MEET THE DAWGS:  Lena and John Scaramuzzo, Two Captains

Boat Type and Length:  Hallberg-Rassy 48 MK11

Any particular story behind the name?  We are the only Two Captains in the world, or at least on Marine Traffic.  It perhaps highlights our own slightly subversive humor.  We don't take ourselves too seriously, and despite knowing full well the accepted convention that a boat should have only one captain, like our name, our unconventional approach to decision-making can at times lead one to feel like we indeed have Two Captains.  When the boat name was first suggested, there was no need for discussion.  The decision was immediate and unanimous!  The name is great until something goes wrong, and then we just have to live with our blunder and a possible scoffing outside observer.

Home Port:  Wickford, Rhode Island.  We live in California, but John grew up in New England and lived there much of his life.  He loved his days sailing around the cape and islands on his Beneteau 361.  We knew we wanted to be in the Newport, RI area, and had aspirations of making our way down to the Caribbean.  Our top choice was Wickford, and when a slip became available, we jumped on the opportunity.

Where are you now?   As I type, Two Captains is Bermuda-bound on the way back to Rhode Island from the BVI, as part of the Salty Dawg Homeward Bound Rally.  Back in November of 2023, we joined the SDSA Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia to Antigua.  We spent the last 3 winters sailing around Antigua, Barbuda, St. Martin, St. Barths, Guadeloupe, Les Saintes, and the BVI.  It's been amazing exploring the Caribbean, getting to meet other sailors and all the great people who live there.  However, we are very excited to get back to exploring New England again, including our first trip to Maine!

When did you join the Salty Dawgs?  We joined early in 2023 as we started planning our passage to the Caribbean.

Which rallies or rendezvous have you joined?   Caribbean Rally 2023;  Homeward Bound Rally 2026.   We joined several webinars, parties, and groups over the past few years.  We have made great friends and found fellow Dawgs to meet up with most everywhere we go.  It's a fantastic networkfor swapping stories, sharing ideas, and commiserating when needed.

Most memorable Salty Dawgs moment?  There have been so many great moments, but one that has really stuck with us was when Sailing PILAR did a 180 to turn back and help us.  We were at our wits' end dealing with what we thought was a third failed water pump over just a few weeks' time.  We were in Carlisle Bay, Antigua when Stephen and Dawn held up passage to their next port to help us troubleshoot.  Turns out Stephen knows a thing or two about water pumps!  After an hour or so of troubleshooting, Stephen proved his point that water pumps never break; something else is the issue.  Turns out the pressure sensor went bad.  The guys rigged the system, bypassing the sensor as a temporary fix (fresh water is kind of important when off-grid), and we headed up to Jolly Harbour where we hoped to find the parts we needed to make more permanent repairs.  We were the fortunate recipients of "sailors helping sailors" and strive to pay it forward whenever we can.

Any major boat projects currently underway?  Well... while preparing for the Homeward Bound rally, our third engine room inspection revealed a leaking deck drain hose, and the associated seacock turned out to be frozen.  Everything needed to be replaced.  Safety always comes first, so we scheduled a haulout, but the first opening was on 5/15, a day after the rally start date of 5/14 :(.  Thanks to great, fast work by Anil Mahabir, the new hoses and seacocks were installed in less than 6 hours, and we would be back in the water the same day, poised for a 5/16 start!  Then the unbelievable happened.  Just 50 paces from the water, the travel lift carrying Two Captains back to the water began to collapse.  As we watched in horror, Anil yelled "stop!" and the operator stopped just in time and before a complete collapse.  Both the lift and the boat could have been lost.

The yard crew rushed to get stands on Two Captains as fast as possible.  The scene took on the feeling of an emergency room, as the lift and Two Captains were on life support.  Thanks to the great work of the yard team, Two Captains was stabilized and so was the lift—being held up by the weight of the boat.

As you can imagine, our excitement to join the rally was getting crushed, but getting our boat out of the collapsing crane was our top priority.  The yard engineer came up with a plan to support the lift with two cranes and use a low hauler to pull her out.  But nothing was going to happen for the rest of that day.  Our top priority was to get all the food that was prepared for the journey out of the boat and into a freezer.  Peg Legs at Nanny Cay graciously let us use their fridge and freezer.  We were able to save most of the food.  Phew! The next day, as the crew was setting up the cranes, one of them blew a hydraulic hose firstthing in the morning, so everything was on hold until someone on the island could be found to fix it!  That took several hours, but they got it fixed.  The two cranes were positioned over the collapsing lift and connected with straps.  With the lift now supported by the cranes, Two Captains was slowly pulled out from underneath the failed lift.  My heart was in my throat just watching this. 

We then transferred Two Captains from the low hauler to a smaller travel lift.  We had to remove the radar arch and backstay in order for it to fit.  The crew was on it, and we had her back in the water by the end of the day on 5/16.

By now we were all exhausted, but everyone wanted to leave in the morning, three days after the rally start.  It was worth all the work, as Two Captains rocketed out of the BVI towards Bermuda at a 200 nm/day pace, covering 600 nm in three days.  We would make the Bermuda rendezvous!  Alas, due to weather window considerations, we diverted to Hampton, just short of reaching Bermuda.  Everyone at the yard, including the travel lift company, said that they had never seen anything like this before.

What are your sailing plans for the next 6-12 months?    Next year we plan to explore Maine aboard Two Captains. We are looking forward to more hiking, cooler temperatures, and lobster!

If you want to learn more about our adventures, you can check us out on Dodgers-Diaries.com, where our 6.5 lb Papillon tells the tales.

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