"Skip Gundlach" <SkipGundlach@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:d00792e2-94f1-4c72-a148-29a7135011e6@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories
>
> We left you as we were in the Gulf Stream, heading north. We're
> on our way to Tiger Point Marina, in Fernandina Beach, FL, to
> pick up Lydia's son, who's coming to sail with us for a few days.
> When he leaves the boat, he'll then give us a ride back to the
> area we left when we moved aboard Flying Pig. Flying Pig will be
> grounded for a while, during our shoreside adventures - which I'm
> sure you'll hear about in Lydia's log postings... When we've
> finished, we'll return, and do some work before our next big
> trip.
>
> Before leaving Miami, in preparation for putting Flying Pig on
> the ground, I used our hookah rig (like a scuba dive without the
> tank, but instead, a long hose) connected to our compressor both
> for inspection and cleaning of our hull. When I dove the bottom
> to clean off the ac***ulated grunge which is the inevitable
> result of staying in one place for a while in the marine
> environment, and to clean up the impellers which tell us how fast
> we're going, I discovered that there were some places on the hull
> which apparently had no bottom paint on them. As that's what
> prevents the critters which, if they make the bottom of your boat
> their home, causes your boat from going as fast as it can, from
> gaining a foothold, that's very im****tant to us. Given that we
> did it ourselves, we're quite sure those places had an ample
> amount applied. However, it may be that they are among the areas
> repaired during our wreck rehab, and the surfaces needed
> different preparation than we had done. Either way, when it comes
> out of the water, we'll see what's needed there.
>
> The other things we have to do are pretty minor, too, and I'm
> thrilled to re****t that I'd bet I now have a lifetime supply of
> alternator belts, as the one put on when we changed the pulley on
> the alternator is still going strong. Little by little, our
> shakedown's shaking out. Like any boat that's 30 years old, ours
> will require constant attention, but there's nothing we can't
> handle.
>
> However, back to our story.
>
> So, it was a dark and stormy night, as the saying goes, and Lydia
> wasn't feeling all that well, what with the rock and roll,
> pitching and the like. You'll recall that we had all the
> steadying we could manage, with all the sails pulled blade-tight.
> Still, the motion was considerable. She hung in there, though,
> until, as was frequently the case, all night long, there was one
> of those tiny jibes. Those happen when you have a steadying sail
> up and the wind at your back, but it ****fts, flopping the sail
> over to the other side.
>
>
>
> That sudden movement is very forceful. It's for just that reason,
> with a longer movement as would be the case with the boom way
> out, in a run, that we use the preventer. And, you may recall
> from a prior log entry, we'd already broken a shackle on one end
> of the preventer, and, in the same day, later, broke off the
> attachment point on the boom where the preventer mounted. Both of
> these occurred just as the sail started the other way, without
> the momentum that a full switch from one side to the other would
> provide. That gives some indication of the power of a crash jibe!
>
>
>
> On the impact of that mini-jibe, the welded piece of stainless
> steel which attached the sheet (the line that controls how far
> out the boom goes) to the boom broke. That allowed the mainsail
> to fly out to a point where the boom was resting on one of the
> standing rigging wires. Ironically, at that particular point,
> the sail was relatively stable, but having the boom pushed up
> against the shroud (the wire holding the lower part of the mast
> in position) wasn't a good thing.
>
> That's because in addition to the pressure on the shroud, it
> would be entirely possible that another roll of the boat would
> produce another crash jibe. This time, however, it would be from
> one far side to the other, gaining considerable momentum and
> quite possibly dismasting us as it hit the opposite shroud. So,
> despite the additional drive (the speed went up by a couple of
> knots with the sail out), we needed to resolve the instability of
> the mainsail. So, of course, Lydia came and woke me, only a
> couple of hours into my sleep. The noise of the failure had
> already raised my consciousness level, and I was topsides in a
> jiffy (well, and some sweats and my foul weather gear).
>
> After *****sing the situation, we rehearsed what we'd do in order
> to make this a stable environment. Aside from the current
> weather, which meant very lumpy water and high winds, the
> solution wasn't markedly different than would be the case in
> lowering the sail as we prepared to anchor. The key difference
> would be that we would not have the main sheet to control the
> boom's swinging once we had the sail lowered. So, I turned on the
> spreader and foredeck lights, got into my harness, latched onto
> the jackline, and went forward to the mast while Lydia turned
> Flying Pig into the wind.
>
> Even my going forward would not have been needed to drop the
> sail, due to our new sail hardware and lazy jacks setup, and our
> already having our lines led aft, into the cockpit. Those allow
> us to release the halyard (the line hoisting the sail to the top
> of the mast), and the sail merely falls into place. However, the
> topping lift, which controls how high the boom is, would need to
> be played carefully as the boom swung back and forth in the
> rocking due to the waves. I'd have to time its swing just right
> to lower it into the boom crutch. Fortunately, that proved no
> great difficulty, and I unclipped my harness from the mast,
> reclipping it to the jackline, and went aft.
>
> There I lashed the boom to the crutch, effectively making it
> impossible to jump out of place. The la****ng took the place of
> the normal down pressure we would have exerted with the sheet.
> With all secured, I turned off the lights, kissed Lydia
> goodnight, again, and returned to my berth. Despite the increased
> motion due to not having the steadying influence of the main, I
> was asleep again in moments. Flying Pig continued to motorsail
> under nearly bare poles, entirely safely.
>
> As dawn approached, Lydia again woke me, as she'd been battling
> seasickness her entire watch, and the accompanying sleepiness was
> beginning to overcome her. I got up and settled in to enjoy the
> ride, which was becoming more adventuresome by the mile. The
> waves built, and the wind howled, as we saw over 20 knots astern,
> to go with our 7-8 knots of forward motion. Better yet (heh -
> euphemistically stated), we were in the counter-current (the
> reverse flow next to the Gulf Stream). That meant that our boat
> speed (as compared to ground speed) was over 10 knots, into the
> square chop produced by the wind against the current. That
> produced a very wide range of motion, and some of the following
> waves would roll us 30 degrees or so, then fling the stern over
> 90 degrees in the opposite direction as the wave passed beneath
> us, at the same time as it rolled the same 30 or so degrees in
> the opposite direction. Hooray for our fuel poli****ng system, as
> the usual response to such motion is one of the failures we have
> yet to experience.
>
> That is, most sailors whose boats have auxiliary diesel engines
> will eventually experience those engines stopping due to fouled
> filters restricted so much that fuel can't get to the engine. The
> nature of diesel fuel in a marine environment with low turnover
> is to grow critters and ac***ulate grunge as they die, along with
> the dead-dinosaur-stuff nature of sludge formation along the
> sides and bottom of most fuel tanks. Rough seas lead to stirring
> all that stuff up, and typically, eventually, a clog making its
> way into the system, usually resulting in the need for a filter
> change. Of course, the time those instances occur is usually
> about the worst time you could choose to have to replace a
> filter - rough seas making it even more uncomfortable than it
> already is, in a hot engine room. Worse, if your engine was
> running in those conditions, you might be in a position where you
> were dependent on it to keep you out of trouble, such as going
> aground on the rocks!
>
> So, having religiously run our fuel poli****ng system whenever
> we're
> in lumpy water, and especially so when sailing but with the
> engine off, the better to avoid sucking grunge into our supply
> filters, we believe we have the cleanest possible fuel for Perky.
> I'm sure, having made that statement, that our comeuppance will
> arrive sometime in the near future, engine hours-wise, but so
> far, we've escaped that experience! When we return to Flying Pig
> after our time ashore, I'll change out the polisher filters and
> the Racor (the ones which are before the engine in the fuel
> flow), even though the vacuum gauges don't indicate the need.
> They'll have been in for a year, and I'll change them on a
> preventive basis.
>
> Fortunately, those are the only equipment failures we've had this
> trip. Everything I read suggests that every passage will have
> equipment failures, and of course, those failures usually will
> occur under stress. That is to say, when you'd least like to
> discover them! More will arrive, no doubt about it, but we'll
> continue to address each in its turn. Lydia's cabin fever aside
> (she really and aggressively needs to get off the boat as soon as
> we anchor, each passage), we continue to be reminded of how
> perfect this home is for us. Time and again, we'll say to each
> other, "I really love our home." So, what about the fish
> stories??
>
> You may recall that we've had notable failure in our attempts to
> make fish a major ****tion of our diet. Aside from the couple of
> catches in the Gulf of Mexico under the experienced hand of a
> professional fisherman, on the first leg of our journey, our only
> success had come on our brief trip to Rodriguez Key, and those
> were pretty small. However, hope springs eternal, and we set out
> our lines on the beginning of this passage. Many hours passed,
> with no more results than that the lures got thoroughly wet. We
> reeled them in as night fell on Wednesday, not being comfortable
> with dealing with a pitching deck, rain and darkness, should we
> manage to catch something.
>
> Thursday morning, I put them out again, with about the same
> results. That is to say, for many hours, the only result was a
> bit of grass on the tuna plug. However, as the day wore on, and
> the weather forecasts continued to indicate some heavy stuff
> coming up, we eased out of the main part of the Gulf Stream, and
> into the side edges. That also led us to slightly shallower
> water, which was apparently home to more (or at least, hungrier)
> fish, because we noticed that our starboard line, the one with
> the skirted lure, was tight and the pole bent.
>
> We don't know how long that had been like that, but it was
> obvious that we had either a substantial grass catch or some
> reasonably large fish on the other end of the line. Throttling
> back and turning to starboard to release some of the pressure, I
> started reeling. Whatever was on the other end wasn't grass,
> though, as it moved first behind the boat, and then in front. As
> Lydia played the throttle and wheel, I continued to reel. Soon,
> it became apparent that we had a dolphin. That's not a ****poise,
> but instead that blunt-headed fish with the iridescent skin (not
> scales).
>
> Being towed for however long it was had tired our gal (a female,
> as determined at first glance by the shape of the head, and
> later, preparing her, by the roe sac), and we soon got her in a
> position to gaff and bring aboard. Following the taking of
> pictures of our first "real" catch, I dispatched her with a
> hammer, put her into a bucket, head down, and we resumed our
> journey.
>
> Once back under way and on course, Lydia filleted the 33"
> dolphin, discarding the very full roe sac, head and tail. Of
> great interest to us was what was in the stomach, however, as it
> was apparent she'd been eating actively. We have no idea where
> they may have come from, but there were many worms wriggling in
> among the several sardine-sized fish in her stomach. Are there
> marine worms readily available for eating? Was she infested with
> some sort of gastric parasite? In any event, she resulted in
> several very sizeable chunks of meat, along with some small
> scraps saved for ****tia. Even those, entirely raw, with no
> seasoning or other alterations such as would be the case with
> su****, were delicious.
>
> Gluttons that we are, after having caught no fish for us, all
> this time, this bounty lasted us only two meals. The first was
> simply marinated and immediately grilled, mostly rare. Delicious
> as it was, we decided that the following night, which we did at
> anchor in the rain in Fernandina (to the accompaniment of the
> paper mills' aromas of, alternately, sawdust and sulphur), we'd
> make some changes. Those changes were mostly in the seasoning and
> marinating, along with a longer cooking time. The results were
> very satisfying, and we'll use that recipe again.
>
> For those interested, in the fa****on of one of our favorite
> books, An Embarrasment of Mangoes, a recipe follows this chapter:
>
> Dolphin on the barbie.
>
> Marinade: Crush 5 fresh garlic cloves, add dashes of key west
> spice and cilantro, to combined fresh lime juice from 3 limes,
> olive oil and a splash of paisano (red wine from Gallo). Use
> Braggs amino instead of salt. Marinade in ziplock bag for 30
> minutes, turning frequently. Cook over very hot grill, turning
> only once. Do skin side down first, time to suit for doneness.
> Season with Cajun spices from shaker on both sides as the other
> side is cooking. Rewet first cooked side with remaining marinade
> before seasoning. Serve over rice or other side dish to
> preference.
>
> L8R
>
> Skip
>
> Morgan 461 #2
> SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
> See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
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>
> "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
> make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
> (and)
> "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in
> its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
> (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)
>
>
================================================
You killed "Flipper"?
Bad man... your boat is cursed..
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