CRUISING ADVENTURES AND GUNK HOLING IN SMALL SAILBOATS 8

Article By Richard Frye
Part 8 of the series: Backpacking On The Water

I was glad that I had decided to bring the sails home to dry. A hard pounding rain woke me up around 6am. Big Momma was lying at the top of my head with her legs hanging down on each side of my face. I didn’t mind that so much except that I began to smell a familiar odor. It was evident that sometime earlier during the wee hours of the morning she had taken a trip to her litter box and forgot to wash her hands!

Time to get up! She meowed when I disturbed her and stretched out on my pillow as I left the bed. Rain was really coming down now! This was what we sometimes call a “frog strangler!” A very heavy rain then the pounding slacked up after about an hour but the water continued to fall for the remainder of the day.

With the sails nice a dry I stuffed them back in the sail bag after brushing off some cat hair where someone had been making themselves at home! With things tidied up, my living room no longer looked like a ships chandlery with a built in sailing loft!

I took my antibiotics, fed Big Momma, cleaned the litter box and put in fresh little, then had another cup of coffee while waiting for the rain to slack up. Not up to cooking, I opted to head to a favorite mom and pop restaurant that had been around for almost 40 years and was also close by. There menu was excellent home cooked food, and they only served breakfast and lunch, closing at 3pm. After a hardy breakfast I headed down to the marina and to my Sea Mistress to get her ship-shape, and cleaned up when I heard the weather would also clear up later.

The heavy rains helped me out considerably as far as washing goes. Most of the mud I had brought on board was now gone and a good wiping with a big sponge and then drying with a beach towel made her deck and what part of the hull I could reach glisten! I hosed off the salt crystals from the rest of her hull and opened the hatch, then put up my pop top. The smell was stale but not as moldy and stinky like I expected, but she needed fresh air as I got a slight hint of mildew in my nostrils. I crawled forward and opened the deck hatch I had installed a couple of years back, and blast of air came thru to clear out the stagnant air.

One thing I didn’t expect was a torn spot in the rubber strip at the top of my companion way door that sealed it when closed and made the cabin watertight! Suddenly I felt a burning sharp burning pain on my arm and damn! I had gotten stung by a paper wasp that was building a nest just inside! My cap came off and swatted at the beast until I finally knocked him down and stomped him on my freshly cleaned deck with my foot. Several others were buzzing by me in attack mode but didn’t sting as I prepared to go overboard! I found the golf ball sized nest and tore it off, and save the unhatched larva for fish bait just for the helluvit! Payback is what you might call it! Man did that hurt.

My forearm was on fire! I grabbed some pipe tobacco, wet it by chewing on it after I wiped the puncture wound with alcohol from the first-aid kit then covered it with a band-aid with the wad of moist tobacco, under the bandage. I cussed a lot under my breath and went to work closing up that small hole by fitting a small piece of rubber weather strip that I had in the ships toolbox. The rain had almost stopped and it was already getting muggy! I set to work unloading gear and equipment into the cockpit. When the sun came back out it was even more humid and muggy. The sky was still partly cloudy with more scattered showers predicted for the next few days, and it appeared to me that I would have time to clean up and repack everything before more rain fell.

Now wouldn’t you know it! Just as I got everything outside a cloud burst came over, the sun still shining and soaked everything just enough to make a mess! I was not having a good day and had scrambled to get some things inside. Regardless there was a mess to clean up that I hadn’t planned on. I had covered everything on the dock with a tarp that I often used for camping while sailing in cooler areas before the hardest rain fell, and wiped down everything inside the boat with a mild Clorox solution. I was amazed and the amount of mold that I really couldn’t see that was appearing on my cleaning rag!

With all vents open she began to air out and as her cabin dried as I doused her with a nice air freshener. What a difference that made! The only problem I was having was with the two cloth covered cushions in the Quarter berths that has not yet been changed over to vinyl. They felt damp and nasty. Putting them outside in the sun didn’t seem to do much good so I unzipped the covers and exposed the bare foam that was black with mildew. No wonder I was having problems breathing! They immediately went into the garbage can at the end of the service dock!

I would be replacing those soon. To my disappointment after asking several of the patrons moored there, no businesses that made or covered boat cushions were in the area! I was disgruntled that none were available nearby. This messed up my sleeping arrangements, now I would have to make room in the V-berth for me to sleep and I didn’t like it because it was tighter than I liked! The gear and stores would have to go on the bare quarter berth surface for the time being. I tidied up everything, locked up Sea Mistress and headed back home.

A week went by, then another week! Finally I was ready to set sail again. The weather was still on the warm side but fall was coming soon. I would be fine for at least two months before the cold really set in!

I was not expecting the storm that suddenly came down and shortly thereafter, getting a horrifying phone call from Oscar, the manager at the marina where I kept the Sea Mistress! During this unexpected storm, a huge 50 foot long twin diesel Cape Hatteras cabin cruiser had broken loose from its mooring during the violent storm that suddenly appeared from nowhere! Many boats were severely damaged during the storm, I didn’t mind that but hated to hear of someone’s boat being damaged by anything! What upset me the most was when Oscar told me that the luxury yacht had slammed into my little Sea Mistress crushing the thin and light fiberglass hull. The impact did do a lot of damage! He also added that I needed to come down to the marina! All I could say was “Well…….doo doo hockey poo poo!” At the time that was the worst thing I could think of! My heart literally sank to the bottom of the lagoon at the marina! Damn!...

What was I going to do now? I asked myself that question over and over as I hung up and drove to the marina to see my nightmare! The rain was still pouring down! My brain was so scrambled I couldn’t come up with an answer as to what I was going to do! The manager of the marina who also a friend came over to my slip an hour or so after the rain let up. I was watching the marina crew tow the big boat back to her berth, not more than 100 feet from me! But, it seems that during those 100 feet, the big boat had gained a lot of speed and momentum. Sea Mistress was crushed on her port side almost to the waterline, but not all the way through! The port deck and window was smashed. She could be repaired but that would take some time to get it done right by professionals at the boat yard, but I was also told that it would be at least 2 months before they could get to it due to the backlog of repairs already on their stack of work orders.

Luck was with me. Oscar quickly informed me that the owners of the big Hatteras had some great insurance! I had none! That would pay for my repairs since it was determined by the insurance adjuster that their boat was not secured properly. It became clear that by the time it was paid for I could almost get another boat!

That’s what I would do, so I dug deep into my savings account and made a deal at the marina to purchase a Venture 2-24. This boat hadn’t been on the market too long, and was supposed to have a considerable amount of room when compared to the little 21 footer! I was too soon find out that the next step up was a monster inside when one was used to a much smaller cabin! It is truly amazing how much room a foot can make on a boat! She measured over 24 feet in OAL in fact almost 25. I figured she would be called a 25 footer with the numbers rounded off! But technically speaking she wasn’t quite a 25 footer. To me she was a 25 footer so that’s what I called her! Anyway it sounded better than a twenty four and a half foot, footer! Wouldn’t you say? Who could tell unless they laid a tape measure upon her deck! The only give away was the number plastered under the big V on the mainsail! This V later became an M.

With the insurance check made to me, and a little extra cash, I handed it all to Oscar and the deal was made in less than a week. This was accompanied by a long and lengthy apology from the owners of the big boat. I accepted the apology but also said that the insurance check to cover the damage was more than enough. There verbal apology didn’t help much but it was a nice gesture on their part!

During that sad week, Sea Mistress was pulled out of her slip and now sat on her trailer all battered and beat up as I began to unload her. Memories came and went as I unloaded gear and supplies. My gear would be stored in my old Plymouth station wagon for the time being. It was the nine passenger model with all seats removed except the huge front bench seat! Remember those? It ran good and I used it like truck and had no use for any other seats! Mechanically speaking old yellow bird as I called her was in excellent condition!…she was yellow you know! All I could think about was heading south, either by land or water! Plans had suddenly changed!

5 days went by and I was at the marina everyday hoping my new boat would arrive and I would get to see her unloaded. I had also requested that new antifouling paint be rolled on before launching her. That was an expense that the Hatteras people also offered to pay that was not covered by their insurance. What a blessing that was to me! They had ordered the best marine copper bottom paint that money could buy! And that was something I certainly could not afford at this time. I had already chosen a much cheaper brand that would only last a few months. This stuff they had was loaded with graphite and applied to very expensive racing yachts! I wanted blue but it was gray when it arrived the same day the boat came in.

Oscar called me at 0800 one morning as I was finishing up my 2nd cup of coffee and said that my new Venture was in his lot! I jumped for joy as I quickly brushed my teeth and headed the old Plymouth towards the marina! I was there in 15 minutes and my mouth dropped open!

WOW…was she big! I didn’t think a couple of feet could make that much difference! The marina crew was already roughing up the surface to accept her new bottom paint and taping off the waterline to be painted glossy black! Wow again! I was all smiles, and although my first love held many memories, this new girl would bring a lot more! Her name? Well…I continued on and she was also called my Sea Mistress! I couldn’t think of anything else! That was painted on later that day, long before she was launched from new trailer!

I was having a tough time taking all this in! A new boat, a bigger boat! Most of everything paid for! About 4pm she was ready and I had rigged up the mooring lines from the old Sea Mistress, and changed all running gear over, switched anchors and made her ready. Her halyards were pulled, the mast was raised, sheets were bent, the same old Evinrude was hung on her transom and the gas tank was filled and stored aft. Nothing to do now but get her wet and guide her around to her new place, the same spot where the old boat spent a few years tied up when she wasn’t cruising! One thing left and that was to get those sails out of their new sail bag! She came with an extra genoa too! I didn’t order that or the cruising spinnaker! Word must have gotten around to the Hatteras crew as to the type of cruising I actually did. AND….when the time came to launch her it was the crew of the Hatteras that came over with an expensive bottle of champagne and presented it to me. The couple on the big Hatteras turned out to be wonderful people from Canada, and their boat was barely scratched!

With Sea Mistress christened, launched and now secured in her new berth, a party was gathering aboard the Hatteras and I was the guest of honor! Felt good but it also made me feel kind of out of place! I was introduced to many influential business folks that were…..you might say pretty well off! I felt as though I really shouldn’t be in the same room with some of these people but to my surprise, THEY came to me and wanted to know more about my excursions and what I called “gunk holing”! Some knew of the expression, others never heard of it! A few seemed very interested and even asked how to start off doing that. “Simple”, I said, “Just take off and go! Find a nice place to anchor for the night in some quiet secluded cove, mix yourself a nice toddy for the body, a rum or scotch, and watch the beautiful sun set over the horizon, and don’t forget to put one of those little paper umbrellas in your drink…with a cherry of course too!” They all laughed! One Canadian with a strong strange accent said, “I like that idea!” He turned to his wife or companion and said, “We’ll dooat!” She quickly nodded as she sipped her champagne trying to keep up with his already 4 drinks down the hatch!

What a wonderful time I had! The food was out of this world and I met some wonderful people. Most were from Canada and they were traveling to various parts of Florida, Bahamas, and some even heading around Cuba to winter out in Jamaica.

At 10pm things were winding down and I thanked my gracious hosts and staggered over to the new Sea Mistress. I boarded her and just sat at the chart table until I felt the sandman creeping up behind me. Then I grabbed my sleeping bag and curled up on the port side berth, and that was the last thing I remembered.

I was awake at daylight but had no supplies to make coffee! For some strange reason I also was lacking the expected headache! I felt great, so off to the nearest mom and pop restaurant about a block away to have a big breakfast. When I returned to the boat around 9am, the Hatteras was gone! The slip was empty and I thought it a little odd! When I climbed aboard Sea Mistress, there were several packages, some were unmistakably bottle shaped and an array of envelopes with notes, addresses, boats names, with the crew listed beside the boats name and their destinations for the winter months ahead. All were placed neatly in my cockpit. I assumed this was in case I just happened to be in their area, and if I was, I would certainly look these wonderful folks up!

Another surprise was when I saw an old truck hooking up my old damaged boat. Some old man had bought it for salvage and was going to fix it up! Oscar gave me a nice check that I didn’t expect! I was just going to store her there until I could do something with her. Being the friend he was, he took care of that too! I was grateful.

I spent the remainder of the day putting all my gear aboard the “new” boat and was astonished at the amount of extra storage space I had. I also had a pop top with lots of headroom, and I was told that I could sail with the pop top up as well and even install a Bimini if I wanted, and could still go under sail! I did install one about a month later. It also had nice heavy side curtains with windows built in that totally enclosed the pop top area to keep wind and water out! This was so much better than a homemade pop top! It took another day before everything was mostly in its place and then I would go out for a shakedown cruise! I knew that things would change on the boat as I got used to her. So the following morning I threw off the lines and headed out toward open water as the little Evinrude pushed the heavier and larger boat with ease. That also made me happy, meaning I didn’t have to buy a larger outboard motor. Twenty more minutes down the river and I would be under full sail to see what this girl could do! Wind was almost perfect at 12 to 15 mph. I was about to have wonderful experience!