Showing posts with label The. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The. Show all posts
Friday, December 30, 2016
Racing the Rain
I wake up to rain and, when I crawl out of bed, it is still raining. It is raining while I make my coffee, and it is raining when I load the canoe on the car. I skip breakfast because it is raining. I am racing the rain and if I don't hurry, it might stop. It is still raining when I finally push off from Pilgrim Landing.
I planned on heading upriver into Lord Cove, but the wind is stronger than I expected and it seems that I might be in for a beating as I return to the put-in. I turn around after a couple hundred yards and head downstream onto a mile of river that I've not seen before. After that I can finish exploring the Lieutenant River.
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| fog making sculpture at the Florence Griswold Museum |
I am ditching the funhog*. In the west, at least a third of my days in the canoe were in the rain, and one quickly learns the advantages. I almost always had the water to myself. Rain cancels funhog plans, and it also cancels the sounds of civilization and softens the intrusion of distant structures. Being a funhog isn't the worst thing in the world - I was once one myself. At least they are out in nature, and sometimes funhogs develop into something more layered. A friend of mine looked at me one day and told me that I was a deep ecologist**. I had to look that up, but the description fit pretty close. I had come some distance while not paying attention.
I leave the big river where the Lieutenant River comes in. It doesn't take long for it to narrow into something comprehensible, and this is where the egrets also begin to show up. Only a few shoreline fishermen share the day with me and the birds. Numerous osprey whistle and perch in riverside trees while an egret steps slowly, slowly, slowly, making no waves and no ripples... as it moves in on prey. A great blue heron flies off before I am anything that I would call near. Where the river widens into a marsh edged pond, I paddle off to the east until it shallows, a few inches deep with large widely spaced boulders...a typical waterscape for many of the tidal rivers that I explore. I turn back and try the west channel, which turns out to go a distance....it is a place that the satellite photos do not show, and the river goes further than I had thought, until it shrinks to a canoe width in the round terminal marsh that is bounded by forested hills.
*Definition: Funhog
1. One who uses nature as a playground without seeing the deeper meaning and purpose of nature. Identifiable by hooting and hollering and a garage full of mostly unused outdoor equipment. Rarely knows where they are or what they are looking at.
2. Bear food
**Definition: Deep ecologist
One who believes that everything in nature has worth and is to be respected, whether or not you understand its purpose and whether or not it has some utilitarian value to man. Or, as I like to say - there is value in knowing that if you hike in bear country, you might get eaten by a bear, and if you hike off trail in wilderness, there is value in knowing that you may be lost and never found...and this is the way things should be.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
After the Storm
A cold day, the night windy and snowy although most of the snow in the air was just that being blown about. The south lagoon is frozen enough to stop the canoe but there is still plenty of open water for the ducks that prefer to stay here. Some of them are sitting on the south facing banks, on the earth warmed by the bright sun of this cloudless day.
The American Coot - Column A on the winter eagle menuI cut NW across the bay to the birch island, scaring up a snipe as I near. There, I ease up against the cattails noticing but not recognizing fresh mammal tracks coming out to the water. I pause here, the warmth and protection that I find from the wind being what I imagine the snipe seek out as well. I often find them here, but seldom anywhere else. With the cold, the ducks and coots are in a dense flock out in mid bay. I find a crow eating a coot wing, no doubt leftovers from the eagles.
Working along the edge of the north marsh, I spot the head of an otter, and then a second otter pops up.
Working along the edge of the north marsh, I spot the head of an otter, and then a second otter pops up.
Lontra canadensis - so cool an animal that they named a country after it.They are hiding next to a large hollow drift log. I watch, seeing them a few times, but only briefly, until they finally move back into the brush. The log they were near shows their tracks and belly slides. In fact, I notice that all of the open areas on the north marsh are as heavily tracked as a dog run...and there are no dogs out here.
Note the otter tracks and belly slides on the top of the log.Monday, December 26, 2016
A very moving stop off the beaches of Anzio
July 23-24, 2013
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| A lone flower arrangement in row of headstones - Lest We Forget! |
We slipped the lines and left our berth in Porto Roma Marina a little before 11.00am and made our way to the fuel dock to fill our tank for our journey down the southern coast of Italy. The later departure was timed to hopefully take advantage of the stronger breezes in the afternoon but as we motored out through the breakwaters there was still no sign of any wind at all. Fortunately the breeze did come in around One and we were able to get the mainsail up, genoa out and finally silence the engine for a relaxing sail along the low coastline towards our destination at Anzio.
Once again we had an option of anchoring just outside the harbour if conditions were right or taking shelter inside if need be. As it turned out the mild north westerly blowing made the anchoring option very viable and we were able to creep into close to the breakwater and anchor in quite shallow but nicely protected water just off the beaches that runs from Anziodown to Nettuno just to the south.
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| We anchored in quite shallow water outside Anzio harbour but the protection from north westerly swell was very good. The American War Cemetery can clearly be seen just north of the marina at Nettuno. |
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| Porto Roma to Anzio – 27.0 Nautical Miles – 6 Hours 04 Minutes Average Speed 4.5 Knots – Max 6.9 Knots |
We were aware that these beaches were made infamous in World War Two as the site of major Allied landings which led to the Battle of Anzio but weren’t aware of the full story. As we enjoyed post passage sundowner drinks in the cockpit, a quick visit to Google revealed the full story.
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| Viewed today the beaches of Anzio show no sign of their violent past. |
Operation Shingle was an launched in January 1944 commanded by American Major General John Lucas. It was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome. The success of the landings around Anzio, in a basin consisting substantially of reclaimed marshland and surrounded by mountains, depended completely on the element of surprise and the swiftness with which the invaders could move relative to the reaction time of the defenders. Any delay could result in the occupation of the mountains by the defenders and the consequent entrapment of the invaders. Lieutenant General Mark Clark, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, understood that risk, but Clark did not pass on his appreciation of the situation to his subordinate, General Lucas, who preferred to take time to entrench against an expected counterattack. The initial landing achieved complete surprise with no opposition and a jeep patrol even made it as far as the outskirts of Rome. Despite that report, Lucas, who had little confidence in the operation as planned, failed to capitalize on the element of surprise by delaying his advance until he judged his position was sufficiently consolidated and his troops ready.
While Lucas consolidated, the German commander in the Italian theatre, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, moved every spare unit to be found into a ring around the beachhead, where his gunners had a clear view of every Allied position. The Germans also stopped the drainage pumps and flooded the reclaimed marsh with salt water, planning to entrap the Allies and destroy them by epidemic. For weeks a rain of shells fell on the beach, the marsh, the harbour, and on anything else observable from the hills, with little distinction between forward and rear positions.
After a month of heavy but inconclusive fighting, Lucas was relieved and sent home, replaced by Major General Lucian Truscott. The Allies finally broke out in May, but instead of striking inland to cut lines of communication of the German Tenth Army's units at Cassino, Truscott, on Clark's orders, reluctantly turned his forces north-west towards Rome which was captured on 4 June. As a result, the forces of the German Tenth Army at Cassino were able to withdraw and re-join the rest of Kesselring's forces north of Rome, regroup, and make a fighting withdrawal to his next major prepared defensive position on the Gothic Line.
Our Google research also revealed the a large American war cemetery was located just inland from Nettuno so we decided it would be our next day’s destination. In the morning we motored the three of four kilometres south along the beaches where we re-anchored outside the new marina at Nettuno and took the dingy ashore. We skirted around the old walled town and headed a couple of kilometres inland to the cemetery. Our journey through Nettuno had been all passing traffic, with our path all concrete and bitumen which reflected the fierce Italian summer heat, quickly sapping our energy and making our walk less than pleasant. When we made our way through the gates of the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial we entered into a lush green world where the ambient temperature dropped noticeably and the noise of the busy city outside seemed to fade away into a reverent near silence.
A wide central mall leads to the memorial, rich in works of art and architecture, expressing America's remembrance of the dead. On the white marble walls of the chapel are engraved the names of 3,095 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The map room contains a bronze relief map and four fresco maps depicting the military operations in Sicily and Italy. At each end of the memorial are ornamental Italian gardens. Wandering through reading names on gleaming white marble headstones recording the final resting place of so many young man was incredibly moving. Looking across the row upon row of these silent sentinels not only brought home the horrific reality of war but also made us thankful that the changing nature of the armed conflicts that our country has been involved in during our lifetime have not resulted in losses of this magnitude.
We were both fairly subdued during our walk back to the old town area of Nettuno where we explored the medieval streets and enjoyed a light lunch in one of the cafes.
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| Old Nettuno town was another very attractive area to explore |
Returning to the boat we found a reasonable sized swell now rolling in making things a little uncomfortable so we upped anchor and returned to the shelter of our previous night’s spot in behind the Anzio harbour walls. A little later, we were treated to yet another colour packed sunset silhouetting the buildings of Anzio as we planned our next day’s journey further down the coast.
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| Nature turned on a very colourful sunset over Anzio for us. |
Sometimes we’re so busy out doing things we don’t have enough time to write about doing things and our blog slips a little behind time. To stay right up to date with what we’re up to these days and see lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail Facebook page at Dreamtime Sail on Facebook
If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway. We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.
Machining the 998cc Hillman Imp block
This was done for me by Bremco back in 1971, they used a Mk1 block with liners and pistons I sourced from the Rootes Competition Department in Coventry, England.
In more recent times I took over a Mk2 block that a local auto engineer had converted, it looked great, its a pity it looked better than it actually was.
The new liners all had to come out, they had been installed at different hight's, so the head gasket would never seal.
In more recent times I took over a Mk2 block that a local auto engineer had converted, it looked great, its a pity it looked better than it actually was.
The new liners all had to come out, they had been installed at different hight's, so the head gasket would never seal.
Its a bit of a long story but in the end I sorted out the problem myself, Then used a general engineer who had more interest in doing the job correctly.
He in turn knew a marine engineer with a surfacer with a magnetic deck, who faced off the top of the block and liners to perfection.
This work can now be done here in Cape Town, you need to supply your own Imp engine block though.
The engine in the pictures is now back in its original 1971 Hillman Imp, fitted with the cylinder head and a new Solex carburetor, it started first time.
Roy
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Stick your hand in the job jar and pull out a couple boat improvement projects
The owner of this boat had the feeling that the equipment in his console was getting to hot, and I agreed that the top of the console felt warmer than it should. I suggested that maybe a computer cooling fan would do the trick.
There was an existing Beckson-esque plate that I had installed on the side of the console, to allow access to see the happy, or unhappy status lights of the black boxes that had been installed inside, and also to facilitate removal/installation of the bolted in displays. The owner did not want another hole cut into the console, so mounting the fan on the access plate seemed to be the best option. These little fans are very quiet, move a lot of air, and are available in both 12VDC, and with a small transformer, 110VAC. The owner went to a local store, and picked up the one you see here
Installation is as simple, or complex as you want to make it. The back of the mounting plate had molded in stiffening webs, so in order to mount the fan on the inside of the plate, some considerable carving would have been required, so it was mounted on the outside, and it looks good, in a form follows function kind of way.
These fans often have hologram images on the hubs, which makes for cool looking patterns when they are running. It could have been done in a more elegant fashion, given more time and money, but the owner said it was fine, there are other more important things to do.
A couple of quick notes about these fans. Make sure you are buying a 12VDC fan. Some of these fans can vary their speeds, so when you look at the wires, and there might be up to five, just look for the red and black wires, and ignore the rest. When you install the fan, it is a good idea to take some silicon, or hot glue, and well secure the fan wires. They are small gauge, and can pull away from the fan, if you are not careful. I know from personal experience, that re-soldering a broken lead requires no coffee for two weeks prior, and a magnifying glass.
In the picture below, you are looking down at a generator, with the covers removed. The generator lives in a compartment accessible from the deck, and like most spaces used on a boat, it justs fits in the space, which translates to access is less than optimum.
So here is the problem. In the picture below, where I wrote "Under here", lives a capacitor that fails more often than it should. This means that several times a year, always at the worst possible time, on the hottest day of the year, on a out island in the Bahamas, it craps out. Why, I don't know, it could last a week, or six months, but it will fail, and the manufacturer just shrugs his shoulders, and says the equivalent of "I dunno." I bet these guys sell a ton of these capacitors, because the repair technicians always have them on their truck, always.
To change this capacitor, you first remove the generator covers. You then get several towels to lay on top of the generator, because it is stinking hot after running for days. Laying down on top of the unit, you reach under the black back end of the generator, and with a socket wrench, while trying to keep from being burnt, you release the bolt that holds it in place. You have to do this in what I call "Braille" mode, because you certainly can't see it. Once the bolt is off, you then cut two wire ties to release it. The wires are about three inches long. Taking a screw driver, you discharge the capacitor by shorting the contacts (this is always exciting to someone watching), not so much for the person doing it. You pull the connectors off, plug in the new capacitor, and reverse the process to finish. Under the best of circumstances, this is not fun, and under the worst circumstances it is a #&!%^* awful job.
I know that the designers of this generator, have never changed the capacitor on an installed generator, or it would have never been placed where it is. It looked good on paper, but it was a bad idea in real life. The fix is not hard. See the red and black wires coming out from where I wrote "Under here?" These are the new capacitor leads. They exit the enclosure and go to the new capacitor mounting location on the underside of the hatch. So to change the capacitor now, you just open the hatch, and there it is, and while the phone lines were still open, he got the bonus of a second capacitor holder to boot, but no free Sham Wows. I know the capacitor will fail, and I mounted a second holder next to the first. To change the capacitor, just open the hatch, unplug the bad one, and plug in the new one right next door, and you are finished in sixty seconds or less. The second capacitor in the photo is actually a failed one, but two new ones are coming, (history tells us they will be needed) and some split loom now covers the exposed wires. The clamps were $4, from a local hardware store, and are really for conduits, but they work a treat.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
The Dix 43 center cockpit on launch day
This was of course a big day, in many ways the day before was an even bigger day as the keel was fitted to the boat, would the 14 x 20mm keel studs line up with the holes in the boat? Would the 4 fuel tank pipes fit, lots of questions.
Thats John Holmes standing on the aft deck of the boat, John is a good friend and was crew on our trip
to Salvador,Bahia, Brasil on another boat I took over some years back. John took over the job of propping the boat up for me the day before once it was on its keel, thanks John!
Picture taken by RH McBride using a Pentax film camera. Click on the image for a larger view.
The hull of this yacht was constructed mainly by one person in a six week time span period.
Plans are available from www.dixdesign.com we can supply a bulkhead kit set. The coach roof was a custom design for this boat.
Roy
Thats John Holmes standing on the aft deck of the boat, John is a good friend and was crew on our trip
to Salvador,Bahia, Brasil on another boat I took over some years back. John took over the job of propping the boat up for me the day before once it was on its keel, thanks John!
Picture taken by RH McBride using a Pentax film camera. Click on the image for a larger view.
The hull of this yacht was constructed mainly by one person in a six week time span period.
Plans are available from www.dixdesign.com we can supply a bulkhead kit set. The coach roof was a custom design for this boat.
Roy
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
The CW Morgan readies for her 38th Voyage
from 1962
all photos courtesy Muffy Aldrich
www.muffyaldrich.com.
The CW Morgan left Mystic Seaport yesterday, May 17, for the first time since 1941. She was towed to City Pier in New London for her final fitting out. Here are a few photos of her preparations from about a month ago, when her spars were lifted in. These photos were taken by Muffy Aldrich and first appeared on her very cool blog 'The Daily Prep'. Thanks, Muffy.
Today I have been gathering pics of the Morgan's departure yesterday and should get them up in a day or two...stay tuned.
Here's a bit from Mystic on the Morgan's captain Kip Files for the 38th Voyage:
As the owner and captain of the 132-foot, three-masted schooner Victory Chimes out of Rockland, Files is no stranger to sailing large ships without an engine. He is also the primary captain of the 207-foot barque Elissa, owned and operated by the Galveston Historical Foundation and Texas Seaport Museum. Files holds a U.S. Coast Guard Master Ocean License for Inspected Passenger Vessels of up to 1,600 Gross Tons. He has been a master of traditional sailing vessels since 1978. He also served on the boards of Tall Ships America (formerly the American Sail Training Association) and the Ocean Classroom Foundation.
“There are very few people in the world with the knowledge and experience of traditional square-rigged sailing necessary to do this job. Kip is one of those people and we are confident we have found the right person to lead the ship on her 38th Voyage,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport.
copyright Thomas Armstrong
Saturday, December 10, 2016
The worlds first CNC Mirror Dinghy kit has been cut
This is Mirror kit number one as far as CKD Boats cc is concerned, a milestone for us and I am told a world first in Mirror Dinghy history?
News just in today on the subject:
We are very pleased to be selected to offer and build the Mirror Dinghy kits, this first kit has a buyer and once we have it built, then measured we will be offering the design as a kit.
http://www.ukmirrorsailing.com/
Fully built boats to any standard are possible.
Roy
News just in today on the subject:
Hi Roy,
yes, you are the 1st to CNC cut a kit.
Click the picture to enlarge it.
We are very pleased to be selected to offer and build the Mirror Dinghy kits, this first kit has a buyer and once we have it built, then measured we will be offering the design as a kit.
http://www.ukmirrorsailing.com/
Fully built boats to any standard are possible.
Roy
Friday, December 9, 2016
Working on a July Launch Date for the Optimist
My brothers and I have slowed our building of the Optimist down to a crawl. However, my brother Darren has taken the lead and wants the first boat to launch on July 4th.
He has purchased sail, tiller and extension, blades (rudder, centerboard), gudgeons from APS - Annapolis Performance Sailing.
To protect the chine he has laid down a 2 inch strip of fiberglass cloth in simple-clear polyester resin. It should provide a bit of resistance to any "hard blows" on rocks that make up the shore of our part of Lake Ontario.
Polyester resin is quick to harden and very easy to sand. It costs about half the price of shipping epoxy to us. It's just a short drive to the auto parts to pick up a quart.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Learn From the depths how to build a boat
From the depths how to build a boat
Pic Example From the depths how to build a boat
Barrelback 19 foot classic mahogany runabout boat design, Note the classic barrelback transom just like the original boats of the past, and it's easy to build using our plans especially intended for do-it-yourself builders. Xkcd: lakes and oceans, < prev; random; next > > permanent link to this comic: https://xkcd.com/1040/ image url (for hotlinking/embedding): https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/lakes_and_oceans.png. Lanier crappie anglers club - education preservation, The lanier crappie anglers club is dedicated to lake lanier anglers. we have 12 monthly meetings which last approximately 2 hours with 2 fish fries held throughout.
Submarine 101, Submarine 101 types of privately owned subs scuba tow sled. not really a submarine, but a good starting point. the sled or "dive plane" is tied to a slow moving.
Block island boat basin, Great news! the block island boat basin will indeed be open for business this season 2016. you could still signup for email list click here you will be notifiied.
Inside a (wwi) german u-boat. - mashable.com, Warfare before computers: a german u-boat from 1915. control room looking aft, starboard side. the manhole to the periscope well and various valve wheels for.
My dad like From the depths how to build a boat So this article useful for you even if i is beginner in this case Thursday, December 1, 2016
YouTube Video Song of the Spokeshave
Kathryn Klos over at the Wooden Canoe Heritage Forums posted a link of a YouTube video by none other than Graham Warren, author of the main textbook of modern paddlemaking. The 6 1/2 minute video entitled "Song of the Spokeshave" shows Warren carving out a maple paddle with an Algonquin blade and a scalloped grip. Perhaps the youtube release is a preview of his Paddlemaking DVD I blogged about earlierGreat footage with a super sharp spokeshave tool which makes his carving seem effortless. I was quite surprised to see the initial thickness of the blank being cut out with the bandsaw. Seems to be 2 inches (or more) thick! To save time and effort, the blade was thinned with an electric planer before finishing touches (the background music certainly masks the horrific noise of this power tool).
I especially like the final shots of the scalloped grip, a design I tried out on my first paddle at the Canadian Canoe Museum. At the time, I didn't know exactly how to carve out the shape so just kept working on it until it felt comfortable. All in all, a great little video feature of carving out a paddle.
AIS XB 8000 whats in the box
This was ordered a week back and Fedex did the delivery today.
The best AIS transponder by far.
Each transponder comes with its own dedicated GPS.
How easy can that be? yes there is an installation booklet with each set supplied.
Roy
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
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