Drip, drip drip. There was a leak somewhere and i was determined to find it.
The bilge pumps had not turned on, so that made it easier. The leak was not into the bilge.
Living for the most part on a boat, it is amazing how my senses have become much keener. I see, hear and small things, like never before.
In New York, Julie has a group of people who really help her live in and appreciate the moment. Dauntless has done that for me.
During the night, I noticed the water pump cycling on for a few seconds. Now I was sleeping, so it was unclear to me how often this was happening, but I probably heard it five times in the course of the night.
I would hear it, then go back to sleep. I wondered if I heard it because I was already awake or did it waken me? I think the latter; otherwise I would hardly have been sleeping. Much like when sleeping in the pilot house, I would awake whenever a light appeared in front of me. The rising of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon always woke me without fail.
So this morning, I decided to tackle this problem before doing anything else, even getting dressed. There was a leak and I would find it before getting distracted.
So there I was with my LED flashlight, my cozy slippers and nothing else. Grateful no one could see me, for I am sure it was a comical sight.
Deciding to start at the bow, I looked at the forward shower and sure enough, drip, drip, drip. I opened the faucet and closed it again, tighter. The drip stopped.
Problem solved. Yes, sometimes, it’s as simple as that.
In fact, as I understand Dauntless better and she understands me, problems tend to be simple.
Why? because we found the right boat of the right brand, Kadey Krogen, that was optimized for what we wanted to do with her.
I’m debating whether to write more extensively about the systematic process we went through to find this boat and be where we are today.
I’m an eclectic person, who grew up in New York, lived overseas for many years and have a boat, Dauntless, a 42 foot Kadey Krogen trawler yacht. Dauntless enables me to not only live in many different parts of the world, but to do it in a way that is interesting, affordable, with the added spice of a challenge.
Dauntless also allows me to be in touch with nature. As the boat glides through the ocean, you have a sense of being part of a living organism. When dolphins come to frolic, they stay longer if you are out there talking to them, watching them. Birds come by, sometimes looking for a handout; sometimes grateful to find a respite from their long journey.
I grew up on the New York waterfront, in the West Village, when everything west of Hudson St. was related to shipping and cargo from around the world. For a kid, it was an exciting place of warehouses, trucks, and working boats of all kinds: tugs and the barges and ships, cargo and passenger, they were pushing around.
My father was an electrical engineer, my mother an intellectual, I fell in between.
I have always been attracted to Earth’s natural processes, the physical sciences. I was in 8th grade when I decided to be a Meteorologist.
After my career in meteorology, my natural interest in earth sciences: geology, astronomy, geography, earth history, made it a natural for me to become a science teacher in New York City, when I moved back to the Big Apple. Teaching led to becoming a high school principal to have the power to truly help kids learn and to be successful not only in school but in life.
Dauntless is in western Europe now. In May and June, I will be wrapping up the last two years in northern Europe, heading south to spend the rest of the year in Spain & Portugal.
Long term, I’m planning on returning to North American in the fall of 2017 and from there continuing to head west until we’re in Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, where we will settle for a bit.
But now, my future lies not in NY or even Europe, but back to the water, where at night, when the winds die down, there is no noise, only the silence of the universe. I feel like I am at home, finally.
View all posts by Richard on Dauntless
7 thoughts on “Senses Re-tuned”
The captain of the ship never really sleeps. Lots of experiences.. solo sailing at sea.. go below to try to sleep.. suddenly alert .. dash to cockpit, floating container from cargo ship right in front, override autopilot just in time, try to sleep again, more days to go alone. so tired.. yes Richard, please keep writing so I can live it again. age 82 now, sailing days are over but not in my mind.
TK
Richard,
I would really like to hear what you learned from your trans-Atlantic voyage. What worked and what did not. What you would bring next voyage and what you would not bring. What would you do differently? I think that is called “wisdom”.
I actually thought I had done that. Maybe it was not as coherent as I thought it was. Maybe it was only on Trawler Forum and it got buried in a contentious debate?
Julie and I will work on something and publish it before Dauntless departs Waterford.
OK.
That was easy.
I just did a quick check and I see what happened.
I had written a very long “Post Mortem” It did not survive editing, but I needed something short for the Krogen Rendezvous.
That one paragraph piece got published; but in my mind, I thought it was done, as it was written, but never published.
So, I promise to get the uncensored Post Mortem done by the end of April. It will be even better, as i have had a number of insights in the last few months that are really apropo.
Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
This is best view of your crossing. It helps me put all the pieces together.https://share.delorme.com/Dauntless (attch pix is .png format.. sorry couldn’t convert it.) will tell my adventure abt 100knot winds in Azores later.. happened enroute delivering an SA-16 seaplane to Stavanger, Nor. pix of Paradox, our Allmand 31, in Portland Me. enroute BarHarbor, Me. to Marathon, Fl. where we spent 3 winters. TK
Sorry the .png is black.. looks good online.Good luck putting it all together. like someone said when does the movie come out?? great story.TK
When I find someone who wants to make it, that’s not me 🙂
Dauntless at Sea 
The captain of the ship never really sleeps. Lots of experiences.. solo sailing at sea.. go below to try to sleep.. suddenly alert .. dash to cockpit, floating container from cargo ship right in front, override autopilot just in time, try to sleep again, more days to go alone. so tired.. yes Richard, please keep writing so I can live it again. age 82 now, sailing days are over but not in my mind.
TK
Richard,
I would really like to hear what you learned from your trans-Atlantic voyage. What worked and what did not. What you would bring next voyage and what you would not bring. What would you do differently? I think that is called “wisdom”.
I actually thought I had done that. Maybe it was not as coherent as I thought it was. Maybe it was only on Trawler Forum and it got buried in a contentious debate?
Julie and I will work on something and publish it before Dauntless departs Waterford.
OK.
That was easy.
I just did a quick check and I see what happened.
I had written a very long “Post Mortem” It did not survive editing, but I needed something short for the Krogen Rendezvous.
That one paragraph piece got published; but in my mind, I thought it was done, as it was written, but never published.
So, I promise to get the uncensored Post Mortem done by the end of April. It will be even better, as i have had a number of insights in the last few months that are really apropo.
Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
This is best view of your crossing. It helps me put all the pieces together.https://share.delorme.com/Dauntless (attch pix is .png format.. sorry couldn’t convert it.) will tell my adventure abt 100knot winds in Azores later.. happened enroute delivering an SA-16 seaplane to Stavanger, Nor. pix of Paradox, our Allmand 31, in Portland Me. enroute BarHarbor, Me. to Marathon, Fl. where we spent 3 winters. TK
Sorry the .png is black.. looks good online.Good luck putting it all together. like someone said when does the movie come out?? great story.TK
When I find someone who wants to make it, that’s not me 🙂