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August 10 - Hot Time In The Old Town, Tonight - Again (last one was several weeks ago)
August 10 - Hot Time In The Old Town, Tonight
Well, not yet the town... As we left you, the heat was building, and so was the wind. Despite the wind, it was still so warm that we slept, as the Brits (Lydia's technically one, her father being a Brit) say, starkers and without covers. From time to time it would be energetic enough to make a breeze down the Windscoop (trade name for a smallish sail which pushes wind down the hatch for those inside to enjoy the breezes outside), at which time we'd have to cover up. However, we'd gotten to sleep so early not only last night but the one before, that we're very well rested as we get up. Before then, I attempted, for the entire hour of the net, to check in to the Maritime Mobile Net. I could hear the controller, and a few of the conversations, but nobody could hear me, from any station. I even heard the controller talking with a boat in St. Lucia (one who was stopping to do some boat work in an exotic location!), commenting that he'd been looking for me, the only other actual marine mobile unit currently participating in the net. Given that it was the exact same location as I'd checked in on the prior night, this was doubly annoying, because I'd interrupted my work to sit for that hour. Perhaps next time... During the night and very early morning, all the very few other boats left, so we're entirely alone in the cove behind Cape Lookout. We get ready to leave and I do the inch-by-inch raising of the anchor due to our broken stripper requiring manual removal of the chain as it comes off the gypsy (the specially formed wheel which pulls it up). When I get to Beaufort, I'll call the Lewmar folks and see about getting another part and the bolts which were mangled in the excitement, but for now, it's making my wrist tired due to the awkward angle at which I have to hold it to make it happen. However, it's up, and we set sail under main alone, skirting the coast, but leave the motor running in the event we find ourselves too close for comfort and feel we need an assist to get back out from the shoals along the route. Unfortunately, the seas are large enough, and in just the right quarter, that Lydia's uncomfortable. She wasn't seasick, but not comfortable in reading a chart. However, as on this entire trip she's yet to take any seasickness prevention, that's a huge step, because before she'd have been losing her breakfast over the side. Nonetheless, we charge along, making good time toward the entry to Beaufort, and the boat's eating it up. We've closed all the ports and hatches, since we're getting water over the bow frequently during all the motion, and sometimes, as the waves are so short, we bury the bow for green water excitement. All is well with the boat despite the huge application of salt overcoming all Lydia's work from the prior day as we enter the channel, and eventually drop the main to motor down the waterfront. It's still blistering hot, but now it's also been piping a huge breeze, and between the clear sky's solar charging of 10 or more amps, and the wind's charging of 3-10 amps, other than in gusts where it gets over 15 amps, and the alternator on the engine, we presume the batteries are receiving a pretty good charge to replace the occasional 5 amp deficit under what the wind usually was providing last night (a surplus of some amps every time I looked). Despite this, as we pull into the Beaufort area, we're still under the appropriate voltage for us to be considered fully charged. We'd called the local TowBoatUS captain, who was kind enough to walk us through the intricacies of local anchoring and locales for our use in the area, but despite his suggestions for location, we tried for more than two hours and half a dozen locations up and down Taylor Creek to put down the hook in a satisfactory manner. So, despite the pain in our pocketbook and our resolution to avoid such stuff, we're now ensconced in the care and custody of the Beaufort Town Docks at the same $2 a foot as was the case in Charleston. This time, however, the street's a few steps away, and all the shops and restaurants are on the waterfront or a block away, the marina has courtesy cars we can use. These enhancements to our experience otherwise counterbalance the showers and bathrooms which make the facilities at the campground I used as a kid look sumptuous. Same free internet in town, too, as, with so many places offering it, few bother to encrypt. So, as I'm writing this, with the Town Dock repeaters for some reason not making the jump from successful connection to the internet, I'm using someone else' signal. That signal's good enough for us to call Lydia's mother in England on our internet phone, England and 4 other European countries being included in the service we have (which has the same number I've had for the last 30 years, another benefit). It also allows me to call my daughter, who's just made me a grandfather again, while we were at sea. Therefore, despite our copious sweat, on our first Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight, we're happy to be here and connected to shore power. Shorepower restores our AC devices - that's not AC/air conditioning, as we have none, but the other household power items, including the shore power charger. That, we set to "equalize" - an intentional slight overcharging which keeps batteries healthy longer if done on a regular, but short (as opposed to always) basis. However, 8 hours after we start that regime, despite the solar shutting off (as designed, with full charge), and the heat dump on the wind (the wind has continued while we've been here, and the controller on that one moves the charge to a heat strip) proving our otherwise full charge, we've not achieved any higher voltage than would be the case in a normal charge. So, we'll let it continue to equalize through the night and check it again in the morning, when I'll again read the individual cells in the batteries to attempt to determine their condition. In the meantime, we continue to take advantage of the shore power to charge all the rechargeable items and not worry about the load on the system of the computer (which isn't connected to the battery during shorepower charging), or the microwave, AC fans or other items not normally used, or only used sparingly due to their loads. Our DC (12Volt) loads continue to be minor, not hampering the battery charging, mostly the refrigerator, coasting along at half power in its computer management scheme, but still not cooling adequately. Perhaps it's time to dig out the heat gun while we're connected and defrost the freezer again... Today, while all that was happening, we wandered the streets of Beaufort, enjoying the maritime museum, including all the shipwrecks on the various shoals in this area (the reason we're going inside for this portion of our trip) as well as the other history of the area. I also was able to find, hallelujah, some Keen shoes which actually fit my sasquatchian feet. No more dislocated toes, as happened a couple of days ago as I was on deck without footwear, and whacked my right small toe on the way back to the cockpit! We also bought some cruising guides and other sailing related stuff, including a "Private" brass plaque for the door leading to our cabin, for use when we have guests aboard, and we're trying for some sleep or quiet time. Lydia will also tell you of the people and animals we met; we had a lovely time sightseeing. It's another hot night, but we're in the middle of a lovely thunderstorm. Unfortunately, though it's much cooler outside, we can't open the boat to take advantage of the cool. Very early this morning - only a couple of hours after I went to bed - I was awakened by the beginnings of rain, and as I scrambled in the dark to close the hatches and ports, the most amazing lightning display right outside our windows preceded the huge thunderous crashes. We learned this morning that a couple of the boats anchored out - where we would have been - were struck by lightning, but we slept soundly through the remains of it, and awakened to a very overcast, but dry sky, allowing our tourist adventures. Tomorrow I'll put on the new windlass part Lewmar has sent me overnight to arrive in the morning. We'll also make another attempt to chat up some friends who were down the dock from us in Charleston, whose boat we saw at dinner tonight. On the way out, we'll go alongside another Morgan 461we saw anchored near one of the spots we attempted, and see who they are, and add them to our database of M46x boats. Before we leave, we'll check the weather and any other interesting stuff, and, assuming nothing alarming, head north to the ICW (Intra-Coastal Waterway) and its many charms between here and Norfolk. Connectivity will be spotty along the way, but we'll check in as we're able. Stay tuned :{)) L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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August 10 - Hot Time In The Old Town, Tonight - Again (last one was several weeks ago)
Skip Gundlach wrote:
We'd called the local TowBoatUS captain, who was kind enough to walk us through the intricacies of local anchoring and locales for our use in the area, but despite his suggestions for location, we tried for more than two hours and half a dozen locations up and down Taylor Creek to put down the hook in a satisfactory manner. So, despite the pain in our pocketbook and That's why we anchored in Town Creek instead of Taylor Creek. our resolution to avoid such stuff, we're now ensconced in the care and custody of the Beaufort Town Docks at the same $2 a foot as was the case in Charleston. This time, however, the street's a However, 8 hours after we start that regime, despite the solar shutting off (as designed, with full charge), and the heat dump on the wind (the wind has continued while we've been here, and the controller on that one moves the charge to a heat strip) proving our otherwise full charge, we've not achieved any higher voltage than would be the case in a normal charge. We usually shut off the wind generator when we are in a marina as a courtesy to others. Bob has the solar panels set so that if the batteries are fully charged, they excess goes to operate fans. One in the forward cabin and one aft. . Connectivity will be spotty along the way, but we'll check in as we're able. There are or used to be marinas with connectivity.in Oriental, Belhaven, the Alligator River marina, Coinjock, Great Bridge and Norfolk. There may even be wi-fi. |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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August 10 - Hot Time In The Old Town, Tonight - Again (last one was several weeks ago)
On Aug 10, 2007, at 11:52 PM, Skip Gundlach wrote:
However, 8 hours after we start that*regime, despite the solar shutting off (as designed, with full*charge), and the heat dump on the wind (the wind has continued*while we've been here, and the controller on that one moves the*charge to a heat strip) proving our otherwise full charge, we've*not achieved any higher voltage than would be the case in a*normal charge. Skip, Even starting with that thoroughly depleted bank, you should have full charge by now and equalization should have taken place. Everything I hear indicates lots of lose or dirty connections or undersized wiring (which I don't expect with the newly installed stuff), lots of voltage drop in the lines. It's so endemic that I suspect the main cables. Even with our trivial loads and small engine, we got much better transfer when we went from basically heavy-duty auto cables to 2/0 and 1/0 and cut the line length down from about 40' total to about 12. Sounds like that will the problem that's going to take you the longest to solve on this shake-down. -- Jere Lull Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD Xan's new pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/ Our BVI pages: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
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