A Note on the Log of the Spartina

The EYE of the World crew has a growing number of friends and supporters in the sailing community; for example, Steve Earley who sails a home-built John Welsford-designed Pathfinder called Spartina.

Following Steve Earley's blog, "The Log of the Spartina," is always a good thing. The sailing! The photography! Steve is a master of knowing how to savor and share the entire cruising experience from anticipating and planning, to enjoying sailing adventures, to looking back with appreciation. Check out Steve's blog.

This past weekend, while wearing an EYE tee-shirt, Steve wrote about refinishing work on the Spartina, recalled the original building experience, and continued his support for the EYE crew.

Thank you, Steve!

Thanksgiving, Ham Radio, Miami, etc ...

We were pleased to see that the crew of the EYE enjoyed a very nice Thanksgiving Feast.  Alan tells us Trevor is a great chef and brings quite a bit of creativity and ingenuity to their meals. I think Alan is eating better than he ever did in college.

An article in a local Maryland newspaper was published about Adam and the EYE, titled ‘Potomac Native Sails the Globe for Education’. You can read the article here.  We've heard the EYE has been getting some press in the Miami area as well. 

While in Ft Lauderdale, Alan passed the 2 exams needed to get his Ham Radio license. This will allow email communication via radio called ‘Sail Mail’ when they are between ports and have no phone or internet connection is unavailable.

We also heard about a shopping expedition in Ft Lauderdale. Evidently the West Marine store is huge. Alan said it was like shopping in a large Lowes or Home Depot. They were able to find the equipment needed to fix the stove and oven on the boat; they are changing it out to run off propane. In the interim they have been using a Coleman camp stove on the galley counter, but it is not gimbaled (swivels to adjust to the lean of the boat while underway) and will not work well for them once they leave Miami.

The Eye plans to stay in Miami for a couple of weeks while Adam completes the final requirements for his PhD from NC State University.  This would be a great time to mail the guys Holiday gifts. I’d just check first to verify a mailing address where they can receive a package.

The First 1055 Miles

The EYE crew docked the yawl, Willam T. Piquette, in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on 11/21/09 having covered 1055 miles from Hampton, VA, with brief stops in New Bern, NC, and Charleston, SC, along the way. Off the coast of Georgia, they passed almost within hailing distance of Dawn Stewart who was kayaking in the area of Sapelo Island. The crew is currently enjoying very warm weather in Fort Lauderdale --rather different from the weather back in Hampton, VA.

Alan Stewart, serving as captain of the Piquette, will be taking an exam this evening toward qualify as a HAM radio operator.

UPDATE: Alan passed both the 'Technician Test' and the 'General Test'. (We knew you would, Alan.) He is now officially a HAM and a member of the local HAM club in Ft. Lauderdale. He will receive his HAM call sign from the FCC in a few days. Congratulations Alan!

The First 1055 Miles at SpotAdventures

Map created by SpotAdventures:GPS Geotagging

It's Raining, It's Pouring, the Old Man is ....

The ‘William T Paquette’ and crew look to be tucked in at a dock right where the ICW begins its turn off the end of the Cape Fear River where the River spills into the Atlantic. We’ve been told they plan to stay on the ICW for a few days due to the weather.  Rain, rain, and more rain, up to ¼ inch per hour, 8-10 inches at the coast, and with flood watches throughout the state.

The marine forecast for the area: The remnants of Ida will absorb into a developing low pressure system offshore the Carolinas today. The low will move up the coast and will be off of Cape Fear Thursday morning. High pressure moving into New England will interact with this low to produce gusty northeast winds and rough seas much of the week. Easing winds and improving sea conditions can be expected by the weekend.

I just noticed the guys have started to post on their individual logs on the EYE’s website  (I wish there was a way their home page could indicate when they have each made a new posting).

Trevor at the helm motor sailing along

Trevor’s posting really speaks to the excitement of the last weeks for him, and brought back lots of the emotions many of us felt on the dock at Gloucester VA when they waved good bye.

Adam’s last post describes the crews expected schedule while underway, taking watch and cooking shifts. I find these details of daily life very interesting to read about.

And Alan, the serious and contemplative member was his usual verbose self (we love you Alan) :)

North Carolina Coast

Alan sent me the picture above while sailing from Beaufort Inlet to Masonboro Inlet off the NC Coast yesterday (Monday).

This morning he called and said that they had a really nice warm day, and good tail winds. The wind vane actually did all the steering for about 7 hours.  I had to ask Paul what a wind vane was, he said "a Wind Vane Steering System is like a tiller pilot except that it uses the wind direction to keep the boat on a line -- even if the wind direction changes a some. (A geometry teacher's delight, I would think.)

The tail winds do mean that there is more pitching and rolling around.  Alan said no one was seasick, but they all did have occasional moments of feeling a bit queasy.   And they loved watching the dolpins swimming and playing along side them for much of the day.

Then he relayed a story about their anchorage. They came into Masonboro in the dark, at full on low tide. It is a narrow inlet with rock jetties on both sides. Once inside, the deep channel is very narrow with shallows all around. While looking for a quick anchorage for the night, they grounded in the sand, and could not release with the motor on full power. So they rowed out to a day marker and used the anchor wench to get free. The photo below shows their tracks getting into the inlet, and I assume getting settled at anchor.

Last night, Paul met up with Adam who had returned to Raleigh to meet with his school advisors as he gets ready to finalize the last of the requirements for his PhD degree from NC State. Paul had a box of hardware Alan wanted that he gave Adam. Adam assured us that they all had their eyes on the weather and were watching the news regards Hurricane Ida to figure out what impact Ida weather might have on their routing. Currently they plan to stay in the ICW until that all resolves. The other’s are planning to motor sail up to South Port where they will pick up Adam later tonight (Tuesday).

I noticed a new link on the EYE of the World website that includes pictures the crew has taken on their phones, this is under the SPOT tracker. As a Mom, I especially liked seeing these, looks like they are eating well.

H.F. Radio On Board

www.hfradio.com
Many thanks to Don Melcher of "HF Radio On Board" for his generous help toward putting together a high frequency (HF) single sideband (SSB) radio system for e-mail, weatherfax, and radio communications. Alan has obtained the required Ship Station Radio License and a Restricted Radio Operator Permit from the FCC and is planning to test for his HAM license while in Miami. Don Melcher is the founder and owner of "HF Radio On Board" and draws on a background of 45+ years involvement with ham radio and sailing. Thanks, Don!
More about HF Radio On Board, transceivers, modems, WinLink, Airmail, and antennas when the equipment installations are complete and the e-mails are flying.
--Paul

Happy Birthday Liz

MORE Pictures

The EYE crew has been very lucky to have made some wonderful friends over the year while dry docked at Crown Point Marina, in Gloucester, Virginia. For example, Chris and Karen, have basically adopted them.

They also selflessly donated folding bikes for the journey, and even held a fund-raising dinner at their house with their friends and neighbors. I’ve also heard Karen fed them very well during their various boat work weekends over the past year.

Below is a slide show of the Bon Voyage that Chris sent us. It had some very nice graphics which unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep in order to post the slide show on the blog, but I was able to keep the pictures showing them making their goodbyes and leaving the dock in Gloucester.



The Friends and family of the EYE would like to also express their deep appreciation for all the help and support given by Crown Point Marina and the wonderful community of sailors there for all the help, support, and friendship they extended to our crew.

Batteries Charging

The EYE seems to be making really good progress getting to New Bern for the weekend as planned.

Alan texted us the picture below from his phone.  He's got the battery monitor all hooked up now.  The solar panels and wind generator seem to be doing their share of keeping the batteries charged, and they are starting to see how much power things use, and how well they replenish the power.

Alan said that next they plan to finish wiring up all the navigation lights (they are running temporary lights now).  And he mentioned their needing a frying pan, and getting the boats stove converted to propane soon, they aren't able to easily cook on their temporary coleman camp stove while underway.

Another picture from Alan (below) with an explanation of the power generated to the battery banks. The 12.5 amps shown above shows the power generated from the motor. The 7.1 amps below is power that is generated solely from the solar panel and wind generator.

More Great Pictures

Our adventurers waving good-bye

This shot is from Trevor's Dad, who took some absolutely beautiful shots which can be seen HERE.

And, they made the newspaper. Read the article HERE.

On the Move through Virginia

A friend of ours (and a photographer) who sails his own homebuilt Pathfinder sailboat named Spartina, and who keeps a sailing blog of his weeklong adventures, sent us these photos of the EYE taken at 11:30am through the the Great Bridge locks, and at 12:00 at the Great Bridge bridge lift.  Thanks Steve.

There They Go

It was a weekend of excitment and a touch of sadness as we all gathered in Hampton Virginia over the weekend to suppport our "Guys" as they embarked on their big adventure.  Parents and siblings, friends new and old, and even a few classrooms of school kids who are part of the educational program were all there to wave them a "Bon Voyage". 

Our sailors, Adam, Alan, and Trevor, also joined by friend Liz who will sail with them through the month on the way to Florida, before our 3 take off for other parts of the world.

Slideshow of photos taken by Alan's family.

After seeing the guys off, and having returned to Chapel Hill, we got a text message from Alan later that night telling us they were anchored for the night off Portsmouth VA (as planned) and that the pillow we'd insisted on buying him was 'verrrry nice' :)