Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Marina
I went down to the harbor center marina here in beautiful Sheboygan and spoke to the guys there about getting a slip for the upcoming season. At first I thought I was going to have to get an efficiency dock. This arrangement would put me all the way back in the sandy shallow area that would be difficult to get out of, and I would have no storage attached to my dock. Because of a fortunate turn of events and some lucky timing I was able to get a much nicer dock designed for a 35 foot boat over on the outer edge of one of the main docks. Clear deep water. Also I'll be over in the neighborhood of the other sailors. It'll be nice to exchange information and get advice, but on the other hand it might be embarrassing if anything goes wrong while I'm over there. (It's my first boat people, gimme a break!) But the dock is going to be cheaper than the efficiency dock and it comes with electricity, water hook ups, and the port for a cable TV.
I will have access to the pool, the hot tub, the barbecues, the showers, bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen. I'm seriously thinking I'll just move out of my apartment and live on my boat for the summer. It would be the equivalent of paying $165 a month for rent as opposed to $315 (plus utilities). I'm really not seeing a downside here. I'll be able to save more for my trip to Europe, and I'll be able to get used to living aboard my boat.
I will have access to the pool, the hot tub, the barbecues, the showers, bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen. I'm seriously thinking I'll just move out of my apartment and live on my boat for the summer. It would be the equivalent of paying $165 a month for rent as opposed to $315 (plus utilities). I'm really not seeing a downside here. I'll be able to save more for my trip to Europe, and I'll be able to get used to living aboard my boat.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Corrections
OK so I messed up on the chart plotting website. I guess I was putting in cities in the wrong groups of islands. It'll probably be closer to 1,267 miles from Spain to the Azores, and then another 3,000 miles to the Bahamas. I should be going in tomorrow to secure my slip at the marina here. Feel free to comment or ask questions below. Thanks!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Plans
This trip across to Europe has been occupying my mind more and more lately. Some days it's all I can think about. I just called the Harbormaster here in Sheboygan to arrange a boat slip for the summer. It'll be a little over $1100 but it'll be nice to have a place to keep my boat in the water, and have water, electricity, and pool access. I'm envisioning a very nice summer already. I can't wait to watch the 4th of July fireworks from the deck of my sailboat. The weather has been intolerably cold as well. Today it spiked to 15 above zero and it feel s like T-shirt weather. I have been planning out some more details about the trip recently. I found a cool website: www.mapcrow.info it allows you to find straight line distances between any two cities on the planet. That information doesn't really feed into sailing as much as you'd think. You constantly have to zig-zag if you're going against the wind, and the currents can take you hundreds of miles off of where you think you are. Also there will be many times when I have to sail around an island or a peninsula and the website will only plot the shortest distance. But so far I figure I'll be sailing 14,000 miles or more.
I will leave Sheboygan hopefully in April and head out the Great Lakes chain. It may take as much as a month just to get from Sheboygan to St. John's (Newfoundland). Then I will have my first real open water crossing. From St. John's to Dingle, Ireland; about 1,915 miles in a straight line. I figure I'll be at sea anywhere from 21 to 30 days on that crossing. Then I'll take trains to tour the Emerald Isle for about a week. After Ireland I'll sail up the Severn River into Cardiff, Wales (304 miles As The Crow Flies). After visiting friends in Wales I'll head around to London; hopefully I'll be there the same time as the 2012 Summer Olympics! Again I will take trains and buses to visit the rest of Great Britain. I do need to head up to Scotland, and again visit old friends from England.
After England I'll jump across to Brugge (145 Miles), spend a day or so, then on down to France. It's 340 miles ATCF from Brugge to Brest, France. I would like to check out Paris, but that's a fair jaunt inland by train, car, bus, or other means. I have seen some amazing pictures of the valleys and cliffs in the south of France, that should be a nice pit-stop on the way down to Spain (345 Miles). I will need to head to Madrid to visit some friends and take in the amazing architecture. From Spain I then head back west to the Azores: a nice oasis in the middle of the Atlantic. It'll be about 967 miles from Spain to the Azores. Next is the really long haul from the Azores to the Bahamas: 3,024 miles! That's going to be anywhere from 28 to 45 days at sea out of sight of land. The trouble with being that close to the equator is that the wind is not very strong all the time. I'm hoping I don't spend too much time dead in the water. If I don't get to the Bahamas till late in the season then I might just head up to my uncle's house in Jacksonville and bum around there for the winter. I really wouldn't mind being stranded in the Bahamas though. There are worse fates than being stuck on white sandy beaches with water as clear as glass to go diving in. Paradise.
After the Bahamas and Florida I'll head north along the protected waters of the Atlantic coast to New York City. I've been there once and I had an amazing time sampling life in the Big Apple. I can only imagine what it would be like to arrive at a city of that size by boat. After checking out New York for a bit I'll head up the Hudson river to the Erie canal which would connect me back with the Great Lakes, and then after probably 7 months and 14,000 miles I'll be back home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
To put it in perspective, my boat has a maximum hull speed of just under 6 nautical miles per hour. So that means that if I had an autopilot and I was working at maximum possible speed for the ENTIRE time it will still be 100 days of just sailing. My estimates put it closer to 130 days of nothing but sailing. That's a long time. Still the longest crossing will only be about 36 days........kid stuff right?
I will leave Sheboygan hopefully in April and head out the Great Lakes chain. It may take as much as a month just to get from Sheboygan to St. John's (Newfoundland). Then I will have my first real open water crossing. From St. John's to Dingle, Ireland; about 1,915 miles in a straight line. I figure I'll be at sea anywhere from 21 to 30 days on that crossing. Then I'll take trains to tour the Emerald Isle for about a week. After Ireland I'll sail up the Severn River into Cardiff, Wales (304 miles As The Crow Flies). After visiting friends in Wales I'll head around to London; hopefully I'll be there the same time as the 2012 Summer Olympics! Again I will take trains and buses to visit the rest of Great Britain. I do need to head up to Scotland, and again visit old friends from England.
After England I'll jump across to Brugge (145 Miles), spend a day or so, then on down to France. It's 340 miles ATCF from Brugge to Brest, France. I would like to check out Paris, but that's a fair jaunt inland by train, car, bus, or other means. I have seen some amazing pictures of the valleys and cliffs in the south of France, that should be a nice pit-stop on the way down to Spain (345 Miles). I will need to head to Madrid to visit some friends and take in the amazing architecture. From Spain I then head back west to the Azores: a nice oasis in the middle of the Atlantic. It'll be about 967 miles from Spain to the Azores. Next is the really long haul from the Azores to the Bahamas: 3,024 miles! That's going to be anywhere from 28 to 45 days at sea out of sight of land. The trouble with being that close to the equator is that the wind is not very strong all the time. I'm hoping I don't spend too much time dead in the water. If I don't get to the Bahamas till late in the season then I might just head up to my uncle's house in Jacksonville and bum around there for the winter. I really wouldn't mind being stranded in the Bahamas though. There are worse fates than being stuck on white sandy beaches with water as clear as glass to go diving in. Paradise.
After the Bahamas and Florida I'll head north along the protected waters of the Atlantic coast to New York City. I've been there once and I had an amazing time sampling life in the Big Apple. I can only imagine what it would be like to arrive at a city of that size by boat. After checking out New York for a bit I'll head up the Hudson river to the Erie canal which would connect me back with the Great Lakes, and then after probably 7 months and 14,000 miles I'll be back home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
To put it in perspective, my boat has a maximum hull speed of just under 6 nautical miles per hour. So that means that if I had an autopilot and I was working at maximum possible speed for the ENTIRE time it will still be 100 days of just sailing. My estimates put it closer to 130 days of nothing but sailing. That's a long time. Still the longest crossing will only be about 36 days........kid stuff right?
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