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Larry's LogWe were about 1/2 mile from Sandy Hook when I felt a slight bump, and then 10 seconds later, a slightly harder one. I jumped up from the nav station and went to the cockpit. Tony had already slowed down and realized we had hit bottom. We were outside the marked big ship channel that he assumed was still pretty deep. I probably would have done the same, except I had the chart in front of me and knew that Romer's Shoal goes to almost 5 feet or less in some spots. We draw 7 feet. OK, no damage done other than having to turn around and slowly make our way back to the channel. I knew I should have said something to the helm about staying in the channel, but I was so focussed on making sure of our course and future waypoints, I neglected to do so. Still, we were now on course and making good time, since the wind was still 20-25 from the north. Now all we had to do was raise the sails. We motored out of the harbor to make sure we could easily avoid the shipping, ferries etc. that ply the waters near New York. Besides the Staten Island Ferry, the tankers, freighters and smaller water taxis, there were now the fast catamaran ferries that go up to 45 knots and leave quite a "rooster tail" in their wake. But now we were past that. We were a sailboat and had a great wind for our intended course. So I ordered the main raised with a reef in, and the small jib unfurled. We were sailing a Nordic 44, a Bob Perry design that is known for its seakindly and fast hull. As we started to raise the main, I got a call from below, "Larry, the floor up here (near the v berth) is wet!" As I went below to check on this, I put Diane at the helm. The crew continued trying to raise the main, a difficult task going downwind in 25 knots. Diane asked them to stop but they continued. She yelled down to me asking if I wanted them to stop, to which I replied, "Yes, wait till I come up on deck." Unfortunately, they didn't want to wait, so Diane reluctantly headed up so they could raise the main, which they eventually did without mishap. So why didn't I come up immediately when Diane told me of the "overzealous " crew. I was busy checking out why the boat was leaking like a sieve. First, I emptied a locker under the V-berth that had been stuffed with cans and other foodstuffs since there was a seacock in that locker that I had closed but that perhaps might be leaking. After checking that the seacock was dry, I saw the bottom of the locker was wet. So the water was coming from forward. Working forward, moving a large genoa and other things stored on the v-berth, I opened the locker just forward of the seacock. Sure enough, water was spurting from a hose just over the cans of provisions that my wife had so carefully stowed. This hose was from a holding tank vent line that was no longer used. Unfortunately, the line had been T'ed to the drain line from the anchor well. This line was from a drain in the anchor well and ran to a small through hull in the bow, where water that got into the well could run overboard. Although the vent hose had a high loop, it wasn't enough to prevent water from pushing its way into the hose and then into the boat now that the bow was going through some water on every wave. Duct tape to the rescue. I bent the hose over on itself to temporarily stop the flow and wrapped duct tape around it to keep it closed. I would have to rig a more permanent fix when we got to Bermuda. By this time, the crew had managed to hoist the main and had one reef in. We unfurled the 90% jib and continued on our course. I was already tired, and it wasn't even the end of the first day! We soon found though, that our course was more of a run and the main was blanketing the jib. It would empty and fill with a jolt, so we furled it and continued under just the main. We were still maintaining 8-9 knots over the ground. That's what 25 to 30 knots will do for a boat that sails well. Our course was supposed to put us across the Gulf Stream at a narrow part. I had read of other cruiser's encounters with the Stream, and had fervently hoped we could get through it unscathed. It was not to be. |