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MAKE: TRANS WORLD CO., LTD
MODEL: ISLAND TRADER 41
PLACE BUILT: TAIPEI TAIWAN, REPUBLIC OF CHINA
YEAR: 1979 HULL # 40 STYLE: Ketch
Designer M. Harden COLORS: White and Burgundy
LENGTH: 40'9" (13.5 meters) LWL: 33'6" (11 meters) LOA: 44' (13.1 meters)
HEIGHT: 52' Main mast above the water 41' Mizzenmast above the water
BEAM: 12'2" (3.7 meters) DRAFT: 6'2" (1.9 meters) DEADRISE: 4'
DISP.: 13 tons (12 metric tons) BALLAST: 9500 pounds
HOLDING TANK: 45 gallons fiberglass tank
FUEL: 50 gallons and 45 gallons = 95 gallons (356 liters) poly tanks
WATER: 2 tanks X 35 gallons = 70 gallons (259 liters) stainless steel tanks
CONSTR.: Fiberglass Hull with Aluminum Masts
ENGINE MAKE: Perkins MODEL: 4.108 50 HP
TRANSMISSION: Borg Warner Velvet Drive AS15-72C
PROP: 3 blade 1.25" Shaft. x 19.68" D x Self Pitching Feathering Autoprop
ELECTRICAL: 12 volt 100 amp alternator 520 amp hours house batteries
12 volt 115 amp starting battery
COOLING: fresh water
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We were certainly taking a big gamble. We knew we would head for the ocean and then south for the winter. But we weren't sure where we were going or how long we would be gone. Maybe we would not like ocean cruising and would only make our way to Florida. The Caribbean seemed inviting as a destination if we could only cope with the open ocean for days. And then there were Pete's thoughts of far off exotic Tahiti, his ultimate destination. We had lived a frugal life style and put aside a nice cruising kitty, but we did not know how long our kitty would last. We did not know if we would like a wandering lifestyle where we would never stay in one place for long.
We went for our first test ride on May 17. We motored out into Lake Erie and found we had a loose alternator belt. After our short ride Pete tightened the belt. We weren't cruising, but at least the boat moved.
Find out about how they prepared to go cruising, order The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.
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As the month of June slipped by La Boatique began falling apart about as fast as we could fix her. First, the fresh water pump rusted out and began to leak our fresh water from our tanks into the bilge. Pete tried to repair the pump, but the pump was a lost cause. He ended up installing a new more powerful pump. Not even 24 hours after cleaning out all the water Pete found a new leak. This time the leak was diesel fuel. Pete found that the leak was coming from our new fuel purification system. Pete had to take the system apart and add Teflon tape to all the connections. While Pete was checking out his corrections to the fuel cleaning system, he heard a strange noise coming from the engine room. He quickly shut down the engine and found that the alternator belt was loose again. Pete had just tightened the belt only a few weeks ago.
Something more was wrong. Something critical and dangerous was wrong.
Find out what else went wrong and what could have ruined their engine, order The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.
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The Fourth of July holiday weekend is the highlight of summer on Lake Erie. We untied our lines around noon July third. As we motored out the end of the Portage River in Port Clinton we raised the main, the mizzen and then the jib. Beside us were our friends Phil and Sue on Whitehawk, a shiny new Passport 41 sailboat. Up went their main followed by their colorful spinnaker. What a beautiful day! What a beautiful sight! The wind slowly died off. But that didn't bother us because now we were going slow enough to troll for Lake Erie walleye. I reeled in a medium size walleye and then filleted it on the back deck. We enjoyed fresh walleye for dinner anchored off Middle Bass Island.
The next morning we motored southeast to Huron. There was very little wind and what wind we had was on our bow. My Mom and Dad drove four miles to the yacht club to greet us and take me back to their home. While picking raspberries with my Mom in her yard I got stung by a wasp. I swell up a lot whenever I get stung, so I was miserable Saturday night.
Sunday was my family reunion picnic next to the lake. My Uncle Glen and his daughter Renee decided to sail back from Huron to Port Clinton with us. I hadn't seen my Uncle Glen in at least 10 years. I really enjoyed visiting while we cruised back to our homeport. Uncle Glen took the helm for much of the trip home and said that this was the best July fourth holiday weekend he ever had. But poor Renee couldn't keep our big picnic lunch down. We got to see the whole lunch again come out of her mouth. Lunch didn't look as delicious the second time around. It had to be one of her worst holidays.
So much for fun holiday weekend trips... Our focus needed to be on our big trip to the ocean.
Find out how they stayed focused, order The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.
Sunday, July 26 at 3:40 p.m. we cast off our lines from our dock. We both fought back tears as we waved goodbye to our friends on the dock. We were both anxious. We didn't raise the sails because neither of us could think clearly. Were we beginning a great adventure or a great mistake? Lucky for us, we had an easy 2-hour trip to Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island. We had pizza for dinner on shore and then I enjoyed an evening kayak ride.
Monday, July 26, was a day of superlatives. We had our first sail as cruisers and our first foreign country (Canada) as cruisers. I had the fastest ride ever on La Boatique. The boat was the highest it would ever be on this ocean bound trip above sea level. Maybe we were embarking on a great adventure after all.
We departed Put-in-Bay with an easy 10-knot wind on our beam. The wind steadily increased. We expected the wind to let up as we approached the Detroit River. But instead, the wind turned to our back and funneled up the river. We were not prepared for the 20 to 25 knot wind since we had all three sails up. We pulled in over half of our roller-furling jib and then later pulled all of it in as we entered the channel. Sailing in these turbulent waters was more like a white water rafting adventure with sails instead of paddles for power. The strong Detroit River current was heading toward us while the 4-foot choppy waves were coming from behind us. Pete was at the helm. Steering was not easy. We were often above our hull speed of 7.7 knots. Once as we surfed down a wave we hit a surprising 8.8 knots! The "white water raft" ride was a thrill, but I was relieved when Pete suggested we take the sails down and motor the rest of the way to La Salle, Ontario.
At La Salle Mariners Yacht Club we met a Danish couple (Tove and Bjorn Dolby) that had sailed all the way from Denmark. Pete was fascinated with the tales of their experiences. We purchased about 30 charts from them covering many places throughout the world (South America, New Zealand, Australia, Cuba, and the U.S.) We worked on the boat and relaxed for a few days.
From La Salle Mariners Yacht Club we sailed southeast to Huron, Ohio for one last visit with my family. While in Huron, Pete learned a lot about refrigeration. He replaced the large front load Norcold with a more efficient Grunert top load refrigerator. This was a big do-it-yourself job and kept Pete very busy for all of the hot muggy days. I spent a lot of time designing and updating my web page. I wanted to be able to share our adventure with anyone who might be interested. I believed that writing a web page was the best way to do it. We also reviewed our supplies. We added some items and removed others.
Gregg Boehler (a single handed sailor) alone on the boat named Atlantic High met us in Huron. Gregg was headed for the ocean. Atlantic High and La Boatique would sail side by side for how long we could not know. Gregg would be our friendly neighbor in a lifestyle that would require a new neighborhood nearly every night.