Getting ready to head south

[sailaway78]

WOW So much to do, so little time. But we are making headway. First I must tell everyone about a member of this board, named Scott. Scott had posted asking where the boat was, and said that he would like to drop by and say hello. Friday a little after lunch we were at the marina office waiting for Enterprise to bring us a rental car, I turned around and there stood Scott. We chatted for a few minutes, when the rental guy showed up. Scott told me he had brought us a gift. Then produced a bottle of champagne and a bottle of nice wine. What a wonderful gesture. Thanks Scott. We arrived Thursday afternoon, Friday afternoon the weather went down the dumper. Blew all night Fri. night, and Most of today. Extreme high tides, and was warned to move the car last night, because the lower end of the parking lot might flood. Boat was really rolling, and Lois got a little sick. Very hard to get anything done. Today we went shopping for boat stuff, and ended up finding some real deals at West Marine. Bought a Xantrex 1000 watt inverter for 139 bucks, and found a West brand big rail mount grill for 99 bucks. So we made out. The weather looks good the first half of the week, and should be ready to get out of here by Tues. at the latest. Still haven't received the box I sent myself from Slidell, a week ago Monday. Hopefully it will be here this Monday, as it has the auto pilot in it. Had a couple of wiring problems with the boat, but have them all taken care of, mostly just cleaning up left to do, and install the auto pilot. More info. to all as we get under way.

 

[tom]

dress warm

yesterday was a first for me. After installing a new depth sounder I went sailing for a few houes ...alone. I used to sail alone all of the time but never on a 32' boat. The wind came up and buried the rail a few times. It would have been much harder without the autopilot.Back to your trip. I had to go below and grab a jacket!!! This is northern Alabama on a sunny day. Be sure that you have warm clothes and a thermos for warm soup/drinks when it's too rough to cook. Cold rain is awful..been there and done that.I am envious...have a great trip!!!! The best that I can hope for in the next several months is locking through to Lake Guntersville. Be sure to tow a lure to catch fish while at sea. Tom

 

[Scott]

More than a little envious!

I figured that the kickoff to a trip from Keyport, New Jersey to Slidell, Louisiana on a newly acquired sailboat could certainly deserve a little celebration and housewarming! I was thinking it would be a nice adventure to get started on.Phil's boat "Condita" (did I get the name right, Phil?), a Seidelman 37, definitely has nice lines and looked ready for the voyage. But she was getting buffeted in her slip from the northeast wind that was blowing hard straight off Raritan Bay on Friday. Phil and Lois looked like they were not quite acclimatized to the chilly weather, but it cleared out and by Sunday the weather was spectacular with the bluest sky you could imagine.Phil mentioned they hoped to visit the Statue of Liberty from the water. We had not a breath of wind all day on Sunday at our location so they may have needed to motor over if they went. It wouldn't have been a bad final check-out for the engine if they did.If they left on Monday, they would have had blue skys and warm temps but probably needed to motor as winds were under 5 knots all day according to the NOAA maps. If they waited for Tuesday (yesterday) it was nice again with clear warm 70's temp, 65 water temps, but with northeast winds at 10 to 15 knots. I couldn't imagine better conditions for a run down the coast on a broad reach with following seas.It sounded like Phil intended to stay on the outside down to the mouth of the Chesapeake so I wonder if they were tempted to make a non-stop run down to Norfolk, as today the winds are 15 to 20 knots from due east. This would put them on a beam reach all the way with the wind on the port side. It looks like a little rain but the temperatures are still warm. I imagine that if they left early on Tuedsay morning, they could possibly reach Norfolk before dark tonight. They planned on stopping in AC or Cape May, but it may have been a good weather window to make it non-stop.One thing Phil mentioned was that they intended to meet a buddy boat to make the trip down the New Jersey coast. The boat they were meeting was much smaller (26'?). With the obvious difference in hull speed, on a day where you should have no problem attaining hull speed, does it make sense to buddy boat with another boat that you would clearly leave behind in relatively short order?So we're looking forward to Phil's report!

 

[sailaway78]

Still here, and thanks Scott

Scott, again thanks for the going away present, and you write a pretty nice report too. It is Wednesday and we are still in Keyport. The box I sent up from home didn't get here till yesterday. It contained among other things, the auto pilot and a cabin heater. Have the auto pilot installed, except for running the power, and I still have to mount the transducer for the depth finder. Should be ready to leave here in the morning. But now the weather looks kind of iffy. From what the locals tell me, don't want to make the run to Cape May with 20 knots from the east, which is the current forecast. So, at this minute, plan is to head out Fri. morning, with forecast calling for 10 to 15 from the west and north west. Subject to change in ten minutes or less. Our buddy boat deal seems to have fallen through the cracks, as I haven't been able to get in touch with Eric for a few days. Eric, if you see this, let me know. I haven't been able to catch you by phone. MY cell # is 985 246-9900. Will keep everyone informed as to our departure date and progress.