:00.002-04:00

Alright, good news first. I have decided on a name for my boat. She will be known as Cassandra. I don't know where the name came from, but it sounds mysterious and adventurous enough for this boat.

So right now I have three possible trailers. One is for an O'day 23 but should work. That one is in Florida. One is available in NY, but is contingent on the sale of the boat on it. And there is a third possible trailer in Florida that may or may not ever materialize. At the moment I am debating whether or not I even need a trailer. Yes, it would be nice to have one, but is it necessary? I have quotes to have Cassandra moved to my home for under $900, and if I can do that and work on her for the summer I wouldn't need a trailer for a while.
Of course to get to the root of this dilemma I have to figure out exactly how and why I would use a trailer. The original idea was that I could transport the boat from Campbell to wherever I would keep the boat on the trailer. This would save a bit on shipping and a lot on storage fees. Also, it would allow me to launch the boat when I had time and finished some of the work and I could practice sailing a keelboat, and test my repairs. I think I'm going to wait a while before accepting any bids to move the boat, just in case a trailer becomes available. The 23 trailer looks promising though.
What would you do?

Looking a gift horse in the mouth.

2008-12-27T19:55:00.004-05:00

Pictures and commentary on Flickr.

It has been quite some time since October 31 when I won my O'day 25 on eBay. Today I finally saw it in person.
After a short series of postponed meetings I was finally able to contact the boat's owner and arrange a meeting for noon today. My brother and I left the house at 9 in our van, burdened with a tarp, rope, buckets and a variety of other tools I thought would be needed to close the boat up properly for the remainder of the winter. We arrived at the boat's location about half an hour too soon, but once we knew how to find the place we decided to do a little exploring. So we drove around the roads in the area for a little while, and then returned to the boat at noon. Kenny, the fellow I was meeting, showed up about the same time we did, and got right to business showing me around the boat. The first thing I noticed when walking up to the boat were the areas the stanchions mounted. The lifeline stanchions had been removed, but the holes had some fiberglass epoxied on over the top, so no water was getting in. Still, it's something I'll have to fix. The next thing I noticed was that the hatch boards weren't boards! There were two pieces of smoked plexi-glass to fit in the hatchway instead. I suppose that would let some light in, but to be watertight they'll need modification or replacement. Ken showed me a couple other issues that needed to be addressed. The sink seacock was frozen open, the centerboard pin needs replacing, and the fitting should all be re-bedded. The whole boat needs a good cleaning, but the fittings and deck hardware all look to be in good shape. The bottom should be scraped clean and repainted, and there are a few sections of the topsides that need glass work. Real simple stuff like filling old holes from gauges and fairing in some previous repair work.
All in all I think I got myself a pretty good deal on a boat. I don't know if I would risk buying sight unseen again though.
The trailer is still a sticking point, but I now know how the boat got where it is (on top of a hill, 25 miles from the nearest lake). Apparently a marina in Hammondsport has a hydraulic boat hauling trailer that they used. I'll have to call them and get an estimate. Right now we're thinking about putting the boat in Seneca Lake in the spring and sailing it up the Erie Canal to somewhere a little more accessible for repairs to be done. If I have to I could probably keep the boat in the water somewhere until I can find a trailer. Hopefully that won't be a problem though.
Here's to adventure! I have a boat.

Trailer Troubles

2008-12-13T13:02:00.002-05:00

Apparently used mid-range trailers are just a myth. There are trailers for big boats, and trailers for small boats, but no trailers for my boat. I've priced a new trailer from Loadmaster, and it would cost over $4,000. I don't have that kind of money right now. So, here I am stuck with a landlocked boat and no way of moving it. I do have a bidder on U-ship who says he can move it to my house for $1,200. That would give me some more time to find a trailer, but it would do little else to help. It would be easier to just have the boat put in at Seneca Lake so I could take it somewhere on the canal. It would at least get the boat in the water. But, I still have all winter to find a solution, so I'll keep looking.

Nearly Scammed

2008-10-31T23:47:00.004-04:00

After winning the O'Day auction I received two suspicous emails. They both claimed to be from eBay, and said that the seller's paypal account was down for a little while and that eBay's protection policy would cover a Western Union money transfer for the transaction. They had all pertinent information on the auction. My ebay name, the seller's name, the item ID, and links to important eBay pages.
So I clicked on the link to Western Union. I was ready to sign up and send the payment when I stopped; something was fishy. EBay always has reminders up on the site that you should never pay through an outside service. Besides that, the seller hadn't mentioned anything about Western Union in his preferred payments. Besides that, the emails just seemed a little off. So I checked my eBay message box, no duplicate messages. That's when I realized, I was almost scammed. I contacted the seller to double check, as I didn't really want to admit that I had almost been taken so easily. He assured me that his paypal was working perfectly, and that he had sent no such messages.
After a series of messages back and forth I got his contact information, and forwarded him a copy of the bogus email which he immediately reported to paypal. Hopefully some scam artist is being hunted down right now, and is about to get what he deserves.
The most amusing part, is that one of the links from the spoof email went to the "how to spot a spoof email" page warning about falsified eBay messages. The thing is, the person who set up this email scam read that page and eliminated almost all the telltale signs.
So I caught the scam before I was taken, but it could have gone either way for a little while there.

This is it!

2008-10-31T22:59:00.004-04:00

Or rather, this is the beginning of it.
I think the good lord was smiling on me. I won the O'Day 25 with the $800 opening bid. No one else bid; it went off without a hitch.
Upon winning the auction, however, I received two suspicous emails. Long story short, they were scams. I'll cover the details in another post.
The emails were completely unconnected to the seller, and I am very happy with the way he handles his business.
This boat is almost exactly what I was looking for the whole time, even if I didn't know it. It's small, but fully furnished, can be trailered, was cheap but still in decent condition, and best of all, can be kept where it is until spring at no extra cost.
Now I just need to find a trailer and a way to load the boat onto it. After that... who knows? I just hope I'm as happy with this purchase when I see it as I am now.

I have a boat!

Could this be it?

2008-10-26T20:39:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm bidding on an O'Day 25 on EBay right now... It's not the most ideal boat, but it has most of the features I originally wanted, and the swing keel makes it easily trailer-able, so I'm more likely to use it than a full keel boat I probably couldn't afford to keep in the water anyways. So this might not be a cruising boat, or even the right boat, but I'm becoming less and less sure that there's such a thing as "the right boat". I just hope I can buy it for cheap enough that I can get it home, and for the very limited amount of money I have to work with. Ironically, I beleive the boat in my home neighborhood was an O'Day 25 now that I think about it.
I guess that's all the news for now.

A decision at last

2008-10-19T03:27:00.004-04:00

Well, I've been doing a lot of research on boats lately, and I compiled a list of features I want. From there I narrowed the search down to two boats I liked. The Pearson 26, and the Grampian 26. Looking further in to these models I tried to compare them. The two boats seem to be pretty similar. I like the storage available in the P26 with some modifications, and it's less ungainly appearance, but there's one problem. I want whatever boat I buy to be hoisted onto a trailer and taken home at the end of the season. The P26 is over the legal width limit for NYS and the G26 is, supposedly, not. If I found either one for sale cheap I would probably buy it, but I'm leaning for the mobility of the Grampian. I don't know... I'd like to verify the measurements in person to double check. Anyways, those are basically the two boats I'm considering. We'll see what comes of it all.

Calling in the experts

2008-10-10T13:10:00.003-04:00

Well, after what seemed like a long week back at U.A., I'm back at home doing boating things. Today is probably my last chance to get on the water, so I'm taking a friend out on Onondaga Lake in Adra. It looks a little calm today, but hopefully it will be nice on the lake. So, the guy my dad called last time I was home is pretty excited about me getting more into sailing. Yesterday he came over with an armload of books for me to read and then we sat down and talked sailing. I don't remember for sure, but I believe we talked for over two hours. I learned quite a bit I didn't know and have slightly revised my list of potential boats. Now I'm looking for something I could tow with the truck at the beginning and end of the season. That way I wouldn't have to pay winter storage fees. It might still have to be craned on and off the trailer; something I may or may not be able to afford. Still, I now have a slightly longer list of places to look, and I have someone who knows what they're talking about if I have questions. Things are coming along slowly but surely.

Still Looking

2008-10-01T20:47:00.002-04:00

Well, my friend and I went down to Ithaca to look at the 24' Allied Greenwich they had there and it was pretty sad. The side decks were mush, the fiberglass was split in a number of places, and most of the woodwork looked like it was ready to fall off at any minute. Besides that, the cabin was so small I could not sit on the settee without hitting my head on the cabin top. So that boat is pretty much out. There was a Triton there that might come up for sale soon, but I'm not really planning on waiting for that. Dad contacted one of the many people he knows, who also happens to be a sailor, and asked what boats he would recommend for cruising. So now I'm looking for Bristol 24's and Grampian 26's along with my previous wish list items. Next week I'll be home again, and I'll probably go back to Oneida Lake and see what there is to see. Everything still looks about a thousand dollars out of my price range, but we'll see.

Another big idea?!

2008-09-20T01:36:00.006-04:00

Well, it's a week until our first longish break here at Albany. When I go home I'll be looking at a 24' cruising boat, and asking our neighbor up the hill what his boat is and how he likes it. And if I can make it out there I might bum around the yacht club on Onondaga Lake, or an Oneida Lake Marina. So far the search is slow, and mildly promising. I doubt that I'll have time to look at many boats this fall so winter storage will have to be budgeted in if I do buy a boat this year. So far nothing has really said, "I'm the one." I'm not sure whether this is a blessing or a curse. We'll see though.
Anyways I believe I mentioned in my last post that one of the few ways I could afford to look at boats would be to hitchhike to wherever it is. Well, this and some related reading I've been doing has inspired me to what may be an impossible idea. I would like to write a book. Not just any book, a handbook. I want to write "The Adventurer's Handbook." It will be a repository of all relevant, and much irrelevant information related to travel and survival in the pursuit of adventure. I would like it to be an Earth based version of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It would contain useful knots, sailing basics, hitchhiking tips, how to hop a freight train, how to live on nothing, and many other useful skills. Interspersed within the tips would be true stories about my own experiences of the topics being discussed.
I know, another pipe dream, but what can I say? I dream like it's my job, so why shouldn't it be?

Not meant to be

2008-09-06T15:43:00.004-04:00

Well, it turns out that the Triton I was looking at wasn't meant to be mine. It sold f0r $1500 yesterday. But it was too far away to be worth it. Shipping to get it home would have been another $1800, more than I wanted to spend on a boat. And I'd still have to store it somewhere. I do have my eye on a couple other smaller vessels closer to home. I've also been asking around some forums to see if anyone there would let me ride along on their boats sometime. I've actually had a few offers, but they're all more than 100 miles away. I guess that's all for now.

It's time (update)

2008-09-06T15:04:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe, but I may in fact already be approaching the first step of my plans. Ok, building Adra was actually the first step as I improved my woodworking skills, understanding of boat construction, and sailing experience. Besides that, every good cruiser needs a tender. The point is, I've found a boat. Maybe.
I have found a 28' Pearson Triton for sale, that may be in my price range. Problem is, it's in Mendon, Massachusetts, and I don't know how to A) get out there and survey it, and B) how to get it home. I can catch a bus to Framingham, but it will cost $72 round trip that I don't know if I can afford, and I would still be in Framingham. Unless I can get a ride, or feel like hitchhiking the last 20 miles to where the boat is it doesn't look good. So I've been spending hours and hours of the last few days getting information on boat buying, shipping, and repair, as well as looking into bus routes there and water routes home.
Oh, and did I mention the boat is "salvaged?" Yeah. Apparently it broke loose from it's mooring and hit another boat. The damage looks minimal, but there's no way to know without looking. I still have to inquire as to yard fees, and liens that may be tacked on to the boat.
But IF the boat is really as cheap as listed and IF it's seaworthy, and IF I can get enough time, it MIGHT be possible to sail/motor the boat home. If not, I'm looking into boat shipping fees. This could get very expensive...

It's time

2008-09-06T15:00:00.002-04:00

Well everybody, I think it's time to announce my big plans. I think most of you already know them. When I get out of college I want to cruise the Great Lakes for a year. If I can get the money, I may never stop. Perhaps the ocean will be next, but that's too far for me to dream right now.
So, I've been looking on yachtworld.com for boats might stand up to light cruising, and are in my price range. Surprisingly there are one or two. No guarantee that they're in good shape, but it's a start. Pearson 26's are regularly available for that price, but they usually have some structural issues, and no inboard engine. I think I would like a Catalina 27, but they're usually pretty expensive. Who knows, there might be some gem out there just waiting for me; we'll see.
So far I'm looking at doing the whole thing on $5000. That's $2,500 for the boat and the rest for outfitting and supplies. Right now it's not looking good. If I could get an investor... yeah, like that's going to happen. Maybe an investor would pop up if I were cruising the world like Nick on Bigoceans.com. Anyways, That's my dream, so this year is all about saving money, and next summer is for making more. That fall I suspect I'll buy whatever boat I decide on (I think fall prices are usually better). Vacations will be repair time. And, somewhere in there I'll have to get some sailing time on similar sized boats.
Anyways, that's my dream. We'll see how it goes.

(Note: I am not a licensed captain nor do I pretend to be. Although, I hope to be one someday.)

Comic

2008-09-06T14:46:00.003-04:00

I was feeling reflective and mildly creative, so I made this comic.

Links

2008-09-06T12:00:00.007-04:00

Liveaboard Simulator Amusing and true.
Nick Jaffe's Site This is the guy who inspired me. He's doing a trip from England to Australia in a Contessa 26.
Cruising the Great Lakes and Bahamas This site chronicles the adventures of another guy who wanted to circumnavigate the Great Lakes. Unfortunately defunct now, but you can read a good bit of it with the Wayback Machine.

What it's all about

2008-09-06T12:00:00.003-04:00

Hello potential readers. I would like to welcome you to my sailing blog. Here I will discuss anything relating to boating and/or cruising.
So, I should tell you all about what exactly it is I plan on doing. It is my intention to find a boat, Cassandra, and sail it around the Great Lakes the summer after I graduate. I am currently a Technical Theatre student at SUNY Albany and should be graduating in Spring, 2010. Before then I will need to get my boat home, fix it up, get some more sailing experience, and raise the money for the whole endeavor.
Thank you all for your interest, and I hope you come back to see what I've been up to.

Photos

2008-09-06T00:00:00.007-04:00

For more pictures see my flickr account.
Capt. Straw on Flickr.

The Boat

2008-09-06T00:00:00.006-04:00

The boat I will be making my circumnavigation of the Great Lakes in is the lovely Cassandra. She's a 1979 O'day 25 built by Bangor Punta Marine. I bought her off of the third owner. Among all the paperwork I got along with the boat were the original sales literature and receipts. The boat lived it's entire life on the pleasant Finger Lakes, specifically Keuka Lake. She has now been loaded on her custom trailer and is sitting in the driveway at home as refitting and maintenance slowly take place.

Contacts

2008-09-06T00:00:00.002-04:00

E-mail:: tench745@hotmail.com
IM:: Tench745
Skype:: brian.straw1
(I am not often on, but if I know you want to talk I'll make an effort to be on.)