Reading

I've mainly been reading a lot lately, so there hasn't been much to blog about. I've finished a few books, and read parts of several others -- ones I couldn't get into and put aside.

For example, I finished Vanity Fair and liked it so much, I decided to download and read The Pilgrim's Progress as well, but put it down before I even reached a description of the fair. I'll try to pick it up again later, but at least I have a good idea what it's about.

Instead, I picked up Treasure Island, and should finish it tonight. It's not bad, but probably falls somewhere between Captain Blood and The King's Own -- Captain Blood being the better of the two. It's all pretty light reading, mostly with a nautical theme, but I'm also trying to mix in a few classics.

To that end, I read part of Dubliners, and plan to start Ulysses soon -- I really love my Kindle, in fact, I downloaded almost a dozen more books over the weekend. There's nothing better than anchoring out away from everyone and curling up with a good book, except maybe writing one, but I'm not there yet.

Line watch:

I've been pretty lazy lately, but did learn how to splice the other day. I made an eye-splice in one end of my double reefing line. The first try was a failure, but the second was acceptable -- it's just a neat way to hook the end over it's cleat at the end of the boom. I need to make another one for the single reef line. I cleaned up the boom as well, but need to remove a few more things and add others before she's done.

I also learned how to whip the ends. It's much easier than I'd imagined, but it too took a couple tries. I need to make up a few lines to secure gear on deck or to the stanchions and stern pulpit, but was waiting till I could do it correctly. Now, I guess I'll have to get with it.

Antenna watch:

I played around with my antenna tuner and by using an old wire cut for 20-meters, was able to almost match the performance of my vertical dipole. So, as soon as I get a chance, I'm going to mount the tuner under the lazarette, and make up a set of multiple tuned long wires and radials -- sorta like a fan dipole -- perhaps just 20 and 40 meters to start with.

In fact, I'm actually going to make up a fan dipole first, then connect it to the tuner lugs. That way, she'll already be resonant on 20 and 40 meters, giving me the best performance possible on those bands, with the tuner taking care of the other less used ones.

Once the tuner's working well, it'll allow me to use the radio when underway without having to worry about hoisting the vertical dipole which I can't use when sailing due to chafe.

Battery watch:

I think there's something wrong with my charging system, and I may also have a bad battery. I've been having trouble with the alternator, but haven't found the problem yet. Sometimes it just doesn't want to put out enough voltage to charge the batteries. However, the problem is intermittent, as it worked fine today.

The batteries are another matter. I have three of them that are all the same and divided into two banks. Two are wired together in series and used as house batteries, while the other is primarily a starter battery, but can be used along with or as a backup for the house bank.

The starter battery is wired directly to the starter and alternator (need to add fuses at some point), and there is a battery combiner that connects them all together when the charging voltage on either side reaches 13 volts.

That part works fine -- except for the recent alternator problems. However, the two house batteries don't seem to keep a charge nearly as long as the single starter battery (I can switch between the two banks from within the cabin). Therefore, I think one of the house ones must be bad, especially since they should last twice as long. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait till I get to Houston before I can test them.

Zoe watch:

We finally had a bit of cold weather, and even a little rain, but unless it's actually raining, she still prefers to sleep on deck during the day. If it's hot and sunny, she'll find shade either on one of the side decks or on top of the coach roof next to the mast. But she's normally right up in the peak of the bow or on top of the forward hatch.