Judy's BLOG
Getting Makara Ready and Taking Her South
11/24/2009-11/25/2009 - Charleston To Brunswick: The Voyage Ends (for now)
The last leg of our journey south was from Charleston direct to Brunswick. This was an overnight run, leaving in early afternoon and arriving just in time for the marina to open and tell us where to berth Makara. The weather reports were quite favorable for a good motor sail down, light winds off our aft quarter and very flat seas. The trip started out just as predicted and as an added bonus our friend Al and his wife on Voyager left just a bit before we did heading for Fernandina Beach so we had company for the voyage. Off and on over the night we had the opportunity to chat on the VHF and even used our radars to keep tabs on each other’s positions.
The first two thirds of the trip went smoothly. There was the usual excitement on the VHF. One poor fishing boat frantically called the Coast Guard when their diesel engine had a run-away condition. This is where the RPM goes out of control and can lead to very bad results like the engine blowing apart. Fortunately they got the fuel cutoff and avoided disaster. There were quite a few fish havens (i.e. artificial reefs) along our course and we had carefully arranged our waypoints to avoid these, especially at night, since the buoys marking them are often unlit. We passed Hilton Head and entered Georgia waters sometime thereafter. By the time we were even with Sapelo Island coming up on Altamaha Sound the weather again became a bit sporty. It was night but the radar clearly showed dense rain squalls heading our way. Shortly thereafter we got wet! It was like that the remainder of the trip to the entrance to St. Simons sound which we needed to negotiate to make it up river to Brunswick. The waves were choppy, it was raining and still dark when we made the entrance buoy. From there it is quite a way in to the deep channel with a fairly shallow bank outside the channel. We were also a bit ahead of schedule making better time than anticipated when the weather was tamer. To avoid running the narrow channel, for the first time, in the dark rainy conditions we decided to vamp as they say in show biz. We turned east for a bit to time our return to the channel entrance just at dawn, which was not all that far away time wise. This was a good maneuver and we had much better visibility of the channel markers when we did our entrance run. It was actually pretty exciting entering our new home port for the first time. As we came up on the actual entrance to St. Simons two shrimp boats come out dragging their shrimp nets. What a cool sight to see these working boats plying their trade.
The channel to the marina is deep, as commercial RORO’s (Roll On Roll Off car carriers) come into Brunswick. It is not a straight channel though there are a number of precise legs marked with ranges to insure safe passage for the big boys, always helpful for us too. We passed the north side of Jekyll Island which even had a light sand beach. That was enticing but it was still all business for us, we needed to make port. We proceeded up channel passed the Coast Guard station at Brunswick, went under a tall artfully done suspension bridge and finally turned into the basin where the marina was located. To get to the marina we had to pass the commercial docks. We went by two large Corps of Engineer dredges that were being worked on. There was also the shrimp fleet scattered up and down the basin. Finally we made Brunswick Landing Marina, obtained our docking instructions and made our way to Makara’s new home. Shortly after arrival we popped a split of Champagne we had on board for just this occasion, both toasting each other and Neptune as well. The remainder of the morning and early afternoon was spent getting Makara cleaned up and settled so we could bolt out of Brunswick and start heading north for Thanksgiving dinner at Mom’s house. We departed for the long drive back to Atlanta mid-afternoon looking forward to when we will return to Brunswick for more fun and adventures with our beloved Makara.
11/ 21/ 2009 - Charleston Harbor
After the hell off Cape Hatteras, although challenging, the wee hours transiting from Cape Fear toward Charleston passed comparatively well with each of us taking 3 hour shifts and catching a few hours of sleep. Long Bay was a bit disconcerting as there are few navigation markers on the route to Charleston making reliance on GPS more necessary than we feel comfortable. When transiting a dangerous coastline it is always conforting to move from buoy to buoy, a luxury Long Bay does not afford.
During the night Nancy became determined to make "real coffee" in the morning and once I came on shift she went down below and managed to grind beans, boil water and make the heavenly hot beverage, a nice break from instant. Clearly a new day had dawned and just as the navigation predicted shortly after 10AM we turned into the Charleston channel. Soon we were greeted by the imposing visage of Fort Sumter, the Civil War era fort that used to guard the entrance to Charleston harbor.
Navigating the complex channel, in short order we arrived at our destination, the Charleston City Marina also know as the "Mega Dock". Judy pulled smartly into a side tie between a sailboat twice our length and a large motor yacht. Suddenly we found ourselves in a totally different world. There is magazine call "Showboats" that for some strange reason is sent to us for free. The magazine is basically ads for boats that can be best categorized as small privat ocean liners for the billionare set. Suddenly Makara went from being one of the larger higher end boats in a typical marina to one of the smallest boats on the megadock filled with 100 ft+ $10M+ motor yachts. Just goes to show, everything is relative.
11/20/2009 - Beaufort To Charleston: NEVER Leave On A Friday
As we have mentioned before you are never supposed to leave port on a Friday. A quaint superstition perhaps, but it seems to have some basis in fact. Without thinking of the day we planned to depart Beaufort docks at 7:30AM after grabbing a quick breakfast on shore. After a hearty breakfast (grits and eggs- it is the south) we jumped on Makara and made ready to leave. Judy, who is an excellent boat handler noticed that there was a bit of current at the docks and was a little concerned. Letting loose the dock lines that concern was warranted, as despite maneuvering as best we could in the tight confines of the docks, Makara's big keel was caught by the current and all 7 tons was pinned against the pilings. With the help of a couple of locals who saw our predicament, we managed to free her and head out into the Beaufort channel. Unfortunately our departure was not without incident as one of the good samaratains tossed a wayward fender right through the strataglass of our dodger. With the help of a lot of duct tape Nancy did a temporary repair and we headed out to sea. Lesson learned, never leave port on a Friday
We started out from Beaufort intending to pull into Soulthport just past Cape Fear. Nice name for a cape dont' you think? When we got to Cape Fear the turning point, again in pitch darkness, we decided that violating another mariners rule of never making an unfamiliar port at nigh was not prudent. Since the weather was holding, although a bit windy with 4-6 ft. swell we decided to give Southport NC a pass and continue on direct to Charleston. Nancy once again reprogrammed the navigation and we altered destination to Charleston heading out accross Long Bay. Long Bay is aptly named as it is a very deep long cut into the coast of North Carolina that at one point put us over 35 miles off shore in the realm of the bigger waves.
11/19/2009 - Beaufort Docks
Beaufort North Carloina is a delightful town. We tied up at Beaufort Docks a wonderul facility right on the town waterfront near a lazy little mainstreet with quaint shops and good eateries. After tying up and dealing with the slip formalities at the marina office the first order of business was hot shower. Needless to say neither of us was moving that fast after being on passage for 30 hours with very little real rest. We had tried to rest on passage but conidtions were too rough to really get much rest. After the shower we both felt soooo much better. Judy was still queasy, but was feeling better. We then proceeded to find some food. We found a nice restaurant near Makara and had a nibble. Judy found that French Onion soup stayed down well. Each of us then picked at a lovely garnished baked potato. Yummy. After that it is mostly blank that night, we returned to the boat went to bed and somehow it was about 12 hours later! I guess we were tired.
The next day we did chores in the morning which meant cleaning Makara inside and out from the rough passage. We refueled then set off in a courtesy car to refresh the larder at a local Food Lion supermarket. A few interesting points about Beaufort, first Blackbeards boat sank near here some time waytback and the wreak was discovered not more than 2 miles from where Makara was moored. Also the wreck of the Monitor which we more or less passed over on our Hatteras rounding was discovered by a oceanographer John Newton from Duke working out of Beaufort. There is a monument to him right outside the Marina office there. How cool.
Now for the best and most unlikely of events part. As we returned from grocery shopping who should we meet at our docks? It was the crew of Las Seranas, our neighbor boat in Annapolis for many months. She had started down the ICW two weeks ago before us and had just happened to hear us being hailed by the marina on the radio. Wow! That was a surprise and pleasant one to boot. They were moored over in Moorehead City just next to Beaufort and decided to come over and look us up. We hugged and for the next three hours caught up on events and had a lovely lunch. Talk about cooincidence. They are the most lovely people with two energetic daughters and a doggie. We hope to meet up with them again as they get to the Brunswick Georgia stretch of the ICW.
Later that night we went out to dinner. We took a chance at what appeared to be a very nice restaurant called the Aqua which was a very short walk from the boat. Glad we did. It served lovely small plate Tapas cuisine. The food and the service was absolutely top notch. Add in a really good glass of Argentine wine and you could not have had a better meal. Who would figure in Beaufort. We highly recomment it if you are in the vicinity.
11/18/2009 - Hell Off Hatteras
We learned to ocean sail off the San Francisco coast, by any account a challenging place to sail. We have also rounded the nortorius Point Conception at night and been through our share of squalls. This is not meant as boast, but simply to make it clear that we have "some experience" with difficult sea conditions and is intended to give context to the statement that our rounding of Cape Hatteras and later Cape Lookout were in the worst sea conditions we have ever experienced. In short the 13 hours of darkness, punctuated by numerous calls to the Coast Guard from vessels in distress can only be called Hell.
Shortly after darkness, as we made our way toward Cape Hatteras the weather conditions we experienced in the day only continued to worsen. We were far enough offshore that we saw no sky shine from shore and the near new moon made it pitch dark. This made it difficult to gauge the wave height, or to see the rouge waves that would knock Makara violently ever 10 minutes or so. Our best guess is that the waves were 10-12 feet being driven by the foul winds which consistently gusted to over 35 knots. In short it was nasty out there.
Around 2AM we successfully rounded Cape Hatteras seeing only the looming light of the Hatteras Lighthouse as it swept across the sky in the distance. Shortly after we passed the cape, just to make things more interesting, we discovered we were not alone. Over the VHF radio we were hailed by name by a Navy ship (in the heat of the moment we forgot to note the name) who was coming up on us fast. After a bit of back and forth on the radio we altered course slightly. During the most of the wee hours of the morning we could hear the vessel hail ship after ship as she played dodge'em down the coast.
After passing Hatteras we made for the next cape, Cape Lookout. More or less same conditions although the wind backed to 20-25 kts and the seas were only 8-10 feet. Finally at 5:30 in the morning the skies began to lighten and we pushed on through the daylight on the run to Lookout. In many ways I almost wish it had stayed dark since now we had to see what was out there.
We made Lookout late in the day and were very tired from the rough passage so far. To make matters more challenging Judy became sea sick for the first time in her life and could not keep anything down. Given Charleston was way down range and we effectively only had one crew member Nancy decided that a rest was in order and quickly did the navigation to the nearest safe haven, Beaufort, NC . We could hear other vessels hailing Beaufort Docks and chose to make for that marina after hailing them on VHF. We made port and docked just as the sun was setting. This was a prudent decision and led to some interesting but pleasant consequences.
11/17/2009 - Into The North Atlantic
When we left Norfolk for the Hatteras rounding our inititial destination was Charleston. Although ambitious, neither of us had been offshore for some time, it was a plan that we felt was feasible provided the weather cooperated. Unfortunately our luck on the weather did not change.
The ride out of the Chesapeake Bay over the Thimble Shoals channel of the bay bridge tunnel was moving as this meant we were leaving the bay and heading into the North Atlantic Ocean, a place reserved for either much bigger ships or the daring. On the trip out to Cape Henry we were accompanied by the comings and goings of Navy ships and tankers until we turned south down the coast. As has been the norm this trip we were mostly motoring on a speed course since the wind was very foul directly off our stern and we did not want to add the significant distance and time which would be required to sail downwind.
Speaking of wind it was supposed to remain within at about the level of small craft advisories, acceptable for us, and pull east which would be delightful because we could SAIL Makara at her fastest. No luck, the wind continued to increase and remained from the North to NorthEast. Of course as the winds built the seas became rougher until Nancy, as per usual became sea sick and offered up her lunch to the ocean. Nancy's seasickness was of no real concern, she is used to it the first day out an knew it would pass by the next day. The major concern was that the rounding of Cape Hatteras would occur at night in seas and winds that were beyond what we considered to be safe. Oh fun! We briefly considered turning back to Norfolk, but Judy, paraphrasing Samwise Gamgee said "There's nothing for it Mr. Frodo", and southboud we went.
11/16/2009 - Little Creek, Norfolk VA: Tee-Shirts and Shorts After The Storm
We spent the day doing some minor re-provisioning (which involved a bit of a walk to the local Food Lion) and relaxing a bit prior to heading offshore tomorrow.
If there was any doubt about the wisdom of our decision to wait out the passing storm in Annapolis it was physically in evidence in Norfolk. The fence in this picture is right by the marina we are docked at and was blown down by the storm. The lower Chesapeake is full of flotsom and jetsom including floating docks, dredge pipes, piers. Just south of us near Virginia beach there is a large container barge which was washed ashore during the storm. All those days waiting to depart don't seem so silly now.
Bay Point Marina in Little Creek where we are moored is just across from the massive Marine Anphibious base. It is a friendly place with all the required amentities and as Judy commented this morning, not a bad place to keep a boat if it weren't for the airplanes and helicopters taking off and the sound of bugle calls early in the morning. Our visit is short but made all the more pleasant by the 70° and the promise of good weather for the passage south.
11/15/2009 - Solomons to Norfolk - So That's Why It's Called Foggy Bottom
Before 5AM in pitch darkness we weighed anchor and said good by to the peaceful cove in Solomons Island. While still cool, the rain and mist had stopped making for a much more comfortable start. It was dark but we navigated out of Mill Creek and back into the bay handily with only a couple of tense moments.We then turned south and made a speed course for Norfolk.
As expected the wind was completely calm so we were able to staighten out the road so to speak with the Iron Jenny (engine). The first part of the trip, although chilly passed without incident as we sipped on coffee and monitored our progress south. As usually happens on a boat, just about the time Nancy was going to make us something hot to eat things turned tense very fast. Just as we arrived at the mouth of the Potomac we hit a very dense bank of fog and nothing (including all the little fishing boats) were visible beyond 1/4 mile. True to form fog was rolling out of the river (remember D.C. is known as "Foggy Bottom") and the waters turned very turbulent. We went to fog mode, brought up our sophisticated electronics, the AIS and Radar, and worked out way south until it cleared.
Once out of the fog the day was sunny and quite warm after a bit. The only challenge was really dodging the various tugs and barges which seemed to have choosen our exact same course as they came up the Chesapeake. The water in the southern Chesapeake was smooth as glass and we shot toward Norfolk arriving at our destination just as the sun set beautifully in the West.
Jus after sunset all our practice at docking with pylons in Annapolis paid off and we made port without incident, although the signs which say "Use Of Deadly Force Authorized" at the Navy base just across from our slip gave pause as we cautiously did not get too close to the base side of the channel as we pulled in. Luckily, after tying up, the Marina had just what every mariner who makes port is looking for, a bar with tasty food. After a very long day we collapsed with the knowledge that we did good today.
11/14/2009 - Departure - Getting Started Is The Hardest Part
For those who follow this website you have watched as we have poured over every detail of this boat from conception to our massive post delivery reconfigutation. Some, especially our neighbors in Port Annapolis Marina and the local West Marine, I am quite sure wondered if we would ever really cast the lines off. Well I am pleased to report that at 6:10AM EST this morning all the dock lines were freed and Makara was on here way in darkness and cold misty rain for warmer southern climes.
After dawn we had a wonderful downwind sail through parts of the Cheasapeake we have familiarity with giving us encouragement that we could make the long run all the way to Norfolk. At one point, truth be said, the crew was a little shocked that there was nothing to do as Herman (the auto-pilot) steered the boat down the bay. Relaxation was short lived however as the winds shifted and swell picked and a tidal current radically slowed our progress. After a pretty hard beating, gybing from one side of the bay to the other, we decided that the better part of valor was to put in at our originally planned port of call, Solomon Island MD. Passing a new lighthouse (for Makara at least) near Cove point we ducked into the Patuxent River.
Makara is now snuggled in for the night in a beautiful little cove up Mill Creek. Tomorrow at Oh-dark-hundred we will head for Norfolk, hoping to make the marina just after dark. Given that the winds are going to be light we will likely make like a power boat and motor most of the way. Next posting from Norlfolk (hopefully).
November 13 -Friday the 13th, Ready to Depart
Everyone who goes to sea knows you NEVER leave port on a Friday, you certainly don't leave port on Friday the 13th, and last you don't leave port on a Friday the 13th with crummy weather. We are ready to go though, the perishables have been replaced, the tanks refilled, the laundry done, and the crew is showered, well fed and rested. So tomorrow morning we head out.
The winds have started to die down from the 30+ knot peaks, and the rain has abated. If all goes as planned we will pushoff between 4AM-5AM tomorrow morning headed to Norfolk. Depending on the winds, which look favorable, we may do the trip in one long 22 hour run, rather than making one or two stops along the way as we originally planned. If this works out we will pull into our temporary marina slip in Norfolk about 2AM Sunday. This will set us up nicely for our offshore departure Monday. I have got my fingers crossed.
November 12 - Waiting Out The Storm
Judy here. I must report we are still in Annapolis. If you can believe it the storm is even worse today. Howling winds, and now the creeks are filling up with all the rain. Cold and wet with wind chill below 40˚. This feel like it is straight out of the flood in Genesis.
Technically the storm is a Nor'easter with a little "southern discomfort" thrown in courtesy the remnants of Ida. Just plain nasty. At least we are reasonably stable, although heeling, at our dock. The good news is that the predictions are gelling for a break in the weather about Saturday so we may then be able to get started on the trip south.
Indications are that the weather at Cape Hatteras will become milder and winds favorable for a run (literally in sailing lingo) down the coast. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can hold to our Saturday depature. The last thing we had accounted for was being effectively cooped up on Makara waiting to go but not being able to. The accomodations are quite comfortable and we are able to keep pleasantly warm. The cuisine has been quite good. But you do get a bit squirrilly not being able to go on deck and when you do it takes full foul weather ger just to walk around to check the lines. It will be good to get moving soon. In the mean time we are making a big pot of pasta and opening a nice bottle of wine to see us throught the night. Arrggh.
November 11 - Still In Annapolis
The rain started late last night and the winds at the dock began to gust to more than 20+ knots. Sitting down below (it's too wet in the cockpit) Makara occasionally heels (tilts)over at 15 degree angle. This is classic, we can hear the wind wailing in the rigging of the few remaining boats here at Port Annapolis. The storm that is keeping us here now has been dubbed the "Atlantic Assualt" by weather.com.
Judy and I have come to grips with the fact that we are stuck here until Saturday and to leave any earlier would be foolish. In order to make up some time we have redone our route and are planning to get to Norfolk in two days instead of three which will allow us to head out into the ocean on Monday mid-day for a Tuesday rounding of Hatteras when the weather should be much milder than the awful conditions projected for tomorrow.
To post this website (and also to download an iTunes movie for the night) I decided to go to the hard line internet connection at the marina. What a nightmare. The wind is really howling and blowing the boat away from the dock with huge force. In the stinging rain it took both Judy and a good 10 minutes to pull the boat in close enough to the dock so I can safely get off the boat laptop in hand. More tomorrow.
November 10 - Annapolis
We are starting to get into a nice ryhthm on the boat. We woke up to more sunny weather and after a nice breakfast of bagels Judy did a weather work up. Although it will be a little windy on the trip down the bay it looks like we will be able to head out tomorrow for our first stop in Mill Creek in Solomon MD.
Mid-day we ran out again to the store to replenish just a few items and catch a last meal onshore (at a neat diner in the new Annapolis town center) until we get to Norfolk. In the afternoon, the weather we were expecting finally seemed to be come in as the sun gives way to grey overcast. The overcast seems to be causing sounds to do some strange things; as I went up on deck to remove the sail cover in preparation for tomorrow I can hear the Naval Academy Band practicing nearly 2 miles away - they are playing the theme song from Superman - loudly.
Just prior to dinner Judy did a final weather workup for tomorrow and it appears that Hurricane Ida isn't done with us yet. NOAA is now predicting gale force winds inside the Cheasapeake as well as at Cape Hatteras for the rest of the week. After waiting for two days this is pretty disheartening. I stow away what we planned on having for dinner and we head out to the Mexican Cafe to console ourselves over a good Mexican dinner.
11/09/2009 - Ready for a Brawl
As the photo to the left shows, early Monday morning, November 9th Makara was, as Judy likes to say "ready for a brawl". The tanks were full, the pantry was stocked, and the crew, although suffering from colds (brought back by Nancy from her business meeting last week), were raring to go.
Hurrican Ida (a November Hurricane?!) unfortunately seems to have other ideas. Looking at the NOAA weather forecast we are feeling pretty confident we can get out of here on Wednesday and make the three day trip down to Norfolk VA prior to the ocean voyage south. In many respects, although we are anxious to get going on our trip, the chance to shake these colds will work in our favor.
It is a funny thing, the weather in Annapolis is beautiful and without benefit of good weather data it seems like a great time to head south, but the forecast for the later part of the week off Cape Hatterus is 50+ knot winds and 20 foot seas. Best wait the two days.
We take advantage of the stores we laid in and have a delicous dinner of Salmon and settle in for the night reading a couple of best sellers. Life could be worse.
8/27/2009 - Lights and Bells
As often happens on a boat, one thing leads to another until a chain of events emerges. Sometimes the result is good, sometimes not so good. This chain of events for the most part turned out on the good side with only one minor offering to Neptune.
It all started when we finally got around to replacing our original stern light with an OGM LED stern light that we had purchased some time ago. If you follow our website you will remember the companions to this light went on the port and starboard side of the forward pulpit when we had it redone. This was happening none too soon because the original was showing major signs of water intrusion. Now it happens, as it almost always does, that in order to remove the old light we had to remove our bell which is mounted on the arch right behind and below the light. The bell blocked the bolt heads of the stern light. No problem, we removed the bell carefully and stowed it. We could not remove the bell bolt, or so it appeared due to clearance and left in place. Mark that for later reference.
After cutting the electrical cable to the old light and removing the bolts we had it off. It was really water logged, as said fluid streamed from the cable entry which was supposed to seal the light. Not likely. Good thing the LED lights are sealed so we will be having none of that in the future. Now on with the LED light. Of course not holes lined up with those of the LED save for an elogated pair that were just a bit shy of making it. On that note I decided to make some new "better" holes. Let the fun begin.
First to drill from the back side where there was a clear shot for the drill proved futile. The stainless was so hard that the drill walked all over the place making a hole. OK, let's try the other side. Ah, the bell holder is in the way. So we try and remove that. One cross stripped 5/16" bolt later (the other came off OK) we were fit to be tied. Out came the hack saw. We had to cut the bolt off right below the head above the fitting. No fun at all but got the job done. Now to drop the bell mount. Almost did too into the creek. The custom mount, the bronze cap nut that came with the bell all were collected safely. That bell bolt I mentioned before when straight to the bottom of Back Creek! Fortunately easily replaced with a call to the great folks at Bellingham Bells who replaced it gratis.
So back to the LED. We tried drilling the more accessible side. Still no go. The stainless on the arch plate was just too hard to drill by hand. Finally I got out a file and "corrected" those elongated slots that were close enough. Ta-Da. We could bolt in the LED. To clean up (i.e. hide the mess we made trying to drill the plate) I made a nice Star-Board backing plate to go on the opposite side to the LED. Looks nice. After Nancy performed her wiring wizardry we had our LED stern light, a very bright one indeed. Now the final chapter to this shaggy dog story is since the bell was down we decided to go from the weathered bronze look back to a polished bronze look. The bell is currently at home being buffed up. Looks bright and shiny. Can't wait to remount it and put this one behind us. Enjoy the bolt Neptune.
8/27/2009 - Re-Rigging
It's about time I made a new blog entry. We have been working hard on the boat, sailing a bit and just haven't sat down to write about it. Since we have a whole website article on a full weeks worth of electrical systems work, I will focus here on the major rigging changes we have made to make us more blue water ready.
As you can see Makara now has a second furled sail. We added a furler on the staysail stay and had the old hanked sail recut for the furler. This makes it much easier to "change gears" and switch to the staysail when the wind comes up. The old hanked version was a bit more effort to deploy and we would wait too long to do so. Better earlier and later. This arrangement is much better and since it is easier to deploy helps the safety factor.
If you saw Makara you would also notice that the runners are now different. In fact they have been completely replaced. The main rigging is a high tech fiber rather than wire and it comes almost to deck level in the stowed position. This has two benefits, first to lower the boom/sail chafe of the wire (new stuff is quite slippery) and the block is not going to cold cock you as you move up the deck (big plus). The system is now a 2:1 tackle led to the primary winches. There is also a set of lines in the cockpit to pull the runner to the stowed position. No more leaving the cockpit to mess with that. Again more safety factor.
Finally, the traveler is now working properly. The original setup had tons of friction due to a bad leed. By adding a dodger block to the setup, reducing the line size a bit and adding a really cool flip-flop block to turn the line back to the cockpit the traveler moves smooth as silk with a 6:1 advantage. May seem a lot of effort for a traveller but we like to use one. A traveler is a very handy tuning device for the main. Things definitely are looking good. Even started installing line hanger mounts in the lazerettes. Perhaps we are getting close to being ready? We have a bit to go yet but the latest flash is that we will likely move Makara south this fall. Can't wait.
6/17/2009 - Stop That Anchor
We have been working on setting up a chain stopper for the main anchor, our 88lbs (40kg) Rochna, for some time now. There is precious little space between the windlass and stowed anchor, and the chain sits a bit above the deck which prevents placing a stopper on the deck directly. After carefully measuring, we designed a riser for the new chain stopper which we had it fabricated by our good friends at Kato. Basically an open ended stainless steel box of the correct height it would bring the chain stopper in line with the chain as required.
The riser is no ordinary piece of metal. It has to withstand the considerable force of the boat pulling on the anchor chain if, for example, our normal shock load snubber fails. In short it must stay on the boat and not leave (especially with parts of the boat still attached). The metal is ¼” stainless, cut on a computer controlled water jet then carefully welded together. It is mounted in solid fiberglass decking and backed with a very substantial backing plate. Nancy remarked we could probably dangle the entire Yacht from it. Honestly I think this it is stronger than the windlass mount.
We installed the whole assembly on out last trip to Makara. It not only looks nice but is solid and will stop the chain from running free when engaged. The only thing left to do at deck level on the main anchor system is to rig a safety line and some chocks to keep the anchor from rustling around at sea. We don’t want to have to tension the anchor on the roller with the windlass to keep it stable. Not real good for the windlass and it still flops side to side anyway. The chain over the windlass should have no tension when the anchor is secured. Also, if it ever gets loose and starts to leave the boat the chain stopper will hold on to it and not shock load the windlass. Just a bit more work, and maybe some more Kato magic and this will be finalized. Next up is the magic under the deck! Stay tuned.
6/14/2009 - Wheelie
It is hard to imagine a boat doing a wheelie, don’t worry we didn’t, my meaning is somewhat different. We spent a long weekend on Makara, four full days and change. Lots of tasks were completed, one of which took me most of two days. This is where the wheelie comes in.
We had replaced our original stock wheel that comes with the boat, a standard Edson destroyer wheel, with a sturdier Edson “bi-spoke” destroyer wheel. We liked the new one very much and it is very strong and sturdy. Now on our other boats we had grown fond of leather as a wheel covering. Just feels good under your hands much more so than any plastic coatings than has become available in recent years. So when I ordered the new wheel I also ordered a leather kit for it. Now that means I had to put it on, not the folks at Edson. Thought it would be nice to do it myself.
After quite some time sitting on the task list I finally decided this was the weekend to tackle the job of putting the leather on the wheel. I think that my subconscious was trying to put this one off. I had no preconceived notion about how long or hard it would be but I knew it would be some bit of work. Let’s just say I underestimated the effort.
I cleaned the wheel rim up, measured the leather, cut and butt spliced it into one continuous piece. That took no time at all and I was feeling pretty good about this. Then I had to stitch the leather to the wheel. Basically a baseball stitch, it was pretty simple except for the beginning and end stitching. Oh, and there is the fact that there are a bazillion stitches to make! Tension is key and the process is great for making blisters and callouses on my hands.
I spent the better part of two days completing the wheel cover work. While I couldn’t stitch continually and slipped in some other work while resting my hands, a good fraction of the time was spent carefully working on the wheel. The work did pay off as we now have a nice leather wheel cover. It looks and feels just the way we like it. Hope it lasts too as I need a while for my hands to recover. Ten years would be sufficient I think. By then I should be able to hold on to a coffee cup again.
5/23/2009 -
Wash & Brush Up
While Nancy was away in Spain working hard this week I spent some time ticking off tasks on Makara. Mostly these involved general boat hygiene. I gave the engine an oil change. That was good for a few scraped knuckles and such. Blood and oil is a great combination (just kidding). The procedure went well and not a drop spilled in the bilge, blood or oil. The “plant” is now ready for the season. I will replace the transmission oil next, probably after Memorial Day week.
The other major maintenance tasks was a very thorough cleaning on deck. This occupied virtually all of my second day there. Every inch of deck was hand scrubbed at least once. Got a lot of winter grime off the boat. She looks much, much better now. I am much stiffer and sore now! It was worth it. I even got rid of the never ending black streaks that form below the fittings on the cap rail.
I did have a nice show while this was going on. The Blue Angels were in town for the Naval Academy graduation and Memorial Day. They do several shows one of which was the day I washed the boat. They practiced the previous day too. Great show and helped me get through swabbing the decks.
A few other noteworthy tasks were completed. I now have the lifelines tensioned and the new turnbuckles pinned and taped. Much better than the original closed tubular turn buckles as I can now see the threads and water can’t pool inside the open ones. I also mounted the new BBQ grill. I have been waiting for this day as I like to barbeque. Now I just have to plumb the propane in line with AYBC rules.
While I was running the engine to warm up the oil and afterwards to circulate the new oil I set about putting the port and starboard fuel tanks online. These are the big ones. Up until now we have been working with the small mid tank. I wanted to start pulling fuel through the tank lines and work on bleeding any air out of the system. So far the engine has kept going so I will repeat this next time to be real sure I got most of it. I don’t want to be maneuvering in the slips and have the engine crap out due to air in the fuel system.
We will be on Makara all of next week. I suspect we will get allot done and actually get in a sail or two. It will be a good time to post a full article on out Web site so stay tuned.
5/17//2009 -Covered Again
After two very intensive work days I can report that our headliner is now back in place covering all the stuff you would rather not look at while enjoying a nice dinner on Makara. I was always told that when repairing an engine, if you had too few or too many parts left, to worry. This good advice applies equally well to the work we were doing on the headliner. It all worked out well though, as all screws and holes were accounted for. No shorts or overs on the count. The only discouraging part is it looks like we have done absolutely nothing. I guess that is the preferred outcome when tackling a major job like this one was.
Before putting the headliner back I sealed and painted all cut wood ends to keep moisture out of it. We also pulled and re-bedded that leaky deck fitting. Yes, the one that was under the corner of the shelves in the galley where the microwave is located. Nasty place to work. After some creative woodworking and so on it is now well bedded and should not give us any more trouble. Took many hours for one simple padeye. Location, location, location as they say in real estate and the padeye’s location was NOT good. It was so tight that the order of putting on the nuts was crucial and had to be done as the bolts came down through. We could not even wrench them until we modified the cabinet’s woodwork a bit during the test fit phase. Not sure how they got it in at the factory. Perhaps that is why one of the original nuts was a bit loose and had no lock washer. Well, we fixed all that. I can report that chisels are a great tool for a boat when wood is involved.
Nancy also finished the TV antenna A/B switch hook up. The boat came with a shore cable connection which we probably never will use but since it was there we put an A/B switch in so it is possible to use the shore cable if desired instead of our active TV antenna on the mast. Spending time on Makara may be tiring with all the work we are doing but being able to have nice dinner (Sheppard’s Pie this time) while relaxing in the salon with a beer is priceless. The other side effect of putting the headliner up is we were able to reclaim the master stateroom forward. Nice, big comfortable bunk! Ahhhhhh….
5/13/2009 -Mounties
No, not the Canadian variety. More like groupies except we are hanging around our dinghy mount. This last week we spent an extended four days (three nights) on Makara working on the installation of the mount for our hard dinghy (Varuna). The mount consists of two very substantial custom stainless steel tube supports that go on the coach roof just ahead of the dodger. The dinghy itself rests athwartships since it would interfere with the vang if longitudinally mounted (enough nautical talk in that sentence?).
The installation was a very complex as we had to drop the headliner, position the mounts, estimate if anything underneath in the salon would get damaged by the holes we had to drill, then drill the holes. The holes cleared most stuff but some creative wordwork and alteration of some cable trays was required. Next we needed to properly prepare the coring by auguring it out a bit and re-glassing the holes. Finally once that was set we re-drilled and mounted them. When you throw in we only had about ½” of space above the headliner to fit the backing plates, a nut and lock washer you can imagine even more contortions to get it on. By the way the total for the above hardware was, you guessed it just ½”. Nobody sells bolts exactly the length needed so they all had to be custom cut. No mean feat for 3/8” machine bolts!
In the end it is now installed and passed a rain test later on the third day when we finished the mounting. We figured you could lift the boat on these things. What is even more impressive is this is not the only task we completed, although that would have been enough. All the cable connections including the newly finished hole trims were installed for the media center (i.e. the TV installed last time). I also got the remaining dorades back in operation removing the plugs I put in during winter. Include a nice row of the dinghy to get it over to Makara to size up the mount positions and it was a pretty awesome, although very tiring, time on her
5/06/2009 - Homework
This Blog has to do with more with what I did at home rather than the boat. Of course, most of the work was boat related. Wouldn’t have it any other way! Bright work took center stage. The pass through for the TV cabling is visible and needed trim. I found some drawer pulls that were big enough and proceeded to finish them off with four coats of varnish. Fun stuff, if not a bit messy! I also had a task on my list (for way too long now) to finish our flag staff. It now has six coats of Cetol on it. This was particularly tricky to accomplish, it is over three feet long, round and skinny. Had to do it vertically and rigged a jig to hold it upright. All in all it worked out well. It looks real nice.
Some people swear by the sponge brushes for this work but I like a good regular brush. Besides, it is environmentally better since the brush can be cleaned and reused. Once the sponge brushes are used they must be discarded. One other task was to do the outboard maintenance. Now ours is only a 2HP outboard and quite small. But it doesn’t matter if it is 2HP or 200HP they have similar maintenance. I just use way less oil than the 200HP job. Waited for a nice day clamp it on my workmate and stick the business end in a bucket of water and run it to heat the oil. I did remove the prop to make it less a weapon than engine. Nice dry day until I started it up then the exhaust sprayed water everywhere. At least it started. Normal but messy procedure. Once heated up I drained the oil and gear case lube. I felt like a kid playing with mud pies…oil is so much more fun and it gets everywhere especially places you rather it wouldn’t. Once drained, new oil and gear lube went in and I lubed all the relevant points. Job is done.
The gear lube is interesting. There are two holes, one at the top of the gear case and one at the bottom. Logic would suggest the oil goes out the bottom and in the top. Nope, goes in and out the same lower hole. That requires a nifty little item which is a pump that fits in a quart oil bottle and the proper fitting to screw in the lower hole. I can report that it works real slick. No pun intended but that gear box oil is slippy and smelly. Hardly lost any removing the fitting and replacing the screw plug. Nancy even made a new cover for the outboard that matches our Sunbrella color scheme.
4/19/2009 - Spring Weather at Last
Lately the weather has been a bit damp during our trips to Makara. This last weekend, however, spring finally made itself evident by providing really gorgeous weather. As far as I am concerned the boating “season” is now officially open! It was a wonder we managed to leave to come home. We made our usual stop at Kato Friday to talk over some details of the pulpit redux and go over the mount for the TV which they are working on. The work is going well and we will be pushing to get the deck ready to reinstall the pulpit (which involves lots of fiberglass work). Late in the day we scoped out the mounting position for our AIS-B antenna. Originally the plan was to centerline mount it on the arch using a clamp on mount. The mount worked well but we ended up offsetting it somewhat. Turns out it would have blocked our forward deck camera if we put it on the centerline. That camera allows below deck crew to keep an eye on anyone on the foredeck. The antenna itself is not the stock antenna provided with our AIS. It is electrically equivalent, in particular the SWR at the AIS frequency which is about 162MHz or just above the marine HF band. The antenna itself, from Digital Antennas is commercial grade, very nice and rugged. It looks nice too!
Makara is now officially revived from winter sleep. The water system was completely flushed this weekend and the hot water heater put back in line. The tanks are now filled with filtered water. We found a really nice ceramic filter, originally designed for RV’s, that should do well in keeping particles and such out of the tanks when filled from shore. It is a very fine filter and will remove quite a bit of bad stuff. Not all but better than nothing.
The big deal is that the water maker power and ground cables are finally in place and working! The new lug crimpers (which look like they could be used for neutering a dinosaur) we got for those big cable lugs worked very well. I highly recommend them over the pound the heck out of it style. Nancy did a first rate job of routing and installing the cables. The last “feet” to the breaker panel was particularly artful and painful.
We have two other antennas to add to the arch using our new tees built to expand out number of arch mount points. Hopefully then it will be complete. Any more antennas and we’ll get pulled over as a Soviet era spy trawler!
4/8/2008 - Mid-Week in Annapolis
This week I have started what I hope to be a fairly regular trip to Annapolis during the week to work on Makara while Nancy is away working in Georgia. There a many tasks that I can do solo and I hope this will greatly advance our cruising preparations. I drove up to my Mothers in Perry county PA on Tuesday to visit, have dinner and spend the evening. She is by herself most of the week and enjoys the company. We had a nice evening and the next morning, very early, I drove down to Annapolis.
This week I prepared the bow pulpit for removal to have the rework of the navigation lights done. It should now be easy to remove it this weekend and take to our friends at Kato. I also put up the Bimini for the season and did various odd jobs that needed to be done. This included replacing some missing screws here, tightening some loose one there.
Late in the day I stopped by North Sails to talk with Jonathan about getting our trysail and storm jib made. These two sails are needed to complete our basic sail inventory. I also grabbed our Navionics chart cartridge so we can try out our new RayTech PC Chart plotting software that arrived earlier this week. It was still a bit chilly and quite windy but very invigorating. Now to schedule next weeks tasks and ratchet it up a bit!
4/05/2009 - Lats, Lines & Leaves
Since I am not quite yet on the boat all the time, and spend a good deal of time at home working on boat and other projects, my Blog posts will be more or less on a weekly basis with increasing frequency when in the vicinity of Makara. This week was spent working on some needed household chores, the maintenance on the outboard, marlinspike work, more procurement and last but ever so freakin' painful physical training. Working out is probably the most important element of my daily activities now. The better shape I am in, the easier it is will be to work on and sail Makara. Later on down the road it will pay off immensely in endurance and hopefully productive years of sailing when I am even older.
I’ve got our 2HP Honda outboard ready to fire up in a bucket and warm up the oil. The lube access screws are freed to the point I can get them out after I do so. Then it will be a simple matter to re-oil and lube the engine. Early next week I think. I am also working on the outboard lifting tackle. This involves practicing my double braid splicing. At the same time I am also working on the lifting painter for the dinghy which is a three strand eye splice. My ability to splice is coming back as I practice, which in this case definitely makes perfect.
We brought the boat PC back last time we were down with Makara and have reworked some software. I am looking forward to installing our new charting software (Raytech RNS 6.1) which should be here next week. Nancy is working some hardware upgrades as well including upgrading to an Intel solid state disk, and a quieter more efficient power supply. Last but not least I practiced my high wire work by getting on the roof and cleaning some gutters on a very steep roof. The mast will be easier since there I am attached to the boat!
3/28/2009 -Misty
It is a rainy day in Annapolis today that reminded me of San Francisco bay. Heading to the docks I almost expected to find Perigail at the slip instead of Makara. Makara it was, and we performed a few short tests of our onboard computing system before heading back home. Despite sitting in freezing temperatures it all fired up perfectly including the WIFI. Since we need to get under the PC cabinet flooring we decided to remove it and take it home for some software maintenance. That leaves the space clear to pull the water maker power cables the “last mile”. Poor Nancy looks like the Travelocity gnome worked her over with a baseball bat on her arms from the cable work in the bilge yesterday. Things we put up with for our boats! We even put the bedding on the forward berth in anticipation of our first overnight next weekend on the boat! After stopping and procuring needed material for the outboard servicing we are now heading home.
3/27/2009 - Season Begins
The 2009 boating season has officially begun for Makara. This means we had our first work day of the season on her, the first sail has to wait a few weeks. We had the rig thoroughly inspected by a pro, a very good one, and he noted some work we need to do to make her truly blue water ready rig wise. Nothing, save one thing, real major just prudent. The major issue was the mast partners were original installed too loose. That we will have to be sorted out before our first sail. We also had Keith from Kato over to talk about the modifications to the bow pulpit to move the nave lights. We will pull it shortly and get it fixed up as well before we get out on the water. Our work most of the day centered on continuing the pulling of the power and control cables for the water maker from the bow toward the stern of the boat. Mainly Nancy “the bilge rat” work but I helped when needed. I set about in the mean time doing odd work and compiling spares lists. It was a very long day but worth it. Rate it as a “two Martini” day on the bar scale so we treated ourselves to a season opener meal at one of our favorite dinner haunts in Eastport, the Rockfish. After dinner we retired to a “cheap room” compliments of Hotwire at our preferred hotel the Annapolis.
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