Category Archives: Salty Dawg

Offshore Challenges

Captain Tom, happy to be underway.

Bang! Boom! Crack! Slam!

Oh shit! What was that?

We were about 100 miles offshore, due east of the Chesapeake Bay, and the boom just snapped off the mast.

Glory’s crew: me, Tom, Mary, and Eric.

I was on Glory, my friends Tom and Mary Mitri’s Mason 44. Also on board was Eric Cole, another longtime Glory crew member. Eric and I have sailed together several times in the past, not only on Glory, but also on Eric’s 31ft Cape Dory, Kestrel. We were riding the Gulf Stream, en route from Hilton Head, SC to Marion, MA. We had been enjoying an almost perfect afternoon; 20-25 knots of following wind, 6-8 foot seas, the boat was cruising along consistently at over 8 knots. These are conditions that I’d call spirited or lively, the kind that you hope for.

All in all, things were pretty great. It was late afternoon; the 4 of us just finished having some snacks. During which, we discussed the plan for the overnight: sail configurations and watch schedules. It was decided that we would reef the mainsail before dark. The winds and seas were predicted to increase a little overnight, with even higher winds and seas forecasted for the following day.

Tom Chilling before the ruckus.

With the watch schedule about to start and all 4 of the crew on deck, it was the right time to reef the mainsail. Reefing the main is just making the sail smaller, which makes the boat easier to handle. And if the conditions were to worsen, the sail wouldn’t be overpowered, which would be uncomfortable at best and quite dangerous at worst.

To start the process of reefing, Tom was pulling in the mainsheet; the sail was pressed lightly against the spreaders, sheeting-in the sail would elevate the potential of unwanted friction between the sail and the spreaders, which could cause some unnecessary wear or possibly even a tear in the sail. As Tom sheeted the mainsheet in, with the rest of us watching, preparing to perform our designated reefing duties. It happened… Bang! Boom! Crack! Slam!

The mast, where the gooseneck was attached.

The boom had just separated from the mast. This is not something that is supposed to happen. The large gooseneck swivel that holds the boom onto the mast sheared right off. A lot of noise and a sudden shift in the boat’s movement alarmed us all. It took a few moments for us to realize what had just happened; everyone was calm as we assessed the situation. It was quickly determined what had happened; now we had to figure out how to deal with it.

The snapped-off Gooseneck.

We dealt with it in a very calm, professional manner. In retrospect, I am pleased with how we all responded. We talked through what had happened, realizing, yeah, it sucked; however, no one was hurt, and the boat was still quite functional, albeit without a mainsail. From there we figured out what needed to be done, and we did it.

The boom was lifted and secured. You can see where the boom should be attached to the mast.

The first thing we needed to do was to get the mainsail pulled in. Glory is equipped with an in-mast furler, where the mainsail rolls up inside the mast. Getting the mainsail took a bit of work since the boom was no longer attached to the mast; the alignment that makes the in-mast furler work was out of alignment. Though it took a fair amount of prodding and adjusting for us to be able to get the sail in, we did it. After the sail was successfully furled into the mast, we were able to catch our breath a bit and assess what else needed to be done. Keep in mind that the wind is still blowing in the 20’s and the seas were still rolling us along.

View forward after we secured the boom and started heading towards Lewes, DE.

After a bit more deliberation, it was determined that we had to lift the boom a bit; all of its weight was sitting on the boom vang. At this point, the vang was keeping the boom from jutting forward, possibly ripping the vang off the boom and/or the mast, which could cause more damage. We needed to relieve the pressure from the vang by lifting and securing the boom. We used a spare halyard and the topping lift to pick up the boom about a foot, releasing the weight on the vang. Then we secured the boom, lashing it to both port and starboard, while keeping it suspended off the vang.

With the boom now secure, it was time to determine how to proceed. We had several choices; we could continue on our original course, which we probably would have, except that the forecasted conditions for the next day were expected to worsen. With our now limited sailing ability, that choice was easily eliminated. Closest landfall was the Chesapeake about 100 miles due west, though I’m not sure exactly where we would have landed. Another choice was to head to New York, 160ish miles north, going through the Narrows, the East River, and the relative protection of Long Island Sound without stopping en route to Marion. The other choice, the one we ultimately decided on, was to head to Lewes, DE, which is at the mouth of the Delaware River, 120 miles northwest. Heading straight to the Chesapeake was the shortest distance; however, we would have taken the weather on the beam the whole way. Easing north a bit to Lewes put the weather on our aft quarter, making for a much more pleasant and faster (speed, not total time) sail.

Fortunately, this all happened at around 4pm in bright sunshine with all 4 of the crew on deck. If it happened in the middle of the night with limited visibility and fewer personnel on deck, it could have gone a lot worse.

A welcome site the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse,
Lewes, DE.

Why did it happen? Who knows, the boat is nearly 40 years old. My friends have had the boat for 14 years, and they’re not sure when the in-mast furler was added. The rigging is inspected regularly. Conditions weren’t calm; they were the type of conditions that Glory was designed to handle with ease and should not have caused such a dynamic breakdown. I’m sure age is a factor; beyond that, we don’t know.

Glory, still looking pretty, even with her detached boom, on the town pier in Lewes, Delaware.
Wing-on-wing, using the jib and the staysail.

We were rewarded with 2 nights, 1 full day in Lewes, which is a lovely town, before heading to Marion in very benign conditions. Excluding the last 24 hours, where we had some nice following winds, sailing wing-on-wing with the jib and staysail. Other than that, we motored.

Bahamian Aspirations

In January, my wife Colleen and I, joined our friends Tom and Mary Mitri in West Palm Beach Florida. Our plan was to sail their boat Glory, a Mason 44, east from West Palm across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

The plan was to sail with the Salty Dawgs, a group comprised of like minded sailors doing ocean passages while taking advantage of safety in numbers as well as some well documented comradery.

Our plans fell through, we were waiting for a good weather window, the planned departure time was looking a bit tight, early morning cast off, a fairly calm 30 hour sail followed by some high winds and rough seas soon after our hopeful arrival time. Tom and Mary decided that we would wait for the next, hopefully better, weather option that looked promising for us to cross the gulf stream to the Berries, a group of cays in the Bahamas, in 2 days time.

Super yachts docked in West Palm.

While waiting out the weather it was decided to take Glory for a cruise in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Glory had been having a battery charging issue. The “house” batteries where not charging. So our trek along the ICW was 2-fold, sightseeing and to see if battery charging through the engine’s alternator charging system was working properly.

The trip was only half a success, we saw some sights. We motored along the ICW from West Palm north to Riviera beach and out into the Atlantic through the Lake Worth inlet. After a quick jaunt in the open ocean we turned back through the inlet, heading south along the ICW to our original anchorage directly across the channel from the Palm Beach Sailing Club.

However, the batteries didn’t charge. This is a major problem, especially when the plan is to travel throughout the sparsely populated, expensive to do any kind of boat repair area like the Bahamas. On a trip like this, where the Mitri’s are planning on spending the next 2 plus months traveling throughout the islands of the Bahamas. The “house” batteries are the designated energy source for all of the “house” needs; pretty much everything except starting the engine, which has its own designated start battery. Lights, refrigeration, navigational equipment, coffee maker, phone chargers etc. all run off the house batteries.

Heading to the Bahamas with “house” batteries that are not charging could be a frustrating and costly mistake.

We spent the next couple of days trying to figure out what the issue was. We checked all of the battery and charging systems electrical connections, tightening up a few loose-ish connections, found a blown fuse; these minor adjustments were not the culprit.

With the help of another mechanically inclined member of the Salty Dawg group we replaced the alternator. Being in Florida, on the coast, it was easy to find a new alternator. Tom found one within a few miles and was able to catch an Uber and pick it up with no hassles. Glory’s engine is not easily accessible, it’s located under the cabin sole (floor), which for reasons such as weight distribution is great, however, for ease of doing any kind of maintenance is a royal pain. With a bit of effort that only included a few cuss words the exchange was made. Unfortunately the alternator was not the culprit, the batteries were still not charging. Looking at the bright side of things, now the Mitri’s had a spare alternator.

At this point, Colleen and I were aboard Glory for the better part of a week and our time was running out, we had to get back home; work and kids were waiting for us.

When we weren’t trying to fix the charging system we took advantage of our time hanging with the Mitri’s, we checked out the surrounding area, having lunch from a taco truck, checking out the very large famers’ market in downtown West Palm, libations overlooking the harbor and dinner at a nice Italian restaurant helped make the stressful not-sure-what-the-problem-with-the-boat issue more enjoyable. One of the best characteristics of a great sailor is their ability to to run with the punches, being outwardly pissed off doesn’t help.

Me, Mary, Colleen and Tom making the best of our time in West Palm Beach.

The batteries were still an issue when Colleen and I headed home. Tom had a few leads on getting a fix, a local mechanic was scheduled to come by, daily phone calls with a mechanic who, this past winter, in the Chesapeake, had done some extensive work on Glory, as well as Wayne, another sailor whose boat Gwayne, a 44′ Lagoon catamaran, was anchored a few boats away from Glory. Wayne and his wife Gwen have a YouTube channel chronicling their adventures from the Great Lakes to the Bahamas and beyond.

While back in Arlington, shoveling snow, I was getting updates from Tom. The progress was slow, it took a couple of more weeks and several attempts to figure out what the problem was. Ultimately with the help of Wayne the problem was figured out; a grounding wire that attached to the engine block was internally corroded. It looked fine, was secured tightly and in no way seemed to be the problem. However, once the grounding bolt was removed, cleaned and re-attached, all was good.

The Mitri’s spent hundreds off dollars on various parts and a mechanic, to in the end, find the fix at of no cost. So often that’s how the cookie crumbles.

Now it’s time to get to the Bahamas.

Glory at anchor in West Palm Beach.

Three weeks after Colleen and I arrived in West Palm for a sail to the Bahamas that didn’t happen, I headed back, sans Colleen, to make the trip. Hopefully…