A hot weekend

I took some time off of work and thought I would enjoy myself sailing, but the heat was terrible. On Thursday it was hot and very humid. You were soaked within minutes and a dip in the bay was thought about. Did not do much, due to the heat, but managed to clean up the boat some. Friday was time to go back and finish cleaning up the boat. I did a pretty extensive job and then had time to go out for a sail. I had finished installing the bimini and when I went out, decided to put the bimini up to give some shelter from the sun. I just can't tell you how well opening the front hatch and putting the bimini up makes to the temperature in the cockpit of the boat. It is as close to air conditioning as you can get. The air comes in the front hatch rolls down along the floor and hull reducing the temperature to something less than what the air is outside. Sort of water cooled. When the air comes out the companionway it is much cooler than the air around you so it feels refreshing. Anyway, after a quick sail to Staten Island I can back to the mooring and secured her.

On Sunday I came back with Blue (The Firstmate). I had showed him all of the things I had changed over the past few weeks and he was shocked. Some of the things were, when you sail along side in the dinghy, I now set the rope so you wrap it around the first life line sanction tube and then the end goes back to the stern cleat where a loop goes around the cleat. This keeps the boat right along side of the sailboat and against the bumpers where it is suppose to be. I told him that we get the mainsail up before leaving the mooring as it is less hassle when you have the bimini in the way. There was other things I showed him and he thought that he was not going to be needed anymore as I had gotten organized for single handed sailing. Then Blue looked into the cabin and was surprised how neat and clean everything was.

We went out and sailed for a few hours before heading back for the mooring. I caught one bluefish from a rod trolling out the back and had another on for a little bit, but he threw the hook. Being we did not put the bimini up, we got burnt to a crisp out there. We returned to rehydrate our bodies with lots of cold beer at Millers Bar.

I guess that is it for now.

Season in full swing

The past couple weeks have been one thing after another. After sitting on her mooring for a week, my next visit found the battery dead and the bilge pump not working. We went and sailed aroud the bay and had some great winds. When we returned to the mooring we checked out the wiring the best we could, but without a volt meeter, it was difficult. I swapped the battery from the dinghy withe the boats main battery and still could not get the pump working. I knew this was something I couldn't let go for too long. The following weekend I stopped and picked up a new bilge pump at West marine. I felt sao sure that I would just pop it in and I'd be all set. NOT! I put in the new bilge pump only to find that it worked in manual mode, but in automatic mode it would be on without water in the bilge. Ahhhhh, it was the float that went bad, letting the pump run until it burned out. I had the manual bilge pump, so I wasn't that worried and they were not calling for any major storms overnight, so I would come back tomorrow and try again. The next day I stopped and picked up the float at West Marine. I hooked it up and everything worked properly. Great, now I would set up the bimini top and give her a cleaning for the following weeked.

I came by myself on June 19th and everything was fine. I sailed out to Staten Island and follwed the some boats that were racing a regatta. I only wish I had more help, if I did, I could have kept up, but when they raised the spinnakers, they pulled away from me. After a few hours I brought her back to the mooring.

I returned on Fathers day with the wife. We motored out into the bay only to find that somebody forgot to turn the wind on today. There was nothing to speak of. The water was like glass and after about two hours in the heat, we decided to take her in and go home to have a BBQ. After having the wife on board, I was made aware of the things many men don't see. Things like cleaning the fiberglass that has some mildew stains, dusting the cabin, and a general cleaning of the entire boat. I pleaded guilty to her and told her it would be shipshape for her next trip.

Spring is here

It was a great weekend in many ways. It was a holiday, giving us one more daye in the weekend to work on things. It was a perfect weekend weather wize for sailing. The fishing was fantastic with many people trying their luck throughout the bay. It was just a perfect weekend!

We got out to the boat on Saturday and unloaded some supplies. We also checked out the electrical as we are not getting power to the bilge pump. After about 20 minutes of checking I decided that I would bring my volt meter tomorrow and find the problem. After a run over the rigging and other items on board, we went out for a sail toward Staten Island. The wind was very confusing as it changed direction repeatidly. So we spent our sailing time finding and working with the wind. In the afternoon, the wind was just not there and we were cruising at about 1-1/2 mph.

We decided to head back to the mooring and troll a line behind the back on the way. I kept the speed to about 3 to 4 mph as that seemed to be a good trolling speed, but got no hits. When we got closer to the mooring field I ran the speed up to 5mph and BANG for our first hit and taker. It was a small Bluefish. After getting it back into the water we tried again, but started at 5mph. What do you know BANG again. I just could not stop this fish with the takle I was using. After it peeled off a good amount of line, I had no choice but to try to stop the run and the line gave way and broke. It had to be a big Bluefish or a Stripper.

In Sunday, I went back out by myself and the main reason was to fish. I had gone down in our basement and pulled out one of my heavier rod and reels to prevent any lines from breaking. I started with a 5mph troll just as I cleared the mooring field and BANG, a good size Blue. I released him and tossed the line out for another try and when I got the speed up again BANG. This routine went on for hours with a total of 14 fish being caught. The sizes were about 22" to 36". It was a fantastic day. There were people fishing all over and many were watching me catch one after another. After about 2 hours of this, my arms hurt and I was getting prtty tired of catching fish. I never thought I would hear myself say that, but it was true. I let every fish go after being caught, so all that I had to do is clean the blood up in the cockpit before my wife saw the mess I created.

When I got back, I tried to find the electrical problem and could not find it. I will need to put some more time into finding the electrical problem. All that I wanted now, was something to drink besides water and to relax someplace cool. I headed home to enjoy the rest of the day with the family.

Monday I finished the BBQ mount for the boat and plan on taking that there next weekend. I'll keep you posted and try to take some pictures.

In the water

I worked hard to try to get everything done before bringing her to the marina, but somehow I ran out of time. I brought her to the marina on May 14th. On the way home, I realized that I did not put the bilge pump on auto and that I did not remove the piece of string that held my Windex in place during the trip to the marina. Would they marina worker catch it and take off the string, or will I have to climb the mast to take it off. I decided to take a run back on Saturday morning to correct my mistakes. I ran down and took the string off the Windex and turned the bildge pump to automatic. I left her sitting on the trailer near the top of the ramp.

On Sunday, May 23rd, Blue and I took a drive down to try to get everything organized for the coming season. I checked the tides and found that the high tides were 4 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. This made me delay our trip for a little while, trying to stall so the tide would be coming in when we got there. We loaded up the dinghy on the roof, and I had already loaded up most of the supplies in the back of the truck. When we arrived we went first to look to see where the boat was moored. It was in the same spot as the previous year which makes things a lot easier. However, at the bottom of the ramp was about 14' of mud until you got to the water. We decided to unload the dinghy and take a ride to investigate the area while the tide came in.

We rode around the area for about an hour and a half and returned to the ramp. The water was to the bottom of the ramp, but still impossible to load and board the dinghy from the ramp. We loaded her up and I took the rope to the front of the dinghy and puller her along the bulkhead until she was floating. We climbed down the ladder on the bulkhead and hopped on board.

It was a quick trip out to the boat and it didn't take long to get things unloaded. After we got the dinghy unloaded, we the rigging, installed the main sail boom, and raised the motor to prevent barnacles from building up. It was very choppy and the weather was on verge of rain. We checked and found the battery was dead, so I took the battery from the dinghy and placed it on the boat so the bilge pump could run. The other battery that was removed was stone dead. Why? I found a wire lying in water and it must have shorted out the battery or at least drained all the power out. I will have to bring my volt/amp meter on the next trip to confirm the problem.

So much for this trip. I have to regroup my thoughts and plans for next weekend. I fill you in later.

The week before the mooring

I must say this weekend was a tough one. It was the weekend to get the boat ready and the last weekend before our daughter gets married. We finished all of the painting on the boat. I tried to put some wax on her, but it didn't come out as expected. It is blochy and I am not sure if I should run some polishing compound over it and start again or to just let it go as the clock is ticking. We started loading her with her summer needs and will be working feverishly this week trying to finish the BBQ mount. My first mate, Gary, stopped by yesterday and helped get the mask on top of the cabin so all that is needed is to tie it down and go.

I still need to get the new 2011 registration stickers on and get the batteries all charged up. I will place them on the charger this evening. A cleaning of the top of the boat is next and I will be able to wax that when she is in the water. I removed the curtains for now as they were hanging off the glued up tracks and the windows are really dark tinted, so I may not need curtains. It will make it a lot brighter in the cabin, plus being able to see out will help those who have weak tummies and go below for comfort. We are not taking anything on board that we did not use last year. This is a great rule and minimizes clutter each year. It seems that when you discontinue one thing on your list, two replace it! So, so much for the helping rule.

The trailer had the new tires placed on this weekend and seeing tires that are not dry rotted certainly makes me feel a lot safer towing her to her summer home.

Hopefully the next entry will be from the water.

Leaps and Bounds

This weekend we had great weather which allowed me to get many things taken care of. We have alreaady started loading Lil Provo with her seasonal supplies, life jackets, weather gear, electronics, etc. We also made headway on the painting. We have completed 80% of the bottom painting, the waterline strip, and repaired the black strip that runs down each side, and compounded out some nasty marks made by the dinghy along the side. This week we will continue to work on her after our normal workday and a stop at the local tavern to unwind from work and set my game plan day by day. I need to purchase a new VHF antenna and a new windex. It seems like I go through one of these per year. If it doesn't get broken lowering or raising the mast, some steals it, or I lose it on the way home by the antenna unscrewing. While in the basement I found two packages of the windex remnants from the past two buys.

We also gave some attention to the dinghy. We have begun the job of painting her. We are going to make her white on the inside and outside. There is nothing worse than coming back after a day of sailing and finding you can't sit on the seats because they are so hot. We also used some ipe' wood and added about 1-1/2" to the transome. Someplace along the life of this dinghy something happened and the transom got lower than the sides. Every time we would have three people in the dinghy, I was paranoid that water would come over the back. Moreso, when you stop the motor and see that wave coming back to the boat. So I added about 1-1/2" and then fiberglassed it in for a nice strong top edge.

I need to get the mast ready to go and move to the top of Lil Provo. When the time is right, I just drive her down to Keyport and have her placed into the water. If all goes well, maybe I'll have her in the water for mid May sailing. The fishing should just be coming alive.

One of my friends loaned me his cast net and I have been practicing, but still need lots of practice. There are many videos and instruction available on line, but you really have to learn yourself. The tips are great, except each person does it a little different. It is what works for you. So that is what I need to find, what works good for Jim.

This will cover this weeks review. Possibly I'll be back with more.

Getting Her Ready

I have been working on designing the dodger and it isn't going as well as I thought it would. The curves on the tubing are not tight enough and make it look like a bubble on top of the companionway. My engineer told me to make a jig and fill the tubes with sand which will allow me to bend tighter corners. I did find all the hardware I needed on ebay and far less than the marine stores. I plan on using brass screws to mount the frame to the teak atop the companionway. I will try the fit again tomorrow.

Next is to bring all the stuff up from the basement and get the boat back in shape. The cushions, potti, sails, signal flares, life jackets, etc. Once I have everything in the boat, I can see what more I need to stow the gear properly.

I need to do a little cosmetic work in the cabin, but that will be about it. The outside is just about done with the exception of the touch up to the bottom paint. It seems every year they power wash the bottom and some of the bottom paint just blows off. I try to scuff up the surface to get good adhesion but the end of the season, another area will be off. Being the bottom paint lasts a few years and only requires me to touch it up, I am going to have to take it all off one day and prepare the bottom better then the person before me did. I have been using the Micron CSC, but just found Cukote by Sea Hawk which according to them is better. The cost of the product will be the deciding factor.

That's it for this writing.