Our sailing experience on a 1987 Catalina 34 which we named 'Eximius' which google showed as the Latin translation for 'Special'
We hope that our posts will help others looking to take their boat beyond the local waters as well as provide entertaining reading.
I'm a Brit, so my view of entertaining may not match yours ;)
See you on the water.
The Journey Starts Here
Paul
Servicing the four winches on Eximius has been on my mind for quite a while. I know they have not been serviced in the past 17 months and not sure when any of the previous owners serviced them. I spent quite a while reading up on the web about how to do it, what materials I would need and when and where to service them, even should I get them serviced by a pro!
I can't think of a good analogy about what a winch is to a boat compared to anything on a car, but having winches to help maintain the correct tension on the sail control lines is a big deal. Winches have only been around for about 2,500 years! and modern winches are a beautiful thing, if they are maintained. A broken winch is totally useless.
This is our Port Side Gib Winch. It's a Lewmar 46 Two speed winch. the 46 indicates that it has a gear ration of 46:1 or If I put 10lb of effort on the winch handle, the winch will put 460lb of effrot on the line applying tension to the Genoa (Gib Sail)
I have heard horror stories about what folks found when they tried to service their winches. From the stories of bits flying off the boat into the water to the winches being so badly seized up that it's impossible to service them.
So I began this job with quite a bit of trepidation.
Setup the Work Area
In an attempt to prevent parts falling off the winch during dismantling, I followed the advice of others and cut a disc out of the bottom of a cardboard box and surrounded the winch with the box.
Then 4 Screws removed to get the the Main Winch spindle retaining clips.
The Screws came out easily - Phew!
I had a plastic caddy nearby to put small parts as they came off the winch.
Here's a series of pics that I took as I progressed. The reason for taking them was simply to allow me to look back at them when reassembling the winch.
Once the line hook was off, the next part was to remove the self tailing disks.
Once the selftailing disks were off, the Drum was simply lifted up off of the main spindle.
Next, time to remove the bearing races and spacers.
Now the two speed gear spindles can be seen, they were stiff to remove but not really difficult.
Spindle looks pretty grotty, so do the gears
Time for the other two speed Spindle and Gear Assembly
Going well so far.
Now to remove the main spindle
I used the Winch handle to pull the spindle out the top of the winch spindle housing. It was pretty stiff, felt definitely un-lubricated.
Lots of grot on the inside of the base and the main spindle tube was totally dry with a crud build up, have no clue what it was, I cleaned it out using Simple Green and rags.
Then I spent a coule of hours cleaning each piece. I used a gentle green pot scourer and plenty of simple green. I had carefully scratch off some of the really hard crud that was inside the gear teeth, but other than that, everything cleaned up really well. Sorry, didn't take pics of the shiny parts.
When putting it back together I used small amounts of Super Lube and a light water proof grease on the palls.
It went together really well and the difference in operation was immediately obvious: No screeching as the handle was turned, in either direction. The drum spun nicely and the two speed gearing worked perfectly.
Now to get the other 3 winches done, I hope I'm as lucky with them as with this one.
We had the chance to take Eximius out for a few days, but the weather suggested waiting till nearly mid week, else we would have been out on the water and headed down to Biscayne Bay on Saturday - Weather sometimes Sucks!
But it's often better to hang back and go when things get better. So we agreed to take the boat down to Lake Sylvia on Tuesday thru Friday and just take a Day Sail if the weather was ok.
Tuesday: We set off from the dock around Noon, best time for the tides and to ensure we didn't get stuck on any of the shallow areas near the outer end of the Canal where we keep the boat. We loaded the boat on Monday with Non perishables and drinks (Wine, Rum, Water and a few soft drinks - Low Sugar variety) So we only had to take a few bags down on Tuesday, I'm always surprised how much it takes to spend a few nights on the boat. Those 'few bags' included, Clothing, our 'Bag' of Electronics and a few last minute food items, you know, the ones we forgot on Monday!
As always, we ran the engine for a few minutes before leaving the dock, and this time Peggy noticed that the engine temp was above the normal 145°F, it got up to 175° and that's not good. Didn't take long to figure out the Raw Water intake was restricted. I removed the Raw water Filter and flushed out the inlet by letting about a pint of water flood in with the Thru Hull Valve open, then put it all back together. Nailed it! Started the engine and it dropped back down to 145° within less than a minute. Phew!
Cast Off
All set, we cast off and headed out of the canal.
Passing a couple of derelict live-a-board boats that give all boaters a bad rap. One we have seen before, at least we saw the top of it as most was under water.
Tried out my new Selfie Stick as we approached the turn from the North Fork of the New River where it joins the South Fork and becomes the New River proper. It was a beautiful day.
Normally I stand by the bow to give early notice to Peggy at the helm if there are any boat obstructing the channel ahead. It was clear.
Turning to the 1st Bridge
Ok, we have past the 11th Avenue Swing Bridge, but the 7th Avenue is the first bridge that opens 'Up' for us, it's just around the bend from the fork in the New River, close to Cooley's Landing. We stay close to the South side of the River here so that the Bridge Tender can see us when we call in for an opening. Like all the bridges on the New River, they open on demand except between 6:30am and 9:00 am and between 4:30pm and 6:00 pm. We hail the bridge just after we come around the bend as soon as we have the bridge in sight. 7th Avenue bridge opens pretty quickly, so we try to be up to full speed as soon as we see the bridge spans start to move.
Clearing the bridge
Peggy is at the helm as we pass 7th Avenue. We have made this trip dozens of times now, and Peggy is really good about getting us through the bridges at a decent speed and right down the middle.
Great place to pick up guests
After passing 7th Avenue, we arrive at Sailboat Bend, this is a great place to pickup guests. They can drive to the parking lot by the Museum of Science & Discovery, then walk down to the floating docks to meet us. The docks are available on a first come first serve basis, but I don't think there is any overnight docking, not that we have ever traversed the New River at night - Yet!
It's great having a good partner at the Helm.
With the boat still setup for motoring, I get to relax while Peggy makes all of the turns in the New River, We have to pass through the Florida East Cost Railway bridge (normally open but becoming more 'used' due to the BrightLine railway development.) with the Pirates Republic bar and grill on the the South West side of the Railway bridge then Andrews Avenue bridge with the Briney Pub on the North West side of the Bridge and the Downtowner Bar & Grill on the South East side of Andrews Avenue bridge.
Andrews Avenue bridge also has water discharge sluces on either side of the bridge. When they open, the water flow is sufficient to blow us over to the South side of the River, and if we are approaching the bridge from either side, those sluce gates can get us. We anticipate them opening and either hold back or charge through them to reduce their impact. They only open for a couple of minutes, but they seem to wait till we are nearby before they dump the local rainwater out into the river.
The rest of the trip down to Lake Sylvia is pretty straight forward motoring, past 3rd Avenue Bridge and then over the Tunnel (Federal Highway passes below the New River just East of 3rd Avenue.) around Tarpon Bend and then the motor eastwards leaving Sand Bar Park to Starboard as we head towards Bahia Mar before turning south into Lake Sylvia.
Anchored at Lake Sylvia
Once anchored, we practice a few standard procedures to make sure we're ok for the night.
Set the Anchor Alarm as close to the point where we drop Anchor. I set the Alarm for twice the amount of anchor rode that I let out. That way we can turn a full circle around the anchor without the alarm going off, but if we go outside of that circle, it will scream at us. We have had many nights disturbed by a screaming anchor alarm.
Let out a scope of 7:1 anchor rode. So if we are in 10 feet of water and our bow is 3' from the water, that's 13' from bow to bottom. Multiply that by 7 gives 91' Most of Lake Sylvia is less than that, and at low tide we're lucky to have 7' water depth. So 70' is a safe drop for us.
Once the anchor is down, backup to dig it in, it's muddy down there, and when the anchor digs in while we're heading astern, we can feel the sudden tug as it brings us to a halt. Of course, the currents in Lake Sylvia are legendary, we have been at anchor and all of the nearby boats are facing almost in a circle, so we try to ensure we're not too close to any other boat. We ask, as we did this week, and the nearest neighbor was uncomfortable with how close we were to them. No big deal, we pulled the anchor backup and moved 80' away from him, of course, that put us nearer to another boat, but not so close. We stayed, probably, 60' from the nearest boat despite the fact that we were pointing in opposite directions at times.
Secure all mast lines, don't want them clanging all through the night.
Have a couple of fenders handy, just in case anyone gets too close for comfort.
Put up the Cockpit enclosure. We have shade netting for both sides and the rear of the cockpit, cuts the heat down (Sorry if you're out of State reading this, but it gets hot in the cockpit when the wind dies down and the clouds clear. )
Send a pic (the one above) to our kids. And hope that they send one or more back - we miss them.
Overnight on the Water is really special
Tuesday night we had dinner out in the cockpit, a glass or two of wine for Peggy and a Tot or two of Rum for me. Then an early night. Slept like a log, no anchor alarms (we didn't move outside of our set area) No clanking rigging lines, no Bumps in the night. So I woke up around 2am. Went out to the Cockpit and saw this. Beautiful Moon over Fort Lauderdale, and a couple of bright points, I think they were Jupiter and Spica that were clearly visible below the Moon in all it's glory. Had to take that pic and post it to my buds on Facebook.
The water was like glass, no wind, and the lights on the shore were mostly from boats in the lake's private marina. The sky was almost naked. Really was beautiful. Peggy woke up and asked what was happening, I pointed up to the Moon, she got it.
BFF - Break Fast Fried
Ok, I'll admit it, I like my morning Coffee and especially a Full Fried Breakfast - Eggs, Sausage, Toms and Toast. Although the Toast is actually Fried Bread - Definitely a winner.
This was our first meal where I used our new Herbs & Spices Box. A dash of Salt & Pepper and a pinch of Basil on those tasty Toms.
And I really don't like using Paper Plates, hence the Plastic ones that have lasted for several years now. More Environmentally acceptable. Plus it cuts down on Trash - that's a big Plus
Getting ready to go Sailing!
About time! After breakfast, we cleaned up the Cabin - Secure for Sea. That involves stowing anything that might get knocked around when we slosh through any rough waves (weather or idjot power boater that knows no better) and making sure all of the Ports are closed. This was standard practice when I was onboard Navy ships during my 25 years in the Royal Navy - But Peggy refuses to join 'My Navy' yet still, she gets it. And we make a pretty good job of Securing for Sea.
Had to show these off.
Our Daughter in Law gave us these Anchor Cushions for Christmas, they go pretty well with our Decor. Peggy thinks they are nice too, but also sees them as part of the 'Pauls Navy' problem. 😉
Time to take a dump.
If we're heading outside of the 3mile limit, we're proably going to empty the holding tank too. So we headed out of Port Everglades. We had the Main up after passing beneath the 17th Street Bridge and then turned East to head out of the Port Everglades Entrance. There's a large Condo building on the North side of the Entrance and a Rocky jetty on the South Side. It was Choppy!
We put the Jib out and turned down the engine as we left the Port. It was still Choppy! Not comfortable at all. But we were sailing. Then the wind died. It happens. This time it died after going crazy for about 20 minutes. The wind was wandering all over the place, and dropped down to less than 3 knots, that's not sailing weather. So we restarted the engine and headed out.
The wind did not improve, so we turned around and headed back to port. The sails were furled and in their bag, so there was not much to do as we headed back in under the closed 17th street bridge.
As always, other boaters that are passing under that bridge at the same time that we do, they look up at our mast head and seem to be certain that we'll hit the bridge. We won't we've measured our mast from the water to the top and add 4' to that to consider the VHF Antenna and the Wireless Wind Transducer that's sitting on top of the mast. We need 52' and that's available below the 17th street causeway bridge except during very high tides, we try to avoid those. But if we are headed beneath the bridge during those Spring or King Tides, we wait for the bridge to open.
Having only had about 30 minutes actually sailing, we headed back to Lake Sylvia and the same place that we spent last night was still available, so we dropped anchor and had lunch.
With most of the afternoon with not a lot to do, Right! that never happens. I got a couple of projects done.
The Canvas Bridge piece zipper that we stitched last week was not quite right, so I cut the stitching and redid it. Looked much better.
Peggy wanted to add a Speaker in the Cockpit for our Stereo System. There is a speaker out there but it's not connected to anything. I think it was originally used as a speaker for the VHF radio, but as we have a really nice remote Mic-Speaker at the helm, it's not needed for that. So I rewired it to hook into the Stereo system. Looking at the wiring behind the Stereo reminded me that I really needed to clean that up. I spent about an hour detecting which wire was which. Checking which wires I could remove and which needed rewiring due to bad joints.
I also connected that 4th speaker to the spare output from the Stereo.
We slept really well that night.
But sadly, Thursday's weather was to replicate Wednesday's. So we decided to just stay on the hook. More projects:
I have 4 large plastic bins under the Starboard side seats that hold my tools, consumables, Electrical bits and pieces and a ditty box. That's a lot of stuff that has grown over the past 22 months of owning Eximius. I took the time to identify duplicate tools, and to sort out each box so that their contents were more obvious. In the process I eliminated one box - that's huge! That box can be replaced with a nice one that can hold Non-Perishables for our longer trips.
Last year I added LED strip lights to the Cabin Port Side, but they were on all the time if the Cabin lighting circuit was energized. Not good. So, being able to locate the electrical bits and pieces to add an inline switch, I did. Now we can power up the cabin light circuit and turn off any unwanted lights. It means we can get up in the middle of the night, take a trip to the head and be able to see what we are doing. That's good.
And we realized that the additional Stereo speaker was not setup correctly, they were not attached to the correct stereo outputs. It took the two of us about a half hour to figure out which speaker wires went to which speakers (they are now all labeled) and which outputs from the Stereo were for which speakers (and they are also now labled). Result - Nice! We can Rear Fade the system so that the Cockpit gets' the most audio or Foward Fade the system to keep the cockpit quiet.
Not a bad days work. We slept well Thursday night too
Friday - Sail Day
Low Tide was at 8:59, so we delayed leaving the Lake till after 10am. I spent a while polishing up the Eisenglass panels around the cockpit. They need their dose of TLC every two or three weeks.
And I took this unedited video showing the other boats in the lake.
As we motored out of the Lake, we passed a boat from Coral Gables, GhiJhia (?) that was preparing to leave also. They were anchored pretty close to a known skinny area - we know about it because we've been stuck for several hours on that bit of skinny. I called out to advise and they acknowledged and followed us out of the lake as we stayed close to the Eastern side of the entrance channel.
And now we get to sail
At Last! We raised the sails as soon as we passed under the 17th Street Causeway bridge, hey, this is becoming normal! And we unfurled the Gib leaving 1 Reef in place as the wind was obviously picking up. Then we turned East to follow GhiJhia down the channel towards the Ocean. As quickly as the wind popped up after raising the sail, it died again before we past the South Jetty. Come ON!
Once past the South Jetty though, it got better. The wind picked up to over 10knots and the sea was CALM! Beautiful day to be sailing.
And it gets Better!
After heading out we practiced Hoving Too. We had done this several times during our Basic Keel Boat sailing course with the ASA, but had not yet done it on our own boat. The course obviously taught us well. We were doing about 5knots with a 12knot wind on a Starboard Tack. We simply turned to Starboard as though we were going to go about, but left the Port Gib Sheet in place. As soon as we went through the wind, I turned the wheel to port. That left us with the boat trying to turn to Starboard - the Gib was backwinded and the Main had flopped over to Starboard. The rudder was trying to turn us back to Port. Result - Nothing! We had ZERO speed through the water. The helm was steady and I could have just locked the wheel and kept us slowing drifting with the Ocean at about 1knot (GPS) to the North. Cool!
To get back on course, I simply turned the wheel to Starboard and we came back onto our original heading on a Starboard tack.
After an hour of really good sailing towards Bimini, 50miles away and not on our schedule today. we turned back to Port Everglades.
And yet still better!
The wind was from the South, mostly around 10 to 15 knots, we were doing an easy 5 to 6 knots in a sea that was only lumpy when a stink potter blasted by leaving a wake 4' high.
Peggy asked when we were going to drop the main, we normally would do that before we entered the Port Everglades Entrance Channel. Not today! I explained how I would like to actually sail under the 17th Street Causeway bridge.
WE DID - Our First!
The Port Everglades Entrance Channel is wide, has to be to allow all of the Cruise Ships that use the Port. We kept on the South side of the Channel as much as we could, so the incoming power traffic stayed off to our Starboard Side, and we were far enough over to port that any outgoing traffic could easily pass us but allow them to still be on the South side of the channel. Once we got near the turning basin, we kept on heading West as I really wanted to keep clear of that nasty outcrop where the channel turns into the Intra Coastal Water way.
At that point, the wind was from directly astern. We put the Traveller all the way to Port and were able to keep the Gib to port - windy was being nice to us.
We sailed under the bridge - that felt really good. Other boats following us were able to pass us as we sailed under, and others were able to pass us coming South towards us.
After passing the bridge, we put the engine in gear (we had it running all the time as we approached the bridge). The wind had dropped a bit and we were able to drop the mainsail without turning into the following wind. The Gib was furled in easily and we headed up the Intra Coastal crossing over to the West side to rejoin the New River by Sandbar Park.
The trip backup the river was easy - Gravy to a great day out.
By the time we got back to the Slip. we had a new President.
Our Lifesling2 is 19 years old, although we have only owned it since 2015 when we purchased Eximius. The bag was failing, literally falling apart.
The Old Bag
Sun has done a number on the material of the old bag. The top has started to disintegrate, the sides are getting crispy.
Considering the bag is nineteen years old, it's not that bad and I have seen worse.
The instructions are practically useless as when the bag is attached on our boat, the instructions face outwards, so they cannot be seen from the cockpit where the crew will be frantically deploying the LifeSling that is inside the bag.
I cleaned the LifeSling with OxyClean and it looks like new.
So we needed a new Bag.
Not designed for our boat
The bag attaches to the Rails on our boat, so the lower central velcro strap is useless. If the LifeSling is attached to a Lifeline stanchion, then that design is great, but when mounted on the rails at the side of the stern, the bag is only attached with the two upper velcro straps.
You can see the red horizontal marks that I made while the bag was attached to the boat indicating where the lower rail was located.
Of course,That's close to the wear mark from side to side.
Yes, the top did leak!
Gross
The bag is stiffened with plastic inserts on the sides and front and back. The insides were pretty bad, I guess years of dark damp un-ventilated conditions encouraged the moldy growth.
The good news was that it washed off the plastic with just some soap and water, the old bag was not so lucky, it's pretty ingrained on the inner surfaces.
Mold is something all sailors want to keep off their boats. It smells, nasty to touch and has health related issues. Get rid of it.
My Workshop
My garage is now setup with a nice work table 8' long with overhead lighting, Tools like the Hot Knife and Material Press are hanging overhead in easy reach. And my SailRite LSZ-1 is setup.
Nearby I keep a Yard stick, Tape Measure, and 6" Sewing Gauge, a Right Square, and Steel Tape Measure.
I use an 8" by 30" piece of 1/2" Plywood as a backer when I'm cutting Sunbrella using the Hot Knife (a must have tool!)
There's also a selection of Marking pens, pencils, and sharpeners. Of course some really good fabric scissors. And my notebook.
On the floor is a box fan that sucks away the fumes when using the Hot Knife.
Getting started
After cutting the side, front and back panels open and pulling the plastic inserts out, it's time to measure the old bag.
Adding 1" to all the measurements to allow for the seam joints and measuring at least twice, I keep a notebook just for project measurements.
The new bag will be made out of SeaMark Royal Blue Tweed 60" Waterproof Fabric and Phifertex Vinyl Mesh White 54" Fabric. I purchased 5 yards of the Royal Blue Tweed fabric a year ago in anticipation of a list of projects for Eximius.
The Phifertex is a mesh matarial and that will be used for the inner bag that holds the LifeSling Line and also for the bottom of the bag to allow it to breath, hopefully that will prevent milldew and mold buildup.
Cutting out the panels
The bag consists of 4 side panels (Inside & Outside, Left & Right) 2 Front Panels (Inside & Out), 2 Back Panels (ditto), Bottom Panel (Phifertex), Inside Bag, Top Panel and Boxing (the sides of the top extend down over the bag) and the Plastic Stiffeners that I recovered from the old bag.
Not visible in the picture is the fact that I marked each Panel with it's name eg. Left Inside, Left Outside etc. using a white fabric marking pencil. I made the marks on the inside of each panel. That was an early lesson in previous projects - make any marks on the Back or Inside of the material - just in case they want to be permanent.
Front Panel
I had to start somewhere and this was the simplest panel to make.
The velcro at the top outside of the panel is for securing the top when the bag is closed (realistically, it'll only open for inspection, MOB practice and if someone really does fall overboard)
Here's a pic showing completed front panel - it's two layers that will be separated by the plastic stiffener.
The Line Bag
The mesh line bag keeps the line neat and tidy inside the LifeSling cover. It will be sewn to the back inside panel.
The inner bag is not sewn to the front panel as the LifeSling has webbing that is attached to each side of the sling. If the Inner bag was sewn to the front panel, that webbing would prevent the LifeSling from being inserted in the bag.
I triple checked the measurements of the inner bag. The top edge of the mesh is set down from the top of the LifeSling bag. That is to allow the flotation packs of the LifeSling to sit above the inner bag.
Bag Complete
After making up all of the Panels and sewing them together, my first LifeSling bag is complete except for the top.
The cutout in the top of the back panel is to allow the end of the LifeSling's line to exit the bag and be secured to the boat rail. Just imagine the crew frantically opening the bag and tossing out the LifeSling to a crew member that is now disappearing off the stern of the boat - Now is not the time to find out the sling is not attached to the boat!
Inside the Bag
Here's a view looking down into the bag. The Inner bag is plenty big enough to hold the LifeSling line and you can see the mesh bag bottom.
Top Done
The top is a departure from the example shown on the SailRite website. My design has the top boxing running all the way around the Bag, I really want to try and keep the water out. Of course that means rain! I hope never to be in seas big enough to douse the top of the bag.
The LifeSling is now in the bag, fits great.
Back Panel with Custom Mounting Straps
The mounting straps are made with Sunbrella and Velcro.
They wrap around the Stern Rails on Eximius.
The LifeSling line is hanging out of the cutout and gets attached to the Rail before the boat leaves the dock!
Finished
This turned out really well. Like every sewing project so far, I learned a lot.
-- Think through about how the project is going to be used.
We installed the newly Bagged LifeSling on the boat yesterday, fit - Great, Looks - I know pride is a sin, but it looks really good.
Very pleased.
Thanks to SailRite's How To Videos, I must have watched this one a dozen times.
Note: The SailRite video shows a Tab for opening the top of the cover. I figured that as the bag opens from outside on our boat, that the user will be ripping the lid off from the cockpit and won't bother looking for a Tab to open it, they'll be scratching, grabbing, ripping anyway they can. It's not that difficult to open, and the tab is really not required.
I will add Man Overboard routine to my 'Welcome Aboard Eximius' document that I read to any new crew that come out with us.
The PO. had installed high level seating in the cabin, they provide a ton of storage beteew them and the original seats, but... the wooden supports were just plain ugly, sorry Deke.
I used some left over stainless tubing and some unused rail fittings. 20 mins work on all done.
Making it easier for Peggy to manage.
Sitting on Lake Boca for the New Year's weekend, we put the dink in the water and prepped to lower the outboard.
Peggy commented that it would not be so easy when we get the bigger engine for our trip to the Bahamas.
Add another project to the in case it rains list.
By the time I had updated the project list, the plan was complete.
I had a cleat on board, and a block and shackle, and I always have the tools with plenty os stainless screws.
Ok, so we haven't taken Eximius on any long trips - YET! but that is our plan, and when we do, it will most likely be just Peggy & I aboard, that's shorthanded sailing. So we take boat safety pretty seriously.
Where are we?
We know where we are, heck, we have a Main GPS with Radar, a Handheld GPS (battery powered), and at least 2 cell phones onboard each with GPS and a tablet running Navionics, as well as always carrying paper charts on board.
You know where we are!
Ok, close friends and family know where we are. We carry a SPOT locator on board and typically it's on and tracking whenever we are on the boat away from the dock, even when at Anchor or rafted up with a buddy boat. So our BFFs can check the web to see where the boat is (and has been for the past week) and we send out 'We're OK' emails from SPOT with the link to the website several times during trips.
But Where am I?
More importantly, if I'm not on the boat and should be, where the heck am I?
Peggy gave me an early Christmas gift this year, an ACR ResQLink+ Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) - very cool! Here's a link to the ACR site for this PLB
Of course, it's not just a case of Buy it and Use it, everything has to get registered nowadays, so here's the process so far today:
Register the device with ACR for Warranty
Easy, create a new account at www.acrartex.com
Complete the online registration - All done
Register the device with NOAA so that they know who they are looking for (hope it never comes to that, but it's great insurance)
Setup an account at beaconregistration.noaa.gov and confirm
Complete the online registration - our boat is already documented so that was easy, but it's just as easy if the boat is not documented.
Verify the account and get the completed registration form as a PDF via email immediately. All Done.
Submit the Rebate form for the $50 rebate (WooooHooo!)
Print out the form from www.acrartex.com
Mail it with the WestMarine receipt, Noaa Registration, Proof of Purchase and the completed rebate form.
All done - but I'll wait till the rebate check arrives within 3 months before celebrating.
Me thinks that the best use for this safety device is that it will be worn by any crew that is out of the cockpit. Perhaps I'll make a baggy for it with quick attachment to our PFDs. Another project for my sewing skills. 👍
Since I retired, my HDL (Honey Do list) has grown to the point where Peggy suggested that I write it down somewhere that I can always get to it, so I'm in the process of adding my Honey Do list to the blog site. I guess that's another item for the list!
One list item was to replace the master bedroom door, it's the last hall door to replace with a nice varnished door to match the others. Of course I needed a few tools to do it and make a nice job, including a spatula to smooth out the filler that I used to clean up some of the older screw holes in the door frame. I have a whole set of spatulas, but could not find one anywhere. So I recalled the last time I used one. AhHa! I was working on varnishing the teak around the boat Companionway, so they must be on the boat. Sorry honey! It will have to wait till I get back down the boat and pickup my spatulas that I used while refinishing the tea around the Companionway.
Well, that worked!
It might be winter, but the grass still grows down here in South Florida. I lent my mower to a neighbor as his had broken. "Don't forget to check the Blade" was Peggy's response when I got the mower back. It's not that long since I checked the blade and then thought it was fine, but now it really does need a sharpen. Time to get out my trusty Angle Grinder, Oh! It's on the boat! "Why don't you get another one so that you have one at home too?" Good idea. Off I got to Harbor Freight and find the latest model that uses the same size cutting disks.
That worked!
Now sometimes I screw up, honest! The last time I was at the boat I replaced the Engine Stop cable which had seized solid. The new cable was about 3' too long and the only way to cut it neatly is to use an angle grinder, and I have 2 of them. What did I screw up? I brought the second one home last week with a bunch of other tools. Peggy had requested that I cut back on the number of tools on the boat, so I brought a whole crate load home - including the 2nd angle grinder.
That didn't work!
We keep the documentation for the boat in a satchel so that we can take it with us when we go away for a trip on the boat. You might be surprised how much stuff there it to have aboard. Not just the boat documentation, but the instrument manuals, owners manuals, etc. So the bag concept works great, well, that's great if you take it home. So when Peggy asked me about a function on the GPS - at home - at breakfast time, I had to reply - It's on the Boat!
I'm sure other sailors have a list of things they left on the boat and needed at home or worse, left at home when needed on the boat!
Perhaps I should build a list of what's On the Boat! Another task for the Honey Do List.
