Sailing on the Magothy River

End of the 2010 Sailing Season

Wow. Has it really almost been three weeks since my last post? Far too long.

Well I finally got to check out that Mercator and it doesn't look like its going to work out for me.

Pros: The hull was pretty solid with no evidence of blistering. The engine was pretty new and was functional. The price was also definitely a pro.

Cons: The inside was pretty badly torn up, the cabin needed some serious work, it would probably need complete new running and standing rigging as well as cabin top overhaul. It would be some serious work and even then, at the end of the day, its just too small. I was hopeful but alas....At least I know it'll be less painful in the long run to think with my head and not just fall in love with a project boat.

In other news, Surprise got moved last weekend and should be up on the hard as of this last Monday. I decided to move it Saturday since it was going to be crazy windy on Sunday. Had some help from two of my friends (both named Mike) which made it a little confusing whenever I had to direct one of them to do something but we got it tied up and safe in a reasonable amount of time.

So Surprise is out of the water and so ends my 2010 sailing season...At least there's always next year ...[sigh].

Dwindling Time and a Mercator 30

The official end of the season for me comes December 6, when we have Surprise hauled out for the season. We left her in last year so we're due for some bottom work this off-season. Not sure what this off-season's project is going to be yet but I'm sure I'll be finding out soon.

Unless I buy a fixer-upper boat myself in which case, I'll have plenty of off-season work, but not on Surprise. I'm planning to look at another boat this Sunday. I'm really going with no expectations because I'm finding that's the best way to look at boats. It helps keep my eyes open I think.

Its a Mercator 30 down here in Maryland. I'll let you guys know how she looks. There isn't much info out there about Mercators. It appears that only 38 or so of them were made which makes it incredibly difficult to find out much about them. From what I've read, they are supposed to be great offshore boats. I'll let you know what I find out!

If you're interested, here are some links to Mercator 30 info:
Mercator Review
Mercator Specs
Mercator Description
Mercator Owner's Group
Mercator Blog

WE FLY LIKE A G6!

I'm forcing myself to make an entry on Fridays if I've been too busy during the week to post so... yeah.

Boat Show was ok this year. Not nearly as much free stuff but some kick-ass boats! My friend and I went on an Oyster and all I can say is "Holy Shit". We went on the 72 or the 885 (it was massive) and oh my...it was a floating mansion. Massive galley that is at least twice as big as the one in my apartment, at least 10 comfortable berths, 3 bathrooms and a huge lounge area with 2 desks. Also, biggest, and most extensive, electrical panel I've seen in my life.  Got to witness the boat show breakdown as well which was pretty cool.

Also, Girlfriend and I also had a fantastic sail this past Sunday. It was 65 degrees and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky! Wind was 5-15 setting out with gusts up 20 knots. 

Surprisingly, this was our first sail together just the two of us and what a pleasant sail it was! Girlfriend and I switched helm and trimming duties a few times and we beat a couple of other boats out on the Magothy.

As we were coming back in and the wind was a steady 17 knots and I saw another puff about 3 boat lengths ahead, I decided to furl the headsail. Reef early Reef often right? Well...once I saw that most everyone else still had their headsails up, I unfurled the jib and we still beat the other boat that was gaining on us. Surprisingly, we pointed quite a bit higher which was a nice change. I'm so used to being outpointed on Wednesday nights it was nice to be ahead and pointing better. I've been thinking about doing the Wednesday night races on the Magothy instead of in Round Bay; maybe I'll give it a bit more thought. Take Surprise out, put her through the paces, get a solid Wedneday Night Series crew and we might just FLY LIKE A G6!!!

Might I add that my docking skills were top notch, even in the 4-7 knots we had as we pulled up to our slip. Kinda bummed out the guy across the dock who was waiting for me to finish docking before he left. Looked like was waiting for me to screw up but maybe he was waiting to lend a hand... Either way I rocked it so no need.

Sadly no sailing this weekend as I'll be heading up to landlocked PA for a weekend retreat at a ski lodge with some college friends and I'm already in the mood if you can't tell.

Author's Note: A G6 is slang for a Gulfstream 650, a very expensive private jet. 

Close But No Cigar

 I went out sailing with my Dad last night on the last "Summer" evening for 2010 and boy was it gorgeous out! Winds were 8-10 with gusts up to 13 knots just as the sun was setting. Perfect wind direction too. 1 gybe total: out and back. No tacks. Hard to beat that. 

Just as we were coming in, so was a pretty hefty thunderstorm. A lot of visible lightning. 

We came in early enough but we were still out a bit longer than expected so we didn't get to smoke the cigars I brought for the occasion which was a bummer. We'll just have to save them for next time...

Rebedding and Beach Bars

Work has certainly been catching up on me! In addition, I haven't had internet in my apartment for almost a week now and won't until Tuesday - maybe. I'm writing this post from a Panera where the Chipotle Chicken sandwich really hit the spot.

Anyhow, I was able to get some work done on Surprise the weekend. Friday, my dad and I (with the help of my little sister who fits nicely in the stern locker) were able to take out the starboard stern cleat, clean out the holes, mix up some epoxy and fill the screw holes.

My dad tells me smart way to add sealant to the screw is that when you add it, you have to make sure to NOT tighten the screw all the way. That way when you do tighten it, it acts as the gasket that its supposed to. If you don't and just tighten it up all the way when you put the sealant on, it forces the sealant out and then there's no reason to have put the sealant there in the first place.

We let the resin cure and yesterday my dad was going to finish up rebedding the cleat. I'm sure he did but I was busy boating over to Rolph's Wharf Marina to preform the Captain Black Beach Bar Inspection that was scheduled for that afternoon.

The bar was an old crabbing boat that had been converted and it was really cool looking.  The seats were repurposed barrels that gave the beach bar an almost pirate-feel to it. Hung out there for the day and then cruised on back to the Magothy.

Still working on research boats and trying to find a good blue water cruiser for cheap. I've even resorted to making spreadsheets.
Yes.
Spreadsheets.

Today I'm taking it easy but I hope everyone had a good weekend that, despite the blazing sun, was a great boating weekend.

Off to New Orleans

I've really been too tired and busy to post much this week.

Did have a lovely Mother's Day down on Surprise with the family; just playing Cranium and reading/napping. The wind has been incredible lately, a fairly consistent 15-25 knots with gusts up to 32, but since my mom doesn't like it when "the boat tips on its side like that!" (read: heels), we didn't go out. Quite the bummer since we would have rocketed around something fierce on Sunday.

No race this week since the captain is off to Montana for a fishing trip and I'm headed down to New Orleans on a business trip for a few days. Should be good, especially if I get to hang out in the French Quarter for a bit.

We'll see how it goes.

The Beginning of Spring

This was quite a productive weekend for me.

I got off early on Thursday and after visiting my local dive shop, Sea Colony Aqua Sports, and finding out some prices for renting diving equipment and picking up some screws from the hardware store, I made my way down to Surprise. I had to check out the diving equipment rental prices since, not only am I planning on cleaning the bottom of the Surprise next weekend, but I'd like to see if I can make some extra boat money scrubbing other people's boats as well this season and I'd like to know what its going to cost me.

Anyhow, no time like the present right?  I got onboard and took out the hand sander and got to work topside. I was able to do it a lot faster with the hand sander than I had anticipated and I stained both sides with the cetol in pretty short order. I was on such a roll I stained the step into the cabin as well, since it had been sanded during my dad's and my new hatch door misadventure and hadn't been touched since.

While I was waiting for those to dry up, I put the new screws into the bottom of the whiteboard and since those were a bit bigger, they bit and held on nicely.

The new Surprise whiteboard

Afterwards, I took a note out of O Dock's handbook and relaxed a bit. Enjoyed some LandShark, read a bit more of my book, and took a nap.

Saturday, after my dad and I put some jib rollers onto our middle shroud, we took Surprise out for a calibration run. With all the relatively new instruments, we like to calibrate them every so often. The wind was blowing 9-17 knots out on the Magothy and it was a bit chilly out by 1600 so we didn't put the sails up but did accomplish the calibrations at least. I also the learned the different wind forces (AKA the Beaufort Scale) as well which helps put the "we were in Force 9 winds!" dock talk into better perspective.

My dad at the helm

View going into Magothy Marina

Pictures of Surprise

Just thought I would finally put up a couple pictures of Surprise, my family's 1986 Catalina 30 I sail on.

Obviously we're still getting her ready for spring. However, some good news is that after talking to Zarcor, we get to send the doors we were sanding to hell the other week back and they're gonna cut us another set. Seems like they've had a few problems with the top of the doors not being entirely level.