My nephew came to visit and I wanted to show him what ocean sailing is like so we took Daedalus out in the Gulf Of Mexico. Just headed toward Key West from Alabama. Here are a few notes;
The new 400$ Air X wind generator from Amazon dot com worked wonderfully, much, much quieter than the old Air Marine 303, you barley knew it was going. The old one had suffered yet another near hit from lightning, the forth in 15 years, and Southwest Windpower wanted 512$ for a rebuild kit this time, up from 257$ last time, and the stupid consignment shops all over the USA wanted half the cost of a new unit for old obsolete wind generators, no way was I going to go that route at those idiotic prices so I found the brand new older model that is no longer mfg. although still warrantied on Amazon, put it on the boat and this time I made a HUGE gas tubes and MOV's surge suppressor and included that in the installation (mounted OUTSIDE in a plastic code box so if it explodes when it does its job it won't burn the boat down) so that should help with further lightning damage, hopefully. The Yachtboy SSB reciever had dead batterys in it that leaked acid and it would not recieve the proper freq band to get detailed ocean weather although once we got back and I cleaned and dried it (again, but this time in dry AC air) it works fine. But not having weather broadcast reception ability was unsetteling, next time I will bring my other small SSB radio also, I normaly do so...my old big SSB transceiver no longer works and I need to get a replacement. The laptop loaded with my latestet vector charting program worked great, BUT for some reason it ate the driver for the usb mouse (although it was there the night before!) and I could not find the .exe to re-install it, so I connected the serial cable from the other GPS, but that must have had some corrosion from having not been used for ten years or so because it would not work either. No big deal as I had two other GPS's with cartography as well as paper charts, but I had wanted to evaluate the new chart program and was not able to wring it out, so next time I guess. I am even more convinced that the way to go now is with a flash memory netbook, PROVIDED the flash memory holds up, some don't it seems. But this type pf PC would use much less power than my old Toshiba and would do all I need and would be more compact. The house bank is getting old. When the boat heeled past a certain point, sediment shorted out the plates and they rapidly discharged, limiting the amount of power storage we had at any one time. I will drain and decant the acid and flush them with distilled water before putting the acid back in to buy a bit more time but they need to be replaced. The depth sounder worked well, at least it did when I tested it a few days before we left, but as soon as we got underway it would no longer show believable soundings. Not sure why yet. Aggravating. I have a lead line but did not use it. My nephew had mentioned he would like to shoot pistols, something I sometimes do from the boat when offshore, so I brought a .357 mag and my .45 Colt Combat Commander. When he shot the first round at a saltine cracker from the .357 the loud muzzle blast startled him so much (even with ear pugs in) that he stepped on the bulkhead mounted GPS and cracked the bracket. I never have liked that set up much anyway so will mount it and the depth sounder in a teak sided lexan covered box mounted on the bulkhead which will provide better protection. The 20$ ebay new from the factory (not used) handheld VHF worked like a champ and even though it got quite a bit of use as I did not turn on the big VHF at all this time, it never needed charging. HOWEVER as always, many ships did not respond to repeated calls. I know they heard us as others at longer ranges DID respond. I would really like the AIVS or whatever it is called VHF, wish they would hurry up and come down in cost. The Visual Passage Planner program gave us good routing, we got a counter current going down and stayed out of most of the current on the way back. I say most because we did have about 1/2 kt against us for one day. Of course the Sail O Mat wind vane worked flawlessly as always, although for the first time ever I did have to clean out and lube the wind paddle bearings to get really smooth operation in very light winds. Also a dolphin bumped the steering oar when we were returning to Mobile Bay, no damage but it was a good thump. I think it was deliberate, playful. The main water maker, a PUR power survivor 35, which had been pickled ten years ago and I had not needed to use since, worked great, took about 20-30 min to get it up and going and purge the membrane, then we had sweet fresh water. Needed it too as we went through about six gallons a day between us, that includes one shower the third day out. I should have got it going a day earlier though as then we could have had more showers, and with my boat being a wet sailing boat that is a very nice luxury. The waste salt discharge hose had collapsed somewhere under a settee or where I could not see, so rather than rip it out and mess with it I just used the alternate discharge line and we had to hump waste salt water from below and dump it over the side, kinda a hassle but not too bad as my nephew is young, 6' 4" and 240 lbs. I pickled it when we got back and will change all the filters this time as well. I keep an activated charcoal filter in line before the main one, maybe one reason the membrane is still in good shape. I have two water tanks, 32 gal. total, always keep them separated underway, but this time I left one valve open that should not have been, good thing that the valves that separate them are dual valve redundancy but I think I will find room for a small well isolated 2.5 gal emergency tank or container somewhere, just enough to stave off thirst until either the big water maker or the emergency one can make some water, just in case. You get thirsty awful quick in the summer on the Gulf. Big as he is, even my nephew is human. When a squall hit and I was securing the jib, I could not get him to keep the boat headed up, he did the reflexive thing and pulled on the tiller and would not let go to release the main sheets so I had a devil of a time with the jib and the main got torn, so then we ghosted under the jib for eight hours while I sewed the main. Urg. Good thing the needles in the sewing kit weren't rusty, as it was my finger tips got numb even using a palm. Since my Atomic Four has a rusted out oil pan which I have not fixed as I want a diesel (but other priorities...sigh), we had to pole the boat out into the channel when we left the slip. Very hard hot work. I think I will try a sculling oar, make one out of carbon fiber that can be broken down and stored below. Good thing to have for emergencies even when I do get a new engine. When we returned it was much easier as the wind was favorable and my nephew knew how to sail by then, we sailed right into the tight slip with no problem. The first night we anchored in Mobile Bay, and I did not put the pin in the anchor roller to keep the rode in and somehow the anchor rode came out of the roller and chaffed on the side, so now I need to splice it, since it is multibraid it is going to need the attention of an old fart I know who is knowledgeable with that and he will show me how to do it. Multibraid is nice but splicing it is much more complicated. The tail of the jib halyard is loosing its cover. These are wire to rope halyards. I think this time I will replace it with just rope, that is plain low stretch mutibraid. The flower planter box that I used to hold the main sheets in the cockpit and that I liked because it drained so nicely and held up well to UV proved to be too much in the way and got stepped on so much it finally broke. I will try one of the unbreakable recycled tire rubber buckets (after I drill some holes in the bottom so it will drain) that are even more UV stable and keep it under the cockpit table, out of the way. The asymmetrical gennecker needs a quick release on the sock or snuffer control lines to allow easy removal and re-connections as when that sail which flys in front of the forestay is tacked the sock control lines then cross over the forestay and create difficulties when it is time to bring the sail down. I keep forgetting to do this job. Once, the burner on the Origo stove continued to burn after it had been closed. Good thing it was a SS pot over it. It was because the 'tricky' mechanical interlock they put on this model to prevent you opening it to refuel unless the burner is closed is getting fussy. I think I will remove the damn things. Twice the big inverter 'dropped out'. I think it was when the boat heeled and the battery plates shorting caused a voltage dip, but it needs investigating. Also the remote switch has corrosion on the inverter end of the cable meaning you have to open the locker where the inverter is to turn it on or off. I don't mind that too much but if when that was open a big sea unexpectedly splashed it with water it would be bad (it is in a locker near the companionway), so I need to get the remote going again. I can replace the cable end connector pretty easily. The 135 CFM muffin fans (135 CFM is a LOT of air) worked extremely well, we ran them 100% of the time almost and two nights would have been sticky to say the least without them, and neither the blades nor my nephews finger broke when he stuck his finger in one. In the Gulf we made a bit over 100 NM average per 24 hours for the four days there, light winds and all. No engine, 20 ft LWL, loaded for cruising with two adults and a dog, out and back, not bad. I showed my nephew the count down timer and how to use it on watch at night when single handing. He tried it and thought it would take some time to get used to a 15 min cycle. It doesn't though, but it seems like it would. MP3 players are a BIG improvement over casset tapes or CD's. I have a 30$ unit that holds 6 GB worth of music, books, and video clips. We never heard the same song twice. I did get a little tired of Jimmy Buffet after six hours though and saved the rest of his folder for later. I think this gadget will also prove well for watching movies as the screen at 2.7 X 3.5 inches is big enough and it makes a really nice sharp picture and you can fit a compressed movie on a 2GB mini SD card that it can accept. This would be great, have about a dozen movies on SD cards, it uses just a tiny, tiny amount of power compared to anything else that I have on board to watch movies. But of course the screen is not big enough for two to watch really. Kinda a personal movie viewer, which is fine for just me and the dog. My Stiener binocs are getting dirty inside, need to send them in for cleaning. My nephew didn't know how to handle them at first and carelessly let them bang into the companionway washboard which broke off the little plastic dome that sits over the built in bearing compass. I think I will glue a flat piece of lexan plastic there instead of refastening the plastic dome which protrudes a bit as then it will not do that again, even though I never broke that off in over twenty five years of use. I tried the old handheld RDF, it still works, could be useful in a pinch so it stays aboard. The ebook reader worked well, got splashed with spray a few times with no ill effects. It is readable even in low level red lighting. For some reason the salt water galley pump has taken to needing to be primed if it sits more than a few min. I think it is because of a new quick release I put on its hose, they seem to seal well under positive pressure but not so well under negative pressure. Not too much of a PITA since I have a rubber bulb primer in line, but. Once again, I underestimated the amount of munchies needed. Also, my nephew found that small tart apples do indeed help with queasiness, so I needed at least two bags of those instead of just the one. And I forgot the steak sauce. It is always amazing to me just how large a person can fit into the tiny head on my boat. S&S knew what they were about. The manual bilge pump is becoming difficult to prime. It did this before years ago, but when I then used it to pump for a few times instead of the electric it was fine. I think it is because the electric pump puts the water through the manual pump and makes the flapper valves get a bias which use fixes, we'll see if some manual pumping helps it prime again, if not I will have to get a re-build kit. I do carry an exact spare replacement manual bilge pump and used to have a rebuild kit on board too, if I can find it. One of my buddies mis-understood how long we were going to be gone, and after four days called the CG, so they began a search. Fascinating. All the tax $ that has gone into homeland security has had some good results, anyway. Within an incredibly short time they had pulled up my boat registration, subpoenaed my cell phone records and called everybody I had talked to in the last ten days, found my pistol permit, drivers license, credit card information, EPIRB information, dingy registration, health records and who knows what else and called everybody listed on those, and sent emails to all my friends and family, in fact maybe to hundreds of folks some of whom I barley know. It is very impressive. I am grateful for the effort and regret the wasted time, but they said it was good training. They asked if I had had my VHF on, said they had been calling, I said that I only turned it on to hail or be hailed by ships and if no one is around according to sight and radar detector I shut it off as my experience is it eats up power and just squawks a lot with folks talking about where the fish are, but maybe this will sway me somewhat. I prob would have heard them as we were close enough by then. This time 'big brother' was looking out for me in a good way. All my friends and acquaintances told them I was plenty experienced, had a very well equipped and well found boat, and wasn't expected back yet for several days, so nobody was too concerned, but it was a bit unsettling for them I am sure. Gambler, my six year old Schipperke, did fine. He was pretty hot in the days, camped out under the cockpit table I put across the back underway, but got used to boat life pretty fast. Because he was still a 'newbie' on the boat I didn't let him go on deck at night, so when I got up in the night to check on my nephew who was on watch and the cabin deck was all slimy, I couldn't yell at Gambler too much, but it's a good thing I don't get seasick easily! My nephew has something he will remember and can build on if he chooses. -Ken _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
