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

Too bad you missed Alligator River Marina. If you can't get what you
need in Coinjock, Atlantic is the next best bet (right before the
Great Bridge Bridge). Although at the rate you are moving now, it's
probably too late for that.

When I read your last post to Bob, we were both taken aback by the
fuel usage - our boat which I think is a similar size to yours uses
only about 1 g/h

We have two ways to measure the fuel (one tank tender, and one a
stick) and two ways to measure the water (one a tank tender and one
sight tubes in the engine room0

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

[clip]

When I read your last post to Bob, we were both taken aback by the
fuel usage - our boat which I think is a similar size to yours uses
only about 1 g/h

[clip]
grandma Rosalie


He said that he uses ".8" (0.8) GPH. Methinks you missed the period.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Geoff Schultz wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

[clip]

When I read your last post to Bob, we were both taken aback by the
fuel usage - our boat which I think is a similar size to yours uses
only about 1 g/h

[clip]
grandma Rosalie


He said that he uses ".8" (0.8) GPH. Methinks you missed the period.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Oops

You are right. It did not occur to me that anyone would write eight
tenths without putting the zero in front as you did (0.8) to alert the
reader that it wasn't 8.0. The dot is so tiny that it is easy to
miss. And that's about the fuel usage that we get depending on how
much current or wind we are bucking. We use the 1.0 gph as a ballpark
figure to estimate how much we will need and when we need to get it
again.

I also wanted to say that 50 miles a day is good progress in the ICW.
I try not to schedule that much. When we go south, we try to stop by
2 or 3 pm because otherwise (since we are usually going south in
November) the sun is in our eyes. That's something to remember for
next fall.

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:04:27 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:


I also wanted to say that 50 miles a day is good progress in the ICW.
I try not to schedule that much. When we go south, we try to stop by
2 or 3 pm because otherwise (since we are usually going south in
November) the sun is in our eyes. That's something to remember for
next fall.

On our yearly road trips to Florida, never pushing hard, I used to
stop early at motels, maybe 1-2 PM. The kids would spend hours
playing in the pool, and the wife and I would unwind with local
newspapers and TV. Our driving started at daybreak.
I never made reservations, and had my pick the rooms.
Is there a marina equivalent to that while cruising the ICW?
Or do you always have to reserve a mooring/berth?

--Vic

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:02:41 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Is there a marina equivalent to that while cruising the ICW?
Or do you always have to reserve a mooring/berth?

It depends on the time of year and how big your boat is. Spring and
fall (May and October) are very busy on the ICW and reservations at
least a day in advance are a good idea, especially for larger boats.

Vic Smith wrote:

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:04:27 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:


I also wanted to say that 50 miles a day is good progress in the ICW.
I try not to schedule that much. When we go south, we try to stop by
2 or 3 pm because otherwise (since we are usually going south in
November) the sun is in our eyes. That's something to remember for
next fall.

On our yearly road trips to Florida, never pushing hard, I used to
stop early at motels, maybe 1-2 PM. The kids would spend hours
playing in the pool, and the wife and I would unwind with local
newspapers and TV. Our driving started at daybreak.

Back in the old days when we were traveling across country to a new
duty station with the kids, that's what we did. Started as early as
any nearby place had breakfast, got on the road ASAP, stopped for gas
and bathroom break at 10, lunched in the car, stopped for gas etc at
2, and stopped early for the kids to work off some steam in the pool
or by going to some local attraction or playground. [The last time we
did that it was in Oct '66 and we were driving two cars.] We had a
rough schedule in mind, but didn't generally make reservations in
advance except maybe at the National Parks (like the Grand Canyon or
Mesa Verde).

I never made reservations, and had my pick the rooms.
Is there a marina equivalent to that while cruising the ICW?
Or do you always have to reserve a mooring/berth?

You don't have to make a reservation if you just anchor, and if you
can't get a slip, anchoring is always an option. In that case you
just have to know where appropriate spots to anchor are using charts
and/or guides.

We normally travel in what would be called the shoulder season on
land. That is, normal traffic goes south in October leaving the
Chesapeake after the Annapolis Boat Show on Columbus Day weekend, and
we almost always wait until at least Halloween. Normal traffic comes
north in May, and we are usually back by late March. So that's less
crowded and most of the time we have no problem getting slips.

Each night, I would call my son (who at that time worked nights and
the cell phone rates were cheaper at that time of day) and file a kind
of float plan - that is I would tell him where we were and where we
expected to be the next day. He followed our progress on a map.

After the first trip, I knew where we'd been before and would like to
go again and how likely they were to have a place.

(Because it isn't just driving along the highway and spotting a
vacancy sign, you need some kind of cruising guide so that you know
where the places ARE. I usually have three or four to help me make a
decision.)

Most of the time I would call the next day.. Sometimes on the radio
an hour or so before we get there and sometimes on the cell phone.
Some places don't take reservations but take the first to get there,
which is another reason to stop early. I still call just to find out
whether they will probably have space and also to find out whether
they will still be open when we get there.

I haven't had much luck making reservations very far in advance
because even when they take reservations, the weather may intervene
making our trip slower or faster than I expected. I do sometimes try
to make reservations in Charleston or Miami where we usually stay for
a week visiting grandchildren.

On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:15:18 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:

(Because it isn't just driving along the highway and spotting a
vacancy sign, you need some kind of cruising guide so that you know
where the places ARE. I usually have three or four to help me make a
decision.)

I've noticed guides are essential for cruisers. Much more complicated
than driving a car down the road. We did a 23 day road trip once and
all I needed was the Rand McNally campsite guide to find every state,
local and national park campsite and KOA in the country. It was darn
accurate on amenities and prices too.

--Vic