Streaming North: Getting Ready with Twists

May 7, 2017

Owing to my writing laziness, this article, which deals with preparation, was written as we were underway in calm waters between Georgetown and Frying Pan Shoal at Cape Fear. This followed a two day weather layover in Georgetown to allow a massive low pressure system to work its way north. Forecasted weather for the next four days is for seas around 2 feet and we are predicting arrival in Hingham at 6:00 AM on Thursday. Plenty of time to write.

Moving a 63 foot motor yacht some 1430 or 1,600 nautical miles, depending on whether we cut across or go around Florida involves some, albeit easy, preparation. However, that was not exactly the case this for this trip.

The first consideration is crew. The original plan was to follow the usual route across the Okeechobee Waterway and then north up the east coast with a two hour stop in Morehead City for fuel. This year I invited Bob Benson, a fellow yachtsman and Hingham I-dock slip mate, to accompany me.  Bob owns ParadoX, a 2015 45 foot X-Type sloop, and is a very experienced sailor with considerable offshore time. Bob has run the 600 nautical mile Marion Massachusetts to Bermuda Race and cruised the east coast from Annapolis. My plan was to do the trip with myself and Bob.  Owing to the Glendenning remote, which allows me to control the boat from several positions, I reasoned that the two of us could easily handle the five Okeechobee Locks.

Then former two-time crew member Phil Fuoco (Norfolk to Hingham May 2014 and Hingham to Sarasota November 2014) expressed interest in joining us for the northerly voyage. Phil, however, is a bit more conservative then myself with regard to weather and distance offshore. In fact he thinks I’m a bit of a risk taker and to that I plead guilty (especially appropriate as he was an attorney) although the risks I take are very calculated. My contemplation of a 70 mile offshore run to catch the Gulf Stream eliminated Phil. Plan B. I invited Phil and his wife, Carol, to accompany us through the Okeechobee. First it would be a pleasant trip in calm waters, second it would make the locks a slam dunk and, finally, I could drop them off a Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart by going about 100 yards off my route. Phil and Carol signed on.

Lake Okeechobee water levels eliminated Plan B. There was at least 1.5 feet of draft clearance when I proposed the Okeechobee voyage. Four days from departure that level had dropped to 8 inches. I’m not that big of a risk taker.

A week or so before the May 1 departure date, Captain Guy Aries, another two-timer (Hingham to Sarasota 2015 & 2016) called me up and offered to join the crew. Why not? Three doing watches is better than two and Guy is a terrific crew member. His curiosity about navigation has led me to better understand my electronics as we dug through the manuals to understand my system’s capabilities. This proved again to be true of this voyage when I stated that it would be nice to have graph data showing wind direction over time. Guy found it and more on my 7215s.

So now it’s Bob Benson and Guy Aries for the trip north.

The next consideration is equipment reliability from the keel up. Running continuously day and night for multiple days, operating as much as 70 miles offshore and dealing with difficult weather conditions requires that the boat’s systems be in perfect working order. With the help of Wheelhouse Technologies’ maintenance software and my “punch” list, I’m able to keep Guided Discovery “shipshape and Bristol.”

That said, she was not without problems. The most difficult is the coupling on the port transmission that was shedding rubber, an indication that it was slowly going to failure. This has been an issue for two north/south voyages and I have been in ongoing communication with the manufacturer, Soundown, regarding the cause of the problem and when it might fail.  The engineer suspected an alignment problem. So, last October I purchased a spare coupling for $2,700 and stored it securely in the lazarette.

The other problem was bottom paint. After three years my Hingham and Sarasota divers were reporting that the paint had reached the end of its useful life (i.e., the copper was no longer preventing marine growth). Time to haul the boat and repaint the bottom.

With the boat out of the water we could check the propellers, check the cutlass bearings, check the alignment, service the shaft seals and replace the coupler. Embree Marine Services performed these tasks and, unfortunately, the alignment was unsuccessful. Hence, between April 25 and April 27 the 63 was on the hard, again, to correct the alignment issue. Again unsuccessful. However, alignment does not pose an immediate safety issue. I plan to address the problem this summer.

The next issue involves Diana, Kodi and the car. In a normal year (we’ve had three) Diana and Kodi run the car up the coast while I move the boat. Diana’s run takes 3 to 4 days as compared to my nine. Hence, Diana usually stays with our friends in Sarasota, the Singers, for three or four days before heading north.

Not this year. We discovered a nodule on Kodi’s butt in January and consulted with our vet. He was not concerned, prescribed an antibiotic and rechecked her a week later. The advice was to watch it. Then three weeks before departure we saw a spot of blood on a runner. Back to the vet. The vet was still not overly concerned but suggested removal and biopsy of the nodule.

A week later the vet called back. He was not 100% happy. The biopsy revealed a low grade mass cell cancer that, while not life threatening, bared watching. What was most troubling was his statement that had he suspected cancer he would have removed more tissue at the margin.

Time for a second opinion. This time from Southeastern Guide Dogs (SEDG) where Kodi is an ambassador. SEDG operates a state of the art veterinary clinic and has a top notch medical team led by Dr. Kevin Conrad. Dr. Conrad looked at the biopsy and said I agree with your vet that he should have removed more of the tissue and recommended we do it now. So 4 days before departure Kodi had a second surgery during which Dr. Conrad removed three other growths and sent them along for analysis.

So as I write this article, Diana and Kodi are in Fort Lauderdale staying with Sophocles Karapas at their condo. Boy, it is nice to have good friends. This year I plan to fly back to Florida and drive back with Diana. We may head to the west coast for a visit with Dr. Conrad at Southeastern.

UPDATE: Kodi's biopsy report revealed a clean margin, suggesting that the tissue Dr. Conrad removed got all of the cancer. Further, the other growths we benign. Good news.

Now for the easy stuff. Provisioning is a snap owing to the fact that I have the shopping list on an Excel spread sheet along with Morton’s “Gourment Meals to Go” and a little help from Fernando, their executive chef.  For this voyage, Chef Fernando graciously prepared three new dishes that I proposed based on Morton’s gourmet prepared foods. So we will eat well.

Written by Les.