Hobie Cat Graveyard

in Virginia Beach at 84th St.







Greetings! Back from another road trip, this time to Virginia Beach to visit my parents. Jennifer and I went for a walk on the beach to beach-comb after the massive nor'easter associated with Tropical Depression Ida in November. It lasted for days and destroyed bulkheads, houses, roads and beaches. It caused leaks at my folks beachfront house, but since they rent, the stress was low.

As we strolled toward Cape Henry, we watched cargo ships departing the Chesapeake Bay. On the way back, we strolled the strand line looking for things cast up by the tide. Here we found the Hobie Cat graveyard.

Hobie Cats are a common sight on the beach, and frequently become partially buried in the drifting sand over the winter, but these boats seemed mostly abandoned. Here, a red-hulled Hobie 16 actually has grass growing on top of the trampoline. A security-minded kayak owner is using the Hobie as a tie-down for his yellow craft.





This Hobie has been cannibalized for her trampoline, but I think the thiefs just wanted the metal, since the tramp fabric has been discarded between the hulls.



This Prindle seems intact save the rudder connector has been stolen, and the mast is missing. It seems like the missing mast could be a fatal problem.




Another Hobie 16 missing rudder parts and mast. It takes a real dirtbag to steal a mast for the money the metal would bring. It's no different than stealing an AC unit from a house, ruining a 2000 dollar unit for $40 worth of copper. It's kind of heartbreaking to see these boats left by trusting owners be stripped.




This yellow boat seems like the most beloved boat, with a complete set of parts, mast, lines, and a hula girl on the port hull. The owners should go sailing real soon.

East Saint Louis Bricks

Thanksgiving in the St. Louis area.


Jennifer's folks live in the Southern Illinois/ St. Louis area, so we made a roadtrip to visit. I wanted to get a closer look at the Mississippi River and the economically challenged town of ESL (pop. 30,000) on the east bank. We had to trespass railroad property and hop the floodwall to even see the river. Once over the wall, we saw that the river bank was littered with bricks of all description, so I photographed a few.

















These curious items were on the beach; I think they look like dolphin skeletons. They in fact are insulators for high voltage lines overhead. They had a date of 1983 stencilled on each grey disc.

Annual Haw River Flood

Jennifer and I took a few days to drive up to Paul's dad's place way up high on Bluff Mountain in Ashe County near the corner of NC, VA, and TN this week. As we departed, a terrific windstorm formerly known as Ida swept over NC, dropping loads of rain. We scooted far enough west to avoid the worst, but the rain filled the Haw River basin.

I saw the river crossing under NC 54 as we returned from the mountains to our area, and I decided to visit the parcel that I own along the Haw in Orange County. The river overflows its banks about once a year. Below, Jennifer views the Haw covering the canoe access near NC 54 in Alamance County





Jennifer drove me to the property, and I called Mark to have him join me and see the spectacle. I reached the water's edge and saw that the river was much wider than normal, covering much of the field stretching away from the river. My canoes were far out in the stream, but I needed a boat to tour the flood. I stripped down my clothes and waded out to the nearest canoe, finding it overturned and floating on top of a wooden staircase that allows access to the river in low water. The canoe was tied to an 8X8 deck, which in turn was tied to another canoe stretching downstream at the length of its painter. When I untied the upstream canoe, the deck and other canoe began to drift downstream through the trees. Fortunately, the deck became lodged between two trees, and the second upturned canoe was fast to the deck. I drained my canoe and began scouting around by boat.




Below, the Haw covers the road, leaving behind well-combed grass as it drops somewhat from its maximum flow.




The flood waters were well into the forest, with myriad bugs and spiders above the waterline. By and by, Mark marched down out of the woods (the road was impassable due to a foot diameter tree down). He and I embarked and went out to see the fast-flowing main stream of the Haw, and I pointed out the deck and second canoe in the woods, far from the clearing where I had placed them initially. We went and secured the extra canoe to a tree, and then attempted to tow the deck upstream while it floated in three or four feet of water. Amazingly, this worked, until we got the deck posts entangled in the stairs, which were floating at the end of an anchor line. I decided to go ahead and get wet, and was able to disentangle the lines and manually push the deck back upstream while Mark belayed the deck and me. We retied the deck to very near where it had originally been, and then cracked a well-deserved beer in celebration. When the river drops to within its banks, mud will coat the grass, debris will hang from the trees, parts of the bank may have slipped away, but the deck and all three boats were saved.



Above, a view of my wooden stairs floating just outside of the swift main flow of the Haw River


Below, Mark braces the canoe, with the deck secured behind him in the customary location.

Spring Sail to Bass Harbor

The great thing about Deer Isle is that it is within striking distance of so many very beautiful islands and harbors along the Maine coast. After fixing the spreaders, Jennifer and I talked about where we might go. I really thought Mt. Desert Island was within two, and maybe only one, nights range. I gathered up the various necessary components for the Wayfarer, such as the paddle, rudder, anchors, sails, tools and buckets. I also loaded the forward compartment with the sleeping bags and pads, extra water, and clothes. We packed a cooler with beverages and snacks, plus our standard shipboard fare, which was a big cold dish cooked the night before, in this case, sesame noodles.

We drove Mary's 1992 Toyota down to the shore with Juliet in tow. It is a very beautiful drive, though only a half mile.



At the Beach at Old Ferry Landing, I disconnected the trailer and wheeled it down the sandy beach to the water's edge and checked the plugs, then launched Juliet by hand. Then Jennifer helped me drag the Pamco trailer back up to the grass in Gerald and Jean's yard.

Gerald and Jean's Inn at Ferry Landing



We carried the sails and heavy gear down to the boat and rigged her up. We used low plastic tote boxes that slide under the seats for easy access. Maps and rain gear, snacks, sandals, the camera, and other day use items are best stored in these totes, and in Ziplocs if sensitive to moisture. Ziplocs are handy. The sails were raised, the rudder installed, we donned our life vests, and Jennifer boarded the sailboat first. The water was cold, and I was careful to give a little shove out and step over the transom, quickly pushing the rudder down and steering away from a known rocky bar at the ferry landing. Jennifer grabbed the mainsheet to power the Wayfarer forward. Then the wind and calm take over. I got out of the way and Jennifer took the helm. We headed south toward Brooklin and Swan's Island.

A link to a nice cruising log.

Here's a link to a cruise that Dick and his friend Dennis sailed around Deer Isle in the opposite direction as Jennifer and I sailed.


2009 Maine Cruise: Dick Harrington's log - 1


We had run into them on Eggemoggin Reach as we made a shakedown daysail before our cruise. Dick has written and mapped out a terrific adventure which I know you will enjoy. I found it when I searched our sail number (W2414) and up popped a reference to the meeting in Eggemoggin. I shot a few digital pics, and present them here.





Dick and Dennis got a good look at our rig, and Dick mentioned he knew a few ways to speed things up for us. As we chatted, both over the gunwhales and the radio, I recognized that they were outpacing us, even with all of the camping gear they carried. We were nearly empty. Below is a photo of us passing in front of the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge, a very beautiful edifice similar to "Galloping Gertie", which famously collapsed on film in the Tacoma Narrows in 1940.

Great Sailing Video

Here is a relay Laser race with some excellent (hilarious) action.

6 uren from Floris Wijnbergh on Vimeo.

Weekend Trip to the City

Greetings any and all readers from the fabulous Taj Mahal in New Jersey!


Atlantic City became our destination for the weekend when we opened our "junk mail" and to our surprise found that a casino had invited us for two free nights stay. The room was comped to us, that is to say, in exchange for playing card games at their poker room.

It takes us about 9 hours to drive each way, which we broke up by making a stop in DC to visit Mike, who kindly put us up on his fancy couch. He also invited me to a party across town, and even lent me the bike to get there! Mike's neighborhood is thriving and attractive, known as Mt Pleasant, and we frequently visit and Mike always accomodates us with gracious generosity.


Compare with the below picture of some row houses abandoned and boarded up (the Borgata Casino is behind them) in Atlantic City :




The view from the room of Absecon Inlet at the north end of the island includes the Lighthouse and a giant new casino under construction.

We brought a good bit of our own supplies to the hotel, since room service and drinks and what-not are often overpriced. But the modern room was very nicely appointed with a fridge. We brought fresh baked brownies, fancy beer and sodas, and garden grown flowers from NC to ensure proper decor and diet while there.





I approached the weekend from a wilderness camping perspective, since as soon as you walk out of your room, you begin to run into ways to spend money. But there are simple bargains, too, such as valet parking ($7 including tip), coffee (free in the room, around $1.25 by the thermos-full at service stations), and food at the poker table ($7 plus $2 tip for a large salad and order of onion rings).

Among the few recreational activities in Atlantic City are beachcombing, which is surprisingly interesting. Jennifer and I strolled up to Absecon Inlet and back, and easily could see significant erosion from the summer hurricane named Bill. Along the beach are numerous piers, jetties, groins, bulkheads, pilings, and all manner of failed construction. But at the NE tip of the island is a jetty which the locals fish from. It was very pretty fall weather, and we saw others strolling and biking, as well as fishing and surfing.






The drive back to NC was a long one, but I would definitely repeat the trip, and I felt good about keeping the trip simple and affordable, as well as the nice touches that made the trip more homey and low-key.

Minor repair for the Wayfarer

Raising and lowering the mast on the Wayfarer can cause a lot of wear-and-tear. Trailering her along bumpy frost-heaved Maine roads doesn't help the situation much. The mast and spreaders receive much of that abuse. Last year as I put Juliet away for the winter, one of the spreaders cracked and broke into two. I looked closely at the spreader, and resolved to bring the needed repair parts with me in the spring when Jennifer and I returned to Deer Isle. On our drive north from North Carolina, I collected a few things I thought might come in handy. First I stopped at Hamilton Marine in Searsport, Maine. I thought I would be able to just buy a spreader arm or set. I only found some Taylor brand boots to put over the spreaders. So on to the next stop, the hardware store in Bucksport. There I found 3/4 inch electrical conduit that seemed like it might be a good backup plan.

Juliet had waited all winter on Deer Isle, way down at the bottom of Mary's backyard. Usually we stash the boat around a bend in the trees but last year we tried putting her in the old boathouse at the bottom of the yard. I found the boat and trailer stuck axle deep in mud. Instead of struggling against the mud, I used a couple of old boards under the trailer wheels and Juliet followed along like an obedient puppy, all the way up the grass yard.



In the driveway I got another look at the broken spreader. Now, how to fix the damage? It seemed like Juliet needed another spreader, and the conduit was going to be it. I measured the length of the spreader, and cut a piece of conduit to match.

Then I realized that I really wanted a splint for the broken outside end of the spreader. I cut the replacement spreader down by about four inches, so that it would act as a sleeve. I flattened and drilled a hole through the mast end of the conduit to screw it to the mast brace. Below, I am smoothing the burrs of the sawn ends of the newly fabricated spreader. The broken original spreader is across the port gunwhale.





After I got a screw through the new piece, I slid the old broken spreader into the new, and taped it up to prevent the sail from contacting anything rough. It worked pretty well. I only spent a little on the parts, although I plan to order the new correct spreaders for the Wayfarer. I like working on the Wayfarer, because anyone can see what is wrong when something is broken, and then repair it with a little creativity, even on the water.

The Alcort Sailfish, My First Boat

Below is an old Instamatic photo of me and my stepbrother Harrison (hat) sailing our 1964 Alcort Sailfish in the summer of 1981. I often point out that my first car was a boat, and I think all children should have a chance to go boating. The shoreline is in the Chesapeake Bay, east of Lynnhaven Inlet. My stepdad Bobby got us this boat from somewhere, along with his whole quiver of other sailboats, such as Nacras, Hobies, and Sonars. We kept it on Chesapeake Beach from the time I was eleven till I was fourteen or so. Then we moved it onto the oceanfront of Virginia Beach.


A permit was required to keep it in VB, and mine read "58th-60th St Only." To sail her I would carry the sail spars, rudder, daggerboard and lifejacket down to the boat, untie it from the fence and then drag the whole boat down to the water's edge. Rigging the Sailfish was easy, and getting through the waves became second nature. As you can see, there is no cockpit at all, which let waves wash right over it. I would often sail out of sight of land, and at least once swam in the deepest, most remote water I could find, which was about three miles out and forty feet deep or so.
Eventually, I left Virginia Beach to attend Christchurch School in Saluda, Virginia. I took the Sailfish with me, and often sailed as part of the Christchurch Sailing Team in the Rappahannock River near the Chesapeake Bay. After I left to go to college, Bobby turned the boat over to a friend's son, and I moved on to other boats. I owe Bobby a huge debt of gratitude for introducing me to sailing.

Deer Isle Map from a postcard

We commonly use postcards and handouts from the Chamber of Commerce to navigate.

Homeward Bound on Deer Isle

Well, it has come time to wrap up circumnavigating Deer Isle in Maine. We were tired from two days of sailing, and the decision had been made to sail to the causeway at the very north end of the island. Mary's house where we keep our sailboat is only a quarter mile or so from the causeway. The winds were light and variable, which might have been frustrating if we had pushed on around Little Deer Isle. But I drank my last Ballantine and soldiered on, lightly sculling with the rudder.
Sometimes when the wind is very light, we will use our paddle briefly to gain some direction, and it does make the Wayfarer coast along for a few dozen feet, even when you only throw a few strokes in. It was like that this day. The coastline here on the NW side of Deer Isle looks very much like Acadia National Park, but with a bit more development.


I could write a whole post about the tides in Maine. You have to be careful with shorelines. If you beach the boat on a lowering tide, she can be stranded in just fifteen minutes. But I decided after talking it over with Jennifer that we could retrieve the trailer from Mary's house and load Juliet on the trailer by hand. After that, the boat would be left high and dry on the trailer. Then we would have most of the low tide through nightfall to figure out how to get Juliet and the trailer up the long sandy/gravelly beach. The causeway beach is the very first place you come to when you drive to the island, and there were a few vehicles and waders, sunbathers and children playing. We sailed straight up to the beach and jumped ashore with our "fun bag", which has a bunch of necessities for in or out of Juliet (the boat.) I threw a few totes and some gear on the beach. Then I tossed the lunch hook as far out as I could, so as to hold her of the gravel while I hiked for our car/trailer combination. This is how she looks at anchor on the Causeway Beach :
All that was left to do was get her out of the water and home. So Jennifer kicked back on the beach and took some pictures and sorted gear, and I jogged back to Mary's and retrieved the car/trailer. I unhooked the trailer and walked it down the beach to submerge it near Juliet. I slid a couple of long plywood strips under her wheels to keep them from miring in the sand. Then I pulled the anchor and centered her on the trailer and cranked her in. I rolled her and the trailer up the plywood planks and checked her as she sat for centeredness (new word?) The Wayfarer is a very light boat. A very nice man named Ed took interest in the whole operation and offered to help roll her up the beach. I said "I think I'll just tie a line to the car from where she sits and pull her from afar up the beach." He replied "I have my truck." "Man, I wouldn't drive my car down there." And he said "It'll probably be fine." So, he pulled his little 4X4 down to the waters edge and hooked me up, dragged Juliet up to our little wagon, and the boat was out for the winter. Jennifer and I had completely circumnavigated Deer Isle. It really seemed like a longer sail in concept than practice.

Want Chrissails Email Alerts?

Of course you do, how else can you keep up? Just click on this link : Google Alerts to check out my latest post. Feedback is needed for me to improve my blog. I've already had dozens of visitors from all over the world, so thank you for supporting my first effort at publishing a blog!

UPDATED BLOG ALERTS

Corrected Google alert link at end of post.


Google Alerts

Wandering through the NC Piedmont: History for Sale

The following is my first in a series of guest blog posts about where I live. It is not about sailing, but, well, I accidentally let a friend post an article to my blog instead of his. It happens when you share a computer. This is dedicated to Ed and Andrea, readers of my blog and good friends. Sail onward!

Wandering through the NC Piedmont: History for Sale

Quiz time for the sailors

What is wrong with this picture? Anyone who guesses correctly will be held in high esteem by this blogger. Juliet, the Wayfarer has a lot of added parts screwed onto her. From this view, I can see the west shore of Deer Isle as we continue circumnavigating the Island and sail NE in Penobscot Bay Maine.

Shakori Hills Music Festival

Eric and Cilenia came out to the Shakori Hills Music Festival and got in free by volunteering, we did the same.


This is our camp in the woods for the duration of the festival. You need a place to catch some sleep during the day as well as the night. A little campcraft helps. Like a small boat, less is more. A chair, a little food, some totes are enough stuff outside the tent. We kept a little fire going, but at more than one point someone took our firewood. Inside are all manner of sleeping pads, inflatable bed, bags, sheets blankets, cameras, beer, clothes, schedules, stickers, flyers, and camp gear. The music runs from Thursday, through late Sunday night.

photo copyright Todd Gaul

We are lucky enough to be working this weekend at a terrific music festival in Chatham County, NC. The web site explains more about it, but it will keep us away from Carrboro all weekend and in earshot of lots of great music. I'm not getting too much feedback from local sailors, because my blog is so new, but rest assured, if you comment and link a picture of your sailboat, I will feature it as a post. Shakori Hills Festival : http://www.shakorihills.org/

Carrboro Yacht Club

I've decided to start a yacht club. I can think of a few potential members. Paul Van Ness: you are in. Eric Chupp is in. Jason Hoey wants in, but he needs a boat. Jennifer is in. Runyon Woods is probably already a member of some yacht club (Beaufort?) My tattooed friend Eric has a 24 ft Columbia; he's in. I'm going to collect a few photos of local sailors and begin my club. Anyone who is interested in joining may let me know. A photo of you or your boat qualifies. I'll find some more sailors. My next post is going to concern boat maintenance, which is my weak spot. Till then, I'm Chris Marthinson.

Found a nice photo set on Picasa

All Wayfarers from Denmark

http://picasaweb.google.com/monicalindhardt/Rantzausminde2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCMvaxLnWz-j6cg&feat=directlink&fgl=true&pli=1#