Finally back on Callisto

We have finally found our way back to the boat, after a grueling time sorting through 35 years worth of "stuff" that was in storage in NJ.  It was more than 100 F for many of the days we were working, and the only fun part was when it was over.  Much better to be back on the water (though still very HOT).

In Deltaville, we had the unexpected treat of sharing the marina with the Optimist Dinghy National Regatta.  Around 300 kids participated, from novices to budding America's Cup sailors, and ranging in age from pre-teens to early teens.  Here are a couple of photos:

We left Deltaville on Callisto on Friday, July 23, and then the adventures began.  Our first job was to get out of the marina.  We were in a very tight slip, with very little room to turn, and a stiff cross-wind.  We got out OK, but managed to knock a brand-new piece of safety gear off the stern rail and into the creek -- gone forever.

The next step was to get out of Jackson Creek and into Chesapeake Bay.  There is a winding channel, indicated by green and red daymarks.  We made this transit many times last year without difficulty, but this time we got a few feet off the correct course, and felt the boat slide to a stop in the mud (more encounters with the bottom coming below).  Luckily, we were able to put the boat into reverse and slide ourselves back into the channel.

We sailed when we could, and motored when the wind was too light, towards Mill Creek off the Great Wicomoco river.  This was also our first stop last year, and it's a great place located a convenient distance from Deltaville.  There is also quite a lengthy approach through the channel into the creek, and while we were very seriously concentrating on this, we were distracted by a pod of dolphins.  Sorry, no photos, but there was quite a number of them, leaping out of the water parallel to Callisto and playing in our bow wave.  Babies, too.  Several times they smacked their tails into the surface of the water, to make a big sound.  Too bad we had to pay attention to our route!  Unfortunately, not quite enough attention.  We bumped the bottom again, swinging a bit too wide in the channel.  We were again able to use reverse to back off the shoal, but it took 2-3 tries before we were in clear water.

Next stop was the Coan River, a tributary of the Potomac.  We had a nice relaxing sail, a broad reach in winds from 5-10 knots.  Only one gybe (turning the back of the boat through the wind) the whole day.  At 5:30 we still had several miles to go, and motored the rest of the way.  Like most of these creeks and rivers, there is a winding channel on the way in.  This one is well marked -- maybe too well marked.

After winding around several marks and buoys, we came to a place with three markers in a line.  The first and third of these markers were green navigation marks.  In the US, green means you must stay to the right to stay in the channel.  The center marker simply said "Danger."  It seemed logical to us that we should steer clear of that mark!  Big mistake.

The correct route through the channel was to stay very close to all three marks.  We saw several large powerboats do just that as we waited, stuck fast in the mud that our keel found by swinging too wide of the marks.

One of the powerboats asked if we needed help, told us that there was a volunteer rescue service in the area, and asked if we wanted them to call the service.  "Yes!" we thankfully replied.  In about a half hour, a boat with three men showed up. We tied line to act as a bridle to the back of the boat, they tied that line to their boat, and tried to pull us off.  No joy.  Another fast powerboat tried making a big wake, but still no good.  Finally, a third powerboat took a line from the top of our mast out to the side, and heeled (tipped) our boat to the side, thus putting the keel on an angle and with less effective draft.  With yet another big wake, we were finally off.  The 7 or 8 spectator boats that had showed up all cheered. (so did we).

The Smith Point Rescue Service is a great organization.  They and the two other powerboaters who helped got a big "Thank You" from us.  We also made a voluntary donation to the SPRS, and were happy to do so.

The adventures continue.  We left the Coan River on July 25, and sailed to Solomons Island in Maryland.  This is a big yachting center, with many marinas and an unbelievable number of boats of all types and sizes.  We had a lovely sail, winds 10-15 knots on a broad reach for much of the day (this being the Chesapeake, there were a couple of hours of obligatory motoring).  Just as we approached the harbor, a thunderstorm started through the area.  Not much lightning or rain, but strong gusty winds above 30 knots (Beaufort 7).  We had the sails down well before the storm hit, and were very happy with the Outbound's ability to stay on track even at slow speeds in such conditions.  We had arranged to pick up a mooring ball in the harbor.  Picking up the pendant from the mooring ball in strong gusty winds was not easy, to say the least.  It took us about 10 tries to get the boat stopped close enough to the mooring for Gretchen to safely pick up the pendant line and get it attached to the boat.  When I finally got the boat close enough for her to do this, she got a spa treatment from the mud on the pendant.

This was great practice for our upcoming time in the Caribbean, where mooring balls are common and the winds are often strong.

Projects

Its been a busy (and expensive) spring and early summer.  The boatyard at Deltaville, VA, finally got into high gear and made terrific progress on our three main projects for this year:

1.  Installing solar panels, so that we can avoid running the engine to charge our batteries

2.  Installing a second chart plotter at the helm.  We learned last summer that weaving into twisty channels on the Chesapeake required way too many trips down to the navigation station to be safe.

3. The big luxury, a watermaker.  This takes seawater, with all of its salt, and turns it into fresh, drinkable water.  In the places we plan to sail, we should always be able to buy water at reasonable prices, so economically this doesn't really make sense.  But the convenience factor, not having to plan a stop for water every few days, makes it worth while.

Here are a few pictures of the results of the projects:

We're heading offshore!

We're headed for the Caribbean!  Not until November, after the hurricane season, but we are already working on plans and schedules for the trip.

Skip Pond, the agent for Outbound Yachts that helped us through the purchase process, is an experienced delivery captain.  He has agreed to join us for the trip, which is important because neither Gretchen or I have enough experience to make this a safe trip.  He has a colleague, also with extensive offshore experience, who will also join us.

The trip will take around eight days.  We have decided to join the Caribbean 1500 Cruising Rally for the trip.  This is an organized group of boats, all leaving at the same time from Norfolk, VA.  Most years they have 75 or more boats participating, and they've been doing this for more than 20 years.  We get a lot of assistance with preparation, weather forecasts before and during the trip, etc.  In addition, they provide a satellite device that will automatically upload our position to the Internet every four hours.  That way our family and friends can watch our progress.

The Rally requires an extensive list of safety equipment, most of which we would want to have anyway, so we're busy doing research on brands, models, and prices.  We probably won't buy much until we're in the US in July.

Very exciting, and just a bit scary.

Worklist in the Boatyard

While Callisto is in storage in Deltaville, VA, we have arranged with the boatyard to tackle a couple of projects.

Solar Panels
This is a terrific way to generate electricity on a boat.  Our electric needs are small, but running the main engine to generate electricity is a waste of fuel and creates wear and tear on the engine.

We have purchased two 135 watt and one 85 watt solar panels, along with a controller.  At anchor, these should supply most or all of our electricity.  While on a passage, the current required for the autopilot and radar will mean that we will still have to run the engine occasionally.  The solar panels will be mounted above the bimini (sunshade over the cockpit), where they are out of the way of any shadows.

Chartplotter at Helm
When we ordered the boat, we decided to try getting along with a single chartplotter, mounted at the navigation station, below.  This was OK, but it was more than a bit of a pain to run down the companionway when we had a question about our route.  So we are breaking down and buying a second smaller unit, mounted at the helm. 

Hailing Port

We have gotten a few questions about our hailing port, Isle Royale, Michigan.

For boats with US documentation, the Coast Guard requires that a hailing port be included in the documents, and displayed on the boat. It can be any US location. We chose Isle Royal because it is a wild and beautiful place, and because it is an interesting and challenging sailing destination. And also because it is a bit quirky, with few (if any) other boats using it.

Isle Royale is part of the State of Michigan, and is located in northern Lake Superior almost at the Canadian border.  It is a US National Park.  There are no permanent residents, but some individuals still have leases that were grandfathered when the National Park was established, and live there during the summer.  Here's a link to the Wikipedia article.


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Our "Other" Boat

While we're in Switzerland, it isn't possible to sail Callisto very often.  Luckily, we have a wonderful lake just outside our back door.  The Lake of Lucerne, which is part of the Vierwaldstättersee (lake of the four forest-states), is an incredibly beautiful place to sail.

After David had acquired his Swiss sailboating license (more about that some other time), we bought "Little Dipper," a Beneteau First 21.7S.  She is 21' long, and weighs 2740 lbs.  Her keel is adjustable, with her draft at 5'11" when the keel is down, and 2'4" when it is up.  Beneteau has been building boats like her since the early 1990's, originally called a First 210.

The Lake of Lucerne is beautiful, but has one characteristic that is not so good for sailing:  very light winds.  If we get up to 5 knots, that is an exhilarating day.  Little Dipper is great for these conditions, because it takes very little wind to make her go.  We carry an asymmetric spinnaker for broad reaching home when the wind is light.

Annapolis Boat Show

Callisto was relaunched in Deltaville on October 1, and was moved by Phil Lambert and Skip Pond of Outbound Yachts to Annapolis, MD.  She will be available this week to prospective buyers who want a test sail, and will be on display  at the Annapolis Boat Show from October 8 through the 12th.  Our daughter, Esther, Gretchen's mother, Lois, and a couple of friends are planning to visit her during the show.

We're just a bit nervous about having a horde of people on the boat, but are also very proud to show her off.  Phil and Skip have done this many times, and we have confidence they will return Callisto in very good condition.  Getting some more miles under her keel will also help uncover any lurking problems.

Here's a link to the show.

We expect Callisto will be back on land in Deltaville by mid-October.