30 May 2021 | Sawmill Point Marina, Wilmington NC, USA
24 May 2021 | Wilmington Marine Center, USA
23 February 2021 | Cape Fear Yachts
20 December 2020 | Cape Fear Yachts
11 December 2020 | Cape Fear Yachts
09 September 2020 | Wilmington Port, USA
09 September 2020 | Wilmington Port, USA
05 February 2017 | Pte Miri Miri, Raiatea, French Polynesia
05 February 2017 | Raiatea Lagoon, French Polynesia
05 February 2017 | South end of Raiatea
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
31 January 2017 | West Side of Raiatea
31 January 2017 | West Side of Raiatea, French Polynesia
31 January 2017 | West side of Raiatea
30 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
30 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
28 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
27 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
A view from the mast...
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
Bill
We always feel that it is good to go up the mast from time to time. Check the rig, check the blocks, check the cables... and take some photos!
I was re-installing our anemometer, which is something that seems to not work more than it works. We like knowing wind speed. Most of the time it is interesting, and sometimes it helps making a decision. Reef or not, head off or not, pull anchor and move or not.... just another piece of data we like.
We use the same kind of rig that is used by Evans Starzanger and Beth Evans on Hawk. Whenever one of us goes up, we always do a safety, using another halyard around a winch and tailed, in this case by Lara who is on the bow, out of the way should I drop something. Isobel keeps herself out of the way too!
Today I found that our VHF cable has been degraded by the sun and the casing is all cracked. Every cable that I have worked on in the past few years that is exposed to the sun, I have added an additional layer of heatshrink tubing around... the VHF cable was installed in 2009! I guess it doesn't owe me anything... and it is yet another project...
The best thing when hot and sunny
04 January 2017 | On our way back to Raiatea from Huahine
Bill, Photo Credit Lara
Well, maybe the three best things:
A good pomplamoose, a good pair of (Julbo) sunglasses and a a good hat....
Well and the ocean nearby and a good PFD/tether, and a....
Weather 4D pro
24 December 2016 | SW Huahine, French Polynesia
Bill
This is a great app that can give you graphical image of GRIBS including CAPE index (red) and surface pressure (blue line).
This low was sitting just north of us for most of the holiday, giving us gusty conditions with lots of rain.
Dinghy Engines
10 December 2016 | Raiatea Lagoon
Bill
We use a Honda 8 HP, Four Stroke. It is quiet and doesn’t use much fuel. It allows us to plane in our AB Aluminum 9.5’ Dinghy. The engine is heavier than our dinghy! If I were to do it again, I would have investigated the weight vs power of the different Four Stroke engine available. When we bought this one, on very short notice in Panama, I bought it because it was a known name. As it turns out, they use the same block and housing on the 8HP, 10HP, 15HP and 20HP! So I ended up with all the weight of the 20 HP with the power of an 8. At the time, Yamaha was making an 8 HP that was 20 pound lighter… ah well… next time.
In the photo is the little pass through the reef we cut through on our way to town. Bora Bora is in the distance, and Tahaa is to the right.
Lanacote... I hate the stuff
19 June 2016 | Raiatea, French Polynesia
Bill
Does anyone know of a good solvent for Lanacote? Early on someone suggested that I use it as a lubricant, dielectric grease, and corrosion control.
Yuk! What a disaster. I can't remember who that was... don't tell me! Just know that I highly recommend not using Lanacote for anything.
It is incredbly sticky and I haven't found anything that is a good solvent... I haven't tried anything toxic like Acetone yet...
Lanocote looks like corrosion, so it is a poor coating for electrical connections. On electrical connections I like clear Silicone grease like "Super Lube" it wipes off easily, it is a great dielectric.
In the tropical heat, Lanocote runs. So, it is not good for corrosion control. I like Tef-Gel.
If anyone knows a good solvent for Lanacote let me know.
In the photo, our wiring harness for the engine needs to be cleaned. I have a poor connection somewhere in there causing gauges to read incorrectly and low voltage, which has been an issue when actuating the solenoid on the starter...
Ozone for mold removal
13 June 2016 | Raiatea Carenage
Bill
Well... how do you remove mold from a boat left in a wet place like Raiatea? Ask any sailor and they each have an opinion: Vinegar, bleach, ammonia, "Windex", 409....
From my past life I know of Ozone as O3, a very good oxidizer that degrades into Oxygen...
We met a guy on another boat who offered us this little contraption. availble in the US and Europe for $25 on Amazon. We put it in each cabin for a while and now they smell fresh and nice. I highly recommend Ozone.
Of course you have to be careful as it is not good for you to breath or for things like rubber... so use just enough....
Raiatea, French Polynesia
17 November 2015 | Riaitea, French Polynesia
Bill, Photo Credit Lara
Every new pass we enter seems very small and dangerous. You can see the pass we entered in this
photo of Raiatea from the air. Looks huge from the air... and it is huge, and when you look at a chart and see the 2 meter waves crashing on the reefs on either side, it makes you pause. We shortened sail and had the engine running... and of course in retrospect, we would have had no problem sailing in.
We did start the engine as we have had some issues with the gadget that keeps our engine start battery charged. A Balmar Digital Duo Charge is basically a fancy electronic switch that opens the connection between the house battery bank and the engine start battery when the house batteries are seeing sufficiently high voltage to charge. This has worked seamlessly for 6 years... and on this little trip it failed. When we were in the wind shadow and ready to fire up the engine... it didn't fire up!
A little trouble shooting led to the Duo-charge... I installed a switch (capable of handling 30A @ 32 volts) and we were able to manually turn on the charging when the engine was running or when the solar voltage was high.
Still, Lara wanted to make sure we had the option of the engine! So, we had the engine running!
And even more on snubbers...
11 November 2015 | Point Venus, Tahiti
Bill, Photo Credit Bill
Someone had requested another photo of our snubber set up when I talked about it 9-10-15. I posted a photo of the snubber at the water line on 10-17-15... and finally,
This is how we set up the "long snub" after we had set the anchor. Note that the "short snub" is holding the chain. This keeps the weight of the boat off the windlass and allows us lots of time to connect the "long snub" with the soft shackle. Note that the chafe protector is already in place at the bow roller and that the 5/8" nylon brait is already cleated on the cleat. The only thing left to do is take off the short snub and pay out more chain. Of course we leave a loop of chain that will allow the snubber to stretch...
Soaking it in
01 November 2015 | Opunohu bay, Moorea
Bill, Photo Credit Lara
Well, I think we have said that the colors of blue are amazing here. And yes, she should have her hat on!
More on Chafe protection and snubbers
17 October 2015 | Opunohu bay, Moorea
Bill, Photo Credit Bill
Here you can see our set up more clearly. On the port cleat we have our "short snub." This allows us to let out the chain and put the snub on before any stress is put on the windlass. It also becomes our back up should something happen to our primary snubber.
On the Starboard cleat is our primary snubber. I have made chafe protectors out of the shell of firehoses. I don't use the rubber part as I have heard that rubber will not release the heat of chafe as quickly as nylon... One chafe guard is where the line goes through the anchor roller to allow my snubber eye and soft shackle to be just above the water line. The only reason I do this is to avoid getting all that stuff slimy!
Then I have the second chafe guard set up so I can let out about 15 feet of snubber. I go to this setting when we are in a place with a lot of chop or if the wind picks up and I want more stretch. I use 5/8" Yale Cordage Nylon Brait. I have found this stretches more than the three strand nylon.
You have to look pretty closely to see that I have used some leach line to "sew" the chafe guard closed and to splice it into the 5/8 brait. This allows it to be in place and in the right place all the time.
When we drop the anchor, this is our procedure: At the desired spot, the anchor is dropped to the bottom and we pay out the chain as the boat drifts back. We have zip ties of different colors that indicate lengths in 25' increments. We ideally go for between 3 and 5 times the depth for a length of chain in the water. Once we have paid that out, we drop the short snub on and that takes the strain when the boat straightens out the chain.
Unless it is blowing like stink, we back down on the anchor to set it and to make sure it is set. Once we have shut off the engine, the "long snub" or "extra-long snub" is connected. We use a Amsteel soft shackle with a working load of 4000 pounds to connect our chain to a Stainless eye spliced in the brait. We can lay the chafe guard in the anchor roller and cleat the line. Then we pop off the short snub... let the chain out until the long snub has the weight of the boat and put the short snub back on as a back up...