Our Great Adventure – Leg 1

Captains Log

Behind schedule from the beginning.

Day One Friday February 5th, 2010 7am

Jen and I get up early to get Sandy ready to set sail. We left Offats Bayou by 9:30 am and motor out on the Port Engine to get to the Galveston Railroad bridge to find that they are closed until noon for repairs. So we throw anchor just west of the bridge and wait till noon. Jen made Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner during the 2 hours we were waiting. Once the bridge was opened it was pretty crazy getting through, with all the boats that had been waiting on both sides. Once through and past all the traffic we raised the Jib and main sail. We are sailing at 6.2 kts to the Intercoastal and the Texas City Channel, then back to the Houston ship channel. We raised the stay sail, and lost wind by the time we were out in the Gulf, we were only doing 3.5-4 kts. 3pm saw 8 or 9 dolphins 4pm lowered medium sized jib, and raised our largest jib. 6pm By night fall I had my beautiful sunset I have been waiting for then billions of stars came out to perform just for me. The North winds picked up to 13 kts, which gave us a speed of 6.1kts. By midnight we running about 7 miles offshore and had speeds over 8 kts. We are seeing lots of rigs.

Day Two Saturday February 6th, 2010 4am

Getting too close to land so we tack out to sea. new heading 165 degrees. 6:30 am we are 27 miles offshore tacked to port new heading 105 degrees speed 7.4 kts, wind 20 kts 9:30 am clear skies a little chilly. Auto pilot quit, it has been working real hard, we have 4-5 foot seas and the wind keeps shifting more to the east. Fixed auto pilot, it's a permanent magnet motor, and it got stuck in a sweet spot I guess. I gave it a turn start, and it started working again. We still aren't making enough electricity. we are having to run the generator 4-6 hours a day to keep batteries charged. Starting to have problems with generator. It's raw water pump is leaking sea water in bilge. Can't fix under way. Alternator bracket sheared a screw, and now alternator belt won't stay on, but I can still charge batteries with battery chargers. Jury rigged alternator bracket. working great now. Battery chargers wouldn't keep up. Went to start generator and the glow plug switch stuck and ran it's battery down. Fixed switch and jumped batteries off the engine bank. 4am fishing boat on collision course, wouldn't answer radio calls. let it get within 1/4 mile, then tacked to the port to avoid them. didn't want to change course behind them because they were dragging nets.

Day Three Sun February 7th, 2010

Unfavorable East winds keep us going further and further off shore. At one time we were 78 miles off shore. A tack toward shore doesn't help and we actually lose ground and are pointed in the wrong direction. Our big Jib won't point into the wind enough. 12pm The Abigail Claire (about a 250 foot rig boat) on a perpendicular course to us, passed behind us, turned parallel to our course, then followed us maybe a 1/4 mile to our starboard. Then they came out on their deck with their binoculars. We were worried if maybe we were in an area that we weren't suppose to be in or something. After a few minutes Jen hails them on the radio. They said they wanted to watch us sail for awhile, and said that she was some boat and was envious of us. Made us all feel Proud. 1pm tired of still going farther out to sea, and working on the generator, so we dropped the forward jib, and motor sailed with staysail, mainsail, and port engine. (Port engine has 2 huge alternators and will run entire boats electricity) Now we can point a little more to the east. 5pm Beautiful blue water and calm seas. Jen is finally not sick she even went down below for a shower (about time) and ate two sloppy joes for dinner instead of her normal piece of bread. 6pm Beautiful sunset, only about 7-8 knots of wind so we lowered all sails and motored straight into the wind. Only lost about 3/4 of a knot, but gained in the right direction. Motor speed: Port engine only 1400 rpms 4.2 kts roughly about a gallon an hour. 7pm Watched the 1st movie of The Pirates of the Caribbean. (mom hadn't seen any of them) It was a nice treat for all of us after the stressful last few days.

Day Four Monday February 8th, 2010 4am

20+ kts wind right on the bow still motoring 2.5 kts now only 25 miles off shore. 5:30am Sissy wormed her way out of the cockpit without her life jacket. Jen was on watch by her self and said it made her a nervous wreck trying to keep an eye on her and steer the boat in the dark. Sis stayed outside about 15 minutes pottied, watched the rig we were passing and then got close enough for Jen to grab her. 9am Still motoring 4.8 kts 22 miles from shore. Sissy and Mom went outside for about an hour just to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. 11am Jen's phone buzzes. We are close enough to shore to receive text messages! Jen quickly sends out a couple before the signal is gone. 3pm Mom works on the computer for a couple hours and I am sending this off.

Notes: Raymarine Chart plotter and Radar working great, huge help avoiding rigs. Centerboard down and working, helps the side to side motion and windward pointing. Nobody has been to sea sick and everyone is finding their sea legs. Sissy was scared at first but seems to be in good spirits now. I am glad to be motoring, and not worrying about the generator/electricity, and the water leaking in the bilges. Engine is working great now. I am really glad that I figured out the problem before we set off.

And the adventure continues!!