Looks like Abby lost her mast and with it all her antennas, as well as her engine. It's great that she's still alive and will be rescued, but I think this is yet another example of what not to do. She had the wrong type of boat, seemed to rely too heavily on high-tech gear, and let an arbitrary date dictate her choice of time and route. Plus, she's now put a number of other people at risk in near hurricane conditions who have to rescue her.
Again, glad she's okay, but I think she, and her family, need to pick up the bill for this one. But, she'll write a book and make lots of money from it. And if one of the rescuers is killed saving her, she'll make even more. Btw, the boat isn't sinking and most likely won't, and she has plenty of food. The only problem she really has right now is that the mast is down and the engine is out, so she currently can't sail or make headway. But the reason she's getting saved is that she has no way to communicate.
With all the gear she has on the boat, she could easily jury rig some sort of sail and could most likely fix the engine too, but since she's just 16, she pops her EPIRB's instead. There is no imminent threat to life, just an inconvenience and the fact that she won't be able to set a record. I think she should have at least made an effort before declaring an emergency.
11 June 2010
10 June 2010
Abby Sunderland is missing
Looks like she might have lost her boat, or at least her mast and radio. Hope she's okay, but it's not a good idea to be down there during the winter.
New Stove
Got my new stove today. It's an Origo 6000 non-pressurized, two burner alcohol stove, which is the larger version of the Origo 1500 single burner I already have -- guess I'll keep that one as a backup.
It's a little smaller than the space I've got, so I'll need to add 1 1/2" spacers on each side to mount the gimbals, probably just a couple 3/4" thick blocks of plywood. I'll also have a little more space behind it, so I might be able to use that for storage as well, but will need to be careful since it will be near the stove.
I need to buy some 3/4" plywood to replace the dividers in the cockpit lockers, so I should have enough left over to mount the stove. I can use the burners now, but need to wait until it's mounted to use the oven. Looking forward to baking bread -- sorta like Chichester did on his circumnavigation. I picked up his book, Gypsy Moth Circles the Globe, shortly after moving onto the boat and finished it a few weeks ago. It was really good, but the main things I learned from it were what not to do -- some of which I already knew. Singlehanded sailing was still in it's infancy back then; He did his singlehanded circumnavigation via the clipper route in 1967.
I just finished another book about Magellan's circumnavigation (he actually died in route) last week that a friend from McManus, Justin (another Justin, not the owner), gave me right before I moved from Manhattan. It was pretty good as well, but wasn't quite as applicable as Chichester's book-- he was a singlehander like me. Might sound like a lot of reading, but other than those two books, studying for my license, doing some research and ordering online, I've been working pretty much every day, though not making as much progress as I'd like.
Haven't painted the cockpit yet -- problems with weather, etc. -- but have the entire deck cleared off and almost ready for painting. So, I should be able to do the whole thing at one time, or at least large sections. I have to mix the expoxy, so it's better if I have more area available so I won't waste any of it -- it only lasts about a hour or so once it's mixed.
Hoping to start remounting deck hardware next week. I'll need help, so I'm hoping a friend will drop by. Otherwise, I'll have to hire someone from the yard. However, I think I can do a good deal of it myself using gorilla tape, but that takes a lot longer since you have to keep going from one side to the other (which can be a long way and require you to crawl into a small space) to adjust the wrench. With someone on the other side, it's really quick. I took it all off with gorilla tape, but putting it back on requires caulking which adds to the complexity.
To get the deck clear, I removed the 1x4 stringers from the cover's frame and lashed it with one of my old halyards. Then I moved the legs of the "rafters" off the deck and onto the toe rail, and to keep them from slipping off, I had to lash the bottom of one side to the other side about a foot of so down from the ridge. It seems even more sturdy and rigid than it did when they installed it -- Paul would be proud of me.
That's Paul Smoke. He was my first boss, back when I was 16, and he and his girlfriend let me live with them when my father kicked me out of the house later that summer. Paul was a framer at the time and taught me how to be a carpenter -- comes in handy. I ended up working for Paul several times over the years and still keep in touch. He's married with 4 grown kids now and owns a sign business in Baytown. Was hoping to get down there this summer, but with the oil spill, that probably isn't an option.
Anyway, it's a nice day, so I'm going to see if I can get the rest of the deck ready for painting.
It's a little smaller than the space I've got, so I'll need to add 1 1/2" spacers on each side to mount the gimbals, probably just a couple 3/4" thick blocks of plywood. I'll also have a little more space behind it, so I might be able to use that for storage as well, but will need to be careful since it will be near the stove.
I need to buy some 3/4" plywood to replace the dividers in the cockpit lockers, so I should have enough left over to mount the stove. I can use the burners now, but need to wait until it's mounted to use the oven. Looking forward to baking bread -- sorta like Chichester did on his circumnavigation. I picked up his book, Gypsy Moth Circles the Globe, shortly after moving onto the boat and finished it a few weeks ago. It was really good, but the main things I learned from it were what not to do -- some of which I already knew. Singlehanded sailing was still in it's infancy back then; He did his singlehanded circumnavigation via the clipper route in 1967.
I just finished another book about Magellan's circumnavigation (he actually died in route) last week that a friend from McManus, Justin (another Justin, not the owner), gave me right before I moved from Manhattan. It was pretty good as well, but wasn't quite as applicable as Chichester's book-- he was a singlehander like me. Might sound like a lot of reading, but other than those two books, studying for my license, doing some research and ordering online, I've been working pretty much every day, though not making as much progress as I'd like.
Haven't painted the cockpit yet -- problems with weather, etc. -- but have the entire deck cleared off and almost ready for painting. So, I should be able to do the whole thing at one time, or at least large sections. I have to mix the expoxy, so it's better if I have more area available so I won't waste any of it -- it only lasts about a hour or so once it's mixed.
Hoping to start remounting deck hardware next week. I'll need help, so I'm hoping a friend will drop by. Otherwise, I'll have to hire someone from the yard. However, I think I can do a good deal of it myself using gorilla tape, but that takes a lot longer since you have to keep going from one side to the other (which can be a long way and require you to crawl into a small space) to adjust the wrench. With someone on the other side, it's really quick. I took it all off with gorilla tape, but putting it back on requires caulking which adds to the complexity.
To get the deck clear, I removed the 1x4 stringers from the cover's frame and lashed it with one of my old halyards. Then I moved the legs of the "rafters" off the deck and onto the toe rail, and to keep them from slipping off, I had to lash the bottom of one side to the other side about a foot of so down from the ridge. It seems even more sturdy and rigid than it did when they installed it -- Paul would be proud of me.
That's Paul Smoke. He was my first boss, back when I was 16, and he and his girlfriend let me live with them when my father kicked me out of the house later that summer. Paul was a framer at the time and taught me how to be a carpenter -- comes in handy. I ended up working for Paul several times over the years and still keep in touch. He's married with 4 grown kids now and owns a sign business in Baytown. Was hoping to get down there this summer, but with the oil spill, that probably isn't an option.
Anyway, it's a nice day, so I'm going to see if I can get the rest of the deck ready for painting.
08 June 2010
Aurora, c. 2000
Aurora, c. 2000This is an old photo of Aurora taken by her previous owner -- I think that's him in the photo. The 98 on the sails represents the hull number, i.e., she was 98th Luders 33 built. She's on a port tack with her sails fully deployed and probably doing about 6 knots. I'll post some more photos once I've finished the refit and removed the cover.
06 June 2010
Square root algorithm
Coach Drew Dunlap taught me this algorithm a long time ago in a high school algebra class, and I've always regretted that I'd forgotten it and could never find an example in any math books. I'm studying for my General exam next weekend and needed to take the square root of something and didn't have a calculator handy, and won't have one for the test, even though it's allowed -- the batteries are dead in the old TI I've got, and I doubt they'd let me use a laptop.
Anyway, I google'd for it and found several sites that demonstrated it, so now I can do it again. Basically, you group the numbers in pairs starting from the right, then work from the left and find the square. Obviously, the first pair might be a single digit, or 0(something). I'm not going to try to replicate it here, but if you search for "square root algorithm" you'll get a bunch of hits.
Coach Dunlap was a great coach, he coached track (I was swimmer not a runner at the time), but was an even better teacher. I took 2 full years of mathematics my junior year, all with him, and it changed my life. Turned out to be the only thing in high school that challenged and excited me, other than sports. Once I learned to read proficiently -- years later while deployed on board ship with nothing else to do -- I got more interested in history and literature, but still love math.
It's probably still my best subject, even though my degree is in history with a minor in English; I could have minored in math as well, but Dr. Clinton Machann was teaching an English course the summer I was graduated, so I took it instead of another math course. I'd had him for two other courses and really like him. Once before I went on active duty, and once after I got out. It wasn't until the first class that I realized the "romantics" was all poetry. I struggled through it and actually liked some of it. At least I know who those guys are, even if it's not to my taste.
Dr. Machann is also a musician and I remember mentioning that Jonathan Edwards was also the name of musician up in the north east -- I first heard his album will living in a group house in Lake Placid during the Winter Olympics in 1980. He was familiar with him and mentioned several of his songs. The only ones I could remember at the time where Shanty and Sunshine. I was a few years older than the other kids in the class -- they were all freshman, and I was probably a junior, or should have been, at the time. Anyway, they all looked at me like I was from outer space after that.
At some point during the semester, Dr. Machann announced to the class that the English department had a band and that they would be playing the next weekend at Grins Beer Garden (I think that was the name), so I took my girl friend Nancy to see them. I was the only one from the class who came and Nancy and I were practically the only ones there, but they were pretty good and it was fun. Nancy liked them too.
My only other story about Dr. Machann, was when I got out of the Corps and went back to school, I just happened to take another class with him, probably Western Literature or something like that. One day, he was talking about Jane Austin and asked the class if anyone had ever read anything by her. I, along with half a dozen other students raised my hand, and he asked us one by one what we'd read.
The girl he called on right before me mentioned that she'd read Pride and Prejudice, and he said it was a good example of English mannerism and that the girls in the class would probably really like it. Then he asked me what I'd read, and when I said Pride and Prejudice too. He laughed and said, well it looks like Marines would probably like it as well. This was in the late 80's and I was a good 10 years older than everyone in the class, so again, they all looked at me somewhat strangely.
So, although I got a slow start, I'm one of those weird life-long learners who doesn't own a tv, listens to NPR, and reads all the time. And some of my best friends are former teachers or mentors whom I've known for over 20 to 30 years. They might even read this...
Anyway, I google'd for it and found several sites that demonstrated it, so now I can do it again. Basically, you group the numbers in pairs starting from the right, then work from the left and find the square. Obviously, the first pair might be a single digit, or 0(something). I'm not going to try to replicate it here, but if you search for "square root algorithm" you'll get a bunch of hits.
Coach Dunlap was a great coach, he coached track (I was swimmer not a runner at the time), but was an even better teacher. I took 2 full years of mathematics my junior year, all with him, and it changed my life. Turned out to be the only thing in high school that challenged and excited me, other than sports. Once I learned to read proficiently -- years later while deployed on board ship with nothing else to do -- I got more interested in history and literature, but still love math.
It's probably still my best subject, even though my degree is in history with a minor in English; I could have minored in math as well, but Dr. Clinton Machann was teaching an English course the summer I was graduated, so I took it instead of another math course. I'd had him for two other courses and really like him. Once before I went on active duty, and once after I got out. It wasn't until the first class that I realized the "romantics" was all poetry. I struggled through it and actually liked some of it. At least I know who those guys are, even if it's not to my taste.
Dr. Machann is also a musician and I remember mentioning that Jonathan Edwards was also the name of musician up in the north east -- I first heard his album will living in a group house in Lake Placid during the Winter Olympics in 1980. He was familiar with him and mentioned several of his songs. The only ones I could remember at the time where Shanty and Sunshine. I was a few years older than the other kids in the class -- they were all freshman, and I was probably a junior, or should have been, at the time. Anyway, they all looked at me like I was from outer space after that.
At some point during the semester, Dr. Machann announced to the class that the English department had a band and that they would be playing the next weekend at Grins Beer Garden (I think that was the name), so I took my girl friend Nancy to see them. I was the only one from the class who came and Nancy and I were practically the only ones there, but they were pretty good and it was fun. Nancy liked them too.
My only other story about Dr. Machann, was when I got out of the Corps and went back to school, I just happened to take another class with him, probably Western Literature or something like that. One day, he was talking about Jane Austin and asked the class if anyone had ever read anything by her. I, along with half a dozen other students raised my hand, and he asked us one by one what we'd read.
The girl he called on right before me mentioned that she'd read Pride and Prejudice, and he said it was a good example of English mannerism and that the girls in the class would probably really like it. Then he asked me what I'd read, and when I said Pride and Prejudice too. He laughed and said, well it looks like Marines would probably like it as well. This was in the late 80's and I was a good 10 years older than everyone in the class, so again, they all looked at me somewhat strangely.
So, although I got a slow start, I'm one of those weird life-long learners who doesn't own a tv, listens to NPR, and reads all the time. And some of my best friends are former teachers or mentors whom I've known for over 20 to 30 years. They might even read this...
03 June 2010
Too Hot
I got a little too hot yesterday working in the cockpit under the cover. It was open at both the stern and bow, but was still close to 100 -- it's about 95 right now. I got a little dizzy toward the end of the day, and didn't sleep well, so I'm taking it a little easier today and plan to work on jobs in the cabin today and only work on the deck in the morning or evening when it's cooler. However, due to fog this morning and thunder storms predicted for this afternoon, I may not be able to work on it today. In addition to the 4 places that need another coat of fairing plus a few holes and nicks that still need filling, I'm going to add a lip of resin to the edge of the deck up against the teak toe rail, so I'm probably looking at at least another full day of glass work before I can paint.
I spent most of today working on plumbing. I finally removed the lectro-san from the head. To get it out, I had to remove the sink and toilet. Now that everything's out, I'm going to try to find a holding tank that will fit in the locker below the counter top along the hull. It's not a big space, and due to the curvature of the hull, it's not regular shape either. That's why I'm online; I need to search for one. A holding tank will make me legal. Otherwise, I could get into trouble for having a functioning head with no holding tank, since most places near shore are officially "no discharge" areas. I'll add a y-value (that I'll need to lock in place) so I can switch to direct discharge when out at sea and holding tank when close to shore.
I'm also going to order the oven version of the stove I bought a few weeks ago. It's sorta expensive, but I think it'll workout okay. I really like the way the stove works, but am a bit concerned about it not sealing when not in use. You have to open it and insert a rubber cover/seal, and if you forget to remove it and try to light it, you'll burn it. I guess the only real problem is if you were to capsize without the cover in place, you'd leak fuel all over the place. You'd also have a fire if it was lit at the time, but since it burns alcohol that's extinguished with water, it may not be that big a deal, e.g., if we capsize, there will be plenty of water in the cabin to put out the fire.
Please note, that I have no intention on capsizing. For one thing, I plan to deploy my Jordan drogue if I run into that sort or weather. I also have a boat that heaves to pretty well. Also, the stove is fully gimballed so it should be relatively safe.
I spent most of today working on plumbing. I finally removed the lectro-san from the head. To get it out, I had to remove the sink and toilet. Now that everything's out, I'm going to try to find a holding tank that will fit in the locker below the counter top along the hull. It's not a big space, and due to the curvature of the hull, it's not regular shape either. That's why I'm online; I need to search for one. A holding tank will make me legal. Otherwise, I could get into trouble for having a functioning head with no holding tank, since most places near shore are officially "no discharge" areas. I'll add a y-value (that I'll need to lock in place) so I can switch to direct discharge when out at sea and holding tank when close to shore.
I'm also going to order the oven version of the stove I bought a few weeks ago. It's sorta expensive, but I think it'll workout okay. I really like the way the stove works, but am a bit concerned about it not sealing when not in use. You have to open it and insert a rubber cover/seal, and if you forget to remove it and try to light it, you'll burn it. I guess the only real problem is if you were to capsize without the cover in place, you'd leak fuel all over the place. You'd also have a fire if it was lit at the time, but since it burns alcohol that's extinguished with water, it may not be that big a deal, e.g., if we capsize, there will be plenty of water in the cabin to put out the fire.
Please note, that I have no intention on capsizing. For one thing, I plan to deploy my Jordan drogue if I run into that sort or weather. I also have a boat that heaves to pretty well. Also, the stove is fully gimballed so it should be relatively safe.
01 June 2010
First day off
Took off most of Memorial Day and ended up going for a run just after noon. It was a hot sunny day and I just couldn't resist. The run felt great. I went about 4 miles at an 8:38 pace, and even ran the last 2 miles without my shirt. But a few hours later my heels started hurting and this morning my left one was really sore. I stretched it out this morning and it feels fine now, but I'll have to be really careful and keep my calves stretched. Not sure I'll ever be able to run pain-free again, but I can deal with a little pain, so I plan to run again in a few days and see how it goes.
I did do a little glass work yesterday afternoon. I added a couple of layers of fiberglass to the top of the winch bases and filled in the old holes, actually all the holes, with resin. I gave them a coat of filler for fairing this morning, but I mixed a large amount and some of it gelled in the cup before I could use it. I hate wasting it since it's so expensive -- resin, hardener, and filler runs at about $125 a gallon once you mix it up.
I've got the cockpit almost ready to paint now. Just need to finish faring everything and clean it all up. I had to button up the cover this afternoon due to the rain, and can't do any more glass work due to the humidity but should be able to use this time to get all the cleaning and sanding done. I've got a few other tasks I can work on too, but will need a couple of nice days to finish the cockpit. Once it's done, I can move all the gear off the coach roof and start working on that part. It only needs a little cleaning, filling, and sanding before I can paint it as well. I do need to remove the last 2 hand rails and some deck hardware, but might be able to do that this afternoon while I'm waiting out the rain.
I'm using a 2-part epoxy primer, but have just a 1-part polyurethane for the top coat. I only have 3 quarts, but none of them are white, so I may not use them. I was planning on using a light gray for the non-skid areas, but am now thinking that white all over would be better. I also need to figure out if I can use the primer as the finish coat or need to use something like the polyurethane -- for UV protection? At some point, I'm going to do the aft pulpit and the toe rails, so I don't want to have to deal with removing a lot of paint in order to fix and fair the fiberglass. If I use the polyurethane, will I need to remove it before I can do any glass work? I haven't been able to find a good answer yet.
I've also decided to put a bead of resin along the edge of the toe rail in order to help seal it and turn away the water. I'm going to try to clean under it and force the resin underneath and leave a little lip. Resin won't stick real well to teak, but it's better than nothing and should hold better and longer than regular caulk. I'll probably caulk it as well, but that'll be later. I used 5200 a couple of years ago, but it broke down, probably due to UV.
I did do a little glass work yesterday afternoon. I added a couple of layers of fiberglass to the top of the winch bases and filled in the old holes, actually all the holes, with resin. I gave them a coat of filler for fairing this morning, but I mixed a large amount and some of it gelled in the cup before I could use it. I hate wasting it since it's so expensive -- resin, hardener, and filler runs at about $125 a gallon once you mix it up.
I've got the cockpit almost ready to paint now. Just need to finish faring everything and clean it all up. I had to button up the cover this afternoon due to the rain, and can't do any more glass work due to the humidity but should be able to use this time to get all the cleaning and sanding done. I've got a few other tasks I can work on too, but will need a couple of nice days to finish the cockpit. Once it's done, I can move all the gear off the coach roof and start working on that part. It only needs a little cleaning, filling, and sanding before I can paint it as well. I do need to remove the last 2 hand rails and some deck hardware, but might be able to do that this afternoon while I'm waiting out the rain.
I'm using a 2-part epoxy primer, but have just a 1-part polyurethane for the top coat. I only have 3 quarts, but none of them are white, so I may not use them. I was planning on using a light gray for the non-skid areas, but am now thinking that white all over would be better. I also need to figure out if I can use the primer as the finish coat or need to use something like the polyurethane -- for UV protection? At some point, I'm going to do the aft pulpit and the toe rails, so I don't want to have to deal with removing a lot of paint in order to fix and fair the fiberglass. If I use the polyurethane, will I need to remove it before I can do any glass work? I haven't been able to find a good answer yet.
I've also decided to put a bead of resin along the edge of the toe rail in order to help seal it and turn away the water. I'm going to try to clean under it and force the resin underneath and leave a little lip. Resin won't stick real well to teak, but it's better than nothing and should hold better and longer than regular caulk. I'll probably caulk it as well, but that'll be later. I used 5200 a couple of years ago, but it broke down, probably due to UV.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)