Friday, December 12, 2008
Moon Set over Lake Worth
It was a peaceful night since the wind died down. I slept like a rock. Ohhh check out the cool moon picture I took this morning right at sunrise. Wow it was BIG>>
Today was cooler and a bit breezy but with the wind mainly NW and limited fetch it was comfortable here. Karen left early on a big bus adventure. She got an all day pass for $3.50 and was going to work a couple of bus routes to find a JoAnn Fabrics. She needs more yarn for more knitting projects.
I cruised by in the dinghy and visited with Carl on Diva and Mark on Rachel. We discussed the forecast and all agreed that we will be here till at least Tuesday. Tomorrow the wind will be 20 with gusts to 30 from the N and NE. Again with the limited fetch should not be a problem here. The only “fly in the ointment” is that a couple of new boats came in today and anchored near me. Well if we get to close they have to move – anchor etiquette. First one in gets the spot.
I cut out some Sunbrella to make a riding sail for the boat and hopefully eliminate or minimize this anchor dancing. Good thing I talked to Carl though. He said he had one but never uses it because it constantly blankets his KISS wind generator and it stops. I think I’ll make a smaller one and build it so it goes up past the KISS on the backstay. I’m just using 3 yds of fabric.
Ohhhh got bitten by the Previous owner (might be the first owner) notations in a manual. The front cover of the engine manual showed the NAPA filter number to use for oil and says 1 gallon 1qt. When I changed oil that is what I use it seemed a little low on the dip stick. The dip stick is very poorly engineered and difficult to read. Well I was looking at the Endeavour Owners manual last night to get some info on the propeller and on the same page was a statement to use 9 qts of oil in the engine. Well 1 gallon and a quart is only 5 quarts!! I checked the Yanmar manual and it said to use 6.5 liters which is 7.7 quarts. Aaaaack – I’ve been using too little oil…. I added another quart today and it is at the full mark now. I also made up my mind to ignore any previous owner notations in any manual for future references. Grrrr..
Earl,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear your trip is going as well as it is and that you are getting ready to make the jump across to the Bahamas.
We had a good blow here in Wilmington the past couple of days to the extent Frady (Ship's Cat and Master) poked his nose out of the cockpit enclosure and turned around and crept back next to the portable radiator I have set up next to the main mast in the main cabin....where he stayed all day.
A nice Hatteras Sport Fisher pulled in a four weeks ago with a transmission problem. He is still here waiting on a Murphy Gauge and has spent about Sixty Grand so far. The Captain is a retired Sanford, NC Fireman who splits his time between New York and Marathon with the boat. I accused him of running all the way from Norfolk on one engine just so he could be broke down here in North Carolina...but he denied it and said it was only Hatteras.
In trying to figure out the dip stick on my transmission....I know...it is called a "dipstick" for a reason...come to find out they are supposed to be scribed by a mechanic at time of first installation to show the correct "Full Level" as the machined mark is the "Fill Level". Funny thing...when I added a quart of ATF to the gearbox...the shifting into Reverse started working like a champ!
We do live and learn don't we!
Smooth Sailing!