Heatwave

We're anchored in the Matanzas River a few hundred yards off Fort Matanzas. It's a nice quite area, and we're having a mini heatwave, so we're going to stay here a few days -- it might reach the low 80's this week. I want to inspect and clean the bottom and do some work on the Dyer dinghy.

I was a little concerned about alligators, but Paul, KM4MA, told me not to worry about them, especially during the daytime. I don't think I've ever actually seen one, but with the water in the river being a bit cloudy, I wouldn't see them anyway, so it's good to know they're not a problem.

I'm also going to run a net for Bob, K5HUT, this afternoon. I ran an open slot a few days ago, but since it was a last minute deal, I wasn't really prepared. I'll make sure I'm ready this time -- I couldn't find my copy of the preamble last time.

Dinghy watch:

It looks like I'm going to order a new sail from the dinghy maker. They aren't cheap, but the quality is high and I doubt I could find one any cheaper anyway. I'm also considering getting a few other things, including new oak gunwales and a drain plug. I might need a few other things, but will wait till I get the fenders off and inspect her. I'm really excited about sailing her, so the new sail will be my Christmas present to myself. If I'm lucky, I might even have it before Christmas.

I also need to rethink stowing her on deck. I currently have her stowed before the mast, but she interferes with some of the running rigging, in particular the preventers, but to a lesser extent the jib sheets. She'd also partially obstruct the dorade vents, which I'm ready to re-mount. The other option is abaft the mast, between the mast an the sliding hatch.

I'd originally rejected this location because it interferes with the control lines run to the cockpit as well as the boom vang. However, I've pretty much decided to mount my extra winch on the mast and not to run all the lines to the cockpit. Other boats might be different, but on mine, raising, lowering, and reefing are much easier if all lines are at the mast.

I was also unhappy with the current boom vang, and will probably add addition attachment points on both sides of the coach roof and attach it there instead of the base of the mast. However, I haven't really needed it yet anyway, so I just removed it yesterday. The boat originally had boom roller furling, so she has an odd ring the slips over the boom that's used to attach the boom vang. Since I use slab reefing now, I plan to add fixed bales instead.

With all of this out of the way, I hope the dinghy will fit -- I may try it later today. Of course, it'll block the solar panel, but I need to move it anyway -- it gets shaded by the boom most of the time. In retrospect, I should have gotten several smaller ones instead of one big one. Perhaps I can mount it to either side of the dinghy once she's stowed. That would definitely improve it's efficiency.

Zoe watch:

There's a beach nearby, so if I can get the dinghy work done this morning, I may take her over in it this afternoon.