August 1 – 31, 2005
This was the big one; we would set sail for Maine’s Penobscot Bay August 1st and live aboard Rocinante for 30 days! The months of June and July were spent preparing (not really, but more or less). My messages on the various sailing and cruising boards paid off in spades with quite a bit of first hand intel… I ordered the necessary charts and cruising guides… we prepped Rocinante; getting her ready inside and out, we purchased a new tender and an outboard (more on that later). We ordered our self-inflating PFDs, jack lines, tethers, etc.
Rocinante’s well stocked “Wine Cellar”
Maria started gathering the provisions we would need for 30 days at sea; Several bottles of port, a bottle of Sauza Blanco, Grand Marnier, Grey Goose, 15 bottles of assorted red wines (from pinots to chiantis) 15 bottles of assorted whites (primarily Chenin Blanc) and finally 5 bottles of Champaign (1 very good one)… oh yea, she also packed up some food and water.
OK folks… today is August 5th, and we are about 2 inches away from where we started… that’s right, we are still in our slip!
This morning, after a 10 AM conference call with one of my clients, we headed out. We filled our tanks with water, pulled out of our slip and headed over to the fuel dock. We topped off the fuel tank; filled up an extra 5-gallon jug; filled the tank for the tender; pumped out our waste tank and grabbed a bag of ice.
We headed out into Haverstraw bay and… we couldn’t get above 3 knots without black smoke shooting out the exhaust… WONDERFUL!
A quick call to my marine connection George (not The Boat Guy George, a different George), and we determine it was probably a simple build up of barnacles on the prop… done in by a crustacean!
We head back to the slip, I don mask, snorkel and fins and under the boat I go; yes, I have pictures, but no, I’m not dumb enough to publish them!
Well, I can’t see a darn thing, don’t really know where the heck the prop is… I mean, I know in relative terms, but when you’re diving under the boat holding your breath with the hopes of scraping barnacles off the prop, you need to know EXACTLY where it is!
Needless to say, George is a bit wealthier… he showed up with his scuba gear, dove under the boat and 15 minutes later emerged triumphant… no more barnacles!
Headed out for a test run… speed is much better, still some black smoke, but George assures me it’s just residue at this point.
I guess tomorrow is another day…
As Bob Bitchin, creator/publisher of the magazine Latitudes & Attitudes was fond of saying
“the difference between an ordeal and an adventure, is Attitude”
Well, this was one heck of an ADVENTURE!
Till next time,
Carlos & Maria
SV Rocinante …_/)
– Photos –
The night before… Sunset in Haverstraw!
…could be the last hot shower for a long time!
Ahh!
All cleaned up and ready to set sail…
Leaving Haverstraw marina in our wake… Maine here we come!
Obviously a certified diver, everone else calls then flippers (fins)
lol! I wasn’t at the time, but I did get certified when we got down to the Florida Keys!