Our New Sails Work!

1st impression - love them!

We took Eximius out today for our first sail of the year. As reported previously, my Son, Bob came out with us.

An early start from the slip, Bob joined us about 9:15am and we completed a safety briefing and got the boat ready to start. Geeves (our Engine) started without hesitation, and we were under way a couple of hours after low tide.

Heading down the New River, all of the bridges opened with a cheerful new year's greeting, but we were not the only boats out for the day.

17th Street Bridge was not yet open, but tide was low enough to allow us through easily. We motored out of the Fort Lauderdale Channel and prepared the new sails to be hoisted for the 1st time under sail. And they looked good!

1st reef set in the main and 60-70% of the jib unfurled, the boat was beautifully balanced.
We headed out of Port Everglades, turned Southwest while I adjusted the sail. Eximius was going really well. Then we turned to the Northeast and headed out, almost as though we were going to West End in the Bahamas, but not today, we just wanted to get the sails up and trim them to get a feel for how they fly. And we were thrilled! They are great.

Within a few minutes, we had Eximius on a close reach and heading out to sea at over 7knots. And Balanced! Hardly any pressure on the wheel, I kept her pointed at about 60 degrees off the wind and we hit 7 knots again and again. First sail - great!

After passing the 3 mile limit, we turned back to port and eased off the sails. Again Eximius responded with a balance sail back to the Port Everglades channel.

There was a ship showing up on the AIS, we could see it off our port quarter. According to the AIS the ship was heading directly down towards the channel and we watched as a Pilot boat delivered and then headed back into port. The 'Broward' Tug was waiting inside the channel to chaperon the ship into the docks, we skirted by 'Broward' and stayed on the port side of the channel as the ship plowed her way into the port. Now on a beam reach, we were still hitting 7 knots even in the decreased wind of around 9 to 10 knots from the South.

Once inside the turning basin, we turned South under motor and into wind to drop the main sail. This was also a test of our re-rigged jib furling system - phew! that worked great too. The new sail dropped easily into the Cradle Cover with just the slightest supervision to ensure it flaked down neatly. Once stowed, we turned North towards the 17th Street Causeway bridge which was about to open. I called into the bridge tender and advised that I thought we would be able to pass, and once the larger boat was clear of the bridge, the tender started to lower the span. With 56' of clearance, we passed beneath it without any concern, but there were a bunch of folks ashore taking pics as we passed under the bridge.

Now past the bridge, we headed up the Intracoastal, keeping the Green channel markers on our starboard side as were heading away from Texas. (The Intracoastal goes to Texas, so we were effectively 'leaving' Texas). As we passed Sand Bar Park and turned East toward Bahia Mar for passage into Lake Sylvia.

Lake Sylvia was probably the most crowded we have ever seen it. Perhaps the impending Northerly due later this weekend/ early next week, is causing a lot of vessels to hold back till after it passes before they head over to the Islands.

Peggy, Bob and I enjoyed a lunch on the hook in Lake Sylvia before we headed back out of the lake. As always, we hugged the West side of the Lake entrance to stay clear of the shallows that have grabbed our keel previously. We cleared the lake entrance and turned Westward and to the North side of Sand Bar park. The channel was busy! Lots of small boat traffic, a couple of bigger boats, and another sail boat were following us up the River.

The Bridges all opened without much delay and we quickly passed the last of the Bascule Bridges and turned onto the North Fork of the New River. The sail boat behind us turned into the South Fork as we headed towards our slip.

We touched bottom briefly just before we turned into the canal where our slip is located, but it was really brief, probably a bit of shoaling due to currents in the canals. We easily pushed out way past it and turned into or slips channel. Peggy kept our speed up a little from our usual sedate transit up the canal just incase we caught the bottom again but it was clear and we quickly approached our slip.

I was able to step ashore on the dock as Peggy put Eximius in reverse to bring us to a stop. I think Bob was impressed with the ease that we brought the boat alongside and swung her around so that she was pointing down the canal ready for our next trip.

It only took about 30 minutes to secure the boat and take what needed to be ashore. A quick washdown of the deck and hull and we were ready to head home.

I hope Bob enjoyed it as much as we did, it really was a great day. It proved that we can participate in the club races next year. Perhaps Bob will Crew for us.

Great Start to 2016

2016 - What a great start! 1st time out on Eximius this year, 1st time out with new Sails, 1st time out with my Son Bob. Great sail on the Ocean outside of Fort Lauderdale, headed out to the 3 mile limit, then sailed back. Hit the 7+ knots several times, sailed all the way back to the turning basin. then dropped sails and motored to Lake Sylvia to find it crowded! Lunch on the hook, then motored back up the new river to the slip.

Awesome 1st sail of the year!

Leaving a crowded Lake Sylvia.

Happy New Year!

Planning on Celebrating New Year

Looks like we'll have another go at putting the new sails up this weekend.

Plan is to take the boat out on New years Day and anchor somewhere overnight.

I'm a little grumpy while writing this, Just received news about the latest Rich Guys Law being introduced in the Florida House. House Bill 1051

There was a bill that ran it's course this past year which was disguised as a Vessel Anchoring Safety Bill, but it had absolutely nothing to do with Safety, it's sole purpose was to prevent boats anchoring nearby the homes adjacent to the Florida waterways because it spoiled their view!

This new Bill, House Bill 1051, does not even try to disguise itself, there is no mention of safety, it's plain and simply the thin edge of a wedge that would allow future anchoring restrictions.

Like many sail boat owners, we take our boats out to the ocean, but departure from the inland waterways has to be timed within a good weather window. Nobody would suggest that we head out to sea without giving consideration to the conditions out there. But when someone brings their boat from outside of Florida, they have the imperative to head inland if the conditions outside turn nasty. In both cases, being able to anchor overnight is a vital option. It not only saves lives, but it saves tax payer monies too by reducing the number of off shore emergencies when sailors can shelter overnight, one or more nights, to avoid putting them selves and others at risk.

Members of the boating community are well aware of the efforts by the 1%'s to claim ownership of the waterways adjacent to their property. That public ownership is protected by State Law, and so these few home owners are trying to change the law, or add new laws that override the existing law.

The worst part is that it's our Politicians, the people we vote into office, that are enabling these few, most likely in order to gain political fund raising support (there's a word for it). Those politicians seem to have forgotten who voted them into office and why!

This time around the bill is being sponsored by Representative Matt Caldwell,

Capitol Office 

218 House Office Building 
402 South Monroe Street 
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300 
Phone: (850) 717-5079

District Office 
Building A 
15191 Homestead Road 
Lehigh Acres, FL 33971-9749 
Phone: (239) 694-0161

Elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010, reelected subsequently

So he's probably due a job change!

If you want to Email Representative Matt Caldwell, here's the link to his Email Form

I expect that we'll be hearing a lot more from Mr. Caldwell
...and why he sponsored Florida House Bill HB 1051

See you out on the water (but perhaps not anchored in Florida)

Christmas Day Mini Cruise with Spruce Goose

One of our best recent Christmas' thanks to Mike & Joyce aboard Spruce Goose!

We didn't rush down to the boat, took out time. Once all the gear (mostly food & drink) was aboard, I opened all of the sea cocks and checked the engine oil. All was ok, so Peggy got the engine running - We've finally decided on a name for the engine, I wanted something distinctive, but also with a wry humorous twang. So we have named the engine 'Geeves', seems appropriate as we depend upon Geeves quite a bit, and he has not let us down.

Weather didn't support getting to actually sail, but we arranged with Spruce Goose to meet them at Sunrise Bay on Christmas Day.

Mike & Joyce arrived before us as we were delayed having to wait for the opening of the Los Olas Blvd Bridge, it opens on the 15 & 45 minutes if requested. The Bridge Tender was helpful and offered to open for us, but I explained we would be at least 10 minutes to the bridge and requested the next opening.

Once through the Los Olas brige, we steamed up the Intracoastal to the Sunrise Bridge which is just south of Sunrise Bay, home of the Coral Ridge Yacht Club. The current was pretty hard outbound at Sunrise Bridge. Geeves accepted the request for more power so we had no difficulty getting past the bridge despie the current.

Mike & Joyce had already anchored Spruce Goose, and they took these pics as we arrived.

Heading up the Intracoastal from Sunrise Blvd Bridge

Navigating to the North of the shallow area of Sunrise Bay

Good shot of our new Doyle Cradle Cover for the Mainsail

Fender out, ready lined up for the raft up.

Getting close, lines in hand, coming along side.

Once we were securely rafted up and lines tied with Chafe Protectors (we learnt not to forget them on out last trip out), we relaxed, it's so good to get out on the water, even when it's just a local trip.

We shared dinner that night, between us, we did a great job of making dinner healthy and hearty! Some wine, Capt Morgan Black Rum and don't forget those awesome, wish I were allowed to eat more) brownies from Joyce's neighbor.

After sunset and watching the Christmas moon rise up from over the eastern edge of the Intracoastal canal, we shared stories, as sailors do! 

Bunks were calling so we all finally gave up and turned in.

Overnight, the wind picked up for a short bit, but our boats held well on the Gooses Anchor. Not unusally, both Mike & I stuck our heads out of the cabin to check things several times overnight, but all was well. Eximius' ports were all open, so the cabin and v-berth were cool. 

Breakfast in the morning, I made too many oats, but Joyce took care of the left overs. That early morning coffee when on the boat is always something special. 

Mike was gracious to come aboard and provide support as I finished the installation of the new Garmin AIS, we just had to connect it to the 12v system. Other than being awkward to get our mits inside the electrical space to make the connections, it was pretty straight forward. Once connected I turned on the Nav Instruments, GPS and the new AIS. by the time I got up to the helm, the system was up and running and already chirping about an AIS target nearby. WooooHoooo! Thanks Mike (I did my little happy dance too.)

Mike & Joyce had plans, so they headed back to the north while we dropped our anchor in their wake.

During the day I fixed the Jib sail furler by re-routing the furling line and moving one block. Easy. I also, finally, finished up the wiring on the pedestal guard. I had secured the wires to the new Nav Platform at the helm station using temporary wire ties. I had not wanted to put the final ties in place until the pedestal guard had been cleaned up. It had plenty of residue from the electrical tape that had held the original wires in place when we purchased Eximius. I was able to scrub the residue off with a plastic scrubber, then secure the wires in place with evenly spaced black wire ties. Looks much neater.

In the 'get things done mode' I also put the new 1st Mainsail reefing lines in place, for now they can only be set by going up on the cabin top, but I plan to eventually lead the controls aft to the cockpit so that there is no need to go forwards in order to reef to let out a reef.

As dusk fell, several boats stopped to anchor for a while before heading south past the Sunrise  Blvd Bridge, one, from Canada, stayed overnight.

Around 3am it started to rain, so I was up closing the ports and  taking the cockpit cushions out of the rain.

O'Seven thirty and we were up making breakfast. Coffee, Oats with Walnuts, and cream cheese on whole grain bread. Mmmmmmm!

Tides dictated that we leave around 10am, so we weighed anchor around 09:45 and got inline to go under the bridge. This was our first real use of the new AIS, and I'm impressed! Both the huge boat in front of us and the smaller fishing boat behind us had AIS transmitters on board. Oddly enough, the smaller boat had taken the trouble to fill in all of the blanks in the AIS data setup, but the huge boat in front of us (it was towing a boat almost our size as a dink) had not setup the AIS properly. I wonder if they know?

We easily made it down to Los Olas Blvd bridge, the current was in our favor and we easily motored at nearly 7knots GPS between the bridges.

On the way back to the slip from the Intracoastal, we stopped at Sailboat Bend (that's where Huzinga spends his money on real estate) for a pump out. The city guys were quick to respond to our request and within 30 mins we were pumped out and casting off just as 7th Avenue Bridge was opening. Perfect!

Peggy did a great job of bringing us alongside our slip and we, now routinely, set too getting our gear ready for the trip home.

Boat Secure, Truck loaded, heading home from a GREAT Weekend!

Thanks Joyce & Mike! 

See you on the Water.

Getting AIS

After months of research and checking out virtually every option for AIS, I found a great deal on line for an AIS Receiver, so I hit the order button and it's due Tomorrow!

It's an easy install, so I should be able to get it setup into our on board network in less than an hour.

Peggy has been interested in having AIS on board for quite a while, this unit will integrate with the rest of our Garmin System via the NMEA 2000 network.

As we plan on heading up the coast sometime, this will help identify other vessels in the area, certainly ones big enough that we need to be aware of where they are located and what they are doing.

I plan on installing it inside the Nav Station Radio Compartment,

• Disconnect the VHF Antenna Coaxial Cable from the VHF Radio.
• Connect from the VHF Radio to the AIS via the new interconnect cable.
• VHF Antenna Coaxial Cable to the AIS.
• Connect a new NMEA T connector in the NMEA 2000 Backbone which is behind the electrical panel.
• Connect the Drop Cable from the T to the AIS unit. 
• Connect the power cable from the AIS to the a spare circuit breaker, 
• Label the Circuit Breaker 'AUX - AIS', and it should be ready to go.

Using the built in Antenna Splitter makes it easy to install and it will be using the VHF antenna that's at the Mast Head. Saves having to install a 2nd VHF antenna and running cable.

Once installed, we will be able to turn it on when required, not a lot of point having it running when we're heading down the New River, but it'll give us a lot of info about the sea traffic in Port Everglades, or the Port of Miami, and when we're heading to the Bahamas - you might be surprised at the number of ships that head from Port Everglades to the Bahamas and to South America or the Caribbean.



See you on the Water.

Getting it up

The new Topping lift that I purchased a few months ago in anticipation of my next mast climb was installed this week, but only to break when under strain! Grrrr.

I ordered a new topping lift wire, it goes from the mast head to the aft end of the boom and holds the boom up when the sail is stowed. So today, I climbed the mast with the safety assistance of the neighbor (Don) that lives opposite where we keep the boat.

Climbing he mast is a process! This time, I used the bosuns chair that I found on the boat and a home made harness and some rock climbing techniques to get up the mast.

Don acted as a safety while I was climbing the Main Halyard using a pair of Prusik knots for my foot harness and bosun's chair harness, with a 1st safety Prusik knot secured to the bosuns chair and the running safety line being maintained by Don. It's seemed to take a while to climb the mast, probably 15 to 20 minutes, but I was able to get within reaching distance of the mast head and install the new topping lift.

Once the wire was installed at the masthead, it was time to descend. It was actually easier than I expected, just had to figure out the maximum I could descend each transition from sitting with my weight in the bosuns chair to standing in the foot harness.

Safely back on deck, I thanked Don, just having him there helped. Now it was time to connect the topping lift wire to the block and tackle on the back of the boom. Arrrrgh! The wire was too long! The riggers had made it 42 feet instead of the prescribed 38 feet!

To get it adjusted would require that I climb the mast again to disconnect it from the mast head and again to put it back! It's not easy climbing the mast, not a bid deal, but it takes a lot of effort to lift my 180lbs 46+ feet up the mast.

After discussing it with the rigger, I purchased a swage tool and swage ferrules with the intent of shortening the wire without having to climb the mast again.

After an hours work, I finally completed the task, the wire was now 4' shorter and the block and tackle on the boom fit great! Phew!

With the boom topping lift installed, cross another thing off the ToDo list in preparation for our sail on Christmas day. - Of course the weather has some say on that, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

See you on the water.

Christmas day cruise

Looks like we might be taking Eximius out on Christmas Day - if the weather is nice!

This will be our first time out with the new sails! I wonder if anyone else will be nearby?

We'll probably head out of Port Everglades, head up/down the coast for a while, at least 3 miles out ;) Will take our good camera just in case we get to see any other sailboats in the area and post their pics.

To Do's before then include Oil Change, New Topping lift (the 'new' wire slipped out of it's eye at the crimp!)

High Tide at Bahia Mar is around 07:30, so we should have no problems getting out of the slip on the New River in the morning.

There are no reported closures of the bridges on the New River - There should be tenders on duty, we'll have to make sure to thank them for opening on Christmas day!

So, that means we should be able to get to the Ocean around 10am ish (no rush), Wind looks good too, (but we're 8 days out, might change :)

Low tide (Spring!) is around 13:30, so we'll have to stay away from the slip till around 15:30. But we might hang out at Lake Sylvia or Sunrise Bay overnight.

New River to the Ocean