Category: Hemispheres

An Excellent February Weekend for Sailing

Posted on by luken7

Well, we’ve gone from sailing in 35 degrees of weather to the following weekend being in the upper 60s. Two great daysail days. Winds were light when we started each day, then it got up there.

Yesterday we hit winds that topped 25kts before we even realized it. We were all just in that zone moving along when it came up on us. Figured it was time to reef. Of course we had the boat on her ear, topping 22 degrees heel, enough to put the lower port window under water so it looked like an aquarium.

One thing’s for sure, it’s time for new sails. Couldn’t point as high anymore, both the main and genoa are stretched out. Well those are the original sails on the boat, so they’re sixteen years old. Looking at a few sail lofts now, some local and some online.

A Cold Day On The Water

Posted on by luken7

Yes! Went out today with it being 35 degrees and winds hitting over 20kts. Think that’s a weather record for us now, we broke down into the 30’s. All we needed was the 135 genoa, running downwind and abeam consistanly over 7kts. Has me thinking again that I need a new boat with a longer waterline. Remember that the most important calculation to a sailor is (HS = 1.34 x √LWL)….

Anyway all was going great till you hear that single bump or thud sound, the boat goes off course because the autopilot said f**k it, I’m out. Right after that, the gust came, we heeled over greatly, inches from dipping the toerail (missed photo opp). So we headed back in after some great time on the water to see what broke, cracked, fell apart, whatever as we all logically calculated the amount of boatbucks this was going to cost.

Well, it seems tha the piston rotated and worked it’s way out of the buckle connected to the rudder shaft. Hmm, anyway got that back together and all if fine. Great day, great day, great day!

 

Dizzying Heights

Posted on by luken7

Went all the way to the top of the mast today for the first time. Intimidating to say the least. So what did I learn? NO matter what tools and parts you bring up with you, it’s that one item that you didn’t bring that you needed. And an overall nice week on Hemispheres.

 

Another Weekend, Another Event

Posted on by luken7

Man, I’m just unraveling here. Not paying attention. This past weekend was a South River anchoring kind of weekend. It’s a good thing I left late as some friends were out of ice, so no mixed drinks. But as it seems, they were fine, they just drank words of wine till I got there. Now thinking about anchoring and reflecting on Cape lookout, South River had light winds out of the east and I anchored in 8ft of water. But I “dumped it all”, the chain that is so I had about a 12 to 1 scope 😉    Which brings another issue, I need a wash down pump.

So all is well, dinner, drinks and friends. What could go wrong? I’m headed out the next morning back to Oriental motor-sailing out of South river and the engine slowly dies. It’s not the sound you like to hear. The way it died led me to one of two things, clogged fuel filter or worse, fuel pump died. It’s one of those two, has to be. the notion that the tank was empty didn’t cross my mind till I looked at the tank directly. But the darn fuel gauge still read 3/4 full. Obviously, it’s not working. Now usually I’m always topping off the tank before headed out on a long trip but to South River? Didn’t even think of it. I must have used more fuel than I thought going to Ocracoke, Cape Lookout and day sailing throughout the summer than I thought. Just slipped my. mind.

So called BoatUS and put up full sails headed back to Oriental doing about 3kts. It is a sailboat after all. Powerboats, take note. And as I’m sailing back, here comes this fog rolling in across the Neuse reminding me of Steven King’s novel, The Mist. What else could possibly happen, weird creatures flying out of the fog?

Well, BoatUS met me between Garbacon Shoal and Oriental #1 and brought some diesel. Now, I’m glad I went to the Yanmar three day class where I learned the idea of adding a primer squeeze build inline before the Racor filter. Much easier to prime a diesel after running our gas, not having to press that little lever dozen of time to get full flow.

So got back to the slip and promptly went to Waterstreet Grille for breakfast. After the morning incident, nothing better than a good omelet. So to counter balance the bad karma morning, decided on blessing the day with good fortune by heading back out with friends for a great afternoon sail. The winds were nice out f the north between 15 and 20kts. Made for a perfect day. As I single hand a lot, thanks to Richard and Lisa for joining, I was a passenger the whole afternoon.

And thanks to Richard for putting up with my Crablegs addiction as we stopped at MJ’s Raw bar in New Bern on the way home. Did some good damage. Definitely going to be a regular stop. Great weekend.

Cape Lookout – When Bad Karma meets Good Fortune

Posted on by luken7

Somebody did say skip going to Cape Lookout on Labor Day weekend, especially with the wind out of the northeast. Well of course I’m not going to listen. So anyway, winds out of the north means a very breezy and choppy Cape.

Got there Friday evening after dark (mistake #1) and found spot to anchor. I was pretty much tired from just returning from a conference on the other coast and was running on fumes and little rest (mistake #2). So dropped anchor and threw out about ~80ft of chain…in ~20ft of water (mistake #3). I was just tired and ready to go to bed. So the inevitable happened, Hemispheres drug in the middle of the night. I had this weird movement feeling that work me up and as I’m going up the companionway, the anchor alarm goes off (thanks a lot). I instinctively started the engine and threw her in forward but was too late. Hard aground. As it was about 2:30 in the morning, might as well go back to bed, ain’t going anywhere.

And then the tide started going out. You cannot imaging the sound a wave makes when it hills the underbelly of a grounded boat. Every wave slap shuddered the boat and I could not sleep. I ended up top in the cockpit where it was quieter. Low tide was a 7:15am and every bit of Hemispheres was out of the water, just resting perfectly on the keel. This is the one time that i’m praising a wing keel. Oh, at least I got to pull the paddle wheel for the speed  and clean it. It was pretty gunk’d up.

As the tide started rising, around 10am we were able to motor off and I re-anchored, this time “dumped it all” being every bit of chain, 100ft then 30ft of rode. The second night I was just paranoid and really didn’t sleep. But other than that little mishap, a great weekend, regardless of the downpour while heading back up Adams Creek. Fun time, learning lesson and a life experience. That old saying is true. A vessel will always withstand more than the captain can.

New Air then Great Sail

Posted on by luken7

Great weekend. Started late Friday afternoon (god knows why) with removing the old AC system and putting in the new one. I really should have waited till Saturday morning but I was determined to get it done. So, with the cabin hovering in the upper 90’s, I went for it. Got eh old system out and the new one in. Spent around three hours as I was slowing down due to the heat. Thanks to Pat and Skip for lending hands lugging the systems out and in.

Saturday was a great day and well deserved. Went with friends on a Cape Dory 30, what a fantastic sailing boat. There was a major storm passing through, enough for the Coast Guard to issue a warning. As it was moving fast going going north-northeast, we took the route of staying out and headed to South River to wait it out. It worked out well. I think most of the boats that decided to race back to Oriental probably got hammered with what went through.

And With One Click…Hemispheres Stays

Posted on by luken7

Well, the battle and inner turbulence of either keeping Hemispheres or upgrading to a new boat is over. For the last couple of years, as she is now 15 years old adn reaching that point where major upgrades happen, I’ve been struggling between a newer boar vs. doing upgrades. Well this week, I guess I made that decision with the purchase of the MarinAire 16BTU Heat-A/C. After reading many reviews on their support, ease of installation, and pricing, decided to give them a try. Currently Hemispheres has a Curisair SX16 which is not as efficient, is an amps hog and loud, did I say loud? I looked at the newer Cruisair turbo series, but wow, comments were not friendly.

The MarinAir comes with a sound suppressor for the compressor, which CruisAir charges almost $500 additionally for it. that sealed the deal. So Hemispheres gets a new lease on life, not that she was anywhere end of life. Also helping the decision was not finding a 40 footer in the configuration I’m looking for (see previous posts). So for the rest of the year, new sails, new water heater, new plotter and possibly a below deck autopilot over the existing wheel pilot. Need something stronger for quartering seas.

I’ll post some more photos of pre and post installation later this weekend after we’re done. These are the stock photos.

The Pacific Seacraft 40

Posted on by luken7

Got a treat this weekend, got the pleasure of seeing a Pacific Seacraft that’s for sale. What a fantastic bluewater boat. Pacific Seacraft has a fine story and is now proudly located in North Carolina and this 40 footer is just amazing. I think it’s an ultimate bluewater cruising couples boat, guaranteed to take you anywhere, across any ocean.

They’re not cheap adn this one is listed on Yachtworld for around ~$330-340K I believe. But the attention to detail such as the DC electrical panel, is an example of the work that goes into these boats. Cedar lined cabinets and drawers, excellent engine access via the companionway steps and yes, even through a hatch in the cockpit provides unobtrusive access around the whole engine. The galley is properly sized to prepare meals underway, not too big and not too small.

I also noticed that there is always something to grab onto that’s within an arms reach. Pretty slick and much needed in rough seas. This boat’s so nice that it even warmed me up to canoe sterns. Never really been a fan of those but on this boat, I can work with it. There’s nothing bad to say about this boat at all, just simply love it. If I was in the market for a bluewater cruiser (right now), I’d be all over it. May it will come back around in ten years or so when I follow the sun.