The can of paint Roy ordered arrived today. He was going to give the deck its final coat, and I was going to second-coat the roof, but it rained all day, so we couldn't.
I did the laundry and played with the weatherfax some more. Phoned the National Weather Service to find out about RTTY and Navtex. Was told they're both in plain English. Later, I phoned the software producer. Talked with a customer rep who was very nice and eager to please. Unfortunately, this was his first day on the job, so he knew even less about it than I did. He gave me a few suggestions, which I tried, but they didn't work. Maybe the problem is just crummy reception; maybe in Charleston or out on the open ocean it will come in better.
In the afternoon, Roy and I borrowed the truck and drove to the store for chicken and stuff.
We've arranged to go back in the water tomorrow, so we paid the bill of $512.15.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 30, 1994 Memorial Day
Roy finished painting the bottom and began wiring the wind generator. I sanded and painted the wood on top of the doghouse. The boat at least looks good.
Got another weatherfax. I've learned we can get reception only in the morning. By noon, there's nothing. The only weatherfax frequency I can get anything on is 20013.20. Of course, everything will undoubtedly change when we move to a new location.
Got an RTTY weather transmission, too, but it was nothing but a meaningless assortment of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. Tomorrow, I'll phone and try to find out where I can get a book to decode it and Navtex. I don't understand why they don't use plain English.
Got another weatherfax. I've learned we can get reception only in the morning. By noon, there's nothing. The only weatherfax frequency I can get anything on is 20013.20. Of course, everything will undoubtedly change when we move to a new location.
Got an RTTY weather transmission, too, but it was nothing but a meaningless assortment of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. Tomorrow, I'll phone and try to find out where I can get a book to decode it and Navtex. I don't understand why they don't use plain English.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 1994 - Core Creek, NC
How pleasant to have the boat to ourselves! The tension is flowing out of us; we're starting to feel human again. We've learned a very expensive and painful lesson: this boat is built for two people. It's okay to have a couple of guests along for a day or two, but no more than two people at a time and no more than two or three days. More than that is too stressful.
So many conditions led to the grounding, so many if's. If we hadn't had the crew; if we hadn't been under so much stress for a month; if we hadn't changed our plans so abruptly; if we hadn't been so hasty; if I'd paid more attention to the coastal charts; if Roy had checked the charts and course before we left; if we'd left at dawn instead of at night; if I hadn't been so sleepy; if I hadn't turned the wheel over to Butch; if Butch had stopped the boat; if I had taken in the headsail and changed course; if, if, if..... We'd be in Bermuda now, if.....
This was a pleasant day. Bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds, warm but not hot, pleasant little breeze. Roy continued patching the cracks and then started applying bottom paint. I got another weatherfax and even part of a Navtex transmission, but it was incomprehensible. At least, the equipment works, but it's irrelevant now that we won't be going to sea.
In the afternoon, I took a shower and then went for a stroll. This is pretty country, but I bet it's miserably hot and humid in the summer.
It's sure nice having a restroom and shower that's always available and that we don't have to go through someone's house to get to. This one's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
So many conditions led to the grounding, so many if's. If we hadn't had the crew; if we hadn't been under so much stress for a month; if we hadn't changed our plans so abruptly; if we hadn't been so hasty; if I'd paid more attention to the coastal charts; if Roy had checked the charts and course before we left; if we'd left at dawn instead of at night; if I hadn't been so sleepy; if I hadn't turned the wheel over to Butch; if Butch had stopped the boat; if I had taken in the headsail and changed course; if, if, if..... We'd be in Bermuda now, if.....
This was a pleasant day. Bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds, warm but not hot, pleasant little breeze. Roy continued patching the cracks and then started applying bottom paint. I got another weatherfax and even part of a Navtex transmission, but it was incomprehensible. At least, the equipment works, but it's irrelevant now that we won't be going to sea.
In the afternoon, I took a shower and then went for a stroll. This is pretty country, but I bet it's miserably hot and humid in the summer.
It's sure nice having a restroom and shower that's always available and that we don't have to go through someone's house to get to. This one's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Saturday, May 28, 1994 - Core Creek, NC
Memories of Monday night continue to haunt me. I wake up at night thinking about them. During the day, I can't get them off my mind. It just seems impossible that I didn't stop the boat before she went aground. That's such an automatic thing to do. Even brain-dead, I should have automatically stopped the boat. And why didn't Butch stop the boat? He was at the wheel; why didn't he pull back the throttle? I'm not blaming Butch; I just don't understand how both of us could have been completely out of it at the same time. I guess that's the fallacy of having two people on watch--neither feels responsible. If I had been on watch by myself, I would have stopped the boat. If Butch had been on watch by himself, he would have stopped the boat. Instead, both of us expected the other one to do something, so nothing got done.
My greatest regret is the terrible injury I did to the Jofian. She's such a good boat; she deserves much better treatment. A cement or fiberglass boat would have been smashed to pieces. Jofian held together and got us safely back to port.
My second greatest regret is ruining the vacation dreams of five people, especially Roy. Al and Lloyd are driving back to California in a rented car. That's miserable and expensive. We're sitting in this stupid boatyard at Core Creek, North Carolina, feeding the mosquitoes and paying $400 for the privilege. Roy worked so hard for months getting the boat ready for the trip. He should be out on the water having fun, enjoying the fruits of his labors. Instead, he's having to repair the boat all over again. All because of my inaction. We'd be sailing into St. George's Harbor right now if I'd just gotten my act together and stopped the boat. How could I have let her go on? How could I have not stopped her? I've asked myself that over and over. It would have been so simple to have taken in the headsail and changed course when the depth gauge first started dropping. Even later, when we were in less than ten feet of water, we could have stopped the boat, turned around, and headed back to deep water. Why didn't we? Why, why, why?
Roy has assessed the damage to the boat at twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars. The keel has separated from the hull. A number of planks need to be replaced. She needs to be refastened, something we did in Richmond a couple of years ago, at a cost, if I remember correctly, of around $4000. Most of the seams have to be recaulked. Finally, of course, she has to be repainted. All this just to get her back into the condition she was in at ten o'clock last Monday night when I took over the watch. And even then she won't be in as good a condition. She'll probably never again be capable of sailing across the ocean, but at least we'll be able to sail her along the coast and in inland waters. But the wonderful dream Roy has been dreaming ever since he bought the boat nine years ago has been shattered. And I did it. He's always been so good to me; how could I have done this to him?
The situation began deteriorating when Al invited two of his friends to go with us. When they all arrived a week early, everything really started going downhill. Roy couldn't finish the work the way he wanted to, the boat was too crowded, there was much too much haste. We should have sat in Morehead City until the wind changed and then sailed to Charleston as we originally planned. It was crazy trying to go to Bermuda without a sea trial. Haste really does make waste.
Tried printing the weatherfaxes today. To my surprise, the printer worked flawlessly! The faxes are much easier to read on paper than on the screen. They're still pretty blurry, though; we can't really interpret them. And I still can't get Navtex.
Roy spent most of the day patching the hull temporarily. He has sealed the gap between the keel and the hull, and has caulked many of the seams. He has concluded that the keel bolts can't be torqued without removing the engine and cutting holes in the beams, so they'll have to stay as they are for now. After he repaints the bottom, the boat should be ready to go back in the water Wednesday. If she doesn't take on water, we'll gingerly sail her to Charleston and haul out again to reinspect the hull.
In the afternoon, we borrowed the pickup, drove to a grocery store, and bought chicken, cauliflower, broccoli, and cookies. Nice day for a drive.
Around ten, Roy phoned his son, Steve, and told him what had happened. Steve said to think of it as another experience.
My greatest regret is the terrible injury I did to the Jofian. She's such a good boat; she deserves much better treatment. A cement or fiberglass boat would have been smashed to pieces. Jofian held together and got us safely back to port.
My second greatest regret is ruining the vacation dreams of five people, especially Roy. Al and Lloyd are driving back to California in a rented car. That's miserable and expensive. We're sitting in this stupid boatyard at Core Creek, North Carolina, feeding the mosquitoes and paying $400 for the privilege. Roy worked so hard for months getting the boat ready for the trip. He should be out on the water having fun, enjoying the fruits of his labors. Instead, he's having to repair the boat all over again. All because of my inaction. We'd be sailing into St. George's Harbor right now if I'd just gotten my act together and stopped the boat. How could I have let her go on? How could I have not stopped her? I've asked myself that over and over. It would have been so simple to have taken in the headsail and changed course when the depth gauge first started dropping. Even later, when we were in less than ten feet of water, we could have stopped the boat, turned around, and headed back to deep water. Why didn't we? Why, why, why?
Roy has assessed the damage to the boat at twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars. The keel has separated from the hull. A number of planks need to be replaced. She needs to be refastened, something we did in Richmond a couple of years ago, at a cost, if I remember correctly, of around $4000. Most of the seams have to be recaulked. Finally, of course, she has to be repainted. All this just to get her back into the condition she was in at ten o'clock last Monday night when I took over the watch. And even then she won't be in as good a condition. She'll probably never again be capable of sailing across the ocean, but at least we'll be able to sail her along the coast and in inland waters. But the wonderful dream Roy has been dreaming ever since he bought the boat nine years ago has been shattered. And I did it. He's always been so good to me; how could I have done this to him?
The situation began deteriorating when Al invited two of his friends to go with us. When they all arrived a week early, everything really started going downhill. Roy couldn't finish the work the way he wanted to, the boat was too crowded, there was much too much haste. We should have sat in Morehead City until the wind changed and then sailed to Charleston as we originally planned. It was crazy trying to go to Bermuda without a sea trial. Haste really does make waste.
Tried printing the weatherfaxes today. To my surprise, the printer worked flawlessly! The faxes are much easier to read on paper than on the screen. They're still pretty blurry, though; we can't really interpret them. And I still can't get Navtex.
Roy spent most of the day patching the hull temporarily. He has sealed the gap between the keel and the hull, and has caulked many of the seams. He has concluded that the keel bolts can't be torqued without removing the engine and cutting holes in the beams, so they'll have to stay as they are for now. After he repaints the bottom, the boat should be ready to go back in the water Wednesday. If she doesn't take on water, we'll gingerly sail her to Charleston and haul out again to reinspect the hull.
In the afternoon, we borrowed the pickup, drove to a grocery store, and bought chicken, cauliflower, broccoli, and cookies. Nice day for a drive.
Around ten, Roy phoned his son, Steve, and told him what had happened. Steve said to think of it as another experience.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday, May 27, 1994 - Beaufort, NC
How delightful to wake up in a quiet, peaceful, empty boat! I'm starting to feel like a human being again.
It rained most of the night and morning, so I filled the tank with fresh, sweet rainwater.
Spent three or four hours trying to get the new weatherfax to work. It requires very careful tuning and excellent reception. I tried various frequencies and adjustments but got nothing but specks. By noon, I had just about concluded that it was defective, and I was thinking of phoning the company I bought it from. All of a sudden, to my amazement, here came a weather chart! I could scarcely believe my eyes. Granted, it's sort of fuzzy and hard to read, but at least it is a weather chart. It's easy to recognize the various states, including North Carolina, and it has a zoom feature, so you can magnify the area you want. If I can get it to print out on paper, it should be even easier to read. Later, I even managed to get some Morse code, which is even trickier to adjust. There was a lot of noise, giving extraneous characters, but some of it was readable. So far, however, I haven't been able to bring in Navtex at all. I don't understand why they gave it such a low frequency--only 518 kHz. A higher frequency would be much easier to receive. I got the weatherfax at 20.015 MHz. I'd like to be able to get Navtex, because it describes the weather in words instead of pictures.
Expected Roy back around noon. When he wasn't here by two, I began to get worried. Fortunately, he showed up, safe and sound, around 2:30 or 3:00. He had taken his time and done some shopping. He was thrilled when he found out we'd gotten a weatherfax.
It rained most of the night and morning, so I filled the tank with fresh, sweet rainwater.
Spent three or four hours trying to get the new weatherfax to work. It requires very careful tuning and excellent reception. I tried various frequencies and adjustments but got nothing but specks. By noon, I had just about concluded that it was defective, and I was thinking of phoning the company I bought it from. All of a sudden, to my amazement, here came a weather chart! I could scarcely believe my eyes. Granted, it's sort of fuzzy and hard to read, but at least it is a weather chart. It's easy to recognize the various states, including North Carolina, and it has a zoom feature, so you can magnify the area you want. If I can get it to print out on paper, it should be even easier to read. Later, I even managed to get some Morse code, which is even trickier to adjust. There was a lot of noise, giving extraneous characters, but some of it was readable. So far, however, I haven't been able to bring in Navtex at all. I don't understand why they gave it such a low frequency--only 518 kHz. A higher frequency would be much easier to receive. I got the weatherfax at 20.015 MHz. I'd like to be able to get Navtex, because it describes the weather in words instead of pictures.
Expected Roy back around noon. When he wasn't here by two, I began to get worried. Fortunately, he showed up, safe and sound, around 2:30 or 3:00. He had taken his time and done some shopping. He was thrilled when he found out we'd gotten a weatherfax.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 1994 - Beaufort, NC
Well, it's over. We're not going to England or Bermuda. Roy called another meeting at 9:30 and "invited" Al to leave. Lloyd decided to leave also. They spent most of the day getting their gear and groceries off the boat and making travel arrangements, while Roy and I wandered around or sat in the lounge to keep out of their way. Since there was far more stuff than they could carry on a plane or train, they decided to rent a car (Roy suggested renting a truck, but it was too expensive). The nearest place where they could rent a one-way car was Raleigh, so they rented a local car from Enterprise and Roy went with them to the Raleigh Airport to get the Hertz car. Roy will drive the Enterprise car back tomorrow.
What a relief to have the boat to ourselves again!
I've gone over in my mind the events of Monday night a thousand times, always with a slightly different scenario, but every time I mentally bring in the headsail, turn the boat around, and head back to deep water. Why didn't I do that in real life? Probably because I'd taken two Dramamine, which always makes me drowsy, I'd only had one hour's sleep, and it was the middle of the night. My body was up walking around, but my brain was asleep. That combined with the chaos, confusion, conflict, stress, pressure, and haste of the past month. The boat just isn't big enough for five people, especially when one of those people is Al Snider. We've learned an expensive lesson, and, as Roy says, we're lucky to have survived.
What a relief to have the boat to ourselves again!
I've gone over in my mind the events of Monday night a thousand times, always with a slightly different scenario, but every time I mentally bring in the headsail, turn the boat around, and head back to deep water. Why didn't I do that in real life? Probably because I'd taken two Dramamine, which always makes me drowsy, I'd only had one hour's sleep, and it was the middle of the night. My body was up walking around, but my brain was asleep. That combined with the chaos, confusion, conflict, stress, pressure, and haste of the past month. The boat just isn't big enough for five people, especially when one of those people is Al Snider. We've learned an expensive lesson, and, as Roy says, we're lucky to have survived.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 1994 - Beaufort, NC
We're paying $240 for the haulout and return plus $20 a day. We'd much rather be spending the money in Bermuda or England, not to mention the time.
Roy called a meeting at nine o'clock this morning to discuss the situation. He estimated it would take at least four or five days to repair the boat. Then we'll sail to Charleston, as we intended in the first place, and haul out again to see if any more seams have opened up. Based on the condition of the boat at that time, we'll decide what to do next. The trip to England is out. There is only a slight chance we'll go to Bermuda. Hurricane season is fast approaching.
We left in much too much haste. We weren't ready. We hadn't had a sea trial. We changed our plans too abruptly. None of this excuses my actions (or lack of them), but it helps explain them.
The boatyard has a courtesy pickup truck available for customers to use for two hours. Al borrowed it this morning. He and Lloyd drove to Morehead City. Al dropped Lloyd off after agreeing to pick him up in an hour at a certain place. Around one, Al returned to the boat alone. He said he'd been an hour late going back to get Lloyd, and when he got there, Lloyd wasn't there. He thought maybe Lloyd had hitch-hiked back. Both Roy and I insisted that Al immediately return to find Lloyd, unless someone else was waiting to use the truck. I checked in the office, and they said we could use it. I went with Al to help him find Lloyd and to get a few things that Roy wanted. When we got to Beaufort, Al asked me which store I wanted to go to first. I told him our first priority was to find Lloyd. Then he asked me where I wanted him to start looking. I said to go to the place where they'd agreed to meet. Sure enough, there was Lloyd patiently waiting. Al hadn't even walked around the corner of the building to look for him! True, Lloyd had left a few times for brief periods, so perhaps he hadn't been there when Al arrived, but Al could have waited for ten or fifteen minutes. Fortunately, Lloyd wasn't angry or even surprised.
Of the three things Roy wanted, I was able to get the mechanical finger and the plumber's tape right off, but we went to a dozen stores without finding the waterproof bag, so we returned to the boat. By then, it was after five, so the office was closed. Al left a note on the truck's windshield and took the key to the boat.
After supper, I phoned my daughters Barbra, Kathy, and Diane. Barbra is feeling some better but still has brief memory lapses. She's working but doesn't like the job. However, she'll soon have medical insurance, so then she'll be able to go to a private doctor. The company Kathy works for is on the verge of bankruptcy, so she'll soon be out of work. When that happens, she'll probably move to Visalia, where Brian's other grandmother lives. She can rent an entire house down there for $550 a month. Diane has lost her job and will probably soon be moving to Portland to start the mail-order furniture business she wants to get into.
Al changed the oil in the generator, messed up the choke, and left the generator sitting on the ground, in the dark, for several hours. Al also used the pressure cooker to cook black-eyed peas and messed up the valve, burned the peas, and then set the hot pot down on the formica. Roy was seething.
Roy called a meeting at nine o'clock this morning to discuss the situation. He estimated it would take at least four or five days to repair the boat. Then we'll sail to Charleston, as we intended in the first place, and haul out again to see if any more seams have opened up. Based on the condition of the boat at that time, we'll decide what to do next. The trip to England is out. There is only a slight chance we'll go to Bermuda. Hurricane season is fast approaching.
We left in much too much haste. We weren't ready. We hadn't had a sea trial. We changed our plans too abruptly. None of this excuses my actions (or lack of them), but it helps explain them.
The boatyard has a courtesy pickup truck available for customers to use for two hours. Al borrowed it this morning. He and Lloyd drove to Morehead City. Al dropped Lloyd off after agreeing to pick him up in an hour at a certain place. Around one, Al returned to the boat alone. He said he'd been an hour late going back to get Lloyd, and when he got there, Lloyd wasn't there. He thought maybe Lloyd had hitch-hiked back. Both Roy and I insisted that Al immediately return to find Lloyd, unless someone else was waiting to use the truck. I checked in the office, and they said we could use it. I went with Al to help him find Lloyd and to get a few things that Roy wanted. When we got to Beaufort, Al asked me which store I wanted to go to first. I told him our first priority was to find Lloyd. Then he asked me where I wanted him to start looking. I said to go to the place where they'd agreed to meet. Sure enough, there was Lloyd patiently waiting. Al hadn't even walked around the corner of the building to look for him! True, Lloyd had left a few times for brief periods, so perhaps he hadn't been there when Al arrived, but Al could have waited for ten or fifteen minutes. Fortunately, Lloyd wasn't angry or even surprised.
Of the three things Roy wanted, I was able to get the mechanical finger and the plumber's tape right off, but we went to a dozen stores without finding the waterproof bag, so we returned to the boat. By then, it was after five, so the office was closed. Al left a note on the truck's windshield and took the key to the boat.
After supper, I phoned my daughters Barbra, Kathy, and Diane. Barbra is feeling some better but still has brief memory lapses. She's working but doesn't like the job. However, she'll soon have medical insurance, so then she'll be able to go to a private doctor. The company Kathy works for is on the verge of bankruptcy, so she'll soon be out of work. When that happens, she'll probably move to Visalia, where Brian's other grandmother lives. She can rent an entire house down there for $550 a month. Diane has lost her job and will probably soon be moving to Portland to start the mail-order furniture business she wants to get into.
Al changed the oil in the generator, messed up the choke, and left the generator sitting on the ground, in the dark, for several hours. Al also used the pressure cooker to cook black-eyed peas and messed up the valve, burned the peas, and then set the hot pot down on the formica. Roy was seething.
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