Glorious sail today. Steady 16kts, 2-3footers on Lake Michigan - blasting along at 6kts. It was a beautiful day. Sailing at its finest. Afterwards "Hey Sadie, thanks for sailing with me today - that was great!" "Oh, I love sailing Daddy!" (I am perfectly aware that we are time limited on that exchange)
Couple pix below - first two by Sadie a) my deck is always ship shape, and b) Captain at the helm. C) is Sadie in her favorite sailing spot.
Last edited by Lucky Dawg; 09-27-2009 at 07:26 PM.
Glad we sailed today... Here's tomorrow: Monday West storm force winds to 50 knots veering northwest gales to 45 knots. Showers and a chance of thunderstorms until midday... then showers in the afternoon. Waves 12 to 16 feet.
Splash-proof and apparently pretty drop proof. The perfect iPod portable sailing tune provider. Rubber surround keeps it nicely glued to the deck while heeling. The sound is pretty darn good for a little 6x12 boombox.
For original $179… still pretty good. But for $59?? You can’t go wrong.
Had a nice sail south to Grand Haven a couple weeks ago and we were able to borrow an empty slip up the Grand River. Hung on for another week and had a couple last minute sails.
a) Headed out the Grand River for our last sail of the season. Sadie brought her snow suit along - it was pretty chilly
b) the sun blasted through overcast skies the moment we hoisted the genny
Fan response, yes, but possibly a little English Bulldog responding with an anxiety disorder Getting used to 90,000 crazy Bulldog fans might be a bit much for young and hypersensitive dog-ears! It is freaking loud in there!
Busy this spring - Tired of a non-planing sailing hull, I installed some new power. Note my new 65 megawatt coal-fired power plant - equipped, of course, with an electrostatic precipitator and a wet flue gas desulfurizer system for emission controls. The weekly coal deliveries are tedious, but the girl turns heads.
Sailed Lucky Dawg to Muskegon Friday - about a third of it in the rain. I was in a borrowed slip in Grand Haven waiting for a convenient time to move her north to Muskegon and they rented the slip "You need to be out by noon" - I think they believed me to be a squatter. Anyway, it turned out to be a really nice sail once the rain stopped. In all of my sailing years, that is actually the first time I have left port in the rain. Luckily the sail was a beam reach at hull speed all the way, so the rain from the main wasn't dripping on my head as it would have close hauled. I offered to take Sadie out of school for the day to accompany, but "uh, Daddy... it is raining..." (with a very teenager sounding "duh!" in her 6 year old voice.)
Got to try out my new automatic bilge pump system, hardwired GPS, new electrical panel, and upgraded prop with 8 vs 8 1/2 pitch. Also discovered that chromed winches don't work very well in a downpour, and that, though I don't fancy a bimini, some sort of canvas hatch cover could be helpful while underway in the rain. Upgrade pictures to follow.
p.s. looking at the main page, I see I have now highjacked 3 out of 4 sub-forums. Sorry!
Last edited by Lucky Dawg; 05-25-2010 at 01:49 PM.
New panel. Added an auto / man bilge switch - my original (from PO) just plugged via duplex and a lighter plug into the 12v; a battery meter through a 3way SPDT switch that will accomodate a second battery at some point - stays in the center-off (non draining) position unless needed to check battery level; and a simple West panel. What you can't see is the 3/8" pilot light that illuminates on the reverse side of the bulkhead when the bilge activates. A Don Casey idea that made sense to me. Wire over the top of the box is my hardwired GPS cable that reaches the GPS bracket on the bulkhead. I am quite pleased with my first shippy electrical project.
picture 1 - the mess that was inside the box - complete with wire nuts... and some interestingly connected circuits....
picture 2 - lots of extra notes and ID tags so I could remember what was what - and of course my handy dandy owners manual at my side
picture 3 - finished product.
We spotted and sailed around this lady yesterday. The 185' Europa from The Netherlands - headed for Chicago for Tall Ships 2010 taking place this week. We'd missed the fleet at our home port while vacationing in Chicago.
Really remarkable to see up close - and a bit intimidating to round her bow!
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