August 15 - Taking a Bath, and other travels

Those of you on our log lists, or in the various forums where I'm
posting our adventures in the form of our log list postings,
would not be aware unless you also read it, but in a usenet
newsgroup, rec.boats.cruising, our adventures are getting a huge
amount of press, much of it acidic or worse.

That's due to my candor (Lydia sez I have no boundaries), not
masochism. I expose our foibles and challenges in the hopes
that, first, I might learn something from someone who's been
there, done that, and have suggestions (other than that I get off
the water before I kill everyone in a 20-mile radius) which might
be helpful, and, more importantly, to allow others to benefit
from our experiences.

Those responding to those posts assume the worst, not that we're
just working through all the hundreds of things which need
shaking out from our massive refit, and, in some cases, the rehab
from our wreck. Some of them aren't friendly, to put it kindly,
but in most cases, I believe, they're motivated to make the posts
they do to expose potentials not just to us, but to others who
may follow our footsteps/wake. Once you remove the venom,
usually there's valid information underneath, and we've already
done whatever's being suggested.

So, I don't relate all our various issues to alarm, but just to
show how we're progressing through stuff. For example, our
electrical system seems now well in hand. The batteries are
behaving entirely normally, and the multi-faceted charging system
is doing its job. So, now, I only occasionally look at our
meters area, that which shows what's happening, in battery state
and charging systems.

Our boat came with some fan belts which were neither new nor the
correct length, and in one case, not high quality, to boot. So,
when installed, there wasn't enough room to take up slack more
than once. As a belt gets slack, it slips when the high-output
alternator exerts its pressure, for example, and you tighten it.
Except, if it's too long, you only get one of those tightenings
until it has no more room, and then slips as it wears. What then
looks like a worn out belt is really just a too-long belt in the
case of the one we just changed, a cheapie lawnmower-belt
equivalent. That, of course, isn't adequate for the loads
imposed by a high-power alternator, compounding the length issue.
Based on someone else' length, that's what we bought in the
high-quality replacement - but it's too long, too, so we're going
to get the proper length in a high quality belt. We assume that
will make a huge difference in the life of our belts.

So, anyway, the most exciting thing we can talk about right now
is our upcoming fueling...

In the meantime, sitting here at anchor in front of Belhaven NC,
I type while I also look at the screen, a luxury (see prior
discussions on touch typing in the dark), and don't have to
maintain a 360 scan every minute or two, nor look at the
instruments or gauges (more on why the trimetric [the guage which
tells me all about the battery condition and charging] isn't
among my get-up-and-look-every-couple-minutes any more, in a
future post). I don't enjoy the ditch (the derisive nickname for
the Intra-Coastal Waterway, the inside passage from the middle of
Florida to NY and beyond, only a few places of the route being on
open water), at all, other than the neat places and people we get
to see, so look forward to getting outside again. Until then,
we'll continue to motor a lot, putting more time on the engine
than I'd normally (recall "normal" isn't, until it's happened a
lot, so that remains to be seen) do in a year, each week, sailing
being a rarity forced either by environment (canal, e.g.) or
weather (dead calm, as has been the case mostly, other than
yesterday afternoon in the Pungo River, where we had a lovely
sail here). Second oil change approaches, e.g., on this trip
alone.

So, stay tuned. Things are coming into place nicely, and,
amazing to me, we've not yet even cleaned the slime off the
bottom, let alone polished the keel ("keel polishing", and bottom
sounding exercises, are what cruisers humorously refer to when
they've managed to power through touching the ground under their
boat), something we'd expected based on the other horror stories
of the ICW. Perhaps my dual redundancy of hard charts (a
chartbook, and individual area detail charts) and a working
chartplotter and radar contribute - I don't know - but staying
between the reds and greens has been all that's been required so
far.

I'm sure our maintenance and other challenges aren't over (no
boat's life ever gets to say that, let alone a 30-year old one
which hasn't had every possible electrical, plumbing,
engine-and-drivetrain and safety item removed and replaced), but
it's starting to get boring. Not that I crave crisis - but I do
enjoy troubleshooting, and problem resolution. However, boring
is nice, currently :{))

On which subject, you'll recall the captain who didn't get to
ride with us to his home town, Beaufort NC, after his getting off
another boat he was going to deliver to Annapolis. A 30 year
captain, he gave me what I considered high praise after our
rudder excitment when he said, "Most boats, I'd have spoken up,
saying something about how the owner should deal with this. I
felt no urge to speak up here. Well done." He'd also gotten a
couple of days' view of us from the stern of the boat he was to
deliver, watching how I puttered around, constantly attending to
stuff, and when he was invited aboard, saw how we'd done things
and what we were attending to while in Charleston.

He also invited (well, nearly commanded) us to visit us in his
home. Which is how we got to Bath, NC. We'd arranged to have the
wayward part delivered to his home, it not having been delivered
to either the marina where we were previously, nor any other
prior-agreed place. That it didn't even leave the warehouse to
his home is just another example of the challenges we've faced;
we had the option to stay another day (which would have been a
nice stop; see the following), or head on. We elected to press
onward, having it delivered to a restaurant up the ICW, for our
pickup in a couple of days.

Back to Bath... What a lovely community that is - a part of the
historical society's protected places, it's the oldest town in
NC. We got to see the dolphins mating off his dock on the
Pamlico River, he gave us a truck to do some running around in,
and so on. For what it's worth, that's a truck which he gave to
another cruiser/Captain. When he was finished with the projects
he was doing there, he left it with Joe (our Captain friend),
paying the insurance, and asking him to make it available to
those who need it. Joe will replace the truck when it dies, and
continue, until told that the owner isn't coming back, in which
case he'll continue to pass it along. When he buys the
replacement, he'll title it in the other's name, and it will
continue...

Back to Joe, he provided us with a marvelous evening with him and
his wife, and the new band teacher in town. He met his wife as
an experienced sailor, and they've been blissfully married for a
long while. That they're both sailors makes for a great
relationship as they race and otherwise, but he'd not told her of
us, wanting to wait and have her hear the story directly.

So, over dinner, we gave the Reader's Digest version of our
adventures, including all that we'd done to our home, along the
way. They were amazed that we'd stuck with it; anyone else would
have tucked tail and run. He also commented that he'd sail with
us anywhere, another example of reinforcement of how we're
approaching our tasks from long-time, high-experience, direct
(being with us, aboard, rather than inferring our realities from
a distance) observers. They're among the ones we've extended an
"anytime we're not already occupied with guests" invitation to do
just that, with the proviso that you can choose your date or your
place, but not necessarily both :{)) He's yet another example,
his being a Captain aside, of the marvelous people we meet as we
go through our trip. I'll let Lydia tell about all the neat
animals and history and architecture and the like, but it's
enough to say that we liked it.

Oh, and lest I forget... The state, in its wisdom, has provided
a free public docking facility. No services, but you can tie up
free there. There's also a free ferry across the river, and they
maintain the various public places in the town, giving tours,
video shows and so on, all free. Like most really small towns,
you can walk all of it in an hour or so, or take an entire day to
explore. So, my carping about the ICW aside, this is the sort of
experience which drives (pardon the expression - it's what we
call our motoring) folks to never leave the ditch. If you're not
in a hurry, you can just putter along, and stop and smell the
roses. That's exactly what we'll do when Lydia's mom joins us,
and we work our way south, again, chasing the warm weather. For
now, we're impatient to get to NY, because, as seen so far,
there's always something which can delay us, and hurrying isn't a
good word in cruising. And, we'd far rather be a sailboat than a
trawler with sticks, which is the best face you can put on
motoring a sailboat...

Back to the hospitality of our host, and their truck loan, I
tried to find the place which could give us the quality
alternator belt we need, exchanging/replacing the
mistaken-dimensioned one we'd bought in our Beaufort dash, but
they'd closed last year and the closest one was well over an hour
away. A tiny town in the middle of nowhere makes for some
challenges; another stop along the way will have to suffice, but
I'd also tried to find the bolts which Lewmar didn't have in
stock, keeping the order from going the first time. That led me
to a True Value hardware store which could only come close, the
ones I had being 10 millimeters longer (remember the cigarette
ads for the silly millimeter longer brand? If it had been one
millimeter, I'd have been all right!) than the longest correct
size one they had, but it did have a UPS shipping point. So,
yesterday, I got to ship out our old fish finder head end (the
one with the pictures, not the part under the boat) to see if it
can be resurrected. In the meantime, we have a similarly old
looking unit which we bought on eBay, and it's ok for the moment.
We only keep what we have due to the very accurate info presented
by the sensors at the front of the boat, ones which would be a
very expensive replacement should we change to a new unit.

Along the way, I'd also pulled up the three different speed
sensors we have (that involves pulling out a 1 1/4" stick with
the sensor on the end), which lets an impressive spout of water
into the boat if you're not ready for it, but we had our plugs
ready and the usual cup or so of water went into the bilge. As
expected, the paddlewheels were encrusted with marine life, but
once that encrustation was removed, they (after the reverse
process of pulling the plug and reinserting these) performed as
expected. So, now, one of the features of a couple of these is
that we have a distance log. It shows how far we've come on this
leg of our journey, from Beaufort. Unfortunately, unlike our
at-sea travels, where we knocked off triple digit mile days,
these days, taken up with anchoring, sleeping in, and
up-anchoring, combined with the slower pace of motoring, we're
lucky to get in 50 miles a day.

We had our first meaningful measurement of our fuel usage after
this fueling, in that we'd been running at cruising speed -
enough so that we made significant progress, but not full
throttle which would use a disproportionately high amount of fuel
compared to the amount of speed gained. At cruise, we use right
at .8 gallons of fuel per hour. Our BoatUS membership has gotten
us a dime's reduction in the price of fuel at each stop so far,
so we've managed to save a little bit each time. And, we
continue to be pleased with our engine's performance. All the
specs have been well within tolerances, and our oil pressure
system must like the oil I put in this time, as it remains
consistently higher than it was any time before in our use of the
motor.

So, we continue our way up the road, and will anchor tonight
before heading on to our pickup point for the new part. That is
a restaurant and full service marina. It's famous for its
2-pound rib eye. We expect to be there just in time for dinner
so I'm looking forward to it. Perhaps dinner (and fueling)
includes the right to tie alongside (no services) overnight.
Unless there's some excitement to relate, this will have to hold
you until our next internet access.

We're having fun - are you :{))


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)

( Those of you on our log lists, or in the various forums where I'm
posting our adventures in the form of our log list postings,
would not be aware unless you also read it, but in a usenet
newsgroup, rec.boats.cruising, our adventures are getting a huge
amount of press, much of it acidic or worse.)

A huge amount of press?

Are you totally out of your mind?

Most of the "press" is by you, about you. And the postings I read
are mostly supportive of your efforts.

I am beginning to think that you may have some mental problems.

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:34:00 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote:

Our BoatUS membership has gotten
us a dime's reduction in the price of fuel at each stop

One of the cheapest fuel stops on the east coast is the Alligator
River Marina just north of the bridge. They can tell you on the phone
or radio what their channel depth is. Further north, Coinjock Marina
also has reasonable fuel prices, and the restaurant there has some of
the best prime ribs that I've ever had. Do not order the "Captains
Cut" unless you are *really* hungry. Coming into New York Harbor,
Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina has good fuel prices by NY
standards. There is room to anchor there along the shore near the
east end of the breakwater.

On Aug 16, 6:43 pm, "NE Sailboat" wrote:
( Those of you on our log lists, or in the various forums where I'm
posting our adventures in the form of our log list postings,
would not be aware unless you also read it, but in a usenet
newsgroup, rec.boats.cruising, our adventures are getting a huge
amount of press, much of it acidic or worse.)

A huge amount of press?

Are you totally out of your mind?

Most of the "press" is by you, about you. And the postings I read
are mostly supportive of your efforts.

I am beginning to think that you may have some mental problems.

Heh. No doubt. Most have noted that before now...

However, I note that some of the threads occasioned by our
commentaries have gone over 70 posts; most seem to make it to a half
dozen almost without notice and many get into double digits.

I call that a lot of press.

And, I agree, many are supportive. There are, however, those which
are not. Yet, as noted, in most cases where there's information
included, rather than just ad hominem, I look and learn. Most times
I've already done it, but in the interest of trying to limit my
already rampant logorhhea, have not mentioned it, and to respond to
them doesn't further the discussion, particularly when my access is
limited.

Thus, before I even saw the suggestion that I post about a boring
trip, this (the subject line above) went up. I think that prolly
qualified...

L8R

Skip, the nutcase...

On Aug 16, 7:18 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:34:00 -0000, Skip Gundlach

wrote:
Our BoatUS membership has gotten
us a dime's reduction in the price of fuel at each stop

One of the cheapest fuel stops on the east coast is the Alligator
River Marina just north of the bridge. They can tell you on the phone
or radio what their channel depth is. Further north, Coinjock Marina
also has reasonable fuel prices, and the restaurant there has some of
the best prime ribs that I've ever had. Do not order the "Captains
Cut" unless you are *really* hungry. Coming into New York Harbor,
Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina has good fuel prices by NY
standards. There is room to anchor there along the shore near the
east end of the breakwater.

Hi, Wayne,

As it happens, I'm writing this alongside Coinjock Marina where I just
finished the biggie. I passed on dessert only because there were none
which caught my interest. That followed our fueling, and tomorrow
morning I'll go off to the local NAPA to get the right sized belts in
their Gates Green equivalent; I have one which is too long which I''ll
return. Based on the results I'm getting from my realignment of the
alternator on crap belts, this may put the replacement issues to bed.
In any case, our electricals are doing very nicely; I'll post on the
audit and scenarios of AH usage and supply once I have some real-world
experience to add to it.


Alligator closed about half an hour before we went through the bridge
- we actually called them at 7, thinking they'd be open later. We're
actually planning on centering our NY stay in the AH/Sandy Hook area
as that's where my brother lives.
See you along the way...

L8R

Skip, sated, and wondering at all the people we have met (the reason
we're here) who said they couldn't possibly finish it - but agreeing
with the universal reviews of "awesome"...

On Aug 16, 4:49 pm, Skip Gundlach wrote:


HEy Skip................ Keep those stories coming. ALso, I think
youre doing the rigt thing loging inland time. The more the better.
Once ya get that so routeen, rote, and boaring youll be ready for
some NC stuff.
And remember ur LIving your dream so have fun!
Bob

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...

However, I note that some of the threads occasioned by our
commentaries have gone over 70 posts; most seem to make it to a half
dozen almost without notice and many get into double digits.

I call that a lot of press.

And, I agree, many are supportive. There are, however, those which
are not. Yet, as noted, in most cases where there's information
included, rather than just ad hominem, I look and learn. Most times
I've already done it, but in the interest of trying to limit my
already rampant logorhhea, have not mentioned it, and to respond to
them doesn't further the discussion, particularly when my access is
limited.

Thus, before I even saw the suggestion that I post about a boring
trip, this (the subject line above) went up. I think that prolly
qualified...

L8R

Skip, the nutcase...



Skip, have you worked out an emergency steering plan, and do you know how to
steer by sails alone? Two suggestions I made which may or may not have been
taken as an "attack" (they were not submitted as such).

Karin

On Aug 16, 9:05 pm, "KLC Lewis" wrote:
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message

oups.com...





However, I note that some of the threads occasioned by our
commentaries have gone over 70 posts; most seem to make it to a half
dozen almost without notice and many get into double digits.

I call that a lot of press.


Not to beat a dead horse, but I had no idea. Cleaning up my mailbox, I
see the digests (I get my rbc in 25post digests or daily, whichever is
smaller), and happened to look at the group on googlegroups. A
staggering number of the threads are over 30, let alone a dozen,
posts..

Check the new posts since a month ago when I started on this trip.
Count the number of posts where either we originated or someone else
started a thread about us. What's the percentage of total in that
time? OY!

I forget the promoter in the early last century who said it doesn't
matter whether it's bad publicity, or good publicity, so long as it's
out there. That's not at all my intent - but I am still bemused by by
the blizzard...


Skip, have you worked out an emergency steering plan, and do you know how to
steer by sails alone? Two suggestions I made which may or may not have been
taken as an "attack" (they were not submitted as such).

Karin

Hi, Karin, and thanks for the note - and I knew the intent and tone :
{))

Yes, we have. We know how to steer by sails alone - being a prior
windsurfer helped - and do that, sometimes, when we're out in the
open, with the rudder centered.

We also have an emergency tiller. The Captain with us in our recent
failure asked if I had one and if I knew where it was. I do, and did,
and while it's a real pain in the butt to do, if it were warranted
(not where other remedies were at hand), we'd use it. It would
require one in the aft cabin steering and another atop relaying info,
so it's not the best setup. FWIW in another thread, I advised the
oncoming containership that I was not under command, but would work
out how to get out of his way. They were grateful for the info and my
success at doing so. My bad for not having the two black balls to
hand, but I was excused, being quickly out of a navigation channel.

Warps, buckets, and other drag devices can work as well. Depending on
where we were in the failure, my going under with a brace and bit (I
have a full selection aboard) with the hookah, and holing all that
lovely repair work I did on the rudder, passing a line through same,
with double stops on the immediate exteriors, with the lines led up to
winches would be another. Quite frankly, as the hydraulics would have
to be disconnected for the ET to work, anyway, this would be
considerably preferable to me as a means of steering, as it would be
considerably more powerful than arms on a tiller, and would not
compromise vision for the helmsperson.

The dink aside on a hip-tow would be adequate for close maneuvering in
light wind or current, but not otherwise. Its 15HP is prolly about a
quarter or so of the aux, but not really suited to moving 20 tons
around with any authority.

As an aside, I need to send you and Roger a picture of the new running
rigging on our genny and furler :{))

Thanks for the concern...

L8R

Skip - off to the showers so I can get back on the road, first to the
new alternator belt, and then up the ICW.

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:05:05 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:


"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
roups.com...

However, I note that some of the threads occasioned by our
commentaries have gone over 70 posts; most seem to make it to a half
dozen almost without notice and many get into double digits.

I call that a lot of press.

And, I agree, many are supportive. There are, however, those which
are not. Yet, as noted, in most cases where there's information
included, rather than just ad hominem, I look and learn. Most times
I've already done it, but in the interest of trying to limit my
already rampant logorhhea, have not mentioned it, and to respond to
them doesn't further the discussion, particularly when my access is
limited.

Thus, before I even saw the suggestion that I post about a boring
trip, this (the subject line above) went up. I think that prolly
qualified...

L8R

Skip, the nutcase...



Skip, have you worked out an emergency steering plan, and do you know how to
steer by sails alone? Two suggestions I made which may or may not have been
taken as an "attack" (they were not submitted as such).

Karin

Skip, with the possible efforts of one individual I don' read
responses to your posts as slanging you., but rather (I admit
sometimes strongly put) words of advise. You have had steering
troubles. Do you have an emergency steering device" apparently not -
you should have.
Your generator belt problems have been discussed ad nauseam.

I still can't figure out whether you have an accurate volt meter or
are depending on black boxes to tell you the state of your batteries
but I'd suggest logging onto Trojan, or other battery sites and
getting as much knowledge of how a battery actually charges - or ask
Larry. Because it is, in reality, a rather long drawn out chemical
process. Not just dumping a bunch of amps into the system for a while.

The only thing I've read where you have really made a bad decision is
when you ran aground. You went into a narrow channel. Don't do it. If
the weather is bad then get into the deepest water you can it really
is safer. I rode out the Thai tsunami in 100 ft. of water and didn;t
even know anything had happened until people started calling on
channel 16.

You'll probably run aground again - anyone who says that they haven't
is either a liar or will run aground tomorrow. You'll probably screw
up again, we all have done it. Just keep shuffling along and in a
while you'll be as competent as any of us and probably more competent
then some individuals I can name.





Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)

On Aug 17, 8:05 am, wrote:

Skip, with the possible efforts of one individual I don' read
responses to your posts as slanging you., but rather (I admit
sometimes strongly put) words of advise. You have had steering
troubles. Do you have an emergency steering device" apparently not -
you should have.

As seen about contemporary to your posting - is that informative and/
or sufficient?

Your generator belt problems have been discussed ad nauseam.

Heh. LOL. No kidding :{))


I still can't figure out whether you have an accurate volt meter or
are depending on black boxes to tell you the state of your batteries
but I'd suggest logging onto Trojan, or other battery sites and
getting as much knowledge of how a battery actually charges - or ask
Larry. Because it is, in reality, a rather long drawn out chemical
process. Not just dumping a bunch of amps into the system for a while.

The only thing I've read where you have really made a bad decision is
when you ran aground. You went into a narrow channel. Don't do it. If
the weather is bad then get into the deepest water you can it really
is safer. I rode out the Thai tsunami in 100 ft. of water and didn;t
even know anything had happened until people started calling on
channel 16.

You'll probably run aground again - anyone who says that they haven't
is either a liar or will run aground tomorrow. You'll probably screw
up again, we all have done it. Just keep shuffling along and in a
while you'll be as competent as any of us and probably more competent
then some individuals I can name.

Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)

Hi, Bruce, and thanks for the kind comments.

I think I have reasonably good voltage reading stuff, and Larry has
been a tremendous resource, including visits to the boat as we were
sorting it all out. It's how we discovered the dead charger herein
elsewhere maligned :{)) The "black box" reads to the tenth of a volt
and amp, and my multimeter goes to hundredths. On my next SG reading
(only 5 of them in the last month), I'm also going to do a load test
(I have one of those in the tools inventory, too) - all prior ones
were positive; perhaps this one will show some weakness?

I expect find the bottom again, but I hope it's soft and kedgeable, or
responsive to tides, but I'd rather it not be any time soon. And,
we're still shuffling along...

Meanwhile, with the exception that I am about to, now, go out and
procure the right belt (and replacement) for our charging system,
everything else is performing as to spec. I believe new batteries are
in our future (well, aren't they always, eventually?), but that aside
it looks very much like things are in order. I'll also laser-align
the alternator in my next change, having recently brute-force eye-
measure aligned it from the 30 or so years of distortion of belt
tightening prior.

Meanwhile, don't dis Wilbur. He's very entertaining, and whether or
not it's Neal in disguise, it's plenty easy to filter if you don't
want to deal with it. However, the lengthy interchange suggests you
get as much out of it as he :{))

L8R

Skip, off to fan belts and then back on the ICW