Author: markperil@gmail.com

Chesapeakin’

by markperil@gmail.com on November 4, 2014 in Chesapeake Bay, Destinations, Maryland, Passage • 1 Comment

Well, we hunkered down and waited on the hook for Saturday and Sunday in Chesapeake City. It was ugly – one day of pouring rain (though it broke temporarily for a nice sunset in the evening), and one day with 15-20knot winds dancing us all around the anchorage. We were in a very tight cove, with docks/rocks on all sides and spent the day playing the scope vs. swinging room game…not our favourite game. That said, we were SO HAPPY to be out of Cape May where it was showing 35-40+ knot winds and 12 foot seas!

We used the time to do some painting & reading – it was good to get the creative juices flowing again.

One nice break in the clouds on Saturday Night

Art! (and beer…and sandwiches)

When Monday rolled around it was time to get on with it. The gale warning had been dropped to a small craft warning so we took that as our sign (HA). It ended up being a nice but BREEZY/COLD day.

(edit: I think these next few photos are actually from our Atlantic City to Cape May sail which was considerably warmer…Picture this but bundled up with two hats/gloves/extra layers!)

More selfies – what can you expect there are only two of us and someone’s got to steer!

We were ready for some shore power/hot showers, so we decided it was time for a marina day in Rock Hall, Maryland. We were happy to get here – enjoyed a beautiful sunset and re-provisioned (can you believe we’re drinking Budweiser? It is America after all…)

Made it!

Holy sunset, Batman!

Gratuitous sunset ring shot

This morning, we’ve been enjoying decent WiFi! Finally! We’re catching up on emails, enjoying our coffee and planning for the rest of our voyage down the Chesapeake. It’s gorgeous outside and we feel a bit guilty for not rushing out to sea while the weather is nice, but we need to recharge a bit (literally and figuratively).

First cup of the day :)

Get to work!

OK enough bloggin’! I’m off to cook some (recently acquired) BACON & EGGS

Happy Halloween from Chesapeake City!

by markperil@gmail.com on October 31, 2014 in C&D Canal, Delaware Bay, Destinations, Maryland, Passage • 3 Comments

We made it!!! Sunrise to sunset, to the minute (with impeccable current timing) we made it down and around Cape May, up the Delaware Bay, up the Delaware River and through the C&D canal today. It was long, tiring, wave-crashy and cold BUT we are finally off the Jersey coast!

Phew.

For Halloween this year, we’re dressed as two kids who think it’s fun to sail in the North Atlantic at the end of October

Happy Halloween!

Cape May!

by markperil@gmail.com on October 30, 2014 in Destinations, New Jersey, Passage • 0 Comments

Wow – what an incredible day! The seas were flat, we had 12 knots over the beam, just 40 miles to cover, and blue skies/full sun to keep us warm :). This is what sailing is all about!

Onward to Cape May Video

Unfortunately we won’t be checking out Cape May (proper) because we are anchoring out for a quick departure EARLY tomorrow am.

We want to try our damndest to get up the Delaware bay to Chesapeake city before some seriously nasty weather hits the coast on Sat/Sun…

It’s gonna be ugly, so we are getting the hell out of dodge and heading inland. Root for us!

Xo Mark & Caitie

The Atlantic.

by markperil@gmail.com on October 28, 2014 in Destinations, New Jersey, Passage • 2 Comments

We made it! Hot damn we set a few records for ourselves today:
-first sail in the Atlantic Ocean
-first night sail/incredibly early morning departure
-first 20knot breeze sailing on Tara
-longest day ever sailed (90 nautical miles)
-first time to Atlantic City
Annnnnnnd most jersey shore ever seen in one day (literally)

It was really a big one for us. I didn’t sleep a wink last night because I was teetering on the go/no-go decision…but we made the right one- We went, and we went safely. Now we are happily anchored just off of Harrah’s casino.

Plus! Another bird landed on me and made friends today. I’m hoping this will be a trend

Go time.

by markperil@gmail.com on October 26, 2014 in Destinations, New Jersey, Passage • 0 Comments

Ok, well we have been watching the weather all day and we are feeling good about the forecast. Our plan is to leave at 3:30am and make the trip down to Atlantic city! It is a long trek (almost 90 nautical miles) but we are feeling confident. Here is what NOAA is saying:

TONIGHT
NW WINDS 20 TO 25 KT…DIMINISHING TO 15 TO 20 KT
AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. MAINLY IN NW SWELL WITH A
DOMINANT PERIOD OF 4 SECONDS.

MON
W WINDS 10 TO 15 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 KT. SEAS 2 TO
3 FT. MAINLY IN E SWELL WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 8 SECONDS.

Wish us luck!

Atlantic highlands

by markperil@gmail.com on October 25, 2014 in Destinations, New Jersey • 0 Comments

Sandy Hook bay is beautiful. We were so happy to wake to blue skies for the first time in a week, and although we were bittersweet about our decision not to transit the NJ coastline today (building weather in the forecast meant we might have ended up in a small craft warning) we quickly adjusted to a day “off” filled with a beer-and-tacos lunch on the dock and a very fruitful provisioning stop in Atlantic Highlands. We are now proud owners of our very own granny grocery cart!

Back to the watch and wait for weather routine – now with a stocked galley.

If you look hard you may be able to see our dark blue sail cover on Tara, floating on a mooring ball behind me

Waiting for a weather window…

by markperil@gmail.com on October 25, 2014 in New Jersey • 0 Comments

Well, we decided not to leave today. Forecast looks great for the morning but eventually building to a small craft warning in the evening and we don’t want to get “stuck” out there with the wind and seas building to 30 knots/5+ feet…

…and so we wait.

I’m hoping it was the right decision because it looks like unsettled weather for the next 5 days at least… Have to be patient!

In the meantime, here is a video Caitie took last night of our avian friend that I named ” Henri”. Pay no mind to the state of my hair (I think I’d been pulling it out while anchoring )

To New York, and Beyond!

by markperil@gmail.com on October 25, 2014 in New York State, Passage, Surprises • 3 Comments

We’re bouncing back, baby!!!!

So we were stuck in Haverstraw Marina (aka purgatory) for a couple weeks, but we’re outta there!

So our roller furling repair was quoted at $3200, but we managed to get out of there for under $1600 (thanks to some sweat equity courtesy of Caitie and yours truly) We’re outta there!

So we had one nasty experience at anchor where it was blowing 20+ knots the night we left the marina, resulting in shifts sleeping/watching for anchor slippage, but at least WE’RE OUTTA THERE!

Frankly everything is looking up – We’re making progress again. Who knew how good it felt to be on the move (and, more importantly), have decent weather!

Trying out the new headstay w/New York City in the distance

Today we did the rip down the Hudson River to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. At first, we weren’t sure how far we were going to get (because I, Mark, slept in this morning after a long and tiring night on anchor watch Wednesday). We were targeting an anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty for an afternoon anchor…but as soon as we hit New York Harbour, we had the current in our favour and were going 10-11 knots!! It was the fastest we’d been in the boat, and was extra crazy due to the hundreds of other boats/ferries flying around in all directions.

Needless to say…we were happy to get through that chaos and decided to stretch it the extra 15 miles to Sandy Hook.

The anchoring process here wasn’t fun (first solid argument b/w Caitie and I so far), but we got it on the 4th try.

Even after that stress, though, we had a magic moment where a gorgeous white dove landed on the boat out of nowhere. We were both a little awestruck…we continued our anchoring and he hopped onto my shoulder!! It was so surreal! Then he flew over to Caitie’s shoulder!! We took the mandatory pics and feel it must have been a good omen. Right?!

Tomorrow just may be the day we start our trek down the Atlantic coast. Wish us luck!

NYC: Take two

by markperil@gmail.com on October 20, 2014 in Boat Projects, Boat Work, Destinations, New York State, OpTrop • 0 Comments

A few posts ago I alluded to an issue with our roller furling headstay in the mast re-step day post, but didn’t go into much detail because I’d jury rigged a solution that I thought would work. My solution was pretty crude and frankly it wasn’t sitting well with us, so we decided to get an expert opinion…

The expert opinion we got wasn’t positive…basically the top section of the roller furling extrusion (where the forestay from the front of the boat meets the top of the mast) had sheared off. This we knew. What we didn’t know, was that the forestay itself had been damaged in the process, which could put the entire rigging system (AKA what holds the mast up) at risk. Basically we were looking at a new forestay and replacing the top extrusion of the furler. Further complicating the process, this would require disassembling the entire system and then reassembling it with our new part, something that came in quoted at up to 20 hours of labour.

-yes I know these all sound like technical terms for the uninitiated…if I lost ya, just scroll through the photos –

We got a quote to do the work in the neighborhood of $3200 (WHICH SEEMED CRAZY!), so we asked the guy to let us do some of our own labour to get the hours down. He obliged, and we got right to disassembly with a blowtorch, awl, hammer, and vice grips as soon as the furler was down.

It all went really well except for ONE roll pin which took over 50% of total time spent to get it out.

Once disassembled, we sent the connection pieces off (to the guy assembling the new forestay) and are waiting anxiously to hear some good news about reassembly early this week. HOWEVER, since no one was working on the weekend…BACK TO NEW YORK CITY!!!

This time, however, we had the pleasure of meeting up with our good friends Tom and Mel!!

We covered a lot of ground in less than 36 hours in the city!!! Chelsea, East Village, Greenwich Village, Midtown, Brooklyn, and Wall St….our feet were sore and we were happy. We took a coupla photos where we got engaged last week in Central Park and scoped out the NY waterfront by the financial district…it looked like a rough day out there, so we’ll be targeting calmer conditions for our passage!

It’s been an amazing weekend and we’re ready to get back at ‘er tomorrow.

RECYCLING RANT

by markperil@gmail.com on October 20, 2014 in Deep thoughts • 1 Comment

cans START RANT

OK so…I have a bone to pick with Ohio and New York states (Pennsylvania I didn’t even go to shore so I have no idea about you): I have had to throw into the garbage more cans, bottles, and plastic recyclable containers in the past month since I’ve been in the United States, than I have in the past 20 years living in Vancouver (I know I’m setting myself up for a joke about how much beer we’re drinking, but bear with me…). I’m not sure if there is just a lack of access to facilities for boaters, or if this is a general population trend, but it is appalling and I am ashamed to be partaking in it. The facilities we’ve frequented for the past month have been, for the most part, spectacular – but this is my one complaint since being on this trip.

P.S. I know this is not an America-wide phenomenon (I’m looking at you San Fran/Cascadia)…GET IT TOGETHER EVERYBODY ELSE.

End rant,

Love Caitie

(ADDENDUM: NYC is up to speed with recycling trends, so they are exempt from this rant)