by ldeikis » Sat May 16, 2015 8:54 am
This thread has gone astray, but figured I'd drag it back on topic with a little venting. FWIW, here in Peekskill, we can get a mooring ball from the city for $250/$300/$350 depending on the size you want. Slips range from the $600 range up to thousands depending on how fancy the community it.
Finally got my (new to me) DSII in the water yesterday, after redoing the CB up/down hauls, bottom paint, a bunch of gel coat holes from careless things being dropped on it (mostly in the cockpit) and repairing a nasty hull/deck separation... and rebuilding the carb on the ancient Chrysler outboard that came with it, which was now running like a (noisy) dream in a trashcan of water in the garage.
Got her launched, noticed a small amount of water in the cockpit (like a cup) almost immediately, but figured it was from my rubber stopper in the auto-bailer and thought nothing of it. Motor fired up, motored out of the shelter of the bay, raised sails, proceeded to have an enjoyable sail for a few hours in mostly light winds. Couldn't get the sail trim anywhere near what I wanted, but I'm unsure if that's my lack of expertise with it or the sails being way past their prime... The wind picked up a bit, we were having fun, boat heeling a bit and sailing well, if a bit slower than I expected. We're having fun, winds are strong, some time goes by. We decide to head in as it's getting late.
Then things started to go poorly.
I am sailing this with my almost-8-months-pregnant wife, BTW.
First, the jib got snarled on a pin where the spreader attached to the mast, tearing a nasty hole in the edge. It took a while to get it unstuck, but then we were good for a while. Get to the buoy where it starts to get shallower (we're sailing the Hudson River out of Peekskill bay, so we have substantial current and tide, then this broad bay that's 3-5' deep before the ramps) and try to raise the centerboard... No way. Uphaul is tight as a piano string and no amount of profanity will budge it. I'm a strong guy, and I was fully expecting one of the blocks or the line itself to part. Pushed the downhaul back into the trunk an inch to be sure it wasn't bound up in the thru-hull, still no go. Approaching shallow water now (according to the chart--this is my first time sailing here) so we quickly come about and sail back to deeper water. Try putting her in irons thinking maybe the sideload on the board is the issue, no dice. The wind has picked up, though gusty, at this point. Figure we'll go in and tie to the edge of the dock and hopefully its deep enough to not hang up (no beach options around here).
Head back towards shore, when we get near enough to be nervous, we drop the jib, I start the outboard, then my wife takes the tiller while I drop the main and tie it to the boom. Right about when I've got the sail secured to the boom, the motor dies. Our ramp is parallel to the shore, protected by a rock jetty, so you have to sail straight at the shore and then turn into the ramp at the last moment. We are now 100-150' from a rock jetty that protects the ramps, with the tide pushing us in and with the mounting winds at our back, sails furled, and no power. Motor refuses to start, refuses to start, refuses to start. We've now drifted adjacent to the jetty (downwind of the ramp entrance). Toss anchor, secure boat, continue trying to start motor to no avail. Wind is really blowing now. CB still stuck down. Figure we can maybe sail in on the jib alone, which should be quicker to dowse. Raise jib, pull anchor... I don't know if you usually can do this on these boats, but with just the jib we were so unbalanced that I couldn't make any appreciable headway. Lots of pressure on the sheet, LOTS of pressure on the tiller, but not going anywhere useful. Drop anchor again, raise main while the jib flap aways. With just the main we're able to sail, albeit can't point very high, and we're now down wind of the ramp. Try to raise jib to sail "normally" only to find it hopelessly wrapped around the forestay while we were fighting the main up. Manage to work our way upwind enough to re-approach the ramp/jetty, get most of the way there, easing out the main to spill wind. As we get near the mouth I plan to drop the anchor, then ease us to the dock until I can get a line on the end, then back-and-forth to pull the anchor and pull us back to the dock. Drop anchor... and it doesn't catch. We're now drifting PAST the ramp towards the rocks that are the shoreline. Thank God, wind comes around a little, and between me paddling like mad and the wind, we begin moving away from shore towards the jetty. Just before we smash into the jetty I scramble up on deck and use a boat hook to slow our impact to a gentle thud. I hop off the bow and am now crouched on a rock on this jetty, holding the bowline. I can't just walk the boat in because there's old pylons in the way, but at least we're not drifting around. CB is hitting the rocks. Manage to turn the boat around using the lines, then push off the stern, aiming the boat towards the dock, and jump on over the transom. We manage to paddle across to the dock and tie on.
What a mess. Wondering if the CB bolt may be too tight (I just installed it) I open the ports and find the bilge full of water, within an inch of the floor. The bolt is not too tight. A helpful kayaker suggests we drop a line under each side of the boat and walk it back along both port and starboard, hoping to pull the board up. Amazingly this works, and the board comes up about 1/2 way. I can't pull it the rest of the way with the cable, but that's better. I go get the trailer, winch it on, and the trailer folds the board up the rest of the way. Takes 45 minutes for all the water to drain out of the bilge.
So now I have a torn jib, a stuck CB, some sort of massive hull leak (nearly filled the bilge in 3 hours of sailing) and a motor that won't run.
I didn't sink or need to call Sea Tow, and my hugely pregnant wife is still by my side, so I guess it could have been worse... but jeez, what a mess.
Just venting.
Luke
'74 DSII sailing Haverstraw Bay and the lower Hudson River