Trip report, Charleston, SC to St. Augustine, Fl

I'm sitting on the new boat in the harbor of St.Augustine Florida, We started the trip south on Sunday, I say we, Rick and old sailing friend I met in St Pete, Florida two years ago when I was sailing my first boat from Ohio to Florida, decided he wanted to go along on this maiden voyage of the vessel "Steelin Time." He lives in Colombia, SC and decided to come down and see the new boat the weekend before last, he brought his friend, Lance, from Charleston over too. I was going to leave last Tuesday but then changed plans and Rick and I planned to leave Friday, even though many self proclaimed "old salts" were telling us never to start a trip on a Friday.  Many things changed by Friday, the boat wasn't ready, the depth finder wasn't working and Lance decided he wanted to go, so Saturday was the departure day.  This also gave the old salts one more chance to even the score at the poker table on Friday night, I've been doing quite well there as long as we played a game that had some odds to figure.  Once again I left the table with much more than I had started. In the last couple weeks I've padded my wallet to the tune of a couple hundred.  The group at Sea Island Boat works, on Shem Creek is a great bunch of guys.  I'll be back to see them, Chris, Glen, Paul, Gus, Stretch, Talerico and a few others, they are all brought together by a love of boats, mostly old wooden boats and many of the people at the yard are working on the "Spirit of South Carolina" tall ship that will be launched next spring.  I met them through Jay Holmquist, a welder I had first contacted when I thought I wasn't going to be able to do my own welding on this boat.  His shop is in the same building.  Jay and I have shared quite few laughs and conversations in the last 5 months.  Anyway back to the trip.

No wind on Saturday, absolutely perfectly still, so we cleaned on the boat, still anchored out, and waited to see what Sunday would bring.  Again no wind but we motored out of the harbor past Fort Sumpter and out through the breakwaters to the mighty Atlantic, but it wasn't very mighty today, more like a swimming pool, I had never seen an ocean so calm.  we turned south and motored about a half-hour to be safely away from land, stopped the engine and started to put up the sails. (Aside: I just went topsides to investigate a strange hammering on the hull, I had been hearing strange noises every once in a while all night, I thought maybe the anchor chain was slapping against the hull with the waves, but outside the noise is mostly gone and the anchor chain is tight away from the hull stretched out with the outgoing tide, often last night the tide and wind was fighting each other so the anchor chain was quite confused as to what to do and was often hanging slack, even though we had 25 knot winds and 3 knot tidal current.  Anyway back to the noise, off in the distance, about a half mile away I hear the sound of a piling being driven at the same frequency of my knocks but quite a different timing, the noise travels much differently in the air and the water, and as discussed before with the shrimp on the first night my boat was int the water, my hull is amazingly connected with noises traveling in the water, it sounds just like somebody had a small hammer on the hull, this will take some getting used to.) I keep getting side tracked, back to the trip once more.

We found a little breeze and put up the main sail that zephyr lasted about 2 minutes, eventually it started be somewhat variable but constantly light wind even if the direction wasn't constant.  We then put up the yankee jib, I didn't know it was a yankee, but I new it was a jib sail, since I had spent a rainy day last week measuring and inspecting all the sails as best as one could in the cabin of the boat.  After hoisting it the shape said yankee all over it, if I had paid attention to the dimensions I got last week I could have plotted it out, but it was much easier to hoist it.  Anyway back to sailing, with the variable wind a preventer on the main boom was necessary; we were heading mostly southwest, into a SSE wind that was very variable, we tried to pinch the boat as close as possible to the wind since land was to the west since we hadn't yet made it past the point south of Charleston where the coast falls of to the southwest sharply.

Next we put up the staysail all of this time I'm solving little problems with rigging since this is the first times I've hoisted the sails on this boat.  Many trips were made up and down the companionway to the bilge to check my catches of misc. rigging parts sometimes making do but always getting the job done with a mental note of what is needed to do it right the next time.  Now if I just can remember all the mental notes and put them on paper, luckily a walk around the boat will probably be sufficient to jog the memory.  Next we put up the Mizzen sail, by this time all wind had died and we started the engine and motored for a while.  Time to play with the GPS.  It's now it's 3:23pm, location 32 degrees 37.724 minutes latitude and 79 degrees 52.051 minutes longitude, 4.1 knots, at 210 degrees COG (course over ground)

I forgot to mention I did buy a $50 previously sold depth finder for a jet ski from West Marine and jury rigged it to a 2x4 so we had a depth gauge coming out of the harbor, we then pulled the 2x4 on deck once we were safely out of grounding territory. I'll get back to this later.

At 4:05 we were safely south of the point and we turned off the engine and waited.  At 7:15 we had been sailing slowly for a couple hours and finally needed to tack, the wind was light but steady and we were moving at 1.5 knots.  The boat did a great job of holding a course and sailing itself into the wind, that's the magic of a ketch setup, set the mizzen at slightly greater angle then the main, it looses wind first and the lack of pressure on the rear sail turns the boat back off the wind.  At 7:45 3.3 knots sailing is a fairly steady wind, we had traded the yankee for the 170 Genoa sail.  Finally 1:05am, 5.5 knots, 31d 95.7' latitude, 80d 37' N longitude, 048 COG, now this is sailing, only 18 hours after leaving port.  The logs pretty much stopped there, lack of sleep and excitement with more wind and waves took precedence.
    
The wind shifted around from the south to the west and then the north that put us on a downwind run with the wind, very few boats will self-steer downwind, we tried the autopilot, I had tested it a couple months ago when still in the yard and it appeared to work ok, but it seems to have a dead spot in the 170 to 215 degrees range, I guess I need to look into that.  It's probably just a bad spot in a potentiometer, not an expensive or hard to get part.  It definitely will be a necessary thing to get working it will be impossible for me to sail this boat without either an autopilot, wind self-steering device or something that will steer the boat while I tend to the sails or other things that need to be done away from the wheel.  On the downwind the staysail doesn't do much so we pulled it down; also the wind was picking up so it was time to reduce sail.  Soon the wind increased enough to that we needed to pull the genny, which left us with a main and mizzen, not a good combination for stability.  We had the fight the wheel hard to keep the boat on line. We sailed like this for a couple 2 hour shifts at the wheel and were moving along quite nicely, often making 7 knots or so and directly in the direction we needed to go.  The wind continued to pick up and eventually we needed to further reduce sail so I had them take the mizzen down, and later I would have asked to reef the main but with the tiredness of the crew and the violent rocking of the boat from the storm I chose to continue on with slightly too much sail.  It would have been much easier to steer the boat if we had the staysail and the mizzen up instead of the main or maybe the storm jib and storm main. St Augustine is 18 miles away and we will be there just after daybreak; I turned the boat over to Rick when it was starting to get light, that makes it a lot easier to sail when you can see the waves getting ready to hit you and prepare for them.  The nav lights have run the 24 volt batteries low, it seems the 12 volt converter that takes 24 volts from the two 12 volt batteries in series and converts it back to 12 seems to hold it's voltage well even if the 24 volts drops, that's a good thing it'll keep the important stuff well powered like the radio and instruments when lights are getting dim. I need to work on the 24 volt generator, it's not charging yet, I might not have it hooked up right, I have no documentation on that system, so it's been a poke and prod and see what happens thing, and I have not had the time to devote to that system.  It all takes time.

We found the channel markers leading to St Augustine harbor at about 10 in the morning; it's a very narrow channel and the 10-foot waves made it a challenge, that's when I discovered that the waves had washed overboard the new jet ski depth finder readout that was sitting on the side deck next to the cockpit, the transducer was still there but the wire leading to the readout was overboard, when I pulled it in no readout was attached, I hope Neptune finds a good use for it.  So I'm back to searching for a good place to anchor with a lead line, the first choice was just fine, drop anchor, make sure it's holding and quickly hit the berth for some well-needed sleep, That's where the boat is still sitting.  After listening to the weather forecast Rick and Lance decide they might as well head back home.  I decide to join them and at least get my car to St. Augustine, and it'll also give the boys at the boat house one more chanced to get some of their money back......

I've learned a lot about the boat, and some things I feel I need improve.  The steering wheel needs to be moved forward and lifted up some to allow easier control of the boat, it's almost impossible to get behind the wheel in its present configuration.  I'll move the compass pedestal to the front cockpit settee and have the wheel come out of it in a more standard layout.  I'll put a winch on the deck near the main sail sheet control line, the block and tackle is sufficient to allow setting the sail when under standard load but we needed more force to perform reasonable controlled jibes that was necessary to make the direction changes needed in the last hours of this trip.  This wouldn't be needed if we had the proper sails up but with a tired or limited crew sometimes in situations like this you have to do things that you don't like to do, because we didn't have this winch, our jibes where much more violent and we flicked a couple of the battens into the deep blue.

I was sure glad to have Rick and Lance along for this trip; it would have been a real mess with the sails up and no autopilot, but I probably would have discovered the problem earlier, worst case I could have turned around and headed north, upwind where the boat does self-steer well, till I got the sails down, and then I'd probably have had to ride the storm out with bare sticks, dragging something to act as a drogue. I certainly wouldn't be in the harbor getting some nice and well-needed sleep.  After sleeping most of the day I wrote the first draft of this by candle light, since the led light that I converted is very voltage dependent, one more thing to consider when converting the next ones and revamping this one.  I'll probably also add a winch to the mast to help with the halyards if needed, again the block and tackles are sufficient, but in storm conditions they lack the extra beef that might be needed.  I also plan to add a hard dodger and cabin top above the front of the cockpit, something that will make cold weather sailing much nicer.  The temperature for this trip dropped into the 40's and the water was in the mid 60's.  When I get back to St Augustine, I'll have to spend some time checking out the oldest city in north America and some of the sights then continue moving the boat south to Labelle.  I think with all the extra loose tanks on deck if I put all them on one side and fill them, heeling to get under the 49 foot fixed bridge will be no problem.  I'm told I  might have to worry about running then engine at large heel angles and sucking engine oil into the intake, and having no speed control.  Choking the intake with a plastic grocery sack would be the only way to kill the engine and keep it from self destructing.  Just another chapter in this venture.  Talk to you all later.

Post script:  I went back to the boat yard this evening and a big party was going on. I talked with all the guys, but when Chris came over he said I was not welcome.  Chris and I had a blow up last Friday at the end of the poker game.  He wanted to play a $5 ante, pure luck game that they have played before, being 3 AM and the last game, I opted to drop out and not to play (a big no no at this table, can't leave when your ahead, and I normally am in that category, by 1 AM I'm normally ready to call it an evening) and Chris was not happy.  Rick had never played this before so I moved over to explain to him how the game was played.  Chris got all bent out of shape, thinking I was going to play Ricks hand.  He was drunk, very drunk, but that is quite normal for him, I've never seen anyone down beers in the afternoon and then switch to the white Russians like him.  He mixes them and drinks them in a quart paint mixing cup, and milk is not the major ingredient.  I'm also told he is diabetic, one more thing that makes this not a good mix.  He told me to get lost and I said I wanted to help my friend understand the game.  He's a big guy, but I stood my ground and the others seemed to support me, eventually we ended up outside and a shouting match ensued.  Basically Chris has always been the Alpha male, and was quite threatened by my posture of not rolling over and showing my belly and peeing all over myself like a scared dog would do.  I don't care how big somebody is, if they are a butt hole and telling me to do something I think is unreasonable, I'm going to let them know about it, if I think I will survive.   I also knew that he was drunk and I was sober, that does a lot to equalize the size difference.  I'm sure I can run faster and longer and I'm in much better physical shape. I don't want you to think I'm totally ignorant of danger, but I felt a spade needed to be called a spade in this situation.  Basically he rules with an iron fist, and has not matured to the stage to accept criticism.  I figured it was the alcohol and all would be OK after he had time to be sober and realize what an ass he was, but I was wrong. I hope I can stay in touch with the rest of the guys.  No poker for me tonight.  So I guess I need to consider removing his name from my list above of the great guys at the yard. I was told by some of the other guys that this party was not his party and not run by Chris and that I should stay, but I opted to not continue to put salt in this wound.  I'll let this dog sleep.
 
PPS:  I'm at the St. Augustine library, the oldest city in north America.  All has gone well, I think the autopilot is working, I think it was acting strange because I may have had the dial 180 degrees out, hard to tell when your tired, in a storm and it's dark.  I stopped by the super bargain Goodwill thrift store in Charleston a couple more times before heading down this way and loaded up with more terrific bargains, I have enough boat shoes now to last the trip, all basically like new, and when you buy them by the pound they cost about $1.25.  I also have lots of plastic containers.  When I was kayaking in with all Ricks and Lances stuff, pulling the dingy with my kayak  I found a plastic tool box in the water submerged just off shore, it was also like new.  I was told many boats lost a lot of stuff in the storm and one boat sunk, there was also a lot of boats radioing for help, it was a bad storm, I guess.  I didn't think it was that bad.

Calm ocean, just outside Charleston, never seen the ocean so smooth.

Calm sunset, still just offshore Charleston, no wind, no move....

Finally some wind, but not much...

Sails are up, Work is done, time to enjoy. Lance

Rick had started the trip sick, At least he's up now.

Ricks attempting to come topside, sorta better now. Notice the clouds

A laundry expirement. It worked well, it'll be even better when it's water powered.

The Captain Cook, and Lance diggin in, got to keep the tummys full

Rick at wheel, the camera's still out, the storm is not too bad yet.

Rough seas, picture intentionally blurry. LOL

Finally the St. Augustine lighthouse.

Captain Jon with gps, the channel was very very narrow.

Wake doplhins, every night there where 10 to 20 playing in our wake.

After a days sleep, I came in with the kayak pulling the dingy with all of Rick's and Lance's stuff. Even though I was bucking good wind and current it worked well.

All the stuff, the boat is in the distance, furthest one out, it was a long paddle.

3 sailors, I cut my hand climbing the rock sea wall. The boat is over Lance's right shoulder.

Here are two pictures from the wall of a chinese restuarant in Charleston, While eating I decided I want to go there, but nobody yet has been able to tell where it is exactly. Can you?

I know it's probably south China. This is adventure, eat dinner, see a picture, decide to sail a sailboat halfway around the world to the place in the picture. I have at least a year before I need to know.

It's been most likely identified as the grand canal in east China from Beijing to Hangzhou, 1200 miles 60 bridges and this is just one, but which one? It's the oldest and longest man-made canal in the world, worthy of a trip, I'd say. - I think I found it with 30 minutes search on internet --- picture above --- webshots is amazing, search 468 million photos I searched "china arch bridge"--SP Suzhou street 3 arch bridge ----

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1174005740056984775QIKWQS