Loosing Sleep

We've had a lot of wind for the last several days, and both Zoe and I have had trouble sleeping. The winds were only about 20-25 knots, but since they were out of the north, north-east, and east, where we've got a lot of fetch, the waves built up and knocked us around a bit. Although they only built up to maybe two feet, the period was so short, 1-2 seconds, in the shallow water that we were constantly bouncing back up and down.

It finally calmed down last night and we both slept well. In fact, it was very pleasant this morning too, and up until a few minutes ago was flat calm. The forecast is calling for another day of winds, but I hope it'll calm down sooner.

I want to re-caulk the chainplates before the next rain, probably Thursday, but would prefer to do it when things weren't bouncing around. Not only does that make it a neater job, but it gives the caulk time to set up.

Dinghy watch:

I haven't done much to the dinghy lately, but did attempt to order a new sail last week. I'd gotten an email from the maker saying they were back in stock and tried to place an order, but they dropped the ball and didn't ship it, so I cancelled the order yesterday. I can't sit here forever waiting on something that may or may not be on the way.

However, I did talk to another outfit the sells kits. They'll also assemble them for you, but the lead time is much greater, so I'll have to wait till I get to Houston before placing an order. I like the idea of making my own sails, so I may try to gen up something out of some old scrap canvass and see how it goes.

I still need to rip the 1x2 oak strips down for the gunwales, but may wait on that as well. In any case, I need to wait for a calm day so I can make a straight cut.

Radio watch:

I've been taking daily position reports from Mike, WA9DOS, as he crosses the Atlantic singlehanded. He should make Grenada this weekend. I was a little surprised that I was the one normally hearing him, but I think it has more to do with my antenna than anything else. I also had a check in from Steve, VA7SKM, last night, who's down in the Straights of Magellan, 5,700 miles away. That my longest contact to date.

A lot of the other net control stations use beam antennas that concentrate signals, both receive and transmit, in a particular direction. If they aren't pointing in the right direction, they won't hear a weak signal. However, if they know where to point, they can work stations I can't hear. I use an omnidirectional antenna, so I hear pretty well in all directions. I personally think that's the best way to run a net, but not everyone agrees.

I also only run the standard 100 watts. That way, if someone hears me ask for check ins, I'll probably hear them as well. A lot of stations run amplifiers, up to 1,500 watts, and can be heard half way around the world. Combining that with a beam antenna, they get a lot of stations trying to check in that they can't hear unless the happen to be pointed at them.

This can be very discouraging, and I've given up even trying to check in with some stations because, although I hear them quite well, I know from experience they'll never hear me. They generate huge pileups, large numbers of stations trying to check in all at once, which makes it even more difficult for weaker stations to be heard.

During those times, I keep off the air and listen for maritimes. If I hear one, I'll put out multiple calls trying to get the attention of someone with a stronger signal who can notify the net control station. It doesn't always work, but usually I can get in relatively quickly, however it has taken up to 15-20 minutes a few times.

Key West watch:

I'll probably be ready to move this week, but may stay here a while longer. I've heard reports that the Keys are getting very crowded, and I'm not thrilled about that prospect. I fixed the broken mounting bolt and painted the portholes, so other than some caulking and repacking the stuffing box, there's nothing keeping me here.

Unfortunately, this isn't a great place to sail -- too shallow. I don't really want to go down to the Bahamas either, so I'm not sure what I'll do, but I have at least another month to kill before I can continue on to Houston. I suppose I could go sooner, but who knows? I don't want to sail in frigid temperatures again.

Mounting Issues

I've still got plenty of work to do on the boat, but have mostly finished the portholes, at least for now. I hope to fix the broken bolt, and repack the stuffing box shortly, however, I'm not sure about mounting the new winch on the mast.

I made a pad put of an old piece of teak, but I'm not sure it'll work. The mast is oval, so I need to put something flat between the winch and the mast, but I'm afraid I'd have to take out so much material from the center of the teak pad that it would loose it's integrity.

Unfortunately, the old stainless steel mounting plate won't work as is -- the holes are wrong and the new ones would be too close to the old ones. In any case, I have to remove it, so I'll see if moving it'll work -- I'm not worried about the through holes in the stainless steel, just the mounting holes in the aluminum mast itself.

Zoe watch:

After making the teak pad, I was covered with sawdust, so I decided to take a quick swim to clean up. Zoe joined me, but neither of us stayed in very long. It got up to close to 80 today, so it actually felt good, but still a bit too cold for comfort.

Crowded Anchorage

The anchorage off Titusville is pretty big, even with the encroachment of the municipal mooring field -- which is probably illegal, but that's another story. Even so, a few days ago, a small ketch anchored within a little over a boat length away from me -- about 50 feet. It was late in the day, and the wind wasn't expected to shift during the night, so I decided to wait till the next day to see if he'd move.

Unfortunately, the wind did veer a little, and since he was just off my bow, I let out more chain just in case he dragged. It was gusting over 20 and the holding here isn't great, so I was up all night periodically checking on him and even put out fenders just in case. I would have moved during the night had he not been over my anchor at the time.

At about 0900, he lowered his dinghy, and I figured he probably wasn't going anywhere, so I yelled over and asked how long he planned to stay. He answered a few days, so I told him I'd move since he was too close -- which I did in 20 knot gusts later in the morning. He tried to say I didn't need to move, but since he'd already demonstrated bad judgement, I waved him off.

I can't understand why someone would want to anchor that close to another boat with so much space available. Just to give you an idea of how much space, another six boats anchored nearby the following day and a half in the same general area, and none of them came within 100 feet of me or anyone else. The closest two where about 150 feet away. In fact, there's still plenty of room for another couple of dozen boats.

That's still a bit close for me, but I prefer to be alone anyway. Bill, KI4MMZ, told me a few days ago that there's going to be a launch on the 19th, so that might explain the additional boats, or it could just be random. I'm still planning to head down to Key West, but want to finish up all my little projects here first. However, I'm beginning to worry about how crowded it might get down there -- everyone seems to be headed to either Key West or the Bahamas.

I should finish the potholes by the time it rains on Wednesday, and hope to replace the broken bolt sometime along the way. I would have tackled the bolt earlier, but the wood I need to use to block up the engine is buried somewhere in the forecastle, so I decided to rearrange everything first instead of making a bigger mess by just searching for them.

Also, I'm a bit under the weather from the recent cold snap and loss of sleep the other night. Nothing to worry about, but I've had a sore neck and headaches. While I'm used to a sore neck, this is a little worse than normal and interferes with movement. So I'm taking it easy and doing a little recreational reading, currently The King's Own, which is pretty good.

Zoe watch:

She's gotten so used to sleeping next to me when it's cold, that she tends to curl up next to me almost every night now. She hangs out on deck or at the foot of my bunk most of the day and although she curls up at the foot when we go to bed, she's almost always next to me when I wake up.

When it's really cold, I'll drape the sleeping bag over her, but she'll move out from under once she warms up. We've had a few nights in the 30's, but mostly it only gets down to the mid-50's. I image she'll move back to the foot, or even the cabin sole once it finally warms back up. Heck, I might even sleep on the sole if it gets too hot.

Another Broken Bolt

I changed my oil yesterday and while I was cleaning out the drip pan under the engine, I noticed a bolt. Although it was broken off, it was still pretty big, and I recognized it was from the engine mounts.

I replaced one in City Island, but in retrospect, I should have replaced them all. It's the lower starboard one that bolts the mount to the transmission bell housing. I bought new bolts today, but may try to lift the engine enough and reuse the broken one temporarily.

It broke off inside, so it still has a little over a 1/4" of meat. I filed off the end, so I should be able to use it. I also bought a new set of easy-outs, but I'm not sure I can get a drill down there to drill out the old one. I'll tackle it tomorrow and see how far I get.

Porthole watch:

I pulled all the screens and cleaned up the portholes a bit today. I still need to use a brush and naval jelly to clean them up before painting. The screens trap water, often salt water, and really accelerates the corrosion process.

Luckily, it's warm enough to do this sort of work. It's been a year and a half since I cleaned them up, and although they aren't that bad, they're essentially bare aluminum now, so I need to protect them before they disappear.

Provision watch:

I had to go ashore to dump my trash and the old oil, so I left the dinghy at the dock and walked to the auto parts store to pick up the bolts, and on my way back, picked up another load of groceries. Not sure how much I've got, but I'm going to try to keep track, so I can better plan next time.

Stocking Up

Although I haven't settled on a route yet, I have decided to winter in the Keys, probably Key West, and continue on to Houston in the spring. So, in order to avoid the high cost of provisions in the Keys, I'm trying to stock up here.

I've already made two trips to the grocery store, once walking, which limited me to about 60 pounds, and the other with Paul, KM4MA, yesterday. I will probably make another trip to pick up a few more things before I leave, but I think I've already got about 3 month's worth.

Hopefully, I'll be able to augment that by fishing along the way. I bought some fishing gear before leaving Huntington, but haven't used it yet. I'll also need to buy a fishing license, as well as a net and anything else I find I'm missing, before I leave Titusville.

Dinghy watch:

Paul has the same dinghy and had to redo his gunwales too. He took me by the local hardware store and helped pick out the appropriate fasteners. He's also going to give me a piece of fire hose I can use to make a fender cover for them. Once that's done, she'll be as good as new. Well, except for a sail.

Haircut watch:

I finally got tired of dealing with my hair, and reluctantly cut it just before Christmas. The first try wasn't terrible, but I re-cut and evened it up again after New Years -- and have to say it doesn't look bad.

I've got really thin hair, as opposed to coarse, not quantity, so it isn't easy to cut. At least I've never found a barber who could give anything short of a high and tight that didn't look jagged. So, even though it isn't perfect, it's still better than most I've had -- of course Zoe's the only one who sees it anyway.

Boat watch:

The portholes are starting to corrode again, so I bought some paint and will clean them up again and paint them. I'll use a zinc chromate primer and engine enamel, but may need to fill them with epoxy first -- the lip where they seal has been eaten away on a few of them. I'm going to do them in place, so I'll probably just do one or two at a time -- total of six.

Zoe watch:

With the warmer weather, she'll often sleep in the shade, either on the side deck, or under the dinghy on the fore deck. I think she prefers being under the dinghy on really hot days because she also gets a nice breeze up there. Unfortunately, that area will go away once I move it abaft the mast -- hope she'll forgive me.

Made to Hawaii

I took the last half hour of net for Gary, WB6UQA, tonight, and was surprised to get a check in from Hawaii. Randy, KH6RC, checked in right before the end of the net. That's over 4,700 miles on a great circle -- pretty cool.

I'm not sure if that's my longest contact or not, but I've spoken to Europe several times, so I'll have to look into it. Anyway, making it all the way to Hawaii is pretty cool, and from a boat ta boot...

We're anchored off Titusville. It was a long day, so I'm pretty beat, but I'm glad we did it in a single day. We left at a little before 0900, and anchored just before 1700, and I never left the wheel.

Titusville

We're going to try to get down to Titusville today. It should be an easy trip, but might take all day. I'm just waiting for the sun to come up and burn off some of the frost.

I took the dinghy over and picked up fuel and water from the Halifax Harbor Marina yesterday. I called around first and found the prices varied by up to a quarter a gallon -- HHM was the cheapest, as well as the nicest. I got 20 gallons of water and 10 gallons of diesel. The diesel topped me off, but I could take on another 40 gallons of water if I wanted.

In fact, if it had been foggy this morning as forecast, I probably would have done so, but it looks pretty good right now, so I'd rather get underway early. I just need to straighten up the deck and cabin, pm the engine, and weigh anchor.

Antenna watch:

I've been having a problem with my VHF antenna, so I went up the mast a couple times yesterday to see if I could fix it. I replaced the short cable up top, which did have a short, but it looks like either the cable in the mast, the bulkhead connector at the top of the mast, or the antenna itself is bad.

It's unlikely a problem with the antenna, but unfortunately the other two aren't easy to replace while the mast is up, so there isn't much I can do about it right now -- at least by myself. However, I do have the parts on board to replace the cable and all the connectors.

As a temporary solution, I made a small dipole and hung it from the starboard spreader, but will need to come up with a better mounting system. I'm also considering getting a whip I can mount on the stern pulpit as a backup. I'll look into it once I get to Titusville.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year...

There's not much going on here. I tried to help Bill out with some antenna problems, but without a car or license (lived in Manhattan too long, I guess) I wasn't able to run down and get parts, so I ended up not being that much help.

We moved down to Daytona Beach a few days ago, about 40 miles, so at least we'll be able to load up on supplies and fuel before we leave. It's going to be pretty cold for the next couple of days, but after that it should warm back up nicely.

We'll head down to Titusville, then hopefully out the Port Canaveral inlet. I've decided to go down to the keys via Miami. It'll take a few days, but we should be able to make short day hops on the outside most of the way. We just need to stay inside the Gulf Stream.

Reading watch:

I've been spending a lot of time reading lately, mostly on the kindle. However, I've also been studying the Bowditch. It's a little dry, but I'm trying to get more proficient in navigation, particularly celestial, and weather. I normally mix it up with other books on the kindle.

Right now, those include Robinson Crusoe (which is sometimes dryer than Bowditch) and Bligh's account of the mutiny and subsequent voyage across the pacific in an open boat. I read the trilogy many years ago, but this is the first time I've read Bligh's account. It's pretty good.

Zoe watch:

Zoe enjoyed visiting Bill's house. In addition to a couple of car rides, she got to hang out with his cats -- she didn't even chase them.