snack down smack down

Looked at the calendar to see that in a week I could be packing the boat. Where does the time go?

So I started checking over my food supplies. As usual I bought to much. But that's fine, I'll sort through it this weekend and the leftover will come in handy for a long weekend walkabout sail in October.

I also mixed up my dried fruit snacks, a zip lock bag containing about 2/3 cup of dried fruit pieces for each day. You'll see dried strawberries, mango, papaya, ginger, coconut, pineapple and kiwi fruit in there. I'll also have another batch of bags with mix nuts, wasabi peas and raisins.

Tonight I've got to get a little more serious about picking out possible anchorages.

steve

damn, I like this picture so I'll show it again (with an explanation)

I've had some questions about the photograph, folks asking if it was my lens that put the ring around the sun. No, that is light refracting off of ice crystals up in the atmosphere (a cool front had moved into the area two days before). I could clearly see the ring, sometimes full sometimes partial, for about 45 minutes during the sail. Here is a description of the halo from wikipedia....

A halo; also known as a nimbus, icebow or Gloriole) is an optical phenomenonproduced by ice crystals creating colored or white arcs and spots in the sky. Many are near the sun or moon but others are elsewhere and even in the opposite part of the sky

I was just happy to catch of photograph of it with my little point and shoot camera.

steve

first, make sure the ramp is clear

• then go back to the boat and grab the three pieces of trailering gear - the red bungee wrapped around the JW pennant (so it doesn't flap around while trailering on the highway and get worn out), the yellow cambuckle tie down strap that holds the hull on the trailer and the orange flag tied on the transom and put them in the passenger side front seat
• uncleat the dockline that supports both the main mast and mizzen mast on the dummy mast that raises them off the deck as they lie horizontal for trailering
• remove the shoe (a small box that stops them from sliding around) at the base of the two masts, sitting next to the transom, raise the mizzen mast and set it in place

at the ramp

• get the boomkin, tiller, rudder out of the cockpit sole in the aft cockpit, and the mizzen boom (with sail tied on) inside the cockpit on the starboard side, and lean them all up against the coaming
• hop out of the boat, put the rudder in place, slide the tiller into the rudder stock and tie off the pennant to the cleat and cam cleat mounted on the tiller
• slide the boomkin in place through the transom and lock in place with the pin in the mounting block on top of the day storage box
• slide the gooseneck of the mizzen boom down the track on the aft side of of the mizzen mast, rest the mizzen boom on shoulder while unclipping the lower portion of the lazy jacks and clipping them, port and starboard, to the upper portion of the lazy jacks hanging down from the top of the mizzen mast
• untie the mizzen sheet from underneath the mizzen boom, feed it through the block at the after end of the boomkin, up through the block hanging down from the mizzen boom and through the fairlead to the cam cleat on the transom deck

a sparking day on the water

• tie a figure eight knot in the end of the mizzen sheet forward of the cam cleat
• attach the halyard to the head of the mizzen sail, tie the three sail ties to the luff
• remove the mizzen sail cover
• pick up the main mast, with all lines attached, and step through the hole the foredeck into the main mast step below
• undo the first wrap of the 1/8 inch blue line that holds all the main mast lines, releasing the shrouds and forestay

a halo around the sun as ice crystals in a cool front, the same front that pushed away the hurricane, catch the light

• grab the small wrench and cut-off screw driver from the day storage box.
• attach the shrouds, already measured out, to the tangs port and starboard
• use the screw driver and wrench to loosen the turnbuckle on the forestay, attached the forestay to the fairlead at the forward end of the bow sprit, then tighten until the forestay makes a nice "twanging" sound
• use the wrench to lock the turnbuckle in place
• pick up the forward end of the main boom, with sail and gaff attached, all wrapped in the sailcover and lower portions of the lazy jacks, and slide the gooseneck down the tracks on the aft side of the main mast

this boat circled Spartina taking photographs, the guy laughed and yell "NO FAIR!!" when I pulled out my camera

• free the rest of the lines, still held by the blue line, from the main mast
• raise the topping lift to get the main mast up about four feet, snugging in place by pulling the main sheet taught
• unwrap the lower portions of the main lazy jacks from the main boom and connect to the upper portions hanging down from the mast
• pull back the main sail cover, loose the 3/4 inch line wrapped around the main and tie the three lines that attach the mainsail to the mast plus the line attached to the jaws
• walk aft to pull taught and cleat the main sail outhaul

dolphins on Crawford Bay in front of the old Naval Hospital that dates to 1823

• while walking forward stop at the centerboard trunk and take two 1/2 turns on the cb winch raising the cb out of the trailering harness
• continue forward and feed the main downhaul through the fairlead on the deck and tie off to the 4 inch line cleat
• grab the halyards and attach to the gaff at the peak and throat positions using the bronze clips
• hook the jib halyard up forward on the deck cleat
• hop out of the boat, grab the jib in the bag

blue skies and white clouds, the seasons are changing

• clip the jib to the bow sprit and hank on the sail, clipping the halyard to the sail head
• feed the jib sheets through the fairleads, port and starboard, and lead them through the cam cleats with a figure eight know at the end of each
• use the blue line, the same one that held the lines to the mast, to tie the jib to the bow sprit
• put the mainsail covers, dummy mast, jib bag in the jeep
• check the fuel level in the outboard
• unclip the safety chain on the bow ring
• launch the boat and have a nice day on the water

pomegranate fresh from the backyard

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. How long does it take? About 35 or 40 minutes. If I have help, it takes an hour or more (it's easier to do it by myself). I kind of enjoy rigging the boat. I watch the tugboats working out on the river, I listen to the seagulls above. It's kind of nice.

Wind was decent in the morning, better than expected. It fell off in the afternoon so I tied up at the waterfront got a sandwich and a newspaper and relaxed out on Crawford Bay.

Jerked chicken with mango/pomegranate/avacado salsa for dinner. A very nice day.

steve

This isn't a hospital, it's an insane asylum.

Hotlips O'Houlihan - "I wonder how such a degenerated person ever reached a position of authority in the Army Medical Corps."

Father Mulcahy - "He was drafted."

Nice interview with Elliott Gould in the NY Times for the 40th anniversary of the classic anti-war film MASH. He makes a great observation towards the end of the interview. "With ego...there's fear."

I've been thinking about that all afternoon.

steve

survivor, Hatteras edition, dinner

Steamed shrimp, scallops, clams and crawfish at Pop's Raw Bar in Buxton (and a 30% tip for the nice lady who opened it just for the locals on a rough day.)

goodbye Earl

Now if they could just get Hwy. 12 clear so I can get off the island.

But then again Hatteras is not a bad spot for a friday evening. (Stocked up on some Coronas and Red Stripe as part of the emergency rations).

steve

did somebody say waves?

sign, sign, everywhere a sign

The Buxton Beach Motel, above, and a house on Hwy 12 a little bit to the south in Buxton. Earl seems to be listening as the course predictions show it going a little to the east.

steve

Frisco Thursday morning

dog days on Hatteras

If everybody is driving north why am I driving south?

steve