| Log Entry - Sunday, Jan 15, 2006 |
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Too Ugly for Play
It was a raucous night. The wind was howling, and the boat was screeching. It started about midnight. Even with my hearing aids out, I heard the thermos crash on the floor. Because the boat is tied at both the bow and the stern, it takes the wind full force on the beam, causing it to heel as if it were at sea. Thank goodness we were not at sea. As seen in today’s photo, the hundred foot line securing the stern to the shore was pulled as tight as the tow line on a barge. It was ugly enough down here in this protected cove; I can only imagine what it was like out on the high seas. I dearly wanted to go top side and feel the fury, but not bad enough to have buckets of water dumped on me in the middle of the night. I stayed below, with suitably anxiety, and thought about what it would be like at the helm in twenty food seas. I was awake most of the night, but once I took my hearing aids out, around 4:30, things got suddenly quite, and all I had to contend with was the rocking of the boat. I crawled into my cradle and was soon asleep.
I received a mini lesson in heavy weather preparation. For dinner the previous night I had a side dish of canned sardines (good protein) with a main course of clam chowder. Think of it as a fish medley. I had poured the oil from the sardines into a small paper cup and let it sit on the counter when I went to bed – big mistake. Of course it toppled during the tempest, and I was faced with a slimy counter top and the not so sweet smell of fish oil. Maybe the smell will be gone by the time the crew arrives on Thursday.
I so wanted to get a photo of wind meter showing some astronomical reading, but I was not about to go above deck in rain last night. By this morning the worst was over, and the rain had stopped temporarily. I did see a 32 knot reading, but by the time the shutter fired, it was back down to 26. See photo inset. You have to realize that I am in a small cove with high hills on all sides. The winds in the open ocean will be at least ten knots higher.
The coffee was much better today – more scoops and a solid fifteen minute perc seemed to do the trick. And, I am pleased to report that the new cooler is working well. I have a nice supply of fresh milk, fruit, eggs, veggies, lunch meat, and cheese. I boiled a dozen eggs the first day so I have a good source of protein to go with the plethora of carbs onboard.
The above was written Sunday morning. What follows was written Sunday night after dinner about 7PM.
The day was filled with squalls coming about every three hours and lasting for 30-45 minutes. When the squalls come, it feels like the boat is being lifted out of the water. It rises up and shudders like a dog shaking water off after a swim. The line continues to hold, though it is nerve racking. I just listened to the weather again and gale conditions are forecast through Monday. It is certainly too ugly to go out and play. Maybe Tuesday. I have been reading and doing small projects. Oh yes, I even exercised and showered today – a good activity for a rainy day.
I got a little panicky this morning when I couldn’t get the VHF working to listen to the weather. I found a bad connection in the antenna cable behind the radio and will need to get a new cable made. I fussed with that for a while and have a jury rig solution for now. I cleaned the bilge and the bilge pump strainer and looked for water leaks. The bilge pump cycles about two times an hour, but I can’t find where the water is coming from. Before I left I installed a counter which counts every time the bilge pump comes on and precisely quantifies how serious the problem is. An unexpected use is to indirectly measure the amount of water used to take a shower. The shower water drains into the bilge so the number of bilge cycles is proportional to the amount of water used. Since fresh water is scarce, this is good thing to know. You know me; I like to measure things.
The other gauge I installed is a Xantrex battery monitor. It precisely measures amp hour usage so I know exactly the cumulative amp hours used. Furthermore, it tells me when the batteries are fully charged when running the engine. Without this monitor it is all guess work.
The most recent squall has passed; the boat has stopped shaking; and I have a cup of tea waiting so I’ll sign off for now and go back to my book. As you can tell, these log entries are a bit long. That’s only because I have so much time on my hands. They are bound to get shorter once we start sailing.
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