I have finally had the time to do a bit of video editing and just put up a new short film of Idle Queen sailing on a beautiful afternoon on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
If you enjoy the videos, please subscribe to the Setforsea YouTube channel. The quality of the recent videos is much better than the older ones thanks to a better camera and the editor finally learning a few things about proper workflow. There is still plenty of room for improvement–something to look forward to! Your comments are welcome here or on the YouTube channel. Thanks.
You can also view the video directly on YouTube in a new window by following this link.
Well, we made it up to the Cape safely. When I last left off, we were just getting ready to head out from Hampton, VA. We were assured of a couple of days of good weather, but after that, there was a strong front forecast to push through the northern waters of our journey, bringing up to two days of contrary winds and unsettled weather.
So, here’s the short version of our travels from the time we left Hampton, VA– After leaving the anchorage across from the public pier, we motorsailed in light, but favorable conditions up to New York harbor, where we waited out two days of nasty weather before heading through Long Island Sound. After motoring through the East River, we grabbed a free town mooring for the night in Port Washington; filled up on overpriced diesel fuel; met some friendly and interesting people; and raised a few eyebrows sailing through the mooring area. We headed out with a fair tide early the next morning and sailed overnight to Newport, RI, where we dropped the hook and soaked up a little of the “sailing town” atmosphere (or was that just fog?).
Picking up some new pieces for the Dyer dinghy
The next morning, we pushed up to an anchorage near Bristol; and the following day made our appointment to pick up some parts for our Dyer Midget from the factory in Warren, RI. It was a memorable experience to be able to sail right up to the factory; pick up their guest mooring; and dinghy to their dock to get our parts. We got a tour of the manufacturing floor and many tips for how to put our dinghy back together properly–I would highly recommend a Dyer for the great support alone. They freely gave us several hours of their time and answered all of my many questions even though the Dyer that I own is probably 40 years old and was bought at a yard sale.
Sailing in light air on Narragansett Bay
After loading our parts onto the already overloaded Idle Queen, we dropped the mooring and pushed against the tide for a few miles to overnight in the roomy anchorage in Bristol, RI. The weather was dreary, so we didn’t really feel like going any farther. The following day was lovely, though, so we sailed all day and pushed right past Newport to go directly to Monument Beach, MA; taking advantage of the typical Buzzard’s Bay southwest wind to hurry the last half of the passage along.
Unloading some excess gear from Idle Queen
Now, Idle Queen is swinging patiently at a mooring while we take care of unloading some of the extra cargo we had carried north; take some time to visit the dentist (Unplanned. Ouch.); repair the “deflatable” Zodiac; rebuild the Dyer dinghy; and visit the area a bit.
Sailing into a squall
A thunderstorm approaches
Statue of Liberty seen at night
New York City skyline at night
Jersey City fire boat shows off for the PGA event.
Idle Queen will shortly be outbound from Hampton, VA, northbound to… as far as we can before the weather closes out on us. We are aiming for Rhode Island, but will stop in to New York harbor if we don’t make good time.
Planning on writing an update soon with pictures from the Dismal Swamp Canal. I also have some great video from that part of the trip, but haven’t had time to edit and format it yet. Looking forward to getting that up soon!
Harry Heckel built Idle Queen from a bare hull, and then sailed her around the world. Twice. By himself. He is now 97 years old and still getting around quite well. It is an honor to know him. –Barry
Click on pictures in the gallery below to enlarge them.
Idle Queen’s builder, Harry Heckel, Jr., and I on the docks in downtown Portsmouth, VA
Meeting with Harry on the docks in Portsmouth
Meeting with Idle Queen’s builder, Harry Heckel, Jr.
Idle Queen’s builder, Harry Heckel (L), and I in Portsmouth, VA
Harry Heckel, Jr, and I on the dock with Idle Queen in the background
Idle Queen is the middle of the three anchored boats
Sunday, August 4, Idle Queen finally sailed out of Oriental’s harbor. And I do mean “sailed”. The last errand to run in Oriental was to bring the boat in to the fuel dock to top off all of our tanks before heading out. I was planning to sail off from the dock, but a power boat came in just as we were finishing with fueling up, so I elected to motor out instead of keeping him waiting. Once clear of the dock, though, we put up sail and slowly gathered speed as we left the inner harbor.
Sailing north on the Neuse River
The wind was blowing from the north, and turning to the northeast. This meant that the Neuse River was smooth as we sailed along a mile from shore. Unfortunately, this also meant that the wind would be against us once we turned the corner to head into Pamlico Sound. I had wanted to head up the sound to visit Manteo on the way north, but the wind stayed northeast, which would have been on the nose, making the decision to motor north on the ICW route an easy one. I have discovered that ol’ Idle Queen is not terribly fond of going to weather. We anchored for a day to try to invent storage solutions for a few troublesome pieces of gear, and get the depthsounder working.
Snag pile on the Alligator-Pungo CanalNearing the northern end of the Alligator-Pungo CanalScenery on the Alligator-Pungo Canal
Although I generally dread hours of motoring, I do enjoy the canals for their close views of the landscape. Smooth waters are a bonus. We still set sail at every opportunity and didn’t transit any of the legs between Oriental and Elizabeth City entirely under power. That didn’t do much for our speed, though. We met a fellow sailor in Elizabeth City on a 20′ Pacific Seacraft “Flicka” who was amazed that, #1- we were sailing in the cuts; and, #2- he was pulling away from us. Well, the wind isn’t all that consistent when surrounded by all those trees, but a fair breeze is a fair breeze.
There was plenty of wildlife to hold our interest and take our minds off the heat as we motored and sailed north to anchor up past Belhaven. The cuts were well-populated with birds, turtles, dragonflies, and loads of butterflies. I also enjoy looking at the trees along the banks of the canals. It is amazing to look at the size of some of the stumps that are all that remain of old cypress and juniper trees from long ago–those stumps are huge. The trees growing along the cuts today are just babies in comparison with the monsters that were cut down to leave stumps of six feet and more in diameter.
We sailed past Belhaven. Even though the promise of a free city dock was slightly tempting, we had a good breeze and made 10 more miles before anchoring in the dark just outside of the channel.
Approaching Elizabeth City
The next day, we arose early to start before the day heated up. Before leaving, I checked the engine over and pulled the zinc to have a look. It was not much more than mush. Hmm… Well past time to change it. I pulled a new pencil zinc from my stock only to discover that it was much too long and had to cut it down. I thought I had bought a half-dozen zincs of the correct size, but it was obvious that I hadn’t. At least I had something that would work. A few frustrating minutes with a hacksaw and some trial-and-error fitting had a new zinc anode in the engine. I tightened the alternator belt as well and we were soon underway. We made it a very long day, as the wind turned fair while we were in the canal. We sailed up the Alligator River, through the bridge, across Albermarle Sound, and up the Pasquotank River to anchor just a mile from the downtown waterfront of Elizabeth City. It was 0200 before we had the anchor down that morning.
Idle Queen at the Elizabeth City docks
Arising before the wind came up the next day, we motored down to the free city docks and backed Idle Queen in to one of the slips. We received a most friendly welcome from the assistant harbormaster and a couple of interested bystanders.
Our stay in Elizabeth City was delightful. We arrived only planning to stay for a day, but ended up staying for three. How could we leave, what with invitations to drive down to Edenton and Rocky Hock; head out to a mud boggin’ competition in Currituck; and let’s not forget the awesome farmer’s market on Saturday morning… Besides the personal connections, there are great services for boaters: free city docks; strong wifi; access to water; free loaner bikes; and access to nearby toilets. All of this is right in a beautifully maintained waterfront park just a short walk from restaurants, art galleries, and more. We made wonderful friends and memories during our brief stay in Elizabeth City and look forward to visiting again soon.
Clock in downtown Elizabeth CityInteresting building in downtown Elizabeth City, NC
The past few weeks seem a blur, but the result of all the long days that have been put in is that Idle Queen is ready enough to start her voyage north.
In the past two months a lot was accomplished. First, Idle Queen was stripped bare of anything easily removable, scrubbed inside and out with vinegar and then bleach to cut down on the musty smell of long-term storage. We removed the disintegrating headliner that was falling down, insulation that was crumbling, and about 40 pounds of dirt from the bilges. Much of the interior was painted. New cushions were cut and covered with covers made from bed sheets. Personal effects were loaded aboard. Food was stowed. Gear was put aboard until there was no more room, and then more gear was loaded.
The boat is cluttered with gear that I hope to sell or trade. Mostly, it is things that I accumulated in trade for doing project work for other boaters. For the past year, I have had a “no charge” policy when doing work for others. Some people thanked me, some gave me money anyway, and some gave me gear. I have replaced many worn-out pieces of gear aboard Idle Queen, but still have much to get rid of. I am heading north with three steering-gears aboard, for instance.
I will be sure to post more soon, but for now, it is time to get going…
Idle Queen dockside. This project is just beginning.
I frequently question my decision to move to the larger Idle Queen from my last boat, Sirocco. After all, I am still very much enamored of Sirocco, and I have long been a proponent of smaller boats.
Not many people would consider Sirocco a complicated boat in her present configuration. She has pressure fresh water and refrigeration, sure, but her windlass is manual and her compliment of electronics is adequate but simple. Even so, she is more complicated than my “new” boat, Idle Queen, which has only a bare minimum of modern fittings aboard. Idle Queen is missing many of the standard items found on modern sailboats, like roller furling, a winch for each jib sheet, and more. She has only two seacocks below the waterline. She is lightly powered, with her engine providing just over 1 horsepower for each ton of displacement. The cabin sole is painted plywood instead of teak and holly. Much of her paint comes from the hardware store. These details aren’t very “yachty”, but they help offset the added expense of having a physically larger boat when it comes to maintaining and operating her.
I explained why I am moving to a larger boat in a previous post (see here). The additional room aboard the larger boat will allow me to carry everything I need for more expended trips away from yachting centers. Wonderful. The big challenge, though, is that my budget for maintaining this boat is no larger than what I had before. If anything, it is smaller because of the money that I spent this winter having a car in this area. Cars will keep you poor. I plan to make up the difference by not complicating Idle Queen one bit more than necessary.
So, specifically, how am I planning on closing the budget gap? For starters, I am going to live with the unique interior of Idle Queen as she is for a while. Harry Heckel Jr., the original owner, built a custom arrangement down below that is far from the traditional small sailboat layout. One of the first things that I wanted to do with Idle Queen was to change the layout to one with parallel settees in the main saloon instead of the dinette that is currently onboard. I can eliminate a huge expense and time-sink by just keeping the arrangement the same for now. I’ll be losing some storage space, but the current arrangement has worked for two circumnavigations so far.
The tanks on Idle Queen almost all need replacing. The two exceptions are a little 10-gallon fuel tank, and one polyethylene water tank. The current plan is to make up the difference with portable tankage. For water, I will carry as many 3-4 liter water bottles as I need. I have been doing this for quite some time now, beginning when I discovered that the fiberglass water tank on my Contessa 26 was unusable for potable water. I bought 20 gallons of drinking water in bottles at a cost of about $20, and have had 20 gallons of cleanable, portable, re-usable water tankage ever since. I used the same bottles on Sirocco to supplement the tankage onboard, and I see no reason to abandon the system now. I can empty the bottles into the small gravity tank that supplies the galley faucet to produce running water. On the diesel tankage side, the little diesel engine on Idle Queen will run for about 30-40 hours on the currently usable 10-gallon tank. I plan to build secure below-decks storage for an additional 20 gallons of diesel tankage in the form of 5-gallon jerry cans. If I need more tankage, I can always expand the storage scheme.
For lighting, I know that there are many sailors who, in the name of simplicity, have stayed with kerosene lanterns. Some have even kept their boats free of any installed electrical system. My current plan is not quite as low-tech. LED lighting has finally come down enough in cost for me to decide to use LED lights for the main cabin lighting solution aboard Idle Queen. There will be a minimum of wiring involved, and it will all be accessible. I will keep the current fluorescent fixtures until they cease to function before spending money on new fixtures, and I will probably end up assembling my own lighting fixtures rather than spending on the ridiculously overpriced marine lights currently available. A few years ago, I compared the cost of changing Sirocco over to all LED lighting versus just buying enough solar panels to run the incandescent lights that she already had. It was much cheaper to just buy more solar generating capacity. Now the cost of LEDs have come down enough to make them an attractive option. I already have 50 watts of solar panels on Idle Queen. My goal is to keep my daily consumption under what they can supply. I will keep a couple of kerosene lanterns around just in case lightning takes out the electrical system… Backup systems are important.
There are a few other items that I will be going without that make it onto the “must have” list for many cruisers: items like refrigeration; roller furling; a bimini; an autopilot (IQ does have a windvane); and so forth. If I can pick those items up for little money along the way (or better yet–free!), then it’s not like I am opposed to having them. I just need to keep reminding myself that the most important things to take care of on the boat are keeping the hull sound and the running gear strong and functional. Almost everything else is just budget-eating, boat-cluttering stuff that can probably be lived without.
Oriental has a bit of a reputation as being a place that sort of sucks people in. All sorts of folks show up here planning to only stay a day or a week, but for one reason or another they end up staying longer… sometimes much longer. This lovely little town is full of stories of folks who came to visit, and later ended up buying property and settling down.
Bas and Selena probably knew that they would be here for more than a few days when they pulled in. Their sailboat, Selena, had lost her mast hundreds of miles from the coast while sailing up from the BVI’s, and then suffered major engine damage when two engine mounts broke from the cast block of their forty-three-year-old British Motor Company engine.
To watch the following video interview with better quality, please see it on YouTube here.
Bas and Monique are enjoying the friendly atmosphere of Oriental, but also wondering how they will be able to sail their boat back home. Selena is a lovely yacht, and it would be heartbreaking for them to have to give her up due to their recent misfortune. When visiting aboard, it is immediately obvious that much time and attention has been given to Selena throughout the 43 years since she was first launched. Bas was friends with the original owners and has been sailing on Selena ever since 1970. Now I am trying to spread the word to help them find a new rig to bring Selena home.
To read more about Selena‘s “adventure”, please see my previous post here.
Visiting Dutch sailors Monique and Bas discuss their predicament
Last week, while sailing Idle Queen back to her slip after a short daysail on the Neuse River, I greeted a couple on a Dutch-flagged boat. The man in the cockpit waved as we glided silently by. I motioned at the mop handle that they had rigged in the place where their mast should have been and said that there must be a story to go along with it. He said that there was, and that I should come by to hear it later.
A couple of days passed before I saw them again, as I was busy working on preparing Sirocco to go back in the water. I was happy to finally catch up with them, as they seemed like very friendly people who obviously were having more than the usual share of boat trouble. I was invited onboard Selena, their 33′ steel sailboat, introduced to Bas and Monique, and offered coffee and tea while Bas recounted his tale about what happened to the mast.
After visiting the BVI’s together, Monique flew home to take care of some things while Bas headed north toward Beaufort, NC. During the trip, Bas had been experiencing the usual varied weather that comes this time of year, but nothing terrible. Daily runs were good–up to 140 miles with his Aries windvane doing the steering. On March 26, the wind began to pick up a bit to force 6-7, which is not bad, but against the Gulf Stream the seas soon grew to steep, short-period 10-footers that made life aboard challenging and uncomfortable. This was nothing worse than what Bas and Selena had been through before, though. Bas thought nothing of the conditions, and just worked through all of his daily chores, such as cooking and writing the log, with one hand while he held on with the other. (Brings a whole extra level of meaning to the term “singlehanded”, eh?)
Things took a turn for the worse at 0330 (why does everything bad happen then?) on Wednesday, March 27. Bas was down below when he heard a big bang, and the boat’s movement suddenly slowed. He knew what had happened before he even made it on deck. His mast had gone over the side and was now hanging suspended by the twisted rigging. When he got on deck to survey the damage, he was greeted with, in his own words, “a surreal sight, in the light of the half moon, in the clear blue water–a mast with sails upside-down.”
After briefly considering what to do next (“What now, sit down and cry, activate my EPIRB and wait to be rescued?”), he knew that he must fight to get back to shore on his own. He acted quickly to free the rigging, as the sea state was still rough and the mast and boom were banging against the side of the hull. He studied the situation and concluded that there was no way to safely retrieve any of the gear. Bas disconnected all of the rigging and let his mast, boom, sails, and radar drop 4,000 meters to the ocean floor below.
Bas called Monique with a satellite phone that she had given to him as a present to help stay in touch. He told her that he was 330 miles from the Beaufort inlet and that Selena was now a motorboat.
Soon after calling Monique, there was another loud bang aboard Selena, followed by hissing. The liferaft had inflated and blown overboard and was now trailing at the stern! Bas struggled for four hours to successfully get it back on deck and secured. He then rigged the mop handle on the mast step and to it attached a running light and his spare VHF antenna. Now, only to motor over 300 miles to the coast…
The engine was in good condition, but Selena did not carry enough fuel to make it to shore. Bas motored to within 40 miles of Beaufort and then radioed the Coast Guard, who brought extra hands and sufficient diesel fuel in jerry cans to get him to Beaufort. Selena suffered some damage when the cutter bumped heavily against her side in the still-rough sea, but that was not a big problem. The bigger problem arose when Bas was told to put the engine in gear to move away from the side of the cutter. Nobody had noticed that one of the Coast Guard sailors had left a line trailing in the water, but Selena‘s propeller soon found it, stopping the engine with a thump. With the engine now out of commission, the Coast Guard towed Selena in the rest of the way.
Bas had nothing but good to say about his experience with the Coast Guard. They were friendly and courteous as well as going about their work in a professional manner. He said that they were very apologetic for the extra damage and offered him forms for the repairs to be covered by insurance. Bas was surprised when Coast Guard sailors would come by just to chat and hear his story while he was in Beaufort deciding what to do next.
After recovering for a short while, and having Monique rejoin him, Bas decided to continue north up the ICW. They motored out of Beaufort with a battered boat, but grateful that things weren’t worse. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that there was more damage to be discovered. While motoring through Adam’s Creek Cut, Monique smelled burning coming from the engine room. It turned out to be coming from the shaft packing. On closer inspection, the root of the problem was worse than expected–the two rear engine mounts had broken from the casting of the engine block. This was a major problem, as the engine was English-built (BMC, British Motor Company) and almost 45 years old. The chance of locating parts for it was next to zero.
Selena out of the water for repairs.
Selena made it to Oriental under her own power, and Bas and Monique took her to Deaton Yacht Service to begin working on getting at least the engine in working condition. Bas says that if they are not able to find a solution to at least mounting the engine that they would just have to let the boat go, as an old steel sailboat with no rig and no engine is not worth much, and re-powering would be cost prohibitive, as Selena‘s insurance refused to pay for the rig because Bas was alone on the boat when it failed.
So, now Bas and Monique are stuck in Oriental with time ticking on their visas. The yard is working on the engine while Bas and Monique work on other repairs. They have been able to explore the area a bit, but they are growing anxious about what to do next. One of the biggest questions is how to get the boat home next season. Crossing the North Atlantic west to east is not a passage to be taken lightly. As Bas said, they have already done the easy part (the east-to-west crossing), and now the challenge is to get home again safely.
One of my first thoughts after hearing this story was that there must surely be a good rig somewhere here on the east coast that could be had at a fraction of trying to re-rig Selena with new gear. Hundreds of boats have been wrecked in storms in the past few years, and I am certain that someone wants to sell their “used but good” boat parts. What is needed is everything above deck-level: mast, boom, sails, spreaders, wire–all of it. If we can find a rig in good condition, I am sure that Bacon Sails of Annapolis or somebody similar would have sails at a reasonable price. I am asking anyone who knows of anyone selling a rig to please comment here or contact me through the contact form here.
Links to marine salvage yards and the like are useful. Please send along anything that you think might be helpful. For instance, surely someone knows of a 32-34 foot boat somewhere that was totaled but still has a good rig. Bas and Monique are not looking for free stuff, but rather something that is more modestly priced than buying it all new. They are a wonderful couple and I hope that we can help them avoid having to give up their boat.
Life on a Contessa 26 is always close to the water.
One of the things that I miss about my Contessa 26 is being able to easily reach over the side and put my hands in the water. I can reach the water from the deck of Idle Queen, but it is a bit of a stretch, and I have to put an uncomfortable amount of my body over the side of the boat, so I don’t do it. Instead, I use a bucket attached to a line to haul water to the deck of Idle Queen.
Idle Queen.
Besides making washing things over the side a little less convenient, there are other disadvantages to all that extra freeboard–like sluggish windward performance; more hassle getting out of the dinghy; and handling issues when the wind gets up. No matter how you look at it, anything that increases windage is a bad thing, and more freeboard increases windage in a big way. This has been known to designers for a long time, and is part of the reason why many old-school sailboats were so low to the water. When Sirocco had to ride out the remnants of hurricane Irene on an exposed mooring, she sat quietly despite the whipping gusts largely thanks to the fact that she sat so low in the water.
Sirocco charging down Long Island Sound.
I have heard it said that higher-freeboard boats are drier, but that isn’t necessarily true, especially if you are interested in actually staying dry. Once the wind gets over about 20 knots, it will drive spray a long distance into the air–much higher than the deck on just about any small boat. There are other aspects of the hull design that make a bigger difference in how much spray gets thrown about, like the amount of flare; sharpness of entry; and whether there is a significant rubrail or not. Closehauled in 15-20 knots of wind, Idle Queen takes more spray across the deck than the much lower Sirocco. Dodgers, windscreens, or other shelters are more effective at providing a place on deck to stay out of wind-driven spray. People these days seem less interested in putting on their “oilies” and toughing it out…
It is amazing to me how just a foot of extra freeboard on similarly-sized boats like Sirocco and Idle Queen can make such a huge difference in how they handle and how they feel. The loads on dock lines and moorings are much higher on Idle Queen; windward performance is not nearly as good (though this has much to do with other differences in the hull shapes); and even the motion while seated on deck is less comfortable. That’s right–being higher in the boat amplifies the effects of motion. Try climbing the mast at sea if you really want to feel this effect. (Disclaimer: Only go aloft at sea if you can do so safely!)
A boat that is excessively low to the water will have the decks frequently washed over by waves, so there is definitely the potential to take the low-freeboard idea too far. My point is that once past a moderate amount of freeboard, the returns paid in dryness will diminish just as quickly as the negatives, like sailing around at anchor, will pile up.
Besides, boats that are low and lean just look sexier.
