Crew Wanted: Herrington Harbor, MD to somewhere warmer south

[FEC]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Here's was early January '14 in HHN. It stayed cold and the ice got thicker.

This was not mid-bay, but just before we left USCG was reporting that part of the Chessy was 65% covered in fast ice 2-3 inches thick. From the dock in the harbour we couldn't tell, but we took a drive up to Annapolis, and saw for ourselves that they had grossly overreported the ice. That said all the small bays were frozen solid until their little ice-breaker came in.

I am sure the Chesapeake is a wonderful sailing ground during the Spring and Summer and for some people, the Winter but we didn't buy a boat so that it just sits in the water in a freezing portion of the country for another 4 months. And I definitely cannot get my wife to liveaboard and sail around for months in some very cold weather. We purchased a sailboat with a picture in our heads of a warm sun and warm waters, not ice.
BTW, where is all this global warming everyone is talking about? Sure could use it right about now!



I'm also aware of the region we purchased this boat in but that is where the deal was. we're from Redondo Beach, CA, our weather is beautiful year round and that is the type of weather we want to be in
We can do 50/60's all day long but not 20's/30's and 40's. So for us, anywhere below LAT 35' seems like a nice playground to learn our new to us boat. When hurricane season approaches, we can then start moving back up to the Chesapeake and sail there until November and maybe we will have enough experience or the "cojones" to follow the salty dogs rally south and continue our journey into the Caribbean. It sounds like a good plan and I hope we see it through but if plans do not go as planned, we have got an appointment December 7th to winterize the boat and our slip neighbor in HHN has a bubbler which the say will help churn the water enough to keep it from forming ice around their boat and ours, we'll see.


I'll be the first to admit that I know shinola about what I'm talking about and so I really do appreciate all the advice that I have received so far from this thread and all included in it, you guys are great and very informative. Hopefully, we still have a couple of weeks to weigh all the information contained here and decide what to do next.

[FEC]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

What is your timeline? Are you going back to work or do you plan on seasonally cruising?

Our plan is to liveaboard the boat and learn it so that we can eventually sail her back to California. We have no constrictive timeline.

[SUNCAT365]

Originally Posted by FEC

Hello CF community, after many years of saving and looking, my wife and I finally purchased a boat in Deale, MD. She is currently docked at Herrington Harbor North. We are looking for a captain and or crew to help us move it from the Chesapeake to somewhere south where it's warmer and will not freeze nor snow. We were thinking of either Brunswick, GA or somewhere in South Carolina, near an airport preferably as we live in Los Angeles and still have some business to take care of before we do the long term cruising.


Now, we both jumped before looking, so to speak. We have taken the ASA101 and have crewed on some racing boats out here in Long Beach and Marina Del Rey but that is it. So we are looking for a person(s) who can teach us along the way on handling the boat and showing us how to use the many systems on board that we have no clue about and we'd rather do more sailing than motoring. We are not fat pocket people so we do not have a lot of means at the moment but we would be able to get you back home and feed you along the way and provide drinks of course



My wife and I are in our mid forties, we are very easy going and very eager to learn and we take direction very well. We like music, drinks and are generally laid back people. We would like to move the boat after Thanksgiving before it starts to get too cold and the water starts freezing. Once we get to warmer climate, we will continue our education but we just don't want to wait until March/April of next year to do it and have to winterize and store and blah blah blah. We'd rather spend that money on our boat rather than cold storage.





Now to the boat details; she is a 1997 Beneteau 50 and was prepared by the previous owner for an Atlantic crossing but in the end, his family wasn't on board so he was forced to sell it. She is a 3 cabin, 3 head model, has had her 75hp Perkins rebuilt, Northern Lights generator rebuilt, new standing rigging, 80% new running rigging all new sea cocks, pretty much a very extensive refit. Main and Genoa are in great condition. We just had her surveyed and apart from some missing waste and oil discharge stickers and out of date flares, she was given high marks. The only thing the previous owner did not have on board is a chart plotter. He was using his Ipad to navigate. She has a working radar attached to a display at the nav table but it's all dot matrix, very old electronics but they all function. She even has a bow thruster, auto pilot, wind, depth, speed indicators and compass at both helms and all batteries are about 1.5 years old.



If anyone is up for the adventure, please consider helping us new sailors out, we would greatly appreciate it


Thanks for the consideration and of course please ask all the question you may have and we will try to answer them quickly.

Go Now. It is going to get cold. Go outside. Maybe take the ICW far enough to skip Hatteras. We find the ICW way more challenging than offshore. Twists, turns, currents, tides, shoals, anchoring at the right time in the right place.

Traveling in the winter on the ICW is awful. You make 20 or 30 miles a day. You're crazy cold at night. You get snowed on. We slept in our foulies, hats and gloves, after warming our bed with a pressure cooker. Hauling anchor on an icy deck, on a cold windy morning was memorable. It took us many weeks to Cape Fear and then just a few days to go offshore to Savannah and then another hop to FL. It is so very much more relaxing outside. There's dolphins and warm water in the gulf stream. Just be patient and pick nice weather.

[FEC]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

*blush*

I know, I know, I wish we could hire you but our depleted boat money account cannot afford it at the moment. Perhaps if we are forced to remain put, we will have several months to accumulate more $$$ and we can re-visit your services.

[FEC]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

They made 2 versions of keels for this model. Are you sure you have the shallower shoal draft keel?

I just checked the survey report again and the pictures we took of the boat out of water and yes it appears to be the shallower keel, not the 7ft one as I'm 5'11" and the keel was just about my height.

[Stmurray62]

I am an ASA instructor, USCG Master 100 Delivery Captain. I am interested in assisting y’all to the Southern warmer climate.
Capt Steve Murray, mba
CAPCA member
904 557 6932
Steve@seaflycustom.com
Www. Seaflycustom.com

[izzyforreal]

Originally Posted by FEC

Yes, we must leave soon and maybe brunswick is too far for the first leg of this trip. I heard Beaufort is great and slip fees are only a couple hundred dollars a month off season but its pretty far from Raleigh. Is there an airport in Wilmington or Jackson?

I believe you meant airports relative to Beaufort. Wilmington and Jacksonville (NC) both have small airports, but so does New Bern, which is closer than either of those two. AA flies out of New Bern through Charlotte.

If you're on the ICW and planning to leave the boat for a while you might try Wayfarer's Cove marina, just west of Oriental. Very good pricing and they do excellent work.

Mark DeDionisio
Tartan 40 Sister Moon

[michael metivie]

Hi
I think I can help you out, timing is right. Im better at sailing than computing but if your interested in contacting me I will try and get you my sailing resume.
MEM
pm5756@gmail.com
Happy Sails

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by izzyforreal

I believe you meant airports relative to Beaufort. Wilmington and Jacksonville (NC) both have small airports, but so does New Bern, which is closer than either of those two. AA flies out of New Bern through Charlotte.

New Bern is the closest airport to Beaufort/Morehead City. Rent a car one-way from Morehead City and drive to Norfolk to fly home.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by SUNCAT365

Traveling in the winter on the ICW is awful. You make 20 or 30 miles a day. You're crazy cold at night. You get snowed on. We slept in our foulies, hats and gloves, after warming our bed with a pressure cooker. Hauling anchor on an icy deck, on a cold windy morning was memorable. It took us many weeks to Cape Fear and then just a few days to go offshore to Savannah and then another hop to FL.

A bit negative
IME, the schedule is driven by the need to find a place to stop before it gets dark (you don't drive the ICW in the dark.) - we did from 20 - 46 miles/day based on that. We plugged in where we stopped and ran the reverse cycle to keep warm. We had to run the genny at the Dismal Swamp info centre - but there were no neighbours to complain. It's six days from Norfolk to Morehead (maybe 5 if you take the new side of the Ditch). Plus any extra days if you want to stop to smell the flowers. From Morehead it is an easy sail outside to Charleston (2 days). From Chaz it's an overnighter to Brunswick. Either of those would probably be temperate enough for you, but Chaz offers a little more in creature comforts.

It's good to know what your overall plan is. If you get some experienced help, go outside, but if the weather is at all iffy, just take the Ditch, at least as far as Morehead. The "driving" is boring, but some of the stops are gems. Morehead south to Jacksonville, the ICW is allegedly sketchy, but at least if you go outside then, you're not stuck outside - there are choices for going back inside if the weather changes.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by FEC

I know, I know, I wish we could hire you but our depleted boat money account cannot afford it at the moment. Perhaps if we are forced to remain put, we will have several months to accumulate more $$$ and we can re-visit your services.

*grin* I really do recommend staying put and spending the summer on the Chesapeake. Get out here to visit your boat and head to Annapolis. Buy me a drink at Davis' Pub and we can go through all your options and how to be ready to head South in 2020. You'll remember a Spring and Summer crusing the Chesapeake for the rest of your life.

Originally Posted by SUNCAT365

Go Now. It is going to get cold. Go outside. Maybe take the ICW far enough to skip Hatteras. We find the ICW way more challenging than offshore. Twists, turns, currents, tides, shoals, anchoring at the right time in the right place.

Traveling in the winter on the ICW is awful. You make 20 or 30 miles a day. You're crazy cold at night. You get snowed on. We slept in our foulies, hats and gloves, after warming our bed with a pressure cooker. Hauling anchor on an icy deck, on a cold windy morning was memorable. It took us many weeks to Cape Fear and then just a few days to go offshore to Savannah and then another hop to FL. It is so very much more relaxing outside. There's dolphins and warm water in the gulf stream. Just be patient and pick nice weather.

Hmm. Anyone should be able to average 35 sm/day. With some discipline a couple can regularly make 75 sm/day with the occasional lay day and slow day. As I've said over and over you HAVE TO HAVE HEAT. Mr. Heater Portable Buddy. You need a wooden baseball bat. The US Navy uses Louisville Slugger.

Originally Posted by Lodesman

A bit negative
IME, the schedule is driven by the need to find a place to stop before it gets dark (you don't drive the ICW in the dark.) - we did from 20 - 46 miles/day based on that. We plugged in where we stopped and ran the reverse cycle to keep warm. We had to run the genny at the Dismal Swamp info centre - but there were no neighbours to complain. It's six days from Norfolk to Morehead (maybe 5 if you take the new side of the Ditch). Plus any extra days if you want to stop to smell the flowers. From Morehead it is an easy sail outside to Charleston (2 days). From Chaz it's an overnighter to Brunswick. Either of those would probably be temperate enough for you, but Chaz offers a little more in creature comforts.

Morehead City is MM 200. Press hard and you can do that in three days. My wife and I did it and she isn't much of a sailor.

I know I'm repeating myself - go offshore and get thee across the Gulf Stream 1-1/2 days from Norfolk where it is warmer and turn right. The boats you saw streaming South from Norfolk will catch up with you in a month or so.

[malbert73]

This is easy. Leave the boat where it is. Here’s why:
1. You’ll be miserable heading south in December given where you are from. And for what? You’ll have to get to FL to get to consistently warmer winter sailing weather. And now the boat will be stuck in hurricane alley for June and onward season so you’ll head right back up to Chesapeake.
2. You are new to this right? Chesapeake is the perfect learning ground. Lots of good easy anchorages. Tons of marinas with service. Very protected but also can get mildly nautical when breezy on the bay so you can learn. Groundings are generally not dangerous and soft
3. By March and certainly April you’ll have some nice warm days to come and start sailing.
4. Getting south now on a new to you boat will involve a strict schedule. Generally I think you should only have one of the following, Maybe two if you are daring: 1. New unproven boat, 2. Low experience, 3. Tight schedule. You’re setting yourself up for failure or at least a bad time


I sail the Chesapeake and beyond and every time I sail elsewhere I appreciate how nice and easy inshore cruising is on the Chesapeake- particularly how many uncrowded anchorages there are compared to just about everywhere else.

[damianham]

No problem getting a 65ft mast under a 65ft bridge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGAzt-8minI

Originally Posted by FEC

Hi Chris, i know its getting late in the season now which puts me in sort of a pickle. The mast is 63.5 feet tall which supposedly is just under the maximum. Im not at all familiar with weather patterns on the east coast so does Norfolk freeze or get snow? The boat has an Ocean Breeze reverse cycle heat/AC.

[LagoonJim]

Hey congrats on new boat! I’m in MDR and I just brought my Lagoon 500 from Ft. Lauderdale back to the marina, so I could give some advice on the trip after you get further south on around to CA.

I like the suggestion several have made of staying put for now. When I talk to people about bringing a boat back form the east coast doing the commuter cruising thing, my first best advice is always to keep boat where purchased for awhile, for going through systems and getting familiar. It’s time well spent.

Even if you have to winterize. You might even be glad for the different experience. At least you are well north of the ICZ.

I wish I had done that myself. I signed papers, went to west marine and grocery store the next morning, then departed for the keys. As everyone knows, things that worked on sea trial magically stop the day you shove off, just Murphy’s Law. I didn’t have everything right until the canal.

As for crew, this is a little out of the box, but have you considered joining a yacht club? I’m a member of Del Rey, never imagined myself in a club, sailed for decades and turned my nose up at it. Was really a great decision. I’ve already helped two friends crew their boats to deliver places, one I just got back from sea of Cortez on. There are probably 20 of our members underway at any one time, and tons of people in the club help each other out with delivery legs.

As for direct help, I can’t do before Christmas, but I could help some next year. I also have a friend who’s an ASA instructor from out here who is a great guy that might be willing to do your plan A, if that’s what you end up deciding. I’d highly recommend him. Lot of east coast experience, cool dude.

Feel free to IM me or email. jim@svreliant.org

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by LagoonJim

As everyone knows, things that worked on sea trial magically stop the day you shove off, just Murphy’s Law. I didn’t have everything right until the canal.

Not matter how hard you shop surveyors miss things. Some things they just don't really look at. Electronics in particular are a problem. "Powers up and appears to work." Bah. "No disassembly." Bah again.