Sailing Karma

All of a sudden, all at once, it was sort of like "Oh I guess the weather is alright, the time is now, and we are pretty ready, we should go? ". Being as we did the trip exactly in reverse it wasn't too daunting and it's hard to overstate how much security is felt in the boat being so much more sturdy feeling than the old one.

Also to add to the whimsy of it all, Elizabeth and Jacksyn, Heather's childhood friends who now reside in Boston, were visiting over the weekend. Jacksyn has just finished his PhD and is therefore unemployed… a perfect chance to randomly dissapear for 5 or so days and see what sailing is like! He's an avid learner of whaling history so this was to be a cool trip to see what actual offshore life is like, albeit way more comfy than old whaling times I'd hope. Plus we'd had him on board Karma 1.0 back in Mexico a few years back so we know he makes a good swab.

Up at 05h00 with the goal of anchors up at 6 we were in the fog and the drizzle getting the last small things sorted. We finally had our radar pole back from the welders and Heather hose-clamped it into position so the last thing to do there was bolt the actual radar down on it. We just ran the wire securely though the cockpit and taped along the ceiling for the time being so we could use it on the trip as we knew there'd be fog. Elizabeth was dropped ashore and off we went!

It was foggy right from the start, and no wind, though this was expected. We bouced along up out of Narraganset bay and into Buzzards Bay. At some point we were able to use the headsail for some extra speed but this was really a motorboat trip. We made amazing time though and reached the canal a whole current cycle earlier than we were anticipating! Pefect to set us up on the otherside for sunset and the filling in of the correctly angled winds overnight and into the next two days.

Going into the first night we were still motoring but it was lovely out and we all even had a stint in shorts. The engine went off at some point and it was a full whites on a dream reach sort of evening, what's not to like.

The following day was back at it with the motor on and off. We knew there were headwinds coming which would coinside with the final day into Shelburne, depending on how fast we got there, so we kept the speed up if we were just drifting around.

Really, pretty easy trip up until the final evening. We were about 50 or so miles off the south of Cape Sable while we motored into another layer of fog at dusk. Huge shout out to the Furuno radar and AIS we now have aboard the ever better fitted out S/V Karma. The color of dusk and encroching fog made it difficult to see or at least tell what or how far you were seeing. The sky and the water was the same color and there was no horizon line as the light dimmed so it was unclear if you were looking 10kms or 500 meteres ahead. That's when we passed the first fishing trap.

"We've yet to hit one of these, and on this boat I'm not even sure how we'd wrap one" I was thinking to myself, along with the "wait, what do we do though if we do hit one? It'll be dark and the water is 7 degrees C." Of course, just then, engine sputters and trailing behind us is a fishing trap…. definitely stuck in the prop.

Immediately I put the engine in neutral and took a look around assessing the situation. It was really calm out so that was good, we weren't putting undo stresses on anything at least yet. Heather came out and at first we were thinking what we'll do is get both ends of the line on board and go from there.

Taping the gaff to a batton we were able to get the end of the line that goes to the floats. We cleated that on board. From there we started going after the sid that goes down to the traps on the ground. The issue at this point was as the boat slowly drifted it straightened out that line which in turn made it go deeper and deeper. Taping a second batton along with our already extended gaff initially got me close enough to hook it, but at this point the tension was high enough with the boat pulling on the rope that the gaff pulled off the batton before we could get it to the surface.

Okay, next plan. Our 200lbs test fishing line with a weight might work. Heather fished over the side and caught the line at which point we used a winch to try and lift the line up. It seemed like it was working but eventually the line snapped. Not ideal.

Sort of at a loss at this point, and the wind was picking up and dusk had changed to dark, we asked the surrounding fishing boats what they do if that happens to them. "Chuck'er in reverse real quick see if it cuts the line" was the response. Okay… we don't really know what else to try at this point.

We have a pretty short prop shaft and a 60hp naturally aspirated diesel aboard so it has lots of torque. We did 1…. 2…. blips in reverse at tick over speeds for about 3 seconds each, and on the 3rd one the line started sinking and you could tell we were drifting away! A quick check, forwards and reverse, with someone monitoring the coupler and shaft inside the boat confirmed we didn't bend or break anything it appeared and the engine runs smooth. Off we go!

Whilst the trap situation was unfolding we were also experiencing the increase in headwinds which were predicted for our final day. We were about 50 miles in a straight line from Shelburne. It took a bit to get the main sail up (which we had dropped really fast once we hooked the trap) and we had to semi dismantle the lazy jacks but now its up. A bit of headsail out and we were flying up wind at… of course pretty much the wrong direction. Over the course of the next 16 or so hours Karma bashed up wind like a freight train. She's actually a pretty good boat at this, but with the currents going around Cape Sable and into the Bay of Fundy we were essentially re-tracing our steps each tack.

We did 72 nautical miles and got only 21 closer to Shelburne. Booo

Eventually mid afternoon there was a lull in the wind which we knew would last about 6 or 7 hours and we were 40 miles directly south of Shelburne. The seas were really lumpy after the 16 hours of stronger winds but on went the motor and we set a course straight there. We made it long before dark which was what we were hoping for as we were now weary of hitting traps for obvious reasons.

Once inside the channel it was cool to go back up somewhere we had been before. Shelburne is a cute town and we even spotted Deneb, a French-Canadian self built steel yacht we had met last year in the same spot, right back in the same place we saw them last before departing to Newport.

Anchors down and a quick cockpit shower as the motoring had warmed up our water. Jacksyn and Heather whipped up a blueberry pie with the remaining Maine blueberries we had on board after a pasta dinner.

"Movie time?", "Eh, I don't think so we'll just fall asleep." And with that, that's what we did.