WASHING YOUR TURBO

It doesn't seem right, putting water into the air intake of a diesel engine, but Yanmar wants you to periodically wash your turbo.

The process:

RUN A WARM ENGINE IN NEUTRAL AT 3000 RPM.

PUT 50 CC OF LIQUID DETERGENT IN THE AIR INTAKE OVER 10 SECS.

WITH ENGINE RUNNING WAIT 3 MINUTES.

REPEAT THE PROCESS WITH 50 CC OF FRESH WATER.

Does anyone have any direct experience completing this service issue?

CHARMED'S BOTTOM

Charmed was launched sixteen months ago with two coats of Pettit Ultima SR Ablative Bottom Paint, a blue signal coat, and a black finish coat.  The bottom remained clean in waters, New England to the Chesapeake to the Keys to Maine and back to the Chesapeake.  Almost no barnacles.  A little slime.  However, I wish a second black finish coat had been installed.  Even though there was little blue showing, there appeared to be thinning spots, probably as much from installation quality as from wear.  The water line wore well, even with a half dozen light brushings over the months to remove weed and other goo.

This week three gallons of black Ultima SR went on Charmed's bottom.  The three gallons covered one and three quarters coats.  Pettit's Quantity Calculator says three gallons should have gone two coats.  The paint was clean and easy to apply using a five gallon bucket and a paint screen that hangs over the edge of the bucket.  The Ultima is thick and likely goes on thicker than Pettit says is the one coat dry film thickness.

Charmed was painted at this point to make sure we keep a good bottom.  Now we think we might easily get two plus years before we must haul again to address the condition of the bottom.

http://www.pettitpaint.com/fileshare/product_pds/1129706.pdf

http://www.pettitpaint.com/paint_calculator.asp

DINGHY CLEANING

Charmed's one year old white dinghy looks brand new again!  Over the last year, we have kept it as clean as we could, washing it periodically, usually while in the dinghy using rain water, or while in the water next to it using salt water.  But today we had the opportunity to put the dinghy on a couple of saw horses three feet high, and we had plenty of water with which to address the dingy dinghy.

Mary Kate ON OFF Hull Cleaner is fabulous and the whole answer for the fiberglass hull.  It literally is as simple as putting the cleaner on, waiting a minute, and rinsing it off.  When dry the fiberglass is ready for wax.

Mary Kate Inflatable Cleaner is fabulous, however it is not the whole answer for the hypalon tubes.  To get the tubes absolutely clean required using Soft Scrub with Bleach in a second step, after the Mary Kate cleaner stopped doing magic in a few spray on, scrub lightly, rinse off cycles.  The Soft Scrub worked best by applying it, scrubbing medium hard with a short bristle brush, waiting a little but not letting it dry, scrubbing medium hard, waiting a little, and so on.  It probably took three fresh applications of Soft Scub to get all the brown and green off the tube area at the waterline and below.

Now that the dinghy is again clean as it is going to get, we will remain diligent about getting it out of the water most nights.  We know it will be impossible to keep the dinghy clean though.  There is a lot of scummy water on the eastern coast of the United States.

While the two Mary Kate products mentioned above worked well for us, we were completely unsatisfied with ROLL OFF.  ROLL OFF is a blue liquid that is not cheap.  It didn't do a thing for the dinghy fiberglass or tubes.  It also didn't do a thing for the stains on the fiberglass of the mothership.  It may work well for other cleaning tasks.

For others with a RIB, keep in mind debris works its way into the space between the inside of the hull and lower part of the tube, where the hull attaches to the tubes.  It was amazing how much grass, sand and other goo was flushed out of this area, along the whole inside perimeter of the boat.

THE CITY

Charmed made New York City about 2:00 pm last Sunday, having departed Port Washington four hours before.  It was a wonderful sail through the west end of Long Island Sound, by Rikers Island, through Hell Gate, by the big buildings, past the Statue of Liberty.  We planned and rode the maximum ebbing current of the East River for a fun flush between Roosevelt and Manhattan Islands and under the Brooklyn Bridge.  Over 11 knots SOG at times.  We then had to work against the current up the Hudson, hoping for a mooring at the West 79th Street Boat Basin, before the George Washington Bridge.  The moorings are not reserved but handled first come, first served.  At only $30.00 a night they are popular.  Once within radio range we were given bad news, none were available.  We sailed on, looked anyway, happened to find one, and were told we could have it.

Once on the mooring we sat amazed at the state of the river and the current.  The mooring balls were nearly under water a large part of the time.  BOAT SPEED was sometimes over three knots, and we were parked!  The waves were two feet.  The swells were higher.  It was not comfortable, and we wondered how safe we were.  The harbor master had assured us . . . .

Deciding to sit on the boat until the current was slack the next morning, we enjoyed the scenery from the cockpit until bed time.  There was no sleeping on Charmed that night!  The boat bounced and bounced.  The mooring tackle made loud, horrible noises.  We wondered whether the mooring pennants would hold and inspected them for chafe every hour.  More often for the periodic louder than loud noises.

About 4:00 am we decided we were not going to stay on these moorings.  We would not be comfortable leaving the boat for any length of time, at all for that matter.  We had not even seen business day river traffic yet!  Now we just wanted enough daylight to depart.

Once the big boats and fast ferries started passing us just before daylight conditions even got worse.  A loud pop turned out to be the parting of one of the strands of one of the two three-strand nylon rope pennants.  Now sitting at the helm, watching and waiting for sunrise, I thought it might just be best if we broke off.  Then we wouldn't have to deal with casting off.

Once Charmed started to swing with the slacking and changing current, and the light started coming up, we did cast off.  We found the Liberty Harbor Marina fuel dock up Morris Canal and waited until 8:00 am for them to open.  By 9:00 we were docked and napping in a calm cove.  Liberty Harbor's tag line is "Are you tired of being bounced around on the Hudson?"  We were, in less than half of a full twenty-four hour day.

Settled in at LIberty Harbor we now could enjoy New York.  Like all tourists we walked and walked and looked and looked.  A dinner with Cousin Jim and his friend Jason, and being in the audience of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, arranged by friend Al, were highlights of this trip to The City.

This was our second visit to New York by boat.  On the first visit we stayed in The North Cove, a marina on the Manhattan side of the Hudson.  It is a good place and very convenient to The City.  They looked full this time, and we wanted calm as calm could be.  The North Cove rocks and rolls throughout the day.  It settles down some at night.  Liberty Harbor is complete calm, and we needed that after one night exposed on the Hudson.

BOOM VANG BWOKE

Somewhere along the way, the boom vang on Charmed bwoke. The vang is a Sparcraft rigid vang, operated by gas cylinders used as extension springs. The gas cylinders failed. When, is anybody's guess because a topping lift backs up the vang to make sure the boom stays off the dodger, and the rigid vang worked as a sail control while sailing, even without the extension springs.

Charleston Spar was kind enough to say they would fix the vang and return it promptly. They said reworking the vang was not a task easily done on the boat. The issue, how do you get a vang to Charleston, SC, from one city, and get it back in another city? The issue is one of location and timing, possibly complicated by weather.

At the time returning the vang was deemed necessary, Charmed was close enough to Hellier Yacht Sales to back track and leave the vang for them to return to Sparcraft. The Shaw's Cove Bridge blocked the last five hundred yards back to Hellier, but good friend Dan happened along in his dinghy while Charmed was floating in the New London harbor. The vang was delivered to Hellier by dinghy, then to Charleston Spar by UPS.

Once repaired, we predicted where Charmed would be when the vang was returned by UPS. Good friend Al in Fanwood, NJ, agreed to accept the package and work with us to get it to the boat while here in New York City. The vang was in a box 8 inches by 8 inches by 7 feet, and once received, Al started toward Newark Penn Station on one train. I started toward the station on another. The box was lateraled with just a few stares.

The logistics of getting this vang fixed and back on board were interesting. Getting it fixed and returned could have been done more simply. Most marinas will accept packages for transiet boaters, and there are always the stores offering shipping services. Though it is always somewhat of a challenge to limit the handling and expense of getting goods to boat.

NOT FLOATING IN NORTH COVE

So the North Cove presents a new element to sailing.  Moorings are
available.  Locals may tell you there is enough water.  But there
ain't!

During the worst of the storm today, I am watching and watching.
Charmed and many other similar sized resident boats around me are
lying the same way to wind and current.  All is well.

But then a smaller boat starts swinging on its mooring, and it gets
closer and closer to Charmed.  The smaller boat is clocking around
with the wind.  Charmed is not.  When the smaller boat gets within
about ten feet I finally figure out what is wrong with the picture.
Charmed and the other bigger boats are anchored in the mud!

So I start the engine and slug my way forward about ten feet, still on
the mooring.  Viola!  Deep water.  Charmed swings and starts hanging
like the other smaller boats.  There are still a dozen boats
stuck here in the mud.  Based on the size and style of some of them,
some are in here with six foot drafts.  It is too shallow for
Charmed's five feet, except at mid tide or above.

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GO LOOK

Sometimes you have to go look, then you find you have to turn around,
and find a protected anchorage, mooring, or slip. Today was one of
those days for solo crew on Charmed.

Charmed was at the service dock of Old Lyme Marina yesterday and this
morning to have a professional look at her valves, injectors, muffler,
belts, etc. While Charmed's crew can do these things, crew has chosen
to have service performed by a certified Yanmar mechanic through most
of the warranty period.

Since service was completed in short order, thank you very much, Josh
and Mark, by 10:00 am this morning, it was hoped Charmed could make
Clinton before the upcoming round of severe thunderstorms. It was
just not to be. First, winds were up higher than was being reported.
Second, winds were from a worse direction than was being reported.
Seas, waves, were not bad, except at the mouth of the Connecticut
River, where the outgoing current opposed the heavy winds. However,
both seas and winds would buck progress. Making Clinton was struck
from the plan.

Back to Old Lyme was one bailout option. Essex and Hamburg Cove were
others. But North Cove looked so enticing. It was near by. There
were tall masts sticking up in it. A call to Old Saybrook Marina gave
some hope it would be deep enough. A call to Sea Tow gave a bit more
hope. Both advisors mentioned moorings with a yellow streamer were
free for the taking. Both suggested not going too deep into the cove.
Charmed landed on the fourth mooring from the channel entrance on the
centerline of the cove.

At thirty minutes before dead low, there is less than a whole foot
under Charmed's keel, and I am reminded of sailor friend Gil's words
of wisdom, "All the water over six inches under your keel is wasted!"

Regarding the reason for being near here, the service work, every
valve set on Charmed's Yanmar 4JH4 TE 75 hp Diesel Auxiliary Engine
had to be adjusted. It was noted all of the turbos are being found to
have come out of adjustment, and they should be monitored as requested
by Yanmar.

LEAVING SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND

Charmed is lying Shaw's Cove again, a good spot to be while Tropical
Storm Hanna passes over. Shaw's Cove is also a good spot to mark the
place and time of the beginning of a second voyage south.

Once Craig helps move a boat to the Newport Boat Show for Hellier,
Charmed will sail to Old Lyme Marina for preventative maintenance work
on the auxiliary engine, mostly a close look at injectors and valves.
Then it's over to Port Jefferson to collect Debbie when she returns
from visiting family and friends in Florida. Then to Oyster Bay.
Then to Port Washington. Then to The CIty for several days.

Possible stops after New York will be Sandy Hook, Atlantic City, Cape
May, Chesapeake City, and Rock Hall. We plan a short haul for Charmed
in Rock Hall to get her bottom painted.

NO WHALES

Charmed purposefully crossed Stellwagen Bank twice, hoping to see whales. While reports of sightings keep coming in, we unfortunately saw none. See this site: Whale Center, for what we missed.

When in Provincetown, we almost paid for the pleasure of seeing whales. But it was agreed it would not be the same. Charmed's crew would like to see whales from our boat.

BOOKS IN BOOTHBAY HARBOR

Books at the memorial library in Boothbay Harbor are cheap! On two
shopping trips, one when we entered Maine, and now one when we are
leaving, we have added fifty books to Charmed's library. We spent
less than $20.00 on each trip.

Available books are not on the best seller's list today, but many once
were. The selection is incredible. Two or three four foot shelves
are dedicated to Stephen King, a Mainer. The library even has DVDs
for sale. Charmed's library now includes six Dirk Pitt novels, gotten
for fifty cents or a dollar a piece.

THE SCORE

Charmed 64,000, lobster pots 1!

Given we depart for Provincetown probably Tuesday, we thought we just
might get out of Maine without a hitch. It was bad thinking. While
sailing from Camden to Tenants Harbor yesterday afternoon in a field
of too many lobster pots we misjudged one that we should have given a
wider berth. Once passed the point of being able to do anything
different we watched and hoped the orange and yellow buoy would pop up
behind us. It didn't. The pot slowed us from a bit over six knots to
a bit over five knots, and you could see line trailing taut behind at
a depth of about four feet. Before we could douse some sails and slow
or stop we collected a few more pots on the line from the first one.

Once slowed, basically drifting, we pulled and pushed on the line with
a boat hook, first with the rudder full to one stop, then full to the
other stop, and then everywhere in between. But we were pretty much
anchored. It would take more than working off the swim platform.
While the water was not as cold as expected it does take your breath
away for a moment. Once off the swim platform and into the water, we
were on our way again in minutes.

Only a few more days of having our track look like an irregular zigzag
stitch at the end of the day . . . .

THIRTY FOOT SAILBOAT, ROWING

Weeks ago we left Boothbay Harbor for points east, in thick fog. Visibility was very poor. At best an eighth mile. We closely watched traffic on radar, and contacted and cleared all traffic near us. Others seemingly did the same.

When at about Old Man Ledge we were stunned when we heard a young female respond to a call she thought was meant for her. We knew it was meant for us. Anyway this young lady says she is in a thirty foot sailboat currently under oars, making two knots. We knew for sure we were the ones being hailed based upon our position, our course and our speed. We interjected and cleared the inquirer. What we didn't know was where this "rowboat" was. We never saw it. Neither did the inquirer. We kept close watch, and wondered.

On a later voyage in nearly as bad weather, we saw one of these "rowboats", out and about. I guess the three crew at the bow are practicing Potato Radar. That is where you take a fifty pound sack of potatoes to the bow. Every three minutes you throw a potato as far forward as you can. If you hear a splash, you continue on. If you hear a thud, you holler, hard alee!

BELFAST

Belfast may be the coolest town in Maine!

For one thing, Belfast has the WICKED LOW PRICE TWIN LOBSTER DINNER,
at the restaurant at the public landing, $19.95. And the lobsters are
normal one and a quarter pounders, not chicken lobsters.

A second and third thing, both a laundry and propane are just blocks
from the dinghy.

And it goes on. Tonight was the Belfast Summer Nights concert in the
street. Tomorrow is the farmer's market.

OUT OF TOUCH IN SOMES HARBOR

(While in Somes Harbor we had poor voice and data service. Verizon needs to ask, "can you hear me now" in and around Mt Desert. They will not get a response to their question.)

Mt Desert is fabulous! Cadillac Mountain was the highlight. We hiked up the North Ridge to the top, altitude 1530 feet. Then we "hiked" down the West Face. While we came off the mountain with no broken bones and just a few scratches, the "hike" down the mountain could not be described any other way, it was extreme. The rangers of Acadia National Forest need to better protect ignorant visitors, like us, from ourselves. Somehow they need to make it more clear these well known and well advertised trails are more than just hikes, which is what the ranger at the ranger station told us they were. Our final inquiry about coming down the West Face was to an older couple who had struggled up the North Ridge. They dismissed questions about the West Face with a, well, we did it a couple of years ago. For us the trip up was great exercise. The trip down scared us some. Kinda like a solid blue skier getting stuck on a double black diamond trail.

These two pictures are back up what we just came down. They don't do justice to what we were climbing down.

For those of you who ask why we didn't just go back up and down the North Ridge, which was strenuous but not extreme. The trail became more and more precarious as we went down. By the time we were concerned we thought we were almost done. Another thing the rangers need to address, distance markers. The West Face might be 0.9 miles straight down, but you can't go straight down, unless you are rappelling.

MAINE CRUISING

A Maine sailor advises, there are two kinds of boats in Maine, them
what have hit the rocks, and them what are gonna.

(PS Some of you have expressed concern. Charmed is not on the rocks and has not been.)

USS WHIDBEY ISLAND LSD 41

The Whidbey Island is a Navy ship 609 feet long, that takes Marines, equipment and gear to the beach. In the Navy's words, the Navy provides a boat, bacon, beans and bandaids. In the picture above Debbie is at the wheel, which is only about 12 inches in diameter, smaller than any car's wheel.

ROCKLAND PARADE

We happened by Rockland during the Annual Lobster Festival and attended one of the best parades ever. The best of the parade, after the free bubble gum and candy, go carts climbing a moving mountain:

The Suburban is moving about 10 miles per hour, while the go carts zing over about 25 mph.

WATCHES

Charmed has a wonderful Weems and Plath Ship's Bell. Like all ship's
bells, it counts half hours for four hours, then it starts over. At
04:30, 08:30, 12:30, 16:30, 20:30, and 00:30, the bell rings one time.
At 05:00, 09:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00, 01:00, the bell rings two
times, and so on. At six times during the day, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00,
16:00, 20:00, 24:00, the bell rings eight times. These are the times
when the watch historically changed.

The different watches had names:

2000 2400 FIRST WATCH
2400 0400 MIDDLE WATCH
0400 0800 MORNING
0800 1200 FORENOON
1200 1600 AFTERNOON
1600 1800 FIRST DOG WATCH
1800 2000 SECOND DOG WATCH

The two Dog Watches compressed the period available for dinner or
supper. The Dog Watches also shifted the time that sailors would
stand watch so sailors wouldn't stand watch the same time every day,
day in and day out.

LOBSTERS

Ryan taught us a lot about lobsters when we visited the Maine State Aquarium here in Boothbay Harbor. For 1000 lobsters that visit each trap ten get caught. One is legal to keep. (Hayden would be proud. Maine DMR learned this by putting cameras with live feed around some traps.)

Regarding legal to keep, you can't keep the too small, the too big, egg bearing females, and females that have a V notch in their tail. If you trap an egg bearing female you are required to put a V notch in her tail. You can tell if a lobster is female by the shape and hardness of her swimmerettes. But, if you catch a female, and she is not bearing eggs, and she does not have a V notch in her tail, and she is the right size, she is food!

The largest lobster Ryan and Maine DMR know of was 100 years old, 44
lbs. The largest lobster now on display is 28 lbs and mid fifties
years old:

CHARMED LIVE

Between now and Friday, August 1, 2008, see Charmed live:
http://boothbayharborwebcams.com.