AH SUMMER! ! ! ! !

     We have had almost an entire week of beautiful, perfect weather, really what summer weather is supposed to be. Moderate temps, low humidity and even the rain co-operated, showing up only at night. And the sailing has been wonderful. But all good things must come to an end and end this weather will tonight.

     Actually, the weather began to turn this morning as the wind started early and kept building all day. Down at TYC, people came down and all said some variation of, "Wow, great wind. Can't waste this!", and went off for a sail . . . and most came back within an hour of leaving. It was great wind, growing to 20 knots with gusts to 25.  It doesn't sound like that much but if you don't sail a lot, that's a lot of wind. Add to it the waves it creates, choppy water when it is blowing against the tide, and even getting to your boat can be a bit of a thrill.

     I had some work to do to get ABISHAG ready for the cruise that begins next Saturday and I had to bring her into the dock. The wind and waves made it the first time in a long time that I actually needed help docking.  I had to get her propane tanks filled and the thought of transferring the tanks from ABISHAG to the launch to the dock, get them filled and then reversed the process was a bit daunting. So it was best I get on the dock for that task and the others that needed to be done. Being on the dock in a blow isn't all that pleasant. Rather than move with the wind and waves, a boat will fight against them and it is a lot less smooth. Still the dock has access to water and power and so it was a necessity. I only stayed at the dock a couple of hours before returning to the mooring, which was an interesting evolution in itself. Pulling up to the mooring pickup stick, cutting the forward thrust, running to the bow to pick up the pickup stick, hauling it in to get the pennants and put them on the cleats in now 25 knots of wind was "exciting "to say the least. I was able to do it in one shot, but like I said, "exciting."

     However, the "gremlins" have struck again. for some reason, there is a problem with the batteries. There are three batteries broken up into two "banks." The battery selection switch (OFF-1-2- BOTH) works on "1" and "BOTH" but not on "2" and this is new, something that showed itself for the first time today. In addition to that, the electric bilge pump is not working, neither in automatic mode or manual mode. That means that it is not just a matter of the float switch being screwed-up, it means there is no power getting to the pump. The bilge pump still works if I use the pump handle, so it is not an absolute emergency but not having the pump work automatically, when I am not aboard, is not a good thing. Troublesome also is that the bilge pump is wired directly to the batteries so that they will, or should, operate whether I throw the power switch or not. So I will spend tomorrow trying to figure that situation out.  It should not be a very complex problem but all things electrical are voodoo to me. So long as I get it squared away beforethe start of the cruise, all will be just fine.

I AM ON A STREAK OF SORTS

     Last week was a bit crazy with all of the hours and the daily shifts as launch driver that we mine.  It will be good when the paycheck comes in but it was exhausting. I have to remember that I am getting old and don't really have the endurance that I once had. Getting old is not for sissies.

     This past weekend was the annual SAILFEST in New London and it 3was a success. That means that lots and lots of people tried to squeeze into downtown New London and all of them wanted wanted a parking spot, ideally one that was free of charge. As a result, since I was at TYC each day, I returned home to find someone parked in my spot. Being both hot and tired made it so much easier to call the tow company  and have the cars towed away. It is not like there aren't big signs everywhere in the lot warning that the cars of non-residents would be towed, people just ignore them. well, there are three individuals he will pay attention the next time they see such a sign, particularly here.  The three cars added to my overall lead in getting cars towed this summer. 

     Saturday night was the annual fireworks display here in New London and it was OK. It lasted about 30 minutes but it lacked a certain style, though if you had enough to drink, I am sure it was spectacular!

     I left my blinkers on and ran the battery down to zip by the time I tried to start it Monday morning. I was able to get a jump which got it started and running the car recharged the battery. However, for some reason, jumping the battery in my car fried the radio. It was an after-market item and it probably was installed quite right, so I had to buy a new one and get it installed. It was amazing how "uncomfortable" it was driving and not having a radio playing.

     A week from this Saturday, I am off on the TYC Cruise to Newport for the Folk Festival and the Jazz Festival.  We will have moorings off the Ida Lewis Yacht Club on the two weekends and do some cruising to Martha's Vineyard during the week in between. This will be the best benefit of not having to work on weekends. I'll be spending the time until we leave getting ABISHAG ready. Not having done much in the way of cruising the last few years, I have let a lot of things sort of "slide" as they were unnecessary for day sailing but I will get everything up to speed in the next 10 days.

 

THIS IS REALLY SUMMER! ! ! ! ! !

     Boy, the last few days have been spectacular. Low humidity, temps in the 70's, winds perfect for sailing. And while I was able to get a few hours in aboard ABISHAG, much of the time I have spent on the water was driving the launch. I have been filling in for the driver who will be filling in for me when I got off on the TYC Newport Folk Festival-Jazz Festival cruise at the end of the month.

     I forgot how bad it is to be the launch driver on Wednesday evening when we have races. The races start at 6:10pm 17or so boats for them. Figure at least 4 +/- crew per boat and that is 70 or so that have to be taken from the dock to the boats scattered around the mooring field. And  while some of the boats have at least one crew that comes somewhere between 4 & 5 to go out and get their boat ready, most of them show up after 5pm. The launch can only take 11 passengers at a time so it is a pill to get everyone out to their respective boats in time to get the boat ready and to the starting line. I did get everyone out to where they wanted to be in time to get the boasts ready and moving to the starting line but it is a stressful exercise. And it is even worse when the races is over.

     Some boats do well and others do not  and how a boat does naturally effects how the crew feels after the race. Have a bad race, toss in a few post race brews and finding yourselves down on the pick-up list does not improve the situation.  I always pick-up boats in the order in which they call in to be picked-up. The 11 passenger  rule is in effect and there is nothing worse than pulling up to a boat with a large crew and say, "I can only take two!" Usually, the boats finish the race in a rather staggered order which means the pick-up is spread out but this week everyone seemed to show up at once and they all wanted to be the first ones picked-up.  In that it is after the 21st of June, it also means that the sun is setting earlier. This tends to slow down pick-up process even more which makes the bad attitudes in greater, having to sit in the dark on a boat. And when you pick-up the drew off one boat and bypass the boat right next to it, well it don't mke for a happy crew. I am just glad I won't have to do launch raace duty again this year!

SAILING, SAILING, SAILING! ! ! ! ! ! !

     What a great day! Great wind! No clouds! Not too hot and no humidity. One couldn't ask for a better day.  This was confirmed by the fact that everyone seemed to be out boating. Getting away from the mooring and down river under sail was "exciting" to say the least, over-loaded boats going too fast everywhere. It was a great day! And I am exhausted. Early to bed.

Look Out Below! ! ! ! !

     One of the "joys" of apartment living is being surrounded by all sorts of people. One of the "joys" of apartment living in an "old building" is that the various mechanical and electrical systems all seem in need of updating and repair. In the Crocker House, the only spaces that have central air conditioning are the commercial spaces and the management office. Everyone else has to have a personal, individual unit if they want air conditioning. I want air conditioning but I only have one window and I don't want the electrical bill an ac unit would bring.

      In addition, not having an AC unit, just a fan, means what happened yesterday won't happen to me. One of the residents, having suffered through the last few days of high heat and humidity, cried "Uncle" and went out and bought a window unit. They hauled it up to the 5th floor apartment and set it in the window and got ready to enjoy the cool. Unfortunately, they hadn't set it in the window "just right" and it proceeded to do a backward somersault with a triple twist right off the window ledge to the roof below . . . four stories below. While it did not survived it left its cord still plug into the outlet in the apartment. It hurts to think about it.

      I am the new leader! we have a small residents only parking lot behind and across a small side street from the building. There is not a lot of parking in downtown New London and when there is something going on downtown, it was inevitable that someone, sometimes many people would park in our lot. They ignored the signs indicating that they would be towed if they did so, but be honest, do you believe such signs when you see them?  We have a deal with a towing company/garage two(2) blocks away and they are very good about showing up, for as one driver said, "Towing illegally parked cars is gravy." Nothing is worse than coming home after a 8 hour shift at TYC or at that loft and find some one in my spot. The first time I called the towing company I felt a little bit guilty for some reason, but not any more. It's $180 for the tow. It is more if the city of New London does it as you get a $100 ticket on top of the coast of the tow.

NOW THAT'S HOT!!!!!

     I was expecting to go to the sail loft and do some work today before heading off this afternoon to do a shift on the launch. However, the loft was basically closed because of the heat. It is an old building in downtown New London and it really traps the heat. The parts for the sails are cut in the "Cutting Room" which is in the basement. It it cool and comfortable even in the worst heat. The various sail parts are assembled in the loft it self which is on the top floor and is terribly hot. We really can't run fans as they will blow pieces all over before we can assemble them and tape them in place before sewing. we also must be careful about opening up the windows beyond a crack ad a strong gust of wind will do the same. Think of working in an attic! No fun at all. Hopefully next week will be just a little cooler.

HOT 'NOUGH FOR YA?

     As a very wise person once said, you don't have to shovel hot, humid and hazy. I'll have to admit that it has been a rather uncomfortable few days but we had a nice rain storm last night and another again this morning and hopefully that will take care of the humidity.  I don't know if we will be getting more storms in the days ahead, but we probably will as this type of weather tends to produce them. But who cares, there's no shoveling.

     We've had a couple of world cruising boats stop off at TYC in the last week; 40 Cabo Rico and a 42ft moody. Both werecruised by young couples who were off on 'round the world adventures.They are both using the east coast to cut their teeth and workout the cruising life. Living on a boat is whole different way of living. A 40footer might seem to be a big boat but it can be very small, especially when you get out of sight of land. And you focus and priorities change. A lot. you do a lot more planning, detailed planning because you can't just rush off to the store if you forget something or sun out. You become a lot more attentive to the weather, what it is going to do, and when, and for how long. After all, all that you own is held in place by a 20 foot piece of 3/8 inch chain attached to an anchor and 150 feet of 5/8 nylon anchor rode. I am sure they will work it out, if not it will be  short adventure.

      My "bad knee" is acting up  and it has made that stroll down the dock back and forth to the launch less than fun. It makes me dread next week as I have shifts every day. One of the drivers is off on vacation and since he will be covering me when I'm off on the cruise, I couldn't very well turn him down.  

     I did get out to ABISHAG and check out some sails that I have  not used before as they are too much of me alone to handle. I had to check out how to fly them, putting them up while on the mooring in order to see how the lines had to be led. Actually, after getting them in place, it looks as though they would not be too difficult to fly solo. It is the hoisting and dousing that would be the problem. With friend Fred along on the cruise, I am sure that we will use them. Sailing off the wind, it would be possible to have five (5) sails flying at once:
1.) Genoa; 2.) Cruising Spinnaker; 3.) Main; 4.) Mizzen Staysail; and 5.) the Mizzen. That's a lot of laundry and if we do it well, it will look spectacular.

HAPPY FOURTH! And remember to let go of the fire cracker after lighting the fuse!