Saturday, May 5,2012

A few days ago I sailed Sparrow from its Winter home on the Toms River down to Mystic Islands. I did the trip on the inside. I started at 9 AM, and ended at 7 PM. Ten hours. I figure that I gone about 35 or so miles. I followed the markings of the ICW. I was impressed with the condition of the route. there seemed to be plenty of water all the way. At one point though, near the end of Long Beach Island,  I hit a sand Bar.  I was following close to the red marker side, I spun the wheel and the current rotated me back out into deep water, and then I was on my way again. This I consider was a really good day and also good training for what is to come in another few weeks.
    While I was at the Marina I continued to install my electronics, mounting antennas, and running cables. My installation of my SSB radio in finished. Only one problem though. I turned it on, saw the screen, and froze. This is one complicated radio. Nothing like the VHF that we are use too. With the VHF you just choose a channel that you which to call on. Channel 16 for hailing or emergencies. Channel 13 for bridges, and you also have your working channels, 68, 69, 71,72 etc. Actually all you have to do is remember a few channels that you would use for different situations. In no way do you have to know or even care about what frequency you are communicating on. With Single Sideband Radio you have channels like the above, the only thing is you have a set of these for each of several frequency bands. For example you have the  4 MHz band, the 6, 8 , 12, 16, and 18 MHz bands. Why so many Bands? Because depending on the time of day, and the distances involved, and also possibly some Sun spot interference, you may be able to communicate on some frequencies and not others. Now you have this term ITU channels, for example : a working channel in the 6 MHz Band would be in the ITU 601 to 608 group. Now the ITU 601 channel corresponds to a set frequency. I am not sure what that frequency is at this point, but If you want to call on the ITU 602 channel, you would step up in frequency by 3 KHz exactly. And of course if you want to call on the ITU 603 channel you would step up another 3 KHz. Suppose you only step up 2 KHz from one of these ITU channels. Then you will be over- lapping or stepping on two channels and In such case the Coast Guard or FCC will want to have a talk with you. At this point I am just studying this radio, and I feel that it will take a little time before I feel comfortable with it.
    Also over the Winter I installed my Navtex Radio alerts receiver. As I described in a previous post this receiver gives me weather, navigation, safety, and  pirates alerts in text format.

   I am posting two photos one of how my navigation station looked when I first purchased my boat, and the other is how it looks today.
     I still have a few items to finish up on, for example my wireless antenna, my HUG security system which also contains a SPOT satellite communicator, and also a trunk or case for the cabin top to store the panels for my enclosure. I need extra storage. I figure in about three weeks, if all goes well, I will be taking off on a trip.
  Cheers
      George

Spring is coming, and still more things to do!

Hi All, Spring is on it's way, and I still have a few more projects to complete. Over the Winter I worked on my Enclosure and completed it. Or so I thought. This Enclosure wraps the complete cockpit with clear vinyl windows, which will be great in the cold weather, and will also protect you from bugs is the warmer weather. But that is where the unfinished business comes in. When it is warm out it will be too hot inside. So what I will do is replace one panel on each side with a screen door when the need arises. One little project. See Pic.

December Update

Over the past month I have been busy with the upgrade and preparation of  Sparrow for my trip next spring. Projects that I have been working on are; Replacing my navigation/anchor light (located on top of  the mast), Replacing the deck lights ( located on the bottom side of the spreaders), Hooking up the Newport diesel heater (located in the salon), Building a full enclosure for the cockpit area, and re-plumbing the bilge pump system (more on this later).
       I am trying to get the outside boat work done or mostly done while the weather is still decent. My plan is that when the winter weather arrives then I will work either on the inside of the boat or on the electronics, a lot of which can be setup and played with on the bench.
      Now back to my bilge pump setup. I have an upper and a lower bilge. I have a bilge pump at each level. Both of these are fed into a one way check valve and then connected together via a PCV WYE connector. The output of this connector goes to a 1-1/8" hose which leads to the stern of the boat.At the stern  the hose is fed into a PVC manifold along with two other output hoses. The other two hoses are a 1-1/2" Manual bilge pump hose, and a 5/8" RO water system hose. The purpose of the manifold is to reduce the number of holes drilled into the hull.
      The check valves, for the most part, are used to prevent the bilge pumps from cycling. That is once the bilge pump moves the last of the water below it up the hose, it will shut off. Now the water in the hose will flow back through the hose back into the bilge. At this point the bilge will turn on again, and there you have cycling. Another purpose for the check valves is to prevent the water pumped from one bilge pump from returning to the bilge via the other bilge pump when the other bilge pump in not running.
      Another feature of my bilge pump system is that the upper bilge pump has an alarm connected to it. In this way, if the alarm (which is a chime) comes on, then I will be alerted that a serious problem might exist.
      One more point: one reason that I am so involved with my bilge pump system is that I was using the Shields series 141 multi-flex hose, which is very easy to install, especially through tight areas. Problem with this hose though is that after a few years the hose becomes very rigid. That is to say, the hose that you could tie a figure eight in when first installed will crack on you if moved after sitting for a few years. This happened to me just before I was suppose to take off on my trip this year. I have now begun to use the Shields series 148 white vinyl hose. This hose is not as flexible as the other, but is a lot sturdier, and with a little ingenuity can be moved through tight areas.

      BTW, One more feature of a well constructed bilge pump system would be to have a high water alarm. This alarm would be positioned just an inch or so above the high water bilge pump. This alarm will sound if either the bilge pumps are not running, or they can not keep up with the amount of water entering the boat. Also the wiring to this alarm should be separate from the bilge pump wiring.
   See Photos.

End of the Trip

                                            Picture of Sparrow at her dock in Mystic Islands, NJ.


Yesterday I sailed Sparrow, with Don Baker along as crew,  up to her Marina. The ride was very nice. The day was beautiful.  We ran up along the coast with sadness watching other sailboats and trawlers heading south. Now that is not quite what I was planning to do this winter. So what happened? It could be said that I bit off more then I could chew, as far as the upgrades I planned for Sparrow. I have to respond that I only bit off what I had to. The problem being that I could not chew fast enough. What I found is that almost any job that you plan to do on a boat is never as straight foward as originally thought. There is always some unforeseen problem that won't appear until you start, and before you know it, a small installation job turns into a big project.
   Sparrow will continue to get her upgrades while wintering at the marina, and next Spring I plan to sail her down through the Chesapeake Bay. Next Fall again I plan to sail her to the Bahamas.
     Enjoy the Winter. Talk to you next Spring.
    George

Update Oct 14, 2011

Great day today. I had a list of things to do once I got to my boat. Feeling that if I finished them I would be satisfied with myself. Well things went so good, no screw ups, that I was able to start installing a second depth finder. Probably the most important instrument on the boat, and if one goes bad and it is the only one one that you have, you are in trouble.My planned departure day was suppose to be tomorrow. Well that ain't going to happen, but I thing that next week I will take the boat out for an over_nighter, test what I have installed and make my decision, as whether to go or not, based on the outcome. BTW my boat is 75 miles from my house. that equates to approx. 3 hours, round trip, travel time each time I go to it. I only wish that my boat was in my back yard. How quickly I would been able to get it in shape. I must say, I think that my good performance today was probably related to the yoga session that I had last night. You know it's really great for both the body and the mind.
  George
 

Update Oct 11, 2011

Well, you know, I wish that I could say that all was well, but unfortunately that ain't the case. I awoke this morning feeling a little depressed over Sparrow's progress but went down to the boat and was able to finish off, or at least push ahead with some of the projects. That made me feel pretty good. At the same time though a bilge pump hose sprung a leak. there is a type of hose that they use in the bilge that is very flexible, at least when you first install it, but after a while, a few years, it becomes very stiff and does not like to be flexed. Well I had to do some work on my bilge pump system and , I guess,  flexed  the hose. I finished the job and turned on the bilge pump, only to see water squirting all over the cabin. On investigation I realized that the hose cracked. After repairing it I starting thinking  about all the other things that are going to hell on this my pre-trip preparation . For instance I ordered this special fitting for my RO water system, which took a week and a half to arrive,  in my haste while working at home on some other boat projects, I lost it.  Last night my back up laptop crashed, and doesn't  want to come back. Did I mention that my Iphone drowned? Now I am not sure if all these little setbacks are a way of some higher power trying to tell me something, but as I said before, if I can not take off by Oct 31, then I have to  pull the plug. Trip will be delayed till next year.
   Oh BTW, the Annapolis Sailboat Show was great. So much to see. Lots of good Seminars.
George

Status Report October 6, 2011

Things are moving along pretty good on Sparrow. Upgrades are on schedule. I have 3, maybe 4 more  items to complete before she is ready to depart. There are some projects that will have to be completed along the trip. No time now. Nothing critical. Today I finished hooking up my water heater. Tested it. I will also have cabin heat at night while at anchor. I plan on going to the Annapolis Sail Boat Show this weekend. There I will be able to pick up last minute equipment, tips and advice. Next week I will be working on finishing up last minute work, and also provisioning the boat.
   I had originally planned on departing on  Oct 15, chances are I will overshoot that date by a week.  I must leave before November.
    Also sorry about no pictures. My Iphone fell into the bilge last week DOA. I just picked up a new camera, so next week I will include photos.