Throw back Thursday ..North Atlantic

"It's colder then a tin toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg out here this morning " Coast Guard Sheldon says to me as I stare into my cup of coffee. That was one way of putting it. The winter winds had just started to pick up the last few days. Touque and pants were becoming all day garments and the evening sun set brought on freezing puddles.

Today was our departure day and I was racking my brain to make sure I had everything taken care of from my list. I had checked the weather and it wasn't the best of a forcast but one can't be picky this time of year.

Joana's crew consisted of my mother Nancy, my dad Harold, and friends Dustin Phil and Jenny. Jenny was a friend who flew in from Germany to help with the leg and enjoy the good old North Atlantic. We were definitely not lacking on skills or people.

Our friends and family were gathering on the peer. All those folks who had come to stare at the crazy girls when we first dropped into town had now become good friends and had helped many times. I was happy to get underway but still had my heart on shore.

I looked at Sheldon gave him a smile. He said "I will be seeing ya kid. Best of luck out there.

We will be watching." I didn't know how true those words were till later.

I made the leap on to Joana and asked her if she was ready. The urge to go was my answer.

We got our lines tossed and we were on our way. We had to make it though the Canso Pass first, which is a small lock between Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, but we wouldn't hit that till about 1 am.

The boys from the coast guard station took their fast boat out to escort us and have some fun doing loops around us. We waved our final good byes and then settled into watches.

So far so good. Everything was running smoothly. As we approached the lock the winds had dropped to nothing. It was a cold still night, not a breath of wind.

Phil had to be down below shifting the transmit in (we had an old crash box transmission and had to shift it by hand) while I yelled what engine commands we needed. If that wasn't a pain, the hydrolic stearing was in need of some work. I had gotten use to the 22 turns from lock to lock but it took a bit of concentration to find mid ships at times.

We made it through without a hitch. The lock master said the boys from Siri coast guard send their hellos and are still watching. Now I understood they had called ahead to track our progress, keeping themselves in the loop.

Well, this was it. Just on the other side, around the bend was the deep blue Atlantic. We took some time to lash a few more things down and move the dingy from aft to mid ships deck. It was bogging the stern down too much and at times filling with water.

Joana's nose started to lift and come down with a bit more force now as we came around the rocky point. There still was not much wind, which was a bit strange for these shores. But we all stood and watched the light house fade away. We made our course a little farther from shore so as not to get to much return chop.

Some crew were already feeling the effects of the sea. Phill came up to take his watch. I left him with clear skies and about 3 meter seas.

I made a ship check and all seamed well.

I was tired but couldn't do much more then stare at the overhead, listening to every little sound, getting use to things that are suppose to be there and ones I didn't really know what they were yet.

I felt a small course change Joana as was rolling a bit more. I wasn't concern as I had told the crew to do small changes to avoid lobster traps. As the next watch came on, we started to get some of that Atlantic winter weather. The seas had grown and were foaming with anger now. With more tossing and turning, the tanks had become stirred up and we were having to change the Racor filters quite a bit. Once or twice we weren't able to swap them in time and went dead in the water with 4-5 meter seas tossing us at will. The winds were way too much to set the large mainsail and it was right on the nose if we even wanted to. We did had the cutter set to help with some of the rolling.

I could tell our bow was feeling pretty heavy as she wasn't coming out of the waves as fast as before. Throughout the night we were slowly finding the leeks in her decks and for some, in their bunks. I opened the galley bilge to find water flowing over the ballast plates and the pump trying to keep up. I noticed the water seemed to be coming from the forward cabin and found water pouring in from behind some wood frames through the forward coalition bulkhead.

We got extra pumps going and I started prepping what I needed to fix whatever needed fixing. In the meantime, my mom had already gathered the six cold weather survival suits we had on board. The glimpses of those only made me move faster.

 

Sailjoana.com

Throw back Thursday's ..Back where she belongs

Like Cath said last week, the gang is all here, except for her of course, and hard at work. The engine had been looked over and a new cutlass bearing put in. It took the whole gang, a two inch solid stainless shaft and all our force behind it to shove it in. But, we were triumphant. The sails and rigging look good and we changed out a thru hull that looked suspect. We felt ready, but we still needed to make it the hundred yards to the water.

So, the company Irving had been in town trying to put some wind turbines up just down the road. These turbines were being delivered onto the pier and off-loaded with a nice big crane, just the right size to lift Joana. I sent dad in to investigate. He got the scoop. It would take two lifts for her (basically they wanted to lift us, set us down, then pick us back up again and then into the water). They would have to split it between jobs of unloading the turbines. And it would cost a few thousand each lift. Hmmmm. What to do, what to do. Understandably, we weren't ready to say OK just yet.

There had been an older fisherman stoping by quite often to watch the Joana show and to chit chat. We would pass traditional marlin spike seamanship tips back and forth. That particular day I happened to be wire splicing. While he was giving me some insight on other quick ways of doing the splices, I explained our circumstances with the crane.

Now, you must understand that on the east coast of Canada, not alot of the locals are fans of the Irving company. I noticed that each time I would mention who would be doing the possible lifting, the person I was talking to would have a small, not so nice comment.

I also mentioned to the fisherman that the travel lift didn't want to try and take us again due to her weight issues and that she almost broke the lift. I also said the co-op who owns the lift said it was a no-go as well. So I told him my only option right now is the big bad wolf.

He gave me a smirk and said he would catch up with me tomorrow.

The very next morning Michael, the lift driver, walks up to me. He told me his father called him last night and that we needed to talk about getting you in the water.

"Well, that's great" I replied, "but who is your father?"

"He's the old fisherman who loves to talk your ear off around the docks."

"Oh. Well, what about the co-op who owns the lift?"

"Just so happens that he is the president of the co-op and says what the rest don't know won't hurt them for a day."

I wasn't about to argue so I asked "Well then, what do we need to do to make this happen."

The short answer was to make the boat as light as we could. So, the whole day we pulled off anything that wasn't bolted or welded to the ship and emptied the water tank.

Joana in the lift and Irving's crane in the background

Early the next morning we were hanging in the slings, barely. He lifted us only far enough to clear the stones in the gravel. We were pushing our luck, for sure. I had a gut wrenching feeling watching my boat hang freely like a small kid on a swing. Time seemed to crawl by as Joana was making her way closer to her natural home.

She truly scraped her way over the top of the final cement to be placed ever so lightly into the water. Joana was back home where she belonged. We quickly did a run though and had no signs of water.

We had to maneuver her from the lift area to the Fisherman's warf. I was so happy to feel Joana for the first time in the water. She was solid and confident in her motions and felt like everything we had hoped for. Once her belly hit the water, it was as if she spoke to me and said lets get moving! I knew I needed to boogie as it was already October. Winter was coming and the North Atlantic takes no prisoners when it comes to that season of sailing. The breath taking winds were already blowing. But, as any salty sailor would do, we pushed aside the urge to leave for a night to have a splashing party. The grog was poured and the stories were told with new friends and old.

Sailjoana.com

Throw back Thursday's ...Reinforcements have arrived

Sorry we didn't post the last two Throw Back Thursdays. We were out...gasp, SAILING! Had a great time seeing western Panama and the coast between Bocas Del Toro and Colon. Check out our Facebook page at Sail Joana to see the pictures.

Now, we will go back in time, many many years ago to resume the saga of getting Joana ready...

So much work, so little time. We were working Maria and her dad to death so it was time to call in the troops! Sailing around the world on a tall ship with 30 other people has its advantages...lots of cool people without conventional jobs to call on when you need free labor for a month or two! We reached out to our old engineer, Phil and a jack of all trades, Dustin (nicknamed D Bo). I called them up, enticed them with all kinds of promises of all the mac n cheese they can eat and maybe a beer or two and of course Maria's charming personality. They were suckered, I mean sold and in PEI within a week.

The motley crew

Productivity went through the roof. Wires were spliced, electronics were up and running, engine was serviced, sails were bent on, food and spares were loaded. Within about a month Joana was almost ready to set sail for New York. Never mind that she hadn't been in the water for 8 years. Never mind that it was late October in the North Atlantic where the wind and seas can be a bit nasty that time of year. The most important consideration...how the heck to get her back in the water! The man who ran the travel lift and who had hauled her many moons earlier swore he would never lift her again as she almost broke his lift. The only other option was a crane half way across the island with a hefty price tag of $10,000. Hmmmm, what to do, what to do. Well, we will tell you what we did next week...

Maria bending on sails

Harold working on less body parts

Phil

Dustin

 

Sailjoana.com