Sailing a 22ft Cape Dory from Boston to Southern Florida
- Thread starter palcuz
- Start date
Its been a while but here's an update from Captain Fiero aboard the Sonnet. Excuse the click-bait title for anybody down South!
I was going thru old emails, you know the drill file or delete, NEXT..... I came across a reminder for this tread.
I am not sure where our brother ended up for the season. It looks like he was pressing forward from Savannah Georgia heading to St Augustine Fl on December 7th from the video above.
Does anyone know anything else?
Thoughts and prayers for all the sailors at sea tonight.
I am not sure where our brother ended up for the season. It looks like he was pressing forward from Savannah Georgia heading to St Augustine Fl on December 7th from the video above.
Does anyone know anything else?
Thoughts and prayers for all the sailors at sea tonight.
Good question. @palcuz hasn't been here in a couple months but maybe he could come back with an update?
If there is any reluctance to post the details of a voyage that didn't achieve its stated goals, I hope the poster will realize that every voyage is a success. Some go better than others but none are failures. We could learn from their experiences and would like to know what happened.
Hey! Sorry to be silent over the last couple of months. Captain Fiero is alive and well! He's grown grouchy being on a 22 foot sailboat for the last 8 or 9 months. At present he is docked somewhere in St Augustine and operating sailing charters. With any luck he will do a last video completing his voyage to FLA. He's been living off of a very tight budget so his spirits have been a bit low. He's not looking forward to the 2k miles back to Gloucester, but is leaning toward doing so sometime in March.
Beans and rice are a way of life for him! All kidding aside he is in a pretty good mood every time we speak, which is usually at least 3 times per week. We were chatting as this email came across my desk, hence the quick response. Thanks for asking about him. He truly appreciates the interest in his adventures.
Beans and rice are a way of life for him! All kidding aside he is in a pretty good mood every time we speak, which is usually at least 3 times per week. We were chatting as this email came across my desk, hence the quick response. Thanks for asking about him. He truly appreciates the interest in his adventures.
That's great! From where would you be departing? With any luck you'll be doing it with a mate and larger motor! He's proven it can be done on such a small boat solo, but no simple task...plenty of boredom and slow going. Had he more moola he could have enjoyed more places along the way. He reports there are many "McMansions" along the marshes from the Carolinas and Southward. Not too pleasing to the eye. Hoping to have another video soon if I can get him do send more video clips. The gung-ho has gone lol. He's just in survival mode and looking forward to his time on land this upcoming summer....after another 2k.
The trip back is easier than the trip down. Warmer weather and more daylight. There are many beautiful places on the ICW. The worst McMansions are in the Miami-Ft Lauderdale area. He should stop at Cumberland Island it is a National Park and beautiful.
South Florida yard art? He should be glad he missed it.
Cumberland Island, don't miss it.
South Florida yard art? He should be glad he missed it.
Cumberland Island, don't miss it.
Norfolk Virginia mine is a little bigger, a hunter 280. I say that but that extra 6 foot makes a bunch of difference.
As soon as I retire (2 to 3 years) it is on....
Beans and rice are quite nice actually - not sure why you'd delegate that to the "tongue in cheak bad spirits" section...
In any case, I know a guy that did a circumnavigation in a boat about that same size. I have a different comfort level requirement but small spaces work for some folk.
Too bad you didn't report back sooner, I have a friend that was just in St. Augustine for a couple months but he's sailed out to the islands now so missed that window... Gotta say, if he's in St. Augustine, he can't be doing too bad - that's a beautiful place to be!
dj
I'm pushing him a bit to make the journey back. He's not completely against it. For whatever reason he found much of the ICW, mainly from Cape May to St Augustine fairly boring. I think he was in "survival mode" and so maybe he had a hard time connecting with others along the way. He wasn't completely miserable but had a very limited budget and electronics setup. He did the trip with the most minimal setup. He really did not like the Delaware and Chesapeake, but did enjoy a spot about halfway through the Canal(I forget the little spot/harbor). Also the trip turned into a lot of motoring as being on the outside had some tough conditions for such a small boat. On the outside he was forced to make many 20+km runs that could take upwards of 10 hours depending on wind conditions.The trip back is easier than the trip down. Warmer weather and more daylight. There are many beautiful places on the ICW. The worst McMansions are in the Miami-Ft Lauderdale area. He should stop at Cumberland Island it is a National Park and beautiful.
South Florida yard art? He should be glad he missed it.
View attachment 212930
Cumberland Island, don't miss it.
View attachment 212931
He's been living on the small Cape Dory since last May and Is a bit sick of it He's said. I don't blame him lol. I am truly impressed with his "grit", but the last 8 months has tested his will. The trip was just something he'd looked to do for many years, being a sailing instructor and having been under the sail since 7 years old.
With any luck and safety, we'll get another video update about his time in St Augustine soon.
He's got a few boat deliveries and charters to do and hopes to start a return voyage or sell his boat within the next month. I tell him he'll miss his boat if he sells.
In the sea-going oceanography world, a successful cruise is one where you return without having lost anything, broken anything, and nobody was hurt. Make your destination or nearly, and return safely is a good trip IMO.
Or at least nothing major.
Pretty hard to have a voyage of any length without breaking *something*. (BOAT = "Broken or About To")
Standard cruisers' conversation when meeting:
Where ya from?
Where ya going?
What's broken?
If you don't want your boat to break, don't use it. Last year we broke the transmission (2x), chartplotter, VHF, a drawer guide, a pull handle for the refrigerator, 2 dinghy motors and I forge what else.
Where ya from?
Where ya going?
What's broken?
If you don't want your boat to break, don't use it. Last year we broke the transmission (2x), chartplotter, VHF, a drawer guide, a pull handle for the refrigerator, 2 dinghy motors and I forge what else.
But then, often *disuse* is much harder on a boat than regular use! Engines that are never run come immediately to mind.
Ya can't win on this deal!