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