SHIP'S LOG:
A year ago this day I was in the South River anchored and awaiting a cessation of the rain and a clearing of the fog so that I could cross the Neuse River and go into a Marina in Oriental, NC.I had hit my first "dead zone" and was incommunicado for a couple of days as I waited for the weather to clear.
Waiting seems to be the big thing, then and now, as I wait for the Yankee Boatyard to haul ABISHAG. The freak snow storm that blasted us as really done a job shutting down electricity in the state, especially in land and has brought everything to a crawl if not an out right halt in many places. The days are pleasant now - during the daylight hours - but the temp really drops, as quickly, when the sun goes down. It is really fall, crisp and clear and heralding winter to come. Everyone seems to be going around hoping the same hope, that this winter will be in no way like last winter. "AMEN" to that!
There are about a dozen boats left in the mooring field and they should all go away this weekend. After Sunday, the launch will no longer be running. It will be taken off for her winter "hibernation", along with the skiffs. Even the "Queen Merry" will be hauled off to a boat yard to spend the winter in safer surroundings that out in the river. She got whacked pretty good by Irene and the storms that have since followed and needs a lot of work. Then again, if this winter is anything like last, there will be some sizable ice in the river and getting hit by such will do more damage.
As side from all that, I am just waiting - waiting to get hauled, waiting to empty the boat, waiting for the WORD. Waiting requires patience and it is something I have certainly developed over the past year. Patience is a virtue it is said and you only require it by being in situations where you have to practice it. Well, practice makes perfect.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Well, So Much For The Snow!
SHIP'S LOG:
I think it was the gust to 55 mph that sort of took the place of the snow. At TYC Clubhouse, the old place rattled and moaned and the rain/snow mix turned to ice. I guess that most places above the snow line, about 6 to 10 miles inland from the coast, got whacked pretty good but down here there wasn't much accumulation, justice everywhere. It made trying to open your car door a real treat!
Though I haven't checked this morning, as I have gotten out of the habit, I am wondering if NOAA is doing a reprise of its weather forecasts for Florida last December. Back then down there they began every 15 minute segment with instructions of how to recognise frostbite! Could be useful as the temp got down to 21(non wind chill) degrees out at Ledge Light. That's more than cold enough.
I have to admit that there are real crazies in the boating community, even around here. Yesterday some guy went out sailing. Whoever he is he is a rather young fellow who owns a wooden boat that is older than he. It is painted an awful yellow and he usually sails with a group of guys and gals his own age. He went out yesterday morning, before the storm was raging, and I hope he got back before it got too bad. When I returned from Portland, see yesterday's blog for that fun story!, there was fog on the river, big-time fog, real pea-soup stuff. The launch driver told me that he had just taken a guy out to his boat, a center console maybe 25 feet. At that time, the wind was 35mph, there was fog, there was a driving rain/snow mix and it was in the high 20's. The launch driver tried to talk the man out of it. True, he was only going about 3 miles, to have his boat hauled out at Pine Island Marina but he was also stupid enough to have his 10 year old son along to enough the trip. I am afraid to scan the local news to see if he made it our not.
Right now, the skies are clear and blue and the wind is down to a breeze. If it wasn't for the fact that it is about 30(maybe) and there is ice everywhere, it could almost be winter in Florida!
I think it was the gust to 55 mph that sort of took the place of the snow. At TYC Clubhouse, the old place rattled and moaned and the rain/snow mix turned to ice. I guess that most places above the snow line, about 6 to 10 miles inland from the coast, got whacked pretty good but down here there wasn't much accumulation, justice everywhere. It made trying to open your car door a real treat!
Though I haven't checked this morning, as I have gotten out of the habit, I am wondering if NOAA is doing a reprise of its weather forecasts for Florida last December. Back then down there they began every 15 minute segment with instructions of how to recognise frostbite! Could be useful as the temp got down to 21(non wind chill) degrees out at Ledge Light. That's more than cold enough.
I have to admit that there are real crazies in the boating community, even around here. Yesterday some guy went out sailing. Whoever he is he is a rather young fellow who owns a wooden boat that is older than he. It is painted an awful yellow and he usually sails with a group of guys and gals his own age. He went out yesterday morning, before the storm was raging, and I hope he got back before it got too bad. When I returned from Portland, see yesterday's blog for that fun story!, there was fog on the river, big-time fog, real pea-soup stuff. The launch driver told me that he had just taken a guy out to his boat, a center console maybe 25 feet. At that time, the wind was 35mph, there was fog, there was a driving rain/snow mix and it was in the high 20's. The launch driver tried to talk the man out of it. True, he was only going about 3 miles, to have his boat hauled out at Pine Island Marina but he was also stupid enough to have his 10 year old son along to enough the trip. I am afraid to scan the local news to see if he made it our not.
Right now, the skies are clear and blue and the wind is down to a breeze. If it wasn't for the fact that it is about 30(maybe) and there is ice everywhere, it could almost be winter in Florida!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
#$%^&*SNOW! !! !! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
I knew this was going to happen. For three weeks since Columbus Day Weekend, I have been waiting to get ABISHAG hauled. So today, with what our Commodore calls " a significant storm" hitting the area, I get a call from the boatyard telling me that my boat is at the dock so that they can begin the winterizing and inquiring whether or not they want me to take the sails off the boat. That little task, of course, would be a service that they would do for pay, so I hustled up to Portland to do the job myself.
The trip wasn't too bad until I got above Essex on Route 9 when the snow-rain mix became real SNOW. And it was wet. And it was heavy. And it was sticking. It was also cold!! I haven't seen snow in two years and it was traumatic!
Getting the sails down wasn't difficult but with the deck covered with slush it was slippery work. The cold made turned my fingers numb and with all the little wire ties that had to be cut and the little bolts in the shackles that hard to be removed and then replaced, the job was awful. It is funny how you can loose the feeling in your fingers and have them hurt at the same time. I didn't bother folding the sails. I merely stuffed them down the nearest hatch and let it go at that. Naturally, the yard workers had more sense and were not working in "that type of weather." Can't say that I blame them. Just walking on the slush covered dock was an exercise in focused concentration. One little slip and I would have gotten a first person experience of just how cold the Connecticut River is on the 29th of October! But it all went off without a hitch and sometime in the next few days, ABISHAG will get hauled and washed and placed on poppets for her winter snooze. When she is, I will remove all the gear that needs to go and wrap her up and that will be that. It was in the 70's down in Virginia a year ago today! Maybe I should have gone south again! ! ! ! !
I knew this was going to happen. For three weeks since Columbus Day Weekend, I have been waiting to get ABISHAG hauled. So today, with what our Commodore calls " a significant storm" hitting the area, I get a call from the boatyard telling me that my boat is at the dock so that they can begin the winterizing and inquiring whether or not they want me to take the sails off the boat. That little task, of course, would be a service that they would do for pay, so I hustled up to Portland to do the job myself.
The trip wasn't too bad until I got above Essex on Route 9 when the snow-rain mix became real SNOW. And it was wet. And it was heavy. And it was sticking. It was also cold!! I haven't seen snow in two years and it was traumatic!
Getting the sails down wasn't difficult but with the deck covered with slush it was slippery work. The cold made turned my fingers numb and with all the little wire ties that had to be cut and the little bolts in the shackles that hard to be removed and then replaced, the job was awful. It is funny how you can loose the feeling in your fingers and have them hurt at the same time. I didn't bother folding the sails. I merely stuffed them down the nearest hatch and let it go at that. Naturally, the yard workers had more sense and were not working in "that type of weather." Can't say that I blame them. Just walking on the slush covered dock was an exercise in focused concentration. One little slip and I would have gotten a first person experience of just how cold the Connecticut River is on the 29th of October! But it all went off without a hitch and sometime in the next few days, ABISHAG will get hauled and washed and placed on poppets for her winter snooze. When she is, I will remove all the gear that needs to go and wrap her up and that will be that. It was in the 70's down in Virginia a year ago today! Maybe I should have gone south again! ! ! ! !
Thursday, October 27, 2011
A Good Day Redux
SHIP'S LOG:
As I sat here at TYC this morning, sitting in the Northeast Wind about 15mph and the cold rain, I wondered what I was doing one year ago on this date. So I went back through the Blog and found out that I had spent the previous night in Willoughby Bay of of Newport News and its Naval air station. I had actually been there a couple of days and had decided it was time to leave. I passed through Hampton Roads and passed Hospital Point which is Mile Marker "0" for the ICW. I was making my first foray into the ICW and had to deal with my first opening bridges and made it all the way down to Great Bridge, Virginia.
I don't want to say that I was "green" in the ways of the ICW but just reading through the Blog reminded me that I truly was. I can remember how hard I was gripping the wheel, not letting ABISHAG stray even a few feet off the "Magenta Highway" and swiveling my head right and left checking every bit of the banks and the surface of the water. It was certainly not a restive and relaxing trip that's for sure.
I noted that the first few miles of the ICW were "disappointing" in that it was like any back water channel off a harbor, filled with boat yards(mostly naval) and oil storage centers and repair facilities. But after 7 miles it turned into what would be most of the ICW, unrestricted and filled with natural, unspoiled(for the most part) beauty.
Strangely, the weather then in Virginia was pretty much like it is today up here in God's Country. Lousy! But then, why should anything really change? But then, I rally haven't looked much at the weather recently and haven't heard "Perfect Peter" or "Debbie Diction" in a long time. With ABISHAG 20o0 feet from being hauled, it really doesn't matter all that much anymore. I couldn't tell you how accurate they have been recently or are today, but then at this point, who cares?
Took the time yesterday to consider replacing the refrigeration on ABISHAG for the simple reason that what I have doesn't work. Rather than replace the evaporator and the condenser and compressor which are all individual units, I am considering replacing the mechanical and the box itself with a complete unit, much like a home refrigerator. This will also allow me to close off one thru-hull, the one that brings water in to do the cooling for the system. Basically, it is air cooled. I checked it out with AL at West Marine and it looks promising though it is not anything that will happen before spring. The fun part with be "dismantling" the old box and removing the mechanicals and get the new unit down the companionway and maneuvering it into place. Still, it would be nice to have ice. But then, it must wait until spring if it is to happen at all. Ah, dreams of next season have started already!
As I sat here at TYC this morning, sitting in the Northeast Wind about 15mph and the cold rain, I wondered what I was doing one year ago on this date. So I went back through the Blog and found out that I had spent the previous night in Willoughby Bay of of Newport News and its Naval air station. I had actually been there a couple of days and had decided it was time to leave. I passed through Hampton Roads and passed Hospital Point which is Mile Marker "0" for the ICW. I was making my first foray into the ICW and had to deal with my first opening bridges and made it all the way down to Great Bridge, Virginia.
I don't want to say that I was "green" in the ways of the ICW but just reading through the Blog reminded me that I truly was. I can remember how hard I was gripping the wheel, not letting ABISHAG stray even a few feet off the "Magenta Highway" and swiveling my head right and left checking every bit of the banks and the surface of the water. It was certainly not a restive and relaxing trip that's for sure.
I noted that the first few miles of the ICW were "disappointing" in that it was like any back water channel off a harbor, filled with boat yards(mostly naval) and oil storage centers and repair facilities. But after 7 miles it turned into what would be most of the ICW, unrestricted and filled with natural, unspoiled(for the most part) beauty.
Strangely, the weather then in Virginia was pretty much like it is today up here in God's Country. Lousy! But then, why should anything really change? But then, I rally haven't looked much at the weather recently and haven't heard "Perfect Peter" or "Debbie Diction" in a long time. With ABISHAG 20o0 feet from being hauled, it really doesn't matter all that much anymore. I couldn't tell you how accurate they have been recently or are today, but then at this point, who cares?
Took the time yesterday to consider replacing the refrigeration on ABISHAG for the simple reason that what I have doesn't work. Rather than replace the evaporator and the condenser and compressor which are all individual units, I am considering replacing the mechanical and the box itself with a complete unit, much like a home refrigerator. This will also allow me to close off one thru-hull, the one that brings water in to do the cooling for the system. Basically, it is air cooled. I checked it out with AL at West Marine and it looks promising though it is not anything that will happen before spring. The fun part with be "dismantling" the old box and removing the mechanicals and get the new unit down the companionway and maneuvering it into place. Still, it would be nice to have ice. But then, it must wait until spring if it is to happen at all. Ah, dreams of next season have started already!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
FROST ! ! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
When I stumbled out to Dunkin' Dounts to pick up breakfast yesterday, my car was covered with dew. Or so I thought. When I tried to wipe the "dew" off, I found that it was FROST!!!!!! I was shocked! SHOCKED! And totally unready for it and it drove home the fact that I am going to have to deal with "cold and snow", that is WINTER for the first time in two years. ARGH!
When I stumbled out to Dunkin' Dounts to pick up breakfast yesterday, my car was covered with dew. Or so I thought. When I tried to wipe the "dew" off, I found that it was FROST!!!!!! I was shocked! SHOCKED! And totally unready for it and it drove home the fact that I am going to have to deal with "cold and snow", that is WINTER for the first time in two years. ARGH!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Aboard Again For A Visit
SHIP'S LOG:
I had to go back aboard ABISHAG yesterday to pick up a few items that I neglected to take off when we moored at Yankee in Portland. ABISHAG is still out in the river on a mooring as the week has seen a number of boats making the up river trek for hauling and the yard in planning on exactly how to do it. It is not just a matter of hauling a boat out and sticking stands underneath it. Boats have to be brought into the dock for winterization of engines, water systems, holding tanks, batteries, etc and it takes a certain amount of time to accomplish. Yankee doesn't have a particularly large number of docks and slips and a number are still occupied by people who rent them for the season. They also are limited by having only one marine railway - the slip where the boats are gathered up by the travellift so they can be washed down and then transported, rather slowly, to whatever spot has been selected for their winter rest. Smaller boats are set closer to the river and larger one farther away. In addition, those whose owners want to get back into the water early in the spring are necessarily placed infront to those who have no such plans. As a result there is a slot of shifting and maneuvering and shoehorning that needs to take place and if they can get five boats done in a day that is a lot. The yards crews are also the ones who have to do the winterizing for each boat in addition to the hauling and they are also engaged in whatever repairs and work that needs to be done in the way of maintenance and repairs and all this makes for a very busy time. Weather of course also plays a part and it has only been "fair" this week. Indeed Saturday saw a lot of rain and wind in Portland, a real fall day.
I got taken out to ABISHAGwin a work boat, gathered up most of what I wanted and got back ashore. It was cold and raw and I think I have seen that last of "the Days of Shorts" for a long time. There is nothing I can really do until she gets hauled which will hopefully be this week. Til then, it is just time for waiting.
I had to go back aboard ABISHAG yesterday to pick up a few items that I neglected to take off when we moored at Yankee in Portland. ABISHAG is still out in the river on a mooring as the week has seen a number of boats making the up river trek for hauling and the yard in planning on exactly how to do it. It is not just a matter of hauling a boat out and sticking stands underneath it. Boats have to be brought into the dock for winterization of engines, water systems, holding tanks, batteries, etc and it takes a certain amount of time to accomplish. Yankee doesn't have a particularly large number of docks and slips and a number are still occupied by people who rent them for the season. They also are limited by having only one marine railway - the slip where the boats are gathered up by the travellift so they can be washed down and then transported, rather slowly, to whatever spot has been selected for their winter rest. Smaller boats are set closer to the river and larger one farther away. In addition, those whose owners want to get back into the water early in the spring are necessarily placed infront to those who have no such plans. As a result there is a slot of shifting and maneuvering and shoehorning that needs to take place and if they can get five boats done in a day that is a lot. The yards crews are also the ones who have to do the winterizing for each boat in addition to the hauling and they are also engaged in whatever repairs and work that needs to be done in the way of maintenance and repairs and all this makes for a very busy time. Weather of course also plays a part and it has only been "fair" this week. Indeed Saturday saw a lot of rain and wind in Portland, a real fall day.
I got taken out to ABISHAGwin a work boat, gathered up most of what I wanted and got back ashore. It was cold and raw and I think I have seen that last of "the Days of Shorts" for a long time. There is nothing I can really do until she gets hauled which will hopefully be this week. Til then, it is just time for waiting.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Vermont ? ? ? ? ?
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, ABISHAG still floats so winter isn't here yet, but it be commin' for sure! I was wondering and a little bit anxious 'bout where I would be spending the winter. The prospect of "living on the boat" again for the winter, especially considering what happened this past winter, was not something that filled me with joy! Now, if I was back in Florida that would be one thing, but ABISHAG has been in the water for two years now and there are a number of projects that require her to be high and dry, so Florida was not an option. That plus the fact that the thought of making that journey all by myself again was not something that was even close to being appealing. Going with someone else is another story but it is not something that could be arranged. Tom Welsh, who was taking his parent's 42 Pearson ketch south, first step down to Newport News, VA, had a list of 12 people who said that they were up to make the trip. Tom wanted to have a crew of 6 so that there would be an easy and comfortable split of watches. One by one they all begged out and Tom eventually headed off with his wife and two others, one who was "shanghaied" at the very last moment. I possibly would have considered going south with another boat, like the trip up the Connecticut River to Portland, but as far as I could find, no one I knew was headed south. Those who seemed to have the interest evidently lost it, so it would have been a "Lone Ranger" trip again and I simply wasn't up for it. Thus AB is getting hauled and I'll get to see snow one again.
So where to spend the winter. Truth be told, I had no idea until last night. I had dinner with Karen, Howard, Skip and Nancy. Skip and Nancy own a place in Vermont and Skip asked if I might "house sit" for the winter. Evidently, the "damage" done to the place during the winter months when it is shut down would be better handled by having someone in residence. Skip and Nancy also have friends who live right across the street whose place could also be "watched." So if my Italian friends don't come through in the next few weeks, after I decommission ABISHAG, I'll probably be heading to the wilds of Vermont for the winter. Talk about your opposite side of the weather spectrum from last year's ! It is all still up in the air and decommissioning needs to be taken care of first. Only after that is done will I be able to make that choice. It sounds interesting prospect though . . . so long as the temperature doesn't get below say 60!
Well, ABISHAG still floats so winter isn't here yet, but it be commin' for sure! I was wondering and a little bit anxious 'bout where I would be spending the winter. The prospect of "living on the boat" again for the winter, especially considering what happened this past winter, was not something that filled me with joy! Now, if I was back in Florida that would be one thing, but ABISHAG has been in the water for two years now and there are a number of projects that require her to be high and dry, so Florida was not an option. That plus the fact that the thought of making that journey all by myself again was not something that was even close to being appealing. Going with someone else is another story but it is not something that could be arranged. Tom Welsh, who was taking his parent's 42 Pearson ketch south, first step down to Newport News, VA, had a list of 12 people who said that they were up to make the trip. Tom wanted to have a crew of 6 so that there would be an easy and comfortable split of watches. One by one they all begged out and Tom eventually headed off with his wife and two others, one who was "shanghaied" at the very last moment. I possibly would have considered going south with another boat, like the trip up the Connecticut River to Portland, but as far as I could find, no one I knew was headed south. Those who seemed to have the interest evidently lost it, so it would have been a "Lone Ranger" trip again and I simply wasn't up for it. Thus AB is getting hauled and I'll get to see snow one again.
So where to spend the winter. Truth be told, I had no idea until last night. I had dinner with Karen, Howard, Skip and Nancy. Skip and Nancy own a place in Vermont and Skip asked if I might "house sit" for the winter. Evidently, the "damage" done to the place during the winter months when it is shut down would be better handled by having someone in residence. Skip and Nancy also have friends who live right across the street whose place could also be "watched." So if my Italian friends don't come through in the next few weeks, after I decommission ABISHAG, I'll probably be heading to the wilds of Vermont for the winter. Talk about your opposite side of the weather spectrum from last year's ! It is all still up in the air and decommissioning needs to be taken care of first. Only after that is done will I be able to make that choice. It sounds interesting prospect though . . . so long as the temperature doesn't get below say 60!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
