Blog - Page 21 of 24 - An attempt at circumnavigating Earth on a small sailboat

A fast trip up the US West Coast

On our way from San Diego to Channel Islands Harbor we burned a full tank of diesel. So when we left Channel Islands Harbor we had a full tank and 3 jerry cans loaded with diesel. We needed only half of that to get to Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, and some of that was for charging. Once again the usual “if you plan for it you won’t need it” happened, which is a good thing. Other unplanned for events happened too, which were not as good. Read on.

Making plans

We arrived in Channels Islands Harbor Wednesday morning. Lee had family affairs to attend to, and Rob had similar business to cater to. I had the day to myself to tend to small jobs on the boat, and to start thinking about the next leg. My neighbor in the harbor, Ollie, was very friendly and invited me for dinner a couple of times (and to sleep with them as well, but I wanted to start to know Changabang so I slept in my bunk).

The forecast looked good for a departure Friday (as discussed with Robert M.) but I would have to do it alone, which is something I was warming up to but had several concerns about. Faith had it differently as a Facebook post alerted Kathi of my presence on her sailing grounds. Kathi and I go back to our Clipper days. We met up and talked about good old days Thursday evening, then decided to have breakfast together Friday morning. One thing led to another, and she was signed up to sail with Changabang on the trip to her new home, about 285 nautical miles.

Best sailing ever

After loading gear, food, water and fuel, we motored easily out of the harbor to the oil rig Gina, where we made our first turn for Point Concepcion. Wind was forecast to always be behind the beam and maxing out at 20 kts (with most models showing less than that). This is unusual as most often sailing up North means beating in strong Westerlies/Northerlies.

Dolphins escorted us for a long while, possibly helping us avoid hitting a whale?

From there we sailed and motor sailed every time boat speed was dropping below 5 kts. Saturday was a wonderful day with lots of wildlife (dolphins, whales, birds). Wind was variable but most often between 8-13 kts. As evening approached wind started to increase and, after unseamanlike hesitation from the skipper, we dropped to one reef and geared the genoa down to the staysail. Models were still showing good wind behind the beam below 20 kts.

Bang as in Changabang

The night proved all models wrong and it also proved that CaB is a very seaworthy sailboat. Wind started piping up to 20 kts, then 24 kts then fluctuating between 24-28 kts, with gusts above 30 (max I saw was 33). We dropped to the second reef and kept going with boat speed between 8-12 kts, most likely dragging plenty of kelp along. As the wind angle clocked between 120 to 70 of port, Changabang remained mostly flat and was skimming on the big sea. It was amazing how it was; a flying carpet is what I thought of. The old B&G autopilot was handling just fine so Kathi and I remained inside, cozy in our bunks. We experienced the classic videos from the Vendee Globe with water gurgling over the coach roof, as we crossed swell and wind waves. This continued unabated for the night and as we approached Pillar Point we were still seeing 20-25 kts.

Where does trouble happen?

We had had a wonderful and fast ride. Changabang showed she likes offshore sailing. Now it was time to make landfall, and as most sailors know, land can be trouble for boats. We started preparing the boat for landfall, dropping to 3rd reef. We started the engine, pushed it into gear, throttled up and … Nothing happened. The throttle cable was not working. Changabang is not a boat to make landfall under sail in a small craft harbor! Certainly not with a skipper who doesn’t know her well. Her turning radius is very wide too.

A line to the throttle lever kept in place with a bungee cord.

From then on it was very much a case of a cascading series of problems, including a few hail calls from a concerned harbor patrol. I fiddled with the cable and got nowhere. I thought to heave to and that caused all sorts of troubles, with the autopilot somehow getting stuck in tack mode. We tried to take the mainsail down (I was hoping that the idle would be enough), only to have top battens entangled in the lazy jack and the running back. Throughout all of that I was picturing Changabang on the beach and funny newspaper articles! I got a little cranky and Kathi took the brunt of it (of which I am not proud). Finally we got things sorted out and were sailing South under staysail alone. I made a call to Skip, whom among other things suggested to jerry rig a line to the throttle lever on the engine.

MacGyver to the rescue

After going through the trouble of jerry rigging that line, we decided to make our approach to Pillar Point. So I get the engine in forward, push the throttle and, oh miracle, it starts working!?!? I’ll skip through the bit of troubles we had docking, only to say that in the end, all is well that is well.

The trip was by far one of my best sailing experiences. It was fun to be along with Kathi; Changabang handled like a dream (with boat speed well below polars; much to learn still); wildlife experiences were everywhere. And best of all it only took us a day and half to get home. Brilliant!

What’s next?

Well, there’s plenty to do. I’ve started emptying the boat to deep clean her. The job list grows; and we have much to add. So keep on following us for future updates, including pictures and funny videos.

Project Changabang: end of Volume I

If this adventure was a book, we’d have a few chapters under our belt already, maybe in this order: I Genesis, II Research, III Finding a vessel, IV Buying Changabang, V Shipping Changabang to the Pacific.

Making contact

Last Friday we took possession of Changabang in the Port of San Diego. It was a long night. I had arrived the day before and met with Lee to reconnect after the 2018 SHTP and discuss the next days. I’ll admit that I was anxious and may not have been the friendliest guest. With the very little information that we had received about the discharge of Changabang we started making plans. Lee would drop my at the terminal gates and would go back to his boat Morning Star to motor down to the port terminal. Lee was going to rally help from his buddy Captain Chuck.

As Star Lima made her entry in San Diego Bay we had been told by SSA Marine to show up at 5pm. I hired an escort service to be escorted from the Port terminal gate to Star Lima, where we waited for Customs to release the ship. At around 6pm we (me and another hired skipper) were allowed access to our cargo. With trepidation I went over to Changabang and was quickly reassured that the loading in Antwerp and been done really well. The deck and everything was filthy and covered with a sticky, brown grime. Luckily the batteries looked like they would have enough charge to start the engine.

Waiting game

During this little inspection, stevedores had started unloading containers. Next they prepared the catamaran to be offloaded. In a way it was good that we were second as it gave us an opportunity to see how things would unfold. Now it’s 10:15pm and the stevedores go to lunch, with a planned return time of midnight! I had been outside in the cool wind for over 5 hours now and decided to as the crew of Star Lima if I could wait inside. They were very friendly and even treated me to pizza, a drink and a charger for my phone!

Midnight rang and the stevedores started working on Changabang. Because San Diego is a small port they don’t have as good equipment as would have been preferred. It felt like they were basically singing it and interfered many times when things were going in the wrong direction.

Welcome to the Pacific

Finally Changabang was in the sling and I was sent to the docks to find a ladder along the concrete to board Morning Star. We did just that; Lee motored slowly close enough for me to grab his shrouds and step aboard. Next we motored slowly to Changabang to put aboard. After a few interesting maneuvers Lee backed into Changabang’s bow, where I was able to grab the headstay and switch boat.

My mission was then to start the engine and depart, which I did. The Volvo Penta started within 10 seconds, without glowing the injection chambers (I had not seen the button, silly me!). But Changabang was not fully in the water and when I was look for exhaust water there wasn’t any. A little overly excited I yelled at the stevedores, now standing high on Star Lima (4 story building), to further drop the boat in the water. Finally, we had water coming out.

Now it was time to release Changabang from her slings and move on. I knew of a problem with gear shift lever and of course as soon as we were free from the slings, I couldn’t engage forward gear. Thanks to the previous owner’s instructions I knew how to fix this but now Changabang was drifting towards Star Lima’s hull. I threw a line to Lee who was standing by and we were off on a slow tow. A few minutes later I was in gear and released the towing line! Boom: Changabang is sailing in the Pacific!

The next day

It was past 3:30am when we were docked at the SGYC and headed for hotel Morning Star for a well deserved rest.

Saturday morning Lee and I did good work of cleaning Changabang and making her look nice again, just in time as she started to attract interested visitors. Unfortunately, as we really wanted to leave Monday/Tuesday, it was necessary to limit conversations. Saturday evening, Lee had arranged for an informal presentation of this adventure. That’s when I was able to share more about my intentions with SGYC members. The club was very welcoming and kind, and a good night was had for all.

Rob joins the party

Sunday Rob joined and added great energy and experience to the preparation team. We did quite a few things: cleaning of course (5 hours on my knees scrubbing), reset the bowsprit, reset the lazy Jack’s, reset the mainsail, repair a cam cleat, fix a batt car (missing ball bearings), a good engine check, adjust shore power plugs and charge batteries (we think that they’re healthy!), tape the spare battens, fix a deck level nav light, provision, refuel, and more small jobs, which continued unabated until Monday evening.

En route!

Tuesday morning we felt ready to depart and the weather was cooperating. So we did!

We motored out of the San Diego channel. As we exited the channel, we hoisted the mainsail to the third reef and sailed like that for a while, with the wind astern, between 13-18 kts. When I was ready for it we went to the second reef. Then again later we went to the first reef. It was a full moon. Crew was great, we hoisted the Genoa as wind was dwindling down. And finally the engine came back live.

First landfall

I’ll skip through the rest of the day only to say that we made a safe landfall in Channel Islands Harbor, where a friendly slip was awaiting Changabang. It was really perfect to have Lee and Rob aboard for this first trip.

Lee returned to his home and Rob did as much. I slept on Changabang. I’d be omitting an important part of this story if I was not talking about Ollie, who’s right next to me. He’s an sailor with tons of miles under his belt, including racing boats like Changabang and work for JP Mouligne and Cray Valley. He and his wife were super friendly, invited me for dinner (which I obliged) and for a sleep on their super comfortable Morgan boat (which I did not). In fact, I have been invited again!

Thursday work

Today I did small jobs again: did a bit of shopping at West Marine, replaced worn out shock cords on decka, addes missing spinnaker sheet retrieving line, replaced third reef tack block, replaced chafed handhold lines inside, re-adjusted lazy jacks.

As the day progresses one of my buddies from the Clipper race picked on my Facebook post and showed up to reconnect and see the boat. I really liked my time with Kathi during the Clipper training. She’s so much fun to be around. As we brought up the subject of bread, she came back with a baguette! I love boating, such a great community.

Change of plans?

One thing I learned from Skip today is that there is now a record to beat:

“Here’s one for the record books and for PJ to challenge: The World Sailing Speed Record Council has just confirmed a record time for sailing solo around the world westabout in a 40-foot boat. The elapsed time of 258 days, 22 hours, 24 minutes, an average speed of 3.48 knots, was set from June 2019 to February 2020 by Bill Hatfield sailing Brisbane, Australia and return via the Canary Islands and Cape Horn on his Northshore 38 L’EAU COMMOTION. It was Hatfield’s 3rd attempt.

Bill lived on strict rations at sea. “For fresh water I had a desalinator, and my daily diet was a third of a tin of beans, a tin of tuna, 100 grams of rice and flour and oats, and 150 grams of milk powder.”

Bill Hatfield is 81. At one point he fell overboard without a tether. But managed to grab the toe rail, work his way aft, and climb back aboard using his water generator as a foot step.”

Good! It means that now I know it’s possible!

Friday departure?

I’m considering departing from Channel Islands Harbor tomorrow. I’ll look at the forecasts tomorrow again. It could be a bit of a stretch as a second sail to go solo. I need to think this through.

I’ll post this now and will follow up with another post with decisions, maybe.

Home stretch!

MV STAR LIMA is only a few days away from San Diego now. After checking with San Diego port operations it is likely that Changabang will be discharged this Friday (with a small probability for Thursday evening). I’m driving down Thursday, picking Rob T along the way, then meeting with Lee J, who’s graciously offered his hospitality and more in San Diego. We may be hosted by the Silver Gate Yacht Club while we get ready for the trip to Half Moon Bay’s Pillar Point Harbor. I’m both excited and anxious!

D-12?

A small update for today.

The shipping folks told me March 6th. The San Diego port arrival list says March 7th. SV Star Lima, carrying Changabang, is due in the Mexican port of Mazatlan on February 26th. I’m still without information about how things will proceed in San Diego. So, let’s call it D-12. To get to San Diego, my plan will likely be to rent a car one way so I can pick up Rob T along the way and carry all that I need to take with me.

I know I said last time that my paper charts were all ready to go but that may have been a small lie as I wanted to have container for it all. It probably sounds like I’m belaboring this point; the reason is simple. It’s really the first item I’ve been able to check off “the list”. So here goes:

Into the vast Pacific Ocean

A few days ago Changabang entered the Pacific Ocean, still on deck of MV STAR LIMA. She’ll then stop in Guatemala, Mexico and finally in San Diego, maybe on March 7th 2020. The shipping company has gone silent so I have no information about how things will proceed in San Diego: communication is not their forte!

Paper charts

I think I’m done with the paper charts I plan to buy. Besides small scale charts for all oceans, I have bought medium scale charts for Torres Strait, Cape Horn. Some of the small scale charts are from NGA and pretty outdated, and although, I don’t think that any islands or rocks are born on the open sea, offshore buoys have been deployed .

Electronic charts

I’ve downloaded Navionics charts on two iPads, which is good except that iPads don’t have GPS. I also downloaded the charts on my small Android cell phone. I want to download them to another tablet or two. To protect them from water and shocks I plan to store all electronics hardware in a somewhat waterproof/shockproof case, maybe each wrapped in aluminium foil.

Not alone

I don’t know what it is with Belgians but there’s another skipper who’s preparing a Class40 for a circumnavigation. His goal is to beat the current record and his boat is much faster than Changabang, but then we don’t have the same problem. He needs to be beat a record, and, if anything, I’m just cruising along hoping to make it safely back home. I’m talking about Gaetan Thomas. He’s much more experienced, younger, stronger, has a better boat, a solid team, etc. His odds are higher by at least an order of magnitude but wouldn’t it be nice if two Belgians were to hold the Class40 records, one in each direction. Dream on, baby, dream on!

Friendly support

I continue to reach out to companies and parties who can help us with donation, discounts, used material. It’s really great to see folks being enthusiastic and supportive. Although there has been no recent development I’ve listed our supporters here for now. In fact, if you’re interested in joining Team Changabang and are willing to commit to helping get us to the start line and onto the finish line, please drop me a note. If there are enough of us maybe I’ll think of some sort of merchandise, a T-shirt maybe?

Soon in the Pacific?

It looks like MV Star Lima, carrying Changabang, has entered the Caribbean Sea.

On other fronts, I’ve been busy figuring out my navigation tools so I’ll have an update on that soon. We’ve also received a bunch of samples from our friends at Backpacker’s Pantry so we’ll start eating re-hydrated freeze dried food over the next month; this will allow me to select what will work well for my palate.

And then, keeping an eye on weather, check this out:

Not an easy passage to negotiate. Truth is; there is no negotiation.
There’s only accepting what I’ll get

Scatterbrained

That’s very much how I am these past days. I can feel that I’m starting to get into “preparation” mode. The task at hand is so enormous and diverse (including a job search) that I’m not yet able to focus my energy into specific accomplishments. Well, ok, that’s my usual self-deprecating me speaking there. There have been a few developments since my last post.

Sailing!

It had been 3.5 months since I last had gone out sailing. Every year, the SSS organizes a fantastic race in the San Francisco Bay: the Three Bridge Fiasco. This race usually attracts over 300 racers, strong tidal currents and light winds, and often ends up with a very large portion of the fleet retiring. I double handed on Frequent Flyer, a Farr 30. We did retire; still, it was fun being on the water again.

On the wait list

I’m in need of a berth for Changabang. The folks at Redwood Landing Marina are not accepting my application because the owner is a foreigner. I’ve applied for the wait list for Pillar Point Harbor. It’s unclear if I’ll have a slip by the time Changabang is up San Francisco.

Marking things off the shopping list

I’ve slowly started shopping for things and they’ve started arriving. I bought a sailing harness as I don’t think a life jacket is of much help when sailing solo offshore (in fact, I got two as the seller seems to have made a mistake). Some of the navigation lights need replacement bulbs so I bought 4 LED bulbs. I also bought 150 feet of 2″ Dacron repair tape; this is to wrap the fiberglass mainsail battens and associated spare (these shed micro shards of fiberglass everywhere; it’s also to prevent splinters should they break when in use). 50 ft of 1/8″ shock cord will be used to re-attach the mainsail. The battery on my portable VHF HX870 did not seem to hold the advertised 12 hours so I got a new one.

Ouch, that hurts!

And, ahem, I got to cough up the remaining invoice for the shipping of Changabang. There are still incidentals but, oh boy, my fingers were sure heavy when I setup the wire transfer online.

Wait, is that a sponsor?

I realized how much food I might need when I started counting the number of bags of freeze dried food I’d have to buy. Let’s say we’ll need 6 months to finish the course and that I eat 3 times a day. That’s 3 x 6 x 30 or 540 bags. Add 20% for safety and we’re talking about 650 bags. At about $8 each that’s $5,200! I started wondering if I should do my own freeze dried food! So I decided to reach out to the main players and ask for discounts or something. Most of them came back negative but Backpacker’s Pantry made me a solid proposal that will help me cut the cost in two. It’s not sponsorship but it’s a very nice gesture. I really enjoyed their Pad Thai on the way to Hawaii during the SHTP in 2018. Now, I do know that there are options to buy in bulk and compose your own meal. I’m just not sure that’s something I’d like to do while sailing.

Navigation

Today I took out the small scale paper charts I had bought to start plotting my course (I mostly looked at the South Pacific). I had to reach out to Navionics to better understand my electronic charts options (what happens if my subscription runs out when I’m out there?). I’ve researched what I could find about Torres Strait.

Over the next 30 days I would like to finalize my navigation tools and charts. Although using SailGRib WR worked to sail to Hawaii, I think I need something a little more practical than a tiny phone screen for this circumnavigation: a larger tablet or a laptop (I got an old one with Adrena with Changabang)? Separately, I did get useful advice from Stan Honey, which I plan to research over the next few days. Everything starts adding up. Lately I have not been watching the wind forecasts daily as I used to; by this time I would be somewhere in the middle of the South Atlantic and, in fact, I should start watching for lows spinning off the East Cost of South America.

Chugging along

All the while Changabang continues her journey towards her new home. And I’m still trying to find a new job.

Did I say scatterbrained?

En route and I was wrong!

It looks like Changabang’s carrier is en route for Cristobal, Panama. I suspect I’ll be checking that AIS web site a little too often!

According to this, I do not need to register with the state of CA if Changabang is a foreign vessel. So I think we’ll go for the Belgian flag after doing the donation to me. Progress!

Loaded!

Changabang was loaded on the cargo ship MV STAR LIMA today. Departure is imminent, or something like that. It looks like she’s not alone; there seems to be a catamaran too.

Changabang on the deck of MV STAR LIMA, pending a bit of tidy up and more lashing.

Obstructions galore

All along this project, every step of the way, things are not smooth. I had planned to get a slip at the Redwood Landing Marina, close to where I live. They had requested liability insurance, which Boat US declined (technically, they declined insurance as they don’t do liability only) but Progressive approved. Now, the management office at the marina is declining the slip because the owner is not a US resident. I’ve learned to sail there, I’ve been an instructor there, for seven years.

On another front I’m trying to understand what procedures I will need to follow when Changabang arrives in San Diego. I’ve tried to reach out to the CBP office of San Diego without success. Nobody answers and I’ve left several voice mails, which are not returned. Apparently, that’s how they operate.

Who owns this boat?

I’m still trying to figure out how to transfer Changabang to me in a way that will be legal. My understanding is that a boat must be documented to a country. I can’t US Document the boat since I’m not a US citizen. Registering the boat in California is not going to work as explained here and there (I did contact the writer of that second article, who confirmed this and indicated a $400/hr fee with a retainer of $3,000 to assist!).

Even with a CA license/title, the boat would not be considered documented as I’m not a US citizen. The boat would then assume my citizenship, i.e. Belgian, and I would require a cruising permit, which is fine. But then Changabang would effectively not be documented with Belgium. Plenty of foreigners do just that (title with CA) and do not realize that they do not have permission to move in the US.

If I document the boat with Belgium, then, on the other hand, California State still requires that I register the boat with them with 120 days of taking ownership, as a US resident. It’s all a nice catch 22 situation.