Wednesday Night Racing

We just finished up our Wednesday night race series and are now looking forward to a few fall offshore races.

Just for the record, here was how the series stacked up for us, it definitely improved our sailing both as far as crew duties go and to really give me a better understanding of starts so it was well worth it (and we had a lot of fun!)

R1 - D Fleet
Start: Start 4, Finishes: Finish time, Time: 18:33:00, Distance: 3.6, Course: 11, Wind dir: S, Ave wind: 10-12
11 of 11

R2 - D Fleet - 07/17/2013 at 18:00
Start: Start 4, Finishes: Finish time, Time: 18:33:00, Distance: 3.6, Course: 2, Wind dir: SSW, Ave wind: 9
8 of 8 (tied DNS)

R3- Abandoned (A fleet only)
R4- Abandoned

R5 - D Fleet - 8/7/13 at 18:00
Start: Start 3, Finishes: Finish time, Time: 18:28:00, Distance: 5.1, Course: 1
7 of 11

R6 Not Raced

Makeup 2 - D Fleet - 8/28/13 at 18:00
Start: Start 4, Finishes: Finish time, Time: 18:33:00, Distance: 4.6, Course: 4
8 of 12

Makeup 3 - D Fleet - 9/4/13 at 18:00
Start: Start 3, Finishes: Finish time, Time: 18:48:00, Distance: 2.1, Course: 6
7 of 8

The next big challenge is to set aside some time to practice with the spinnaker, once we get proficient we will be able to move up to C fleet where there are two other boats that rate the same as we do, it would be nice not to be the lowest rated boat in the fleet for a change.

Thank you crew for really working hard and learning with me over the summer!

Finally getting the hang of this

Wednesday night we had an incredible race, the wind and weather was just about perfect for a sail with a steady breeze out of the South East at 15-20 knots.

We started about in the middle of the class D fleet, it seemed like everyone was a little late over the line but we were able to quickly move to the front of the fleet and were able to round BP ahead of the rest of the boats in our class.

The second leg was downwind and a bit more challenging for us from a boat speed perspective. Several boats were able to gain ground on us. Kamikaze rounded the mark ahead of us and Pied-a-Mer was right on our heels.

 Once we rounded G27 we were sailing very close to the wind to make the mark without tacking. Some of the other boats fell off a bit to pick up speed but it didn't appear to pay off for them.

On the last leg we slowly caught and then passed Kamikaze, crossing the line about a boat length ahead. Although this wasn't our best finish of the season, it was very satisfying to be first across the line.

We took a leisurely sail back to the marina, enjoying the beautiful conditions.

Charleston to Savannah Race

We were rushing to get ready for this race. During the Georgetown race we needed to keep running the engine because we didn't have enough battery capacity to keep the running lights on all night. For this race I upgraded from a single 100 amp hour battery (the second one died earlier in the season), to  a 100 amp hour  starting bank and a 200 amp hour house bank.

Unfortunately we had several cancellations among the crew during the last week and even on the day of the race. Although this made for less crowding below, we were a little short handed to run watches for an overnight race with a stiff breeze.

Everyone was aboard on time and we had a very good start, contending with several of the C class boats out to G25. As we started out the channel the boat became over-powered and hard to keep from rounding up. We muscled up the channel with about 18kts apparent wind and then had to drop out of the channel to avoid shipping traffic and then had to fight back to windward to round G15. Once we'd rounded the mark the finish was dead downwind. We angled offshore a little to keep the sails filling and improve the boats motion.

After hearing a weather warning, I checked the weather radar and saw some significant weather ahead. After discussing with the crew we decided to withdraw and head back to Charleston. We put a reef in and started heading back up towards G15 and then back into the harbor.

We weren't alone in our decision, as a result we tied for first with the other boats that withdrew -

Summer racing series goal achieved!

Great work crew!

Last week (August 7th) we accomplished one of my summer goals! We finished a race in a position above last place.  This may seem like we were setting the bar low; however after several DNS (did not start) and a few last place finishes I was wondering if we would ever move up in the standings!

We started out with some bottom of the fleet finishes during Charleston Race Week, then had a DNS for our first offshore race. Then a last place finish in the offshore race to Georgetown. We followed that up with a few DNS and last place finishes during CORAs summer series II. Then we had the the good fortune to have two races abandoned, one due to lack of wind and one due to thunderstorms.

During the 5th race I finally pulled off a decent start (thanks to much prodding from Jim Wilson) and we were ahead of our fleet by the first mark. We lost ground after the first mark but were able to pull off a 7th place finish in an eleven boat fleet.

Hopefully the practicing we've done in the Wednesday night series will pay off during this weekends offshore race to Savannah.

Summer Sailstice

We decided to pass on the Sailstice race this year. I hurt my shoulder during Charleston Race Week, straining my rotator cuff, so on doctors orders I'm taking it easy.

We sailed out under genoa alone  at about 6 pm making a course for Ft Sumter, once past the shallow water in the middle of the harbor we shifted course towards Fort Johnson. The wind was great and we were making an easy 4 knots.

Summer solstice full moon in Charleston Harbor

We dropped anchor just off Fort Johnson and broke in the new grill, which was on sale at West Marine and purchased earlier that morning. The Bubba Burgers turned out great and we enjoyed watching the race along with an incredible full moon once the sun set over the city skyline. At about 10:30 we raised anchor and motored back to the marina.

I am going to keep trying to blog at least once a month but if you are looking for more things Peregrine you can visit the Facebook page at S/V Peregrine.

Steady progress

I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with the blog for the past several months, so this is a start at getting caught up. I originally wrote this in February and a lot has transpires since then.

 I removed the battery box to gain access to the gate valve that serves as the seacock for the seawater cooling circuit intake. One of the projects on the haul out list was to replace the gate valve with a ball valve. After removing the batteries and the battery box I was able to put a wrench on the valve, unfortunately the handle encountered a bulkhead when I tried to unscrew it. After cutting the handle off of the valve I was able to finally remove the valve body from the through hull. Because of the clearance I chose to replace with a Forespar Marelon piece, which wasn't in stock at the local West Marine but they were able to order it and have it for me on Monday.

I also took the opportunity to sound a couple of sections of the hull uncovering four additional blisters that the yard had so far missed. There are just under 60 blisters that have been identified so far and all but the new ones have been ground out. The sanding of the hull appears to be about 30% complete. The rudder has been dropped and all the blistering on it sanded out, the damage on the tip has been opened up but the core is still draining a little. With the rudder dropped it was reassuring to see that the rudder shaft was in excellent condition.

While on the hard we also did maintenance on the winches, bringing them home to soak in kerosene  for cleaning off the old grease freeing several pawls that had stuck tight.

There was some play in the propeller strut and while the yard was cleaning up the bottom I took on the task of tightening up the strut. First I had to remove both quarter berth bunks and the holding tanks, then I ground off the top of the strut housing. I poured in crack filling epoxy, completing several applications which finally tightened up the strut. Finally I closed up the strut housing with many layers of glass cloth and epoxy, and faired the exterior of the hull around the strut.

After long consideration, I decided it just isn't right to have a boat named for another man's wife, so we removed the name and hailing port from the stern and aft quarters. We actually launched without a name to get back in the water ahead of Charleston Race Week.

We also cleaned off the stripe above the boot stripe and touched up several spots where the boot stripe had been rubbed away. I removed and rebuilt two of the three heads which made a huge difference once we were back in the water.

The last thing I finished up was to finish purging air from the fuel lines. I was concerned that we would need to hand line the boat from the hoist to the dock but after a few cranks, the engine fired and we were able to move to the dock under our own power. After several months on the hard, we finally were back in the water and motored to our new home at the Charleston Harbor Marina on April 12, 2013.

Sailing Withdrawl

I stopped by the boat today briefly over lunch to check on progress at Pierside Boatyard in North Charleston. Last week we put a moisture meter on the hull and found it to be quite wet. The hull was peeled in 1995 to mitigate a blister issue with the resins used in the 1980's for boat construction. The layer of resin and fiberglass that was laid down to replace the gelcoat that was stripped has absorbed some water.

The yard finished media blasting the hull last week removing all the old bottom paint and most of the old barrier coat so the hull could dry and the blisters we found could be repaired. The recent dry spell has helped a lot in the drying process.

While the boat is out of the water three are three major projects going on, first is all the work to repair the blister damage and protect the hull with a new barrier coat. The second is to repair some damage on the tip of the rudder, both of these issues were identified during the survey so aren't a surprise. The third item is a some play in the propeller strut - hull joint, this is a new discovery but not a huge issue to correct, hopefully.

We are still on track to get the boat back in the water about mid-March to be ready for Charleston Race week and the CORA offshore series.

I'll be updating the blog as we get closer to launch, if you are interested in crewing let me know. I will also accept volunteers to come down and sand on the bottom to get it as smooth as possible before we put her back in the water.

Play time is over :(

Today we pulled Dimi II out of the water for her face-lift at Pierside Boatyard in North Charleston. 

We brought her over to the boatyard Friday afternoon, under tow from Sea Tow. After sailing part of the way up the Cooper River the wind died, the current turned against us we were unable to get the engine started from fuel contamination. We changed out a fuel filter but killed the battery trying to purge the fuel lines.

Before hauling her we unloaded two van loads and a pickup truck full of gear - so much for room in the garage. 

The boatyard crew carefully moved the boat into position and deposited her safely ashore.

The work-list keeps growing. Initially we were planning on blister repair and bottom paint but we also found some damage to the bottom of the rudder, a loose propeller strut and completely disintegrated zincs.

While the yard takes on those projects I'll be rewiring the AC electrical; installing a new AC panel and galvanic isolator.





For the most part the bottom looked to be in pretty good shape, the rudder really showed the worst fouling, as you can see from the before and after pictures

 After pressure washing the bottom, there were only a few barnacles but the anti-fouling paint was definitely wearing thin.

Happy New Year!

The best way I can think of to usher in the new year is spending time with good friends on the boat. We were joined by my coworker David Hanson and members of the Gurr, Anthes and Yecke families. The weather this afternoon with light winds and temperatures in the 60's resulted in a very leisurely sail out past Fort Sumter and then back to the Marina.

The dolphins were out to play which added a special touch to a really great afternoon on the water.

This will likely be our last sail for a while, Dimi II is being hauled for some MUCH needed bottom work. A while back someone in the Little Creek Marina mentioned they could hear the clicking of the barnacles on the bottom of their boat. I didn't believe it until last week when I was cleaning up the bilge and could hear continuous clicking sounds coming through the hull.

Boarding Manual

A common Sea Scout practice is to providea boarding manual before an event to share the necessary information with all the participants. In going over my log notes andgemails to the crew in advance of our recent trips I came up with a sort of a standard boarding manual for weekend cruises:

This document is updated from time to time as we get smarter! (most recently January of 2024)

LET THE SKIPPER KNOW about any medical conditions or medications you need to take in the event of an emergency. If you prefer you may give the skipper a sealed envelope that will only be opened in an emergency.

Packing List:

We may be offshore for 40 hours during a weekend passage and over 96+ hours for a long coastal passage, plan accordingly. Take the season into consideration, a heavy sleeping bag probably isn’t helpful if the temperature will be in the 80s. 

Sailing gear (also for day races)-

• Hat with a brim to block glare
• Deck shoes (sea boots optional)
• Gloves - sailing, and/or insulated (condition dependent)
• Foul weather gear, rain jacket, and pants
• Sunscreen - SPF 30 or better
• Safety whistle
• PFD (life jacket) with light
• Knife (folding or fixed blade)
• Harness and tether (let me know if you don't have one)

Clothing/sleeping (remember to "be prepared")  -

• Sea bag or Dry bag for gear
• Sleeping bag and pillow
• Personal hygiene equipment
• Towel and washcloth
• Shower shoes - for the marina shower
• Earplugs
• Dry change of clothes
• Pajamas or sleep clothes
• Watch cap or hat (warm hat)
• Long underwear, wool or polypropylene preferred (for cold weather)
• Swimsuit (for warm weather)

Personal items  (* are required) -

• Bible
• Sea time log
• Flashlight (or headlamp)*
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen - SPF 30 or better
• Notepad / pen
• Sea scout manual, course book or other reference
• Camera
• GPS (handheld)
• InReach or other satellite communication device
• Deck of cards
• Suduko book
• Personal Medication
• USB charging cord(s) for your devices

Shared items:

• Normally on offshore passages, each crew member will be responsible for some food or beverage for the crew.

Watch Schedule:

When we have five or more aboard, we will be using a Swedish Watch (5 per day) system for the trip, this is a self-dogging watch - meaning that the individual watch schedule shifts each day. For safety, I require two-person watches, if you are seasick you may need to drag yourself on deck to provide whatever help you can to the watch. The watch assignments will be posted on the whiteboard.

If we are four or fewer people on board, we will rotate one crewmember off for rest every four hours.

I normally spend the entire trip "on call" and do not stand a watch. If there are sufficient crew, the cook and navigator are also "on call"

0800-1300 (5hr) Friday
1300-1900 (6hr) Friday
1900-2400 (5hr) Friday
0001-0400 (4hr) Saturday
0400-0800 (4hr) Saturday
0800-1300 (5hr) Saturday
1300-1900 (6hr) Saturday
1900-2400 (5hr) Saturday
0001-0400 (4hr) Sunday
0400-0800 (4hr) Sunday
0800-1300 (5hr) Sunday
1300-1900 (6hr) Sunday
1900-2400 (5hr) Sunday

The "On" watch is responsible for steering the vessel on the planned course and keeping a lookout (in all directions), monitoring the radio and answering/making radio calls when needed. Radio calls will be entered in the log. 

The helmsman will monitor depth, wind strength, and direction. When under power checking the gauges at least every quarter hour, when under sail monitoring the trim of the sails. 

Every hour the watch will inspect the boat, checking for water in the bilge, oil or fuel leakage, chafing of lines or sails, gear that is not properly secured, excessive leakage from the shaft when under power. At night verify that all the navigational lights are working and the proper lights are in use.

The watch captain will make an entry in the navigation log hourly or whenever an event of navigational significance (change in course, etc.) takes place.

Wake the Skipper:

If any of the following are experienced, wake the skipper immediately.

• Crew overboard
• There is an injury to any of the crew.
• There is breakage or damage of any equipment on the boat.
• There is a significant or unexpected change in the weather conditions.
• There is a risk of collision (within 4 nm) with another vessel or obstruction.
• A distinct line of clouds appears along the horizon in an otherwise consistent sky
• Any time you feel the boat or crew may be at risk and the watch captain is unsure of the proper action to take.

Rules Aboard/General Housekeeping:

Know the location and proper use of all safety equipment, seacocks, electrical and fuel shut-offs on the vessel. There is a diagram at the navigator's station if you are unsure.

PFDs are worn at all times on deck while underway. At night or during rough weather all crew on deck will use a harness and tether. 

Peregrine is a dry boat while racing, wait until we’re tied up after the race to enjoy alcoholic beverages.

No controlled substances (illegal drugs) are allowed aboard ever. 

We have found that cell phone service is available to about 8nm offshore along most of the coast.

When going below be mindful of your wet gear and make an effort to keep dampness contained near the companionway.

Put all garbage promptly into the garbage bag under the galley sink, put all recyclables into the designated basket.

Review and obey the posted waste management plan and discharge placards posted on the companionway stairs.

Before using the head verify with the captain that it is “open” to ensure that it is properly configured for use. If there is firm resistance when pumping, stop and inform the Captain.

To minimize clean-up we use the starboard aft head, do not flush toilet paper, put it in the trash bag in the head. For number 2, use the paper lunch bags which are biodegradable. Open windows to keep the head from smelling, be considerate of the crew assigned to the aft starboard cabin.

The heads can also be used to hang wet foul weather gear as long as it is kept orderly and out of the way of for the crew using the aft cabins.

If you are assigned a pilot berth, keep your gear at the foot/head of the berth, not on seats in the dining area. Ask the captain if you need more room

Don't waste food, be realistic about how hungry you are, you can always have seconds.

Conserve water, we have a limited amount and letting the tap run without purpose quickly uses a lot of water. That said, please use all the water you need.

Conserve electricity, particularly when under sail, turn off lights when not in use. When under sail, do not use the cabin fans. We have a limited battery bank, we usually charge devices while the engine is running.

Seasickness:

If you are concerned, take your medication before we leave the dock, once your are queasy it is too late.

If you feel seasick, even a little: 

1. Notify the Captain!
2. Get up on deck and get some fresh air.
3. Look out at the horizon (or perhaps take a turn at the helm). 
4. Stay hydrated - this means drinking WATER, not tea, coffee or soda
5. Have a ginger ale or some dried ginger to settle your stomach

If you are being sick: 

-On deck: Aim for the downwind side of the boat or the stern, try to get past the deck.

-Down below: If you can't make it to the head, use a bag or bucket to contain the mess

-While you are suffering from seasickness, try to get as much sleep as you can and stay hydrated by sipping water even if you can't keep the fluids down.
- Finally, be considerate of the other crew, once you are able, clean up after yourself.

Post sail cleanup 

After a long race, show Peregrine some love. 

• Coil and hang all lines, tethers, etc. from the rail or boom so they can be rinsed. 
• Wipe down the instruments with a damp microfiber cloth, power off and put on the covers.
• Rinse, dry, deflate and store the dinghy in its bag along with oars and pump.
• Clear out all personal gear from the boat, remember your water bottles and charging cords.
• Collect all the trash and move the trash and recycling to the dock
• Remove all perishable food from the icebox and lockers and wipe up any spills, wipe out the icebox with Clorox wipes.
• Neatly hang all borrowed PFDs 
• Hose down and wipe out all the heads, run the shower sump to get rid of the water
• Wipe down the interior of the cabins including the walls (to get the dried salt spray) and floors with a damp cloth rinsed frequently or Clorox wipes.
• Secure all hatches and ports before washing the deck
• Wash the deck with boat soap. 
• Brush down and rinse all the metal on deck; the pulpit, the furler, the spinnaker pole ends, all the blocks and running rigging, the shrouds and turnbuckles under the covers. 
• Do not brush the teak in the cockpit.
• Rinse all the lines that were hung out.
• Rinse the snatch blocks and put them in the galley sink to dry
• Run the shore power cord and turn on the breakers, verify that the boat is powered up.
• Replace the depth sounder with the blanking plug if the boat will be unused for several days.
• Double check the bilge and shower sump are pumped out.
• Close all the seacocks (ask the skipper about the air conditioning seacock).
• Note any broken, damaged or non-functional items in the log book.
• Close out the logbook for the voyage.
• Close up and lock the boat.
• Inspect the docklines and fenders to make sure all are correct.

Last revised: 24 August 2024

Afternoon Sail

David and I met Skipper THom, Jim and Sam for an afternoon sail ahead of the Parade of Boats, I arrived at the boat about 30 minutes behind schedule, the rest of the crew was waiting patiently. They had corrected a sagging bumper  that had resulted in a large blue mark on the hull where it had rubbed.

I had left the DC power on to run the various alarms and they had flattened the battery, we hooked up to shore power for about 30 minutes and recharged enough to get the engine started. While we were waiting a pair of dolpins swam by the boat. Our departure this afternoon was much smoother than our arrival in spite of the current and we were soon motoring out of the marina.

The wind was perfect and once we had the sails trimmed we were cruising at 7+ knots with about 15 knots of wind. Everyone but David took a turn at the helm as we made a quick circle of the bay. We saw a few early Christmas boat parade participants out and by the time we returned to the marina things were starting to get busy.

Our slip neighbor helped tend lines while we eased into the slip and tied in. On the way out of the marina the cars were packed in everywhere, I haven't  seen the marina this crowded since last Charleston Race Week.

Home at last

After a wonderful Thanksgiving we packed up and spent "Black Friday" driving up to Beaufort, NC to complete the last leg of our trip home to Charleston. We picked up Jim Wilson, one of the other Sea Scout ship 510 mates in Mount Pleasant. The drive up was uneventful but the driving team of Elizabeth and Alexis put in a long day on the road, about 6 hours each way to drop us off.

We arrived just in time to grab a bite to eat, link up with Zach Nelson, load up the boat, top off the fuel and get underway - all before sunset.

We made it out of the harbor and into the channel just as the sun was setting and settled into our watch routine immediately. I use a Swedish watch which started with Zach and I taking the 7 pm to midnight watch, followed by Jim and David on the midnight to 4 am watch. The weather was not quite as expected, the forecasts I'd been seeing called for light winds and relatively calm seas. Instead we were fighting 15-20 knots of wind on the nose with seas of 8-10 feet. By midnight both Zach and Jim were seasick, David was not to escape unscathed and also had a short-lived bout of seasickness during the voyage. We slowed the boat from our planned 7 knots to about 5-1/2 knots to reduce the pounding and keep the boat a little dryer.  We were taking considerable spray in the cockpit, soaking everything and even getting some green water on the bow deck. The pounding continued as we passed frying pan shoals.

The pounding continued until Saturday mid-day when the wind eased to 10 knots shifted to our aft quarter, the seas calmed a little and with that our speed picked up about a knot and we were able to speed back up to about 7 1/2 knots. We took this opportunity to transfer 10 gallons of fuel from our cans to the main tank - the drip proof nozzle made it easy to get all the fuel in the tank and David at the helm was able to keep the deck dry for the whole fueling process.

The dunkings from the previous night had done in our bow navigation lights so we proceeded with only our white steaming light and stern lights. Fortunately we saw very little traffic throughout the evening.

The sunset was nearly exactly on our heading towards Charleston and left a beautiful red sky. A little later we were joined by a pod of dolphins which spent about 10 minutes playing alongside the boat. This was one of the high points of the trip, they were so much fun to watch that I found myself off course several times before they left us.

As the evening wore on the waves increased and we were rolling again, the approach from up the coast is deceptive, the first lights you see as you approach Charleston are the radio and television towers on the Isle of Palms. At about 2 am we sighted the channel markers and began our entrance. As we passed buoy 13 we were contacted by vessel traffic control and informed that a container ship would be entering in about 30 minutes - just when we were expecting to be in the narrowest part of the channel and passing the now submerged jettys at the harbor entrance. I had Zach keep an eye astern as I picked our way through the channel. Once inside the harbor we called the marina and they were waiting to help us dock just before 5 am.

After we were securely tied to the dock, the inbound container ship passed the marina, another prayer answered. As sea sickness subsided, hunger arrived and we all had some soup and hot chocolate to warm up.