Getting the FAX! Weather fax that is...

We're planning our trip to the Bahamas in late spring/early winter. The boat is pretty much ready all except a few rigging checks/repairs as needed.

I'm really interested in understanding the weather options: How to get weather reports and how to include them in our cruising plans. Here in the USA we can get weather reports on the boat via the VHF Radio, Locally on our Phones & Tablets.

So far I have got the radio that can receive the weather faxes, it's a Tecsun PL-880 that has an SSB receiver and is a pretty cool radio. I also ordered a long HF antenna wire, but it has not arrived yet, should be here any day now.

Also got the HF Weather FAX app for my Android Tablet. But so far we have been too close to shore in order to get the signal to noise ration on the SSB down to where we can actually get the weather fax audio which will be the input for the Tablet.

Meanwhile, I'm studying weather lessons on the web and have a bunch of resources.

Weather Surface Charts from NOAA

Legend of Weather Chart Icons

NOAA Weather Symbols & Test Chart

Jeff Haby's online Weather Course

And the list keep growing.

Right now I'm working my way to understanding the weather faxes (weather surface charts from NOAA above) by reviewing all of the charts available on a daily basis. I feel that I'm getting reasonable at interpreting them, I forecast the storm that hit the cruise ship out of New Jersey last week with really high winds and waves. - Not my work, but at least I was able to tell myself that I did not want to be in that area ahead of the reports.

Of course, we'll have cell phone coverage for much of the time we're in the Bahamas, so we should be able to get SailFlow.com data and receive the weather faxes from NOAA from the link above. But I feel that learning to read the charts ahead and make a more informed expectation of the upcoming weather will only be a benefit. Plus, with all the spare time we'll have aboard during our trip, what else am I going to do?

See you on the Water.

Paul

A stitch in time

For Christmas, my Birthday, and probably every anniversary in the future, I purchased a Sailrite LSZ-1 Sewing Machine - just in time!

For those of you that are not familiar with SailRite, they make awesome Sewing Machines, and the LSZ-1 was my choice.

For the past 10 years, I have done various canvas repairs or new canvas projects, everything from a Cover for our onboard TV, to a full blown Riding Sail for our previous sailboat. With our purchase of Eximius, I knew that we were going to have to spend a lot of dollars on Canvas work and our experience has been that if you pay for it, you really pay for it! The Sewing Machine cost just shy of $1,000 including shipping. To rationalize the purchase, I made a list of things that could be done if I owned a 'Real' sewing machine capable of sewing canvas - multi layers.
Here's my list:

• Winch Covers.
• Wheel & Pedestal & Instrument Covers
• Cockpit Engine Control Panel Cover
• Cabin Bug screen for V-Berth & Opening Ports
• New Covers for the V-Berth Cushions.
• Fender Covers (we have 6 Big Fenders)
• Tool roll for the wrenches kept on board (the original plastic tool holders fell apart)
• Companionway Cover
• Weather Cloths (Port & Starboard)
• Chaps for our Dinghy
• Dinghy Outboard Engine Cover
• Lee Cloth for Port Settee
• Garbage Can(cloth) for Galley
• Boom Tent (to keep boat cooler during the summer)
• New Dodger (old is falling apart)
• New Dodger Side Panels (to go with the new Dodger)

If you have not spent money on Canvas work, allow me to point out, that list will cover the cost of the machine about 3 times over!

This is the 'Kit' that I purchased, it weighs about 65lb, and the carrying box is strong enough to carry it, but I need to work out more.

The kit is portable, a lot of owners take their machine on board their boat all over the world. Luckily we carry a generator on board in case we ever need to use it afloat.

Note that little DVD package leaning against the case, that's a really good video and well worth watching.

Anyway, back to the 'Stitch in Time' thing. 

I finally did a few test pieces using the new machine, WOW, it easily sewed 8 layers of Sunbrella, I mean, it did not hesitate, the biggest issue I had was learning how to be tender with the foot control, it stitches those 8 layers so fast that it's easy to pass the end of the test pieces.

Next job was to repair our dodger, that's the canvas piece that keeps the weather out of the Cabin Entrance and provides a bit of wind shield when needed. The stitching on one of the zips was failing, wrong type of thread used in some past repair. The machine zipped through that repair (pun intended). But when we went out for the chili cook off, I tripped and put my weight onto the dodger canvas. That found another area where the thread has suffered UV damage and basically just came apart. So I brought the Dodger back home again and restitched it.

This job was a bit more complex, the restitching was pretty easy, but repairing the end connectors where the canvas had torn over several years was a challenge. Challenge for me, not the machine.

So hopefully, that stitch in time will prevent future failures until I can make an entirely new dodger & side panel set.

I mentioned about reviewing the DVD that came with the kit. That turned out to be a really valuable exercise.

While working on another project, adding a strap to a shade to go outside over our swimming pool (another item to add to the list of projects to pay for the machine) I broke a needle, it was my fault, and a lesson learned. However, after replacing the needle, the machine would not sew properly, and that's where reviewing the DVD turned out to be worth while.

The needle broke because I failed to follow a basic instruction, 'always put the foot lift lever down before commencing sewing' and the needle bent and dug a hole in an internal piece of the machine.

The DVD explained how that could happen, and what would be the consequence, and it's exactly what I experienced. I followed the instructions and filed out the ding in the workings, but the stitching was still just not right. It's amazing the confidence one has when armed with the right information. I reviewed the DVD again about the things to check and that's where I was able to figure out that the problem remaining was that the needle was not inserted high enough, it was an easy diagnostic after watching the video. A quick adjustment to the needle position and a test showed that everything was now ok.

So a big Thanks to the guys at Sailrite, and if you get one of their machines, watch the video!

Next project? We have the big Raft up event coming up on March 5th, and we have to have clean fenders! So it looks like I'll be making the fender covers next. They cost around $30 each! So get ready to recoup about $120 of the cost of the machine. Only $850 to go!

See you on the Water.

Where was everyone?

Where was everyone??

Peggy & I were aboard Eximius for a day sail outside of Port Everglades with Bob & Pat from Esprit Du Vent, another Catalina 34.

Bob & Pat arrived early, thank you! and paid attention as I read though the New Crew/Passengers Check List. Then after our Preparing to cast off check list, we headed out from the slip and motored down the New River... and for the first time ever, the East Coast Railroad Bridge was down. Most likely for a few minutes before we got sight of it, and of course, Andrews Avenue Bridge was down as no point in it opening. So we hung out keeping station for less than 10 minutes, then the bridges opened and we passed though without incident.

Sneaking under the closed 17th street causeway bridge in very light winds, we turned out towards the ocean raising the main then unfurling the jib about 10:00 as expected.

Wind all over the place but mostly from the north. After It got a bit crispy, we headed back into Port Everglades around noon and got to Lake Sylvia around 12:40 at anchor.... We had our Burgee out so that everyone could find us, but nooooooobody there ??

So we enjoyed lunch, alone on the hook till after 2pm then pulled the anchor and headed home. Sorry we missed the other club members... we had 4 bottles of wine, lots of cold drinks, Veggie & Fruit Platters, Coffee, fruit, yogurts, wraps, crackers & cheeses, so we dined well! Sorry we missed them.

We heard 'Magic' calling bridges but nothing on the horizon. Then as we headed up the new river, the East Coast Railroad bridge was closed - again! This time we were east of Andrews avenue bridge and heard over the radio that a TowBoatUS was dragging a 'quite large catamaran' out of the river and were upstream of 7th avenue bridge. We called Andrews to let them know we were in line and called Tow Boat US to discuss options for us two passing between the bridges. They agreed that we should head through the bridges ahead of them. We were able to hold station really well downstream of Andrews bridge and could see the railroad bridge from our position. Several boats on our Stbd side were tide up alongside the river, and they were obviously discussing our position holding. But we did really well.

Finally the northbound train passed over the bridge and both the FEC bridge and Andrews started to open. As agreed, we snuck through first, hugging the fenders on the North side of the river. We thanked the Andrews Avenue Bridge tender for the opening and then the TowBoaUS for allowing us to go through first, and then we remarked that TowBoatUS had not told us they were towing a spaceship! Wow, what a great looking Catamaran! SyFy!

The rest of the trip up the river was pretty routine and we tied up after Peggy did a great job bringing Eximius alongside our slip. Then a few minutes patiently swinging the boat to face back East before tying the lines and putting the fenders out. 

Bob and Pat were great company today, we really enjoyed sharing our experiences with them and very glad that they were able to come out even if it was a kinda short sail.

See you on the Water

Goodbye Florida!

We have enjoyed sailing our boat on the ocean off of the coast of Florida, and we keep her at a slip in Fort Lauderdale, but we don't know how long we can continue to do that as the anchoring restrictions law has just passed it's first hurdle in the Florida House.

What does this mean for us and for other boaters?

1st, if the law is finally passed, then we will not be able to anchor in Florida! That means we have to leave our slip and sail to other places where we can anchor, that's not in Broward county! So the first loser (after ourselves) will be the home owner from whom we rent the slip... that will cost him around $4800 a year!
Next will be the local marinas - as we will not be able to anchor in Broward county, then marinas here will not be able to get our business... that will cost them about $3000 a year.

Then there will be the untold cost of tourists from out of state curtailing their visiting to south florida... they'll head directly to the Bahamas bypassing Florida. Hopefully they won't get caught in bad weather because they have nowhere to anchor until it improves, but if they are caught out in rough seas and have to call the Coast Guard, that will cost the government a fortune.

Next to feel the effect is the Miami Boat Show! When buyers find out that they cannot anchor their boat in Broward county, well... Oh, perhaps we'll by a ticket to fly to the Bahamas or even Cuba!

Whatever way you look at it, this is a disaster for Florida Business, Boat Owners, and Tax Payers!

The 1%er's are buying their politicians to get the bill through. So it comes down to the Ballet Box! They are all up for re-election soon! and their stance on this bill will be recorded.
Some really powerful lobbying has to be going on here.

For the record! If a politician promises to strike down this bill, they'll get my vote.

Under Attack! Again & I didn't win the lottery!

The latest round of attacks on boat anchoring rights is up for grabs on Tuesday this week.

Wealthy waterside home owners must be pumping big money into our politicians in an attempt to introduce legislation via Florida House Bill HB1051 - That Bill (and in my language, Bills are normally expensive) would set the stage for anyone to request implementation of anchoring restrictions in their neighborhood by quoting the HB1501 as a precedent.

In Short - If HB1501 is passed, boaters will be unable to anchor anywhere in Florida within just a few years. That means a lot of boaters will avoid Florida as they won't be allowed to anchor overnight.

And... you can bet that once they have the option to ban overnight anchoring, then daytime anchoring will follow quickly.

Please read Wally Moran's post about this Bill on Anchoring Restrictions in Florida, I have put a link to his article at the bottom of this post.




Here's the link to the Florida State Legislators. 
If you are a Floridian, then email the members of the subcommittee and then PHONE them on Monday. Put a mark in your Calendar!

Here's the email that I sent to Katie Edwards (D) 

Paul Alcock

01/24/16 8:04 AM

To the Honorable Katie A. Edwards;

Hi Katie,
I appreciate that you allow us to reach you by email and I do so today because of my opposition to HB1051.

My wife & I own a 34' Sailboat on which, this past year, has cost us approximately $60,000, all of that spent at local businesses, private marinas, city marinas, and taxes.

As a home owner and Florida voter and am writing to express my opposition to HB1051 Recreational Boating Zones.

This bill will restrict overnight anchoring in five areas that have historically been used by Florida cruisers and visitors from out of state.

The bills interfere with our maritime rights to navigation which include anchoring. Anchoring restrictions impact many Florida recreational boaters who regularly cruise the waters and rivers of the state by limiting places to safely stop for the night, reprovision and get out of severe weather. Four of the proposed areas are in Southeast Florida where thousands of boaters transit yearly. Many marinas in Florida do not allow transient docking or in many cases are full and unable to accept additional boats

I urge you to vote against this bill.

Please be aware of the basis of this Bill: There is no safety concern, no government financial benefit, and no purpose to the Bill other than to remove the rights of us Citizens to be able to anchor our boats overnight on the public waters around Florida.

Once again, I urge you to vote against this bill.

Thank you.

Paul & Peggy Alcock
Florida Democratic Voter, Broward Resident, American Citizen.

Here's the link to Wally Moran's Article

Chicken or Wise?

The Sea demands attention, if we ignore her, we do so at our peril.

Plan was to head down to the Lake (Sylvia) today and meet with a bunch of HISC members to celebrate a Birthday (Happy Buffday Dale!) - But a front came down our way and everyone chickened out, or were they Wise?

I vote for the Wise designation! It's only a lake, and for most of us, about an hour on the boat to get there, but... Wind is already in the high 20's and expected to rise gusting to 40! It might be bright and sunny outside, but the wind chill is ... well ... chilling! Water temp is probably pretty low (by South Florida Standards) so the boat would be CoooooL!

So I think we all made the wise decision to postpone till another day.

Time to head over the the Marine Flea Market that is in Pompano this weekend!

See you there, or See you on the Water.

Paul

Genny Power

Putting things together for our trip to Biscayne Bay next week, I wanted to make a cable to connect our Honda Generator to the boats AC power service.

Recently I had upgraded our shore power cable to a Smart Plug, this gives us greater reliability in the boat's shore power system, much less prone to unplugging and reduces the risk of fire due to the old style power connector.

The Honda has both the traditional 3 prong 15Amp 110v receptacle and the twist lock 30Amp connector similar to most Marina Boat Docks. So I decided to use th 30Amp connector on the Generator and connect that directly to the boat's shore power connector.
Of course, the Genny max rating is 2KW =~ 18Amps, but I prefer the twist lock all the same. I have to make an Adapter cable to go from the 30Amp twist lock to a 15Amp recepticle just in case we ever come across a dock that does not have the 30Amp shore power. I just dislike having Adapters, IMHO they are not a good thing to have in an outdoor supply line.

9' 30Amp power cord