All posts by cs

Long Term Effects

The contents were fresh 15 years ago and by today’s date, way past expiration. Old gas, while still flammable, will no longer combust reliably in an engine and will coat fuel systems with residue and varnish; in other words — gum up the works.

underside

A 22mm Hex Key socket inserted bottom of tank to unscrew drain plug. It was a nice thought that the engineers included one. Bean counters found out and you never see this feature anymore as you can imagine it is one that is seldom called for. I was concerned I would not be able to loosen it as threaded fittings have a tendency to seize. If the original was over torqued or there is rust corrosion then it might be impossible to remove. Steel tank but the plug is brass with an aluminum washer so no rust but dissimilar metals can still create problems. An extension arm (cheater bar) on this tool provided sufficient leverage to break it loose.

The discolored, stale, stinky gas and can be properly disposed of…

Draining the tank

The San Juans

adventure, boats

Wikipedia historic primer here — now it is our turn. Last year it was the British Virgin Islands in tropical water and sultry wet. I felt time for something polar opposite. The Pacific NW is a shift from that. July August is prime time because the weather is so predictable. The marine forecasters CYA with predictions of winds 10 to 15 knots becoming 10 to 20 in the afternoon. But, the most we saw was 10 knots usually averaging 5-6.

Wind waves in the straight on the return and most noticible because we were running downwind so the boat is bit rolly pollie. Relative felt about 3 knots. In fact the boat was only making 3.5 knots at best due to the light air. When the boat speed fell below that my crew felt like we were making little progress. However with help from 1 1/2 to 2 knots do tidal current we were actually making 4.4 – 5 knots across the ground. Aviators call this tailwind. There must be a similar seafarers term for favorable going with the flow.

Fishing is a challenge not the mechanics but the hostile obstacles the regulators place hoops to dis suede. Licenses are fish breed specific, time of year, specific days, season. To add insult to injury Spencer’s crab ring disappeared. Scoundrel or currents?

New Bling

cars

The Parts Advisor at the Classic Center informs by email that the desired replacement Trunk Emblem estimate is $$$ (wow) and confides that upon clicking — send that he “turned to his co-worker and quipped; we’ll never hear from THAT guy again…”

I can confirm that automobile restoration is a rich man’s hobby, but this old car is incomplete without this star piece (eclipsed only by the hood ornament).

Not convinced that my queried trim item is NOS or a reproduction. Short of melting metal and casting myself, the alternative would be to locate a donor car in a salvage yard that has not already given up its shiny bits. Not likely as 20 – 30 years will have elapsed.

When they FedEx, I trust that they will insure with care.

Getting Fuel

cars,

 

 

 

 

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Lurking beneath the trunk floor mat is the wiring for the fuel sending unit. One wire to the fuel quantity gauge and one for the low fuel warning light. A 3rd wire, upper right, is for grounding. The 5 securing nuts with washers removed without grief as there was no corrosion on the threads but the unit itself will not separate from the fuel tank. Its cork gasket has bonded itself to the tank top.

Disconnecting these wires is only one step in the fuel tank removal. The fuel filler neck hose coupling, expansion line, fuel feed and fuel return lines all have to be detached. Finally there are 3 mounting bolts securing the tank to the chassis frame to be loosened.

The objective is to drain the stale gasoline that has deteriorated during long term storage. Residual varnish and gum must be flushed before fresh gas can be added, necessitating its removal.  And, after the tank has been dropped down I can better access that “glued on” sending unit and restore a fresh gasket.

Chrome Top Tip

cars

Little chrome is to be found on newer cars. Porsche started a sporting trend a number of years ago with blacked out chrome trim. Other manufacturers, such as tuner AMG, adopted the theme as a cool new look  which style led to: monochrome. It helped that the abandonment of chromium saved money in the process. Eventually body trim, cladding, bumper covers and exterior pieces became plasticized and the chrome bits were  totally disused. As you may recall, the flamboyant use of chrome popularly peaked in the 1950’s. Even interiors and instrument panels enjoyed liberal usage. A topical issue was the glare and distraction when the sun angled just so.  Acres of chrome require maintenance upkeep.  This polishing technique may be of little value unless you are resurrecting an older car but is interesting even if you’re not because — who knew?
A number of youtube and forum tipsters advocate using Coca-Cola in lieu of water as an effective agent. Evidently the beverage contains phosphoric acid which aids in rust removal. Considering a messy clean up I went with plain water and a moderate amount of elbow grease.

Before…                            and After

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America’s Cup

social

When everyone sounds like a Kiwi, it is amusing for our ears and sounds quaint to hear the TV announcer proclaim a win for “the Americans”. Some sleuthing  on Team USA reveals a bio. Of the 24 crew members listed only 2 of these 24 are from the United States.

Some background: In 2003 Bertarelli’s team representing the Swiss yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), beat all her rivals in the Louis Vuitton Cup and in turn won the America’s Cup 5–0.  For the 2007 Cup, SNG rescinded all interpretive resolutions to the Deed (rules), essentially leaving “constructed in country” as the only remaining nationality requirement.

Thus, a land locked country with limited sailing resources can recruit from a competitive pool.
The athletes from which they draw are all mostly professional contractors making a living from the sport much like individual tennis players or pro golfers.

Where as the early day races were all about Yacht Club pride and which wealthy yachtsmen owners could out spend whom; the current focus is on letting more countries and nationalities participate for the benefit of the sports genre and for community in a commercial venue sense.

I guess team spirit is part of any sport as spectators need someone to root for. More people can support a team if we reference them to a place, albeit city, state, country.This is something that they can latch onto and identify with. i.e Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys. Its about $$$ and growing the franchise.

Yay! Americans. All part of the game.

put a lime in the coconut

adventure

We are staying in a sportsman’s bungalow tonight, our final staging only 800 meters from Marina Apooiti. ‘iti’ means small but the basin is filled with expensive yachts, one of which will be ours when we begin our sail away tomorrow. Our layover includes a Transfer, so after the inter-island hop and while waiting for our gear at the claim area I scan anxiously for someone holding a sign. There are none but then a guy from the small crowd of greeters appears and introduces himself as our driver and then I realize that it was I with the “sign”. He merely focused on the only non-Polynesian cluster of 5 in the room and connection made.

Our accommodation is primitive but a good attitude adjust from the luxury resort life from which we are weaning. She who must be obeyed’s keen eye laser targeted a lizard in the rafter and wisely decided not to alarm the other travelers by sharing the find. The Coconut trees are each banded with smooth aluminum sheething to prevent furry creatures with long tails or crabs from climbing but I note that the grassy grounds are rife with burrows. Hmmmm, best not make this a group topic either.

S’Man tries to beat, bash, split, or otherwase penetrate a fallen coconut. We decide we need an Internet connection where the YouTube would show the method. I guess the weaning process has some way to go.

Daring Day for Up

adventure
vantage point Not exactly a bosun’s chair but a harness that we lined with galley towels (to ease the chafe) provided a thrill. A bowline knot at the loose end of a Spinnaker Halyard was the other part of the apparatus that took us aloft. A deck hand cranked a winch grinder, another guarded a mast mounted cam lock preventer.

First Day to the Max

adventure

We were losing the Sun. We’d sworn an Oath with the charter company not to sail at night yet here we were suddenly determining the official time of sunset and performing mental time and distance mathematics.

Completing the skippers’ briefing ahead of schedule and good to go we cleared the Apooiti Marina and outside moorings and set sail. We were mindful of adjacent Raiatea Airport’s clear zone — marked by yellow restricted buoys guaranteeing landing aircraft an approach free of our 62′ mast. Otherwise we had fun on a zig zag course toward our first obstacle challenge: Grand Banc Central, a reef in the lagoon marked with Cardinals. Rather than beating through the narrow Passage Tearearahi we ran engines and got through without muss. Uturoa was our first point of interest and after locating the visitor dock we made fast for a couple of hours. We split groups for some last minute provision hunting and to hike a 1000′ vertical rise (Mont Tapioi) for a vista reward.

Hot and a bit parched at the conclusion of our trek we detoured for ice cream cones in Uturoa and in hindsight, we squandered time (daylight) in its pursuit. Our overnight anchorage was short range but we were now pressed to make it in time. With the sun disappearing behind Taha’a but our Motu (Mahaea) just beyond Passe Toahotu in view we raced the failing light arriving just in the nic.

Handling Sail Test

boats

The Leopard 39 by Robertson and Caine is a livable platform with great comforts and stability but with catamaran sailing qualities requiring special consideration. She is a motor|sailboat with emphasis on motor. One per hull allows excellent handling. For example with one prop in idle forward and the other in idle reverse  can spin the boat on its own axis center-line.  With a single throttle advanced the boat can be made to turn about the axis of the opposite hull. This is a terrific for docking or maneuvering within restrictive confines.

The catamaran is not known for sailing into the wind well at all. Whereas a mono-hull might be able to point reasonably high when going to weather, the cat struggles to come within 30 degrees on either tack (for a total of 60 cardinal degrees unusable). Unless sailing off the wind or with lots of spare time you’ll find yourself motoring in such cases.

A catamaran with sails raised is a beast. From a dead in the water start the boat has to be gently coaxed to begin sailing in the desired direction. The jib can easily overwhelm the rudders. Hardening sails early or too soon forces this boat to head up and cranking the helm has no effect as rudders stall. She goes into irons and back to square one suggesting that the engines are best used to mitigate this indignity. Also, I noted that when tacking (another typical catamaran shortcoming as they rapidly lose forward way when passing through the eye of the wind) is that the rudders are again too easily overpowered during the maneuver. If one doesn’t finesse the jib properly its as if you hit  a barrier and fail to complete the maneuver. Gentle rudder control is necessary as they become ineffective if you rush the helm. I have a bit of Hobie Cat handling experience and memories of this returned very quickly only magnified!

2200 engine rpm from the sail drive gives a thrifty 4.5 knot cruise speed.  The bottom was due a cleaning and I reckon a .5 knot drag loss penalty because of this. The engines are your friend. Use them to establish your route and then, wind conditions allowing, shut them down and enjoy a tranquil sail. Broad run sail speed conversion was roughly .5 to 1 or in other words with 8 knots of breeze our boat would do about 4 knots. The best speed that we saw was 6.5 knots during a 17 knot gust on a dead run. Reaching is the point of sail that results in the most performance fun and the cat will not disappoint.