First Contact

Yesterday was the first official trip to the boat this season, and was done so with uncertainty in these increasingly crazy times. Following a morning spent at the closest dealer capable of performing the airbag recall for my model, I drove the rest of the way to the boat where it was chillier than expected. Thankful that it wasn't snowing, the first order of business was to remove the tarp that was starting to have issues holding up to the wind. Even though it was billed as heavy duty, and indeed it was heavier duty than the standard blue tarps, it only takes one sharp edge to render it silly. Rather than re-lash it into place, I dropped it to the ground for stuffing in the car later. Next was the batteries. These Duracell GC2 batteries weigh 68 pounds apiece. They also do not come with straps. They come with loops for straps, but no straps. As I was not savvy enough to order a strap ahead of time, I was left with the pleasant option of once again, carrying them one at a time up the ladder to the cockpit.

Sitting in the cockpit, I looked at my current to-do list. Figure out the battery situation. Figure out the anchor roller placement. See where the Rocna will sit. Hook up the wifi battery monitor gadget. Grab the fuel connector for the outboard so I can test that at home. Oh where to begin. Since I was sitting right next to the gas tank, I decided I would remove the end of the fuel line to bring home. I had a brand new 6 gallon tank and brand new line, sans connector, waiting to power up the outboard. As I started to unscrew the clamp, my eyes wandered to the other end and I realized the entire hose was the same as the one I bought. I'll just take the whole thing. How simple! I unclipped the hose, tossed it on the seat, and then hefted both batteries down into the cabin, all 136 lbs of them. I removed the old batteries and the make-shift plywood tray I had built two years ago. I had originally wanted to just set the two new ones in alongside, but the presence of the motor mount bolts interfered. So I ditched the plywood, braced a board over the cavity and temporarily slipped the four batteries into the space, and wired them all in. Soon, all four were mounted, a 430 amp hour battery bank, fed by a Victron 75|15 SmartSolar charger converting the sunlight hitting the HQST 100 watt solar panel sitting on the cockpit seat, and hooked through a Schulink wireless battery monitor connected to the marina's WiFi network. That little monitor is pretty slick, considering the cheap cost.

I was scrolling back through some old Sail Life videos this weekend, and in one he had mentioned a CTEK Battery Sense monitor. One of his irks about the app is that it only gives the percentage of charge, which he found suspect to start with, and not a voltage readout. A positive on the Schulink, is that while it gives a percentage of charge, it also gives a voltage readout. It only goes to tenths, but that's still something. Here's a screenshot of what the app shows

They also carry a battery charger that would give another step, but since I am not using theirs, it'll show zero charging, when I know for a fact it is. Now, if I were to give one piece of advice using devices like these, it is this. Because these hook with a simple positive and negative connection to your battery, if you do have a source of charging coming in, it may show an inflated number because it's seeing voltage across the connections. For example, today was a bright and sunny day, feeding a good portion through the solar panel and Victron. Because the batteries are working on still getting topped off, it was putting in some good amperage. The Schulink showed 100% charge, when I know it was more like 75 or so. If this is a setup you have, it's best to wait until you know you have minimal charge coming from outside sources if possible before checking the state of charge through the app. In my case, I just wait until it's dark. Obviously the Victron app is miles more accurate and informative, but for a $20 investment to be able to get a general idea from hundreds of miles away, I can't complain.

I brought the Rocna aboard and got nowhere with that, but I do have a slightly better plan for the anchor roller. That's a topic for another day though. The Rocna stayed below, since it's really not too easy to hang over the bow of a boat on the hard while trying to juggle a 33 lbs hunk of metal with a sharp point.

I swear it looked bigger

It's funny how sometimes you just can't get a good sense of size for something until it's in your hand. This can go either way, really. Take my boat - a 28 foot sailboat with decent cabin room, on the water looks normal. On the hard and on stands, you go "oh it's bigger than I thought." And the anchor roller I bought suffers the reverse effect. I know it's 16" long piece of kit. And I sat here when I ordered, and went "Well, that's about yay big, and then... yeah, should be good." Gets here, and.. nope. Again, it was an experiment and will continue to be, so I can get an idea of what WILL work.

Now that New York state is in the clutches of Corona fever, it's increasingly uncertain as to what kind of boating season there will be. Officially, the marina is still 3 weeks away from opening, so anything can happen. Because anything can happen, I sat around this weekend debating on if I should be ordering boat goodies, or holding off. On the counsel of my Dad, whom I talked with on the phone this weekend, I decided that holding off would be silly. As he said, at least this way, it's all still there, and really, it makes more sense that way. Sure, it means trying to find somewhere to store the parts in the meantime, since I don't know how soon I'll be able to get up to the boat, but they'll at least be here for when the time comes. So in that spirit, today was shopping day.

First on the list, was an upgraded solar panel. I currently have a 100 Watt panel on it now, sold as an HQST panel. It was paired through a Victron 75|15 SmartSolar MPPT controller and feeding a pair of GC2 batteries from Sam's Club, for a total house bank of 215 amps, or a shade over 100 useable. This setup has worked on my Excalibur 26, and also the last couple years with the Newport. I don't have a massive draw on them, it's typically used for listening to the radio out on the water, running the fishfinder for the depth readings, charge up my cell phone when it gets low, and then at night, firing up the laptop and watching TV on the 24" LCD television with Netflix on a Roku box. On my Excalibur, it was the same usage but swapping out a 7" chartplotter and VHF radio on full-time, but the results were the same. I actually could go a few days with no solar at all on the bank and still be ok. As an experiment, I even powered up a full size desktop and monitor off an inverter. Crazy, but it worked.

One of the nice-to-have's for this year, was additional batteries and more solar to pair with it. I was basically looking to double-up everything. A 2nd set of batteries and another 100 watts of solar. The problem I ran into is that I wanted to mount these on the top of a bimini cover. I also have a split backstay. This could present quite the layout conundrum in trying to mount two panels on top. I decided that in order to manage that, I first need the bimini. And to order that, I need the boat in the water and mast and boom up so I can get a better idea of height, and you can see where this is going. So in the spirit of wanting to spend money, I instead opted for a new, 175 watt panel. Physically, it's about a foot longer and a few inches wider than my current HQST. It also will easily mount on the stern rail in the same exact fashion that the old one did. I can replace the 100 with the 175, plug it in through the existing Victron, and add the 2nd pair of batteries and instantly be set up. The only physical changes will be the new battery box I'll need, and new rails to mount the panel onto. I did go pick up the 2nd pair of batteries, also. Ordered a pair of bimini support poles, which work great to mount off the stanchions up at an angle to the panel which lets you adjust the angle up and down slightly, but also looks more professional.

The other purchase is a roll of fake teak flooring for the cabin:

It's foam, 6mm and hard to say how it'll end up working out, but for the price, it'll at least be better than the industrial rugs/bare paint that is there now. It's very similar to the stuff that Mads used on Sail Life years back on Obelix - Check out that video here: Sail Life - Synthetic teak . The only thing I'll need to do is just to shave down a little of the bilge boards in thickness - the ones there now, I'm pretty sure aren't original and stick up a good almost 1/4 of an inch above the sole. Definitely excited to see what it looks like in person, but it'll need a warmer climate and an actual trip to the boat for that time.

Once the shopping was done, both online and in Sam's Club, I decided to be more productive in the present rather than future. One of the items that arrived courtesy of Amazon - and by courtesy I mean after I paid for it - was a rebuild kit for my Outboard. My experience with small engines is rather limited. To date, I've changed plugs, and tested the on/off switch. So to delve into a full carb rebuild was something new to me. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to watch, which is what guided me to it. It really wasn't nearly as daunting as I feared. It didn't really look that bad online either but as with anything for the first time, it's something you go in with a little hesitation. I bought a drain pan from the store, to act as my catch-all / workstation. The carb itself did come off rather easily. A single bolt holding the choke lever in, unsnap a piece of linkage, remove the fuel line and take off two 1/2" nuts, voila! I brought it inside, and the first order of business was the diaphram assembly. Mine felt like it was being pushed through molasses when it was being depressed, instead of a spring. Once the new pieces were in place, back to normal. I then replaced all the rest of the gaskets and inspected the rest of the assembly. Surprisingly there was virtually no varnish anywhere built up on anything. Granted, I am rather diligent about using non-ethanol and I did run some seafoam through the tank at the beginning of last year. And the previous owner of the boat did say they had someone go through it back then so maybe they had cleaned it up a bit 2+ years ago. I did also buy a new 6-gallon tank and new fuel line. The fuel line on the old tank is fine, as it was also purchased new. The problem I'm running into is the connection for the motor. The Mercury fitting that is widely carried doesn't clip into place. My motor is a 1988 model, but most places only stock a connector for the 98-up versions. So while I did buy one to see if it'll work (it will probably work as long as I'm holding it in place, but it doesn't clip in on it's own), I do need to either order the correct one if I can find it again, or wait until I get the line from the boat and use the connector off that one instead. It won't hurt to have two fuel lines, never know if the bulb will fail or whatever else. But at the same time, it would be nice to do so with to complete lines and not have to swap the connector around. Little details, I guess. Today it snowed, and I'm not inclined to go messing around with the motor and gasoline and freezing temperatures just yet. I actually have to go halfway to the boat on Wednesday for a car recall service as it is, I might just run up and grab the line while I'm there.

The waiting game continues.

Ever-changing plans

In a world that's rapidly running in circles, sometimes it's hard to remember to sit back and just think. While there's still a lot unknown, and with it a lot of needless panic, the most frustrating thing is having to adjust your own lifestyle and plans around others. It does make the prospect of being a thousand miles into the middle of the ocean a lot more appealing. Rather than get into all that wonderful debate, I'll skip ahead.

As of now, my potential trip to Cali has been cancelled until further notice. Schools and such have been closed for the next four weeks, but that they've cancelled my trip that's nearly two months out seems to be jumping the gun. There's no way to know for sure if four weeks is going to be fine, or if it'll be months on end. The bigger question is things like, will there even be water around to stock the cooler when summer hits? Or do I need to take out a loan for a water-maker... Obviously I have no doubts that somehow, logic will return to the percentage of Americans that are panic buying out of fear and misinformation, and slowly the stocks will return to the shelves. In the meantime, filtered water will do just fine out on the lake.

In the meantime, I'm still brainstorming my bow roller for this Rocna on my floor. I swear it looks bigger every day. The largest issue is the raised toe rail, followed closely by a serious lack of space on the bow. Since I'm not at the boat, I can't give a perfect picture, but suffice it to say, engineering will be required. So far, my plan is to use a block to mount on the deck and then mount the roller onto that. The anchor locker will need to be modified, I may have mentioned it earlier. I'll probably end up cutting it down, maybe in half, or somehow modified, and then the roller can mount on it's position. The other question in my mind, is how to secure the rode once the anchor is deployed. Part of the reason for raising the roller up over the rail is for clearance, but the other is to allow access to the bow chock underneath to feed the rode through at anchor. My preference is to not use the roller as structural at anchor. Normally when deployed, the rode feeds out along the roller, and away you go. My initial plan will be to deploy the anchor, letting the rode pay out until it's where it needs to be. Then, I'll reach forward, and pull the rode back from the now-deployed anchor through the chock and cleat it off. So far that's the only feasible plan I have. Obviously the roller will be mounted with a sufficient backing plate, but I'd rather be safer than broken.

I did order a roller for this week. It's quite impressive, how many different versions, styles, sizes, and makes there are. There are hinged ones, and ones designed to be more effective for certain styles. In my case, I've cheaped out and went with a very basic one, to at least see if my idea for mounting is even feasible. If it is, then great, I can come up with a version 2.0. And if it doesn't pan out, I'm not out a lot of money.

So I can afford more toilet paper.

Bumming

As the season approaches, I find myself anxious but at the same time a little bummed. But then not REALLY bummed? It's complicated.

I went out and pulled the serial number off the outboard today so that I could start looking up the correct rebuild kit for the carb and new impeller. For future self-reference, it's a 1988 Mercury 9.9HP Sailmate Long shaft. The harder part is that I can't exactly work on the engine in the house, and I have no garage to work it into. Couple that with the cold weather and I'm hoping to order the parts soon, but will likely be a couple weeks before I finally get around to doing the impeller. The carb I can probably get removed in short order even in the cooler temperature, and work on the rebuild inside complete with gasoline odor. The impeller requires dropping the leg and such. I just have to remember to put it back together properly this time around.

I also found another product on clearance in the local Wal-Mart: Schulink Wireless Battery Monitor. Obviously I have yet to play with this thing, but it claims to be WiFi capable, and if you do have it connected to a wireless signal, you can access the state of the charge from anywhere by logging in. Since the marina has WiFi available, and if I can get a good signal on board, maybe this will be another little toy to check on the state of the charge from the house. It won't be nearly as telling as the Victron app from my charge controller, but at least I might not have any more of those trips up only to find something had gone awry and I was depleted. For $19.00, it's worth a try.

I did start putting together a second shopping list for things to do as the season gets underway. As I've mentioned, I have a new anchor, and a new-to-me compass to install. Compass will be easy to install, anchor, less so but still not the end of the world. But in addition to those, there's another group of purchases, most of which I've mentioned in the past. First on the second list - two more GC-2 batteries to go with the pair I have now. Doubling the house bank is never a bad idea. I've gone back and forth on this, since the batteries I have now, along with the single 100 watt solar panel, keep up everything fine. I've never really had any issues with it, but I also don't have any high draw devices. I swapped to a newer, lighter laptop that a) takes less to run, and b) has a newer battery to last per charge. I have a couple more cabin lights to change over to LED bulbs, or swap fixtures out, sure, but those don't add much. I've toyed with the idea of a Raspberry Pi based computer for running OpenCPN and having extra power for those, even as minuscule as they are, would be nice. I'd also like to see if doubling the bank would allow for using one of my 12 volt coolers for a weekend instead of my large one with bags of ice instead. Not to be satisfied with just doubling the house bank, but also I'd like to add another 100 watt panel. The Victron 75|15 controller I have, would in theory handle two panels together just fine, and initially I'll go that route, but I'd like to either size it up, or better yet, a second 75|15 for the second panel. I have to get the boat in the water and rigged so I can figure out if a bimini will serve as a suitable mount for a pair of panels, or if I might need to adjust how things sit.

Back to the extra batteries for a moment. Right now, the pair I have are installed, end to end, in a plywood box/shelf that's mounted in the old engine compartment. I never did seal the wood but it's been no issues. But that should be resolved this year.

This was one of the in-progress pictures as I was throwing it together. It's served it's purpose well, but since I would like two more batteries, they can't exactly stay this way. So in that spirit, only a couple options made sense. Looking in the picture, you can see the old mounts for the motor, the threaded rods sticking up from the floor, etc. There's actually enough room in there for two batteries side by side, and if I'm honest, I could probably fit six altogether in there in a 2x3 configuration. I'm only going for two. My original thought was to shave down those bolts to just above the floor level, and use a solid piece of plywood as sort of a floor, to fill the space. From there, I would mount the batteries on top, using wood pieces as braces on the bottom, and sides, all fiberglass sealed and using the tops of the bolts as anchors. Holes in the corner of the floor with a nut on top to basically bolt the plywood in place. I then found option 1A:

This is a 4-battery box from... well, this one says it's a company called Dyno, sold HERE at Fisheries Supply, for $129.99 with free ground shipping. There's also another one identical manufactured by Century Plastics out of Canada that are sold in a few places, with about the same pricing by the time you add shipping. As another option, there's a company called NOCO that makes much more heavy-duty versions, though they only sell them in a 2-battery box style. If you're curious, those are HERE. So my plan is now, to still build my shelf, or at the very least, use a couple boards as braces over the gap, and mounted or even if I just slot the ends to fit over what little bit of the thread sits up.. I like that idea actually. But get that stuff in there, and then mount this box right to those. Then boom, 4 batteries, fully contained, fully mounted, and sealed in. But there's still plenty of room above to maintain the water. If I get fancy, I'll order one of those snazzy all-in-one watering kits, but that's down the list a ways. I also wanted to link the box here for my father, and anyone else that might be curious about such boxes.

Now how does all this make one bummed out? Well those items in and of themselves don't. But in a bit of bittersweet news, I may find myself traveling to Long Beach, CA for work for the months of May and June. Last year, it was late in the season before I was in the water, July 7th, actually. So in one regard, I wouldn't really be losing any more time this year than last, if I end up out there instead. However, the plus side, is that the marina is working hard to get renovations taken care of, but also they've said they want to launch people as soon as possible to try to beat the rising waters and groundwater flooding that delayed some of last year's splashes. I intend to be on the forefront of those early launches. I'm on the next dock over, this year. The Marina officially opens the season on April 17th, though how soon they'll be putting boats in, I'm not sure. I did take the two weeks at the end of April off, and would like to get the most out of those two weeks as I can. With luck, I'll be able to host my Dad up on the boat, and maybe even get some longer distances underneath our keel, perhaps out to Olcott, NY (some people may figure out why that's on the to-do list). I'm hoping to be kept busy with tidying, and projects, and whatever else we can think of along the way. Granted, the weather early in the season can pick up a little, but hey! I've got an oversize Rocna to play with. Oh, and upgrading to 5/8" anchor rode from the 1/2" I have now, is also on the second shopping list. I'm leaning towards a roller on the bow with the Rocna permanantly mounted with the 5/8" + the 25' of 1/4" High Test chain as the primary anchor, and moving the 1/2" with another length of chain to the stern with the Fortress there. I might even go so far as to make a compartment under the cockpit somewhere, that can house the rode with a hawse pipe in the corner somewhere, so that if the anchor needs to be deployed, it could do so at a moments notice with minimal setup. Or at the very least, a duffel bag with easy access. Who knows. Time?

Anyone in Cali want company on some weekend sailing by chance?

And this is 20-20

I've decided to make a push for a more productive year this year. So I've started it off with a few up-front purchases. Let us recap a few things from days gone past.

On the port cockpit bulkhead, resides an old compass. Try as I might, I don't seem to have a good picture as of yet, so you'll have to wait until I get back up there to see that. Take my word for it that it's hurting. While it physically works, the mounting leaves a lot to be desired. There are plastic threaded rods that go through the opening and then some nylon nuts holding the body of the compass forward against the outer trim ring of the compass. It's hard to describe, but if you can imagine a standard compass, and then if you were to push on the globe and the globe part of the compass pushes inward, that's what it's doing. I've been able to try to tape and use glues to try to hold the back of the unit fully forward, but it's a temporary fix at best.

To rectify that situation, I was able to pick up a Richie Venture compass, a BN-202 model. I believe it might be a little larger than the one that's on the boat now, but that's ok. I'll be able to enlarge the opening, fit this in it's place, and seal and adhere it correctly. This BN-202 retails for $350 on up depending on where you find it, and I was able to find this one in good condition, complete with everything but the box, for just over a hundred dollars on ebay.

As evidenced by my possession of a 45 year old boat with cracked paint, missing cushions, and an outboard on a bracket, I am by all means a budget boater. Being able to find a good value online is the name of the game. I don't have sponsors, I don't ask for handouts on social media, or forum posts. I'm of the mindset that if I can't afford to do it on my own, then it's not meant for me to do. If anyone wanted to support what I do as a hobby, that's great, but I'm not basing my enjoyment on the charity of others.

The frugal shopping didn't end there. Last year, I bought a brand new Fortress FX-16 anchor. Now, that wasn't exactly frugal - I paid full price through Defender. But as I had then just recently bent the shank on my old Danforth and since it had proven reliable, I decided to just upgrade to the modern version. I do need an anchor swivel to mate with it, which is on the shopping list for tomorrow, since the chain does tend to bind here and there in the anchoring scheme. One of the things I had contemplated though, was adding another style anchor to the hatch. There are complications to be overcome, for storage. Walking around the marina, I've seen plenty of plow styles on bows, and it was one of the options I considered when I bought the Fortress. In my meandering around ebay whilst purchasing the compass, I stumbled across an ad for a Rocna "Big" anchor. It's the Rocna 15, original design with the roll bar.

The Rocna 15 (which is 15kg, or 33 lbs in weight) is definitely an over-sized anchor for my little Newport 28. I have a displacement listed at 7,000 lbs. I've lost the Atomic 4 weight, but added back an outboard and extra battery, so it's mostly a wash. Add all the rest of the gear, and lets call it 8,000 lbs. Four tons. The Rocna 10, a 22 lb model, is already considered a step over what I would need, and the one above that? With the proper rode, I'm guessing cleats will break first. And I do plan to upgrade my already-adequate 1/2" anchor rode to 5/8" instead, mostly for comfort when hauling it in. Retail on the Rocna of this size is again, around $350 dollars or so. Perhaps it was just the way the listing was made, but I only had one bidding competitor, and when the auction ended this morning, my purchase price was $147.50. Granted, shipping is another ninety dollars due to size and weight, but I'm still coming in over a hundred dollars under retail, more when you factor in shipping from the retailer as well. Between the Rocna and my Fortress, I should be plenty covered for most of what I do. And both can be transferred to whatever the next boat will be. That leaves me with another project though.

Neither the FX-16 or Rocna will fit in my chain locker, not by a long shot. The Danforth I had, was close but still no cigar. I usually leave the anchor in the cockpit locker until it's time to drop the hook, at which time I pull it out and walk it forward, shackling it to the chain and proceeding. The chain locker hatch has no notch for the rode, nor hinges or anything to hold it in place, other than gravity and that the lip of the lid sits in a channel of sorts. It's sole purpose in life is simply to cover the rode inside it. The Fortress being so light isn't an issue to carry up front. A little cumbersome, careful not to snag things, but manageable. I cannot foresee the same being said of a 33 lb Rocna. And while I can find hangers or mounts for the Fortress, I really do not have the desire to spend hundreds of dollars on a vertical stanchion mount for the Rocna, nor do I really have the real estate to do so. So one of the early projects this year will be to build a bowsprit of some sort to secure an anchor roller onto. I've talked it over with my Dad and there are a few different paths that can be taken. One suggestion made was to cut back the locker lid, in one fashion or another. If all it's holding is the rode, it doesn't need an opening nearly the size that it currently possesses.

Other ideas for this year, would be to finally double the battery bank and add a 2nd solar panel, ideally on a bimini cover, and maybe even add an actual wind gauge this year. Another higher-priority item is to finally get the interior cushions made to dress up the cabin. I'm thinking I'll add a wood backing board and just go simple, but I may actually change the foam over to a 4" firmer foam for the seating. As I tend to sleep on the port-side settee when I'm on board, I think what I bought last was a little softer than I'd like.

Light and bright

It's always a treat when the big brown truck pulls up to the house and you know what to expect.

Backing up to a couple weeks ago, I had a good bit of wind at anchorage that caused me to bend the shank of my Danforth 13s anchor whilst retrieving it. Impressive, yes, but it also rendered it basically unable to be used. The shank bent to a degree that it can no longer pass through the flukes, so unless you can be certain of which way it lands, there's no guarantee they'll drop into the floor and hold. Last weekend, I spent the weekend on the dock anyway, not needing an anchor.

And this weekend? Saturday, went up and out and floated as there was only minor breeze across the lake. I did actually fly my asymmetrical spinnaker to see what it would be like. To be fair, it's still one of those just playing around things. I do not have an actual tack line, so there's no way to lift it off the deck for better angles, the sheet for it was just the bitter end of an old halyward that I have as a spare, and I was only putting it up to see if it would hoist better without the chute it came in (it does). It actually does work a little, but another knot of wind would've been preferred to really fill it out. And it's dirty and dingy but at least I tried, right? I'd also like to point out that the foot of my main is horribly bunched, and for some reason my outhaul wasn't budging it. Strangely once I was back to the dock Saturday evening with it flaked down, I was able to draw it tight just fine. Must've been the angle.

Sunday morning was a time travel expedition to Warwick, courtesy of the Sterling Renaissance Festival. I had never been, that I know of. I remember going to two such events when I was young. And I know the one I went to with my father was not this one. Perhaps the other time it was? Too young to remember. Or maybe I'm too old to now. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised that it was as large as it turned out to be, and the crowd was also impressive.
I woke up this morning and was preparing for work, when lo and behold, Hark! A dog barketh from thine quarters of living! I met Mr Brown in the driveway and was surprised for the second time in two days. Not because it arrived, I was expecting it. But because the weight is completely understated, even knowing it's known for it's light nature.

Seeing the Defender tape is always a happy day for a boater.

I know their anchors are supposed to have the holding power, but I have to give them props for the staples used in their boxes. I nearly had to find pliers.

Looking in, it's surprisingly simple, and even easier to put together than I thought it was. So what to do right before going to work? Test-fitting it together.

The weight of this thing is mind-boggling. It's physically larger than the old 13s, probably by about 20% or so. It feels though, as if it weighs nothing. One concern I read often, and is addressed specifically by Fortress, is that you need - not 'should have' - but NEED a length of chain to weigh it down. Six feet per every 25' of anchoring depth. Guess I'll be good for a ways out, then. The concern is that without it, the Fortress will basically float/fly along the water, taking a lot longer to reach bottom than it should. But once they set, they're quite stout, per the reviews and testing. Granted, most of the tests are done with sandy or muddy, softer bottoms. But my Danforth works fine in the places I anchor on the lake, so I figure sticking with the style that works should work too.

Just as a side note about it. One of the claims to fame is that it sets faster due to the sharpened flukes. The Danforth was a good solid anchor and is still used, so why wouldn't someone just grind the flukes of a steel Danforth for faster setting? Seems like an easy and cheap way to slightly bridge the gap between the two. Just brain storming, but far greater minds than mine have avoided doing it. With luck, I'll test out the purposely-built one this weekend.

Heave, Heave, HEAVE

I'm happy to report that the mast is up, and she actually looks like a sailboat again. I went up Friday night after work (and after Wendy's shorted me a patty on my Triple burger but tried to offset it by giving me pickles and tomato which I had requested be left off. $15 an hour? Right.

Waking up Saturday morning, I had grand visions in my head of the yard whisking me into place and hoisting the mast at Bright And Early O'clock. It actually happened about 1. Turned out they had actually wanted to try it Friday, but were unable to get the outboard started after a couple dozen yanks on the starter cord. So much for that theory on the on/off switch. The switch is still broken, don't get me wrong. But it wasn't the only thing I guess. Carb rebuild to come. But I did get it running in relatively short time, probably a dozen pulls or so, it finally sputtered to life. Smoked a little, but that settled down after it warmed up. And after motoring into place, we had the mast up quickly. Motored back to the dock, gave everything an initial tension and debated on the next move.

One of the things that the boat has, is a Spinnaker in a chute stuffed into the corner. I had never flown it, but since I had added a spinnaker halyard, I wanted to try. As it turns out, I could've saved the halyard space, but I guess it never hurts to have an extra? The sail itself is relatively small, and with the chute, you lose another foot, foot and a half at the top. It's nothing fancy, more of a light wind genoa really, so I'll likely discard of the chute, and just hoist it like normal if I want to use it for light wind, downwind days.

You'll notice my custom framing in the picture by cleverly using my hand as a shield. I also want to draw attention to a section of that picture, so I zoomed in:

It's been evident in other photos too, but this section of the bow pulpit has been broken since I purchased the boat. This has been annoying, and it leaves it rather flimsy up there. So keep that in mind, we're going to come back to that. First, let's get out on the water. Engine fired right up, and I motored right out. Very light wind (ideal for a Spinnaker... no, I didn't use it), and I was planning on just motoring east a little and anchoring for the night, as the Ontario 300 had kicked off that morning. Their path brings them down around near Oswego so I had planned on getting up on Sunday morning, sailing or motoring out to watch the parade of entrants pass by. I assumed motoring, since the forecast was basically the same as it had been for Saturday - light winds, good sun, that was the plan. This is also Lake Ontario. Let's remember that part too.

I anchored out, and set it with a good old reverse burst, and watched as, yet again, the waves and wind don't match. Just off-kilter enough that there's more side-to-side rolling, than there is wave-on-bow action. It's annoying, and even though it wasn't violent rolling, it was just bugging me. I inflated my raft, and rowed to shore by the dunes, and dunked myself in for a cool bath. The dunes are really neat to see.

Once back aboard, I decided that it was time to figure this wave/wind issue out. I've read about using a stern spring line to your anchor rode before, which in theory helps to turn your boat where you want it to be. So in my case, the wind was coming from the North, the waves from the West. I used my anchor spring back to a cleat on the starboard of the cockpit, the idea being it would then allow me to pull the stern more with the anchor to help face the waves. We're just going to say that this does seem practical on paper, when the wind shifted slightly, I was useless again. I finally gave up trying, and dug out the little secondary anchor that I had, rowed it out and dropped it. It wasn't the greatest set since I was basically setting it by hand from the boat afterwards, but it was more for my own amusement than anything. Worst case, it breaks free and... does nothing? But it did do better to point me into the waves. I then decided to enjoy the view one last time before going to sleep.

12:30 AM. I'm still not sound asleep, and I can tell the rocking has gotten a little more intense. I'm annoyed, but I assume the waves have shifted a little, and that with my stern anchor, now I'm not facing into them as much. It's still mostly bow-on though so I kept trying to sleep.

6:30 AM. I give up on staying asleep, though I had only dozed on and off. I think there was a 2-3 hour stretch I did manage to stay under, but it didn't feel like it. What it DID feel like, was a washing machine agitating me back and forth. I look out the starboard portholes and I see water. Sky. Water. Sky. Ugh, I get up and open the companionway hatch. Hey, this isn't five knots and two foot swells. This is more like fifteen, and five. Fortunately, the waves were in mostly the same direction and the stern anchor wasn't killing anything. But now the tricky part. I have to retrieve a stern anchor, in these rocking conditions, while managing the boat... solo. Plan B was to crawl to the bow, release more rode to allow the boat to back down to over the stern anchor, and heave it. I tried Plan A first - Brute force. It's a very small anchor, I wouldn't even use it for a lunch hook on a calm day personally. So I heaved, and somehow with the wave action and my grip, it did pop free and took almost no time to reel in. I deflated my raft and shoved it down into the cabin to finish airing out. The motor only took a few pulls, thank goodness, but already I knew it was going to be interesting to get out of there. Every third wave, I can hear the motor lifting from the water. Definitely the weather for an inboard.

I had about 8, or 9:1 scope out. My anchor rode is 200' of 1/2" Three strand Nylon, and 30' of 1/4" chain, shackled to a Danforth 13s fluke anchor. And it was SET. Here's the problem.... I'm solo, and I have no windlass. I have eight thousand pounds of boat beneath my feet, and I have fifteen knots of wind and a four to five foot sea state to overcome. Now before you think I'm illogical, My first plan was in fact to motor up as I pulled in the rode. I fully intended to. I just need to make sure I don't motor OVER the rode and wrap the motor. So I thought ok, I'll just pay out some and walk it back to the stern. As soon as I did, the boat started to swing beam-on to the waves, since now the anchor was to the side. Abandoned that plan. Plan B again. I braced my feet against the bow cleats, sitting on the deck, and started pulling, trying to time my pulls with the waves. It took a while, but I finally see chain. And that's where the problem hit me. It was REALLY set, and I have nothing I can tie a chain onto or secure it to. And it's a lot harder to hold a chain in your hands than a line. It took a few minutes of swearing and trying, but finally, FINALLY I feel a release, just barely, and I can see the bow start to swing a little. I raced my hands along the chain and pulled the anchor up, tossing it down the hatch to get it off the deck and out of harm's way, to be dealt with later. My anchor locker only holds the rode, I don't have a bracket for the anchor itself yet.

I run back to the cockpit and put the motor in gear and painstakingly slowly, we finally start to turn up into the waves again. And slowly, because every couple seconds, the stern lifts, the motor loses grip on the water, we stall progress. Normally I would've just lowered the bracket another notch, but we were already burying the shaft to just below the cowl as it was, so any farther would've risked flooding out. So instead, we soldiered on. Small grips at a time, every now and then turning a little down the waves to keep up some speed, then back up. I easily figured out why I didn't see any other boats around, and I also abandoned my plan to go see the Ontario 300 parade. No way was I motoring the wrong direction in this stuff. I know the weather would eventually die out, but that could be in hours, and I didn't want to sit there being tossed about for that long. All in all, it took almost two hours into that weather, to go the mile and three quarters back to the marina. Once in the bay, the sheltered waters were calmer and I docked without incident. I took a few minutes to rest, still trying to stretch my fingers from being sore from that anchor haul. Speaking of that anchor...

I think now is a good time to replace it with a new Fortress FX-16, don't you?

The last thing I did for the day, was to revisit that bow pulpit. Especially after yanking that anchor aboard without a solid handhold, and I actually had all the tools on hand. I did have to cut open a couple inches of the fiberglass liner inside to reach the back of the bolts, but I was able to use a sawzall to cut the old tubing, and use a new same-diameter (slightly thicker wall though) piece with a sleeved piece of smaller tubing to join them. Hard to see the joint, but it definitely works better. Sealed everything with 4200 to keep leaks out, and also around the sleeve inside the old tubing to hold it in place a little. I normally would've used 5200 there, but I a) don't have any and b), it's such a tight fit, it's not going anywhere anyway. Can barely see the seam, so I guess that's a good thing.

After that, a shower, and I called it a weekend. Maybe this next weekend, I can even get company!