A longtime CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, historic Edenton always has an exciting calendar of events and places to visit! Edenton is at the mouth of the Chowan River on the northwest shore of Albemarle Sound.
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Click Here To Open A Chart View Window Zoomed To the Location of Edenton Harbor City Docks
I’m very thankful you loyal readers are all aboard. I hope this is your favorite subscription. ~J
If you’ve just joined our engaging little community, (and there are dozens of you lately, I’m honored!) please read SPARS & SPARRING, my introductory piece.…. ~J When I considered the word laminated prior to being immersed in the process, I thought of lamination as something you do to a precious photograph or note; my Mom’s recipe cards are laminated, protected, coated with a simple layer of plastic. Our process here, while the same terminology, is remarkably more complex, as I alluded to in my science project post a few weeks ago.
I didn’t think it would add another ton or so to our weight and increase our confidence tenfold. But it will add an entire ton, actually, 2,000 pounds, to her already impressive 40 ton mass, and allow us to navigate any of the big blue seas that we choose. Prior to the four layers of 16-ounce satin weave fiberglass that is being smoothly and labor-intensely adhered to our bottom, we prepared all the raw surfaces with four coats of the same epoxy resin that will saturate that fiberglass in order to ensure a good bond. The final section that needed this treatment was STEADFAST’s unique stern, or farthest-aft point, which is intricate, interesting and crucial; a conjunction of so many aspects that we haven’t even discussed them all.(!) The majority of the planking is original, while the teak-overlayed transom (the actual flat back part of the vessel for you beloved desert dwellers) needed its bottom section replaced. Steve steamed that board to its new shape and secured it with enough bronze screws to feel the comfort of finality.
Until I sent this post out to the thousand or two folks that read SPARRING every week, just God and I knew what it looked like back there, regardless of religion or commitment; I chiseled and then sanded the teak plugs with two grits of paper, wiped it free of dust with something toxic, admired it, rolled our exothermic epoxy resin formula on four times and was pleased, maybe even thrilled, to say that when this project is over, I’m never going to see it again. Never.
Working alone in my boat tent amongst the almost-too-bright-sunshine, I balanced, resin in one hand and dripping brush in another, spread-eagled, a foot on plywood and the other on a not-quite-level sawhorse with one leg out the door because the fit is, well, nearly impossible. I know better than to not be careful, but the need to get this project done can prevail. In the back of my sweating mind, I contemplated randomly how many hours it would take someone to find me if I took a tumble. I’m sure the calculation gave me better balance; this whole damn project has given me perspective. For posterity and history and future days reminiscing in rocking chairs, I snapped documenting photos, but they didn’t do the situation justice as I leaned backward and the cheap plywood cracked a warning beneath my stained boots. As a side note, there’s no such thing as cheap plywood anymore, low quality, not price. I admonished myself one more time for touching something I’m not supposed to be touching while this ridiculously sticky formula is on hands, forearms,….every surface. My left shoelace, already too long, refused to stay tied because it, too, is laminated, although not intentionally; still barely tie-able, I crack it loose, re-loop and am not as surprised as I used to be at my ragged, blackened, fingernail crescents when I peel off the blue plastic gloves. In my previous life as a Caterer, those same fingers were less arthritic, generally smelled of fresh garlic, sometimes rosemary, and had my custom chile spice blend crescents more often than not. I must say those aromas are far better than acetone and resin; and this fourth life of mine is teaching me things previously inconceivable, unknown and unexplored.
I looked up at my work then, really looked, and thought to myself, this is beautiful. And I’ll never see it again. If you need to pop back up to that picture, do it; it’s not traditionally heart-stoppingly perfect, it’s old and cool and tough with faults galore; I’m glad and a tad flabbergasted that I can still appreciate it after all STEADFAST has put me through. As many of you readers have commented, it must be true love. I bought the Caterpillar steel-toed beauties last fall, one size too big, to accommodate two pairs of smartwool, not imagining, then, I’d be sporting them for another season. Or did I? I understood the back-of-mind potential that they might just come in handy so decided against disposing of them in some fiery ceremonial burning. Women’s intuition? Youbetcha. It’s one of a string of days. Sticky. Tacky. Stuck. “Sometimes the acetone washes the resin off and sometimes it doesn’t,” I’m exasperated. “How is that possible?” One of the innumerable mysteries of the current status. My favorite water-view rocking chair beckons, the cushions propped up to dry after our latest deluge. I do not answer. I want to, but I can’t. Now, with two layers of the four completed on the starboard side, anyone can still peer through history and see the intricate details of this sailing vessel’s life; (the fiberglass, at this stage, is translucent). We modified as much as necessary while still preserving everything that we possibly could in the most seamless way possible. We’ll never see it again. I say that hopefully. It’s the good news.
I’m grateful so many of you have been following along. There’s a certain irony to the fact that we are coating our transient home with something remarkably permanent. I hope you have an interesting, productive and perhaps ironic week yourselves as December descends. ~J
Are you entertained? Is this shareable? Do it please! So many new folks commented that last week! I love those fresh perspectives. If you like my work and want to keep it out there, just hit the little circular arrow symbol (restack) and this story will be sent to other folks who might just think like we do. Or may never be seen again. Share SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE My publication is free to all who are interested in the trials, trepidation and joy that boat dwelling can bring. Come on aboard!
I so appreciate your support of my work. Have a wonderful week!
© 2025 Janice Anne Wheeler
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Harbour Town Yacht Basin, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, is ready for your reservation with newly renovated docks, upgraded electrical service and onSpot WiFi, also a CRUISERS NET SPONSOR. And, as always, numerous activities at the Sea Pines Resort are offered for your enjoyment, as you will see in the Event Schedule below. Hilton Head Island is absolutely marvelous any time of year.
Kerry Maveus
kmaveus@hunter-pr.com | www.hunter-pr.com
mobile: 831-917-2878
P.O. Box 1049 | Pebble Beach, CA | 93953
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
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If you’ve ever fallen off a moving boat, grabbed a stray line and managed to clamber back on board, then your spirit-Pilgrim—and mine—is a man named John Howland.
In 1620, Howland was a passenger on the Mayflower bound for New England carrying a band of religious “Separatists.” These are the kinds of folks who would say things like, “cleanliness is next to godliness” but found they were unable to practice what they preached while voyaging on 17th century ship.
Below decks, the Mayflower was foul from the stench of 102 human bodies, especially when everyone huddled inside during a fierce storm. Howland decided it would be a good idea to go on deck for some fresh air, and found himself tossed into the raging North Atlantic ocean on a leeward roll of the ship a’hull.
Somehow in the turmoil, Howland saw before him a line being dragged through the water and snatched it. It was said to have been an unsecured topsail halyard. From experience I can say that Howland’s world would have entered a stage akin to a movie in slow motion. Once the men on deck realized what had happened they dragged him back and over the gunwale like a prize fish.
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A year later, this guy had a little more to be thankful for than the others when Pilgrims sat down for that initial feast with the Wampanoags. He had survived the North Atlantic and, unlike some of his Plimouth neighbors, their first New England winter. “Divine providence” is how Pilgrims would describe it. Nowadays, we might call it luck.
Howland began life in America as an indentured servant but went on to hold important positions in government and commerce until his death at age 80. Along the way, he married Elizabeth Tilley and took that “Pilgrim Father” title very seriously, as he sired 10 children, who then produced 88 grandchildren. There are an estimated two million Howland descendants living in the U.S. today.
And that isn’t even the astonishing part. Here’s a list of some of them:
George Bush, Franklin Roosevelt and Sarah Palin—who says the universe doesn’t have a sense of humor?
My own story was never as dire. It happened in the days when I sailed out of Newburyport, Massachusetts, from a river only locals can love. The Merrimack River tidal current rips through at 2-3 knots in either direction.
My first sailboat with accomodations was a 28-foot wooden sloop that “sailed like a witch” with a cocky skipper at the helm. This is the story about how I fell off the Meerschaum as she rocked along at hull speed, then managed to get back aboard in just seconds.
Like John Howland, my superpower was luck.
Meerschaum’s freeboard averaged about 20 inches, so she was a wet ride. And she had no lifelines. Three-foot chop had covered everything in spray that day. Everything was soaked as we drove her up between the jetties.
I cut the No. 7 can as we hardened up to make a west-southwest heading, hoping to clear the shallows behind No. 8 nun without tacking. My inexperienced crew took the tiller while I set about cranking in the jib. We were sailing close to the shallows of Plum Island to port.
Atypically, I wasn’t wearing my deck shoes—barefoot, I was.
It happened in a wink. I slipped and launched head-first into the river. I remember my exact thought at the moment of immersion: Boy, you sure (fouled) up this time!
Then, I kid you not, everything slowed down like a Sam Peckinpah action sequence. As my body oh-so-slowwwly rolled underwater, and I faced upward, I saw something moving above me at the surface. Yep, slowwwly.
It was a line. I reached up and snatched the bitter end.
Having only gone out for the day, we left the dinghy tethered to the mooring ball. The dinghy tow rope had been coiled on the fantail but was swept overboard during our lively sail. Neither of us had noticed that we were towing a warp. (Memo to non-New Englanders: Pronounced “waup.”)
Line in hand, my head broke the surface. I found myself returned to Earth’s time-space continuum. My hapless crew, still at the tiller, was looking back at me. Meerschaum’s weather helm was rounding her up toward the sandbar. “Pull it toward you,” I hollered. He drew the tiller to his chest. Meerschaum accelerated, me in tow.
Time sped up. I swear I was back on that boat in five seconds. Like Howland, I was in my 20s and fit.
This was in August, and we didn’t wait for Thanksgiving to celebrate. That was a day for Myers rum and grapefruit juice at Michael’s Harborside.
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LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Sometimes he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
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Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
When all else fails, try journalism.
“Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make,” the villainous Lord Farquaad says in the 2001 animated film “Shrek.” Memo to sailors in the lower Caribbean: Dude might as well be talking to you. U.S. Southern Command is bombing drug boats because Washington hasn’t accrued sufficient gumption to go in and bomb Nicolas Maduro himself, pretender to the throne of Venezuela. Which is the transparently obvious goal of the entire enterprise.
The voluntary reporting deal struck between Dietmar Petutschnig of Ocean Posse and America’s military leadership is designed to help U.S. forces distinguish friend from foe. It is also an acknowledgement by both parties that the risk of Caribbean cruisers being killed in a drone strike is not zero. “Recreational sailors could become collateral damage in an environment where accurate vessel identification is increasingly difficult,” said Petutschnig, founder of the Ocean Posse, an association of more than 1,500 long-distance cruisers. “Warships and patrol aircraft operating at high speed often have only minutes to decide if an unknown radar contact is innocent or hostile.” The worst example of the U.S. Navy’s ability to screw up happened back in 1988, when the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner, killing all 290 people aboard. Iran Air Flight 655 was traveling down an established air corridor, it’s Airbus transponder pinging away, when the two missiles struck. The U.S. paid off the familes—$62 million—but never apologized. In a service that ends the career of any captain whose ship goes aground or gets a scrape on its topsides, the fate of the Vincennes skipper was downright baffling. He was awarded a medal for the period involved—the Legion of Merit. As suggested, SOUTHCOM is conducting two operations simultaneously. It is hitting boats operated by drug cartels, the overt enemy, while maintaining the fiction that the Maduro government is also a major player in the trade. Like the Navy’s recent sparring partner on the Red Sea—the Houthis—the various South American cartels are expert at asymetrical and covert warfare. While opponents of the Trump administration bemoan the extra-judicial killings of the drug boat crews, most of whom are poor fishermen, the cartels are likely more concerned about the loss of product.
Put yourself in the position of a drug lord for a moment. Fast open boats, powered by multiple outboard motors, are being picked off like duckies at a carnival shooting gallery. Sailboats and motoryachts are not so easily disguishable as smuggling craft. You can bet the cocaine trade has already begun the transition from speed to deception with the knowledge that many monohulls and most catamarans look alike from the air. There is also the potential for tactical misdirection, as Petutschnig suggested in his announcement earlier this week when he mentioned “the potential for malicious false reports labeling legitimate cruising yachts as suspected drug-running vessels.” Then, there was the rather ominous suggestion that everyone get the equivalent of an ID card with photos of their boats “from an elevated angle.” To wit, cruisers should:
Presumably, this will allow the drone operator to use AI to determine whether to pull the trigger with you in the crosshairs. (And hope that SOUTHCOM doesn’t have intelligence that a cartel happens to be using a Beneteau 44 just like yours.) Which begs the question: Instead of filing float plans, posting aerial photos of your boats and all that other stuff, why don’t you just get off the battlefield? That would be the conservative play, like leaving the hurricane belt during hurricane season. As I said to a reader with whom I was discussing the topic: “If I find myself in a dangerous neighborhood, and I’m in a car, I’m going to drive until I’m somewhere else.” That’s the beauty of having a boat. A boat can go. But I have a feeling most cruisers in the lower Caribbean won’t. Petutschnig was asked why not. “Warm waters in winter have a special attraction,” Petutschnig said. “I wish I had a crystal ball—but with so many military assets in the region the possibility of ‘accidents’ increases drastically. The tempo points to activity over the next 30 days. And to top it off, there are thrill seekers who want to be close to conflict and witness the front lines.” So, maybe it’s best if we just get it over with—invade Venezuela. You know we want to. That way, cruisers can get back to their pot-luck suppers and piña coladas. The Navy can get back to figuring out how to stop China from invading Taiwan. Drug runners can get back to their old cat-and-mouse games, and the Venezuelan people can learn new and novel ways to suffer. LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
This newsroom runs on tequila. Please support the distiller that supports Loose Cannon.
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© 2025
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The hurricane season for this year ends on Sunday, and named storms this season have been below average.
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Elizabeth City sits at the southern terminus of the Dismal Swamp Canal and has the well-earned reputation of being a transient-friendly town with free dockage for 72 hours.
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
When all else fails, try journalism. Voluntary Reporting Regime Announced for Cruising ‘Hot’ WatersOcean Posse and U.S. Southern Command Develop Procedures for Eastern Pacific and Caribbean
These are the areas in which the U.S. military is targeting vessels it says are smuggling drugs. The Ocean Posse, a community of more than 1,500 long-distance cruising sailors, today announced a new cooperative voluntary reporting arrangement with U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) designed to improve safety and reduce the risk of misidentification for private recreational vessels transiting high-risk areas of the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. The agreement comes amid growing mariner concerns over sharply degraded Search and Rescue (SAR) capabilities in Venezuelan waters, the potential for malicious false reports labeling legitimate cruising yachts as suspected drug-running vessels, and warnings from multiple governments that parts of the region are becoming operationally “hot” due to heightened counter-narcotics and security operations. “Recreational sailors could become collateral damage in an environment where accurate vessel identification is increasingly difficult,” said Dietmar Petutschnig, founder of the Ocean Posse. “Warships and patrol aircraft operating at high speed often have only minutes to decide if an unknown radar contact is innocent or hostile. A properly filed float plan and up-to-date open-source vessel profile could be the difference between a simple fly-by and a dangerous interdiction.” Under the new voluntary regime, captains making offshore passages (beyond 12 nautical miles) in the Eastern Pacific south or east of Huatulco, Mexico, and north of Ecuador, as well as in the Caribbean south of the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, USVI, and BVI and north of South America, are strongly recommended to enact this protocol: Pre-Departure Actions
The U.S. Navy build up is part of a pressure campaign against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Underway Best Practices
Dedicated 24/7 rescue coordination hotlines for family and shore-side contacts are:
“This is not mandatory, but it is the best layer of protection available right now,” Petutschnig said. “A float plan filed directly with SOUTHCOM’s humanitarian notification desk gives US forces immediate access to proof that your vessel is a legitimate cruising yacht with known passengers and itinerary—information that can prevent escalation during an encounter.” The arrangement was developed in direct consultation with SOUTHCOM staff and reflects the command’s interest in reducing risk to innocent mariners while maintaining operational security. The PDF below contains full instructions for captains.
Additional resources and the latest safety seminars for the region are available at www.oceanposse.com/floatplan and www.floatplancentral.org. The Ocean Posse is one of the world’s largest community of private vessels undertaking long-distance cruising, providing weather routing, port clearances, safety seminars, marina discounts and real-time marine intelligence to its members. LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Sometimes he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
This newsroom runs on tequila. Please support the distiller that supports Loose Cannon.
For free shipping, use the promo code LCFREESHIP (which saves you $19.95).
© 2025
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Harborwalk Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSORS, is only a boardwalk stroll away from Georgetown’s Historic District for history, entertainment, great food, and shopping. Harborwalk Marina is the third marina on your starboard side as you enter the very protected waters of Georgetown.
Due to last-minute cancellations, Harborwalk Marina has space available for winter layover dockage from December until April. Contact them at
843.546.4250 or stay@harborwalkmarina.com for more information.
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