SHIP'S LOG:
I hope everyone will be thankful for I spent yesterday stripping my boat in preparation of EARL's visitation. I took the anchors off the rollers, putting the danforth in the anchor locker and securing the plow on deck , ready to go, should a need arise. I took the Genoa off, folded it up and stored it down below in the salon, using up half the available space. I took all of the fenders off and place them in the cockpit locker. I Dismantled the the dodger, folded it and stored it in the forepeak. I took the awnings off the Bimini and stored them in the forepeak. I took the Bimini off and stored it int he forepeak. I stored all the cockpit cushions down below in the salon using up the rest of the space. I tied the framing for the dodger and Bimini in place so that it wouldn't bang around. I took the sailcover off the mizzen and stored that in the aft cabin. I took the mizzen off and stored that in the forepeak. I secured the outboard motor fuel tank to the port stern rail and moved the outboard motor itself to the floor of the cockpit. I secure the booms and took the dinghy ashore where I deflated it and stored it in my car. This morning I closed and secured all of the hatches and all the thru-hulls except for the cockpit drains, the engine cooling intake and the bilge pumps. I ran the engine to charge the batteries and then, shut and locked the hatch and went ashore.
I got on the Web and found this morning that EARL be jogging to the East/North-East and has drop to 105 mph. Currently(10:53am) winds at New London look to top out between 30-40 with gust to 45, down considerably from yesterday's 40-50 with gusts of 65. surely it is all due to my effort of yesterday, which had it not been made, would sure have led to a disaster. If EARL continues to degrade, it may be no worse than the Nor'easter of two weeks ago. But as Russ used to say, "Better Safe Than Sunk."
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
Will the final results aren't in, it looks as though we will be spared a real blow this time. What makes me really happy is that ABISHAG and her mooring handled the blow two weeks ago with ease and will, in all likelihood do so again. The only real worry is having some drag down on me or have someone break loos and ram me at speed. And the only reason for worry then is the lack of insurance. It is bad news for one's home, like you house in the path of a forest fire. You do all that you can and then pray!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
EARL Be Comming!!!!!!!
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, so much for the Hurricane season that wasn't! EARL be coming, or so it appears. And with his impending arrival comes "the pondering." Hurricanes are nasty things and require pondering.
The first things to ponder is whether or not it will actually hit where you are. It's real and is currently just north of the Caribbean and churning its way NNW. It is predicted to be off the Carolinas sometime Thursday/Friday but where it goes from there is anybody's guess. Disquietingly, one of the predictions/forecasts/wild-ass-guesses has it hitting southern New England. Can you guess where?
Second ponder, if you think it is going to hit, do you stay or go? To stay mean that I am going to strip the exterior of the boat of anything that increases windage - sails, dinghy, cushions, etc - and trust that the mooring set up I have will do the trick. To go means to pick up and run either to a marina/shipyard and get hauled, or to a "hurricane hole" - an anchorage where you can secure your boat from the ravages of the hurricane. Most marinas will haul you, for a fee - and put you back in for a fee, but you have to get in line and boats at the marina have priority and can bump you from line. And the rush to get hauled will increase as the danger of the storm grows and is realized by the boating public of the area. All the hurricane holes are known and all will be crowded and those that aren't should be considered suspect.
And the pondering takes a certain amount of time. One does not wish to do anything rash and deciding which way to jump, or if a jump is necessary, takes a lot of pondering.
Getting hauled at a marina/shipyard might seem the safest thing, but it costs, lots of buck, especially when one doesn't have any. Add to the the fact that the boatyard where you might want to get hauled for the winter might not be able to haul you out before the onset of EARL. One might end up wintering where one does not wish to winter, or where one can't afford to winter. And then there is the illusion of yards being "safer." Lots of boats lined up close together like dominoes . . .well, all it takes is one and a whole bunches could end up on their sides damage, something the yards are not responsible for, by the way. It is an emergency haul out! Then her was a friend who hauled his boat on a trailer to his very own driveway during the last hurricane only to have a tree fall on it!!!
I was successful during the last hurricane leaving the boat exactly where it was which is exactly where it is. True, someone broke loose and hit me, but the damage was slight and he got more of it than I did. In that my two grounding have rendered my boat "uninsurable," at least to any degree that I can afford, I will strip her for action and watch her ride it out from the deck of TYC with a bottle of rum and undoubtedly a good deal of company from other members. AH, the fun of boat ownership!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
Well so much for the hurricane season passing without notice. I am not pleased with the prospect of dealing with another hurricane, but there ain't squat I can do about it. While I still hope and pray it won't hit, I will have to plan that it will. And best of all, there is another one right behind EARL, so if one doesn't get us, the other surely will. I guess last week was the warm up, the rehearsal for what be comin'.
Well, so much for the Hurricane season that wasn't! EARL be coming, or so it appears. And with his impending arrival comes "the pondering." Hurricanes are nasty things and require pondering.
The first things to ponder is whether or not it will actually hit where you are. It's real and is currently just north of the Caribbean and churning its way NNW. It is predicted to be off the Carolinas sometime Thursday/Friday but where it goes from there is anybody's guess. Disquietingly, one of the predictions/forecasts/wild-ass-guesses has it hitting southern New England. Can you guess where?
Second ponder, if you think it is going to hit, do you stay or go? To stay mean that I am going to strip the exterior of the boat of anything that increases windage - sails, dinghy, cushions, etc - and trust that the mooring set up I have will do the trick. To go means to pick up and run either to a marina/shipyard and get hauled, or to a "hurricane hole" - an anchorage where you can secure your boat from the ravages of the hurricane. Most marinas will haul you, for a fee - and put you back in for a fee, but you have to get in line and boats at the marina have priority and can bump you from line. And the rush to get hauled will increase as the danger of the storm grows and is realized by the boating public of the area. All the hurricane holes are known and all will be crowded and those that aren't should be considered suspect.
And the pondering takes a certain amount of time. One does not wish to do anything rash and deciding which way to jump, or if a jump is necessary, takes a lot of pondering.
Getting hauled at a marina/shipyard might seem the safest thing, but it costs, lots of buck, especially when one doesn't have any. Add to the the fact that the boatyard where you might want to get hauled for the winter might not be able to haul you out before the onset of EARL. One might end up wintering where one does not wish to winter, or where one can't afford to winter. And then there is the illusion of yards being "safer." Lots of boats lined up close together like dominoes . . .well, all it takes is one and a whole bunches could end up on their sides damage, something the yards are not responsible for, by the way. It is an emergency haul out! Then her was a friend who hauled his boat on a trailer to his very own driveway during the last hurricane only to have a tree fall on it!!!
I was successful during the last hurricane leaving the boat exactly where it was which is exactly where it is. True, someone broke loose and hit me, but the damage was slight and he got more of it than I did. In that my two grounding have rendered my boat "uninsurable," at least to any degree that I can afford, I will strip her for action and watch her ride it out from the deck of TYC with a bottle of rum and undoubtedly a good deal of company from other members. AH, the fun of boat ownership!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
Well so much for the hurricane season passing without notice. I am not pleased with the prospect of dealing with another hurricane, but there ain't squat I can do about it. While I still hope and pray it won't hit, I will have to plan that it will. And best of all, there is another one right behind EARL, so if one doesn't get us, the other surely will. I guess last week was the warm up, the rehearsal for what be comin'.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
A Pure Sailing Day! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
Saturday was a pure sailing day! The wind was out of the north west and dying, so I waited for the predicted noon shift to the south west and went out. It was glorious! Rail down, bone-in-the-teeth,one tack sailing that but for Long Island and Montauk Point would have put me in Bermuda in 5 days! These are the days that make it tough to head for home.
I was entertained on the way out by a race going on over by VIXEN LEDGE. It ran from there to a gate near Silver Eel and back again 3-4 times depending on the size of the boat. There had to be a good 50+ boats and it was impressive to seem them racing. Of course, anyone trying to transit into Fishers Island Sound had to carefully pick their way through the fleet which, after the first leg, really stretched itself out to basically b lock the whole entrance. I am certain that the racers, who are always known for their extreme courtesy, willing sacrificed seconds of time to allow a power boater to pass through, as I am certain the transiting boats carefully avoided doing anything that would force a racer off a hard fought and won position and/or course. It was not that I was close enough to hear the courteous exchanges, that would have entailed changing tacks, but I noticed that no one was sunk which is always a good indication.
The only real excitement, if you can call it that, was the arrival off New London of the ILEKA NIELSON a Liberian Flagged tanker going to the HESS Oil farm in Groton. I say "excitement" because an encounter with ships bearing the flags of certain nations can be fraught with peril. Panama, Liberia, Nigeria and a host of other nations are considered to be nations of convenience, in that their requirements for safety, efficiency, ship handling, ship maintenance and other such things are notoriously lax to say the least. They can present a real danger to all who encounter them. It is also why any ship flying a flag of convenience from such a nation is often accorded the same courtesy as they would receive if the flew a potholder or a bed sheet. I gave her a wide berth and on my way back to the mooring, which is across the river from the Hess Oil terminal, watched two tugs trying to get her into position for loading. It really took them quite a while. Still, it was a pure sailing day!
Saturday was a pure sailing day! The wind was out of the north west and dying, so I waited for the predicted noon shift to the south west and went out. It was glorious! Rail down, bone-in-the-teeth,one tack sailing that but for Long Island and Montauk Point would have put me in Bermuda in 5 days! These are the days that make it tough to head for home.
I was entertained on the way out by a race going on over by VIXEN LEDGE. It ran from there to a gate near Silver Eel and back again 3-4 times depending on the size of the boat. There had to be a good 50+ boats and it was impressive to seem them racing. Of course, anyone trying to transit into Fishers Island Sound had to carefully pick their way through the fleet which, after the first leg, really stretched itself out to basically b lock the whole entrance. I am certain that the racers, who are always known for their extreme courtesy, willing sacrificed seconds of time to allow a power boater to pass through, as I am certain the transiting boats carefully avoided doing anything that would force a racer off a hard fought and won position and/or course. It was not that I was close enough to hear the courteous exchanges, that would have entailed changing tacks, but I noticed that no one was sunk which is always a good indication.
The only real excitement, if you can call it that, was the arrival off New London of the ILEKA NIELSON a Liberian Flagged tanker going to the HESS Oil farm in Groton. I say "excitement" because an encounter with ships bearing the flags of certain nations can be fraught with peril. Panama, Liberia, Nigeria and a host of other nations are considered to be nations of convenience, in that their requirements for safety, efficiency, ship handling, ship maintenance and other such things are notoriously lax to say the least. They can present a real danger to all who encounter them. It is also why any ship flying a flag of convenience from such a nation is often accorded the same courtesy as they would receive if the flew a potholder or a bed sheet. I gave her a wide berth and on my way back to the mooring, which is across the river from the Hess Oil terminal, watched two tugs trying to get her into position for loading. It really took them quite a while. Still, it was a pure sailing day!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Still Summer? ! ? ! ?
SHIP'S LOG:
Is it still summer? Yesterday was certainly hot and sunny enough to qualify, but last night it got "cold!" Even this morning there was a bit of a chill in the air and there is a coolness in the warm breeze that is blowing even now.
Yesterday was bottom cleaning day! One of the down sides of a 38ft boat is that it is 39 feet long and it provides you with an abundant area to clean when the need arises. And that's times 2 as you have to do both sides. First of though was evicting the community of barnacles and other sea-life that had settled upon the prop and shaft. Every single millimeter of space on the prop was covered with growth and even the growth had growth grow upon it. It is actually a rather tiring procedure. Take a breath, dive down under the boat to the prop. Scrape and chop at the growth until your lungs are ready to burst and then back up to the surface where, if you are lucky and time it right, you get another lung full of air. If not, you inhale the wave that you didn't notice. It takes 30-45 minutes to complete the job or at least clean the prop enough so that it will move the boat.
The next phase it to clean the bottom it self. Thanks to the EPA, rivers and estuaries are cleaner than ever and the sea-life has responded by growing abundantly. With a brush, you brush this brown slime off the bottom of the boat, taking about 45 minutes a side to get it clean. This will improve the speed of the boat and I was racing, I would probably notice the difference, but I ain't so I won't. But it will, over a long trip, help with the fuel economy, making the boat easier to move through the water.
I must be getting old. It was exhausting and I went to bed at 8pm.
Is it still summer? Yesterday was certainly hot and sunny enough to qualify, but last night it got "cold!" Even this morning there was a bit of a chill in the air and there is a coolness in the warm breeze that is blowing even now.
Yesterday was bottom cleaning day! One of the down sides of a 38ft boat is that it is 39 feet long and it provides you with an abundant area to clean when the need arises. And that's times 2 as you have to do both sides. First of though was evicting the community of barnacles and other sea-life that had settled upon the prop and shaft. Every single millimeter of space on the prop was covered with growth and even the growth had growth grow upon it. It is actually a rather tiring procedure. Take a breath, dive down under the boat to the prop. Scrape and chop at the growth until your lungs are ready to burst and then back up to the surface where, if you are lucky and time it right, you get another lung full of air. If not, you inhale the wave that you didn't notice. It takes 30-45 minutes to complete the job or at least clean the prop enough so that it will move the boat.
The next phase it to clean the bottom it self. Thanks to the EPA, rivers and estuaries are cleaner than ever and the sea-life has responded by growing abundantly. With a brush, you brush this brown slime off the bottom of the boat, taking about 45 minutes a side to get it clean. This will improve the speed of the boat and I was racing, I would probably notice the difference, but I ain't so I won't. But it will, over a long trip, help with the fuel economy, making the boat easier to move through the water.
I must be getting old. It was exhausting and I went to bed at 8pm.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Summer's Back With A Vengeance! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, maybe not with a vengeance, but the weather sure has changed for the better. Back have come hot and humid and hazy can't be that far behind. The weather broke yesterday and the wind died off to nothing. And thank goodness for that.
On Tuesday, two more boats broke loose from their moorings. Again, miracle of miracles, neither hit anything nor went aground though one, an aerodynamic racing boat took off down river at such speed the Coast Guard had to send a cutter chase boat to get her before she made it out into Fishers Island Sound. In both cases it was gear failure, specifically the chaffing through of the mooring pennant, but aside from that and the anxiety of the owners, there was no real damage.
I actually spent most the days ashore trying to get some virus or whatever out of my computer. It just didn't want to go and I had three of the best lads in India working on it. It is too bad that computers have almost become a complete and absolute necessity.
It is a beautiful day out here right now and I would be sailing . . .except for the fact that there ain't no wind!
Well, maybe not with a vengeance, but the weather sure has changed for the better. Back have come hot and humid and hazy can't be that far behind. The weather broke yesterday and the wind died off to nothing. And thank goodness for that.
On Tuesday, two more boats broke loose from their moorings. Again, miracle of miracles, neither hit anything nor went aground though one, an aerodynamic racing boat took off down river at such speed the Coast Guard had to send a cutter chase boat to get her before she made it out into Fishers Island Sound. In both cases it was gear failure, specifically the chaffing through of the mooring pennant, but aside from that and the anxiety of the owners, there was no real damage.
I actually spent most the days ashore trying to get some virus or whatever out of my computer. It just didn't want to go and I had three of the best lads in India working on it. It is too bad that computers have almost become a complete and absolute necessity.
It is a beautiful day out here right now and I would be sailing . . .except for the fact that there ain't no wind!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Is This What You Call A Nor'Easter?
SHIP'S LOG:
I actually never thought of this storm we have been, and are, having in such a term but I would guess that it is exactly accurate. The winds are out of the east, now mostly north east (appropriately) and have been blowing a steady 15-20 with gust anywhere above that, some even in the 30 knot range. As a result, there isn't a lot of sailing going on and not much in the way of projects being done as there is too much pitching and yawing and rolling to do much more than perhaps rearrange lockers if they need it. Anything requiring the slightest degree of precision is out.
If you know anything about sailboats, then you know the name SWAN. They are beautiful sailboats. They are expensive sailboats. They are built somewhere in Scandinavia and are really top-o-the-line. there is one at TYC, an older boat, circa 1969, perhaps one of the first built and sold here in America. It is 36 feet and has more varnished wood on it than you could possible endure. The pennant on SWANSONG's mooring became detached and she was blown through the mooring field and went aground 100 yards from the club house. The first miracle was that she made her way, unguided, through the most of the boats in the northern mooring field and didn't hit a one! The second miracle was that she went aground missing the rather massive dock out in front of TYC and miss a smaller but still massive dock next door. The third miracle was that she gounnded on soft beach sand. No one actually saw the trip and the launch drive was notified by a neighbor on the phone.
Considering the weather, there were few people at the club, but four of us got into the launch with the drive and went off to try and save the boat. She had grounded but was still swinging a bit which mean she wasn't stuck hard and fast. However, with the tide going out she soon would be and eventually go over on her side. Tying the launch to her, we couldn't pull her into deep water as her draft was too much. We tried all of the ways we could think of to lean her over and so lessen the draft but none seemed to work. I remembered seeing something in a book about such problems that you could lessen the draft by seating someone on the end of the boom and swinging it out to the side of the boat. This would induce a heel and perhaps enough to free the boat. Since it was my suggestion and since I was the youngest( how about that!), I got to ride the boom. It is not as easy as it sounds. Even on this 36 foot boat, the boom doesn't have much of a diameter and aside from the topping lift, there isn't much to hold onto. But we did it and there I sat, dangling over the water, while the launch drive gun the engine of the launch. A lot of grunting, and pulling and colorful language and launch hauling and voila, we were able to haul her off the sand and out to a free mooring where she sits now.
When she first got free, the launch driver called the guy and, not getting him, left a message that his boat had broken loose and had gone aground. After the rescue, he called again and got the guy. so the first thing the guy heard about his boat was that it was safely back on a mooring. He was greatly relieved and thankful. I can just imagine what I would have been like if I had been the guy and had gotten the first message first!
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
Slept like a log last night, though I did check my pennants and leave the key in the boat's ignition just in case.
I actually never thought of this storm we have been, and are, having in such a term but I would guess that it is exactly accurate. The winds are out of the east, now mostly north east (appropriately) and have been blowing a steady 15-20 with gust anywhere above that, some even in the 30 knot range. As a result, there isn't a lot of sailing going on and not much in the way of projects being done as there is too much pitching and yawing and rolling to do much more than perhaps rearrange lockers if they need it. Anything requiring the slightest degree of precision is out.
If you know anything about sailboats, then you know the name SWAN. They are beautiful sailboats. They are expensive sailboats. They are built somewhere in Scandinavia and are really top-o-the-line. there is one at TYC, an older boat, circa 1969, perhaps one of the first built and sold here in America. It is 36 feet and has more varnished wood on it than you could possible endure. The pennant on SWANSONG's mooring became detached and she was blown through the mooring field and went aground 100 yards from the club house. The first miracle was that she made her way, unguided, through the most of the boats in the northern mooring field and didn't hit a one! The second miracle was that she went aground missing the rather massive dock out in front of TYC and miss a smaller but still massive dock next door. The third miracle was that she gounnded on soft beach sand. No one actually saw the trip and the launch drive was notified by a neighbor on the phone.
Considering the weather, there were few people at the club, but four of us got into the launch with the drive and went off to try and save the boat. She had grounded but was still swinging a bit which mean she wasn't stuck hard and fast. However, with the tide going out she soon would be and eventually go over on her side. Tying the launch to her, we couldn't pull her into deep water as her draft was too much. We tried all of the ways we could think of to lean her over and so lessen the draft but none seemed to work. I remembered seeing something in a book about such problems that you could lessen the draft by seating someone on the end of the boom and swinging it out to the side of the boat. This would induce a heel and perhaps enough to free the boat. Since it was my suggestion and since I was the youngest( how about that!), I got to ride the boom. It is not as easy as it sounds. Even on this 36 foot boat, the boom doesn't have much of a diameter and aside from the topping lift, there isn't much to hold onto. But we did it and there I sat, dangling over the water, while the launch drive gun the engine of the launch. A lot of grunting, and pulling and colorful language and launch hauling and voila, we were able to haul her off the sand and out to a free mooring where she sits now.
When she first got free, the launch driver called the guy and, not getting him, left a message that his boat had broken loose and had gone aground. After the rescue, he called again and got the guy. so the first thing the guy heard about his boat was that it was safely back on a mooring. He was greatly relieved and thankful. I can just imagine what I would have been like if I had been the guy and had gotten the first message first!
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
Slept like a log last night, though I did check my pennants and leave the key in the boat's ignition just in case.
Monday, August 23, 2010
More Crappy Days in Paradise!
SHIP'S LOG:
Sunday turned out to be a truly crappy day. Torrential rains and storm-force winds and small craft warning all contributed to a day that was better spent inside than out. The winds came out of the East, sometimes the north east and sometimes dead East, but mostly from the southeast with a nice long fetch up the river. This guaranteed lots of nice rolly waves and a lot of pitching and yawing about on the mooring. And I had chili for lunch.
The rain by itself would have been bad enough, but matched with the win and the waves, it was not a nice day or night. While the awnings and dodger kept the rain out of the cockpit and the newly re-caulked salon hatch was dry as a bone, the shelf behind the starboard settee got wet. How I don't know. Di didn't seem to come from the cabinets behind as they were dry. It didn't seem to come from the port lights above as the area below the port lights was dry. It couldn't come from below as water doesn't run uphill even on a boat! The only source I can see is that gremlins pour a bottle of water on the shelf while I was asleep!
Sleeping last night was too bad. The rolling was actually comforting and sleep inducing. The nosiest part was the wind generator which produces not just electricity but one hell of a whine when the wind gets up over 20 knots, where it spent a good deal of last night. The wind generator has a self braking device built in so that it won't burn out or go so fast as to shake itself apart. It sounds like a semi downshifting when it kicks in which it seemed to do about every 15 minutes or so. The good thing was that it produced so much juice that it ran the batteries back to "even," according to the battery monitor. So they should be in good shape. Even watching two movies last night on the computer didn't serious deplete the house bank and by this morning, everything was up to snuff. As they say it is an ill wind that blows no one no good!
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
When you are trying get to sleep at night on a boat in a storm, you spend a lot of time trying to identify all the sounds you hear and what is making them.Every boat has lots of noise makers and ABISHAG is no exception. There are the standard noises I always hear - the rattle of the steering vain, the whine of the wind generator, the sound of the wind in the shrouds, the slapping of halyards - and I expect to hear them. And when I don't or I hear a new sound, I have to try and figure out what it means and whether or not it is something that I need to deal with. Somethings you just have to deal with, like a line that has loosened and is causing a block to bang and scrape irregularly. Let alone, it will eventually drive you off the deep end, so I get up and fix it. Somethings you don't have the skill or the tools or inspiration to fix right then unless it will sink the boat or do expensive damage. There is an amazing amount of stuff that you can let go and it is definitely a better idea than trying to fix it in the dark.
Another day or two of this stuff and then it will be over. Hopefully, we will get back to hazy, hot and humid!
Sunday turned out to be a truly crappy day. Torrential rains and storm-force winds and small craft warning all contributed to a day that was better spent inside than out. The winds came out of the East, sometimes the north east and sometimes dead East, but mostly from the southeast with a nice long fetch up the river. This guaranteed lots of nice rolly waves and a lot of pitching and yawing about on the mooring. And I had chili for lunch.
The rain by itself would have been bad enough, but matched with the win and the waves, it was not a nice day or night. While the awnings and dodger kept the rain out of the cockpit and the newly re-caulked salon hatch was dry as a bone, the shelf behind the starboard settee got wet. How I don't know. Di didn't seem to come from the cabinets behind as they were dry. It didn't seem to come from the port lights above as the area below the port lights was dry. It couldn't come from below as water doesn't run uphill even on a boat! The only source I can see is that gremlins pour a bottle of water on the shelf while I was asleep!
Sleeping last night was too bad. The rolling was actually comforting and sleep inducing. The nosiest part was the wind generator which produces not just electricity but one hell of a whine when the wind gets up over 20 knots, where it spent a good deal of last night. The wind generator has a self braking device built in so that it won't burn out or go so fast as to shake itself apart. It sounds like a semi downshifting when it kicks in which it seemed to do about every 15 minutes or so. The good thing was that it produced so much juice that it ran the batteries back to "even," according to the battery monitor. So they should be in good shape. Even watching two movies last night on the computer didn't serious deplete the house bank and by this morning, everything was up to snuff. As they say it is an ill wind that blows no one no good!
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
When you are trying get to sleep at night on a boat in a storm, you spend a lot of time trying to identify all the sounds you hear and what is making them.Every boat has lots of noise makers and ABISHAG is no exception. There are the standard noises I always hear - the rattle of the steering vain, the whine of the wind generator, the sound of the wind in the shrouds, the slapping of halyards - and I expect to hear them. And when I don't or I hear a new sound, I have to try and figure out what it means and whether or not it is something that I need to deal with. Somethings you just have to deal with, like a line that has loosened and is causing a block to bang and scrape irregularly. Let alone, it will eventually drive you off the deep end, so I get up and fix it. Somethings you don't have the skill or the tools or inspiration to fix right then unless it will sink the boat or do expensive damage. There is an amazing amount of stuff that you can let go and it is definitely a better idea than trying to fix it in the dark.
Another day or two of this stuff and then it will be over. Hopefully, we will get back to hazy, hot and humid!
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