Norfolk, VA
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.
The last three days? Major accomplishments. All with "R".
Our big mistake was leaving the dodger windows in place. Hurricane Ian's wind pummeled the windows, ripping the entire dodger structure apart.
Three of the …
We had some problems. Some we solved, some we didn't solve. We had some disputes; they're resolved now. I think.
In the morning, I found that when the dinghy's fuel tank is COLD, it doesn't leak. So we started the day by going ashore. We do love Cumberland Island.
Mr. Lehman's starter has been getting flakier and flakier. We've put up with it for a few years now.
You push the starter button and "Click". Nothing else. Just "Click".
Last time we went anywhere (see "Got off the Dock") there was a sequence of five pushes to get the …
Red Ranger last moved in once in August 2020 and again in October 2020. Before that she last moved in October 2018. She hasn't been out of the slip in the last 8 months.
We decided to go back to Cambridge, MD, for Memorial day.
On the way… the Pride …
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 …
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.
Drain the water tanks. The forward tank has been empty (and dry) for …
The West River Sailing Club cruising group ordinarily has a half-dozen cruises throughout the season. We were away, living in Nevada for some of the sailing season. With a pandemic, a cozy get-together is not a great idea. So, a cruise was a surprise.
Some folks from the club decided …
Having dissimilar metals in a salt water environment has consequences. Life-or death consequences. The galvanic current flow means your metal bits are dissolving. There are some clever tables providing details on how "noble" each metal (and alloy) is. The "Galvanic Series" and the "Anodic Index" show you what's happening to …
What's required to get Red Ranger ready?
Cleaning. After over a year of sitting empty, Red Ranger is very dirty. So far, the galley is clean enough to cook in. The cockpit is now clean enough that we can start to look at the heads and berths.
Water. The port …
See Diesel Fuel Consumption for some initial thoughts. We have a mystery.
The diesel system is a well-understood transformation from pounds of fuel to horsepower and torque. Indeed. It's 0.4 pounds of fuel per hour per horsepower (about 18 fluid ounces.) 59 HP is 3.25 gal/hr.
(59 …
Not on the boat. Not near the boat. But. Thinking boaty thoughts.
Boulder City, NV, is the home of the Hoover Dam. There are lots of things related to trains and heavy construction. Including an ancient poster for a 65-horse-power diesel engine that consumed "0.44 pounds of fuel per …
On Thursday, we dialed the speed up to 7 knots. This means a bit over 2,000 RPM on the tach.
And the temperature started to increase. And increase. I don't often check the temperature. But I did manage to notice it in time.
Did I mention we had guests …
We've moved the deck drain hoses. The Whitby has wonderful bulwarks that trap water running over the decks. The original Whitby design had hoses that ran from deck drains to through-hulls below the waterline. It's an elegant idea that keeps the cockpit dry and makes sure dropped tools don't always …
When we lived aboard, we didn't winterize. Winterizing is a potentially big job. But we think we're getting a grip on it. Except for one thing. And this year, it was a problem. So we had to do some diagnostic work.
Here's the …
There's a love-and-care gap exposed by visiting the Red Ranger only on weekends. This leads to weirdness.
Once upon a time, we covered so many miles in one year (something like 2,000) that oil changes happened pretty often. It's about 200 hours, which (at 6 knots) is about 1 …
There were issues with Red Ranger. Kind of awkward when you have guests. But sailing conditions were ideal. Ideal.
Meet Fatjon and Blerta. From the 14th floor. Fatjon was a captain in the Albanian Navy. And an ordinance diver. He knows ships and the sea. Blerta is a …
Winter is over. If we're going to move Red Ranger, she's got to be ready to go.
There's the weather issue, of course. Sunday midnight-ish the wind hit us with a vengeance. Like a tornado. But that's getting ahead of things.
Also. This is handy:
When we're sailing, the prop is left spinning — freewheeling. It appears that either some transmissions say "never let this happen" or sailors have determined through the rumor mill that this is bad. The idea is that the transmission has no pressure to circulate fluid and this causes wear …
We've lost our fuel tank sender. It doesn't report anything below about ½ tank. It simply drops from ½ to "not working at all" mode. I looked at it with my trusty multimeter. It is dead.
It's a standard Teleflex sender. Nothing special; easy to replace.
But.
Until we replace …
This seems a little weird. Maybe it's not as weird as it seems. After all, this is Miami; a giant city. But it isn't. It's really Coconut Grove, in Dade County, a small part of Greater Miami.
I called the local West Marine to look for starter solenoid (Cole Hersee …
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