Kaimusailing

Parts came in to repair the wind turbine. When I tried the new 5/8-18 nut to reattach the turbine blades and hub it wouldn’t thread. Perhaps they had sent the wrong type of thread, National Coarse instead of National Fine. After carefully measuring and counting the threads on the turbine shaft and the new bolt it looked like it was correct. I ended up using a wrench on the nut and a ratchet with allen bit on the shaft’s internal allen socket and threaded the nut on without the blades and hub. It went on with a lot of resistance. The thread must have been damaged when the blades fell off. Of course the job has to be done on the tippy top of a tippy stepladder with me stretched all the way up as far as I could reach, so it was done when there was very little wind. After the job is done we will have to wait for wind to test the turbine out.
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The voltage doubler was made out of a high amperage full wave bridge and a couple 50 volt electrolytic capacitors. The circuit for the voltage doubler is simple and easily found on the internet. We will test the voltage with and without the doubler when we have wind.
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A small pork picnic roast was cooked for 3 hours with liquid smoke as the flavoring and no salt. A portion of the meat and the cooking liquid, fat removed, were added to our last batch of bean soup which had been oversalted. With the added ingredients the soup was less salty and very tasty with the pulled pork.
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The wind arrived along with a forecast for a winter cold snap. I tested the wind turbine and found some good voltages without the voltage doubler and with it they were very high. I was using the little oscilloscope. Hard to read in the sunlight, even though it is overcast.
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The day did not turn into a rainfest, as forecast, but I spent time with other yardbirds who sat and commiserated while I worked on an insurance claim. There was help by Terri, the hidden boatyard financial officer, sending documents back and forth. I felt better getting things done even though it was Christmas Eve day.
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The wind increased and the wind turbine jumped off its deck mount and fell aft into a juniper tree. I left it there, not wanting to wrestle with it in the high winds. Radio Bill had been working on his weather instruments and read a gust over 40 knots. He said the steady wind speed was enough to register as a gale. Wind chill was in the 20’s. Christmas day was a real winter day.
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We had a breakfast for the bachelors in the boatyard. I brought the pizza oven into the woodshop and fired it up without its top. The pizza stones were sending off heatwaves in the cold building. Not much relief from the chill. Rough Rider Lynn made a blueberry compote with apple cider syrup, sausages, and baked bananas. She had some special coffee that was quite good.
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The next day was cooking up Loaded Potato Salad. This is potato salad with some of the same ingredients as loaded baked potato, cheddar cheese, smoky pulled pork (instead of bacon), green onions, chopped hard boiled eggs, ground black pepper, and garlic salt. I used olive oil mayonnaise. Although the salad was scheduled for the next day, I wanted to have some for lunch, then put it away. Instead I received a call, smoked turkey and ham were on their way to the boatyard, giblet gravy, and butternut squash casserole to follow.
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We had a strange sort of feast. The food didn’t arrive all at the same time, nor did the eaters. It was very chilly, so no one stayed for long. I retreated to inside the boat where it was comparatively warm and watched college football.
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Our real feast day was equally strange, but more diners showed up. The Loaded Potato Salad was gone in a flash. It began to get cold again and we all retreated inside. Radio Bill had made a pasta dish which was very tasty. The photo is of the loaded potato salad while it was being assembled.