Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
Wayne.B wrote:
.... Flying a spinnaker at night with only one person on deck is not a good idea. Wing and wing with the jib poled out and the boom prevented is one traditional solution of course, and it works pretty well. The *really* serious downwind cruisers have always favored a double head sail rig with twin poles, and the main down. Keeping the main strapped down hard, dead downwind in a decent breeze and large swells is a recipe for disaster. The only time I'd do that even temporarily is jibing the spinnaker short handed. The other solution is the one I originally proposed: reaching up high enough that the jib is full, thus minimizing the chances of an accidental. That does require an occasional jibe to stay on course but that's easily managed with an auto pilot at the helm. My previous boat was a Nonsuch 30, which loved to run dead downwind, but the long boom was at risk of dipping into the water. The trick I learned to eliminate the risk of dipping or jibing was to haul up on the topping lift to create a lot of twist. The boom was raised a foot or more and the twist prevented jibes. Admittedly, this can't be done on all rigs, but its easy with a stayless rig. |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 06 May 2008 17:19:19 -0600, Paul Cassel wrote: I'm having a tough time seeing the initial setup. You are motoring northward with the Stream and on a run or very broad reach? Is that it? What I'm having a tough time with is if you are on a broad reach or run, why the engine? I personally hate the things and if you are on a run, you are moving the disgusting diesel exhaust into your cockpit / cabin. Do I have the setup right or am I missing something? You're not missing a thing, the question is why. I suppose the only real answer is inexperience. Flying a spinnaker at night with only one person on deck is not a good idea. Wing and wing with the jib poled out and the boom prevented is one traditional solution of course, and it works pretty well. The *really* serious downwind cruisers have always favored a double head sail rig with twin poles, and the main down. Keeping the main strapped down hard, dead downwind in a decent breeze and large swells is a recipe for disaster. The only time I'd do that even temporarily is jibing the spinnaker short handed. The other solution is the one I originally proposed: reaching up high enough that the jib is full, thus minimizing the chances of an accidental. That does require an occasional jibe to stay on course but that's easily managed with an auto pilot at the helm. OK, you may be right, but I'd like to hear from Skip to confirm. This entire episode makes no sense to me. |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message ... March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories We left you as we were in the Gulf Stream, heading north. We're on our way to Tiger Point Marina, in Fernandina Beach, FL, to pick up Lydia's son, who's coming to sail with us for a few days. When he leaves the boat, he'll then give us a ride back to the area we left when we moved aboard Flying Pig. Flying Pig will be grounded for a while, during our shoreside adventures - which I'm sure you'll hear about in Lydia's log postings... When we've finished, we'll return, and do some work before our next big trip. Before leaving Miami, in preparation for putting Flying Pig on the ground, I used our hookah rig (like a scuba dive without the tank, but instead, a long hose) connected to our compressor both for inspection and cleaning of our hull. When I dove the bottom to clean off the accumulated grunge which is the inevitable result of staying in one place for a while in the marine environment, and to clean up the impellers which tell us how fast we're going, I discovered that there were some places on the hull which apparently had no bottom paint on them. As that's what prevents the critters which, if they make the bottom of your boat their home, causes your boat from going as fast as it can, from gaining a foothold, that's very important to us. Given that we did it ourselves, we're quite sure those places had an ample amount applied. However, it may be that they are among the areas repaired during our wreck rehab, and the surfaces needed different preparation than we had done. Either way, when it comes out of the water, we'll see what's needed there. The other things we have to do are pretty minor, too, and I'm thrilled to report that I'd bet I now have a lifetime supply of alternator belts, as the one put on when we changed the pulley on the alternator is still going strong. Little by little, our shakedown's shaking out. Like any boat that's 30 years old, ours will require constant attention, but there's nothing we can't handle. However, back to our story. So, it was a dark and stormy night, as the saying goes, and Lydia wasn't feeling all that well, what with the rock and roll, pitching and the like. You'll recall that we had all the steadying we could manage, with all the sails pulled blade-tight. Still, the motion was considerable. She hung in there, though, until, as was frequently the case, all night long, there was one of those tiny jibes. Those happen when you have a steadying sail up and the wind at your back, but it shifts, flopping the sail over to the other side. That sudden movement is very forceful. It's for just that reason, with a longer movement as would be the case with the boom way out, in a run, that we use the preventer. And, you may recall from a prior log entry, we'd already broken a shackle on one end of the preventer, and, in the same day, later, broke off the attachment point on the boom where the preventer mounted. Both of these occurred just as the sail started the other way, without the momentum that a full switch from one side to the other would provide. That gives some indication of the power of a crash jibe! On the impact of that mini-jibe, the welded piece of stainless steel which attached the sheet (the line that controls how far out the boom goes) to the boom broke. That allowed the mainsail to fly out to a point where the boom was resting on one of the standing rigging wires. Ironically, at that particular point, the sail was relatively stable, but having the boom pushed up against the shroud (the wire holding the lower part of the mast in position) wasn't a good thing. That's because in addition to the pressure on the shroud, it would be entirely possible that another roll of the boat would produce another crash jibe. This time, however, it would be from one far side to the other, gaining considerable momentum and quite possibly dismasting us as it hit the opposite shroud. So, despite the additional drive (the speed went up by a couple of knots with the sail out), we needed to resolve the instability of the mainsail. So, of course, Lydia came and woke me, only a couple of hours into my sleep. The noise of the failure had already raised my consciousness level, and I was topsides in a jiffy (well, and some sweats and my foul weather gear). After assessing the situation, we rehearsed what we'd do in order to make this a stable environment. Aside from the current weather, which meant very lumpy water and high winds, the solution wasn't markedly different than would be the case in lowering the sail as we prepared to anchor. The key difference would be that we would not have the main sheet to control the boom's swinging once we had the sail lowered. So, I turned on the spreader and foredeck lights, got into my harness, latched onto the jackline, and went forward to the mast while Lydia turned Flying Pig into the wind. Even my going forward would not have been needed to drop the sail, due to our new sail hardware and lazy jacks setup, and our already having our lines led aft, into the cockpit. Those allow us to release the halyard (the line hoisting the sail to the top of the mast), and the sail merely falls into place. However, the topping lift, which controls how high the boom is, would need to be played carefully as the boom swung back and forth in the rocking due to the waves. I'd have to time its swing just right to lower it into the boom crutch. Fortunately, that proved no great difficulty, and I unclipped my harness from the mast, reclipping it to the jackline, and went aft. There I lashed the boom to the crutch, effectively making it impossible to jump out of place. The lashing took the place of the normal down pressure we would have exerted with the sheet. With all secured, I turned off the lights, kissed Lydia goodnight, again, and returned to my berth. Despite the increased motion due to not having the steadying influence of the main, I was asleep again in moments. Flying Pig continued to motorsail under nearly bare poles, entirely safely. As dawn approached, Lydia again woke me, as she'd been battling seasickness her entire watch, and the accompanying sleepiness was beginning to overcome her. I got up and settled in to enjoy the ride, which was becoming more adventuresome by the mile. The waves built, and the wind howled, as we saw over 20 knots astern, to go with our 7-8 knots of forward motion. Better yet (heh - euphemistically stated), we were in the counter-current (the reverse flow next to the Gulf Stream). That meant that our boat speed (as compared to ground speed) was over 10 knots, into the square chop produced by the wind against the current. That produced a very wide range of motion, and some of the following waves would roll us 30 degrees or so, then fling the stern over 90 degrees in the opposite direction as the wave passed beneath us, at the same time as it rolled the same 30 or so degrees in the opposite direction. Hooray for our fuel polishing system, as the usual response to such motion is one of the failures we have yet to experience. That is, most sailors whose boats have auxiliary diesel engines will eventually experience those engines stopping due to fouled filters restricted so much that fuel can't get to the engine. The nature of diesel fuel in a marine environment with low turnover is to grow critters and accumulate grunge as they die, along with the dead-dinosaur-stuff nature of sludge formation along the sides and bottom of most fuel tanks. Rough seas lead to stirring all that stuff up, and typically, eventually, a clog making its way into the system, usually resulting in the need for a filter change. Of course, the time those instances occur is usually about the worst time you could choose to have to replace a filter - rough seas making it even more uncomfortable than it already is, in a hot engine room. Worse, if your engine was running in those conditions, you might be in a position where you were dependent on it to keep you out of trouble, such as going aground on the rocks! So, having religiously run our fuel polishing system whenever we're in lumpy water, and especially so when sailing but with the engine off, the better to avoid sucking grunge into our supply filters, we believe we have the cleanest possible fuel for Perky. I'm sure, having made that statement, that our comeuppance will arrive sometime in the near future, engine hours-wise, but so far, we've escaped that experience! When we return to Flying Pig after our time ashore, I'll change out the polisher filters and the Racor (the ones which are before the engine in the fuel flow), even though the vacuum gauges don't indicate the need. They'll have been in for a year, and I'll change them on a preventive basis. Fortunately, those are the only equipment failures we've had this trip. Everything I read suggests that every passage will have equipment failures, and of course, those failures usually will occur under stress. That is to say, when you'd least like to discover them! More will arrive, no doubt about it, but we'll continue to address each in its turn. Lydia's cabin fever aside (she really and aggressively needs to get off the boat as soon as we anchor, each passage), we continue to be reminded of how perfect this home is for us. Time and again, we'll say to each other, "I really love our home." So, what about the fish stories?? You may recall that we've had notable failure in our attempts to make fish a major portion of our diet. Aside from the couple of catches in the Gulf of Mexico under the experienced hand of a professional fisherman, on the first leg of our journey, our only success had come on our brief trip to Rodriguez Key, and those were pretty small. However, hope springs eternal, and we set out our lines on the beginning of this passage. Many hours passed, with no more results than that the lures got thoroughly wet. We reeled them in as night fell on Wednesday, not being comfortable with dealing with a pitching deck, rain and darkness, should we manage to catch something. Thursday morning, I put them out again, with about the same results. That is to say, for many hours, the only result was a bit of grass on the tuna plug. However, as the day wore on, and the weather forecasts continued to indicate some heavy stuff coming up, we eased out of the main part of the Gulf Stream, and into the side edges. That also led us to slightly shallower water, which was apparently home to more (or at least, hungrier) fish, because we noticed that our starboard line, the one with the skirted lure, was tight and the pole bent. We don't know how long that had been like that, but it was obvious that we had either a substantial grass catch or some reasonably large fish on the other end of the line. Throttling back and turning to starboard to release some of the pressure, I started reeling. Whatever was on the other end wasn't grass, though, as it moved first behind the boat, and then in front. As Lydia played the throttle and wheel, I continued to reel. Soon, it became apparent that we had a dolphin. That's not a porpoise, but instead that blunt-headed fish with the iridescent skin (not scales). Being towed for however long it was had tired our gal (a female, as determined at first glance by the shape of the head, and later, preparing her, by the roe sac), and we soon got her in a position to gaff and bring aboard. Following the taking of pictures of our first "real" catch, I dispatched her with a hammer, put her into a bucket, head down, and we resumed our journey. Once back under way and on course, Lydia filleted the 33" dolphin, discarding the very full roe sac, head and tail. Of great interest to us was what was in the stomach, however, as it was apparent she'd been eating actively. We have no idea where they may have come from, but there were many worms wriggling in among the several sardine-sized fish in her stomach. Are there marine worms readily available for eating? Was she infested with some sort of gastric parasite? In any event, she resulted in several very sizeable chunks of meat, along with some small scraps saved for Portia. Even those, entirely raw, with no seasoning or other alterations such as would be the case with sushi, were delicious. Gluttons that we are, after having caught no fish for us, all this time, this bounty lasted us only two meals. The first was simply marinated and immediately grilled, mostly rare. Delicious as it was, we decided that the following night, which we did at anchor in the rain in Fernandina (to the accompaniment of the paper mills' aromas of, alternately, sawdust and sulphur), we'd make some changes. Those changes were mostly in the seasoning and marinating, along with a longer cooking time. The results were very satisfying, and we'll use that recipe again. For those interested, in the fashion of one of our favorite books, An Embarrasment of Mangoes, a recipe follows this chapter: Dolphin on the barbie. Marinade: Crush 5 fresh garlic cloves, add dashes of key west spice and cilantro, to combined fresh lime juice from 3 limes, olive oil and a splash of paisano (red wine from Gallo). Use Braggs amino instead of salt. Marinade in ziplock bag for 30 minutes, turning frequently. Cook over very hot grill, turning only once. Do skin side down first, time to suit for doneness. Season with Cajun spices from shaker on both sides as the other side is cooking. Rewet first cooked side with remaining marinade before seasoning. Serve over rice or other side dish to preference. L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog "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) ================================================ You killed "Flipper"? Bad man... your boat is cursed.. |
#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
On Thu, 08 May 2008 11:36:01 GMT, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote: You killed "Flipper"? Bad man... your boat is cursed.. No, no, no. It was a Mahi Mahi. Flipper is/was a Bottle Nosed Dolphin, aka, Porpoise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoise http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahi_Mahi |
#5
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
Isang tao pinangalanan, Wayne.B nagsulat:
On Thu, 08 May 2008 11:36:01 GMT, "Thomas, Spring Point Light" wrote: You killed "Flipper"? Bad man... your boat is cursed.. No, no, no. It was a Mahi Mahi. Flipper is/was a Bottle Nosed Dolphin, aka, Porpoise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoise http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahi_Mahi Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Porpoises are two different subspecies of dolphins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenosed_dolphin -- Who am I? http://www.froerup.dk/claus |
#6
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
On May 9, 12:09*pm, Claus Frørup wrote:
Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Porpoises are two different subspecies of dolphins. There may be some morphological diffrences however no taxonomical diffrences. Dolphin and Porpois are common names and have NO taxonomical use. Bob I wont begin to tell you abou the time I was a NMFS Marine Mamologist deployed in the bering sea while working for NMML in seattle.... Uhh, Bulding 7 Sand Point ...... how was that Roger? |
#7
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
On Fri, 9 May 2008 17:35:57 -0700 (PDT), Bob
wrote: On May 9, 12:09*pm, Claus Frørup wrote: Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Porpoises are two different subspecies of dolphins. There may be some morphological diffrences however no taxonomical diffrences. Dolphin and Porpois are common names and have NO taxonomical use. Bob I wont begin to tell you abou the time I was a NMFS Marine Mamologist deployed in the bering sea while working for NMML in seattle.... Uhh, Bulding 7 Sand Point ...... how was that Roger? Heh there bobby boy. You're full of big words, tell us, is bull****bob one word, or not? Wilber |
#8
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
Isang tao pinangalanan, Bob nagsulat:
On May 9, 12:09*pm, Claus Frørup wrote: Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Porpoises are two different subspecies of dolphins. There may be some morphological diffrences however no taxonomical diffrences. Dolphin and Porpois are common names and have NO taxonomical use. Their scientific classifications tell a different tale, as well as their physical appearance. Their behavior when interacting with humans alsos indicate two complete different mammals. The bottlenosed Dolphin can easily be trained to do specific tasks, just like a dog. And the Porpoise is extreemely difficult to train, just like your household cat. Any real marine mamologist knows that. Bob I wont begin to tell you abou the time I was a NMFS Marine Mamologist deployed in the bering sea while working for NMML in seattle.... Uhh, Bulding 7 Sand Point ...... how was that Roger? -- Dette er en signatur. Læs den ikke. |
#9
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
On 2008-05-09 16:09:05 -0400, Claus Frørup said:
Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Porpoises are two different subspecies of dolphins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenosed_dolphin See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphinfish, which is what Flying Pig caught. -- Jere Lull Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/ Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
#10
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
Isang tao pinangalanan, Jere Lull nagsulat:
On 2008-05-09 16:09:05 -0400, Claus Frørup said: Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Porpoises are two different subspecies of dolphins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenosed_dolphin See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphinfish, which is what Flying Pig caught. Yes, I am aware of that. My comment was on the Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Porpoise comparison. -- Who am I? http://www.froerup.dk/claus |
Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Singlehanded TransPac boat / equipment failure | Cruising | |||
battery failure stories wanted for Popular Science (cross post) | Electronics | |||
fish camp light bulb failure | General | |||
fish camp light bulb failure | Boat Building | |||
fish camp light bulb failure | Electronics |