October 2015

Yes, after months of saying “we’re going south”, it looks like I am actually heading out tomorrow, Friday morning.  Crew arrives tonight and we will head out at first light tomorrow morning.

I spoke with Chris Parker, the weather router, this morning and he told me that we should have excellent north winds to take us south for the first 24 hours or so.  After that we will see southerlies but under ten knots.  This is what the GRIBs look like for Friday.  Should be a very nice run.  Note that the wind is coming from the direction that the “flags” are pointing and that each “feather” means 10kts, but you probably knew that anyway.  This is our route plan if we stop in Atlantic City to wait for favorable winds once the northerlies shift to the south on Saturday.    We’d only have to wait there for about a day until things shift again to the north, so that wouldn’t be so bad. Alternatively, we might opt to continue on directly for Hampton and motor into what will likely be 10kts or less on the nose.  This is what the winds will likely do after the good northerlies go away on Saturday.  Not horrible to motor into light winds.  I guess we will have to see how things progress and I’ll likely check in with Chris again in the morning.   Yes, I am sure that you are on the edge of your seat too about all this.  If so, of course you can follow along with us by clicking on “Where in the World is Pandora” at the top of the page and see us on a Google Map.  Such are the wonders of technology.  

Yes, it’s very exciting to be on my way, finally and I am very much looking forward to visiting with folks in Hampton for the next week.  After that, on to the BVI.

The next flag that I fly from Pandora’s starboard spreader will be this one.  Very exciting.  

Looking forward to seeing the “Queen’s subjects” very soon.

South it is…

Well, the weather sure has turned.  It seems like only yesterday, or a few weeks, that I was working on the boat in a short sleeve shirt.  Not now!  We had our first killing frost yesterday and it’s PLENTY COLD.  I can’t believe how quickly the season changed and the temperatures have dropped.   When Labor Day arrives, you hear the iron doors of summer slam shut and now we are getting close to the time when you had better be sure not to touch your tongue to those doors as it might stick.  I don’t know if you heard the same thing, but I was always told that if I touched my tongue to cold metal in the winter that it would stick till spring.  I have no idea if this is true or not as I have never tried it.  Have you?  Well, if you feel the urge, an opportunity is just around the corner  Never mind.

Anyway, it’s high time for me to “get out of Dodge” with Pandora and begin my run south.  First stop, Hampton VA and if the weather cooperates, I will shove off on Friday morning.  There is a front, one of many these days, coming through which should provide some good NW winds for at least a day.  We might have to stop in Cape May or Atlantic City to wait a day for another quick front to come through but it seems that we should be in Hampton by the weekend or Monday. Fingers crossed.

Pandora’s about ready, the pantry is loaded and the freezer is stocked with meat. The fridge is a lot bigger than on “old” Pandora and the freezer is so deep that I have to use one of those “geriatric grabber thingies”, you know the kind that old folks use to pick up things off of the floor?  Anyway, even if I lay on the counter top I can’t reach the bottom of the freezer.  Now, that’s an image… But if you want a sirloin steak, you do what you have to do.

It’s tricky to guess how much we will need of each item to last the winter as most things cost more in the Caribbean so it makes sense to buy them here. Well, it seems like a good idea to us and my Scottish heritage and thrift make it a necessity.  So, how many rolls of toilet paper do you need to last for five months? Brenda says “you can never have too many rolls of toilet paper”.  She said 50 so that’s the number.  Ok…

Under the category of “random segues” how about a sunrise photo?  Our frined Gail (of Gail and Al fame) sent us this great photo of the sunrise in Essex a few days ago.  It’s been a while since I posted a sunrise photos, something that I do a lot of when I am aboard Pandora so perhaps this will get everyone in the mood for what’s to come when we get to warmer climes.  Here you go.  Thanks Gail. Amazing shot.  Give that girl a gold star!And, speaking of the CT River.  We were treated to a ride on the river aboard Pastime, a beautiful 1960s vintage Lyman runabout this past Sunday.  It was a beautiful “crisp” day on the water.  “Crisp” is code for “It was frigging cold”, complete with snow flurries.  What  a glorious day.  We headed up the river to Middletown and back.  Pastime’s owners, Steve and Irene, were the perfect host and hostess.  What a fun time. Even though they had just met, Brenda and Irene were like old friends as they kept warm with some of Irene’s chili.  Get it?  Chili on a chilly day?It’s going to be a while till we have another cruise on the CT River so the “last gasp” for the 2015 season will stick with us.

Oh yeah.  Almost forgot.  My crew had inquired about lee cloths for Pandora. Voila!  Made em.  Wasn’t that easy?   All installed.  Three bunks plus the aft cabin are now ready for occupancy.  Here’s the one to starboard. I put one up in the forward cabin but I’ll only use it when it’s fairly calm. However, it’s also a great way to keep stray gear out of the way and in place, when things get rough.  I think that just about everything is ready to head south.  I just hope that the weather cooperates.  Based on the low temps these days, it’s high time that Pandora “flies the coop”.

Friday departure?  I sure hope so.   I’m freezing!

It’s Saturday morning and PANDORA IS BACK IN THE WATER!  Yahoo, Yahoo, Yahoo!  It’s been a month since she came out and after so many “I’ll be ready to launch in a few days” I can’t believe that she’s FINALLY in.  And, it’s just in time as it’s late October and it’s getting COLD, in the low 40s outside as I write this.  Yes, it’s high time to head south, so here’s the plan…

Now that she’s back in the water I’ll check all the systems and get the refrigeration going again.   Check, check, double-check…  I’ll begin stocking the freezer and other last minute provisions in anticipation of shoving off when the weather allows, later in the week, for Hampton, the staging port for the Salty Dawg Rally that gets underway in early November.  Of course, if you feel like hearing more, you can sign up under “sign up to be notified when I publish a post”. Pretty descriptive, right?

And, on the upper tool bar, you can also click on “where in the world is Pandora” and see where we actually are or at least where we were when we last “pushed the button”.

As I have been going on and on about my bow thruster for the last two weeks (yes it took that long to do the overhaul) and get it going reliably again, I thought it would be fun to post a video of it going up and down, up and down.  I think that is just so great, and mildly amusing.  Among the nifty features of the unit is the remote-control.  You might want to ask yourself “why Bob, would you need a remote when you are only feet away from the “joystick” in the cockpit?  Just use that.”  Well, that’s so I can control the bow while Brenda does the “forward and reverse thing” as we go up to a dock.  It also made that neato video you just saw possible.  Here’s the receiver and “brains” of the unit.  It was relocated inside the boat from in the “sometimes humid”compartment near the motor.  A much better spot, I am assured. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that it won’t crap out again any time soon. However, I am pretty sure that it’s going to be a lot better as I have worked hard to modify things to keep everything dry.   And speaking of dry, here’s the now dry compartment, complete with dry drive motor.  Let’s hope it stays that way. And, just in case somehow, some way, water gets into here, there’s a pump ready and willing to assist.  But wait, there’s more.  When the above featured pump has done it’s work, this unit is on hand to pump out down to the last teaspoon.  It cycles every few hours, 24/7 “just in case”.   Let’s hope that it lives up to it’s name. And, to deal with anything that might be missed, and to keep things desert dry, I added a decidedly low tech item to catch those remaining molecules of H2O. Fingers crossed that it all works in harmony and, well, continues to work.  If all of this isn’t up to the task, I still have the option of putting in forced ventilation but that’s another project for another day.

Well, there you have it, and as my day used to say, “more than you want to know about penguins”.  A complete rundown of my “for the moment” functioning bow thruster.

Of course, everybody loves photos of boats “on the move” so here’s Pandora making her way across through the marina at a stately pace.  She won’t look so shiny and clean for a long time to come. I guess I’ll close today with Pandora’s first beautiful sunset since being “back in business” again.  Nice spot, nice spot indeed. I am really looking forward to being in many more nice spots in the coming months and I very much hope that you will stay tuned and make the journey with me.

Time to cruise.

It’s Tuesday morning and I am happy to say that the thruster is ALMOST done.  I say almost as everything is set and adjusted but now I am told that the “mother board” is not good.  BAD MOTHER!!!   Yes, it does sound REALLY BAD.  However, because they feel bad for me, and I guess that business is good elsewhere (they are starting a rebuild job on 200′ yacht at Hodgons Yachts, in East Booth Bay), I am not being charged for that, which is good.  I can only imagine what that would have cost.  The new “mother” will be installed on Thursday and I should be good to go.  While the final bill will be a “bit more than estimated”, I am not being charged for all of the “coming and going” over the last ten days.  I have to give them credit as they worked very hard to keep things moving, even though it kept them there on both Saturday and Sunday of last weekend.

In any event, NO MORE FLOODING is allowed in the thruster compartment and I am optimistic that the two, count em, two bilge pumps will keep things in good shape. I’ll also be putting desiccant bags in there to see if I can keep humidity at bay.  If not, next spring I’ll put in a vent system.  More to come on that.

Oh yeah, remember the “ostomy hole”, the bilge pump outlet installed RIGHT IN THE SIDE OF THE HULL!? Yes, this one. The nasty white “orafice”.  Well, they did a pretty good job of making it look OK with a matching stainless fitting that is of the same design of the smaller one near it.  I had checked into having the hole plugged and repainted, but opted against that as it’s very hard to make a good match on a dark green hull and I expect that the “cure would have been worse than the disease”.  It doesn’t look that bad, right?Anyway, it seems that the issue of the thruster is finally, almost, done which is good.  It’s been painful at best, but at least I now know what to look for in keeping things in good shape.  As an added plus, this “experience” has reminded me, once again, just how important “preventive maintenance” is.  All and all, it’s probably a good allegory for life in general so, with that in mind, a good, if expensive, lesson.

Pandora is now scheduled to go in the water on Friday morning so I can check out the “new” Autoprop and be sure that everything is in good shape.  I’ll change the oil, fire up the freezer and fridge and all the other things that have been on hold while she’s been on the hard.

I had also promised an update on the Salty Dawg “fleet” page.  This is a screen shot of the group as of today.  It looks like Domini and Altera “flew” literally, no doubt with their transponder in their pocket aboard a plane.   Altera started in Cape Breton, NS and Domini in Boston.  I think that Brenda and I know the Altera gang from previous winters as I think that they used to own a SAGA 48.  Note that I have “clicked” on Pandora, in the image below, so she is highlighed.   You can see the actual shared page, in real time, by clicking here.  when you get there, you will have to put in SDR where it says “group” or “Pandora” under Name (you can’t do both).  For the date range, you can either choose today only or a range to see where we are right now.  Of course, I’ll be posting as we get closer to let you know when we are hoping to depart.  If you save this page on your screen,  you can just refresh the page and see, any time, what’s going on as the fleet assembles in Hampton and more sign on.  I’ll also have this link on the “where in the world is Pandora” on my home page.

Yes, Pandora is inching forward and I am getting pretty excited about what the next month will bring.  Fingers crossed that “mother” will check out and we’ll be good to go in a little more than a week.

And as they say “but wait, there’s more”.  And that’s true, but you will have to wait till my next post to find out.

Thanks for tuning in, if there’s anyone out there.  Are you listening?  Say something…please.

It’s Sunday morning and, as far as I know, the bow thruster was finished up and tested last evening.  It’s been a long, expensive process and hopefully the improvements put in place, designed to keep it dry, will avoid a long slow decline again.  If “an ounce of prevention”, no make that “thousands of ounces of prevention” will make things better, than we should be in good shape.  The one remaining item to add will be a forced ventilation system which I expect install in the spring.

This whole issue reminds me of the first time I installed an refrigeration system on my Tartan 37 many years ago.  I really didn’t know what I was getting into but really wanted to have a few ice cubes for my G&Ts.   Sounds simple?  Not!!!

I WANTED A FRIDGE. So, I added a compressor etc.  Little did I understand that this would eventually mean more batteries, a high output alternator.  The list went on and on.

Anyway, those ice cubes cost me big time and now, with all the time the “thruster guys” spent crawling around on Pandora, I am reminded, yet again, of how things can get complicated.   Boats in general and thrusters, watermakers and fridges, in specific, are good examples of how you can take simple things, like docking, plopping ice cubes into your drink or having a cup of water from simple to PLENTY COMPLICATED.  I guess that’s what owning a boat is all about.  Right?

So, now with the thruster back in business I will begin to wrap things up and get ready to launch, probably later this week.

I had a call with my crew for the run to the BVI a few days ago and the question of lee cloths came up.  Of course! I forgot about that.  Oops.  Anyway, lee cloths on the way.  I worked up the basic pieces yesterday, one for the port and starboard main settees as well as one for the forward Pullman berth.  I also installed the hardware and will be working up the rest of the items such as clips and straps, needed to finish the job in the next few days.  Thanks Jim for that reminder.   I’ll post some photos when I finalize the installation next week.  They will certainly come in handy when the going gets “spirited” along the way.

There are so many details to work out to get ready for a run like this, especially with a new boat, well, new to me anyway, that it seems TO-DOs keep finding their way onto my list faster than I am able to check them off.  And sometimes, in my desire to make everything perfect, I end up breaking things and then have yet another item to fix.  I am thinking of one particularly stupid example that I did the other day but I’ll “take the 5th” on that one.  Sorry, no comment.  However, parts on the way.

Changing the subject, I have also set a nominal departure date to head to Hampton VA, October 22nd.  I’ll have Pandora launched around the 15th or 16th, which will give me nearly a week, once she’s in the water, to make certain that everything is in good working order.  I’ll also be able to crank up the fridge and begin stocking the freezer.

I should note that I have renewed my subscription for my SPOT, GPS transponder and will be updating my position every four hours while I am underway.  This section of the sight is “where in the world is Pandora“.
I also understand that there will be a tracking service that participants in the Salty Dawg fleet will be subscribing to for the duration of the run from Hampton to Virgin Gorda.  It’s Snap Track and it will allow you to see where Pandora is an how she’s doing relative to other rally particpants.  This is an example of what you’ll see when we are underway.  I’ll post details of this as I learn more.

So, to keep things moving along, I’ll continue to provision and stow everything we’ll need for the winter aboard.   No point in putting her in the water any sooner than necessary as it will just mean that there will be more time for the bottom to become slimy before we head south.  And,a clean bottom means and a bit more speed along the way which will make a big difference over a 2,000 mile run, that’s for sure.

Hopefully, this will be the last post that mentions the “thruster guys” and that from here on out, I’ll be able to turn Pandora any way I wish against currents and wind when I am close to pointy and hard things.  Fingers crossed.

As I “gird my loins” in preparation for the “thruster bill”, I need to keep my “eye on the prize” and think about making landfall at the Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda.  Yes, that will be very nice indeed.  And, when I arrive, I plan to sit here and have a drink with a little umbrella stuck in it.  That’s of course, if I have any $$ left over from the, well, you know …
Just a few (thousand) details to tend to first.  I’d better get on it.