T minus 1 to Splash

[kpgraci]

At last, we have a slip. My son and I bought the boat back in early May, that in itself was the culmination of months of contemplation. After the purchase we had several weeks of drama obtaining all the proper documentation…I don’t know how it is elsewhere, but I assume because of Katrina (how that storm has touched us in so many ways) the State is very picky about a verifiable trail of ownership. Then to the marina, whose main concern was salvage and wreckage removal coverage (understandably, I suppose). Well, for a 37 year old boat valued at $1200 dollars, a named value policy was all we could get. Still, fate smiled upon us because its renewal time at the harbor, so the harbor master was satisfied with our application, far too busy to scrutinize it.
The choosing of the slip. This was interesting. I had assumed we would simply be assigned a slip, but we HAD TO pick it out…they would not assign one even upon request…we had to go down to the harbor and pick one out. Now to me they all look the same…water, dock, piling, We choose one with no current neighbors on either side, and two doors down was a boat that made our modest offering look regent.
So Sunday, wind and tide permitting (no, not really, it will be Sunday) we launch at the only suitable ramp and sail 6 miles to the harbor. It will be glorious, and mark the start of many days of sailing after work…my wife will think I’ve found another love…and she won’ be too far wrong.
Pics to follow.
　
　

 

[Brian D]

Congratulations and enjoy. As my signature says...

 

[LooseDiamond]

Have fun!!!

 

[Ross]

I sounded the slips in our marina with a long bamboo pole a heavy sinker and several small bobbers set a foot apart on the string. That way I could avoid a shallow slip.

 

[cb32863]

Congrats and I hope everything goes well on Sunday!

 

[kloudie1]

Great news, Ken.. Yall are going to have lots of fun with her.. MUCH better to be in a slip where ya can use her on a moment's whim.. Good luck with the launch !

 

[RECESS]

Congrats!! You may decide after being in the marina for a while and experiencing the prevailing winds and tides that another slip is easier to get in and out of.

 

[kpgraci]

Slip depth...prevailing wind, darn, I'm not yet thinking like a sailor.

 

[kpgraci]

Knowing the Path vs. Walking the Path...

We learn most from our mistakes. If that’s true, we learned a lot yesterday. Putting the tailored boat into a permanent slip was long anticipated and well planned, ah, the best laid plans…


We left a 3 PM, looking for SW winds at 6-8 kts and high tide around 5ish. I really did not enjoy pulling that boat the 40 miles to and through New Orleans; I don’t trust the trailer. There is no cause for my mistrust, but the PO converted a motorboat trailer to a sailboat trailer by welding on some struts. He did a reasonable job but I don’t know how good of a welder he was. Every time we entered or existed an overpass (and there were many) and hit that inevitable bump I imagined the boat laying on its side across two lanes of I-10.


Mistake 1. So the trip to the ramp took longer than anticipated. Then the rigging took longer than anticipated. Then the wait for an open ramp took longer than anticipated. We were in the water around 5:30PM. Now to sail 7nm, calculated at 5kts, that’s about 1.5 hour. Still time to beat sunset.


Mistake 2. Motored out and prepared to raise sail. Killed the motor (!) then attempted to point in to the wind. No dice. She would not do it. It was only afterward I realized….keep the motor running.


Mistake 3. For some odd reason we only rigged the main sail, so the jib was attached on the water. Not all that bad really. But after raising the jib and trying to trim it, I thought something was wrong. It was not until a few minutes later that I realized the jib sheets were not run through the fairleads. That’s not even a rookie mistake! So we turned into the wind and corrected the problem. Time ticks on.


I don’t know why, but I find sailing on a broad reach difficult. We were making 3 to 4.5 kts, below the 5 kts desired, but that was OK. The direction we needed to travel to hit our waypoint 6nm ahead would put us on DDW, which I did not want to do. So we had to jibe a few times, lengthening the journey.


At this point it was obvious that we would be pulling into an unfamiliar harbor well after dusk. So I cranked up the motor and we did a short run of motor-sailing. It was little faster than the wind was taking us so I shut it down.

Just as the sun disappeared below the horizon we passed the Lakefront airport (which protrudes out into the lake) and turned due south, toward harbor directly into the wind. Sails down, motor on, we putted at 4kts the remaining 1.5nm.

The harbor entrance was wide and was well marked, even at night, and passage was easy. Finding the slip at night (having only seen it by day and from land) was fun.

All and all, a stressful, difficult, and most enjoyable trip. More pics in my album.

 

[cb32863]

Awesome! You got there, learned allot, and didn't break anything. Sounds like a successful trip to me!

 

[kloudie1]

Ahhhhh and a fine time was had by the Captn' and Crew! ! Good Job, Ken.. Boat looks happy to be in the water !

 

[kpgraci]

Boat looks happy to be in the water !

Yes it does...on top of the water...had a bit of a concern the day before. After some substantial rain I found much (20+ gallons) water in the previously dry bilge. Must have come through the holes we exposed when the stern pulpit was removed (I hope). Patched that up, we'll see.

After some of the jarring the boat took on the trailer I was concerned about the keel bouncing off the trailer frame and cracking the fiberglass skin around it...

Frequent inspection of the bilge during the voyage indicated we were not taking on water. After work we'll go out and check it again, just to be sure. Don't expect to see any problems...just paranoid I guess.

 

[kloudie1]

Whooeee Looks like we'll get a bit of wind for Thursday/Friday.. I am going over tomorrow to put on a couple of extra lines.. Still a little early to tell.. May go west of us.. http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201094_model.html#a_topad
Always a bit tense at the slip becaue of the water level, mostly..

 

[ChuckThomas]

Whoo!! Hoo!! Glad all went well. How is South Shore now? Thats a nice marina. Lots of nice people over there. Don't be afraid to ask anyone on the dock about anything.

 

[tomgrigsby]

Lovely boat. I really like the deep blue hull. I had a similar experience moving my boat home. Left late, failed to anticipate 25kt headwind. 40 degrees and about 20 miles of motoring. By sunset had 6 ft swells. Motored 4 miles up a narrow mildly familiar channel after dark. Only touched bottom a few times. Amazing how much one learns on a trip like that. Fair winds and following seas to you!

 

[kpgraci]

How is South Shore now? Thats a nice marina. Lots of nice people over there. Don't be afraid to ask anyone on the dock about anything.

The facility looks brand new. Nice walkways, docks, new lockers at each slip, New electrical hookups, very clean and neat looking. The office is run out of a trailer and the other buildings on the grounds are being repaired. They say the fuel dock will open soon. And yes, the folks there are very nice.

 

[kpgraci]

Lovely boat. I really like the deep blue hull.

Thanks, yeah I like the classic look of blue over red. The boat was originally a yellow I did not care for. Your trip sounds much more harrowing than ours was.

 

[sailaway78]

Congrats

On your successful launch and docking. Be sure to watch for others from this board out on the lake in the coming weeks. Several of us on here. I sail a blue hulled Seidelmann 37, named Candida. If you see me be sure to give a shout.