SHIP'S LOG:
I am Ashore! Shore Bound! Not Aboard! Landlocked! Hard Aground! On the Hard! I now live in a residence that doesn't move with the tide or the winds! I haven't paid the slightest attention to what NOAA or any other weather prognosticator has said about the weather in almost four days! In one sense, that is a relief, still . . . . .
In a couple of days (I hope), the yard crew at Yankee with lift ABISHAG out of the water and set her gently on poppets and winter will finally begin. True, I have to strip her out and get her ready to weather the winter, but that won't happen until she is on the hard. A problem with that is "to where do I haul all the stuff," followed by the equally perplexing "how do I haul all the stuff?" I am hopeful that I will "soon' have a place of my own ashore but the "if" and the "when" are still pretty much in the air. And the thought of hauling to one spot only to have to remove it all and haul it to another spot is a source of "acid indigestion." I am sure that it will all work out but the when is really up in the air.
I had to go visit ABISHAG to retrieve a few items for my new life ashore an actually ran into the guy who had rescued Bill Turner's dinghy the day before we began our last trip. He and his wife are quite a couple. They are hauling their boat this year rather than taking it south, though I get the impression that he has several boat deliveries set up to wile away the winter months in the South rather that stay in the cold north. It is a fine way to spend the winter but right now it holds no appeal for me. I am actually glad to be on the hard though I have to go through a bit of a learning process about how to live on land again, as well as develop a new "schedule for the day." Sadly, my new quarters do not orientate to the tide in the Thames River so it means that I don't get awoken by the dawn. I actually didn't get up until 7am this morning, though that was more because I stayed up late to watch the Orioles cough one up to the Yankees.
I still have to get the dinghy to Tom Welsh's house so that it sleep the winter through and after that, TYC should see me no more until the Spring. It is sort of like leaving home!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Winter's Here . . . . . Almost!
SHIP'S LOG:
Columbus Day Weekend meant a trip up the Connecticut River to Hamburg Cove and thence onto the Yankee Boatyard in Portland. It was a nice trip Saturday, rather breeze but rain free. The Sound was fairly -well whipped up but there was no rain which was a bless. The only moment for concern was as we approached the Railroad bridge that spans the lower Connecticut River. Would it work? The previous weekend the answer had been "NO!," but it seems that all the mechanical difficulties had been worked out and. The bridge was in the open position long before we got there and we transited through with no mus, no fuss. We even got moorings in Hamburg Cove without difficulty. Three of us, the Truners, the Aherns and myself actually rafted together on one mooring but given the rather "vigorous "winds shooting into the cover, I decided to raft up with Fred and Thalia when they got to the Cove. I suppose that we could have all gone on one mooring considering that there were two moorings of power-boaters that had rafted up 5 or more. Along with the Gearys, who were also int eh cove, we got together for s pot-luck supper onboard the Turner's boat. it really was a great time. The food was wonderful and the company was better. We were warm and dry and cozy even when we got whacked with a torrential downpour as some front moved through.
The trip upriver Sunday was undistinguished except for the rain that started a couple of hours into the trip. It wasn't a down pour, just a gentle shower, but it made the day cold and raw. We finally got to Portland around 3pm and when I moored ABISHAG, winter had officially begun. Damn!
Columbus Day Weekend meant a trip up the Connecticut River to Hamburg Cove and thence onto the Yankee Boatyard in Portland. It was a nice trip Saturday, rather breeze but rain free. The Sound was fairly -well whipped up but there was no rain which was a bless. The only moment for concern was as we approached the Railroad bridge that spans the lower Connecticut River. Would it work? The previous weekend the answer had been "NO!," but it seems that all the mechanical difficulties had been worked out and. The bridge was in the open position long before we got there and we transited through with no mus, no fuss. We even got moorings in Hamburg Cove without difficulty. Three of us, the Truners, the Aherns and myself actually rafted together on one mooring but given the rather "vigorous "winds shooting into the cover, I decided to raft up with Fred and Thalia when they got to the Cove. I suppose that we could have all gone on one mooring considering that there were two moorings of power-boaters that had rafted up 5 or more. Along with the Gearys, who were also int eh cove, we got together for s pot-luck supper onboard the Turner's boat. it really was a great time. The food was wonderful and the company was better. We were warm and dry and cozy even when we got whacked with a torrential downpour as some front moved through.
The trip upriver Sunday was undistinguished except for the rain that started a couple of hours into the trip. It wasn't a down pour, just a gentle shower, but it made the day cold and raw. We finally got to Portland around 3pm and when I moored ABISHAG, winter had officially begun. Damn!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Boy, Somebody Just Can't Get It Right!
SHIP'S LOG:
Over the last three days, there have been a lot of conflicting reports about the status of the Railroad bridge over the Connecticut River, the one under which I most go to get to Portland and the Yankee Boatyard for the winter haul. Officially. according to Amtrak there is a problem. According to the maintenance crew, contacted by a friend, there is no problem. According to the Newspaper, there is a problem. According to the Marine Trades Group for the Old Saybrook/Lyme area, there may be a problem. I'll just have to wait and see . . . .something I have become really good at.
The last two days there has been a cold rain and it has made the interior of ABISHAG cold as well as damp. I am seriously considering getting some coal that I can fire up the fireplace but where does one get coal? Charcoal, yes, but coal? Charcoal is dangerous because it can give off carbon-monoxide which in any enclosed space is a ticket to the afterlife.
Bob & Barbara Welsh were planning to take their 42 ft Pearson ketch south on Sunday. The courses were all planned, the supplies were laid in and the crew was ready to go They took her out yesterday for a bit of a shake down and discovered they had a problem. The propeller strut had broken. this strut holds the exposed portion of the prop shaft in place when the engine is running and the prop is turning. Without it, or in the case where to has broken, the shaft twist and vibrate and generally try to rip itself out of the boat. Their trip is now delayed until they can get the boat hauled and the strut replaced, along with any damage that might have been done to the shaft and the transmission. Not great start to the trip south, then again, if you are going to bust something major, it is best to do it at home where you know where all the resources are and you have friends to help. Added to that is the fact that the prop, shaft, strut, transmission and engine will all be things they won't have to worry about in their lifetime again. Both are in their 80's!
Over the last three days, there have been a lot of conflicting reports about the status of the Railroad bridge over the Connecticut River, the one under which I most go to get to Portland and the Yankee Boatyard for the winter haul. Officially. according to Amtrak there is a problem. According to the maintenance crew, contacted by a friend, there is no problem. According to the Newspaper, there is a problem. According to the Marine Trades Group for the Old Saybrook/Lyme area, there may be a problem. I'll just have to wait and see . . . .something I have become really good at.
The last two days there has been a cold rain and it has made the interior of ABISHAG cold as well as damp. I am seriously considering getting some coal that I can fire up the fireplace but where does one get coal? Charcoal, yes, but coal? Charcoal is dangerous because it can give off carbon-monoxide which in any enclosed space is a ticket to the afterlife.
Bob & Barbara Welsh were planning to take their 42 ft Pearson ketch south on Sunday. The courses were all planned, the supplies were laid in and the crew was ready to go They took her out yesterday for a bit of a shake down and discovered they had a problem. The propeller strut had broken. this strut holds the exposed portion of the prop shaft in place when the engine is running and the prop is turning. Without it, or in the case where to has broken, the shaft twist and vibrate and generally try to rip itself out of the boat. Their trip is now delayed until they can get the boat hauled and the strut replaced, along with any damage that might have been done to the shaft and the transmission. Not great start to the trip south, then again, if you are going to bust something major, it is best to do it at home where you know where all the resources are and you have friends to help. Added to that is the fact that the prop, shaft, strut, transmission and engine will all be things they won't have to worry about in their lifetime again. Both are in their 80's!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
You Just Never Know, You Know!
SHIP'S LOG:
I took the opportunity to go racing on Sunday in the TYC Chowder Series. I went with Jim Avery and Mike Peterson on Jim's NONSUCH. It is a "modern catboat," with one sail and as such, it really needs no crew beyond the helmsman. But Jim is 81 and talkative and likes the company and we actually won our class though that was on handicap and adjusted time. Still, a win is a win is a win.
At the lunch that followed, word came that the railroad bridge over the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook "broke." Word was that it "sheared a pin" and couldn't be raised. No w normally it wouldn't be of much or any concern to me but it is now. Next weekend, Columbus Day Weekend, myself and several others were planning to go up the Connecticut River, overnight in Hamburg Cove on Saturday night, and then continue on up to various marinas north of said bridge for our winter hauls. If the bridge remains "broken" next weekend, that plan is scrapped and I am concerned that such will be the case. I have no idea which "pin sheared," but whichever one it might have been, it prevents the bridge from being raised and allowing transit by boats over 20 feet in height which is certainly includes every boat that was planning to make the trip. And as things like this happen, you just know that there is no spare "pin" in the AMTRAK parts locker! So if it's a week's delay, it could be two or even a month. And since I have already signed the contract with Yankee and put down a down payment, it is not a question of find another spot "south of the bridge somewhere." For now, it is simply a matter of await the word.
I took the opportunity to go racing on Sunday in the TYC Chowder Series. I went with Jim Avery and Mike Peterson on Jim's NONSUCH. It is a "modern catboat," with one sail and as such, it really needs no crew beyond the helmsman. But Jim is 81 and talkative and likes the company and we actually won our class though that was on handicap and adjusted time. Still, a win is a win is a win.
At the lunch that followed, word came that the railroad bridge over the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook "broke." Word was that it "sheared a pin" and couldn't be raised. No w normally it wouldn't be of much or any concern to me but it is now. Next weekend, Columbus Day Weekend, myself and several others were planning to go up the Connecticut River, overnight in Hamburg Cove on Saturday night, and then continue on up to various marinas north of said bridge for our winter hauls. If the bridge remains "broken" next weekend, that plan is scrapped and I am concerned that such will be the case. I have no idea which "pin sheared," but whichever one it might have been, it prevents the bridge from being raised and allowing transit by boats over 20 feet in height which is certainly includes every boat that was planning to make the trip. And as things like this happen, you just know that there is no spare "pin" in the AMTRAK parts locker! So if it's a week's delay, it could be two or even a month. And since I have already signed the contract with Yankee and put down a down payment, it is not a question of find another spot "south of the bridge somewhere." For now, it is simply a matter of await the word.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Wind! Wind! Rain! Wind! BANG! Wind!
SHIP'S LOG:
I spent the night last night in a slip at TYC as the rain came down and the wind blew from the South-East. Heck it has been doing that for a week, switching from North to South-East and back again. ABISHAG was tied up nicely, not too tight and not too loose, so that she rode in the center of the slip through the rise and fall of tides . . . . well, mostly anyway.
I have never heard a dockline part, that is snap, but I heard one last night, though I didn't know what it was. Sleeping on a boat in 'exciting weather" is something akin to sleeping inside a base drum. All of the sounds get amplified and one has to sort them all out so that one can tell what's "normal" and what's not. Due to the overhang of the stern, the portion of the hull that rides above the waterline, waves that get uplifted and slap at it can sound like someone hitting the hull with a large hammer! The sound of the wind increases to shrieks ad loud moans and lines that aren't taught can slap the mast like drumbeats. Once you figure out what's "normal," merely amplified sounds, you filter them out so you can sleep. Sometime during the night there was a "bang" that woke me up. At first I wasn't sure what it was but then other hull slapping waves hit and so I figure that was than and went back to sleep.
It turned out that one of the spring lines gave up the ghost. It was a secondary spring line, doubled up from the mid-ship cleat to the piling. One half of the double line was separated when I check it as I left the boat to perform my morning ablutions. The other half was still attached and doing its job, but the other have popped right at the eye that went through the cleat on the pier. True, it was old ( it came with the boat), but it was a 1/2 inch and when it let go you could really hear it.
O well, more new docklines go on the list of stuff to be bought. Rather than buy already made-up docklines, I'll buy a large than appropriate anchor rode and cut it to size putting the loops in the ends myself. That will cost half of what the right number of docklines would cost. And saving some greeny-back dollars is always better than saving no greeny-back dollars at all.
Next Saturday, Columbus Day Weekend, I will be headed up the Connecticut River to Portland where ABISHAG will be hauled again. The Season is end and winter approaches. UGH!
I spent the night last night in a slip at TYC as the rain came down and the wind blew from the South-East. Heck it has been doing that for a week, switching from North to South-East and back again. ABISHAG was tied up nicely, not too tight and not too loose, so that she rode in the center of the slip through the rise and fall of tides . . . . well, mostly anyway.
I have never heard a dockline part, that is snap, but I heard one last night, though I didn't know what it was. Sleeping on a boat in 'exciting weather" is something akin to sleeping inside a base drum. All of the sounds get amplified and one has to sort them all out so that one can tell what's "normal" and what's not. Due to the overhang of the stern, the portion of the hull that rides above the waterline, waves that get uplifted and slap at it can sound like someone hitting the hull with a large hammer! The sound of the wind increases to shrieks ad loud moans and lines that aren't taught can slap the mast like drumbeats. Once you figure out what's "normal," merely amplified sounds, you filter them out so you can sleep. Sometime during the night there was a "bang" that woke me up. At first I wasn't sure what it was but then other hull slapping waves hit and so I figure that was than and went back to sleep.
It turned out that one of the spring lines gave up the ghost. It was a secondary spring line, doubled up from the mid-ship cleat to the piling. One half of the double line was separated when I check it as I left the boat to perform my morning ablutions. The other half was still attached and doing its job, but the other have popped right at the eye that went through the cleat on the pier. True, it was old ( it came with the boat), but it was a 1/2 inch and when it let go you could really hear it.
O well, more new docklines go on the list of stuff to be bought. Rather than buy already made-up docklines, I'll buy a large than appropriate anchor rode and cut it to size putting the loops in the ends myself. That will cost half of what the right number of docklines would cost. And saving some greeny-back dollars is always better than saving no greeny-back dollars at all.
Next Saturday, Columbus Day Weekend, I will be headed up the Connecticut River to Portland where ABISHAG will be hauled again. The Season is end and winter approaches. UGH!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sailing! Sailing!
SHIP'S LOG:
The last couple of days I had the opportunity to go sailing with different people on their boats. It is an interesting as well as an enjouable experience. They were all so very different from ABISHAG in both size and type. It creates a "different" sailing experience.
Yesterday for example, I went out sailing with Fred and his son, Alex, on a Catalina 30 . . . in some rather serious wind. We never really got out into the Sound and spent most of or time sailing under main alone. Like I said, some serious wind. And to keep things from getting too boring, the boat's engine crapped out, we had to deal with a submarine off EB, there is no launch service, had to pick up the mooring under sail, and we even made an "emergency" trip to another boat to tie down a main sheet that bad come loose causing the boom to swing back and forth radically. It was a great day!
I heard back from Capt. Fatty Goodlander. He is a columnist for CRUISING WORLD magazine and had been living on his boat with his wife, Carolyn, for the past 40 years or so and writes columns for the magazine about his experiences. His daughter got married a couple of years ago and now has a child and the Goodlanders were looking for another boat with enough room for everyone. They were looking for a "gently used" boat for around $50,000 and so I offered to sell them ABISHAG. I got an email back this morning saying that unfortunately they had already purchased their new boat. As they say, timing is everything in life!"
The last couple of days I had the opportunity to go sailing with different people on their boats. It is an interesting as well as an enjouable experience. They were all so very different from ABISHAG in both size and type. It creates a "different" sailing experience.
Yesterday for example, I went out sailing with Fred and his son, Alex, on a Catalina 30 . . . in some rather serious wind. We never really got out into the Sound and spent most of or time sailing under main alone. Like I said, some serious wind. And to keep things from getting too boring, the boat's engine crapped out, we had to deal with a submarine off EB, there is no launch service, had to pick up the mooring under sail, and we even made an "emergency" trip to another boat to tie down a main sheet that bad come loose causing the boom to swing back and forth radically. It was a great day!
I heard back from Capt. Fatty Goodlander. He is a columnist for CRUISING WORLD magazine and had been living on his boat with his wife, Carolyn, for the past 40 years or so and writes columns for the magazine about his experiences. His daughter got married a couple of years ago and now has a child and the Goodlanders were looking for another boat with enough room for everyone. They were looking for a "gently used" boat for around $50,000 and so I offered to sell them ABISHAG. I got an email back this morning saying that unfortunately they had already purchased their new boat. As they say, timing is everything in life!"
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Well, That Was Interesting! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
Yesterday, or more correctly last night, we got spanked with a nice little storm. The wind blew a steady 30-35mph and there were gusts that actually hit 50! The wind was out of the South and so it shot straight up the river, with nothing to stop it. Indeed, the banks of the river actually funneled it making it even more severe. The river was filled with white caps and everyone's boat was hobby-horsing something fierce on their moorings.
I wasn't on my mooring. I was at the dock which is usually something I avoid when there is a storm. Out on a mooring, the boat reacts much more naturally and there is less strain on the pennants and the boat itself. However, my friends at NOAA had assured everyone that there would be horrible rain and wind" on Tuesday morning and that it would last all day. I wasn't too keen on being stuck all day aboard and surely didn't want to try to dock in high wind and seas and so I went in early. I got all tied up and secure and waited for the "storm" to hit. while I was waiting, Charlie Wargo came done to get some stuff off his boat and recommended that I should turn ABISHAG around so that she was facing out of the slip as opposed to being pointed into it.Though the wind was blowing out of the South, Charlie was sure that as the storm front passed through it would clock around to the North and that ABISHAG would ride better pointed North than south. In addition, it there was a problem during the storm, it would be a lot easier to just drop the lines ad drive out rather than try to back out. Well, it did make sense and so, with Charlie's help, we took ABISHAG out, turned her around and backed in. It took three shots but we got her in as Charles gave me a lesson on how to do it. It was really interesting and it seemed as though with a little practice, it would be the way to do it in the future. Maybe.
The wind and the storm didn't cooperate with out effort as the wind continued to come out of the South. It slowly built all day and by evening it was raining too. ABISHAG was well centered in the slip and while she did some rocking, it seemed a lot less that I would have expected, even less that she probably would have done on the mooring. Still sleep was less than easy and though I did doze during the night, I was awake for most of it. It was sort of like being on the ICW again! We got hit with a good 2 inches of rain. I know this because my cockpit is a rain gauge. With her stern tied into the wind, the rain just filled the cockpit. Something akin to "hairballs" restricted the scuppers and the cockpit filled. About 3am, when the wind from the south subsided, I went to check things out. I lifted the hatchboard and water from the cockpit spilled into the cabin. Not a lot, but enough so that accompanined by colorful language, I got the scuppers cleaned and watched the water drain away. (I am still at a loss as to where these" hairballs" come from. It is a mystery.)
At 5:30AM, after a coupled of hours of no wind, the wind machine turned on again like someone threw a switch. This time, it WAS out of the North. I guess Charles was right. I'll have to check the weather to see if I can make it back out to the mooring later today.
Yesterday, or more correctly last night, we got spanked with a nice little storm. The wind blew a steady 30-35mph and there were gusts that actually hit 50! The wind was out of the South and so it shot straight up the river, with nothing to stop it. Indeed, the banks of the river actually funneled it making it even more severe. The river was filled with white caps and everyone's boat was hobby-horsing something fierce on their moorings.
I wasn't on my mooring. I was at the dock which is usually something I avoid when there is a storm. Out on a mooring, the boat reacts much more naturally and there is less strain on the pennants and the boat itself. However, my friends at NOAA had assured everyone that there would be horrible rain and wind" on Tuesday morning and that it would last all day. I wasn't too keen on being stuck all day aboard and surely didn't want to try to dock in high wind and seas and so I went in early. I got all tied up and secure and waited for the "storm" to hit. while I was waiting, Charlie Wargo came done to get some stuff off his boat and recommended that I should turn ABISHAG around so that she was facing out of the slip as opposed to being pointed into it.Though the wind was blowing out of the South, Charlie was sure that as the storm front passed through it would clock around to the North and that ABISHAG would ride better pointed North than south. In addition, it there was a problem during the storm, it would be a lot easier to just drop the lines ad drive out rather than try to back out. Well, it did make sense and so, with Charlie's help, we took ABISHAG out, turned her around and backed in. It took three shots but we got her in as Charles gave me a lesson on how to do it. It was really interesting and it seemed as though with a little practice, it would be the way to do it in the future. Maybe.
The wind and the storm didn't cooperate with out effort as the wind continued to come out of the South. It slowly built all day and by evening it was raining too. ABISHAG was well centered in the slip and while she did some rocking, it seemed a lot less that I would have expected, even less that she probably would have done on the mooring. Still sleep was less than easy and though I did doze during the night, I was awake for most of it. It was sort of like being on the ICW again! We got hit with a good 2 inches of rain. I know this because my cockpit is a rain gauge. With her stern tied into the wind, the rain just filled the cockpit. Something akin to "hairballs" restricted the scuppers and the cockpit filled. About 3am, when the wind from the south subsided, I went to check things out. I lifted the hatchboard and water from the cockpit spilled into the cabin. Not a lot, but enough so that accompanined by colorful language, I got the scuppers cleaned and watched the water drain away. (I am still at a loss as to where these" hairballs" come from. It is a mystery.)
At 5:30AM, after a coupled of hours of no wind, the wind machine turned on again like someone threw a switch. This time, it WAS out of the North. I guess Charles was right. I'll have to check the weather to see if I can make it back out to the mooring later today.
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