I'm sailing away . . .

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Well, it’s been an interesting week. I found out that the contract lawyer position I’m working in would be ending on October 5 as a result of a slowdown in the real estate finance market in the wake of the WTC attack.

However, soon after I learned this, I found out that friends were sailing their boat from New York to Florida, leaving October 7, and in need of crew.

Well, the deal is done, and for more than a month, I’ll be sailing on a 47-foot Catalina sloop as we make our leisurely way down the Atlantic coast. Depending on wind, whim and weather, we should end up in Marco Island, Florida sometime in mid-November, with more than 1700 miles under our keel. Planned stops include Charleston, Savannah, St. Augustine and Key West. Unplanned stops remain unplanned.

I’m taking a sextant, and will be trying to learn celestial navigation. I’m looking for some good, long books to read. I’m going through my CD collection to see what I’ll be able to stand after being replayed for weeks on end.

We’ll have a laptop on the trip, and I plan to keep a journal. We may even be able to hook it up so we can get some limited wireless internet access. So I hope to post periodic trip reports either afloat or as we stop in various ports. On the other hand, I may just unplug from the real world entirely, and see you all when I get back.

New York Dopers, if you’d like to hoist a glass before I hoist sail, please stop by the DopeDinner this Thursday. If you feel compelled to get in touch with me after that, you can contact my sister Green Bean, who should be able to pass messages along.

And everyone is invited to see pictures and hear tall tales from the high seas at the January 5 New York Mega-Dopefest.

Have fun on dry land, folks!

2

I am so jealous. I am so, so jealous that I can’t see straight.

3

Oh my! Guess I’ll have to find somebody else’s couch to crash on if I decide to take a trip up to NYC in the immediate future. Well, have a good trip, fair winds and following seas and all that. Do check in, I’d love to hear about it.

4

The Viking in me is threatening rebellion even as I type this. How can cutting edge semiconductor research compete with setting sail on an adventure like that? Remember a glow-in-the-dark star chart plus a watch and compass with luminous dials.

Gah!

5

I also envy you. Lately I am not getting much sailing done and it prospects for the next few months are not any better.

I am quite knowledgeable about celestial navigation which I have studied in depth and taught in classrooms. Be aware that there are two very distinct parts. One is taking the sight with the sextant. This requires practice, coordination etc and is totally different from the process of reducing the sight which is best learnt in a classroom, not on the boat as you sail. There are many different methods of sight reduction, you can even use a computer which will do it all for you (but I consider that cheating… you might as well use a GPS)

I have just sold my home in DC and today I packed my three sextants and other nautical instruments in a large crate with some sadness as I do not know when I will see them again…

Feel free to email me if you have any questions about Celestial navigation. It is my favorite subject.

6

Get a decent sextant, not a crummy plastic one. It will make your learning much less stressful. :wink:

I’m so jealous. I’d love to take a month off to go sailing.

Why stop in Florida? Cross on over to the Bahamas? :smiley:
Have fun!

7

tries to hide the green on face
obviously does not succeed
LUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE… throws temper tantrum

as it is, i REALLY REALLY envy you, so enjoy the heck out of the trip, cuz i might be jealous enough to stalk you home afterwards… :smiley:

luckyluckyluckyluckylucky… walks off, still green, muttering

8

Based on the amount of time planned, I’m guessing you’re going down the ditch and not outside. My husband made a big chunk of that trip last year - from Solomons Island, MD to Jax, FL. I wasn’t able to go along (dang) tho I’ll be making the journey in the other direction in about 3 years, but I digress.

I’m putting my envy aside to offer a tidbit - some of the bridges along the route have scheduled openings rather than on demand. It can become an issue depending upon where you want to be each night. Also, the radio frequencies on which one contacts the bridges are different according to state - the lack of this little fact almost cost us a mast between the Carolinas.

Have a wonderful trip! Wave as you pass the St. Johns River!

9

… set an open course, for the virgin sea…

10

I’m with SOPHIE. I truly, truly wish you calm winds and a following sea – and a great time – but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m also so jealous I could puke.

Go out there and have fun for all of us chained to our desks. That is your mission! :slight_smile:

11

Hey, Billdo, you’ll be in my hometown!
If you would like to know of a good place for a frosty beverage in Charleston, let me know. I’ll be glad to give you the grand tour of the Holy City. (i’ll also promise to keep you away from the tourist traps!)
Have a safe voyage, if I don’t hear from you!

(Bugs Bunny voice)Bon Voyaggie!(/Bugs Bunny voice)

12

Yes, Eonwe, that song has been repeatedly running through my head for the past week.

Sailor, I realize that the sight reduction portion of celestial navigation is better learned ashore, but I’m heading off on Sunday and don’t really have time for a course. One of the crew is quite experienced at doing and teaching celestial, so I expect that I’ll get some advice about which part of the sextant to look through, as well as which end of the pencil to hold when figuring the results. We’re also bringing Dutton, Bowditch, The Nautical Almanac and enough other books to give us a five degree starbord list, so I’ll be able to read up on the theoretical side of it. We also have a celestial navigation calculator, but I plan to only use it to confirm the pencil and paper results. Besides, learing navigation from the quarterdeck feeds my Patrick O’Brian/Horatio Hornblower midshipman in the old Royal Navy fantasies. :slight_smile:

Zenster, star chart check, watch check, compass check.

Demo, I’ll be taking a Davis Marine sextant. It’s plastic, but it’s supposed to be a good one.

FairyChatMom, we’re actually planning to go outside for the whole way. We have mast-height issues with the ditch. We’re planning on stops and sightseeing along the way, and, damn, that Florida Peninsula takes a long time to get around. At this point we’re planning to stop at St. Augustine, not Jax, but look offshore near the end of the month and you may see me waving.

Skerri, we’re hoping to hit Charleston around October 18, and spend three days there. I’d love to hoist a frosty one with you and any other Charleston-Dopers. I’ll be in touch.

And all of you jealous, chained-to-your-desk folks: :stuck_out_tongue:

13

Well tomorrow night I’m gonna make you take back that raspberry, Billdo. :slight_smile:

Ah what I wouldn’t do for a month’s worth vacation right about now…

14

If only it were tomorrow night. Thursday.

I’m so green I can’t even get my days straight.

15

What a wonderful time you’ll have, Billdo! Do enjoy yourself. And especially have fun in Charleston and Savannah, my two favorite cities (alas, yes, a tourist Skerri!).

16

Hi Billdo – This trip of yours reminds me so much of one I took 3 years ago when crewing from Plymouth to The Azores - probably about 1,200 miles in all but a lot of pottering around the Islands. Beautiful experience and I hope it’s the same for you.

I found it a great opportunity to try a new hobby so if you’ve ever hankered after grasping the guitar or water colouring or whatever…this is the time !

Also, get into the night watch thing – the peace of the ocean is so serene and the storms really beautiful at night when everyone else is asleep !

Damn, I need to get back out there…

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.
Damn I do!

17

good thing i look good in green.

this is so fantastic. i hope you have a great time. keep an eye out for hurricanes.

18

Knitting!

Well, I am jealous, too. Jealous because the captain is a great lady, and I’d love to spend a month learning from her. Jealous because the boat is gorgeous. Jealous because I’ve never seen a lot of the coast below Long Island. Jealous, jealous, jealous!

(I am also very sad that he is leaving for a whole month. I’ll miss you, Boo Boo!)

19

<strut>

Hey, it’s only cross and stitch but I like it, like it, it’s ok…

</strut>

20

Bildo –

[envy] Now that’s what a cruise should be! [envy/]