SHIP'S LOG:
Saturday was beautiful. Actually hot, a little too humid, with a fine breeze blowing. I spent most of the ashore, helping the Junior Sailing Director getting things setup for the Junior Sailing Program that will begin soon. The E-mail Blast that was supposed to go out to members to elicit their help got fouled up and never went out and so it was the Director and myself, with a little help from anyone we could shanghai for a while. The most difficult and longest part of the day was removing the sail tubes from underneath the deck of the building. The sail-tubes are about 12 foot lengths of drainage pipe that are used to store the sails we used on the Junior Sailing Program boats. There are 25 of them and they were screwed to 2 boards, fore and aft, and were set on the sand under the porch. Over the years, they have been semi-buried due to flooding and filled up almost completely by blowing sand. As a result, they haven't really been used and the task was to get them out and to a new location where they could be used. Slowly, each had to be unscrewed, first at the front, then at the back. The front was no problem, but the back-ends were really buried and required that I (the Junior Sailing Director in approaching 80!) crawl under the house, dig them out, unscrew them, and then crawl back out and muscle them out into the daylight. A 12 foot sewage pipe, even made of PVC, half filled with sand, is quite a load! Once outside, they had to be flushed out with water and then carted to their new rack location. Though it doesn't sound like all that big a deal, we began about 11 and finished about 4:30. It could have been worse, it could have rained!
Sunday was another beautiful day and this one I spent sailing, actually racing, with Jim Avery. Jim is a great guy, approaching 82, and sails a NONSUCH, a modernized version of a catboat. It has but one large sail and is touted as easy to sail, and it is, but Jim's daughter, Ellen, isn't happy with him sailing by himself. Actually, I don't think that Jim likes all that much by himself. He enjoys company, hence the crew. It was three great races, the second Sunday of the Chilli Series, and aside from the fact that we mis-read the course for the first race and so were disqualified from it, we did veery well in the next two and won our class in the over-all series. Not a baad Sunda of sailing.
Monday started out gray and eventually turn wet, but nonetheless, I went and helped out Rich Weber get his boat ready to launch. It is an old boat, but new for him, and he had to remove all the lifeline stanchions as all were cracked, a a couple broken.They are a one-piece rod-&-base, held to the deck with four bolts. As seems common on all boats, taking them off was easy, but re-installing them was difficult. You could get to one or two of the boat rather easily in most cases, but there were always at least 2 that you needed to be a contortionist to get the washer and nut on, and most of the time, it had to be cone completely by feel, without being able to see what you were doing. The basic procedure was to put caulking around the four holes on the deck, a line of caulking around what would be the edge of the base, set the base down, insert the four screws, put on the washers and nuts and tighten the whole thing down, the inside make holding the nut while the outside man tightened. The toss-up between being the outside man and the inside man was choosing whether you wanted to be the contortionist or whether you wanted to be out on the deck in the rain. I got the rain!
And it poured all night. Hard rain and lots of wind and it was rock 'n' roll all night long. Ah, the fun of baot ownership.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
It Should Be Summer! ! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
. . . . but it ain't! True, it does actually get comfortable enough to wear shorts and t's, but it is still "chilly." Stand in the blowing wind, it is actually cold. Temps at night are down in the low 50's, the water temperature is still official "cold and the wind blows constantly. The again, it is happening in New London as opposed to it happening in Portland, so it could be worse. But really, I don't care a lick as I am here and not there and I can go sailing any time I want!
Then again, I really have to get ABISHAG cleaned up and ordered. I am still trying to figure out where everything goes on the boat. Last year, everything had its place, but so far this year there is still a lot of stuff in the salon and I can't seem to remember where and how I had it stored last year. In addition, there is still more stuff to come, but I can bring it to the boat until I find a "home" for all the stuff that I have now.
I had though that it would take awhile to get into the routine of living on the boat again. Truth be told, it took less than a day. I got right back into the mind-set. As I lay in my berth Tuesday night, the wind was blowing quite a bit. I could hear the "comforting sound" of the wind generator turning. There was, however, a ticking, clicking sound when the wind blew strong. My first, and actually only thought, was that something was screwed up with the generator. It actually sounded as though the blades were hitting a shroud our something. Since it was night and the generator was 40 feet in the air, there was nothing I could do about it so I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next morning there was no wind . . . . at first, so I could not track down the source of the sound. Eventually the wind picked up enough to get the generator turning a good clip so I went to the mizzen mast and put my ear against it. There was some rattling so I gave a gentle pull to the wires running from the generator to see if maybe there were loos and so whacking the inside of the mast. I went into the stern cabin to see if I could still here the sound and . . . .yup, it was still there! Damn! As I "raised my eye to heaven in prayer" figuring now that I would have to go all the way back to Portland so they could fix the problem, I happened to glance out the hatch and could see one of the shrouds really vibrating. Hey, perhaps this is the problem, one that could be solved with a simple tightening of the rig. So it was back up to the Mizzen Mast and that shroud. But it wasn't the shroud exactly. Attached to the shroud is a small flag halyard cleat, on of five on the boat. With no flag attached, the halyard was secured to the cleat and the two bronze clips, used to attach a flag to the halyard, were right at the cleat. And as the shroud vibrated, they beat a tattoo on the shroud producing the clicking/ticking sound. I retied the halyard with the clips up at the top near the block. Problem solve! Huzzah!
All eyes down here are on the 1st Hurricane of the season which came to birth on the first day of the official Hurricane Season, June 1st. True, ANDREA is only listed as a "Tropical Storm," but then so was SANDY and IRENE! Right now she is moving along the coast of South Carolina and head our way. Hopefully, Cape Hatteras and its barrier islands will do their job and send her spinning off into the Atlantic, keeping her far from us. We are already feeling the effects here and the weather today and tonight will be a bit nasty, with lots of rain and some decent wind. It is being pushed by ANDREA, but it is more her influence than her real impact. Still, it is a bit disconcerting to have a storm like this possibly headed our way so early in the season. I haven't been paying much attention to the weather for the past 6 months, now once again, it has to become part of the daily routine. O Joy Of Joys!
. . . . but it ain't! True, it does actually get comfortable enough to wear shorts and t's, but it is still "chilly." Stand in the blowing wind, it is actually cold. Temps at night are down in the low 50's, the water temperature is still official "cold and the wind blows constantly. The again, it is happening in New London as opposed to it happening in Portland, so it could be worse. But really, I don't care a lick as I am here and not there and I can go sailing any time I want!
Then again, I really have to get ABISHAG cleaned up and ordered. I am still trying to figure out where everything goes on the boat. Last year, everything had its place, but so far this year there is still a lot of stuff in the salon and I can't seem to remember where and how I had it stored last year. In addition, there is still more stuff to come, but I can bring it to the boat until I find a "home" for all the stuff that I have now.
I had though that it would take awhile to get into the routine of living on the boat again. Truth be told, it took less than a day. I got right back into the mind-set. As I lay in my berth Tuesday night, the wind was blowing quite a bit. I could hear the "comforting sound" of the wind generator turning. There was, however, a ticking, clicking sound when the wind blew strong. My first, and actually only thought, was that something was screwed up with the generator. It actually sounded as though the blades were hitting a shroud our something. Since it was night and the generator was 40 feet in the air, there was nothing I could do about it so I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next morning there was no wind . . . . at first, so I could not track down the source of the sound. Eventually the wind picked up enough to get the generator turning a good clip so I went to the mizzen mast and put my ear against it. There was some rattling so I gave a gentle pull to the wires running from the generator to see if maybe there were loos and so whacking the inside of the mast. I went into the stern cabin to see if I could still here the sound and . . . .yup, it was still there! Damn! As I "raised my eye to heaven in prayer" figuring now that I would have to go all the way back to Portland so they could fix the problem, I happened to glance out the hatch and could see one of the shrouds really vibrating. Hey, perhaps this is the problem, one that could be solved with a simple tightening of the rig. So it was back up to the Mizzen Mast and that shroud. But it wasn't the shroud exactly. Attached to the shroud is a small flag halyard cleat, on of five on the boat. With no flag attached, the halyard was secured to the cleat and the two bronze clips, used to attach a flag to the halyard, were right at the cleat. And as the shroud vibrated, they beat a tattoo on the shroud producing the clicking/ticking sound. I retied the halyard with the clips up at the top near the block. Problem solve! Huzzah!
All eyes down here are on the 1st Hurricane of the season which came to birth on the first day of the official Hurricane Season, June 1st. True, ANDREA is only listed as a "Tropical Storm," but then so was SANDY and IRENE! Right now she is moving along the coast of South Carolina and head our way. Hopefully, Cape Hatteras and its barrier islands will do their job and send her spinning off into the Atlantic, keeping her far from us. We are already feeling the effects here and the weather today and tonight will be a bit nasty, with lots of rain and some decent wind. It is being pushed by ANDREA, but it is more her influence than her real impact. Still, it is a bit disconcerting to have a storm like this possibly headed our way so early in the season. I haven't been paying much attention to the weather for the past 6 months, now once again, it has to become part of the daily routine. O Joy Of Joys!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
WAITING NO MORE! ! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
At Last, At Last, At Last . . . . I write this from the upstairs lounge of TYC and 100 yards away, ABISHAG rests peacefully at the dock. Yes, SUMMER has truly begun. HUZZAH! ! ! ! !
Russ Kennedy and Tim Duffy joined me for the trip from Portland(Goodbye!) to New London (Hello!) on what could only be described as a perfect day! The wind was blowing 10 - 15 knots, gusts to 20,out of the Northwest shift later to the Southwest. The only negative, if you wanted to count it, was that we were battling the tide on the run up the Sound from Saybrook to New London but with the wind, we still averaged 6.5 knots topping out at 8! in the gusts and when surfing. It was fantastic for a first day sail.
The trip down the Connecticut River was uneventful which is a good thing. The only thing of note was the rather shallow water depths just south of the Pratt & Whitney Plant. For the most part now, the is little in the way of commercial traffic going up and down the river and as a result there is little reason for them, whoever "them" are, to do the needed dredging. As a result, it is beginning to silt-up badly in several places, more the further north you go. We actually had to slow down and creep around the corner and the depth actually played with the 9-10 foot mark but that was as low as it went. Drawing 5.5 feet, it was a little cause for concern but it was only momentary. And aside from that, it was no muss, no fuss. It was interesting to see that the depths on the chart and what we were reading on the depth sounder were not always in agreement. Some places were more filled in and others were scowered out, though the fill-ins out numbered the scrower-outers.
On second thought, there were two things that happened that were amusing and each involved one of the two bridges we had to pass on the river. At the East Hadem Swing Bridge, which opens on the half hour, we got there in place about 11:15 and so had to wait. We used the time to have lunch and help out another sailboater waiting for the bridge with a radio problem he was having. It was a fun way to past the time and wait for the 11:30. At 11:30, the warning bells and horn went off, the gates dropped, the cars stopped and the bridge didn't open! Something was stuck and the poor woman bridge tender was really embarrassed and so apologetic. It wasn't a long delay, about 12 minutes, so it didn't have much of an impact on us. However since the bridge, like most these days, once it started to open, couldn't be closed until it was all the way open. This caused a problem for the State Police who came roaring up to the barrier, lights flashing, siren wailing, just after the bridge started its swing. When we passed through the bridge, I thanked the tender over the radio and she apologized again. When I mentioned that the Staties must be really upset, she brushed it off saying that when they come by "on the job" they are supposed to call ahead and notify the bridge tender and ascertain the status of the bridge. These guys didn't call an so she said it was their own fault.
Down near the mouth of the river is the Lyme Railroad bridge. As we cross under the Baldwin Bridge (I-95), I called the Railroad bridge and asked when their next opening was. I did this more to find out if it was back in regular service. It had been very restricted in service for several weeks and surprisingly it is tough to get up-to-date info on its status. The bridge tender told up to get up close, in bridge terms less than 100 yards and call again. Between the time we called and then got to the 100 yard spot, two trains cross the bridge in opposite direction. Once the second one pass the tender called us and told us he was opening the bridge and then proceeded to launch into a long mechanical history about the bridge - it's 105 years old; it has a different operating system now than when he started 45 years ago; it moves at 50% slower speed opening and 20% slower speed than closing than when he started; it has "chimpanzee controls" rather than controlling with levers the bridge so that he can raise and lower it to the degree needed, now he just has to push a button but like most bridges, once pushed it has to open all the way before it will be able to be closed. He went on and on and on. I think he was lonely.
With the great flooding of the river (thank goodness no debris) and the good wind we made the trip in seven hours which is an hour better than last year.However, this was a more pleasant and enjoyable trip. Still, it was also exhuming as I am certainly out of sailing shape after the winter. But I am here now and all is right with the world.
At Last, At Last, At Last . . . . I write this from the upstairs lounge of TYC and 100 yards away, ABISHAG rests peacefully at the dock. Yes, SUMMER has truly begun. HUZZAH! ! ! ! !
Russ Kennedy and Tim Duffy joined me for the trip from Portland(Goodbye!) to New London (Hello!) on what could only be described as a perfect day! The wind was blowing 10 - 15 knots, gusts to 20,out of the Northwest shift later to the Southwest. The only negative, if you wanted to count it, was that we were battling the tide on the run up the Sound from Saybrook to New London but with the wind, we still averaged 6.5 knots topping out at 8! in the gusts and when surfing. It was fantastic for a first day sail.
The trip down the Connecticut River was uneventful which is a good thing. The only thing of note was the rather shallow water depths just south of the Pratt & Whitney Plant. For the most part now, the is little in the way of commercial traffic going up and down the river and as a result there is little reason for them, whoever "them" are, to do the needed dredging. As a result, it is beginning to silt-up badly in several places, more the further north you go. We actually had to slow down and creep around the corner and the depth actually played with the 9-10 foot mark but that was as low as it went. Drawing 5.5 feet, it was a little cause for concern but it was only momentary. And aside from that, it was no muss, no fuss. It was interesting to see that the depths on the chart and what we were reading on the depth sounder were not always in agreement. Some places were more filled in and others were scowered out, though the fill-ins out numbered the scrower-outers.
On second thought, there were two things that happened that were amusing and each involved one of the two bridges we had to pass on the river. At the East Hadem Swing Bridge, which opens on the half hour, we got there in place about 11:15 and so had to wait. We used the time to have lunch and help out another sailboater waiting for the bridge with a radio problem he was having. It was a fun way to past the time and wait for the 11:30. At 11:30, the warning bells and horn went off, the gates dropped, the cars stopped and the bridge didn't open! Something was stuck and the poor woman bridge tender was really embarrassed and so apologetic. It wasn't a long delay, about 12 minutes, so it didn't have much of an impact on us. However since the bridge, like most these days, once it started to open, couldn't be closed until it was all the way open. This caused a problem for the State Police who came roaring up to the barrier, lights flashing, siren wailing, just after the bridge started its swing. When we passed through the bridge, I thanked the tender over the radio and she apologized again. When I mentioned that the Staties must be really upset, she brushed it off saying that when they come by "on the job" they are supposed to call ahead and notify the bridge tender and ascertain the status of the bridge. These guys didn't call an so she said it was their own fault.
Down near the mouth of the river is the Lyme Railroad bridge. As we cross under the Baldwin Bridge (I-95), I called the Railroad bridge and asked when their next opening was. I did this more to find out if it was back in regular service. It had been very restricted in service for several weeks and surprisingly it is tough to get up-to-date info on its status. The bridge tender told up to get up close, in bridge terms less than 100 yards and call again. Between the time we called and then got to the 100 yard spot, two trains cross the bridge in opposite direction. Once the second one pass the tender called us and told us he was opening the bridge and then proceeded to launch into a long mechanical history about the bridge - it's 105 years old; it has a different operating system now than when he started 45 years ago; it moves at 50% slower speed opening and 20% slower speed than closing than when he started; it has "chimpanzee controls" rather than controlling with levers the bridge so that he can raise and lower it to the degree needed, now he just has to push a button but like most bridges, once pushed it has to open all the way before it will be able to be closed. He went on and on and on. I think he was lonely.
With the great flooding of the river (thank goodness no debris) and the good wind we made the trip in seven hours which is an hour better than last year.However, this was a more pleasant and enjoyable trip. Still, it was also exhuming as I am certainly out of sailing shape after the winter. But I am here now and all is right with the world.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Waiting! Waiting! Waiting! etc . . . . . . .
SHIP'S LOG:
ABISHAG has been sitting patiently at "C" Dock at Yankee Boatyard in Portland all set and ready to go. Unfortunately, it isn't anything wrong with her that is hold the departure back, it is what is wrong with my bank account, too few Marine Units. Actually, I have almost all of it and hopefully will have it all by the end of the week. Then it will be clear sailing if:
a.) there is not a lot of flotsam & jetsam washing down the Connecticut River after the deluge of the past week;
b.) if the Lyme Railroad Bridge is functioning normally;
c.) if the wind moderates just a tad;
d.) if the storms are over for awhile.
If it all works out, I should be at TYC by the weekend but I have learned never to make "firm" plans more than 24 - 48 hours in advance as things have a way of changing and sometimes just don't work out as you want. Ask George Armstrong Custer about plans.
ABISHAG has been sitting patiently at "C" Dock at Yankee Boatyard in Portland all set and ready to go. Unfortunately, it isn't anything wrong with her that is hold the departure back, it is what is wrong with my bank account, too few Marine Units. Actually, I have almost all of it and hopefully will have it all by the end of the week. Then it will be clear sailing if:
a.) there is not a lot of flotsam & jetsam washing down the Connecticut River after the deluge of the past week;
b.) if the Lyme Railroad Bridge is functioning normally;
c.) if the wind moderates just a tad;
d.) if the storms are over for awhile.
If it all works out, I should be at TYC by the weekend but I have learned never to make "firm" plans more than 24 - 48 hours in advance as things have a way of changing and sometimes just don't work out as you want. Ask George Armstrong Custer about plans.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The 3 H's
SHIP'S LOG:
Yesterday was like a late July, early August day. It was hazy, hot & humid. It is a day when you want to be on the water. It is a day to go sailing . . . and so I did. True, ABISHAG is still tied to a dock up in Portland, but she "ain't the only girl at the dance."
Jim Avery makes sure that his boat, a Nonsuch 26, is in the water on April Fool's Day. Now Jim is a little long in the tooth and his daughter, Ellen, doesn't like it when he goes sailing by himself. However, Jim wants to go sailing every day the sun comes up, so he is always looking for crew. All it took was a simple phone call and we spent the afternoon enjoying a very relaxing sail during which we basically had the ocean to ourselves. It really was a perfect day. one of those that you wish could go on forever. However, all good things must come to an end. The worst part was climbing back into to my "hot" car for the "hot" ride back to my "hot" residence. I was actually kind of hoping that the heat and humidity would produce a nice thunderstorm but such was not the case and that actually made sleeping a little difficult at night, as a house just doesn't orient itself to the evening breeze!
Yesterday was like a late July, early August day. It was hazy, hot & humid. It is a day when you want to be on the water. It is a day to go sailing . . . and so I did. True, ABISHAG is still tied to a dock up in Portland, but she "ain't the only girl at the dance."
Jim Avery makes sure that his boat, a Nonsuch 26, is in the water on April Fool's Day. Now Jim is a little long in the tooth and his daughter, Ellen, doesn't like it when he goes sailing by himself. However, Jim wants to go sailing every day the sun comes up, so he is always looking for crew. All it took was a simple phone call and we spent the afternoon enjoying a very relaxing sail during which we basically had the ocean to ourselves. It really was a perfect day. one of those that you wish could go on forever. However, all good things must come to an end. The worst part was climbing back into to my "hot" car for the "hot" ride back to my "hot" residence. I was actually kind of hoping that the heat and humidity would produce a nice thunderstorm but such was not the case and that actually made sleeping a little difficult at night, as a house just doesn't orient itself to the evening breeze!
Friday, May 17, 2013
In The Water . . . Summer Must Be Here!
SHIP'S LOG:
I just noticed that it has been almost 10 days since the last post. Time sure flies when you are having fun. well, it hasn't exactly been fun but it hasn't been awful either. working on the boat, no matter how hard and frustrating it can be at times, is always a strangely relaxing experience. It does however remind me just how old I am getting. The aches and pains and stiffness I wake up with each day seem to be getting worse.
I won't try to get the chronology right so let me just say that I "launched" on the 14th. I was, by that time, really doing only busy work. The day before I had gone all around the hull filling and painting the dings that i picked up last season, mostly from docking attempt and some from blind launch drivers. That is a bad thing about dark colored hulls, they show up ever scrape, every scratch, ever mark. It is not really a necessary thing as it can all be done dockside or even from a dinghy, but it is easier ashore. I was right in the middle of that project when Abe the yard manager comes buy and asks if I was ready to go into the water. When they haul the boats out in the fall, they try to set them on the hard in the order they wish to go back into the water, those going in the earliest nearest the water. it is a way of managing the limit yard space efficiently. I had hoped to be going in sometime during the second week of May but those plans got tossed into a cocked hat when they "finally" decided to work on my wind generator. When they couldn't get it working, they sent it to some firm in Florida and we have been waiting for its return. Since they had to go up some 60 feet ion a man lift and the thing would fit on the docks, we had to wait for it to return ashore so that they could install it. I am not sure when it arrived but by late in the afternoon on Monday, they had parked the man-lift by my boat so that indicated that they had it. when I got there Tuesday morning, the wind generator was back up on the Mizzen Mast. Of course, there was no wind to test the job the company did on the rebuild, but they did send a complementary replacement blade and some sort of replacement piece for the hub. I have no idea why, but I'll take anything they are giving.
They wanted to move my boat because ABISHAG was blocking access ti the boat directly behind which was contracted to go in the water on the 15th. But before they go be moved, I had to be moved to a new spot either on land or in the water. Since one move is less labor intensive than two, they decided to launch me, which is what they did.
Launching the boat is always a source of serious anxiety for me. I am always sure that there is something major that I have forgotten to take care of and that she will sink on the spot. i had been planning to re-do the stuffing box, not because there was a problem but just because it is a good thing to do regularly. I had disassembled it but had not gotten to finish the job. As a result I had to reassemble it and was anxious that it was done right. It leaked of course, but they always will until they take up enough water and seal. Still there is something unnerving about having water coming into your boat while you are tightening down the stuffing box. It is awkward getting at it and I need a special wrench which is a cheap piece of crap and the whole business is a pain. Water is spurting and there I am holding a flash light with one hand and the wrench in the other, laying over the engine trying to tighten down the stuffing box, all the time thinking about sinking to the bottom of the Connecticut River. But it did get tightened down and ABISHAG didn't sink so that anxiety attack passed. And the engine worked too. And the steering as well. And ABISHAG safely got down to "C" Dock and all seemed right with the world.
The next day I went up and got the sails and bent them on. It rain during the whole procedure. Not a lot of rain, just hard enough to be a pain and make the evolution just that much more difficult. But the sails are on. The engine runs. The lines are all in their proper places. Though the batteries are not really doing a good job hold a charge and Josh, the local electrician-magician thinks the charge/inverter is problematic, ABISHAG is ready to go. All I have to do is:
1.) Find out the schedule for the Lyme/Saybrook Railroad Bridge;
2.) Get some good weather;
3.) Get some crew so we can do the two-car tango;
4.) Pay the Yard Bill.
Number 4 may be a bit of a chore!
I just noticed that it has been almost 10 days since the last post. Time sure flies when you are having fun. well, it hasn't exactly been fun but it hasn't been awful either. working on the boat, no matter how hard and frustrating it can be at times, is always a strangely relaxing experience. It does however remind me just how old I am getting. The aches and pains and stiffness I wake up with each day seem to be getting worse.
I won't try to get the chronology right so let me just say that I "launched" on the 14th. I was, by that time, really doing only busy work. The day before I had gone all around the hull filling and painting the dings that i picked up last season, mostly from docking attempt and some from blind launch drivers. That is a bad thing about dark colored hulls, they show up ever scrape, every scratch, ever mark. It is not really a necessary thing as it can all be done dockside or even from a dinghy, but it is easier ashore. I was right in the middle of that project when Abe the yard manager comes buy and asks if I was ready to go into the water. When they haul the boats out in the fall, they try to set them on the hard in the order they wish to go back into the water, those going in the earliest nearest the water. it is a way of managing the limit yard space efficiently. I had hoped to be going in sometime during the second week of May but those plans got tossed into a cocked hat when they "finally" decided to work on my wind generator. When they couldn't get it working, they sent it to some firm in Florida and we have been waiting for its return. Since they had to go up some 60 feet ion a man lift and the thing would fit on the docks, we had to wait for it to return ashore so that they could install it. I am not sure when it arrived but by late in the afternoon on Monday, they had parked the man-lift by my boat so that indicated that they had it. when I got there Tuesday morning, the wind generator was back up on the Mizzen Mast. Of course, there was no wind to test the job the company did on the rebuild, but they did send a complementary replacement blade and some sort of replacement piece for the hub. I have no idea why, but I'll take anything they are giving.
They wanted to move my boat because ABISHAG was blocking access ti the boat directly behind which was contracted to go in the water on the 15th. But before they go be moved, I had to be moved to a new spot either on land or in the water. Since one move is less labor intensive than two, they decided to launch me, which is what they did.
Launching the boat is always a source of serious anxiety for me. I am always sure that there is something major that I have forgotten to take care of and that she will sink on the spot. i had been planning to re-do the stuffing box, not because there was a problem but just because it is a good thing to do regularly. I had disassembled it but had not gotten to finish the job. As a result I had to reassemble it and was anxious that it was done right. It leaked of course, but they always will until they take up enough water and seal. Still there is something unnerving about having water coming into your boat while you are tightening down the stuffing box. It is awkward getting at it and I need a special wrench which is a cheap piece of crap and the whole business is a pain. Water is spurting and there I am holding a flash light with one hand and the wrench in the other, laying over the engine trying to tighten down the stuffing box, all the time thinking about sinking to the bottom of the Connecticut River. But it did get tightened down and ABISHAG didn't sink so that anxiety attack passed. And the engine worked too. And the steering as well. And ABISHAG safely got down to "C" Dock and all seemed right with the world.
The next day I went up and got the sails and bent them on. It rain during the whole procedure. Not a lot of rain, just hard enough to be a pain and make the evolution just that much more difficult. But the sails are on. The engine runs. The lines are all in their proper places. Though the batteries are not really doing a good job hold a charge and Josh, the local electrician-magician thinks the charge/inverter is problematic, ABISHAG is ready to go. All I have to do is:
1.) Find out the schedule for the Lyme/Saybrook Railroad Bridge;
2.) Get some good weather;
3.) Get some crew so we can do the two-car tango;
4.) Pay the Yard Bill.
Number 4 may be a bit of a chore!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
More Busy Work
SHIP'S LOG:
Back when I made the trip down the ICW, as a precaution against getting caught short of fuel, I set up an arrangement of the back deck to hold a couple of jerry cans of emergency fuel. I can't recall if there ever was such an emergency, but it was a nice safety net to have. Now, however, I really have no need for the arrangement and so I removed the bolt-eyes that had been screwed into the back deck, through which I ran lines that secured the "emergency fuel" cans. It was a simple procedure that nonetheless took a couple of hours. I had to back out the bolts, dig out and sand off the the caulking, removed any of the balsa core that had been compromised, mix up the fairing compound and fill the holes (10), let it dry, sand it smooth and then paint. As I said, nothing complex just time consuming.
I also found that using boot striping tape doesn't work to repair the vinyl Bimini. I will have to come up with another "brilliant" fix. Right now I am leaning toward some heavy-duty sail repair tape. This should be better than vinyl repair tape for two reasons, #1 - it is much more flexible and is actually intended to flex; #2 - it will have better adhesive; and #3 - perhaps most important, I already have some and won't have to spend any money on something new which may or may not work.
No word on the repairs to the wind generator nor on the repairs to the Lyme Railroad Drawbridge. II ain't going nowhere without some movement on those two fronts.
Back when I made the trip down the ICW, as a precaution against getting caught short of fuel, I set up an arrangement of the back deck to hold a couple of jerry cans of emergency fuel. I can't recall if there ever was such an emergency, but it was a nice safety net to have. Now, however, I really have no need for the arrangement and so I removed the bolt-eyes that had been screwed into the back deck, through which I ran lines that secured the "emergency fuel" cans. It was a simple procedure that nonetheless took a couple of hours. I had to back out the bolts, dig out and sand off the the caulking, removed any of the balsa core that had been compromised, mix up the fairing compound and fill the holes (10), let it dry, sand it smooth and then paint. As I said, nothing complex just time consuming.
I also found that using boot striping tape doesn't work to repair the vinyl Bimini. I will have to come up with another "brilliant" fix. Right now I am leaning toward some heavy-duty sail repair tape. This should be better than vinyl repair tape for two reasons, #1 - it is much more flexible and is actually intended to flex; #2 - it will have better adhesive; and #3 - perhaps most important, I already have some and won't have to spend any money on something new which may or may not work.
No word on the repairs to the wind generator nor on the repairs to the Lyme Railroad Drawbridge. II ain't going nowhere without some movement on those two fronts.
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