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Wednesday October 18, 2006
Rick and I are scheduled to fly from Orlando to Providence, RI at 10:30 to help crew the Salty Dawg, a Nordhavn 55 trawler yacht south to Miami, FL. Esther and I spent the past spring on the same boat on its maiden voyage, first to the Abacos Island in the Bahamas, then offshore to Rhode Island. See the details of that trip Under the section "Miami to Abacos and Abacos to Newport, RI and on our website, www. debruckel.com. Rick is a recovering sailor from Minnesota, who has sailed extensively in Lake Huron and also made a delivery trip with me two years ago on the Betty G, another large Nordhavn, from Dana Point, CA to Miami via the Panama Canal.
 
Rick Olson and First Mate Dennis Bruckel
The flight north was uneventful, and the introduction of Rick to the hosts, Dave and Lowie Bock easy. Lowie is driving an automobile south, along with a dog, one of the “Salty Dawgs”. As usual prior to a trip, the boat is a mess, with several projects in various states of completion and provisioning under way.
There is lot’s of strife going on between the boat’s owners and both labor and management over dis-satisfaction in the pace as well as the quality of repairs; both those done for and paid by Nordhavn as warrantee work, and other work like bottom paint and other issues to be paid for by the Bocks.
We got settled in, and in late afternoon drove a considerable distance to a new Chinese buffet restaurant, a favorite choice of Dave’s.
Capt. Dave Bock
Thursday October 19, 2006
The boat is still on the hard, but we heard yesterday evening that Nordhavn California had settled the repairs bill with the yard doing the work. But the yard had told no one aboard what their schedule might be. I went for a long walk from around 7:30 until nearly 9, and was about to head for the shower when the travel lift headed our way. As no one had contacted us, we did not pay much attention until the lift centered itself around the boat and shutdown its engine. I asked the operator if they were planning on lifting us, and got a look like “Da, does this look like a tow truck”?
Salty Dawg in LIft
We quickly disconnected the power cables and up we went and around the corner to the slipway where a young fellow applied bottom paint to all the areas earlier inaccessible where blocks and stand were supporting the boat. Then the staff left. For hours! Around noon Lowie said, “What are we waiting for” and went in to ask the question of the management. They called Dave in and repeated the mantra, “No cash, and no splash”. After a period of trying to negotiate the bill downward, due to some of what were perceived as overcharges, my Captain and his wife were told, “Please don’t come back here again”.
Suffice it to say that no one was happy with the end result. We finally got splashed, and the staff went through some electrolysis issues and testing some of the repairs.
The fact that we stood around for several hours with nothing to do and not being able to get on the boat allowed time for close examination of several of the complex systems which are usually under water to be inspected and photographed, Below are several photos of those under water sytems.
Bow thruster prop and tube 
Line cutting spurs on prop shaft
Keel cooler
Stabilizer fins
Splash!
That evening was the day of a regular weekly pizza party with the dockmates of the owners, so we hung around for that. The party was held on a large Chinese junk sailboat, hand built in the 1960’s and sailed to the Caribbean with no auxiliary power. It had spectacular amount of extraordinary wood and ivory carvings throughout, and was certainly the greatest “Character Boat” I’ve seen. I’m sorry I did not take my camera, but it was dark both times we were there.
Friday October 20, 2006
Beginning miles 2183
Up at O Dark Thirty, planning on departing at dawn for Point Judith where we will refuel and pick up Jeff, the electronics tech who will be taking the trip with us. Around 7 Lowie departed, and we left the dock at Brewer’s Cove Haven Marina.
The weather is relatively calm, with light rain and some fog and visibility at around 2 miles. As the boat has not been run for more than a month, of course the Captain is a bit rusty on both boat handling and manipulating the electronics. Of course, backing down the fairway, the stern thruster refused to work, so we had to do without. With just the bow thruster it was easy to keep the stern heading where we wanted down the fairway. Some of the folks we had partied with last evening were up to wave goodbye.
It was a cruise of about 25 miles down Narragansett Bay to Point Judith and the refueling dock. The weather is threatening, with winds of 20-30 and considerably higher gusts predicted, with the worst for overnight. We refuel with nearly 1,400 gallons of fuel, essentially the amount used since the boat left the Bahamas with us aboard in May last spring.
Jeff, the electronics guy was there and loaded some new heavier duty weather forecasting software which we interpreted as suggesting that we’d be better to stay here overnight, or at least until a front passed in 8-12 hours. The friendly fuel dock guy suggests we’d be welcome to stay here overnight, so we take his offer, particularly as Dave finds a lobster outlet right nearby.
Electronics Guy, Jeff
Dennis spends the afternoon working up this log as well as his new assignment on a short article on the Erie Canal for the January issue of Waterway Guide.
For the evening meal Dave procured three two pound lobsters for the rest of the crew, and pan fried a salmon fillet for Dennis. Cheese cake for dessert, with rave reviews resulting.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
The winds last night increased until they were blowing up to 40 miles per hour. Comfortably tied to a fuel dock, it was not al all uncomfortable, but little noisy, and cold! I slept on the dinette settee; it was narrow, but doable, and will be fine in a seaway as the dining table acts as a lee cloth or board. And, it’s the quietest place on the boat for both noise and motion.
Everyone awoke around 6, and we left the dock at first light, around 0700, with winds still in the 20-25 range. Jeff has some great weather software installed, and Captain Dave seems to have as much confidence in it as he does with the weather router. And, with Jeff on board, he can learn to access and interpret the printouts. We left the Harbor of Refuge at Point Judith, RI around 0730 and headed toward the east side of Block Island. Beam seas in the range of 3-4, but with a comfortable ride due to the stabilizers. The plan is to round Block Island, then set a waypoint for Cape May, leaving us somewhat in the lee of Long Island and the New Jersey coast, 10-25 miles offshore.
Daily positions as noon. Coastal waypoints
are south bound, off shore northbound in
spring
Noon position: 41 02 N x 22 38 W
Just off Montauk Point, Long Island
Mileage reading 2238.
Miles traveled to date 53
Seas flattened considerably in lee of Long Island.
Watches set as follows: Captain Dave 7-10, Jeff 10-1, Dennis 1-4, Rick 4-7 each AM and PM.
By around 1700 the seas had eased sufficient to set a waypoint off Cape Hatteras, about 400 miles away. During the night the seas continued to flatten until at sunrise it was almost calm, 1-2 foot swells, and everyone got a good off watch sleep. At 0800 on Sunday morning we started fishing, not that off the New Jersey shore is famous for fishing, but it was a nice sunny calm morning, and around 60 degrees. By noon it was so cloudy and cool we pulled in the gear.
Graveyard of the Atlantic,
Cape Hatteras
Dave serves lox and bagels for his traditional Sunday morning breakfast. Raves again!
Sunday Oct. 22, 2006
Noon position: 39 01 N x 73 52 W
50 miles offshore just south of Atlantic City, NJ
Mileage reading 2396
Miles in 24 hours 158
Miles to date 213
By shortly after noon the wind picked up again, with the seas to 3-4 feet from the southeast, in our faces, but not badly. Also, it got cloudy and cooler again. We are doing a lot tweaking with a new Nobeltek Admiral system. This has the ability to gather and coordinate tremendous amount of date, using a satellite phone and the power of computers. Right now I am looking at a screen with Gulf Stream currents and water temperatures, overlaid by wind and wave patterns in the region from off Cape May where we are now, to Cape Hatteras, which is famous for its changeability and unsettled conditions. We are anticipating a rough ride in this area.
The computer can extend the forecast over time, to show conditions to be expected in 34 hours when we get there! Jeff is the fellow who installed all this technology, and is along to get it tweaked, and show us how to use it.
As the evening progressed, and we approached the mouth of Chesapeake Bay with winds clocked around from southwest to west to northwest and the seas changed from on the head to abeam and then quartering from behind us, as well as building. Now, around 1000 the wind is around 25 and the seas 8-10 feet. We are aimed right at Cape Hatteras, and about 40 miles off Norfolk.
Monday Oct. 23, 2006
Noon position: 36 31 N x 75 12 W
50 miles off Norfolk
Mileage reading 2561
Miles in 24 hours 165
Total accum. Miles 378
This afternoon, to the applause of the crew, the Playboy Cannel was successfully piped up to the two pilot house TV screens. Around 7 PM we are even with the famous Cape Hatteras light, and about 20 miles offshore. Still in the Gulf Stream countercurrent, giving us a boost of about 2 miles per hour over our normal speed. The winds and seas eased greatly around mid afternoon, and we are cruising effortlessly now at 7 PM. Soon though we expect to reach the Gulf Stream proper, with its 1-3 mpg northward current. We are going to try to stay to the west of it. Time will tell how successful this will be. Jeff, the electronics guy things it will be benign near shore. I’ve heard otherwise. But, it’s a long way across to the east, and then back again to get to Miami, so I can’t disagree much with his conclusion. At this time there don’t seem to be much in the way of counter currents on the east side of the stream.
Tuesday Oct. 24, 2006
Noon position: 34 03 N x 76 41 W
About 80 nautical miles off Wilmington, NC
Mileage reading 2739
Miles in 24 hours 178
Total accum. Miles 556
We’ve endured about 20 hours of Cape Hatteras weather, seas 10-12 mostly on the beam, winds steady at 30, gusts to 40, boat holding up well, better than crew! Everyone is tired! Last night at least two shelves/lockers emptied themselves of all contents in rolls. Weather is sunny, winds expected to lighten, but continue.
Major electronic upgrades continue on Salty Dawg. Now that the Playboy Channel is up and running, the next challenge was XM radio, which was accomplished today. We are trying to strike a balance between time spend on the Playboy network and CNN. The below view of the pilot house does not include a view of the Playboy Channel! anther change we made early on was to remove the steering wheel as we use the autopilot 100 percent of the time, except in close quarters.
Seas calmed considerably today around noon. Now down to 4-6 feet, on the beam.
Wednesday Oct. 25, 2006
Noon position 32 20 N x 79 05 W
About 100 miles off Myrtle Beach, SC
Mileage reading 2899
Miles in 24 hours 160
Total accum. Miles 716
Last evening was the first in several that the whole crew slept well. Seas calmed to 3-4 and the boat motion and noise were much diminished. This morning we put fishing poles out for the first time in days. Too cold and too rough earlier. Today the sun is bright at noon, but with an 18 mph breeze and 55 or so degrees, it’s cold out.
We got to about off shore at Georgetown before we ran into the Gulf Stream. We had been expecting it since just about even with Cape Hatteras, and continued nearly 200 miles with a southbound or countercurrent for some reason no one understands. When we hit the Stream the boat speed over the ground went from 7.5 to around 4.5 just like running into a wall! We beared off toward the coast and the speed went up to abound 6.
Wednesday after noon and evening were relatively calm and much warmer. Around mid day Dennis landed a small tuna type fish. Perhaps 6-8 pounds. Filleted and marinated, it was great for dinner. First fish caught to date, but we’ve not had the lines out much as it’s been both cold and rough.
With about 300 miles to go, we can determine that we will arrive at Ft. Lauderdale’s Government Cut at around midnight Saturday morning, so on Dennis’s watch we head out to the 1000 fathom line to fish along it all day while southbound. By dawn we are there and start fishing with four poles out.
Thursday Oct. 26, 2006
Noon position 30 06 N x 80 15 W
About 40 miles off St. Augustine
Mileage reading 3054
Miles in 24 hours 155
Total accum. Miles 871
We fished four lines at the hundred fathom line from around 0600 until 1600 and did not get a hit.
Friday Oct. 27, 2006
Noon position 27 35 N x 80 14 W
About 30 miles off Titusville
Mileage reading 3210
Miles in 24 hours 156
Total accum. Miles 1027
Arrive Miami 0700 Saturday morning. Very rough all evening and night in Stream. Wash down boat, deliver Rick to Lauderdale airport and chill out!
Totals 10/20-10/28
1128 miles
866 gallons
171 Engine hours
Miles per gallon 1128/866= 1.30
Gallons per hour 866/171= 5.06
Miles per hour 1128/171= 6.6
Dennis stayed on board until Tuesday morning. Boat cleanups on Sunday, Miami Boat Show with Capt. Dave on Monday, and train to Kissimmee on Tuesday.
Submitted by First Mate Dennis Bruckel
Salty Dawg at anchor
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