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#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 05:20:33 -0400, "Leanne" wrote:
"NE Sailboat" wrote in message news:Mruwi.373$7f.97@trndny09... I have the book, and the copy I own I bought at a yard sale. It must have been a first printing .. Yes, Joshua Slocum's trip was eventful. And not everything went as planned. But when you think of how simple his rig was, how little he had in equipment, and yet he sailed around the world! Skip has all these fancy doo dads. He is always posting about something breaking. Heck, most of the stuff he is fixing, I've never seen. It was just a thought. I'm sure Captain Slocum would have all the doo dads if he were alive today. If anyone gets up New Bedford way, there is a nice display of pictures and articles on Slocum, at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society Whaling Museum, on Johnny Cake Hill. It was located on the balcony over the half scale model of the Lagoda. Leanne Not to point the finger at Skip but a great deal of the "modern" sailing accessories really aren't needed. They may make life a bit easier in that you can sit in the cockpit and look at the moon instead of monitoring you battery charger but they really aren't required. You do need an accurate volt meter reading to at least one decimal point to monitor your battery condition. An amp meter reading current out of the battery bank is nice, not a necessity. A regular old car battery charger will work as long as it can put out at least 40 amps without blowing fuses. With a volt meter and a battery charger and a little of your own time you can charge batteries as well as the smartest "smart" charger in the world. Go to somebody like Trojan and download their battery stuff, how to test batteries, how to charge batteries, and so on. You'll find that initially you need to charge your batteries until they reach 14.4 VDC(approximately) and then reduce the voltage to about 13.4 - 13.6 and hold that for quite some time. An hour, or more, at least, in order to get a 400 amp hour battery bank close to fully charged. Yes, I know you can fire up your 120 Amp alternator and run the battery voltage up to 14.4 volts right now! But battery charging is not just pouring in the amps. Battery charging is a chemical process and you are converting one form of lead into another form and that takes some time, not just amperage but time. A mast head anemometer isn't necessary,, except for bragging in the club - "blew 50 knots last night." If you've sailed at all you'll know when to reef and it really doesn't have any relationship to wind speed. As one bloke I know said, "it's time to reef when the lee rail goes under water". I'm being a bit factious but the way the boat is sailing is a far better indication of when to reef then any gauge. Two things you do need are an accurate depth sounder and GPS. I sailed with nothing but a heaving line and a compass in my younger days and I can say in all honesty that a lot of the time we didn't know where we were and ran aground more then a few times. Spare parts. I hate to use Skip for an example but his is the most recent post that is an example. Alternator belts. Loosen up the alternator adjustment and shove the alternator as close to the engine as possible, then buy a belt that you can j-u-s-t get on the pulleys. Use an 18 inch bar to pry the alternator back until the belt is tight and tighten things down. If the belt is the correct size you will have about half, or a bit more of the adjustment left when the new belt is as tight as you can get it. Once you have discovered the correct size of belt buy 6 or a dozen of the absolute best quality belts you can. Store them out of the sun and in air tight wrapping if possibly. At the same time get a dozen primary and seconder filters -- they don't wear out and it may take you a while to use them up but so what. You'll have them if you need them. Another thing I see is people talking about 120 amp alternators driven with one belt. My own experience is that around 70 amps is pretty close to maximum for a single belt. It may be capable of transmitting more power but it doesn't last long at loads over 70 amps. One last rant and I'll shut up. If your solar panels and/or wind generator can't get your battery over, say, 3.5 DC then you don't need a regulator at all. That's it, if I have offended anyone then I'm sorry but I see so much shiny foolishness on boats today that is totally unnecessary (except to the guy that sold it so he could eat). Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
On Aug 15, 8:01 am, wrote:
Two things you do need are an accurate depth sounder and GPS. Whats wrong with a lead line and ...sextant.? good advice snipped Joe Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
....
Whats wrong with a lead line and ...sextant.? .... I was half way to Honolulu from Christmas on a delivery in the 80's and when we decided to try out the GPS we had borrowed for the delivery. I haven't used my sextant since. On a good day when everything goes just right a sextant, chronometer and tables can be used to tell you about where you were an hour ago... From time to time there are big gaps between the good days and the navigator typically will rely on a compass, chrono and log to get DRs and EPs at those times... A lead line is nice, but it requires a full time operator and a slow boat... But, you don't really NEED even those. There are several voyaging societies around the Pacific that send their canoes off on long passages without any instruments and there are intermediate steps you could take like kamals and cross staffs. So, cast off you goretex, wrap yourself in tree bark and set out in an open boat for a distant shore and I will read you memoirs in awe. Meanwhile I will quest for just the right mid layer to keep me pleasantly warm and dry while I monitor my progress on my gps and I will be content if my logs make for placid reading... -- Tom. |
#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
On Aug 15, 12:07 pm, " wrote:
... Whats wrong with a lead line and ...sextant.? ... I was half way to Honolulu from Christmas on a delivery in the 80's and when we decided to try out the GPS we had borrowed for the delivery. Are you sure you were not using a Loran-C...... not a GPS? I haven't used my sextant since. That's a shame... They work when everything else fails. Dont' get me wrong..I like GPS's.. and carry two, and prefer forward looking sonar to 3 ounces of lead and a dab of wax. Joe On a good day when everything goes just right a sextant, chronometer and tables can be used to tell you about where you were an hour ago... From time to time there are big gaps between the good days and the navigator typically will rely on a compass, chrono and log to get DRs and EPs at those times... A lead line is nice, but it requires a full time operator and a slow boat... But, you don't really NEED even those. There are several voyaging societies around the Pacific that send their canoes off on long passages without any instruments and there are intermediate steps you could take like kamals and cross staffs. So, cast off you goretex, wrap yourself in tree bark and set out in an open boat for a distant shore and I will read you memoirs in awe. Meanwhile I will quest for just the right mid layer to keep me pleasantly warm and dry while I monitor my progress on my gps and I will be content if my logs make for placid reading... -- Tom. |
#5
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:33:18 -0700, Joe
wrote: On Aug 15, 12:07 pm, " wrote: ... Whats wrong with a lead line and ...sextant.? ... I was half way to Honolulu from Christmas on a delivery in the 80's and when we decided to try out the GPS we had borrowed for the delivery. Are you sure you were not using a Loran-C...... not a GPS? I haven't used my sextant since. That's a shame... They work when everything else fails. Unfortunately that just isn't so. Chuck your H.O. Tables over the side and smash your time source with a hammer and then come back and tell me just how infallible your sextant is. Oh yes, chuck the hand calculator too so you can do the math with a pencil. Then they are all those overcast days when you can't see the sun or stars and the windy days when you can't stay steady enough to get a good sight. I used to use a sextant and if nobody has dropped it so the mirrors are out of alignment and if you have up to date references and if your time signal is accurate and if your pencil is still sharp you can get a cocked hat, maybe a mile on a side so hopefully you are somewhere in that triangle. As for a lead line it is a real handy devices when you are single handing up a narrow channel and trying to stay off the mud banks on each side.. Dont' get me wrong..I like GPS's.. and carry two, and prefer forward looking sonar to 3 ounces of lead and a dab of wax. Joe On a good day when everything goes just right a sextant, chronometer and tables can be used to tell you about where you were an hour ago... From time to time there are big gaps between the good days and the navigator typically will rely on a compass, chrono and log to get DRs and EPs at those times... A lead line is nice, but it requires a full time operator and a slow boat... But, you don't really NEED even those. There are several voyaging societies around the Pacific that send their canoes off on long passages without any instruments and there are intermediate steps you could take like kamals and cross staffs. So, cast off you goretex, wrap yourself in tree bark and set out in an open boat for a distant shore and I will read you memoirs in awe. Meanwhile I will quest for just the right mid layer to keep me pleasantly warm and dry while I monitor my progress on my gps and I will be content if my logs make for placid reading... -- Tom. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
#6
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
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#7
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:10:18 -0000, otnmbrd
wrote: wrote in news:nhc7c3tqjep52soglt8e7r373n6hnbf1aq@ 4ax.com: Unfortunately that just isn't so. Chuck your H.O. Tables over the side and smash your time source with a hammer and then come back and tell me just how infallible your sextant is. Oh yes, chuck the hand calculator too so you can do the math with a pencil. G So you can't figure Long. Lat's better than nuff'n and can keep you clear of a lot of trouble. Then they are all those overcast days when you can't see the sun or stars and the windy days when you can't stay steady enough to get a good sight. I used to use a sextant and if nobody has dropped it so the mirrors are out of alignment and if you have up to date references and if your time signal is accurate and if your pencil is still sharp you can get a cocked hat, maybe a mile on a side so hopefully you are somewhere in that triangle. LOL Member of the "accuracy to within inches" brigade I see. A one mile tiangle under conditions which you would normally be using a sextant is a pretty good fix and well within the parameters you need. GPS is the way to go, but for long distance cruising in open ocean conditions with Mr. Murphy sitting beside you, the more you have the safer you may be. I wasn't trying to say that one should not carry a sextant and the tables and an accurate time piece. I was mainly replying to what I thought was an implication that when all else failed the old sextant would work and was pointing out that without its additional do-dads it wouldn't. I agree that a one mile cocked hat is good navigation but in the sextant days a lot of people purposely steered a bit north or south of their destination. Then when they made shore they knew to turn left, or right, and the case required to find port. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
#8
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
On 2007-08-15 14:33:18 -0400, Joe said:
I haven't used my sextant since. That's a shame... They work when everything else fails. if it's not cloudy for weeks on end, and you don't need *too* accurate a position, and you have lots of time and a steady deck and you're comfortable and experienced with the process..... ;-) Sorry, but I'm going to have multiple backups on navigation, and a sextant would be the very last one. We have a simple boat, no refrigeration, RADAR, pressure water, or such, but even playing in our back yard, the GPS is on whenever we move, backing up the line-of-sight and DR navigation. (and we have 3 compasses.) -- 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/ |
#9
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Skip, Lydia and Captain Joshua Slocum
On Aug 21, 7:42 pm, Jere Lull wrote:
We have a simple boat...backing up the line-of-sight and DR navigation. (and we have 3 compasses.) Jere Lull May the Force be with you Jere. "Gizmos, needed are not." Bob |
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