We had a great sail accross the Gulf of Maine this summer.

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Tom Young
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Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2005 7:57 am
Location: Rockport Maine

We had a great sail accross the Gulf of Maine this summer.

Post by Tom Young »

We've done this as a family 2 times in past years here from Rockport Maine. This year was to combine a trip to southern New England with our kids going off to school out of Logan airport in Boston at the end of the 2 weeks.

With only 2 weeks, this is a sticky weather wicket to take on. In two previous trips, we hit calm to moderate southerly winds(prevailing) and motor sailed across the Gulf.

This year we decided to try something new. With me, 18 year old son and 19 year old daughter on board, my wife stayed behind to leave in the car the next day with luggage filling it for the two kids to take to school. We had arranged for a rendevous point in Onset as we have a friend there with a place to leave the car.

The something new part was what we three decided leaving Tenants Harbor at the crack of dawn. My family loves to sail(luckily) so I suggested instead of thinking in terms of 24 hours to motor across to Provincetown,(something we've done before), we allow ourselves 36 hours, breathing room so to speak, to sail dead to windward. The kids were all for it so just off Monhegan we turned off the Nissan diesel and tightened the sheets on a starboard tack, headed, generally, south. Image

So we were off in about 8 knots of breeze with the compass not "too" far East of South and boat speed a very comfortable 4 and half knots or so. Reading, talking, napping was all we did as the AP steered the entire trip(easy going to windward).

I kept a loose log but for the most part the first tack took us around 60 NM southerly. Forecasts called for increasing southerly winds(they did), and shifting more westerly(they did not), as night fell.

We also had the increasing waves of the hurricane prior to Earl, soon to come. The waves did show. Just before the sunset, we went onto our port tack, headed due west for Isle of Shoals, about 40 NM to the west. The winds were now up in the 15 knot range, dead south, and the seas from the previous hurricane had arrived. Image

It was on this tack that I chose to cook dinner for the kids. We also spent 2 hours of this tack motor sailing. We didn't want to but with this entire trip steered by the wheel pilot, I wanted to be sure we had a full charge on the batteries before the long night ahead. We held this tack until the Isle of Shoals were about 10 NM off the bow. With the motor now off, we put Xmas back on the starboard tack and hardened up. This third tack, would be our last.

I wasn't sure that would happen as I watched Provencetown fall off to starboard on the gps.
We were in fact cracked off a bit to ease the boats motion(something we did the entire trip happily giving up windward degrees for comfort.

And it was paying off we would soon find out, as Christmas at times was moving in the mid 6 knot range and above. I spent a few hours in the veeberth (call me crazy, but I like it up there under sail) dozing and watching the little telltale compass locked on a small slice of degrees around 190 to 200.

It was a little noisy as an occasional wave would hit the broad port bow area. A quick report from the kids would give our speed over the ground and a report they had not had to touch the WP 4000. They were having a ball. Never a peep of when do we get there. It's nice when they grow up.

Well so it went with speeds picking with the winds now, finally going more westerly(NOAA is not normally totally wrong in the forecast, just the timing....) Just before daybreak, P-Town began moving to port of our course on the chartplotter, and we were cracking off with increasing speed and flattening seas. Patience paid off. We were flying.

After a large breakfast with whales off our beam in the Cape Cod Bay(do they train them there?) with the morning sun, we flew deep into the protection of the long cape to windward.

Image

Later relaxing for a few days anchored in Cuttyhunk the next day, after a solid nights sleep in Onset, we congratulated ourselves on a good trip.

With wind, waves, and a desire to be more comfortable than weatherly, we didn't even tack through 100 degrees generally, maybe more overall. But we were fast. That paid off.

We had sailed quite a few more miles than previous trips motor sailing more of a rhumb line, but in 31 hours, we'd gone from Tenants Harbor to the Cape Cod Canal. Our last trip took more just to make P-town. Another had ended us in Plymouth after winds kicked up.
Each of those previous trips were harder on us.

We had more fun this time, and had a full tank of diesel on arrival. The irony was, on the return trip I made myself, I motored the whole way without a lick of wind,.....

The 10 year old WP gave up the ghost entering Penobscot Bay. That's a soldier.
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Rachel
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Re: We had a great sail accross the Gulf of Maine this summer.

Post by Rachel »

Nice story, Tom, thanks for posting it.
Paulus
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Re: We had a great sail accross the Gulf of Maine this summer.

Post by Paulus »

Nice read - thanks!

What's a WP?
Tom Young
Skilled Systems Installer
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Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2005 7:57 am
Location: Rockport Maine

Re: We had a great sail accross the Gulf of Maine this summer.

Post by Tom Young »

Paulus wrote:Nice read - thanks!

What's a WP?
Thanks. A wheel pilot autopilot which simply mounts to the wheel as opposed to a more expensive under deck system.

Our AH 4000 gave us good service for more than a decade. On this trip, going always to windward, it was simple to keep nudging degrees until a good motion and speed was reached. In those windward conditions, the 4000 works with great accuracy and rarely needed adjusting.

On the other hand, we've sailed home across the Gulf a couple of times. Off the wind is more of a chore for the WP, but I usually find a way to make the boat steer itself.

I think I may have stretched or broken the belt but have yet to pull the wheel to take a look at it . It would be tough for me to sail too long without it.
Tom Young
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Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2005 7:57 am
Location: Rockport Maine

There was one mishap, there's always one with us,...

Post by Tom Young »

If I were superstitious, it would have been spooky. As usual though, I'm the one to blame. On this trip we were plagued by our Balmar alternator eating belts. Not a new problem, I just haven't fully corrected it. Being onboard with the kids using laptops, a few movies, and well you get it. The charging system gets the work out it never does coastal sailing home waters.

Having some time moored on Nantucket, I removed the old Ford voltage regulator I had wired in to bypass the Xantrex regulator. I keep that onboard ready to replace the Xantrex which I know is junk and won't last very long. This cut back the charging a bit. But I decided to put the Xantrex back to work and reprogram it. I found that a tedious process but was able (I think) to cut back the regulators output.

Heading back across Nantucket Sound toward Woods Hole as we had done a few years earlier in similar boisterous conditions, I kept reliving the nagging episode of loosing our steering in the constricted area between MV and Falmouth. It was here we furled the jib to motor sail the last few miles dead to windward and heavy seas due to the current. It can get nasty down there.

Image

In about the same area we lost the steering and just after I took this shot of our son at the helm, I was back on deck when all of a sudden, we had an engine fire. Our daughter was below so she stood ready with the fire extinguiser to as we all scrambled to figure out what was going on.

It was a near instant out pouring of smoke so I assumed we'd burned up another belt(I had brung a half dozen spares), first switched off the alternator, and killed the engine. A quick look showed no fire in the engine compartment, a lot of smoke, acrid nasty smelling.

Our first problem was the reefs on both sides , and getting the boat turned downwind and genoa pulling.

As mom son and daughter got the boat going safely aware from danger, I pulled of the engine panels. The belt was ok. The wiring from the ignition switch to power the alternator, was not...

In fact, once that loose loop of wiring, I had left bundled, thinking I may change regulators again soon, flopped onto the exhaust manifold, the resultant dead short burned the 12 gauge wire all the way up to the ignition switch, through it, and into a couple legs of the engine panel before I turned it off.

Not superstition, shoddy work did us in, again. Any nasty stretch of water has a way of finding what's not quite right onboard our boat. In the case of the steering years earlier, the violent seas and hard helm found the loose fasteners in a turning block, pulled it loose and the cable left the sheave. This time, a similar violent shaking knocked the wiring the was bundled and taped, but not securely enough, loose.

Knowing now that it was a wiring fire, I simply left the power to the alt off, and we motored through Woods Hole, nervously (Woods Hole always makes me nervous).

That afternoon in Hadley Harbor, I rewired the alternator and replaced the burned sections, and correctly secured all the wiring with screwed ties.
CharlieJ
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Re: We had a great sail accross the Gulf of Maine this summer.

Post by CharlieJ »

Nice Story Tom. Christmas is a beautiful boat.
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