Dear Family & Friends,
I am forwarding the first part of my log from onboard Lord's Prayer. Most of you are receiving this because you have asked to have it sent to you. If at some time in the future you wish to not continue receiving the log please let me know and I will arrange to have you dropped from distribution - a service provided by my shore-based Internet access provider.
If you wish to communicate with me aboard Lord's Prayer, I would ask that you please read "INFORMATION REGARDING MY EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS", which is included at
the end of this first part of the log.
Thanks
Love/Warmest regards,
Jim Kidd

LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 01:
January 23, 2000
1723 Eastern Standard Time (EST): Lord's Prayer is underway from Cambridge Creek enroute (hopefully) to the Caribbean. She pushes through the ice, which is about an inch thick in the creek. Forward speed is about 1.0 kt. Outside the creek, the ice is thicker where the wind has pushed layers - one or more beneath another - and created barriers that are less penetrable. Sometimes the ice brings the boat to a stop and it becomes necessary to back her down maybe 10 or 15 yards in order to regain some forward headway and use her momentum to push through the ice. The ice is slushy in places but there are spots that are firmer. It would be easier to see the best route through the ice in daylight. But waiting for daybreak might mean being frozen in for the season. From time to time as I back and fill in the ice the engine warning horn sounds and the water temperature warning light illuminates. When this happens, I shut down the engine and let it rest for a bit. When restarted the engine warnings sound briefly but then quit. (Somewhat later in a cell-phone conversation with David Wheatley of Generation III, I learn that this is not an uncommon occurrence for watermen; slushy salt ice gets into the heat exchanger blocking the normal flow of cooling water. By giving the
engine a short rest, it turns out I had allowed the ambient heat of the engine adequate time to melt some of the slush in the heat exchanger - enough that water flow was restored. In time I discover that the use of intermediate power settings reduces the likelihood of picking up a slush blockage in the engine water intake.
1817 Lord's Prayer breaks into clear water at about center channel; a run that would normally take 5-10 minutes has taken just under an hour.
1845 Passed abeam Green Can C "23" marking the channel opposite Hambrooks Bar.
1900 More ice is encountered passing Howell point but it does not present any significant difficulty.
1915 Passed lighted buoy G "19" at Horns Point.
1930 A major ice pack is encountered while approaching the narrows between the shoals at Castle Haven and Chlora Points. There is no clear route around or through the ice pack. With the bow against the ice the engine is running ahead slow and with the tide on the ebb forward progress shows on the GPS as 0.4 kts. The entire icepack is moving slowly through the narrows. On radar there is a large well-defined contact just off the starboard bow, which may be ice that has been thrust upward by the action of wind and current around these two points (my imagination at work). But it is too dark to see the contact with the naked eye.
1945 Secured the engine. A large flock of Canadian geese is heard cackling away
over by Chlora Point.
2113 Passed the charted position of flashing red 4M "16" (a tripod) that marks the shoals at Castle Haven Point. The light was not in sight - perhaps taken out by the ice. Progress continues through the narrows at about a half-knot. The current is running at its strongest at the present time and will continue to ebb until just after midnight. This is a good opportunity to make dinner, stow the last of the gear and perhaps get a little rest before the current reverses. The trick at that time will be to disentangle from the icepack to avoid being carried back through the narrows.
2245 Turned in for a couple of hours sleep.

January 24, 2000
0045 The tidal current has gone slack and the icepack has rotated about 90 degrees clockwise. The large contact off to starboard has not moved relative to the boat. It can now be seen that the contact is a flock of geese that is camped out on the ice for the night - the same Canadian geese that I had first heard when Lord's Prayer came to a stop in the icepack. The boat backs easily out the path s
he had come in.
0115 Lord's Prayer is in clear water again.
0140 More ice is encountered while approaching abeam of Todds Point; on the first encounter it is slushy and the boat pushes easily on through. On the next encounter it is firmer; it brings the boat to a stop. She backs away easily enough. A turn to the north and a push through some areas of slushy ice bring the boat back into clear water.
0210 Lord's Prayer has picked up a little pitching and rolling movement due to wave action on the surface of the water. Hopefully this is a sign of good clear water ahead.
0234 Lord's Prayer passes the lighted bell buoy R "10" off Cooks Point and egresses from the Choptank River into Chesapeake Bay - a run that ordinarily takes about 2 hours. This one has taken 7.
0245 More ice is encountered while passing the shoals west of Cooks Point. The boat trembles as she plows into the larger chunks of ice but she pushes right on through, hardly slowing from her 5.5 kt forward speed. While in between the chunks of ice the boat rocks gently from the wave action kicked up by a 15 kt NW wind.
0333 Abeam lighted buoy R "6" at the Sharp Island Shoals
0401 Abeam Red Nun N "2" west of James Island.
0430 Hauled out the new dual jib which was rolled up on an over-sized Harken roller rig; the boat's two whisker poles are pushing the clews to either side. The wind is almost dead astern. Secured the engine (at 1349.2 total hours) and the boat slips effortlessly along at 5.5-6 kts. Taylors Island is off to port and a large merchant vessel passes down the starboard side with her masthead, range and
starboard running lights visible. The next turn point is 36 Nautical Miles (NM) ahead.
0517 Another merchant vessel passes > NM to starboard. The wind has freshened to 18G21 kts and the boat is traveling close to her 7 kts hull speed. Her progress seems almost effortless under the new dual jib and the relatively flat water.
0530 Passed abeam Cove Point light.
0550 A third merchant vessel passes to starboard.
0650 A waterman's workboat passes close aboard to starboard.
0710 A fourth merchant vessel headed north passes to port.
0717 Sunrise.
0830 A fifth merchant vessel passes to port headed up the bay.
0900 Passed Point Lookout at the mouth of the Potomac River.
0905 A sixth merchant vessel headed north passes 1 NM to port.
0915 A tug & tow heading north pass 1.5 NM to starboard.
1027 The boat passes abeam of lighted bell Y "SP" off Smith Point.
1319 Lord's Prayer passes abeam of red nun "2R" marking the entrance to the Rappahannock River.
1400 The wind has increased 20-25G28 kts. Waves are choppy about 4' high. With the boat being pushed above her hull speed she has taken to doing an exaggerated amount of yawing along with accompanying large rolls. This makes the ride less than comfortable. In an attempt to correct this, I have reefed the dual jib by taking up 6 turns on the Harken roller-furler. This substantially reduces the total sail area and the ride improves dramatically. Forward speed has been reduced only slightly - well worth the trade-off.
1600 Attempted to test the operation of the Robertson AP20 autopilot in the presence of Single Side Band (SSB) radio transmissions/email communications. The SSB puts out 100 watts of power in the MF/HF frequency range and has been the cause of considerable Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) aboard the boat. We have just completed an extensive effort at Generation III Boatyard to shield other electronic equipment that had been affected from this RFI. As I initiated the test by
 attempting a connection with PinOak Communications in New Jersey (my shore email provider) the autopilot began announcing errors in the rudder sensor information. I terminated the transmissions by securing the radio. Since the boat was starting to round up (into the wind) I pulled the companion slide forward to climb over the 4 vertical slide boards into the cockpit and to manually steer the boat
 back to course. I did this just in time to greet a wave as it came over the rail into the cockpit and gave me a good soaking. After steering the boat back on course, I reset the autopilot and went back below to clean up the water that entered the cabin.
1700 Several times during the past hour the autopilot has given me the same error indication it gave me during the SSB test and I have had to take over and reset the autopilot each time this has happened. On these occasions the autopilot has clearly been having difficulties as a result of the increasing wind and waves in the lower Chesapeake. I am confident that the mechanical Monitor wind steering vane can do better in these conditions but it is late in the day to set that up. Gusts to 32kts have been noted and short choppy waves about 5' in height areall about. I will test the autopilot/SSB again later. 1710 From time to time I have heard radio calls from a sailing vessel "Resolute" to the Little Creek Coast Guard; the boat's auxiliary engine has failed and she is sailing back into Hampton Roads. She reported a position that was about 2 NM south of Lord's Prayer's
at the time, but she never comes into sight. The last call heard from Resolute was a "security" call to alert other vessels in Hampton Roads that the sailing auxiliary was entering there under sail and that she had limited maneuverability.
1721 Sunset.
1815 I begin preparations for entering Hampton Roads and the anchorage west of Old Point Comfort - the location of Fort Monroe. I start the auxiliary diesel engine a bit early to be sure it is there when I need it. It has been a bit of a reluctant starter in this winter weather. I learned recently from Chuck Wheatley at Generation III Boatyard that by turning off the engine water intake temporarily the engine would usually start more easily this time of year and begin its warm up. I have further discovered that by turning the cooling water on too quickly after the start one may cause the engine to quit. I expect the engine will be happier once it is swimming in warmer water again.
1820 I take additional turns on the Harken roller furler due to increasing wind, which is now 28G34. It seems as though there is barely a handkerchief of a sail still flying; yet the boat continues to charge downwind - pushing right up to her 7 kt hull speed.
1915 I attempt to fully furl the dual jib that I might enter the anchorage under power but something jams. The clews of the dual jib remain extended about 3 feet. Going forward in the darkness, I am unable to see aloft adequately to determine what has caused the jam. I disconnect the starboard whisker pole from the jib sheet and stow it against the mast. The port pole will not come aft along the sheet and I find that I am unable to disconnect it. It also is jammed. I round the boat into the wind and set the autopilot to hold the heading but the boat is pitching severely in the head wind and chop and the autopilot is unable to hold the heading without increasing the power and driving the boat into the waves. I decide to hold everything as-it-is until I am in a lee from the shore.
1945 Lord's Prayer passes to leeward of the light at Old Point Comfort.
1955 The boat enters the anchorage area west of Old Point comfort.
2008 The boat is anchored in 20' of water on 150' chain rode. An inspection of the problem aloft reveals that the main halyard, which had too much slack had somehow gotten snagged around the roller furler. This was preventing if from fully rolling up. An inspection of the whisker pole showed that its jaws were jammed over the thicker portion of the jib sheet where it had been eye-spliced at the clew. I was able to get hold of the pole and pull on it but it did not budge. Meanwhile the jib was flogging heavily in the strong wind. I went aft and pulled some of the jib off the roller to unsnag the main halyard. I then went forward again to take the slack out of the main halyard before rolling up the jib.  I discovered that I had not only unsnagged the halyard, but the increased flogging of the dual jib had shaken the port whisker pole free. I disconnected and stowed it against the mast. I rolled up the dual jib, rigged a nylon pennant as a shock absorber on the anchor chain and after turning on the masthead anchor light and a setting up a cockpit level light, I secured everything else on deck and went below.
2130 After dinner, my spirits are somewhat buoyed. However gale force winds are now being forecast for the southern end of the Chesapeake (that is not comforting information while riding on an anchor). A major winter snowstorm warning is in effect for the area for tonight and throughout the day tomorrow with winds tapering off late in the day. I shall probably not attempt to move the boat tomorrow- not in that kind of weather.
2200 The wind is NE now gusting to 32 kts.

January 25, 2000
0500 The wind is northerly gusting to 40kts. There are some notable "blow-me-downs" as the boat swings on her anchor and then heels as she is caught by a side blast of the wind. One of these almost rolled me out of my bunk a few minutes ago. A check using the radar indicates no sign of boat movement due to a dragging anchor. The boat's oversized Spade 1400 anchor is holding fast. The Spade was recently cited by Practical Sailor magazine as one of the top new marine products o
f the year (It was invented by a French aerospace engineer, who shipped it to me direct from Tunisia since there is no distributor in the USA yet). It has just earned its berth aboard Lord's Prayer! Equally important, I am grateful to have found good holding ground on this particular day, for as I found in Newfoundland last summer, if the bottom is a very soft mud, say the consistency of grape jelly, there is probably no anchor that will hold in a strong breeze.
0713 Sunrise.
0930 Wind is being reported at 50 mph "steady" at the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel with gusts to 80 mph. Wind at the boat is 20 gusting to 32 - but only every now and then.
1000 Rain has changed to snow pellets, which can be heard hitting the deck and seen splashing in the water nearby.
1030 I started the engine to charge batteries.
1155 Secured the engine (1352.9 hrs). Snow pellets have changed to snow, which has begun to accumulate on deck.
1450 Approximately 2" of snow is accumulated on deck. Visibility is about = NM in blowing snow and the wind has tapered off to 12-15G23 kts.
1635 The snow continues. I shall remain here at anchor overnight. In the morning I shall visit a decision on time of a departure. My general plan from this point on is to enter the Intercoastal Waterway via the Elizabeth River here in Norfolk and to proceed south to Morehead City, NC a trip of some 200 miles. This will get me south of Cape Hatteras, at which point I plan to look for a weather window to begin the offshore portion of a transit to the Caribbean. (There has not been an acceptable weather window going out the mouth of the Chesapeake for the past month).
1722 Sunset.
1930 Started engine to recharge batteries. Snow has stopped. It is about 3" deepon deck.
2010 made several attempts to connect to Pinoak without success. Frequencies attempted were: 5.15, 5.91, and 4.55 Mhz. The last of these attempts resulted in the engine alternator receiving an erroneous signal from the "smart controller" to terminate the battery charging effort.
2020 Secured the engine (1353.7 hrs).
2110 Attempted to make a Pinoak connection on 4.45 Mhz without success. The recommended target frequency for this hour and location was 4.1 Mhz. An attempt on 3.34 Mhz was successful but with frequent errors and quite slow to complete the connection. Downloaded 5 emails and transmitted 2. Baud rate was very slow - 30 to 60. Disconnected and subsequently obtained a good connection with a very low error rate on 4.45 Mhz. Transmitted 2 emails including the large Part 01 of the log. The best baud rate observed for this connection was about 300, which may be
about as good as it gets at this low end of the band (I only noted one error light during the entire transfer). I have seen baud rates as high as 1,000 at the higher end of the radio frequency band.
2140 Read the 5 incoming emails and secured from the communications effort.

January 26, 2000
0930 Exchanged email. The recommended frequency was 8.3 Mhz. First attempt on 8.02 Mhz (the closest Pinoak freq available) resulted in a slow connection with ahigh error rate. RFI at this frequency caused the GFCI outlet at the nav station to "pop". The second frequency attempted (7.95 Mhz) provided good service and there were no GFCI problems. I downloaded the offshore wind & wave charts for the next 48 hours. There is a weather window available now for departure from the Chesapeake - the first in a month. Miraculous!! I will take on some diesel fuel at salt ponds and make preparations to depart as soon as practicable.
1000 I have just learned from a couple of cell phone calls that my first log transmission did not get relayed. I have launched a short test message to see if the problem persists.
1120 Cleared the snow off the deck & started the engine.
1200 Lord's Prayer is underway enroute Salt Pond for Diesel. The water wash-down did not pump any water when weighing anchor. The delivery hose may be frozen and blocked. The anchor brought up some firm-appearing mud with an apparent high iron content (based on a rusty appearance).
1222 Rounded Lighted Buoy R "2" East of Old Point comfort.
1408 Topped off the fuel tank with 26.4 Gal diesel at Salt Ponds Marina.
1415 Lord's Prayer is underway for the Caribbean.
1430 Cleared the channel out of Salt Ponds into the Chesapeake.
1500 Hoisted sail.
1600 (about) secured engine. The boat is on a port beam reach with 15 kts of wind out of the NW.
1721 Sunset
2000 The boat is on a broad port reach with 20-25 kts of wind.  Position is 36-57N 075-33W or 087T/22NM from Cape Henry Light. Heading is 100 degrees true and speed about 7 kts. The dual jib is trimmed to starboard and about 50% reefed. The staysail jib is rigged and the mainsail is single-reefed. The next turn-point (in about 75NM) is my waypoint  #4 (at 36-42N 073-58W) and probably in the vicinity of the west wall of the Gulf Stream. At current speed I am estimating entering the stream around daybreak. My current planned route after waypoint (WP) 4 is WP5: 31-15N 065-40W (this is about 70 NM SW of Bermuda), WP6: 23-55N 060-57W, WP7: 15-15N 059-44W, WP8 13-17N 059-41W, WP9: 13-05N 059-38W, WP10 13-05N 059-37W
(the destination: Barbados). The curved route is intended to take advantage of prevailing winds at this time of year. At current speed ETA at Barbados is in the vicinity of 6 February. It is not likely that this speed will be maintained, however, for the entire trip. Arrival on or around the 9th is probably more likely

END OF LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 01

INFORMATION REGARDING MY EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS
My email link from boat to shore is a unique and sometimes fragile connection that uses Single Side Band (SSB) radio in the MF/HF band. Communications in this band can be affected by a number of factors including the time of day, my geographic location and any ongoing sunspot activity. The shore-based connection, through which I communicate, is Pinoak Digital Corporation - a radio sight in Gladstone, New Jersey. Pinoak has provided me with a proprietary modem. With the modem, my computer (including Pinoak software) and an SSB radio I am able to establish a connection with the Pinoak shore site. Outgoing messages from the boat are first prepared and stored on disk within my computer. They are always stored in a DOS text format to minimize the size of the files sent. When the files are ready to be sent, I next make the connection with Pinoak and then send the files from my hard disk. When these emails, that I have sent, arrive at the shore site, Pinoak computers route them to you via the Internet. Incoming files (to the boat) take the reverse route.  Servers at Pinoak hold my incoming email as it arrives via the Internet until I am able to connect and down load the messages onto my computer. When downloaded these emails go first onto the hard disk within my computer. They cannot be read until after I have disconnected from Pinoak. As you can see, the whole process is a bit labor-intensive. And it can be time consuming. Since communication is not my very top priority when sailing the boat (especially when single-handed), there are likely to be times when communication may become a bit irregular. If that should happen and if you know or suspect that I am encountering some significant weather, or some other challenge, I ask that you please try to not become alarmed simply because you have not heard from me in a little while. This kind of situation is pretty normal. I will do the best I can to do my part and keep up with the communication.
If you choose to communicate with me via the Pinoak connection my email address is wcy3787@pinoak.com and it works just like a regular email address with a few minor differences. Here are some things that I would ask of you:
1.Please send your email in the dos text format only. The address book in your email program should contain a checkbox where you can make the selection "SEND TEXT ONLY TO THIS ADDRESSEE". If you make that selection, there is no more to it!
2.Please do not send any attached files to the boat. If there is a picture or something you feel you must send me, please send it to my shore email kidd@shorenet.net where I will recover it when I get back home.
3.If you use the "Reply to sender" button in your email program PLEASE delete the portion of the message that you received from me. It is probably better and you won't have to concern yourself with this if you initiate a new message whenever sending something to me. I make these requests of you because I compensate Pinoak for its services by the size of the files (both sent and received) over the air regardless of how many times they are sent - and I would like to avoid a major transfer of wealth (major for me anyway)! The normal HTML format of ordinary emails approximately triple
s the size of a text type file. Pictures and other such things add tremendous size to files and although I have to pay for the download, I cannot read them. If you send my correspondence back to me that act doubles the cost of what I have sent to you. When I send out the logs, they are being delivered to a significant number of folks on the distribution list. But the message only goes over the air
once - unless, of course, it gets sent back to me!!! Sometimes emails are undeliverable and the sender gets a message back to that effect along with a copy of his message. If that happens with the messages I send to you, I can generally recognize that fact and delete the message without downloading it over the air. In so doing, however, I will not know who didn't receive the email. To help with this problem, I will number each of my log transmissions. If you are missing one please contact someone on the distribution list ashore to forward it to you. My daughter Jodie JodieT@Expresshost.Com my son Jon jon@jdadvertising.com my brother bob kidd@gwi.net and my friend Christine CMajors727@aol.com are just a few of the other folks on distribution, who I am sure will be happy to help. Bill & Peg archangel@dmv.com have offered also to help with this.
The "nnnn" you will see at the end of each of my emails is a radio signal to end
 the message.
Thanks very much.
Love/Warmest regards
Jim Kidd
-------------
Via Pinoak Digital - Advanced technology SSB radio digital wireless email.
In reply please do not include text above or attachments.
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