Islands grow well in Maine. There could be no better place for an Island Farm than in Penobscot Bay. First we bought land. Then we built a house. Then I bought a sailboat. And finally I finished the stitch and glue project resulting in the dinghy. This comming winter approaches too fast, but it will provide the incentive to finish the project with dagger board, rudder/tiller, mast and sprit.
Note the careful use of "we" and "I". My wife Sue wants little to do with the boats but she is most supportive of the endeavors. It is great exercise for me and I am much healthier spending my time working on them and sailing off to "South America" as I usually say. Dream Weaver is not the first. That role went to Ichiban. But that was years ago. With Ichiban I was just getting to the point of realizing that I could solo the boat. With Dream Weaver soloing is a stated goal. Following is my Email to friends following my first solo.
Dear Spencer, Ram, Steve, and Greg Page wherever he may be,
Greg got me up to Penobscot Bay a couple of times to join him in renting a sailboat. That was years ago when we both worked at The Foxboro Company along with Spencer. Somewhere along the way, Greg moved away and seemingly dropped off the face of the planet. Spencer, have you kept in touch?
Spencer and his crew met up with Greg and me and our crew on North Haven once. The memories of North Haven, Pulpit Harbor, Stonington, Devil Island, and Islesboro never faded. I can still remember getting up early in the middle of the night, anchored in Pulpit Harbor, and looking out. There were stars above, stars below, and a thin symmetrical line of trees breaking the two half spheres of space in which our boat floated. One could not weave a better dream.
So when we decided to find a place to locate our vacation and retirement destination. I was inextricably drawn to the bay. Now we have a house on Cape Jellison and a I (Sue would correct me here if I said “we”) have a sailboat in Stockton Harbor around the other side of the cape.
Dream Weaver went in the water Thursday a week ago and my Maine neighbor Steve (who gets to work remote over the Internet) helped me bring her up from Rockport. It was 25 motoring in the fog; a good sea trial for the diesel and the three GPS systems on board. But the sails were never unfurled. Most of the trip was with 0 wind and the only mammals seen were a seal or two and the dorsal fins of porpoises.
The diesel and standup enclosed head were two requirements for Dream Weaver. Another was that she be outfitted for single-handing. This past Thursday was my first major single-handing exercise day. Using Steve’s dinghy (mine is still under construction in the basement due to a foul-up on the first coat of paint !@*), I got aboard the Columbia 8.3 (27 feet) using the swim ladder on the transom. After noticing the wind direction I set up my fenders and dock lines and started the diesel. Approaching the dock gently up wind I had a flawless landing (this time). I jumped to the dock with line in hand and accomplished my first solo docking on Dream Weaver.
I brought on board project-stuff from the car and spent some time puttering around. I hooked up the 700 watt inverter, old laptop with MapTech software, and a USB GPS. I had to reconfigure power setting to keep it from going to sleep and disconnecting program from GPS. I left the computer on tracking mode until the end of the sailing day. I also put a seacock and short clear hose on my Racor Water Separator filter so that I can easily drain the water which still shows up a bit without socket wrench and drain plug slowing things down. Installing the petcock effectively emptied the filter. I used a cutoff 2 liter seltzer bottle to catch the oil and small amount of water. The Westerbeke is self priming but it did take several false starts before she ran smoothly. As the motor idled for a while, I took off the sail cover, and hanked on the halyard. I checked the lines leading back to the cockpit: main halyard, jib sheets, and furler retrieve. I checked out the traveler on the cockpit bridge. It was now time to get under way.
The wind was 5 to 10 coming up from the south. I like the inboard diesel and controls at the wheel and I like the ease of motoring out of the harbor to the bay. I headed down towards Turtle Head Cove until I came into the lee of Islesboro which was quite noticeable from the surface of the water some distance off. When the wind died, I headed up, raised the main and un-furled the jib, as she went through the wind and onto the first tack, the sails filled. I shut off the diesel and the water rushing under the hull was a joyous sound!
I was headed to the East side of the bay, to a small cove just above the entrance to Castine. The wind had picked up. At times I made 5.4 knots and the wind instrumentation showed up to 16 knots, I suppose of “apparent” wind. I made a couple of tacks going down to Castine, then reversed and made several, practicing several jibes. Reaching, Dream Weaver liked to grab the wind at 60 degrees off windward and tracked well when making way. I could lock the wheel for long periods. Running she sailed well at 120 degrees off the wind. Around 2:30 I headed back to the lee behind Islesboro. I really liked the way she felt. I was very happy with Dream Weaver.
In the lee and headed upwind; but, without steerage way and someone at the helm the boat (notice the stern formal language here) soon heads off. Dousing the sails has to be quick to maintain control. Furling the jib could have gone better. Next time I will make sure the sheets run free and don’t bind. The main didn’t come down without assistance and I had to go on deck for the first time since being at the dock :- ( The lazy-jack system did a good job of catching the sail once down. What is needed is a downhaul. There is plenty of unused hardware on deck to lead lines aft to the cockpit. My next sailing project is to do this. I Googled and found that it is not typical but that one person interested in single handing had done just that and wrote about it.
Once, sails were doused and engine started I headed back to Stockton Harbor. A good part was directly downwind with the accompanying roll and poor tracking. An Autohelm would be nice here as in other situations like keeping her into the wind, but not this year.
My mooring has one of those “flag-pole easy pickup things”. I approached slowly, headed up, cut power, and when I knew I had it made, went forward to pick it up. This was my first solo mooring on one attempt.
I puttered around some more with a boarding ladder project and repositioned the dinghy off the port quarter. (This turned out to be much easier to get into the dinghy with first step into its stable center halfway fore-aft, half way athwart ship.)
On deck I flaked the main and put on the cover. I noticed that the jib was not completely furled though the retrieve had been pulled fully off the drum. I re-furled the jib to get a clean wrap and then freed the sheets and wrapped them around a time or so to get a complete wrap.
I cleaned up the cabin. Shut the computer down, turned off power to the inverter, checked battery charges, shut off main power, checked the bilge, and finally decided I had to go home.
Almost back to the dock the motor died. I paddled in. Hand on dock, I look for my shore-bag with wallet and keys :- ( I checked the fuel. Perhaps I had not opened vent and petcock entirely. The engine started and I made it out and back… this time with my shore stuff.
It was late before I got home. I was tired and sore. But, the first solo exercise had gone well and overall I was very pleased with Dream Weaver.
We have guest accommodations just around the corner from a good sail. Ram, if you get back to this side of the continent come, please come. Spencer, you, Dawn, etc. please come. Steve, thanks for all the help and lets go sailing next week. Carrie, as always, come up from Portland with Todd whenever you can.
Love and best wishes to all, and
thinking of you Greg, wherever you may be,
Tom
Note the careful use of "we" and "I". My wife Sue wants little to do with the boats but she is most supportive of the endeavors. It is great exercise for me and I am much healthier spending my time working on them and sailing off to "South America" as I usually say. Dream Weaver is not the first. That role went to Ichiban. But that was years ago. With Ichiban I was just getting to the point of realizing that I could solo the boat. With Dream Weaver soloing is a stated goal. Following is my Email to friends following my first solo.
Dear Spencer, Ram, Steve, and Greg Page wherever he may be,
Greg got me up to Penobscot Bay a couple of times to join him in renting a sailboat. That was years ago when we both worked at The Foxboro Company along with Spencer. Somewhere along the way, Greg moved away and seemingly dropped off the face of the planet. Spencer, have you kept in touch?
Spencer and his crew met up with Greg and me and our crew on North Haven once. The memories of North Haven, Pulpit Harbor, Stonington, Devil Island, and Islesboro never faded. I can still remember getting up early in the middle of the night, anchored in Pulpit Harbor, and looking out. There were stars above, stars below, and a thin symmetrical line of trees breaking the two half spheres of space in which our boat floated. One could not weave a better dream.
So when we decided to find a place to locate our vacation and retirement destination. I was inextricably drawn to the bay. Now we have a house on Cape Jellison and a I (Sue would correct me here if I said “we”) have a sailboat in Stockton Harbor around the other side of the cape.
Dream Weaver went in the water Thursday a week ago and my Maine neighbor Steve (who gets to work remote over the Internet) helped me bring her up from Rockport. It was 25 motoring in the fog; a good sea trial for the diesel and the three GPS systems on board. But the sails were never unfurled. Most of the trip was with 0 wind and the only mammals seen were a seal or two and the dorsal fins of porpoises.
The diesel and standup enclosed head were two requirements for Dream Weaver. Another was that she be outfitted for single-handing. This past Thursday was my first major single-handing exercise day. Using Steve’s dinghy (mine is still under construction in the basement due to a foul-up on the first coat of paint !@*), I got aboard the Columbia 8.3 (27 feet) using the swim ladder on the transom. After noticing the wind direction I set up my fenders and dock lines and started the diesel. Approaching the dock gently up wind I had a flawless landing (this time). I jumped to the dock with line in hand and accomplished my first solo docking on Dream Weaver.
I brought on board project-stuff from the car and spent some time puttering around. I hooked up the 700 watt inverter, old laptop with MapTech software, and a USB GPS. I had to reconfigure power setting to keep it from going to sleep and disconnecting program from GPS. I left the computer on tracking mode until the end of the sailing day. I also put a seacock and short clear hose on my Racor Water Separator filter so that I can easily drain the water which still shows up a bit without socket wrench and drain plug slowing things down. Installing the petcock effectively emptied the filter. I used a cutoff 2 liter seltzer bottle to catch the oil and small amount of water. The Westerbeke is self priming but it did take several false starts before she ran smoothly. As the motor idled for a while, I took off the sail cover, and hanked on the halyard. I checked the lines leading back to the cockpit: main halyard, jib sheets, and furler retrieve. I checked out the traveler on the cockpit bridge. It was now time to get under way.
The wind was 5 to 10 coming up from the south. I like the inboard diesel and controls at the wheel and I like the ease of motoring out of the harbor to the bay. I headed down towards Turtle Head Cove until I came into the lee of Islesboro which was quite noticeable from the surface of the water some distance off. When the wind died, I headed up, raised the main and un-furled the jib, as she went through the wind and onto the first tack, the sails filled. I shut off the diesel and the water rushing under the hull was a joyous sound!
I was headed to the East side of the bay, to a small cove just above the entrance to Castine. The wind had picked up. At times I made 5.4 knots and the wind instrumentation showed up to 16 knots, I suppose of “apparent” wind. I made a couple of tacks going down to Castine, then reversed and made several, practicing several jibes. Reaching, Dream Weaver liked to grab the wind at 60 degrees off windward and tracked well when making way. I could lock the wheel for long periods. Running she sailed well at 120 degrees off the wind. Around 2:30 I headed back to the lee behind Islesboro. I really liked the way she felt. I was very happy with Dream Weaver.
In the lee and headed upwind; but, without steerage way and someone at the helm the boat (notice the stern formal language here) soon heads off. Dousing the sails has to be quick to maintain control. Furling the jib could have gone better. Next time I will make sure the sheets run free and don’t bind. The main didn’t come down without assistance and I had to go on deck for the first time since being at the dock :- ( The lazy-jack system did a good job of catching the sail once down. What is needed is a downhaul. There is plenty of unused hardware on deck to lead lines aft to the cockpit. My next sailing project is to do this. I Googled and found that it is not typical but that one person interested in single handing had done just that and wrote about it.
Once, sails were doused and engine started I headed back to Stockton Harbor. A good part was directly downwind with the accompanying roll and poor tracking. An Autohelm would be nice here as in other situations like keeping her into the wind, but not this year.
My mooring has one of those “flag-pole easy pickup things”. I approached slowly, headed up, cut power, and when I knew I had it made, went forward to pick it up. This was my first solo mooring on one attempt.
I puttered around some more with a boarding ladder project and repositioned the dinghy off the port quarter. (This turned out to be much easier to get into the dinghy with first step into its stable center halfway fore-aft, half way athwart ship.)
On deck I flaked the main and put on the cover. I noticed that the jib was not completely furled though the retrieve had been pulled fully off the drum. I re-furled the jib to get a clean wrap and then freed the sheets and wrapped them around a time or so to get a complete wrap.
I cleaned up the cabin. Shut the computer down, turned off power to the inverter, checked battery charges, shut off main power, checked the bilge, and finally decided I had to go home.
Almost back to the dock the motor died. I paddled in. Hand on dock, I look for my shore-bag with wallet and keys :- ( I checked the fuel. Perhaps I had not opened vent and petcock entirely. The engine started and I made it out and back… this time with my shore stuff.
It was late before I got home. I was tired and sore. But, the first solo exercise had gone well and overall I was very pleased with Dream Weaver.
We have guest accommodations just around the corner from a good sail. Ram, if you get back to this side of the continent come, please come. Spencer, you, Dawn, etc. please come. Steve, thanks for all the help and lets go sailing next week. Carrie, as always, come up from Portland with Todd whenever you can.
Love and best wishes to all, and
thinking of you Greg, wherever you may be,
Tom
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