SHIP'S LOG:
I had forgotten just how busy the Thames River can be when you are about a mile from the entrance as we are at TYC. You have the Block Island Ferry but that's usually only once in the morning (outbound) and once in the evening (inbound) though it seems that maybe that particular ferry isn't running any more. There is the Fisher's Island Ferry that run approximately on the hour hour and the Orient Point Ferries which seem to run constantly. The older ferries( slow and conventual)make the run in and out seemingly on the hour from both New London(outbound) and from Orient Point(inbound). Then there is the "Hi Speed Ferry" ferry(The SeaJet Catamaran) that runs about every 45 minutes. It can get a little congested in the timing is right and yesterday it was right.
Add to the mix the two outbound and one inbound 688's, with escorting Coast Guard Gunships and a Navy Dive Platform Ship, with accompanying tug, and things really got chaotic. The of course there was the research vessel from UCONN Avery Point, assort lobster boats(professional) and fishermen(definitely non-professional), along with recreational sailors and powerboaters, and it was something akin to the Walmart Parking lot before a big sale.
My own particular part in this play came when I was cruising up the river from TYC and happened to notice a 688 coming through the railroad bridge than spans the Thames. Naval vessels have a designated "exclusion zone" of 500 yards around them, a zone enforced but the Coasties in the rubber boats with the 60mm machine guns. I ducked out of the channels to port, heading off far enough not to attract unwarranted attention from the Coasties. when the sub had passed, I jibed and went back to sailing downwind upriver. After a few minutes, because the wind was so light, I jibed around and b\headed back down river. Since the wind was light, I took the time to get out of the cockpit to engage the mainsail leech line(It keeps the back edge of the sail from fluttering.) Unfortunately, in leaving the cockpit, I let the boat sail itself into irons, that is the boat sailed directly into the wind, lost almost all forward momentum, and the sails couldn't engage the wind. Basically, I was sitting there, dead in the water, a situation that could be resolved but cranking on the engine or waiting a moment or two until the boat, pushed by the wind or turned by the current, shift the angle of the boat sufficiently so that the sails could bite the wind.
At this particular moment, I was being approached by RACE POINT, one of the ferries that run back and forth to Fishers Island. Now I was along the starboard side of the Channel and the Ferry was on the same side, approaching my stern. Now he had the whole rest of the channel in which to maneuver and could easily do so now that the sub and its escorts had cleaned everyone out. I was in irons, sails fluttering and bobbing like a cork not quite in his path. I would presume, if he was looking out his ports, he could see that I wasn't moving, or at least not fast enough to have any real control, and that he would simply shift to port and speed by. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!Blast went his horn to inform me of his intention to pass to port. He could very well pass to starboard as a.) he would have hit me; and b.) he would have gone out of he channel. It wasn't like I didn't know he was there. I found out during my trip that most traffic eschews horn signals in favor of communication over the radio. It is a rare event, even in the busy Thames, to heard a horn. Most often, they are blown in a fit-of-pique by commercial vessels at recreational vessels. To make matters worse, as he slid by, his bow wave caught ABISHAG and started to turn her right into him. Thank goodness ABISHAG turns best to port and that he was a small ferry traveling at excessive speed. I was just able to horse ABISHAG around his stern and miss him.
So ends another day on the Briney.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Sailing, Sailing, Sailing, Sailing . . . . . . . .
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, what can I say. It is summer, the weather has been pretty good, and I am living on a sailboat. Sailing obviously is a priority. Blogging, not so much.
To update, the final fix of the ports is done and it even works! we had rain, a real "street cleaner" and the nav station and aft berth remanded dry!
I had planned to go out again on Saturday but, having everything set to go, I unfurled the mainsail, or at least tried to, and it jammed. The old problem of the main bunching up because of the loose furling rod made it almost impossible to move beyond half way out. Evidently, furling it the day before had moved the rod out of position and made the furling a complete and tangled mess. I worked on in for about an hour when I got an assist from Rich Weber. Before any fix could be attempted, the sail had to come all the way out. There was a lot of pulling and sweating and yanking and a little colorful language before we got it all the way out. Then came the fun part, trying to figure what to do. Rich rightly suggested that rather than jury-rig it once again, knowing that it would mess up again sometime in the future, possibly at a most in opportune time, it would be better to fix it and be done with it. Unfortunately, we had no idea just how to go about it.
As luck would have it, Fred, an engineer of great repute, was also available and he likes nothing better than a challenge. Consider that he joined me for the start of the trip south and was "seriously unwell" for a portion of it. (unlike Bob who never does anything half way!)
As I am sure that I mentioned before, the "D"-shaped rob, around which the mainsail furls, fits into a "D" shaped hole in the bottom of the furling unit. The only problem is that it is not fixed in place and keeps lifting out causing all of the problems. Fred, brilliant engineer that he is, decided the best course of action was to drill a hole through the sheave in the bottom of the furling unit right into the furling rod and run a set screw into place to hold the rod down. Seems a simple fix and it was but, as with all things nautical, it took longer to do than one might expect. However, when all was said and done, the fix worked just fine, as subsequent sailing made perfectly clear.
AS to the rest, it has been sailing, sailing and more sailing. I am getting back for all the miles I motored on the ICW. And it has been really wonderful. What can I say. I am enjoying the heck out of it.
Well, what can I say. It is summer, the weather has been pretty good, and I am living on a sailboat. Sailing obviously is a priority. Blogging, not so much.
To update, the final fix of the ports is done and it even works! we had rain, a real "street cleaner" and the nav station and aft berth remanded dry!
I had planned to go out again on Saturday but, having everything set to go, I unfurled the mainsail, or at least tried to, and it jammed. The old problem of the main bunching up because of the loose furling rod made it almost impossible to move beyond half way out. Evidently, furling it the day before had moved the rod out of position and made the furling a complete and tangled mess. I worked on in for about an hour when I got an assist from Rich Weber. Before any fix could be attempted, the sail had to come all the way out. There was a lot of pulling and sweating and yanking and a little colorful language before we got it all the way out. Then came the fun part, trying to figure what to do. Rich rightly suggested that rather than jury-rig it once again, knowing that it would mess up again sometime in the future, possibly at a most in opportune time, it would be better to fix it and be done with it. Unfortunately, we had no idea just how to go about it.
As luck would have it, Fred, an engineer of great repute, was also available and he likes nothing better than a challenge. Consider that he joined me for the start of the trip south and was "seriously unwell" for a portion of it. (unlike Bob who never does anything half way!)
As I am sure that I mentioned before, the "D"-shaped rob, around which the mainsail furls, fits into a "D" shaped hole in the bottom of the furling unit. The only problem is that it is not fixed in place and keeps lifting out causing all of the problems. Fred, brilliant engineer that he is, decided the best course of action was to drill a hole through the sheave in the bottom of the furling unit right into the furling rod and run a set screw into place to hold the rod down. Seems a simple fix and it was but, as with all things nautical, it took longer to do than one might expect. However, when all was said and done, the fix worked just fine, as subsequent sailing made perfectly clear.
AS to the rest, it has been sailing, sailing and more sailing. I am getting back for all the miles I motored on the ICW. And it has been really wonderful. What can I say. I am enjoying the heck out of it.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Well, That didn't Work!
SHIP'S LOG:
It is not that I minded the work. well, actually I did, but if it had paid off, that is if it had fixed the problem, I wouldn't have minded a bit. Actually, I would have been very full of myself for having done the job correctly. In reality, I did do the job correctly . . . re-bedding the two ports to stop the leaks. The problem was that was not where the leaks were coming from!
Last night, TYC was rocked for 45 minutes with a great thunder-n-lightning storm which also included a heck of a lot of rain. I was asleep in the aft cabin when a drip landed right in the middle of my back. Not the way one wishes to be awakened from a dead sleep.On went the flash light and the drip was leaking in the same spot. I went to the nav station and the leak there was still leaking as well. I was not happy.
Staring at the leak in the aft cabin port, I slowly began to realize that the source of the leak was the gasket that was holding the Plexiglas in the aluminum frame. The gaskets in all of the ports are 34 years old and they just are no longer completely up to the task. The rubber, or whatever the material is that they are made out of, has just seen too many years of sun and salt and no longer really have the flexibility to keep a tight seal. The water in migrating in through the gaskets and hence the leaks. Rather than pop the ports again right now, I will cover the gaskets with silicon and see if that will seal them short term. If so, their replacement can await the spring. If not, I will be very unhappy.
I also had the joy this day of getting a filling replaced. I cracked it a couple of months ago down in Georgia and while it wasn't a major pain, every now and then , if I chewed the right way, it became a major pain. Today was the first day the dentist could fix it and he did and when I got back to the boat, it was too beautiful a day to do anything other than go sailing. So I went. There was great wind out of the SW and, even with her dirty bottom, ABISHAG was doing over 6 knots, which is pretty good for an 11 ton ketch! And if I get over the side and clean her bottom, she will do even better!The best part was I really didn't have to go anywhere. I just had to sail and enjoy the fact that I was sailing. She heeled quite abit and so everything that was not properly stored got tossed about the cabin and pretty much everything was not properly stored. It comes from living on a boat in one place for almost a month and then going out sailing in some real wind.. Even with the clean-up that it entailed at journey's end, it was more than worth it. Weather permitting, I will do the same tomorrow, post siliconing the ports.
It is not that I minded the work. well, actually I did, but if it had paid off, that is if it had fixed the problem, I wouldn't have minded a bit. Actually, I would have been very full of myself for having done the job correctly. In reality, I did do the job correctly . . . re-bedding the two ports to stop the leaks. The problem was that was not where the leaks were coming from!
Last night, TYC was rocked for 45 minutes with a great thunder-n-lightning storm which also included a heck of a lot of rain. I was asleep in the aft cabin when a drip landed right in the middle of my back. Not the way one wishes to be awakened from a dead sleep.On went the flash light and the drip was leaking in the same spot. I went to the nav station and the leak there was still leaking as well. I was not happy.
Staring at the leak in the aft cabin port, I slowly began to realize that the source of the leak was the gasket that was holding the Plexiglas in the aluminum frame. The gaskets in all of the ports are 34 years old and they just are no longer completely up to the task. The rubber, or whatever the material is that they are made out of, has just seen too many years of sun and salt and no longer really have the flexibility to keep a tight seal. The water in migrating in through the gaskets and hence the leaks. Rather than pop the ports again right now, I will cover the gaskets with silicon and see if that will seal them short term. If so, their replacement can await the spring. If not, I will be very unhappy.
I also had the joy this day of getting a filling replaced. I cracked it a couple of months ago down in Georgia and while it wasn't a major pain, every now and then , if I chewed the right way, it became a major pain. Today was the first day the dentist could fix it and he did and when I got back to the boat, it was too beautiful a day to do anything other than go sailing. So I went. There was great wind out of the SW and, even with her dirty bottom, ABISHAG was doing over 6 knots, which is pretty good for an 11 ton ketch! And if I get over the side and clean her bottom, she will do even better!The best part was I really didn't have to go anywhere. I just had to sail and enjoy the fact that I was sailing. She heeled quite abit and so everything that was not properly stored got tossed about the cabin and pretty much everything was not properly stored. It comes from living on a boat in one place for almost a month and then going out sailing in some real wind.. Even with the clean-up that it entailed at journey's end, it was more than worth it. Weather permitting, I will do the same tomorrow, post siliconing the ports.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
At Last!
SHIP'S LOG:
At last, I popped the port over the navigation station, re-bedded it and put it back in. Now I have to wait to see if the leak that was there is gone for good. It was a total pain to do it of course and took about three hours.
First, I had to unscrew all of the screws holding the port window and frame in place. There were about 12 screws and all came out rather easily . . . except for one. There is ALWAYS one that has to be a pain. Prying, unscrewing, hammering, yelling and threatening eventually got it free. Praying the frame out was harder than expected as the caulking held it firmly in place. It took a lot of leveraging with screw drivers to eventually get it to yield and come out. I discovered the cause of the leak(I think). The metal frame holding the window in place was made of two pieces , a straight lower and a curved upper. Where they joined over the nav station, the two pieces butted together but there was a separation and that was probably where the rain got in. I drilled an extra hold for an extra screw to hold it tight.
Next, I took of the inside frame, more a decorative piece than a really integral part of the port. It had two stubborn screws and two missing screws.
Next I had to scrape off all of the old caulking and spread on some new goop. Then it was merely a matter of fitting the frames back into their proper places and reinserting the screws. I even replaced the missing screws. I let you know if the three hours was worth it.
About the goop. It was black polysulfide caulking and it has a mind of its own. It seems that no matter how careful I am with the stuff it gets everywhere. I even wore rubber gloves but it still got on my hands and under my fingernails. And get one little dab on you and you tend to mark everything and every place on the boat. It is maddening and a real pain to clean up. I had to clean all the tools as well. Like I said, it gets everywhere. Still in all, the job is done and if it works, well there are only five more ports to do. You can just do one, you know!
At last, I popped the port over the navigation station, re-bedded it and put it back in. Now I have to wait to see if the leak that was there is gone for good. It was a total pain to do it of course and took about three hours.
First, I had to unscrew all of the screws holding the port window and frame in place. There were about 12 screws and all came out rather easily . . . except for one. There is ALWAYS one that has to be a pain. Prying, unscrewing, hammering, yelling and threatening eventually got it free. Praying the frame out was harder than expected as the caulking held it firmly in place. It took a lot of leveraging with screw drivers to eventually get it to yield and come out. I discovered the cause of the leak(I think). The metal frame holding the window in place was made of two pieces , a straight lower and a curved upper. Where they joined over the nav station, the two pieces butted together but there was a separation and that was probably where the rain got in. I drilled an extra hold for an extra screw to hold it tight.
Next, I took of the inside frame, more a decorative piece than a really integral part of the port. It had two stubborn screws and two missing screws.
Next I had to scrape off all of the old caulking and spread on some new goop. Then it was merely a matter of fitting the frames back into their proper places and reinserting the screws. I even replaced the missing screws. I let you know if the three hours was worth it.
About the goop. It was black polysulfide caulking and it has a mind of its own. It seems that no matter how careful I am with the stuff it gets everywhere. I even wore rubber gloves but it still got on my hands and under my fingernails. And get one little dab on you and you tend to mark everything and every place on the boat. It is maddening and a real pain to clean up. I had to clean all the tools as well. Like I said, it gets everywhere. Still in all, the job is done and if it works, well there are only five more ports to do. You can just do one, you know!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Good Things Come To Those Who Wait!
SHIP'S LOG:
After about a week or waiting, give or take 9 months, my niece and her husband are delivered of their first child, Alexia Grace - if the reports be true. Somehow, everyone seems to have expected this wondrous event a week earlier, but as mother & child are happy and healthy and dad can begin to breathe again, all the rest of us can relax too and make plans to spoil the little girl outrageously! Congratulations Nicole, we all knew you had it in you!(pun intended!)
Waiting also produced some decent weather for a change and that mean that some work on ABISHAG could go forward. High humidity and actual rain impaired a lot of what I wanted to do. But after a fog so thick I could barely see the bow of the boat Saturday night, Sunday became a nice sunny day which allowed for the popping out of a port in the aft cabin and re-begging it so as to stop the leak that was too close to my head for comfort in the rain. I did not test the repair as it required "RAIN" and there has been much to much of that since my return. I can wait a few weeks before becoming disappointed.
I still have been unable to find someone who can repair the broken stanchion with a weld. Actually, I could but no one I can afford and/or who would come to TYC to do it. As the Bard would say, "Aye, there's the rub." It will get done as all good things come to those who wait. Besides, there are a host of other projects that can easily occupy mind time and attention . . .if I should let them.
It seems as though the summer is finally getting here though the days have begun to get shorter. Did you notice? The weather seems to have warmed sufficiently, when it isn't raining, to be called summer. Racing is underway at TYC, as is the sail training program for kids, and most of the boats are back in the water and the picnics and parties have gotten off the ground, so i guess it is summer after all up here. For me, summer has been going on since about the 5th of January so it is a little hard to tell really, but I guess that this is it it. I intend to enjoy it.
After about a week or waiting, give or take 9 months, my niece and her husband are delivered of their first child, Alexia Grace - if the reports be true. Somehow, everyone seems to have expected this wondrous event a week earlier, but as mother & child are happy and healthy and dad can begin to breathe again, all the rest of us can relax too and make plans to spoil the little girl outrageously! Congratulations Nicole, we all knew you had it in you!(pun intended!)
Waiting also produced some decent weather for a change and that mean that some work on ABISHAG could go forward. High humidity and actual rain impaired a lot of what I wanted to do. But after a fog so thick I could barely see the bow of the boat Saturday night, Sunday became a nice sunny day which allowed for the popping out of a port in the aft cabin and re-begging it so as to stop the leak that was too close to my head for comfort in the rain. I did not test the repair as it required "RAIN" and there has been much to much of that since my return. I can wait a few weeks before becoming disappointed.
I still have been unable to find someone who can repair the broken stanchion with a weld. Actually, I could but no one I can afford and/or who would come to TYC to do it. As the Bard would say, "Aye, there's the rub." It will get done as all good things come to those who wait. Besides, there are a host of other projects that can easily occupy mind time and attention . . .if I should let them.
It seems as though the summer is finally getting here though the days have begun to get shorter. Did you notice? The weather seems to have warmed sufficiently, when it isn't raining, to be called summer. Racing is underway at TYC, as is the sail training program for kids, and most of the boats are back in the water and the picnics and parties have gotten off the ground, so i guess it is summer after all up here. For me, summer has been going on since about the 5th of January so it is a little hard to tell really, but I guess that this is it it. I intend to enjoy it.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Longest Day of the Year
SHIP'S LOG:
Actually, when you think about it, it is actually a misnomer. All days after all, are 24 hours in duration and what we actually have here, or there, was the day with the longest duration of sunshine. Just semantics I guess, but it was a vary nice day. Unfortunately, I was rushing off here and there getting to several appointments and really didn't spend any time on the water or sailing ABISHAG. And now today, Wednesday, when I have the time, i also have rain to go along with it. (Sigh!) Such is the life of a boater. And the next couple of days don't promise a much better outlook but then I have to deal with what comes my way whatever it is. And as On the trip, there are always thousands of items on the projects list that can be attended to. O drat!
Actually, when you think about it, it is actually a misnomer. All days after all, are 24 hours in duration and what we actually have here, or there, was the day with the longest duration of sunshine. Just semantics I guess, but it was a vary nice day. Unfortunately, I was rushing off here and there getting to several appointments and really didn't spend any time on the water or sailing ABISHAG. And now today, Wednesday, when I have the time, i also have rain to go along with it. (Sigh!) Such is the life of a boater. And the next couple of days don't promise a much better outlook but then I have to deal with what comes my way whatever it is. And as On the trip, there are always thousands of items on the projects list that can be attended to. O drat!
Monday, June 20, 2011
A Happy Father's Day
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, NOAA got it right. It was a fine day. A nice, easy breeze. A nice, partly sunny sky, with just enough cloud cover. Not much in the way of waves. Just a nice day for a sail. Not that I really went anywhere, certainly not like the last few months anyway. I did got to New York but then again, New your is but four miles away . . .Fishers Island, New York. Closer actually than Rhode Island! It is one of the great things about New London where resides TYC, In an easy day's sailing, you can hit three, even four states' waters and still be home for dinner. And if you are adventurous, a short sail can take you through the Race into the open Atlantic!
There were a fair amount of sailboats out, a number involved in Father's Day Races and/or regular Sunday set-to's and a larger number just out there enjoying the day, and I was certainly among the latter!
The projects list for ABISHAG keeps growing and I am going to have to start to whittle it down some, though I am not sure that I have the items and/or parts to do all that needs to be done. Somethings are simply a re-arrangement of things. I have had a problem with the Mizzen sail that I had re-cut just before I left on the trip. I really couldn't get it to run all the way to the top of the mast. The problem was easily corrected by simply re-positioning the gooseneck (where the boom attaches to the mast) a few positions higher on its track. A simple fix yet it actually took all of an hour of trying all sorts of different things until I stumbled on it. I had dismissed it out of hand as it just didn't seem to make sense but I guess it did have to in order for it to work which it now does.
I know longer have to store all the two back-up anchors on deck. In fact, I gave the smallest to the TYC launch drive to see if he could find a use for it. The other is now temporarily residing in the forepeak but I will have to find another spot. The forepeak is getting too crowded and I will need the space for Russ if we take a trip this summer.I am also going to have to dispose of my "trip library." I have a couple of dozen novels that I used to pass the time on the trip and, having gone through them several times, including the ones I swapped out on the way, it is a good time to send them ashore. TYC doesn't "technically" have a Book Swap as we don't get a lot of transient cruisers during the season, but the members go tripping often enough that the books will find good, though probably temporary, homes aboard other craft.
Tomorrow, Tom the Launch Driver and I will will go over maps and charts of the ICW as he is planning a trip south this fall. Right now he is thinking of scooting down to Morehead City and out into the Atlantic to the Bahamas, probably to the Abacos. As his wife will be going along,fe havens along the ICW as she probably won't like being on the boat and tripping for more than 5 days at a stretch. It will be fun to go over the charts and guides and share"my experience" with someone else. I am still not up for making the trip again . . . right now, but if someone needs crew on a 50+ foot motor yacht, I just might consider it. Ah, the luxury!
Well, NOAA got it right. It was a fine day. A nice, easy breeze. A nice, partly sunny sky, with just enough cloud cover. Not much in the way of waves. Just a nice day for a sail. Not that I really went anywhere, certainly not like the last few months anyway. I did got to New York but then again, New your is but four miles away . . .Fishers Island, New York. Closer actually than Rhode Island! It is one of the great things about New London where resides TYC, In an easy day's sailing, you can hit three, even four states' waters and still be home for dinner. And if you are adventurous, a short sail can take you through the Race into the open Atlantic!
There were a fair amount of sailboats out, a number involved in Father's Day Races and/or regular Sunday set-to's and a larger number just out there enjoying the day, and I was certainly among the latter!
The projects list for ABISHAG keeps growing and I am going to have to start to whittle it down some, though I am not sure that I have the items and/or parts to do all that needs to be done. Somethings are simply a re-arrangement of things. I have had a problem with the Mizzen sail that I had re-cut just before I left on the trip. I really couldn't get it to run all the way to the top of the mast. The problem was easily corrected by simply re-positioning the gooseneck (where the boom attaches to the mast) a few positions higher on its track. A simple fix yet it actually took all of an hour of trying all sorts of different things until I stumbled on it. I had dismissed it out of hand as it just didn't seem to make sense but I guess it did have to in order for it to work which it now does.
I know longer have to store all the two back-up anchors on deck. In fact, I gave the smallest to the TYC launch drive to see if he could find a use for it. The other is now temporarily residing in the forepeak but I will have to find another spot. The forepeak is getting too crowded and I will need the space for Russ if we take a trip this summer.I am also going to have to dispose of my "trip library." I have a couple of dozen novels that I used to pass the time on the trip and, having gone through them several times, including the ones I swapped out on the way, it is a good time to send them ashore. TYC doesn't "technically" have a Book Swap as we don't get a lot of transient cruisers during the season, but the members go tripping often enough that the books will find good, though probably temporary, homes aboard other craft.
Tomorrow, Tom the Launch Driver and I will will go over maps and charts of the ICW as he is planning a trip south this fall. Right now he is thinking of scooting down to Morehead City and out into the Atlantic to the Bahamas, probably to the Abacos. As his wife will be going along,fe havens along the ICW as she probably won't like being on the boat and tripping for more than 5 days at a stretch. It will be fun to go over the charts and guides and share"my experience" with someone else. I am still not up for making the trip again . . . right now, but if someone needs crew on a 50+ foot motor yacht, I just might consider it. Ah, the luxury!
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