Well, since we’ve finally gotten to warmer weather south of Cape Canaveral, I’ve been working non-stop on various critical and non-critical projects. The starboard forward knee was obviously a critical project.
Finished Knee
I permanently mounted the solar panel to our davits. (That’s to Totem for the solar panel!)
Solar Panel
I made a little electronics locker for our VHF and a stereo receiver given to us by Ken and Bruce of S/V Integrity in Eastport, MD.
I installed another circuit panel, upgraded the ground bus and reorganized the wiring behind the panel. I added remote switches and duplex outlet for the inverter. Oh and I put a couple fans in too!
Electrical PanelOrganizing the CircuitsCabin Fan
Finally, now I’m working on replacing the line lines with Dyneema line.
Dyneema Life Lines
Learning to splice the lines is really easy. The first one I did ended up being three inches short on account of the splice so I’ll need to redo it and plan for extra length for each of the lines.
We’ve holed up on Banana River to take care of a knee problem. The bottom half of our starboard forward knee was pulling away from the hull!
I noticed it when I was pulling on the shrouds and found that the chainplate would move about a quarter inch out of the deck. This is no good so we immediately started planning how we would fix it.
Crack between the knee and hull
After I cleaned it out I filled the crack with thickened epoxy and then fiberglassed the knee back to the hull.
First layers of fiberglass
Today I sanded it down and put a layer of paint primer down. Next I’ll finish the paint job and put the chainplate back in. Looking forward to solid knees again!
We got into Beaufort on Tuesday the 8th of November. We were pretty tired but excited to see some new friends we made on the way down. Santa Mojo and her crew is another Alberg 30 from Canada. We first saw them in Portsmouth and were really excited because they have the same boat. Soon we were anchoring together and sharing meals. Santa Mojo’s captain is Sabastien with crew Gabrielle and Philippe. They are preparing to go coastal from Beaufort to Charleston and we are trying to decide whether we’ll go out ourselves. The ICW has proved to be more taxing than we anticipated on account of the channels shoaling and choppy sailing in the inland rivers and sounds.
We started from Portsmouth, VA on the 3rd of November. Our destination was Blackwater Creek and on this stretch we went through our first lock. Great Bridge Lock was very easy, I think we only locked down about a foot. Very easy and Sara even threw some Halloween candy at the lock tender!
Great Bridge Lock
That night on Blackwater Creek after dinner with the Canadians we woke up at 4:00 am to our anchor alarm. Sure enough we were dragging. I attempted to reset the anchor with no success so we started the engine, lifted the anchor and before we could escape the shore we were blown into the bank bow first! In the chaos we ended up driving ourselves further ashore by trying to motor off. I ended up rowing out a kedge anchor and trying to pull ourselves out to no avail. By this time it was closer to 5:00 am and we decided to let it be until sunrise. When we could finally see we heeled the boat over by putting Sara in the dinghy, attaching the main halyard to the dinghy, and hoisting her up a bit. That wasn’t enough heel so our Sabastien and Philippe came over and hung on my boom. That did the trick! I was on the winch hauling the anchor rode in and as they were on the boom we popped free and I pulled us off the bank! It felt pretty hairy in the middle of the night but it was so satisfying to have pulled ourselves off without calling anyone for assistance. After that adventure we rafted up with Santa Mojo and enjoyed a pancake breakfast with them before heading out for the day. Thank you Santa Mojo and crew!
Now that we’ve been in Beaufort I’ve changed our oil and the fuel filter. I’ve filled up our water tank, refilled our diesel and outboard fuel. We’ve been burning some oil over the last week so I need to figure out where I’ve leaking but for now we’re in good shape!
We’re finally starting the trip down the coast. We left the Magothy on the 20th of October and today we pulled into Hampton River, just a hop skip and a jump from the start of the ICW.
We’ve had quite the adventure getting here already, I can’t imagine what’s in store for us the rest of the way down. I look at the distance we’ve covered and it seems pretty remarkable, this little boat has taken us all this way. It was really neat south of the Potomac to realize that we’d crossed into Virginia, the first time we’d crossed a state line in Hiraeth.
We’re already missing our friends from the Annapolis area, but we know that we’ll be back some day. We got to visit my sister while in the Newport News area. She joined us for the trip from Chisman Creek to Hampton River. It was great to see her and to have her aboard!
We’ve just returned from the Alberg 30 Fall Cruise. We had some amazing weather and were able to sail most of the cruise. When we started we had twelve boats on Hopkins Creek. I think eight of them were Albergs. Here’s a map of our cruise, By the time we finished the GPS started overlapping with the start of the log so I don’t have our first day and part of the second but you’ll get the idea.
Since the wind was so cooperative we got to do a lot of sailing. Here’s Sara at the helm on a tack up the Bay. She look comfortable in her slippers!
Sara tacking north up the Chesapeake Bay
Here’s one of me as we’re going down to Knapps Narrows.
Down to Knapps Narrows
One of the exciting things about this trip was a race from the mouth of the down to Knapps Narrows. It was so exciting to participate in a race on Hiraeth for the first time! We has a great start but about half an hour into the race I heard a ping, looked behind me and sure enough our dinghy had slipped off the painter carabiner again! Well I didn’t want to be disqualified from the race so we contacted the “race committee” and informed them of our issue. Loretta and Cabot of Gendarme who were coming up behind us managed to snag the dinghy with a boat hook as we were turning around to go back. They met us and released the dinghy allowing us to practice our man overboard maneuver. We finally managed to get the dinghy and tie it back up, this time with a line rather than the carabiner. We started back on our way and somehow still managed to come in fourth out of five boats!
This weekend we went out for the 2016 Commodore’s Cruise. Sara wasn’t here so I soloed to Eagles Cove behind Gibson Island here on the Magothy following Mike and Trish on Gilleleje. It was about an hour and a half of motoring with 5 knots of wind right on my nose. Really the hardest part is still getting into and out of the slip.
When we got to Eagles Cove three other boats already there and rafted up. Mike and Trish went in first and tied up on the right side of the group and then I cam in after them. Mike helped me tie up and explained the importance of the spring lines. By then other boats were coming in and I went over to help them tie up as well.
Once we were all situated the socializing started. Our Commodore broke out the champagne, gave a toast and officially started happy hour! Dinner was light and late on account of all the snacks consumed but was delicious and I’d say the company and ambiance made it even sweeter.
Masts and FlagsDinner on Gilleleje
The next morning I woke, made some coffee and enjoyed the peaceful morning before breakfast.
Morning Coffee
At about 1000 one of the guys brought out a television and managed to get the Olympics! I kept chatting with others and finally around noon Mike, Trish and I untied from the raft and headed back to Mill Creek.
This past week was our first voyage! We traveled from Gregg Neck on the Sassafras down to Mill Creek on the Magothy River. We decided to take three days for the voyage to allow plenty of time. Starting out Sunday evening we reached our first anchorage at Ordinary Point on the Sassafras, six miles in a little over an hour. It was a calm evening and an easy anchorage. Both of us jumped into the water to wash off the sunscreen and sweat from the day.
The next day we woke up, read our scriptures, and checked on the engine. Everything seemed to be in good condition but the stuffing box continues to not drip as much as I’d like when underway. So I went ahead and loosened it a bit and we measured a drip every twenty-two seconds when the shaft was turning. Next we looked into hoisting the jib on the roller furler. After pulling the sail out we found that there were no jib sheets in the bag. We searched for a while and contemplated using the reef lines for the sheets but in the end decided to put the sail back in the bag and continue on with just the main and our engine.
Of course having taken the time to go over things in the morning we ended up fighting our way south again the wind and the tide. The going was rough and we were only making two and a half miles per hour. At about 1400 I looked back and realized we were no longer towing the dinghy. At this point we were about a half mile past Fairlee Creek. Sara grabbed the binoculars and would you believe she actually spotted it so we turned around and went back to pick it up! I was pretty frustrated with the dinghy and I figured that the painter attachment had snapped off. When we picked it up I found no obvious failure. Somehow the carabiner let go, I’m guessing that in the choppy water it managed to release on its own. So I simply tied it back to the boat.
Next we got a bit surprised by a storm that blew in. Visibility dropped to about fifty feet and the winds picked up to what we later learned was about fifty miles per hour! The temperature dropped and we started to be pelted by penny sized hail! At this point we were still heading north as a result of turning around to get the dinghy. Rather than turn around I decided to head up to Worton Creek to shelter there for the evening. The storm blew past and we anchored in the cove outside the creek. This anchorage was a bit choppier as it’s exposed to the bay but we were thankful that the storm was past. In all it was about twenty miles for the day in about six hours.
We woke early the next day to take advantage of the tide and calm morning. It really was calm, we didn’t even put up the main to help. We followed the ship channel south and then crossed over the bay at Swan Creek. Navigated to the Magothy and then followed it all the way up to Mill Creek where we docked at a friend’s home. The day was about twenty-five miles in about five hours. Pretty good time.
Coming up Mill Creek
It was an exciting first voyage and we sure learned a lot! I can’t wait for the next one but for now we’re docked and I have work to do!
The day finally arrived for us to put the boat in the water! After repairing the rudder we put on five coats of Interprotect 2000 to help seal the hull. Then two coats of bottom paint. After that I mounted the rudder and finally put the propeller shaft back in place. At this point Scott moved us over to the travel lift where we could finish touching up the paint job, wash the hull and apply the new name. We launched Hiraeth on July 4th!
Repaired rudder ready for paintHull with Barrier CoatHull with Bottom CoatRudder and Propeller ShaftMoving to the LiftApplying the NameLowering into the Water
Having her in the water has taken some getting used to. The first night we were up every two hours to check the bilge. There are new noises and Hiraeth moves a lot more!
The last two weeks I’ve been working on the rudder. We took it off, opened it up to assess the damage and then slowly put it back together. This is my first time working with epoxy and fiberglass so it was an awesome learning experience.
Remove fiberglass and scoop out mud.
Clean out the void.
Close up of the pin.
Epoxy and adhere the pin and cracks.
Lay fiberglass for support.
Add epoxy filler.
Sand surface down.
Build up area with fiberglass mat.
Layer over with more mat around the leading edge.
Layer fiberglass over mat.
Another layer of fiberglass and sand it down.
More epoxy filler for the final build up.
Sand it down to shape it.
After opening it up I discovered a void that was there from manufacture. The material inside appears to be some sort of epoxy filler. At some point the rudder cracked open and so the inside was filled with mud. The rudder post and pins are bronze and extend into the rudder via smaller pins for structural support.
Last Saturday we went to Bay Ridge and enjoyed an afternoon with the rest of the Albergers. There was a flea market with some interesting gear, we picked up a set of signal flags and books. Good deals to be had!
The guys on the grill made some excellent chicken and hotdogs.
Cooking the Chicken
Rene is training a service dog. Looks like rough work to me!
Service Dog Training
Next we finally finished scraping the bottom of the boat. It’s taken forever partly because of the rain which has been limiting the work we’ve been able to accomplish.
Kicking Back and Looking Cute
We’ve started the sanding now. Getting down to the gelcoat is exciting and the boat is looking naked!
After Sanding
We did find an issue with our rudder and we’re still trying to figure out how to deal with it. The leading edge has a crack that runs most of the way down.
