Kaimusailing

I thought I was finished with the wind turbine. It was producing about 6 volts at max and I thought there must be something wrong. I decided to take it down and check it out. When I took it down I remembered to spin the shaft with a drill. That was the test I did on the workbench before putting it up with the blades. This time it produced plenty of voltage, about 30 volts. I guess we just need more wind. When I had installed the blades I used little 1 degree wedges to increase the angle of attack of the blades. In the installation instructions it said increasing the angle of attack will enable the turbine to start spinning in less wind, but might detract from its top speed. I now took those wedges out. Now let’s wait for more wind.
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The rumor was that someone had complained on Facebook that boats in the North River Marsh were dumping raw sewage into the river. This is probably true and it is also probably true that the water (sewage) treatment plant located upstream adds a lot more to the river. Today a Department of Natural Resources boat was seen making the rounds, stopping at every anchored or moored boat. Probably issuing citations and fines. In my view, if a community doesn’t offer pump out services, then it probably isn’t justified in requiring boats to use holding tanks. What about when the tanks are full.
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We took a little trip down to St. Augustine to look at a Gemini 31 catamaran that was listed on craigslist for $9,500. This boat has a brand new Mercury 60 hp four stroke outboard that is probably worth the asking price on its own. It was a nice day to get out of the boatyard and travel down I-95 into Florida, even with Florida’s checkpoint screening all the traffic coming South.
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When we got to the boatyard in St. Augustine after about 1 1/2 hours of driving, the seller said the boat had just been sold. I guess it was a good deal and the new owners lucked out while we didn’t. These things happen.
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Steamfitter Bill was somewhere in St. Augustine and I had talked to him on cell phone when bringing the Gulfstar 44 up from Ft. Lauderdale. Now I called him and we arranged to meet for lunch. There were 3 food trucks in his little marina and he had some beer. There was a nice gazebo with the breeze blowing through it. I treated Ron the carpenter who had driven me down and Bill to lunch from a food truck featuring Italian food. It was called pizza cone with various toppings in cone shaped pizza crust. We had chicken alfredo in a couple of the cones and meatballs and meat sauce in another. Tasty. We had a nice afternoon and got caught up on news.
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So, the week started with the Chinese outboard motor failing, then Pizza Night having a bad night, then the wind turbine failing, and now a boat purchasing trip failing. Failure. Perhaps next week will come about with some success to make up for this. Tomorrow is Pizza Night. The image is of the Gemini 31 from the internet.