USS Constitution

Well, this blog has nothing to do with my "Bucket Trip," but it is sailing related and I wanted to share it.

I had the opportunity to go to Boston last week to visit Linda, who has been working up there most of the time that I was on my trip. I wanted to see her apartment there and meet her co-workers, who have been nice and welcoming to her.

While there, I wanted to go visit the USS Constitution since I had read the great book, "Six Frigates," last spring. The book is about the formation of the US Navy in 1794 when the new country discovered that it was going to have to protect its merchant ships from Barbary (now Somolia) pirates. (Nothing has changed!) The book is about the politics of the decision as much as it is about the naval construction and warfare of the times...obviously the perfect book for me. I highly recommend it to readers with similar interests.


I have seen the outside of the famous ship several times when in Boston, but I had never timed my visit right to get a tour of her interior. This time, with Linda's help, we got it right.

So, first of all, stop and think about a wooden ship, built 214 years ago, that is still floating! And not only is she floating, she is capable of sailing under her own rig -- which she did as recently as 1997 on her 200th birthday. Now, obviously, she has been rebuilt several times. Several of these rebuilds occurred after battles which severely damaged her. And other rebuilds occurred to erase the ravages of time that all floating ships endure.


So you might think she is like the proverbial hatchet that belonged to George Washington -- where the handle and the head have both replaced. It occupies the same space, but nothing is original. But that is not the case with the Constitution. I think I read that the keel is original, as well as many other key parts.

Every schoolboy knows that she got her nickname "Old Ironsides" during her first encounter with a British frigate when a British sailor observed cannonballs bouncing off her sides. Since her sides were painted black, they may have actually wondered if she was plated with iron.


In fact, her tremendous strength came from the live oak lumber, procured from coastal South Carolina and Georgia, that is five times harder than ordinary oak. Procurement of this lumber greatly slowed down her construction because the Yankee shipwrights got sick in the southern swamps, probably from mesquite-borne illnesses.


Constitution's prowess came as much from the ability of her crew as it did from her design and construction -- like so many other stories in early American history. Her crew could fire her immense guns and reload and fire again in 90 seconds whereas it took their British opponents two minutes or more. This all added up to a lifetime record of 33 victories and zero defeats. Most importantly, she was the first American ship to ever defeat a British warship. Her victory meant more to the morale of the young country than it did to naval strategy. She became a propaganda tool and is still a huge morale builder to the US Navy.


Constitution was a huge ship in 1797 when she was launched. But she looks small today at 204 feet in length...only six times longer than Agaliha. I could hardly imagine her teeming with a crew of 450. It had to be a pretty miserable existence. No wonder they passed out a pint of watered-down whiskey to the crew every afternoon. Wait, this is starting to sound like a cruise with Captain Ron!

The technology of her design and construction made her the equivalent of a Space Shuttle of her day. She was one of six frigates ordered by Congress in 1794, at a total appropriation of one million dollars. Constitution had cost overruns that swelled her total cost to $300,000, Like I said, some things haven't changed. Thomas Jefferson argued against building a navy, citing the financial burden it would place on American farmers and citizens -- an argument that continues to this day.

But it sure made me feel connected to those days to walk on her decks. Technologically, she is a far cry from a modern nuclear aircraft carrier. But many of the same issues and concerns have not changed much and we still need political leadership to balance those issues against our domestic needs.

I'll stop before the Tea Party gives me a call to run for office. If you get the chance, go walk the decks of "Old Ironsides.". It won't cost you anything (other than what you have already paid in taxes)!



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Agaliha comes home

I couldn't really call my trip complete until Agaliha was back in her home waters. Many of my friends have asked about that process, so I decided to post this brief update.

She sat in the yard of Holland Marine in Green Cove Springs, Florida for about two weeks waiting on the specialized tractor-trailer to come pick her up. While there, Holland Marine also disassembled the remaining rigging of the mast and bubble-wrapped it for shipping.

When the truck arrived, Agaliha was lifted off of the yard stands and was placed in the trailer after it had been adjusted to fit her perfectly. Her mast was strapped along side the trailer. Since she is over 12 feet wide, she is considered a "Wide Load" and can't travel at night or on certain highways.



Two days later, she arrived in Ten Mile, Tennessee at Blue Springs Marina. Ten Mile is half way between Chattanooga and Knoxville on Watts Bar Lake. I had to launch her there because there is no facility in Chattanooga that can launch a sailboat this big. It required a special boat lift and crane. I was there when the truck arrived...and so did a torrential rain. I had planned to start unpacking her, but the rain changed those plans. I watched as the boatyard placed her in a steel cradle and laid her mast alongside.

A few days later, I returned to Ten Mile to buff and wax the mast and replace some light bulbs and other electrical work while the mast was horizontal. It might be ten more years before the mast is down again, so I wanted to do all the maintenance I could. The unusually warm February weather made all of these chores very pleasant. After I left, the guys in the boatyard buffed and waxed Agaliha's topsides (the sides from the waterline to the gunwale).

After a bitter cold weekend (19 degrees), I returned the next week to help the yard crew reinstall her mast. I was glad I had winterized all of her systems because boats are particularly vulnerable to freeze damage when they are not in the warm river water. The mast was raised without incident -- although it took an experienced crane operator and four men on the boat to do so.



The rig was tightened just enough to keep the mast vertical. Fine tuning it back into sailing condition would come later. At this point I was able to get the boom, vang, whisker pole and mainsail out of the main cabin of the boat. All of this gear had been preventing me from being able to move around in the cabin.

A few days later, David went with me to Ten Mile to help me bring Agaliha downstream to Chattanooga. When we arrived at 8:00 a.m., her decks were coved in ice! The engine fired right up and we loaded our gear aboard motored over to the fuel dock for fuel. With fuel and food aboard, we set out for Watts Bar Lock at 9:00 a.m.


By 10:00 a.m. The ropes had thawed and I was busy refitting the dodger to give us a little protection from the wind. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day, a following current and a following breeze. Since the bottom and propeller were perfectly clean, we were motoring as fast as Agaliha ever motors. We were doing almost 9 knots (speed over ground).

By 11:00, we were in the open gates of the lock, and by 11:25 we were exiting into Chickamauga Lake, Agaliha's home elevation for the first time in four months. This, of course, called for a shot of rum.



We had brought food, whiskey and sleeping bags for spending the night on anchor, but we were making such great time it looked like we could make it all the way home before sunset. This, too, called for a shot of rum. After all, it was a nice summy Dahee -- (hic)!

Seriously, it would have been a very cold night on an anchor. The engine heat would have kept us warm for a few hours. Without shore power, the only other heat source in Agaliha is a small propane heater. I don't sleep with it on because it can consume all the oxygen in the boat causing you to wake up dead.

Sure enough, we pulled into Gold Point Marina at 6:15 p.m. -- 15 minutes before sunset. I could almost feel Agaliha exhale as I backed her into her slip. Or maybe it was just me.



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The Bucket Trip comes to an end

We wanted to leave the River City Marina in Jacksonville at 8:30 on January 15, but the CSX railroad had different plans. Just as we were getting ready to pull away from the dock, the railroad bridge came down blocking our path to the south. I called the bridge tender and he said they were starting repairs on the bridge and that I was very lucky that he would be able to open it for me in about an hour.

Sure enough, in an hour, he raised the span -- the last obstacle between us and the boatyard at Green Cove Springs. It was still cool by Florida standards -- 46 degrees. But the weatherman said it would hit 62 by afternoon. The bright sunshine and light wind made it feel warmer. We turned Agaliha south in the wide expanse of the St. Johns River. The water looked like iced tea...reddish brown. There was a half knot current setting us, but we didn't care because we had a short trip to make. At 11:30 we passed under the I-295 bridge, 65 feet over our heads. There was a light north wind that allowed us to motor sail, although it didn't affect our speed very much.

At 1:30 we turned into the old Navy docks, which now belong to Holland Marine. The docks were designed for warships, so we had had hard time tying up to the very high structures. As soon as were were secure, Bob helped me start taking Agaliha apart for the trip home. We removed and folded sails and canvas work. I disconnected the mast wiring and started other "decommissioning" chores.


I had very mixed emotions about the end of the trip. I marveled at Agaliha's performance over the past 2,101 miles. She had performed flawlessly. The engine never missed a beat, the refrigeration was still at 16 degrees and all systems were working like they did in Chattanooga almost four months ago.

The staff at Holland Marine did a great job of getting Agaliha ready for trucking. When she came up out of the water, we all marveled at how clean her bottom was. She had not sustained a single scratch in all those miles.





In an effort to total up the mileage, I flipped back through my logbook. The names of places and ports helped me realize how far I had traveled. I was reminded of the long list of friends who helped me get here -- and the fun I had with them. My life had been transformed to one ruled by the sun, wind and waves rather than by an alarm clock and a calendar. I loved the experience, but I didn't want to do it forever.


When you name a trip a "Bucket Trip" you also have to acknowledge the obvious. It is unlikely that I will be making this trip again -- and that's O.K. Many people dream of doing things like this and never do. I am very fortunate that I had the chance and that I made it happen.




You might expect the last photo of this voyage to be a sunset...but it is not. This is the sunrise on the last day of the trip. I think that is fitting because I am excited about the trips and experiences that lie ahead. So, while I don't think I will ever do this trip again, there may be others. But even if there are not, this trip will make me smile for the rest of my life.



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Into the Saint Johns River

Bob and I left a very cold Jacksonville Beach at nine o'clock. The overnight low was 39, but it had already warmed up to 46 and was headed to 55. The wind was very strong from the NE, blowing 15-20 knots.

In addition to a strong headwind, we were bucking a strong current as the tide was rushing in at the Saint Johns Inlet. When we got to the Saint Johns River about 10:15, the current was wild and frothy. I could feel Agaliha's rudder revolt in the strong conditions. As soon as we entered the river, the current started pushing us, but it was working against the strong wind, so we had some big waves that were splashing us in the face.

We followed the buoys upstream in the river towards Jacksonville to the west. We passed Sister's Creek, where the ICW continues north to Georgia and South Carolina. Our speed through the water was about 5.8 knots, but our speed over ground was almost 8 knots. Soon we were passing the giant cranes of the Jacksonville Port Authority.


Bob and I were concerned about the absence of ships in the port. We couldn't help but wonder if it was a sign of a stagnant economy. Before we knew it, we were approaching the Main Street lift bridge in downtown Jacksonville. We called the bridge tender and he matched our speed for a perfect lift as we sailed under as traffic waited. Our marina was just past the bridge, and getting into our slip in a 2 knot current was another character-building experience.


After I rinsed the salt water off of Agaliha, Bob and I walked over the same bridge that had lifted for us to visit the Jacksonville Maritime Museum. It was a disappointment. They are missing an opportunity to tell Jacksonville's role in a rich marine history all the way back to 1564 when the first French boat landed here in search of gold and silver.








When we checked the weather, the forecast had changed dramatically. Last night was the coldest night and the normal temperatures would be returning soon. I looked enviously at the charts into Georgia and South Carolina. It would be fun to keep going.

Maybe there will be a "Bucket Trip Two." But for now, I am very satisfied with all I have seen and accomplished. It's time to go home.

Tomorrow should bring us to the end of the line...the boatyard at Green Cove Springs.





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St. Augustine and another cold front

Bob and I got up at 6:00 on Thursday to prep the boat for a long 52-mile trip to St. Augustine. The wind was forecast to be 10-20 mph out of the SW, so we wanted to make sure everything was secured before we headed out. Bob had been with me from Clearwater to Key West, so he knew that everything needed to be ship shape before we departed.

We left Halifax Harbor in the moonlight and passed under the Daytona Memorial Bridge at 6:55 when the bridge tender opened it for us. A few minutes later, we passed under the Main Street Bridge when it lifted for us, too.


Once again, it was a beautiful day. Sunny and 75. I was well into my fourth month of this voyage and I had only seen rain twice. We motored most of the morning, wondering where the big wind was. I looked at the instruments and realized that we were being set by a one knot current (slowing us down). This was going to make our long day even longer.

About 11:00 the wind started to pick up. We unrolled the genoa and it boosted our speed. After a half hour it really started to blow. We were doing 7.3 knots through the water, which was about 6 knots over the ground with the adverse current. There is an impassible inlet nearby, called Matanzas. As soon as we passed it, the adverse current became a positive current. The wind also built. We saw some gusts to 30 mph and had a steady 20 to 25mph breeze blowing over the stern quarter. The combination of the wind and tide had us moving at 8.4 knots over the ground. St Augustine was coming up fast.

We arrived at St. Augustine Municipal Marina at 2:30. Fortunately, the slip to which we were assigned was against the current, so I was able to motor in reverse into the slip. It was uneventful. In a 2 knot current, things can interesting in a hurry. We plugged in the electricity and turned on the heat, getting ready for a cold night. It got down to 48.


Pulling into St. Augustine reminded me of European cities on the Baltic Sea. The beautiful old buildings on the waters edge were unlike anything I had seen on this voyage. We had a great "tapas" dinner at the restaurant "Columbia" in the old city. Once again, we were struck by the slow economy and the number of empty tables. Bob and I got treated with great attention, because we are so handsome...and because we have a credit card.











When we pulled out of St. Augustine on Friday morning, we asked the bridge tender of the "Bridge of the Lions" to open his bridge for us at 9:00. He obliged, and we were on our way to Jacksonville Beach.


We were set by and adverse current until we passed the St. Augustine inlet. It is so cool to watch the instruments and see the current turn. We went from a one-knot set to a two-knot push in about 300 yards.



We hunkered down into a WNW wind and motored toward Jacksonville Beach. The high for Friday was 55 degrees, and in Florida that it was a disaster. We felt bad until my daughters called to report snow in Tennessee and Virginia.

We pulled into Beach Marine in Jacksonville Beach in the early afternoon. We were very happy to find that the marina had floating docks because the tidal range here is four and a half feet, the greatest I have seen on the trip so far. We cooked on board and enjoyed Agaliha's cabin heater as the temperature dropped to 39 overnight.


Saturday will be another cool and sunny day as we head north up the ICW to the St. John's River and turn west toward downtown Jacksonville.

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Daytona for a crew change

On Tuesday, January 10, Beau, John and I turned Agaliha toward Daytona Beach. We departed New Symrna Beach Municipal Marina at 8:40 so that we could get under the draw bridge at it's 9:00 scheduled opening. On the way, we passed a huge pelican roost. The day was sunny and beautiful and headed toward a high of 75 degrees without a breath of wind.


We decided to leave the ICW and take the eastern path over to see the Ponce de Leon inlet. It required some careful navigating because these inlet paths shoal up and the shallows move around in ways that don't show on the charts. We got a good look at the lighthouse and a good look into the Atlantic through the inlet. It was very calm in the ocean, but we could feel the strong currents from the tide rushing in to the ICW.


We broke out the shorts and t-shirts for the short trip up the ICW to Daytona. We arrived at Halifax Harbor Marina about noon. It was a huge marina with 550 slips and even had it's own West Marine Store on the premises. We tied up in our slip and enjoyed walking the docks to look at all the beautiful boats. John and Beau needed to get back home to Knoxville, so we ate dinner at the Chart House to celebrate a great week of cruising together. They had to get up 6 a.m. on Wednesday to ride a shuttle to the airport.

I was considering making the next leg of the trip (52 miles to St. Augustine) by myself on Wednesday...until I checked the weather. There was an 80 percent chance of rain with a possibility of severe thunderstorms. I hadn't done any of trip alone yet and this didn't look like the day to start.


The sunrise on Wednesday seemed to bear out the old adage, "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." But as the day wore on, the forecasted rain never came. The sun was even out most of the day. There has been so little rain in Florida for the past six months, I think the forecast was more wishful thinking than meteorological science.

I rented a car and drove to the boatyard in Green Cove Springs to meet my next crew, Bob. He was going to leave his car there, as it is my final destination. The yard there will drop the mast and load Agaliha onto a tractor-trailer for the trip home.

We drove back to Daytona and went to bed early because we needed to get an early start for St. Augustine on Thursday morning.

In the shadow of the space shuttle

Beau, John and I left Eau Gallie on Sunday morning as the church bells pealed in the little village. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but there wasn't a breath of wind. So we motored up the ICW toward Titusville. We hadn't been moving long when we saw a gargantuan building off to the east. As we got a little closer, we could tell it was the NASA Space Shuttle Vehicle Assembly Building. If only we could have witnessed a launch.


We enjoyed the scenic beauty, even if we didn't have any wind to sail.
We arrived in Titusville about 2:30 and turned into the Municipal Marina after passing through a very large mooring field. It was so warm (78 degrees) that we considered running the air conditioning. We decided that it would cool off pretty quickly, so we just put on lighter clothing.

Late in the afternoon we walked about a mile to the only restaurant in Titusville that is open on Sunday night -- Cracker Jacks. There was live music and a beautiful moonrise.


"Stomp Box Steve" belts out a tune as the moon comes up


Moonrise under the Titusville Bridge

On Monday, we left Titusville and turned north up the Indian River. As we approached the "Haulover" we actually bumped the bottom as we motored in the middle of the channel. It spooked us a little bit and kept us on our toes throughout the day. The "Haulover" is a mile-long canal that connects the Indian River to Mosquito Lagoon.


These yachts reminded us of home.

A little after noon, the wind came up out of the east and we were able to motor sail our way into New Smyrna Beach, which we reached at about 2:00 p.m. We called the Municipal Marina and -- big surprise -- they had room for us. In all my travels I have only been turned away by one Marina that was totally full (Miami Beach Marina on New Year's Eve).

As we were filling out our paperwork in the Marina office, the harbormaster asked us if we knew the owners of the other sailboat in the marina from Chattanooga. Are you kidding?! We were introduced, and we had a great visit with the couple (who actually live in Dunlap). We also met their dogs...who barked at the cat on a leash. I'm not making this up.


We walked a few blocks into the town from the marina. It is a very pretty little town that is 200 years old, a rarity in Florida.


We had a great meal at a picnic table restaurant near the marina and then headed back to the boat to watch the BCS National Championship game on TV. Congratulations Alabama!




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