Ranger's Cruise

Who: Dale Hedtke, Amy Brooks, Harvey the Poodle
Port: Duluth, MN
15 May 2014 | Duluth
27 October 2013
02 February 2013
31 January 2013 | On the hard at BIM
12 March 2012 | Duluth
12 March 2012 | Duluth, MN

Preparations Continue!

31 January 2013 | On the hard at BIM
Dale/Cold
Our preparations for extended cruise and "offshore" sailing continue. An end is in sight. Here's what we've gotten done or added in the last coupla years:
-North C1 light wind sail
-Sliding bow sprit for the C1 and Gennaker
-130W Solar panel mounted on the original Bimini frame
-Racna 45# anchor (replacing the 35# CQR). Backed with 200' of 5/16" chain, this is now our main anchor
-Monitor self steering with a Simrad tiller pilot
-Pactor 4 modem (p4 Dragon-the little guy works great but the occasional fireballs are annoying.) We now have email and weather forecast downloads from anywhere! BTW, this product is made in Europe and I found a much cheaper source (SailCom Marine) in the UK. They set it up and shipped it to me in 5 days. It was truly plug and play.
-Garmin 640 Chartplotter with AIS transceiver.
-Converted the (never used) 20 gallon bladder holding tank to a diesel tank. With a couple of jerry jugs on deck, Ranger can carry ~60 gallons of diesel. The bladder also provides a completely separate fuel tank (which would be useful if the main tank became fouled.) It is set up to gravity drain into the main tank or the engine can draw off it directly.
-"Stackpack-like" mainsail cover. Boy has this made a difference in managing the mainsail. Pull up the lazy jacks attached to the cover, drop the sail, making sure it flakes well into the cover, and zip it closed.

We are now making decisions and prepartions pertaining to our plan to paint the deck in the spring of 2013. Big job, but something we can do ourselves (with guidance from Eric Thomas at BIM.) Our non-skid is in good condition and we have no complaints about its performance. Painting non-skid is a BIG hassle we understand; it's difficult to achieve the non-skid properties using some kind of entrained grit. It is still a big job, but somewhat easier with this decision. To aid in keeping especially the non-skid clean, we will upgrade our washdown pump to one with higher pressure and volume. That will improve anchor washdown as well (seems we need to was the anchor more than 1/2 the time we use it.)

In 2013, in addition to painting the deck, we plan to add:
-Replacement batteries (the original set lasted 10 years.) We probably will go with AGM technology for greater capacity and faster charging, but with a shorter life expectancy.
-(Re)connect the head for overboard discharge. The Y-valve and sea cock are in place; it's just a matter of adding a vented loop and some hose.
-Install a mascerator pump in the head pump out hose, as well as a 1" seacock (another chance to saw a hole in the boat. Makes me happy the hull is NOT cored, but solid 'glass.)
-We will purchase a liferaft around the time of the fall Annapolis Sailboat show when they are on sale. We will arrange spring 2014 delivery.
-We will be going over the engine, correcting several oil and antifreeze leaks, as well as rerouting/replacing the AF hoses connected to the water heater. The only serious leak is the rear main seal (typical Perkins thing.) I will be pulling the transmission this spring and will consult with BIM on the seal replacement. Oh boy! I'll be I could do this job in < 1 hour if the engine/transmission was sitting on a stand in front of me. It's going to take a bit longer in-situo......


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Vessel Name: Ranger
Vessel Make/Model: Morgan 383
Hailing Port: Duluth, MN
Crew: Dale Hedtke, Amy Brooks, Harvey the Poodle

Who: Dale Hedtke, Amy Brooks, Harvey the Poodle
Port: Duluth, MN