Sunday, December 11, 2016

Energizer Bunny feeling

The last two days I have had a fit of energy and am making Monkey Fists and paracord bracelets and just tying knots in general.  There should be lots of gifts for the grandchildren that they may not appreciate until they are 40+ years old.  I have had this paracord just sitting in a box awaiting a new project.  Believe it or not but I like the camo paracord the best for most projects and then comes white and then black.

As I sit here awaiting Christmas, I am watching the snow build outside.  The snow has been coming down for about two days now - sometimes light and other times moderate - and has accumulated 4". The barometer is about 29.98" and was falling rapidly and we have a SE wind about 7 Kt.  I do not want to go out and make tracks in the snow that will be hard to plow later.  So we sit here in our cocoon but I really wish we were on the water in FL. 

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Leaving a legacy of knowledge

We have two sailing blogs, one, this one was purposed to be a day to day journal on the water. Somehow when we sold our Youngsun 35, Inspiration, to Bob I envisioned a very quick transition to another boat in more southerly waters.  Life intervened and now it has been since end of season 2011 and no boat.

To be sure we did own Inspiration II for a few seasons but she never really felt like mine and roaming the deck of a Irwin 43 felt foreign to me.  This is something you do not know until you have been acquainted for a while. While below it felt like a nice small flat.  It was reasonably nice to roam around and enjoy all the comforts of home.

The problem came when I envisioned myself as skipper - I did not know or feel real comfortable with all the systems.  Sure, I could repair most of them and the electronics was a slam dunk but there was so much to go wrong that we relied upon for a safe passage.  For example, we had 440 AH in two banks of 220 each. Considering that we would use about 20 AH while running the refridg, autopilot and the rest of the electronics, this gave us one day of power while under way.  So, if the generator did not start recharge us every day for about 3-4 hours the boat was powerless after 2 days.

The main propulsion was rock solid and if we ran the engine we could stay on top of the energy supply and I suppose we sail only 50% of the time.  The generator was 8 KW so it would power the battery charger, Both AC units and all of the electronics, including running the microwave without the main engine running. We had a separate, dedicated start battery for the generator.  The main engine started from the house batteries. ( I am publishing and will continue  in Episode 2).

Thursday, December 8, 2016

No Deal

We asked for our Cowabunga deposit back and have been told the check is in the mail.  Not too much else to say except we were a bit surprised that a counter offer was not made.  Even one of a nominal price decrease.  Perhaps, we were not communicating with the broker very well but I do know that a few of the brokers I have worked with would not have given up quite as easily,  There may be mitigating circumstances of which we are unaware so we hold no malice towards anyone in this deal (or no deal as in this case).  It was kind of a long trip for so little return but we did get to have my friend Don's old bridge open for us and that was a first ( Don was the bridge tender until his retirement and we visited him on the job). 

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Reflections: Buying the boat

I think the first thing to get straight when buying a boat is the expectations side of things.  I know I do not spend sufficient time thinking this area through.  However, with each boat I purchase, I become better at this side of the equation.

For example, the Pearson 303 we just looked at was sort of an experiment to see what a P 303 really was.  In the beginning talks with the broker I received vague answers like "it is in the listing" and "i do not know" or "i will ask the owner".  I expected some snappy and correct answers but perhaps this was unreasonable.  However, I did tell him two things (1) Where we wanted to go with her and it would be used primairly for coastal cruising and a few trips to Bahamas, Cuba and perhaps over to Panama and (2) we did not want to do a lot of work to get her ready for travel.

So to move things along and to show we were serious I made an offer that was accepted.  We traveled many hundreds of miles to get to Florida miles, arranged for surveyor and the broker did the rest.  The two day trip down took a not insignificant toll on our old bodies and the Monday arrived with perfect weather.  The boat was hauled and the bottom looked pretty good except the mechanic, who was in attendance, said the paint was Trinidad but in fact it was ablative since it was "chalky".  Some of the thruhulls looked good and some looked like they should be cleaned with a bottle brush.  An interesting side note is that some of the barnacles were painted over.  SAM & I would never have done this.

Back in the water, the sails were quickly raised and the jib looked ok but the main was blown out and would require replacement before heading out. We had not heard too much from the surveyor but he was busy below most of the time.  The sail ended too quickly but the helm felt like a dream and I like this part very much.

Back at the owners dock the surveyor spent two more hours looking at things.  This is where the expectations started to flood my mind.  Here is a brief summary of what he documented.

Suveyor: solid base with no deal killers except as detailed below.

Us:  Expected a sail-a-way for immediate coastal cruising.

            Mast – needs repair to severe corrosion & restepped with new step
            Water heater – did not function with electricity
            A/P 6002 – No Display but did hold a course
            Bilge pump – not able to engage Auto
            Deck Lights – inop & uncertain about others
            Water Faucets – marginal & need replacement
            Running rigging appears original and 25 years old
            Halyards frayed
            Anchor chain needs replaced
            Exhaust hose cracked and leaking underway
            Major propane leakage @ 7# in 3 minutes

       Issues we found
            High moisture in 3 areas around stanchions, track and anchor
            Leaks near hand rails, possible aft quarter berth
            Lights burnt out
            Many hoses are automotive hoses and inappropriate hoses
            Defective hoses at exhaust need replaced
            Punky bulkhead at table area previous leak
            Everywhere we look there are areas needing attention
            Bimini & sail covers good for a short few years


So there you go - our expectations must not have been conveyed to broker who over represented boat.  Perhaps we will have a bit more in tomorrow's issue.



Tuesday, November 29, 2016

P303: A day on the water

We were up and at the boat about 0800 hrs and the action of the survey got started right away.  As expected everyone was on their best behavior.  So with minimal fanfare we headed out to the marina to have her hauled.  The bottom looked pretty good and percussion testing proved it was.  The boat was put into the water and we went out to sail.  The boat sailed like a dream and was easy to handle but the main sail was sort of blown out and we did not sail on all points, in spite of my request, so the test was a bit jaded.

The day was marvelous and SAM did not get seasick so it was worth the haul fee.  The surveyor had some positive things to say about the boat but there were some down sides too - expensive downsides - so I guess we will have to face the music and say this boat is not for us and perhaps the model too. We were thinking we would leave early and go see our friends in Green Cove Springs then head back to Indiana.  Bummer.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

St Petersburg

After a long a arduous journey south we made it to Martha's.  The travel from north of Ocala to M's house was very slow with two hours of delays on I-75.  So here it was about 1730 hrs instead of 1530 hours.  Anyway we quickly wend down to the local Mediterranean and had a great meal on 49th St up around 52nd Ave.  Then to Publix for some food but we expect to eat out for most of the stay. Cheers from Moore. BTW - the smartphone is Kaput unless Verizon can revive it.  

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Epiphany & Paying Attention

Ok, so here I am this morning reading an email inside the gmail website and, for the first time I see in the lower right, I see this message "Your account is being used by another machine" (or somthing similar).  AND I see, adjacent, a hyperlink saying "Details".  Of course a nerdy guy will click and O did: thereupon, it shows my android mail activity and my computer that I am reading email on.  I thought this is a pretty cool security tool, so, if you see this then check it out to see if anyone else is looking at your mail.  Even if there are not more than one machine getting email it will say "Details" and if you click the link it gives you a kind of activity report that you can look over to see if there is anything suspicious.  Remember, you have to have an open email to see this.  C U later for Moore.



Sunday, November 20, 2016

Cowabunga


We pulled the trigger and made an offer on a Pearson 303 yesterday.  We are now in the process of making arrangement to go down to her and “take-a-look” at what we have done.  This will be a big departure from the “take everything with us” mode of sailing and into minimalist mode on the smallest cruising sv we have ever owned.  What I said above is not exactly true.  We do own and even more, and smaller,  Little Yellow, a 16' foot American Fiberglass sweetheart of fun.


image


Cowabunga is her name and is a bit too frivolous for me and I would have preferred Cowasaki to reflect my old Z1R days. Perhaps, but that is pretty frivolous too.  If we follow our path we should name her Inspiration III but a departure may be in order.  So here is the Yachtworld picture. 

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Lost PLB

This morning I started organizing the nautical equipment.  I found my two inflatable offshore pfd and checked the strobe and whistle for each so that was a big find.  I thought the personal locator beacon was in the bag but I did not find it.

Later this afternoon, after we cut the tree, split a cord of wood and delivered it, I looked again.  No joy - so where is that thing?  I sort of recollect we had it packed into a bag that we took when we went to Kenosha to look at a Catalina.  If that is the case then it may have taken flight or it could be one of those "I'll put it just where I will find it" kind of deals.  Anyway, I will have a few days to look for it.

I want to organize all the lines and fenders and tools so I can find them quickly when needed.  My tools are scattered about the Technical Room, The Garage and the Barn.  At least most of them are in one of three canvas bags - one bag for Imperial tools, one for metric and one for misc screwdrivers, pliers, snips and punches.  Oh ya, there is a fourth bag with my drill and bits.  So if I grab those 4 bags I have 95% of what I need for most common nautical issues.  Thank heavens Harbor Freight is close to most places where I need them for the other 5%.

My absolute most hand tool kit is the Sears screwdriver set that has most common sizes of torx, Phillips, Flat and square bits for the magnetic screwdriver.  That kit today is about $69.00 but I have had it for 30 years or more and it was $21 when I bought it and I thought it was outrageous then to pay that price. Some of the original bits are still in the kit.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Little Yellow

We picked up Little Yellow today, paid for the new boom tent and brought her home.  Before we left to pick her up we cleared her a spot in the barn.  Everything went ok on the way back home so we drove down the lane to the barn and backed her into her winter resting place.  The next warm day, if there is one we will clean the leaves out and scrub her sole to clean the summer and leaf stains off.  Finally we will drape the new cover over her and she will be ready for the winter nap.  Just for those tha do not know her I include a picture of our daysail trailer boat.  She gets a little sweeter every year but can be a hand full on some blustery days with shifting winds.


Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Boring stuff - non-nautical

SAM & I spent the day from sunrise to sunset splitting the wood from the dead Ash trees we were forced to cut.  To me it is so sad to see a tree that has weathered many a storm standing dead.  I love trees and wood and lumber.  My grandfather was a lumberman and had a lumber yard and mill operation.  I spent my childhood roaming the mill and remember quite vividly laying on the pine boards smelling the pitch.

I also remember getting a box car of lumber packed to the top with all sorts of boards.  I will not bore anyone with the types and dimensions nor with the smells inside the car when we opened it on a hot summer day.  However, I will tell you of the pleasures and terrors of a little kid, maybe eight years old or less who because of his size, had the pleasure of sliding down the lumber with his back to the top of the boxcar and stomach to the wood clear to the front of the car.  I would then push out the boards so "the hands" could get a hold of them.  In a short time there was enough space to turn around and I could breath again.  Of course, there were the hands that wished to terrorize the kid and would push boards back on me to trap me.  I remember them well but they are all gone now.

Tomorrow will be a very full day in the cold weather.  We will cut some new logs that are 16" or less and then split them to fulfil a customer complaint of too long firewood.  We thought we were doing him a favor since were selling by the rank and not the cord.  So basically he was getting a 22" wide stack instead of the 16" stack.  However, he is returning 60 pieces that was over 20" long.

Note:  Mike did show up and with less too long wood than I expected. And we did manage to get two full ranks cut of the 16" length.  So it ended up as a win/win all around.  About this I am happy but about other events of the world I am less happy.  BFN & Moore later.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Pearson 303 Sailboat





I am currently looking for a good Pearson 303 sailboat.  I also liked the P28-2 but with the history of leaks I was a bit reluctant to go that route.  I have never been on a P303 but things look good for a month to month live-a-board and the sleeping arrangement.  I am not too sure this is the boat to try to go to Cuba and Central America on.  I do not know.  Do you?


Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Little Yellow Boom Tent

We drove by the canvas shop and were surprised to see LY new boom tent snapped in place.  It looked pretty good.  I'll take some pictures and post them with this blog point over the next few days.


Monday, October 31, 2016

A micro, small house

This is smaller than my boat and weighs much, much less.  For those who want a little getaway place out in the wilderness here you go.  A time away from the boat and if not then this will give you some ideas for others perhaps.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

No sails -->

I recently saw this on Facebook and though it was pretty good so I am placing here just so I do not lose track of it.  Right now it is 5 bells per my smartphone and I have become accustomed to the time by of when to eat and when to go to bed and the stares when it chimes in public.  If people smile I sort of have an idea that they were in the Navy or are sailors of some sort :)

I checked the rain gauge and we received 0.76 inches of rain in the last 24 hours.  Today, we have leaden skies and solid overcast with little wind.  The trees are colorful now and just beyond peak season.  Lots of leaves came down with the rain and wind of yesterday.  Soon we will be picking them up with the leaf vacuum and depositing them near the lakeshore where the leatherback turtles seem to enjoy them.  Actually, several water creatures seem to use them for a home over the winter.

Little Yellow is still up at the canvas shop and I have to go check on her today to see how long it will take to finish the new enclosed boom tent that we are having made: Should be pretty sweet when finished.

Besides s/v Delos we have started to Patreon sponsor yet another aspiring and industrious young couple, MJ Sailing, who are rebuilding their 37' aluminum sailboat getting her ready for an Arctic passage.    The first episode link is here https://youtu.be/q5FDDbpDfBY.  We will enjoy watching them grow in the video production element and the progress of their boat.

Ok, I need to get something done today: Moore later.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Night after Night








just could not resist posting this and is my way of saving  things I want to keep.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Caterpillar


Just something I saw and liked for the hope that it brings.

I am now reading "Scatter, Adapt and Survive" by Annalee Newitz. I am viewing this book as sort of a fictional opinion by an accomplished writer.  The reviews were sort of tough on her since the reviewers think she was writing from a scientific point of view.
There are some good points to be made in the book so far but my personal opinion is that Homo Sapien will not survive the coming 6th Mass Extinction.  However, we are a cleaver lot and there are a lot of us so maybe there will be a pocket or two of survivors.

I think those who do survive will be sailors of exceptional skills and luck with well equiped boats of 30 to 40 feet length and that can be safely handled by one person but with two people on board.  Larger vessels will require too much technology to keep in shape by small but relatively unskilled crews.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Little Yellow and Fall in Indiana




It is officially Fall here in NE Indiana.  Lots of rain this past week, about 2+ inches, leaden skies and cooler temperatures of low 50's at night and days in the 60's.  We hauled Little Yellow last week in glorious weather and trailered her to the pad at home and applied the IN numbers for the first time.  S couple of days later she was taken to the Angola Canvas shop to be fitted with a boom tent that is c;dosed at both ends.  The tent should keep out all the rain water plus if we ever take he to a different lake to sail we could do an overnight sleep over.  Here is what LY looks like pretty much as she sits now.


LY is a nice little sailboat for a nice little lake and is a good trainer as she overpowers easily and you had better be on your toes in variable wind conditions.  She will make headway in a breeze so light that you can hardly feel it but I think the best wind is 5-10 mph.  I re-rigged her to allow boom reefing by rolling up the sail.  The jib is a little too small at 90% so tacking through can be iffy at low forward speed.  Like I said - a good trainer.

LY is now at the canvas shop getting a tent cover made, fitted and installed.  I will so enjoy not having to go down after each rain to bail her out.  I had the tent made closed at both ends so if we get caught out on some of the bigger lakes up North then we could be out of the elements for the over night stay.  The cockpit padding is such that it would be a long night for us olddies.

We are starting to think of southerly waters but still have a lot to do here in non-nautical areas: Cutting trees, splitting wood and the Fall leaves that always seem to drop about mid November or earlier.  Cheers.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Polar Melting


My original image disappeared so I added this one from a nearby site.






Friday, September 16, 2016

Summer Sailing on a Pleasant Lake

The summer sailing season is almos over for this northern season.  I have been down to Little Yellow many times over the summer and did a lot of maintenance items, removed engine and cleaned carb and re rigged the sheets and installed two new cleats just outboard of the aft part of the cockpit.  I have one more re-rigging task and that involves adding a turning block and a cam cleat for the main halyard and jib halyard.  With this final addition I can dump the sail quickly and make life a little easier for the pilot.

As far as sailing goes it was a pretty poor season.  The Pleasant Lake is not the best to sail on since it is surrounded by trees and down in a glacial moraine depression.  However, when the breeze is right it is oussible to run down the length and tack like crazy to get back.  If you get really desperate then you can start the outboard and get back that way.

The full moon was out yesterday under clear sky and just at deep twilight I snapped a picture of the lake looking east.  If you look real close you can see Little Yellow's mast and our kayak by a pontoon boat.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Still looking for a boat


On and off due to constraints to my time I am looking for a boat.  the ones that come to mind are Catalina 30 diesel, Pearson 303 and Pearson 28-2.

The Catalina 30 has a lot of room below but is low on fuel/water tankage at 10/20 gallons.  Plus the lift pump seems to be a failure area and with no bilge to speak of it is sort of iffy except for coastal day-sailing in good weather.  However, it would suit us just fine as a live aboard for the winter season.

I sort of like the layout of the 28-2 but everyone I have seen has leaks around the Stbd side portlight aft by the nav station.  It seems suspicious that all would have these leaks.


All-in-all it seems like the Pearson 303 (pictured) may be the keeper in this whole deal but it is the most expensive.So I guess I just cannot win them all and have to choose the lesser of three evils.  This vessel has the most tankage of them all and for some reason this is important to me.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The big re-shuffle

That time finally came to clean out my little corner of the Family Room.  The impetus initially came from my sister who called and said "Come and get the grandfather's desk we have been storing for

you".  Ok, fair enough so SAM & I went over and loaded it up and brought it home to the up north house.  It really looks nice in the selected spot.

Since I was on a roll, the next project was to clean up the work station area.  I consolidated the work station, a monster Dell Precision with 32Gb RAM & two Xeon Quad core 3 Gig processors, and a backup quad core used in emergencies.  I put it together as an extended desktop on the Monster and robbed the speaker system from another system.  This allowed me to remove a
table and put it into the newly completed Technical Room.

So now I will show you a bad picture of the work station area.  The Family Room now looks a lot better but the dark paneling has to be lightened up.  Enter SAM into the equation, SAM likes to paint so spent the entire afternoon putting paint sample is various areas to check the colors. 

We may have this place ready for who knows what in the near future.  We were thinking of an AirBnB to supplement our sailing habit.  Certain people I know use only AirBnB for their travel lodging.  Thanks for reading:  Moore later.


Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Surviving the mass extinction event


According to some we are in the beginning of the 6th mass extinction.  I think most cruising sailors will find this subject fascinating and have time to read books.  This post is about such a book & before today I had never heard of this person but watching one Youtube about the subject of Futurism immediately lead me to her interview.  The person, book and a 20 minute Youtube will tell you all you want to know and if you buy the book keep it and keep it as a Lender. The name of the person is Annalee Newitz and the book is Scatter, Adapt, and Remember. This is a smart lady. I am going to purchase this book as soon as I read the other 5 hardcopy books I have sitting at my nightstand.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Sailing the World

There are quite a few sailors going around the world these days.  There is also Patreon.  I sponsor a couple.  They used to be rare but each day the list is growing.  I support s/v Delos and Sailing La Vagabonde at a fairly low level so I can probably afford to contribute to one or two more.  The videos coming from these guys is pretty good and their skill is growing with each video.  What I find interesting is the fact that some of the better known Patreon Adventurers are supporting sailing newcomers into the Patreon World.


Friday, July 22, 2016

Hot & Sleep



It has been in the low 90's for the past 3 days.  This is unusual up here in the North Country.  The situation is expected to persist for several more days.  For the bigger cities there is an ozone action with the appropriate warnings. I included the chart so as to give you and idea of what is going on.

Here is what the Weather Forecast says:

Dangerous heat and humidity in the central U.S. this week; spreading to the East Coast by the weekend

Hot and very humid conditions will push the heat index to well over 100 degrees across a large portion of the central U.S. this week. Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories are in effect for much of the Plains, Miss. Valley, Midwest and southern states. The heat will spread eastward by this weekend. Be very cautious if you must do outdoor activities here during the afternoon and evening.

After two days on the road which were sleep deprived, I finally got a goods night sleep.  All this was land based, of course, since I sleep on the water much better than on the land.  I surmise that this is the case because when the boat rocks it rolls the body and no pressure points develop on OLD joints. SMILING. However, all this said, I did take a 12 ML shot of Benedryl before going to bed and about 2330 hrs EST.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Allstar Node 43584

I have built my second Allstar node and it is running.  The first one, 42119,  works fine at a fixed base location with an antenna up on the tower and a power supply in the cabinet along with the Raspberry Pi 2 connected to the internet and a TYT-9000D running on low power.

The intent of the second one is to make it portable and connect to the internet via my smartphone. This one will use a Raspberry Pi 3 because it now has wifi capability to connect to the smartphone hot spot.  This works but not too well for listening but not as well as talking.  A better solution is to connect to a wifi that has consistent latency.  My home wifi system is quite good and I have absolutely no problem with the node at all.

The way it works is that a handheld radio is modified so that several signals are brought to the outside world and connected via a translator to a Raspberry Pi 3.  The Pi would normally be connected to the internet via a hardwire switch and this is how the signals get to another node.  In this case it is connected to the internet via a wifi signal to the smartphone and out to the internet.

When I want to talk with someone I connect to their node, which looks like the one above duplicated,  by typing the node number in to the key pad of the handheld radio with the orange screen. This radio talks to the modified radio and the above paragraph procedure is followed.  I know this seems a bit much to comprehend but to an Amateur radio guy, while not simple, it is easier to understand.  The software is loaded on to a micro Sd card and the machine is configured the first time you turn it on.

If you are interested in this concept, you must be a licensed amateur radio operator to use it.  So study for the test and become one of us.  Contact me for more information csjmooreatgmail.com

Saturday, July 9, 2016

My New Hardcopy Books

Just arrived hardcopy today:

-"Shipwreck or Shangri-la"
-"Sapiens: A brief history of Humankind"

I just finished a Nook book about the life of Henry Morgan and the rise of the infamous Jamaican city Port Royal and it's final demise.

A book in process was put off to read this one and now I am back to reading it.  While interesting, I would call it a rather dry book.  It is called " The Invisible History of the Human Race" by Christine Kenneally and is in hard copy.  I have about 50 Nook books to read so I have a years supply!

The next reader I get will have a backlight for reading in the dark.  I do not like having lights on and positioned at just the right angle.  I always get a neck ache if I read for a long time.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Solstice: A World Cruiser on Blogger

http://voyageoftheyachtsolstice.blogspot.com/  Check them out.  We were there when they left Saugatuck, MI on their adventure and what an adventure it has been and continues to be.  People hear a lot about the high profile crusisers but this couple is for real.

A Cruiser's Luxury: HOTSPOTs



A real luxury we have is a smartphone hotspot.  No matter where we are in the USA, if there is cellular service of 3G or 4G or LTE we have internet.  Ok, so you have a hotspot and have internet. To most that means cruising the internet and port 80 is the only port you need to have for normal internet browsing. However, if you want more that is where the problems start.

Most providers do not allow the user to open ports on the cellular system.  For one particular ham radio system, IRLP, you need to have several ports opened up.  For FTP you need port 21 and for SSH you generally need port 22 but these are shut down by the provider and they open them only if they want to open them and that is never.  Other special applications require a multitude of other ports from 1 - 50,000+.
There is a solution and it is called VPN (virtual private network).  You can make this system yourself or you can lease one by the month or year (nominally, $15 per month).  If you make your own you will need a "VPN Server" and a fixed IP address from which to generate the tunnel that has whatever ports you want open and this is beyond the casual lay persons efforts. Here is a list of 5 options and even an intro on a DIY but if this link goes bad just Google VPN Service Providers.

If you really need help then you can contact me via my Facebook link. I will add several more articles on what to connect with your new tunnel under the banner "A Cruiser's Luxury".

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Lots going on: June

A lot has been going on in our lives.  There were the two trips to Texas, planting the garden, launching Little Yellow, our play around 16' sloop, and re-rigging her plus a few mini trips. Finally, I have been spending too much time with Amateur Radio.

We just returned from Kenosha, WI where we looked at a 1979 30' Catalina.  She was based at South Port Marina and was pretty sweet.  SAM then asked the question -  What will we do with her?  The plan was to sail her around Lake Michigan and then at some point in the future take her down on the first half of the Great Loop.  This is where the boat acquisition became tangled.


It seems that this particular boat had an Atomic 4 that was raw water cooled.  I am sure all you sailors know what that means:  Everything would be fine until we hit the saltwater of the Gulf.  After entering saltwater how long will an Atomic 4 engine be viable?  We do not know ourselves - maybe 10 years, 20 years or maybe only 2-5 years.  Even if it lasted the full time we were in the near shore gulf or Atlantic, the value would be way less upon return to the Great Lakes.  So this effectively curtailed looking at this boat which was fairly priced and in reasonably good shape.

While on the way to Kenosha, we stopped by Goshen and Elkhart to look at some RVs' that we liked.  We found one we loved but it was twice the price we had set as our target so that ended that too.  The Class A RV's we like are Winnebago, Tiffin, Monaco, Newmar and Itasca (in no particular order).  You would think there would be tons of them available but this is not the case.  Each one we liked, when we called had been sold.  Bummer - either it is a giant conspiracy to keep Charlie from getting an RV or it is a real hot Boomer market.



Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Bad Antenna?

Well, I received my tuner and it does tune but I am not getting too many good calls nor receiving to well - according to my friend down in FL.  Since I have no reference of what a good antenna really is I guess I have to take his word for that I have to put it up higher in the air, like lots higher say to 50'.

Anyway, we made our trips to Texas and got the niece and grandson married so we may be set for a while.  Now we are looking at class A motor homes in the 30-34' class and brands of Winnebago, Itasca, Monticello and Tiffin.  I drove one today and found it ok to drive but not as marshmallow as I thought it would be.  I can see why RV'ers only drive 250-400 miles per day.

Time was short today but we found time to go to Doris's house and I spray some weeds with brush killer while SAM weeded some of her flowerbeds.  We spent 2 hours on this and headed home.  After that, we did and "advanced' search on some RV's and selected the ones we would like to call on.

Now I am listening to the TechNet on reflector 9050 and typing this blog out.  BFN - Moore later.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

A Visit to Texas

We are on our second visit to Texas in a month.  This time it is for the marriage of my grandson Jacob.  The two day trip was fraught with overcast skies, rain and a horrific accident that closed I-40 for two hours.  Now the rain is coming down here in College Station in large quanties and is supposed to persist until late tonight.  We are just hanging in the La Quinta after having lunch with my son who works nearby. The sound of thunder constantly peals in the background as I write.

We ate lunch at a place called Freebirds Burrito and it was good.  I had the box size and you get to chose what goes on it.  I went light on the beans and had no cheese but went heavier on the corn, sauteed veggies and fresh veggies.  It was good & I would like to return.  SAM had a traditional burrito and so did my son but they were custom made to each individual's specifications.

Moore later.


Tuesday, May 10, 2016

IRLP 9050: Tech Net


I spent the day in the Amateur Radio room moving over the radio gear from the previous spot to the new "Ham Shack".  All is working ok as of this afternoon.




The big deal is my new installation of the HF radio which is a Icom IC-7200 with an AH-4 tuner.  I had a lot of work, beyond the cosmetic issues, to add an earth ground and wire halo around the shack. Also was populating the GE cabinet with the IRLP 8891 and Allstar 42119 nodes.  As of 1600 hrs today all was operational. Yea!!

I am now listening to the TechNet on reflector 9050 and the ham radio stations all over the world.


Monday, May 2, 2016

My HF Rig

The weather here in NE Indiana has been cold, overcast, dreary and wet.

Right now I am waiting for the rain to stop so I can mount the Icom AH-4 long wire antenna tuner on the tower.  Today I connectorized the RF cable and added the 4 wire control cable for the AH-4 antenna tuner.  Tomorrow is supposed to be good so I will bring the feed lines and control cable into the radio shack.

I just finished the connector that will go to the inside of the radio shack and connect to the HF radio.  The HF rig is an Icom IC-7200 and is more or less ruggedized and spray proof.  I think it will work on the boat pretty well since the tuner can connect to the long wire backstay or a halyard that has a wire embedded in it.

The only thing I don't have to make a viable sailboat HF rig is the KISS counterpoise and that I can get at the last minute.  In the mean time I will run soe tuned radials out on the ground under the antenna tower. Perhaps I will make a block diagram of the setup and attach it to this blog later.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

HF Radio Stuff

#
Icom AH-4 Icom AH-4 80-6M Automatic Whip Antenna Tuner or Long wire 120W PEP Max
This is an Icom IC-7200 in camo color.  This is the radio I wanted to put on my boat Inspiration II when I owner her.  Alas, she is no longer mine but I have changed my focus slightly - to RV & Sailboats.  SAM seems to like the RV idea, I think, as main living quarters and less time on a sailboat.  This means I need to get a boat that is smaller and single hand-able.  With this expanded focus I need to get a tuner or tuners.

LDG Electronics IT-100 - LDG Electronics IT-100 Automatic Antenna Tuners
My first idea is to use a dipole at home and on the RV and a long wire on the boat.  Translated this means that we must use two different tuners.  The long wire tuner is an Icom AH-4 and the dipole tuner is like LDG Electronics IT-100 Automatic Antenna Tuner. However, it may be best to just use a long-wire for all applications except fixed base home and maybe even there too.  If I do use a long wire then I will get the KISS tuned counterpoise and move it around as well.

OK, In the end I did buy the AH-4 and will run a long wire for the boat, Rv and at home.  Starting with a 72' longwire and a few 11- 17' radials for the counterpoise at home and for RV and boat the KISS gets the nod.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

♪♫♫ Back Home Again in Indiana ♫♫♪





The whirlwind tour of the FL & Texas is history. We are back in Indiana, boatless, and we are tired.  The search for a new, more appropriate boat, will commence soon.  Right now I am leaning towards a Pearson 35 or a Sabre 34 and SAM is non-commital but likes semi-planing hull Trawlers.  The future boat should be an interesting quest.  Our daughter now works in CT so I will start the search this summer out east.


The Pearson 35 is a well built boat, available and at affordable prices .  One of our friends has a very nice one and this is the basis for our liking that boat.
The Sabre 34 was recommended to us by our mechanic in FL and it has the same availability, price point and build characteristics.  I like the Sabre cockpit layout and the cutter configuration so that may limit availability somewhat.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Not so nautical

This blog post and subsequent ones, until we get a new smaller boat, will only be loosely related to nautical adventures.  That said, we left Indiana last Tuesday and made it to AR near Memphis where we stopped for the night.  The next day we drove to within 3 hours of Austin, TX which is where we are now.

Tonight will be the rehersal dinner for my niece and tomorrow the wedding.  Sunday we will turn around for the trip home to Indiana.  It has been an action packed last two weeks and the trip down was filled with adventure too.  This included finding a hospital to take a look at a rash I was having.

We are staying in an RV Park cabin near our wedding venues and it is raining pretty hard with thunder now.  Temperature is 59°F and barometer is 992.6 and trending +.  The crew went out to shop, eaat and have hair done while I stayed at the cabin to take care of Abby and take a much needed shower.  I sign with you now but may add some later if anything interesting happens.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Trip home & unpack

The roadway was full of people from Florida right on up to Knoxville Good Friday.  Atlanta was a zoo and we lost lots of time there so the planned home run was cut off and we stayed at the Days Inn North in Knoxville. This was a first time stay and it was OK - room was a bit noisy but the view of our rig in the parking lot made up for that.  The hot breakfast was mediocre with lots of little things missing but we were the first ones there and that made up for the shortcomings.  All-in-all our $62 room was pretty good as it was clean with new carpets.  We would stay again.

The final leg home was on uncrowded roads but we went thru Cincinnati instead of taking the I-74 to Indy.  This was a mistake as the road construction and slow traffic was irksome.  Still we arrived home about 1730 hours and we turned on the house and unloaded the cab of the truck and the car.

On the way home we discussed Sabre 34 and this boat might hold some promise.  Still in my deck of cards is the Pearson 35 and Seaward 26RK.  There may be others that interest me but the role of the boat at this time in undefined.  One thing is known, I must be able to single hand the boat for extended periods on inter-coastal, near shore use.  The occasional open ocean  passage must be safe for a single hander and this might leave the Seaward wanting.  Unlike our other boats, seasonal living aboard comfort is not an issue as we will be out for a couple of weeks to a month at most.  We will be planning and researching for a while.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Inspiration II sold

In very rapid turn of events a cash buyer viewed boat, put the $$$$ down and we performed sea trial and survey and laid her up on the hard.  We moved off in one day - everything - and tried to pack it inot a truck with topper and a car that is pulled via a dolly by the truck.  Both are full to brim and we are now in Knoxville on the way to Indiana.

SAM & I are planning our next moves - from a 26' Seward to 37 Island Pack - and all boats in between.  SAM likes a semi-displacement trawler & I want to stick with a cutter rig sailboat that has a shallow draft keel and skegged rudder.  We will have to negotiate that for sure!  Moore later.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Boat Delivery - Ortega Landing Marina

This morning bright and early we took off with s/v Tuktu & Capt Rockwood to deliver boat to Ortega Landing Marina on the Ortega River.  It was a short fun delivery and afterwards we went out for lunch in Avondale area of South Jacksonville. The marine water was so shallow that we had to work pretty hard to reverse pretty hard to get into the slip.  The west wind plus low tide made the water almost too low for the 5' keel Tartan.  They may have to start dredging one of these fine days.

As I write it is raining at a moderate rate and steadily.  I think this will continue for some hours.  This is the first real long rain we have had for a long time.  Maybe the river will rise a bit.  I just awoke from a short nap and it was welcome.  I'll just finish the coffee pick-me-up and pop a couple Kraft Carmel's - good to go.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Eyebrows and Moore

SAM laid down the second coat of Cetol Natural Teak on the eyebrows this afternoon and it looks good, The weather is not too conducive to applying the third coat for many days into the future.
However, after the third coat of CNT comes the single layer of Clear and we are finished. Yea. I think this will be the final project for this season.  All the rest of the projects will be deferred to next October when I will be aboard to install some new electronics.  The upcoming season promises lots of cruising to places of adventure.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Sturday & Sunday: Overcast, Humid, Warm

We started the day as usual, each with our own tiny agenda and progressed from the morning to afternoon and now early evening.  The rains came this afternoon, heavy at times, and it has been a while so it was sort of a novelty.  I was working on the boat cutting off teak plugs from the eyebrows when I felt the first drops and it rapidly progressed to light rain.  The tools were collected and dried, put in the cockpit and I started to wait it out. Well, it has more or less rained all afternoon but I did have time to fill the boat tanks and it took about 8 minutes so that was approximately 80 gallons or 20 gallons per day.  Now I am watching SAM fix dinner.

Yesterday was a good day.  We finished the caulking on the eyebrow and a few other little tasks in that area.  Afterwards,SAM went to the store to buy some food and I changed the switch on the overhead light at the Nav Station.  After we were both here for a short time we discussed the Refrigerator and how it needed to be defrosted.  With an hour and a half available we started the process.  Man did it need defrosting.  The ice was an inch and a half in parts.  Then it was time to prep for the dinner at the clubhouse to which we were invited.  The hostess was Dee and she was cleaning out the refrigerator for the end of their season, which is next Tuesday.  What a good time we had - Frank/Dee/Garnet of xxxxx, Richard & wife of Three Quarter Time and us of Inspiration II - with the evening filled with laughs and lots of pasta. 

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Started Eyebrow Reinstall

We started the reinstall of the eyebrow today.  I made the port side forward section and it went pretty smoothly, including the teak plugs.  The small angle section of the stbd side was made as a trial run but I did not install the plugs.  I want to wait until I get to the hardware to get the #10x3/4 pan and flathead screws plus the plastic head hammer ( for the teak plugs).

Randy, of Mañana, was doing some epoxy work with West System 407 thickener that was just starting to kick and I cleaned out his cup and tried applying to a hollow spot on the back side of the teak.  Well, we messed and messed with it has it got harder but it still was running so we turned it face down on a plastic squeege in hopes it would make a flat surface to start sanding on.  We will see tomorrow how it looks. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice again so we will continue the reinstall of the eyebrow.

The Stainless Steel rub rail for the wear spots of the cap rail are cut and ready for install.  I am still contemplating whether to install them or not.  I think it would look good - I will think about it - but there is no rush since our season is ending in 6 weeks±. I do not want to start any more projects and we have one big one on the taks list that we will have to hire out.


Saturday, March 5, 2016

Dock Party!

This evening we had a dock party and there were about 30 people ±.  Several different varieties of food were present so meat rollups, cheese of various types, chips and salsa and SAM's corn bread.
After the party which started to break up at sundown I headed back to the boat to take a soaker shower, man did that feel good!  Now, I am in fresh PJ's with the boat heat turned on and it is warm - life is good.

A program on TV just now is talking about hops.  It is necessary to get female hops root stock.  This start will produce hops for many years.  Gee, it makes me want to make beer again but then again I guess I will not.  I think there is other applications for hops in making tea and as a food enhancements.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

More Stainless Steel Rub Rail

We have decided to add some more stainless steel rub rail along the outside edge of the rub rail centering it in the midships area.  The fenders were starting to dig into the teak rail so this should prevent that issue.  It looks good too.

This day is a wash because the volunteering I do lasted longer today so the day is nearly shot.  Tonight it is supposed to rain so I guess tomorrow will be full applying the port side SS.  I'ss write more tonight as time permits.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Finished

We finished sealing the cap rails, amid high tensions,and are happy it is done.  The port side we did not tape and the stby side we did tape.  The stby side took twice and much 3M FP 4000 UV and for no good reason that I can see - except it looks a little nicer in most spots.  I think if I had it to do all over again I would have tape the port side and use the extra sealant. We may go over the port side but that is undecided.

I am awaiting guest from Michigan to visit us on the boat.  To stay close to the phone I am on the boat and heaven only know where SAM is.  I'll close this missive  so I can look up a few items I need from eBay.  BFN.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Teak & Cap Rails

This afternoon SAM worked on the stbd cap rails and I tried to whittle a scarf joint for a piece of teak that I wanted to fill with a near perfect plug.  Unfortunately, My little project was not too successful on the scarf but the eyebrow teak plug was successful and so the eyebrow will be ready to install soon.

SAM's old seal removal was successful and with the projected good weather we want to finish the replacement seal and that should do it for the next 5± years or so.

Slowly but surely time marches on and our season  will be drawing to a close.  We have 2 trips to Texas for weddings in April and May.  A visit to our daughter in CT is in the cards too. A busy off season.

One sunny day after another

We have been blessed with a couple weeks of great sunny weather with cool to warm days with cool nights.  Looks like the next 4 days are more of the same. We are getting lots of outside work completed and starting even more.  SAM is working on the cap rails and I am preping the eyebrows for re-assembly.  It is a perfect temperature when in the sun and a little cool in the shade.  When SAM, on the east stbd side gets in the shade it will start to get a bit cool.  At least the wind is low so all is good.  I'll snap a pic and edit this blog a little later this evening.  We are fixing dinner (lunch) and then back to work.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Sunny, cool, very low humidity and rising barometer

SAM was a great help on the boat today as we applied 11' of rub rail where the spring lines have been rubbing the teak cap rail. While doing this we decided to get 2x10' section plus 2x6' section so that the
fenders do not rub the edge of the cap rail. Man, I wish they would have put a mid-ship hawser hole in the original design of the ship.

The rub rail process involved cutting the stainless steel, drilling a few holes in the hard stuff, counter sinking the holes.  We made 2x 24 1/2" strips and 2x 35 1/2" and used a cheap Harbor Freight angle grinder  with a thin cuttoff blade.  We used it to take the burs off and square the ends.  It took longer than we expected.

SAM now is using the free time to go and buy clothes for a Texas wedding in early April..  Again I am left to my own devices to make a reasonable dinner. Bummer.  Woe is me and all that stuff :)

Thursday, February 25, 2016

A new look

I just took the time to re-arrange our look.  You will notice the difference right away if you are a regular viewer and if not I hope you like it.

GCS Today: Windy Sunny, Cool

Today was windy, sunny and about 60°F as the high. The enclosed cockpit is a little too warm so I opened the port side flap to let some wind blow through. Lew of Pink Flamingo stopped by to see how I was because my facebook post of the other day alarmed him. Also received some other calls from friends. I guess from what they say I overstated the case of the stress test. We also received our new documentation for the USCG Documented Ship Registry. We are now free to roam the waterways as we see fit.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Warm, Muggy and El Faro

The morning of rain and moderate temperatures has evolved into a warm to hot afternoon with humidity.  Today was pretty much a wash as far as working on the boat.  I did buy some used stainless steel rub, hollow back rub rail to use on the cap rail to keep chafe down  with the mid-ship cleat spring lines.  I also bought a piece 11' long for $22 at Monkey Fist.  Then went to the hardware and purchased 100 each of #8x3/4" pan heads and oval heads for various projects.

Now I am back at the boat writing blogs, emails and opening hatches to keep the temperature down.  At lunch today on the boat we had leftover chicken sandwiches and watched the inquirery questions on the El Faro sinking.  From the questions asked it seems to me that, while knowledgeable, the boat discipline was pretty relaxed and the lack of checklists  and emergency procedures bordered on incompetence.  The previous Mate answered the question well, I thought.  Being a sea going type I had an interest in the proceedings.

Rain this morning

It started raining last night late.  I awoke, sleepy, knowing I had to do something besides hitting the head.  The drops on the floor of the head informed me that I must close the hatch.  With the hatch closed and other duties performed, I laid back down and was fast asleep in seconds.

When I awoke at 0700 there were rain drops falling off the boom and striking the cabin top.  I dreamed around for a while and tided up from the nights sleep.  Now it is time to go to the "breakfast club", a title by which the morning coffee bunch are known, and make up today's plans.

One thing on the list is to go to Monkey Fist and get some smaller rub rail sections to protect the teak cap rail from the wear that the spring lines are giving her.  I know I have some of these on the boat but I have not found them so far.  Maybe SAM can find them?  Younger eyes see better than these old cataract prone, myopic ones do that is for sure.

Overcast, rainy, barometer is 1014 mb, light winds steady from the ENE.   Gotta go to the club - see you later.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Boat work: Inspiration II

The past 4 days have been very nice and we have been in shorts and T's.  Mostly I have been working on the port side and that is the dock side of the boat - lucky us.  The cap rail has several scarf joints and I re-sealed those plus the port side cap rail has been re-sealed on the deck side with 3M 4000UV.  This work is pretty much done.  The only remaining is to do the same on the stbd side.  We are still contemplating finishing the cap rail with Cetol.

I have some work on the eyebrow to prep it for the first coat of Cetol.  After that we will reinstall the eyebrow.  This should be a couple of days work.  After this we should be able to put on the final 2 coats of Cetol and a coat of glossy.

The remainder of this week looks like it its being taken up with other work and bad weather rolling in.  Our friends from Michigan called and said they would stop by on Tuesday of next week,  The season end is rolling around for us too fast.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Full Day of sun & warm temperatures


We had a full day.  Now I feel sort of sunburned on my face and listening to PBS on the :Mosque of Morgantown" - sort of scary but I guess it was true.  Anyway we went to church this morning and this afternoon we worked on cap-rail teak. The day was sunny and mid-70's with a low East wind.

SAM's sawing Z's over on the setee.  Abby is also stretched our on an other section of of the setee.  The sun is going down and I am glowing.  Bye from Moore.

Friday, February 19, 2016

NW4GT

Gary arrived the other day with his boat and we got him in the water ok.  This morning he arrived at Holland Marine service for a quick two hours and a local tour of boat ramps.  Due to a leak around his retractable keel trunk he decided to cut short his visit and return to Governor Creek boat ramp and beach the boat while we loaded it on the trailer.  It was good to visit him and his overnight on Black Creek was a good one he said. He is now on his way back to Orlando area.

It was a most beautiful day with nice easterly breezes and brilliant sun.  Later in the day, near sundown, we went to have a small glass of wine with our friends on Mañana.  The temperatures dropped with the sun and we quickly chilled and are now on the boat warming up.

Earlier in the day we did a quick epoxy job on the split wood cap rail near the port chainplate. Tomorrow we hope to more or less finish this detailing by scabing in new pieces of wood that will make it look good.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

A week of nice weather

We have had a week of excellent weather and this looks to continue for a few more days.  The barometer has risen fast and the skies are sunny with temperatures in mid 60's to 70 degrees.

My ham radio friend NW4GT brought his trailerable sailboat up today for a few days.  I helped him rig her and the last I saw of him he was heading up the Black Creek for find a calm anchorage.  The east wind was kicking up the waves to about 1' and making his boat a bear to rig.  Hopefully, the weather cooperates with his endeavours.  I'' snap some pictures later and add them post-facto. 

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Ortega Landing Marina visit

Today we drove north on hwy 17 to buy some wood clamps and other misc materials.  In the end, we spent more that we had expected to spend but left the place in good spirits.  Having completed our Ortega Landing Marina on the Ortega River just off the much larger St. Johns river and on the south side of Jacksonville.
task early we decided to visit

The marina is very nice and has all the buzz words and amenities one would expect at a more upscale marina.You can read about it yourself and while you are at it look it up on Active Captain.  We were suitably impressed and even got a very good deal on an Edson pedestal arm - like free.  The owners were cleaning out very good junk and giving it away.

All shopping is mere minutes walk or bike ride.  We at at Chick-Fil-A for a quick bite before checking dingy prices at West Marine,  Later I took the Admiral to a antiques shop while I rested off the meal.  All-in-all it was a wonderful day of clear skies, warm temperatures and beautiful sites.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Generator Day, et al

Today was start the generator day.  After returning from the "Coffee Cliche" about 1015 hrs I lubricated the start/stop pivot assemble and cleaned the  shaft a bit and greased it and then started the motor and let the generator run and hour to charge up the battery.  Everything turned out fine.

Quest departed this morning bound for Miami and point further.  We are a bit jealous but the fact is our season will be over in less than 6 weeks and there is still plenty to do on the boat.  I would still like to put in larger gauge running up to the windlass and that will be a  job.

However, the punchlist is getting shorter and that is good.  Moore later.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Our Little Corner of Paradise

On a calm day the reflections of masts on the water makes us realize "We Are Living the Dream".

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Happy Valentines Day

The Admiral and Captain Chuck went out for valentines day dinner this evening with our church group. We had a great time with the theme Hee Haw and a home grown country band along with the jokes and a newly married question guess the answer game.

The hours before the 1700 hrs dinner were sunny and moderate wind and the river had several sailboats out and about.  We did two batches of clothes, filled the boat tanks with water, scrape teak. I took my first shower in the forward head and learned a few lessons.  Lesson 1:  Do not bump the single handle lever to hot in a confined space.  Lesson 2: Have a dirty towel ready to dry off everything but better yet have a hand squeegee and use it before the towel.

From the lessons learned, I am going to remove the long handle and put on a custom built much shorter one with more of a golf ball shape and perhaps one made of teak.  The squeegee will make cleanup and dry down much easier and quicker.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Marina Politics - GCS

The marina we are at has told us today we can no longer access their internet, which is very poor I might add, since we were not considered customers.  We told them we considered ourselves
customers since we spend a lot of $$$$.$$ with their tenent maintenance facility but they disagreed and cut our internet off.  However, we could get their measly 1MBPS up and 0.25 MBPS down for $40/month.  OK, so I go to Verizon and activate their 4MBPS up/down. Ok, Captain of Reynolds you made a mistake here since I am a highly trained wireless engineer and offered my services free of charge to expand your system,

End of rant.

Very cool period and many accomplishments.

The weeks seem to fly by here on the boat at GCS.  Since I last wrote  the weather has been cool to cold with the barometer rising and falling in large swings.  We have endured heavy rain too.  We enjoy the fully enclosed cockpit.

The mast top work is done: a new windex wind vane, new RG-213 cable from the masthead to the  nav station below, new LED Steaming light and a few other improvement around the spreaders.  We spent several days tracing cables from the nav station area to the helm sttion in the cockpit.  I added a terminal buss in the instrument pod, pulled a new SeaTalk cable from the autopilot controller to the Depth/Speed/wind instrument pod and installed the new Ritche SS-2000 compass and dimming switch,  While doing all this work I installed pull string in the tubes for any future work I want to do..

When the weather was warm we pulled off the "eyebrow"  so SAM can refinish it and re-seal the screw holes.  When better weather happens we will re-install the eyebrow and re-seal the screw holes.

Sunday, January 31, 2016

End of January

Here it is!  The end of January and it will never be repeated again in the timeline of history.  It is a day that is overcast and cool with not too much wind.  SAM is down in the marina clubhouse cooking up some goodies for this evenings movie.  We think it will be a good one but then again there can be surprises - "War Room".

I have been perusing eBay trying to find a sheath for the old Leatherman Super Tool.  I have become used to using a Leatherman knock-off for a couple of years and it is used almost every day for something.  So I brought out the real thing that I have had in the car for years.

The Leatherman story began about 1996 in Detroit.  I had the honor of leading the team that integrated the big, big ITS system in the metro area for a major Aerospace design company.  Our
team used leatherman's  for use at the top of towers were climbed to commission and repair equipment.  Well, one day a guy named Chris B. left his somewhere and it was never found.  Some years later, I was climbing up to the top of a tower and reached the equipment box near the 40' level and guess what I found?  Chris's Leatherman and it was in nearly perfect shape with no rust or corrosion at all!  The salt environment of close to the Detroit freeways in the winter is incredible and that is a testament to Leatherman quality.  Chris was off the project somewhere else for our company so I inherited his Super Tool and that is the rest of the story.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Variable Sunday

This morning it was high winds, intermittant rain and overcast grey skies.  This afternoon it was sunny skies and moderate wind and falling temperatures.  As usual on Sunday it was church in the morning and a little bit of work in the afternoon.  I did a bit of repair of the cabinet closures and looked for some more on the internet.  I did find some very similar replacements and this is good.  I then logged the find in the blog watermanwater.tumblr.com for my future review.

My afternoon was slow but I did go to Monkey Fist to try and scrounge some stainless steel tubing to act as legs for the saloon table legs when it is expanded.  The first part was successful and the second part, implementation, was partially successful.  OK, the deal is that the 26" was a bit too long with the plastic feet installed.  The end tables sloped a bit upwards and I had two choices: the first was to cut off the tubing to less that 26" and the second was to raise the table.  Guess what won?  We raised the table 3/4"  and all was fine.  Now all I have to do is find the one missing foot from the new table legs. :)

It is going to be cold from what the weather forecasters are saying.  Reports from Indiana say in the single digits and colder. Right now I hear the cycling of the reverse cycle heater on the boat.  The barometer fell rapidly this morning around sunrise and then started climbing.  The wind was up and somewhat variable since the boat was first close to the dock and later farther away.

Near sunset the son of the new owner of Quest went out to start flying his Phantom III Standard.  The quadcopter costs around $500 and is quite a bargain since last year it was double that figure.  In spite of the 15 mph winds the copter was able to hoover and fly and be stable.  Wow, what a deal.  Mom, I want one!