This weekend we crewed for Jonathan Adams on Laughing Gull (hull #197) in the Annapolis NOOD Regatta. It was exciting for Sara and I as it was the first time we got to sail an Alberg 30. There were three days of sailing with light winds on Friday and Saturday. The wind picked up on Sunday but came with rain so the whole weekend was a bit challenging.
Preparing to race!
We learned to put up a spinnaker under pressure and then fly it. Then to jibe with a spinnaker, I still need to think through that procedure. In addition to the frequent and multiple tacks it was fantastic to get used to sailing heeled hard over.
Overall Laughing Gull came in third out of six boats. Congrats to the winners and to all the competitors involved!
We hosted some people for the first time this weekend. We got to see Terri of TS Photo Creations (and co-worker from Nxtbook.) Also Steve and Fletch who helped us install shelves in the v-berth.
It was good to see friends, share our new home and explore the boat yard with them. Thanks for coming!
Finally we are at the boat in Galena, MD. For the past five days we’ve really started the work. The boat needs some work on the rudder, we’re going to strip and repaint the bottom and I would like to remove a knot-meter and use the hole as a thru hull for a deck wash down pump. Our days have consisted of waking up, doing breakfast together, doing some morning devotions and then trying to figure out how to do the work that needs done.
Rudder Shoe
I’ve pulled off the rudder shoe, started drilling a new hole which I’ll need to tap in order to screw in a new rudder pin. One of the guys here at the boat yard says that I should wait until I have the boat in the travel lift so it’ll be easier to do the work under the keel. I totally get that, it’s been a pain in the butt to be working under the keel up to this point.
We’ve also started to strip the bottom paint from the hull.
Scraping the Hull
It’s kind of a tough sell as to what is the best method. We’ve tried sanding and scraping. Scraping so far seems to be better but it’s still slow going. Three days and we’re still only about a quarter done. After the scraping is done I’ll have to go over and sand anyway. Pretty messy no matter what anyone says.
Once we get all the paint off the bottom and sand it we’ll cover it with a barrier coat and then put on a couple coats of anti-fouling paint. Plus a boot stripe. Got to have a boot stripe.
We drove to NH to drop off some stuff at the parents and to work on our cushion covers. It took long than expected but with the help of Sara’s mom we were able to get six cushion covers completed. They all have piping and a breathable vinyl backing.
So many important things have been happening this season. First we’ve become more involved in the Chesapeake Bay Alberg 30 Association which is a group made up of current and former owners of the Alberg 30. They’re a very active association cruising together on the weekends and participating in the Wednesday night races during the summer. In the winter there is the Annual Dinner and seminars on the weekends of February.
Sara and I joined the Association in October soon after we purchased Rose Anne. We didn’t really know what to expect but decided to attend the Annual Dinner in January at the Historic Kent Manor Inn. We arrived on the beautiful property and found the event being held in a large glass enclosed garden house behind the inn.
We felt a bit under dressed but the rest of the members made us feel very welcome and as the dinner and meeting progressed it became obvious that the people there were caring and fun loving people. After dinner the Commodore initiated the meeting starting with various business items for the coming year. The new officers for 2016 were introduced and then awards were given out.
We sat at a table with three other families, one of them is also starting a blog to document maintenance and repairs that he’s doing on his Alberg, Laughing Gull (hull #197.)
We attended the Cruising and Maintenance seminars in February. There was lots of planning for the upcoming summer and even an idea to float a couple Albergs down the ICW in a bid to get to the Bahamas or Cuba! During the maintenance seminar we learned about insulating the ice box and a couple other neat ideas like a deck wash down system made with a bilge pump. After each of these seminars we joined the group at a local house for an after party. This gave us so much opportunity to continue meeting members, learn about their lives and also get more ideas about how to handle our own adventure going forward.
Speaking of our adventure, I officially gave my notice at work. My last day will be the 1st of April (poor timing I know, but it’s not a joke!) One of the things Sara and I have been realizing is that our life is short. It would be easy to stay in our comfortable house with a steady job and few risks but what would I accomplish in a comfortable life? Nxtbook Media has been good to us for the past eight years and it will be sad to move on. But by putting a new challenge in front of us it’ll give us the opportunity to live life more fully, experience new people and places and to test ourselves.
Let’s talk about diesel training! In early March I attended Diesel Basics and Diesel Level II at Annapolis School of Seamanship. I learned tons and got my hands very dirty! It’s pretty difficult to get that diesel smell out of your hands and cloths! I learned the basic theory of diesel combustion, we went over troubleshooting failure to turn over and start. Common problems in the cooling system and the fuel system. I got to work on a Yanmar 3GM30, which is great because it’s the big brother to our little 2GM20. I also got some advise about our fuel and tank which has been sitting for about five years. I’m going to have to get it cleaned out, anybody know a good tank cleaning service near the upper bay area?
Last week we had the opportunity to set sail from Fort Lauderdale, FL down to Biscayne Bay for a whole week. We went with the Blue Water Sailing School on a Dufour Gib’ Sea 43 captained by Jaye. It was a great experience, we got used to sleeping, traveling, cooking and maintenance on a boat. And we were able to take away some great ideas for our own boat.
We showed up at Fun in the Sun Marina in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday the 7th without knowing what to expect. We showed up a little early and met two other students, David and John. David is a developer for a publishing company in Indiana. John is an accountant from New York with a passion for numbers and adventure! He’s skilled in scuba diving, horseback riding, flying airplanes and now sailing. David ended up assigned to another class for the week aboard “Gitana.” So our crew consisted of Sara, John and myself. Captain Jaye was our skipper and instructor.
After meeting Jaye and boarding our vessel “Third Wish” we were assigned berths and started by going over the boat systems and finding all the safety equipment. The next day we headed started on the ICW then out the Port Everglades inlet and to the Atlantic. We motor sailed down to the Biscayne Bay through Miami Harbor.
Miami Harbor
Most of our time was spent in Biscayne Bay where we drilled and practiced navigating. We anchored two nights off Key Biscayne, one night in Miami’s Marine Arena and once at a slip in Dinner Marina. Navigating in and around the marina we practiced docking and picking up a mooring ball, easier said than done!
South of Key Biscayne there’s a neat little area called Stiltsville with an interesting history. We charted a course through the Biscayne Channel one day to go out and get a closer look.
Stiltsville
Once we got out of the channel and into the open water we happened to find “Gitana” the other sail boat out from Blue Water Sailing School. Naturally a little light-hearted competition ensued. Gitana’s crew had to shake out a reef and once done it didn’t look like we’d be able to take them but then they made a fatal error and tacked allowing us to tack ahead of them and steal their wind! Pulling away from them was a treat and they even took some parting shots at us in the form of rotten fruit directed at our stern. Thankfully no damage to our vessel.
Pulling away from “Gitana”
Coming back into Biscayne Bay through Cape Florida Channel we happened upon a small fishing trawler powerless in the water. The family aboard didn’t speak English very well but Sara acted as an interpreter and learned that their fuel line had malfunctioned and they accepted a tow back to Rickenbacker Marina. We attempted to set up a bridle tow but it quickly became apparent that we needed practice with our knots. Captain Jaye had to quickly help us get them right and then tossed the line to the other boat where it was tied to their bow. After getting them to the marina and saying good-bye most of our light was gone and we took off to the Arena to anchor for the night.
It was an amazing week. Learning the ropes of a larger vessel makes me feel more confident to take out “Rose Anne” in the Spring and practice all that we learned. Also getting a feel for cooking and sleeping on the boat helps us to know what to expect. And of course meeting new people, hearing about their lives and working alongside them is I think one of the most meaningful parts of our time. We already miss Jaye and John and look forward to seeing them again!
We returned to Annapolis Sailing School to rent a Rainbow 24 and practice the skills we learned over the summer. It was well worth the trip as we need the experience! This was the first time that Sara and I sailed together without anyone else with us. It was an overcast day with winds from the northeast at about 15 knots. So we went ahead and reefed the main before heading out. We got out to the bay pretty quickly on a broad reach practicing jibing the whole way out. Once we got out out of the traffic we pulled in to a beam reach and continued to jibe and tack back and forth. I attempted a man overboard figure eight maneuver but didn’t want to luff the sails as the wind was causing them to whip sharply.
At the helm, helping with a jibsheet
Coordinating the turns and walking the boom over took some getting used to. When Sara was at the helm and walking the boom over for the first time she didn’t let go of the mainsheet and was pulled right across the bench! I turned around to see what was happening and her shoulder was bumped up against the leeward cockpit coaming!
As we were returning to the dock we had our first experience heeling! It took us quite by surprise! I asked Sara to pull the jib in to close hauled as I turned up into the wind and pulled the main in. Sure enough we heeled right over and I struggled with the tiller for a while to figure out what to do! I was too surprised to even estimate how far over we were heeling or to even think through what needed to be done. This happened twice more as I struggled to figure out the balance! It wasn’t until we were driving back home and Sara was reading about heel that we finally got to think through it and figure out what to do next time.
In all it was a great first experience. We definitely want to get out and explore more of the bay. It was tough staying within the bounds of the school when we wanted to just sail off into the sunset. Looking forward to the Spring when we can get Rose Anne in the water!
We’ve been talking to a couple down on the Chesapeake who are selling an Alberg 30 named Rose Anne. We made a deposit on her two weeks ago and finally two days ago we completed the purchase, transferred the title and registered her.
Rose Anne in the water
She’s not currently in the water but on the hard in a boat yard on the Chesapeake. We need to do a little fiberglass work on the hull, commission the engine and paint the hull. There’s lots of other things we want to do but for now we really just want to get her in the water and start sailing!
Over Labor Day weekend we took a class at Annapolis Sailing School to begin learning how to sail a sailboat. We spent three days going over the basic physics of sailing, all the different parts of a small keelboat, safety procedures, and basic navigation. By the end of the week we were performing sailing drills confidently and received our ASA 101 certification.
We met some great guys, Mark and Matt who were also from Pennsylvania. Hope to sail with them again soon!
Our class at Annapolis Sailing School
We were learning with a Rainbow 24 sloop in pretty light winds for the first two days. We tacked and jibed back and forth and back and forth for probably a good three hours each day. Then we went further out and practiced figure eights and man overboard drills. On the third day we got a good breeze and practiced reefing before we went out. Once we were out on the water we released the reef and made full use of the sail.
