April 14, 2016

It was a better week for me, but not for some fishermen who ran into the entrance jetty and lost their boat. At least no one lost their life. 

The mounting bracket assemblies for a new solar panel that will be mounted on the dinghy davits are almost done and I ran two-conductor marine wire from the davits, through the deck and into the engine room where the solar controller will be located. The spare motor/pump assembly for the WH Autopillot is back together and ready for stowing. (I found a replacement pully for it at Oxnard Equipment Surplus for less than half what it would have cost to get online.) I didn't get around to testing the SSB/computer weatherfax reception, although I did familiarize myself a bit with the software. The bad news: I will need to remove the grease-leaking windlass and bring it to the manufacturer in Riverside next Friday so they can examine it. If it's just a bad o-ring, they can probably fix it the same day. Wish me luck!

Photo:  Bruce Thompson

April 7, 2016

I spent a lot of time this week spinning my wheels, literally and figuratively. Unfortuneately, a couple of “little” projects turned out to prove once again that the only reliable way to estimate how long a boat project will take is to start with your best estimate and then double the number and go to the next longer unit of time. For example, these projects should have taken no more than an hour and a half each. Instead it was almost four days. All I wanted to do was repickle the watermaker and paint an old spare motor/hydraulic pump for the autopilot. Well, it seemed no sea water was flowing through the watermaker, so a full day of troubleshooting ensued. I finally got it working, but I'm not sure why. Most likely it was fine all along, but I failed to look carefully at the outflow initially. The water was stealthily running down the hull side instead of splashing into the water, which I didn't notice until AFTER all the troubleshooting. Sigh. At least each time I go through something like this it helps me to better understand the system and more easily diagnose future problems.  The other issue was the difficulty of disassembling an old autopilot motor/pump module for clean-up and painting. I eventually got that done too, but not before breaking one of the pulleys. Sigh. On top of all that, I happened to notice grease seeping out from the base of my expensive windlass. Had possibly the same problem five years ago. Had to remove it, pack it up (a BIG job) and send it off the maker. That time they fixed it free; I doubt I'll be so lucky this time. Sigh. When I wasn't wrestling with projects, I was futilely driving around trying to find the right cable to connect the computer to the SSB radio to get weatherfaxes. Had to order it online. It just arrived, so by next week I should know if I can successfully receive and display them. Hopefully it will be a better week, although it could be a rainy one!

March 31, 2016

I continued messing with the SSB radio and ended up reconfiguring the counterpoise (AKA antenna ground).  Clearly it's a dark art.  The experts not only disagree with each other, they apparently also disagree with themselves.  To wit, Gordon West said "Remember, don't be attaching this copper foil to through-hulls that have been purposely left unbonded."  (Emphasis in the original.)  But in another place in the same document he said "If your underwater metals are not connected by a green bond wire, you may wish to use a single through-hull that is isolated...as your first point of establishing an underwater ground connection."  So, I decided to ere on the side of caution and get more foil, disconnect from the through-hulls, and connect instead to the lead keel,the big stainless steel water tank, the lifelines and the small immersed ground plate.  It's a lot harder to do than write.   Since I haven't been able to test transmission at a distance, it's hard to tell if the changes made any difference.  I have been able to listen to one of the Baja nets (poorly) and heard a couple of Mexicans chatting in Spanish.  I may try the 'aluminum foil in the water' test if I get ambitious.
Had another gale blow through this week, but not quite as bad as the last one.  More dust and sand blown around than trees.  And the wild flowers are out in force now.

Play to hear USCG weather from Pt. Reyes, 500 miles away.

Easter Tomatoes

March 24, 2016

Big news this week:  The final connector arrived and I completed the single sideband installation and tested the radio.  It works!!  That was a big relief because both the radio and the automatic antenna tuner had been bought used.  And the counterpoise appears to be adequate, although it will take more testing to be sure.  After programming in 48 frequencies, I was able to receive a weather forecast from the Coast Guard station at Pt. Reyes, a distance of about 500 miles, and heard the weatherfax signal from Hawaii.  My voice transmission was heard 'load and clear' by another boat about 100 yards down the dock. And, I finally managed to navigate the maze of the FCC website so I could get the required radio station license, which includes a new international MMSI number for my Personal Locater Beacon and AIS.  Cost $215.  The good part was I received an electronic version of the license that gave me my call sign via email within 12 hours.  Pretty good for government!
On the less glamorous side, I built and added a small shelf under the sink where I had installed the foot pump last week.  It's a nice little improvement that increases storage and makes things a bit neater.
Spring has definitely arrived in Ventura, with wildflowers in full bloom and strong afternoon winds.