Adventures on the Chesapeake - Part Two

Captain Mike approached Rosalind on the starboard side and put out the towboat's large fenders. He asked, "Are you guys safe?" We relayed that everything was fine. He said, "There is a boat that has gone ashore on the beach at Chesapeake Beach. Do you mind if I take care of her first?" We told him that we were fine and that we would be standing by. He thanked us and headed south. Within a few minutes, he was barely a speck on the horizon. Then, the speck started getting larger again. The towboat was back in less than 10 minutes. Someone else had been able to help that boat in distress on the beach.

Now at Rosalind, Captain Mike handed me a bridle attached to the 2 inch (50 mm) diameter hawser, which would be used to tow us.  I ran the bridle lines through the fairleads at the bow and attached them to the bollard. With Cheryl at the helm and me at the bow, he payed out the hawser. We had readied the windlass and started pulling up the anchor chain with the windlass remote. Captain Mike was slowly moving the towboat forward and when Rosalind's anchor chain was almost taut, and without any prompting, he said, "Let me give you a short pull to get your anchor free." With the anchor free, it took but a minute to get the remaining 18 ft (5.5 m) of chain on board. With the anchor on the bow roller, the only thing left to do was to move the bridle over the anchor so that when the towboat pulled us, the anchor would not be forced up on the roller and hit the boat.

With the bridle sorted and the hawser taut, I went aft and took the helm. The towboat headed west and we followed, picking up speed to 6 knots (11 km/h).

Rosalind being pulled along in Herring Bay

In less than fifteen minutes, we passed the Herring Bay Light Red 2 at the south end of Herring Bay. There is a shoal spit from the marker all the way to the northern end of Herring Bay. The depth sounder momentarily registered 5.5 feet (1.7 m) as we rounded the mark. Our depth sounder is to port and with the shoal to starboard, we had less than 6 inches (15 cm) of water under our keel. We informed the Captain and he made a slight course correction. Twenty minutes later, we were slowing down. We were just outside the breakwater at Tracy's Landing. I released the bridle from the bollard, Captain Mike flaked the hawser in the towboat and came alongside Rosalind. We were securing the towboat on Rosalind's aft starboard quarter when a 50 ft (15 m) powerboat came off a plane within a boat length from us. Its wake caused Rosalind and the towboat to bang together violently. Luckily, the fenders did their job and neither boat or our suspended dinghy got damaged. The Captain aptly said, "Some people just think about themselves..." We got Rosalind and the towboat tied together and we started moving forward. I turned the wheel to starboard and the Captain picked up the slack on the forward line holding both boats together. Doing barely 3 knots (5.5 km/h), we passed the breakwater and entered the channel. A 40 ft (12 m) fiberglass sloop was a little over 50 ft (15 m) in front of us. Going over the entrance, the depth sounder registered 5.5 then 5.3 then 5.1 ft (1.7 then 1.6 then 1.55 m). No much to do other than push on. The depth sounder dropped to 4.9 ft (1.5 m).  We barely had an inch (2.5 cm) of water under our keel! Then, we were over the sandbar and in deeper water. I called the marina and informed them of our location.

Rosalind entering Tracy's Landing

The marina was going to send a dockhand to help us get Rosalind in her slip. I shared the slip location information with Captain Mike and a couple of minutes later we were slowing down and turning to port into the fairway between docks G and H. Cheryl had prepared and positioned our docking lines and Captain Mike eased us into slip H8. Rosalind rested in the middle of the slip, without having touched the dock or any of the pilings. Captain Mike is a true pro! We secured Rosalind in her slip and went to grab a lunch.

Rosalind gently placed in slip

The next day, we went on board and took care of the fuel system. We drained fuel from both tanks and confirmed that there was no more water in either tank. We also made sure no water had entered the engine through the engine exhaust system from the waves slamming our stern when we were at anchor. Everything was fine. We started the engine and let her run for 40 minutes. Rosalind was now ready to be hauled.

Thank you for following along,
Alex and Cheryl

Adventures on the Chesapeake - Part One

On Sunday, August 13 we left Galesville and started heading South. The day trip was supposed to be a short 4-hour motorsail between Pirates Cove on the West River and Herrington Harbour North Marina in Herring Bay. The plan was to haul Rosalind, do some work minor work on the rudder, install the satellite communication antenna on the mizzen mast, and paint the bottom before continuing South.

The weather forecast called for 5 to 10 knots of wind from the North. We left our mooring at Hartge Yacht Harbor at 8 am and by 8:20 we had the jib out and were motorsailing out of the West River doing 4.8 knots. We cleared the Green Can 1 and headed east to avoid the shoal on the south side of the river entrance extending out one and a half miles (2.5 km) to the north, northeast past Curtis Point. The wind picked up to 12 to 14 knots when we got in the Bay and the two-foot (60 cm) short waves gave Rosalind a rocking but pleasant motion. A little over half an hour later we pointed Rosalind south and headed towards Herring Bay. The apparent wind dropped and we decided to put up some more sail in order to take advantage of the following wind. Cheryl uncovered the mizzen and then took over at the helm and I went to the stern deck to raise the mizzen. I had just finished raising the mizzen when, from the direction of the cockpit, a buzzing sound told me something was amiss. Cheryl called out from the helm, "The Racor Water Alarm just came on!" I got to the cockpit, throttled back Lucy, our trusted Beta 30 diesel engine, and pulled the engine stop lever. We were heading south with a northerly wind and 20 feet (6 m) of water under our keel. Cheryl stayed at the helm and I went down the main cabin, removed the companionway stairs, got a flashlight, and opened the engine room access hatch. The Racor bowl was half full with water.  The alarms panel had earned its keep again!

Racor Alarm Lit-up (Red Light in Lower Left)

We had 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) before we had to turn north before entering Herrington Harbour North. First things first:  Get the water out and start up Lucy again.  In order to drain the Racor fuel water separator, I had to crack the T-handle at the top of the filter enclosure in order to break the vacuum. I drained about a cup of water from the Racor and retightened the T-handle. The alarm light turned off. Just to be sure that all the water was out, I went to aft cabin and got a piece of spare hose, got the five gallon (20 liter) empty diesel gerry can from the starboard lazarette, and using the diesel hand primer bulb (which I installed when we replaced the engine last year), I connected the hose to the bottom of the Racor, and got about a gallon (4 liters) of diesel out of the starboard tank.

It was time to start the engine again. Lucy fired up and after less than a minute, Lucy stalled! What happened? After removing the water, I neglected to refill the Racor with diesel. (Diesel engines do not like air in the fuel. Air locks up the high pressure pump, no fuel can get though, and the engine stalls). Nine miles (16.5 km) to go to the south end of Herring Bay...

We sailed south southwest for an hour and we were in some calmer waters. With the sails still pulling us along, Cheryl stood on the port side of the cockpit and navigated and steered Rosalind. I opened the engine room, got in the main cabin and removed the air from (bled) the engine. I had to do this twice to get all the air out of the Racor, fuel lines, lift pump, fuel filter, and high pressure pump. Lucy started right up and ran smoothly. Ten minutes later, the Racor alarm buzzed again! We shut her down and keep sailing. I went below and looked at the Racor bowl. The red-colored diesel should have been clear but it was not. Its cloudiness was an indication that there was some water still present.

We decided to sail to the south end of Herring Bay, still 6 nautical miles (11 km) away, and then anchor. After a couple of hours, we furled the jib, Cheryl turned Rosalind into the wind, and I dropped anchor. It was clear that it would take some time for the water to separate from the diesel and settle down to the bottom go the Racor. We now had two choices:  We could launch our dinghy and with our three horsepower outboard engine push Rosalind for the last five miles (9 km), or get a tow. We have used our dinghy as a push tug in the past and this can work well. The only two limitations are that you have limited maneuverability (because you have limited horsepower) and its best done in calm waters.

The entrance to Herrington Harbour North is at the top of a narrow channel. The four mile (7.5 km) channel is too narrow to tack in and the wind was on the nose. Once you get to the entrance, you must navigate between markers over a sandbar. There is a shoal in the middle of the creek and the marina fairways are very narrow. Additionally, when the weather is fine, the entrance can be very crowded with boats leaving and returning to the marina simultaneously. After a short discussion, we opted for the tow. We made the call. While waiting, I opened the starboard fuel tank deck fill and Voila, the o-ring that was supposed to act as a seal to prevent water from entering the tank had split and there was a clearly visible 1/2 inch (12 mm) gap.

Failed O-Ring from Diesel Filler Cap

Starboard Diesel Filler Station Taped to Prevent Further Water Intrusion.

Captain Mike, running the towboat, called us on the cellphone and we shared our coordinates. He was 1.9 miles (3.5 km) away...