Catching Fish

Let's face it, sailors and fishermen are two different breeds of people; but we both wish we could be each other. Fishermen get places quickly while catching many fish along the way while the wish they could get further out to sea. Sailors wish they could get places quicker and wish they could catch many fish while far out to sea.

Catching fish is a great way to add fresh meat to your diet while on a long voyage. The problem is, if you are not good at fishing, it is not safe to count on caught fish as food source. We voyaged over a thousand miles, trolling the fishing line for most of the journey before we caught this little fish. I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but it was delicious!  

This did make for a very fresh meal, as it was caught, filleted, and on the grill in under an hour! This fish was rather odd as it looks like a reef fish, but we caught it in water that was 15,000 feet deep (3 miles deep). It had no teeth, and was rather small. 

When we sailed from Bermuda to the Azores, we caught this exact same type of fish again, this time in water that was 16,000 feet deep! This was the only fish we caught in a 2,200 nautical mile voyage while our friends were catching large mahi mahi every other day.  

Your skill as a fisherman will pay off when out in the ocean as you will have plenty of time to troll a line behind your yacht. Fishing will also give you a way to pass the time as you wait and see what is biting from deep down in the sea. 

Atlantic Crossing Part 2 Video

The journey continues across the Atlantic!

Atlantic Crossing Part 1 Video

After years of living aboard in a marina in Baltimore, Maryland, we finally set off cruising. We had a year long “shakedown cruiser” down the East Coast of the United States, all to finally give land a big shove off and set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

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Hitting a Whale

On our way to Horta, we passed a sleeping sperm whale. This whale was massive and laying just at the waters surface. The trouble is, a sleeping whale is akin to a floating island, and they do this at night when visibility is reduced even further.

We encountered a sleeping sperm whale one morning, the sun had just risen, and the whale was still sound asleep. 

The only clue to the presence of this massive whale is the puff of mist emerging from the blow hole. At night, when the seas are dark, the dark skin of this whale sitting right at the surface will blend in. Imagine being on watch out in the middle of the ocean, far from anything when all of a sudden you bump into something!

If you are in an old heavy boat moving slowly, you will simply bump into the whale. In the most idealic of situations, the whale will be unharmed and leave you alone, but we have heard stories, particularly with sperm whales, where they get angered and then strike back! 

If you have a light weight modern yacht, your encounter with a whale might be much less than startling to both parties. We met a sailor who ran into a sleeping whale with his modern fin keel yacht; and the damage was extensive! The whale damaged his keel, causing it to begin leaking (but the keel remained attached), though it ripped off his starboard rudder and crippled his saildrive.  

Now the sailor found himself with the inability to propel himself via mechanical means and only able to steer when on starboard tack. The entire return voyage to port is fraught with fear that at any moment his keel might fall off, leading to his immediate capsize. He was also relying on the speed of his bilge pumps to expel the water that was seeping in around his damaged keel bolts ever quicker. 

Older yatchs with full keels and attached rudders offer a little more resilience to this kind of collision. The keel is integral to the hull, so the force of the collision is dissipated over more surface. The hull/keel junction is also sloped, promoting the occurrence of a glancing blow rather than catching on the perpendicular leading edge of a thin fin keel. Lastly, the rudder is firmly attached to the trailing edge of the keel, and therefore riding in the protection of such a strong member of the yachts underwater form.

Whales are massive creatures who can easily go unnoticed in the expansive seas. These behemoths also position themselves in a precarious location at a time when visibility is further reduced and await the inevitable. They are sleeping, and you simply can't see them while on night watch. The only comfort we have found is the fact that whales are still a very tiny fraction of the surface of the ocean, and statistically the chances of being in the same place and same time as a whale are minuscule. That simple thought helps us sleep while off watch, knowing that the person on watch can't see them but is likely not going to hit them either.

The Mysterious Case of the Electric Motor Controller Malfunction

Our electric motor had functioned flawlessly for years, until we added a new step in the system: the generator. While the manufacturer states that running the motor while charging is fine, I think it might have been the culprit!

See, the manufacturer claims that it is acceptable to do, but they have a nice and fully functioning charger. On Wisdom, we have a half dead hand-me-down that we got for free, and I suspect that it is the problem.

It all started when we were in Hatteras and decided that the North Atlantic during winter gales is not a place we wish to sail. We changed our plan from crossing the Atlantic in October to "Sail to the Bahamas and cross the ocean at the correct time of year." We bought a Honda 2000 generator to allow us the ability to charge the batteries while away from a pier. Before we left, I performed a test (which I feel was the first nail in the coffin for the charge controller). Wisdom was plugged into shore power and the charger was running. I hypothesized that if we ran the motor at 14 amps, we would be able to run indefinitely since our charger puts out 15 amps. We carried out the test for about 14 hours straight. The charger kept pace with the motor and when the test was concluded, everything was shut down to reveal that yes, the batteries were still full charge and the motor ran entirely off of the charger. Success!

Then we motor sailed away from Hatteras and into Oriental, NC. We were there for a week and decided it was time to move on, but the motor had a different plan. It was dead and completely unresponsive.

I called the manufacturer and spoke directly with the builder of the motors who walked me through the diagnostics which led to the discovery of the dead controller. The manufacturer then sent out a replacement controller and off we went!

We continued motoring down the state of North Carolina for a few months (we are slow) until we were nearing the NC/SC line when the motor began alternating between forward and reverse on its own! We were moving forward, and the shaft was being viciously tossed in alternating directions with the full strength of the motors. We contacted the manufacturer again, and the tests once again concluded that the controller died. They sent us a new one and also sent us a spare one since we had plans of cruising internationally.

I installed the new controller and everything seemed to be operating just fine, but we decided to make a rule after some thought. The motor needs to be off when the charger is on.

Yes, the manufacturer insists that you can charge and motor, but I think our charger may have a fault that is killing the controller over and over. We have replaced the controller twice (and still have the spare in a locker) and have had no problems since we implemented this rule.

Our future plans include a new, properly functioning controller that will grant us the luxury of motoring while charging, but in the mean time, our mysterious issue seems to be resolved.

I am aware that per proper experimental models, I need to reintroduce the charger while motoring and see if it kills our controller. The truth is, the controller is annoying to change and I would rather not have to do that again, so I have yet to properly reintroduce the variable.

If you are considering electric propulsion, or have electric propulsion and are considering adding a generator, I would suggest contacting the manufacturer of your electric motor and buying a new charger per their recommendations.