SHIP'S LOG:
Well, things are certainly shaking around here! Panic hasn't quite set in, but it is coming . . . . and so is Irene! Yesterday, a few people stopped by to tend there boats, or move them, or to just wander around tapping into the "collective wisdom" of others who were around. What to do? What to do?
Right now, most of the boats are still on their moorings though some have headed up the River to boatyards and marinas, some to get hauled ($300 to haul, $300 to launch, for a three day stay). This plan has a major flaw in that these places are/will overload their storage facilities and, in the rush to get as many boats out as possible, the crews will not be as studious and as careful in the blocking. No masts will be taken down and that means windage and if one goes over, it can, probably will start a domino effect. A temporary slip is going for $30/ foot on average and marinas are using every foot of dockspace they have to take in as many boats as possible. Wind and/or storm surge can raise real havoc. Fixed docks means that you have to guestimate the length of your lines and if you are off to any considerable degree, it means busted lines and/or cleats ripped from your boat. And surely one boat will get loose and pinball around in the middle of a lot of boats.
Boats on moorings have their own problems. No matter how carefully one prepares a boat on a mooring, there is always the chance that someone else didn't take the time or make the effort, after all, that's what insurance is for! For moored boats, the problems are mooring pennants that chaffe through and/or cleats that pull out; boats which have broken loose and pinball their way through the fleet;mooring that pull as the storm surge rocks the boats up and down; and the possibility that some piece of the mooring set up lets go thus making the remainder, though perfectly good, perfectly useless in keeping the boat safe. Ah the fun of boat ownership.
ABISHAG will be on her mooring. As far as the diver could tell, he mooring system is in top shape. I have pretty much stripped the topsides and will secure everything else below. I got the alternator back and will re-install it today to make sure the batteries are up to snuff. I'll pump the bilges, shut the seacocks, turn off the propane, and locker her up tomorrow and then watch the proceedings from the club house.
IRENE should make her entrance( according to current predictions) around 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Her current course is actually all over the place but generally northward. The next 24 hours should give a more accurate prediction of time of arrival, strength, storm surge, wind directions and all that other fun stuff. E|right now, the sky is a bit overcast but all in all a pleasant day. You could not tell from the weather we are experiencing what is bearing down on us. I expect that by this afternoon, there will be a lot more people here doing something with their boats and that by tomorrow, panic will have really set in. My only real concern is the Genoa. I can't get it down. I think that the top-end furler has somehow become jammed and off the track that the top of the mast and won't allow the sail to come down. If I can get it down, I am going to have to find some way of wrapping the Genoa with line to secure it as much as possible, other wise it will rip loose and beat itself to death, plus adding to the windage. Windage, by the way, is the amount of surface area that the boat presents to the wind. The more windage, the great the effect of the wind on the boat and hence on the mooring. If the winds top out with gust of 90mph, the current prediction, the Genoa unraveled will add considerably to the windage and put unnecessary pressure ion the mooring.
Perhaps Irene will turn inland and, if she does, she will loose a lot of punch. Perhaps she will turn east and out to sea and miss us altogether leaving us with something like a nor'easter. No one really knows what will happen and everybody will just have to take what comes. AH, the fun of boat ownership!!!!!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Hurricane Irene Be Comin' ! ! ! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, it looks as though New London may get a visit from Hurricane Irene sometime over the coming weekend. How big a beasty she will be is difficult to say right now as is where she actually might be going, but all indications are that she will scoot up the east coast and bounce off South eastern New England, which means south eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island and the Cape. She could be a Category One when she gets here, possibly a Two and maybe even a Three, none of which is a particularly good thing. The sign that it is really going to be bad is if the subs all star going out to sea. So far, only one out and one in this morning.
So what shall I do? Right now ABISHAG is "crippled." She is without her alternator which means no juice and not being able to run the engine, as the belt that goes from the engine's flywheel to turn the alternator also turns the raw water pump that cools the engine. True, ABISHAG is a "sail"boat and she can sail, but if I wanted to move up a river and sneak into a "hurricane hidey-hole," an engine would be a necessity. It would also be a very "useful" accessory in setting anchors again any blow. So it does not appear that I will be going anywhere at this time.
Truth be told, there are not many places to go anyhow. One popular spot is Hamburg Cove up the Connecticut River. It is very popular in storms. Very Popular. That means it will be crowded and a crowded hurricane hole in a hurricane is not necessarily a place you want to be. Even if you get there early, others will come after you. As more and more come, the less and less careful will be the setting of anchors and the running of lines. This will mean that swing room will quickly become a problem and the whole situation will become even more dangerous when the last minute boaters show up in a panic and further confuse and make dangerous an already iffy situation. I will, in all likelihood, stay right where I am. I have been through one real hurricane here at TYC, Hurricane Gloria(maybe it was Bob) and did very well. Even though my mooring int he river might seem "exposed," it is guarded, east band west, by the shorelines of the river and from the south by Long Island and Fishers Island. It actually has some pretty good protection from the wind and waves. The mooring on which she sits is an 850 pound mushroom that has has 4 years to really bury itself in the river bottom. Attached to it is 15 feet of 1 inch chain and another 30 feet of 3/8 inch chain. The pennant is 1 inch nylon and the whole works was inspected and approved just in June. I will "hurricane proof" ABISHAG, removing all the items on deck that might fly away(cushions, etc) and anything that might increase windage (sails, dodger, bimini, etc) and double up the lines and generally seal her up. After that, it will be a case of "wait and see." When Ol' Irene does show up, if she does, I will spend the time ashore. If I don't have the alternator back and installed by then, there really won't be anything I could do aboard anyhow except get bounced around like a ping pong ball in a washing machine, something, by the way, that sounds not the least bit attractive. Even with the alternator back and the engine running, I doubt I could do much to assist her even with the engine running full bore. No, I'll stand on the TYC Clubhouse porch with the other" hard cases" and watch the storm. We did that the last time too. There is nothing that you can really do if something goes really wrong for someone, but there is that sense that you just have to see it, whatever happens.
Then again Irene might just shuffle off to Bermuda, die a quick death off Cape Hatteras, or wander aimlessly off toward Greenland. Who knows? All the computer models and forecast can tell you is what might happen. They really only get usefully accurate when something does happen and they can tell you that it did. Ah, the boys and girls of NOAA!
Well, it looks as though New London may get a visit from Hurricane Irene sometime over the coming weekend. How big a beasty she will be is difficult to say right now as is where she actually might be going, but all indications are that she will scoot up the east coast and bounce off South eastern New England, which means south eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island and the Cape. She could be a Category One when she gets here, possibly a Two and maybe even a Three, none of which is a particularly good thing. The sign that it is really going to be bad is if the subs all star going out to sea. So far, only one out and one in this morning.
So what shall I do? Right now ABISHAG is "crippled." She is without her alternator which means no juice and not being able to run the engine, as the belt that goes from the engine's flywheel to turn the alternator also turns the raw water pump that cools the engine. True, ABISHAG is a "sail"boat and she can sail, but if I wanted to move up a river and sneak into a "hurricane hidey-hole," an engine would be a necessity. It would also be a very "useful" accessory in setting anchors again any blow. So it does not appear that I will be going anywhere at this time.
Truth be told, there are not many places to go anyhow. One popular spot is Hamburg Cove up the Connecticut River. It is very popular in storms. Very Popular. That means it will be crowded and a crowded hurricane hole in a hurricane is not necessarily a place you want to be. Even if you get there early, others will come after you. As more and more come, the less and less careful will be the setting of anchors and the running of lines. This will mean that swing room will quickly become a problem and the whole situation will become even more dangerous when the last minute boaters show up in a panic and further confuse and make dangerous an already iffy situation. I will, in all likelihood, stay right where I am. I have been through one real hurricane here at TYC, Hurricane Gloria(maybe it was Bob) and did very well. Even though my mooring int he river might seem "exposed," it is guarded, east band west, by the shorelines of the river and from the south by Long Island and Fishers Island. It actually has some pretty good protection from the wind and waves. The mooring on which she sits is an 850 pound mushroom that has has 4 years to really bury itself in the river bottom. Attached to it is 15 feet of 1 inch chain and another 30 feet of 3/8 inch chain. The pennant is 1 inch nylon and the whole works was inspected and approved just in June. I will "hurricane proof" ABISHAG, removing all the items on deck that might fly away(cushions, etc) and anything that might increase windage (sails, dodger, bimini, etc) and double up the lines and generally seal her up. After that, it will be a case of "wait and see." When Ol' Irene does show up, if she does, I will spend the time ashore. If I don't have the alternator back and installed by then, there really won't be anything I could do aboard anyhow except get bounced around like a ping pong ball in a washing machine, something, by the way, that sounds not the least bit attractive. Even with the alternator back and the engine running, I doubt I could do much to assist her even with the engine running full bore. No, I'll stand on the TYC Clubhouse porch with the other" hard cases" and watch the storm. We did that the last time too. There is nothing that you can really do if something goes really wrong for someone, but there is that sense that you just have to see it, whatever happens.
Then again Irene might just shuffle off to Bermuda, die a quick death off Cape Hatteras, or wander aimlessly off toward Greenland. Who knows? All the computer models and forecast can tell you is what might happen. They really only get usefully accurate when something does happen and they can tell you that it did. Ah, the boys and girls of NOAA!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Yes, It Has been A LONG Time
SHIP'S LOG:
Yes, it has but what the heck, summer is for relaxin' and enjoyin' the beautiful weather and the heck with everything else.
Over the course of time since last I filled this spot, I have done some sailing . . . at least when the weather permitted such. Sunshine doesn't always bring with it good winds and favorable tides. There were several days when the air just hung heavy and in place. No movement at lass, not a breathe. Even people with out and out racing boats found themselves without enough wind to buck the tide. When Bobby Cullen can't make a boat go where he wants it to go, you just know that it ain't a good day for sailin'!
Then of course there is the opposite of such weather, too much wind and no rain, but a hell-of-a lot of rain!Last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday qualified as days of real "street cleaning" storms. Dinghies on the dinghy dock filled with water. It was a good thing that all of them had positive floatation as it was certainly true that all would have gone deep by Wednesday. AND THAT IS A LOT OF RAIN!
And then the fever struck TYC. And unfortunately, I succumbed. well, not me actually, ABISHAG. Firts it struck Ron Reinhart;'s boat, then it struck Rich Webber's boat, and then it struck ABISHAG! The dreaded "ALTERNATOR CONTAGION!" For whatever reason, in the course of a couple of days, the alternators on all of our boat packed it up and went south. I even heard mine go! I was charging the batteries Thursday night. The engine was idling happily when the pitch changed. I took notice of it right away but couldn't figure out exactly what it was until I noticed that the little meter which recorded the charging efficiency of the engine, while indicating a charge, didn't indicate much of one. Usually, it will be in the high 13 volt range, even up and over 14 if the battery banks are low, but then it settles down in the low to mid 13's and tops off, regulated by the regulator( an appropriate name don't you think?) But after the pitch change, the charging was only 12.4 volts and that's really not enough of a charge to actually charge the battery. I knew that something was wrong but not what. I hoped for a loose belt but feared more.
Late Friday afternoon brought Fred, Fred of puke-in-the bucket-off-New-Jersey Fame, who is a wiz at all things mechanical and electrical, well at least he knows more than me. It took us(read him) only a few minutes to discover that the alternator was putting out only 12.4 - .3 - .2 volts at its terminals which indicated that further investigation was rather unwarranted. If there was such low voltage being generated at the source, anything else along the line was sort of meaningless, until we corrected that problem.
Fred directed me on how to remove the alternator from the engine mount as he consumed a large run- & -tonic, and then he proceeded to dismantle it, expecting quite naturally, to find the "brushes worn" or some other common malady. Once disassembled, we(he) discovered that the brushes appeared fine, though there was a slight wobble in the shaft bearing.( Remember the raw water pump and its demise) and it became clear that repair was beyond his and/or my capabilities, at least with what we had at hand, which wasn't much, if anything at all.
We(he) decide that the best bet was Auto Zone for a new (rebuilt) alternator though he speculated that since it was an "AMPTECH" a name he had never heard of, there was a possibility that I (I) might have a small problem getting a replacement. When the Launch driver, Tom #2 pulled up along side, to take us back to the beach and pizza, I asked if he knew a place where my alternator problem could be dealt with. Without hesitation he said, "Captain Harley's!" Captain Harley's, supposedly, was a small shop in the basement of a house where in magic could be worked on all things electrical with a tie to the sea. No matter that it was cheek -by-jowl with a disreputable looking "garage", it was also next to the "Half Keg Bar," a saloon (calling that is an insult to saloons everywhere), which was created from one section of a Quonset Hut and has a "head" no one would set foot in unless they were looking for exotic microbes for an experiment of some kind. But from all indications, "Captain Harley" is the man and so Rich Webber and I drove up there( Ron Rienhart had a back up alternator. I had one too, but Ray sold it at a good price and for what he had done for me, who could fault him!). Unfortunately for us, but probably for the good mental health of him, Captain Harley is closed until Monday. Well, that's life in the big city. Thank Goodness, ABISHAG is "A SAILBOAT!"
Yes, it has but what the heck, summer is for relaxin' and enjoyin' the beautiful weather and the heck with everything else.
Over the course of time since last I filled this spot, I have done some sailing . . . at least when the weather permitted such. Sunshine doesn't always bring with it good winds and favorable tides. There were several days when the air just hung heavy and in place. No movement at lass, not a breathe. Even people with out and out racing boats found themselves without enough wind to buck the tide. When Bobby Cullen can't make a boat go where he wants it to go, you just know that it ain't a good day for sailin'!
Then of course there is the opposite of such weather, too much wind and no rain, but a hell-of-a lot of rain!Last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday qualified as days of real "street cleaning" storms. Dinghies on the dinghy dock filled with water. It was a good thing that all of them had positive floatation as it was certainly true that all would have gone deep by Wednesday. AND THAT IS A LOT OF RAIN!
And then the fever struck TYC. And unfortunately, I succumbed. well, not me actually, ABISHAG. Firts it struck Ron Reinhart;'s boat, then it struck Rich Webber's boat, and then it struck ABISHAG! The dreaded "ALTERNATOR CONTAGION!" For whatever reason, in the course of a couple of days, the alternators on all of our boat packed it up and went south. I even heard mine go! I was charging the batteries Thursday night. The engine was idling happily when the pitch changed. I took notice of it right away but couldn't figure out exactly what it was until I noticed that the little meter which recorded the charging efficiency of the engine, while indicating a charge, didn't indicate much of one. Usually, it will be in the high 13 volt range, even up and over 14 if the battery banks are low, but then it settles down in the low to mid 13's and tops off, regulated by the regulator( an appropriate name don't you think?) But after the pitch change, the charging was only 12.4 volts and that's really not enough of a charge to actually charge the battery. I knew that something was wrong but not what. I hoped for a loose belt but feared more.
Late Friday afternoon brought Fred, Fred of puke-in-the bucket-off-New-Jersey Fame, who is a wiz at all things mechanical and electrical, well at least he knows more than me. It took us(read him) only a few minutes to discover that the alternator was putting out only 12.4 - .3 - .2 volts at its terminals which indicated that further investigation was rather unwarranted. If there was such low voltage being generated at the source, anything else along the line was sort of meaningless, until we corrected that problem.
Fred directed me on how to remove the alternator from the engine mount as he consumed a large run- & -tonic, and then he proceeded to dismantle it, expecting quite naturally, to find the "brushes worn" or some other common malady. Once disassembled, we(he) discovered that the brushes appeared fine, though there was a slight wobble in the shaft bearing.( Remember the raw water pump and its demise) and it became clear that repair was beyond his and/or my capabilities, at least with what we had at hand, which wasn't much, if anything at all.
We(he) decide that the best bet was Auto Zone for a new (rebuilt) alternator though he speculated that since it was an "AMPTECH" a name he had never heard of, there was a possibility that I (I) might have a small problem getting a replacement. When the Launch driver, Tom #2 pulled up along side, to take us back to the beach and pizza, I asked if he knew a place where my alternator problem could be dealt with. Without hesitation he said, "Captain Harley's!" Captain Harley's, supposedly, was a small shop in the basement of a house where in magic could be worked on all things electrical with a tie to the sea. No matter that it was cheek -by-jowl with a disreputable looking "garage", it was also next to the "Half Keg Bar," a saloon (calling that is an insult to saloons everywhere), which was created from one section of a Quonset Hut and has a "head" no one would set foot in unless they were looking for exotic microbes for an experiment of some kind. But from all indications, "Captain Harley" is the man and so Rich Webber and I drove up there( Ron Rienhart had a back up alternator. I had one too, but Ray sold it at a good price and for what he had done for me, who could fault him!). Unfortunately for us, but probably for the good mental health of him, Captain Harley is closed until Monday. Well, that's life in the big city. Thank Goodness, ABISHAG is "A SAILBOAT!"
Thursday, August 11, 2011
How's Your Bottom?
SHIP'S LOG:
Yesterday was a marvelous day for sailing. There was a nice breeze out of the west, the sun was warm and it was not humid, and the water was warm. But I didn't got sailing as there was a maintenance task that needed to be performed. It was once again time to clean the bottom.
Cleaning the bottom is often vest done on real hot and humid and windless days as you get to stay nice and cool and the boat doesn't move all that much. So Wednesday was a good day to do it, even the good breeze out of the west kept the boat in place.
The bottom paint on ABISHAG, what remains of it that is, was put on back in April of 2010. It is an "ablative paint" which means that to do its job, it wears off a little at a time. I prefer this as it eliminates one of the real pains-in-the-butt of the Spring Commissioning, sanding the bottom paint to remove the old pain and make the surface smooth to receive the new paint. This means you have to sand and paint every year to make sure that you have paint that "works." with ablative paint, if there is paint on the hull, it is working. And the protection doesn't degrade if the boat is out of the water. Come the spring, or even the fall if you wish, you first touch up those places where the paint has worn away and then put on two coats over the entire bottom. The boat moving through the water slowly wears away the paint, keeping the surface clean, working and smooth. Going aground in the ICW does the same though wear-away factor is considerably greater. In fact, at the bottom of the keel, there is no paint left at all to discourage the nasty nautical creatures from attaching themselves to the bottom and making it home.
There were a couple of places near the bow where the paint was worn away because of regular contact with the mooring ball. There were some places along the side where the dinghy rested that also caused the paint to go away. In these spots, whole colonies of barnacles had affixed themselves and didn't want to leave. They had to be physically removed with a paint scraper. Where the paint was still present on the hull, "slime" a moldy underwater scum had coated the surface. To the "slime" barnacles also attached themselves but a simple brushing with a stiff brush removed the slime and the barnacles with it. The front edge of the keel and the bottom and up the sides of the keel from the bottom for a couple of inches, where all the paint had been worn away and the barrier coat exposed by my "discoveries of new land" along the ICW were seriously coated with barnacles and sea plant growth. It took a lot of diving and some hard work to get all that stuff off the boat, but it got done.
Some of the little nasties didn't take too kindly to their eviction, the brine shrimp especially. If you were ever a kid and wondered what those "Sea Monkeys" were that you would find advertised in the back of comic books, well they are brine shrimp. When you disturb them from their "homes" the immediate seek new accommodations and grab hold of anything solid near by. Now there must have been some sort of "regional convention" because they sure were lots of them and the solid object near by that many of them grasped onto was me. They latch on pretty securely and do so everywhere. After cleaning the bottom and getting back on the boat, I had to "de-shrimp" myself. The biggest of the shrimps might be an inch long and thin as thread, but they hang on tenaciously. Then again, they are see creatures and leaving the water deprives them of their ability to breathe. I went ashore and took a long, hot shower and all the little Sea Monkeys" went to Sea Monkey heaven. Of course, there are billions and billions to replace them, and along with the billions and billions of other sea creatures that love to attach to the bottoms of boat, without a doubt ABISHAG's bottom will need another scrapping and cleaning before the end of the month. O, Joy!
Yesterday was a marvelous day for sailing. There was a nice breeze out of the west, the sun was warm and it was not humid, and the water was warm. But I didn't got sailing as there was a maintenance task that needed to be performed. It was once again time to clean the bottom.
Cleaning the bottom is often vest done on real hot and humid and windless days as you get to stay nice and cool and the boat doesn't move all that much. So Wednesday was a good day to do it, even the good breeze out of the west kept the boat in place.
The bottom paint on ABISHAG, what remains of it that is, was put on back in April of 2010. It is an "ablative paint" which means that to do its job, it wears off a little at a time. I prefer this as it eliminates one of the real pains-in-the-butt of the Spring Commissioning, sanding the bottom paint to remove the old pain and make the surface smooth to receive the new paint. This means you have to sand and paint every year to make sure that you have paint that "works." with ablative paint, if there is paint on the hull, it is working. And the protection doesn't degrade if the boat is out of the water. Come the spring, or even the fall if you wish, you first touch up those places where the paint has worn away and then put on two coats over the entire bottom. The boat moving through the water slowly wears away the paint, keeping the surface clean, working and smooth. Going aground in the ICW does the same though wear-away factor is considerably greater. In fact, at the bottom of the keel, there is no paint left at all to discourage the nasty nautical creatures from attaching themselves to the bottom and making it home.
There were a couple of places near the bow where the paint was worn away because of regular contact with the mooring ball. There were some places along the side where the dinghy rested that also caused the paint to go away. In these spots, whole colonies of barnacles had affixed themselves and didn't want to leave. They had to be physically removed with a paint scraper. Where the paint was still present on the hull, "slime" a moldy underwater scum had coated the surface. To the "slime" barnacles also attached themselves but a simple brushing with a stiff brush removed the slime and the barnacles with it. The front edge of the keel and the bottom and up the sides of the keel from the bottom for a couple of inches, where all the paint had been worn away and the barrier coat exposed by my "discoveries of new land" along the ICW were seriously coated with barnacles and sea plant growth. It took a lot of diving and some hard work to get all that stuff off the boat, but it got done.
Some of the little nasties didn't take too kindly to their eviction, the brine shrimp especially. If you were ever a kid and wondered what those "Sea Monkeys" were that you would find advertised in the back of comic books, well they are brine shrimp. When you disturb them from their "homes" the immediate seek new accommodations and grab hold of anything solid near by. Now there must have been some sort of "regional convention" because they sure were lots of them and the solid object near by that many of them grasped onto was me. They latch on pretty securely and do so everywhere. After cleaning the bottom and getting back on the boat, I had to "de-shrimp" myself. The biggest of the shrimps might be an inch long and thin as thread, but they hang on tenaciously. Then again, they are see creatures and leaving the water deprives them of their ability to breathe. I went ashore and took a long, hot shower and all the little Sea Monkeys" went to Sea Monkey heaven. Of course, there are billions and billions to replace them, and along with the billions and billions of other sea creatures that love to attach to the bottoms of boat, without a doubt ABISHAG's bottom will need another scrapping and cleaning before the end of the month. O, Joy!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Summer In New England
SHIP'S LOG:
Monday was interrupted by another one of those doctor's appointments that have been too long put off. The fact that it took place at noon kind of made a mess of the day, sailing-wise. Then again, there wasn't much in the way of wind anyhow. Aside form a few very shot rain showers that pass through very quickly, the day disintegrated into a typical hot, humid, semi-sunny August day. Russ and I and a couple of friends went and took in a Connecticut Tigers Game. It featured Al Kaline throwing out the first pitch to his grandson and a win by the hometown Tigers. The game ran longer than I thought and I ended up sleeping upstairs in the Clubhouse.
Tuesday started off as a pretty decent day for sailing. Russ and Tim Duffy came down and we went out for a sail for a couple of hours. we had decent wind, partly sunny skies and it wasn't to, too humid. But there was just something about the weather that didn't bode well. After we got back, I went out for a late lunch/early dinner. By the time I got back to TYC it was just beginning to sprinkle. By the time I got out to ABISHAG, it was a steady rain. An hour later, it was a steady downpour with 20-25 mph winds. The forecast that NOAA gave early during the day(when am I ever going to learn?) indicated the "slight" possibility of scattered showers and possibly thunderstorms. By 6pm, the weather radar had a nasty band scudding down from the NW which beat us on the head, passed through and then the winds turned SE and beat us on the head again. All this time it rained and rained and rained and rained. I hope that everyone who said we need the rain is satisfied!
I really felt for all those who we participating in the Cruising Club of New England's Cruise this week. The left Saturday, got creamed on Sunday. Had a decent day Monday and were now getting creamed again Tuesday night. I called Gunny, who was on the cruise, and he said they had dragged in New Bedford Harbor on Sunday night. Great! I had actually been thinking about joining the cruise but I still have yet to get back "my travelin' jones!" Good call not to go!
Monday was interrupted by another one of those doctor's appointments that have been too long put off. The fact that it took place at noon kind of made a mess of the day, sailing-wise. Then again, there wasn't much in the way of wind anyhow. Aside form a few very shot rain showers that pass through very quickly, the day disintegrated into a typical hot, humid, semi-sunny August day. Russ and I and a couple of friends went and took in a Connecticut Tigers Game. It featured Al Kaline throwing out the first pitch to his grandson and a win by the hometown Tigers. The game ran longer than I thought and I ended up sleeping upstairs in the Clubhouse.
Tuesday started off as a pretty decent day for sailing. Russ and Tim Duffy came down and we went out for a sail for a couple of hours. we had decent wind, partly sunny skies and it wasn't to, too humid. But there was just something about the weather that didn't bode well. After we got back, I went out for a late lunch/early dinner. By the time I got back to TYC it was just beginning to sprinkle. By the time I got out to ABISHAG, it was a steady rain. An hour later, it was a steady downpour with 20-25 mph winds. The forecast that NOAA gave early during the day(when am I ever going to learn?) indicated the "slight" possibility of scattered showers and possibly thunderstorms. By 6pm, the weather radar had a nasty band scudding down from the NW which beat us on the head, passed through and then the winds turned SE and beat us on the head again. All this time it rained and rained and rained and rained. I hope that everyone who said we need the rain is satisfied!
I really felt for all those who we participating in the Cruising Club of New England's Cruise this week. The left Saturday, got creamed on Sunday. Had a decent day Monday and were now getting creamed again Tuesday night. I called Gunny, who was on the cruise, and he said they had dragged in New Bedford Harbor on Sunday night. Great! I had actually been thinking about joining the cruise but I still have yet to get back "my travelin' jones!" Good call not to go!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The Curse of Somebody Or Other
SHIP'S LOG:
There are all sorts of stories about haunted ships and cursed ships in nautical folklore. I am beginning to think that the TYC launch is one of them, at least the "cursed" kind. Already this year, she has had the transmission go, making her inoperable for almost two weeks at the start of her summer operating schedule. It wasn't anything supernatural but simply a worn out part that finally "gave up the ghost" as it were. Of course, it is also true that the reason for the two week delay is that nobody could find a replacement part for the tranny. Every vendor claimed to have one but when they looked, they could not be found. Eventually it was found and installed and the launch was again operable.
Then there is the vibration. Any boat vibrates when the engine is running, especially at idle, and diesel powered boat more than most. The launch does to but get the engine up over a certain rpm and it literally hums! The shaft is straight, the alignment correct but still it vibrates. After several weeks of head scratching and wonderment, it was discovered that the prop was slightly out of skew. Evidently, somewhere at some time, it had made sufficient contact with something hard enough to warp the edge of one of the blades. " Re-true-ing" the prop will take awhile and so we have to live with it.
And then there was the steering cable that let loose a week or so ago. Again it took several days to find the "right cable" and even then it wasn't installed right the first time, nor the second, not even the third. But finally it was and the launch would actually go where it was pointed.
The "latest" installment of "the curse" was the transmission cable. Chuck-the-launch-driver had just dropped off some passengers and was proceeding to the floating dock where the launch is kept. The throttle and the transmission on the launch are both controlled by the same lever but are two different cables. As he approached the dock, Chuck put the transmission into neutral to take way off the launch and then put it into reverse to stop it. The throttle cable engaged the throttle supplying power to the transmission but for some reason, rather than shifting the transmission into reverse for the braking maneuver, it went into FORWARD and snapped. The launch jumped forward, rode up on the catwalk of the pier holding the floating dock and took a three foot long bite out of 4x12 bracing board. It hung up on the remains by its towing shackle and it took several members and their combined efforts to get it released and tied to its floating dock.
The launch actually suffered no real damage, except for the parted transmission cable, which is a little weird considering the damage it did to the wooden pier! OK, OK perhaps it ain't the Twilight Zone, but it does make a lot of the members who think about it now go "Hmmmmm!" whenever they step aboard "The TYC Launch!"
There are all sorts of stories about haunted ships and cursed ships in nautical folklore. I am beginning to think that the TYC launch is one of them, at least the "cursed" kind. Already this year, she has had the transmission go, making her inoperable for almost two weeks at the start of her summer operating schedule. It wasn't anything supernatural but simply a worn out part that finally "gave up the ghost" as it were. Of course, it is also true that the reason for the two week delay is that nobody could find a replacement part for the tranny. Every vendor claimed to have one but when they looked, they could not be found. Eventually it was found and installed and the launch was again operable.
Then there is the vibration. Any boat vibrates when the engine is running, especially at idle, and diesel powered boat more than most. The launch does to but get the engine up over a certain rpm and it literally hums! The shaft is straight, the alignment correct but still it vibrates. After several weeks of head scratching and wonderment, it was discovered that the prop was slightly out of skew. Evidently, somewhere at some time, it had made sufficient contact with something hard enough to warp the edge of one of the blades. " Re-true-ing" the prop will take awhile and so we have to live with it.
And then there was the steering cable that let loose a week or so ago. Again it took several days to find the "right cable" and even then it wasn't installed right the first time, nor the second, not even the third. But finally it was and the launch would actually go where it was pointed.
The "latest" installment of "the curse" was the transmission cable. Chuck-the-launch-driver had just dropped off some passengers and was proceeding to the floating dock where the launch is kept. The throttle and the transmission on the launch are both controlled by the same lever but are two different cables. As he approached the dock, Chuck put the transmission into neutral to take way off the launch and then put it into reverse to stop it. The throttle cable engaged the throttle supplying power to the transmission but for some reason, rather than shifting the transmission into reverse for the braking maneuver, it went into FORWARD and snapped. The launch jumped forward, rode up on the catwalk of the pier holding the floating dock and took a three foot long bite out of 4x12 bracing board. It hung up on the remains by its towing shackle and it took several members and their combined efforts to get it released and tied to its floating dock.
The launch actually suffered no real damage, except for the parted transmission cable, which is a little weird considering the damage it did to the wooden pier! OK, OK perhaps it ain't the Twilight Zone, but it does make a lot of the members who think about it now go "Hmmmmm!" whenever they step aboard "The TYC Launch!"
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Almost Like A Day In Hell . . At The DMV!
SHIP'S LOG:
When I got back from my journey South & back, I had about 8 months worth of mail awaiting me. Lots was garbage, some was bills that needed paying and there was all four letters from the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), actually renewal notices for the registration of 1.) Abishag; 2.) The Dinghy; 3.) My P.O.S. Car; and 4.) My Driver's License. Well, I knew that since the renewal dates had passed ( all were twigged to one's birth month which meant May for me), it also meant a trip to the nearest office of the DMV. I had a choice, Norwich or Old Saybrook, and since I have been through both and Old Saybrook was definitely the less busy of the two, I went to Old Saybrook.
Now it is not to say that the Old Saybrook DMV was not busy, but rather less busy. So I brought along with me, not just the letters of renewal and my checkbook, but water, lunch and a Stephen King novel(How appropriate). When I arrived, the parking lot was almost full. I got a spot and a went in doors, air conditioned thank goodness, and got in line.There were two lines, one for licenses and one for everything else. In times past, the "everything else line" was patrolled by a little old man who, if you had business other than simply getting information and the proper forms, give you a numbered ticket. The clerks worked through the numbers like the attendants at a deli counter and when your number was called you went up and helped make the state safe and richer. Evidently, the economic turmoil in which the state finds itself has led to economy cutting and it cost the little old guy his job. SO I got in "the everything else line" and wended my way along. I is truly amazing just how slow the line moved, about as fast as a line that wasn't moving at all.
I got through at least 6 chapters of Stephen King when my turn came to face a clerk. She was not a happy person and my attempts to engage her in "happy banter" was a total failure. After six chapters of Stephen King, and a couple of hours of real time, this "sour apple looking" clerk heard my tale and simply hand me a sheet of paper and said, "We don't renew registrations in the office any more. You have to do it by mail. NEXT!"
Well, the first step of the process was done, or would be once I mailed in the registration and the check, so it was on to the license renewal. This would require the taking of my picture. Now it is possible that you can renew your driver's license by mail, they simply stick your old photo on the new license. (You can do this once.) You can also renew your license at AAA, but not if you are over the expiration date. Thus it was that i had to come to the DMV.
I put Stephen King aside and had lunch in line ( A grilled chicken sandwich and a Coke). While "the everything else line" was basically quiet and inactive, the license line was a flurry of activity. Bunches of teenagers were in it, all there for their driver's license test ( written and driving). They were studying their texts, they were querying their parents(mostly mothers), they were talking inanely with those they knew in line. It didn't seem possible but this line moved even more slowly than "the everything else line." I got through lunch and 10! chapters of Stephen King( OK, he doesn't have particular large chapters) when one of the clerks came around the counter and said, "Anyone here just looking to renew their driver's license?" We were taken off to another window where one by one, we turned in our old license, signed the new one, paid for it and then went to sit and wait to be called for our pictures. That took another hour or so and then another wait as the license was processed( or whatever it is they do with it) before it was handed over. I can say without fear of contradiction that my license has the absolutely worst photo I have ever seen of anyone not just me. It is truly awful and, of course, it can not be redone.
I got back to TYC about 4:30pm after a truly full day, topped off by the Red Sox losing to the Yankees. It seemed an appropriate ending to the day, some horrible fantasy that only Stephen King would concoct!
When I got back from my journey South & back, I had about 8 months worth of mail awaiting me. Lots was garbage, some was bills that needed paying and there was all four letters from the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), actually renewal notices for the registration of 1.) Abishag; 2.) The Dinghy; 3.) My P.O.S. Car; and 4.) My Driver's License. Well, I knew that since the renewal dates had passed ( all were twigged to one's birth month which meant May for me), it also meant a trip to the nearest office of the DMV. I had a choice, Norwich or Old Saybrook, and since I have been through both and Old Saybrook was definitely the less busy of the two, I went to Old Saybrook.
Now it is not to say that the Old Saybrook DMV was not busy, but rather less busy. So I brought along with me, not just the letters of renewal and my checkbook, but water, lunch and a Stephen King novel(How appropriate). When I arrived, the parking lot was almost full. I got a spot and a went in doors, air conditioned thank goodness, and got in line.There were two lines, one for licenses and one for everything else. In times past, the "everything else line" was patrolled by a little old man who, if you had business other than simply getting information and the proper forms, give you a numbered ticket. The clerks worked through the numbers like the attendants at a deli counter and when your number was called you went up and helped make the state safe and richer. Evidently, the economic turmoil in which the state finds itself has led to economy cutting and it cost the little old guy his job. SO I got in "the everything else line" and wended my way along. I is truly amazing just how slow the line moved, about as fast as a line that wasn't moving at all.
I got through at least 6 chapters of Stephen King when my turn came to face a clerk. She was not a happy person and my attempts to engage her in "happy banter" was a total failure. After six chapters of Stephen King, and a couple of hours of real time, this "sour apple looking" clerk heard my tale and simply hand me a sheet of paper and said, "We don't renew registrations in the office any more. You have to do it by mail. NEXT!"
Well, the first step of the process was done, or would be once I mailed in the registration and the check, so it was on to the license renewal. This would require the taking of my picture. Now it is possible that you can renew your driver's license by mail, they simply stick your old photo on the new license. (You can do this once.) You can also renew your license at AAA, but not if you are over the expiration date. Thus it was that i had to come to the DMV.
I put Stephen King aside and had lunch in line ( A grilled chicken sandwich and a Coke). While "the everything else line" was basically quiet and inactive, the license line was a flurry of activity. Bunches of teenagers were in it, all there for their driver's license test ( written and driving). They were studying their texts, they were querying their parents(mostly mothers), they were talking inanely with those they knew in line. It didn't seem possible but this line moved even more slowly than "the everything else line." I got through lunch and 10! chapters of Stephen King( OK, he doesn't have particular large chapters) when one of the clerks came around the counter and said, "Anyone here just looking to renew their driver's license?" We were taken off to another window where one by one, we turned in our old license, signed the new one, paid for it and then went to sit and wait to be called for our pictures. That took another hour or so and then another wait as the license was processed( or whatever it is they do with it) before it was handed over. I can say without fear of contradiction that my license has the absolutely worst photo I have ever seen of anyone not just me. It is truly awful and, of course, it can not be redone.
I got back to TYC about 4:30pm after a truly full day, topped off by the Red Sox losing to the Yankees. It seemed an appropriate ending to the day, some horrible fantasy that only Stephen King would concoct!
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