Last Cruise Before Winter

Went for a last cruise the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The weather was relatively warm (mid 60's F) but no breeze. So we motored up and down the West River.

First time Kyrah saw the boat since the teak was refinished. She went on about how good it looked all weekend. Woody Nick at Hartge's spent several days doing what would have taken us weeks. Speaking of Hartge's, had very welcome help from Dave trying to debug the water system last week; air leaks on the suction side of the pressure pump can wreak havoc, as can a clogged vent line. Glad I had his help, else Kyrah would have been without water on the boat this weekend.

Saturday night we drove to Annapolis and wandered around their version of Alexandria's Old Town. We supped at a very nice bistro called Aqua Terra. I had initial misgivings because it was mostly empty; not sure why because the food was excellent, the ambience nice and the service adequate; maybe it was because of the prices. We had a meritage 'Folie a Deux- 'Menage A Trois'' which went very well with the caramelized pan seared salmon filet. Back home (on Southern Girl) warm sleeping bags and a small electric heater made all the difference.

Sunday: struck sails, emptied the holding tank, filled the diesel tank, removed the LPG tanks. Took the bedsheets, towels and other fabrics home to be laundered. Kind of sad. Have a new winter cover from The Canvas Store; unfortunately, the instructions were a bit confusing.

Monday: delivered sails to Quantum; if you need sails, talk to David Flynn. Then went to Southern Girl and installed speakers (that I wished I had done before the weekend -- oh well) and retrieved stuff we couldn't carry Sunday.

Next week Southern Girl will be on the hard. Cheers.

US Sailboat Show, Part II

Went back to the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland Monday. Monday was Columbus Day, which was a Federal Holiday. The weather was much nicer (warmer, sunnier and very much dryer) and the crowds were a bit smaller. The goal of this trip was to complete research and to make purchases.

Before the show went to the Weems & Plath tent sail in the Independent Republic of Eastport. Very good prices on their excellent products. Acquired an Orion series quartz ship’s bell clock; I’ve always want a ships bell clock.

After walking back to the show entered right at 10:00 (4 bells in the forenoon watch). I will confess that I spent a fair amount of time wandering round again.

Boat graphics: We went with GulfStream Gear Outfitters. Along with the boat sign, we bought a tank shirt for Kyrah, Tee-shirts, hats and coffee mugs; a sizable order. The apparel will have a line drawing of Southern Girl next to the name graphic. We are looking forward to the proofs.

Boat canvas: Already discussed the winter cover from The Canvas Store. Thought about using them for the dodger and bimini cover, but they are not local and we’ve heard excellent recommendations for Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas. The only potential drawback to Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas is that they may be too busy after the show; hope not. Also doubt they will be the most affordable, but I believe the quality will be worth what we pay. Should we come to an agreement, our order will consist of a replacement dodger (on the existing frame, if that works), detachable side windows for the dodger, a bimini, a transition fabric with a (large) view window, and a new wheel cover. All of the view windows will have fabric covers.

Came across a company named Zarcor. They make all sorts of plastic devices for sailboats. What caught my attention were their stern perch seats. The new Island Packets have these built in. Zarcor will provide a plastic platform, in a light tan to match the traditional Island Packet gelcoat and with cushions for the seat and rail to match the Persian Green Sunbrella™ canvas we have.

Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning: Saturday we talked with Ocean Options, Inc who provides Marine Air packaged heat pump units. This was the frontrunner Saturday and is who Hartge typically uses. We also talked with Coastal Climate Control, Inc who provides Climma packaged heat pump units. While these European units appear to be of good quality, they didn’t seem to make it to the top choice. Today I talked with people from Webasto and was favorably impressed by them. Did not find the Cruisair people, which was disappointing; but then I find out that Marine Air and Cruisair are both owned by Dometic. The Seven Seas Cruising Association 2004 Equipment Survey does not rate Webasto air conditioners, but does rate their heaters. The survey rates the Dometic brands (Cruisair and Marine Air) at the top of the list and Webasto in the bottom half; repairs per year are 0 for Dometic heaters, 0.07 for Dometic air conditioners and 0.16 for Webasto heaters. Webasto is providing new AC systems in the US, with some logical improvements, but I’m not sure that overcomes their lower rankings. It may come down to which systems fits in Southern Girl the best.

Bottom Coatings: The October issue of Practical Sailor magazine continued their ongoing review of bottom coatings; this issue covered the results after 12-months since application. PS’s recommendation for best value is Petit’s Hydrocoat. In talking with the Petit Paint people, they recommended Hydrocoat ablative antifouling coating as a good paint for a previously painted surface where the previous coating is unknown. Turns out the Petit literature they gave me is not so cavalier about painting over the existing coating; the literature requires removal by sanding. Ran out time before talking with the Interlux, which I wanted to. Was interested in a comparison between the different Micron formulations, in their recommendations for coating over an unknown previous coating and in their comments on Cetol. Also wanted to talk with the people from AwlGrip; didn’t have time for that either.

On the way out acquired a ClampTite tool. This is a gadget that will create a wire-tie with any wire around any surface (almost). Looks like it will take practice to do what was shown in the booth, but the gadget has received good reviews in Practical Sailor and Latitudes & Attitudes. We’ll see.

All in all, it was a productive day.

United States Sailboat Show, Annapolis, MD

Went to the US Sailboat Show Saturday with Kyrah. We were hoping that the rain would keep the crowds low, but sailors seem to enjoy showing up in wind and rain in foul weather gear. We can't say much about that, we were one of them.

Other than looking at boats, I was there to investigate:

• variable pitch propellers
• heat pump systems
• deck canvas: dodgers and biminis
• boat graphics: having the name of our boat
• bottom paints

Next year, I'll need to shorten the list, or plan on more than one day. Actually the plan this year is to research Saturday and return Monday for any purchases. Today is the day, we decide which manufacturer or supplier and what the priority is. As always, the wants exceed the budgets.

Variable pitch props: My intuitive reaction is that Max-Prop is the way to go. I also have the feeling that Max-Prop will come out on top in the VA (Value Analysis) matrix. Also need to check the clearance between the end the shaft and the start of the rudder; I'm told that may be an issue.

Heat Pump Systems (otherwise known as air conditioners) Wasn't able to finish visiting all of the dealers, so more after Monday.

Deck canvas: When one of your competitors gives you a recommendation, I take that as a good sign. Dan Oldale with Annapolis Yacht Canvas was recommended by David Flynn with Quantum (along with Clarke McKinney of Quantum Solomons). Annapolis Yacht Canvas was at the show and we had a nice conversation about the peculiarities of Southern Girl. We did order a winter cover from The Canvas Company; we had talked to them last year and liked what we saw, but it took another winter to make that decision.

Boat Graphics: Two companies Gulfstream Gear Outfitters and Ross Marine Ideas indicated they were able to do our graphics and also to embroider shirts and hats. Tonight Kyrah gets to decide which shirts she likes best and Monday we'll order the boat name, hail-port and other such fun stuff. The decision may boil down to price; however, Gulfstream Gear Outfitters showed more initiative.

Didn't get far at all on bottom coatings; but that can wait until early spring.

Also talked to the RayMarine people about cleaning the speed sensor; without a well defined answer.

The only boats we looked at were the Island Packet 370 and the Sabre 385. I would like very much for one of these boats to be our next vessel.

More after Monday ...

Is Southern Girl still floating?

Well, went to Southern Girl last Saturday to see if she was still floating. She was; has way too much growth below the waterline, which is a shame.

Will be going to the United States Sailboat Show this weekend. Will be looking at (among other things) canvas -- biminis and dodgers.

Cheers for now

Test

Okay,
This is a test blog to see if I can email entries.
The sweet thing is if this works, I'll be able to make entries from the Treo while sailing.
John von