Spring Commissioning

Light Northerly wind. Temps 45-50. Cloudy. I went to the boat to get some work done. With the terrible forecast and packed calendar, this was the only good day to work on it. I had to do all the land commissioning in one day. Luckily after five years I have a good list and know how to knock it out. It began at 07:00 hours. I woke early, packed up the truck, played with the kids a little and was out the door by 08:30. My list indicated I needed a few supplies. I got a micro fiber bonnet at AutoZone and headed to Samalot marine for the rest of the supplies. It was close to 10:00 when I arrived at the boat. The first order of business was to remove the winter cover. Once gone, I had easy access to the batteries and hooked them up for a 10-amp charge. I should have worked on the prop next, but I was excited to put my new town on the stern. I moved from Mahwah to Ringwood and wanted to change this immediately. Here were the steps I took. It is not perfect, but the job is done. 1. Scrape the old letters off 2. Wipe area with solvent 202 3. Rub some fiberglass-rubbing compound it and polish off 4. Wipe again with solvent 5. Tape a line for the letters to be straight 6. Apply letters 7. Take picture for Tara (wife)

I then went to work on the prop and shaft. It was a mess from last summer's warm water. I had to scrape and then sand off the growth and old paint. Once clean, I taped over the area for the zinc anode. Next, I wiped it off with solvent and then sprayed on the zinc coat. Two hours later I would spray on another coat. At this point the battery had been charging for over an hour, so I turned it down to 2 amps for a trickle charge. I started over 12.2 volts, so I did not have to overdo it. I then went to work on waxing the sides. First, I like to use solvent on the heavy soiled areas. These are mostly the gunk from rubbing into old rubber wheels at the dock. After that I apply the cleaner wax (Royal Satin One Step). Then I use a clean part of terry cloth and wipe off any extra wax before buffing. I started with an old terry cloth bonnet on the buffer, but when I switched to the micro fiber bonnet I was amazed how well it worked. I only needed two bonnets for the whole boat. I would only work a small section at a time. In between sections I would get a new rag and have a drink of beer. It is tough work, so my shoulders appreciated the quick rest between areas. After about two hours, the boat looked good. Here are some tips: 1. Make sure all supplies are handy before you start. 2. Tape the cleaner wax to the top of your ladder. I have dropped it in the past and it is too expensive to waste. 3. Do not apply too much or it will not work as well. 4. If you apply too much, use the rag to wipe it completely off. 5. Have at least 20 rags on hand if not more. It is much easier to clean with a new rag than to try and use elbow grease with a dirty one. I use a rag every 3-4 feet. 6. Get a micro fiber bonnet. They cost more, but work much better than terry cloth. I will try a micro fiber cloth next time. 7. Wear gloves. I got the $10 gloves from Home Depot and have not regretted it. 8. Don't rush. It was nice to have the time to rest and drink a beer during rag changes. I then put the zinc on the shaft, painted the transducer, lubed the seacocks, and put out the fenders and lines. Some other tips I have learned over the years: 1. Bring 4 extensions cords, a power strip, and a three-way extender. Sounds like a lot of cords, but I use them all. a. One long cord to get power from the pole to the boat. b. Power strip helps when the yard is busy and you need to make an outlet for yourself. c. The extender gets plugged in by the boat to allow for multiple cords. d. A short cord goes to the battery charger. e. Another cord is for the buffer f. The final cord is to reach to the radio. 2. Get all supplies before starting. Driving to Samalot and back a few times can waste an hour or two. 3. A radio makes things a little less boring. 4. Make lists and instructions. It sure sucks to forget to do something or to be unable to finish something. 5. Bring a beer or four. I like to crack a beer towards the end of the work. It also is something to share with anyone that may help you in the yard.

Sutherland Regatta

Saturday and Sunday, 9/25/2010 – 9/26/2010 Saturday: Puffy 10-20 from the West. Current flooding. Boats sailed from H to F to G to F and back to H both races. Sunday: Fluky 4-10 from the North. Current flooding. Boats sailed from H to C to K and finished at D. I could not commit to doing this regatta until 07:30 Saturday morning. I wanted to spend the weekend with the kids, but this is the last regatta of the season and it was right where I keep the boat. After spending most of Friday night awake, I figured I would go out and sail Saturday and either sail with the kids Sunday or just bag it. I got to the skipper’s meeting and the office kept calling me to troubleshoot a problem. I was already in the lurch about racing and this seemed like it would cancel my plans. Luckily someone else was able to handle the problem and I was out on the course by 09:50. I decided to sail as much as possible before the race. When sailing solo, I like to work out any bugs and make sure all the gear is in the right place. Once the race starts, I cannot make many adjustments so I tune the halyards, outhaul, lead positions, and Cunningham. I also like to throw in a few tacks to make sure the jib is not catching on anything. It really sucks to have to leave the helm and run forward after a tack. This can be real tricky if there are other boats around. After getting some good wind readings, I furled in the jib and got ready for the start. I decided to start 20-30 seconds late. I did not want to deal with too much traffic and also wanted the boat end so I could get right. I had to go behind some barging boats, but I got a decent start and tacked right away and headed to the right side of the course. This was a mistake and I was pretty deep at the first mark. Izus and I made a pretty big gain by going south on the leg from F to G. Gusto took a northern track and also fared pretty well. On the beat back to F, Gusto went left and I went less left. Gusto made a huge gain at the end of the leg and I ended up finishing in second. I was happy with the result, but felt pretty exhausted. It was a lot of work since the breeze was shifty and gusty. I also had to wing the jib twice and that is a real pain in the ass when sailing solo. I considered retiring before the second race, but recovered quickly in the time between races. I would have been fine if I had some crew, but I considered retiring since being tired and short handed could become unsafe. In the second race I decided to start right at the boat. I was ahead of the fleet at the start and this time played the shifts up the middle. This worked out well and I rounded in third place right next to Thomas A. Hawk. We sailed even down to G and the next upwind was pretty uneventful. I crossed the line and corrected over the fleet. I was very happy with a 1st and 2nd for the day. I raced to get home and spend some time with the wife and kids. I was pretty tired and went to sleep by 11PM. The next morning, I brought the wife, Rowan, and Hazel out with me. It can be difficult getting the kids out of the house early, but this day was not too bad. We got to the boat and were the first ones out to H. We sailed a little and the kids enjoyed seeing all the boats come by. Rowan waved and said hi to most boats that came close enough. The start was backwards (the RC was on the port side of the line). I decided to start on the starboard side since I wanted to get right quickly. At first this looked like a terrible decision, but by the time I rounded the first mark it proved to be correct. I was the second boat around the mark. The downwind leg was terrible. The wind was light and the current was against us. One boat sat on our air for the entire 40-minute leg. After about 35 minutes, they were still on my air a little over a boat length behind me. This really pissed me off. This boat was deep in the standings and we lost position on some other boats. Once they got close to me, I decided I had to do something about it. I decided I would not let them pass this close to windward. They should have given me more room and not tried to ram it up my ass. I then rolled in the jib (it was winged out), turned the wheel, and the boat came up. Since no one on the boat could help, I let the boat round up at a consistent pace while I trimmed in the main. I was now slower, higher and in front of the boat that was taking my air. Instead of going below me, the guy decided to try and stay above me on my wind. I tried to diagram this situation in another post. At first they did not realize why my jib was rolled in. They soon found out. I was ready to take them up to the moon. I continued to head higher and they were slow to react. Their jib backwinded from having if winged out and they turned hard to weather, but it was too late. They were already to close to me for me to continue to head up and they did not trim in their boom. Their boom ended up hitting my weather lifeline. I yelled, “protest”, headed down, and unfurled my jib again. I also told them that if they wanted to play, they should be prepared. It was ridiculous that they assumed I would just let them roll me. They were obviously not ready to be taken up and ended up fouling me. I am sure they would like to claim that my turn was too fast for them to react in a seamanlike manner. I’ll have to write about the rules involved in a future post, but hard turns to weather are common on a downwind leg when a boat tries to roll you without much room. They came in way too close and fouled me. I regret my actions. I was being a real jerk there and felt like I needed to act Old Testament on them. I should have just taken my lumps rather than risking a collision with a boat that had no idea what they were getting into. This is not the America’s Cup. I need to be less of a psycho on the course. My wife was not surprised by the sequence of events. I take racing etiquette very seriously. If a boat is going to get into close quarters with me to hurt my position, I will defend my position like a cornered animal. The damage had been done and this move was really about revenge. After the incident, I let the offending boat and the rest of the pack near me round the mark ahead. I took a nice wide turn into the mark and ended up in a nice position. Further up the course, I tacked out too far left and lost the race to Gusto. Gusto and Jazz are often very close. We tied for first in the regatta with Gusto getting the tiebreaker. They had a great regatta and I look forward to our next meeting. Rowan was thrilled to go up and get the trophy. We ended up staying way past everyone else at Minisceongo. It is a great yacht club and we enjoyed making use of the grounds. It also helped that the keg was not kicked and Rowan liked filling my beer. Once we got home I told my wife how excited I was about the trophy. I have had the same sailing briefcase for 20 years and it showed its age. The prize was a new briefcase made for sailing. I gushed about the briefcase and my wife liked it too. I then offered to give it to her and she replied with a jab that only she can make, “No thanks, it says second place.”

Race Situation Test

This is just a test. Not like anything that happened recently.