Skipmac's boat moved

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

HOLY SMOKE!!!

Are we serious!?!?!?!?????????

Lookee there... an av sans hull...

I missed the first party... But surely there are many more planned???

Congrats Skip !!! Woo Hoo!!!!

No party yet. I have 7 1/2 years worth of tools, spare parts, old parts and miscellaneous whachamacallits I have to finish sorting and stowing. THEN I'll have a party.

Thanks

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by dwedeking2

For real. Went out the St John's inlet couple weeks back for 6 hours. Drank 2 full gallons of water. Was brutal!!! but worth it to sail.

Congrats on getting the boat moving!

Thank you.

Brutal is right. It's hard get anything done in the middle of the day. I do my gallon or two of water and juice and still get home feeling dehydrated.

Plan to go out with the wife tonight for a sunset and dinner cruise. Hopefully that late in the day it will be tolerable.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Congratulations.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Land Cruiser

There are two active Cuba pages on facebook for those that want to go, one is a rally, the other is a page for those wishing to go on their own, by those who have already done it. Wally Moran is the man behind both pages, and has just published a book on Cuba cruising..Ask him where to buy it if interested.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SailingandCruisingCuba/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CubanSailingRally/

On a side note, I am about to move my boat to my home to continue my restoration, hopefully not as long or as much work as yours though. Congrats on getting her in the water!!

Thanks. Will check out the Cuba info.

Good luck on your restoration. If you have any questions just ask. I think I've touched just about any system a boat can have in the last years.

[sailorboy1]

Skips boat currently moving, up down and around as Matthrew pounds him.

Well wishes!

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Skips boat currently moving, up down and around as Matthrew pounds him.

Well wishes!

Thanks. The eye has passed by and is now about 80 miles Northeast of me but still getting gusts 60 knots or better. The local weather claims the winds are down to no more than tropical storm-force. Yeah right.

[salty_dog_68]

Glad to hear you and the boat are okay. Did you ride out the storm on the boat at a mooring?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by salty_dog_68

Glad to hear you and the boat are okay. Did you ride out the storm on the boat at a mooring?

Yes, went through Mathew on the boat. Got the last flight from NY (had to interrupt a visit to see my granddaughter) to Jacksonville and got to the boat Thursday evening. Had seriously imposed on a couple of friends who earlier that day went to the boat, stripped off the sails and everything else on the deck and tripled up the lines.

I was really debating whether to stay on the mooring or go across the river and anchor. The moorings are on the west bank of the river and the worst winds were expected from the E and NE. I always trust my own anchor more than someone else's mooring but considering a number of factors (including assurances from the yard that the moorings were solid and were just inspected late last fall) I decided to stay on the mooring.

When I got the marina there were 21-22 boats in the mooring field. This morning there were 8, including me. At least half of the boats obviously had done NOTHING to prepare. Of those that did prep only one or two I saw took the sails down. Several still had biminis and one had a full awning up. At least half the boats had a single line to the mooring ball.

So I think most of the boats that dragged or broke free could have prevented it with a little storm prep. One right next to me the owner did come out and triple his lines but left the roller furling jib up and the main on the boom. At the peak of the storm he towed a 1000 lb concrete block across the harbor until the boat came up against the pier. I have thought a lot about that one. Did the windage from the sails make enough difference that he dragged and I didn't? Was his boat that much heavier and the mooring couldn't hold? Shorter pendant so it broke the suction of the block in the mud? Or was he just unlucky and I was lucky?

One boat on the outer edge of the field chafed through the line (just one) and sailed right through the middle of the moorings. For a minute it was headed straight towards me but a gust caught it and it sailed about 20' across my bow. That one joined a bunch of 7-8 boats that had blown into a corner of the yard in front of the travel lift. The rest ended up against the pier.

The last boat that broke the lines hit me right on the bow but bounced off my 65 lb Mantus (Mantus won that bout hands down. Yea Mantus.) and left a couple of dings on my toe rail. Of course it hit exactly the spot where I just spliced in a new piece of teak to repair damage that the PO did in a nor'easter.

Only one boat sunk, the last one in the pileup at the haulout slip. Since all I could see was the mast don't know what did it but the boat in front had a long sugar scoop transom that could have punctured the bow.

The worst damage came when the max winds passed but shifted from E and NE to N and NW. That gave a 6-7 mile fetch up the river vs 2 mile fetch across the river. I thought the pier to the north would block the waves and it probably did a little but not enough. +/- 2' chop and high winds caused all the boats to grind against the pilings on the pier or the other boats in the pile and ate through the hulls like balsa wood. Every boat I saw had pretty serious damage on that side.

Other than the minor scrape I had two problems. Lost one oar and nicked my hand pushing off the boat that hit me and had to get a bandaid.

One good thing did come of this. I now know where EVERY SINGLE LEAK IS!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by skipmac

One good thing did come of this. I now know where EVERY SINGLE LEAK IS!

Glad it worked out even though I think you were crazy to stay on the boat.

After 7.5 years of refit you didn't find those leaks before?

[Vasco]

Glad to hear you came through ok. Any idea how the boats on the hard fared? How high did the water get?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Glad to hear you came through ok. Any idea how the boats on the hard fared? How high did the water get?

Did not see any serious damage on any boats hauled. Water was about 9' higher than normal high tide. The piers are usually 10' or more from the water but at max was 3' or less. Boats that dragged you would have stepped down from the deck to the pier.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Glad it worked out even though I think you were crazy to stay on the boat.

What were your plans if Mathew hadn't changed course? Take the dinghy to shore and hang out in the mangroves?

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

After 7.5 years of refit you didn't find those leaks before?

Because it never blew 100 kts before and I never went through a torrential downpour before. I swear the boat leaked in places that I didn't even know there were places.

What do you call the little deck house/cover/garage type thingy the companionway slide, slides under? Anyway, it blew and rained so hard that a stream of water blew in the drain holes of the cover thingy and poured around the edges of the hatch.

One of the ports that I overhauled and rebedded with butyl tape that never leaked before started leaking.

[jongleur]

little deck house/cover/garage type thingy the companionway slide, slides under?

Turtle?

[Fiveslide]

Originally Posted by jongleur

little deck house/cover/garage type thingy the companionway slide, slides under?

Turtle?

I've always heard it called a doghouse.

Sent from my XT1080 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[DumnMad]

Thanks for the report Skip.
100 knot gusts.
What size/weight mooring block and what scope did you have?