SPLASH! Florida is warm… and yesterday, launch day, was no exception.
I am currently downstream… up a creek, waiting for the first tropical cyclone of the year “One” to pass by.
This is a stark reminder of the busy hurricane season predicted by NOAA

I am lucky enough to have the most supportive family imaginable. After an epic roadtrip south with my dad, i arrive at the boatyard where Eleanor Tarr has lived. I nearly scaled the fence, the yard was closed for the night. I could see her, so i just called to her like a maniac.

Thanks for all the support friends!! I’ll keep you in the loop
Today I was aboard S.V. Eleanor Tarr for the first time in 37 months.
She’s mint. Dry bilges, all electronics are functioning, rig perfect, sails perfect, engine started, I couldn’t be more elated.
I had pictured 10000 nightmare scenarios.
Her wooden cabin trunk has been attacked by the sun. Coatings are beginning to fail, but no damage yet.
Launch in t minus 40 hours.

hellyeah

A stubborn skipper attempted to at first, jump across the Gulfstream under sail in light airs. When 6 hours had passed use of the aux diesel resumed and we slowly plodded our way over to the Bahamas. After departing at 2000 on Jan 2 we arrived Jan 4 0230 at Mangrove Cay, a small, very small dot of shelter well across the bank from the Memory Rock waypoint. We arrived to see the light of one or two other vessels who departed before we rose.

For the next couple of months we moved back and forth in the Abacos.

And what was 9 years in planning was complete for now. not the endless journey i had imagined, but a pause.

T

Down the ICW ( Intra-Coasta Waterway) we chugged. Our 8 tonne vessel is pushed by a 15-17hp 2 cylinder diesel. It likes to cruise at 4.5 knots, it will cruise at 5… and if we really want to shake and rattle we can do a little more.  We were sometimes able to roll out a little sail if the wind was in our favour, but generally the channel is very narrow.

We plodded our way along from Oriental NC to Georgetown SC.

From there we made a very bad desision. A small weather window had opened, possibly long enough to make some distance south. We departed Georgetown in very little wind and spent the day kind of blowing towards Charleston. At mid night we were in the approach to Charleston harbour, the breeze was freshening and a boat that had spent the night sailing close by seemed to be carrying on. So that seemed like a good idea to us to as that is what we had intended. As the wind stiffened more we watched as that vessel turned back to the harbour, on we went.

We had wanted to make Orion’s next sail a pleasant one, the night before in the light airs he commented that he was actually liking this sail. And now we were on a 72 hour windward smash in 25-30 knot winds. Many unlit military towers exist in the shallow waters off Georgia. This added an unease to the exhaustion that was setting in on our seasick crew. A pretty brutal 72 Hours, and we were in Florida.

Down the ICW in Florida with the last passage on our minds, we had several pleasant stops. In St Sugustine we rented a mooring, and using a large block and tackle arrangement completely removed our engine and constructed a new mounting bed and engine mounts.

And then off south again.

At this point in our journey the cold and breakdowns and still unfinished boat had squashed us into nothing short of misery. Not 10 miles into salt water we encountered obstacles just short of disaster on many levels. No one was having fun! Existential peril! Donna, a new friend, a diver, a sailor and an all round splendid person helped us sort our selves out.

And we were off, a vacation from our vacation, regrouping, family stuff no breakdowns, fun, beaches, the Outer Banks of North Carolina

Onto Oriental, North Carolina.

It was here we lost a crewmate. Our cat Max lived to the age of 16 years. He was a splendid cat. Big, Grey, and very, very soft. He enjoyed early mornings, windows, and doors, naps, hunting, and Brians shed. He had been Alli’s cat since born and had come to know myself (tim) and 5 year old Orion in the later half of his life. He was, is, and will be dearly loved, and greatly missed.

Our vessel had new bottom paint, a completed engine compartment and marked anchor chain. From Oriental we headed south down the ICW. Days after departing we met family in Beaufort NC, though again no pictures were taken.

In the hands of Sailcraft Services. New bottom coat, new cooling system.

Our journey lead us across Lake Ontario to Oswego NY, the terminus of the Oswego Canal. A beautiful evening sail brought both cat and boy into the cockpit briefly. As the night hours set in, the fair following winds turned to a windward smash for the next 16 hours. We arrived in Oswego NY only to overheat our engine, a problem that would plague us on/off for much of our time in the canals.  There we shared a dock with Grampus, a vessel previously owned by a good friend of mine. The newly raised mast was lowered (for bridge clearance) and we were off.

Guillotine Guard Gate

The galley is becoming functional although the water still tastes of new hoses. The engine compartments isn’t complete, so there is an air of diesel and it sounds like a locomotive down below. We spend each day, all day in the cockpit, which is long for us, and longer for mister 5.. Ori. But there is train spotting, CSX and Amtrak run down opposite sides of the Hudson.

I have transited 151 locks with Eleanor Tarr and yet they still induce anxiety. Maneuvering in tight quarters is not what I, or our vessel do best.. we do it, but we don’t like it. We made it through unscathed. The Oswego Canal takes you up to the Erie Canal, which then takes you down to the Hudson River, and then on down to the Atlantic Ocean.

At Castleton Boat Club we restep the mast, and stay for a day of rigging. As we continue to travel south we begin to shear engine mounts, one at a time. The engine is old,but the mounts are brand new… but i made them. Most things I made have worked out well, but a combination of poor (rushed) design and ill selected welding rod left these mounts brittle and vulnerable. As each mount sheared i would hoist the engine clear of its mounts and shim/coble a replacement. ( The engine was later removed entirely and set on a whole new bed.) Having improvised an engine mount the night before, this is a little hair raising as we approach a little back water called the New York Harbour.

This Blog will now change focus’. for the past six or seven years I have documented the progress of the refit of Eleanor Tarr. Now join us as we periodically update this site with our voyages and adventures as a family.

Our first family sail aboard Eleanor Tarr was both a beautiful fast sail… and then a squally rainy romp, with clear skies returning as we entered Cobourg harbour.

Here we laid at anchor for the next couple weeks, getting used to life aboard and getting systems sorted out. Flushing toilet, hot stove, running water, reverse, VHF radio. Close to our homeport friends and family were able to come by from time to time.

Our dear friends and family joined us for a send off hurrah, with potluck meal and fun on the beach. I never stopped to take a picture, I don’t know that anyone else did either, which is just fine.

Motel coffee and Hotel breakfasts, a few weeks grueling weeks until launch. Living out of backpacks was rougher than it was when we were young, without kiddo, without cat, without back pain.

Wiggers Yachts once again gracefully hosted our vessel and work.

Our sandblaster/painter had sprayed the initial coats of Amerlock Sealer, and Amerlock 400 on the hull and deck. Over these few weeks 4 more coats were added as well as top coats (PPG Pitthane) and deck paint/non skid and eventually anti-fouling. A new waterline was found and marked using the water level method.

With boat jacked and blocked, water level at work

new waterline… here’s hoping it’s right

And now to launch. Again a flurry of helpful family and friends surrounded us in the final days of panic and prep. Their support is what moved us forward at this point. Stress and exhaustion had enveloped us and work continued to mount… But alas, we launched.

Next was the final check on all my math. Did the boat float? Did she float on her ? Did the new rig fit?

fit.

And it did both.. the rig I painstakingly drew fit, and the ballast I placed, and lines I painted were correct. This isn’t to say I’m better than I am, it is to say that if you do the same drawing and math problem 100 times, 10 different ways over 6 years, you have a reasonable shot.

With the mast hanging from the crane, Wayne gave us a little while to cut the wires hanging from the mast and attach the sta-lok fittings on their ends.

Whew… now the simple task of moving our young family aboard a boat with no connected stove, water tanks, running engine or toilet.

A few more crazy days on the dock introduced a functional toilet, and an engine that ran in forward and neutral… which meany we could leave Port Darlington for Cobourg Harbour

From mid April to mid August our home/boatyard buzzed 18 hours a day. All stops were pulled out and work on our vessel and our house had gone from industrious to downright nutty. Eleanor Tarr was trucked to Port Hope to be sandblasted and painted, and the rig had been set up for completion at Wiggers Yachts in Bowmanville.

Our house had been sold to a lovely young family, and thus required us to purge and pack. We had been ashore seven years and accumulated an incredible number of things… albeit mostly tools and materials. My small shop was dismantled and our belongs sorted.

Engine Shop

Empty Shop..departure

Wood Shop

Project Shop

Boat Shop

In the final two days of home ownership we set about building a dinghy..in hindsight crazy, but in hindsight the whole operation was.

Exhaustion  was upon us, and dear friends, neighbors and family came to our aid. Great minds and able hands helped dearly with our vessels departure via truck, and our departure from the house. We are so grateful to have these amazing people in our life.

Good bye house.. good bye backyard-boatyard..

It took the first while to adjust to full time shipwork. In a couple weeks in I caught the beat. I have normally been a night owl, puttering away in my shop or onboard until well after midnight. This was necessary in my working days. Several people had suggested doing the opposite,  working early mornings and retiring earlier. And that’s just what I did.

Up and out with my coffee  at 5 am.. the days became very full, and for the last 3 weeks i burned both ends of the candle thoroughly, and became very, very tired.

I took few photos of any of the work, I had hoped to but I felt a real push to go as hard at the work as i possibly could, stopping to take photo’s just got pushed aside.

With that said

The engine installation is complete minus the exhaust hose. Dual RACOR filter/water separators, electric fuel transfer pump, retrofitted closed loop cooling with heat exchanger. Through a retiring dealer I was able to secure significant spares and manuals for our 1968 volvo md2.

and the time was up, the truck was here… off to sandblast-paint-outfit