slydog
04-14-2004, 11:59 PM
C&P
Part one of a two-part story.
Morgan Stinemetz — Apr 10, 2004
A sailing voyage to Cuba requires provisions and planning
The departure date for a sailing trip to Cuba that has been in the planning stages for months is approaching with increased speed. When I first thought of this adventure, at least six months ago, the specific date in April was a long, long way off.
Now it is upon us, like ticks on a mangy hound. We leave in a week.
I am still in the planning stages. But I can leave secure in the knowledge that the middle of April is a good time. There are helpful winds around in the spring.
However, the thunderstorms that come with summer are not here yet, and the cold fronts that come with winter will probably not hinder the sailing. Most important of all, April is still too early for hurricanes.
I'll leave on Saturday, April 17. I expect to get to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas about 30 hours later. The trip from home port down to Cuba, during which we will be unable to resupply with food, water or fuel, is about 280 miles.
When I leave, my boat will have a full 15-gallon water tank and an additional 10 gallons of water in reserve. The solar shower will be filled to the top, too. When one is counting on doing a 250-mile trip, which I hope to be mostly under sail, one takes as much liquid along as possible. Being a sailor, I will probably have some malt beverages on board, but the boat will be out of ice in a couple of days, so we may be roughing it just a bit.
Food stocks are simple. Meals to which one just adds water are the kind I prefer on a trip. Sandwiches, too, of course. Gourmet cooking will have to wait until we get to Cuba, and it is far more likely to be done by a restaurant chef.
On the other hand, trolling a line off the back of the boat is a great way to supplement the menu. I understand that there are king mackerel out there for the catching, and Spanish mackerel abound. Really fresh fish is a delicacy.
So my Ericson will be stocked with onions and butter, appropriate spices and a few bottles of white wine to savor with what we catch. In order to boat some kings and Spanish, I'll have to stock up on some killer lures. Particularly, I favor spoons for the mackerel and feathered rigs for dolphin. We'll probably nail a few bonita on the way down, too. They'll work as cut bait if we do some bottom fishing.
For years, because I am compulsive about the sail trim on my 27-foot sloop, I have avoided putting a bimini on my boat. The bimini that came with the vessel died in a storm in 1978, and I have not had a real reason to put a new one on. Well, I do now. My dermatologist notwithstanding, getting cooked day after day in the sun is not a joy. On a trip like this one, the cockpit is where we will live, and it might as well be shaded.
My Ericson is equipped with a 406 EPIRB. That's the kind of emergency position- indicating radio beacon that, when set off, broadcasts a unique coded message that the Coast Guard can decode and find out all about the boat, which has been pre-registered. It will bring immediate help, and when one is sailing across a stretch of water (the Straits of Florida) that is 1,000 feet deep it makes one feel a little better to know that if the boat went down, there would be someone looking for us rather quickly.
The EPIRB floats, by the way, and should we have to abandon ship we can take it with us. To be quite honest about it, I wouldn't take a trip like this without a 406 EPIRB on board. Coast Guard response time to an emergency signal from an EPIRB is usually about 45 minutes, which I find quite reassuring.
There are at least two search and rescue (SAR) satellite systems that circle the Earth and pick up and retransmit signals received from 406 EPIRBs. One is ours and the other belongs to the Russians.
In addition to the SAR "birds," the 26 satellites that comprise our Global Positioning System (GPS) are a wonder in and of themselves. Reefer, my boat, is equipped with two GPS receivers, one fixed mounted and the other portable (hand held). They are able to give a positional fix within about 50 feet. It is always nice to know where one is. Better yet, it is comforting to know where one is not.
Doubtless, when we leave, we will have forgotten some things. Going on a trip in a boat is initiated with a series of lists of things to do. My lists have been getting smaller over time, but I know in my heart of hearts that a sailor who won't leave until every list is completely eradicated is a sailor who will never go to sea at all.
You just have to live with it.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040410/COLUMNIST53/404100636
Part one of a two-part story.
Morgan Stinemetz — Apr 10, 2004
A sailing voyage to Cuba requires provisions and planning
The departure date for a sailing trip to Cuba that has been in the planning stages for months is approaching with increased speed. When I first thought of this adventure, at least six months ago, the specific date in April was a long, long way off.
Now it is upon us, like ticks on a mangy hound. We leave in a week.
I am still in the planning stages. But I can leave secure in the knowledge that the middle of April is a good time. There are helpful winds around in the spring.
However, the thunderstorms that come with summer are not here yet, and the cold fronts that come with winter will probably not hinder the sailing. Most important of all, April is still too early for hurricanes.
I'll leave on Saturday, April 17. I expect to get to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas about 30 hours later. The trip from home port down to Cuba, during which we will be unable to resupply with food, water or fuel, is about 280 miles.
When I leave, my boat will have a full 15-gallon water tank and an additional 10 gallons of water in reserve. The solar shower will be filled to the top, too. When one is counting on doing a 250-mile trip, which I hope to be mostly under sail, one takes as much liquid along as possible. Being a sailor, I will probably have some malt beverages on board, but the boat will be out of ice in a couple of days, so we may be roughing it just a bit.
Food stocks are simple. Meals to which one just adds water are the kind I prefer on a trip. Sandwiches, too, of course. Gourmet cooking will have to wait until we get to Cuba, and it is far more likely to be done by a restaurant chef.
On the other hand, trolling a line off the back of the boat is a great way to supplement the menu. I understand that there are king mackerel out there for the catching, and Spanish mackerel abound. Really fresh fish is a delicacy.
So my Ericson will be stocked with onions and butter, appropriate spices and a few bottles of white wine to savor with what we catch. In order to boat some kings and Spanish, I'll have to stock up on some killer lures. Particularly, I favor spoons for the mackerel and feathered rigs for dolphin. We'll probably nail a few bonita on the way down, too. They'll work as cut bait if we do some bottom fishing.
For years, because I am compulsive about the sail trim on my 27-foot sloop, I have avoided putting a bimini on my boat. The bimini that came with the vessel died in a storm in 1978, and I have not had a real reason to put a new one on. Well, I do now. My dermatologist notwithstanding, getting cooked day after day in the sun is not a joy. On a trip like this one, the cockpit is where we will live, and it might as well be shaded.
My Ericson is equipped with a 406 EPIRB. That's the kind of emergency position- indicating radio beacon that, when set off, broadcasts a unique coded message that the Coast Guard can decode and find out all about the boat, which has been pre-registered. It will bring immediate help, and when one is sailing across a stretch of water (the Straits of Florida) that is 1,000 feet deep it makes one feel a little better to know that if the boat went down, there would be someone looking for us rather quickly.
The EPIRB floats, by the way, and should we have to abandon ship we can take it with us. To be quite honest about it, I wouldn't take a trip like this without a 406 EPIRB on board. Coast Guard response time to an emergency signal from an EPIRB is usually about 45 minutes, which I find quite reassuring.
There are at least two search and rescue (SAR) satellite systems that circle the Earth and pick up and retransmit signals received from 406 EPIRBs. One is ours and the other belongs to the Russians.
In addition to the SAR "birds," the 26 satellites that comprise our Global Positioning System (GPS) are a wonder in and of themselves. Reefer, my boat, is equipped with two GPS receivers, one fixed mounted and the other portable (hand held). They are able to give a positional fix within about 50 feet. It is always nice to know where one is. Better yet, it is comforting to know where one is not.
Doubtless, when we leave, we will have forgotten some things. Going on a trip in a boat is initiated with a series of lists of things to do. My lists have been getting smaller over time, but I know in my heart of hearts that a sailor who won't leave until every list is completely eradicated is a sailor who will never go to sea at all.
You just have to live with it.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040410/COLUMNIST53/404100636