Again, it soon sounded as if a misfiring Harley-Davidson was revving the throttle inside the cabin. Still, my need to be productive spills over into sailing as I keep occupied teaching Sergei and scribbling these notes in my journal. Sergei needed to learn how to move low and slow from one hand-hold to the next as we reefed and unreefed the main and furling genoa to the changing winds, set the preventer and whisker pole, managed course changes, set the AIS ship proximity alarm, cooked our meals, plotted and updated our course on the paper charts as well as the GPS plotter, and all the other common tasks involved in navigating a boat at sea. He hired me to assist him sailing the boat back to Brunswick and along the way teach him as much of the full range of sailing skills as the time allowed. Never show your crew your doubts or indecision. Twelve miles upriver we entered the only lock on this stretch of the ICW at the town of Great Bridge. There are also a few transition boats that share characteristics of both.More detailed information can be found at the alberg30.org site listed above.Thanks to the author of the aforementioned site, George Dinwiddie, for his assistance with this and other subjects. With the rail nearly awash, Sergei clings to the mast monkey-like with one hand while he puts in a second reef. Sailing conservatively with reefed sails whenever it felt more comfortable, our average was 120 miles per day and 130 in the past 24 hours. The meeting is scheduled from 1 pm - 4 pm. The Voyager title puts a name to all the repairs and modifications I feel the original boat can be improved with. We are excited to welcome Wendy Clarke, sailor and contributor to Cruising World magazine, to speak. Whether you are new to sailing or an old salt this proven design will take you where you want to go safely and in style. We double reefed the main, sheeted it in tight, and motorsailed at full throttle doing short zig-zags some 20 degrees either side of the wind to keep the mainsail driving and our speed above 4 knots. I looked forward to better sleep once underway when Sergei was standing watch. She shrugged it off, as she was built to do. All the next night we tacked into that obstinate bitch of a southwester, sailing over 45 miles, but making good only 18 miles towards our destination. Fifty miles off New York Harbor we passed through fishing grounds where six trawlers in were in sight at once as they zig-zagged around dragging nets. It either goes on continuously or is neglected for a time and then you're back to it again. Aside from this one minor fault, Sergei proved to be the most pleasant, helpful, and intelligent companion you could hope to share a small boat with. Must be a bad habit universally taught in sailing school. I needed to be ready to go within a couple days. But a sailor needs to believe the opposite and I made some effort to break him of this particular foible. The yard took such pride in their work that even all the dock handrails were kept brightly varnished. Then I could sleep while he silently stood his watch. Crisis averted. We watched Venus brighten low on the horizon. I kept my mouth shut after that. Alberg 30 Mainsheet. We discussed his selection of a new name for his boat and he asked for ideas. Wilderness tamed by 5 bars of 4G! We walked five minutes to the El Toro Loco and wolfed down huge combo platters for the bargain price of $6.50 each. In another thousand years it will drift away again. I do notice and am inspired by their free-roaming example. No matter that I will pare down much of it during the editing process as unfit to read. We both look up at the fantastic star display and silently rejoice. The manufacturer had made the clearances a couple millimeters too wide and it had just barely stayed in place these past two years. We also dealt with assorted jobs such as a sticking sliding hatch, sewing additional attachment lines to the bunk lee cloths, securing the deck chain pipe whose hook was missing, and priming the composting toilet with dried coconut choir that we first softened in water. I planned to not contribute to the compost contraption by instead using the "bucket and chuck it" method, but it was now ready for the owner to use. So why not? I show Sergei how to plot our course to clear the shoals extending 30 miles off Cape Fear. Big dark blotches of cumulonimbus hung in a line across the Gulf Stream waters. It's always best if you can take a look at the hull while a boat is out of the water, but the solid hull is probably the best feature of the alberg 30. I did not imagine it earlier. Once we got closer to Canada in New England, it backfired when the man holding Sergei's card said "He don't sound like he's from Canada and whaddaya mean they have no zip code in Canada?" A brown-backed sea turtle 2-foot in diameter plods by on the surface with head cocked towards me. For years I sailed without any communications equipment beyond a postcard ready to drop at the next island. Although today it was fairly tame, currents here reach 5 knots or more with swirling eddies and dancing overfalls in wind against tide conditions that can be unmanageable for slow, small sailboats. During the next couple days he completely gained his sea legs. Voyaging Around the World on the Sailboat Atom. Despite having over one hundred bolts and screws penetrating the deck and coachroof for all the fittings and hardware, vents, mast wiring, hatches and portlights, not one drop of saltwater entered our refuge even three years after her refit. Summer 2012. Sweet Old Boat was totally restored several years ago and nothing was left to be done. They went back and forth saying "Middle! Many alberg 30s have wooden spars, so you want to check those and make sure they've been maintained and don't have rot growing in them. Through the busy naval port at Hampton Roads we sailed passed aircraft carriers and lesser ships being repaired or prepped for sea duty. Using the Eldridge tide table book onboard, we timed our transit of the narrow cut during the late morning ebb tide. For most of my 6pm to midnight watch I sat on the coach roof leaning against the mast as the boat glided along in the 5 knot SSE wind. Due too neurological issues making my balance unstable its time too sell Kolohe and move ashore. "Can we drop sail now?" I noted the changes to the ICW since 1981, when at 23, with my two hometown buddies as crew, I first fled south aboard. I noted the changes to the ICW since 1981, when at 23, with my two hometown buddies as crew, I first fled south aboard Atom from the boring, freezing winters of Detroit. In the cockpit we both savored the moonrise and looked forward to its light and companionship through the long night watches. In the utter darkness there are explosions of light underwater, generated by bioluminescent jellyfish, I imagine. We rocketed through the cut at a combined sailing and current speed of 9 knots. It is my wife's name too." A seagull hovered 10 feet over the cockpit looking down at us then banked back to check the green squid fishing lure trailing from the boat. We had no exposed prop or strut to damage and the keel hung rudder was safe. Legendary names of Wanderer, Islander, Spray, Trekka, Gypsy Moth, and a dozen others rolled off my lips. In its day it would have been considered a relatively quick boat, being designed to be raced under the Cruising Club of America racing rules, but don't expect modern day performance. I told him how my boat's name Atom is from the Greek meaning "small and unbreakable". We arrived at the boat in Branford, CT at midnight, road-weary from a 17 hour drive up from Brunswick, GA. My sole companion, Sergei, A Moscow real estate broker, beams with pride and adoration as he surveys his boat under the dock lights at Dutch Wharf Marina. Instead, we decided to follow the Intracoastal Waterway ("The Ditch") for 200 miles down to Beaufort, NC and resume the passage offshore from there. One time we found him asleep in front of a blaring portable radio. A weekend in Bermuda. The day before the storm arrived I was still optimistic that it would be so weakened by land as all previous storms had been that hit this area in the past few decades, that I did not move my boat to a better protected spot. Before we could turn south, the barrier of Long Island forced us to sail 50 miles east to exit the sound. I toss him back to sea for another chance. Alberg 30 Cruising Well once again September, October and November have gone, and in the Chesapeake area that means three months of moderate temperatures, generally good winds, and plenty of sailing. A weekend in Bermuda. It felt like the middle of nowhere with no signs of habitation anywhere, except for a cell phone tower. The river beckoned him in but the dock was a bit too high to climb out. That's about 5000 extra reasons why this will not be at the top of the list. On our heels was a cold front marked by an ominous line of dark clouds approaching fast from the northwest. Going to sea has always been a reverent event for me. Although he reads the language well, he has had few chances to practice speaking it, which is a whole different challenge. I planned to use this frontal passage to provide us fair following winds during the next few days. We catch the ebb tide tacking out St. Simons inlet as we escort the new owner of the Alberg 30 "Lora" sailing from Brunswick, GA for a 700 mile 7 day nonstop passage to Chesapeake Bay. Off with the motor, unfurl the genoa, set the windvane. When nearly on top of us I grabbed the VHF mic, "Bremen Behemoth, (or some such) this is the sailboat off your port bow. We motored into position as the traffic stopped and the unusual counterbalanced bascule bridge spans parted, lifting up with hydraulic rams that allowed the spans to pivot on massive gear teeth. Lightning flashes silently inland while above us the skies remain clear. It is my wife's name too." Dutch Wharf occupied a section of a winding narrow river near the old town of Branford, itself restored and looking neat and orderly and stuck in time like the New England town in the movie Groundhog Day. With my wife Larissa I feel ready to continue the adventure. As of December 2017 Lora is now up for sale at: http://www.atomvoyages.com/cys/366-for-sale-1972-alberg-30-voyager-edition.html. Copyright © 2021 Atom Voyages. One of the first things I noticed when test hoisting the mainsail and installing new reef lines was that the sail track was separating from the mast 25 feet above the deck. Motorsailing again, we crossed the very rough Pamlico River. One minute after Sergei's head hit the pillow his throat emitted a deep rattling, rasping noise as I've heard nowhere else in nature. Beyond testing out my design modifications on an actual voyage, my brief return to the sea from a harried, too busy life ashore these past several years is something I desperately needed. The Great Lakes Alberg Association welcomes new members to participate in the racing and cruising events, share their experiences and expertise in maintaining their Albergs, and to take advantage of the collective wisdom of fellow Alberg sailors through the articles shared in past Newsletters, the Maintenance pages and the Archives. On this trip we have no SSB, but communicate with home base and even download weather forecasts when beyond reach of VHF shore stations, with a handheld Delorme InReach SE satellite messaging device picked up on amazon for $264. The Alberg 30 is an adaptation of a 30-footer Alberg designed for San Francisco Bay and was first built in response to a request by some Toronto sailors for a cruising auxiliary that could be fleet raced. Sergei soon selected his wife's nickname of Lora, a dimunitive form of Larisa. with the old fellow's blood pressure and voice rising and his pole stabbing at Sergei, until I went to the bow and sorted it out. A couple months earlier I had helped Sergei arrange the purchase of this classic 1972 Alberg 30 sloop #499, named. No real harm done and I was relieved to know I had fit watertight bulkheads forward and aft. It reflects the reality of the trip very well. Incoming mail was addressed to me at an ever-changing string of Post Offices using "Poste Restante." The very possibility of it seems extraordinary since the days of austere and self-indulgent lonely solo passages of my youth. Will you be able to avoid us?" Even a brief passage such as this brings a feeling of escape from the pressures and distractions ashore. The sailors who will say no are sailors who haven't even tried to do it on these size boats or were lacking in some basic skills and abilities. These boats have an upright icebox accessible from both the cabin and the cockpit. Over the next few days as I taught Sergei everything I could think of related to keeping him and the boat safe and moving in the right direction, I was reminded that it is no easy task for beginners to learn in one trip the myriad skills and habits gained from decades of offshore sailing. I call this the Voyager Edition Alberg 30 based on the thorough refit using ideas learned from earlier boat projects and the two circumnavigations on my Pearson Triton, Atom. I said and then went on to tell him how in human history Polaris has not been so constant. Cruising under jib alone at hull speed just off the Scarborough Bluffs Over and again we bounced and bashed our way into the steep chop in the wide rivers and sounds and then felt the blessed respite of following the river as it turned downwind where we could ease the sheets and reduce the heeling. We gybed to alter course and kept a close eye on the rest of the erratic fleet. Fortunately, I was prepared to work on the boat and had brought along a drill, angle grinder, spare inverter, and full tool bag. He had already sampled the local waters soon after we awoke that morning. Seems to be a worthwhile device to carry if you need to communicate with anyone. We motorsailed several hours until cat's paws scratched across the oily waters signaled a new wind on the beam. We covered 70 statute miles that day and anchored at Pungo River in a heavy rain. I gave him a double dose of seasick pills with some crackers and suggested he rest in his bunk for a few hours. Numerous attractive anchorages and rivers flow into the sound from the Connecticut shore and many more anchorages are available among the islands at the eastern end of the sound. We opened three more bridges that day, then the river widened to 3 miles at Currituck Sound, yet carried only 5-6-foot depths throughout. It also has an SOS emergency feature that comforts those back home. Surfing in the Outerbanks of NC. By coincidence, on Sergei's watch we are on the starboard tack and my bunk is comfortably on the lee side. Aboard with me were the paperbacks: The clouds clear away with the fair wind. Incoming mail was addressed to me at an ever-changing string of Post Offices using "Poste Restante." To have a crewmate who was without complaint, even when having a touch of seasickness, was a bonus. Before heading for my bunk I point out our course, the barely perceived true wind direction deduced from our speed and the apparent wind. I watched through the cabin windows as he passed uncomfortably close, towing a massive bundle of water pipes hundreds of feet long. "Well, not exactly true north. " It was a similar scene all up the east coast. I had supplied that Tides Marine sail track with the boat but had not had time to check the fit before the boat was trucked from Georgia to the owner's place in Connecticut. View of St George's from of the St George Boatyard. During it's long production run, the Alberg 30 was fitted with a number of different engines for auxilary power inluding (in approximate order):Gray Marine Gas 22hpUniversal Atomic 4 Gas 30hpBukh (single cyl) Diesel 12hpVolvo Penta MD7A DieselVolvo 2002 DieselEarlier versions of the ALBERG 30 have a laminated wood mast brace and no liner. We had moved from the great naval shipyards of Norfolk, through the swamps and canals where vigilant herons stood marsh-side guard on long spindly legs, to the wide tumbling waters of the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds that reached across twenty miles or more to the wind-swept ocean barrier islands around Cape Hatteras. It was a pleasure to be on a 44 year old boat for two weeks and discover no leaks above or below the waterline. Fells like precious news. If Mei was here, she'd have had him with rice for breakfast. Then you have the dilemma of no motor and no seamanship skills. He roared so loudly I felt the vibrations run right through me. Now we call bridge operators on the VHF. In the previous newsletter, the article talked about how David and I did a 650 mile round trip from Bermuda and back to Bermuda as a result of Hurricane Arthur’s arrival. Leaping porpoises return to chase flying fish off the bow. I was thankful we carried new, reeefable sails. The electric autopilot arm gripped the tiller as we occasionally inputted one or two degree course adjustments in the straight canal cuts. Behind us the Big Dipper corkscrews through the hours until it sits level with its pointer stars aligned with Polaris, as always matching our latitude, now at 34 degrees above the horizon. I get to read two books on this passage, the first I managed to finish in a year of shoreside distractions. I found myself back aboard Bells with her current owner who is new to offshore sailing, having been to sailing school and completed a shared two week sailboat charter vacation in Croatia a few years back, but lacking real offshore sailing experience. I get to read two books on this passage, the first I managed to finish in a year of shoreside distractions. I later discovered that 48-year-old Sergei is a physically and psychologically tough individual who has backpacked in Tunguska and other remote parts of Siberia for months at a time. I think of Mei at home, and how she calls it by the Chinese name "Silver River." Their decks are balsa cored and drain through hoses to the cockpit scupper drains. I felt we did, at least, take a few years off the learning curve. The result at our inadequately protected docks in Brunswick that faced a four mile open fetch to the south, was four boats sunk and many others damaged as the too small and lightly built floating breakwater was overwhelmed and the docks began to break up. A couple months earlier I had helped Sergei arrange the purchase of this classic 1972 Alberg 30 sloop #499, named Bells, from the previous owner who had commissioned me to refit the boat four years earlier. In the morning the deck was completely covered in their now lifeless bodies. The Next Distant Sea, The 28-foot Sailboat Atom Continues Her Second Circumnavigation, is now available on Amazon as paperback, ebook or audiobook. The VHF forecast was for light variables and calms the next two days. "Not too bad," I lied. Naturally, for a cautious beginner, he feared the sails and trusted the motor. On day one he accepted my requirement for attaching his harness at all times when on deck offshore. "Can I repeat your passage http://www.atomvoyages.com/books/92-across-islands-and-oceans/221-table-of-passages.html  in boats (like Pearson Triton 28, Alberg 30, Cape Dory 30, BAYFIELD 29, Southern Cross 28,31, Bristol 27,30, Westsail 28) along with my wife later when I will ready?”, “Any of the boats you listed will easily be capable of a circumnavigation for two such as the one I did. She foots along so steady I hesitate to burden her or myself just yet with more sail. Welcome aboard! Million dollar waterfront homes lined the canal. We could have stayed in Beaufort to await more wind but I knew this boat sailed well in light airs. Nowadays we can select from reasonably affordable electronics such as GPS plotters, AIS, SSB, vastly more efficient radar, satellite communications, charting software on tablets, and all the rest. In my bunk I looked up from my book surprised to see the GPS speed indicating 6.2 knots. She punched a few more keys and the card was accepted. I kept telling everyone he's from Canada since I thought they might not want to deal with a Russian credit card. "When in doubt, motor your way out." The distant lightning indicating changing weather finally sent us a dark line of clouds that swept away the stars. I was eating a bowl of oats and muesli when I heard a call from outside the boat, "James, Help!" The next morning we rose early, Sergei refreshed and fit; myself red-eyed and foggy-brained from the eardrum assault. "Thank you, James," Sergei said in his heartfelt way after we tied Lora up at her new home slip in Brunswick. The sea was kicking up. "What's your zip code?" Or I should say I love it on light air days or days like these going downwind in a fresh breeze. Were early morning naked swims in dirty rivers a traditional Russian activity, I wondered? He hadn't heard about Polaris giving direct measurement of your latitude but of course he knew it was the sailor's signpost to true north. --------------------------------------------------------------------------. Like my Triton, they don't at all like to be overpowered. We motored along with ¾ throttle at 5 knots through the still, brackish, tan-bark waters of the canals and rivers from Virginia into North Carolina. If we weren't on a schedule, we could have enjoyed gunkholing around here for weeks. For sure, it ain't all soft, warm winds and leaping porpoises, but there's enough of that and more to lure us back again and again. "What?" We hoisted sail with a fair wind and covered 15 miles at six knots. All other jobs dealt with, the next morning we motored, "In Greek," Sergei said, "Larisa means seagull. We piled our gear haphazardly into the boat that first night and sunk into our bunks. http://www.atomvoyages.com/gallery/video-gallery/383-alberg-30-shakedown.html, Unfortunately, personal issues prevented Sergei from making the longer voyage he had hoped for. Back then I sailed up close and gave a couple mighty trumpet blasts from my conch shell horn. I'm happy to see he is fast becoming a sailor who can captain his own boat. In late 1961, designer Carl Alberg was commissioned by Kurt Hansen, owner of Whitby Boatworks Ltd. of Whitby, Ontario, Canada, to design a 30’ sailboat for a group of Toronto area sailors who were interested in a boat in the 30’ range for class racing and family cruising. And Mei says I too snore sometimes, just not at those decibels. Past the sailor's community of Oriental, NC, on the final few miles to Beaufort, the land became slightly higher and less swampy. My other task was to help him improve his conversational English. the woman finally asked, as if that explains white people with foreign accents using non-functioning credit cards in her shop. A two year circumnavigation is fairly easy - three years even easier.”. I was deceived into thinking the wind had dropped further. Cypress and other hardy trees stood with their trunks underwater along the swampy edge of the canals. For years I sailed without any communications equipment beyond a postcard ready to drop at the next island. Even on that dirty night of wind and rain he cheerfully stood his midnight to 06:00 watch. )Basic dimensions from builders brochure (circa 1967.). At dawn he announced a ship on a collision course some three miles off the bow. The Norvane steered without complaint aside from the squeaking of her steering lines in their blocks when the sea kicked up as the servo-rudder endlessly swayed from side to side. Happy 2012! Decks are masonite cored and drain directly overboard under the toe rail. Gleaming varnish and polished bronze were all around us. Through the headphones of my MP3 player I absorb the soothing lyrics of Cold Play: "I wanna fly, never come down.". Finally the radio crackled with a thick German accent, "OK, I will change course to starboard." All was well when suddenly - Bang! We carried so much gear with us that the car was filled to capacity. Music: Styx; Come Sail Away The clouds clear away with the fair wind. They asked Kurt Hansen of Whitby Boat Works to find a suitable design and build it for them. "I plan to lose weight on the trip," he said prophetically. Today it has grown into the typical suburban sprawl of strip malls and housing developments that extends miles outside any big town or city such as nearby Norfolk. Hello and welcome to our home, Maya! ", "What?" She is very safe, stiff, dry and is a sea-kindly motion boat for long passages across large bodies of water. I enjoyed your excellent article! Dozens of other worthwhile titles awaited on my e-book reader in case the trip went longer. All common experiences for a sailor and reason enough to make a short voyage. There are few old boats that can say the same after a testing sea passage. On this trip I rediscovered I have a reverse seasick response – I am temporarily cured of my too long ashore blues. Sergei swam in the fresh water here as I cooked up a peppery dish of rice and beans. It took some time for me to locate our rope swim ladder because we hadn't unpacked yet. Thank you, James, for your lessons. Because of the astronomically slow wobble of earth on its axis every 26,000 years, Polaris has only drifted into a useable true north position during the past 1,500 years or so. Later that morning, as the sea calmed down from its agitated state, the boat felt like a train car barely moving on tracks. I had lost ICW marks! An abbreviated satellite text message from my wife comes in: "Everything is fine here. We tack six hours later and now he has the lee bunk.

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