OWL safe and sound in Coinjock, NC

Where is Coinjock? Probably the first thing that comes to mind when reading the title. It is on the entrance to the canal that joins the Currituck Sound and the Albermarle Sound. Coinjock consists of two marinas...the nice one and the not so nice one with a pool. We chose the one with the pool. We are relaxing on docks after enjoying a great sail across the Currituck. The boat is sailing well and people come up to us at each marina to comment on her.

We plan to depart here first thing in the morning for the Alligator River Marina. We will cross the Albermarle Sound and should arrive by early evening.

S.V. OWL passes through the bridges and locks south of Norfolk

We are off to a great start this morning, our timing was perfect leaving Norfolk this morning, we made each bridge opening without having to wait, until we reached the Gilmerton bridge. We had to wait for a train to pass before we could get a bridge opening. Waiting there gave us the chance to check out a very cool decomissioned submarine tender called the USS Simon Lake.

After we cleared the Gilmerton bridge we reached the split of the Virginia Cut and the Great Dismal Swamp Canal. We have chosen to take the Virginia Cut due to its greater depth and better access to fuel along the way.

We will be entering a very long unpopulated stretch of the ICW today, tonight's destination Coinjock, NC.

The Adventures Continue... The Owl arrives in Norfolk, VA

Today we sailed the S.V. OWL from Deltaville, VA to Norfolk, VA. We had light wind and it was a slow motor/sail down the Chesapeake Bay. We had calm seas and the motor is running well. We spent a good bit of the day planning our next few days through the various sounds and canals in North Carolina.


Our greatest victory of they day was getting Captain Jim Baker's phone back up after it's dip in the bilge of the S.V. OWL. The phone started working inside of the AT&T store as we were about to purchase a new one. After some minor surgery under indirect supervision from contractor Andrew Godfrey, it is now fully functional. We were able to recover these pictures from our adventure into rural Virginia to get supplies to fix the cooling system onboard.

The culprit, the one place where the floorboards were spaced widely enough to allow a blackberry to slide through.

The assorment of shotgun shells, a VHF radio, and knives in Roy's truck

First Mate Chris Davis wearing the local hunt club hat while driving to the marine supply store.

They even like North Carolina BBQ in Virginia.

Tomorrow we will pull off docks and head for Coinjock, NC on the far side of the Currituck Sound.

Goodnight from Norfolk, VA.

The Owl in Deltaville, VA

We spent last night on the transient dock at Fishing Bay Harbor Marina in Deltaville, VA. Deltaville is a great town to come into on a wooden sailboat, at one time it was the boat building capital of the the Chesapeake, and every marina in town has its share of wooden boats.



We spent the afternoon making repairs to the standing rigging, which had loosened up after a full day under sail. This was expected, it has been a long time since the Owl has had all of her sail out. Luckily this gave Chris the opportunity to do one of his favorite things: get hoisted up the mast in a homemade bosun's seat!



After our repairs were made we were greeted by a friend of ours, Mark Powell, who came down from Richmond. Mark keeps several boats at Fishing Bay Marina, including 2 classic wooden Herreshoff sailboats and a Catalina 42. Mark took us on a tour of the many local boatyards, where we saw the charred remains of 4 boats that caught fire back in June. We actually heard about this fire on the VHF radio and saw the smoke while passing Deltaville on the Oyster Catcher delivery.



For dinner we decided to try a local restaurant that none of us had been to: Cocomo's. We highly recommend if you are ever in Deltaville that you eat here and get the "steamer medley." Any other order would be the wrong choice. This "medley" is more of a feast than a dinner, a veritable mountain of steamed crab, clams, shrimp and vegtables.



We are off to a nice start this morning making an easy 6 knots down the Chesapeake. Tonight's destination: Norfolk.

S.V. Owl under sail south on the Chesapeake Bay

After Captain Jim Baker and First Mate Chris Davis made minor repairs to the cooling system on the boat we got underway from Reedville, VA. Our destination for the evening is Deltaville, VA.

We had a morning adventure getting the supplies we needed to flush the coolant system. We borrowed a truck from Roy who was out crabbing this morning and wouldn't need it. He actually gave us permission to use it over the VHF as we were explaining out needs to the marina. We have dubbed this marina "the friendliest marina on earth". Honestly, if it weren't for being downwind of the tuna factory, we think it would really take off. We took pictures of the truck and its assorted upgrades, including but not limited to: built in VHF, several knives, ammo, hunting hats, and a don't buy made in China bumper sticker. These pictures were tragically lost when Captains Jim's blackberry fell into the bilge, it turns out a mixture of oil, seawater, and coolant is bad for electronics.


We have a nice 8-10 knot SW wind and are making 6-8 knots down the Chesapeake Bay. We decided that this would be a perfect day to put up the spinaker.

S.V. OWL enters the Chesapeake Bay

The Lundy Charters delivery team aboard S.V. OWL has arrived at the Chesapeake Bay.

After topping off on fuel and working out a few rigging issues on our sail down the Potomac, we arrived safely in Reedville, VA.

The heat exchanger on board was not cycling the freshwater/coolent as well as it should have been and was causing the engine to run hot. We performed some work on it underway to bring the temperature down and will be flushing the system in the morning to resolve this issue.

SV Owl departs Colonial Beach

The delivery team woke to find clear skies and cool temperarures, a perfect day to begin a delivery. At 0710 the Owl and her crew departed the Monroe Bay Marina. Today's destination: Reedville, VA.

Captain Jim Baker and First Mate Chris Davis on board OWL and ready for AM Vessel Delivery Departure

Captain Jim Baker and First Mate Chris Davis arrived in Colonial Beach this evening. Contractor Taylor Furst dropped us off and helped with setup logistics. Upon arrival we stowed our gear and made minor predeparture repairs. We needed to replace the marine battery on board. Luckily we made it to the marine supply store 5 minutes before closing.

Tomorrow we will set sail on the S.V. OWL for Reedville. This promises to be one of our most adventurous vessel deliveries to date.

Lundy Charters to Begin the S.V. OWL Delivery on Monday August 4th

Lundy Charters Founders Chris Davis and Jim Baker will Depart for Colonial Beach, VA to deliver the S.V. OWL to Oriental, NC.

M.V. Oyster Catcher Delivery Complete - On Docks in Darien, CT

With the M.V. Oyster Catcher safely on docks in Darien, CT, Captain Jim Baker and Captain Geoff Werner have completed the delivery.

The Oyster Catcher, back home in Darien, CT

M.V. Oyster Catcher has entered New York Harbor

At 0500 on June 6th, the M.V. Oyster Catcher passed under Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and entered New York Harbor. Captain Geoff Werner is glad to be home at last. Captain Jim Baker is enjoying his first time in New York by watching the sunrise over Manhattan from the bridge of the Oyster Catcher.

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at Sunrise
Statue of Liberty
The United Nations
The view from the bridge of the M.V. Oyster Catcher as we approached Hell's Gate

Captain Jim Baker at the helm of the Oyster Catcher as she enters New York Harbor

M.V. Oyster Catcher passes Barnegat Bay, NJ

At 2100, the M.V. Oyster Catcher sailed past the entrance to Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. We are making almost 8 knots through calm seas.
We anticipate passing through New York Harbor early in the morning. We should be on docks in Darien, CT by noon tomorrow.

M.V. Oyster Catcher pulls off docks in Cape May, NJ and heads for home

The bad weather has passed and the sea state has calmed down. At 1200 hours on June 5, the M.V. Oyster Catcher pulled off docks in Cape May, NJ. We plan to head up the coast of New Jersey and pull into New York harbor early in the morning on June 6.

M.V. Oyster Catcher Standing By in Cape May

M.V. Oyster Catcher arrives safely in Cape May, NJ

After exiting the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal the M.V. Oyster Catcher and her crew crossed the Delaware Bay. We arrived safely at the South Jersey Marina in Cape May, NJ just as a low pressure front was hitting the New Jersey coast. We weathered the storm on docks here at the marina. We will be standing by until the tornado watch has passed and the sea state calms down offshore and allows us to make our trip up the New Jersey coast safely. First Mate Chris Davis will depart today to return to North Carolina where he works as a paramedic. The delivery will continue with Captain Geoff Werner and Captain Jim Baker.


Our Location:

Pictured Below is the South Jersey Marina where we are waiting for the offshore sea state to settle down:

The pinpoints below indicate out position as we made our way to Darien. The top pinpoint is our final destination

The Weather:

The sea state us currently up and the New Jersey is under a Tornado Watch. S winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Highest seas during the evening. Thunderstorms and showers with visability occasionally below 1 nm.

M.V. Oyster Catcher finishes repairs and pulls off docks

At 1300, the M.V. Oyster Catcher pulled off docks to resume the delivery to Connecticut after completing repairs. One of our crew, Fred Brehm departed for New York on our layover. However, Captain Geoff Werner, Captain Jim Baker, and First Mate Chris Davis remain on board to complete the trip.




Captain Geoff Werner and First Mate Chris Davis finishing the repairs to the engine's battery system.
After getting the parts we needed to complete the repair, we finished installing the new engine battery system which is pictured below:

Update of the M.V. Oyster Catcher from Bear, Delaware

After our 24 hour shakedown run from the Severn River Marina, Virgina to Bear, Delaware we stopped to take on fuel. While going over the systems during out stop, we discovered several issues with the engine's electrical system.











Pictured: Captain Geoff Werner troubleshooting the engine wiring harness.


Upon further inspection of the system, we discovered several failed selector switches and a two bad solenoids. We suspect that these problems were caused by a short in the boat's AC battery charging and house battery bridging system. We rebuilt the engine electrical system to exclude the unknown short and are now awaiting parts to compete our repair. The M.V. Oyster Catcher is standing by in Bear, Delaware. We will post an update of our progress when we have completed our repairs and are back underway.

The culprit: A failed solenoid switch on the port engine

M.V. Oyster Catcher PSA

While taking on fuel at the Summit North Marina in Bear, Delaware we had time to upload this "important" public service announcement.

C&D Canal

At 0400, we entered the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Captain Jim Baker and Chris Davis on the top deck of Oyster Catcher

M.V. Oyster Catcher Approaching Baltimore

After making our way North up the Chesapeake Bay the M.V. Oyster Catcher is now passing under the William Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge.

A brick Lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay

Captain Geoff Werner writing in the ship's log.

Oyster Catcher Underway in the Chesapeake Bay

Captain Geoff Werner on the bow on Oyster Catcher

Captain Geoff Werner and Captain Jim Baker looking at satellite photos of the route.

After a short delay because of tornado warnings, Oyster Catcher pulled off docks at 0600 this morning and is now underway and making 8 knots on our way up the Chesapeake Bay.

Oyster Catcher

Today Captain Jim and Chris arrived at the Severn Bay Marina in Hayes, VA where will begin the delivery of the Oyster Catcher, a 75 foot wooden cruiser to Connecticut. We spent the day orienting ourselves to the boat and preparing for departure. We have been slightly delayed by strong storms moving through the area this evening, and we will leave at first light.

The Lundy Charters flag flying atop Oyster Catcher

Oyster Catcher on docks in Virgina

Lundy Charters Begins Overhauling a Sparkman Stehpens Design for Delivery

The Lundy Charters Team has begun to overhaul the "OWL".

The boat is a 28ft Sparkman Stephens Design, built in China for its original owner in 1963.



The condition in which we found the boat: The tarp covering the cockpit had been ripped. The battery had been charged dry. The engine and instruments had been flooded by rainwater.










Hauling "OWL"





















Owl had been last painted two years ago and was in need of a new coat of bottom paint.









Powerwashing OWL's hull in preparation for repainting the bottom paint.























We found an issue with the hull: There was a small area that had been recaulked using silicon. This is a problem in wood boats because the silicon does not expand with the wood. This can cause the hull to bow and put stress on the screws. Although it is very minor in this case, when the boat gets recaulked, we will need to change out the caulk for cotton based caulk that can expand and contract with the wood hull.



You can see the slight bowing in the hull from the use of silicon caulk.













Here are some of the screws we pulled out of the hull to check for corrosion. As you can see here, the screws are in good shape. This is a good indication that the hull is in good shape.








The Atomic 4 engine in "OWL". It will need some work to get back into good shape after it was submerged.

Don our surveyor checks the condition of the hull.


The Cockpit after a thorough cleaning.
The hull after a fresh coat of bottom paint and a new bootstrap

Owl after a fresh coat of paint and a new set of tarps and bungees to keep her dry in her slip.