March/April Post

Not very much happened in March as the weather was not conducive to any outside work so much of the time was spent making lists and checking them twice. April has brought high winds and chilly temperatures. We have been loading food, clothes etc. on to the boat in preparation for our mid-May departure.

The only navigation improvement that has been added from the last post is a Comar AIS system to provide commercial vessel information on the charting program. We think it will be useful on the Great Lakes and rivers.

JEJUDA is scheduled to be launched on May 11th and we are planning departure the week on the 17th. The tides in the Cape Cod Canal are favorable for the early part of the week. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

The 1st leg of our trip will take us from Plymouth to New York City (~200 miles) then ~150 miles up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal (~140 miles) to Lake Ontario via Oswego New York. While we have no set schedule we will probably be in the great Lakes in mid June. Stay tuned.

Febrauary Update

Well winter continues its icy grip on the northeast, however March is almost here and we are getting excited about our upcoming adventure. We continue to tweak various items on the boat and make endless lists of what we should bring, where things are stored, and what is necessary to bring etc. Naturally the storage of my tools and repair parts is far more important than Judi’s clothes. Right!

The paper charts, electronic charts and various cruising guides have been assembled and are now on the boat. Upgrades to the onboard computer systems have been installed and tested.

We have spent many hours looking at the route we will take and have finally mutually decided that when we reach Gurnet Point Lighthouse, at the mouth of Plymouth Harbor, we will turn right and go south. After that all bets are off.

We will post more as May approaches.

January Update

Our trip planning is now moving into higher gear with our “soft” departure date in May.

A bit of history of how we have transformed our dream of doing this trip to the reality of actual planning to leave in May. Judi and I started talking about it in 2003 and originally planned on leaving in 2011 when Judi had originally planned on retiring.

In 2005 we started looking around and researching at what we would like to have as a boat for the trip. After 20 years and ~24,000 miles on “Campbell’s Sloop” it was clear that a sailboat with 7 foot draft and a 60 foot mast that was set up for offshore sailing was not going to provide the level of comfort and flexibility we wanted for the trip. We found “JEJUDA” in September of 2005, made a really rude offer, which was accepted, and we were off and running. We have done many upgrades and maintenance and have spent the last two summers becoming familiar with the boat.

Some specifications for JEJUDA

Make: Spindrift 40
LOA: 40'
LWL: 34’ 04”
Beam: 14’ 04”
Draft: 4’ 01”
Displacement: 33,000 Pounds
Twin Ford Lehman 275 HP six cylinder turbo
4.4 KW Westerbeke generator
Luniar air conditioning & heat – 3 units, one for each cabin
Cruise 8-10 KTS @ 1800 RPM ~7gals/hr. (~1.2 miles/gal)
Cruise 7-8 KTS @ 1350 RPM ~4gals/hr. (~2.0 miles/gal)

We will post more as we get nearer to leaving.