Thursday, May 31, 2018

Building Momentum...

I've taken this whole week off - it is the first glorious long break from work I've had - that didn't entail obligations of travel for family - since 2013. Today, walking along the dock, in the sunshine - was the first moment that I truly felt 'on vacation' - I felt transported back to that 5 month sabbatical I took in Mazatlan, Mexico - back in 2007. I felt relaxed, soothed by the heat of the noonday sun - knowing my place in the universe - and feeling comfortable with my achievements as well as my failures.

This afternoon I went back and did another inspection of the mast - taking careful measurements, tracing wiring, and resolving a stuck machine screw on the main sail track.

Later, I enjoyed my usual mocha latte at the nearby Coffee Bean, as I reviewed several chapters in Nigel Calder's excellent tome, "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual, Third Edition" - reading-up on the sections on electrical wiring; and masts and rigging.

Tomorrow, at 10am, I'm dropping the main and jib off at the sail loft to have some repair/stitching done (a project that I've been putting off for six years...)

Tonight, I'll work on capturing the knowledge I've gained about the mast wiring - into a diagram to add to the ship's documentation.

Movement. Momentum. Each step, an Investment in preparing the boat for long-term voyaging again.
It was a good day.

1963 35 ft. Pearson Alberg, Mast Step Replacement

On Tuesday, I had my mast pulled by a local marina yard - waiting to hear their estimate to replace the mast step.

I was quoted a price of ~$300 to have the mast de-rigged, and ~$300 for the mast removal.

Two excellent riggers were able to complete the de-rigging within about 2.5 hours (it would have been even less time, but for some stubborn turn-buckles that had to be coaxed)

The mast is now sitting in the yard - and the boat is back in the slip.

Tomorrow I'm taking the jib and main to a nearby sail loft in the harbor to have the sun-guard canvas restitched on the jib - and a tear in the main repaired, as well as re-installing the ring at the tack that I had to cut-away to get the main off the mast (due to a stuck pin).

While the mast is in the yard, I will also see about getting quotes to possibly do a few improvements:

Replace the deck lights with LED lights
Remove the old/clunky TV antennae
Have the mast wires run inside the mast (they are currently attached externally to mast via zip ties)
Re-paint the spreaders
Replace/tape the spreader boots
Replace the topping-lift block at the top of the mast
Replace the windex vane
Repair/replace the boom-to-mast mounting pin mechanism

Reading: South Seas Voyaging Accounts (1760-1800)

http://southseas.nla.gov.au/index_voyaging.html

"This on-line edition of the journals of Cook's first Pacific voyage has been arranged to allow comparison of the journal Cook kept aboard H.M.S. Endeavour with those written by his fellow voyagers, Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson, as well as the official record of the voyage written by John Hawkesworth and published in London in 1773."

Resources for Nautical Terms

Nautical & Sailing Terms & Nomenclature, by Rick McClain
http://www.photographers1.com/Sailing/NauticalTerms&Nomenclature.html

William Falconers Dictionary of the Marine, corrected 1780 London edition of the Dictionary published by Thomas Cadell.
http://southseas.nla.gov.au/refs/falc/title.html

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Cool Tool - Universal Socket-Ratchet

Universal Socket-Ratchet Universal Sockets Metric Wrench Adapter 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch Professional Repair Tools (2pack)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077S5XMP9/

Thursday, May 17, 2018

James Baldwin's new book: Next Distant Sea

The Next Distant Sea: The 28-foot Sailboat Atom Continues Her Second Circumnavigation

https://www.amazon.com/Next-Distant-Sea-Continues-Circumnavigation-ebook/dp/B078QYC3QC

"In this, the third book about his travels aboard the 28-foot sailboat Atom, James Baldwin creates an ode to the sea and to those who venture upon her in small voyaging sailboats. The Next Distant Sea continues the memoir of his second adventurous circumnavigation as begun in his earlier book Bound for Distant Seas.

Known for books and magazine articles about his earlier solo voyages, the author here describes the struggles and rewards of navigating distant seas, the joys and challenges of interacting with foreign cultures, as well as the love and loss of an intoxicating island girl. Beginning in Hong Kong, The Next Distant Sea takes readers to diverse destinations, through the lesser-travelled islands of the Philippines and Indonesia, to far-flung island outposts in the Indian Ocean, including a lengthy exploration of mysterious Madagascar, then on to newly post-apartheid South Africa.

Along the way Baldwin’s personal journey is interwoven with tales of the extraordinary and often outlandish characters he befriended, from a man who crossed the Pacific alone in a dugout canoe, to a vagabond trader who traveled to the poorest ports of east Africa in an engineless steel junk, to a young sailor who tragically lost his life. By melding their stories and his own, Baldwin provides valuable insight into the individualist, minimalist, and libertarian mindset of the voyaging vagabond."

Sunday, May 6, 2018

AstroNavigation course, Vanderbilt University

https://my.vanderbilt.edu/astronav/

"This course serves to address the lack of widely-available instruction in astronavigation. Specifically targeted here are the steps of performing a sight reduction to obtain a terrestrial position using this technique. These steps are explicitly illustrated after a brief overview provides a solid context for their relevance. Difficult concepts such as plotting on a navigational chart and the complexities of using of navigational publications should be better served through this online content delivery."

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Film: "Adrift", coming in June - The 44ft yacht, The Hazana

A new film is coming out in June, "Adrift" - about a couple's encounter with a hurricane in 1983, during a yacht delivery - and the lone survivor's 40 day struggle to survive - and rescue herself.

"The couple were hired to sail 44ft yacht The Hazana from Tahiti to San Diego"