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#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Ham and Wry...
Ham and Wry...
We're in Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island, having returned from 15 weeks ashore. We've pretty much sworn off shore life, after all that, despite having had the most wonderful hosts and accommodations. Our good friends replied to our asking if we might bunk with them for part of the time we were ashore with great enthusiasm, saying we were the answer to their prayers. They're big time travelers, and have a home in Atlanta, as well. The day after we arrived, they headed off for 3 weeks. Before we left (the biggie in their plans), they headed off for a full-country trip to China, and not long after, made a trip north to see a new grandchild. In between, they made many brief trips away... Ours was a symbiotic relationship, as it gave Lydia her animal jollies, and walks in their lovely garden, hikes to an art retreat over the hill (on their walking trails), and we served as loving house and pet-sitters. Their two dogs, and their 5 cats (soon to be plus 4 kittens), and Portia, gave Lydia lots of face time, grooming, stroking, and otherwise just getting refilled on her animal-love supply. However, those who read Lydia's log know that Portia had so enjoyed her runs in the woods, the catching of butterflies, and all the other things that such a strange and open environment provided, that she decided she didn't want to come along with us, after all. I finally got her to come to me and carted her inside to keep her confined in the small bedroom we'd move into the next night, on the anticipation of house guests who would need our bed. Lydia put her in her harness, and brought her to bed with us. However, the leash slipped from her hand in her sleep, and Portia went out the window, leash and all, to be discovered missing in the morning. Panic ensued, of course, as it would be very easy to catch her leash on something, get wound up trying to figure out how to escape, howl, and attract unwanted attention. Many hours of walking the property and calling later, however she was found across the creek, with the leash still trailing behind her. Once again she was confined to quarters. Except that she escaped, somehow, again. No amount of three people going around the entire property, calling and hoping to hear a return meowl, ditto the house, produced any evidence that Portia was nearby. She decided to hide... So, tearfully, we left without her. Days went by and no word from our hosts. Meanwhile, Lydia's in mourning; she cleans the boat of evidence of Portia, and cries at each new discovery or each vacuumed hair. Finally, the word comes down just as we are going in the water. Portia was hiding in the crawl space near the HVAC ducts. She's caught by our hosts, and picked up by Lydia's daughter. Instantly, Lydia makes plans to drive 8 hours to pick up Portia, we find a rental car at a bargain, and off she goes. Meanwhile, and before, we've been working on the boat. Well, "we" did the first week, but as I write, I'm still working on a host of things which I do that Lydia can't, and hope to finish in less than a week, so we can get in some sea trials. So, what adventures has Flying Pig had in these last couple of weeks? First order of business while we were out of the water was to take care of some minor areas where either bottom paint had not adhered following our 800-blister repair areas, or perhaps had been rubbed off in our bottom sampling efforts in the last many months. That was pretty easy, too. A host of other projects inside were being addressed as well. We'll spare you the gory details, but it involves electricity and water :{)) We got through - happily, sigh of relief - everything we needed to do which required us to be out of the water. The last thing we did, literally hours and minutes before we were due to go in the water, was to make an exhaust modification. Flying Pig pegged the scales at 40,000 pounds, and we've not put anything aboard when we came back. However, there are some things which we've brought aboard in the past. All those indulgences and necessities and spares and tools and food - well, you get the idea. As a result, her exhaust came out under water. That led to soot stains on the transom and starboard quarter. That's no way for a Lady to live! The exhaust now comes out at the end of the platform. That not only keeps the exhaust off the boat, it makes our usual dash to look at the filter to make sure it's sucking water unneeded as the water is louder than the exhaust at that point. If it's spitting water, it's getting it. So, while it ain't pretty, but also not ugly, we're very pleased to make that happen. While Lydia's eating up the love and attention from Portia, her hosts' 3 dogs, and her grandson, I'm continuing to work. New or replacement instruments have been mounted, new faceplate designed for the pod, and all the fun wiring needed to make all that work. More design work was making switch plates for the electronics panel, getting them, finally, from the shop, and making *very* careful drill holes, in order that the remainder of the plastic not break... And making fiddly cuts in the electronics panel, making very sure not to cut any of the wires close behind! Unfortunately, that took much longer than anticipated, as the plastics shop which cut the blanks somehow couldn't figure out (two total) a 7x1.25" and 9.25x4" piece! - so they called me after a few days, to come in and give them specific instructions. Despite that, they made three pieces instead of two like those. The pod plate turned out all right, though, and the delay turned out to be of no particular event, because ... .... Well, the best laid plans of mice and men... Lydia did indeed go home and fetch Portia, but stayed an additional couple of weeks to continue loving on her grandson and enjoying time away, alone. As a result, we didn't get the additional work done together, and our departure was slightly delayed. Hurricane Bertha would have had our full attention had we gone when we expected, so it's just as well. In the meantime, I've been busy. I've basically redone all the electrical setups in the navigation table area ("nav"), so that we have individually converted all of the various devices in any way related to the computer system to 12V instead of the ("household") AC circuit, and all can run individually or together. The switch panels involve my major project, that of converting everything possible in our computer and SSB mail system from "household power" to 12 volts. I'll keep it short and sweet - several hard drives, modems and routers, and power supplies for all of them, kept me busy before this went out. In the end, nothing other than the printer will be prominent (or, even visible, in the locations where they're going), but we'll have it all controlled by the switches in the panel. That some of the devices also took 5 volts meant that I had to have switches which could do both functions. As many of the devices are hard drives which would rarely be used together, I took advantage of a switch which could be used for two devices (one at a time) to conserve space. That was important because the number of switches on the panel would not fit the number we'd otherwise need. So, they'll go one way or the other... The computer and extra hard drives, the router which allows Lydia to connect over our Ship's own WiFi system (boats nearby will see "Flying Pig" available and open), and even our international WiFi telephone, Vonage, all are controlled via our panel. However, along the way, I also addressed some electrical gremlins, I'm pleased to say, but I initially failed in my attempts to make my Sailmail (Single Side Band email) units work. The chief culprit seems to be in the tuner in the stern of the boat. As I chased the problem, it was most vexing when I didn't find it; as this system will be critical to our passage, we can't go without it working properly. An experienced Ham, and double-E (electronics engineer), a fellow cruiser we've met on the internet, and now, another of our angels, came to help me sort out some of the electrical gremlins (see above short :{)) story), the SSB being one of them. We deduced that since I could hear folks just fine, the antenna must be ok, but the tuner (the thing which electronically adjusts the length of the antenna to match the frequency being used) must not be working. So, I set about troubleshooting the tuner... I went to the tuner - which was only inspectable by removing most of the stuff from the cavernous lazarette (the storage space in the stern of the boat, accessed by raising a hatch on the deck), and literally diving, headfirst, into it, as it wasn't deep enough to contort myself inside by going in feet first - to look for obvious power problems, but also to remind myself of what the power feed looked like. Coming out, levering myself with first my feet, then my legs, and finally my arms, reminded me that I've been receiving Social Security for more than a year - I'm getting too old for this! The power feed is a 1/4" or so black cable, so that's what I started looking for. While I was trying to find the tuner power feed, despite many excursions and wire-fingerings in the breaker panel, since I didn't see anything which looked at all like what I see going into the tuner, I took down the books on the starboard side of the aft cabin to get access to the wire bundle coming from the stern. No joy there - the wire bundle didn't have anything resembling the cable on the autopilot. So, I pulled the floor plate in the bedroom. Still no, but I'm happy to report :{)) that the water coming from the rudder isn't even a trickle (we have Teflon packing in the rudder gland, but the shaft is pitted and usually leaks more than I'd like). Ditto the floor plate at the conduits in the walkthrough. I may have to surrender and get a tech in here, because I can't find the supply, even, to check it. The plot thickens, however, as I did a test to make the "swr" signal come up on the panel - showing that I have a transmission problem - and despite tuning through every megahertz, on both upper and lower sidebands, I could not make it appear. It's possible that all my fiddling with the wires has made the connection good again. That's a nuisance, but it gives me another project - improving those connections! - to do, if it's actually what happened. I'll have to wait for the net tonight to see with any definition, I guess... Thinking about it some more, I remember there being some small-wire connections there in the lazarette on the bedroom bulkhead, so, headfirst, into the lazarette I go again. Hm. There are two small cables which go down, rather than up, in the bilges, and connect to the black cable I've been looking for. That changes matters. So, I trace them back to the sole in the walkthrough. Nothing like them in the breaker cabinet. Hm. So, I open the cubby under the cabinet. Aha! There are two cables which look like those in the lazarette. One's connected to two terminal strips on the bulkhead. I meter them, to no effect. The other's been cut off and taped, just loose in the bottom - a spare? Then I remember that I saw, in the electronics breaker cabinet during my search, a heavy wire - half of a cable, the other half loose - which was labeled "VHF radio and electronics," in faded sharpie. There used to be a VHF in the walkthrough - I think a PO used the workbench for a chart table, perhaps? - so that could have been the VHF connection. Suspicious, I turned on the electronics breaker, and suddenly there's power at that terminal strip. Hmmm. So, I take the connections off the terminal strip, and tone (attach an electronic transmitter which allows tracing wires) them. Back in the lazarette I go; sure enough, a great strong tweedle at the tuner. Dammit. It was just that it needed the electronics breaker tripped? We'll find out in a bit on the maritime net... Sure enough - lousy conditions all over, and many requests for relays, I make contact with 6Y5RP in the Caribbean, who sez my signal is loud and clear. Next test is for the sailmail... Without all the technical details, approximately as convoluted as the power to the tuner, I solved the SSB email system, and am happily collecting and sending email out of the sky, receiving weather information, whether we're close or in the mid-Atlantic and generally enjoying our enhanced communication. Immediate family will get the address for that unit, only, as it's extremely slow (old-timers will remember when a 1200 baud modem was state of the art - this rarely achieves that breakneck speed), and anything larger than a brief text-only message won't pass muster. We therefore now have SSB (radio) email and weather available, so immediate family will know how we're doing, and advise us of any travel-related areas which will need closer attention. We'll also talk with other cruisers, some we're traveling in widely spaced packs with, and some across the world, courtesy of the signal bounce in the ionosphere actually making it possible to talk with Australia from New York, all on our Ham Band (amateur radio) and SSB unit. So, with a wry grin at all the frustrations solved to this point, I'll say that having the Ham radio, SSB, and all the links to the outside world it provides, gives Ham and Wry a new meaning :{)) I'll close for now, and update you on the rest of our work and travel realities as we leave. Stay tuned :{)) L8R Skip PS any of you in the Fernandina Beach area who would like a daysail when we do our minor seatrials before leaving, please drop me a line off list skipgundlach at gmail dot com. We anticipate those will happen late this week or early next week... 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) |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Ham and Wry...
On 2008-07-15 20:48:59 -0400, "Skip Gundlach" said:
Unfortunately, that took much longer than anticipated Is there ANY boat task that takes less than 4 times what was anticipated? -- 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/ |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Ham and Wry...
On Jul 15, 4:48*pm, "Skip Gundlach" wrote:
Ham and Wry... We're in Fernandina Beach, Hello Skip, Thank you for the update. I was wondering what was happening. P L E A S E keep the posts comming they are the only real crusing updates availible here in RBC, a discussion board where people discuss a variety of crusing topics who are intereseted in crusing in boats. I am also so glad to hear you found your loved one. So many people just dont understand the emotional connection and love bond that pets create. It must have been terible while she was missing. ups I almost used the word "gone" and as we all know has another meaning. Best of luck to you Skip and I look forward to your next post. Your Friend, Fred |
#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Ham and Wry...
"Jere Lull" wrote in message
news:2008071600302975249-jerelull@maccom... On 2008-07-15 20:48:59 -0400, "Skip Gundlach" said: Unfortunately, that took much longer than anticipated Is there ANY boat task that takes less than 4 times what was anticipated? -- 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/ This is rhetorical question of course. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
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