https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoGMAEjiHmU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOPM_SMJCc
The Adventures of Rose Lee |
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After we purchased Rose Lee and she was sitting on the hard last winter, I was a bit concerned about my ability to safely dock a 47' sailboat without damaging our boat or our neighbors etc... We have always sailed off a mooring so our docking experience was limited. We joked about the upcoming season and how we would make out with the big boat but my anxiety level rose as spring approached. I turned to a good friend of mine named youtube for advice. After a bit of searching I found the Maryland School of Sailing and Seamanship site which is a fantastic resource for all kinds of boating information. Captain Tom Tursi has an excellent presentation on docking which really showed in great detail how to successfully dock a sailboat in a variety of conditions. In some cases no matter what you do it can be tough to get in wind above 20 knots etc.. and in these cases we will go to plan B and grab a mooring or drop the anchor into detail, however in the majority of the situations these techniques which are not at all intuitive work great. Whenever I we are getting ready to dock now I always think to myself what would Captain Tom Tursi do:) The 1st link is for a presentation which I have watched a dozen times and have practiced the majority of the skills with very good success. The 2nd link Is a student practicing some of the skills which are shown in the presentation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoGMAEjiHmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOPM_SMJCc
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Joyce has started the big job of organizing and categorizing everything on the boat. Its great to know you have something but the trick is finding it:). Joyce started by measuring a lot of the key storage spaces and then took the measurements and bought quite a few different sized plastic totes. Then the great emptying began, starting in the bow Joyce took everything out and started categorizing by tote i.e. yanmar engine stuff, electrical stuff, dinghy repair and so on. Joyce is using a cool app "Whats on My Boat" to store all of the information what it is and where it is. I will snap a few pics of the work in progress for now here is a screen shot of Joyce's App, what a great way to keep track of the myriad of supplies and provisions. I,me glad on of us is organized:)
In order to mount the brake on the boom I had to get a custom made bail that would fit the track in the bottom of the boom. Before mounting the bail I installed the brake securing it with a rope to determine where it would work the best. I did a few manual jibes pushing the boom from side to side etc.. Today I removed everything fro the boom so that I could install the new bail which had to slide into the track at the front of the boom so in order for that to happen it had to have a clear path. I managed to twist the top off a stubborn bolt holding the vang, Drill re-tap do over etc... Everything went pretty smooth and all i have left is the block arrangement at the mast and I also need to figure out an effective way to attach the lines to the top of my chain plates with as little chafe as possible. We're planning on taking Rose Lee to the USA this summer and really want to take advantage of a favorable wind direction which might not be possible if we are limited to a specific port of entry to clear in through US Customs. Nexus expedited clearance seems like a good solution. You apply through Canada Border services and get accepted or approved by them and then you are invited to an interview with Homeland security to get the final approval for a Nexus card. Once you successfully complete your interview and retinal scan you get a NEXUS card 7-10 days later. The cost is $50 per person for the card which is good for five years. Joyce an I both have cards. With Nexus we can clear in at any port in the US with a phone call. You are given a reporting number which you can present to any Border Service people who require proof of clearance. Pretty sweet not having to beat up wind just to get a designated customs clearing port aye? http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/marine-maritime-eng.html#us
What is it about Mom's and Son's? My Mom gave me a ring today at work to let me know how much she was enjoying the blog. Wow does that ever feel good getting a thumbs up from Mom "One of my biggest Fans". Made my Day for sure, actually it made my week, wow that felt good, thanks for the encouragement Mom. Love Ya Mom!
While I was working on the boom brake I noticed a few things on the mast and boom that needed replacing. In our experience we have always found that your only as good as your weakest link and its the small stuff that can ruin your day. Rose Lee is equipped with an in mast furling system for the main. So far we love it once we learned about keeping tension on the out haul while furling and furling on port tack where there is less friction on the sail when rolling it in etc.. A main sail furlingbsytem works much the same as a furling genoa, it has a furling line and an out haul rather than the jib sheet to unfurl.. Th foil for the main is located inside the mast and at its base there are three rubber washers which reduce vibration and metal on metal wear. If one of these washers wears out or fall out the foil wont work properly sometimes jamming (you can see in the pics the rubber washers are rotten so new ones are on the way from US Sparcraft). On the boom there is an out haul which attaches to the clew of the main, the out-haul is in a track on the boom and slides fore and aft as the main is taken out or rolled in. The out-haul will only travel as far as the rubber stops at each end of the track. If one of these stops failed while furling or unfurling it would likely cause some dame with the clew of the main flying out of control. You can see in the pics the sun has claimed these as well and they have been ordered. This time of year is perfect for having a close look at everything kind of like CSI Halifax:) Okay things are starting to get exciting around here, we have had a string of days with some good temps and the ice is finally gone out of the cove, its crazy how quick the ice went once the temps came up. I also received my New England Chart kit and guide in the mail today, thanks to Debbie a fellow Cruiser s/v Bella Luna. Unfortunatley it looks like some of the boats on the will be late getting in due to the snow and ice still around them making prep work and moving them pretty tough. I am pretty happy we stayed in the water this year, the boat faired out really well and we could keep an eye on it from our apartment so it worked for us and we will stay in next year as well. On Friday evening Joyce and I normally drop by the club to catch up with friends and have a few laugh's, a proper way to finish off the week. One of the special things about the boating community is how close knit everyone is, sharing a common passion our love of the sea, everyone is helpful and friendly and quick to offer advice or share their knowledge. I had mentioned to a few of my friends at the club about our plans to visit Maine this summer and perhaps get down as far as Cape Cod. Grant had said he had a cruising guide for the coast of Maine and would dig it out and loan it to me, nice. Sure enough Grant showed up at the club tonight with "A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast". This is one of the best guides out there what a great resource. It seems like July is a long away off but it will be here soon. After the club it was back to our place to celebrate Our Daughter Kate's birthday, what a great night so nice to spend time with Kate and the Grand Kids. Happy Birthday Kiddo!
This Weekend I started messing around with the boom brake. There is a bit of trial and error determining where to mount it on the boom and the most effective way to run the lines back to the cockpit. The nice thing about this brake is that you can tension it up as a preventor or a boom brake and when you are reaching you can remove the tension and it doesnt afect your tacking ability.
We've had so much snow this year everyone is late with their spring commissioning so the Yacht Shop decided to put on several Wednesday night educational sessions, awesome. The session this evening was on new weather software and included lots of great tips and sites to visit. One of the coolest sites was http://www.predictwind.com. There is a free version that will give you limited info but with the paid version it will assist with weather routing and departure planning, pretty sweet stuff.
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Follow Rose Lee live with the link below
https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/RoseLee
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