Hello and welcome to the Sailing and Cruising the East Coast of the United States podcast.  This is part 1 of a two-part interview with Heath Moldveen, who is a technical sales rep for Sea Hawk Premium Yacht Finishes.  It was a long interview, so we split it into 2 parts.  In the first part, we had a great conversation about the various different types of anti-fouling paints, how to pick the best one for your boat and how location and boat use play a role in selecting bottom paint.  We also discussed the process for painting, including the critical preparation steps.  Heath also addressed what to look for when selecting a yard to paint the bottom of your boat. In part two of the podcast, Heath gives some great tips for the DIY person so you can get a professional result.  Make sure and listen to both episodes.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing and Cruising the East Coast of the United States podcast.  In this episode, Mike and I discuss the last sail of the season I did with my son Jason on Paradox, our 2009 Hunter 45 DS.  We arrived at the boat on Friday evening around 9:00 PM.  It was Columbus Day weekend and the weather was supposed to be nice.  We dropped the dock lines on Saturday morning around 10:00 AM and it was 45 degrees, solid overcast skies with a 10-15 knot wind from the East.  It was COLD!  We sailed, all the way to the Newport bridge on one tack and past Newport into Long Island Sound.  Where we experienced a nice ocean swell of 5-6 feet.  All of a sudden Paradox felt small.  We came back North via the West passage and arrived back at Bullock Cove, in the dark, around 8:00 PM.  It was approximately a 40 nautical mile trip, the longest of the season.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing and Cruising the East Coast of the United States podcast.  This is a quick update to EP-41 which was all about cleaning the salon seat cushions on Paradox, our 2009 Hunter 45DS.  

But first, I would like to acknowledge Robert James Lattanzio, he is the newest support of this podcast.  Thank you, Robert.

The good news is that I have washed all of the cloth seat cushions and they have turned out great.  A little bit of the water strains from the deck leaks are still visible, but all of the other dirt is gone.  If you recall from episode 41, the most difficult part was getting the seat cushions back into the covers.  The seat cushions are complex.  They all have 2 or 3 compartments, into which a separate piece of foam is inserted.  They are not just your simple rectangular, one compartment seat cushion.  It took me anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to insert each piece of foam back into the covers.  A few days after releasing the episode about the seat cushions, I received an email from Joe Hagen.  Joe was a guest on this podcast back on episode 12.  Joe runs Offshore Adventure Sailing, where he takes folks out on multi-day sailing adventures.  To learn more about Joe and Offshore Adventure Sailing, just give episode 12 a listen.

Joe shared two tips:  The first, using a lint roller to remove the accumulated “stuff” from seat cushions.  The lint roller is a great tip. Having on on the boat is a great idea and we will be getting one for sure.  The second tip was using silk wrap to help get the cushions back into the covers and to keep water out of the cushion material.  This tip is a game-changer.  Silk wrap is sold by Sailrite, a company that sells all sorts of “do it your self” products for the sailors.  Sailrite has great how-to videos you can watch on all of their products including silk wrap.  It’s worth the watch for sure.  Check out their site at:

https://www.sailrite.com/

Thanks again to Joe for taking the time to pass this great info along.  Make sure you check out Joe’s Offshore Adventure Sailing site at:

https://www.offshoreadventuresailing.com/

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing and Cruising the East Coast of the United States podcast.  In this episode, we discuss what to do about dirty seat cushions in your main salon.  Prior to fixing some leaking windows on Paradox, (see EP-38) we would get water dripping from the cabin onto the seat cushions.  This went on for several years with the previous owner and the tan fabric-covered cushions developed some stains.  As an experiment, on our last trip, we took two bottoms and two tops home to wash.  After soaking the bad spots in some stain remover and a good wash, they came out great.  Getting the foam back into the cushions was a challenge.  In the end, they turned out great.  Eight more to go. Sounds like a nice winter project.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing and Cruising the East Coast of the United States podcast.  In this episode, we discuss sailing, or should I say motoring to Bristol RI, and seeing the superyacht - Blue Moon.  Just search on YouTube for Superyacht Blue Moon and you will see what you can get for $50 million.  On the following day, we had a wonderful sail in gusty conditions with eight people on board.  It all went well, but I should have shortened sail sooner and a few of our guests were uncomfortable.  Lesson learned on my part.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing the East podcast.  This is our podcast about sailing and cruising the East coast of the United States.   In some episodes we will focus on passages and destinations, in other episodes, we will talk about boats, equipment, and techniques, and when we come across an interesting person, we will try to get them as a guest on the show.

In this episode of the podcast, Bela and Mike trying a new format for the podcast.   When we record a podcast, we usually spend 15 to 30 minutes talking about what’s going on in each other’s lives.  This is with the recorder off, so you never hear it.  Well, this time we decided to record our conversation.

We talk about fishing, the German elections and how the process is different from the one in the USA, a COVID update, life in general, and a few thoughts on some new podcast ideas.

Please let us know what you think!

Thanks for listening!  We will be spending most of the summer sailing around Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and Buzzards Bay.  Hope to see you out on the water.

If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing the East podcast.  This is our podcast about sailing and cruising the East coast of the United States.   In some episodes we will focus on passages and destinations, in other episodes, we will talk about boats, equipment, and techniques, and when we come across an interesting person, we will try to get them as a guest on the show.

Today we’re are going to talk about leaky windows on S/V Paradox, a 2009 Hunter 45 DS.

If it is one thing that bugs me, it’s having water dripping into one of the cabins in my boat.  Deck leaks drive me nuts and I am always chasing them down. It seems like every boat has them, including “production” boats and “custom” ones as well.

In this episode, I re-seal the 4 large, frameless windows on Paradox.  It took the better part of a day and the following week the windows got a real test from Hurricane Henri. No Leaks!  The bilge has been dry ever since.

Thanks for listening!  We will be spending most of the summer sailing around Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and Buzzards Bay.  Hope to see you out on the water.

If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing the East podcast.  This is our podcast about sailing and cruising the East coast of the United States.   In some episodes we will focus on passages and destinations, in other episodes, we will talk about boats, equipment, and techniques, and when we come across an interesting person, we will try to get them as a guest on the show.

Today we’re are going to talk about hurricane Henri and preparing Paradox for the storm.

The marina was buzzing with activity, boats were being hauled, dock lines were being doubled, and dodgers were being removed.  We got Paradox, our 2009 Hunter 45 DS ready for the storm.  In the end, everything turned out fine.

Thanks for listening!  We will be spending most of the summer sailing around Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and Buzzards Bay.  Hope to see you out on the water.

If you know someone that would be an interesting guest on the show, please reach out to us and let us know.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing the East podcast.  This is our podcast about sailing and cruising the East coast of the United States.   In some episodes we will focus on passages and destinations, in other episodes, we will talk about boats, equipment, and techniques, and when we come across an interesting person, we will try to get them as a guest on the show.

Today we’re are going to talk about replacing the house batteries on Paradox, our 2009 Hunter 45DS.

During the survey we had done in the Fall of 2020, when we purchased Paradox, the surveyor indicated that the lead-acid batteries on the boat were at about 50% of their rated capacity.

During the early part of this sailing season, I noticed the batteries were almost depleted after a full day of sailing.  So, it is time to replace the house batteries.

We discuss why I decided to stay with lead-acid wet cell batteries and not “upgrade” to Gel or Lithium-Ion batteries.

Thanks for listening!  We will be spending most of the summer sailing around Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and Buzzards Bay.  Hope to see you out on the water.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

Hello and welcome to the Sailing the East podcast.  This is our podcast about sailing and cruising the East coast of the United States.   In some episodes we will focus on passages and destinations, in other episodes, we will talk about boats, equipment, and techniques, and when we come across an interesting person, we will try to get them as a guest on the show.

Today we’re are going to talk about our first family vacation on Paradox, our 2009 Hunter 45 DS. My wife and I, along with our son, his wife, and their 2 daughters, ages 5 and 7 spent a week on the boat in Narragansett Bay.

It was an interesting week, as unlike all the other times we have been on the Bay, the typical afternoon sea breeze did not appear and we had 3 days of no wind. We had to get creative and we were sure glad our marina has a pool.

It was the first time on a sailboat for my granddaughters, so it was a great week of learning new things and exploring for them.  I even got them to understand “Red Right Returning”.

In addition to motoring and sailing around the Bay, we took the high-speed ferry from Providence to Newport.  We also visited the Blount Clam Shack in Warren, RI.  Blount’s is one of those “must experience” places in RI.

All in all, we have a great week with the family in Paradox!

Thanks for listening!  We will be spending most of the summer sailing around Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and Buzzards Bay.  Hope to see you out on the water.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].  If you would like to support the podcast, click on the sponsorship link below.  For as little as 99 cents a month, you can help defray the costs of producing this podcast.  Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike