Saturday, December 31, 2011
New 4D Batteries and Refurbished Heart 30 Inverter Charger installed
Monday, December 26, 2011
Post Christmas update
I found my missing Groco head on Christmas Day while cleaning out a locker. While it was rebuilt not that long ago I decided to rebuild it again and ordered the parts today.
My friend Sven had offered to help install my reconditioned Inverter Charger. He had time on Xmas day, so I met him in the morning. I rewired the cross-over switch--not needed because I have two Isolation Transformers, and I rewired the AC panel to split it into two independent sides. The second side will run future shore powered Air Conditioners. Sven installed a rail system that makes servicing the inverter easier. I am not sure if this is what I want in the long run, I may need to switch the two sides at some point if I want to run European power when I travel to Europe. Nothing I need to worry about now. I will need another two more meters to monitor voltage and amperage on the second panel.
My new starter is installed. I would like to have the spare rebuilt but can't seem to find someone to do that for me. At least I have a spare solinoid. There is a oil return line, part pipe/part hose that passes close to the starter. It was almost impossible to remove the starter without disconnecting this. I don't think the lower of the two brackets is necessary, so I plan to lop it off, which will make future service easier.
My Force 10 Stove is mounted but not yet plumbed. The gas disconnect is not yet wired. I am waiting until I built a ladder and mount in the cockpit for the propane tanks to finish this off. That will take some careful measuring to design this.
I have a comfortable dry bed in the V-berth now. I still need to wire a sub panel forward to provide power for lights and fans in the V-berth, forward head, and forward locker.
My friend Sven had offered to help install my reconditioned Inverter Charger. He had time on Xmas day, so I met him in the morning. I rewired the cross-over switch--not needed because I have two Isolation Transformers, and I rewired the AC panel to split it into two independent sides. The second side will run future shore powered Air Conditioners. Sven installed a rail system that makes servicing the inverter easier. I am not sure if this is what I want in the long run, I may need to switch the two sides at some point if I want to run European power when I travel to Europe. Nothing I need to worry about now. I will need another two more meters to monitor voltage and amperage on the second panel.
My new starter is installed. I would like to have the spare rebuilt but can't seem to find someone to do that for me. At least I have a spare solinoid. There is a oil return line, part pipe/part hose that passes close to the starter. It was almost impossible to remove the starter without disconnecting this. I don't think the lower of the two brackets is necessary, so I plan to lop it off, which will make future service easier.
My Force 10 Stove is mounted but not yet plumbed. The gas disconnect is not yet wired. I am waiting until I built a ladder and mount in the cockpit for the propane tanks to finish this off. That will take some careful measuring to design this.
I have a comfortable dry bed in the V-berth now. I still need to wire a sub panel forward to provide power for lights and fans in the V-berth, forward head, and forward locker.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Moving forward four ways
Today was a good day. I made progress on four areas.
My V-berth needs only blanket and pillows to be useable.
My water system is working on one of the three tanks. Unfortunately I broke the manifold for pulling from the other two tanks. That will have to be a near term goal to fix that.
I built some stand offs to mount my cook stove, but I need eight (8) screws to mount it. That should be done tomorrow.
I also removed my starter motor which was damaged due to water. My battery died some months ago and water filled the bilge until it covered the bottom of the starter. My solenoid is is fine, and the starter actually worked for a few month before quitting recently.
So I am looking into getting a new starter tomorrow, and also getting this one rebuilt, so I have a hot spare.
My V-berth needs only blanket and pillows to be useable.
My water system is working on one of the three tanks. Unfortunately I broke the manifold for pulling from the other two tanks. That will have to be a near term goal to fix that.
I built some stand offs to mount my cook stove, but I need eight (8) screws to mount it. That should be done tomorrow.
I also removed my starter motor which was damaged due to water. My battery died some months ago and water filled the bilge until it covered the bottom of the starter. My solenoid is is fine, and the starter actually worked for a few month before quitting recently.
So I am looking into getting a new starter tomorrow, and also getting this one rebuilt, so I have a hot spare.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Near Term Goals: Sleeping and Dog Bed, Bathroom, Stove, Computer/Navigation/Electric
Sleeping and Dog Bed
If I am living on the boat, at least a few days a week, I'll be more likely to be working on the boat making it better. So I want to be comfortable over-nighting on ECHO.
Making ECHO's V-berth functional for sleeping has been my near term priority. Last week I cleaned the V-berth and the forward head. I wiped down all the surfaces. I also taped off the forward hatch on the outside with shrink wrap tape to make it more weather proof. I noticed some white drip marks on the teak slats on the inside of the hull. So that means the caulking was worn out--at least in a few spots. So today I caulked the toe rail on each side from the bow back to the mast. I'll do the back of the boat on another warm day. Caulking and taping the large hatch should eliminate any leaks. Dry V-Berth--a very good thing. It has a duplex AC power outlet, so I can plug in my electric heating on medium or low and it is within reach while sleeping. I could also run a charger for an iPad or iPhone.
Yesterday, I pulled my V-berth cushions out of the attic, I unzipped them and found there was no plastic wrap around the foam. So today I bought some plastic sheeting and yellow duct tape. I will wrap them up, trim to fit with a razor, tape the seams, and reinsert the foam into the cover. Then these cushions can go down to the boat, and even if they get wet, the foam will not. It makes a little noise when you move around, but is well worth it for a dry bunk.
I have used an acrylic blanket as a soft, warm, and dry top sheet--mainly to protect the upholstery. I have a couple of cotton Indian blankets and a down comforter more blankets for me. With everything tucked under the hull side of a berth it holds together well when sleeping. I thought I might use a lead ankle weight to keep my down blanket from moving around--it is worth a try as that is the blanket that tends to fall off.
I think I will buy an electric blanket, and I might build an insert to fill in the gap in the V-berth, but I could not rely on that alone. I need a few pillows and I'll be ready for anything. The V-berth will be cosy and an inviting space to hang out or sleep.
Kokini seems to like lounging around deck while I'm working--when it is sunny, but she does not seem to like it below. The problem is she doesn't have a clean, comfortable, warm place to lay down. I will bring her smaller dog bed to ECHO. A a supply of treats, chew strips and chew toys will keep her occupied and happy.
Today for the first time, Kokini climbed out the companionway on her own. But she can't climb down--it is too steep. It is a rise of 6.5 feet and with a run of 3 feet. She puts her paws on my shoulders and I grab her rump to carry her down stairs. She did it twice with only a little urging. Clearly though, she will need a way to come in on her own using another route. My idea is she should come into the boat using the starboard cockpit hatch which is mounted vertically just above the cockpit sole. She can step in if there is a platform there and a step halfway to the floor. I will have to make something out of plywood and carpeting for these landing pads, and perhaps a drapery to keep out the cold, once she learns how to get in and out this way.
Bathroom
The next most important thing for me is to get a marine head (toilet) installed on the boat. This involves buying a marine head, painting the shower pan, cutting an access panel, buying through-bolts and fender washers to secure it, buying and installing the various hoses, and a sink/shower head, running a DC circuit to the head and installing two lamps for redundancy.
A new electric marine head can be expensive. But a step on a switch to flush will be easier for visitors and me too. It will only be used for urination until I can install a holding tank. I have no immediate plan to install a holding tank.
So painting the shower pan will be the first step and I have the paint ready to go. Installing the head is second. I will need to buy large diameter hose and 1/2" hose for the inlet hose. and four stainless steel bolts. I will use a T fitting and a ball valve to control feeding it fresh water when used in-shore and sea water when offshore.
Another interesting things is that I have a new 6 gallon hot water tank. I might as well temp that in and use it. I like the idea of having hot water on board at all times--particularly while I'm at the dock.
Stove
I brought my "Force 10" 3 burner stainless stove down to ECHO two days ago. It is sitting in its mounting bay. I wanted to mount it today, however, I will need to shim out the mounts some to make it fit.
I have all the hoses, regulator, two aluminum propane tanks, and an electrical cut off switch which would go in pretty easily once the stove is mounted. I would have preferred CNG fuel, but that is hard to find in the Caribbean, and propane is everywhere. I will need to fabricate a mount for the tanks in the cockpit.
My plan is to make a ladder into the cockpit and put the tanks under the bottom step with the idea that each shut off valve can be reached from inside the boat via the cockpit hatches.
I was hesitant for a long while on bringing the stove down to the boat as I plan to rip out the galley counter over the ice box, but like all things related to boating, it seems you have to do any job twice or three times. Getting the stove out of the house freed up some space which is much needed.
So the stove went to the boat. Now it is up to me to get it working. I suppose I will need another tea pot, one for the boat. I also have a nice pressure cooker I want to bring to the boat.
Getting the stove working involves fabricating a support for it, two boards should do it although I might need a third or fourth to get it set right, and a few screws to secure it.
My boat's measuring tape is in the car, so I will bring it back to the boat next time.
I will then need to run the propane low pressure hose, install the regulators, and find a box to secure the two tanks until the I can find someone to weld up a ladder with mounts for them under the bottom step.
Computer/Navigation/Electric
My goal is to have Internet access down at the boat, and a functional computer/navigation system.
I have a 24" monitor, VESA mount, and a Mac Mini computer, with a special MacGrab wall mount. That will be my new navigation system. For the short term I have a USB GPS antenna. I have other electronics as well. One issue is powering this. I have a 3000 watt inverter which would wear down my batteries pretty fast. I probably should get an inverter sized for my computer and monitor
For Internet access I have a YAGI directional WiFi antenna and 1 watt amplifier/bridge with it's mac address pre-authorized through Optimum Cable. I plan to tap into the Optimum WiFi node south of me--with a simple fixed mount pointed to the nearest tower.
This system should go on pretty easy, but it will need a properly sized inverter.
I need to decide what to do with my Heart 3000 inverter back along with a new Link battery monitor. This should be worth at least $800 if I sold it. Or I could put this recently repaired component back on the boat. I could that charger for the house bank and this inverter or a smaller inverter for my computer system. I'll have to remember to shut off the AC circuits when I leave the boat so a power failure won't run the batteries down to nothing. If I used this big inverter, I will need two new 4D batteries. My last pair died along with the old charger. They froze last winter when the charger died, and I've been using just a starter battery every since. Two new house batteries might be my next purchase after a new marine head.
So--next up is reinstalling this inverter--which means moving my 20 Amp charger over to be a dedicated starter battery charger. After that I will need two new 4D AGM batteries @ $500 each. I think I'll wait on the new batteries and get the marine head next.
Finally, I also have a microwave oven that fits nicely on the counter. I will probably bring that back to the boat and wire it in directly to the panel.
If I am living on the boat, at least a few days a week, I'll be more likely to be working on the boat making it better. So I want to be comfortable over-nighting on ECHO.
Making ECHO's V-berth functional for sleeping has been my near term priority. Last week I cleaned the V-berth and the forward head. I wiped down all the surfaces. I also taped off the forward hatch on the outside with shrink wrap tape to make it more weather proof. I noticed some white drip marks on the teak slats on the inside of the hull. So that means the caulking was worn out--at least in a few spots. So today I caulked the toe rail on each side from the bow back to the mast. I'll do the back of the boat on another warm day. Caulking and taping the large hatch should eliminate any leaks. Dry V-Berth--a very good thing. It has a duplex AC power outlet, so I can plug in my electric heating on medium or low and it is within reach while sleeping. I could also run a charger for an iPad or iPhone.
Yesterday, I pulled my V-berth cushions out of the attic, I unzipped them and found there was no plastic wrap around the foam. So today I bought some plastic sheeting and yellow duct tape. I will wrap them up, trim to fit with a razor, tape the seams, and reinsert the foam into the cover. Then these cushions can go down to the boat, and even if they get wet, the foam will not. It makes a little noise when you move around, but is well worth it for a dry bunk.
I have used an acrylic blanket as a soft, warm, and dry top sheet--mainly to protect the upholstery. I have a couple of cotton Indian blankets and a down comforter more blankets for me. With everything tucked under the hull side of a berth it holds together well when sleeping. I thought I might use a lead ankle weight to keep my down blanket from moving around--it is worth a try as that is the blanket that tends to fall off.
I think I will buy an electric blanket, and I might build an insert to fill in the gap in the V-berth, but I could not rely on that alone. I need a few pillows and I'll be ready for anything. The V-berth will be cosy and an inviting space to hang out or sleep.
Kokini seems to like lounging around deck while I'm working--when it is sunny, but she does not seem to like it below. The problem is she doesn't have a clean, comfortable, warm place to lay down. I will bring her smaller dog bed to ECHO. A a supply of treats, chew strips and chew toys will keep her occupied and happy.
Today for the first time, Kokini climbed out the companionway on her own. But she can't climb down--it is too steep. It is a rise of 6.5 feet and with a run of 3 feet. She puts her paws on my shoulders and I grab her rump to carry her down stairs. She did it twice with only a little urging. Clearly though, she will need a way to come in on her own using another route. My idea is she should come into the boat using the starboard cockpit hatch which is mounted vertically just above the cockpit sole. She can step in if there is a platform there and a step halfway to the floor. I will have to make something out of plywood and carpeting for these landing pads, and perhaps a drapery to keep out the cold, once she learns how to get in and out this way.
Bathroom
The next most important thing for me is to get a marine head (toilet) installed on the boat. This involves buying a marine head, painting the shower pan, cutting an access panel, buying through-bolts and fender washers to secure it, buying and installing the various hoses, and a sink/shower head, running a DC circuit to the head and installing two lamps for redundancy.
A new electric marine head can be expensive. But a step on a switch to flush will be easier for visitors and me too. It will only be used for urination until I can install a holding tank. I have no immediate plan to install a holding tank.
So painting the shower pan will be the first step and I have the paint ready to go. Installing the head is second. I will need to buy large diameter hose and 1/2" hose for the inlet hose. and four stainless steel bolts. I will use a T fitting and a ball valve to control feeding it fresh water when used in-shore and sea water when offshore.
Another interesting things is that I have a new 6 gallon hot water tank. I might as well temp that in and use it. I like the idea of having hot water on board at all times--particularly while I'm at the dock.
Stove
I brought my "Force 10" 3 burner stainless stove down to ECHO two days ago. It is sitting in its mounting bay. I wanted to mount it today, however, I will need to shim out the mounts some to make it fit.
I have all the hoses, regulator, two aluminum propane tanks, and an electrical cut off switch which would go in pretty easily once the stove is mounted. I would have preferred CNG fuel, but that is hard to find in the Caribbean, and propane is everywhere. I will need to fabricate a mount for the tanks in the cockpit.
My plan is to make a ladder into the cockpit and put the tanks under the bottom step with the idea that each shut off valve can be reached from inside the boat via the cockpit hatches.
I was hesitant for a long while on bringing the stove down to the boat as I plan to rip out the galley counter over the ice box, but like all things related to boating, it seems you have to do any job twice or three times. Getting the stove out of the house freed up some space which is much needed.
So the stove went to the boat. Now it is up to me to get it working. I suppose I will need another tea pot, one for the boat. I also have a nice pressure cooker I want to bring to the boat.
Getting the stove working involves fabricating a support for it, two boards should do it although I might need a third or fourth to get it set right, and a few screws to secure it.
My boat's measuring tape is in the car, so I will bring it back to the boat next time.
I will then need to run the propane low pressure hose, install the regulators, and find a box to secure the two tanks until the I can find someone to weld up a ladder with mounts for them under the bottom step.
Computer/Navigation/Electric
My goal is to have Internet access down at the boat, and a functional computer/navigation system.
I have a 24" monitor, VESA mount, and a Mac Mini computer, with a special MacGrab wall mount. That will be my new navigation system. For the short term I have a USB GPS antenna. I have other electronics as well. One issue is powering this. I have a 3000 watt inverter which would wear down my batteries pretty fast. I probably should get an inverter sized for my computer and monitor
For Internet access I have a YAGI directional WiFi antenna and 1 watt amplifier/bridge with it's mac address pre-authorized through Optimum Cable. I plan to tap into the Optimum WiFi node south of me--with a simple fixed mount pointed to the nearest tower.
This system should go on pretty easy, but it will need a properly sized inverter.
I need to decide what to do with my Heart 3000 inverter back along with a new Link battery monitor. This should be worth at least $800 if I sold it. Or I could put this recently repaired component back on the boat. I could that charger for the house bank and this inverter or a smaller inverter for my computer system. I'll have to remember to shut off the AC circuits when I leave the boat so a power failure won't run the batteries down to nothing. If I used this big inverter, I will need two new 4D batteries. My last pair died along with the old charger. They froze last winter when the charger died, and I've been using just a starter battery every since. Two new house batteries might be my next purchase after a new marine head.
So--next up is reinstalling this inverter--which means moving my 20 Amp charger over to be a dedicated starter battery charger. After that I will need two new 4D AGM batteries @ $500 each. I think I'll wait on the new batteries and get the marine head next.
Finally, I also have a microwave oven that fits nicely on the counter. I will probably bring that back to the boat and wire it in directly to the panel.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
New Mast
I found a newer mast with in-mast furling and a Pro-Furl unit on the headstay. While this would not be the best for sail shaping, it would be easier to sail and reduce sail. the mast is about 12 feet longer than mine but it could be shortened. Even better it belongs to a fellow I know.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Anchoring out
While it is nice to go into a harbor just to check it out, unless I need a really good shower, or provisions, I'd rather trust to my own hook and pick my spot. Practicing anchoring often is a good skill for situations were you need extra skill.
For example, there some places that are very fun to go but have limited anchoring options. You are stuck anchoring in the outer harbor, a long distance away, exposed, or else on an expensive mooring or more expensive dock or perhaps there is no space for you anywhere.
For example, there some places that are very fun to go but have limited anchoring options. You are stuck anchoring in the outer harbor, a long distance away, exposed, or else on an expensive mooring or more expensive dock or perhaps there is no space for you anywhere.
I like anchoring out. In fact, if I can avoid going into a harbor I will. I like the secluded spots all to myself. I’m “in nature” and there is nothing to disturb it. Life is all around me and there is always something new. It also saves a lot of money, and frankly I think docking and mooring are places to be avoided, less beautiful. Unless you are provisioning or hiding out from a bad storm, I’d much rather take a hot shower aboard, if there is plenty of water and heat, than go ashore. I like the independence of being on my own, with everything I need and no traffic jams, and crowds of people all around me. I feel privileged to be out observing nature. I'm happy on the boat. I'm not in a hurry to get off or go somewhere.
My typical preference is a single hook with all chain, and a often a sentinel when I use a mostly rope rode. If I have chain it is unlikely I have a second all chain rode. So that means the second anchor is a short length of chain and a rode. I use a snubber in exposed situation but not in a protected spot. I anchor often with 3:1 scope, or sometimes 3.5:1, scope which is recommended for all chain. And for a short stay like lunch, or even overnight, I go as low as 2:1 if conditions are light. All chain is great in an outer harbor, if the weather is nice. And 3:1 scope means you can anchor in 60'of water with the big boats, with 200' of chain. Fast and easy, but sometimes the places you visit will have every possible anchorage spot filled with a mooring leaving nothing for those who anchor.
The other extreme, which I’ve used a few times is heading up river where it's shallow, as far as you can go. Lots of times I've gone up rivers as far as I could go. Then what? Paying close attention to the tide tables, I find a spot in the channel. They say no anchoring in the channel, and in my opinion the channel ends where I anchor. If that is as far as I can go, nothing bigger is going past me, right? They would risk of running aground. If nothing bigger than me is going upriver from there—the channel ends there, in my opinion even if there are buoys farther up, they are for much smaller craft.
Smaller craft can easily get around me if needed. One of the joys in motoring around is seeing all the sights. I consider myself one of the sites to see. I welcome the site of any nice looking boat anywhere I go--so do other people.
I really don’t get in anyone’s way. No one has complained, although I would not push my luck and camp out in front of someone house for weeks and weeks. I’m more typically moving on to the next spot, never in one place long enough to piss anyone off...
So because such a strategy means it is shallow in every direction but downstream, you need to stabilize your boats position in one fixed position. So that means multiple anchors in a Bahamian mooring-- two anchors set towards either flow of current. This keeps you in one spot. A sentinel or kellet is a weight used to hold the rode down below the keel. I use a length of rope and a spare anchor with a retrieval line attached. Easy to fabricate and no extra equipment and weight needed on the boat. This enables you to anchor in a tight spot with short scope, which keeps your position perfectly.
One particular spot I’m thinking of is Mystic 
Seaport. A great place to visit and their docks are not always available. I anchored in the channel. On the way out, past the last bridge, hoisted sail, sailed down the river, gybed at the bottom and caught the ebb out by Watch Hill and the northerly wind and favorable current spit us along the coast towards Newport in 5-6 hours, with only a little beating to weather the leg north at the end into Newport. The tide was high, no worries, I could have cut across the mooring field, but decided to honor the red and greens as running aground there at high tide a grounding would have been embarrassing. It was enough fun for me to sail down the channel. It was a weekday with almost no traffic.
So that my friends is the secret to finding a super protected anchorage spot in a river for an over-night stay. The proper solution to the problem is a Bahamian mooring, some rope and a spare anchor to fashion a sentinel and anchor right there in the channel as far up as you can reasonably go.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
New Head Stay Coming up!
One of my near term project is a new headstay. I will be using the same size wire, only it will be Dyform wire, which is stronger, and NavTec terminals. So this involves going up the mast, removing a clevis pin, removing the forestay, and then measuring it for some new wire. I could do this after I pull the mast, but while that would be easier, I'd like to have it in place so I can test the furler, and re-cut my Genoa.
Genoa Cleaned
My goal is to do something every day for ECHO. That is not so easy given my other obligations. However it is a worthy goal and one in which I include the many back steps needed to go forward. Today I made a forward step. I took ECHO's #2 Sail, in fact it's Working sail. I guess they called the #1 sail the drifter, which is a lightweight hank on sail--I'll address that later one.Flopping it out of my truck was easy enough.
Then spreading it out on the driveway.
First the #2 sail is 62' on the luff, 60'3" on the leech, and has a 30'5" foot. To approximate the sail area lets average the luff and the leech. The difference is 21". Half of that is 10.5", so we add that to the lesser of the two the leech and get 61'1.5". The formula for the area of a triangle is 1/2 the base times the height. So the size of the sail is approximately, 15.25' x 61.125' about 932 square feet.
That explained the weight of the sail. I was thinking my Genoa was 78 lbs. Thinking back, I weighed my main and that was 78 lbs and 440 sq feet. So this sail is twice the size, and it is reasonable to assume it is about 165 lbs dry.I used mild bleach and water in a squirt bottle. I also use Black Streak remover-Oxylic Acid, and Fantastic as cleaners. Later I combined the Black streak remover with the Bleach and water. I used a scrub pad and while I did not get it as clean as I'd like, it is much cleaner than it was.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Galley Cupboard
I am thinking about building a galley overhead cupboard with a cutouts for appliances like a coffee maker recesses and fixtures to hold plates, bowls, cups nested goblets, and cookware, in a compact and easy to clean assembly. Everything will have it's place. Once built, it just needs to be tabbed in with fiberglass tape, or bolted in place. Do I make it out of wood or out of foam and fiberglass? I have an design ready to be finalized. I'll have to scan that in at some point.
Short Tacks and Tacking Depths.
I was thinking about a certain spot in the Caribbean where the wind and current are always against you. The island to the north is a notoriously deep drop off. You could never anchor there because the water is 65' just off the bluffs.
One thing I've done many times is tack up through there. Tacking is the zig-zag process of sailing upwind since sailboats can sail at most 45 degrees to the wind. So this is a challenging tacking situation--worthy of your full attention.
It is also a good exercise in choosing a tacking depth. Usually my tacking depth--the depth of water where I feel it is necessary to tack is on the order of 10-15'. This particular spot I used 70 for many years and dropped it to 65 and occasionally saw depths around 35 in the course of the tack as the stern swung through the turn.. We were a softball throw away from cliff side and a small thin tiny beach.
Why cut it so close? Because this spot was narrow, the wind and current was particularly strong. Every time you tack you lose a boat length of distance upwind. The fewer of these tacks the better. Also while the water was deep near the shore, it was still shallower than the center of the channel, and much of my progress upwind was made close to shore is current less swift than the middle. Hugging the edges makes sense.
Frequent tacking in a narrow channel is called short tacking. So short tacking through this narrow passage is zig-zagging back and forth trying to make headway against the current and wind both in the most adverse direction.
I've sailed many boats down there, and I think I'd like to sail my own at some point. My boat was made for the trade winds. It would power up and sail upwind beautifully. One difficulty would be handling my Genoa. It is a huge sail to sheet or trim in on every tack. So what I decided I wanted was a self tending stay sail, or possibly a jib also on the same track. That makes it easy to tack, you throw the helm over. It makes for a smaller sail without overlap which develops much more power, so I thought a double or triple head sail configuration would work best.
The idea is the outer sail is a spinnaker or drifter, set flying. The next in is an overlapping Genoa, for longer tacks. Inside of this is a stay sail with a single sheet going to a track just in front of the mast. So if you are in a short tacking situation, you don't use the Genoa or the lighter sails of course, and instead. The self-tending stay sail flops back and tacking only involves one person at the helm or someone steering with the auto-pilot. What could be easier?
Then on longer tacks, when you need more power, you unfurl the Genoa or perhaps a high cut Yankee. My plan is to make a curved track and support it at the ends--through bolted thru the deck, or else a glassed in structure. For the former, I might be able to buy a whole track system from Hanse--and voila--done. Nothing to it but bolting it in, which means it could also be removed if desired.
I think that little stay sail is the perfect place to fly a storm jib. My third reef is pretty deep. At most I'd need a hollow cut trysail about half that size and the pair of sails would keep me going upwind in any conditions.
A bigger problem would be light air downwind sails. In my case, I'd just as soon motor. Light air sails can make it hard to steer unless the winds are very light. I feel they are only necessary close to the equator, and even then a motor and lots of fuel are better. I don't like bobbing around. I like to keep moving--which means that at my heart I'm a cruiser not a distance racer. I don't like hours of tedium going nowhere with flapping sails.
So my boat sails well in light air in flat water--Long Island Sound for example, or the Cheasapeake Bay. It is even better in places like San Francisco or my favorite, the Carribbean Trade Winds. In fact the trade winds are perfect for my boat. It would blast through the Drake Channel light chop like it's nothing. Even the north side waves are not a problem for my boat in those conditions. While in the open ocean, it would be fine, but stuff the bow from time to time.
And because ECHO is heavy, it is one of the most comfortable rides. You can still get sea sick, but not as bad as on a lighter boat.
One thing I've done many times is tack up through there. Tacking is the zig-zag process of sailing upwind since sailboats can sail at most 45 degrees to the wind. So this is a challenging tacking situation--worthy of your full attention.
It is also a good exercise in choosing a tacking depth. Usually my tacking depth--the depth of water where I feel it is necessary to tack is on the order of 10-15'. This particular spot I used 70 for many years and dropped it to 65 and occasionally saw depths around 35 in the course of the tack as the stern swung through the turn.. We were a softball throw away from cliff side and a small thin tiny beach.
Why cut it so close? Because this spot was narrow, the wind and current was particularly strong. Every time you tack you lose a boat length of distance upwind. The fewer of these tacks the better. Also while the water was deep near the shore, it was still shallower than the center of the channel, and much of my progress upwind was made close to shore is current less swift than the middle. Hugging the edges makes sense.
Frequent tacking in a narrow channel is called short tacking. So short tacking through this narrow passage is zig-zagging back and forth trying to make headway against the current and wind both in the most adverse direction.
I've sailed many boats down there, and I think I'd like to sail my own at some point. My boat was made for the trade winds. It would power up and sail upwind beautifully. One difficulty would be handling my Genoa. It is a huge sail to sheet or trim in on every tack. So what I decided I wanted was a self tending stay sail, or possibly a jib also on the same track. That makes it easy to tack, you throw the helm over. It makes for a smaller sail without overlap which develops much more power, so I thought a double or triple head sail configuration would work best.
The idea is the outer sail is a spinnaker or drifter, set flying. The next in is an overlapping Genoa, for longer tacks. Inside of this is a stay sail with a single sheet going to a track just in front of the mast. So if you are in a short tacking situation, you don't use the Genoa or the lighter sails of course, and instead. The self-tending stay sail flops back and tacking only involves one person at the helm or someone steering with the auto-pilot. What could be easier?
Then on longer tacks, when you need more power, you unfurl the Genoa or perhaps a high cut Yankee. My plan is to make a curved track and support it at the ends--through bolted thru the deck, or else a glassed in structure. For the former, I might be able to buy a whole track system from Hanse--and voila--done. Nothing to it but bolting it in, which means it could also be removed if desired.
I think that little stay sail is the perfect place to fly a storm jib. My third reef is pretty deep. At most I'd need a hollow cut trysail about half that size and the pair of sails would keep me going upwind in any conditions.
A bigger problem would be light air downwind sails. In my case, I'd just as soon motor. Light air sails can make it hard to steer unless the winds are very light. I feel they are only necessary close to the equator, and even then a motor and lots of fuel are better. I don't like bobbing around. I like to keep moving--which means that at my heart I'm a cruiser not a distance racer. I don't like hours of tedium going nowhere with flapping sails.
So my boat sails well in light air in flat water--Long Island Sound for example, or the Cheasapeake Bay. It is even better in places like San Francisco or my favorite, the Carribbean Trade Winds. In fact the trade winds are perfect for my boat. It would blast through the Drake Channel light chop like it's nothing. Even the north side waves are not a problem for my boat in those conditions. While in the open ocean, it would be fine, but stuff the bow from time to time.
And because ECHO is heavy, it is one of the most comfortable rides. You can still get sea sick, but not as bad as on a lighter boat.
Friday, September 9, 2011
ECHO Hauled for her new Yanmar Engine
Here is a picture of ECHO taken last year when she was getting her new engine installed. She'd also recently gotten a new rigid vang and main boom--both Forespar products and a custom toggle to mate it up to the mast. I guess I'll be posting some things out of order as I'm be playing catch up and trying to pull this all together as a sort of ships log. Most of the information will be on restoring the boat, some on trips taken on other boats, and soon there will be posts of trips taken on ECHO.
Note this is an old post that was in draft format. I realized it was never published so I did that today. This post is actually at least four years old.
Genoa Removed from ECHO for cleaning and folding.
Another major milestone. It may not seem like a milestone, but it was a very difficult job, pulling my Genoa out of the V-berth, rolling it up as best as possible, hauling it up on deck through the companionway, and binding up the middle with some rope, hoisting it up and over the lifelines with a spinnaker halyard, and then carrying it up the dock and up a narrow ramp into my pickup truck Bruiser. Actually, it involved stuffing the sail into the bed of the truck with the equivalent of a football tackle to shove it in there. All in 84 degree heat and 85% humidity. Not fun at all.
My niece helped me and was very unhappy it was so hard. I could not have done it alone. As it was I needed several rest breaks because each spurt of effort was a maximum effort. This sail is 600 sq feet and weighs about 80 lbs. It felt like much more because it was so awkward.
Next up. Pressure washing it and rolling it up, and then lifting it back into my pickup bed and carrying it to my tent garage for storage. I have a few tarps to protect these two sails and cover them.
This opens up a lot more possibilities for me. I can set up my V-Berth as a place to live while I refinish the floors in my bedroom. I can start to plan to remove my fore stay and start assembling my roller furling--which will require a couple of helpers. I want to buy some new wire and Norseman fittings--I can start to plan that as well. I'm thinking about hauling the boat out soon. So it makes sense to pull the mast out and make a few changes to the shroud attachments, and fabricate new shrouds as well. I need to replace my VHF antenna feed line and make some repairs to my wind vane--also to be done with the mast out. It would make sense to do all this at once. On the other hand, I'd like to have the fore-stay work done so I can measure the Genoa for luff groove and to shorten the head for a furling system.
After fixing the leak in the inner fore stay attachment well, my next priorities are to repair the topsides, and begin work on installing a new head and holding tank. It would be nice to have the stove installed also, even though I might be removing it again to work on the ice-box/refrigeration system. I might want to remove the boom and spinnaker pole--just to clear the deck and prep ECHO for haul out and mast removal.
Regarding the ice-box. I will have to remove the deck lid and build a new one with formica and new doors. I have a supply of stainless steel I can use to fabricate the interior, or it might be easier to use fiberglass cloth over foam insulation.
Finally, while I like big boats, they are really way too much work for one person--particularly in a renovation such as this. Everything is easier on a smaller boat. Once ECHO is back in service, though, I'll have a ready supply of students and crew to help me with this work. I could probably find a ready supply of helpers now, but the problem is it takes more work to organize them than to do the work myself--with the exception of the two and three man jobs.
My niece helped me and was very unhappy it was so hard. I could not have done it alone. As it was I needed several rest breaks because each spurt of effort was a maximum effort. This sail is 600 sq feet and weighs about 80 lbs. It felt like much more because it was so awkward.
Next up. Pressure washing it and rolling it up, and then lifting it back into my pickup bed and carrying it to my tent garage for storage. I have a few tarps to protect these two sails and cover them.
This opens up a lot more possibilities for me. I can set up my V-Berth as a place to live while I refinish the floors in my bedroom. I can start to plan to remove my fore stay and start assembling my roller furling--which will require a couple of helpers. I want to buy some new wire and Norseman fittings--I can start to plan that as well. I'm thinking about hauling the boat out soon. So it makes sense to pull the mast out and make a few changes to the shroud attachments, and fabricate new shrouds as well. I need to replace my VHF antenna feed line and make some repairs to my wind vane--also to be done with the mast out. It would make sense to do all this at once. On the other hand, I'd like to have the fore-stay work done so I can measure the Genoa for luff groove and to shorten the head for a furling system.
After fixing the leak in the inner fore stay attachment well, my next priorities are to repair the topsides, and begin work on installing a new head and holding tank. It would be nice to have the stove installed also, even though I might be removing it again to work on the ice-box/refrigeration system. I might want to remove the boom and spinnaker pole--just to clear the deck and prep ECHO for haul out and mast removal.
Regarding the ice-box. I will have to remove the deck lid and build a new one with formica and new doors. I have a supply of stainless steel I can use to fabricate the interior, or it might be easier to use fiberglass cloth over foam insulation.
Finally, while I like big boats, they are really way too much work for one person--particularly in a renovation such as this. Everything is easier on a smaller boat. Once ECHO is back in service, though, I'll have a ready supply of students and crew to help me with this work. I could probably find a ready supply of helpers now, but the problem is it takes more work to organize them than to do the work myself--with the exception of the two and three man jobs.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Downsizing
The other thing I did today was to move more of my nautical hardware to
the tent. So my office is clean and with a few small exceptions, nearly
perfectly in order. My plan is to start selling all my surplus sailing
gear and free up more space in the tent for working on projects. I've
already sold some automotive parts and plan to put at least one item on
eBay every day. Today I listed two items. A fuel pump and and laptop
sleeve. I need to downsize and get rid of everything I can.
Books, CDs, and DVD's take up space. I've been converting everything to digital form. It came in handy we watched a movie on my laptop when power was out and later when power was restored but there was no cable or broadband, I had my home network up and watched three movies located on my desktop system but routed to my Apple TV hooked up to my TV upstairs.
I have been organizing my eBooks, but having some difficulty with that. I have a duplicate library I just discovered, so I need to eliminate duplicates. I have also had some issues with cover art, and author names. These are tedious and something I can work on bit by bit so that when I take off sailing I will have a decent library of books to read, along with a huge library of movies, many of which I've never seen.
I have always been one to hoard paper. I had a huge file system about 10 years ago with 9 file drawers. Realizing that I never looked at much of this stuff, I threw out a two drawer file cabinet and got myself down to 7 file drawers. That was still too much. I threw out another two drawer cabinet and got myself down to 5. Still to much. I did it again and got down to 3 file drawers and I managed to hold it to about that until the last few years when things ballooned again. Last month I purged my files again and today I have about 3.5 file drawers. I'd like to scan some of these documents and store them on-line and on a memory stick and get down to 2 file drawers--which is about as small as I can reduce to. In any event, I'm very happy tha.
I've been doing similar things with books. Many paperbacks I have tossed out. Some I save to re-read once and then toss. Others I have discovered are worth a lot. I have one series of books that I found is worth about $400--so these will get sold soon. Everything else I'm selling except for some books I can't part with like my Patrick O'Brien series, and some computer reference books. My goal is to have no more than one bookcase of books.
I tried setting up an account on Amazon.com and it was such a headache that I gave up. I will sell everything on eBay.
While getting rid of things is nice. I still need to store some things. For example: I want to store my mainsail. The best place for that is on ECHO. But I'd rather not at the moment. As much as I'd like to go sailing on ECHO, that involves putting the sail back on, which is an exhausting job, and then taking it off again for the winter. I also plan to haul out ECHO soon, so I have to have the sail off the boat in any case. Better to tie it up in a small bundle and store it.
My realization is I need a trailer just for dry storage of normal boat gear and also as a mobile work bench. My Silverado, named Bruiser, can haul a large trailer. My Volvo, Sea Dog, can haul at most 3000 lbs. I have the mainsail in the bed of Bruiser, but not for too long. I need to bring the Genoa home next. For the near term, I have plenty of tarps. I'll make a clean place to store these sails in the tent and keep them covered and clean. That means reorganizing the tent to store two rather big sails. See how it is two steps back and then three steps forward if I want to make forward progress? It can be painfully slow for a boat this big.
I really don't want to buy a trailer right now, but it is something to think about. I also lost my parking brake on the Volvo and in the process noticed my clutch is slipping. Another two steps backwards.
Books, CDs, and DVD's take up space. I've been converting everything to digital form. It came in handy we watched a movie on my laptop when power was out and later when power was restored but there was no cable or broadband, I had my home network up and watched three movies located on my desktop system but routed to my Apple TV hooked up to my TV upstairs.
I have been organizing my eBooks, but having some difficulty with that. I have a duplicate library I just discovered, so I need to eliminate duplicates. I have also had some issues with cover art, and author names. These are tedious and something I can work on bit by bit so that when I take off sailing I will have a decent library of books to read, along with a huge library of movies, many of which I've never seen.
I have always been one to hoard paper. I had a huge file system about 10 years ago with 9 file drawers. Realizing that I never looked at much of this stuff, I threw out a two drawer file cabinet and got myself down to 7 file drawers. That was still too much. I threw out another two drawer cabinet and got myself down to 5. Still to much. I did it again and got down to 3 file drawers and I managed to hold it to about that until the last few years when things ballooned again. Last month I purged my files again and today I have about 3.5 file drawers. I'd like to scan some of these documents and store them on-line and on a memory stick and get down to 2 file drawers--which is about as small as I can reduce to. In any event, I'm very happy tha.
I've been doing similar things with books. Many paperbacks I have tossed out. Some I save to re-read once and then toss. Others I have discovered are worth a lot. I have one series of books that I found is worth about $400--so these will get sold soon. Everything else I'm selling except for some books I can't part with like my Patrick O'Brien series, and some computer reference books. My goal is to have no more than one bookcase of books.
I tried setting up an account on Amazon.com and it was such a headache that I gave up. I will sell everything on eBay.
While getting rid of things is nice. I still need to store some things. For example: I want to store my mainsail. The best place for that is on ECHO. But I'd rather not at the moment. As much as I'd like to go sailing on ECHO, that involves putting the sail back on, which is an exhausting job, and then taking it off again for the winter. I also plan to haul out ECHO soon, so I have to have the sail off the boat in any case. Better to tie it up in a small bundle and store it.
My realization is I need a trailer just for dry storage of normal boat gear and also as a mobile work bench. My Silverado, named Bruiser, can haul a large trailer. My Volvo, Sea Dog, can haul at most 3000 lbs. I have the mainsail in the bed of Bruiser, but not for too long. I need to bring the Genoa home next. For the near term, I have plenty of tarps. I'll make a clean place to store these sails in the tent and keep them covered and clean. That means reorganizing the tent to store two rather big sails. See how it is two steps back and then three steps forward if I want to make forward progress? It can be painfully slow for a boat this big.
I really don't want to buy a trailer right now, but it is something to think about. I also lost my parking brake on the Volvo and in the process noticed my clutch is slipping. Another two steps backwards.
Fiberglass and Paint Prep Work
A few years back, when I faired and painted ECHO, I built an outdoor, weather proof work bench to store materials and to mix epoxy. I will have to post some of those pictures as the amount of work I did, with my brothers help was considerable. In any event, today I moved this extremely heavy work bench into "The Tent". "The Tent" is a 22' x 20 ' tent shelter I bought last year. I am splitting the space with my brother who built the foundation. I want to use it to do fiberglass repairs on my Sunfishes, and any custom molded pieces I might need for ECHO. So it made sense to move it into "The Tent" and get it organized and set up to make stuff.
When Hurricane Irene blasted through here, I took the tent down and recently put it back up. I'd like to reinforce it some to make it stronger. It would be nice to have a framed back wall. In the mean time, the workbench is pretty cool. It has inside and outside outlets and wire to connect two 20 Amp circuits. Right now that is not hooked up, but I will add that to my list of things to do I have a heavy gauge extension cord going to the tent at the moment. I will probably remove the other wire and wire in a connector for that input.
Part of the reason the workbench is so heavy, is I primed it, and painted it, and then as I worked on fairing ECHO's hull, I used up any surplus smoothing out the plywood. Later I painted it with epoxy primer, and then coat after coat of epoxy paint. So it really is pretty water proof.
So this all goes to show that for every step forward there are a few steps backwards. The amount of prep work involved with boats is amazing.
Next up, I have a new hose for the boat, and I plan to fill up one of the water tanks and start cleaning the other tanks. I need some stainless steel covers and bolts and tap and dies to attach the new covers. It will be very nice to have all three water tanks working.
I am planning on purchasing a Techma Silence Plus tall model for the forward head. It will be using fresh water for flushing. So it will have a solenoid to control the water pump circuit. So this will be a very clean smelling head, quite and easy to use. For local sailing this will be the head people will use.
The aft head will probably use sea water and perhaps be manual just to conserve power. I do not plan to install an aft head in the immediate future. I want to haul the boat out and move a couple of sea-cocks to make it easier to operation. Or in the case of the forward head, I'll be removing the raw water inlet thru-hull and sea-cock.
When Hurricane Irene blasted through here, I took the tent down and recently put it back up. I'd like to reinforce it some to make it stronger. It would be nice to have a framed back wall. In the mean time, the workbench is pretty cool. It has inside and outside outlets and wire to connect two 20 Amp circuits. Right now that is not hooked up, but I will add that to my list of things to do I have a heavy gauge extension cord going to the tent at the moment. I will probably remove the other wire and wire in a connector for that input.
Part of the reason the workbench is so heavy, is I primed it, and painted it, and then as I worked on fairing ECHO's hull, I used up any surplus smoothing out the plywood. Later I painted it with epoxy primer, and then coat after coat of epoxy paint. So it really is pretty water proof.
So this all goes to show that for every step forward there are a few steps backwards. The amount of prep work involved with boats is amazing.
Next up, I have a new hose for the boat, and I plan to fill up one of the water tanks and start cleaning the other tanks. I need some stainless steel covers and bolts and tap and dies to attach the new covers. It will be very nice to have all three water tanks working.
I am planning on purchasing a Techma Silence Plus tall model for the forward head. It will be using fresh water for flushing. So it will have a solenoid to control the water pump circuit. So this will be a very clean smelling head, quite and easy to use. For local sailing this will be the head people will use.
The aft head will probably use sea water and perhaps be manual just to conserve power. I do not plan to install an aft head in the immediate future. I want to haul the boat out and move a couple of sea-cocks to make it easier to operation. Or in the case of the forward head, I'll be removing the raw water inlet thru-hull and sea-cock.
Cleaning the Mainsail
The second picture shows some of the accumulated dirt with the cleaned portion rolled up.
Echo was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she devoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Diana, and attended her in the chase. But Echo had one failing; she was fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument would have the last word. One day Juno was seeking her husband, who, she had reason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs. Echo by her talk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their escape. When Juno discovered it, she passed sentence upon Echo in these words: "You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of REPLY. You shall still have the last word, but no power to speak first."
This nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the chase upon the mountains. She loved him, and followed his footsteps. Oh, how she longed to address him in the softest accents, and win him to converse, but it was not in her power. She waited with impatience for him to speak first, and had her answer ready. One day the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted aloud, "Who's here?" Echo replied, "Here." Narcissus looked around, but seeing no one, called out, "Come." Echo answered, "Come." As no one came, Narcissus called again, "Why do you shun me?" Echo asked the same question. "Let us join one another," said the youth. The maid answered with all her heart in the same words, and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck. He started back, exclaiming, "Hands off! I would rather die than you should have me." "Have me," said she; but it was all in vain. He left her, and she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of the woods. From that time forth she lived in caves and among mountain cliffs. Her form faded with grief, till at last all her flesh shrank away. Her bones were changed into rocks, and there was nothing left of her but her voice. With that she is still ready to reply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her old habit of having the last word.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Priorities
Here is my plan to make ECHO liveable and sailable:
1. Order and install a Techma Electric Head
2. Repair topsides damage
3. Fabricate a holding tank
4. Install new headstay and already purchased Roller Furling unit
5. Aux Fuel Tank--Buy a rubber fuel tank sized to fit in the cockpit between the seats. This will be used for longer voyages after the real fuel tank is installed.
6. Water Tanks--cleaned and new covers, screws and seals
7. Stove--already purchased--Installed and gas lines run
8. New Companionway ladder with mount for propane tanks
9. Measure forward seat for fabrication in either teak or fiberglass
10. Replace Engine Solinoid
11. Wire up Depth Finder
12. Install manual bilge pump, replace hoses and test sensors on electric bilge pumps
13. Wire up Ham Radio Antennas
14. Buy mount for iPad on Binacle
15. Buy and install auto-pilot
16. Install heating system for winter use.
1. Order and install a Techma Electric Head
2. Repair topsides damage
3. Fabricate a holding tank
4. Install new headstay and already purchased Roller Furling unit
5. Aux Fuel Tank--Buy a rubber fuel tank sized to fit in the cockpit between the seats. This will be used for longer voyages after the real fuel tank is installed.
6. Water Tanks--cleaned and new covers, screws and seals
7. Stove--already purchased--Installed and gas lines run
8. New Companionway ladder with mount for propane tanks
9. Measure forward seat for fabrication in either teak or fiberglass
10. Replace Engine Solinoid
11. Wire up Depth Finder
12. Install manual bilge pump, replace hoses and test sensors on electric bilge pumps
13. Wire up Ham Radio Antennas
14. Buy mount for iPad on Binacle
15. Buy and install auto-pilot
16. Install heating system for winter use.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Aftermath
Hurricane Irene came in early. We were expecting the full brunt of the storm to hit at 0800 Sunday the 28th and run until 2000 hrs EST. I went to sleep a bit late, and found the winds sharply picked up just about 0200 and they kept me awake on and off until 0400. I got up at 0830 to see tree tops whipping back and forth like a fly fisherman going for distance. I was fully prepared to go out in the storm. I had 2000 of weight in my truck. I was ready for a tornado. Still that much wind gave me pause. I decided to wait a bit because the winds were supposed to build. My place is Northeast of the path of the Irene's center, although I'd say it fanned out as it hit the coast. There were fronts from Boston to upstate New York and right up the middle deep into Vermont.
One of the first things I noticed was the layer of shredded leaves on the road. It was like a light snow. Once people started driving though them the made dark tracks. Everywhere on the ground bits of tree stuff. Little nuts, leaves, shredded leaves, ends of branched, middle sized branches, a few large branches and two trees over, one of which was the neighbors.
Here is my dog after clipping today. This after photo shows some of the stuff on the ground from the storm. It was everywhere.
I later found one of our larger trees came down on the other neighbor. Major roads in and out of town were blocked in multiple places. Power lines were down in four areas around us--smaller feeds. Our power comes in underground, which helps some. I thought would would keep power the whole time, and we did not. We lost power around 1130 hrs. Driving, I managed to wind my way around on back roads to avoid blockages. My GPS was a big help. I zoomed to the appropriate scale and plotted my course towards the boat.
That took some dodging around trees, and places with too much water.
I got tired of taking pictures. Plus I was giving one friend of mine a blow by blow account of what I saw as I was driving. There were a couple of shot of big trees blocking roads. Those spots seemed to get a bit congested and had too many people around. I decided to keep moving, unsure at times if I could make it through at all.
In any case. I wanted to find out if my boat was ok. I would have been happy to see it from a distance, but there is not a single place without water. Here are a few shots of my trying to find different ways in, plus a shot from the overpass. Time helped me, by draining things down. After 40 minutes I was able to bring my truck closer to my boat and avoid walking back and forth.
That is my pickup truck over there. The water had receded quite a bit. I walked back and drove it closer after a while.
The gate was blocked by telephone poles which were used as barricades to define the demarkation between parking lot and harbor. They floated over and blocked the gate in.
And finally my boat. My boat was ok, but my finger pier was smashed up a bit. It hung up on the pier and waves swept the bottom floatation away. After prying it loose the dock is sunken almost underwater.
In any case. My boat survived. Later that night the sky was spectacular. It was a new moon, and there were not lights on anywhere. So no light pollution. Clouds obscured some of the sky, but the air was very clear for good viewing.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Hurricane Prep
It seems that to take a step forward involves three steps forwards and two steps backwards. So much time is spent cleaning boats, and taking care of them, that to make forward progress on a restoration, many steps are taken both ways. Today, I prepared ECHO for hurricane Irene. I am now ready for it.
The image shows the date and time and the little blue dot is New York City. I'm on the top right edge of that blue dot in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Fortunately for me, I have one of the best locations to ride out a storm. I'm deep in a harbor, so there will be no significant wave action. The last place I kept my boat was pounded in a storm. I have a video and some pictures of that. Waves were breaking across the dock. That won't happen this time.
I have a couple of concerns. One is I don't trust my finger pier dock. It has a weak link at one end, so I have run dock lines to the next nearest finger pier and to the main dock.
One of the hardest jobs was removing my mainsail. The cover came off easy enough. The main sail is about 80 lbs. I had to disconnect my Dutchman system, unshackle a few stubborn parts, and get the sail off the mast track and then the boom. Then I had a huge pile of sail on my deck and by myself, it would have been impossible
to fold it. I tied it in as compact a bundle as I could and use a spinnaker halyard to hoist it over the lifelines, and got it onto the dock. I dragged it to the bottom of the gangway which was unfortunately at low tide. A friend helped me get it to the top and into my wagon. Hard work. I was exhausted and needed a break. Now I have to do some prep work at home to prepare for the storm. Predicted wind speed is 80 mph. 60 mph rain will sting. 80 mph is significant. The above photo was taken at low tide, at high tide the dock will probably be higher than the parking lot and the lot will be flooded. There is a danger the dock could 
float off the top of the pilings. That is not very likely. I plan to fill up my pickup truck with fuel and I may load it up with gear for extra weight, as I plan to drive around in the storm since it will hit in day time. I am hoping the tide will be down when the storm surge hits.
I was surprised to see people pulling there boats out from our dock area. I expected people to be bringing boats into this dock, not taking them out, due to the protected nature of this area.
Lots of people are on moorings. These people will find their boats broken loose and on the beach on Monday. Those are the people who should be hauling out or moving down to where I am. there is space on my dock.
To the left is a close up of the maze of lines I'm using to secure my boat. I added a few more fenders. The reason I have so many lines is I don't truck the dock cleats. One failed cleat, or one dock line parted, and my boat could swing free or pound against the dock. So redundancy is good, even though it looks silly to have so many dock lines. Notice I have bow lines, stern lines, spring lines and breast lines. I have at least two of each.
This is hard to see. The pipe used to secure this dock is bent badly I plan to add some more dock lines between the main dock and the finger pier, and also move one line across to the other finger pier.
Hurricane Prep
I am luck to be in a protected spot. Most boaters are not. If Irene hits us with the intensity of Ernesto, there will be boats scattered on the beaches on Monday, as mooring lines fail due to chafe. A high tide and we are sure to see at least one high tide. Will mean mooring lines will be shortened up and the shock loads will part at the fairleads. As for ECHO. She is getting extra docklines, and fenders. I am removing the mainsail and boom, or perhaps I'll wrap it up with rope to keep it attached to the boom. As I said, I'm in a protected spot close to a building. It will be interesting.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Breaking the bonds with shore
I have spent the last week going through all my files and papers to reduce my files to the absolute minimum. I've been down sizing for years. I once reached the huge file size of 9 file drawers. I remember thinking to myself--this is taking up too much space. So I took everything out of my ugliest two drawer file cabinet, toss it out, and then starting getting rid of stuff until I could fit everything in 7 file cabinets. Still too much I told myself. I picked out another two drawer file cabinet and repeated the process. This is not that hard I realized. I should get rid of more of this stuff--even five file drawers is too many. So I set a goal of three file drawer. My five drawers consisted of two rather nice paneled oak, legal size file cabinets. One of these suffered from the backs breaking off. I decided to use those two drawers to store other things--no paper allowed. So I did it. I even had some space left over in my third file draw which was attached to an oak rolltop desk.
I thought long and hard about getting rid of that desk. It is heavy and must be broken down into four pieces to move, the largest of which is a pain in the ass to move. People how have helped me move it, have sworn never to do it again. Well for now I'm keeping it.
What did happen over time is I accumulated paper in boxes. That is what I'm doing this week--cleaning this stuff up. I have been shredding paper, and thinking hard about what I need to keep and what I can toss out as it comes in the door. So now there are many, bags of shredded paper in my car ready for taking to the dump, along with other items I'm getting rid of. My paperwork in in hand and the end is in sight--a good feeling. Honestly, I don't want all the headaches of paperwork and bills. I'd rather be self sufficient, energy independent, able to opt out of the many daily bills that come in. I don't want cable TV, wired telephone, wired internet--I can do just fine with a cell phone, wireless internet, and WiFi. I have enough movies and books stored away to keep me occupied for a long time. Satellite TV, might be nice, but truthfully, even with a DVR, there are too many commercials for it to be interesting to me. I don't want to be advancing through 5 minutes of commercials to continue the program.
In any case, I estimate a few more days, I'll be done with the difficult part of my paperwork. After this I plan to put a big blanket down on the dining room table--to protect the table top, and place everything I want to sell on there, tag it with starting auction price, and take pictures of each item, followed by starting an eBay listing.
I am tempted to just give some of this stuff away, but instead I'll be patient and sell whatever I can. If it takes too long, I will just give this surplus away.
I have lots of photo's...these too are a burden. Pictures, boxes of photo's, framed photos, are all a nuisances unless you have roots. Even then I want to start scanning these and putting them on DVD disks and into computer databases, so I can look at them whenever I want--with no weight penalty.
So as I sit here, I think about what I want to keep. Books--I have too many of these. I have been re-reading some, and then tossing them out. I have been just tossing other out. Some I donate to the USO, or give to friends. I have a huge selection of electronic books--much better. I have an iPad an iPhone, and an iPod Touch. Any of these can be used to read books. So I will sell any books of value, and get rid of the rest, perhaps keeping a few that I need for Navigation or reference. Some of my sailing reference books are destined for my floating library--mostly because I want my crew to read certain of these books and be competent as well.
I have four laptops. I need to give some of these away, at least one, perhaps it will take me a while to get rid of the three I rarely use. I use one for programming radios. I would need to add a Windows XP partition to my MacBook Pro to enable this on my primary laptop. The bottom line is I can reduce the number of computers I own, but at a cost that I don't want to incur at the moment.
My desktop computer. It is unbeatable for video editing. I don't think I can part with it. I might if I can upgrade my laptop to a faster machine. This will be the last thing I will consider. Techology might solve this for me in a few more years...
Boat gear: I have tons of this stuff. The solution is to sell it on eBay also. Another thing I can do is install the gear I have not yet installed. That solves two problems. It gets it out of the way, and puts it into service--perfect. I have actually been doing this for some time. I've also been better about throwing out, things that "I might need later" but probably won't.
The last category is clothing. I have more than I need. So I plan to box some up and bring it down to the boat to be used as work clothes, and then placed into the rag pile. I'll need lots of rags once I start fiberglass work again. I presently have 2.5 closets. the 1/2 closet is used to store books and radio equipment. So I have two closets, a dresser, and 5 under-bed drawers to store cloths. They are all full and I have clothes piled on top of my dresser. I have to toss out or box up some clothes too. If I can't make space in my apartment, then I will never fit this stuff on my boat! This may be more difficult than shredding paper. I find it difficult to throw out nice clothes.
So finally, what is left over. Satchels, tools--many tools, cleaning products, materials--all this can go into my workshop, and vehicles. I also have to realize that I might have to move these things at some point in the future. So I need to consider how I will move the things I will keep. My idea is to purchase an enclosed automobile trailer. If I can haul all of my personal goods in one trip, and my car or motorcycle in another, then I can move everything I own, including boat trailers and other boats in no more than four trips. That works for me. If I never move, then I'll still be that much better off, being free of all the encumbrances that tie us down.
Now it is time for my nightly bike ride to run the dog. Life is good, I'm making forward progress.
I thought long and hard about getting rid of that desk. It is heavy and must be broken down into four pieces to move, the largest of which is a pain in the ass to move. People how have helped me move it, have sworn never to do it again. Well for now I'm keeping it.
What did happen over time is I accumulated paper in boxes. That is what I'm doing this week--cleaning this stuff up. I have been shredding paper, and thinking hard about what I need to keep and what I can toss out as it comes in the door. So now there are many, bags of shredded paper in my car ready for taking to the dump, along with other items I'm getting rid of. My paperwork in in hand and the end is in sight--a good feeling. Honestly, I don't want all the headaches of paperwork and bills. I'd rather be self sufficient, energy independent, able to opt out of the many daily bills that come in. I don't want cable TV, wired telephone, wired internet--I can do just fine with a cell phone, wireless internet, and WiFi. I have enough movies and books stored away to keep me occupied for a long time. Satellite TV, might be nice, but truthfully, even with a DVR, there are too many commercials for it to be interesting to me. I don't want to be advancing through 5 minutes of commercials to continue the program.
In any case, I estimate a few more days, I'll be done with the difficult part of my paperwork. After this I plan to put a big blanket down on the dining room table--to protect the table top, and place everything I want to sell on there, tag it with starting auction price, and take pictures of each item, followed by starting an eBay listing.
I am tempted to just give some of this stuff away, but instead I'll be patient and sell whatever I can. If it takes too long, I will just give this surplus away.
I have lots of photo's...these too are a burden. Pictures, boxes of photo's, framed photos, are all a nuisances unless you have roots. Even then I want to start scanning these and putting them on DVD disks and into computer databases, so I can look at them whenever I want--with no weight penalty.
So as I sit here, I think about what I want to keep. Books--I have too many of these. I have been re-reading some, and then tossing them out. I have been just tossing other out. Some I donate to the USO, or give to friends. I have a huge selection of electronic books--much better. I have an iPad an iPhone, and an iPod Touch. Any of these can be used to read books. So I will sell any books of value, and get rid of the rest, perhaps keeping a few that I need for Navigation or reference. Some of my sailing reference books are destined for my floating library--mostly because I want my crew to read certain of these books and be competent as well.
I have four laptops. I need to give some of these away, at least one, perhaps it will take me a while to get rid of the three I rarely use. I use one for programming radios. I would need to add a Windows XP partition to my MacBook Pro to enable this on my primary laptop. The bottom line is I can reduce the number of computers I own, but at a cost that I don't want to incur at the moment.
My desktop computer. It is unbeatable for video editing. I don't think I can part with it. I might if I can upgrade my laptop to a faster machine. This will be the last thing I will consider. Techology might solve this for me in a few more years...
Boat gear: I have tons of this stuff. The solution is to sell it on eBay also. Another thing I can do is install the gear I have not yet installed. That solves two problems. It gets it out of the way, and puts it into service--perfect. I have actually been doing this for some time. I've also been better about throwing out, things that "I might need later" but probably won't.
The last category is clothing. I have more than I need. So I plan to box some up and bring it down to the boat to be used as work clothes, and then placed into the rag pile. I'll need lots of rags once I start fiberglass work again. I presently have 2.5 closets. the 1/2 closet is used to store books and radio equipment. So I have two closets, a dresser, and 5 under-bed drawers to store cloths. They are all full and I have clothes piled on top of my dresser. I have to toss out or box up some clothes too. If I can't make space in my apartment, then I will never fit this stuff on my boat! This may be more difficult than shredding paper. I find it difficult to throw out nice clothes.
So finally, what is left over. Satchels, tools--many tools, cleaning products, materials--all this can go into my workshop, and vehicles. I also have to realize that I might have to move these things at some point in the future. So I need to consider how I will move the things I will keep. My idea is to purchase an enclosed automobile trailer. If I can haul all of my personal goods in one trip, and my car or motorcycle in another, then I can move everything I own, including boat trailers and other boats in no more than four trips. That works for me. If I never move, then I'll still be that much better off, being free of all the encumbrances that tie us down.
Now it is time for my nightly bike ride to run the dog. Life is good, I'm making forward progress.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
My Sea Dog
Kokini is a Portuguese Water Dog. She was born July 9th 2010. That makes her just over 13 months old.
Here she is clipped short. She looks much better with longer hair, but I think I'll give her another trim soon as she is suffering in the heat.
Here she is in medium coat at about 11 months of age. She is quite a good retriever and will bring the ball back and jump up to put it in my hand. I have to work on her swimming and water retrieving still.
What is a blog without photo's?
Here is ECHO. She is an Ericon 46. I have been working on her on and off for years. It it time to finish this project--part of the reason I'm moving aboard. It will get done quicker.
You can see the two cockpit hatches in the front of the cockpit. This is how my dog will get in and out.
Sailing with a Water Dog
One of me concerns is sailing with my dog. While I feel fine with her on the boat it does raise a few issues. First, how will she get around the boat? I'm thinking she can get up and out the cockpit hatches once I rebuild the two aft staterooms. Climbing the ladder will be difficult for her. I'll have to study that more as we spend more time on the boat. Perhaps a temporary ladder for the cockpit hatch and a bed for her down below will be best for now. That will have to be a priority for the short term.
My other issue is peeps and poops. She can hold her water 10-12 hours--I'm amazed actually, so peeps are not a problem. Poops will be when we are underway. So I need to train her to so somewhere. The best option is the cockpit sole. I have a shower setup that I just bought to help clean up. I am thinking about buying some fake grass and putting grass clipping on it to train her that it is ok to go there, and later I can remove the grass clippings and then the mat.
My other issue is peeps and poops. She can hold her water 10-12 hours--I'm amazed actually, so peeps are not a problem. Poops will be when we are underway. So I need to train her to so somewhere. The best option is the cockpit sole. I have a shower setup that I just bought to help clean up. I am thinking about buying some fake grass and putting grass clipping on it to train her that it is ok to go there, and later I can remove the grass clippings and then the mat.
Anchoring
My boat is a racing boat--or was. It has no windlass. I bought a new one,but it will be difficult to fit it. My plan is a pair of anchors on the bow with some chain and the two handed "Arm" windlass for now. I'm strong enough to handle these anchors by myself. I've hauled up all chain anchors by myself in the past. So I need two mounts, two rodes, and some chain. I will get a big Delta and a bigger Rocna or equivalent. I plan to supersize the Rocna by two over the recommended, and buy a Delta, probably one size larger than recommended, and use the Delta most of the time. I have a massive Danforth, that I will find a way to mount on the stern. The Danforth would be the best for soft mud but it is so hard to stow that I hate it actually. I'm debating cutting a well in the deck near the gunwhale and fabricating a place to store this anchor, with a drain--right there, like the J-44's have. It reduces weight on the bow and gets it out of the way, and aft. That will take some time and is not a priority, unless I can find a pre-made Danforth locker I can purchase and glass in easily. Is this enough anchors? Three is minimum. I would not mind four. ECHO is rather heavy, and the penalty is not that great for carrying extra weight. I can always move the anchors below and aft when sailing on the ocean.
Auto-Pilot ideas
I am leaning towards a Simrad auto-pilot at the moment. I prefer hydraulic, but electric (linear drives) are cheaper. My rudder is not well balanced. I think hydraulic will work and last--two requirements. It would be nice to have an auto pilot when I head south. Getting down the Jersey coast to the Delaware Bay and up and through the C&D canal would be difficult to do by myself, even with an auto pilot, unless I heave-to offshore somewhere and time it well with the weather.
The best auto-pilot is a balanced boat sailing upwind.
The best auto-pilot is a balanced boat sailing upwind.
Moving aboard full time...
I will be moving aboard full time soon. Now the the weather is a bit cooler. In part because I want to refinish the floor in my bedroom and in part because I will get more work done on it if I am living in that space. My goal is to sail south this winter to find cheaper labor for some things like welding. I have about 2.5 months to get going.
Bottom Cleaning Done
After some arm twisting I got the fellow who cleans my boat bottom to show up and clean it. He has been really late and unreliable, even though I begged him to keep it clean for me. In any case it is done, and will last for a while, although I plan to haul the boat out and sand and repaint the bottom soon. My zincs are in good condition, so it seems my isolation transformer, coupled with my current location have reduced stray currents and minimized the needs for zincs. This is a big change from my last location where I burned though zincs somewhat rapidly.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Starting this up again
Well it was operator error. I was trying to click on the wrong link and was unable to post. I still don't know why that link is not working but here I am.
Lots has happened in the last few years. I suddenly found myself guardian to a teenage girl and my life was wrapped around that and still is. My niece has now graduated high school and I bought her a car which is needs only minor work to get fully mission capable.
I the last few years my fleet has grown. I found that working on ECHO was stalled by lack of money, and I was distracted by other boat work. I have two photo albums of ECHO prior to the start of this blog, and a few for my 30' boat HOOT, and several more on two or three of my seven dinghy's. I'll have to migrate those over here somehow. And now might be a good idea as I have some time on my hands.
The other big thing in my life is I have split with my partner of 6 years and plan to move aboard soon. I have two options-move on ECHO or move on a new bigger boat. I'm leaning towards getting a good turn key charter boat so I can get more money rolling in to throw at ECHO. I've decided working on boats all by myself is too time consuming and takes away from sailing time. I need a helper and have three or four possibilities in the local kids. I also plan to put up a help wanted advertisement on Craigslist and the local store.
I'm also working on refinancing my house to a lower rate and taking some cash out. I'm luck in that my houses are not inside out like many other people's.
For a bigger boat, it would be easier to find another US Hull so that it can be US Documented. I'd like to find one that is, or can be inspected. So far I've only seen one boat on the market in my price range, and I feel it is way over priced as a wooden schooner. I wrote the owner and have not heard from him. I wanted to come and work on the boat and then I'd consider buying it or leasing it.
I would prefer to run a charter operation here in Long Island Sound in the Summers with voyages to Nova Scotia and down the east coast, with Winters in the Caribbean working the USVI, BVI and SVI.
I've found two other boats--both of which I like. each have issue with cracked plexiglass windows that may be crazy expensive to fix. I'd like to put them both into charter. While I'd like to buy them, I'm thinking of lease with purchase options might enable me to get my hands on both of them. As a professional Captain, I know plenty of people I can use to run the second boat if it is crewed.
So, I need to gather more information, work on my financing, and get my paperwork in order.
My last issue has been delay after delay from the USCG on renewing my license. I forgot to fill out three sections of the medical forms, and the USCG lost on of the 53 pages I submitted. Not that it matters too much while I'm wearing a cast.
Lots has happened in the last few years. I suddenly found myself guardian to a teenage girl and my life was wrapped around that and still is. My niece has now graduated high school and I bought her a car which is needs only minor work to get fully mission capable.
I the last few years my fleet has grown. I found that working on ECHO was stalled by lack of money, and I was distracted by other boat work. I have two photo albums of ECHO prior to the start of this blog, and a few for my 30' boat HOOT, and several more on two or three of my seven dinghy's. I'll have to migrate those over here somehow. And now might be a good idea as I have some time on my hands.
The other big thing in my life is I have split with my partner of 6 years and plan to move aboard soon. I have two options-move on ECHO or move on a new bigger boat. I'm leaning towards getting a good turn key charter boat so I can get more money rolling in to throw at ECHO. I've decided working on boats all by myself is too time consuming and takes away from sailing time. I need a helper and have three or four possibilities in the local kids. I also plan to put up a help wanted advertisement on Craigslist and the local store.
I'm also working on refinancing my house to a lower rate and taking some cash out. I'm luck in that my houses are not inside out like many other people's.
For a bigger boat, it would be easier to find another US Hull so that it can be US Documented. I'd like to find one that is, or can be inspected. So far I've only seen one boat on the market in my price range, and I feel it is way over priced as a wooden schooner. I wrote the owner and have not heard from him. I wanted to come and work on the boat and then I'd consider buying it or leasing it.
I would prefer to run a charter operation here in Long Island Sound in the Summers with voyages to Nova Scotia and down the east coast, with Winters in the Caribbean working the USVI, BVI and SVI.
I've found two other boats--both of which I like. each have issue with cracked plexiglass windows that may be crazy expensive to fix. I'd like to put them both into charter. While I'd like to buy them, I'm thinking of lease with purchase options might enable me to get my hands on both of them. As a professional Captain, I know plenty of people I can use to run the second boat if it is crewed.
So, I need to gather more information, work on my financing, and get my paperwork in order.
My last issue has been delay after delay from the USCG on renewing my license. I forgot to fill out three sections of the medical forms, and the USCG lost on of the 53 pages I submitted. Not that it matters too much while I'm wearing a cast.
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