Breeze On

Breeze On is on the hard and almost completely winterized. We chose a calm day last week to take her up the creek to the Generation III boatyard. Since it was calmest in the morning, we bundled up—the temperature was in the upper 30’s—and went down first thing to move her. When we were ready to go I pushed the start button. The engine turned over then quit. I tried a few more times with the same result. The starter battery seemed to be working but the engine just didn’t want to run. Apparently Breeze On doesn’t like the cold weather any more than we do! Our best guess was that there was an ice crystal in the fuel line. George fired up the Little Buddy propane heater, placed it near the engine compartment and sat on board reading while I went for a walk. We tried again after I returned and—although I had to hold the start button down for a few seconds—she did start. We motored down to Generation III, tied up at the end of a dock, and walked home.  This past week we were expecting a stor

Yesterday we went for our last sail of the season. The temperatures were cool—mid 50’s—but the wind was ideal. We stayed nice and warm inside the enclosure as long as the sun was shining. The only other boat out sailing on the river was Spontaneity, soon to be renamed Azzurra II, owned by our friends Dawn and Ray. When we left the slip the tide was extremely low. The TideSlide cleats were at the bottom of the the poles and we had the step way down to the onto the boat. Fortunately, Cambridge Creek is deep so Breeze On had plenty of water under the keel.  After we returned to shore we washed each enclosure panel with soap and water and hung them back up to dry. This morning we rolled each panel and put them away in the storage bags. We took the bimini and dodger off of the boat. We made several trips from the boat to the condo bringing the enclosure panels, bimini, dodger, mattresses, cockpit cushions, bedding, and portable generator into the condo. Next George will winterize the outboa

We have started unloading a few things from the boat in preparation for winter; including food and anything liquid. We will soon take the mattresses off. In the meantime we have been day sailing two or three times a week as the weather allows. The nighttime temperatures have been too low for anchoring overnight so we are most likely done with that until next spring. Breeze On will come out of the water and be winterized within the next few weeks. We are more practiced at furling our new mainsail and have been increasingly enjoying it. So far, George has been doing the furling while I stand at the mast and make sure it doesn’t end up hitting any fittings. George spoke with Steve, who installed the boom and mast and explained the trouble we were having with furling. The only way we could keep the sail from hitting against the fittings on the mast was to put a tremendous amount of pressure on the halyard. Steve suggested removing a ratchet that stuck out toward the sail. It was there to a

The weather was warm and calm so we took a few days to anchor at Goldsborough Creek off of the Tred Avon River. It was a bit too calm for sailing so we motored both ways. We haven’t anchored at that creek in years and we were surprised how pretty and peaceful it was. The fall foliage was beautiful. Since we are normally on our way to the Bahamas at this time we don’t usually see the fall colors. Although we are convinced we made the right decision to stay home this winter we still feel sad. Therefore, I am focusing on the positive aspects of staying home. In addition to not having to obsess about the weather every day, life is easier at home. Living on a boat means there is always a problem that needs to be addressed. We are currently working on a problem with brown mold in the aft head. We have treated the mold with bleach and peroxide two different times but it keeps coming back. Now we are thinking it may have something to do with the composting head fan not being properly connected

We anchored at nearby Trappe Creek for a night to practice raising and lowering our mainsail in light wind. Steve, whose group installed the system, suggested we practice at least ten times. He suggested that one of us operate the winch while the other stands at the mast and watches to make sure the sail is even and not shifting backward or forward. George took the first shift at the winch. His ten practice sessions went very well. When it was my turn at the winch I did not do as well. Raising the sail is very easy. The difficulty comes when furling the sail into the boom. To furl the sail I wrap the furling line around the winch, then hook the halyard around a cleat and hold the halyard tight before opening the clutch. If I did not hold the halyard tight the weight of the sail would have caused it to fall to the deck. Also, if the luff of the sail (forward edge) is too loose the sail tends to shift forward while furling. If it shifts too far forward it hits the hardware and gets chewe

The crew finished their work on Breeze On by Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning Steve gave us our tutorial on how to use the Leisure Furl system. When we started the wind direction was perfect. Steve spent quite a bit of time explaining how each part of the system worked and why it is important to use it in a certain way. The most critical part is to make sure the lines are set so the boom is at the right angle for the sail to furl without shifting forward or backward. Steve demonstrated a few times before we were ready to try it. When the time came for George and I to practice raising and lowering the mainsail the wind was strong and shifty. George was able to do a partial raise & lower. Steve suggested we practice on our own while anchored in winds of 10 knots or less. So, we left the dock at Jabin’s and motored south to anchor for the night in the Rhode River.  This morning we raised the anchor in the rain and motored and/or sailed home with the jib only. It rained the entire

We left home Sunday morning and motored across the bay in relatively mild conditions. We anchored for two nights in Harness Creek, just south of Annapolis. It was a great choice—while it was gusting up to 30 knots out on the bay we barely noticed any wind in our protected anchorage. We had put the enclosure up to keep us warm and dry. It rained the entire day on Monday and we noted a few leaks from the new dodger which we will address once we get home. We weighed the anchor Tuesday morning before sunrise and motored two hours to Jabin’s Yacht Yard. The stepping of the mast went just as smoothly as when they removed it two weeks ago. This time they had a trip line attached to remove the strap at the end of the crane. We took a few photos of the new furling boom before they attached it. By the end of the day they had attached most of the lines but still had to reconnect the electrical lines and rig the boom brake. It was a cool and cloudy day so it was a challenge for us to find a dry, w

Included in the agreement for installation of the furling boom was an inspection of our standing rigging (the mast and all of the cables and fittings that hold it up). Yesterday morning Steve Madden emailed George with some photos and asked George to call him. We knew it wasn’t going to be good news. Steve said there was a surprising amount of corrosion for a seven-year-old boat, as well as a fitting that looked to have a cracked weld. Steve said that if he had made those findings while inspecting the rigging with the mast up he would have said we have a few more years before the rigging should be replaced. Since the mast was already off he suggested we go ahead and replace the rigging now. George and I agreed that we would have trouble trusting our rigging now if we didn’t replace it. George told Steve to go ahead. Of course, it will mean more time and more money. Cha-Ching! Sigh... We had planned to stay in the area on the boat for as long as ten days. Now we have decided to motor ho

We left home Saturday morning and mostly motored to the Rhode River on the western shore. On Sunday we motored 10 miles in light winds to Annapolis and picked up a mooring in the mooring field. We took the jib down, and George disconnected the mainsail cars—they connect the mainsail to the mast—as well as the reef lines. When all of that was done we put the dinghy in the water and dinghied the short distance to shore. The crowd in Annapolis was huge and it really freaked George out. We have avoided any and all crowds for months now and George had no desire to be in the midst of one, even though almost everyone was wearing a mask. We detoured to some side streets that we knew from visiting Pam when she attended St. John’s College and, after taking a brief walk, dinghied back to Breeze On. Numerous boats came into and out of the harbor all afternoon and into the evening. Their wakes churned up quite a chop in the harbor which didn’t calm down until bedtime.  This morning we dropped the m

When we were in the Bahamas last winter we noticed several boats with in-boom furling systems. The first two we noticed were at the marina in Spanish Wells where we checked in. The system on these boats were made by Schaefer Marine and the owners both liked them. We had known about in-boom furling for years but had never seriously considered it until we began talking about it with people who had it on their boats. As the name implies, the system works by furling the mainsail on a spindle within the boom. The advantages of in-boom furling are: -practically unlimited options for reefing the mainsail  -no lazy jack lines to snag when raising the mainsail -no reef lines to sort out -no sail cover  The disadvantages are: -the expense -the need to carefully maintain proper tension on the halyard and furling line, and maintain proper angle of the boom to ensure the sail furls evenly on the spindle -the boom is heavier I believe our interest was piqued when we arrived in the Bahamas because th

Recently, when dropping the anchor, George noticed that he couldn’t differentiate the markings on the anchor chain. We have three colors of spinnaker cloth tied on the chain at intervals so that George can tell how much chain is out. I heard the idea from Pam Wall at a Women and Cruising seminar several years ago. It is important to know how much chain is out to ensure you have enough for the depth and conditions. Other options for marking the chain include painting sections of chain different colors or inserting colored plastic markers that are made for that purpose. Pam Wall recommended the spinnaker cloth because it is easy to attach and doesn’t interfere with the windlass. She said you can go to a sailmaker and ask for scraps of spinnaker cloth, and we did just that.  We went out for a few days at anchor this week. Before we raised the anchor this morning George cut a few more pieces of spinnaker cloth.  He replaced the discolored pieces as he raised the anchor. It is no wonder the

For the past few weeks—since we returned from our last trip on Breeze On—we have been building a new dodger. It is a miserable job, one I have been avoiding for over a year. The original dodger was a nice fit but the fabric was not of great quality. I feared it would fail at a time when it would be impossible to fix. I had originally planned to build the new dodger last summer but talked myself out of it, hoping that the dodger would last another year. Fortunately, it did last but I didn’t dare put it off any longer. I purchased the same Stamoid brand vinyl fabric that I used for the new bimini I made two years ago. I had considered using a rigid, thin polycarbonate material, such as Makrolon, for the windows but decided against it for a variety of reasons. The marine grade Makrolon is hard to find and ridiculously expensive. It is difficult to sew and does not bend well around curves. The windows on our dodger have a pronounced curve and I wasn’t sure if I could make the rigid window

Tropical storm Isaias roared over us a few days ago. We were keeping our eye on the storm and became concerned as the forecasted track moved closer and closer to us. George started listening to Chris Parker’s forecasts which helped us to understand why the track was so difficult to forecast and also why the wind remained so strong even after it the storm had been traveling over land for several hours. On Monday, the day before Isaias was supposed to hit us, we decided to remove all of the canvas and sails from Breeze On to reduce the windage. In addition, George doubled up on the dock lines, added spring lines and fenders. We were most concerned about wind from the southeast, which comes straight down the creek without being blocked by buildings or trees. A wind from the southeast hits Breeze On on the beam and can cause her to heel over if strong enough. That is what happened in the storm a few months ago that almost caused us to lose the bimini. Also, the slip is very narrow and Bree

Since my last post we pulled the boat so that George could paint the bottom and polish the sides. We also had the people at Generation III take a look at the autopilot and rudder. We had noticed an occasional clunking noise that seemed to be related to the steering and wanted to make sure we didn’t have a problem. The folks at Generation III said everything looked good with both the autopilot and rudder so we feel reassured.  Once Breeze On came home we went out for a few day sails and felt grateful for the opportunity during these days of social distancing. A few days ago we set sail for the western shore of the Chesapeake. After a nice day of downwind sailing our first stop was the Rhode River. We stayed there one night then set sail north past Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Magothy River. We arrived at the bridge just as two other sailboats were passing under it. That was a first for us. George would happily tell you that both of those boats had been ahead of us and