Cruise: The Float Plan

Our friends left at 1500Z this morning on their way North in At Last.  We plan a 1400Z departure headed for Muskegon, MI,  a 40 mile journey, with weather alternates of Port Sheldon or Grand Haven.  We intend to anchor out at least 50% of the time.

After Muskegon, the second day plan is to stay at Pentwater with Ludington as the good sailing day destination.  From there it will be Frankfort or Arcadia. and from there to Manistee and on to Leland.  After that we have not planned yet but I will post on the blog when we have bandwidth.

More RAIN!

[singlepic id=188 w=320 h=240 float=left]I awoke about 0430 to a rocking boat and some distant lightning.  About 0500 the rain started and lasted until 1100 hrs.  The barometer has been relative steady since 1100 hrs yesterday.  Skies are now overcast and humidity is mid-90’s with light SW winds.  It has been a pretty crappy last few days with intense heat, rain and high humidity.  It looks like the rain has mostly passed.

During the height of the rain, Fred of Tower Boat Sales, showed the boat to a prospective buyer.  It was not the best day to show the boat but at least it showed the boat does not leak at all.  He asked a lot of questions which I like because I cannot think of all things to include into the conversation.  Since we will be cruising for a few weeks we agreed to re-visit the whole thing when we return.

A day in PL

At home again in Indiana.  Did some yard work, laundry and used the blower to clean porches and driveway.  There was a pressing issue of new license tags and organizing groceries for the boat.  It was a great and lazy day at home viewing all the beautiful green trees and yard and blue of the lake and various flowers.

I spent some time changing my Facebook photo to one in the kayak earlier this spring.  There was nothing much on email today but the snail mail box was full to the brim.  Karon cut my hair today too so it ended being a full day.

Edge of a storm

[singlepic id=190 w=240 h=240 float=left]UPDATE:  From the radar it looks like we will get smacked and a Special Marine Warning has been issued.

It looks like the small TB cell will pass just to the north of us.  The wind picked up but no rain so it must be the downdrafts around the edges of the storm cells that we are feeling.  Each day for the past week has been getting a tad cooler but the humidity is right up there.  Our aircon has been coping well  but it is a pain for us to get in and out of the boat.

Paramour returned from a short cruise and sits locked up.  We could not visit our friends to see why the sudden return was made.  We hope nothing tragic happened.  We still plan to depart next week sometime.

Big storm this morning

A big storm hit this morning and dropped a tree across the power line feeding the marina.  When I awoke at 0700 it was off.  Earlier I awoke and turned off the Shore Power and was running off the batteries.  The power was back on by 1130.  SAM is out at a garage sale.

Time on my hands

I had some time this hot afternoon to take some pictures of the flowers around our marina in Saugatuck.  I usually do not do slide shows but here is one that I am doing just to try it again.  The transitions are sort of slow but acceptable.

[slideshow id=20]

So there went my afternoon of exceeding energy and retirement.  And yes, I apologize for the lack of professional quality as it was a point and shoot afternoon.  It did not start as a photoshoot but ended up that way for some strange reason.

Update

[singlepic id=189 w=320 h=240 float=right]I have been remiss about blogging lately.  The days have been short as we prepare for the cruise.  The past two days have been spent installing the wind generator that we have never used.  It will be interesting to see if it has any value in the winds here on LM.  I did the job correctly this time, with a switch for OFF, ON and SHORT in the aft Lazerette, plus a fuse near the battery and new 70A diodes mounted on a heat sink.  The picture shows the wind generator and switch.

Previously we installed a “temporary” hailer horn to use with the DSC radio.  The radio will output fog audio depending on the GPS velocity readings.  It also outputs anchor, aground and siren signals at adjustable frequencies.  Cool stuff this radio has – a Uniden 525 with Wham4 wireless remote.  I also think that I can use the horn for the GPS anchor alarm output but that is for another day.

The month of July has gone fast.  Last Friday and Saturday we volunteered for the KANQ Balloons Aloft event.  It was a smashing success with 10K plus people going through the airport in the two days.  Sunday we attended church and Monday morning we returned to the boat.

We are almost ready to go now but are awaiting the dingy that is being repaired at Wolf’s Marine (they are expensive but the best at inflatable repair).  Our friends in S/V Paramour left yesterday and it makes us a little jealous.

Hot weather

We were in PL for the 4th at A&L’s house. We got into town about 1630 hrs Saturday because my brother wanted to stay there over night.  From there we came right back to the boat.

We discovered that our dingy had a gaping hole just at the junction of the floor and the inflated sides.  That is why with only myself in the dingy everything was OK and when SAM was in front it scooped in more water than could be ejected through the transom outlet.  I took it to Wolf’s Marine in Benton Harbor for the $260 repair – I hope it was worth it – because the dingy is on life support now.  A new one will be $1200 plus all the extras and registration.

Here is my boat chore list for this week:

• Purchase and execute a temporary Fog Horn install with connectors and 20′ of speaker cable to connect to the DSC Radio Hailer.  COMPLETED.
• Install wind generator mast and configure wiring to allow installation. COMPLETED.
• Complete install of the Wind Bugger.  NEXT WEEK.

It has been HOT, HOT.  I re-installed the airconditioner we bought earlier this season.  The AC has provided a much needed relief from the mid-90’s heat index with actuals of 90+.  I sweat 3 quarts today outside doing the work.

FLASH.  Last night SAM said, “What is that noise?”.  It sounded to my electrical educated ear as a buzzing / arcing sound bu sans smoke or acrid odor.  I shut off the Shore power last night and ran on batteries over night.  Today morning we re-applied power and same sounds emanating from power panel and Heart Charger/Inverter.  I banged the Heart unit and so far the unit has functioned OK:  I think it was a stuck relay.  Pray with me ……………………………..

News – some good & some bad

First the bad – Bob Armey, Lee’s father, passed away unexpectedly.  It was a peaceful passing with grandchildren & children at his side.  The viewing is Monday 2 – 4 and 6 – 8 and the funeral is Tuesday at 10:00.

SAM & I were at home for a class when the big storm rolled through.  The next day we started picking up all the branches and detritus.  A lot of the branches were on the roof so I took the blower up and started to clean off.  I noticed some standing water in the gutters.  Further inspection found them full of humus type looking soil.  We cleaned front and back gutters and that took about 4 hours in addition to the 3 hours cleaning the yard.

Today we drove back to Saugatuck & the boat after working all day on the eves and washing the car.  I am real tired so I think I will say goodnight.

Lots of Rain

We had a major storm move through the area last night.  Lots of lightning, some major rain.  The captain pretty much slept through the event but the admiral did not.

Prior to darkness and at the yacht club building we had a Monday group party of about 5 couples.  We had some great discussions and the burgers were good too.  I ate the bread and later regretted it – soybean allergies.

Today was a Pickens Plan call.  We had a good meeting and a free exchange of ideas.  SAM went out walking and now it is time for lunch.  Boy, the days go fast on the boat and the nights are a bit slower as I wake up more often than I did when I was younger.  BFN – Time for lunch.