Sail Plan and Itinerary – Blog for Tevah

The Big Picture Sail Plan

by Eric Phinney on March 20, 2018

At the beginning of September we will leave Saint John and head down the Eastern Seaboard. We will hope to be in Annapolis for the boatshow the middle of October. From there we will head down the ICW beginning in Norfolk once the hurricane season has quieted. Upon arrival in West Palm beach we will wait for a weather window to cross to West End and then proceed south as quickly as reasonable to the Exumas. After the end of Feb we will work our way north and visit the Abacos and then return to Florida and the ICW heading North to home for Summer in Canada.

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Beginning the new life

by Eric Phinney on March 30, 2018

Some time in the last year we made the decision to retire on my 60th birthday. We discussed my dream of sailing south to the Bahamas for the winter. When it was agreed, the first thing I did was to research and purchase the best possible anchor. “Will your anchor hold…….”. Research showed it was the Rocna. Designed by a Kiwi for use in Antarctica, and made in Canada. Over the last 6 months there has been lots more research and purchases of the required equipment for our safety and comfort. You can see much of it if you view this blog and look at the category of repairs and upgrades. In this last week (Holy Week) I took the final step of commitment by mailing off my request for pension benefits. This Sunday is the celebration of our new life in Christ. New life in Christ comes complete with its own anchor as well as an endless supply of everything you will ever need.

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Sail Plan

by Eric Phinney on August 31, 2018

Some Stuff headed to Mums house in Westfield

Some stuff headed to the boat

Found a safe at Ctire. It installs with bolts through the one inch thick bulkhead.

Right now it looks like Saturday morning Sept 8 will be our departure. We will head to St Andrews and plan to clear customs at Eastport Tuesday Morning

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Ready😲Set🤠…..

by Eric Phinney on September 6, 2018

The last two weeks have been an incredible blur of activity. I have said several times that I feel like a horse and a forklift. There have been great times with some family and friends but I’m afraid there were many more people that we just did not get a chance to see.

The house is empty, the garbage cans full. We are physically and mentally exhausted . It has been a real blessing to be at Mums house the last number of days. It has been a peaceful place of refuge for sure.

The boat club will be toasting us Friday evening after their corn boil and we will head out to the boat for the night. Early Saturday morning we will leave mooring and head for the slack at the reversing falls, which are predicted for 08:44. Then it is on to St Andrews for the first Leg of the trip.

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Go…. in about 10 hours

by Eric Phinney on September 8, 2018

We will drop the mooring line at 6:45 tomorrow morning and head toward the Harbour. Slack at the falls is predicted at 08:44. We are bound for St Andrews.

Today we said our goodbyes to Mum, Andrew and Amy, and a few other friends that dropped by to see us. RBC gave us a great send off with cake and a toast and a new Burgee to fly proudly as we enter the anchorages that await us.

To keep things simple I could say that this is just a sail to St Andrews. I’ve done that many times…. then the next day we will just go for another sail. Or we could consider it the reversing of the seasons. As soon as we feel a bit of chill in the air we will just head a little further south. We will keep ahead of winter!

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End of Day 2

by Eric Phinney on September 10, 2018

Heading through the falls at 08:45. Thanks to all the folks that came down to see us off. Thanks too to Sharon and Paul who brought us coffee at 0630 just befor we dropped the mooring line in Renforth

Ross Phinney and David Peer came down through falls with us and took some great pics. No that wasn’t a long selfie stick!

Arriving in St Andrews on Saturday. Thanks Scott Langelle for the picture.

At the customs dock in Eastport waiting with Q flag for the clearance.

We were in Eastport just in time for the Annual lobster crate challenge. I shot some video and will try to post it.

Well our journay has begun. Two days in now we are sitting on a mooring in Eastport Maine. Tomorrow morning we will head up the back side of Campobello and the turn south again down the Grand Manan channel bound for Roque Island. There are big rains predicted for Tuesday so we will probably just hang there till it passes.

It was a treat to watch the lobster box run. This involves about a dozen empties lobster crates that are tied together and then end with an inflatable air mattress. The object is to run over the top of the boxes and then land on the mattress. Obviously the crates will not support any amount of weight so you must be flight of foot! We saw a couple of the under 12 kids make it.

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Rain…. at times heavy

by Eric Phinney on September 11, 2018

We are hunkered down for the day as this low passes through. 2 inches of rain and high winds. It is calm in behind Roque. Tomorrow morning looks good to move further south to Mt Desert.

I think I may have picked up some seaweed on the prop. I’ve noticed my speed through the water was down quite a bit as we came in last night. Tried to see it with the water proof water camera but the wifi would not work through the water. I’ll try doing a recording and then looking at it afterward. If that fails or if there is something then I’ll get in the water!

So I ended up strapping the sports cam to a 6 foot dowel and hitting record and then shoving it under the boat. As you can see the prop was indeed foweled. This happened the last time I came into Roque as well.

So after donning my 7 mil wetsuit and 10 lbs of weight and a 30 second dive the job was done. It is still raining!

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Arrived in Northeast Harbor

by Eric Phinney on September 12, 2018

We were up and underway by 0600 this morning to make the jump to Northeast Harbor. Arrived at about 15:30. Couldn’t eat much because of the confused state of the seas after the blow yesterday. Went through one patch where the swell was 20’! Time to ditch some garbage, get fuel, do the laundry, dine on Main Street and take some hot showers. I’ll post some town pics later tonight. We have good internet too!

This is Pitite Manan, on the way between Roque Is and Mt Desert

We ate at the Colonels Restaurant last night after we did our Laundry and had showers were the floor was not moving. Thursday we will take the free LLBean bus into Bar Harbor to get some supplies.

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Val’s Summary of Week1

by Val Phinney on September 15, 2018

I will try to keep this as short and sweet as I possibly can as I give you my overview of my 1st week on Tevah. First of all it is the longest I have ever spent on this thing and so far I am doing ok. Last Thursday and Friday were mostly days of saying goodbye to friends and family as well as to our home and community of over 20 years. It was tough and exhausting. I have a confession to make I haven’t read any of Eric’s blogs so I’m not sure if I am repeating any stories but you’ll be getting my view of things.

The boat club gave us a warm send off on Friday evening and Sharon and Paul arrived at 6 am with coffee and banana bread from the Irvings. When we sailed out of the Harbour it was great to be escorted out by Ross Phinney and David Peer, and waved to from shore by Ruth Anne Phinney, Gerry and Pat Peer and Melissa Cape,it warmed our hearts, thank you. As we headed down the coast to St. Andrews it was weird to know it would be months before we would see them again,yet, in some ways I had the thought it was time to leave since I could see David Peer with his toque and gloves on that it was the right time for us to get out of town. It didn’t take me long to go and dig out my winter clothes that I had put aside when I plan on visiting David and Kait in Saskatchewan in November. We went out for some wings and drinks to the Red Herring with Kelly and Scott and a few of their friends. On Sunday morning we got up and went to church came back and decided to head off. (As you can see I am not as detailed orientated as Eric).

The mornings have been pretty cool, so much so the Captain has had to get up before the Galley Wench has any intention of getting out of bed to make breakfast, he also is good enough to make the first cup of coffee of the day. We are getting into a routine. Thanks Ruth Anne for the warm undershirt, it has been worn several times in this first week, It wasn’t far into the third day I kept thinking, “Are we there yet????” We were just in the US waters and getting ready to check in. I assume I will get a little more settled with a lot less real estate to clean and be in. I am working on my guitar playing and am tackling a Bach piece. This sailing business depends on a smart captain,CHECK, no watches, CHECK and a happy helpful crew, working on it.

Day 4 we had rain, rain and more rain, so I cleaned the head, organized some things and spotted for Eric as he did a dive to clean off the prop. My job was to make sure he comes back up. CHECK! On Day 5 marked the longest I had ever been on the boat at any one time so now that is old news! We headed off to NorthEast Harbour having to motor the entire way. I started to get some breakfast down below and couldn’t do it, the boat was going up and down and side to side. Needless to say the wench was turning a few colors that demanded to flee above. It was a long hard day. Arrived in a decent time so that we were able to wash some clothes, have a shower and FLUSH a toilet instead of pumping the head like a crazy wench. So the time there was a nice break, we went out to supper and the next day we got supplies, met some wonderful people in Bar Harbour who were beyond helpful. It wasn’t just one person but several, looking out for us and making sure we got to and from our boat.

Friday the day couldn’t be more beautiful and actually call it hot. We sailed for about 4 hours and anchored in the beautiful, quiet anchorage of Perry Creek. This morning, Saturday, I cut Eric’s hair and no he will NOT be cutting mine. It was a bit of a foggy cold day as we sailed over to Tenant’s Harbour. You have to dodge the lobster pots, so in the fog Eric is on one side watching and I am on the other. (see I do, help in the sailing process) I felt like we were playing a reality like video game trying to dodge the buoys of the lobster pots, I imagined if we hit one we would sink and have to start over. It was not to be! As I was trying to pick up a mooring line I was leaning over to lift it up I caught the release handle on my life vest and the damn thing inflated with me bent over holding the mooring line. Eric had to come up and help finish attaching the line to the boat since I felt like the Michelin Man!!! I guess we will have to get a kit to fix that, and to think I don’t wear it most of the time. Oh well, we arrived safe and sound, we will stay here and go to church tomorrow then decide where to go next.

Thank you for following us and making us feel close and connected to you all. We love and miss you. We are listening to the news and know that Florence has made landfall, we pray for those souls who are experiencing horrific situations. The Captain will be safe and alert and the Wench will keep him happy with food and cleanliness. Stay tuned.

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Back on line

by Eric Phinney on September 17, 2018

St George the dragon slayer outside the town hall. Maryanne you need one these!

Yesterday after Church in St. George (Tenants Harbor) we headed down the coast to Pemaquid. There are the ruins of a fort there that has British, French and American roots.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Pemaquid_State_Historic_SiteThe write up was very interesting and we may get a chance to visit if the weather stays closed in. We had no internet when we arrived except for a spotty open wifi signal called “Fitche Cottage” This morning I got the idea to put the cellphone in a waterproof case and hoist it up the mast….and presto we have a connection. Thanks Verizon!

Our plans this morning were to weigh anchor at 0600 and head toward Portland, but that will have to wait a bit until the fog lifts. There are strong SW winds predicted so I am thinking that we may just stay here for the day. … unless we don’t.

I will let Val tell you about the Church experience. It was good and interesting too! Oh, and the man overboard drill too, when we find the pictures…I think they are up the mast on the phone!

Speaking of Val I can tell you one advantage of having the Galley Wench on board is that you don’t look and smell like a pirate! No chance!

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We are not in Maine anymore. A three state day!

by Eric Phinney on September 20, 2018

A swanky yacht club in Cape Anne. They wanted $75 for a mooring so we dropped the hook instead.

Our longest day yet, from The Saco River to Cape Anne in the Annisquam River 52 Nautical Miles.

It it was a great sailing day, although we motor sailed quite a lot of it. Wind, waves and current were with us the whole day.

We have another great anchorage in the river tonight. Tomorrow morning we will motor through the canal to Gloucester (perfect storm), get some fuel and then possibly do a short run to Marblehead or stay out for the coming gale .

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Family Territory

by Eric Phinney on September 24, 2018

Here is a picture album from the last couple of days. From the time we entered the Cape Cod Canal until we holed up here in a snug little Harbor in Rhode Island called Sakonnet.

A great view of the facilities at Sandwich on the Cape Cod Canal

The brand new office. Last year was the 100 anniversary of the canal, which was built by the US Army Engineers.

Take care of your Sandwich’s lest they get written up.

Walking back from church we came accross the HQ

There are also firemen in case your toaster gets out of control

Approaching the famous and picturesque train bridge. Kind of like the tower bridge in London

View at the moment. In Buzzards Bay heading for Phinney Rock which marks the entrance to the Harbor where I bought this boat in 2011

This marks Phinney Rock. Rocks like this usually get named after the person who first found (hit) them

John and Marjorie Lok, the fine folks in South Dartmouth Harbour that we bought Tevah from in 2011. We met up with them at the New Bedford Yacht club and then welcomed them onboard for a glass of wine and sharing of memories.

The last couple of days since we crossed cape Cod every breakwater has people fishing. There are also sport fishing boats around us all the time. The big boats are after Bluefin Tuna while the folks on shore and in smaller boats are after strippers

We are currently anchored beside this beautiful and new Hinkley

Sakonnet Harbor, where we tucked in to get out of the near gale force winds. We may be here for a day or two.

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Small Craft Advisory

by Eric Phinney on September 26, 2018

Looks like it is just a speaker attached to the side of the cabin.

Can you guess what this is? Or how I took the picture?

There has been a small craft advisory for three days now and we have been stuck on a mooring in a very tiny harbor with no access to any civilization. I talked to a few locals by phone and they basically said don’t bother to come ashore unless you have a car.

When we were in Portland we visited Hamilton marine and got a new stereo. This one has an aux input, Bluetooth, satellite radio and will even answer your phone for you. It collapsed three sketchy devices into one that actually works well.

I also bought two external marine speakers as we could not hear the music without turning it up really loud in the cabin. I knew at the time that I would have to set aside at least a half day to actually install the speaker properly. I will describe the process of getting the speaker wire from where the radio is mounted on the starboard side to the port side outside position.

Tie fishing weights on a piece of string to make a “fish” to get the wires down the inside of the slats on the starboard quarter berth. Toss the weights down behind and hope it finds its way to the bottom.
Drill a whole (close to the hull) through the deck of the quarter-berth. The rule with drills and boats is that you must always to be aware if there is water on the other side of where you are drilling. This is to be avoided, especially below the waterline.
Tie the speaker wires onto the string with the fishing weights and pull them down to the quarter-berth and then stuff them through the hole.
Contine to pull the wires through the underside of the berth, past the battery, past the engine, up the port engine compartment bulkhead, and then eventually over to the space under the combing where access to the galley and the mount for the speaker will eventually go. (Outside)
Drill a whole on the combing for the wire to be pulled through.
Stuff a wire into the whole…. here is where it gets interesting. .. see pic 2. The only way to actuall see where the wire should come through is for me to lay on my back on top of the icebox and slide myself athartship, until my head reaches the hull on the port side… then in a semi sit-up stick my head through a 9 inch hole and look…. *&^%$#$%^& can’t see it.
redrill the hole deeper.
)(*&^%$%^&*((still can’t see it
Redrill the hole at a different angle
Success
After this it was simply a matter of crimping the wires and now we have one nicely installed outside speaker with no visible wires.

time Required. 4 hours

I also installed a couple of hooks for kitchen stuff. Made a shelf for the portable VHF and charger.

The other speaker will be much easier as all I need to do is install the bracket!

The sail plan from here will be to leave early tomorrow and sail for Mystic River, bound eventually for Mystic Seaport, which is the largest Maritime Museum in the US. We will likely anchor tomorrow at Fisher island and make the run up the river first thing in the morning. They have a two for one promotion for the dock at the museum that includes the price of admission. We will do provisioning there as well.

See http://mysticseaport.org

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4 days and 3 nights was enough

by Eric Phinney on September 27, 2018

So after a 3 hour sail in windy choppy swelly water we have arrived in one of the prestigious sailing ports on this coast. We passed 2 12 meter yachts as we entered the inner Harbor, and as we walked up the hill to the grocerie store we saw the Church where JFK was married. They were selling tickets on re-enactment displays and live music to relive the Camelot era event. Hopefully tomorrow the Small Craft Advisory will be down and we can make the run to Mystic.

Two of the 12 meters that are normally here

One of the best loved America’s Cup 12 Meters, Intrepid

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Where are we now?

by Eric Phinney on October 10, 2018

I have not written in a few days as we have had a challenging time in navigation the last several days. At the moment we are in the Delaware river heading for the C and D canal. That will take us around to the Chesapeake Bay by the end of today.

In our last blog we were sitting in Great Kills Harbor having Thankgiving dinner and waiting out yet another small craft advisor to end. A small craft advisory is issued when winds and waves are in a predicted state as to be hazardous to “small craft”. Just so you know we are a “small craft”. I have been in these conditions a number of times and believe me, you don’t want to be there.

After several days it did pass and we set out for two of the worst days in the cruise so far. This was the Jersey Shore. It is 100 miles long and all of the harbours along the coast are difficult to enter, even in calm conditions. Since we did not want to spend the night at sea, we had to enter a Harbor about half way. Even at that it meant a long couple of days. The obvious choice is Barnagett, which because of the challenge entering the inlet is known as “The Bitch”. We did enter it in very good conditions and it was still a bouncy entrance with seas breaking beside us and current and eddies sworling around us. Of course as usual there are fisherman calmly standing on the breakwater casting their lines. There were also many small fishing boats near the inlet as this must be the best (most dangerous) place to actually catch fish. The sail down to Barnagett was with the wind on the nose 10-15, but this was the best weather window I could find, because the next day it would be behind us. We spend a restful night and then it was out the inlet and down the shore again for another long day, but this time with the wind behind us. While we traveled significantly faster the ride was just as bumpy and you had to wedge yourself between solid objects to keep from being tossed around.

We enter Cape may as the sun was beginning to set. The next morning I decided for a less challenging day, so we slept in a bit, went over to Utches Marina to fuel and to walk to a store to get a few supplies. We set out to go up Delaware bay at about 10. It took the whole day to get half way up to the Cohanssay river. It was a bit challenging navigating over numerous shoals as I tried to make a direct route, dodge the crab pots and avoid the strongest currents.

At dusk we entered the river and slept well.

This morning we set out up the now, Delaware River, toward the canal.

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Warmer Days.

by Val Phinney on October 11, 2018

From Staten Island down there has been a significant change in temperature, thank goodness. We have put in long days trying to get more south and to spend a few days with the Finlays ( our son in laws brother Dave and his family). I will say the days have been long but warmer. Even with that the Jersey shore just about did me in, so I’ve decided to raffle my ticket on the Tevah off in 1 week increments if you’d like, to travel back to NB from about New York – north. I’ll keep you posted. 😬

The interesting things that I have observed is the water had changed to a greenish colour off the New Jersey coast, then back to a greyish colour again and is much warmer than our dear North Atlantic at its warmest. We also picked up a hitchhiker on the second day sailing in Jersey, a cute little swallow. He was pretty tired when he arrived and stayed with us until we were coming into Cape May. It’s interesting that we all need to take free rides when we are tired it’s just most of the time we don’t recognize that we are exhausted early enough and we push on. I have to say that the Psalmist seemed to understand his state of mind so much better than we do. Ps 40: 1-3. He hears my calling out, tiredness, answers and walks with us. Thank God!!!!
All is well on the ‘small craft’. The Galley Wench and the Captain I think have lost a little weight since when we are to shore we need to walk everywhere which is a nice change from when we are on the boat. It hasn’t been every day but very frequently we get our steps in! Life is good and ‘til the next entry, blessings.

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Recap fro Easton to the Great Dismal Swamp

by Eric Phinney on October 21, 2018

We are in the south now. Virginia that is. Let me recount the Journey from the time we left Easton (accross from DC) to our entering the Canal known as the Dismal Swamp.

Spending a few days in Easton was a good battery recharge (Literaly as I needed to purchase some batteries for our electrical needs). It was now time to move on and press south to find some of that elusive warm weather that has been teasing us. We make a series of hops down the Chesapeake Bay and are now “in the Ditch” as they say. No more waiting out bad weather warning (we hope).

The first day was delayed a bit as there was a small boat advisory that kept us in Easton until about noon. That did calm down and we cruised down the Trend Avon River and out into the Bay. Having only a half day we only went about 20 miles to a place called Solomons Island. We were able to anchor in a harbor and get fuel that next morning and head out again.

From Solomons we went to a place called Reedville where we went up a creek and anchored in a nice protected basin as yet another cold front was moving through and we would need to stay put until about 10 or so. As we were coming in we noticed that there seemed to be the remenents of some kind of industry there. There were also some very large fishing vessels there with small tenders that looked like they were in some kind of seining operation. As val researched the community we found out that it was and still is a huge fishing community with a significant ocean going fleet. There were two Smoke stacks there. One had been demolished and the other (still standing) had a plaque on it. This may have had something to do with the fish processing industry.

See

Home

From Reedville we sailed most of the way to Fishing Bay, another beautiful anchorage that we did some ziging and zagging to get into.

View as we leave Fishing Bay, by the Dawns early light.

After leaving early we put in a full day and arrive at the Hampton Public Piers where we take a Slip, have a drink in a Brew Pub on the Dock, visit a museum and watch “First Man” on an iMax screen.

There is talk of some more snottty weather coming our way and some of our neighbors are talking about staying on in Hampton for two more days to wait it out. I see that there is going to be a bit of a break the next day before it returns to Gale force so we decide to make a break for it and head out accross Hampton Roads, through Norfolk harbour and onto the Elezebeth river and then to the Dismal Swamp Canal. It sounds long but it was only 20 miles. The first ten were against 20+ knots on the nose with a 5 mile fetch. Slowing going and keeping a sharp watch as we are in the home of the Atlantic Fleet for the US Navy. We have never seen so many Navy Ships. Some in use, some mothballed, some getting built and some getting rebuilt.

After the lock we moored to a bulkhead and met a couple from Montreal whe also just retired and are also headed to the Bahamas!

After the Elizabeth river was Deep Creek which leads to the lock that lifted us up about 9 feet to the level of the Dismal Swamp. We locked through and are tied to a free dock for the night. Tomorrow we head down a very long hand dug cut. Google Dismal Swamp, there is loads of info on it and its connections with the Civil war.

History

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Palm trees and Pelicans…finally!

by Eric Phinney on October 31, 2018

For the first time we are feeling that we can slow down and enjoy the “South”. Yesterday was reasonably warm and today it looks like it will be warmer still. Seeing Palm trees and Pelicans is now a regular thing, so we must be headed in the right direction.

After we left Beaufort and the Homer Smith Marina and Fish processing plant, we continued South on the ICW to “Mile Hammock” Anchorage. This is owned by the US Military and is a favorite for people traveling between Beaufort and Wrightsville. Just about exactly half way. I think by sunset there were 19 boats anchored. We were lulled to sleep by the sound of light Artilery fire and other military operational sounds. This part of the ICW is also used for live fire exercises and is sometimes closed for obvious reasons. We saw several of the “Targets” scattered along the shore as we went along.

We also passed by a Navy base where they were practicing vertical take off and landing with their Jets. Reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger “Your fired!” Those Jets. Very loud.

As there were several bridges that operated on a scheduled we have learned the art of keeping in a neat row without moving but very carefully using FWD and REV and a tiny bit of rudder to maintain our position in line abidst the wind and current. A couple of small z drives attached to a geo stationary controller would work well here!

One of our pet peeves has become hedges that remain unclipped. This is one great example. We have found that whenever we walk we usually end up going single file for part of the way. I guess walking is just not as popular as it once was.

We saw this sign in Belhaven. Thought is was quite a mix of businesses. This was only half of it. There were more things written on the back. When we went inside along with the Christian Book Store, which only sold Bibles, was a pool table, some arcade machines, Candy, Snacks, The services of a Noterary and Bondsman, Avon and a number of other various, completely unrelated services and good! Got to hand it to the proprietor, he was making the most of every opportunity!

We past hundreds, maybe thousands of docks and houses in the last couple of days. At least 1/4 of the docks and houses showed some sign of damage from Hurricane Florence. There was about 20 feet of water above the norm, but we noticed that most of the homes were already built up about another story, either on posts or a full basement beginning at ground level. The docks often had a roof or a widows walk atop them but many were twisted and collapsing.

Notice the blue tarp on the roof of this house. This was a regular site. You really could not look at a group of houses without seeing several like this.

Here we are anchored behind two other recently retired Cannuks. Wrightsville Beach, which is the recreational area of Willimgton NC. It is a very popular free anchorage. We even had a visit from the Town Police this morning asking how long we were planning to stay. I suspect they have had issues with long term liveaboards in the past. They took a picture of our boat and every other boat in the anchorage and went off on their patrol.

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At Least it’s not snowing!

by Eric Phinney on November 15, 2018

Val has left for a visit at Kait’s and I am hunkered down here in Charleston SC until I head up to Toronto for the last week of November. I do have to say that the “Southern weather” can be a bit fickle! We get one day where we comment that we have “beaten winter” or “turned the corner”… and then 5 days of overcast, wind, rain and cold tempetures. I guess we will need to press on as quick as possible when we resume our trip!

The marina viewed from about half way along the pier leading to shore

In the mean time the boat is docked at the Cooper River Marina, a state park facility on the grounds of an old Navy Base. The staff is extremely helpful and the facilities are modern, clean and well stocked. It is in the middle of nowhere but the staff will always give you a lift to do some shopping or run to the airport. I have met a couple of my neighbors and they are great people.

Found a small new church plant to attend on Sunday and made a couple of connections. We were amazed at the similarities in our walk in the church and theirs! Definitely a sense of connecting to what God is doing. I will return there for sure this Sunday.

I have begun a long list of boat projects for the time that I have on the boat alone. There are a number of “leaks” to be tracked down and fixed, some improvements to the living space as well as some electrical/mechanical issues to deal with. It is great to be located in one place so that I can order stuff and recieve it. I have found that even though we are in a major boating centre it is cheaper, easier and faster to find things on line either at Amazon or an independent dealer and have them shipped directly to the marina. I have ordered some new gaskets for the ports, a new Alternator and a spare drive belt for the Autohelm.

Here is the complete list so far and the status:

Jobs while Val is away

Remote switch for Anchor windless – done

Charging circuit for Anchor windless Battery – done

Battery Box for Windless Battery

Clean drinking water filter -done

Lift and clean dinghy. Store on deck – done

Reinstall and seal windless. – Done

Clean and mark anchor rode – on going (need to let the rope dry out, before I can paint the marks on it!)

Clean and fix oil sump and extractor pump – done

Shop for food – ongoing

Get new spare alternator – ordered

Get spare autohelm belt – ordered

Get spare oil filters ordered locally – he will call

Get oil – done

Find and fix leaks

1 Front left Staunton on pulpit done

2 Windless and foot switches. Done

3 at helm station – still a mystery, but I have some ideas!

Clean deck with hose – ongoing

Clean cockpit

Organize Vberth –

Add Velcro to screens in preparation for a climate where bugs can actually survive

Look for port window gasket – ordered

Hook on door in hanging locker

Fasten knife holder with L brackets

Get Alternator belts

Check bulbs in engine control panel

This is a Joggling board. A feature of many a fine southern home. Here is an article that explains this rather unique piece of porch furniture.

http://dhmrealestate.com/joggling-board/

We did do a day of exploring the history of Charleston when we first arrived. Spent 90 minutes on a city tour and went to the Museum. Very though provoking and informative. When Val returns we will go on a Plantation tour. I will let Val blog about this aspect of the trip as she will do it so much better then I.

Yes this is a display of Chamber Pots. That would not be unusual for any Museum. The thing that was unique about this display was its Location. It was in the “men’s room”! And yes there was a similar one in the Ladies!

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Christ the King

by Eric Phinney on November 25, 2018

This morning was a very special morning in the Life of our Church, St. James the Less in the Parish of Renforth. It was the occasion of the ordination to the diaconate for Jonathan Hallewell. Jonathan had been worshipping here for over a year and as the year went on and I announced my retirement it became increasingly clear to me and him and a bunch of others that he may be called to leadership in ministry at St. James the Less.

For me personally this was a great peace, because one of my greatest concerns was, who was going to follow. God is the god of all provision and he has done this and not ourselves.

To be able to watch this event actually take place was one of the miracles of modern technology. I was on my way to a local new church plant here in North Charleston SC from the marina and Val was at Kait’s house in Saskatchewan. We both surfed in on Facebook live and were able to experience the service.

Earlier I had suggested to Jonathan that it would be a great blessing to us to be able to watch on Video, so he taped an old iPhone to the “wings of the eagle” … something prophetic about that no doubt!

Here are some of my impressions.

It looked like he did this about an hour before the service began, so I got to hear all of the “pre-service things, like John and Cynthia practicing, Linda getting the organ in shape and bits of conversation here and there…. Yes the whole world could have been listening! Particularly moving was seeing and hearing David and Jonathan rehearsing the vows and generally preparing for what was to take place.

Next was Susan’s introduction. It gave me great hope that the parish still has the call and character of Christ and is full of the spirit. Susan you were true to form and so sensitive to the people and to the Holy Spirit as you introduced the service and prayed. I am very proud of you.

Of course next we were hearing John and Cynthia lead worship. The song selection and leading was as usual done with excellence and sensitivity, leaving lots of room for the spirit to speak and leave an impression on hearts. Thankyou

Throughout the service we were seeing many friends and visitors participating. There were clergy, friends and church members taking part, each one touching our hearts as we saw them pass the wings of the eagle.

Listening to the message by Bishop (moves diagonally on the chessboard) Edwards, was a treat. It was an act of great love for David to come and do this so close to the time of Janets passing. His call to us all was deep and practical and very real.

My last highlight was watching people come to the rail to receive communion. Very emotional. This was the deepest moment for me. The eagles wings witnessed most of the congregation come forward, kneel and then receive the bread and wine. As the one who did this for over 20 years it stirred deep memories and emotions.

In a few minutes I board a plane and fly to Toronto to Chair meetings with Wycliffe Canada and then on Thursday Val and I both return to Tevah and head south.

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A wild 24 hours

by Eric Phinney on December 4, 2018

Arrival in Rocky Creek

We had an good and uneventful passage on our first day back traveling arriving in a designated anchorage called Rocky Creek. They probably should not call it Rocky Creek but rather shifting sandbar creek, or mud creek or, You will probably go aground creek.

All was well as we set the anchor with in a few feet of the spot on the chart. After we watched the first “Christmas Movie” of the season I noticed that the boat had a slight list to it. I figured it was laying over a bit due to the current being against the wind and we were lying broad side to the wind (and now rain) But I also heard a tell tale sign of water lapping agains the side of the boat, indicating that we could possibly be aground.

They say that there are two types of people that travel the ICW: those who have run aground, and those that will. We are now in the first catigory.

It was pitch black, sideways rain, no moon and we could not see the shore because of the glare off the rain when we shone the light. Only the chart plotter and compass. The chart plotter would not show our orientation because we were not moving, so looking at the compass was the only way to know how we were actually lying.

With some persuasion from the engine and windless we got off and got the anchor up and moved down creek a few hundred feet to the deepest spot we could find, after running aground once more. By the time I had let out enough scope we were sitting in 9 feet of water, but it was low tide, so that was fine.

I posted a note to the Waterway guide with the two spots that were 3 feet deep either side of their marked anchorage spot.

This was not the end of the rain however as we were to find out in the morning.

We were up at first light as we had some challenging shallow spots and timed bridge openings to transit and wanted to be away as soon as we could.

I discovered that in all of the confusion the night before I had left the spreader lights on all night. Good thing we have a good battery bank! We burnt about twice as much as we usually do in a night, about 85 Amp hours. You learn to be careful with electricity when you have to make your own every day!

As we set out we saw the flat bottom of thunder clouds to the north and east. I had hoped that they were going to pass us by but it was not to be. It rained that day between 6 and 8 INCHES!

We anchored in a beautiful anchorage at Beaufort SC. Val has already talked about the difference between these namesake cities of NC and SC. The rain continued through the night and we worked at drying our outer and under ware out. The next day we decided to forgo the city tour and press on!

In the morning we saw a fragment of blue sky and some warm temperatures.

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Florida

by Eric Phinney on December 10, 2018

By Val. On Dec 1 we left Charleston SC with the goal to get to Florida as fast as we can go, (which isn’t very fast on a sailboat)😬We entered Florida several days ago and can now say we are feeling more comfy. The nights are no longer dropping down to 2C and we don’t need to turn the heater on to warm us up to start the day. Since we left Charleston we have stopped only to get fuel and a few groceries otherwise we have been pushing to get south. So long days then anchor, sleep and do it again the next day.

We did take an afternoon and walked around the beautiful and historic St Augustine. Wow what can I say! As you enter into the harbour you feel like you are sailing into a European city. The architecture is Spanish with a huge fortress to welcome you as you come in. Castillo de San Marcos has been there for over 300 years beginning in the 1600’s, built by the Spanish to claim a little of the New World. One Ponce de Leon and his navigators came to understand the Gulf Stream and used it to travel back and forth to Spain. They would follow the Gulf Stream to South America, travel north to Florida and follow the Gulf Stream back to Spain, amazing! This route made Spain a very prosperous country in the 1600-1800’s where it cedes Florida to the US after the Civil War .

The fortress was never defeated unless changing hands in peaceful/treaty exchanges. The city hall is gorgeous with very Spanish architecture and I’m sorry that I didn’t stop and take a pictures all around me. The side streets are those narrow alley like walkways with all kinds of shops. It was a short but very sweet visit and we would like to stop in on our return voyage.

The weather has risen incrementally as we motor down the coast. Today (Sunday) it is poring rain out. The Captain is drenched but the Wench is dry 😬☔️. Tomorrow we will be in Vero Beach for a few days. I have a cousin whom we will visit and I’m getting very excited! I’m looking forward to catching up on life since I’ve not really spent anytime with him and get to meet his wife Susan. They have graciously opened their home up to us so we will stop and do laundry, get groceries and I will have a glorious bath. The shower cleans me bit oh I love to relax in a tub so that is one thing that I am looking forward to.

It has been a week of pushing hard to get closer to the ever elusive sweet weather and we both are happy to say 3 months later we are beginning to feel we can put on a pair of shorts very soon.

To all of you suffering through the cold, wind and snow I’m sorry but winter sports are great fun we will just miss them this year. Love to you all.

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Com update

by Eric Phinney on December 12, 2018

We are stopped for a few days at Vero Beach to do provisioning. Val has a 1st Cousin there. Here is a phone number update. Val’s number is changed to an international one as we do the crossing. We will be getting a Bahamas number when we check in.

http://tevah.renforth.net/?page_id=13

Tomorow we will begin the last part of the US travel toward Miami

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Tropic of Cancer

by Eric Phinney on January 12, 2019

Yesterday we did a road trip down long Island. Along they way we crossed the “Tropic of Cancer” You can click on the link to see why that is significant! Let me back up a bit and cover the time from Black Point to where we are now and then say a bit about what is to come. (I will do this over a couple of posts) You can check out our FB pages to see some pics and some of our experiences along the way.

After we left Black point we went out into the ocean through a cut in the islands. The reason for this is that the inside gets very shallow and you have to travel significantly further to get to your destination. I decided it would be good to break it up into a two day journey to Georgetown. Upon reading the reviews and recommendations I settled on Lee Stocking Island as our stop over. A short day sail with good protection. We could wait there for a weather window if needed.

We set out the next morning and had an uneventful passage down the Exuma chain and made our entrance through Adderly Cut and found our way around to the anchorage in front of the old Caribbean Marine Research Center. This is an abandoned station, that has been bought by a developer to make a high end marina someday. We have noticed that there are loads of places like this where there has been a start and a stop and an abandonment of development. Things happen on island time… or they just don’t happen at all. If someone happens to tell you that they will be putting a roof on a new building next week, chances are they have been saying that for 10 years or so. They might put a roof on it in the future or maybe not at all.

We spent the night and since the weather looked strongish the next morning we thought that we might spend one more day to let it settle some more as we did have to go out the cut into Exuma Sound again. It was at about 11:00am that we discovered we had no more fresh water. Not a problem I thought as I turned the valve for our 40 gallon reserve tank…… not a drop! Still not sure what happened but I suspect that I did not have the valve fully off and over the last couple of months the contents of it drained into our other two tanks! I used to regularly check it and top it off when I filled the other tanks, but it was never down, till today!

I knew that we were going to soon need water and also to top off on fuel and would like to do that before Georgetown, since there is no dock in GT that you can do those two jobs. In GT you need to take the dinghy into the town dock with jugs and lug back water and fuel. One would think that with 300-500 boats sitting in the harbour for months at a time, someone would have put in a proper fuel dock!

Our only option was a rather high end Marina about 13 miles away called the Marina at Emerald Bay. It is a Sandals Resort. The entrance is tricky, especially in East winds over 20. It was blowing a solid 15. I called them to ask about their entrance and they assured me it was passable. You do have to radio ahead to make sure that the channel is clear of traffic as you approach because you can’t necessarily see vessels that are about to leave.

The most exciting part of the day was about to happen. There is a phenomenon that some of you will be familiar with called “Wind against Current” When this happens the waves get steeper, break and get higher too. As we left Adderly Cut this was what we encountered. Two knots of current flowing out vs. 15 knots of wind coming in. The sailing instructions said to veer off the main channel as soon as you had cleared the submerged reefs at the entrance of the cut….. but not too soon. Waves were breaking at about 8-10 feet and we were taking some water over the bow. This is usually fine, since the boat is well designed to shed water and continue on.

When it is hot we open our hatches…….

Usually we close them before we head out….

After the first wave Val went below to secure the hatches but was unable to move toward the forward hatch due the the motion of the boat and a couple more waves soaked our sheets and mattress!

By the time we got things battened down we were out of the channel and on our way to the Marina.

At one point I saw three flying saucers… not UFOs but actual corelle saucers flying from the port side of the galley across to the navigation station. Thankyou Dow Corning and NASA engineers for coming up with a material that can stand high impact and not break!

The entrance to the marina was as advertised. We got in, took fuel and water and got out in less than an hour. One of the good things was that because the water was metered and our tanks were completely emptied we got a measurement on our capacity for water. We now know that the two side tanks are 25 gallons and the forward one is 40. I had always thought it was more than that and wondered if because of the position of the tanks they were never emptied. Now I know. 12 gallons of fuel and 90 gallons of water cost $103. Now to Georgetown.

The timing was tight. I did not want to be doing the tricky dogleg route into Elizabeth harbour in less than ideal light, even along the deep water route. We still had 15 knots on the beam so we would be able to make it before sun set.

Georgetown and Elizabeth Harbour, for most people that go there, is the “end of the rainbow” ; It is the pot of gold and the final destination. Each year yachting snowbirds sail toward Georgetown, drop the hook and don’t go any further for 2-3 months. There is a very organized community there that can fulfil every interest.

We entered the harbour and found a spot right in front of Chat N Chil and dropped the hook. Within the next few minutes we heard a chorus of Conch shells being blown to signal the setting of the Sun! We have arrived!

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Baseball and Willie Nelson, Gators and Strawberries

by Eric Phinney on March 3, 2019

We have been in Vero Beach Fl now for just over two weeks. Let me recount our return from the Bahamas first and then bring you up to the present and have a look into the next season for us.

After we said goodbye to Andrew and Amy we began the journey north up the Exuma Chain of Islands. We hit a couple of places along the way that we missed on our way down, notably Stanial Cay and Compass Cay. Pigs, Caves, Sharks etc.

One of the things that has become clear is that not many people actually live in the Exumas other than Black Point and Georgetown.

Many of the other places are really just Marinas for mega yachts and extremely expensive.

To change things up a bit we decided to go into Nassau for a couple days to see where most of the people actually do live.

I met the Bishop of the Bahamas while I was there and got some insight into the nature of the church. I am impressed with the overall health and ministry of this part of the Anglican family.

Our plan was to sail from Nassau to Mackie Shoal, and then to Bimini,and then finally to Ft. Lauderdale. Due to circumstances beyond our control (weather), 29 hours after we left Nassau we pulled into Lake Sylvia in Ft Lauderdale. The weather was mostly great….except for the last hour, when we found ourselves under a thunder cell. Rain and Wind.

The next day we moved up to West Palm and picked up Stan and Susan, Val’s cousin. We then traveled up the ICW as far as Stuart where we enjoyed a Cruisers Pot Luck and live music. The final leg to Vero happened the next day.

Vero Beach is known by cruisers as Velcro Beach. I asked one cruiser when he got back from the Bahamas and he said in less than a month it would be one year! It really is a great place and I could totally understand someone sailing down from Canada and just stopping here for the winter. Everything you need is here.

While here we have seen Aligators, Manetees, Pigs, Baseball, Willie Nelson and eaten a lot of Strawberries.

See our FB posts for details and pics

We are heading back over to Tampa on Tuesday to attend a conference about Seafarers sponsored by the North American Maritime Ministry organization. When we return we will begin to move the boat North again. Out plans are to stop in a few places that have some history to absorb, notably St Augustine, Savannah, and Charleston again.

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The last Leg….for now

by Eric Phinney on April 12, 2019

We have arrived in Easton! Our last day of sailing together in Tevah was 72 Nautical miles. We were underway before dawn and arrived just after 18:00. We sailed, motored, encountered steep waves breaking over the bow, calm waters, sun, clouded skyes and finally the welcomed sight of Paul’s dock on the Tred Avon River.

We have not kept up with these blog posts for a couple of reasons. I began doing daily Facebook live posts and we had already commented on many of the places on the way down south. There were a few new things and some greater depth on the way back and I think Val has captured them in her blog.

Now what remains is to spend a couple of days “summerizing” the boat. I have done some research on this and is not all that different from “winterizing”. It will involve making sure that things are well ventilated and protected from the elements. I have a number of repairs to make, and then it is off to Saint John for Val and Calgary for me.

I will return mid June with Nat to bring Tevah back to the environs of the beautiful St. John and Kennebecasis rivers. We have experienced a dream, but know more than ever that we live in one of the most beautiful cruising grounds that exist anywhere.

Until June

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