First offshore passage!!

Yippee!  We're cruising now!

You'll note that I've put a Google map on the side bar.  It shows our GPS position points along the route.   I'm still trying to work out why the other tracking link isn't working.

For today's post, I'm going to paste my daily "trip log" and insert some photos of the 4 days we spent traveling from Galveston, Tx to Mobile, Alabama.   Some of it will be boring, haha.   Some of it pretty cool though!


November 29, 2017

Destination unknown, possibly a port on Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama coast.  If we're really lucky with weather, all the way to Tampa area!

Left Waterford Marina 9:30 late start due to dense fog.  Pulling out of the slip at Waterford Marina for the last time.

Waved goodbye to new friends on another Manta 40 - James and Crystal on Tex Pie.

Motored for a couple of hours in the fog with me on lookout at the bow of the boat until the fog lifted a bit. Had apple slices with peanut butter for snack.  

Really, really foggy at times.

Once we were out the Houston ship channel, the fog lifted completely.  

Lots and lots of traffic in the channel.

Once out of traffic, we raised the main and motor sailed mostly eastbound. 

Seas were lumpy, making it hard to walk around the boat without a hard handhold each step.

Ate a peanut butter sandwich that I had made ahead.  That was all for the day since I was not feeling very hungry.  Doing well though based on past experience with seasickness!

I took 6-9pm watch.  Duane slept on the salon sofa. I tried to sleep in our berth, but since it's directly over the engine compartment, I decided it was just too noisy.  I slept well on the salon sofa until Duane woke me at 1215am for my watch.  Still motors sailing around 6-7 knots.  Dodged many oil rigs, no problem with our chart plotter and radar.  

Really hard to get a good photo of the oil rigs at night with my cameras....we stayed well clear.

  I felt pretty rested and woke Duane at 2am for a shift.  Instantly asleep on the sofa...woke at about 6am. Had an apple.  Pretty sunrise.

 
 Duane woke at 9 and we had oatmeal for breakfast.  Raised all sails and turned engines off. Wonderful quiet!!  Winds 20-25 knots, seas still lumpy.   More oil rigs!

 I'm kindof sore all over just from bracing all the time to the sway of the boat.

All day dodged offshore rigs sailing 7-7.5 knots. 20-25 knot winds all morning.  Winds over 25 knots around noon, put 1 reef in main.    

 Had ramen noodles and a can of peas soup for lunch

We took turns on watch and snoozing/reading during the day. Amazing number of naps!

Since sailing has been so good we're not going to stop at the tip of Louisiana but head a little south to avoid a huge oil rig field that's south of New Orleans.     

Watch this little video clip - the oil rigs have "bells" that warn you not to hit them!
 

I had some peanut m&ms for snack. Duane had a little pack of nabs.

Shook out the reef at 3pm when winds had died to around 20.  Still making 6-7 knots 

 

Wind much less in the evening.   Duane did 6-9pm shift.  I snoozed again and puttered. Sliced some apples for us both. I guess nobody wanted dinner tonight.

I did 9pm to 12am shift. Wind 8-9 knots making 3.2 knots under full sails. Dodging rigs again.
When t woke Duane at 1am, the winds had increased to 20+ knots and there were a few rain showers.  I went to sleep in our berth. So nice and comfortable not to have to brace yourself,and quiet because no engine.

I woke at 445 for a shift.  Duane had 2 reefs in the mainsail due and the starboard engine was running to charge the batteries (we had almost no sun so far so the solar panels have not produced much.  We motor sailed in lumpy seas around 4-5 knots, decreasing over a couple of hours as the win died down to around 8-10 knots, almost on the nose so little help.

About 830 we had tomato sandwiches for breakfast.

I laid down to rest and slept another 2 hours!  This is tiring work!

When I got up the engines were off and we were under full sail again.  Light winds and making only 3 knots.   

Saw a helicopter land on a oil rig - hard to see, but it's the little dot at the red arrow.  Pretty cool.


 

Looked at the extended weather forecast- looks like we only have two days of settled weather left.  Seas forecast 8 feet and a 5 second period...pretty nasty for a pleasure cruise!!!  So we decided to turn in and go towards Mobile, Alabama.  We'll need fuel, so we'll decide what to do next tomorrow when we get to Mobile.


Dropped all sails, running both engines at 2200 rpm to conserve fuel.  We're about 30 hrs out from Mobile when we turned.

When we were putting on the sail covers, we got to enjoy a pod of 20-30 dolphins playing at our bow!  The hung around for several minutes, obviously playing, swimming in circles around each other. Would have been spectacular if it had been earlier in the day with the sun higher. Still very cool.

Lunch was just some Tostitos with black bean/corn salsa. Since the ride is fairly smooth, I made spaghetti.  Nice to have a regular meal!

Winds picked up to 20 knots in the evening, but straight on the nose.     

Pretty sunset but no "green flash"...

 Dodged oil rigs again overnight and a bit of ship traffic.  Uneventful night watches with one engine running.  Between 3.5 and 4.5 knots.

Breakfast of oatmeal and peanut butter.  I took a long nap in our berth (the quiet one since no engine running on that side) from 8-10am.  Met a tug towing a huge barge- the captain called us on the VHF radio to verify that we would be staying on the same course.  They are very nice when they call(they know what our boat name is using the AIS system) and wished us a safe sail.

Pretty calm seas as we approach Mobile Bay. The oil rigs have thinned out so its not hard to maneuver around them. 

 
Uneventful entry down the main ship channel into Mobile Bay.   We just turned right after the entrance and motored over to "Navy Cove" and set the anchor at about 8PM.  Time to rest and decide where to go over the next few days, probably down the Intercoastal Waterway towards Pensacola.

All well

We just now got patchy cell coverage about 10 miles out if the Mobile Bay channel.  Sorry that the tracker didn't seem to work.  I'll have to figure that out.  We haven't stopped since we left Galveston!  Uneventful but tiring few days.  Will anchor tonight in Mobile, rest and get fuel tomorrow.  Lots to tell!  Later though!

Houston ship channel

Delay

There will be a bit of a delay this morning while we wait for the fog to lift!

Equipment

As we head out tomorrow, we'll be depending on a LOT of equipment.

I thought I'd share a bit -

We have a satellite based weather program that shows us 36 hours of wind/waves/radar/frontal activity.   Since it's XM based, we don't need internet or cell coverage to receive it.

We also have our own radar system to help us with knowing immediate weather and objects (boats, oil platforms!)  Note that we also have satellite TV!  It's hooked to Dish network - pretty cool and totally unnecessary!

And we have a very nice chartplotter that shows not only navigation maps but overlays the radar.

We also have 3 different EPIRB's (Emergency Position Indicationg Radio Beacons).   If activated, they will send signals over a satellite system to bring rescue to our exact location.

 One is located just inside the cabin door.  It's registered by NOAA  to identify the boat - Robert and Richard are the registered emergency contacts and would be immediately notified if the beacon were activated.

In addition, we each have the life vests that we wear in the airplane when flying over water.  These jackets have  CO2 fill cartridges and we each have our own beacon in a zippered pocket.  These are registered by NOAA to each of us.   So, worst case, if we were to be separated from the boat, we could call rescue from anywhere in the world.  (All of these beacons are waterproof, of course!)

(The pink ribbon means this is my life vest, Duane's has a blue ribbon)

In addition, we have tether straps that we will use if we need to leave the cockpit in rough seas.

So don't be concerned about us out there!  We will be out of contact for possibly days but you should be able to see us on the  Vessel Tracking system. 

Current plans are to head out the Galveston Jetty and turn generally eastbound.  We don't plan to get too far offshore - probably within 40-50 miles out.  This way, we can tuck back into the Intercoastal Waterway if we want to.  We'll likely do a couple of overnight sails and see how things are going. 

If I have time tomorrow when we still have cell signal, I'll send one last blog post! 

Hope to leave tomorrow

We had a little delay because the windshield wasn't finished....but the folks at David's Upholstery showed up this morning with everything.

A reminder of what it looked like before - yellowed and not clear at all!

And this is the new view!

Should keep us dry and out of the wind when we want to be. 

Plans are to take the rental car back this afternoon - and shove off tomorrow morning!

Boat renaming ceremony

The boat needed to be renamed.....and you MUST please the sea gods to do this!  This is serious business!


The previous name (which, according to marine lore should never be mentioned again!) had already been removed from the boat.

This is the step at the back of the boat.  Perfect place to put the US Coast Guard required name and home port.

We had the appropriate label shipped to us.

All done with the actual labeling.....it was time for a small party!!

Fellow Manta owners came over -  James and Crystal from Tex Pie and Cookie from Cool Change helped us celebrate.  (Sorry to have missed Jay from Cool Change - he was out of town).  Ready to toast the "Sea Gods" and ask forgiveness for renaming the boat.

Here is the text that was read and toasted.  Hopefully we'll be safe in our travels now!

 

Oh mighty and great ruler of the seas and oceans, to whom all ships and we who venture upon your vast domain are required to pay homage, implore you in your graciousness to take unto your records and recollection this worthy vessel hereafter and for all time known as Sojourn, guarding her with your mighty arm and trident and ensuring her of safe and rapid passage throughout her journeys within your realm.

In appreciation of your munificence, dispensation and in honor of your greatness, we offer these libations to your majesty and your court.

(open the bottle of wine, pour one glass for the Captain and one glass for the First Mate but don't drink yet, now pour a portion over the bow into the sea from West to East, then drink your wine, attendees can also toast the boat at this point)

For this part you will need another bottle of wine and a small glass.

Oh mighty rulers of the winds, through whose power our frail vessels traverse the wild and faceless deep, we implore you to grant this worthy vessel Sojourn the benefits and pleasures of your bounty, ensuring us of your gentle ministration according to our needs.

--(Facing north, pour wine into the glass and fling to the North as you intone.)
Great Boreas, exalted ruler of the North Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your frigid breath.
- (Facing west, repeat and fling to the West.)
Great Zephyrus, exalted ruler of the West Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your wild breath.
- (Facing east, repeat and fling to the East.)
Great Eurus, exalted ruler of the East Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your mighty breath.

- (Facing south, repeat and fling to the South.)
Great Notus, exalted ruler of the South Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your scalding breath.
And to the greatest of all, mighty Aeolus guardian of all winds and all that blows before them, we ask your favor and kindness for fair winds and smooth seas in our endeavors as we humbly pass through your kingdom.

 After we all had our toasts, it was time to "reveal" the name on the boat! 

Duane did the honors.

Ta'Da!!!   Sojourn.....

noun

1.

a temporary stay:

 

verb (used without object)

2.

to stay for a time in a place; live temporarily:

 

Fun to have a boat name that's "ours"....

In case you're interested...here's a few shots during the installation of the lettering on the side of the boat.  Simple process, but a bit tedious.  Tape the label in place, peel off the "sticky" side....press carefully in place trying to avoid any "air bubbles".

Then peel the backing away - all done!   

Just a few more chores

Getting really close to finishing the list of items required before we shove off! 

Finally received a shipment that included a replacement bulb for the steaming light.  So, up the mast we sent Duane again!  

While he was up there, he installed a couple of flag halyards.   Now I can fly my American flag!

The upholstery folks (David's Upholstery) have been to the boat several times - hopefully they will finish up with the windshield tomorrow. 

Nice folks but a little hard to communicate since my Spanish is about zippo!  We make do by pointing and smiling!

Beautiful weather here - will probably head out to sea on Tuesday after just a few more items are complete. 

Making jerry can sun-covers from Sunbrella

We have a couple of "jerry cans" to carry extra diesel.  I read about why they're called "jerry cans"....apparently it refers to it's origins in war-time Germany.  And the nickname for Germans was "jerry".  I didn't know that!

For safety, we don't want the cans full of fuel anywhere near us inside the boat....so we need to store them tied out on the deck of the boat.  But the sun is terribly harsh on everything, plastic in particular.  So I see lots of folks with covers to block the sun.


Trusty sewing machine was whipped out again and the design began.

Just made a paper pattern.  Again, just had to be functional, not an exact fit.

The sewing setup - using special UV resistant thread.

Basically, I just started with a simple bag.  Fabric folded and straight seams up the sides.

Then I loosely fit it inside-out - and made a seam on either side to take up the "slack" and make the bag "boxy".

Slipped on correctly now.  (The sun must have been at a different angle since the color looks washed out on this photo...weird).

 Then trimmed the bottom and  added a nice zigzag hem.   I added the patches on both side to reinforce where we are going to put grommets.

All tied in place for the voyage!

Each one tied to a life-line stanchion. 

And while I was at it, I decided that the dinghy gasoline spare tank needed to be covered too.  For this one, I really did just make a bag.  Again, precision is not required.

The spare tank just sets in the dinghy (the actual fuel tank for the dinghy motor is in the compartment under the steering wheel. 

That's it for the sewing ventures for now!!

Tracking feature

I've added a map showing our real time location to the blog.  I don't know how it will work out - we'll see as we start moving.   It's currently showing the old boat name "Double Wide".  We're trying to get that changed with the authorities.  The signal is being sent from our on board radio's AIS (Automatic Identification System) so that other boats (everyone, including cargo ships will be able to see us).  It sends a signal every few minutes.

So until the radio is changed, the name is probably going to show "Double Wide".  But rest assured it's actually us!  You can hit "More Info" and it will let you pan in/out on the map.