As I write this we are flying home from a week in San Francisco and a visit with our son Christopher.  It has been a very long time since our last visit to the “other” coast and being there brought back many memories.

It’s been a week since my last post although there’s been plenty to write about.  However, with all the destruction caused by two back to back hurricanes in as many weeks, somehow putting up a post didn’t seem quite right.

So, here I go anyway as Irma continues to churn her way west toward Florida with an expected landfall in the US, perhaps in the Florida Keys on Saturday. The expected destruction in Florida will just be the latest installment in what is the unfolding catastrophe of Irma that has already brought untold havoc to the Eastern Caribbean, especially to St Martin and north through the British Virgin Islands.  The pictures that are beginning to surface of the very places that Brenda and I visited earlier this year are now unrecognizable and a sobering reminder of the power of nature, especially to those of us that make our home aboard for much of the year.

Many photos and videos have surfaced, especially on Facebook and in spite of my best efforts, I was only able to identify one or two places that were recognizable as so many buildings have been completely destroyed.   This short video is of the Bitter End Yacht Club resort.It’s hard to believe that the images in the video are of the same place we visited last winter.   This is what it looked like when we were there.  Everything was in perfect order and a sobering reminder of just how fragile life can be.  These hillside bungalows are nearly gone. I hope that it won’t be long before cruisers and charterers will once again be able to enjoy sunsets from these beautiful beaches. It’s going to be a long time until these communities and countries will be back to normal and it may even get worse before recovery can begin as yet another storm, Jose, is headed their way and due to arrive in just a few days.

The Salty Dawg Sailing Association, SDSA, is just beginning to consider options on what to do in the wake of all this destruction.   Some of our members are anxious to get there to help in the recovery efforts and some may choose to sit this season out with them hope that things will be back to normal next season.

Others are considering different areas for possible landfall, perhaps in Puerto Rico, less effected than other areas, and some considering a run to destinations further south below Irma’s path such as Antigua.  As a side note, I spoke to the owner of the hotel, The Admiral’s Inn, in Nelson’s Dockyard Antigua and he told me that they were not really affected by the storm, a far different picture than just a few hundred miles west in the BVI’s

One way or the other, the pull to head south for the season is strong for many if the details remain a bit unclear.

Surely, in the next few weeks plans will firm up for many as surely as work progresses on their boats as they continue to plan for a winter afloat.

I do have my work cut out for myself as well as there is still plenty to do to get Pandora ready for a long trip south.

In the mean time, I’ll be speaking with my crew, both those who will help me bring Pandora to Hampton and those planning the run south to the islands to keep them informed on plans as they firm up.

However, there is one thing for sure, that the power of nature is awe inspiring and that those of us that venture to sea in small boats must never forget just how small we are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Sunday of Labor Day weekend and Brenda and I are visiting our son Christopher in CA.  As I write this I am sitting on a patio in the middle of the Anderson Valley, our favorite part of the wine country, north of San Francisco.

This is the view that greeted me today as I enjoyed my first cup of coffee and sat down to write begin this post.Brenda found this wonderful little cottage nestled in the woods on Airbnb.  Nicely done.  We are out here visiting our younger son Christopher for a week and remarkably, he’s even agreed to take a few days off from work to hang out with us.

Before I get to the story behind the title of this post, bear with me for a few more photos of what we have been up to.  We visited Golden Gate park near San Francisco a few days ago, prior to driving up here.  Brenda and I had a greenhouse for about 20 years so we continue to be drawn to tropical plants.  This greenhouse, in the park, was built from a kit in the late 1800s.  Nice kit. It’s loaded with tropical plants of all descriptions including these carnivorous “pitcher” plants. Nepenthes actually, not to put to fine a point on it.  We grew some of these but none as huge as this species.  Amazing. Of course, I should include a photo of Christopher and his mom. Ok, now that I have all of that out of the way I’ll get back to the real purpose of this post.

Perhaps I’ll close with a shot of the sunset from this deck last night.  Those of you who have followed my exploits, know how much I love sunsets.   Of course, we shared a bottle of wine together, locally sourced, of course,  as the sun set behind the mountains in the distance.  We won’t talk about the fact that the temperatures were, uncharacteristically, in the 90s.Last week when Brenda and I visited the USCG air station on Cape Cod, we stayed the night in New Bedford and visited the Whaling museum to take in a new exhibit about Clifford Ashley, the guy who brought us what is widely regarded as the all-time-go-to book on knots, the “Ashley book of knots” This book, more of an encyclopedia, includes drawings, descriptions and instructions, om the use and how-to-tie of some 3,800 knots.   Eleven years in development, the book was first published in 1944 and is still in print.  The show, put on with the help of Ashley’s daughter, offers highlights from the book and information about his life and a remarkable life it was.  Here’s Clifford himself.  Well, a photo of a painting of him, actually. This show, and the title of this post, is quite clever.   And very nice typography too.  The welcome graphic as you enter the gallery. Ashley, drew all of the illustrations in the book and was also an accomplished artist in his own rite.  He studied under Howard Pyle, known for establishing the “Brandywine School” and teaching many successful artists.  Some of Pyle’s best known works include his illustrations of pirates in this edition of “Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates”.
Ashley too illustrated pirates including this piece.   You can certainly see Pyle’s influence on Ashley. This wonderful photo of Ashley in his studio.    Swashbuckling enough for you?  Break out the Dramamine, quick!If you love knots, or have some ongoing use for them, you should have this book. However, I will warn you, some of the “instructions” are a bit tough to follow.   However, the finished pieces, of some of the more complex knots, are wonderful like these samples from his collection. Sinister uses include this ceremonial dagger and a “cat-o-nine-tails” for whipping prisoners.  Of course, what exhibit of knots would be complete without a sailor’s knot board?Or a sail maker’s kit of tools?There were plenty of other knot examples of his work displayed wonderfully. A really elaborate becket or handle for a sailor’s kit chest.
Amazing detail. Of course, many knots have nothing to do with sailing but are wonderful anyway. Sometimes photos can be deceiving.   This knot is larger than it appears. A lot larger.And, some are downright creepy, to me anyway, like these woven from human hair of a deceased family member.  “This is my dead mother’s hair and I am never taking it off, never!”
Brenda loves doing bobbin lace and was drawn to these beautiful lace bobbins and samples of hand lace. Really intricate stuff. Unrelated to Ashley, I loved this model, but part of the museum’s collection, a classic Concordia Sloop, a design long associated with nearby Padanaram MA. Wonderful attention to detail. Down to the rail on the stern. And like the really big knot above, sometimes things are not as they appear as this “model” is actually 20′ tall.   It would be tough to fit this in most homes. Of course, it’s small compared to the model of the whaling ship Lagoda, reportedly the largest ship model in the world and the centerpiece of the museum. And, just to prove, with no question, that this is a blog about boats, how about I close with a view of the fishing fleet from the observation balcony at the museum.  Now, that’s nautical.  Yes indeed, it’s been a busy “bi-coastal” few weeks with lots of miles “under our keel”, with more to come.  But what a thrill to visit a wonderful exhibit at the Whaling Museum, a tour of the USCG station Cape Cod and cap it all off with a week long visit with our son Christopher.

Brenda sometimes feels that I am running her ragged and I’d guess that’s true.  I For me, I’d say that, “thou shalt knot let grass grow under our feet”.

Besides, there are plenty of wineries still to explore and San Francisco awaits…

When I put on my event each June for The Seven Seas Cruising Association, I invite someone from the Coast Guard to present so that cruisers can be better prepared to stay out of trouble and if the worst happens, how to be prepared.

Lt. Simmons drove down from The Cape to present to us in June and while she was visiting and we were posing together for a photo op, I asked her if perhaps I could have a tour of the airbase.  Happily, she said yes.  So, this Monday Brenda and I visited and were given a tour of the air station on the Cape.   It was awesome.

This seems particularly timely as we all watch the events unfold in Texas, thanks to hurricane Harvey.  I mention this because our contact, Lt Wood, who I had been assigned to, wasn’t there as she had been deployed to Texas to assist in the rescue efforts.  Happily, Lt. Podmore pitched in and showed us around.

The facility is huge covering many square miles.  This is an aerial shot of the base.   We visited the two largest buildings to the right. The first thing you encounter as you drive onto the base is a static display of a decommissioned airplane. I’d love to go for a ride in something that flies and also can also land on the water.  Sadly, the USCG doesn’t fly these any more. The ones that they fly today are very different.   This is a EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry. Our first stop was air traffic control.  It’s not the place that receives EPIRB and mayday calls though.  That’s somewhere else and then the calls are relayed to here or the appropriate sector.   Very official. Then we went into the hanger and were greeted buy this, a Sikorsky MH-60 Jayhawk chopper.  So awesome.  Check more about the specs here.  I wanted to go for a ride although I couldn’t even afford the gas.    According to Wikipedia, these babies cost $17 million a copy and that’s before you fire up the twin jet engines.
They can be flown on a SAR mission up to 300 miles offshore, stay on station for about 45 min, pick up six survivors and have enough fuel to make it back to base. There are 42 of these in the USCG service, with three stationed at the Cape Cod station.   When we were there, two of them had been dispatched to Texas to help with the rescue efforts.  Our Lt. Wood and I guess Lt. Simmons too were sent to help with those.

Viewed head on it looks like the serious machine it is.  The bulb in the front is radar.  And, given the nasty conditions that these pilots fly in I’ll bet it’s needed ALL THE TIME.    The bulb below that is a high resolution FLIR (forward looking infrared) camera.  Everything about this aircraft is “supersized”.   How about a search light that’s so bright it will burn anything that is put in front of it in an instant.  Lt.  Podmore told us that the beam is so strong that if he was to put his boot in front of it for a moment it would start to smoke.  I was wearing sandals and decided to forgo the demonstration. The interior is all business but I’ll bet that ending up aboard after a rescue would feel as cozy as a living room by contrast.  After each flight the entire aircraft, inside and out, is meticulously cleaned.  And for every hour in the air, many hours are spent on maintenance.
The rotor assembly looks impossibly complex.  Lt. Podmore said “want to sit in the seat?”.  Somehow I didn’t.   Stupid me.
Brenda was fascinated with the tour.  Every week the crews practice SAR activities.   This SAR “dummy” looks like he’s been rescued many times.   Actually, he loks like he could use some rescuing now.  “Hey guys, It’s really stuffy down here. Can you roll me over?  I’m feeling a little crampy.”Hey, this guy could be me as I am really interested in trying to work out a way to be trained to be a “rescue dummy” myself and have talked about applying to receive training to do just that.  So far, nobody has said “no way Bob, fugetaboutit” yet but we will have to see what happens.  One way or the other, “I’m on it” and won’t be deterred.  Well, not until somebody says “no way”.

Seriously, I’d really love to be picked up from the water as a part of a SAR training run.  It would be awesome to write about my experiences so others would know “what to expect when the Calvary shows up” and someone swims up to you and says “Good afternoon, I’m Lt. (someone I’d be really happy to see) and I’ll be your rescue swimmer today.”

So, on with the tour.  Next, into the fixed wing aircraft hanger that also doubles as a workout room.  There were some totally buff guys lifting weights.  And speaking of buff, or not buff.  Even the USCG has mini trucks.  This one is electric and similar to my own “truck”.Remember mine?  Looks pretty tiny against Pandora.   I wish mine was electric.  Anyway, that was a digression so back to the USCG.   Past the truck two HC-144, their medium range SAR aircraft.  Now, I really, really wanted to climb inside and sit up front, spraying spit all over the windshield as I made loud motor noises. However, there were guys working on it and I didn’t have the nerve to ask. Remarkably, these are manufactured in Spain.  Who knew?  We’ll see what Donald has to say about that.

There’s a drop down ramp in the back so they can shove out stuff.   I wonder what it feels like to hoist a gas powered de-watering pump out of the water onto a boat in a storm once it’s pitched out of the back of one of these?  I sure hope that the “payload specialist” has good aim.  “Ok, we’re going to make a slow pass to drop that 200 lb pump down to you in a minute so put your hands over your head and close your eyes, really, really tight.  Don’t worry, we’ve done this once successfully.”Just like the Jayhawk, these say “all business”.   And, to make sure that all the SAR stuff that they lower and toss to those in distress is working well, you can count on Lt.  Kroll to be sure that it’s all in perfect working order.  He runs a department that goes over everything with a fine toothed comb to be sure that it’s in good working order.  I am hopeful that he’ll be fitting me with my own personal SAR “dummy” outfit sometime soon. One can always hope.
The USCG has been flying around helping folks for 100 years so they know what they are doing and do it really well.
I guess that’s about it for now as the day’s getting away from me and I have to get to work on Pandora or she won’t be ready any time soon for my run south.

Besides, as Lt. Podmore told me, and forgive me as I paraphrase, “The folks that are prepared are generally not the ones that we need to rescue.”  Yes, I need to be prepared so I’d better get to work.

In closing.  “that was the most awesome tour ever”.    Thanks Lt. Podmore!   Can I call you Steven?

And Lt.  Wood.  I hope that things go well for you in Texas.

It’s almost Labor Day week and Pandora’s still on the hard.  That was the plan all along as we’ve been pretty busy with travel and other “land chores” to use her so out she goes.  However, that’s not to say that I haven’t still been focused on Pandora and all the little and large things that need to be done to get her into shape for the winter afloat.

You may recall that I had a problem with the quadrant linkage to the autopilot last January on my way from North Carolina to Tortola when a critical part broke.  Fortunately, I found a spare in my “stash” and was able to get us back in shape again with a minimum of trauma.  However, because we feared that we’d have a problem again, we were forced to sit behind the wheel for the rest of the trip just in case something happened again.

The next day, as we surfed down 20′ waves mid way through 4.5 days of gales.   I wrote about how things were going in this post  and the prior owner, who must have been following my trip, left a comment with these words of reassurance…

“Glad you made it! Better you than me. That autopilot bolt is a poorly engineered and machined piece of junk. I have broken several even in dead calm under engine power. Hence the spares on board. Replace the spare you used as soon as you can. Have Brenda bring it down. It would be a good idea to replace it before a significant passage. Enjoy the BVI!”

Yeah, good suggestion.  Well, it seemed to me that I had to find a way to solve the problem, “bad design” or not.

You see, the leverage, with tiny washers filling in a gap, just weren’t spreading the load broadly enough so after a while the pin, working back and forth, loosened up and, well, just snapped off, again and again.    See the washers stacked up on the right?  Those just didn’t spread the load enough so, as the pressure worked back in forth, the pin fatigued and broke just above the washers.  I know what I am describing might not be obvious without seeing the part in place.  So, the next photo shows the new pin attached to the autopilot and quadrant with larger washers that I  hoped would keep things more steady.

Note that the fender washers I put in place of the ones that were there are larger than the widest part of the fitting that broke.  As the arm for the autopilot arm to the right, pulls back and forth, the new larger washers should spread the load more broadly and minimize the shear pressure on the pin.  That proved to do the trick for the rest of the winter and the trip back to CT in the spring. No breakage and the part stayed tight and in place for the whole trip.  Problem solved?I still wasn’t confident that I could count on things holding together so I worked with Paul at the local machine shop near the marina where Pandora is on the hard and described what I had in mind. The concept was to support the pin more securely and spread the load as broadly across the quadrant arm.   Properly done, the pin should hold up indefinitely.  The new “collar/washer” is on the right.  I had Paul bore a hole for the pin and “counter-bore” an area to nestle the “hip” of the wider part of the pin for further support. Here’s the pin inserted in the new “washer”.  Note that part of the widest area on the pin is itself nestled inside the counter-bore.  You can imagine that this will spread the shear loads more broadly across the quadrant arm. And, the pin in place on the quadrant.  See how much broader the support is now and with the widest part of the pin secured inside the “washer”?  It should be very secure now as the shear load is spread across the full width of the quadrant arm verses a spread of less than an inch in the old design that failed again and again.

I guess that we will just have to see how it goes.  Just in case, I now carry three spare pins.  That alone, like carrying an umbrella on a sunny day, should guarantee that things hold together.   I’ll report back on how it goes. An area of concern for just about anyone who spends a lot of time aboard is getting salt down below.  Yes, I know that there are certain folks  who are prone to certain anal retentive tendencies might be more concerned than most about such things.  “Sounds like you Bob.”  You got it! That’s me.

However, eEVERYONE KNOWS that once below, salt is very difficult to get rid of, especially when it’s on cloth covered settees.  Can you say clammy?   In the past my solution has been to drape sheets over anything cloth while we were on passage but now I have installed lovely sunbrella covers.  They are simple and just attach with snaps and turn nuts so that they won’t slip off and can still be removed easily.  Aren’t they just lovely?  Lovely or not, they can rinsed off. Oops.  Forgot to make one for the ottoman.  I’ll get to that soon too it’s a popular resting spot for salty feet too.

Everyone knows that it’s a bad idea to paint running gear as the metals in the anti-fouling paints can react badly with the bronze and stainless gear and cause severe electrolysis.  However, this means that the unprotected prop and shaft is very prone to fouling and keeping the gear clean is a constant battle.  I have heard of anti-fouling paints that are supposed to solve this problem but I have never tried them.   The primary problem is that as the prop spins, the paint, I have been told, wears off.    With this in mind, I am trying Petit prop paint this year.  I’ll let you know how it goes. Finally, over the last few years we have visited quite few places aboard Pandora and I thought it would be fun to display the courtesy flags in my office.  To do this I put up a wire between two walls with a turnbuckle to tighten thing up nicely.  From Left to right the flags are…  Dominica, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Cuba, France which would be St Martin, St Barths, Guadalupe, Antigua and then various clubs, Antigua Yacht Club, Seven Seas Cruising Association, Salty Dawg Sailing Association and the Corinthians.   Finally, just under the clock, the Essex Yacht Club.    I’ll be using a number of these again this winter and will snag them when I head south but until then, it seems such a shame to leave them tucked away in a locker aboard.  So, for now, I can enjoy them at home too.

That’s it for now.  Tons to do and it’s a beautiful day to hang out at the boatyard.

Tata for now!e

Yesterday I made yet another run to Mystic Seaport and this time it was for the 26th annual Antique Marine Engine show.  It’s on this weekend, every year, that enthusiasts from all over the US converge to show off their antique and model engines, many of which are steam powered.

Normally I take photos of everything and leave it at that but there is nothing quite like all those well oiled parts spinning and pumping away that calls for videos too.

There were hundreds, dare I say thousands (lest I sound like Trump and his perspective of the inauguration crowd) of engines on display, many spinning away happily for the eager crowds.  There were plenty to oogle at and I did with breathless anticipation of what was coming next.  I hope you will feel that way too as you scroll down the page.

The seaport had set up an elaborate steam generating plant,  6 or 8′ in diameter and housed in a large portable shed on wheels, and had put up hundreds of feet of black pipe and valves running to dozens of steam engines happily chuffing away. The first engines that you come across are the big ones owned by the Seaport, only on display for this one weekend each year.  For the rest of the time they are tucked away in a warehouse.   Some are quite large like this vertical steam engine manufactured in 1915.  It’s still working like a champ after all those years.  Want to know the HP of this one?  Sorry, even they don’t know.  There was plenty of spent steam swirling around in spite of temperatures in the mid 80s. While they say that a “picture is worth a thousand words”, when it comes to steam engines, a picture is nothing like a “moving picture”.This one is a beauty.  It’s a pump steam engine, circa 1903 and was built by Christian Brothers in Paducah, Kentucky.  While I couldn’t find any any information on the company, long gone, I did find out that there is a huge show held each year there that features 800 antique engines and equipment of all kinds.  Want to go?  Check it out here.  It’s held in September each year.Now, this one looks very complicated.  It’s a US Navy 50 hp engine circa 1918.  I doubt that the Navy doesn’t have a single engine in it’s inventory these days with so little HP. It was hard to get a good video of this one running as people kept stepping in front of me.   However, here you go.  It’s a wonderful engine.  I could watch all day.A particularly interesting engine is this steering engine driven by steam.   It doesn’t look like much but when the operator turns the “wheel” watch the engine adjust and then stop.  Pretty ingenious. While most of the engines on display were on land, a few were tucked into the bilges of boats on the waterfront.   This one was built by it’s owner and is of fairly recent construction.  I wonder if the engine and boat were built by the same guy.  That would be quite a feat. The engine is a remarkable piece of work.  Along side was another launch with a lovely little gas engine. I’d hate to tangle with this fly wheel while it’s whirring around. This beauty, while not in the water, is home to a naptha engine.  Very civilized.  That’s if you ignore that a naptha engine is powered by boiling gasoline.  That doesn’t sound safe at all.  “Wait a bit Mildred till you come aboard, I am waiting to bring the gas to a rolling boil.  Honey, honey, MILDRED! come back, it’s safe, I promise.”  Perhaps you’d like to learn more about this type of engine?  Click here.The engine is a beauty all polished and bright.   Me, I’d sit way up in the front and stay as far away as possible from all that boiling fuel.  Very pretty. Sort of like a solar flare. Beautiful but don’t get too close or you’ll surely burn to death.  And, speaking of all spit and polished.  How about this wonderful little gem.  It’s a single cylinder gas engine.
There were loads of wonderful little miniature model engines chuffing away.   Actually, some were downright frantic like this crazy looking one. The builder of this engine had a number on display, all of them spinning in various states of franticness.  It was exhausting to watch them. Loved this vertical steam engine model and at the end of the line in the last video.  Really a nice piece.  Only about 12″ tall.  Some of the models were enormously complex.  The description stated that it had taken some 2,000 hours of labor to build.  I’ll bet.  And to keep it polished…And, just to prove that beauty isn’t just skin deep, it works and works fabulously.  Completely silent.  It’s not hard to imagine a full size edition of this triple expansion steam engine, all 10″ of it, powering a majestic steamer across an ocean.  Amazing, in every little detail, down to the insulation on the steam pipes.  It’s a remarkable piece. How about this as an exquisite example in the “less is more” category?  Check out the really tiny handle on the valve to the left. It was fun to watch it whirl around for no other reason in the world except to entertain.  And it did, for me at least.This one was really exquisite, and beautiful in all it’s details, down to the little metal rail at it’s base.  I guess that’s to keep the “little people” safe. Watching this makes me weak in the knees.  Especially the whirling thingy on the top.  Not sure what it’s called, but perhaps that’s not the point.  It’s just fun to watch. I loved this tiny walking beam steam engine.   Dare I continue to overuse the word “exquisite” to describe it too?  Complete with it’s own tiny boiler.  However, for the show, it was powered by the nearby giant steam generator.  Watch her happily whir away.  Just love, love the walking beam.   How about a single engine powering two screws?  Totally cool.  “How dey do dat?”While there were lots of steam engines to enjoy, there were many, many gas powered lovelies too.  Antique outboards your fancy?  There were plenty.I loved this one, all polished up.   Can a lowly outboard engine be grand?“Johnny, keep your hands away from the flywheel”.   A wonderful piece of industrial art. Complete with it’s original sales brochure.  Makes me want to buy one.Not into stinky gas outboards?  How about electric?  Looks like a blender to me. Better yet, how about an example of the very first commercially available electric outboard engine, from the 1890s?  And you thought Tesla thought all this up.  To me, it just looks alarming. Complicated enough for you?  And, it was built in Newark NJ in 1915.   A whopping 3hp.  Want to fire it up?  I have absolutely no idea how.
If you want to see more wonderful antique outboards you should visit The Boathouse restaurant in Orlando FL.  We went there a few weeks ago and I wrote about it in this post.

Well, I guess that’s about it for now.   If this post has been overwhelming to you, imagine what it was like for me to have to put it all together?

Anyway, it was a really fun show so perhaps I’ll close with this teeny, tiny engine that seems to say “I’m in a huge hurry, have no idea of where I am going but I’m having a wonderful time”.   I guess that sort of sums it all up and if you were there I am sure that you’d agree that it was quite a show.  From the hands of man, wonderful things that spin and whir and belch clouds of steam and smoke.

Sometimes it’s about the journey… and what a ride it was.  The Antique Marine Engine show at Mystic Seaport.  Put it on your list.

Editor:  OMG!  That post took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to do.  Hope you like it.