September 2014

Well, it’s Wednesday morning and I just finished talking to Chris Parker, the weather router, about my upcoming trip to Annapolis.  I’d like to be there by next Thursday in time for the SSCA Gam but the weather forecast has been changing daily for the last week.  At one point it looked like we’d be able to leave this coming Monday with good winds to get us there in time, my first choice.  Now, it looks like that’s not in the cards and that I’ll have to leave tomorrow Thursday evening to make the run.  Yes, there might be a window on Monday but that’s nearly a week away and if the front moving east changes it’s tune, I might be stuck and unable to make the run to get there in time.

Unfortunately, Brenda’s away this week at a tapestry weaving workshop in Rockport, MA and I had hoped to see her for a few days prior to my departure as I’ll be heading to GA after the Gam and that will keep me away from her for too long.  Alas, nothing is simple.

Complicating things further, nailing down crew, with their own shifting commitments has been tough and each time the weather changes, so does crew.  Sadly, this is the nature of using crew and it’s even more complicated in the fall as I need winds from the north, which only come through when there is a front, which never seems to last long enough or is too strong to make for a decent window.  Oh, the trials of being a “snow bird”.   Feel sorry for me, if you can.

The good news is that Pandora is finally ready and almost totally provisioned for the run, whenever we leave.   More on that later today when I make my calls to crew.  Hopefully, I won’t be reduced to begging.

Yesterday I did a lot of running around to get the final details of my new anchor installation in order.  I have had a Bruce anchor, the one that came with Pandora, for years and after two winters in the Bahamas and the frustrations of trying to anchor with the Bruce,  I decided to replace it with one of the “modern” types.  The fact that I bent the shaft on the Bruce last winter did provide an “incentive” to finally deal with the anchoring problem.   It’s amazing how much it bent, actually.  At the time I wrote about what happened in this post.Bruce anchors were popular for many years but they, like all anchors, have limitations.  In the Bahamas, with lots of firm bottoms and grassy areas, the Bruce has a particularly tough time digging in.  My friend Dick has an amusing saying for boats that drag their anchor on a windy night, “if it’s loose, it must be a Bruce”. Well put Dick. 

So, time for a new anchor.  After much review (wading through it actually) of info on the Internet I had narrowed down to two types, a Spade or Rocna, neither of which would fit on the bow roller that Pandora currently has.   As I have spoken to quite a few folks about their anchors (there’s plenty of opinion about anchors out there) the Rocna seems to be an excellent choice and the folks that have them seem to love them.  I understand that they are particularly good in weed, perhaps the toughest bottom type to deal with.   The problem with testing anchors is that there are many different bottom conditions that can effect anchoring efficiency and it’s hard to cover them all in a single test.  Having said that, Bill Springer’s blog had a review of a very well thought out anchor test that he and others, had conducted. The results do show that the Rocna performs very well.  So, I bought one.

That’s the good news.  The bad news is that it didn’t fit Pandora’s roller.  What to do…

I have been thinking about a possible modification of the roller for sometime and here’s what I settled on.  I think it’s pretty neat.   The idea is to have an attachment that will hinge up and support the anchor when it’s needs to be secured and yet drop will down to deploy when I am anchored.

The problem is that the Rocna anchor just wouldn’t go far up into the roller as the shank of the would not fit.  Here’s what It looks like when it “won’t fit”.  Not too elegant.So, first, I had a local machine shop drill some holes in some bar stock so I could try a number of configurations.    When I pulled it into position, it seemed to work just fine. Then I made a cardboard template for the machinist so he’d know what I wanted.  That took a few hours of head scratching to get it just right.   Then I went back the next day and measured all over again.   The machinist was to make it out of 1/4″ stainless steel with a bent leading edge so that the chain would pass through it easily.  Of to the machinist.  They turned out great.  Then I took them to a metal finishing shop to have them cleaned up and polished.  Not as shiny as I’d  like but still pretty slick. After a few attempts to get the bolt setup just right, here’s the finished deal.  Anchor down.  And now, in place and secure.  I like it a lot.My only fear is that the extension might bend.  We’ll have to see.  The 1/4″ steel with the bent lip is pretty tough but only time will tell. 

So, now I am ready to go, nearly.  Wish me luck with crew and weather.  I do want to sail, of course.   Not too much wind please…

Enough with blogging. Time to “get the lead out’ and get on with my day.

It’s Sunday morning and the sun is out.  Yesterday began as a sunny day but deteriorated as the day went on, delivering some much needed rain.   It’s cool, no make that COLD, in the low 50s, the coldest morning yet As we head into fall.  I am always struck by how quickly the temperatures fall once you get past Labor Day here on the CT River.  One day it’s in the 80s and the next…

A friend years ago remarked that “you could hear the iron gates slam shut on Labor Day” and that seems about right to me.   Before you know it, we will all be complaining about the cold.   No wait, I am complaining already.  And, I can’t wait to rake leaves!  NOT!!!

Anyway, I have not written much about our plans for this winter but they are coming together, so here goes…

In about a week I will shove off with Pandora to take her south with crew to ST Mary’s GA where she will be pulled out of the water for a few months.  Brenda and I will be joining her there right after the New Year to sail down to Miami and probably the Florida Keys.  We have wanted to explore this area for some time and are looking forward to trying it out this year. We are also looking forward to spending a leisurely time heading down the Intra Costal Waterway, down the coast of Florida, a trip that we enjoyed two years ago.

We may head over to the Bahamas at some point but that’s unclear right now. Brenda needs to head back to CT in mid March for a conference for a week and certainly heading out from Miami will be easier for her.  We also have a wedding in SC in mid April so when you add it all up, staying in the US might be prudent.  Heck, it’s warm in the Keys too… Right?

Perhaps we can head down to Key West and then on to the Dry Tortugas and see the old fort.  I have heard that it’s pretty neat by friends of us that are avid bird watchers.   It seems that the remote location of Ft Jefferson, built during the Civil War, is a favorite stopover for migrating birds.

Remote or not, the fort is now a national park and it’s easy to get to by high speed ferry.  I don’t know if it’s practical to take the 70 mile run from Key West to the fort on Pandora.  I guess we will have to think about that.  However, this National Park Service video of the park is interesting.  Watch it and you will probably guess where the phrase “your name is Mudd” came from.Who knows what the winter will bring, but for sure we’ll be warm.

Between now and then, Brenda’s heading to a week long weaving conference in Rockport MA and I will be heading to Annapolis, aboard Pandora, to a Seven Seas Cruising Association event.   After that a “quick” run to GA and then I’ll fly home around October 10th.

Then, Brenda and I are heading to Portugal.  That will be my first extended visit outside of the US beyond the Bahamas.  As Portugal was a major sea power, I bet that there will be lots of fun things nautical to write about.

Well, there is certainly plenty to look forward to between now and May when I will bring Pandora back to New England in the spring.

Now, all that’s left is to provision Pandora, do some last minute repairs and upgrades.  For the next week, I’ll be pretty busy, that’s for sure.  You’d think that after months of summer to take care of it all that I’d be all ready to go.  Think again.

However, with the threat of frosty air, I’ll be motivated to “get the lead out” and head south.    And, now that you have probably guesses the origin of  the phrase “your name is Mudd” perhaps you are curious about the phrase “get the lead out”.

I am so pleased that you asked, even if you didn’t.  Well, it’s origin isn’t clear at all.  Some say that in early horse racing, lead weights were added to a horse’s load if the jockey was below a minimum weight.  However, “boys will be boys” and some jockeys, it seems, dumped their weights during the race to gain an advantage. However, it’s uncertain if that’s the actual origin.  I guess you will have to be the judge.

This is so great! Now I am really on a roll…   D0 you know what the origin of “three sheets to the wind” is?    Well, according to the UK based site, Phrases.org, the origin is as follows,

The phrase is these days more often given as ‘three sheets to the wind’, rather than the original ‘three sheets in the wind’. The earliest printed citation that I can find is in Pierce Egan’s Real Life in London, 1821:

“Old Wax and Bristles is about three sheets in the wind.”

Sailors at that time had a sliding scale of drunkenness; three sheets was the falling over stage; tipsy was just ‘one sheet in the wind’, or ‘a sheet in the wind’s eye’. An example appears in the novel The Fisher’s Daughter, by Catherine Ward, 1824:

“Wolf replenished his glass at the request of Mr. Blust, who, instead of being one sheet in the wind, was likely to get to three before he took his departure.”

 

Well, I’ll bet that you never knew that there were degrees of “sheets to the wind” on a scale of one to three.

Ok, Ok, I’ll quit now before I drive YOU to drink.

Well, just a few (hundred) more things to do to get Pandora ready to sail. Wish me luck.  On to warmer climes…soon for Pandora and her crew.

I have been writing a number of posts, probably more than you want to read, actually, about our recent time aboard the superyacht Marie, when we sailed in the Newport Bucket Regatta few weeks ago.

Well, to provide some balance, I did some research and found a “regatta” with a lot more participants.   However, while the total displacement of all 200,000 entries in this “fleet” is somewhat less than even one in the Newport Bucket, there is certainly no less excitement from those who finance and participate in this event.

However, I doubt that there is a regatta worldwide that has more folks involved.  Here’s a short video of the “start”.  Ready?Actually, there are other regattas using the same “one design” vessels. However, I am hard pressed to imagine one with more participants.  200,000 duckies is a lot of “foul play”.  Right?  And, with the opportunity to win a new car, the stakes are high indeed.

Here’s a local news report…
Who won? Well now you know.

But wait, there’s more… In other cities.
“Bob, Bob, enough already!!!

Ok, got it.

So, if you’ve had enough of rubber duckies here’s yet another, really well done, video of yet another regatta, but this time it’s one for some really, really “big duckies”, the Palma Superyacht Cup in Palma Mallorca. And, like the “Cinci” regatta, this one has also been going on for nearly 20 years.   Good to know that there are so many events with “staying power”.Alas, I am afraid to admit this but the one in Cincinnati is probably more my speed.

However, I enjoy writing about Marie and she did sail in the 2011 Palma event.  This video was commissioned by Vitters, her builder and it’s pretty impressive.  Well, I like it…
I’s pretty clear that some regattas are for the .001% crowd but it’s good to know that there are regattas for the other 99.999% of us. Whew!!!, what a relief.

Great videos, right?  Well, eclectic at least.  And, I’ll bet that you thought I was straying from my course.  Nope…  However, I do enjoy most anything that takes place on the water.

And, as if that’s not enough, Pandora heads to sea in less than a week. Where’s Pandora…going?  Good question.  Mallorca?  I am afraid that will have to wait a bit as I’d have to cross the “pond” first, and I am not quite ready for that.  I KNOW

Brenda’s not ready…

Where’s Pandora…going… I guess you’ll have to pass this way again, if you care.  I hope you do.

 

It’s Wednesday morning and I need to dash off this post so I can hit the road to go shooting with a good friend of my late father.  Shooting skeet was a favorite pastime for my dad and to shoot with Milan, one of his best shooting buddies, will be nostalgic.  It wasn’t that long ago when the three of us would shoot most Wednesdays.   Well, today will be fun too, as it’s been quite a while…

Anyway, as I was gathering up dad’s shooting gear which I will use at today’s outing, I thought that it would be fitting to write about another noisy pastime, firing the cannons aboard the Yacht Marie.  If you have not read any of my posts about Marie, the 180′ superyacht that Brenda and I sailed on a few weeks ago, I should mention that the owner Ed, LOVES antique weapons.  Aboard Marie there are a number of cannons on display as well as two mounted on the stern quarters that are fired REGULARLY.

When I say “often” I mean that Ed fires them whenever he has a “good” reason, and sometimes just because the mood strikes.  Good reasons include, but are not limited to, leaving the dock, returning to the dock, passing a boat or a resort on shore and finishing a race.  Of course, finishing a race, or better winning the race, calls for a “double broadside” or firing of both cannons together.

Well, when we were racing in the Newport Bucket Regatta, a few weeks ago, the “mood struck” often.   The first time we heard Ed holler, “fire in the hole” was as we were leaving the dock for race one.  Everyone instinctively covered their ears (the “ladies” were issued earplugs of course) and BOOOM!!! the cannon “spoke”.

These cannons are not the little sort of “pop-guns” that you hear at yacht clubs shooting 10ga blank shells at sunset.  These babies fire custom packed 8oz charges of black powder packed in aluminum foil packages.  For fun, I asked Rich, Marie’s engineer, to guide me through the process of preparing the cannon for firing.

Here goes..

The first thing that Rich does is get out is the “charge”.   It’s an 80z prepared slug of black powder wrapped securely in aluminum foil and rammed down the barrel.  I don’t know how much explosive force that much black powder has exactly but let me tell you, it’s plenty LOUD and it spits out a very satisfying cloud of white smoke.  Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself.

Here’s Rich patiently posing for me.  Note the foil “package” in his hand. That’s 8oz of black powder that provides the “business” portion of the cannon. Caution:  No open flames!!!Ramming the charge home to be sure it’s well packed into the bottom of the barrel.Next, Rich jams a narrow metal rod into the priming hole at the back of the cannon.  This allows him to pierce the foil in the charge. Note the protective canvas on the cabin side.  Don’t mar the varnish.   Also note that there are ropes on the base of the cannon.  They were added after someone inadvertently put two charges into one of the cannon and the resulting recoil was so great that the cannon slammed into the cabin side.  Oops! Next, he pours a cap-full of powder into the priming hole. Then,  he fully packs the priming into the hole to ensure that there are no gaps that might lead to a misfire. Finally, a “primer” is placed into the hole.   The “primer” is a small brass tube with a flint, sort of like striker on a match.  Note the little wire loop on the primer.  A lanyard is clipped to this so it can be pulled from a safe distance.

When this is deformed, or pulled, the flint gives off a spark which lights a small charge in the tube. This “spark” ignites the powder in the primer tube and, you guessed it, BOOOM!!! or should I say BOOOM!!!All set!  All that’s left is for Ed to bellow, loud enough to be heard from one end of Marie’s 180′ deck to the other, “fire in the hole”.  Oh yeah, Rich, closest to the “action” dons a good set of ear-muffs himself.

Yank the cord. and yes, BOOOM!!!  Of course, there are the occasional miss-fires.  Not to worry, Ed has TWO cannons, so there’s always a backup.

So, there will always be a terrific BOOOM!!!  Sometimes they are fired in close quarters, like in this shot.  I’ll bet that the neighbors really appreciated the attention.Other times he fires when Marie is “at sea”.   I am not sure that his little foiling sailboat aptly called  a “moth” would fare well against Marie and her cannon.Interestingly, these little boats are REALLY fast and when they get going they rise up on hydro-foils and scoot across the water.   I’ll bet that they are tough to sail but a real thrill if you master the technique.

I wonder what the FAA would think of a surface-to-air cannon bombardment from Marie toward this helicopter?  Probably a pretty dim view, I would expect. This little red chopper circled around Marie quite a bit taking pictures.  Hey Ed, want to buy a photo of your boat?  Take this…”fire in the hole!!!” This stately yacht might be a cause for a “salute” from Marie.   What a lovely vessel.    She looked right at home in the waters off of Newport. All and all, I can’t think of any pastime that goes quite as well with sailing as firing cannons.  And, it seems that Ed has the resources, combined with a teenagers love of LOUD NOISES, and the cannon to make the best of both,  to “puncuate” his outings in a way that makes his point “loud and clear”.  What fun.  I LOVED IT!!!

Yes, today is a good day to go out and make some noise shooting skeet with Milan.  I am sure that Dad would have approved, and would have liked Ed’s toys too.

I guess that Boys will be boys on land and on sea.