Having conducted a refit of much less scope than you did and having
experienced at least as many shake down issues, I think you are doing well.

I stayed at that anchorage and the City Marina years ago. Was it damaged
and then redone by that huge hurricane which hit Ft. Pierce 9.5 years ago?

BTW, my experience in a big blow in an anchorage is not you dragging but
the boats around you dragging and threatening to ram into you. I think
your ground tackle to be excessive & hope your windlass has the juice to
weigh anchor quickly.

-paul

"slide" wrote in message
...
Having conducted a refit of much less scope than you did and having
experienced at least as many shake down issues, I think you are doing
well.

:{)) Thanks. The saga continues, as will be seen in later posts...


I stayed at that anchorage and the City Marina years ago. Was it damaged
and then redone by that huge hurricane which hit Ft. Pierce 9.5 years ago?

Yes, FPCM was rebuilt. Riverside had damaged boats, but not so much other
damage. A friend's boat floated up, but settled back down exactly on its
stands. That would put the water about 10 or more feet over spring high
tide. Sandy only had a couple of feet, and only some of the ground areas
got wet from the sea.


BTW, my experience in a big blow in an anchorage is not you dragging but
the boats around you dragging and threatening to ram into you. I think
your ground tackle to be excessive & hope your windlass has the juice to
weigh anchor quickly.

Well, we've not yet burned it out, but the mount is now certainly sufficient
to the task, that being one of the targets we had. Having a boat drag down
on us wouldn't be particularly surprising. We hope we never have to use our
ground tackle in a hurricane, but a gale is something we just prepare for,
not worry about.

-paul

L8R

Skip and crew, about to move on to Ft. Lauderdale from Lake Worth. We'll
turn on the SPOT, tinyurl.com/FlyingPigSpot...


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

"Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely nothing-half so
much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing about in
boats-or *with* boats.

In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's
the charm of it.

Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your
destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get
anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in
particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and
you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."

On Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:30:47 -0500, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

We hope we never have to use our
ground tackle in a hurricane, but a gale is something we just prepare for,
not worry about.

=====

That's our anchor planning strategy also. There are many
thunderstorms which have gale force winds for relatively short periods
of time and the anchor has to hold no mater what.

As an FYI, we recently replaced our faithful 120 lb Spade with a 88lb
Rocna. The Spade was/is a great anchor but it was tough on the
windlass and beginning to get some serious rusting issues. It served
us well for about 30,000 nautical miles of cruising. We purchased it
about 8 years ago from Glenn Ashmore when he was a regular on this
group and had started his own Spade importing business.

So, how do you like your Rocna, 20+% down in weight from the spade?

Under way with much better wifi than in the harbor...

--

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

When a man comes to like a sea life, he is not fit to live on land.
- Dr. Samuel Johnson
"Wayne B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:30:47 -0500, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

We hope we never have to use our
ground tackle in a hurricane, but a gale is something we just prepare for,
not worry about.

=====

That's our anchor planning strategy also. There are many
thunderstorms which have gale force winds for relatively short periods
of time and the anchor has to hold no mater what.

As an FYI, we recently replaced our faithful 120 lb Spade with a 88lb
Rocna. The Spade was/is a great anchor but it was tough on the
windlass and beginning to get some serious rusting issues. It served
us well for about 30,000 nautical miles of cruising. We purchased it
about 8 years ago from Glenn Ashmore when he was a regular on this
group and had started his own Spade importing business.

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:57:49 -0500, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

So, how do you like your Rocna, 20+% down in weight from the spade?

Under way with much better wifi than in the harbor...

=========

All else being equal, the Spade was a wonderful anchor with an almost
perfect record of setting the first time, every time. We've learned
that with the somewhat lighter Rocna, we need to pay out more chain
before backing down on it.

Of course we're backing down with 30 inch, 4 bladed props, driven by
by enough engine torque to literally pull tree stumps. That's my
criteria for a good nights sleep however. Once the Rocna is set, it
has always stayed set but we are still early in the evaluation
process, less than a month out of home port at this point.

One of he problems with having a very heavy anchor on an all chain
rode is getting the darn thing back up again from 30+ feet of water,
especially if it is covered with a lot of sticky mud. There were a
few times that retrieving the big Spade was a real struggle and I had
to make some engineering improvements to the windlass to cope with all
that.

I understand that it's a bit chilly up in Florida today. We're up
around 80 here in eastern Puerto Rico but the trade winds are howling
at 20+ kts, kicking up big surf just outside the marina entrance.
With 4 flopper stoppers down we are rolling less than any other boat
on the dock but still more than we'd like. We're waiting on parts for
a generator repair otherwise I'd go over to Vieques and find a
sheltered anchorage.

Hi, Wayne, and list,

New log sometime later today, I hope...

"Wayne B" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:57:49 -0500, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

So, how do you like your Rocna, 20+% down in weight from the spade?

One of he problems with having a very heavy anchor on an all chain
rode is getting the darn thing back up again from 30+ feet of water,
especially if it is covered with a lot of sticky mud. There were a
few times that retrieving the big Spade was a real struggle and I had
to make some engineering improvements to the windlass to cope with all
that.


We did, as well, even though what we had experienced was only the 55# delta
(still much heavier than what was recommended at build time). We have the
torque/flexing issue in hand, we think but I never rely on the windlass to
break it out, preferring to let the bobbing of the boat work it out, and, if
severely stuck, motoring on a tight chain.

The last time we pulled up, from Lake Sylvia, it was so packed that it took
most of the way to the ICW opposite to clean it off by the wake, let alone
what puny hose pressure I had available (with which I finished the job) to
clean it off...

The admiral has just advised that my behavior is unacceptable (she wants me
to mow and pine-cone-gather her son's lawn), so it may be another month
before another log appears, but, hang in there :{/)

L8R

Skip


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

I expect to pass this way but once; any good therefore that I can do, or any
kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

- Etienne Griellet

"Flying Pig" wrote in message
...

[trim]

The admiral has just advised that my behavior is unacceptable (she wants me
to mow and pine-cone-gather her son's lawn), so it may be another month
before another log appears, but, hang in there :{/)

Can you say, *PW*??? Enjoy accomplishing your long, honey-do list, Skippy.

In the meanwhile your boat just sits. The new bottom paint becomes old
and slimed up. The water seeps in and the osmosis begins anew.

--
Sir Gregory

On 2/15/2013 5:30 PM, Flying Pig wrote:
"slide" wrote in message


Yes, FPCM was rebuilt. Riverside had damaged boats, but not so much other
damage. A friend's boat floated up, but settled back down exactly on its
stands. That would put the water about 10 or more feet over spring high
tide. Sandy only had a couple of feet, and only some of the ground areas
got wet from the sea.


I noted a an aerial view a year after the hurricane showed nothing where
the city marina was and also a hotel where I'd eaten lunch from time to
time was missing entirely too. That must have been a terrible blow. Good
to see the marina is rebuilt. I thought it a very nice place although
nothing can match the bathrooms at the Charleston City Marina. That's
the best.


Well, we've not yet burned it out, but the mount is now certainly sufficient
to the task, that being one of the targets we had. Having a boat drag down
on us wouldn't be particularly surprising. We hope we never have to use our
ground tackle in a hurricane, but a gale is something we just prepare for,
not worry about.


I was shown a 'hurricane hole' just north of Lake Worth once. I'd say it
have a very low capacity and probably overfills in the case of a real
blow there. I never have tried being anchored in hurricane force winds
and like you do not relish the thought.

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 08:42:38 -0700, slide wrote:

I was shown a 'hurricane hole' just north of Lake Worth once. I'd say it
have a very low capacity and probably overfills in the case of a real
blow there. I never have tried being anchored in hurricane force winds
and like you do not relish the thought.

====

In my opinion the best hurricane protection in SE Florida is to go up
the Okeechobee Waterway from Port St Lucie to above the first lock.

On 2/16/2013 9:52 AM, Wayne B wrote:

====

In my opinion the best hurricane protection in SE Florida is to go up
the Okeechobee Waterway from Port St Lucie to above the first lock.


I'm not sure a boat like mine with a 63 foot mast height can do that. I
doubt Skip's 7' depth would allow him to either. I'm not sure, though.