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2024 DELMARVA Reports |
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On July 12, prior to the start of onboard training, we held an online crew meeting for crew introductions, overall cruise plan, preparation guidelines, and pre-cruise assignments as follows:
Friday, 7/26… I was onboard NAVIGATOR for the past few days doing final boat checks and food provisioning in advance of crew arrival. First Mate Tony Tommasello arrived onboard at 1300 to stow his gear and discuss details of the cruise plan and teaching assignments. Student crew members began arriving about 1400 to stow gear and begin pre-departure training; they included Debra Cashion from Pennsylvania, Ian Charles from Minnesota, Christopher Dang from California, and Zackary Whitlow from Oklahoma. After introductions and a bit of chit-chat, we began with a discussion of the overall cruise plan and proceeded to below-deck boat inspections per procedure #2 of the training plan, and then to dinner at the Decoy restaurant, after which the student crew overnighted at their respective hotels and Tony and I went back to the boat. Saturday, 7/27… Student crew arrived onboard before 0900 with coffee cups in hand for a continuation of onboard pre-departure training including above deck inspection of the boat and deck gear, PFD try-on, raising and reefing the mainsail, unfurling the headsails, deploying the whisker pole per the training plan procedures. All went smoothly except when deploying the whisker pole, the crewman tending the car-lift halyard (blue fleck) left it unsecured and untended and it tumbled down the mast all the way to the stopper knot which stopped at the turning block near the spreaders. I nominated Debra, as the lightest person in the group, to go aloft to retrieve it, to which she enthusiastically agreed. We rigged the bosun chair to the main halyard and hoisted Debra to the spreaders where she retrieved the line and returned safely to the deck. After lunch was dedicated to navigation preparations on paper charts and electronics for tomorrow’s cruise to Swan Creek and boat inspections by the assigned student: Navigator, Bosun, Engineer and Emergency Coordinator per procedure #3 of the training plan. Then to dinner and wrap it up for the night; the cruise starts tomorrow at 0900. Sunday, 7/28… Weather dawned bright, hot and humid with light winds from NW. Student crew arrived back at the boat early with the remainder of their personal gear and we began final pre-departure preps and inspections by the assigned Navigator, Bosun, Engineer and Emergency Coordinator. When the engine was started, it would not start; it cranked ok, coughed and sputtered a few times, and died. This looked like a fuel problem, and I remembered that the marina recently changed the oil and filter, secondary fuel filter and impeller, so I manually actuated the electric fuel pump until it built pressure and tried to start again, no dice. Next, I backed out the bleed screw on the secondary fuel filter and cranked the engine; air came out of the bleed screw followed by a trickle of fuel; retightened the bleed screw, cranked the engine and it coughed a few times and roared back into operation. It ran fine thereafter for the remainder of the cruise. We then proceeded to the pumpout dock and parallel docked using the bridle, completed the waste pumpout, and departed for the adjacent area south of Cackaway Island to calibrate the ship’s steering compass as described in our YouTube video Compass Calibration the Easy Way. The student crew under Zack’s guidance setup the Maneuvering Board chart and Sun Dial on the forward cabin top, and we completed an octagonal course of eight headings each separated by 45° starting at 000° per compass. Each heading was held steady until the crew marked the shadow of the Sun Dial on the chart and noted the ship’s compass course and accurate time to the second for each heading. This information along with the date and location per latitude/longitude will be used to develop a compass Deviation Table for use in converting magnetic headings to compass headings and the reverse. Zack completed these calculations later in the cruise, and results were fairly close to previous calibrations, although exactly the same. Next, we exited the area and proceeded down channel to the “LC” Junction Light where we calibrated the Speed and Distance instrument based on the elapsed time to motor at constant speed between two fixed NavAids of known distance apart; this gave us our actual speed over ground (SOG) which we compared with the speed of the boat as indicated by the instrument in question. This resulted in a calibration factor of 0.87 meaning that corrected boat speed equals 87% of indicated speed. This same factor applies to corrected distance indicated by the instrument. For a detailed description of this procedure refer to our October 9, 2020 DMVA report. We then practiced raising and reefing the mainsail, deploying head sails, and practicing controlled gybes while underway in light winds with the student crew calling the shots using procedures in the training plan. Our stop for the night was a mooring at Swan Creek Marina where we relaxed for the afternoon and had dinner aboard of scallops, veggies and rice followed by desert of cookies, chocolates and tea/coffee. At 1600 Christopher began his 24-hour assignment as Student Skipper where he will oversee the crew in performing their duties such as pre-departure checks, sail handling, log entries, navigation and watch keeping per the training plan. Then on to navigation preparations for tomorrow’s cruise north up the bay to Summit North Marina in C&D Canal. After that we turned in for the night with two of the student crew choosing to sleep in the cockpit in view of the warm weather and no rain in the forecast. Monday, 7/29… All crew arose from their slumbers at 0600 with plans to get underway by 0700 after completing pre-departure checks by Navigator, Bosun, Engineer and Emergency Coordinator per the training plan, and to have breakfast underway as we headed north. Christopher is Student Skipper. After stumbling around in unfamiliar surroundings, using the head, stowing gear, making coffee, finding personal gear and wearing deck-ready attire, we dropped the mooring and got underway by 0700 as planned. Destination today is to travel north up the bay to the C&D Canal and Summit North Marina. Weather was warm and humid, partly sunny, wind from SW at 10 knots, occasionally gusting to 15, which was behind us as we preceded north up the narrowing bay under engine power, so deploying sails under these conditions would be of little use. Since this is a daylight trip of about eight hours to the C&D canal, the student crew will take one-hour tricks on the helm manually steering the boat on the requested courses per the navigation plan as monitored by the on-watch Navigator. These assignments will rotate hourly by the four student crewmembers in first-name alphabetical order: Chris, Deb, Ian and Zack. When Chris is Helmsman, Deb as the next in line is the on-watch Navigator, then Deb becomes Helmsman and Ian is on-watch Navigator, etc… As we exit Swan Creek, we plan to pass green can C “5” leaving it to starboard before we turn SW to cross the shoal and pass the two tall range markers leaving them also to starboard. In a bit of early morning confusion, the Helmsman turned too soon and was about to leave the C “5” can to port and put us in shallow waters until the error was recognized and we corrected course and left the green can to starboard. Thus, we crossed the shoal with lots of rocking and rolling wave action as the winds were from the south on our portside and waves were piling up on the shoal. After crossing the shoal and arriving at the first Chesapeake Channel red buoy, we turned north and continued leaving the red buoys to port to stay out of the ship channel. Wave action now smoothed out and Tony prepared an egg and cheese breakfast for the crew… Yum! During this leg of the cruise, it’s essential for the student crew to learn the boat, the chart plotter, radar, AIS, watch keeping, each other, and how to effectively use the navigation plan because these skills will become so much more challenging and important when we do the next two legs of the cruise: offshore overnight and back up the bay overnight which can be the most challenging leg due to ship traffic in the restricted waters of the bay. Also, practice of manual compass bearings on stationary objects, position fixes and running fixes are essential to underway navigation to confirm or double check at times what the electronics are telling us. So, we made use of this daylight motoring leg to work on these skills with the student crew to prepare for future needs. We entered the C&D Canal about 1230 hours, and an hour later Christopher called Summit North Marina to advise of our soon arrival, and that we would need to top up diesel and pumpout the waste holding tank; plus needed an overnight slip. The marina entrance from the canal often shoals up due to the strong currents in the canal, and as we entered, I reflected on some earlier times when we ran aground at the entrance, but the tide today was about 3 feet above low tide, and we transited the entrance without a hitch. After diesel and pumpout, I settled with the marina, and we went to our assigned slip #C5 near the walkway bridge to the Grain Restaurant. The restaurant was not particularly busy, but service was very slow, and we spent almost two hours there for drinks, dinner and chit-chat. We then returned to the boat, and with the air conditioner on full blast, prepared the navigation plan for the next cruise leg to Cape Charles via Delaware Bay and the coastal Atlantic. Weather forecast for tomorrow was not promising with South winds of 20-25 knots and we would be heading directly into it. We’ll see what it looks like in the morning… Tuesday, 7/30… At 0600 today’s weather forecast for Delaware Bay got a little worse with southerly winds gusting to 30 knots, so I pulled the plug and called for a one-day weather delay. So we took the opportunity to relax in port, do the nav prep for Chesapeake Bay and complete the ASA106 exams. Some of the crew took an Uber into town and did some shopping for snacks and goodies including pizza ingredients which eventually never happened. The crew discussed plans for the remainder of the cruise and whether to stop at Cape Charles Town or Annapolis or complete the cruise a day later than originally planned, and the consensus was to skip Annapolis and complete the cruise on Saturday. Dinner again at the Grain Restaurant where service was better than previously. Early to bed with plans to get underway first thing tomorrow. Wednesday, 7/31… All up by 0600, pre-departure checks completed, weather looks good, underway by 0700, departed slip and marina entrance cut ok, on-watch crew Debra and Zack, Debra on helm, Zack navigator, railroad bridge in up position, breakfast on your own as we proceeded east on canal in light winds and morning mist. Debra is Student Skipper. Exiting the canal into Delaware River requires close attention of when to make the turn south into the river as there was an acquaintance of mine who turned too soon and lost his boat on the rock breakwater which can submerge at higher tides. We plan to turn when the RG “CD” buoy is directly abeam and head for our waypoint at the G “11” QG buoy of the Delaware River main channel, which we’ll leave to port and turn down river toward the next waypoint at G “9” Fl G buoy. As we proceed down river we’ll stay out of the ship channel by keeping the green buoys to our port side. It’s interesting to note that in the online NOAA ENC Viewer the RG “CD” buoy shows only as a Red buoy without the Green band which would signify a junction buoy. However, when digging deeper into the ENC Viewer we find that the Green band is identified in the drop-down information pages for this buoy, and it also shows in the online NCC PDF chart for this area. During the trip down the bay, crewmembers had a number of opportunities to practice watchkeeping, AIS, radar and log keeping. Watchkeeping includes maintaining a good lookout for other vessel traffic, hazards, depths and obstructions; holding course, speed and cross track as directed by the on-watch navigator; and monitoring the condition and operation of the boat and its equipment as described in procedure #21 of the training plan. Log keeping is an important activity for long distance cruises as it is the basis of DR navigation plotting and it also establishes the good habits and disciplines of continually monitoring the progress of the cruise and condition of the boat. Manual steering at the helm also reaffirms these good habits by keeping the crew involved with and paying attention to boat operation; I’ve seen many times when we operate on the Auto Helm, crew attention wanders as sea stories abound and watchkeeping suffers. Weather continued sunny, warm and humid for the remainder of the day and we continued motoring at 2400 rpm making about 5.5 knots through the water and anywhere between 4.0 and 8.0 knots over ground depending on which way the tidal current was flowing. Initially we experienced the tail end of an opposing Flood current as we passed the Salem Nuclear Power Plant, then a full cycle of favorable Ebb current and back to Flood as we passed the Brandywine Shoal Light. Dinner of pasta and meatballs was served about 1730, and we rounded Cape Henlopen at 1800 and G “5” Fl G buoy in the coastal Atlantic an hour later. Overnight, it remained warm and humid but clear with light winds from SSW so we continued to motor at 2400 rpm making 5 to 6 knots and following our pre-planned route offshore and down the coast. Thursday, 8/1… Skies were again bright and clear with a few wispy clouds and light winds from the south, so we continued to motor onward. Ian is Student Skipper. Christopher recently started the study of celestial navigation, and he brought his newly acquired Astra IIIB sextant for practice during this cruise. I showed him a few things about taking shots, and he took three shots with good results as follows: +3 miles, -2 miles, and +5 miles. These are good results for a beginner, but he was helped by the clear skies, low wind and calm seas. Based on our rate of progress, it looks like we’ll reach the Cape Charles entrance to Chesapeake Bay before sunset, so at 1400 we switched our arrival waypoint from lighted Red buoy “2N” to an arbitrary waypoint that will direct us into the cut between Nautilus Shoal and Fisherman’s Island and enable us to go directly to Red nun buoy “10” thus saving about an hour of daylight. As we entered the cut, a strong following current was noted that was shown on the plotter chart to make a sharp turn north around Fisherman’s Island and toward the two bay bridges. Once past buoy Red “10” we turned our attention to the bridge opening that we needed to pass through and broadcast a Sécurité notice on VHF 16 that S/V NAVIGATOR would be passing through the bridges with a strong following current. After clearing the bridges, we changed course to our next waypoint, Green can “13” and were careful to leave the red over green junction buoy to starboard. Next was Old Plantation Flats Light a few miles to the north from here and a short distance before the Cape Charles Town entrance channel. Light “1CC” at the entrance to this channel was destroyed according to the latest LNM downloaded by Debra and temporarily marked by a small lighted buoy referred to as a TRLB denoting “Temporarily Replaced by a Lighted Buoy.” Also, the CG issued BNM 0108VA on July 1st simply stating “Dayboard is submerged.” These TRLB buoys are indeed small and dimly lit; we nearly tripped over it in the fading light before seeing it and promptly made a 90 degree right turn to enter the channel and line up on the bright white range lights marking the first leg of the channel. After this we followed our waypoints to the harbor and parallel docked at a T-head floating dock in the Cape Charles City Marina, plugged in the shore power and turned on the welcome air conditioner. Good Night.
Friday, 8/2… Crew up at a leisurely 0700, various snacks for breakfast, showers and on to nav prep for the trip up the bay which will take about 24 hours with a non-stop overnight passage. The crew decided to skip Annapolis and get back to Rock Hall at the original Saturday completion date and that is what our nav plan reflected. Weather again is clear, warm and humid with winds from south at 10-15 knots. Zack is Student Skipper. After pre-departure checks are completed, we depart slip and go to fuel dock to top up diesel, pump out the waste holding tank and settle accounts with the marina. Departed fuel dock around 1030 hours and Debra took over the helm for trip out the channel which looked so much different now in daylight as compared with last night in the dark. As we passed the TRLB “1CC” lighted buoy, I was surprised to see that the jagged, broken stumps of the destroyed Light structure were projecting a few inches above the water surface… A real hazard that we were not aware of as we passed close by last night!! After the cruise, I contacted the USCG twice via their website and by telephone to inquire about the hazard posed by the broken stumps of the Light structure and asked if a BNM or other comms had been issued advising the public of this hazard, but to date they have not gotten back to me. Once we cleared the channel and got out into the bay and on course north, the wind settled in at about 10-15 knots from south and we raised full mainsail and deployed the whisker pole and genoa to allow sailing wing-on-wing on port tack nearly dead downwind. How refreshing this was to be sailing after three days of motoring with no wind. We also deployed the staysail to starboard which probably added very little boat speed, but was indeed good for a photo op. As course direction changed several times such that we could not carry the genoa poled-out to portside, my resourceful crew gybed the genoa to starboard side while leaving the whisker pole in place and the now inactive portside genoa sheet rove through the pole-end jaws. They did this by partly furling the genoa until the clew was able to pass athwart-ship ahead of the staysail. As our course eased back some degrees to starboard, they were able to redeploy the genoa back to portside in a wing-on-wing position. Served dinner of chicken stew about 1700 hours followed by desert of cookies and chocolates. Thanks again to Zack and Deb for galley cleanup after dinner. And thus, we carried on until about 1800 when the wind dropped away, and threatening storm clouds gathered to our west. So, we furled the genoa, put one reef in the mainsail, and motored north awaiting the gathering storm. Our Radar and SiriusXM weather App on the plotter showed that the major part of the storm system would pass south of us, and an hour later it hit us with winds between 30 and 40 knots for about an hour but with only a few spits of rain. We felt cooler air as the storm was blowing but never felt the initial cold blast usually felt with an intense squall. After that, the winds calmed down and we continued north under motor. Saturday, 8/3…The rest of the passage overnight was uneventful, but we did redeploy our sails in wing-on-wing fashion for an additional hour coming up the bay and again in Chester River as the whisker pole was still rigged. We arrived back at Lankford Bay Marina about noon, where we pumped out the waste tank, topped up the diesel tank, and put NAVIGATOR back into her slip. All crew helped to straighten out the boat from a week-long cruise with six people onboard: rigging shore power, removing trash, reflaking the mainsail, putting on the sail cover, gathering personal gear and packing for travel home. At this point Tony and I signed the MDSchool Diplomas and presented them to our crew friends of the past week, and all departed with promises to stay in touch. Thank you all, Tom
Captain
Tom Tursi
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