NOR'EASTER SEASON

 I was reminded by Facebook that 5 years ago BIANKA Was at the dock ready to be pulled for the season. 

This year BIANKA it's still at the mooring.

I was hoping to get one more small cruise in before the season ends.  However, the weather forecast for this week shows the first Nor'easter developing off the coast. Gale conditions are expected. A good sign that it's time to pull the boat for the season.  Something that I'll be considering for next week. 

WINTERLUDE 2018

It's been about a month or more since I last visited BIANKA. The weather has been cold and the winds blowing off Long Island Sound make it feel colder. But, since the fourth Nor' Easter is about to arrive tomorrow I figured I should make the trip. I needed to make some measurements and check on space availability for some various projects I have planned once the weather warms up.
I arrived at the boatyard a few minutes before Spring or the Vernal Equinox happened. Though it sure still felt like winter. I did the usual checkout of the deck and charged up the batteries. I then moved the piles of cushions, boxes of parts and tools so I could check the space where I planned to relocate the new Jabsco Macerator Pump. It looked very doable and should be a pretty easy job:

Which was a relief. However. the location where I planed to install a new Standard Horizon 2200 VHF radio was not going to go as smoothly.  Behind the bulkhead where I wanted to install the unit was hose and fitting for BIANKA's anchor wash down outlet.

It may require that move the outlet. But, perhaps not I'll know better once I get the unit and see how it fits. But, at least I'll be prepared to do the work.

Not much else to do in the cold temperatures on board once the batteries were topped up except to check the bilge. There was some water there. Not surprising since the boat has weather three Nor' asters and some heavy rains since I last visited. I took out the Micro Wet/Dry Shop Vac and sucked the water out of BIANKA's deep bilge. The small shop vac makes the job so much easier, faster and cleaner. 

   I empty the Shop Vac into a five gallon bucket . One that I had labeled to show one gallon for deck washing solutions.  It showed I had only about a gallon in the bilge.

Having accomplished all I had planned to do. I buttoned the boat up disconnected the power cord and went home to await the storm. Hopefully warmer Spring temperatures will soon be on the way.

END OF THE SEASON 2017

I had BIANKA pulled and stored in the boatyard for the winter last week. It was time there was a near brush with Hurricane Jose which came up the coast. It's also the time of the year when Nor'easters start forming making for cold, wet windy weather. I was triggered a few weeks ago while sitting in the cockpit noticing how early the sun was going down and also how cold it was while wearing my wool watch cap. It warmed up a little since then but, nature keeps sending it's reminders that it is time to end the sailing season:

Next week the remnants of Hurricane Nate will be impacting the area. Though it should only bring a heavy rain to the area. It is just another sign that it's time to pull the boat for the winter

RIDERS ON THE STORM

I spent most of January cruising in the British, U.S. and Spanish Virigin Islands. Even though the Jonas Blizzard/Nor' Easter that hit the United States east coast last week was 1500 miles away. My cruising trip in the Caribbean was affected by it's formation over the Atlantic. The easterly winds we had been enjoying since we started sailing on January 12th suddenly started to veer out of the south. As shown in the video below. The X on the video shows the approximate location of the boat I was on:



I was feeling pretty good as I first heard of the storm approaching the northeast area.   I had recently left the northeast to spend a few weeks cruising in the warm Caribbean to escape part of winter. I did not expect the storm being 1500 miles away for it to impact my travels on board. But, when the winds switched to the south and started to feed into the storm the waves also picked up. When the reefs along Culebra  were hit by waves it made for very poor visibilty for snorkeling for several days. Though on the plus side we did have a nice sail over to Fajardo from Culebra. Though it was a sobering lesson on how powerful these winter storms can be.

ADIOS HURRICANE JOAQUIN, HELLO GALE

It's with some relief that hurricane Joaquin will not be making landfall here as it tracks out to sea. But, these nor' easter conditions is no day at the beach either. It's been blowing a pretty steady 20 knots in the harbor. I've measured gusts as high as 32! It was apparently too much for this day sailing cat boat on a mooring near BIANKA:

Which sunk sometime during the night. I thought I saw the young owners on the beach trying to comfort each other as they came to check on their boat. Meanwhile, the gale warnings continue into tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the winds calming down. But, perhaps this is what happens when a boat on a neighboring mooring is named Storm Chaser:

Nor' easter Season Again

Two days ago I had a delightful sail back to BIANKA'S homeport at the end of a fall cruise to the Oyster Bay Oyster Festival. Today I am tied to a dock as a Nor' easter starts to form just to the south of the Long Island. I actually prefer to ride this weather out on a mooring. But, I am expecting some packages to arrive on shore and wanted to be there to receive them. I have doubled up on the lines and they have stretched enough to make stepping on the dock a little iffy. Another concern is the cleats on the aging dock. Winds are expect to increase even more this afternoon with gusts to 30 knots. Welcome to Nor' Easter season.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Just when things were getting back to normal. On Monday the lights at the marina where BIANKA was tied up came on. Same for the houses in the hills surrounding the harbor. BIANKA was going to be pulled for the winter so it was my last night on board. But, I will be taking the Honda 2000 generator with me. I'm so glad I did not opt for an inboard marine generator when I converted to electric propulsion. I can move the Honda to where I need it. Because as I leave the boat for the winter NOAA is predicting another Nor'easter to hit the area today. It won't be as bad as Sandy but, coastal flood and high wind warnings have been issued. Though today I take comfort that BIANKA is now safely on land for the coming months and I don't have to worry about her as much with the coming Nor'easter as I did last week when Sandy approached.

SANDY AFTERMATH: DAY SEVEN: The End

It was one week ago yesterday that Sandy was raking the harbor with gusts up to 90 MPH and severe coastal flooding. Taking BIANKA for a trip across the harbor and knocking out power for millions of people destroying the homes of others. Today a number of things have come together that mean things are coming to an end at least for me. I had just about given up ever finding the Honda outboard that went to the bottom of the harbor seven days ago when Sandy flipped over the dingy. After several hours using a grappling hook without success one of the boatyard guys suggested I try off another dock where he had seen some bubbles coming up. I did and on the third try I snagged the shaft of the outboard and was able to bring the Honda 2 HP outboard to the surface:

Some fish and crabs fell out from inside the coaming but, the Outboard looked in good condition. I flushed it with some fresh water and took it back home and placed into a bag filled with fresh water. I'll try and resuscitate it in a few days. I have hopes it will once again run. On the way to the house I noticed Utility Company trucks were on the block. So it it looks like the power outage at the house will also soon end.
Today the mast was also unstepped from BIANKA to be stored until next spring.

It means the end of the 2012 sailing season for me. Though I will be sailing in warmer climes over the winter it won't be on BIANKA. But it will be something to look forward to. Tomorrow BIANKA will also be pulled to be stored on land for the winter. Just in time before the next Nor'easter arrives in the area.  So this will be my last night on BIANKA too. Though I will be frequently be on board over the winter working on projects or sometimes just hanging out and staring thinking about the next season. So in some ways it's not the end it's the beginning of the wait for the next sailing season.

HURRICANE SANDY: AFTERMATH DAY FOUR and FIVE

I am noticing a difference at night while living on board BIANKA. The harbor the first night on Tuesday had a different feel to it. Mostly because the lights of the beach parking lot and those houses in the surrounding hills were dark due to the power outages. The nearly full moon rose and played peak a boo in the swirling clouds that were the remnants of Sandy.  It was very calm and somewhat warm enough that I was able to have dinner in the cockpit and enjoy the scene.

On Thursday I drove home to check on the house which was still without power  and did some yard cleanup before returning to BIANKA for the night. It was comforting to return to BIANKA where I had power and food available thanks to solar and wind power which were doing a nice job keeping things topped up. But, I did fire up the generator as the cloud cover during the day did keep the 12 volt house bank a little under charged.  It did not take long to fully charge it and I used the waste heat from the Honda generator to totally dry the portion of the quit on my bunk that got wet from the open over head hatch. I enjoyed the nights dinner which was Pasta with Captain Mike's homemade Bolognese sauce. It was a colder night than the previous ones but, under the down quilt in BIANKA's cabin I did not notice it.

On Friday I bought the boat to the dock as the boatyard boss was getting antsy to pull her and put BIANKA in the special corner where I get a very nice harbor view over the winter as I work on projects. He wants to do this soon so that he can also put in other boats in front of her and fill up the yard. I've finished the water from the 50 gallon tank on board and switched over to the 30 gallon tank so I guess it's time to think about ending the season anyway. I tried grappling for the lost Honda BP-2 outboard but, I was not able to find it. I may try again over the weekend. A gusty wind kept the Marine Air-X wind turbine spinning all day  nicely adding some  amps into the battery bank and we had enough sun that I did not need to use the Honda 2000 generator to top things up. Driving home to check on the house I notice that gas has become an issue with many gas stations closed because of no supply and those that were open had long lines and Police directing traffic. This is not a crucial issue on an electric boat like BIANKA  the solar and wind generation are able to keep up with my demands while I live on board most days. I heard some scuttlebutt in the boatyard about hiring private security to keep an eye on things. As contractors in the area were finding it hard to find fuel for their trucks and a boatyard full of diesel fueled boats was a tempting target. As for me I will be hiding the half gallon of gas I have on board for the Honda generator and sleeping with one eye open.

HURRICANE SANDY: The Good News and the Bad News

Well, there really is no good news other than I had a good nights sleep on board dreaming about being on a barge trip somewhere in India. Though, I was happy to feel how the boat was laying at the mooring in the 20 to 25 knot winds we were already having. Because when the expected wind chart for this area looks like this it is not good news:

I have never seen the expected wind gusts for this area ever go off the charts before. Like I said there is not a lot of good news. So the I at least took comfort that BIANKA was behaving well in the 25 knot winds this morning. That good feeling did not last long. As I was having my coffee in the cockpit a fellow motored by in a sailboat. Not sure where he came from but, he was aiming for the mooring directly in front of BIANKA. That mooring had had a lightweight power boat on it all summer. I let the fellow know that the mooring was not quite as heavy as it might appear. He thanked me and proceeded to pick up the mooring next to BIANKA. Well, so much for having a little extra space around the boat. But, it gets worse he proceeds to attach a fairly light weight line to the mooring pennant line which added quite a bit of scope:

I advised him to look at some of the other boats in the harbor and see the way the currents were pointing them in different directions in spite of the 20 plus knot winds. I said the harbor currents will swing the boats in odd directions so he will be hitting my boat and/or the boat next to him and he should tighten up on that line.  Which he did. Since he had no dingy I asked him if he was going to be on board. No he would be swimming ashore was his answer.   Which was also not good news. Though he did shorten his lines, he never installed any chafing gear nor did he pick up the second pennant line on the mooring line which you can see hanging in the water:

He seemed in a hurry to get off. He flagged down a fellow in skiff passing by and was soon gone. Since he did not even bother to pick up the second pennant line and did not double up on the thin lines he had used to connect to the mooring pennant line I would be surprised that the boat will still be here after Sandy comes by.   Truth is I'm not so sure BIANKA will be here after the storm too. Like I said there is not a lot of good news this morning.


BLOG UPDATE SUNDAY 1 PM:
Well there is some good news. We've gone through one high tide cycle and things seem to be near normal. The wind gust measured on Long Island Sound have hit 34 knots. But, BIANKA and the other boats seem to be ok and no none has dragged or ended up on the shore so far. Of course we are still 24 hours away from Sandy's biggest impact. But, so far so good.

BLOG UPDATE SUNDAY 5 PM:
Well the wind has kicked up a notch. The 48 volt Marine Air X wind turbine is showing 3 amps more and more when it kicks in. Earlier it was riding between one and two amps. Winds are gusting on Long Island Sound in the 30 knot range and it is supposed to increase further. But, the seagulls are still flying and evry once in awhile there is a comforting lull but,  not for long. The good news is I don't see the boat dragging and there's no chafe at the bow. I have a dentists appointment in the morning to repair a broken cap made before this mess started. So I will be getting off the boat to take care of that. I hope. Rowing in these conditions would be crazy so I had to dig out the Honda BP2 outboard and put it on the dingy. Let me tell you things seem a lot worse at dingy level than in BIANKA's cockpit. After I added fuel  I was glad to see the outboard started after sitting dormant for two years. Now to get to shore and hope I'll be able to get back on tomorrow. But, that could be a big if at this point. But, at least I feel confident BIANKA is handling these conditions ok. But, the real test comes tomorrow afternoon. It will be a long twenty four hours.

BLOG UPDATE SUNDAY 9PM
Well I'm back on land after taking the dingy to a nearby marina dock. Even thought the winds had increased further as I step off the boat the good news is I was actually able to row and never had to fire up the outboard. The dock was about 1/4 mile to the northwest with the winds blowing out of the Northeast I was able to crab my way to the marina quite easily. Going the other way would be another story. Good to know for the future. Getting into the dingy and loading it with things I wanted to bring to shore was the hard part. Slightly dicey I would say. But, once underway it was nice enough.
While heading home with the first sprinkles starting to wet the windshield the lyrics of the Grateful Dead song  Box of Rain began to play in my head:

Look out of any window, any morning, any evening, any day. 

Maybe the sun is shining, birds are singing, 

No rain is falling from a heavy sky. 

What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through? 

For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago. 

Getting out of the car a few miles inland I was struck by how gentle the wind felt to what I was experiencing on BIANKA all afternoon. It was a smooth warm breeze while the winds at the harbor were much more cold and raw. They were not as constant either further inland. I must not be fooled by this difference while I am away from the boat. A reality check came from the NOAA forecast discussion which of course was not good news:

AS SANDY MOVES NORTH AND THEN NORTHWEST...AND TRANSITIONS FROM A
HURRICANE TO A SEVERE POST-TROPICAL CYCLONE BEFORE LANDFALL...IT
WILL INTENSIFY AND ITS WIND FIELD WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND...WITH
SUSTAINED WINDS OF 40-50 MPH EXPECTED BY LATE MON AFTERNOON AND
45-55 MPH MON EVENING. GFS/NAM/ECMWF ALL IN PRETTY CLOSE AGREEMENT
ON DEVELOPMENT AND PLACEMENT OF A BAND OF VERY STRONG 925 MB WINDS
OF 70-90 KT TO THE NORTH OF THE CYCLONE BY LATE AFTERNOON OVER OUR
CWA...ESPECIALLY COASTAL SECTIONS. FCST SOUNDINGS SHOW ENOUGH OF A
SFC-BASED MIXED LAYER UP TO 925 MB THAT COULD ALLOW A LARGE
PORTION OF THESE STRONG WINDS TO MIX DOWN...ESPECIALLY IN HEAVIER
RAIN BANDS...SO AT LEAST OCCASIONAL GUSTS 60-75 MPH EXPECTED IN
NE-E FLOW BEFORE THE STORM MAKES LANDFALL.

 So the winds will pick up even more tonight and another high tide is arriving in a few hours. I hope morning will find BIANKA right where I left her. She held there today quite nicely but, tomorrow with Sandy moving closer to the area it  is going to make it a completely different scenerio. So I will try and get a good nights sleep and maybe take a nice hot bath to ease the pain of some aching shoulder muscles and see what tomorrow brings.

TIS THE SEASON

Well it's Nor' Easter time again and all eyes are on Hurricane Sandy heading up this way and morphing into a coastal storm.  Lucky for me I'm only a day sail away from BIANKA's homeport finishing up a fall cruise. So we should arrive before things ramp up. Glad I decide to keep using the current down the Hudson and up the East River the other day instead of stopping over in New York for two days. Tomorrow the winds will be variable under five knots. Two days later they are calling for 25 to 30. It would be nice to split the difference but, even if I have to electro sail it will be a quiet thirty miles back to the home harbor.

1485 NAUTICAL MILES

I cruised 285 nautical miles this year with BIANKA. Making a total of 1485 miles since I converted the boat to electric propulsion. A little less than last year. But, I managed to get a few weeks of freelance work this summer which did not happen last year. So I spent a few less weeks over the summer on board.  Such is the life of a freelancer.  BIANKA also came through Hurricane Irene and a Nor' easter on the mooring this year without a scratch. I did have a day on one of my cruises this year where I had to motor for over 10 hours using electric propulsion. That was the most I have had to do that since I installed electric propulsion and once again the electric propulsion system came through with flying colors.

NOR' EASTER SEASON AND THE PERFECT STORM

 Here in the northeast U.S. Nor' easter season has now begun.  I've been wanting to get back on board BIANKA and just head out for a mini cruise for a few days but, the weather has not been cooperating and today I'm waiting for a storm to form off North Carolina and head up this way. The Nor' Easters are cold, wet, windy and dangerous weather systems. Ironically the twentieth anniversary of the Halloween Nor'easter that was chronicled in Sebastian Junger's book The Perfect Storm is coming up.

That storm curved back around and developed into a full fledged hurricane. So these systems need to be respected and watched carefully. If you have not read the book  The Perfect Storm it is a good read about how these systems can change rapidly and often with tragic results for anyone who gets caught out at sea in one.  The current forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms rain and snow with temperatures in the thirties and forties. But, it's the high wind warning that sailors need to be concerned about. High wind warnings of 30 knots and gusts of 50 knots plus should get the attention of any sailor. So I guess I won't be heading out with the boat for a day or two. Though gathering some wood for the fireplace seems like a good idea.

Nor'easter season

I was on board yesterday with the sun shining and the temperature in the seventies. I woke up this morning to a cold raw easterly wind with a forecast of a nasty wet Saturday and possible gale warnings late Saturday. Welcome to the Nor'easter season which runs from September to April. NOAA has a little tutorial on what it's about that you can see here and an up close look at the Nor'easter made famous by Sebastion Junger in his book The Perfect Storm the anniversary of which will be coming up at the end of the month.

As for me I'm putting an extra line on the mooring.