First offshore trip, in a brand new (to us) boat

[ErBrown]

Howdy Folks, (buckle in this is going to be a long one)

My wife and I are just getting back from the trip I mentioned in a couple other threads. As a brief recap this is our first "big" boat a 1999 IP40. After a little over 700 nm, most of it offshore in the Atlantic I can confirm she is in fact in great condition and has been extremely well maintained. That's not to say we didn't run into a few issues along the way (details below) but overall we're very pleased.

We closed on the boat and less than and the same week my wife and I flew into Baltimore rented a car (1 way) and drove to Oxford Maryland to spend our first night aboard. Since we each had to work that Friday (Oct 3rd) we didn't actually get to the boat (currently named Baboo) until almost 1AM on Saturday. Since we closed earlier that week we new we still needed all the basics and had to stop at Walmart on the way in for essentials like bedding, coffee and breakfast. But once we stowed our gear and all the goodies we brought for the trip and finally rolled into that nice comfy pullman berth (about 2AM) for our first good night's sleep aboard.

We got up early the next AM, hand ground some coffee, boiled a kettle of water and french pressed a few cups off coffee. For two folks from Texas it was downright cold but we enjoyed our coffee in the cockpit. Then we got down to work inventorying everything in the boat. Despite have dug through many similar boats, once you get everything out it's really astounding how much storage there is on the IP40. Under-sole tankage definitely has it's downsides, but the storage it allows is truly impressive. We inspected the work we coordinated with the yard in Oxford, the only real issue we'd found during survey was that both the exhaust and manual bildge pump hoses needed to be replace. Since we needed to get the boat moving we opted to have the local yard do the work and where very pleased with the result. We then made our first trip to West Marine for the basic gear we knew we needed and a few items our delivery skipper had requested. After (literally) 4+ hours in West Marine we had our Foulies, Oil, Engine Coolant, spare life jackets, spare Racor filters, Jerry cans, and all the various spares/odds and ends we thought we might need. On our way back to the boat we stopped at the local Giant for our first real provisioning run. Then headed back to the boat and put everything away.

During all the remote prep work for the the trip we knew we'd need a dingy or liferaft as an option and since we don't intent to start our real cruising for a little over 4 years, we worked with the sellers broker to coordinate a cheap inflatable and old 3hp Nissan outboard, since neither the dingy or outboard conveyed with the boat. He was such a great guy that he not only helped us find one but drove to pick it up and paid for it out of his pocket ($500) until we where able to sync-up with him late that Saturday afternoon to pay him for it. We also opted to buy a spare/replacement windlass from the PO that's a direct bolt-on for the current electric windlass and at the last minute also bought the current Tahatsu 6HP 4-stroke ($200), so now have two outboards. So our first day was productive and we where exhausted, but managed to enjoy our first Sundowners in the cockpit that night.

Sunday morning we prepped meals for the trip and the PO dropped by to step us through all the systems again. Always nice to take any remaining guesswork out of the plumbing/electrical systems. He's been great so far and I'm glad we where able to effectively negotiate on a price we could all live with and remain friendly in the process. I guess after 15 years of meticulous ownership, he really wanted to make sure we'd take good care of his baby. We then jumped in the car to return a few things to West and pick up parts for our pieced together deckfill water filter and stop at Walmart for another blanket...did I mention it's cold in Maryland by Texas standards.

We then met our delivery skipper (Blaine Parks) who turned out to be a great guy. Well worth the high praise and multiple recommendations we'd heard to date. Together we finalized the provisioning and headed back to the boat. We did a preliminary, check of the boat where he noted a few minor things we addressed and also pointed out that he thought the outhaul for our roller furling main was "well oversized". We mentioned that it had been very difficult to unfurl and furl the sail so made a note to follow-up on this. Unfortunately, Murphy intervened and we didn't get back to it...more on that later. After the walk through my wife decided to bake some bannana bread for the trip and we realized the propane bottle was empty. No problem the other one is full so I swapped it. During the process of swapping it I must have bumped the original and very corroded solenoid because it no longer worked. Each time we turned it on, it would come on and then immediately trip the breaker...crap. But wait, during our inventory I had noted a spare solenoid, so prompty dug that out. problem is, it's too tall to fit due to some extra elbow fittings. Isnce they spare had been in the box so long and the elbows where sealed with putty it was completely gummed up...this was a potential show stopper. We need to be able to cook on our week long trip to the Bahamas. Quick google search and Lowes is still open for a little over an hour, so Blaine and I jump in the rental and zip off to find a vise we can use to break everything free. We slide into the tool dept and there's a vise out on display, clamp the solenoid and use a large cresent wrench to break the fittings free of their putty gunk and we're off to the races. Back to the boat and about 90 minutes later, my wife is finally able to bake that bannana bread she started earlier that night.

Monday morning - departure day we finish doing our best to tidy up the solenoid enough for the trip. It aint perfect and I'll need to address the wiring once we get the boat home but it should get us there. We run into town to return the car, deal with a few last minute purchases at Wallyworld and it's finally time to cast off the lines. We'd been expecting pretty crappy conditions for the first 2 days of the trip but our schedules combined with Blaine's meant we had to make it work. As we're heading to the fuel dock to fill our 90 gallon tank we realize the wind is right where they'd been predicting it, straight SE (not good for exiting the Chesapeake) but is a bit stronger at 25-30 knots. We fill the tanks, enjoy a Bon Voyage ice cream, batten down the hatches and ports (non of which leaked BTW) and motor into 30 knots and a fairly steep chop of 3-5 ft...write on the nose.

I've mentioned this in other threads but as a refresher my wife and I are not super experience sailors. Our sailing experience prior to this trip was limited to inland lakes on our Catalina 22, ASA 101 on a lake, a week long live aboard class in the BVIs for 103/104 and a few weekends of crewing on other peoples boats, local beer can races etc... Which is why we opted for a well known delivery skipper with a ton of miles in Island Packets. Blaine let us know up front this wasn't going to be a fun passage and that we'd be working hard but that was the whole reason we wanted to crew vs just having the boat delivered for us...we wanted to experience it. So we had prepped ourselves for a truly miserable trip. So when we where expecting it to only get worse from here and that neither of us would be able to sleep, and we'd be puking our guts out the whole way but we didn't get any of that. Don't get me wrong, beating into a stiff chop in 30 knots wasn't exactly fun, and we where taking waves over the bow, and the ride in the cockpit under the bimini, while dry was a lively. What we where amazed by was when you stepped below, just how comfortable it actually was. If course you still knew you where on a boat but both my wife and I where easily able to sleep that first night in our off watch periods. After about 24 hours of motoring (minus a brief stop to top off the tank, we passed Cape Henry to starboard, and turned to follow the coast down towards Hatteras. Making the turn allowed us to do a little sailing and I don't mind saying that first night of sailing in 25 knots heeled over a bit more than I was comfortable with in a beam sea was...exciting to say the least. As we got closer to Hatteras the coastline fell away and we just continued SE as much as the wind would allow. We crossed the Gulf Stream a couple hours before sunset (thankfully and by design...thanks Blaine). That was a memorable part of the trip as I was on watch and the current was making for some fairly uncomfortable beam seas...the water sure was pretty though. A very VERY deep blue, as we finally got out of the stream the seas calmed a bit and the next morning we found ourselves cranking up the motor again due to very light winds. If it had just been my wife and I, we'd have been content to sail at 3 knots or so until things picked up, but this was a delivery and as much as possible, we had a schedule to keep. So we motored, we actually ended up motoring through the better part of 4 days since the wind had all but abandoned us. We had amazing, clear blue skies and beautiful clear stars each night until the moon came up and then that was pretty impressive as well. During all that motor sailing we realized the problem the outhaul was in-fact that the line had been recently replaced by the PO, and was probably 2 sizes to large. This meant it bound up at each block, making it very difficult to unfurl the sail and putting a ton of strain on the boom car, which we noticed was tweaked a bit. We spent a couple hours working to bandaid it and replace the outhaul but the car did eventually fail (broke free of the boom track). We where still able to use it, but now someone had to go forward to free the line when unfurling or reefing. I'm actually working on a finding a replacement now.

Anyway, the rest of the trip was probably nothing remarkable for folks who are used to offshore sailing but for me, they where truly remarkable. The water was amazingly blue and calm, our boat was comfortable and spacious and took amazing care of us. We cooked every single day, including baking 3 meals because it was so calm and, well...we wanted to. My wife and I enjoyed a (single) sundowner each night (capt Blaine chooses not to imbibe while at sea). We each did a 4 hour watch during the day and 2x 2 hour watches each night. When we weren't sleeping we either read, or talked or just sat and enjoyed our peaceful surroundings. Tracked ships as they passed and checked our course every hour or so to see if we needed to adjust the autopilot.

On the last day Sunday the 12th, we finally found the trades and with a steady 10-15 knots ESE we shut down the motor and enjoyed a nice 6-7 knot sail into Abaco. We made it into Marsh Harbour around 10PM that night, docked the boat at the marina and celebrated like sailors of old....with plenty of RUM. Got up early the next morning and cleared into the country at the airport since it was a holiday and we couldn't get customs to come to the boat as is the norm in Abaco. Then Capt Blaine jumped ship to catch a flight to his next delivery (an IP 730) leaving the Annapolis show for charter in the BVIs. We spent the next 36 hours cleaning and prepping the boat for our extended absence, so she'll be ready for our return trip, to enjoy a little Holiday cruising around the islands.

And then in January we'll be freezing our butts of bringing her around Florida and across the gulf to Texas and her new home...for the next few years. Where we intend to get her ready for a more extensive and hopefully much more leisurely journey.

But damn, I'm tired and those are stories still waiting to be live.

[ErBrown]

Wow...I'm embarrassingly long winded

[a64pilot]

Glad you enjoyed it.
There is so much storage space in an IP, that I'm beginning to lose stuff, I think I need a list of where it's all at
Big ole heavy boat does tend to punch through the waves doesn't it.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by ErBrown

Wow...I'm embarrassingly long winded

Understandable and completely normal. No different than I was after my first real cruise.

Sounds like it was a great trip, even though the start sounded a bit hairy. I'm sure you've heard this before but please do beware of sailing on a schedule, a very common reason for getting into trouble at sea.

From your reports I think you found a fairly rare bird, a cruising boat in excellent condition with minimum maintenance issues that had not been neglected by the owner since it was up for sale.

Congratulations and happy sailing.

[monte]

Well done! Sounds like a great maiden voyage

[gunkylump]

Great story er! Certainly sounds like you have a good one! We are prepping for our first run come January...lots of daysails between now and then, but come January, out of the Panhandle, down around Key West and over to the Bahamas...or Abacos...or Exumas!

gunk

[ontherocks83]

Thanks for the update Er! Sounds like you have found a great boat and an even better time. Glad to hear things went smoothly and you enjoyed your trip. Don't forget to update us with some pictures too

[RTB]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

Don't forget to update us with some pictures too

Yes....what he said!

Congrats on the boat and the cruising.

Ralph

[Tayana42]

Congratulations on your successful first voyage. It sounds like you had adventure, beauty and joyful company. Many more happy and safe adventures ahead for you.


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[ErBrown]

Ask and ye shall receive.


Leaving making the turn at Cape Henry

Broken Boom Car

Offshore in calm winds/seas

Sunset along off the starboard bow

Safe in the slip at Marsh Harbour

[RTB]

Very Nice! Thanks for sharing your photos. You should start a blog. It's fun to go back and see what you did, and where you've been. Kind of like a photo album with words. It's a good way for family and friends to keep up with you, too.

Ralph

[scuba0_1]

awesome voyage sounded relaxing.

[scuba0_1]

how did your boat weather the storm?

[ErBrown]

Fortunately the Bahamas didn't have much of a problem with Gonzalo. So, so far, so good on that front.

Feeling for the folks on Bermuda though...