On The Water

They say for want of a nail, a war was lost. In my case, it happened to be the work of a different, yet equally critical piece of metal, and the chain reaction was much shorter.

My mast decided to quit on the job a few days back and pretty much took a dive overboard after crumpling in half at the spreaders. I have a good idea and some evidence as to what happened, but that’s beside the point for now. I’ve been able to rig a bit of a jury mast using my spinnaker pole and my storm jib and while I can’t really point very well upwind I can reach and run and am therefore eeking my way closer to shore. Unfortunately I’ve had to abandon my original voyage plans just to get somewhere safe and hopefully with adequate facilities to effect the repair.

Due to the way the mast came down I was unable to salvage anything from it, including the brand new jib I just made. Quite a shame, and I can’t say I’m not disappointed, although I am in relatively good spirits and making the best of the situation. Ed, on the buddy boat a mile or so away, is sticking with me to help ensure I make it somewhere safe. We’ll decide what to do about the voyage once I get some more details onshore. However, it’s pretty clear that regardless of the resolution, Aletheia is not going anywhere for several months as it will take quite a while to either get a new mast or find a used one that fits, re-rig, and get some new sails. So, sadly, the very exciting voyage has come to an unexpected and rather unhappy pause. But we will continue and we will press on, one way or another! As they say, it’s not an adventure until something goes wrong. And right now, it is definitely an adventure.


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Getting underway for this upcoming passage was, for me, a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. There was a flurry of activity to prepare for departure - provisions to purchase and stow, rigging repairs to finish, a test hoist of the sail I made, etc. There was also weather and route planning - as much art as science and even with the best information still something of a gamble. Saying goodbye to newly met friends is always a challenge.

But for me the greatest emotional disparity has always been with regards to the destination - the thrill of seeking something new and interesting, the hope of finding some piece of something longed for, the apprehension of exchanging what one already has for an unknown, the fear of taking that first step towards change and risk. A melange familiar to many wanderers, gypsies, and pathfinders around the world - although I’d be willing to bet it is more familiar to those who travel because they are driven towards something or by something than to those who travel out of nothing but a love for travel. All of these emotions come in waves, and they continue even during the voyage itself in many cases.

So it was with this rich blend of feelings that I hoisted the anchor this morning and headed out into the Straits under a light breeze and full sail. I have high hopes for this trip, perhaps unfairly so, but then again I am a dreamer and an idealist at heart.

I’m making the passage solo, but not alone. A friend has joined up in his boat and we are two solo sailors on a big sea with a common goal. His boat is smaller than mine, which means I’ll likely have to slow down a bit to stay within radio range, but that’s no big deal as for once it’s nice to have some company.

I’ll reveal the destination to you when we get there, but in the meantime, hang on because it’s shaping up to be a long passage!

Stay tuned, I’ll keep posting during the trip as long as I have power and a working computer and radio!


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Huzzah! There is some wind today - actually the past few days have had some decent breeze. In fact, today I have a delightful 15 knots of wind give or take, which is moving me along very nicely eastward. The forecast is hopeful, so perhaps I’ll get a nice run before things get funky again. I’m enjoying the progress while it lasts.

I tried my hand at baking while underway for the first time a few days ago, putting together a desert bread from a mix my mom sent a while back (thanks mom!) as a test case. I have a stovetop oven called the “Omnia”, which was recommended to me by a Bob at Boat Bits, and it’s a funky little contraption in the general shape of a bundt pan, with a heat deflector on the bottom and a special lid. It’s designed to allow baking on a burner rather than in an oven, and wow, it really works! After the pumpkin spice bread came out well, I took a gander at a wheat bread recipe. Now, my bread making skills are very rusty, so it came out a bit dense, but still delicious and very edible. After the requisite hot buttered bread slices, I was able to get a few days’ worth of grilled cheese and tuna salad sandwiches out of that loaf. Definitely something I’ll be experimenting more with in the near future.

Today is going to be a chill day, though. I’ve got two reefs tucked in the main to help keep the boat standing up, the working jib and a full mizzen balancing the sail plan nicely. Working my way upwind against a couple strong swells and a steady chop. The halfway point is getting close!


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I’ve been at sea officially a week now, and I am sorry to say there isn’t much more progress to report. The weather continues to have a large high pressure system sitting right over the central Gulf, which is causing all sorts of light and flukey winds to prevail. The forecast continues to state winds in significant excess of what they actually are, raising my hopes but to no avail.

No worries, I am making some progress if not fast progress.

With all the sail piled on I am doing a steady 1-2 knots, more or less in the easterly direction, which is good.

The sails are banging around listlessly today, though, as the wind has abated to not much more than a whiff, a gentle puff that barely moves the boat. The swell is significant though - apparently a strong front pushed off from Florida earlier this week and let a nice swell build up in my direction. Fortunately I have just enough wind for the moment to keep the swell forward and that helps stop the boat from banging side to side as violently.

On the good news, though, it’s another beautiful day with some seabirds flying around and a bunch of funky seaweed floating by in the blue water. The water is much more clear here, though it is a dark blue, and I can see several feet down where there are occasionally fish and more often just seaweed. I always wonder how seabirds manage to come several hundred miles out into the Gulf and hang around all day. Do they just fly back all night? How fast do they fly? I suppose they might rest on large ships and/or oil platforms, and make the trip in stages, but I wonder what compels them to try?

At sea a week! Such an interesting thing to say. Out here, time doesn’t really seem to exist, in some ways. The days run into each other, the nights are a blur of short naps, watchstanding, occasionally tacking or sail handling, and calling large ships to make sure they see me and don’t run me down. It’s not quite hallucinatory, but it definitely has a lulling, calming effect as with the light breeze, the hot sun, and the slow progress there isn’t much to focus on.

Overall, though, I’m having a great time and really enjoying the trip. I keep watching the forecast hoping for a shift in the high pressure system but it looks like it has definitely decided to call the Gulf home for a while. So don’t expect rapid progress from me! I’m prepared to be out here another couple weeks if this keeps up. I think I may set a record for slowest Gulf crossing EVER! So folks, when people tell you that March is a good month to try and cross the Gulf from Texas eastwards, don’t believe them! Go much earlier in the year!

Other than that, just enjoy the ride!



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25 MAR 2012 0007 UTC

Winds are getting shifty now in the evening (they tend to do that, even this far offshore, I’ve noticed) but I’ve had a very nice run since about 10 (AM) local time today, clocking several hours of 3-4 knot runs, mostly downwind or on a broad reach with 150% genoa, mainsail, and mizzen staysail set. For some reason adding the mizzen itself kept putting too much weather helm on so I doused it and just went with the staysail.

Wish I could share a picture with you but the slow connection offshore doesn’t let me. You’ll have to wait for pictures to show up when I make port. I’ll show you this cool shark-like fish I saw, and how dramatically the water changes color even 50 NM offshore here (yes, for those of you stuck on the coast not all of the Gulf water is deadly toxic-brown like it is in the bays).

Other than that, it’s been a pretty “chill” day - the forecast is for more of the general same, wind direction varies a bit, wind speed varies a bit, I’ll get lulls, dead calms, some nice breezes, a general smorgasbord of light air practice, it appears. I’m cool with that, considering the alternatives for sure!

Having some fun out here too just generally enjoying the nice weather, gentle breezes, and the sea life. Starting to get a rhythm to the day as well, though I am still working on sleep / eating schedules which I understand is really something unique to each person when offshore. Right now the rule is: eat whenever I think about eating, and sleep whenever I get a nice 30-45 minute block of time (that typically means no big ships on AIS, no rigs visible on the horizon, or if something is visible, that I know my course and possible deviations and that none of them will put me more than halfway the distance in the time I’d sleep).

Well folks, that’s about it. I’m nearly out of VHF range of even the powerful shore stations - I’m only getting snippets of the Coast Guard anymore - so weather updates, email, everything is coming from my SSB radio. I have to note that Farallon Electronics has hooked me up with a demo P4 Dragon Pactor modem which is a spiffy piece of kit that lets me get my email all the way out here using the radio - how cool is that? It’s pretty amazing: I’ll write more about it soon but I have to say right now other than my GPS and my Mac, it is probably one of my favorite pieces of communications gear aboard.

Anyways, that’s all I have for the moment. More soon!


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