Making Sailing Plans for 2016/2017

Though we're on land, it doesn't prevent us from making plans for the rest of 2016 and the upcoming 2017 sailing season. In fact, we'll be leaving Las Vegas in the next couple of weeks to return to Nine of Cups in Chesapeake, Virginia. We have a limited time aboard before we need to return to Vegas, but some time aboard is better than no time aboard and we're looking forward to a month or so exploring the Chesapeake … after boat chores and repairs, of course, which we think will take about a week.

Our plan is to return to the Atlantic Yacht Basin and get Cups ready to weather November and December by herself. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, then fly to Boston to spend the Christmas holidays with Lin and family. We hope to depart Boston before the first of the year and be aboard Cups to sip champagne on New Year's Eve. We anticipate it'll be chilly, so we'll be quick to get off the dock and head south to the warm. Coastal Florida is our destination for the winter season of 2017. We have lots of ports to explore, lots of friends to visit, and our oldest son and daughter-in-law have just moved to St. Pete on the west coast. Charleston, SC will be one port of call, for sure. St. Augustine will be on the itinerary again, along with Bahia Honda, Key West and who knows where else? Maybe we'll head out to the Dry Tortugas for a few days. The national park there is awesome.

We'll need to be north of Cape Hatteras once again by June 1st, but by then we're hoping to be well on our way north towards coastal Maine and Canada's Atlantic maritime provinces for the summer. We've visited Nova Scotia and New Brunswick before … over a decade ago … and we're keen to visit again and perhaps wander a bit further afield to Prince Edward Island or a ways down the St. Lawrence River. Despite the world record tides, deep water and lobster pots (only in Maine), the area is great for exploring.

After that … who knows?

As always, plans aboard Nine of Cups are written in sand … at low tide. All things are subject to change on a whim.

Nine Favorite Boat Expressions

You can miss the boat, rock the boat, be fresh off the boat and even be in the same boat. There are certain boat expressions that we use all the time. I'm sure many of them are applicable to other situations, but we decided to share them with you and see if you had any to add.

1. Nothing's ever easy on a boat.

   We use this expression all the time. Things that might be easy on land are never easy on a boat … mostly because there are few straight lines on a boat, lots of odd angles plus the boat is usually rocking and things are hard to get at. Whether it be working on the engine, trying to clean the oven, retrieving a part that's fallen into the bilge or trying to get a mattress to fit on an odd-shaped bunk … nothing's every easy on a boat.

   

2. The happiest two days in a boat owner's life is when he buys his boat and when he sells it.

   Another iteration of this is … the happiest days in a sailor's life is when he arrives in port and when he leaves. For us, the latter applies. We like arriving, but after a visit, it's always great to be back at sea.

3. Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places.

   Boat work never ends. Wherever we've been in the world, there's been boat work to do. The neighborhood and scenery might change, but the boat projects, repair and maintenance are always there.

   

4. If it's for a boat, it will cost twice as much and last half as long.

   Boat parts are always expensive because of the environment in which they're made to be used and because once the words “for marine use” appear on a label, the price doubles. Because the typical boat environment of salt water, sun and wave action are so hostile, parts tend to wear out sooner than they would on land. All that said, we've been snookered a few times by paying a higher price for a product that was just a land-item re-labeled.

5. For every 10' (3m) you add to the length of your boat, everything doubles in cost.

   It's just how it is … do the math.

6. A boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money.

   The truth of this is in your bank account.

   

7. Whatever floats your boat …

   That is … whatever makes you happy. In our case, a boat that floats, floats our boat.

8. If the boat's rockin', don't come knockin'.

   A hint that company is not welcome because of personal business aboard.

9. Come sail away with me …

   Pretty much the nicest invitation my captain ever made. Who could have thought (certainly not me) that those simple words would take me around the world with him.

Got a few to add?

Anchors Away

One of our goals when we docked Nine of Cups at the Atlantic Yacht Basin was to raise the waterline. We offloaded hundreds of pounds of stuff destined for yard sales, thrift shops and consignment shops. No, we're not thinking of giving up our life aboard Cups any time soon, but thinning out some of the 16-year accumulation of stuff seemed prudent. Anchors seem to be a passion with David. He's even written a book about anchors. We have had six aboard for several years, and in an effort to thin down the inventory, he decided to part with two of them.

Stored on deck we have a 50 kg Bruce and a 43# Danforth. On the bow roller, we have an 80# Manson Boss which is now our primary anchor. On the aft deck, we have a 10# mushroom anchor for the dinghy. Below decks and under our bunk in the aft cabin, there's a 35# CQR and a 32# aluminum Fortress. It was a heartbreaking decision for the captain … which two would go?

The 50kg (110 lb) Bruce was our primary anchor until we reached Australia. Anchoring along the southern Australia coast is difficult. With hard sand and lots of grass, it was hard for the Bruce to dig in. We replaced it in Port Adelaide with a 80# Manson Boss. The sharp claw of the Boss has been doing a fine job ever since and fits better than the Bruce in the bow roller. David built an anchor chock on deck to store the Bruce, but after hauling it around for the past couple of years and not using it, he felt it was time to retire the old guy.

The CQR was used in the high latitudes as a series anchor with the Bruce, but we've seldom used it in recent years. It go the heave-ho, too.

We loaded both in the SUV and toted them to Lin's house hoping that they'd be sold either via Craigslist or at the yard sale. No luck. As the days in Boston dwindled and the anchors, nestled in pine needles in Lin's backyard, fought off gypsy moth advances, David reluctantly contacted Bud at Newport Nautical Supply, a well-known chandlery and consignment shop in Newport, RI and we made the trek down there with the anchors in Lin's trunk. Needless to say, the car rode much lighter on the return trip.

After offloading the anchors and bidding them adieu, we headed next door to Bishop's 4th Street Diner, a Newport institution and, knowing how much we enjoy diners, a natural place to stop for breakfast. Despite the pleasure of dining, we couldn't help feel a little sad at parting with the anchors. I think we're missing Cups.