New Sails!

180% Drifter 

Two new sails are being added to Distant Horizon's inventory. First, a storm jib. This is a very small sail flown ahead of the mast in gale or storm conditions. The leading edge of the sail, the luff, will be a flourescent orange color to help with visibility.

The other sail being added is for exactly the opposite end of the spectrum... very, very, very calm weather. All the other sails are made of Dacron. This sail, the Drifter, is made of nylon. Actually, very light nylon and has many other technical qualities built into the sail for light wind sailing.

Since these sails can be made with colored material, a fair amount of thought went into the color scheme. I finally went with the red and blue on a white sail for visibility. A flourescent yellow is the most visible color, but I couldn't find a complementary color that I liked. I think the red and blue will stand out during the day. At times of poor visibility, like twilight and fog, the darker blue will help but turning on the decklights to backlight the sail will help the most. For this reason, I tried to maximize the white color.

Self Steering!

Hydrovane... 

For Distant Horizon to be completely ready for her trip to Bermuda, there are still some items needed. The first item, is the self steering system.  This is effectively an autopilot that does not need batteries. I chose Hydrovane for several reasons:

• it can be used as an emergency rudder
• it is does not connect to the main rudder; reducing overall wear to the steering system. 
• I can still turn the wheel in an emergency
• it can be used in conjunction with the existing autopilot system

The Hydrovane was ordered with the optional 3nm LED stern light. Having an AIS to know what ships are in the area is one thing, but having those ships see us better... priceless!

Once Distant Horizon is balanced, she will sail straight for a considerable distance without me making corrections with the wheel. This is due to the modified fin keel. Eventually, she slowly turns toward the wind and I have to make a course correction with the wheel. With the self steering system, the windvane will fly straight while the boat is on course. Then, when Distant Horizon turns slightly, the windvane will be deflected by the wind change. That deflection will, in turn, cause its own rudder to move; turning Distant Horizon back on course with the windvane flying straight again.

The order has been placed for the Hydrovane. It is scheduled to arrive in mid-March; leaving me plenty of time for the installation.

I mentioned the Automatic Identification System (AIS) in the previous post. The system was originally devised for collision avoidance by continuously transmitting vessel information on VHF Radio frequencies. This information includes the vessel's identification, position, speed, and course, along with other relevant information. Other vessel's and land-based stations can monitor this information. AIS worked so well, its use was made mandatory world-wide in 2002 for all passenger ferries and by all ships exceeding 300 gross tons.

Standing in the cockpit of Distant Horizon, the visible horizon is about 3.5 miles away. When a ship is spotted, it will take about 20 minutes for that ship to overtake Distant Horizon. That leaves a few precious moments to ensure we are not on a collision course and, if we are... then, to take evasive actions.

VHF radio waves travel in a straight line from antenna to antenna. My VHF antenna is at the top of the mast; just over 50 feet above the water. Typically with VHF the range would be 25-30 miles or so. Using AIS, gives a ships direction and speed at nearly eight times the distance as compared to visual means. This extends the safety zone around Distant Horizon. Additionally, in heavy rain, fog, or haze, the AIS can still "see" ships at a safe distance.

Standard Horizon GX2150 AIS Matrix+

Rather than installing a seperate AIS receiver, I chose to purchase an integrated system using the Standard Horizon Matrix AIS+ VHF radio. With the remote mic in the cockpit, all the AIS information is right there. AIS doesn't replace keeping a good watch. It provides additional information to those on watch; making each voyage safer.

Another use of AIS, which I have found extremely useful is obtaining a current weather forecast.  Since I know the ship's name, I can hale them on the radio. When requesting the latest weather forecast from a ship, they will respond with their current three day forecast; allowing us to have a current weather forecast available at most times.

I have heard people say that ships won't answer such a radio call. In my experience, that has happened exactly once... and that ship had no markings. So, I assumed it was a military ship.Even before AIS, I have never failed to communicate with a commercial shipping vessel at sea. It's not luck. The international language for commercial communications is English. This is true for maritime shipping as well as aviation. Most ships have crews from countries where English is a second, possibly third, language. They are required to log their radio communications. So, given the opportunity to speak English, the person on watch always does respond.

This is one of my sextants. It is a 1917 Kelvin & Hughes.   

The marine sextant measures the angle between two points. It is best known as an instrument for measuring the altitude of  the sun, moon, planets, or stars above the horizon. For centuries, it has been used as the primary tool to reliably navigate across open expanses of the world's oceans.

 The marine sextant is an equally useful tool for coastal navigation in the hands of a navigator adept in its use. With the sextant, the navigator can determine the range (distance) from an object of a known height, like a lighthouse or radio tower. The sextant can be used to establish a fix (location) by turning the sextant horizontal and measure the angle between two fixed objects. The sextant can be used to obtain an accurate time of day to set the ship's clock.

The voyage from New York City to Bermuda is planned to take five-and-a-half days. Although Distant Horizon has a primary GPS and 5 other devices that contain GPS receivers, two consecutive days will be dedicated to celestial navigation. The first two days of the voyage will use GPS. This is because the Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver requires a GPS input. AIS provides important information from ships. It will take roughly two days to get far away from the shipping channels leading to NY. So, Safety first!

Happy Birthday

Distant Horizon turns 35 today!

After 35 years of sailing service, Distant Horizon is still taking her crew to the destinations of their dreams. She is as fit and seaworthy as ever and will continue this faithful service in 2012 by taking us through the New York State Canal System; down the Hudson River to New York City; and from there to Bermuda.

Nearing Completion

Anchored in South Bay, Carleton Island, NY

It's been over two years since I entered a Post. Now, as the final stages are being planned, Distant Horizon is nearly ready for her sea trial. So, I decided to re-start the blog.

Seven years of work, sailing, and preparation, have gotten us to this point. There is still work to be done, but Distant Horizon is ready for her sea trial, which has been planned as a cruise from the New York City area to St. Georges, Bermuda.

This past year's enhancements started below the waterline; fairing the keel; rudder rebuild with a new skin, seals and bushings. There was also a barrier coat and new bottom paint. All this work was contracted out to Watercraft Clinic. Their work was masterful. The boat speed was increased by almost half a knot and steerage can be maintained three tenths of a knot slower. Then there was the addition of two new head sails: a 135% genoa and an 85% heavy weather working jib. Next, a rigging change was made: the addition of a jack stay. The new jack stay and heavy weather sail combination moved the center of effort farther aft. This combination worked fabulously! The boat was well balanced even in a moderate gale with sustained winds of 38mph gusting over 50mph!

I'm currently working in Virginia. Being 9 hours from home is not the most enjoyable situation, but this will best provide the funds for Distant Horizon's  next round of enhancements. 

The first enhancement for this year will be the purchase of a wind vane steering system. Hopefully, the purchase will be made around the first of the year. Although, I can not install it until the boat is in the water; probably early April. That will be followed by two more head sails: a drifter for light air sailing and a storm sail for conditions at the other end of the spectrum.

After 7 years, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Distant Horizon  will be going to Bermuda in June 2012! 

Safety At Sea Seminar

I attended the Safety At Sea seminar in Charleston, SC on March 8th. For anyone who has never attended one of these, I would highly recommend attending at least once. You would think this would be more of the same old stuff. However, for this particular seminar the speakers and presentations brought a different perspective to those common topics.
A few of the speakers were:
Capt J.K. Louttit, Norfolk USCG Deputy Commander
Brad Van Liew, Around Alone Champion
Ralph Narajo, Technical editor of Cruising World Magazine
It was a beautiful day and we went outside to fire-off all types of pyrotechnics; inflate a 6-man life raft and climb in with 5 others to experience how much living space there really is.

Surreal Weekend Experience

I flew home to Baldwinsville this weekend. It was a beautiful weekend; sunny all the time, which is uncharacteristic of Syracuse in February. On Sunday morning, I put the blinds up in the sun room to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine while I read.
The phone rang. At first I thought it would be for Matt, but decided to take a message. It was Jet Blue. They were calling to inform me my evening flight was canceled due to the snow storm. I'm north of Syracuse, looking out the window at a beautiful sunny day. Isn't this where I should have a problem with snow?
I ended up getting the early flight out the next day. Again, a beautiful sunny morning in Syracuse. We landed in fog and snow covered runways at JFK. Then the first normal event happened. My connecting flight was delayed one hour. Finally arriving in Charlotte, was awesome; the snow covered landscape with snow just hanging from the trees was amazing, but out of character for Charlotte.
So, after a beautiful sunny weekend in Syracuse, I arrive to Charlotte, North Carolina and have to brush the snow off my car!