It Never Rains, But It Pours! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

As some great philosopher once said, "You can't fix stupid!" And as another said, "Stupid is as Stupid does." Well, stupid is not checking the launch schedule when Labor Day rolls around, or in my case, checking the schedule and forgetting to note that post Labor Day, the launch at the Yacht Club will only be running on weekends! A great week of sailing went by and I spent it on land. C'est la vie.

So it wouldn't be a total loss, I used the time to basically chart every rock, every shoal, every spot of low water from New London, Connecticut to Key West, Florida, and boy, there is a lot of them . . .two of which I know intimately. All things being equal and the good Lord willing, I will be heading South again, or at least making the attempt, the last week in September.

This past week, I have spent taking care of, or at least trying to, a host of little projects that are on the never ending list of projects. The only problem with this is that every time one takes a shot at doing a project, it rarely gets more than 90% done when another project or two rears its ugly head. A couple of the latest: the chain gypsy clutch nut is frozen. The chain gypsy is one side of the anchor windlass that controls the chain anchor rode. The chain gypsy clutch nut tightens (and loosens) the gypsy so that the anchor with the chain rode can be raised and lower. A very helpful thing if one is thinking of using it to anchor the boat. Seawater has "intruded" between the clutch nut and the gypsy and corrosion has set in. It would take hundreds of years to cause any serious damage but there is just enough corrosion so that the clutch nut can't be loosened. So I can bring the chain up but can't lower it. I have hit it with every corrosion bust I know from PB Blaster to Coca Cola and now I am waiting for the mixture to do its magic. The other side of the windlass works fine, so anchoring won't be a problem, but it would be nice to have the all chain rode available in a time of need. Though since the windlass motor dosen''t function and it can only be operate manually, it isn't a priority fix.

The there is the pressurized fresh water. There is no pressure. A couple of hours of bilge crawling with Cliff and a pinhole was finally discovered. Evidently, it was just enough to rob the entire system of pressure. The fresh water system is part copper pipe and part Tygon hose. It runs on the almost inaccessible side of the engine and so rather that try to fix the pipe in the pipe hose system, I am going to replace it with all hose. . . . . easier said than done but it will get done. The pressure water system is more used for washing that for drinking, so while I may stink after a few days, I won't die of thirst. I don't think I would want to drink that stuff anyway as there is grunge in the tank. I don't think it has been radically cleaned in quite a while, so if I can get the pressure system working, I will flush it with chlorine and then just use it for showers and washing up.

I took the time to tune the rig. It didn't need much to get it into shape and after doing this for some 30 years or so, it was a snap . . .one of the few. The propane stove and system are up and running and now I won't starve either. The inverter/charge wouldn't shut off the other day. The control panel just froze up. (Have I ever told you how much I hate electronics!) A call to the manufactures tech line got me into a long conversation with a techie who was worse than useless. Evidently he couldn't picture in his head how to fix the system and relied totally on the "Troubleshoot" chapter in the owners manual, all of whose suggestions I had already tried with no luck. So after that wasted call call, I remembered a trick that Don the Magic Electrician in Mystic always tried as a last resort. I disconnected the panel from the the inverter/charger, counted 30 and reconnected it. It works fine. Sort of like rebooting a computer. VICTORY of the magic of electricity and electronics!!!!!!!

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I am not as excited about taking off for the south as I was last year. I suppose that it has to do with how things turned out last year. If I get to Sandy Hook, NJ, and anchor safely, that should change. But for now, it is just get the boat ready to go. This may change as departure day gets closer, but I'll just have to wait and see. One day, one anchorage at a time.