As you can see from the map above we have conquered the Mediterranean. This only shows where the boat went during the last 3 summers. The inland tours we made while over here in Europe were almost as equal to the those of Jay Sea Dee. As we prepare to head back to the Caribbean and eventually the USA, I leave no regrets behind. We seen and experienced more than we ever dreamed, and been to many places an average American tourist would not get to.
After transiting over 3500nm around the Mediterranean this summer alone, staying in just one place for the last 6 weeks has been quite a change of pace. Jay Sea Dee is in Almerimar Spain, about 120 miles east of Gibraltar. Of course there has been much work to do, including a major repair of our Mastervolt Generator due to 2 wires rubbing, chaffing, and then shorting out. I am still waiting on a circuit board that my son Jonathon will hand carry from the USA next week. I have a 5 page list of boat tasks, in Outline form, prioritized, categorized, and status updated each day. Despite battling a case of Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, I am 90% complete and on schedule !
One significant project has been the acquisition and installation of a whisker pole for Jay Sea Dee. I had read an article last May in Cruising World written by the famous sailor Don Street. The article was entitled “ The proper trade wind rig”. The basic configuration is shown below and it includes flying dual headsails. One to windward and one to leeward. As many may recall, the first trip across the Atlantic by Jay Sea Dee was dominated by the problem of no wind and lots of motor sailing. We were worried about fuel the whole time.
This voyage will be different. First and foremost, the leg between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean will be 2800nm instead of the 1850nm we had from Bermuda to the Azores 2-1/2 years ago. This time we have no hope of making it by motoring alone, we must be able to log 150+ sea miles a day under sail alone. So when I read this article it made perfect sense to set up Jay Sea Dee for this type of sailing. Even though we had recently replaced our Genoa with a brand new 120% from Quantum sail loft in Greece we saved our old 110% headsail as a back up. I will use that sail for the windward sail and pole it out with a whisker pole.
After much research, many emails and numerous Skype calls, I finally decided to buy a Forespar telescoping whisker pole from the USA and ship it over to Spain. This pole pole extends from 15 to 27 feet. There were no suppliers here in Europe selling a telescoping pole that big,they were all trying to sell me a fixed length pole. The minimum length I need for Jay Sea Dee is equal to the J value: which is the distance from the mast forward to the head sail ( 19.5 feet for our IP485). I wanted to be able to store the whisker pole on the front of the mast on a track for easy deployment. The problem is, my radar dome is mounted at 16 feet above the deck on the front of the mast. Storing a 19.5 foot fixed length pole would entail relocation of the radar array further up the mast ( a major headache).
The Forespar pole got the vote. We bought the pole on Sept 17th, it shipped on Oct 6th, and arrived here on Oct 19th via DHL (express air cargo). The freight and duty and VAT tax was almost 50% of the the price of the pole, but the sum total was far less than even a simple fixed length aluminum pole sold here in Spain. I have completed the installation of a T track on the front of our mast. This involve drilling and tapping over 50 holes in the mast.
Jonathon will be here next week with the balance of part I require to complete the installation. He and I will sail to Gibraltar and wait for our 3rd crew member Greg Kerlin to arrive. We have never met Greg in person but I feel like we are good ole friends. Greg Kerlin owns an IP380 in North Carolina. Greg followed our blog when we voyaged across the Atlantic in 2009 and incredibly took the initiative and solved a technical problem with our GPS while we were underway. Greg has earned his spot on this cruise and I am really looking forward to the time with him. Charlie and Jennifer McNamara ( our Bahamas cruising buddies fro S/V Lady) will meet us in the Canary Islands on December 4th. Then off we go!!
Its time to move south, it snowed in the Sierra Nevada mountains yesterday !!!
