THE BIANKA LOG BLOG

CAPT. MIKE IN THE LEEWARD ISLANDS: CULEBRA

2012-01-29T12:07:00.003-05:00

It's been many years since I was in Charlotte Amalie harbor St. Thomas. We picked up a charter here on a 44 foot monohull back in the 1980's and another time when we had a weeks vacation on board one of the Windstar cruise ships in the 90's. We left the St. John area with a favoring trade wind and tied up to a mooring for the night near the old Navy submarine base area in St. Thomas. The area now houses a marina and some cruise ship docks. The shoreline nearby was littered with the wrecks of boats whose owners failed to reason with the Hurricane season and other storms:

The next morning we dropped of the mooring and headed for Culebra:

As we passed Sail Rock. A uniquely shape geological form that is said to have fooled many pirates to appear to be a ship under sail.

They would sometimes fire a warning shot at it. The sound of which would ricochet off the rock surface and make it sound like return fire. Only when they got closer would they see that it was only a rock and not another ship to be plundered.

Things were moving along nicely as OPUS towed the twenty foot dingy:

We were breezing along when all of a sudden there was a crash at the stern. The dingy had crashed into the boarding ladder and smashed it up pretty good:

Well that's sailing! You are cruising along fine and then something happens not always in a positive direction. Capt. Billy scrambled and was able to save the bottom half of the ladder but, were were never able to quite get it back into shape to use. After about three hours we were in the channel heading into Ensenada Honda Culebra's major harbor:

After we cleared the reef at the entrance we turned to port and picked up a mooring in Ensenada Dikity. There were a few boats already there when we arrived:

Including this boat which seemed to have something missing:

MORE TO COME

CAPT. MIKE IN THE LEEWARD ISLANDS PART TWO: ST. JOHNS...

2012-01-27T07:14:00.001-05:00

After getting settled on board we were soon off heading toward St. Johns, motoring into to the trade winds.

We passed this discolored rock shoreline:

It is said this site was used for the Hollywood movie Guns of Navarone filmed in the early 1960's. They supposedly blew it up for the explosive climatic scene. Though I could not find any official confirmation that this was true.

Continuing on past St. Thomas we first stopped at Christmas Cove on Great St. James Island:

We jumped in for a snorkel around Fish Island and saw a ray, spotted eel and two turtles among the other fish on the reef around Fish Island. Not a bad way to start. Then it was off to Mingo Cay for lunch and another snorkel. Then another stop at a small cove between Lovongo Cay and Congo Cay where Captain Billy said we were lucky as the conditions here often made this stop impossible.

But, the winds were cooperating and we took advantage of another wonderful snorkel. We then headed out past Carval Rock:

We motored on heading for the nights anchorage. Occasionally reminded by the ruins on shore of the history of the area:

Like this sugar cane processing building on the former Annaberg Plantation:

Which was a good reminder that since we were in the islands of rum that some sun downer drinks are soon to be had after we anchored for the day. The nights anchorage was just off Waterlemon Cay in Leinster Bay.

All the moorings were taken so we dropped the hook and were enjoying some boat drinks. When we heard someone call out to Capt. Billy "Why you salty dog!" Turns out it was musician and sailor Michael Beans:

Billy asked what he was doing here? Beans said he got kicked out of the British Virgin Islands. You know there has to be a good story there. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the details in the time he sailed by.

The next morning we hoisted anchor around 9:30 am and motored past Beans anchored boat. Beans being a true musician was still not awake so we sailed on.

Our next stop was Cinnamon Bay. Another snorkel. Something was drifting toward the Opus. As it got closer we were able to identify it:

Obviously a very "board" woman. Just another example of some of the things you can see from a boat. There was a discussion about how far we should let her drift out into the Windward Passage before we we would need to rescue her. Happily, she woke up not to long afterward and paddled her self back into the beach. After lunch and an obligatory afternoon nap we headed for Little St. James island and snorkeled some ledges there. Afterwards we headed back to Charlotte Amalie harbor for the night. In the morning we head toward the Spanish Virgin Islands.

TO BE CONTINUED

A Note of Thanks.

2012-01-24T19:17:00.000-05:00

Sometime earlier today The BIANKA BLOG LOG passed one hundred thousand page views. I want thank all who at one time or another tied up to this blog over the years.

CAPT. MIKE IN THE LEEWARD ISLANDS PART ONE

2012-01-24T05:39:00.002-05:00

Well, it's that time of year when Capt. Mike's companion needs her winter vacation. BIANKA is laid up for the winter and the winter winds are starting to blow colder and colder. Lucky for Captain Mike she is partial to chartering a crewed multi hull sailboats and heading some place warm for some sun, snorkeling and and occasional dive. Capt. Mike knows enough to get along you have to go along. So go along I did. While our trip to the Maldives last year was certainly one of our top trips, unless a winning lottery ticket comes our way that will remain just a very pleasant lifetime memory. For this years trip we decided to explore some old and new places in the Leeward Islands much closer to home. Starting in the U.S. Virgin Islands and then heading toward the Spanish Virgin Islands of Culebra and Vieques before embarking on Puerto Rico at Farado. At least that was the plan.

We started our trip flying to the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Getting a hotel room just across the road from the airport on Lindberg Bay.

Lindberg Bay was renamed for Charles Lindberg who flew to St. Thomas on January 31 1928 after his successful nonstop flight across the Atlantic.

Lindberg Bay was formally known as Mosquito Bay. But, happily it did not live up to it's previous name while we were there for two days. After our relaxing stay it was a quick five minute taxi ride to Charlotte Amalie to meet the boat we had booked through Paradise Connections charters.

Captain Billy Pratt picked us up at the Crown Bay Marina and took us out to OPUS a 50 foot Piver designed trimaran built in 1986 that would be our home for the next ten days.

TO BE CONTINUED

FREE DIVER BLACKOUT

2012-01-19T06:03:00.000-05:00

I'm an open water certified SCUBA diver. I've read the books, taken the course passed my dive tests and have had my PADI Dive card since 1985. SCUBA diving is fun but, it is also dangerous. You can drown easily if you get careless. A few weeks ago Bob at BOAT BITS had a post about free diving blackouts. Where people have passed out and some have died just free diving with a snorkel and a mask and fins. Since I'll be diving and snorkeling in the Spanish Virgin Islands sometime this winter it certainly got my attention and you should be aware of it too:

BETWEEN HOME AND COMFORT ZONES

2012-01-16T06:37:00.000-05:00

There are things I can do now that I could not do when I was younger. Then there are things I won't do now that I could do when I was younger. Somewhere between those two thoughts is my comfort zone. That zone is different for each person and that zone has changing parameters, at least for me. Others don't find out what theirs is until they have shoved off. I find for me there is a certain ebb and flow in my plans and desires at times. Then there is this fellow who decided the time was right to act on his plan:

Between Home: Odyssey of an unusual sea bandit - OFFICIAL TRAILER from Jack Rath on Vimeo.

This documentary when it comes out might be worth a look for sailors and others with a "dream" of just sailing off someday. It seems to be cross between inspirational journey and a reality check and that is not a bad thing.

WINTERLUDE 2012

2012-01-13T07:14:00.002-05:00

I went down to check on the boat recently. It's that time of year that I call the winterlude period after the waltzing Bob Dylan tune of the same name. This year was a rather mild winterlude compared to the winterludes of 2011 and 2010 and even 2009. So I'm not complaining. I spent several hours just hanging out an enjoying the unusual winter warmth. I even set up my new GoPro camera and tried a little time lapse shooting from my cockpit view as the tide ran out:

You know after seeing this video I made sure the camera was Seagull proofed before I started shooting. All in all not a bad way to spend part of winters day.

SOLAR BIMINI PART SEVEN: PANELS INSTALLED

2012-01-07T22:24:00.001-05:00

In thinking about the design for Bianka's solar bimini I had a eureka moment when it came to mounting the rear bimini solar panels. That was to use 1/4 inch aluminum bars to support the panels and clamps around the tubular frames to secure them to the frame tubing.

It was a simple and elegant solution and one that I also eventually incorporated to the existing 12 volt solar panels already installed on the dodger. These were attached to angle brackets as show below:

But, the aluminum strap method I came up with to install the 48 volt Kanaka Solar panels for the solar bimini is much better way to secure the panels as well as being easier to install from my experience.

The above photo shows the two mounting techniques I used. The aluminium bar and strap method on the left for the Kanka 48 volt panels on the solar bimini and the former jaw hinge and angle bracket method on the right.

The above photo shows the clamps I used to secure the rear aluminum bars to the one inch rear frame. The lengths are different because I did not have enough clamps and ran out to Home Depot to get an additional clamp. They will later be trimmed with a Dremel Tool.

The above shows a hole I just drilled to mount the Kanaka solar panels frame to the aluminum bar. Note the clamp to hold the aluminium bar and panel frame together. Also note the block of wood to intercept the drill bit as it breaks through. You really do not want to take a chance that you will drill through the solar panel. It will ruin your day and the solar panel.

The above photo shows the panels mounted to the bimini frame. The curve of the frames also allows for water to drain out to the side of the cockpit.

The photo above is from below in the cockpit showing the two of four aluminium bars holding up the panels to the frame.

Above is another view looking aft.

I like the aluminum bar design so much that I also modified the forward 12 volt solar panels to use this attachment method too. Attaching the solar bimini to the forward dodger using the bars has also added more rigidity to each frame. So far the combination has survived two brushes with category one hurricanes as well as protection from sun and rain for those in the cockpit in normal conditions. I will be adding some additional features to the bimini in the future. But, for now the solar bimini project has been completed and is a complete success as far as I am concerned.

PREVIOUS SOLAR BIMINI POST

SOLAR BIMINI PART SIX: DECK WORK

2012-01-05T06:00:00.005-05:00

Now comes the hardest part for me of my Solar Bimini project. Hard for me because it involves drilling holes in the deck. I just don't like making holes in the boat. Accidentally or on purpose. But, in this case it can't be helped. I need to have the the rear frame securely attached to the deck. I looked at several different ideas for fittings for the 1 inch frame tubing and decided that a 90 degree stanchion base mounted on the deck would be the best choice. I'm using a 1/2 inch piece of Starboard as a backing plate too.

Some things you might want to consider when purchasing a base like this for a deck mount is how does it handle excess water. Since it will be mounted on a relatively flat deck water can accumulate underneath the stanchion from the deck or by running down the frame tubing. You don't want that water to hang around under the base. Especially if your boat experiences freezing temperatures for some time of the year. That's why you want a base that looks like this underneath:

See that horizontal groove? That will allow any water that accumulates underneath the base or in the tubing frame to drain away. If the stanchion you buy does not have such a groove you might want to cut one in yourself.
Freezing water aka ICE can exert a lot of force if allowed to collect in tight places. Best to prevent that anyway you can.

Once I had the deck location for the rear frame landing chosen. I laid out some 3M painters tape on the deck to transfer the stanchion hole patterns to it.

I then drilled holes through the deck where the mounting screws would pass through. CAPT. MIKE NOTE: Always check underneath the deck before drilling to make sure you will not be drilling into any wiring or other obstructions.

After the holes were drilled I routed out the core material between the deck using a Dremel Tool with a #115 bit. I then filled the void with thickened epoxy (taping the holes underneath the deck with a strong tape to prevent it from draining. This helps waterproof the area of the deck around the holes. Compass Marine has a great tutorial on the process here. After the Epoxy hardened I re-drilled the holes through the Epoxy and counter sunk them.

I used Life Calk for the bedding of the bolts. You could also other bedding materials like butyl tape if you want.

You can see the stanchion base for the rear solar bimini frame bolted through the deck in the above photo with the solar bimini frame inserted into it. Well, the hard part is over now all the I need to do is connect the rear solar bimini frame to the existing dodger frame and mount the solar panels. That will be shown in the next solar bimini post.

NEXT SOLAR BIMINI POST

PREVIOUS SOLAR BIMINI POST

A SAILOR LOOKS BACK AT 2011

2011-12-31T13:28:00.006-05:00

Well, the New Year is upon us. I enjoyed the previous year on BIANKA and other other boats during the past year. The year did have it's moments both good and bad.

January started out for me with a delightful trip to the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. I would probably never be able to take BIANKA there but, almost two weeks on a Catamaran with a local crew who knew the waters is pretty good experience in my book. I can still taste the fresh Red Snapper among other fish that were caught during the trip:

In March reminders about how danger can come from the sea as the Tsunami in Japan showed us. Even across the ocean we sailors saw what damage even a small Tsunami can do when it made an appearance in Santa Cruz California. Pretty sobering videos.

April found me starting to work on the diesel fuel tank conversion project. Which at this writing is still not finished. But, the grime I found in the tank made me glad I no longer had to carry diesel fuel on board any more.

Also a quick trip to Chincoteaque Island got me smelling the salt sea air once again after the long winter. It was a good feeling.

May found Capt. Mike in Key West but, only for twenty four hours. The next day thanks to the help of Paradise Connections charters run by fellow sailors Sheila and Bob I boarded a catamaran for a weeks sail and snorkeling trip up the Keys to Miami. Felt good to be swimming again.

In June THE BIANKA LOG BLOG had it's five year anniversary. I want thank all who stopped here over the years as they journeyed around the Internet.

July found the project box just as full as was at the beginning of the season. Oh well!

In August once again Nature was showing who was boss as the month started with an earthquake in the harbor and along the east coast. It ended with Hurricane Irene causing no shortage of anxiety for me as I had to leave BIANKA for two weeks and hope my efforts to prepare her for the storm were enough. Happily, BIANKA came though the storm fine but, other boats were not so lucky.

September I had the pleasant surprise that my ASMO MARINE Thoosa 9000 electric propulsion system does in fact regen and help charge the electric propulsion battery bank. A benefit I hope to exploit more next season.

October I attended the Annapolis Sail Boat Show as a guest of the folks at Annapolis Hybrid Marine the distributors of ASMO MARINE products here in the states. I always find something interesting to see at the show. This year I was very pleased to meet Lin and Larry Pardey in person there.

A few weeks later nature celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the "perfect storm" with another Nor' Easter just to show who's boss.

Happily, I was still sailing in November though the days were short and getting colder. Still there were pinch me moments to enjoy on board. Even picked up some treasure on my walks on the empty beach.

Not much boat work in December with some freelance work coming my way and the holidays taking up a lot of my time. But, the days are getting longer and the sailing season will be coming around again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SOLAR BIMINI PART FIVE: Useful stuff: Filament Tape

2011-12-30T10:06:00.005-05:00

So I've decided on where the rear frame of the Solar Bimini should be located. I should mention I did this project entirely by myself. I had no extra help in building the Bimini. I did not have to call friends and bribe them with a beer or two. Then wait for them to show up and feel guilty while I pondered my next move in building the Solar Bimini. But, I did find some things very useful in helping me as I planned and assembled the frame. One of the items I found very useful was 3M Filament Tape

This tape is real STRONG having a tensile strength of some 380 pounds. It came in very handy in using it as temporary straps to hold the top of the rear frame to the existing dodger frame. In fact I left it on for quite awhile (weeks) as I worked on plans and building the Solar Bimini in all kinds of weather too.

If you look closely at the above picture (click on it to enlarge) you can see the Filament Tape used as strapping to hold the rear Bimini frame in place. While Filament Tape comes handy to use for some quick temporary strapping. I think it would also work for strong temporary repairs for other items. I just think it's good stuff to carry on board. It really helped me in building the Solar Bimini and it did not drink my beer or complain while doing it.

SOLAR BIMINI PART SIX

SOLAR BIMINI PART FOUR: Locating and trimming the rear frame

2011-12-27T07:02:00.005-05:00

After the rear bimini frame arrived from Sailrite the next thing was to try and see:

1) Where it needed to be located. It had to be in a location where it would not interfere with the operation of the boom. It also had to allow for operation of the mainsheet cockpit winch and allow access of the deck cleats.

It also had to take into account the dimensions of solar panels and how they would fit between the bow frame and the existing dodger.

2) How wide it should be. It not only had to fit outside the cockpit coaming it also would have to avoid things like the wind generator support poles which were already installed.Since the stainless steel bow comes in three pieces with a width of 106 inches. It can be cut if you need to have less width by cutting equal lengths on each side of the middle bow piece. Happily, when I put the assembled frame on deck I found that the width as it came from Sailrite was perfect. So problem two was solved for me.

3) How tall should it be? Again the bow frame comes in at 61 inches in height. If you need less height it is simply a matter of trimming the vertical side pieces of the bow. It turns out I needed to trim off about five inches of the 61 inches provided by Sailrite. At that height it was high enough to allow me to stand at the helm without hitting my head but, not too high that it would interfere with the boom. An added side benefit of making this Solar Bimini is that it will protect those in the cockpit (especially the helmsman) from a falling boom should the topping lift ever give way.

Once I had the three above dimensions decided upon. It was time to cut the two pieces of stainless steel side pieces . Since I only needed to trim the height of the frame by a few inches. What to use? Sailrite says a hacksaw will work but, the right tool is a tubing cutter:

Sailrite sold a tubing cutter with a blade to cut stainless steel tubing for about $50. But, it looked like a regular tubing cutter that I could get cheaper elsewhere. Like this one. It too is made for cutting stainless steel and if you will be doing a lot of cutting of stainless steel tubing it is probably the way to go. But, since I only had two tubing cuts to do and was in a hurry I went to my local Home Depot and checked out the plumbing department. They had similar tubing cutters but, they stated they were for softer copper pipe.

I asked the fellow working the area if their tubing cutters would work on stainless steel. He asked how many cuts are you doing? I said two. No problem was his response. So I bought it and made the cuts on the frame and it worked well. So now that had decided where the rear frame would be located, trimmed the tubing to the desired length. All I needed to do was use the Drill Steady tool shown in the previous post to drill a pilot hole in the stainless steel tubing and install the rivet to connect the two frame side pieces to the middle bow. This makes the frame one complete piece. Once this was done it was time to move to attaching the frame to the deck.

NEXT SOLAR BIMINI POST

PREVIOUS SOLAR BIMINI POST

BOATERS BEWARE OF THIEVES IN THE NIGHT

2011-12-22T05:34:00.008-05:00

If you ever have found things mysteriously missing from your boats cockpit the explanation may be fairly simple. I recently ordered a GoPro video camera . While I was researching about the camera online I came upon this video of a brazen theft by a Seagull:

The GoPro camera weighs about 6 oz with the housing. After seeing this video I won't be leaving it or anything else like keys laying around in the cockpit especially overnight. One thing is for sure though Seagulls are not real good when it comes to making videos, they can steal things pretty quickly.

NOTES OF AN ELECTRIC SAILOR: Tests from the harbor 2011

2011-12-18T19:29:00.003-05:00

When I started this blog back in 2006 I thought it might just be a little online scrap book of travels with some photos. An easy place to put those memories and share it with anyone who happened by. It has since morphed into something a little bigger. In between my thoughts, photos, cruises and travels I also post things about products here and there. Those that work and those that don't work for me. I also use the blog as the name implies as somewhat of a log book of maintenance and boat projects on board BIANKA. This is one of those posts.

I had wanted to do some propulsion tests of BIANKA's electric propulsion system as soon as I splashed her for the 2011 season. But, that did not happen. But one morning a few weeks later I was having my usual 6 AM coffee in the cockpit. The air was still in the harbor, the water like glass and it was quiet and empty of any boat traffic. I thought well why not do some testing. Even though it would was not perfect conditions. It was midway to low tide so there would be some currents running and they do run oddly in this harbor. Probably would have been better to do it at the peak of the high or at low tide when currents would have been minimal. The boat had also been on the mooring for two weeks so I did not know how clean the bottom and prop were which could affect things somewhat. Anyway, I turned on the system slipped the mooring and headed out to the channel. I made several passes between channel markers that were about 450 yards apart. One pass was made in each direction drawing 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 amps from the battery bank. I then averaged the speed of each pass and calculated the watts used. Here are the results:

PASS # AMPS KNOTS WATTS

1 10 1.9 495

2 20 2.8 984

3 30 3.3 1458

4 40 3.7 1933

5 50 4.1 2417

Again these are the average of the two passes. One against and one with the current. I also did one additional test where I just throttled up to 5 knots and the power used there was 4346 watts. The test data pretty much confirms what I have noticed on board. Especially on pass number two. I can move my 8 ton 30 foot sailboat at about three knots just using power from my Honda 2000 eu generator and the Zivan NG-1 battery charger which is rated at 900 watts. The numbers show I could add an additional 48 volt 500 watt power supply into the mix. I should then obtain the results of pass number three and still be within the power limits of the Honda 2000 generator. Which is good to know if I ever feel the need to add one. But, since BIANKA is a primarily a sailboat I have never felt the need for it. I'm also using the same three bladed prop that BIANKA used with the diesel. It has a few dings here and there. I might be able to improve things a bit with a prop optimized for my electric propulsion system. But, I tend to be if it ain't broke don't fix it type of sailor. Anyway I'll try and do another test at the beginning of next season and see how they compare. Also it is good to have this data to compare if I do decide at some point to change the prop at some point. But, I'm very happy with things the way they are and have been for the past four years. So I really don't expect to be making any changes soon.

GIFTS FOR BOATERS: Eldridge Tide & Pilot book

2011-12-13T05:48:00.016-05:00

Whenever I head out for a sail even a local day sail the cockpit seems empty without my copy of the ELDRIDGE TIDE AND PILOT book within reach. It is easily the book on board BIANKA that gets opened the most. A boater traveling the waters of the northeast U.S. from the Chesapeake to Maine can save a lot of time and money on the water just being familiar with it's contents. In it are times and depths of the high and low tides for various points and harbors up and down the northeast coast. Also most valuable are the times of current changes and velocities at various important points on the waters. Places like Hell Gate, The Race off eastern Long Island, currents in the Cape Cod Canal etc... The Eldridge also has diagrams of the currents at various times of major bodies of water like New York Harbor, Long Island Sound, Nantucket Sound, Buzzards Bay, The Chesapeake etc... I've personally used it on cruises from Sandy Hook to Boston. It also has interesting articles on fishing, nautical lore and astronomical data. If you have a boater in your family who ply the northeast waters of the United States this makes a great gift at Christmas. If you've been invited on board by a boater who is spending the winter in the Caribbean but, you know they will be heading up to the northeast in the summer it also makes a great gift to give to them too. It's data is updated yearly so make sure you get the proper year when you buy it. As for me I never leave port without it.

SOLAR BIMINI PART THREE: A plan comes together!

2011-12-09T05:30:00.005-05:00

Let's see where was I. Oh yeah, back in August I was explaining how plan B of the solar dodger project came to fruition. That was before preparations for Hurricane Irene interrupted my train of thought. Now it's time to revisit the Solar Bimini Project on BIANKA. I had been wanting to use my 75 watt solar panels to replace the vinyl worn dodger material and had been somewhat successfully done that using the boats existing dodger frame. As explained here and here.

But, now I also wanted to extend it to create a bimini over the cockpit using the new 48 volt solar panels I had bought to help charge the electric propulsion battery bank. BIANKA never had a bimini. It previously only had an extension of vinyl material that could be zipped to the existing vinyl dodger and even then this could only be used while at anchor because it interfered with the mainsheet on my Nonsuch.

So if I wanted to have a permanent solar bimini it meant I would have to build a custom frame for it. I thought about how to do this and some things I wanted and some of the limitations I would need to overcome. After sipping a beer in the cockpit I came up with this list of what I wanted:

1) I wanted to be able to stand at the helm without hitting my head on the dodger as lifted my six foot two inch frame up in one of those "what the hell is that" situations when sailing along.

2) I also wanted to have easy access to leave the cockpit to go forward on the deck. So I did not want a lot of frame tubing in the way hindering me in those situations.

After a lot of thought I came up with a plan that met my needs. The major piece would be a bow frame. I was able to get this from Sailrite a wonderful source for all things a sailor might need for sails, dodgers and biminis. One of the dilemmas I had was about where to install this frame. Should it attach on top of the cockpit coaming like the existing dodger did or should it land on the deck outside the coaming. I decided that it would be better to have it land outside the cockpit coaming. My reasoning was if things got nasty and the boat was bouncing around having the bimini frame mounted on the cockpit coaming could allow a persons head to hit it. Leading to at minimum a painful bump or worse unconsciousness.

Who needs that! While I debated about where to mount the frame I went ahead and ordered a one inch diameter long bow stainless steel frame kit from Sailrite. It comes in three pieces. Two side pieces and the top piece. According to the description:

"All tubing bows are prebent in a custom jig mounted on a wall in our shop. To keep shipping reasonable and to allow for greater customization, the bows are cut just beyond each bend creating three sections — two curved and one crowned. The crown in the center bow increases rigidity and improves the appearance of the finished cover. Assemble the three pieces by inserting splines and riveting in place. Once assembled, the bow has more strength than the uncut original."

I also ordered a real handy jig for helping to drill into into the stainless steel tubing for the rivit holes. The Sailrite catalog says "it's not required" but, if you have ever tried to drill into stainless steel tubing you know it can be a real pain. The Drill Steady Tubing Tool really made drilling into the one inch frame tubing real easy as shown in this Sailrite video:

I recommend it if you should ever need to drill a hole into the stainless steel tubing on your boat.
The final piece I needed to complete mounting the frame was some way to attach the frame to the boat. I chose a 90 degree stanchion base fittings to secure the one inch frame tubing to the deck:

With these pieces I was able to move onto phase one of building the solar bimini on board BIANKA.

SOLAR BIMINI PART FOUR

PREVIOUS POSTS ON THIS PROJECT

SOLAR BIMINI PROJECT PART ONE: PLAN A

SOLAR BIMINI PROJECT PART TWO: PLAN B

END OF THE SEASON THOUGHTS OF AN ELECTRIC SAILOR: 2011

2011-12-04T06:22:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year when I look back on how my electric propulsion system did during the past season. Once again I was surprised by it. When I decided in 2007 to repower with an ASMO MARINE Thoosa 9000 system. There were no boats that I knew that had done this and I thought long and hard about it before making the leap. But, after four years of operational experience I'm still very glad I did. The fourth season will stand out because of two firsts that occurred. One was an extended day of motoring. About ten hours to be exact. A rare day here around the Isle of Long when hardly even a whisper of a breeze filled the sail. So after starting out early and motoring under battery power for a few hours I carried the Honda away from the cockpit and fired it up. I could never do that with the old diesel. The noisy diesel was always right below the cockpit vibrating away making for a noisy afternoon of motoring. Fatiguing too! My day of extended motoring was much more pleasant experience with electric propulsion.

Another first I discovered quite by accident was that BIANKA can actually regen power back to the battery bank. I discovered this while electro sailing moving along at about 6 knots. I had earlier in the season decided that the best way to operate under sail was to slightly turn the prop under power. This will negate any prop drag when sailing and therefore increase boat speed. Sounded like a good plan and it uses minimal power from the battery bank and no need to buy a folding prop. But, as I found out that if the boat speed under sail starts touch around 6 knots it also starts recharging the battery bank.

This is known as "regen" where the prop starts to turn the motor backward and it starts operating as a generator. It's not a lot at the low end but, you really don't want a lot charging because you don't want to take a chance on overcharging the battery bank. I'm looking forward to next season and hope to experience more days where I can see the regen in action. So even after four years my boats electric propulsion system still had some pleasant surprises left to show me.

BYE BYE TO THE 2011 HURRICANE SEASON

2011-11-30T06:30:00.001-05:00

You are like a hurricane

There's calm in your eye.

And I'm gettin' blown away

To somewhere safer

where the feeling stays.

I want to love you but

I'm getting blown away.

Neil Young

Well the official 2011 hurricane season ends today and not a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned. Here is what it looked like:

Of course BIANKA met Hurricane Irene up close and personal and unfortunately happened to be on her bad side:

Yes, from a distance hurricanes are kind of pretty as they seem to dance around the water. But, if you have a boat that's in one it ain't that pretty at all as these scenes from Hurricane Irene show. Though I was glad that BIANKA was able "weather" the category one storm even though due to work commitments I had to be several hundred miles away when the storm hit. The effects from Irene were felt throughout the northeast for awhile afterward. Indeed BIANKA and I were still seeing and dealing with the after effects several weeks later on a cruise to New York. But, now that the storms are behind us it's time to start looking forward to the next sailing season.

GIFTS FOR BOATERS: Amazon Kindle

2011-11-26T06:14:00.002-05:00

Well tis the season! Members of my family have in years past gotten me gifts that they thought I might use on my boat. They were well intentioned and it is the thought that counts and all. But, the truth is some of those gifts never made it on board. So I thought I'd post a few ideas of some gifts for boaters over the next few weeks that I find useful and would make a great gift for those you know who are boaters or even yourself.

One of my favorites things on board BIANKA is to climb into my bunk and read before falling asleep. The trouble is I can only carry so many books on board. Indeed most of BIANKA's bookshelves are already filled with books relating to maintenance and navigation.

There is little room for more recreational reads. Last year my girlfriend gave me an Amazon KINDLE E-reader which I find is one of the most practical things for a cruising sailor who likes to read.

My KINDLE is the free 3G/WiFi model which I think is best suited for cruisers who anchor out a lot where you will often be away from WiFi hotspots. This model allows one to buy and/or download books not only via WiFI when availible but, also via a 3G wireless network. Which often has a larger coverage area than units only access in WiFi locations. AMAZON offers a number of KINDLE options at various prices and capabilities.

The wonderful thing about an E-reader like the Kindle is it allows one to have thousands of books available on board in one small convenient package that would sink some boats if they were in paper form. Another advantage is that best sellers are cheaper for Kindles than their hardcover and paperback versions. Even better there are thousands of books available for free downloads and in my "book" free is good! In fact the first book I downloaded on my KINDLE was available as a free download. It was SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD by Joshua Slocum. There are many others which I will mention here in the future. So if you are looking for a gift for those you know who spend a lot of time cruising on their boats. You might want to consider an E-reader like the KINDLE as a gift. If you know they already have a KINDLE you might consider giving them an AMAZON GIFT CARD so they can download the books they want onto them.

But, the Kindle is not really just for the boat. My Kindle is small enough to fit in the pocket of my Columbia fishing shirts and I can carry it anywhere I go off the boat. From the beach to the bus stop. Plus it is readable in the sun unlike other electronic backlit devices like Apple IPADs. So no matter where I go on deck or below I can still read it. It's a great gift not only for boaters but, really for anyone you know.

A SAILOR'S THANKSGIVING

2011-11-24T08:45:00.002-05:00

Well this is a day for giving thanks and this sailor has a lot to be thankful for. I'm thankful that I have a boat that I love and have not felt the need to look at any others since I bought it in 1995. I'm also thankful I can spend as much time on it as I do. To me it's all about being content with what you have and being able to separate your wants and needs. Knowing the difference is important if one wants to be happy and I am thankful that I do. I'm also thankful for each sunrise and sunset I get to see when I'm on the boat. They never cease to remind me how lucky I am to be on board to see them.

1485 NAUTICAL MILES

2011-11-22T10:05:00.004-05:00

I cruised 285 nautical miles this year with BIANKA. Making a total of 1485 miles since I converted the boat to electric propulsion. A little less than last year. But, I managed to get a few weeks of freelance work this summer which did not happen last year. So I spent a few less weeks over the summer on board. Such is the life of a freelancer. BIANKA also came through Hurricane Irene and a Nor' easter on the mooring this year without a scratch. I did have a day on one of my cruises this year where I had to motor for over 10 hours using electric propulsion. That was the most I have had to do that since I installed electric propulsion and once again the electric propulsion system came through with flying colors.

TOOLS OF AN ELECTRIC SAILOR: Ratcheting Crimper

2011-11-19T10:31:00.001-05:00

A lot of people I know seem to get by using a cheap wire crimper/stripper that look like this:
I do have a pair on the boat and few around the house too. They do work and I keep them around as backups. But, the crimps you make with them tend to distort the connectors and can be of a questionable mechanical strength. For my wiring and rewiring projects on board BIANKA I use a more robust ratcheting crimper like this one:

It won't release until you have made a good strong crimp. It has three sizes color coded dies for the proper sized insulated connectors. There are no wire stripper blades on it. It is designed to do one thing and that is to make a good solid crimp. It is the right tool for the job when it comes to making crimps on connectors. That's why it's in my electrical tool kit on board.

YOU ARE NEVER REALLY ALONE ON THE OCEAN

2011-11-15T06:44:00.002-05:00

A few years ago I decided to take BIANKA on a sail around the Long Island. Things started off fine but, later in the afternoon the wind died and we found ourselves becalmed in the Atlantic Ocean. The crew announced that maybe he would go for a swim since BIANKA was not going anywhere at the moment. At the same instant I spied something over his shoulder heading toward the boat. I said are you sure you want to go for a swim? Take a look behind you. He turned around to see a fin of a shark heading straight for the boat. I came across this video taken a few years ago in nearby Block Island Sound by a sailor heading for Bermuda that reminded me of that day on BIANKA:

The Real Jaws from Christian on Vimeo.

The shark that headed for BIANKA made a couple of circles around the boat and then disappeared. Needless to say neither of us went swimming that day.

ADDING TO THE BUCKET LIST

2011-11-12T06:01:00.003-05:00

Remember that 5 gallon bucket I found on the beach a few days ago? It did not take long for me to find another use for it. After I took BIANKA back to the mooring and tied up in the afternoon I needed to do some errands on shore. I left the sail cover off because I would be pulling the sail off since it is the end of the season. I was not gone more than an hour and half. But, as I rowed back to the boat I notice not one but two Cormorants perched on the boom. Now I'll have to clean and dry the sail before I stored it for the winter. I should have know better. But, even while I was on board another Cormorant tried to land on the boom but, I chased it off. I had to do something temporarily to try and keep the Cormorants off the boom until the morning. Then I remembered the bucket I found on the beach. I attached a halyard to the handle and attached another line loosely and that led aft to a cleat. I hoisted the bucket until it was just slightly higher than the boom and let it swing there in a lazy arc with the wind and rocking of the boat like this:

The plan was to have it swing over the boom and discourage any further landings on the boom and/or clear off any birds that did manage to land. It worked until I got BIANKA to the dock to clean the sail the next morning. See I told you these buckets come in useful on board.

SEA SMOKE IN THE MORNING

2011-11-09T22:38:00.001-05:00

It was a chilly night when I got into my bunk. Temperatures dropped into the thirties. When I awoke in the morning it was hard to get out from under the nice warm comforter in Capt. Mike's cabin. But, I pushed through that phase. Poking my head out of the cabin I saw this:

You know it was a cold night when you see a Sea Smoke fog like this. Also called evaporation fog. Happily, the sun warmed things up soon enough and the fog disappeared. But, the Baroque music I was listening to seemed to complement the scene nicely while it lasted.