Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
August 25 - Well, that about winds it up.
August 25 - Well, that about winds it up.
I'm sitting on the hook (anchored for those not familiar with the term) under Atlantic Highlands, NJ, near the municipal pier, and not far from the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club. There's a dinghy dock at the muni pier which we'll take advantage of to go ashore, but right now it's time to clean the decks of all the accumulated grunge. It never fails to amaze us how dirty the boat gets when it's been out at sea. We have no clue as to where it may come from, but so far, every time, there's not only the expected salt residue, but also a very dark dirty something, from bow to stern. So, Lydia's first activity every time we stop is to go wash the deck. The exterior will need some attention, too, but for now, that's enough. It's forecast to be 90 today for Sandy Hook and Atlantic Highlands, and at nearly 4PM, it may be. However, the water is delightfully cool, but not cold, and it's keeping the boat reasonably comfortable as the breeze wafts over it. Breeze, because, one of the reasons to hurry to get here today was that the winds were supposed to go to 15-20 knots on Saturday, which would have been more challenging than the forecast 10-15, dying to under 10, on Friday. Well, so far NOAA's batting 1.000, as the most wind we saw the entire way up wasn't over 7 or so, and here, there's even less. However, that's ok, as we really don't need a gale to be comfortable! The way in (and out, of which more, anon) was totally socked in. Visibility in fog of a few hundred feet or less, sometimes. Good thing we had radar. There was lots of traffic overnight, and sometimes Lydia had to call to make sure they saw us - some didn't, until the call! Lydia sent me down to sleep at 10 and took the dawn patrol, but came for relief at just before 5, which is apparently a good time for her, as it's the times she's done overnights before, successfully. I went down for my shower and sleep at a little before 10, so was very refreshed when I came up. Lydia'd had a nice long nap before her shift, and so was also refreshed when she took over. We spent some time on the horn with our new-found SSCA buddies who had preceded us northward, confirming our weather realities, as our wind machine is off for repair. Without it, we didn't have a positive reference for wind direction or speed. Therefore, their help was useful. As we left, there was mostly fog, but a pretty good visibility. The weather report had a fog advisory which was supposed to lift at 9, but at 10, it was still very limited visibility, in very benign seas. We'd started on a beam reach, once we got out of the channel, and what little wind there was, along with Perky, the Iron Genny going for all he was worth, had us moving along at over 8 knots in the water, but because of the counter current off the Gulf Stream, we were making just a little over 7 knots over ground. Our course was nearly perfect, but as the day wore on, into night, the wind started to move around so that we constantly (in order to keep our point of sail, but also to get out far enough to do our dead-north run promised in the South winds forecast) edged around to East. Once we were due east for a while, and the wind continued to move around, we headed north, and Lydia took over. The traffic aside, it was uneventful until our arrival just before the Sandy Hook channel, where, after I took the helm again, there were flotillas of fishing boats, public ("head" boats) and private. I'd thought to stay out of the channel in case of lots of commercial traffic, but with having to thread our way through radar images of small boats, I decided to go in the channel. Fortunately, by that time, not only had dawn broken, but the fog had started to clear, so I could see what I was picking up on the radar. OY! Everywhere, including IN the channel, boats were tightly packed, all with lines over the side, bottom fishing. However, nothing untoward occurred, we went in past the hook, and the fleet stayed behind. Apparently, the fishing is much better outside Sandy Hook! So, now we get to our point of beginning. As seen in the title, there were a couple of events - one not discovered until our anchorage this afternoon - which really wound things up. The first was, after an hour or so under full throttle, we heard this horrible noise from in the engine compartment. Immediately throttling back, the engine stopped. Not knowing what to expect, at all, but having no smoke, I figured there was some sort of mechanical issue, and gingerly peeked in the door. No fire, no smoke, so I opened the door all the way and saw that our bilge blower's 4" Mylar-and-spring-steel-coiled hose had somehow become involved with the moving parts on the engine, and both belts were nowhere to be seen. However, about 100' of small spring steel wire, and the remains of the Mylar, had very firmly wound itself around the pulleys at the crankcase, and BEHIND the pulley next to the block, on the crankshaft. Of course, by the time this happened, not only was the engine warmed up, it was at full temperature, having just been run for some time at full cruising speed (just shy of wide open throttle). Well, there's nothing to do but go in there, and get it off/out, or we'll be stuck. Lydia set the sails to take advantage of what little wind there was, to stabilize the boat against the very gentle swells (you really don't want to be thrown against a hot - about 180 degrees - engine, or much hotter - about 250 - alternator), and I set about seeing what could be done. As is usually the case with us, it seems, it's pretty complicated, but I'll shorten the story to say that 4 hours later I'd managed to remove all the very tightly wound steel and peeled off all the Mylar, replaced the water pump, fished the forward pulley from the bottom of the bilge where it had fallen when I'd taken it off to get to the one attached to the crankshaft (thank goodness for gorilla arms and a 12" plumber's pliers!) and reattached it, realigned the alternator mounts, and mounted new belts. Sure enough, it started right up, no oil leaks nor any other calumny as a result, and off we went, only a little bit late. As it turned out, we arrived at Sandy Hook at the same time as our SSCA buddies who, bless them, had stood off for a bit until it was determined that there was nothing they could do to help, and then went on. And, finally, another wind-up: as is my fashion, to limit whacking of halyards on the mast as the boat rocks or the wind blows, I intentionally foul them around the spreaders (the bars across the middle of the mast) when stowing them after a sail. This puts them well away from the mast, so there's not only no noise, it helps preserve the health of the line, as it doesn't wear by all the banging. We'd noted some difficulty in making the genoa furler move, either in or out, on our way up, and I feared the worst - that we'd experienced a bearing failure, which would involve taking off the forestay (the wire which holds up the mast from the front). Fortunately, it was only the brand new Sta-SetX spinnaker halyard, which had the side which hoists the sail brought around (and then under) the furler, and then thrown around the spreader, rather than having both the hoist and pull ends of it on one side of the genoa. As a result, the spinnaker halyard's hoist part had been rubbing against the part of the furler which turns, at the top of the mast, keeping it from turning every time it went around. So, great news that it's not bad bearings. The bad news is that the halyard is nearly worn through, and effectively useless other than as two shorter pieces of line. I think it fair to say that this particular mistake won't happen again, but I could have done without it even this once! Looking back on our dousing of the last use of the spinnaker, I don't really recall the sequence of events. However, the end result was a misplaced line which not only inconvenienced us in using another sail, it destroyed (for our purposes) a new and expensive line. Anybody need a 50' with snap shackle, and 70' bare, 7/16" white (red trace, trade mark) Sta-SetX line? Ah, well, if that's the worst thing which happens to us in our journey, we're indeed fortunate. Altogether, we're incredibly blessed. We're out here on the ocean, moving at our own pace and destinations, healthy, and spoiled rotten by our ability to do just that. Port Supply will sell me another line, and, perhaps, I'll even find somewhere here on the Van Route (where Port delivers) so I'll not have to pay shipping to get the replacement. In the meantime, I'll reeve the old halyard until the replacement arrives, and we'll continue to sail as though that was the way it was supposed to be :{)) As we're just going to attend to lots of little chores, and perhaps get in some touristy bits, this will likely be the last from me for a while. However, I'm sure Lydia's log will have lots of things to talk about, not the least of which is Portia, the kitten who wormed her way on the boat and who seems to be perfectly suited to be a sea cat, never complaining the entire way up, but continuing all the things and activities she'd done before our departure. The official stance is that she's up for adoption - but she's already potty-trained (perches on the seat, even in a seaway, to go), and the greatest personality you could ask for. You ask me, I don't think this cat's getting off. 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 |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
August 21 - All at Sea | Cruising | |||
August 19 - an August event... | Cruising | |||
August 7 - Land, HO! | Cruising | |||
NE Winds, East Winds, and South Winds | ASA | |||
NTSB, August 25, "Mandatory" PFD | General |