Over 900 miles…. and counting..... An adventure.....The making of a Captain.....

I now have auto-pilot....

The boat had auto-pilot and I was told it was not operational. I connected some wires to Sea Talk before I left Annapolis and it appeared to be functioning properly. I thought I lucked out.... Then a rain storm happened and I didn't have my canvas up. So water intruded on the remote for the AP and it fried some IC chips inside the remote. So I never got a chance to see if it worked or not.....

Since this is all legacy equipment, I can't just buy off the shelf. I had to keep an eye on Ebay. I got lucky right before I left and saw an auction for a "New" remote. So I worked a deal with the ebay'er but I was never in a port long enough, nor did I know which port I would be in, to send it. When I got to Savannah I stayed a week or so and had it shipped in. As soon as I got it, I installed it and it appeared to be working great.

I was able to test it on my run from Savannah to Amelia Island.... Which I did in the pond... Oh man, what a difference. It was great being out in open water and not having to course correct every two seconds. I still didn't let up my guard as it was the first time using AP and I wasn't totally sure it would continue to work properly. That was a great day.... In fact saw right whales, dolphins, and even a few sea turtles......
 
I'll second what Mike says.

The AP is the best fatigue reducer you will ever have on a long trip. Just freeing your hands to grab a coke, flip a chart over, get a bottle of water really, really helps with fatigue. On a trip, my AP is on about 95% of the time.
 
It does outside.... Yet in the ICW course corrections are always necessary..... and if there is strong current and / or wind the AP zig zags her around a bit. There isn't enough room to be ziggin' and zaggin'....

Nice to see you chime in here, Frank. I owe you a debt of gratitude too. Without your assistance early on I would never have had a boat to start this mini-adventure.
 
Quite an adventure let alone it being a first boat and you're handling all the captain and crew duties by yourself. My hats off to you. It would take me forever to do a trip solo as I'd then have to shut down about every 10 miles just to whiz. Can we assume you have some sort of float plan left with someone or are you just taking it as it comes?

Speaking of fatigue, one of the things I now can't live without when on a long trip is an anti-fatigue mat. I spend a lot of time standing against the bolster and having that extra cushion to stand on really makes a huge difference when you're at the helm for 10 hours.

anyway, stay safe and enjoy the trip...
 
Living the dream! This is what I want to do someday....no plan no worries!
 
This trip is half adventure and half learning experience and I really wanted to do it solo.

There is something different about traveling on your own. You lose some comradery and a sense of comfort knowing someone else is there. Yet, you gain a sense of accomplishment and it's an enjoyable way of meeting other people. When you travel with someone, a lot of times you keep to yourselves. Traveling alone, you tend to be more extroverted. I traveled across country alone and have done extensive world traveling that way. Plus, this is all just a primer to getting a large sailboat and setting sail for a long time.

I had friends that wanted to join me, if not for the whole trip, for different legs. I declined all offers, telling them this is a solo journey.... At Least for the trip down. Once I reach KWF then I might open it up and not be so concerned about doing it solo.

In fact, Jo (KTCanuck's wife) thinks I need a deck hand or first mate.... I think she might be right.... I'll be accepting applications soon.... But you have to look good in a bikini..haha

Tim, the first part of the trip my canvas glass was so bad that I had to unzip the top and look through the unziped area. So it was a lot of standing. I didn't mind it as it allowed me to stretch a bit. At the end of the day I'd feel it though.

Regarding going below, I'm very careful and will set autopilot and slow down when I need to hit the head. I count so I'm sure I'm only down for seconds.
 
Boat Guy said:
Nice to see you chime in here, Frank. I owe you a debt of gratitude too. Without your assistance early on I would never have had a boat to start this mini-adventure.
Click to expand...

Mini-adventure?.....Did you really say Mini? What do you plan for next year, space exploration?

Just kidding of course. Be safe. Thanks for taking the time to post.
 
Regarding the float plan.... (sorry I missed it earlier)

I have a group email I send out before leaving port stating my intentions that goes to six people. The signature line in the email has all the vessel information. When I get into port I send out another telling them about the day and that I'm securely tied to the dock. So, yes, I take safety very seriously..... Tomorrow (I hope), my AIS transceiver should be here. While I'm less concerned about my ICW legs. When I head to the Bahamas this will come in handy. I also have my MMSI and DSC VHF.
 
what an adventure, good for you! thanks for updating us although i would love more details
 
It was a month ago that I left Annapolis. I knew I was starting off having made a big mistake and I confirmed it all the way down...... I should have left in October. Having nice warm weather to travel in makes the journey so much easier.

But, the truth is, I didn't have a choice. I just wasn't ready, the boat wasn't ready, and the outside influences weren't ready either... So it was November or bust. In fact, up until I pulled the lines I really wasn't certain I was going to go.

You have to think back to when you first started boating to get the thoughts going through my head. That the boat wasn't fully ready... I could use a lot more experience....I could actually have looked at a chart first.....Nah... All those thoughts just get in way... I knew I would be safe... I knew the boat wasn't going to sink (or at least I thought so).... I knew that I didn't want to let the opportunity pass...and most importantly, I needed to get to warmth...

Well, I picked a great day to leave. It was relatively warm and thankfully, as an afterthought the day before, I put up the front canvas. So, with a couple of dock friends holding lines and ready to cast me off, I got a call from Turtlesboat. I could barely hear him over the engines but he had made it down to Coinjock and warned me to stay in Annapolis because the Great Bridge Lock was broken. It was the last thing I needed to hear as I felt like I was already having doubts about this. But, as I said earlier, I told him I appreciated the info and said "F'it" ...My thought was, "it's a lock, they'll have it fixed by the time I need to go through" Right?

So, the lines were tossed on board and I retrieved them, put them away and went to the helm to put the port and starboard engines in gear. As she slowly pulls away from my dock and into the channel, I get a sense that it all just feels right. That all the doubt was just an abundance of caution...Thankfully, I only have a short run before I can hit the Chesapeake and get her up on plane. I bring the throttle up about 3/4 and start to hear the turbos spinning up. She gets right up on plane and I settle her down at about 2100 RPM and it seems she's more excited about heading south than I am.

I've got the sun shining, it's mid morning, the canvas is blocking the wind and I'm getting a little green house effect at the helm. I installed a new Alpine stereo before I left and put the wireless remote to use. Got the tunes going, the engines humming, deep water, and passing a few sailboats like they don't really ever want to get south. The one thing that surprised me the most was that after I passed a few blow boaters out of Annapolis, I had the whole bay to myself. It was both great and eerie at the same time. I mean you have the whole bay to yourself and not another boat in sight....Then you start thinking, "Why? What does everyone know that you don't?" Haha....

Anyway, the shakedown day was going off perfectly. I was making good time and I was going to be in the area I expected on time. You see, I figured I'd get down past the Potomac mouth into the Rappahnnock River and have an easy day into Norfolk the following day.

So, I pull into the Rappahonnock and see the marina I was thinking of stay at on my port side. So I give them a call and I get their voice mail... They were closed! Oooops... I had no real plan B. I mean who expects a marina to be closed at 4. This is an "Oh ****" moment. Sun starting to fall....no other marinas around, wind kicking up, and to top it off a shoal with reeds sticking out uncharted! I don't see any other boats in the marina. I'm thinking, "Is this one of those seasonal marinas?....just how screwed am I?"....

Well, no worries....I'm not sinking.... I have an anchor... I can anchor off...or I could just try hailing them on 16. So, I try hailing them and low and behold I get a response. "Sure, we're open", he says.... "Depth? No problem...just follow the channel"....hmmm, ok as my depth finder is alarming like crazy trying to get in. It's showing 3.5' and I draw 3.5'! Real nice....... Though once I was in, the guy I hailed had a nice side dock all for me... I mean, it was all for me... There were no other boats around except for a few bay fishing boats at another part of the marina. I was basically very lucky that a neighbor of the marina was monitoring and helped me coming in... Because they were closed.

Mission complete - Day 1 successful -- Maybe the whole trip will be this easy...... just as the wind kicks up and the cold of the night enters. Yes, I slept well....
 
Oh man keep the day by day coming this is a great story
 
Update

He hit a mantee in Haulover Canal, had to beach the boat to keep from sinking, and now lives on a derelict boat tied up behind Captain Rusty's beach cottage on Cocoa Beach...
 
Waking up the next morning was great. A cold, but crisp morning.... The kind that reminds you that winter is approaching, but in a way that makes you want to get moving. The sun was coming up over the horizon and it was windy. It was just a short walk around the building to the men's facilities and it gave me an opportunity to see just how alone and quiet the marina really was. After getting the mornings necessities done back on the boat, the marina awoke with a few employees. I also noticed it was low tide as the water line was showing on the pilings. Since the alarms had warned me just how shallow the channel was, I thought it prudent to wait a bit for the tide to come up. So, it gave me a chance to set up a course into Norfolk and go into the marina office and meet the people there. I knew making Norfolk would only be a 3 to 4 hour run so I wasn't rushed to leave.....

When the tide came in and I pulled off the lines from the dock. I was real careful to follow the small channel getting out. Earlier a fishing boat had to power off a shoal as he hit bottom, and I didn't want to follow his lead. The channel and the Rappahannock were easy to navigate and I powered up to put her on plane just entering the Chesapeake. As I settled into what I thought would be another uneventful run, I noticed a little something "jumping" on the port side of the boat. Then I got that little humbling feeling that I missed a step. I forgot to pull the fender in off the port side just in front of the windshield. I really didn't want to run with the fender banging around nor did I think it would represent Sea Ray well to have their boat running down the bay with this fender flailing around....so I powered down to idle and dropped her into neutral.......It is this type of scenario when you realize two things..... First, the sea state is much rougher just floating around. I would say it was 3' chop with about 12 knot winds and the boat was rocking all around. I knew I didn't want to stay this way longer than needed, and I knew I had to be very careful walking up to bring the fender in.... because, the second thing I realized was I was very alone. If I fell off it was going to really suck...and that was the best case scenario. Before I left the cockpit, I threw a line off the port stern cleat into the water so that if I did splash I could pull myself back in and not have to try and swim back. So, I walked up the port side with those thoughts in mind - carefully holding on around the port side, and up to the rail where the fender was tied off. The boat was swaying easily four to five feet back and fourth... A little life lesson to make it easier to remember in the future....... Make sure she's ready when you leave......

....it was a good feeling coming back to the helm and bringing her back up on plane and on course for Norfolk. What made probably my most uneventful day interesting was all the Coast Guard and military traffic on the radio concerning a carrier coming into Norfolk. Interestingly around that area, and other areas of the bay, there are many warning areas on the charts about military areas. The good news is you can pretty much disregard them unless something is going on any particular day. So, just keep aware of radio contact or some military boat heading towards you...or shots across your bow....

Getting into Norfolk was much easier than expected. I though it would be narrower with a lot of no wake areas.... What I entered into was a wide open area and plenty of room to run....It's basically "Carrier City" with all the carriers and military vessels around....Pretty cool to see, though I don't recommend boating up next to them unless you want a few more holes in your boat. They patrol the area carefully and I'm sure would make your life miserable if you gave them a reason.....

When I said I was headed to Norfolk, that was not really accurate. I was truly headed to Portsmouth. So, I was looking starboard as Portsmouth is just to the west of Norfolk....There is a no wake zone right before the area, and I'm sure the tons of sailboats moored out, just before the marina, appreciate it....So, I hailed Tidewater Marina and was given a slip to find... swing back around the breakwater wall and this way and that...I happily informed them I had no knowledge of the marina and could use some assistance as I was single handed... I really think the current intentionally kicked up just as I entered the marina.....I had a real nice side current making my first try to bring her in a practice run...Two times a charm....They were very helpful grabbing lines as I backed her in to her resting spot for the night...

A footnote to the slip story is that this was the first marina I ever slipped her in. Back up north I had the face dock soooooo I never had to slip her....First time for everything....

......And this is where the story gets interesting.
 
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By now, I am sure you have realized it, but the 400DA has the hatch type of boarding ladder on the swim platform. Those ladders fold outward to deploy once the hatch is raised which makes them nearly impossible to grasp and unfold if you are in the water. 400 owners should never climb out on the deck if they are alone due to the difficulty of getting back on the boat if you fall in. Sea Ray makes great, safe boats, but this is one design feature someone with real boating experience should have been supervising the designer more closely........it just isn't safe.
 
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