Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Up the mast
Went up the mast again this weekend. Fixed a lead line that had jumped off a sheave, lubed up the sheave bearings and wiped of some of the rust from the standing rigging.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
New Bar
Debbie took out a Club Nautique boat this weekend in preparation for her final coastal passaging test.
We sailed from Ballena to SF and stopped for a beer at the Bay View Boat Club. Bar's nice. Boat owners and members only. Not much draft - 4-5ft at MLLW, so only time for a quickie.
Map
We sailed from Ballena to SF and stopped for a beer at the Bay View Boat Club. Bar's nice. Boat owners and members only. Not much draft - 4-5ft at MLLW, so only time for a quickie.
Map
Monday, October 27, 2008
New Boot
When I had my mast pulled, the yard did a crappy job with the mast boot. It split before they finished the other work and the repaired version pulled away from the mast collar after about a month.
With the rain coming, Wendy and I made some time to seal up the hole. We bent a strip of inner tube over a pipe clamp and sealed between the mast and the rubber with silicone.
With the rain coming, Wendy and I made some time to seal up the hole. We bent a strip of inner tube over a pipe clamp and sealed between the mast and the rubber with silicone.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Off to the Drag Races -- The Great Pumpkin Race on Luna Sea
Wendy, Debbie, Jim and I jumped on Dan Knox's Islander 34 (Luna Sea) for the Great Pumpkin Race. I borrowed Jim's dress -- sparkled like a disco ball. Liberating and breezy -- prevents overheating while grinding.
We took 3rd place overall for the day.
We took 3rd place overall for the day.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Inedible art...
At the pumpkin carving contest last weekend someone submitted a pumpkin shaped into a pair of hands squeezing a poop from a buthole. Many people disapproved (they pooh-poohed). I thought it was a stroke of genius. Here's more of the same....
http://sprinklebrigade.com/ turns dog poop in to art.
If you didn't think much of that either, then check out:
http://www.wambie.com/foto_br-272.html turns fruit into carved art.
http://sprinklebrigade.com/ turns dog poop in to art.
If you didn't think much of that either, then check out:
http://www.wambie.com/foto_br-272.html turns fruit into carved art.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Pumpkin Fest Sail to Half Moon Bay
Wendy and I sailed down to Half Moon Bay with Club Nautique this weekend. We met up with the Bear Boat crew in Sausalito on Thursday. We hadn't met the others and were relieved to find that the skipper (Steve) and the other crew (Jim and Mike) were the fun and mostly sane people they seemed like in their emails.
On our previous outing out of the gate, we've both had rough rides in the past. Today though, the weather was fine, clear and warm. We left the dock around 8am on Friday, ran the mile and met the club's flotilla of 14 boats going out of the Gate. Within about an hour, the wind died and we gave up the race, motoring the rest of the way to Pillar Point. For about half an hour on the way, we were surrounded by ten or more porpoises -- seems they're attracted to the sounds of The Police. Another boat we spoke to later said they also saw a sunfish floating around on the surface.
We got some CoNav practice on the way down and back. I sat the course two years ago but got deported before I finished and never got around to taking the test. Someday...
At Half Moon Bay, we checked out the yatch club and a then couple of the local bars. At the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, a mom and son balloon twisting team were doing the rounds and provided entertainment for a couple of hours while we sat around the firepit. This was entertaining not because anyone was particularly interested in balloon twisting but because of the curious mom-and-son-in-trade partnership. Mom was busy teaching the higher level points of balloon twisting (minimize balloon usage, visit as many punters as possible, find a hook and don't waste time if they're not going to shell out cash) . Later in the night the appearance of a older man in a checkered suit whom we all took to be some kind of balloon twister's pimp only added to the interest. As with flower sellers, some people don't take kindly to being harassed away from their beers or made to look cheap in front of their partners. We weren't sure whether the guy in the suit was just the father of the family, or whether his appearance meant that someone had refused to pay for their giant balloon beer mug and were about to receive an education on the advanced applications of high-speed balloon inflating pumps.
Next, we made our way to the Old Princeton Landing. This is more of locals bar and chock full of crazy characters. Jim convinced one of the locals tried to smoke a tampon. Later when he stood up next to me I came face to face with his penis poking out of a slit in his jeans that looked like it was there to, well I don't know, attract the ladies?
Friday night was a late night. We got up too late on Saturday to get to the Pumpkin festival, and in any case, I had other plans. Saturday was my dad's birthday. He died last year. I collected some flowers, made a posy, and Steve let us take the boat out for a short while so that I could drop them in the sea. So long dad. Happy birthday.
On Saturday afternoon the club arranged a cocktail contest. Jim cooked up BearBoat's entry: a hot mix of spiced rum, Goldschläger and hard cider. Delicious. We named it the "Pan Galatic Schlager Baster." And, later, "Pretty on the Inside" after we realized that the drunks were having problems casting their votes for our first name. Shockingly we failed to place in the cocktail contest. I suspect that some people took offense at Wendy's and my OCSC caps. Some Club Nautique scapegrace swiped them off our heads never to be seen again. I guess that's what we get.
Despite this perversion in the judging, our "Mike the Knife" managed to snag first place in the pumpkin carving for the second year running.
During the judging at the yacht club, I found a litter of feral kittens living in the rocks. Cute, cute, cute. I suspect they won't last through winter though unless someone takes them in.
On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast and then made our way back to San Francisco. No winds again so we motored the whole distance. We heard mayday reports from the Coast Guard of a capsized sailboat outside of Horseshoe Cove - interesting especially because that's where one of the Coast Guard stations is. Maybe they slept in.
When we got through the gate we saw another sailboat playing chicken with an oil tanker. It sailed in its path, tacked, fouled the jib and hung out in the shipping channel while we watched on and the tanker weighed around them, honking the whole way. Stupid.
Awesome weekend. Thanks guys.
Travelled: 60nm
Days aboard: 4
Night hours underway: 0
Items Lost: cell phone, car keys, hats, dignity
On our previous outing out of the gate, we've both had rough rides in the past. Today though, the weather was fine, clear and warm. We left the dock around 8am on Friday, ran the mile and met the club's flotilla of 14 boats going out of the Gate. Within about an hour, the wind died and we gave up the race, motoring the rest of the way to Pillar Point. For about half an hour on the way, we were surrounded by ten or more porpoises -- seems they're attracted to the sounds of The Police. Another boat we spoke to later said they also saw a sunfish floating around on the surface.
We got some CoNav practice on the way down and back. I sat the course two years ago but got deported before I finished and never got around to taking the test. Someday...
At Half Moon Bay, we checked out the yatch club and a then couple of the local bars. At the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, a mom and son balloon twisting team were doing the rounds and provided entertainment for a couple of hours while we sat around the firepit. This was entertaining not because anyone was particularly interested in balloon twisting but because of the curious mom-and-son-in-trade partnership. Mom was busy teaching the higher level points of balloon twisting (minimize balloon usage, visit as many punters as possible, find a hook and don't waste time if they're not going to shell out cash) . Later in the night the appearance of a older man in a checkered suit whom we all took to be some kind of balloon twister's pimp only added to the interest. As with flower sellers, some people don't take kindly to being harassed away from their beers or made to look cheap in front of their partners. We weren't sure whether the guy in the suit was just the father of the family, or whether his appearance meant that someone had refused to pay for their giant balloon beer mug and were about to receive an education on the advanced applications of high-speed balloon inflating pumps.
Next, we made our way to the Old Princeton Landing. This is more of locals bar and chock full of crazy characters. Jim convinced one of the locals tried to smoke a tampon. Later when he stood up next to me I came face to face with his penis poking out of a slit in his jeans that looked like it was there to, well I don't know, attract the ladies?
Friday night was a late night. We got up too late on Saturday to get to the Pumpkin festival, and in any case, I had other plans. Saturday was my dad's birthday. He died last year. I collected some flowers, made a posy, and Steve let us take the boat out for a short while so that I could drop them in the sea. So long dad. Happy birthday.
On Saturday afternoon the club arranged a cocktail contest. Jim cooked up BearBoat's entry: a hot mix of spiced rum, Goldschläger and hard cider. Delicious. We named it the "Pan Galatic Schlager Baster." And, later, "Pretty on the Inside" after we realized that the drunks were having problems casting their votes for our first name. Shockingly we failed to place in the cocktail contest. I suspect that some people took offense at Wendy's and my OCSC caps. Some Club Nautique scapegrace swiped them off our heads never to be seen again. I guess that's what we get.
Despite this perversion in the judging, our "Mike the Knife" managed to snag first place in the pumpkin carving for the second year running.
During the judging at the yacht club, I found a litter of feral kittens living in the rocks. Cute, cute, cute. I suspect they won't last through winter though unless someone takes them in.
On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast and then made our way back to San Francisco. No winds again so we motored the whole distance. We heard mayday reports from the Coast Guard of a capsized sailboat outside of Horseshoe Cove - interesting especially because that's where one of the Coast Guard stations is. Maybe they slept in.
When we got through the gate we saw another sailboat playing chicken with an oil tanker. It sailed in its path, tacked, fouled the jib and hung out in the shipping channel while we watched on and the tanker weighed around them, honking the whole way. Stupid.
Awesome weekend. Thanks guys.
Travelled: 60nm
Days aboard: 4
Night hours underway: 0
Items Lost: cell phone, car keys, hats, dignity
Monday, October 13, 2008
Angel Island Burning (View From Emeryville)
After we were done sailing with Russ at Fleet Week, we went back to check on my boat at Emeryville. This was the view from the marina lawn.
You could see the trees exploding. Just one freakin huge bonfire.
You could see the trees exploding. Just one freakin huge bonfire.
Fleet Week on Good Grief
My engine's still being serviced so we we took up Russ' offer to go out for Fleet Week. He got a got in the action and out of traffic trouble all day long. Good work fella!
We had a ton of flyovers from where we were. Follow the link for more photos.
We had a ton of flyovers from where we were. Follow the link for more photos.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Strippers, Getting Head Action, Hot Nuts.
I started on stripping the combing around the cockpit yesterday so that I can sand it back and then oil and varnish it. I bought a copy of "Brightwork" which is a book singularly and obsessively devoted to topic of varnishing boats. I'm fairly sure the author must suffer from some kind of obsessive disorder, or at least have some kind of profileable psychological traits to have produced it. Either way -- it seems like a great book if you're interested in varnishing your boat.
The book strongly recommends stripping old varnish using a heat gun and a scrapper over sanding or chemicals. I started on this and progress was been surprisingly fast. However, scraping works best if the scrapper runs with the grain. Scraping around the grain lifts small splinters out of the grain that require removing more wood when sanding. Scraping around the hardware on the combing is a little problematic because of this. Since I'm taking off the old varnish I decided to take up all of the hardware on the combing (four winches and two compasses) and redo underneath these also. While the winches are removed, I can also do their annual service. I hoped that removing the hardware would make the varnishing job go quicker. However, as I removed one of my primary winches, I found it had been bedded down with some seriously heavy duty adhesive. In particular, the through-bolt threads were covered in the stuff and it took me all of Sunday to remove two of the four winches.
My big problem was that my heavy duty screwdriver (the biggest available) just didn't cut the mustard. In fact, trips to OSH, Home Depot and research on the Internet revealed that they don't even make screwdrivers large enough to properly fit the screws I have. The biggest I found (a #12) has a lot of wiggle room -- almost certain to lead to striping the screw head. My deck key fit the screw head perfectly but bent when I tried to use it. My crowbar also fit the screw's slot but was too long to fit into the recesses containing the screw heads.
It strikes me that screwdrivers are very poorly designed. Its impossible to get significant torque due to the relatively small diameters of screwdriver handles. A large lever arm is called for. A socket wrench would be perfect, but again, the small size bits available lead to stripping large screws. I tried making a lever arm for my screwdriver with my tapping tool -- my screwdriver was too bif. I taped silicone mats from the galley around the handle to increase its diameter. On top of that I added a towel and a tourniquet wrench (a rubber strip that wraps around objects and passes back through a handle to provide a lever). This helped a little but not enough. I tried "Liquid Wrench" to loosen then screws. This helped a little. I tried heating the bolt with my heat gun to melt the goop it is stuck in. No effect.
By around 6:30, by standing directly above the screws and applying all of my weight and twisting screwdriver's enlarged handle, I'd managed to remove four of the six bolts; one of remaining ones had budged by about 10 degrees and the other remained fixed. Worse, the heads of these were beginning to get severely striped, and my hands were both blistered and cramping up from sweating all day in the sun all day and so tightly gripping the screwdriver handle. I researched screw extractor tools. These seem to be last resort measures that often make matter worse by breaking themselves off in the screw. Maybe I'd have better luck from below.
I crawled back into the lazarette and tried bashing the bolts with a hammer in the vain hope of knocking something loose. No joy. I filed down two sides of a bolt's thread so that my monkey wrench could get purchase. This let me eke out an extra sixty degrees but further progress was halted by inside of the lazarette which blocked the wrench's handle. Without about two inches of thread exposed and probably 12 threads per inch, I calculated I would have to remove and reattach the monkey wrench 144 times to turn the bolt out from below. Not that it made any difference -- without being able to twist it ninety degrees, the bolt's new position didn't provide an access to file down more edges for the wrench.
If only there was some way of turning the bolt from below, I wouldn't have to worry about stripping the bolt's head. Think, think, think...
At around 7pm (I'd been working on this since midday) the answer hit me. I could could put a cap nut on the end of the bolt and tighten it. Because the cap is blocked by the end of the bolt, it can't twist up it and so turning the nut will torque the bolt. The long lever arm of my socket wrench would surely twist the bolt free.
If only I had a 3/8 cap nut. I checked my box o' bolts. I didn't. Rats.
I went scrounging for parts from the other boaters. The guy in the slip opposite had a really bright idea - put two nuts on the end of the bolt. The first nut stops the second from traveling up bolt and together they work like the a cap nut. A third nut in my the socket of my wrench stopped the sleeve of the socket reaching as far as the first nut and turning it. Brilliant!
Within about 5 minutes, I had the winch base all removed. When the last nut came out I was burning hot from friction.
Cool beer soothed my hot hands. Satisfaction? Not exactly. Tired and frustrated. Damn this boat. Every time I try to do something right for it, I end up bloodied and sweating.
The book strongly recommends stripping old varnish using a heat gun and a scrapper over sanding or chemicals. I started on this and progress was been surprisingly fast. However, scraping works best if the scrapper runs with the grain. Scraping around the grain lifts small splinters out of the grain that require removing more wood when sanding. Scraping around the hardware on the combing is a little problematic because of this. Since I'm taking off the old varnish I decided to take up all of the hardware on the combing (four winches and two compasses) and redo underneath these also. While the winches are removed, I can also do their annual service. I hoped that removing the hardware would make the varnishing job go quicker. However, as I removed one of my primary winches, I found it had been bedded down with some seriously heavy duty adhesive. In particular, the through-bolt threads were covered in the stuff and it took me all of Sunday to remove two of the four winches.
My big problem was that my heavy duty screwdriver (the biggest available) just didn't cut the mustard. In fact, trips to OSH, Home Depot and research on the Internet revealed that they don't even make screwdrivers large enough to properly fit the screws I have. The biggest I found (a #12) has a lot of wiggle room -- almost certain to lead to striping the screw head. My deck key fit the screw head perfectly but bent when I tried to use it. My crowbar also fit the screw's slot but was too long to fit into the recesses containing the screw heads.
It strikes me that screwdrivers are very poorly designed. Its impossible to get significant torque due to the relatively small diameters of screwdriver handles. A large lever arm is called for. A socket wrench would be perfect, but again, the small size bits available lead to stripping large screws. I tried making a lever arm for my screwdriver with my tapping tool -- my screwdriver was too bif. I taped silicone mats from the galley around the handle to increase its diameter. On top of that I added a towel and a tourniquet wrench (a rubber strip that wraps around objects and passes back through a handle to provide a lever). This helped a little but not enough. I tried "Liquid Wrench" to loosen then screws. This helped a little. I tried heating the bolt with my heat gun to melt the goop it is stuck in. No effect.
By around 6:30, by standing directly above the screws and applying all of my weight and twisting screwdriver's enlarged handle, I'd managed to remove four of the six bolts; one of remaining ones had budged by about 10 degrees and the other remained fixed. Worse, the heads of these were beginning to get severely striped, and my hands were both blistered and cramping up from sweating all day in the sun all day and so tightly gripping the screwdriver handle. I researched screw extractor tools. These seem to be last resort measures that often make matter worse by breaking themselves off in the screw. Maybe I'd have better luck from below.
I crawled back into the lazarette and tried bashing the bolts with a hammer in the vain hope of knocking something loose. No joy. I filed down two sides of a bolt's thread so that my monkey wrench could get purchase. This let me eke out an extra sixty degrees but further progress was halted by inside of the lazarette which blocked the wrench's handle. Without about two inches of thread exposed and probably 12 threads per inch, I calculated I would have to remove and reattach the monkey wrench 144 times to turn the bolt out from below. Not that it made any difference -- without being able to twist it ninety degrees, the bolt's new position didn't provide an access to file down more edges for the wrench.
If only there was some way of turning the bolt from below, I wouldn't have to worry about stripping the bolt's head. Think, think, think...
At around 7pm (I'd been working on this since midday) the answer hit me. I could could put a cap nut on the end of the bolt and tighten it. Because the cap is blocked by the end of the bolt, it can't twist up it and so turning the nut will torque the bolt. The long lever arm of my socket wrench would surely twist the bolt free.
If only I had a 3/8 cap nut. I checked my box o' bolts. I didn't. Rats.
I went scrounging for parts from the other boaters. The guy in the slip opposite had a really bright idea - put two nuts on the end of the bolt. The first nut stops the second from traveling up bolt and together they work like the a cap nut. A third nut in my the socket of my wrench stopped the sleeve of the socket reaching as far as the first nut and turning it. Brilliant!
Within about 5 minutes, I had the winch base all removed. When the last nut came out I was burning hot from friction.
Cool beer soothed my hot hands. Satisfaction? Not exactly. Tired and frustrated. Damn this boat. Every time I try to do something right for it, I end up bloodied and sweating.
Wood Care
Striping Varnish
Heat gun and scrapper works best.
Chemical stripper for fiddly part.
- 3M solvent resist
Use chemical stripper for stains.
- Moisten wood first
- Plastic brushes (nylon)
Sanding
- Double tape edge to avoid scratching get coat
- Grits 150-220
- Orbital finishing sander
Filler
- Collect sanding dust. Mix with epoxy (adds flexibilty to expoxy so it doesn't crack) "Cold Cure", "Hardman's". Clean area with lacquer thinner.
Oil. Light Tung oil with 300/400/600 grit 3M wet/dry
Sealer
Varnish
- Clean with mineral oil. With also expose defects in finish.
- Tack rags.
Heat gun and scrapper works best.
Chemical stripper for fiddly part.
- 3M solvent resist
Use chemical stripper for stains.
- Moisten wood first
- Plastic brushes (nylon)
Sanding
- Double tape edge to avoid scratching get coat
- Grits 150-220
- Orbital finishing sander
Filler
- Collect sanding dust. Mix with epoxy (adds flexibilty to expoxy so it doesn't crack) "Cold Cure", "Hardman's". Clean area with lacquer thinner.
Oil. Light Tung oil with 300/400/600 grit 3M wet/dry
Sealer
Varnish
- Clean with mineral oil. With also expose defects in finish.
- Tack rags.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Book Binding Fail
Got my copy of "The Complete Rigger's Apprentice" today. Full of great stuff.
The binding cracked me up though:
The binding cracked me up though:
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sail: Dude Sail (No. 2)
Wendy and I changed the oil the weekend before last. We only managed to pump out about 8 quarts rather than the 11-12 listed in the manual. Seems like a lot to leave in there. Is that normal? Jonathan (the P/O) recommended changing while its still warm, but I think next time we might do it first thing in the morning to see if we get more out. Also getting gobs of black soot blown out of the exhaust if I rake the throttle. I may replace the exhaust hose to the transom soon -- looks like this dates back to 1982 (although looks in good shape, and I don't get any fumes).
Also, hopefully will start on sprucing up the exterior varnish next weekend. Had originally planned on stripping some of it back, but I think there's not much to lose by experimenting with lightly sanding it down and and adding a couple of coats first to see how it looks.
Took a sewing class at the Tech Shop in Menlo Park yesterday morning. They've got an industrial sewing machine that I used to stitch in reinforcing webbing straps onto the boat's LifeSling bag where the Velcro was pulling away from the bag. Also planning to make some new canvas covers. The ones I have are getting pretty ratty and the canvas guy I know wanted $500 for a new sun cover for my dodger. (Its just 4 panels of canvas stitched together!) Have ordered fabric samples from Sailrite -- seems to be very difficult to find marine canvas suppliers locally. Given the cost of getting canvas made or the cost of renting time of the TechShop's machines, it might be worth investing in a sewing machine.
The Dudes turned out for a full on Dude Sail today. Also Erin, Arjun and Wendy. Its the last day of the Festival of Sail and I wanted to get out to see the cannon fight. The wind was honking pretty hard. We stopped at Paradise Cove for lunch. Even though we found a fairly sheltered spot, we slowly dragged anchor for a 100 feet or more until we left. Was warm there, but pretty cold and overcast in the central bay. I'd estimate that we were getting 25-30kts between East of Angel Island to the city. We sailed just on the main in the afternoon and had to motor sail against the current (6kts at the gate) to make it up the city front. I've been finding that my boat sails much worse without the jib and points much worse than I'd expect.
We missed the cannon fight. We heard on the VHF that that the Californian
had lost their bowsprit and so the they gave up the fight early and headed
back to port. We motored around inside a lot of the city marinas and
piers and checked out all the ships: a replica of The Nina (Christopher Columbus's favorite), The Eagle, California, Lynx and a bunch of others. Included in those was the Bounty. Wendy and I saw the Bounty at St. Petersburg Pier in Florida earlier this year. Rumor has it that The Bounty, which starred in "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Marlon Brando was also used in the high budget porno "Pirates." Also got a good look at the bowsprit of the California. Looks like the wood failed in a spectacular way, cracking down the length of it.
Throughout the day at hour intervals, the Coast Guard was reporting a 1950's 35ft Chris Craft carrying two men that went missing from Channel Marina (?) in Richmond. It disappeared between Richmond and Tiburon in the prior 24 hours. Its hard to imagine what might have happened to them. The central bay is generally so busy that disappearing without a trace seems hard to pull off -- even a boat were to get hit in the busy shipping channels between Richmond and Tiburon. Whatever happened to them, I suspect happened somewhere else.
Also, hopefully will start on sprucing up the exterior varnish next weekend. Had originally planned on stripping some of it back, but I think there's not much to lose by experimenting with lightly sanding it down and and adding a couple of coats first to see how it looks.
Took a sewing class at the Tech Shop in Menlo Park yesterday morning. They've got an industrial sewing machine that I used to stitch in reinforcing webbing straps onto the boat's LifeSling bag where the Velcro was pulling away from the bag. Also planning to make some new canvas covers. The ones I have are getting pretty ratty and the canvas guy I know wanted $500 for a new sun cover for my dodger. (Its just 4 panels of canvas stitched together!) Have ordered fabric samples from Sailrite -- seems to be very difficult to find marine canvas suppliers locally. Given the cost of getting canvas made or the cost of renting time of the TechShop's machines, it might be worth investing in a sewing machine.
The Dudes turned out for a full on Dude Sail today. Also Erin, Arjun and Wendy. Its the last day of the Festival of Sail and I wanted to get out to see the cannon fight. The wind was honking pretty hard. We stopped at Paradise Cove for lunch. Even though we found a fairly sheltered spot, we slowly dragged anchor for a 100 feet or more until we left. Was warm there, but pretty cold and overcast in the central bay. I'd estimate that we were getting 25-30kts between East of Angel Island to the city. We sailed just on the main in the afternoon and had to motor sail against the current (6kts at the gate) to make it up the city front. I've been finding that my boat sails much worse without the jib and points much worse than I'd expect.
We missed the cannon fight. We heard on the VHF that that the Californian
had lost their bowsprit and so the they gave up the fight early and headed
back to port. We motored around inside a lot of the city marinas and
piers and checked out all the ships: a replica of The Nina (Christopher Columbus's favorite), The Eagle, California, Lynx and a bunch of others. Included in those was the Bounty. Wendy and I saw the Bounty at St. Petersburg Pier in Florida earlier this year. Rumor has it that The Bounty, which starred in "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Marlon Brando was also used in the high budget porno "Pirates." Also got a good look at the bowsprit of the California. Looks like the wood failed in a spectacular way, cracking down the length of it.
Throughout the day at hour intervals, the Coast Guard was reporting a 1950's 35ft Chris Craft carrying two men that went missing from Channel Marina (?) in Richmond. It disappeared between Richmond and Tiburon in the prior 24 hours. Its hard to imagine what might have happened to them. The central bay is generally so busy that disappearing without a trace seems hard to pull off -- even a boat were to get hit in the busy shipping channels between Richmond and Tiburon. Whatever happened to them, I suspect happened somewhere else.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Double Braid Splicing Guides
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIa8G5J8Gb8
- http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=6sQn5ZMKgNI
- http://www.thecoastalpassage.com/eye_splice.html
- http://www.neropes.com/SPL_DoubleEyeSplice.aspx
- http://www.yalecordage.com/html/splicing_instructions.html
- http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/vintage/sbj/eye/splice.htm
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Sail: Overnight at Richardson Bay
We had plans to do an overnight at Angel Island this weekend. We got there late in the day and the mooring were had filled up. It would have been possible to fit in except that some of the boats were tied up crosswise on the mooring field leaving the only free space requiring us to tie a third line onto a mooring already having two other boats attached. We passed by and sailed up to Richardson Bay and dropped the anchor. Got out the part lights and grilled steaks.
The wind picked up during the night. I still haven't got a GPS. Between the rocking and not having an alarm for dragging anchor, neither of us got much sleep.
In the morning, we motored to Horizon's in Sausalito who have recently reopened the docks. Docking was a little interesting -- we we're still waking up when we arrived and both of us forgot to put the fenders out.
The food was pretty good. But at fifteen bucks a plate and only four options for breakfast, Sam's might have been a better choice.
Wendy got into a bit of an altercation with another boat on the way back home. On a broad reach on a starboard tack we met another boat on a port tack, making us the stand-on vessel, and the the other boat the give-way vessel. The guy at the helm clearly saw us. He closed until we were a little more than than a boat length apart.
Wendy called "Starboard." He called "by the lee." Hmmm... That's a new one. Not sure what he means, or what difference it makes. It doesn't since he'd sailed so close to us we had had to turn down and were be the lee now too.
Still closing.
I called, "you're on port tack. We're on starboard. You have to give way." He shouted back, "are you going to make me gybe?"
Not sure what to think about this. By this time, he'd so close to us that the only option was for one of us to gybe to avoid running into each other.
I shrugged at him. Clearly it was his responsibility. With a groan and rolling eyes, eventually he gybed out of our way.
While, its true Wendy could have headed up early and sailed behind him to prevent him having to gybe, the other boat had the same option and, but also the responsibility to get out of the way. If we'd both of headed up, we'd have run closer to each other faster - it the the stand-on vessel's responsibility is to avoid this situation by keeping their heading.
Douchebag.
We changed the engine oil when we got back.
The engine manual says it takes a little under three gallons of oil. Since there's no sump valve, the oil has to be pumped out. I bought a pump that attaches to an electric drill to do this. We managed to get about 2 gallons out. Not sure where the rest of the oil has gotten to. Its possible its some of it was still coated around the engine, but it seems unlikely. Its possible it was just low on oil, but this also seems unlikely and would suggest that a gallon of oil can be added between the low mark and the full mark on the dipstick.
Next time, I might try changing the oil first thing to see if I get more of it out.
The wind picked up during the night. I still haven't got a GPS. Between the rocking and not having an alarm for dragging anchor, neither of us got much sleep.
In the morning, we motored to Horizon's in Sausalito who have recently reopened the docks. Docking was a little interesting -- we we're still waking up when we arrived and both of us forgot to put the fenders out.
The food was pretty good. But at fifteen bucks a plate and only four options for breakfast, Sam's might have been a better choice.
Wendy got into a bit of an altercation with another boat on the way back home. On a broad reach on a starboard tack we met another boat on a port tack, making us the stand-on vessel, and the the other boat the give-way vessel. The guy at the helm clearly saw us. He closed until we were a little more than than a boat length apart.
Wendy called "Starboard." He called "by the lee." Hmmm... That's a new one. Not sure what he means, or what difference it makes. It doesn't since he'd sailed so close to us we had had to turn down and were be the lee now too.
Still closing.
I called, "you're on port tack. We're on starboard. You have to give way." He shouted back, "are you going to make me gybe?"
Not sure what to think about this. By this time, he'd so close to us that the only option was for one of us to gybe to avoid running into each other.
I shrugged at him. Clearly it was his responsibility. With a groan and rolling eyes, eventually he gybed out of our way.
While, its true Wendy could have headed up early and sailed behind him to prevent him having to gybe, the other boat had the same option and, but also the responsibility to get out of the way. If we'd both of headed up, we'd have run closer to each other faster - it the the stand-on vessel's responsibility is to avoid this situation by keeping their heading.
Douchebag.
We changed the engine oil when we got back.
The engine manual says it takes a little under three gallons of oil. Since there's no sump valve, the oil has to be pumped out. I bought a pump that attaches to an electric drill to do this. We managed to get about 2 gallons out. Not sure where the rest of the oil has gotten to. Its possible its some of it was still coated around the engine, but it seems unlikely. Its possible it was just low on oil, but this also seems unlikely and would suggest that a gallon of oil can be added between the low mark and the full mark on the dipstick.
Next time, I might try changing the oil first thing to see if I get more of it out.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Sail: Sam's
- Meghan, Wendy, Eric.
- Anchored for lunch at Angel Island.
- Sam's for Margaritas. Eric and Wendy: hammered.
- Honked at by a tanker on the way out of the gate.
- Hot cocoa on the way back home. Mmmmm.... cocoa.
- Conversation for the day:
Q: Is it OK to ditch you internet date by email?
A: Yes
So long Santa Cruz. Bring out bald guy.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Sail: Night sail
We had big plans to take the boat out for the fireworks on the 4th July. In the end the prospect of kicking back and taking it easy all day proved too much to overcome.
However by the evening we rustled up the energy to cycle out to Shoreline Park from home in Mountain View to see the fireworks from the bay. Like a scene from E.T.
Wendy and I took the boat out together the day after. We had plans just to do a quick evening sail and come back. However, the sailing was so good that we kept going out on of the gate and didn't get back until after dark. The Lopolight I installed worked a treat. This is the first time just the two of us have been out on the boat by ourselves. I tried out the boat's autopilot for the first time when we raised and dropped the main. Also awesome.
However by the evening we rustled up the energy to cycle out to Shoreline Park from home in Mountain View to see the fireworks from the bay. Like a scene from E.T.
Wendy and I took the boat out together the day after. We had plans just to do a quick evening sail and come back. However, the sailing was so good that we kept going out on of the gate and didn't get back until after dark. The Lopolight I installed worked a treat. This is the first time just the two of us have been out on the boat by ourselves. I tried out the boat's autopilot for the first time when we raised and dropped the main. Also awesome.
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