To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.

Team Red Cruising

  • A little touch-up

    Tue 06 April 2021

    Rust never sleeps. Also. Rock and roll will never die. But that's another story.

    We had two problems leading to water on the engine (and rust.) One of the deck drain fittings failed, leaking rain water over everything. This was an amazing amount of water. All the snow-melt from the …

  • It's going to look like this

    Mon 05 April 2021

    All the supports are inside the tank, screwed into the aluminum.

    They're more-or-less lined up, and they sit about as level as anything in a boat can sit. Which is to say, not level enough for billiards, but level enough that the olive doesn't get knocked out of my martini …

  • A few more coats of paint...

    Sun 28 March 2021

    Here's where the forward tank bladders stand.

    6D9D5F47-6115-4C22-84BA-9B8FD718AEDB 1 105 c
    6D9D5F47-6115-4C22-84BA-9B8FD718AEDB 1 105 c

    We've got hose and fittings.

    We've got a lower shelf with some bilge paint.

    I've cut the first of three parts of the upper bladder's shelf. (I'll post a picture next week.)

    I've measured yet again and discovered that …

  • V-Berth Shelving

    Tue 23 March 2021

    It's supposed to work like this:

    836EF65A-B84F-45E2-A98E-22784D13D09B 1 105 c
    836EF65A-B84F-45E2-A98E-22784D13D09B 1 105 c ""

    You can see the white supports. Two coats of bilge paint. Heavy-duty hardened steel self-tapping screws.

    The taped-together piece of cardboard is the pattern for the shelf that sits down there. It's much easier to build it with the supports …

  • Sails and Sail Covers

    Mon 15 March 2021
    16C7AD6A-0950-43AF-9BDD-D6CC1764AF60 1 105 c
    16C7AD6A-0950-43AF-9BDD-D6CC1764AF60 1 105 c

    Workarounds aren't really a good idea. We worked around a number of mainsail problems for years. We're finally past those not-to-smart compromises.

    I don't really have good pictures of the new sails. They went on late last year, and then came down for the winter, unused …

  • The Mizzen Bridle

    Mon 15 March 2021

    Red Ranger's original mizzen setup had the mizzen sheet attached to a wire bridle that was shackled to the deck. Simple. Reliable.

    But.

    With shackles, it was difficult to press the bridle into service as a traveler. The mizzen, like the main, needs to he held down when off the …

  • Former V-Berth Tank Interior Prep

    Sun 14 March 2021

    The remains of the V-Berth tank can hold two bladders. This requires a shelf. Since the bottom of the tank comes to a tiny little point, it requires two shelves: a top shelf that leaves 11″ of space and another shelf, 11″ below that.

    20D8B42F-E6CB-47E0-91EC-14C2C6EBEE50 1 105 c
    20D8B42F-E6CB-47E0-91EC-14C2C6EBEE50 1 105 c

    I've cut …

  • Water Tanks — Cut Once Measure Twice (?)

    Sun 07 March 2021

    The usual advice is measure twice cut once. But. We're not there yet.

    I've (finally) cut away enough of the top to reach inside and work. While it's taken a bunch of weekends, it's really one, long messy cutting job.

    We wait for afternoons where it gets up to about …

  • Water Tanks — Part III — The Wreckoning

    Sun 28 February 2021

    We've learned a lot of lessons.

    First, the 4″ segmented TiN coated blade for the Fein Multimaster is the secret to this job. See this from Multifit Blades. The technique of scribing the line carefully with the blade oscillating, followed by running the tool slowly back and forth works really …

  • Getting to Done

    Sun 14 February 2021

    For me, my day job things are rarely "finished" and "done."

    There are a lot of folks who can go home knowing they filled all the orders, dropped of all the shipments, closed all the tickets, and got things completely done. All the way done — for the day. Tomorrow there …

  • Water Tanks, Part II

    Sun 07 February 2021

    The reciprocating saw (known to us as "Maxx Damnage") let me make four long cuts in the space of a few hours.

    Sadly, once we're past the easy part, the new cuts involve less accessible places. And a less destructive saw.

    E8285F32-E915-4046-83F3-CF8C270B6110 1 105 c
    E8285F32-E915-4046-83F3-CF8C270B6110 1 105 c

    The DeWalt reciprocating saw is …

  • The Water Tanks

    Thu 21 January 2021

    See Water Tank Replacement for some back story.

    We've started taking steps. This involves radical destruction.

    First, get the anchor we've never used up and out of the bilge under the V-berth.

    0740F791-4045-43F4-9E26-6F48C722EC6D 1 105 c
    0740F791-4045-43F4-9E26-6F48C722EC6D 1 105 c

    We didn't even know we had this anchor until we'd owned the boat for …

  • The mallard families

    Sun 10 January 2021

    CA has a shiny, new Canon EOS.

    78502055-9F95-4D2A-B39F-57B287EA82D6
    78502055-9F95-4D2A-B39F-57B287EA82D6 ""

    The ducks living in the marina.

    We're checking on Red Ranger every other weekend (more-or-less.)

    We top off the battery water. Make sure nothing's leaking or broken or falling apart. Adjust the dock lines. Sigh a lot. Talk about trips we want …

  • George

    Sun 27 December 2020

    There's a Great Blue Heron at Herrington Harbour. We're told its name is George.

    IMG_3553
    IMG_3553 ""

    It's not clear, but the creek has a thin skin of ice.

  • Winterizing

    Mon 30 November 2020

    This is the last big job of the season. For the next few months it's watching and waiting.

    The checklist involves a number of jobs, some of which we already did by accident.

    16C7AD6A-0950-43AF-9BDD-D6CC1764AF60 1 105 c
    16C7AD6A-0950-43AF-9BDD-D6CC1764AF60 1 105 c

    1. Drain the water tanks. The forward tank has been empty (and dry) for …

  • The Sea Chest

    Mon 23 November 2020

    The sea chest sounds so nautical and "yo-heave-ho," but it isn't. It's also called a water box; it's the manifold where sea water comes in for the various systems that use it. Once upon a time, we had air conditioners, a fridge, and two heads that flushed with sea water …

  • That Explains The Bilge Water

    Sat 14 November 2020

    We have a bilge pump counter. Over the last few weeks we've been severely worried about the counter being non-zero.

    Non-zero bilge pump counter is a sure sign of a leak.

    When we return to the boat and the counter is more than one, it's a sign of a fairly …

  • The Best Wife Ever

    Wed 11 November 2020

    CA made me this today. The top picture is the new "wife" used to carry the SAE wrenches. The bottom is the old wife.

    Wrench Wife
    Best Wife Ever

    Notice the following:

    1. No Holes. (The bottom picture shows one hole on the flap. The other side was hilariously holy.)

    2. Labels for the …

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