Shakedown Cruise

Shakedown cruise- Jay’s version:


Hi Folks!

We left Newport last Friday morning (9-17-10) heading southwest to put us a safe distance from the leeward shore. It was a little bumpy, but not bad. Sometime during that day someone inadvertently hit the rocker switches on the electric panel, turning all but one on. This resulted in a tremendous drain on the batteries. Unfortunately, we failed to notice this ,as the seas were rapidly increasing. The wind went from 23k to over 30k in less than fifteen minutes. As night approached I lost the GPS. It would come on but could not find the satellite. I started checking the electrical and discovered the problem with the batteries, but still not knowing the switches were on. I started the engine to build the power and just as it was beginning to come back the engine started to overheat. Shutting down the engine I then emptied the lazarette, putting everything in the v-berth. Upon accessing the engine it was discovered that the alternator / water belt had severed. At this point I threw aside all of the equipment in the v-berth in order to access the spare parts compartment. To my chagrin, it was then discovered that of the four extra belts all were too large. The next eight to ten hours were spent in the dark with a flashlight making a variety of makeshift belts which would last from five to ten minutes before self destructing. During this time the seas had risen from to fourteen to sixteen feet with thee to four feet breaking waves. The winds were in excess of 40 knots and we were over 100 miles off the coast.

Not being able to make a decent repair we decided our best option was to head back to Newport sailing in a northeasterly direction. We sailed through the night with four reefs in the main and still no power. The handheld GPS was working sporadically, but only for extremely short periods.

Upon arriving seventy miles off the coast from Newport, we headed south easterly in an attempt to arrive south of the bar to give us the safest approach, as the wind was still out of the south.

After a couple of hours the wind died and we turned the helm over to the ladies. Exhausted, Tom & I laid down. When Tom awoke five hours later we discovered that we had only made it five miles in five hours, due to the four reefs and no wind to speak of. I could not sleep during that period so put out a fishing rod and hooked a Tuna. Didn't want him on board so drug him along.

As we headed toward Newport the win rose and again we reefed the main. The wind built fast, but not as fast as before. The seas built to around eight feet with small breakers. It had been sunny from the time we arrived off the coast of Newport, but now we could see another storm between us and the coast. Sure enough, Newport had low visibility. When we arrived we could not tell if we were south of the bar as intended or not. Due to the poor visibility. We contacted the coast guard instructing them that we had no power or electronics, but believed we were south of the bar, and requested a lead in. They located us 3.2 miles south of the bar and requested to tow us in as the bar was rough.. I refused the tow (been there, done that before) and requested a lead to the bar. We sailed in with four reefs across the bar, under the bridge to the entrance to the marina. I turned into the wind as Tom dropped the main, fired the engine and dashed for the marina slip.

The coast guard met us at the dock and did an inspection which we passed almost as well as Wind Raven handled the high seas.

All in all, it was one hell of a shakedown cruise. We are now extremely confident in the abilities of Wind Raven. She is one hell of a good sailing vessel!