USCG Vessel Safety Check

This weekend looked to be especially beautiful so I arranged to "work from boat" on Friday and after an early morning departure, found myself on the Keyport Yacht Club launch commuting to work.

The day was gorgeous, but very bright... I had to work in the salon on Seas The Day in order to see the screen.  After a conference call, I went ashore and had lunch with an old colleague, then worked a bit in the waterfront room at the club (I can't charge my big laptop on-board yet, so if I have to plug in, I need to either be ashore or at a dock).

As evening came, I finished work for the day, then had a nice dinner with John at Friday's (it's great when you kid starts paying for dinner) and got back to the dock just in time to see the remnants of a nice sunset.

As Saturday dawned, it was a little cloudy, but otherwise nice.  I had brought some provisions so made breakfast (SPAM, egg and cheese sandwich and some fresh blackberries from McCormick Farms).  I just sat for an hour or so taking in the scenery before getting started on this morning's activity.

Which was getting my USCG Vessel Safety Check completed.  I do this mid-summer every year when I get my updated documents from the Coast Guard.  To prepare, I rounded up all the safety equipment...

Signaling items (flares, light, flags, etc.)

Made sure I knew where the pile o' lifejackets were (not shown is the bag of class 2 and throwable devices in the lazarette)

I did a pressure check of the LPG system (charge it and note the pressures when first shut off and 15 min later).  It held OK.

And also checked the pressures on the two fire extinguishers...

Around 10:00, Laura from the USGC Auxiliary came aboard, and we spent a half-hour going over the checklist and discussing safety and environmental concerns.  (Note:  There are a few other things they check like solution and garbage placards, navigational lights, and the marine sanitation device, etc.  These are features that are built in to Seas The Day, so I don't have to check them first.)

I passed the inspection, and received the "Safety Check Sticker" which I'm told wards off the evil spirits from passing patrol boats.

After that, I went to the dock to get water.  Hopefully there are no photos from my singlehanded attempt at docking.  Let's just say that after getting the bow line secured, I discovered that I can't use reverse to swing me against the dock like the launch drivers.  Fortunately I had an extra long dock line that we could use to swing me against the dock and tie up.

Then it was time to go sailing.  I headed out across the bay towards Mt. Loretto Chapel.  

I got maybe 2/3 of the way across the bay when I heard "US Coast Guard Station C, US Coast Guard Station C, Mayday Mayday Mayday" loud and clear on the radio.  This was the first Mayday call I have heard, though I frequently hear the USCG responses.  They answered back and received no reply.  I remember thinking that it was odd that the mayday call contained no other information.

Over the next few minutes the USCG tried to find out more.  They must have triangulated the radio signals to the mouth of the Raritan river (a few miles west of my location).  When they asked all mariners to report if they heard the broadcast, I gave my information.  I must have been closer because they then asked details about my antenna height and position (I was thankful for my GPS).

Over the next hour or so, I saw a lot of official looking boats with flashing lights and even a couple of NYPD helicopters.

I grabbed binoculars and looked about.  There were a bunch of boats west of me in the vicinity of the Raritan Yacht Club which is right at the mouth of the river, so since there was little I could do, I continued to practice my downwind sailing and practice my singlehanded gybes.  

The coast guard kept asking for the original transmission to respond.  Was it a hoax?  Maybe someone showing someone how to do a mayday call but the radio was turned on?  I'm not sure.  I'm glad the patrol boats are out there, but I can see where this can be frustrating to them.

I sailed from the vicinity of Mt. Loretto chapel down almost to Old Orchard Shoals, before the wind gave up for the day, so I motored back to Keyport, grabbed the mooring and upon seeing storms approaching, got everything battened down and caught the launch back to the club just before the storms erupted in Keyport.

I had a quick (nonalcoholic) drink at the KYC bar and headed back to DE.  The storm followed me for a while, but as I pulled into my development, I thought it would catch up.  We never had any rain... it passed about 3-5 miles to the northeast.

A day of sailing to finish a business trip.

I was in Brazil for training this past week and the flights were from Newark airport in NJ.  So upon landing, I braved the shore traffic and headed to Keyport and Seas The Day for a nap while Vicky drove up from Delaware.

Once she arrived, we spent a little time on maintenance and then headed out. 

This was Vicky's turn to practice some maneuvers singlehanded (just in case she had to... say... rescue me). We still had time for photography.

In fact once we started heading back, photography was the main event.  We were nearing sunset. 

Of course, since I was on a business trip, I left my camera at home, and everything needed to be captured with the iPhone.  

And obviously, that meant it was one of the best sunsets we've seen!

We finished a perfect (and perfectly exhausting) day with drinks at the Keyport Yacht Club and a late dinner at Drew's Bashore Bistro.

Hudson River Trip - Postmortem

Being a scientist, after finishing any large project, a postmortem seems like the thing to do.  We headed out to explore the Hudson River all the way up to Kingston, NY.  In the end, our track looked something more like this... only getting as far as the Tappan Zee and Nyack, NY.

We spent a day going into NY Harbor, two more days around the Statue of Liberty with friends and family, two days going up and down the Hudson, and a final day (and storm) crossing back to Keyport.


Here is a quick summary of what we accomplished and what we learned (in no particular order).

- We doubled the amount of time we spent on board Seas The Day from the 3 days of our Delivery Trip to six days.  This gave us a much better feeling for some of the features of our ship... we're better at working the head, we understand more about some of the electronics, and I'm a little more comfortable with docking.  Power management - both underway and while plugged in is better understood, and I also have some areas where I should hit the books and brush up on my knowledge (understanding Otto, for example).

- Spending time with people letting them see the Statue and other landmarks from the water was a wonderful way to deal with Liberty Landing's "Three night stay on holiday" rule.  My first thought was to pay the inflated fee and just head up the river.  That actually might have canned the whole trip... the Hudson was so rough those first two days, I don't think I would have ventured (or even been able to get) very far.

- Understand where ferry docks and other restricted spaces are.  Your boat's electronic chart may not show them (especially if the rules have changed since your purchase).  The USGC IS serious about this.

- I seriously underestimated the river.  There was no way (in this time of spring tides, and on the dates chosen) that the planned length would have been successful - other than a series of very long (10 to 12 hr) days.  I did learn a lot more about currents and tides, though.

- Boat handling during bad weather... we had always been "fair weather sailors" before this trip. Staying under power during the squall seems (based on my reading this past day) the right thing to do.  It was better than trying to drop anchor under duress.  That being said, a key mistake was racing to try and get home on the ball as a storm was obviously bearing down on us.  That move put us closer to shallows than necessary.  I would have been better to use the time to get out to a place with deeper water in all directions so I would have time if the electronics failed.  Washing sunscreen off my face and zipping in the center panel in the Bimini would also be nice preparations.

- We didn't plan a huge amount in terms of provisioning for six days.  This turned out to be the right choice.  We had enough on board that we had options, but correctly guessed that most days a restaurant would be available (it was vacation, after all).  In July heat, letting someone else do the cooking was a relief.  I did, however, bring way too much camera equipment along... the basic camera and street sweeper zoom alone would have been fine.

- Managing symptoms while traveling... I think we hit OK on this one.  I had the first signs of discomfort on Day 2.  We stopped by an ER on the morning of Day 3... we were hoping for a clinic, but the ER was the only choice - and open on a national holiday.  I choose to manage symptoms (lots of cranberry juice and water) and keep an eye on things, rather than pay ER prices (especially when they wouldn't quote me a basic charge).  When the Hudson looked so inviting, I chose to explore knowing that I could get medical assistance anywhere along the river if I really needed it (and I was in contact with my insurance company's "nurse line").  When I finally check into a clinic and got the prescription, it was clear that sailing was over for a week or so (not allowed to be in sunlight), and I was glad we had salvaged a good portion of the vacation.  (Oh, and I need to figure out how to use the head so my...     well, I'll spare you that visual.)

- Never underestimate Vicky's unorthodox approach might just solve a problem I've been wrestling with... weather it's putting up a towel with bungee cords or chasing flies with a dish wand... you never know.

Hudson River Trip - Day 6

We woke up at Liberty Landing Marina still kind of tired from the heat the day before.  We decided we would head back to Keyport and perhaps do a day or two of simply sailing around the Raritan Bay.  So after a boat-cooked breakfast (eggs and sausage) and some refueling, filling water tanks, etc., we shoved off, took one last look at the Morris Canal and headed out past the old train station and south into NY Harbor.

This time - for the first time - we encountered Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty in relatively calm waters.

We bid goodbye to these famous landmarks and headed into the harbor.  I'm always amazed at how fast (relative to Seas The Day) things move around here.  I glanced back and noted a SI Ferry was underway - way back at The Battery - then glanced up and here it was... right behind me.

We did toy briefly with the possibility of heading over towards the Port of Newark and taking the back way home via the Arthur Kill (the tidal straight that separates Staten Island from NJ).  But I couldn't confirm that some bridge construction was OK to pass, so we opted for the NY Harbor/Verrazzano Bridge route.

It was a hazy day and looking beyond the bridge, I could barely make out Hoffman and Swinburne islands, so I was a bit worried how visibility would be, but it turned out OK.

We passed under the bridge...

... and after passing Swinburne Island, we turned towards Keyport.

Here we realized that "Hey, we have sails... we don't have to listen to this motor all the time", so I went forward and got things ready and we unfurled the Genoa and Mainsail.

This lasted about 15 minutes as we watched the wind die down to 3 knots or so...

We knew there might be storms approaching later, so we turned on the motor and spent the next couple of hours crossing Raritan Bay.  As we started getting near the Keyport #1 buoy, I noticed some  clouds in the distance that soon became more ominous. Eventually, I could see rain over by Staten Island.

Then the squall started crossing towards us...

Ruh Ro!

Soon we were in the squall...  winds gusted up into the high 20s/low 30s knots and (most worrisome),  visibility dropped to 100 feet or so.   This was not helped by the rain pelting my face and the sunscreen running into my eyes.  We were pretty stable as long as I motored into the wind, but the wind kept shifting directions.  I was incredibly glad that the chart plotter functioned like a champ through all this - we were close to Keyport and I knew there were some shallow spots in our general vicinity.  I tried to drive us out towards deeper water whenever I could.

The whole thing lasted maybe 15 or 20 minutes.  I've always enjoyed watching these squalls come across the bay from our condo.  This was a different experience... not bad... a bit worrisome... but kind of interesting nonetheless.  I do need to read up a bit on what exactly we should do in this case.

Once it cleared, it was a short ride to our mooring ball.  As usual, all boat trips end at the Keyport Yacht Club bar... here we enjoyed some drinks with John as the sun set behind us.

OK... that's not exactly the ending.  In the photo above, I'm drinking cranberry juice and seltzer because the trip actually ended first at Integrated Medical Alliance where it was confirmed that I needed some antibiotics.  Unfortunately, what was prescribed is not compatible with being in direct sunlight, so we decided to skip the remaining two days of sailing and return to Delaware... after the sunset, of course.