Back to T of C
Back to October
November 1, Sunday
Motoring from the G9 anchorage down to Morehead City Yacht Basin. The plan was to leave tomorrow to go across Onslow Bay to Wrightsville, but the weather has really deteriorated. Nothing but rain for the next two days, then wind from the wrong direction.
This is a screen shot of Parker's web site. While many of us listen in, there are many others who pay a subscription fee for more personalized one-on-one service via email, fax and phone. Because the SSB broadcast can be heard by anyone with a shortwave radio Parker has a public radio problem. Many of us either by his book or send in a donation.
In 2014 Parker had a new broadcast center in operation with new directional antennas so that he could serve a larger audience. The map above shows his color coded directed signals kid to the broadcast schedule at the right. Both of these documents can be found on his web site.
Although this year I saw dolphins as far north as Norfolk, the highest concentration is here in the Beaufort area. The water is warm and the fishing is good.
This place is iconic in the snowbird community. This year I am skipping the Sanitary Seafoof Restaurant. The last few times I was here the food was a disappointment.
The bill fish don't stand a chance.
There is an annual Blue Marlin Tournament. This sculpture honors the winners of the tournament.
Thursday
Friday
Sunday
Tuesday
Just a few photos from Charleston, a favorite city. The library of the College of Charleston, the Citadel, and a typical residence in the old quarter. While in town I had new lenses made for my glasses by Dr Phillip Reiheld on King Street. If the aerosol you are using says keep away from polycarbonate they mean it! BTW, if you are wondering what it will be like as seawater levels rise just ask the residents of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Belhaven, Baltimore and Charleston. Forget the effects of hurricanes and King tides, it just takes a moderate nor'easter or full moon tide to inundate the waterfronts
Friday -- November 20, Saturday
It was Friday, November 13,
when I weighed anchor in
Charleston. Of course in American culture Friday the 13th is a bad day
to do
anything. In the age of sail superstitious crews said one should never
leave
port on a Friday. I ignored the folklore. The excitement started right
away.
When I hauled up my anchor the windlass was really straining. To my
horror
someone's abandoned anchor and chain was caught in mine. Very quickly I
got it
straightened out and was able to ride the ebb tide out of Charleston.
For most of the morning I
sailed southwest very
comfortably. When the wind died and I tried to start the engine it
failed me. A
wrap on the starter with a hammer and it got going. Even after the wind
came back up I left
the engine running. My thought was that I didn't want to arrive at the
St Mary
River and not be able to start it. Throughout the day the wind
continued to
build and the seas became even more confused. From the very beginning
of the
day the autopilot was overwhelmed by the seas and wind, meaning that I
had to stay
at the helm ALWAYS. After running the engine for ten hours with it
really doing
nothing to help my progress I got tired of listening to it and shut it
down,
figuring I would deal with the restart when I was off Fernandina Beach.
Meanwhile the seas and wind
continued to demand my
presence at the wheel. Sometime after midnight I had to roll up the
Genoa
because I was being overpowered by the wind and seas. I would have
liked to
make the main sail smaller, but it was too rough to go out on deck to
take care
of it. When I am at sea I am attached to the boat, but I am still very
careful
about going out on deck. If should fall and be hurt there would be no
one to
help.
When I got to the entrance
channel the engine wouldn't
start. A rap with the hammer and the starter did its job.
First thing on getting into
the Marina I called the
diesel mechanic and arranged for him to come on Monday morning.
Throughout
Saturday I took a few catnaps and straightened out the mess down below.
Later
in the day Jeff and Sally arrived and invited me to dinner. (They have
a motor
boat and had come down the waterway over the course of several days.
Their boat
does NOT do well out on the ocean in heavy seas.) Starting Sunday
morning early
I began work on routine engine maintenance (change all fuel and oil
filters,
change oil). By 3:30 PM I was working on changing the impeller that
pumps sea
water to cool the engine (the radiator in your car does this). With
just a slip
of the hand I sliced open the end of a finger. I could see this was
serious.
About a year ago I cut the same finger on my left hand, not as badly,
and it
took days to stop bleeding and weeks to heal. On the spot I called a
taxi to
take me to the hospital. 3.5 hours and five stitches later I was back
on
Andante.
This morning, as scheduled,
the diesel mechanic arrived.
I had to stay with the boat to explain symptoms and be a third hand
while he
tested different things. In the end the starter problem seems to have
been a
loose connection.
This afternoon I finally got
to the pharmacy to fill the
antibiotic and pain prescriptions. The injury to my finger has been
relatively
painless, probably due to what is happening to my sensory nerves;
another story
for another time.
With my prescription in hand
I could finally put away all
the tools that I had been using on Sunday.
As a side note, while in
Charleston I had new lenses made
to replace the ones I ruined. The new prescription and
lenses are out of this world. Although not cheap, I am glad that I had
to have
them made and stumbled accidentally on an optometrist who is better
than any I
have seen since our days at Illinois.
Interesting architecture. The church tower looks more like a castle keep.
The guy sitting to my left built the first east west railroad in Florida: Fernandina to Cedar Key. We're checking our watches and discussing the train schedule
The big sailboat came in yesterday evening after dark. --Chessie out of Fisher Island, FL-- My guess is she is about 100 feet long. From the shoes lined up on the deck she has a crew of 7. The little boat at the right side of the picture is about the same size as Andante.
I have seen Diamond (116 feet), out of Miami, in Fernandina Beach in prior years. On the one day run down to Miami she burns $1000 of diesel fuel per hour.
Titusville
Titusville
On leaving Titusville on Black Friday, 11/27/15, it was fitting that this squall was threatening. I brought my foul weather gear up on deck so it went south of me. So glad my foulies have this power
Rainbow from a shower that didn't miss me. I had put away my foulies
Pirates on the Indian River in Florida? Must be Captain Hook. Peter Pan and the Lost Boys are all the cruisers headed south to Never Never Land.
Fort Pierce, FL
An interesting twist on his and her sinks. Can be experienced in the lone working bathroom in a large, well known boatyard of central Florida. The couple that sits together stays together?