WoodenBoat magazine

After years of ebaying, garage sale-ing, and subscribing, I am missing only one of the 194 issues of the WoodenBoat, a magazine that covers the most enviro-friendly boatbuilding method around. When I get the last one I will post an update and an explanation of WoodenBoat means to me.

C&C cruisers to Florida

Cruising in a C&C. It's not a Redwing, but it's cool that they are doing the waterway.

a C&C 30 blog

I found this blog today, and although I am having trouble submitting a comment, I will be following it closely.

Project Mold: the RAYSN interview

Recently I was interviewed by the show "Good Old Boats." You may have seen it on the popular cable station, "RAYSN – Regatta and Yachting Sports Network" (everybody is watching it). As you know, the show Good Old Boats, modeled on the magazine of the same name, highlights the rebuild of a classic boat every week. I like the show because it's a healthy alternative to all of the fishing, poker, bowling, and golf that is shown on some other so-called Entertainment and Sports Programming Networks. Here is a transcript of the show. I have no idea when it will air.

KL: Hello, this is Kay Lipstein, welcome to Good Old Boat. Today we are at the Yacht Services boatyard in Amityville, New York. And as you know, amity means friendship. We're here with the skipper of the good old boat Redwing. Thanks for being with us.

JF: Glad to be here.

KL: How's the cleanup and rebuild of the Redwing going?

JF: Well, it's not a rebuild as much as it is a list of repairs. The boat was in a crash (previous owner) and so I have to fix up a bunch of stuff: stanchions, stern and bow pulpits, toe rail, GPS antenna, and roller furling gear.

KL: What about all of the mold?

JF: That's just about done. I took off all of the lines, life jackets and everything I could do without. Mostly it was in the way. And I was able to get into all of the lockers – the hanging locker in the cabin, the head, all of the v-berth lockers, and all of the cabinets in the cabin. I was also able to get into all the deep dark corners of the cockpit lockers.

KL: Cockpit is a funny word, isn’t it?

JF: It is.

KL: Is it true that you can fit in the anchor locker?

JF: It is true. You'd be surprised how bendy a person can be in the name of cleanliness. I wanted to reach in and get the sections of the underside of the deck cleaned and pretty soon I was all the way up in there. That's where the mold would think to hide out and stage a counterattack. And if everything is as clean as possible, I will have less trouble later on.

KL: Well, alright. We'll check back again later in the off-season. Good luck and thanks for being with us.

JF: No, thank you.

Shore power? Sure.

Another fine January day here on Long Island. And by January day I mean a balmy 60s and a slight breeze out the north. I give thanks to our Lord Exxon-Mobil that Global Warming is a myth. If it was real we'd be in deep shite.

Maybe they said Mobil Warming?

Anyway. I was the only one down at the yard on Sunday, and expected to not have any company on account of the two New Jersey football teams having playoff games...

So I linked together as many hoses as I could find and scrubbed the very forward compartment of the v-berth. It was the last forward bastion of the mold. I got most of it, but once the water dried I could see where I would have to go in for a second round. Yesterday Mike said I ought to work on some outside stuff while it was nice and I thought it was sound advice. So I emptied the port side locker, or the line locker, and went to town on that. I hadn't realized just how dirty it was. If the inside of the boat is filthy, the outside is even worse.

Then Jack came down and helped/figured out how to charge the battery. The multi-meter was a big help because we could see which battery was getting a charge relative to the switch positions. So a big, hearty thanks to Jack.

I am left with questions, though. Can I run shore power (have things plugged into the outlet and run the lights, radio, and GPS) without the battery charger, and its accompanying Buzz? And can I get the automatic bilge pump to be not-automatic?

Then the breeze kicked up and switched direction, coming in off the water. And, underdressed, I got cold. So I left.

we have power!

Got some work done on the boat finally - took off the lifejackets and flotation devices, took the jib sheets to the boat, organized the cabin, pumped the bilge (not as much water as I expected, but more than I thought was there), and took measurements, with the help of Mike & Midori, of the stern pulpit. Uncle Marty and Pat came by, too, and that was a nice surprise.

I hooked up the batteries today, in hopes that I would be able to linger at the boat past sunset by using the cabin lights to finish last minute items, pack up, have a beer, etc.

The wires that hook to the battery terminals had some memory left from their old positions, telling me how they desired to be set up, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to blow myself up, so I consulted the Boatowner's Illustrated Handbook of Wiring by Charlie Wing. I also followed the red wire back to the starter and the black back out to ground. Everything worked out!

The batteries must have been on some kind of trickle charge, or are just extremely tough, because the boat has been out of the water for a good long time (and so the engine hasn't been on for them to be charged) and there was juice enough to run all the lights on the boat and the bilge pump. I know that is not a killer amount of juice, but it was good to see that the batteries weren't seriously killed.

Now I have to figure out how to charge them (from shore power). I have a shore power cable and a dedicated battery charger. But does the battery switch stay in the Off position, the 1 position (and does that just charge Battery 1), the All position (and do the two batteries get charged equally), or to the 2 position (and does that just charge Battery 2)? I asked Uncle Marty and he said that having it on All will "charge both batteries to the level of the weakest battery." I thought I had it when he said it, but after a few hours, I am left with more questions. And how do I know when they are fully charged?

Solo sailor rescue ops

"For many years, probably from the age of 10, I have liked the solitude of sailing, the adventure, the adrenaline associated with the chance encounter of the unknown," he said.

Dude's website: here.

And the AP story: here.