sailing – Page 2 – Sail Pandora

Where’s Pandora? Perhaps better to say where’s Bob?

May 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment

For some months I have been looking for a service that will allow me to provide real time location information here on where Pandora is at any given point. This will be particularly valuable when Brenda and I head south in the fall so that family and friends can follow us as we make our way south for the winter. Of course, the natural question that some to mind is “why would we want to follow your trip?”. Well, that’s simple, because you can…

There are a number of services available that will track progress and I settled on a unit called SPOT. This is a nifty device that’s just a few inches long and sends a signal to low orbiting satellites to keep tabs on where the unit is at any given time. With an update every 10 minutes when it’s turned on, it’s an amazingly simple way to keep in touch. This is an amazingly affordable service and you can click here to learn more about this remarkable device. Even more interesting is this overview of how the unit works. As simple as the device looks, it’s part of a system that looks REALLY COMPLICATED and EXPENSIVE.

This video gives a good overview of the tracking function. What an awesome gadget!!!

“Spot” will be aboard Pandora most of the time but for now it will be with me as I head this coming week for Nassau Bahamas to help my friend Bob bring back his South African Islander 56′, The Abby, to Norwalk CT. At least, that’s where I think we are going. Not sure as the boat spends a lot of time in Newport. Well, I guess that will learn more when I head there on Tuesday. I know Bob from my years as a member of the Norwalk Yacht Club and also as member of The Corinthians.

There will be a total of four of us on this trip and we expect to leave on the 18th or 19th of May and will arrive at some point late the following week. As I understand it, we will head out into the Gulf Stream and ride it north. This will allow us to make the trip as quickly as possible given the fact that the “stream” moves north at several knots which will give us a boost in speed as we head up the coast.

Anyway, back to the issue of tracking our progress. With SPOT aboard, there will be a real time record of our progress as we head north. I won’t turn the unit on until we leave the harbor except briefly when I get to Nassau to post an initial position on my SPOT page. You will have to pan out on the map to get a better feel for where we are as the link defaults to a close up view.

It should be fun and I hope that you will enjoy “ride” with me.

More to come.

The wild life aboard Pandora and a Mother’s day greeting.

May 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Even though Pandora is still on the hard in Norwalk CT, she’s still a hopping place for some. In this case, the feathered kind. When I went forward the other day to check out the anchor windlass I was surprised by a Ground Dove that had built her nest under the cover. I was loath to interfere but had to attend to the anchor so unfortunately, disturbed her. It was amazing just how brave she was and only flew away when I carefully prodded her with my outstretched finger on her back. However, I did have to give her a poke as I really needed to lower the anchor to the ground for some work I was doing. Most important is that the windless makes quite a racket, something that would surely have sent her “over the edge”. I wanted her to fly away but not forever.She did make a run for it and I quickly snapped a photo of the egg while she was away. I came back a few days later and she was still there but this time I kept a respectful distance.

With Mother’s day less than a week away I certainly don’t’ want to be accused of being tough on mothers. Besides, my own mom might get the wrong idea about me.

Pandora has proven to be a great home for me and Brenda and it seems fitting to have another family living aboard while she is on the hard.

Let’s hope that the chicks fly the coop by early June when Pandora gets launched. So, how fast to doves grow? For their sake, they had better be quick about it.

While life goes on aboard Pandora, I am headed to Freeport Bahamas this coming Tuesday to help a friend bring his boat back to CT. It should be a great trip and I am sure that some fun posts will come from the journey.

More to come and soon I hope.

A new way to enjoy your boat! Keel walking? Are you kidding me?

March 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment

I just love the ways that the big boys use their boats. What better way to make more room for passengers (well dressed of course) than spending a bit of time standing on the keel.

This is Hugo Boss, one of the big ocean racers and that’s Alex Thomson, the leader of that sailing group. He’s not even 40 year and is no sailing slouch as he owns the world record for a 24 hour run in a monohull at some 500 miles at an average speed of over 20 knots, that’s nearly 25 MPH. Not bad. Pandora? The fastest I have had her at a sustained speed is just a tad over 10 knots, and it was only in spurts over a several hour period. Normally, Pandora pokes along at a respectable 7 knots.

Who would even think of standing on a keel? I fear that my older son Rob would. Actually, he’s climbing, and camping, on Mount Washington this weekend. Isn’t it winter?

It’s worth checking out the Hugo Boss racing site. What an awesome boat!!! And, you have to love the shades on Alex. I wonder if he likes his martinis shaken, not stirred?

However, if you think that it’s all fun and games, this video shows the boat at speed. Not sure the keel walk would work in these conditions.

I wonder if Brenda would enjoy such a sail? Perhaps not. As I used to say in my, shall we say mere youth, “don’t get my wet”.

Would it help if I painted Pandora Black?

Oh, and by the way, the reason that the keel on Hugo Boss is painted international orange is so that if the boat looses it’s mast and turns turtle the rescue folks can see it better in the storm. Not sure that the black hull would show up all that well. Hmm…

A trail of breadcrumbs for Pandora

February 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment

As we prepare for our trip south next fall, a key need is for our family to be able to follow us and our position along the way. In the past sharing such information required equipment that was expensive or, at the very least, complicated. However, with the advent of more sophisticated satellite technology, it appears that there are now systems available that enable us to set things up in a way so that our friends (and random blog readers) to follow us as we make our way south. To say that we are in Charleston is nice, but for me it would be totally choice for someone to be able to look at a map online and see exactly where we are any day or any time of day, for that matter. And as we move along the map will display a trail of bread crumbs to show where we have been.

Yesterday I called Henry Marx the owner at Landfall Navigation, a group that sells all sorts of boating safety equipment. Henry is very knowledgeable and I expected that he would have something to say about this topic. Yes, he’s never shy about saying what he thinks. Today he responded with a note suggesting that the DeLorme inReach unit might do what we are looking for. As a side note, Henry doesn’t stock the product as he specializes in safety products and does not want to take the chance that his customers will confuse this product with an EPIRB which is a critical safety device for the sort of sailing that we are planning. Yes Henry, Pandora has one of those units aboard and happily, we have never had to activate it. And yes, the batteries are up to date and it is properly registered.

The system works off of the Irdidium system of geosynchronous orbit satellites. (I’ll bet you didn’t think that I could spell geosynchronous. No, I can’t but that’s what spell check is for.) I have always thought of anything associated with Iridium as being terribly expensive but this one isn’t at all. The inReach unit itself retails for about $250 and the communication plans run anywhere from $9.95 to $49.95 a month with a year commitment. The variables in these plans are related to the number of position fixes and text messages allowed per month.

The plan for us will likely be the $24.95 one as it allows unlimited position fixes and a reasonable number of text messages. A text might say something like “headed to Andros on Friday”. I understand that it also ties in with Twitter and Facebook but I don’t know exactly how that works.

In any event, in a day when we want to tell the world what we are doing every waking moment, including our trips to the bathroom, this is a great option.

This is an interesting video, sale pitch though it is, about the product.

I NEED one of these. What’s great about this is that when someone asks my mother “It’s 10:00. Do you know where your children are?”. At the very least, she will know where Pandora is and I am never far away. However, I will be sure to never take this particuar piece of equipment into the bathroom. I guess I am just not in the right generation for that.

Oh, to be young…

So, how much would you pay for a gallon of water?

January 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment

As we prepare Pandora for our trip south I am reminded once again of the adage, “when Momma be happy, EVERYBODY be happy!” As I have said many times, it’s all about keeping Brenda happy and aboard with me. These words are particularly true today as it’s her birthday. Yes, January 15th is a day that you too should have in your calendar. However, that’s another story and this post is about the cost of water.

More importantly, just how much would you pay for a gallon of water? That question certainly has many answers all of which depend on your state of mind. Questions such as… how thirsty are you, do you need a bath, or would it be a good idea if the person you are with down below took a bath? Need to wash dishes? Clothes? Each of these weighty concerns relate heavily to keeping Brenda, and to a lesser extent me happy aboard Pandora.

As we prepare Pandora for our upcoming strip to the Bahamas a big issue for us is one of having adequate water aboard. Perhaps better put, the value of a gallon of water depends on how much you carry aboard and in our case, it’s about 125 gallons. This seems like a lot but if you have to work hard, or travel great distances, to get more it’s a big deal.

Aboard Pandora we have two water tanks and we have documented that we tend to use about 15 gallons of water per day. That means with reasonable usage we can fill up about once every 8-10 days, perhaps every two weeks if we were to really conserve.

A great solution to the water supply problem is to install an RO unit, and that’s what we’ve decided to do. As I noted in a past post, we chose a Spectra unit and I will begin installing it in the next few weeks. Setting aside cost, this is one complex unit. Besides the obvious technology that makes the system work, there are a LOT OF PARTS. This sucker is complicated. The instructions that came with it urged me to do a complete inventory upon delivery. Here you go, a complete inventory…

Yes, it does look like it would be expensive. But, more importantly, back to the question about cost. When you purchase a 12oz bottle of “designer” water for $2.00, that translates to roughly $20.00 per gallon. Put it that way and it makes a $4.00 per gallon gasoline seem like a bargain and perhaps it is.

So, how much is a gallon of water worth? In the Bahamas you can purchase water for about $.25/gal but that assumes that you can bring the boat to the dock or are willing to schlep the water by the bucket full from shore in your dink, something that I did last summer in Maine multiple times per week. Given the cost of the unit I purchased it will take nearly 25,000 gallons of water to break even on making verses purchasing water. At 15 gal per day it will take 1,600 days to use that much water. Since we will be aboard Pandora for about 180 days in 2012, that means that we will break even on the purchase in about 10 years. But wait, there’s more…

These calculations don’t even count the cost of maintenance of the unit or the cost of the energy to run it, not an insignificant amount.

So, how much would you pay for a gallon of water? If you compare the RO unit and the cost of those bottled waters that you get, I will actually break even on the unit in 3,000 gallons. However, I find it hard to imagine pouring countless 12oz bottles of water over my head to rinse off after a hot day. Decadent you say?

Perhaps better put is to repeat J.P. Morgan’s quip when asked how much it cost to maintain his yacht when he said, “If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it” Can I afford to use RO water aboard Pandora? Who knows, but it’s safe to say “when Momma be happy…”

The value of a happy wife with that “just showered feeling”? Bring it on.