Busy beautiful fall day!

With the time change comes earlier light and wake-up time.  Awoke at 0700 this AM & tried to sneak around the house so as not to wake SAM.  Made peanut butter & black berry jelly toast, checked email and folded some clothes I washed Sunday night.

Everyone was up around 0800 and we goofed off for a time then I went for the mail and the box was full.  I received the replacement Solar Shield sun glasses, SAM’s spray skirt for the new kayak, another package and several pieces of mail.

After a time we went down to seeif the skirt fit and, of course, it did not.  We came back up and I called Kayak Academy in WA with the bad news.Later in the day I returned it via USPS and sent an email with the correct cockpit dimensions and the Kokatat model I use.

Lunch was in the oven and would take a while so we went kayaking on our lake.  We made a couple of trips up and down the length of the lake into/with a stiff breeze from the west.  It seems like no matter how fast a boat we get I am always ahead.  We practiced formation paddling into and against a slightly quartering wind.  SAM’s kayak – a Perception Shadow – has a rudder and this is something new to learn.  I am a bit worried that a dependancy will result and edging will not get its proper practice.

The afternoon was spent trying to get parts to repair my Charleston’s skeg re-tractor guide that broke on the far aft end of the boat.  I finally got it by myself just as the sun was sinking below the tree line.  Probably not as good as new but almost and a heck of a lot stronger.  I had to use one of those mechanics tools that has 4 arms that come out of a cable to reach from the hatch to the aft end to add a backing washer to the pop rivet that holds the replacement guide.  For once on the boat(s) everything went right.

I was a very busy guy today and am now tired but not ready for bed.  More laundry to do and another blog to write with a tweet or two.

Church: Tonights Message from Ruth

Tonight was the second sermon on Ruth. 

The first dealt with the tragedy of Naomi and the subsequent Insistence of Ruth to follow Naomi.  It was a great message.  I was called upon for closing prayer.

Tonight there was another great message but Ruth and Naomi were only the backdrops for the message of the importance of Friends, Family and how to deal with tragedy.  It covered a lot of ground.  Next week it is a four part message that I wrote down but do not have it with me now.

Tweet Test 110208-2119

I am writing this to test the integration between Twitter and this blog which is public o Charleswmoore.org or .us

Twitter

My son has been using Twitter so I signed up for an account too.  It is a micro-blogging type of application.  You get 140 characters per post.  I have been trying to figure out if I want to integrate it into my blog(s) or have my Twitter posts put into the blogs.  It seems there are ways to do both.  For now I will just keep them separate – my Twitter name is csjmoore.  I have the Twitter restricted to approved accounts only and am following two people and two people are following me.  Now I have to find some more followers and followee’s.

Updates

Several Days Late!

November 2nd, 2008

Ok, so you know the cradle is broken from the last blogline.  That night I drove home.  However, to fill the previous afternoon, I located a lumber yard that had a supply of 2″x12″x16′ white oak rough sawn boards in Charlotte, MI.

Next morning I saddled up the old truck and hooked up the kayak trailer.  I headed for Charlotte and the lumber yard.  I arrived about 10:00 and we selected a good, mostly clear piece of 2×12 white oak.  We then ripped it into a 2″x6″x16′ and cut to length of 174 inches.  I loaded both pieces of the lumber on the trailer and headed for Saugatuck.  Price for the lumber was $71.00.

I went direct to Saugatuck by navigating with Streets & Trips running on my computer.  I was on mostly tarmac roads except for a few miles on a gravel road and I only went through one town of consequence – Niles, MI – where I got a McDonalds #1.  I arrived in Saugatuck about 1400 hrs local time and unloaded the wood and the bolts I purchased at our local Trustworthy Hardware (about $52).  I then unloaded some items from the boat and headed for the Indiana home.

So far, I have not heard from Tower Marine as to the disposition of the cradle fix.  I called once but no one returned my call.

Posted in Uncategorized | Edit | Comments Off

Crash, Bang – What was that? REPEATED

October 22nd, 2008

Last night was my last night on Inspiration until next spring.  There was a North wind and the temperature was 35 degrees F.  In the morning the frost on the boat was very heavy.  I awoke about 6:40 AM, ate breakfast and put everything on the dock that I wanted to take home this trip.  The truck & trailer with my new 16.5 kayak was stored in the heated building so it was nice to put the things away in the vehicle.

The Saqugatuck Marine people arrived at o730 and we started.  By 1100 hrs it was out and ready for power washing.  I use VC17 so the washing was a snap and the moved it into the heated storage building to a temporary position.

As they were removing the dolly’s and putting the corner boxes there was a very loud bang and one of the wood supports for my cradle broke.  Luckily there was a box under both corners and no trauma resulted.  However, where do you find a 2″x6″x14′ solid oak board to replace the broken one?  I called around and located a rough cut 2×12×14′ board we can rip into two pieces.  Now I have to get up early and run to Charlotte, MI buy the lumber and then deliver it to the marina.  I figure this is cheaper than the solution that they would come up with.  The board is $62 ripped so the price is not too bad per board ft (about $0.50 per bd ft).  The high $ item will be gasoline running around and labor to install the board as it is inside one of their facilities and employees have to do the work at $75 per hour.

I’ll let you know tomorrow what transpires.  Oh yes,  I have to stop by the local hardware and get new bolts, nuts , washers and some 2′ all thread 1/2″ rod (in case we have to make a custom something).

Posted in Uncategorized | Edit | Comments Off

End of the Season

October 20th, 2008

Tomorrow I will travel to Saugatuck and over-night on Inspiration for the last time this season.  She is to be hauled first thing on Wednesday morning.  In between all this goings on I have to get the oil changed.  I’ll let the engine cool down for an hour or so before extracting the old oil.  Actually, I probably would not even need to change it as there is about 10 hours on the engine this season.  However, I will change it so it will be crystal clear for spring.

On the 19th we removed all the bedding and cleaned out the refridgerator.  Also, we dismounted the dingy and colapssed the davits.  The dingy is upsided down on the fore deck – we moved it with the topping lift halyard and switched over to the jib halyard as it moved from aft to forward – and all went nicely.  When we left the marina the car was totally full of “things”.

On the way back to Indiana we took a long detour to Grand Rapids to look at a kayak (a Perception Shadow).  It was a little tight for me with the size 11 shoes but SAM said it fit the size 9’s OK.  Anyway we put a down payment on it and I will return tomorrow to pick it up.  It is a pretty clean 16.5′ sea kayak.  We will see how SAM handles it as it is narrow and has a shallow V bottom – it will be tippy.  Several other pieces of gear will come with it but they are mostly worthless to us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Edit | Comments Off

Beautiful Closing Weekend

October 11th, 2008

I came up to the boat on Wednesday and installed the Remote Panel for the PathMaker 200 combiner.  Now I will not have to manually switch from start battery to Both for charging.  When on Shore Power the combiner is activated so all 5 batteries are in parallel.  If the combined battery voltage drops below 13.1 VDC the combiner seperates ths start and house batteries.  When the boat engine starts the alternator will bring the batteries up past 13 .4 VDC and the combiner connets the house and start batteries.  If you are using a wind generator and/or solar panels and the battery voltage goes above 15.0 VDC the combiner also kicks out seperating the hosue and start batteries.  I bought it off of eBay for a very low price with Remote Indicator.

Today I awaited SAM’s arrival but vehicle trouble resulted in a wasted day.  Tomorrow we will take the sails down for the season.  We will probably come up on the weekends until haul out but will have to motor only.

We too a long beach walk with friends and then went to dinner.  Weather was perfect and seas almost perfectly flat but there was no wind .  Not one sailboat was out.

Posted in Uncategorized | Edit | Comments Off