SHIP'S LOG:
No sailing yesterday. Actually I spent the day trying to get my financial house in order. It is not an easy thing to accomplish either. If you doubt it, try this mathematical equation: $1,100 of salary divided by $2,500 worth of bills is how much? I am not a wiz at math but even I know that the answer is NOT GOOD! However, God, through some friends, made everything alright, pretty much as He has been doing forever, but certainly in a rather spectacular way during my sojourn. It never seems to fail that when I have exhausted every conceivable means of righting my financial ship, and I am going down like the Titanic, God comes through, always. And simply out, it happened once again.
Aside from that wondrous and humbling experience, the day was spent hustling around to take care of a few other "slightly pressing matters."Few things can be worse than waking up in the morning, staggering to the kitchen(galley) and finding you have neither coffee nor cream for the coffee aboard. An early morning row solved the immediate problem and the longer term solution lay in a trip to the market. I have to admit that I have gotten lax in the securing of and the maintaining of provender aboard ship. Heck, even the "iron rations" ( the last supplies you use) of peanut butter, Spam and Dinty Moore Beef Stew have long since disappeared. Trust me, you have to be both lazy and desperate to make a meal or just peanut butter(no bread) or Spam (with or without bread or crackers) or Dinty Moore Beef Stew( there are not enough spices and/or condiments in the world to make it palatable)! I guess that the fact that I can be "launched" ashore or row myself and so have access to markets and restaurants, even Fred's Shanty (which is right up there with Dinty Moore Beef Stew when they are having a particularly good day) has just led to a laxness which has led in turn to a nothing in the way of provisions. My lockers are as bare as Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard! And there is no worse shopper than me. For me a well balance shopping list would include a bag of Granny Smith's, two packages of Chips Ahoy Cookies, a jar of Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts, some beef-stick summer sausage, Mission wraps, humus, a pound of roast beef, a pound of honey cure ham, a pound of Swiss cheese, to gallons of cranberry juice, to cases of water in bottles, Coffee Mate, Instant coffee, a package of Splenda, a bottle of rum, Romain Noodles, several cans of Progresso Soups,and the odd condiment like horseradish sauce! You can easily see what a well balanced meal can be developed from all that.
I am too much an impulse buyer which is why I avoid West Marine like the pox. If I have to buy something there, I call ahead of time and they get it and I pick it up and pay for it at the counter and leave. It is the only way I can be safe. It explains how I got in debt up to my chin restoring ABISHAG after I bought her. West Marine, Harbor Freight, Home depot, Sears . . . . they are all places I NEED to stay away from.They are financially dangerous!
I must have really been tired last night. I went to bed before 9pm and slept through a rain storm, which is a pretty good trick especially when you are sleeping under an OPEN HATCH!!!! didn't even realize that it had rain until I sat in a puddle on a cockpit cushion as I was having my coffee this morning. It woke me up better than the coffee! Today , NOAA is not calling for rain, so I will batten the hatches and expect the worse. Of course, they will probably fake me out and we will have a nice day though right now it doesn't look so hot. In any even, I have to pay bills online and get everything squared away. . . . financially. I may even be able to register my boat, my dinghy, my motorcycle and get my license renewed . . .if there are the funds available after the bills are paid. So much for all of you who continue to think that living on a boat is one big vacation!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Just Another One of Those Summer Days!
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, what can I say? There weather has been marvelous and the sailing has been great and so who has the time to spend in front of a computer and blog? A dear friend named Jim, who works harder than any 10 people I know, came down Tuesday and I took him out for his first sail. He had been on some of "those other boats" before but had never been out sailing. He took to it as naturally as can be and I had to wrest control of the wheel finally as we got ready to moor at the end of the day. The way the mooring was sitting in the wind and the way the boats around it were swinging, even I wouldn't have been all that comfortable coming in under sail. It was a great day sail and I think that he will come again soon with some of his kiddos in tow.
Even though we have begun the month of August, the summer seems to be stretching on nicely and at a slow measured pace. After two months of being in "home waters," I still have no real interest in repeating last fall's trek south, well at least not in my own boat. ABISHAG got more beat up than I first suspected and lots of little things need fixing and replacing and I would probably not have the time, and surely don't have the coins, to do everything that really should be done to make such a trip again.While I had gotten her as ready as I thought she needed to be last yearas, the experience of making the trip down and back gave me a whole new appreciation of the wear and tear such a trip inflicts on a boat. I did deal with a few serious storms, but it was the daily grind that seemed to do the most damage, that and the stress and strain and salt water environment in which it took place. Yesterday I reached for a zippered shaving kit bag that contained all my "Bug-Begone" preparations and the zipper was corroded shut. It took a liberal application vinegar, Coke, Marvel Mystery Oil, PB Blaster and careful working with a pair of pliers to get it open. All metal corrodes, some just more slowly than others, and looking after it all, trying indeed to get ahead, is soooooo time consuming.
Most of the sheets on the boat should be replaced. I definitely need new docklines. The furling lines for the Genoa and the Main are looking iffy. The sails need to go to the sail loft for a check out and any needed repairs. I still haven't gotten all of the ports completely sealed. The refrigeration and water systems are still non-functioning. I've got to haul the boat, clean and repair and paint the bottom, replace the zincs. More than likely replace the engine hoses. Build a better strut for the raw water pump. Load up on spares and replacement parts . . . . and the list goes on and on. Lots of stuff got used up and worn out. Sometimes, I forget, as I supose that we all do, even when you are not using something it ages and is less than what it formally was. And even when we use stuff, we tend to forget that we are using it up, something like brakes on the car that get ignored until they start to squeal.
So it would seem, right now, that the idea going South down the ICW again is a non-started . . . . at least on ABISHAG. If I have the time, I would be willing to help someone else out, on their boat, make the trip South. Ill just have to wait and see how that all pans out. That is at least a month or more away and today is turning out really nice and I think it is time to go for a sail.
Well, what can I say? There weather has been marvelous and the sailing has been great and so who has the time to spend in front of a computer and blog? A dear friend named Jim, who works harder than any 10 people I know, came down Tuesday and I took him out for his first sail. He had been on some of "those other boats" before but had never been out sailing. He took to it as naturally as can be and I had to wrest control of the wheel finally as we got ready to moor at the end of the day. The way the mooring was sitting in the wind and the way the boats around it were swinging, even I wouldn't have been all that comfortable coming in under sail. It was a great day sail and I think that he will come again soon with some of his kiddos in tow.
Even though we have begun the month of August, the summer seems to be stretching on nicely and at a slow measured pace. After two months of being in "home waters," I still have no real interest in repeating last fall's trek south, well at least not in my own boat. ABISHAG got more beat up than I first suspected and lots of little things need fixing and replacing and I would probably not have the time, and surely don't have the coins, to do everything that really should be done to make such a trip again.While I had gotten her as ready as I thought she needed to be last yearas, the experience of making the trip down and back gave me a whole new appreciation of the wear and tear such a trip inflicts on a boat. I did deal with a few serious storms, but it was the daily grind that seemed to do the most damage, that and the stress and strain and salt water environment in which it took place. Yesterday I reached for a zippered shaving kit bag that contained all my "Bug-Begone" preparations and the zipper was corroded shut. It took a liberal application vinegar, Coke, Marvel Mystery Oil, PB Blaster and careful working with a pair of pliers to get it open. All metal corrodes, some just more slowly than others, and looking after it all, trying indeed to get ahead, is soooooo time consuming.
Most of the sheets on the boat should be replaced. I definitely need new docklines. The furling lines for the Genoa and the Main are looking iffy. The sails need to go to the sail loft for a check out and any needed repairs. I still haven't gotten all of the ports completely sealed. The refrigeration and water systems are still non-functioning. I've got to haul the boat, clean and repair and paint the bottom, replace the zincs. More than likely replace the engine hoses. Build a better strut for the raw water pump. Load up on spares and replacement parts . . . . and the list goes on and on. Lots of stuff got used up and worn out. Sometimes, I forget, as I supose that we all do, even when you are not using something it ages and is less than what it formally was. And even when we use stuff, we tend to forget that we are using it up, something like brakes on the car that get ignored until they start to squeal.
So it would seem, right now, that the idea going South down the ICW again is a non-started . . . . at least on ABISHAG. If I have the time, I would be willing to help someone else out, on their boat, make the trip South. Ill just have to wait and see how that all pans out. That is at least a month or more away and today is turning out really nice and I think it is time to go for a sail.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
They Do Come In Three's!!!
SHIP'S LOG:
I had no sooner finished Thursday's blog entry than I went out to my car and found a parking ticket on the windshield! Now the spot where I was parked was on Pequot Avenue just down from the club and I have been parking there since I have been a member of TYC. And not only me but all the members of the club have parked there at one time or another. It is, as they say, common practice.
Now I have to be clear, there is yellow painted curbstones within 15 feet of the corner and 10 feet on either side of the fire hydrant four or so car-lengths from the corner. There is one sign by the yellow-painted bricks at the corner, to indicate "No Parking" but the placement of the signage makes it at least "unclear" where the "No Parking" really is. As with most people, "unclear" meant "permitted" and for as long as I have been a club member, people have parked there with no hassles from the local gendarmes.
That is changing and, as one wag at the club said, "It all has to do with revenue!"Over the summer, several people have gotten tickets for parking infraction s on the streets around the club, and indeed throughout all of New London, and Thursday, it was my turn. I was quickly followed by another car getting tagged and then on Friday, still another I actually called the Police Department and they sent a supervisor down and we went over the situation. And while he admitted that the signage was a little "iffy," still in indicated "No Parking" and that was that. He said I could contest the ticket and that I could probably get a hearing and perhaps "walk" on the ticket this time. The thought of the time and possible expense that would come with the hearing lead me to simply pay the ticket and leave wiser if poorer.
Friday was a rather nice day. The weather was crappy, cool, cloudy and damp, but what made it
a nice day was that we were hosting the OPTIMIST Regatta and the club was over-run with kids from various sailing programs, eager to "strut their stuff!" While the races were going on, the kids from outside New London were treated to the thrill of have a 688 Los Angles Class submarine coming up the river. (This was old hat for the kiddoes from TYC, an almost weekly occurrence.) If the timing of the race or the entrance of the sub into the river had been timed a little different, the OPTIs rounding the leward mark would have been well inside the "Defence Security Perimeter" set up by the Coasties around the sub. It would have been something to see how the Coasties, in their rubber boats armed to the teeth, would have dealt with a fleet of 8 foot sailing prams, manned by kids all under 16!
Friday was also the day when most of the members of the New York Yacht Club, who were participating in their "Summer Cruise," came into New London. In truth, they by passed New London, and all but a few, passed under the bridges and moored or docked at the Coast Guard Academy. Still it was impressive to see these huge motor yachts and huge sailboats come up the Thames River and pass our racers. But what was really impressive was the kids. A quick peak or two at the "impressive parade," then it was back to what was really important . . . racing their Optis!
I had no sooner finished Thursday's blog entry than I went out to my car and found a parking ticket on the windshield! Now the spot where I was parked was on Pequot Avenue just down from the club and I have been parking there since I have been a member of TYC. And not only me but all the members of the club have parked there at one time or another. It is, as they say, common practice.
Now I have to be clear, there is yellow painted curbstones within 15 feet of the corner and 10 feet on either side of the fire hydrant four or so car-lengths from the corner. There is one sign by the yellow-painted bricks at the corner, to indicate "No Parking" but the placement of the signage makes it at least "unclear" where the "No Parking" really is. As with most people, "unclear" meant "permitted" and for as long as I have been a club member, people have parked there with no hassles from the local gendarmes.
That is changing and, as one wag at the club said, "It all has to do with revenue!"Over the summer, several people have gotten tickets for parking infraction s on the streets around the club, and indeed throughout all of New London, and Thursday, it was my turn. I was quickly followed by another car getting tagged and then on Friday, still another I actually called the Police Department and they sent a supervisor down and we went over the situation. And while he admitted that the signage was a little "iffy," still in indicated "No Parking" and that was that. He said I could contest the ticket and that I could probably get a hearing and perhaps "walk" on the ticket this time. The thought of the time and possible expense that would come with the hearing lead me to simply pay the ticket and leave wiser if poorer.
Friday was a rather nice day. The weather was crappy, cool, cloudy and damp, but what made it
a nice day was that we were hosting the OPTIMIST Regatta and the club was over-run with kids from various sailing programs, eager to "strut their stuff!" While the races were going on, the kids from outside New London were treated to the thrill of have a 688 Los Angles Class submarine coming up the river. (This was old hat for the kiddoes from TYC, an almost weekly occurrence.) If the timing of the race or the entrance of the sub into the river had been timed a little different, the OPTIs rounding the leward mark would have been well inside the "Defence Security Perimeter" set up by the Coasties around the sub. It would have been something to see how the Coasties, in their rubber boats armed to the teeth, would have dealt with a fleet of 8 foot sailing prams, manned by kids all under 16!
Friday was also the day when most of the members of the New York Yacht Club, who were participating in their "Summer Cruise," came into New London. In truth, they by passed New London, and all but a few, passed under the bridges and moored or docked at the Coast Guard Academy. Still it was impressive to see these huge motor yachts and huge sailboats come up the Thames River and pass our racers. But what was really impressive was the kids. A quick peak or two at the "impressive parade," then it was back to what was really important . . . racing their Optis!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Every Day Is Different!
SHIP'S LOG:
A beautiful day today and a good day for work. I took the opportunity to whittle down the never ending "Projects List" some. Nothing of any great consequence though somethings that needed doing. I finally fixed the fenderboards and got them rigged rig. Fenderboards, for those not in the know nautically speaking, are "boards that hang in front of the fenders along the side of the boat when your are docked. The idea is to have the fenders rest on the side of the boat and the "board" between the fenders and the pilings of the dock. Fenders are basically rubber tubes that are meant to keep docks and piling and other boast from making contact with the boat and so doing damage to the topsides. Being tubes, the fenders, which are hung of the side of the boat on a piece of line attached to the lifelines, tend to roll and move and can easily be pushed out of the way and so lose their effectiveness. By affixing a couple of them them to the ends of a board, or in my case to a 3" diameter piece of PVC pipe, they remain in place and the board takes the punishment from the piling and/or dock. My fenderboards needed to be re-rigged as all the crushing against various docks and pilings had pretty much done in the lines holding fenders to pipe and need replacing. A simple task done out in the warm sun.
There were also various cotter pins and wire ties that had to be replaced and/or upgraded. The salt air does its best to destroy every piece of equipment or to at least make it non-functioning. So there were more blocks and shackles and other such things that needed to be taken apart and lube and reassembled. Again, not tough jobs but more ongoing maintenance that needed doing.
Someone said that bad things happen in threes. It may be true. When the launch was coming to pick me up, the steering cable parted and it lost steering. The driver was able to use the emergency tiller to get along side and I helped out for a while running the throttle while he helmed the launch. Last night was Wednesday night, Race Night, and there were lots ope people looking to first get out to their boats and then back in again. The two man combo was not the best way to run the launch but it worked reasonably well.
The second thing that went wrong was there was no hot water in the shower this morning. Thank goodness it was rather warm already so the cold water wasn't such a shock. It can sure wake you up in the morning though!
And number three? Well, I am worried about that! It could be anything or it could be nothing, but the waiting for the shoe to drop is never pleasant. Perhaps, it is just an old wives' tale or an urban legend or something like that. Still . . . . . . . . . .
A beautiful day today and a good day for work. I took the opportunity to whittle down the never ending "Projects List" some. Nothing of any great consequence though somethings that needed doing. I finally fixed the fenderboards and got them rigged rig. Fenderboards, for those not in the know nautically speaking, are "boards that hang in front of the fenders along the side of the boat when your are docked. The idea is to have the fenders rest on the side of the boat and the "board" between the fenders and the pilings of the dock. Fenders are basically rubber tubes that are meant to keep docks and piling and other boast from making contact with the boat and so doing damage to the topsides. Being tubes, the fenders, which are hung of the side of the boat on a piece of line attached to the lifelines, tend to roll and move and can easily be pushed out of the way and so lose their effectiveness. By affixing a couple of them them to the ends of a board, or in my case to a 3" diameter piece of PVC pipe, they remain in place and the board takes the punishment from the piling and/or dock. My fenderboards needed to be re-rigged as all the crushing against various docks and pilings had pretty much done in the lines holding fenders to pipe and need replacing. A simple task done out in the warm sun.
There were also various cotter pins and wire ties that had to be replaced and/or upgraded. The salt air does its best to destroy every piece of equipment or to at least make it non-functioning. So there were more blocks and shackles and other such things that needed to be taken apart and lube and reassembled. Again, not tough jobs but more ongoing maintenance that needed doing.
Someone said that bad things happen in threes. It may be true. When the launch was coming to pick me up, the steering cable parted and it lost steering. The driver was able to use the emergency tiller to get along side and I helped out for a while running the throttle while he helmed the launch. Last night was Wednesday night, Race Night, and there were lots ope people looking to first get out to their boats and then back in again. The two man combo was not the best way to run the launch but it worked reasonably well.
The second thing that went wrong was there was no hot water in the shower this morning. Thank goodness it was rather warm already so the cold water wasn't such a shock. It can sure wake you up in the morning though!
And number three? Well, I am worried about that! It could be anything or it could be nothing, but the waiting for the shoe to drop is never pleasant. Perhaps, it is just an old wives' tale or an urban legend or something like that. Still . . . . . . . . . .
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
One Of Them Florida Storms!
SHIP'S LOG:
The day was to be a work day but it turned out too nice. Not that I didn't do some work. I had to finish off the repair to the caprail/toerail. The F-27 set very well but had to be sanded down and all the rough and sharp edges removed. It really didn't take too long and then it was too nice a day not go go sailing.
There was about 10 knots of wind out of the S/SW, as it is most days, and there was little or no humidity. There was just the slightest bit of haze on the far horizon and a few puffy white clouds here and there. Even NOAA was calling for a beautiful day with "just a 20% chance of some showers late in the afternoon." Since they daily cover their collective butts with a forecast of of "a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms," I went sailing. And it was great. It was naother one of those sailing days where I pretty much went where the wind was blowing - a couple of hours that way and then a couple of hours that way and then a couple of hors this way and back to the mooring. No place I need to be and all the time in the world to get there.
On the way back in I noticed that the sky was beginning to cloud up some. The clouds didn't appear to be moving all that fast and seemed to be just crossing west to east. Whatever "unpleasant weather" might be happening, it certainly looked to pass well north.
.
After getting to the mooring, I cleaned up the boat from the sail and put everything in place, and then headed into the Clubhouse to get online. In the 2 minutes it took to get in, a black line appeared in the north, indicating a squall line or storm front, again well north, so it seemed. Sitting on the porch and gassing with a couple of members we kept checking out the line assuring one another that it would certainly pass north and would miss us completely. Even when the sky grew ominously dark, we still felt that it would give us a miss.
That communal opinion changed with the wind direction, when what had been South at 10 turned in an instant to 25 out of the north. And it increased. And with that shift came the large, dark, black and purple clouds. I am not sure what the steady wind speed got up to, but 40 mph wasn't far off and the gusts easily hit 50! At first there was no rain but that changed too. The "wall of rain" eventually blotted out the view of the bridge 3 miles away and advanced rapidly.
And it hit big time, along with thunder and some rather spectacular lightning. It rained so hard that water from the street rushed down our driveway and onto the beach scouring a canyon through the sand to the water. It was spectacular! Just like the storms in florida but this time I was on the beach! It didn't last too long, 20-25 minutesbut it must have dropped a good inch of rain.
In one sense, it was a fun storm, lots of flash but no real damage to anyone or anything. It was one that you could sit on the porch with a drink and enjoy. It would have been less entertaining on ABISHAG but 4 of those in Florida were more than enough for me this year!
The day was to be a work day but it turned out too nice. Not that I didn't do some work. I had to finish off the repair to the caprail/toerail. The F-27 set very well but had to be sanded down and all the rough and sharp edges removed. It really didn't take too long and then it was too nice a day not go go sailing.
There was about 10 knots of wind out of the S/SW, as it is most days, and there was little or no humidity. There was just the slightest bit of haze on the far horizon and a few puffy white clouds here and there. Even NOAA was calling for a beautiful day with "just a 20% chance of some showers late in the afternoon." Since they daily cover their collective butts with a forecast of of "a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms," I went sailing. And it was great. It was naother one of those sailing days where I pretty much went where the wind was blowing - a couple of hours that way and then a couple of hours that way and then a couple of hors this way and back to the mooring. No place I need to be and all the time in the world to get there.
On the way back in I noticed that the sky was beginning to cloud up some. The clouds didn't appear to be moving all that fast and seemed to be just crossing west to east. Whatever "unpleasant weather" might be happening, it certainly looked to pass well north.
.
After getting to the mooring, I cleaned up the boat from the sail and put everything in place, and then headed into the Clubhouse to get online. In the 2 minutes it took to get in, a black line appeared in the north, indicating a squall line or storm front, again well north, so it seemed. Sitting on the porch and gassing with a couple of members we kept checking out the line assuring one another that it would certainly pass north and would miss us completely. Even when the sky grew ominously dark, we still felt that it would give us a miss.
That communal opinion changed with the wind direction, when what had been South at 10 turned in an instant to 25 out of the north. And it increased. And with that shift came the large, dark, black and purple clouds. I am not sure what the steady wind speed got up to, but 40 mph wasn't far off and the gusts easily hit 50! At first there was no rain but that changed too. The "wall of rain" eventually blotted out the view of the bridge 3 miles away and advanced rapidly.
And it hit big time, along with thunder and some rather spectacular lightning. It rained so hard that water from the street rushed down our driveway and onto the beach scouring a canyon through the sand to the water. It was spectacular! Just like the storms in florida but this time I was on the beach! It didn't last too long, 20-25 minutesbut it must have dropped a good inch of rain.
In one sense, it was a fun storm, lots of flash but no real damage to anyone or anything. It was one that you could sit on the porch with a drink and enjoy. It would have been less entertaining on ABISHAG but 4 of those in Florida were more than enough for me this year!
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Governor's Regatta
SHIP'S LOG:
Sunday was the Governor's Regatta, a yearly event at TYC, and since I don't race anymore (I am really, REALLY Bad at it), I volunteered to work as part of the Committee for the Race. So for the past few days, I have been referred to as "the Windward Mark," indicating my particular role in the race scheme of things.
The Race itself is begins and ends "in the vicinity of Vixens Ledge" which off the mouth of the Thames River and off of Groton proper. It is a nice open expanse of water which allows for the racing to be done without competitors being hampered by the boat traffic in the Thames and is not blocked- wind wise - by the land. The current can be a bit tricky but that is supposed to be part of fun.
Being a part of the Race Committee, I got to dock Saturday at the end of the TYC dock and again on Sunday night - without charge. This "freebie" is allowed on Saturday so that the boats on the Committee can be pre-loaded with all the paraphernalia that is needed for the race, including food and drink for the "hard working crews," and allowed again on Sunday so that the crews can off-load said paraphernalia after the Race and before the post race party. It is also a lot easier to walk down the dock and crash on your boat after the post race party rather than motor out, secure the boat to the mooring, close up and try to get into the launch for the ride back ashore.
The weather didn't really cooperate as we got a thunder and lightning storm about 7am and while the rain stopped, it remained overcast and threatening all day. The wind didn't cooperate much either entailing a delay of an hour before the racing could start. In the end, the race was a simply windward/leward race of about 5 miles. It would have been longer, with another couple of legs but the wind didn't permit it. The way the wind was blowing, the Race Committee determined that they didn't need my services and use government marks for the race It meant that me and the crew got to watch as spectators without any responsibility . . .except to the food and drink so generously supplied. It also meant that we had an early release and got back to the club just ahead of the first finishing racers.
The party that followed was typically up to TYC standards. I imagine that the racers come as much for the party as for the competition.
hanging on the dock in the Thames can be a "rolly" experience with all the traffic in the river and Sunday night was no exception. With the wind out of the SE, even with a web of lines and a host of fenders, I still whacked the pilings a few times and one time was right on a section of the caprail that I have repaired several times. That this section survived the ICW trip I found amazing, that it didn't survive two nights on a dock in the Thames was no surprise at all. The downside was that the piece of wood, so often repaired, had disappeared leaving the caprail with a "gaped-tooth smile" as it were. I hit West Marine for a can of F-27 epoxie filler and "put in a filling." it needs to be sanded and stained but so long as it fills the gap and keeps the rail in place, it will be fine. I will have to decided come the fall or spring, how to make a m ore permanent repair. The caprail, has numerous cracks, so serious, some hardly noticeable, and it needs work, so this will just be the inspiration to take it on. Now I just have to figure out where on the "projects list" it goes!
Sunday was the Governor's Regatta, a yearly event at TYC, and since I don't race anymore (I am really, REALLY Bad at it), I volunteered to work as part of the Committee for the Race. So for the past few days, I have been referred to as "the Windward Mark," indicating my particular role in the race scheme of things.
The Race itself is begins and ends "in the vicinity of Vixens Ledge" which off the mouth of the Thames River and off of Groton proper. It is a nice open expanse of water which allows for the racing to be done without competitors being hampered by the boat traffic in the Thames and is not blocked- wind wise - by the land. The current can be a bit tricky but that is supposed to be part of fun.
Being a part of the Race Committee, I got to dock Saturday at the end of the TYC dock and again on Sunday night - without charge. This "freebie" is allowed on Saturday so that the boats on the Committee can be pre-loaded with all the paraphernalia that is needed for the race, including food and drink for the "hard working crews," and allowed again on Sunday so that the crews can off-load said paraphernalia after the Race and before the post race party. It is also a lot easier to walk down the dock and crash on your boat after the post race party rather than motor out, secure the boat to the mooring, close up and try to get into the launch for the ride back ashore.
The weather didn't really cooperate as we got a thunder and lightning storm about 7am and while the rain stopped, it remained overcast and threatening all day. The wind didn't cooperate much either entailing a delay of an hour before the racing could start. In the end, the race was a simply windward/leward race of about 5 miles. It would have been longer, with another couple of legs but the wind didn't permit it. The way the wind was blowing, the Race Committee determined that they didn't need my services and use government marks for the race It meant that me and the crew got to watch as spectators without any responsibility . . .except to the food and drink so generously supplied. It also meant that we had an early release and got back to the club just ahead of the first finishing racers.
The party that followed was typically up to TYC standards. I imagine that the racers come as much for the party as for the competition.
hanging on the dock in the Thames can be a "rolly" experience with all the traffic in the river and Sunday night was no exception. With the wind out of the SE, even with a web of lines and a host of fenders, I still whacked the pilings a few times and one time was right on a section of the caprail that I have repaired several times. That this section survived the ICW trip I found amazing, that it didn't survive two nights on a dock in the Thames was no surprise at all. The downside was that the piece of wood, so often repaired, had disappeared leaving the caprail with a "gaped-tooth smile" as it were. I hit West Marine for a can of F-27 epoxie filler and "put in a filling." it needs to be sanded and stained but so long as it fills the gap and keeps the rail in place, it will be fine. I will have to decided come the fall or spring, how to make a m ore permanent repair. The caprail, has numerous cracks, so serious, some hardly noticeable, and it needs work, so this will just be the inspiration to take it on. Now I just have to figure out where on the "projects list" it goes!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
It IS Never As Easy As it Looks!
SHIP'S LOG:
A strange combination of simple factors brought about the rare situation that the Club was without a launch driver today. Something similar happened last year and i volunteered to help out. So it was that I got a call last night and found myself doing a four hours shift from 1-5pm. Driving the launch is not particularly difficult. It is something like driving a semi cross country. The hardest part is linking up with and not hitting any of the boats, and then trying to dock the launch without sinking it. The launch is only 26 feet long but it would have been easier for me using my own 39 foot craft. I just have a lot more experience with it than with the launch. Plus the fact that that it weighs 11 tons and goes exactly where you point it. I would suppose that the launch is easier to handle once you have some time with it but for a one shot four hour duty, was a little hard to control, especially docking. Docks, as defined by someone, are wooden structures in the water that go "squeak" or "thud" when hit. I had some squeaks and a thud or two in the 30 some odd trips, but no damage of any kind to the launch, other boats or the dock. Actually linking up with the boats is easier as they move a bit when brushed and if you miss judge the approach, there is nothing in front of you but water. Misjudge the approach to the dock, and there is the pier in front of you. And remember, the launch has no brakes. You have to slam it into reverse and then watch out behind so that you don't whack a piling when you shoot backwards. And as you are doing this, judging the winds, the drift, the speed, the current, helming the launch and adjusting the throttle, you are also supposed to slip a loop at the end of a rope( sorry, LINE) tied to the side of the launch over a cleat on the dock which will hold it in place as people get on and get off. Something like juggling . . . chainsaws!
Most of the passengers were very good about it, perhaps knowing that if they complained, they would be coerced the next time into taking a turn as launch drive. I know, from last year's experience, that it takes real skill and even though I have never barked at a launch driver, I respect them even more each time I have to take their place. Still, better them than me. It is safer for everyone!
A strange combination of simple factors brought about the rare situation that the Club was without a launch driver today. Something similar happened last year and i volunteered to help out. So it was that I got a call last night and found myself doing a four hours shift from 1-5pm. Driving the launch is not particularly difficult. It is something like driving a semi cross country. The hardest part is linking up with and not hitting any of the boats, and then trying to dock the launch without sinking it. The launch is only 26 feet long but it would have been easier for me using my own 39 foot craft. I just have a lot more experience with it than with the launch. Plus the fact that that it weighs 11 tons and goes exactly where you point it. I would suppose that the launch is easier to handle once you have some time with it but for a one shot four hour duty, was a little hard to control, especially docking. Docks, as defined by someone, are wooden structures in the water that go "squeak" or "thud" when hit. I had some squeaks and a thud or two in the 30 some odd trips, but no damage of any kind to the launch, other boats or the dock. Actually linking up with the boats is easier as they move a bit when brushed and if you miss judge the approach, there is nothing in front of you but water. Misjudge the approach to the dock, and there is the pier in front of you. And remember, the launch has no brakes. You have to slam it into reverse and then watch out behind so that you don't whack a piling when you shoot backwards. And as you are doing this, judging the winds, the drift, the speed, the current, helming the launch and adjusting the throttle, you are also supposed to slip a loop at the end of a rope( sorry, LINE) tied to the side of the launch over a cleat on the dock which will hold it in place as people get on and get off. Something like juggling . . . chainsaws!
Most of the passengers were very good about it, perhaps knowing that if they complained, they would be coerced the next time into taking a turn as launch drive. I know, from last year's experience, that it takes real skill and even though I have never barked at a launch driver, I respect them even more each time I have to take their place. Still, better them than me. It is safer for everyone!
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