Sailing Inspiration

Was offshore for few days in southern winter conditions with some great crew members on a boat that was solid in hull and rig but otherwise unprepared. Nobody was badly hurt and everyone learned a lot but the view from outside would be the cruise from hell. This is all very helpful and inspiring to me.

Preparing to start work ...

Cleaning up and gathering the various notebooks , information, documentation, sketches in preparation for going back to work on Kitty Hawk. The mooring float and lines are in a bit of tangled mess so I am looking for the freezing Wx to abate before getting my hands wet.

Started cleaning up ...

The Boston Whaler which is the shuttle craft and work platform for Kitty Hawk has been overhauled and tuned up. We splashed it today and braved the freezing temps to start cleaning up and getting ready for work/renovations.

Three Years ??

It's been three years and where does the time go?

I have been getting experience/confidence in preparation for having my own command and Marybeth and I have been sailing together more. We have been sorting out our house and life together and in many ways the last three years have been and are "The Dream Come True Times."

Our Experiences:

(a) May 2008 I was to do a quick Atlantic crossing (my first crossing) with Richard Hudson on his new schooner Issuma from France to NorthAmerica and it turned into 6 months, 7,000 miles and we stopped at Spain twice , Madeira, Canaries exploration for a while and then Cape Verdes two stops and then headed for Cape Town and due to problems with furling gear ended up in La Paloma Uruguay (exciting mini story that) and then I finished my part in Buenos Aires. Richard's continuing story is a real page turner, if he would just write a bit more. However he does keep a regular blog at: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/rhudson/

(b) Dec 2008 Marybeth and I sail for the first time with Martin Tate to the Bahamas on a 44' Antares catamaran. This was the start of several trips with Martin on different boats and offers to sail with him on several long trips which were cancelled thru no fault of Martin's.

2009/2010: (canceled at last minute: Buenos Aires to Cape Cod // Cape Cod to Antigua ). Martin has been a good friend, a mentor and and a real inspiration when that was just what was needed.

(c) 2010: (1) Our first paid delivery as husband and wife (April: Flicka_20 from Man-O_War to Ft. Pierce) and our longest offshore together (June: Bermuda to Newport).

Help and Inspiration:

Richard Hudson: Richard's ability to prioritize and focus combined with an even temper and consistent energy translates into a world class explorer/voyager. He got me off to a good start, and put with ??? to do it.

Martin Tate: In addition to being a great soul and talented engineering mind Martin has more sailing knowledge and experience in the tip of one little pinky finger than .......

Don Martin: Don is a 75 year young local mechanic, fisherman, boat builder, motorcycle and boat racer, inventor, jack of all trades and possibly a reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci. Don has been and continues to be a great help and inspiration.

Not mentioned: You know who you are, and thanks again !!

The Boat:

Kitty Hawk has been waiting patiently for us to get our priorities in order and get back to work on her. Prior to the extended layup which was my time of gaining voyaging experience, I did a lot of steelwork on deck (bulwark cap pipe handrail), a midship traveler for the foresail, lifeline/davit sockets and working out some details on remote steering and on bulwark mounting brackets the would be multi purpose and can be positioned at many places around the boat. There remains only small projects to do on deck, but for the most part she is ready to sail. Down below there is a bit more to do. (1) The engine will be moved from the cargo hold to it's original design location aft of the main mast in the fwd end of the aft cabin. (2) The cargo hold will be setup with under floor tankage and heavy anchoring/mooring gear storage and internal ballast, while above the floor in the cargo hold she will have means to secure cargo and will accommodate, among other things, 55gal drums which could serve as extended storage for fuel or water if needed or could be paying cargo. (3) A comfortable inside steering station will be constructed in the aft cabin underneath the hemispherical viewing dome. (4) Improve space/storage utilization. (5) minor adjustments..

On May 30, 2010 we built a 1200+ lb mooring block (scrap metal wired together in concrete) in the back yard and then we moved on our trailer and then used Kitty Hawk to place it in the canal.

The future:

Now the next phase begins ..... .... .. .

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New Sails!

Our pinky schooner "Kitty Hawk" was designed by Tom Colvin and is one of his 'yin yang' clipper pinkys. They are the narrowest of his pinky designs. Ours is 10.3 ft beam compared to 13 ft beam on others of the same length. The original working pinkys of New England likely even wider still.