(Above) Capt. Eric Forsyth and the Fiona

Capt. Forsyth reports--Maintenance is continuing, the rigid dinghy was painted and refurbished. The mast is painted, the boom is half painted. All charts for the trip have been sorted and bagged.

There is still one berth available from Long Island to Uruguay, leaving 5 July and arriving in early October. This leg will be mostly in the tropics, with a delightful jaunt down the coast of Brazil planned. For details contact Captain Forsyth here.

Here is the new logo for the upcoming journey, designed by the Webmaster:

If you think Capt. Forsyth's time is entirely taken up by boat maintenance, check out this YouTube link, showing his addiction to fast cars.

Capt. Forsyth reports--Boat preparation continued:

1. Leak in the deck filler plate permitted water to enter the fuel tanks over winter. New plate fitted and fuel circulated to remove water.
2. Ground plates cleaned with acid and re-installed.
3. Liferaft failed inspection (only seven years-old). New one purchased and new mounting cleat installed on aft deck.
4. Start made on getting the chart packages ready for next trip,
5. Rigid dinghy bottom refurbished prior to painting.

 

There is one berth still open for the 2013/14 cruise. This could be filled for the complete period, July 2013 to May, 2014 or for an intermediate leg.

Capt. Forsyth reports--Work continues in preparation for the Antarctic Circumnavigation. Twelve charts of the Antarctic coastline were received. Now the tedious work of assembling all the charts for the trip must begin. Two foils were replaced on the Profurl roller furler. Repair of the rudder was completed. One side of the mast has been painted. Wiring was installed to connect the chart plotter with the autopilot, so that the boat can be steered to a waypoint using GPS. This will be essential at some stage as we will sail almost directly over the South Magnetic Pole, thus losing all magnetic references for a few hundred miles. A potential failure point was discovered when the starboard spreader was examined: launching the dinghy using the foresail halyard had severly weakened the forward side of the spreader due to friction from the stainless wire, much of the aluminum had been worn away. A welder is a work to fix this. The crew call has produced some excellent candidates; decisions will be made soon.

Captain Forsyth is looking for crew for the 2013/14 Antarctic cruise. For details of the cruise click here . All on-board expenses are covered, crew will be responsible for getting themselves to and from the boat. Preference will be given to candidates with the time and inclination to sign up for the complete trip. Some ocean experience is essential. Contact Captain Forsyth for more info by clicking here.

Capt. Forsyth reports--On the maintenance front I can report the cabin heater is now working fine. In fact I have been using it almost every day during the current cold spell. Wayne stopped by and we remove the copper tubing between the propane tank and the stove. It had an elusive, small leak. New tubing was horsed in and it cured the leak. I installed a new 1000W inverter, probaly the fifth in almost as many years; they do not last long in a marine environment. I will post a CREW CALL for the 2013/14 cruise in a week or so. Prospective crew should study the schedule posted below amd see if it fits with their plans. This year I will give priority to crew who can sign up for the complete trip. In view of the proposed route, youth and experience will also be big plusses.

Capt. Forsyth reports--Maintenance the past two weeks has been two steps forward and one back. I installed the refurbished Espar heater but it proved very hard to start; once running it was fine. I replaced the fuel line and replaced the 12 volt leads with thicker wire, to no avail. It is packed up and will go back to Ocean Options for further overhaul. The old Read sewing machine was showing signs of its hard life. This machine has repaired many a sail while Fiona endured gale conditions. I replaced the 12 volt motor with a 120 volts AC unit, which will provide much more power. The machine was overhauled by the specialist at the Patchogue sewing machine shop and is now ready to face the Antarctic. Mark at Doyle Sail told me the storm mainsail had reached the end of life, a direct replacement is under constriction.

Capt. Forsyth reports--Four new shrouds have been received. I have attached ratlines to the two starboard lower shrouds. The Espar heater was sent for an overhaul, returned and is now reinstalled. At the moment Fiona is inaccessible due to snow from the recent blizzard.

A chart of the southern portion of Fiona's 2013/14 cruise is shown below.

Captain Forsyth will screen the video of the 2011/12 cruise entitled, Fiona's Atlantic Islands Adventure, at two locations in coming weeks. The video runs for 64 minutes; with questions the shows will last about 90 minutes. The first showing will be at the West Islip Library at 2 pm on Saturday, 26 January, 2013. This showing is sponsored by the South Bay Cruising Club. Anyone who may be interested in joining the club is welcome to attend and discover more about the club's activities. The second showing will be at Berkner Hall, Brookhaven National Laboratory, at 12 noon on Tuesday, 29 January, 2013. The Laborarory is located on William Floyd Parkway north of exit 68 on the LIE. The presentation is sponsored by the Brookhaven Retired Employees Association and is open to the general public (non-employees must show valid photo ID at the gate).

An ambitious cruise is planned for the next year--a circumnavigation in a distance only slightly longer than the earth's circumference. To do this, Fiona will sail to the Antarctic and head west, keeping as close as possible to the coast. After crossing the Drake Passage from the Falkland Islands to the Antarctic Peninsula we will head for 64 degrees south, 46 degrees east (designated waypoint 10). From there the boat will head NNW to Cape Town. The distance from Port Lockroy on the Peninsula to Cape Town is about 7500 nautical miles, which will be sailed non-stop. The total distance, Long Island to Long Island, is about 25,500 nautical miles. It will be essential to stick to the schedule to take advantage of the short Antarctic summer. Once leaving South America there will be few opportunities to replenish water, food and fuel. The tentative schedule is shown below.

Just in time for Christmas ordering! Capt. Forsyth's latest DVD, Fiona's Atlantic Islands Adventure, is now available for purchase here!

Fiona's engine repairs are just about completed and the old Perkins diesel fired up on 30 November using cooling water from a faucet. Replaced were the exhaust manifold, heat exchanger, thermostat, and numerous hoses. Of course, it will be impossible to check for overheating until the boat is launched next spring Stand by for particulars of Fiona's next cruise, hopefully posted within the next month.

Capt. Forsyth's latest video, Fiona's Atlantic Islands Adventure, has been posted here. With over 60 minutes of running time, this professional production brings you, the viewer, onto the deck of the legendary vessel, Fiona. It's in full HD using the new X264 codec!

Eric spent a few days in Florida working with Lew to complete the video of the 2011/12 cruise. Copies will be available in 3 to 4 weeks. During this period, hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the NE. Fiona was undamaged.

Winter maintenance update:

Engine, the overheating experienced on the way back from Portland was apparently caused by a blocked exhaust manifold due to salt build up. The manifold was in bad shape and a new one is under construction. At the same time I removed the heat exchanger and bought a new one. I also changed the thermostat.

Mast, started to remove the standing rigging. I expect several stays will be replaced.

Prop shaft, I removed the propeller (Thanks to Bob Lyons for help) and the cutlass bearing. The bearing was shot and will be replaced.

Sails, Five sails were picked up by Doyle for inspection and repair.

Oct 26 I will fly south to make the video of the 2011/2012 cruise with Lew at Lake Worth. On the way I will spend Halloween with Colin, Gabby and Brenda in Cookeville.

Fiona and mast in the usual corner of Weeks Yachtyard.

The newsletter for the Maine cruise has posted, click here.

Fiona's mast was dropped 10/10 and the boat hauled. A program of winter maintenance will start soon, progress will be posted.

Fiona off the coast of Maine. Photo by L Schatzer