30-35 Knot winds while anchored. What a ride!

Last night the weather forecast was North winds 5knots.  Well it was super quiet and 10pm we were just read to hit the hay cuz the night before we were awake most the night with the loud banging noise and plus worried about moving and we did.  So when we came in to Vineyard Haven anchorage we anchored... it was not good so we anchored again.  When done I waited 2 hours then started up the engine and cranked it into reverse to see if we were in weeds again but nope it held good.  I thought it might be over kill but it was a good thing I made sure it was set good and tight! 10pm hit and all of a sudden and We mean All of a sudden the wind came from the North loud and our boat turned around.  We ran out of the cabin and set the anchor watch. Then we watched as our chain we could tell was stretching out then it caught good and tight. phew! Ben said he'd be fine staying up and making sure we are not going to drag.  I went below but it was so amazingly loud.  Every locker door banged... the floor creecked... the anchor rode screeched along the dolphin pole... the winds howled... the clock ticked... the water running by the boat rushed loudly... etc who could sleep like that. so in solidarity I went up with my down sleeping bag and pillow and said, "I'd be happy to watch the anchor watch there is no way i can sleep!" Ben said there is no way I'd sleep down there either. so I got his sleeping bag and pillow and we laid down in the cockpit and every so many waves we'd look around.  The alarm rang every so many times cuz the boat would swing from one side to the next. We'd jump up and look... the boat was fine we widened our anchor reach from 35 to 40 feet swing.  That was enough to not go off again until morning.  About 3am the winds died down and also we were confident we were not moving anywhere! That was a good feeling we successfully anchored tightly and the winds were even stronger than the night before!!!

Today was a day of visiting Martha'a vineyard. a very cute place.  Expensive place. in the summer there are about 120,000 people and year round there is about 20,000. tourists! the famous live around here too... or so they say...
the vineyard was named after a guy, James, he discovered it in 1700's and his daughter was named Martha and there are wild grapes around here not good for wine but good for concord grape jelly. It was later a whaling mecca.  Poor whales killed for their blubber to be boiled down for oil in lamps.

the classic house or cottage is gray cedar shake siding with ginger bread decorations.  But in Oak Bluffs it was a small methodist revival where people came for a week long tenting revival.  They liked it so much they stayed then the tent area turned into houses or cabins/cottages.  There are about 321 of them all so adorable it looks like you stepped into a fairy tale!!! The kids are all playing outside. there is the big top "tent" of a church. people are out on their porches talking and drinking.  It is out of a fairy tale movie! so enjoy the pictures.

We also went to the oldest carrousel or one of the oldest it used to be in Coney Island. Cute and adorable! her is Ben and I riding it!

We had coffee, ice cream and ended the day with sharing swordfish. yummmm! I'm full! Better than our food on the boat!

love you all

Pam

7 foot seas & Lila not happy & Currents I get it!

        Lila trying to not think about the bucking bronco boat!

         Sid, another sailing mentor and nice guy that has two pet birds each day come to get some morsel of food.

Tides and Currents – no problem!!! Finally!

Ok so this picture is of Sid.  He works for the mooring place in Mystic. He’s an old guy that has many a good tips for sailing.  He used to instruct little kids. His son is now a big sailor and boat deliverer etc.  Any way here are some words of wisdom. If a crab/lobster buoy lays down it is from the wind, if it disappears it is from current. Now I can look out and see the current or wind.  If you get too much weather helm let your sails out. (which I do) He taught me line handling while docking.  Humm he wouldn’t really look at your … well who can tell when you have sunglasses on. He talked slow because you could see he was thinking how to say what he wanted in as few words possible. Me I talk in as many as possible a few times over.

One thing he quizzed me on was the Eldridge book of Tides and Currents.  He said what is the deviation at stonington. Ok here in the blog I can tell the truth… I said, “minus 30”! He was shocked I got it right and to tell the truth I was shocked I got it right too.  Then he said have you read the book. I replied, “Read the book? It is charts and tables.” He look at me… “read the book the Eldridge book of tides and currents the whole book then read it again!”

Ok people all the time give us advise, they say, “Watch your currents and tides from now on!” “ make sure you follow the currents.” “Don’t get caught in the wrong current.” Etc. etc… but no one tells you what to do or why it is important. I heeded his advice.  I got out the Eldridge book and read about currents for Matha’s Vineyard or “vineyard sound” and “buzzards bay”. I read the same few pages over and over and over until I understood the current chart and the deviations AND finally I got it right!!!! We left at 8am hoping to be south of Cutty Hunk by 9am at which time the flood begins and we will have a hefty current to help us along. Starting at slack all the way to 3 knots!! Yahooo! It did what it said and that means I read it right … finally!! Here is the difference. The winds were only 10 knots at our back once we were in the sound. 

Let me back up the winds were a strong 20-25 with seas of 7 feet! Swells every 2 seconds. We motored into big waves into wind. The boat went way up and then slide down the side of the wave and our bow sprit dove into the water and splash. It is just like being on a roller coaster that goes up 7 feet and down but one with water.

Poor Lila was so angry this morning! She went to her normal hiding spot under the kayak and it got so rough under there she poked her head out and cried get me out of here. I went and got her. She went down below and literally was tossed up and down.  I went down to make a nice “cave” or nest for her to hide in.  That is the picture.  That was not good enough. Then I put her in the corner of the soft saloon curved bench seat where it has green velvet like material. Then I put a pillow up against her so she was sandwiched in so she felt save.  She dug her nails in and looked up at me and said,  “I hate you… make it stop!” She cried as if to yell at me.

Then we hit the vineyard sound and the wind died to 10knots. Perfect and we had a strong 2 knots of current. So we were making 4 knots with the wind and 2 more with the current sometimes 3 knots.  So to go 15 Nautical miles it took under three hours, if we timed it wrong it would have been 2 knots an hour or 7 ½ hours to go the same distance. Also going through small water ways with current pushes your boat in weird places and sometimes takes over if you are not careful. 

It is cute how God gives us what we can handle for the day. He sends people in our lives for the lessons we need to know for that day and when the student is ready the teacher will appear! Ben did not get sick today but then again I suggested he just drive the boat since that helps keeep your mind off of the seasick.  He was good. 

We are now in famous Martha’s Vineyard and I don’t know why it is famous but it is.  Tomorrow we will find that out as we stay a night. Seems like good enough weather so we won’t drag the anchor like we did last night!! That could have been a catastrophe. It is never good to drag your anchor and how embarrassing too cuz you could hit rocks – other boats – drift off to sea… it is scary.  So here is an example of God wanting us to learn better anchoring drills.  We have two anchors but not sure how to use them exactly at the same time or for different bottoms. Oh Dad, I’ll give you a call about the electrical.  We were in high seas today and no cell phone coverage until we hit the bay.

I’m so tired cuz I didn’t sleep well at all!!! Too much wind 20-25 all night plus I was worried we would drag. And we did!

All is good. Peace Pam (For all you wanting Ben to post something - I bugged him enough today so he is now blogging for you all!)

Power Who needs power you say?

No power on a boat would be fine if it were not our navigation system.  I love how we have it all set up right now. i love our chartplotter - how did I every live without it? I love the AIS how did I live without it? But now if there is no power then it would be a pain to navigate through rocks/shallows/buoys etc... it is crucial.

It seems we have a phantom power sucking drain on our system.  no one can find it.  Well Steve our new electrician says he found it but I doubt it cuz here is why...

Ok he says all things lead to a bad Alternator (which could be try cuz our past owner had not one but two alternators on board - sound fishy to you, why would you have two new ones? He had the "new" one that comes with the engine and he had about a new Balmar alternator the big Daddy of all alternators!!!)

there is a hummmm, that baby makes and it could be draining the battery cuz if we use it or not our house still gets drained.  But here is the weird thing.  So he said just shut off the alternator fuse so there fore NO power can be drained from the alternator (which by the way is turned off so how does it drain if it is off - i did ask that questions a few times and it got a silly dumb look so I knew it was a dumb question - but maybe not?)

so if it is off our house still gets drained.  I think it might lead back to the old ancient "heart" system that our inverter from AD/DC thingie. Cuz when that is on ... well it drains.

So here we have new batteries... and still they drain!!! So we left Mystic anyway. Our batteries still last the same as before one or two days depending how much we use our navigation system.

So today we left and motored for a while to fill up the batteries. Then ben hopped in the water to get our water speed wheel to work.  it is under the belly of the boat. it was windy and wavey. I said ok if he wears a rope tied on.  He has to follow those rules that is when I pull the captain trump card. so it was a good thing too cuz the boat does not move half has fast at the current would carry him.  it was hard for him to get under the boat cuz the current would have him ending up 8 feet behind where he wanted to be.

He flipped the wheel once.  came up and did not go back in. (strange, that did not seem like enough time) we started and welp the wheel was still stuck.  But this time I knew why he did not go back in.  Ben get seasick in waves.  Yup it was too late and he was barfing over the edge. now you all are saying poor guy.... Me too.. and I have to add poor me... cuz who drive the boat for the next 6 hours? by her self in 20 knot winds?

It was ok until the winds hit 20k then the sail configuration is too much and I fight with the wheel.  literally fight to keep us down wind cuz the boat wants to gallop and bounce into wind. she bucks and I pull hard... well then I tried the auto helm (electric one) so I could adjust my sails and no luck it would not hold a course ??? What??? no way!!!! now I'm at 22 winds and I can't hold it anymore.  I yell down, 'BEN, I need help soon!" He popped up fast and grabbed the wheel so I could set the sails differently.  Then I said, it is too much wind for the jib let's switch to the staysail.  (I love the staysail it is a shorty sail that is self sheeting - "self steering", and I can pull the sheets from the cockpit so I don't have to leave. plus I did not have the jack line run.)

So Ben was feeling good enough to set the staysail! phew! I love the main with the staysail.  I'll have to take pictures sometime.

then Ben took Dramamine - he likes to wait - then went back down for the day.  it was 20 knots but I was perfectly fine just tired. and mad about the autohelm??? then the cape horn (non-electric autohelm) Ben dropped the bungie cord in the water so we put a rope and the rope just does not want to hold.  So I jerry - rigged it for a while.  then I put my harness and tether on so not to fly off the back end while Ben is sleeping, and it worked for a while enough to give me a break for the day.

needless to say I'm beat! tomorrow is martha vineyard but it will also be the first day we will travel in storm predictions.  the winds are SW 5-10 so that is good if they were north winds I'd say no-way! that is why we will sit there for two night as the NE winds will come in then leave.

I'm almost out of batteries for the computer, Ben is sleeping on the settie.

Time for BED!
zzzzz
bless you all!

Ben's Birthday Pictures say it all

        Ben ready for a birthday at Mystic seaport Museum! His goal is to sail a small wooden boat!

      Here he comes. Lila is saying good bye and see you later it is sleep time for her.       Ben and I paddle 3 miles up river.       Taking pictures everywhere we go, on water, on land, everywhere!!!       Ready to cross the lift bridge.       Ben getting excited to set sail.  Note I am the photographer for all these pictures with my little snapshot picture.       Let's get going!!!       First you have to step the mast.       Finally we are sailing! Yahoooo!!!       Here we are together!            I think it is my turn!       Ben doing what he loves to do! and me sneaking up on him sneaking up on others.

We went to the museum, sailed the wooden boat, walked through the Morgan whaling ship, learned about: cooperage, stars, barrels, and many things. We ended up at mystic pizza from the famous movie, "mystic pizza". Great pizza. we had ice cream and ended the day listening to a band in the park. We paddled home and now are blogging. Oh we did set out sailing ideas for the next few days.  We will sail tomorrow to Dutch Harbor RI. with SW winds 10-15 (perfect) the next day sail from Dutch harbor to Martha's Vineyard a very long day of sailing it should be raining off and on.  my first time in raining but the winds are still favorable. Sid the guy from the Maxwell's mooring gave me many sailing lessons and one of them was don't sail with a Northeaster around here.  So friday and Saturday are supposed to be northeasters and we hope to hole up in a cove south of the chappaquitick bay on Martha's vineyard.

That's all for now.  Big two day sailing. got to get some sleep.

blessings to all and happy birthday Ben!!! My Sweet!

Sunday Wooden boat parade! Yup right by our boat!

       They came all dressed up in the vintage of the boat's year.     Here is a cute adorable wooden tug.       here are two boats in the same picture. Ben's great eye of photography. (you all know I did not take these  pictures but I swipe them from Ben.       There were amazing Criss Crafts - they sure made a lot of boats! right near us in Wisc. I guess Wisc is known for other things than cheese.     This guy is firing a cannon! Some of the boats had bag pipers playing! One boat was a 70's boat complete with the outfits of hippies to match.       Who doesn't love a tug?!       Of course the best was saved for last... The wooded Kayaks.       today was a family affair.  Right infront of us is the shoreline and here is a family "boathouse" full of family and fun!  All up and down the shore people on the land pulled up a porch and chair to watch from their house... just like us watching from out "home".  We ate popcorn and pop for the show.    this house seemed to have more going on during the evening... they kept partying way late complete with a very good band.

So Sunday was not a complete downer with knowing out electrical is still bad.  We made the best of it. The weather report kept saying it was going to thunderstorm from 1 - 5pm but the rain held off until the parade was totally done! about 7p the rain started coming.

It is the first cool morning! ahhhh I'm writing in the morning cuz I was so tired from all that brain power it took to look at the electrical. ohhh yes and one of our water hoses let loose.  Remember we have a fantom water drainer from out fresh water supply?! Welp it showed it's face and we heard water pouring out and mighty Ben found the problem and fixed it.  a few tighter clams and away it was fixed.  I was importantly talking on the phone with Connie when it blew. So Ben was on it!  Way to go Ben.  We both felt good that something broke and we actually fixed it!!! Way to go us!! it 's worth celebrating -- oh even better it did not cost anything to fix!!!

There you have a wonderful day... Blessings on your days!

OK We don't have power!

Grrr that is all I have to say! So we get new batteries. We find out a few problems... I think that is the problem that there are too many problems to sort out what is causing what! The Engine runs a Balmar (which is the biggest powerful alternator one has ever seen on a diesel engine) then it goes to get regulated for it's voltage so it can go and recharge the batteries. But then there is a second switch next to the voltage regulator... what does that do? it turns some brown wire to on or off.  well it was off... was that our problem? so we turn it on (well we don't our professional electrician does) now there is power to the mysterious to me brown wire. then it runs over to a duo converter that splits the battery charge from the house and the back up battery.

All this happiness should be about 14.4 volts charging at first cuz every electrician talks about Bulk charge, float charge and one other one. yadda yahdda yahdda. maybe this is where I should be paying attention.  So we fried our old batteries - well we can assume they were fried before we got them. And it seems we might be doing it again. cuz we ran our engine to charge and Ben for fun... I'm so glad he thinks this is fun... he took out the voltage meter and said, "Oh this is bulking out at 16!" now we really don't know much about meters but they seem simple - red to red - black to black- then read the number.  maybe we don't know which dial to turn it to so we just turn it till it looks like it is giving us the right answer. I think Ben knows more cuz he has the Y chromosome thing going on his side.

The meters are fun to play with cuz I feel like I'm so smart hooking up two wires and getting immediate results. Ok back to the story... So the duo converter might be wrong too. Or is it the "Heart" the dreaded AC/DC converter? Something is telling someone to over charge the batteries to death! Who is the culprit??? Or could it be the ground is making everyone crazy? If we are not grounded right then weird things can happen.  So there you have the full story.

Anyway we are not yet leaving Mystic till the guy Steve comes back to check out our electrical this afternoon sometime - which means 4 or 5pm.
But now let me tell you of our Sunday fun! I'll put it on the next blog.

We have power!

Electrical Fixed for now!

But first let me talk about yesterday. Our good friends and mentors took us around with their car.  We went to Defender that is a cheaper place to get anything you need for your boat. We got two batteries to run our “house”. (we have a reserve battery to start our engine should our house batteries get to low.) We then played a bit and went to see the Nautilus submarine. It was built in about 1956 or so.  Right next to it was General Dynamics where they build big subs and other killing things. Our history is war war and more war. One has to admire the submarine’s amazingness. How does it go so far under and not come up? How do you get 7 grown men to fit in a small room/bunks.

Today the Electrician guy came over to assess our house battery problems! He was a great guy and he knew his stuff.  He diagnosed our equipment and helped us set in two new batteries! We know we will need to get other equipment for next year. This is a temporary fix… well it might be longer term?

We went grocery shopping hopefully we got two weeks worth of food.  It is hard to know what you want in two weeks and it all can’t be refrigerated. Both Ben and I have been craving a few cookies, so we might have bought too many this time. Ha ha we also did not have enough options for drinks.  We had water, water and water which is good but sometimes you would like something else.  Well we had a few beers, ginger beer, grapefruit juice and more water.  To spice up the water we added mint tea. That helped a bunch.

Tomorrow Mystic, then we should be on our way to martha’s vineyard and Nantucket and cap cod to see WHALES or so we hope!

Heartfelt Happy Birthday Rebecca!!!!

Happy Birthday Rebecca,
How was your birthday? We were running here and there getting provisions and trying to get our electrical to work.
How was the bike ride?
Much love sending to you from Ben and I and Lila!
Pam
blessings on selling your house!

7/22 Dave came to visit!!!

       We got a free dinghy ride from Darrell.         Here comes Dave!          He is ready to go!   Dave Sailing!

Today was a perfect day to have our first visitor of the summer! Dave! Normally we Kayak to get him but Darrell gave us a ride... thanks Darrell!

the day was a perfect day for wind.  We had 15-22knot winds just on the edge to reef or just use the main. We beated into the wind then a big 30k gust tipped us over and Dave asked, "Is this normal."  Ben and I looked as cool as cucumbers, cuz we were.  we both replied, "Yup, it is normal, it is great fun!" we then took down the jib and only sailed with the Main.  What took us about 2 hours to go forward in to the wind took us 1/2 to get back.    

We came back and went out to dinner but first Dave must learn how to kayak.  well Kayaking is the easy part getting in and out of the boat is the tough part! It was calm... Dave got in but then needed to move the backrest of the kayak, and flip out he went into the water... our first person to go overboard. he might have been a bit worried about the jellies, to top it off, something I had not thought of but Ben and I have a rope ladder, when he was in the water I thought, "Oh no it is so hard to learn how to get out of the water with a rope ladder... once you get the technique it is fine... so it took him a bit to get back in the boat.... meanwhile there were jellies lurking but none attacked... phew!

Good thing Dave brought other clothing! Smart guy! We had such a good day!  DAve looks great! he is working out and helping his Dad with the bizz and walking most everyday with his mom, not to mention he does stuff with her sister and family.

We ended the day with food... and ice cream cuz I love ice cream!!

Dave say HI to everyone!

I almost forgot about Lila!

Today Lila went in the water by accident from a kayak.  Yup that is right… This morning I decided to take her for a walk on shore.  She was not too happy about the walk as all she wanted to do was to hide behind a bush.  I made the trip short and she hopped on the kayak and we paddled to Cricket.  When I got close she popped out and sat on the front of the kayak and then leaped on to Cricket except that her back legs slipped and she slid in the water… down her little head went under the water… I grabbed her … and pulled her in the boat then up in Cricket.  She was not happy! She ran around trying to shake and kept looking at me.  I dried her off and then she was better until it came time for her to lick her coat dry.  She does not like salt water. Poor thing.  I hope she will forget that! I might doubt it cuz her first week on the boat she got sea sick and threw up her tuna and now she will not and I mean will not touch tuna!

7/21 pictures

          I live for ice cream!     Look closely in the middle of the picture. there are small sail boats in the back for the youth sailing school.  Those kids get to live on the ship for a week while learning how to sail! Amazing, where was that school when I was a kid?     We are in Mystic Sea Port Museum. This is Ben's favorite place so far and he has been dreaming of seeing these old ships.  It was say fun.  We will come back again before we leave. Here is me finally letting Ben take pictures of me again since I finally have clean hair.  The last shower before this was hummm well at least over a week ago. I just pull my hair back in a braid and call it a day and Ben tells me I look more beautiful everyday. 

I have to say I'm getting beefy arms due to the kayaking.  To get to this museum we had to Kayak 3 miles up a river.  then a storm came up while we were in town. It rained and rained. We decided to finally run to get dinner and right as we started the rain poured more. We ducked under a business and the guys inside were just packing up to leave and one guy, Andrew, gave us a ride to Pizza. It was amazing pizza! in my top 5. Now going home I have to admit I was a little whiney. I said as we walked to the kayaks knowing we have an hour kayak home AND a new storm was ahead of us with black black clouds and a big lightning show. 

 I said to Ben, "Ok I have to admit I'm not too crazy about the long ride home. I'm not a night person and normally I sleep in the car rides when you and I go anywhere." He said with a smile, "I'll tow you home." Sweet... well if I wasn't so prideful... I must be getting old cuz after 1/2 mile I said, "I got an idea!"  ... "What if I hook my kayak on to yours that way you can paddle as fast as you want, I won't be holding you back, and I can paddle as fast/slow as I want and we won't loose each other in the darkness."  Phew I think I saved face there.  ha ha anyway that really helped me. My arms were tired from this mornings paddle. We actually flew in the water home and beat the rain! 

God is good.

FOG!

 FOG       Ben, waking up in the morning. He can pull anchor and still be half asleep.          Lila Helping Ben, this time something startled her and she backed up and good thing Ben was only half asleep cuz he grabbed her before she went off the deep end. We have not put her in the water yet. We think she will fall in on her own. Silly girl!          A light house in CT just before Mystic River.          A light house with Ivy being Trimmed to perfection.

We are moored. That is a funny story too. so I'll start with that. Darrell and Nancy let us use their mooring ball too but when we arrive there is a guy on the mooring. He says he is supposed to be there.  Ahhh what do we do? so we are being squatters. yup the next ball over in a different line from a different shipyard was open so we took it.  We are waiting for someone to kick us off but no one so far.  Well as it turns out the mooring ball we were supposed to be on really is gone. some boater ran over it and cut the line. Still no mooring for us.  The owner said we could use number 11 for a while... he thought a week.  ha ha we will see.  using someone else's mooring ball just has not seemed to work for us. We are in Mystic River... yup Mystic seaport... well we are 3 miles down river from the main hub but still seems ok to call it Mystic Seaport.  There are mooring balls after mooring balls... lines and lines... rows and rows... miles and miles... and most people are moored and not out sailing.  crazy!  I like a good mooring ball now and again when we are going to see the sights.  it is pretty secure and that makes me sleep well at night.  smile...
Ok so this morning I woke up at about 5:30am look up (we were sleeping out on the deck again.) full of dew and the clouds were way cool but not cool enough for me to go down and get the camera. now if Ben saw those he would.  then a bit later I heard the classic Fog Horn. Baaaa woooo Gaaaa!  Bassss wooo Gaaaa! so fun I looked around and the place is socked in with Fog! amazing! you can't see but 100 feet.  Well here we go getting ready for Maine where it is fogged in all day??? yikes!!!
today is exploring Mystic Seaport a 3 mile Kayak paddle.

Stoney Islands - the Thimbles!

Stoney Creek:

This is a little town on islands.  All the islands are private and they are people’s homes or they are their “summer cottages”, term used lightly.  They are all mansions, even the little ones. It looks like the BWCA rocks and small islands but they are in the ocean. Way cute and way overboard expensive. They say CT has the highest income per capita. Well I believe it.  The town is adorable too with rocks and vegetation. We got to walk a good long way and kayak throughout most of the islands. Then Ben and I worked. I did quarterly taxes and he did pictures. I’m sure national geographic will want him soon. I just won’t give him up. Oh wait they could pay him to sail around the world – yeah that’s the ticket.!

Ha ha

Well that is all the time I have as we sail away early this morning on our way to mystic seaport – famous – and fun.. or so I hear and we will meet our friends Darrell and nancy!

Have a sunny day as we will – amen!