11/3/15

This year's cruising season started early for us.  With the "Old Persephone",  mid- to late October we'd journey down the Erie, Hudson and the coast, sometimes with snowflurries nipping at our heels.  We knew the route and more importantly we knew the boat.  Our departure date this year budgeted for the what-ifs that might come up and time to deal with those problems as they arose on our "New Persephone".  It was not uncommon in previous years to come upon a stranded sailor on the Erie whose winter plans had come to a halt due to engine, steering, electric....or any number of issues that required time and parts to fix with no time left before the Erie canal closed for the season.
We were rewarded with warmish, sunny days motoring the Erie.  The new Persephone putted perfectly along with no problems, perhaps eager to have her mast put up soon and a chance to kick up her heels out at sea.  A "new" boat is all about learning the boat -  not just how to make her go but where to store stuff, how to use the electronics, how she maneuvers, and how to use the systems on board.  Once the mast was up more learning and adjusting - halyards, sheets, winches - same components on any sailboat but not the same set up or performance.  New "pieces" for us too - we have a spinnaker pole and we know how to use it!  It held the jib, poled out to one side of the boat, the main sail out on the other as we sailed straight downwind down the Chesapeake wing-on-wing.  Fast!

Wing-on-Wing on the Chesapeake

That's how we're traveling this year - fast.  From o'dark thirty before the sun comes up 'til late: Kingston, NY to Sheepshead Bay on Coney Island to Cape May, NJ to the Chesapeake.  Long days and lots of miles arriving much faster than we ever have in the past.  We enjoyed a nice 3 day rest in Cape May awaiting southerly winds.

Morning motor south of the C & D Canal

South of C & D Canal

Coast Guard Buoy Tender on the Chesapeake

Crane on board for hauling and maintaining the buoys

Chesapeake Sunrise

In Deltaville, VA we stayed a week anchored just off the stern of Valkyrie at their slip in Fishing Bay.  The theme there - visit and work on Valkyrie.  Out with the old generator and in with the new, Jerry taking charge of the physical installation of the 400 lb. unit.  Levers, pulleys, blocks and knowing how to use them - the unit moved from the dealer in Annapolis, to the truck, to Deltaville, down the dock, to the bridge deck of Valkyrie, down the companionway, to the aft cabin and into the generator bed with no one getting hurt.  Lots of engineering involved as well to prepare the bed for the new generator.

Old generator parts in the wagon to take to storage.

New generator

From the bridge deck to below

Down it goes

In the boat at companionway

Sliding down the planks from the aft cabin to the engine bed.

Yeah!  It's in place!

New generator's home.

We were all spurred on by Jerry's directions each day.  He was spurred into action by the favorable wind forecast approaching for our travels south.  We enjoyed one last dinner with Ryan and Kari aboard Persephone, the generator bolted in its new home, before 3 more days of traveling south to our next stop - Oriental, NC.  Donna and Jerry's  on Broad Creek where the new Persephone is now docked next to the new Bluejacket.

The new Persephone and the new Bluejacket.

Other notes of interest maybe - our two 150 watt solar panels, temporarily mounted for this season on our lifelines, are working well.  They provide more than enough power - a regulator is on our list to buy eventually so we don't have to manually turn things on to use up the excess power so we're not overcharging our batteries.  We look forward to having an arch on the stern (like the old Persephone) to mount the solar panels to the top of that.  And to have dinghy davits!  We miss being able to just haul up the dinghy on davits.  Hauling and storing the dinghy on the foredeck is a chore and not so convenient.  Time for that project next year.....

Sailing through Norfolk, VA.

Sunrise on the Alligator-Pungo Canal

Sunrise on the Alligator-Pungo Canal

Alligator River scene

Staying healthy is a constant focus and we're doing okay, looking forward to having opportunities to walk each morning - and there's nothing like a dose of sailing on such a beautiful boat to lift the spirits.
Send news of what's going on in your lives!  We'd LOVE to hear and keep in touch.