Sea Scout Ship 361 - Long Cruise 2007
July 6-14, 2007
The Cast of Characters:
Skipper Laurie "Skip" Davis |
Bob "Captain Karl" Karl |
Bill "Horse" Moser |
Melanie "The Cook" Erb |
Gerritt "Gare-Bear" Lang |
Bosun Sarah "Greasy" Milby |
Davey "Lobster Boy" Winyall |
Andy "Andy Pants" Kryzs |
Lauren "Hippie Girl" Nielsen |
Josh "Hippie Boy" Fairchild |
Mike "Top Bunk" Norris |
John "Dipstick" Malecki |
Sebastian "Sea Bass" Day |
Lawrence "The Pirate No-Beard" Cabana |
Matt "Monkey Ball" Karl |
Adrienne "Let's Have A Contest!!" Moser |
David "$5.99" Farkas |
The route of Long Cruise 2007 covered 229 miles:
Daily commentary by Dave Fairchild and pictures by Gerritt Lang:
All pictures by Bill Moser available here.
Day 1 - 7/6/07: Pictures
The mighty crew of Ship 361 finished
up their last minute stowing before sailing off from Henderson’s this morning
at 0830. Both Dauntless and Resolute sailed quite well, and many hands took
turns sailing as they made their way down to Weems Creek on the Severn River.
This will be their stop for the night. It
seems that they got a great start and as I understand they were spending their
first evening in the cockpit making friendship bracelets. (I know this is
stereotyping, but isn’t this a mostly male crew?) Ah well, it may just be the
heat. Very hot today with fair winds. Once they had moored for the evening, it
was a pleasure to be able to swim before dinner. Tomorrow brings a challenge to
make the Patuxent River with a possible marina stop. That will yet to be seen.
I’m sure that docking that "short little boat" Dauntless at different marinas
will bring some excitement to the trip. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some more
inside scoop on the activities of our 17 person crew. Its usually the tidbits I
can pick up that make the best stories! So for tonight we wish Sarah, Adrienne,
Lauren, Andy, John, Josh, Davey, David, Lawrence, Matt, Mike, Sebastian,
Melanie, Gerritt, Bob, Bill and Skip a good nights rest for a good day of
sailing tomorrow.
Day 2 - 7/7/07:Pictures
After a late call tonight it appears that today was one of those days that define the scope of
long cruise, and why we set such an ambitious destination.... We started the day
at Weems creek on the Severn River. And after
lots of effort, we’re spending the night at Weems creek on the Severn river... Hmmm. I think I know what those days are
like. I reminisce of the overflowing head on Resolute... I’m sorry I
digress... So it seems that the
morning started, but Dauntless did not. So after a lot of electrical evaluation,
bad battery terminals, starter relays, help from James from Ship 759, and just
some digging in it seems that Dauntless is now ready for tomorrows challenge. It
seems that tomorrow our target is to hit the Choptank river with a goal of
hitting Oxford for a good marina, showers, and who knows maybe even an ice cream… I think I
know the motivation here... The day was not lost
though. It seems like there was some good swimming opportunities and as I hear
they are spending a lot of time making friendship
bracelets....Wait a minute. Didn’t we cover this last
night???? How many bracelets can we make on this trip anyways??? I guess we’re
really good friends!!!
Day 3 - 7/8/07: Pictures
Today started.... well just like yesterday. The mighty Resolute was ready to run, yet Dauntless would
not. With some further investigation Bob found the culprit. One of the batteries
had only 10 volts. This battery was enough of a drain on the whole system to
prevent the diesel engine from starting. Since the scout motto is "Be Prepared",
Bob took the extra new battery that was on board and installed it. The results
were immediate. So a-sailing they would go. A steady 4 – 4.5 knots all day.
Bill let me know that David had Resolute at 5 knots, heeling over at 30 degrees.
Exciting I’m sure. As I understand Dauntless motor sailed all day, and as they
were approaching Oxford hit 6.5 knots with little effort. They
pulled into the Hinckley boat yard at Oxford on the Choptank river about 2130. In
the words of Skip, it was a lot of fun putting a 43 foot boat into an unknown
slip in the dark... The only thing more
helpful in this case is 11 people on deck making sure that there are plenty of
stories to tell as to how he did! Resolute was about ten
minutes behind. At the time I talked with Skip they were preparing dinner,
making well needed trips to the marina rest rooms, and waiting patiently for the
first shower in 3 days. I wonder what the neighbors in the marina thought after
this crew pulled in.. I can hear them call out now "Honey, is something burning or
is that a dead animal?" Hmmm, a 17 person crew without a shower for 3 days…
I’ll let your imagination run with that one. I guess the only saving
factor today was a steady wind to go along with the 90+ temps.
Skip is planning to
wait till the marina opens tomorrow to see if he can buy another battery to be
sure everything is ok from there. The tentative destination for tomorrow is the
Patuxent river. That will depend on how early a start they can get.
I heard
that the crews today were spending some time... making friendship
bracelets... I guess that the point here is to make them for your friends and
if they still have them by the end of the trip, well then you’re still friends.
Maybe that’s not the purpose, but it sounds good... If you can be friends with
someone when their stinky, I guess... enough said!
Day 4 - 7/9/07: Pictures
Our fearless crew spent
the morning in the marina. Fortunately they were able to buy and install yet one
more battery in Dauntless and now it seems that she is starting without
hesitation. We’ll hold tight on this until tomorrows report. Anyone who owns
boats knows that there’s always some little hiccup to make things interesting.
Our crews left the marina at 12:30 on perfectly smooth and glasslike water. They
motored out to the bay and proceeded to hit 15 knot winds (head on). After much
tacking and some motoring, they arrived at the Little Choptank at Hudson Creek
just off Casson Point at 19:30. Today’s temps hit 100 degrees so I’m sure a
little wind may have been a welcome addition in some respects. They had a nice
dinner and are all set, moored out for the night. As suspected, day 4 brings a
little more humor to report. Today’s Resolute crew (Andy, John, Sebastian, and
Josh) apparently thought boxer shorts we adequate sailing wear. They declared
today "Pantless Monday". As they arrived at Hudson Creek, Skip needed had to
remind them that this is a co-ed crew and that pants aren’t
optional... Sarah was working on
some advancement and her emergency rescue kit only needed three things: a flare,
a granola bar and a first aid quit... Yes, that’s the right
spelling... On the report from
Resolute, I understand that Andy put some sunscreen on Bill’s back, and there
was some comment about grooming a horse. I’ll let your imagination run with that
one. I hear there’s a video though... That may be a future report.
I don’t want to jinx things, but the target for tomorrow is to hit the Patuxent River. Heard this
before??? Tomorrow will be the day! And for the moment
you’ve all been waiting for. Yes... more bracelets. I guess Andy has so many Josh
has made that maybe there’s a little concern they may be engaged... The words "I’ll
wear whatever he gives me" came up. Ah well...
Day 5 - 7/10/07: Pictures
Looks like my predictions came true. I shouldn’t have said it. Our fearless crew in their
good sense decided that the weather conditions would prevent them from traveling
to the Patuxent River. So instead they
chose to head to protected waters of Eastern Bay. They sailed the day and
did have some strong winds and chop as they headed northward. They initially
tried to pull into Cox Creek, yet the shoals prevented their entry as Dauntless
went aground for the first time in Ships history. Fortunately they were able to
maneuver carefully and back out of their predicament. That misfortune turned out
to be spectacular as they ended up in the Wye River instead. They are now moored
out in a area surrounded by magnificent homes. The weather had turned cool so
our crews were thankful for a little relief from the heat. They were enjoying
some chocolate pie and settling in for the night. Tomorrow they are
scheduled for a welcome break at St Michaels where they are going to spend the
day at the marina and possibly get some ice cream. I think the crew was a little
disappointed that they weren’t pressing further south, yet the change in weather
made them happy to spend some time on land. I got the word that yes there are
still some craft skills being utilized. Skip seemed to think that my son Josh
was trying to make enough bracelets to bring back to every girl in Tennessee...
I guess we’ll know how to answer the question "What did you do this summer?"
Day 6 - 7/11/07: Pictures
Unlike those CNN
reporters that travel the globe to get the scoop, this reporter relies on
technology. St Michaels has some weak cell signals and I was not able to get an
update this evening from Skip on the status of the crew. I do know they arrived
in St Michaels today as we did get a call from our son when they were out
getting ice cream. I’ll have to see what report I can get tomorrow... Saves more for later.
Day 7 - 7/12/07: Pictures
Hard to believe its day 7 already. Our crew spent the night last night at St Michaels at the marina. They had a very nice time
yesterday at St Michaels with an important stop at Jordan’s for an ice cream. Some of our crew have been spending the nights on
deck enjoying the open air, under the stars. Except for last night, they still slept on deck, yet the stars were not visible. Of
course you know what happened in the middle of the night. To say they least they came below in a hurry after multi tasking.
Sleeping and showering at the same time...
The Baltimore Yacht Club was also at St Michaels and they were nice enough to share some delicious pastries with the crew. So with
sugar-filled stomachs our crew set sail. For those who have never sailed from St Michaels, the Miles River can be a little tricky.
It appears that with 9 ft of depth on the chart and 9 ft of depth on the depth sounder, Dauntless ran hard aground. Given the size
of this mighty vessel, and the true horsepower of her diesel, they could not turn her, back her out or otherwise free her from the sandbar.
Now this is where the story gets good. Our crew has a dinghy on board, and while it was limply inflated, it was enough to have the
powerful David row off with an anchor line in hand to try to pull to bow around to free Dauntless. Some might say the three power
boats that motored by caused the next event, but I tend to have faith in power of David. With water sloshing in, rowing with all
his might, he quickly pulled the bow around and freed Dauntless from the sandbar. The only challenge after that was to pull the
hero back into the boat while maintaining enough momentum to prevent drifting back into the sandbar. I understand the whole event
was quite a sight to see and everyone felt great accomplishment. I’m sure the morning pastries gave him plenty of extra energy for the feat!
The crew had a very nice day of sailing since the weather was cooler. When the winds were light, Resolute sailed away from Dauntless,
yet when the winds picked up Dauntless picked up the pace.
I guess today, like other days, there have been the usual maintenance challenges with boats and many people, there’s always something
that needs attention. Today Resolute broke the second of three tiller bolts. And it seems they had their fair share of self-inflicted
head challenges. That along with the usual question mark on why things work the way they do... New boats, or should I say new old boats are
always so much fun to get used to.
Tonight they have moored in Langford Creek on the Chester river. The sky is so clear that they can see the city lights of Baltimore off in
the distance. Tomorrow they plan to spend the last night at Rock Hall at the marina, and hopefully another good ice cream spot.
Of course an important update on the craft department. Yes, today there was even more craft work. I can’t imagine where all these supplies
came from. I guess there are many items for each of the crew members that turns them into whatever character they have become over the last week.
Does that leave you asking a question? It should. Here’s the inside scoop on our nicknames of the week...
Andy K: Andy-Pants Muffin-Chunk
Lauren N: Hippie Girl
Josh F: Hippie Boy
Mike N: Top Bunk
Sarah M: Greasy
Sebastian D: Sea Bass
Lawrence C: The Pirate No Beard
Matt K: Monkey Ball
David F: $5.99
Davey W: Lobster Boy
Adrienne M: Let's Have A Contest!!
John M: Dipstick
Melanie E: THE COOK
Gerritt L: Gare Bear
Bill M: Horse
Bob K: Capt. Karl (in the spirit of Capt. Ron)
Laurie D: Skip
If you’re sitting at home wondering how your son or daughter got their nickname, from experience I can say don’t bother trying. These nicknames
and logic rarely mix.
Day 8 - 7/13/07:Pictures
Our scouts are spending the night at Rock Hall at the marina. They had a good day of sailing,
especially in the morning as the winds were a little stronger. Our bos’n Sarah
took a shot at landing Resolute at the marina. I’m sure that was a fun
opportunity for her knowing how hard the tiller on Resolute is. Our crew
got another ice cream treat tonight. With great luck, the fireman’s hall is
having an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast tomorrow morning near the marina. (I
thought these were supposed to be fund raisers? They’re going to lose money on
this crew!) I have to say that the cell phone signal was very erratic tonight,
but from the noise in the background I could hear that everyone was very
outgoing on their last night on the water. I’m sure they’ll have great memories
and great stories to tell over the next several days and weeks. Maybe if we're
lucky, we’ll even get a few shared between us. As Skip would say, until the next
time we get the lee rails under...
Day 9 - 7/14/07: Pictures
Headed home.