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A
twelve-step program to prepare your new "previously owned" boat
for a late season departure -- Step 1: Arrive at boatyard in
Yarmouth, ME in mid-October and remove all existing gear onboard. |
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Step
2: Clean the bilge and anything else that might present a safety hazard
during the delivery back to your homeport. |
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Step
3: Re-bed leaky deck plates with lots of goo and hope it's not too cold
for it to set-up properly. |
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Step
4: Change the name before setting sail even though it doesn't match the
Coast Guard documentation papers onboard and a proper re-naming ceremony
is not planned until you get to your homeport. |
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Step
5: Admire the new name, the third one in the history of your 20-year old
boat. |
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Step
6: Pick the only sunny day in two weeks for your launch. |
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Step
7: Ignore the fact that your sailboat still needs it's mast stepped in a
yard busy with end-of-season haul-outs. |
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Step
8: Have yard tow boat to dock until everything is sorted out. |
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Step
9: Ignore the fact that your new boat needs a lot of work after sitting in
the yard for 18 months. |
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Step
10: Find out the reason that the water tank is empty within hours of
filling it and be thankful for finding the first piece of broken equipment
while still tied to the dock. Tear out the offending, rusted-out
water heater, buy a new one at Hamilton Marine in Portland and install it
-- cha ching. |
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Step
11: Re-step the mast and send someone else up to check what's
wrong with the radar wiring. |
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Step
12: Don't forget to hoist the dinghy before departure. |
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Ready
to Go: The evening
before our departure from Yankee Marina in Yarmouth, Maine -- Gyatso is
all set to go after two weeks of commissioning and refitting projects. |
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While we were
in Maine, the yard was busy at work hauling boats of all sizes for the
season. |
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The Royal River
is also home to a few more traditional fishing boats. |
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While in Maine,
we were able to visit with friends who lived an hour south in Eliot,
Maine. On one rainy day, Lisa visited a friends home nearby, and while
doing laundry, she helped Sarah and sons Calvin and Philip to construct a
dinosaur for a school project. |
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We relaxed over
a nice dinner and some wine in the main cabin before departing. All
of the tools and gear that had occupied this area during the past two
weeks have been stowed for departure. |
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The sun rose as
we headed out the Royal River on the crisp morning of our departure from
Yarmouth, Maine on Friday, October 28, 2005. |
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Lisa
takes a turn at the helm and is happy for some much needed sunshine and
the company of good friends, Julie (left) and Sarah (right), on the
late season run from New England. |
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Julie
soaks up the sun aboard Gyatso on the run from Gloucester to Sandwich,
Massachusetts. |
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Sarah
enjoys time on the bow sprit as we pass Boston, Massachusetts. |
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Marinas
along much of the way from Maine to New Jersey were nearly empty, except
for local fishing boats and for the occasional crusing boat, such as the
ketch docked on the pier to the right of the one where Gyatso is
tied up. |
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We
arrived in Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts just after sunset and set anchor along
with a few other sailboats, including another Tayana 37. The others
departed before we did the following morning, our first day to experience
problems related to the fuel tank and filters. |
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We
rode out our first big gale at a mooring in Newport, Rhode Island while
waiting for a mechanic to help us with fuel filter problems after bouncing
around while heading into the wind in Buzzard's Bay and on the crossing
from Cuttyhunk. |
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The
wind blew a steady 35-45 knots for more than a day in Newport, creating a
1-2 foot chop in the protected harbor. |
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It
was not uncommon to clock winds in excess of 50 knots while moored in
Newport. Lisa captured this reading of 51 knots on the anemometer. |
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After
deciding not to head offshore at Montauk, New York, we spent a day
motoring through heavy fog on Long Island Sound. With the current in
our favor, we made good time and picked up a mooring with the owner's
permission in Port Jefferson, NY just after sunset. |
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On
the trip down from Maine, Lisa wore her fleece socks, a gift from her
friend Sarah, and used the layering approach around the clock. |
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David
at the helm as we motor through fog on Long Island Sound. It was a
good day to test the radar which we learned could be adjusted to pick-up
floating debris on the glass calm water and birds flying by. It also
did well with marks, barges and fishing boats! |
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Lisa
sits in her lookout spot when not at the helm and is layered down to just
her "windblock" fleece jacket and LL Bean hat with temperatures
in the high 50s. |
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Gyatso
and crew pass through an unusually quiet New York harbor on a sunny day in
November. We saw two or three other boats headed south along with
us. |
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After
a fast passage though Hell Gate and the East River, we had a calm motor
through New York Harbor and then headed offshore at Sandy Hook along the
New Jersey coast. |
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