S/V Delilah

A Blog to track the wanderings of the S/V Delilah, a 37-foot Tayana sailboat.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

We're off!

We're leaving tonight (Sunday) at 9PM unless something happens. We should hit the Cape Cod Canal at about 8AM on Monday morning. Then we will put in at Cuttyhunk or go on to Block Island or just head due South, depending on the wind, which is supposed to be from the SW.

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Saturday, October 29, 2005

Sunday Night and Dorade Box

It looks like tomorrow night (30 Oct) might be the night! It's snowing now in Boston, and we really want to start this trip. If we leave at night, we should make the East entrance to the Cape Cod Canal in the morning, which would mean we could potentially anchor in Cuttyhunk during the afternoon. It looks like the wind will stay in the West for a day or two, which isn't great for us. We might head due south until the wind goes to the northwest, then we could cut in.

I've included a picture of my new dorade box. The old one went overboard this summer during an accidental jibe. Rory and Roger helped me fashion this replacement. I ordered a low-profile cowl vent, but it hasn't yet arrived. Turns out the store that sold it to me was hit by the hurricane... Nice.

Friday, October 28, 2005

New stuff

The rigger (Kevin Montague of NorthEast Riggers) came
yesterday and did a bang-up job of installing a track
for our storm trysail. It's for use when the wind
really picks up and a double-reefed main won't cut it
anymore. He also installed better/bigger cheek blocks
on the boom so now we'll be able to reef much more
easily. Thanks, Kevin!



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Hang on...

So we're probably not going until Sunday night or Monday morning. That's 30 Oct or 31 October. There's a low out there that's bringing 30 knot winds. While not dangerous, it's not very fun, either. More information as we know it.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

More Information

So, for those of you with whom we haven't spoken in a while, here's the skinny...

We've both quit our jobs; there's no going back now.

We're working feverishly to finish the preparations on the boat and on all of the other stuff (getting our wills together, figuring out what to take with us and what to leave in storage, etc.) Hopefully, we'll be ready to go by the 25th October.
We will first sail to Block Island (probably a 24 hour sail for us), where we will wait until there's a good weather window for the passage to Norfolk (3 day sail?). Once there, we'll stay with Tina and Ian (and their new baby!) for a few days. Then, it's down the ICW to Beaufort, North Carolina. We'll sit there until the weather is right, and then we're off for St. Thomas.

Don't ask for any information further out than that, for there's none to give you! We'll figure out where we're going when we get there.

We expect to be gone anywhere from a year to 18 months, if our spending falls in line with our expectations. However, we could be back in a few months, if we find we don't like cruising! Or, if we find a way to make some money as we go, we could be out for a few years.

All are welcome to visit us when we're in warmer climes!

Monday, October 17, 2005

Drugs

We spent $180 on our medical kit over the weekend - and we're not yet done. We still have to get a bunch of prescription medications. I've got a wonderful book on first aid at sea - it even spells out how to perform an amputation!

Jill up the mast


Hopefully, we won't have to do this again for a while... That's Jill about 45 feet up our mast, last summer.

Friday, October 14, 2005

A picture of Delilah just after sea trials, in Fort Lauderdale

Two Weeks?

Well, we have about two more weeks before we shove off. Jill's last day is today (yay!) and mine is the 21st. Then, we do a bunch of errands, see family and friends, etc. Then, we're off.

Still some stuff to do:
1) Mount life raft (Thanks, Joe!)
2) Mount port aft dorade box (after buying another cowl vent)
3) Have riggers lead all lines to cockpit
4) Provision

etc., etc.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

First Post

This blog will cover the journeys of the S/V Delilah, a 37-foot Tayana sailboat as Dean and Jill cavort around the warmer climes of the earth. Howdy!