CoRoBri

We brought the CoRoBri home today, thanks to my niece loaning me "The Dreadnought," a HUGE pickup truck that should have its own area code! Thing has more bells and whistles than 2 regular cars!

In a week or so, I'll post the overhaul list and update progress, but for now, it's time to relax a bit and get ready for winter (YUCK!)

I drove down to the marina yesterday, hoping against hope.

She's up on the trailer, and probaby a good thing considering the storms we had over the past week.

I cleaned out some of the stuff, like the water tanks and manage to read the knot meter for the last tie this year.

We started the year with about 420 miles and finished with 570. Not too shabby for a first year. Next year I'll keep better records (maybe).

I've started the 2009 job list (not as long as last year's list, thank God), and I'll post it here some day soon. In a few weeks, I'll grab the boat and tow her home and get started.

No pictures today - I had my hands full.

I fixed the broken block (the pop rivets had pulled out), then took the boat out.

Today, we had wind - I managed to get 4.9 knots under sail today. It w s GREAT!

I sailed to a new body of water today too. The wind was in the right quarter to sail from Keyport over to the Aurthur Kill, the river that runs between Staten Island New York and Perth Amboy, New Jersey. I got within 500 yards of the Outerbridge Crossing and was gonna sail under, but the wind died ad it was getting late, so I turned around.

On the way back, I learned (or relearned) an important lesson. I was going to pass a lighthouse at the mouth of the Aurthur Kill on the windward side. About 25 yards from the lighthouse, the wind dies out and I started to make leeway right toward the lighthouse! I had enough headway to turn away from the wind, and pass the lighthouse on the leeward side, which is what I should have done anyway!

I do NOT want summer to be over!

We must have had a good storm over the past 2 weeks. One of my fire extinguisher brackets broke and a block on the boom pulled out!

We took her out today for a few hours...like 5 1/2! It was cool when we started and downright chilly when we finished! We had a good day, though. The wind was a bit stiff, so we sailed with the the main and jib reefed to reduce sail area and still managed 4.2 knots (without the heel we saw on other boats out today)

Brian had hte helm most of the day, except in the channel. He did really well and I'm quite proud of him. What am I going to do when he asks to take the boat out alone? I know it's gonna happen - but maybe not for a while (I hope)

Getting near the end of hte season - I was a few empty moorings and I think some of the larger boats were pulled out of the water during the last high high tide.. I do NOT want the season to end!

Although I'll still be taking hte CoRoBri out over the next month, the season is pretty well done, and it seems to be a fitting time to look back over the season.

Some of the high tide events of the season were:

Driving to the marina and seeing her on the water for the first time. God she looked pretty!
Taking her off the mooring for the first time, motoring through the mooring field and up the channel
Spending the first night on board - actually in a comfortable bunk! (We kept her on the mooring)
Overnighting to Sandy Hook and cooking a meal, then just hanging out.
The over night with Brian when he came back from New York
Rounding the Sandy Hook point and sailing out in to the North Atlantic on our way to Rockaway Inlet
Docking at the fishing pier at Keyport and talking with three boys who had never been on a sailboat.
Adding the EZ Steer and seeing how much better the CoRoBri handled under engine
Christening the boat
Sailing close hauled and heeling 10° and not wanting to hold onto the mast with both hands!
Spending 9 of 15 days on board, daysailing and overnighting!
Being addressed as Captain and having it feel appropriate!
Raising the sails for the first time
Raising the sails for the second time

Low tides - the things I remember when it wasn't as much fun

Ramming a dock when the engine was mounted too high and I had no reverse (cost me a running light)
Hitting an underwater piling after the wind took me crosswise and losing the rudder.
Spending a week looking for a lost rudder
Brian getting seasick so we had to give up the trip to Jamaica Bay
Having a passenger yakk
A thunderstorm as I was coming back from Sandy Hook that I barely outran
Running aground in Horseshoe Cove on Sandy Hook and worrying about losing the new rudder!
Having to tie off to the pilings at Keyport Ramp while I tried to fix an engine.

More to follow... as I remember things

I took a chance Saturday and went out - we were supposed to get 5-10 knot winds with gusts to 15. Didn't happen. It was a great day just messing about on Raritan Bay. I managed to get 3.6 knots out of her in some pretty light winds.
To my great disappointment, I started emptying some of the stuff out - the stove and barbecue, extra clothes and the like - all of the things that mean overnighting. A sign of end of season that I don't want to face.

One cool thing happened - at one point, a 4 engine prop driven plane flew overhead - I was late getting the glasses on it but it looked like a silver B-17 Flying Fortress!

On Sunday, we were supposed to have the same amount of wind - the weatherman LIED!
I went 1.5 miles from 1:00 to 3:00 - do the math... 4.4 knots max speed but .6 knots average! I got really bored but didn't want to give up - so I marked the halyards with indicators for when I have to reef the mainsail . I've been intending to do that, so I just lower the sail to the proper index and tie off the reef points. Now it's done - right at the end of the season, of course.

I'm starting on my list of honey-do's for the winter too.

TH esilver plane flew over again - It was a B017, I'm ALMOST convinced. She was in the sun when I tried to look at her but the tail shape is unique to the fortress. There might have been an airshow in the area/

I went out yesterday, mainly to see how we fared thru the storm.
The marina pulled all the smaller boats - they have a tendency to snap stays and lose masts in major storms, so I was good.

First part of the day was pretty light winds, so I drifted about. The battery was low, and I was worried about depth, so I had to run the engine intermittently, cause i kept drifting toward shore - and I have a history of trouble in the shallows, now don't I?

Later the wind picked up a bit and I got 3.7 knots out of her, just putzing around the bay. There was some kind of regatta going on off Staten Island, so I stayed clear of that area.

About 4:00, it got really dark and hazy, so I ran for for the mooring..
Only a few more weekends left, I fear...

The wind must have been in the willows. It certainly was NOT on Raritan Bay! I dropped the mooring today at 12:15. By 3:15, I was ALMOST out of Keyport Cove! Not quite, but almost. I peaked at 1.3 knots under sail - about half the speed of a man walking(2 miles per hour).

I finally gave up and turned around and came home. At the time, 3 sailboats were making their way back also.

So, the vacation ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper. It still was better than doing yard work!