December Progress and Rosalind on the Hard

We hauled Rosalind just in time as the creeks around the Bay started freezing and snowflakes started floating down, a gentle reminder that it was time to call it a season. Even though we had wanted to head south, we knew that we would use our winter effectively to get Rosalind ready for a spring launch. Early April, our planned launch time, is just around the corner and there is plenty of exciting and interesting work to be done.

First Signs of Winter

So in the mean time, we drive down to the boat, work onboard and drive back to the house at the end of the day. We have had one very cold spell so far, with windchills in the single digits (5 F, -15C) and we stayed home for that; otherwise, even when the nights are in the 20s (-1 to -5C), we still drive down to Rosalind. The cabin heater is making work onboard much more pleasant, even if it takes a little time to warm up the cabin from sub-freezing temperatures.

Since Rosalind went on the hard we have built (out of inexpensive plywood) two wooden boxes to house electrical switches - the boxes will be made out of teak at home this winter when it is too cold to work onboard. One will house switches at the helm and the other will cover the wiring coming down from the mast. Additionally we have installed the new battery charger with its remote control panel and we are very pleased with it. The charger replaced the one that "fell off" the bulkhead earlier in the season.

We are adding a new deck wash pump to help clean the anchor chain when we anchor in mud. On our previous boat we had an anchor locker and no windlass. I could haul the chain up by hand, deposit it in the anchor locker and clean it with buckets of sea water at my convenience. Rosalind has a chain locker below, forward of the V-berth, but no anchor locker. When we want to get going after being at anchor, the windlass hauls the chain and deposits it inside the boat in the chain locker. Because of this, the anchor chain needs to be washed as it comes up. On our shakedown to Saint Michaels it took over twenty buckets of water to clean up all that thick mud. After that, installing the deck wash moved up near the top of the to-do list! The new deck wash pump is installed in the V-berth, and is electrically connected.  The plumbing will be connected next. I am replumbing the head (toilet) intake so that the same through-hull seacock and strainer can be used to provide sea water to flush the head or the deck wash by simply turning a valve handle. The valve and pump switch are installed at the base of the V-berth on the port side. This is a very nice location as they can be reached even with the V-berth filler in place. Here are a few pictures of our work. We hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for following us,
Alex and Cheryl

Windshield Wiper Switches - plywood mock-up box being test-fitted at the helm

 Newly Installed Battery Charger Control Panel  (lower left)

Battery Charger Remote Display - 

Conditioning voltage may appear high but it is not. Batteries were at 30F (-1C)!

Deck wash Pump  - Sea Water Selector Valve (for Head or Pump) and Pump Electrical Panel

Happy Holidays

Our Current Plans

A lot has happened in the last month after we started heading South. After identifying the engine mount issue, we started working on it and all indications (to date) are that we should be fine on that front, and more sea trials will confirm this. We optimized our work to take advantage of warmer days to do epoxy work and we got the engine mount work done. Here are some pictures of our engine work.

Engine suspended in engine room

Epoxy and fiberglass work on the starboard stringer (under the engine)

Additionally, we relocated the engine exhaust vented loop from the port lazarette to the aft cabin.  Here is a picture of it in its new spot.

Engine exhaust vented loop in aft cabin (looking forward)

We were getting ready to head South but good old winter caught up with us. The first flurries, short days, and subfreezing temperatures hinted that maybe it was just too late this season to get to the warm South. We knew that this was a possibility back in February when we started the restoration/rebuild and while we prioritized the work, we knew it was going to be tight. So we made the decision to stay put for the winter and to haul Rosalind. The weather gurus are forecasting a very cold winter and we did not want to take any chances with getting frozen in and having problems.

We will continue our work over the winter - the built-in heater will come in very handy for that - and will resume our shakedowns in early April. The to-do list will keep us very busy through the winter and we will keep you posted on our progress. In the meantime, we will also post some thoughts on boat size and voyaging preparations.

Here is a sketch of Rosalind on the hard waiting to get shrink wrapped for the winter.

Thanks for following our blog,

Alex and Cheryl

A Tour of ROSALIND

ROSALIND is a Neptunian 33, built in the UK in 1974. She was moulded by Tyler Boat Company (aka Tyler Mouldings) and finished by two companies:  Johnson Sons and Jago and J.W. Shuttlewood and Son. She is a center-cockpit ketch, 33 ft on deck (10 m).

Rosalind at her mooring in Galesville, Maryland, USA

Looking forward from the companionway:

Salon to port, galley to starboard, and V-berth forward of the head

We had in our minds what would make the ideal boat for the voyage. The wish list included protection from the elements for the person at the helm, good water and diesel tankage, full standing headroom in the salon and a manageable sail plan. We also wanted the boat to be in the low thirty feet range, or around 15,000 lbs (7 tonnes).  Larger and she would be difficult to handle by one of us and shorter she would not have the storage capacity and room to make a comfortable long-term voyager.

Over the years, I have spent countless hours online and in person looking a different boats. To provide some stability, we had developed the 7-day boat buying rule. The rule was simple: no action could be taken until seven days after the decision to buy was made. After having looked at probably thousands of boats online and many others at different marinas in the US and overseas, the Neptunian 33 had eluded us. Maybe it was that only 56 were made, or maybe it had fallen though the cracks of the different searches.  After seeing her online, I called the broker and inquired. ROSALIND was in a small marina, tucked in the Rhode River, a stone's throw away from where we have had our previous boat, AISLING, for a dozen years. We arranged a meeting with the broker and went to see ROSALIND. After a thorough walkthrough, we were hooked. An offer was made on the spot. The 7-day rule could not be enforced here!

From the bow going aft (front to back), she has a chain locker (accessible from the fore cabin), a V-berth and a head (W.C. with shower). Across from the head is a sink and vanity. The main cabin has a dinette to port and a galley to starboard. The dinette converts to a double bed and a large companionway connects the main cabin to the cockpit.

Galley to Starboard

Dinette to Port (looking aft)

There's a wheel on centerline at the forward end of the cockpit and a chart table to port. There are cockpit seats with under seat storage (lazarettes) on both sides of the cockpit, and a swinging seat that can be used by the person at the helm if they do not want to stand. The seat is removable and the swinging peristall stores against the forward part of the cockpit, under the chart table, when not in use. The forward half of the cockpit is covered by a hardtop. This hardtop is one of the main features that attracted us to ROSALIND.  It provides protection from the elements and a moonroof above the wheel allows the person at the helm to see the main sail and the masthead of the main mast. In addition to the hardtop, there is a removable enclosure with clear plastic sides that can be used to completely close off the cockpit. There is storage throughout the boat, under the berths and outboard in lockers and bins. Water capacity is over 100 US Gallons (400 L) and fuel is about 85 US Gallons (350 L).

Cockpit (looking to starboard) - main cabin companionway with hardtop above

Cockpit (looking to port) - Swivel seat, engine instrument panel, autopilot and chart table

Helm and Alarms Panel

Under the cockpit is the engine room that is accessible through a large hatch. The new engine instruments are to port and the panel from the previous engine has been repurposed and now houses the ships alarms, windlass switch and ampmeter  and diesel system monitoring gages.

Engine Room with new Beta 30 Diesel (hot water heater not connected)

ROSALIND is our first center cockpit sailboat and we very quickly saw the multiple benefits of having an aft cabin.  The aft cabin has two very nice sea-berths, one on each side, which are only a couple of steps away from the cockpit so the off-watch person can very readily provide assistance if necessary.  The aft cabin, being away from the V-berth, offers some privacy for guests. This is not easy to do in 33 ft! Lastly, the aft cabin enabled the designer to create a wonderful aft deck, that together with the two custom stern-rail seats, makes for wonderful seating at anchor or when sailing in fine weather. The other great advantage of the aft deck is that it, together with the swinging swim ladder, makes boarding very easy. When boarding from the dinghy, the large area provides plenty of space to put down bags and groceries. Lastly, the aft cabin has a tool locker to port and a hanging locker to starboard.

Aft Cabin (looking aft)

Heading South, then North

The weather forecast for the Upper Chesapeake Bay for Saturday, October 29 was for southwest winds at 5 to 10 knots. For several days before, while we were fixing our water leak issue, there had been small craft advisories with winds of 20 knots from the south. Although the wind had now abated, we were left with steep, 5-foot choppy seas dead on the the nose. 

Our destination was Duns Cove though Knapps Narrows. It took the better part of 6 hours of plowing into the short, steep waves with apparent winds of 15 knots to get there. The short video shows but four seconds of the trip - replay it for 6 hours straight for a fuller experience of the rollercoaster ride! We decided from here on, like many before us, that we will not sail to weather if we can help it.

Sailing to Weather

Rosalind behaved extremely well and other than having to hold on, the trip went well. The cockpit enclosure provided great protection from the spray, which at times went from the bow all the way to the stern of the boat.

At the entrance of Knapps Narrows we ran aground. We had touched bottom many years before in our previous boat so we knew that the water was limited; however, new shoaling (poorly marked) resulted in us getting stuck in mud this time. For the first time in 20 plus years of boating on the Bay we called for a tow. We were able to get ourselves unstuck with our engine before the tow arrived and learned a valuable lesson about having a dinghy ready for kedging when coastal sailing. A rolled up dingy on deck takes valuable time to inflate and get ready.

Once unstuck, we turned around and motorsailed across the Bay to Herring Bay, which offered protection from southwesterly winds without losing any southing. Crossing the Bay took less than an hour and a half and with the jib unfurled, we averaged 6 knots. 

We anchored, had a nice dinner, were treated to a pretty sunset, and then turned on our anchor light. Our anemometer recorded gusts to 20 knots and I kept anchor watch until 1 am. While i was on anchor watch, a powerboat (~45 ft, 14 m) doing at least to 20 knots passed within 150 ft (45 m) of us with no running lights. Yikes!

Sunset at Herring Bay, Maryland

The next morning we looked at the weather. The forecast called for southerly light winds and thunderstorms late in the day before the return of favorable northerlies. We decided to go back to Galesville (only three hours away) and wait for a good weather window to head south again.

Before departing for Galesville, I inspected the engine room and discovered that the aft engine mounts were loose and would not tighten when I put a wrench to them.  This is a problem needing immediate attention! Over the next weeks we will post more about this but here is the short version:  We are back in Galesville where we will remove the engine, rework the engine bed, have new engine brackets made, and reinstall the engine. We are hoping that the weather will hold and if everything goes according to (the new) plan we should be heading south sometime in December. 

It’s been a busy two weeks. Overall Rosalind is working extremely well and most of the systems are performing extremely well. We have been very pleased with our cabin heater, fridge, solar panels, energy balance and battery charging system, water system (including hot water), toilet, anchoring system and roller furler. After having spend almost two weeks onboard we find Rosalind very comfortable to live on and are very pleased with how the overall refurbishment has come together. The shakedown(s) have identified a few key issues that we have to address and many good decisions we made along the way. 

We will keep you posted on the engine room progress. 

Thank you for following us,

Alex and Cheryl

Preparations for Departure

After the shakedown trip to Saint Michael’s, we assembled a short to-do list and started our final preparations. On the way back from Saint Michael’s, we identified a leak from the engine exhaust hose where it exited the stern. The old hose had dry rot and needed replacement. We also picked up a small vibration indicating the need for another engine realignment. This was not surprising as we had hauled and launched the boat since the last realignment and after the first 25 hours of engine run time - once the engine and mounts settled in their new position - it was something that we knew we had to do. Lastly, we had install the fluxgate compass to enable the radar image to be superimposed on the chartplotter.

We had also developed a wish list, things that we hoped we could accomplish if time permitted. We wanted to reduce the size of the refrigerator (to save energy) from 3.8 cubic feet (108 liters) to a little over 2 cubic feet (56 liters) and to install new solars panels on the soft top of the cockpit enclosure (to generate more energy).

Fridge before

Fridge After

Solar Panel Array 

Fore to Aft (hardtop, soft top and aft rail panels) - Total 276 Watts

Final preparations before departure included laundry, shopping for refrigerated items, and moving onboard.

We were able to accomplish everything on the to-do and wish lists in one week after returning from Saint Michael’s and we planned for a Tuesday morning departure. 

Monday afternoon at about 5 pm (14 hours prior to the scheduled departure) I was doing a boat inspection and opened the cockpit locker to look at the refrigerator compressor. The battery charger, which weighed about 45 pounds ( ~20 kg), had ripped itself from the hull and wedged itself an inch from our brand new refrigerator compressor! This was a close call as a loose 45-pound sharp-edged metal box could do a lot of damage in rough seas.

 I spent the rest of the day removing the refrigerator compressor (to gain access) and disconnecting the battery charger and disassembling it in place in order to the get it out of the compartment. I then reinstalled the compressor. The installation of the new 110 V battery charger we had just bought the day before had just moved up to the to-do list! 

Close Call Between Battery Charger and Fridge Compressor

The next morning, we got Rosalind ready for the beginning of our voyage south and i opened the engine room to inspect the engine. To my surprise, there was a gallon of water in the engine room and after a few seconds we were horrified to see that the water was pouring out of the air filter of our new engine. I told Cheryl, “We are not going South anytime soon.” It took a little bit of troubleshooting but we were able to trace the leak to a clogged vent in the the engine exhaust vented loop (we will post a special post just on that). 

It took three days to address the issue, change the engine oil three times, conduct sea trials, and get the engine back on track. By Thursday afternoon, we were back in business and decided on a Saturday departure. After many months of exciting work and preparations we are finally ready to go! 

Thanks for following us,

Alex and Cheryl

A shakedown to Saint Michael's, MD

Saint Michael's, the town that fooled the British, is a favorite destination of ours. The town is on the Miles River, on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, approximately 25 nautical miles from our mooring in Galeville, Maryland.

After seven months of refurbishing Rosalind, the time had come to start testing the new systems. So on Tuesday morning with outside temperatures hovering in the the mid-forties (about 8 C), we started motoring out of Galesville. The trip across the Bay and up the Miles River was confortable and the cockpit enclosure proved its worth, keeping the cockpit dry from condensation and cozy with the warming rays of the Fall sun.

After five hours of motoring and motorsailing we anchored outside of the harbor of Saint Michael's. Anchoring with the refurbished windlass was a success.

Once everything was stowed in the cockpit and down below, I went for a hot shower. A hot shower on land (at home or in a hotel) is not a big deal, something one does without thinking twice about it, but on a small boat it's an entirely different story.  It took the better part of one month's work to remove the old plumbing, clean the fiberglass water tank and paint it with special epoxy, install new pluming and a new water heater, install the new shower sump pump, connect the water system to the brand new diesel engine and chase down leaks. The hot shower was fantastic!

Normally we would have lunch on board, this time, however, with so much to check and inspect during the five-hour sail we had only snacks, so we were ready for a nice meal. As a treat, we went to a great Italian restaurant, Limoncello.

Walking the streets of Saint Michael's was pleasant as the town had not lost any of its summer charm. All shops were open and there were a few tourists walking about. After walking through town, we had an ice cream at Justine's and rowed back to Rosalind. Dusk was fast approaching so it was time to test the new LED masthead anchor light. The light worked well and we were by far the brightest anchor light in Saint Michael's.

Sunset, Saint Michael's, MD

At night, the diesel forced hot air heater held the cabin around 70 F (21 C). The next morning we rowed to town and had a coffee at the Blue Heron Cafe, a small coffee shop roasting its own beans. We then rowed back to Rosalind and did some work on board including inflating our Achilles dinghy and setting up its outboard engine.

We took a quick trip in the inflatable dinghy to see the town and shop at the supermarket. Back on Rosalind, we tested the grill and had a great lunch.  While in town earlier, we met a couple from our marina. After lunch we went to see them on their 40 ft Caliber LRC sailboat and subsequently gave them a tour of Rosalind.

With a small craft advisory on its way the next day, we decided to leave the exposed anchorage at Saint Michael's the following morning and head back to our marina in Galesville. Thursday morning we went out for an early coffee, returned to Rosalind, stored the inflatable dinghy and outboard and were on our way by 9 am. It took five hours to motorsail back. The shakedown trip was a great success. We have three must-do projects and then we should be ready to head South. Stay tuned for our departure in the very near future. Thanks for reading our blog.

Rosalind at anchor, Saint Michael's, MD

Keep Cruising,
Alex and Cheryl

Preparing for our voyage - an outline of upcoming posts

Voyaging on a small sailboat offers a unique perspective for seeing the world. This fall we will be taking our Neptunian 33 sailboat, Rosalind, south for the winter from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida and then to the Bahamas. 

In the following posts we will share with you how we set up our voyaging goals, the logistical issues we had to tackle, and the skills we learned in the process. We will take you through our boat selection and will share with you the process of moving onboard and what it feels like to live on a boat. We will discuss the costs of voyaging and the timeline for getting ready as well as the voyage itself.

We will be posting while getting Rosalind ready and the blog will continue throughout our voyage. Over time, we will expand the blog to include technical posts, pictures, videos and sketches. We hope you enjoy our blog.

Welcome aboard,
Alex and Cheryl