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The Beauty of Boats

Naranganah, San Blas Islands of Panama

Sea Dog

......the 'fun' part of the internet!

Rudder Turbulators, Make water FLOW!

 Photos taken in Panama in 2011 during or should I say between showers or, at the end of their rainy season.
I built these Turbulators, in 1994 to smoooooth the flooowwwwwwwwwwwww. It's all about the details!

Dorothy and rudder 4 years after it's building/turbulators built in 94 painted but not shown here.

They fill the GAP between the Skeg and Rudder to make water flow smoothly and just like aircraft, the biggest difference is in the slowest craft..........not the fastest!

On the Skeg side, I chose to drill and tap the Skeg, then.... inserting stainless steel helicoils for good threads....and then inserted Flat Head 1/4" Machine Screws.

as per photos.  These still look great  and work as planned, after 17 years.

I do believe this makes a difference in the performance of our boat.  (we reinstalled these after the first coat of bottom paint and added 3 more coats to cover everything..............."we normally get 5 years or more out of our bottom jobs."

 Wonderful video about a 'saved' whale and it's apparent joy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=EBYPlcSD490

Been thinkin..............

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't & believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get the chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it."

Gulf of Mexico Sailing/October

IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN IN OCTOBER!  CLEAR, COOLER AND A WONDERFUL BREEZE.

Hammer Head Shark at our dock!

Surprise, Surprise....when I looked over and saw a Hammer Head shark about 10' from me, a foot below the surface.  It was a juvenile, about 36-40" long, slowly checking out the empty slip next to Memory Rose.
I luckily had my camera near me too, so I was able to grab a few shots of it as it was swimming out to deeper water.

I passed it along to the local  TV news channels, 8 and 9 and caught it being aired once per hour.  The good reason for this was a few weeks ago, a spear fishing group was attacked by a bull shark in our local waters.

9-11

Indian Proverb

We don't inherit the earth from our forefathers, we borrow it from our children.

Back in the U.S. of A...........................resting. More later! :)

OK.

Sailed from Eastern Panama's San Blas Islands, to Isla Mujeras, Mexico NON-STOP in 5 days, 1 hour.

Had to slow down to do this early morning entry by maybe 12 hours. I did NOT want to get into Mexico at night.

Next..............we enjoyed Mexico's eastern,Yucatan's Isla Mujeres,central location of Merida and Progresso's coastal city for 8 or 9 days before leaving for the US.

When weather cleared a bit, we left Mexico and sailed/motor sailed or motored to Florida's St. Pete Beach following grib files that were often not too accurate.
Arrived at Midnight........ we dropped anchor in front of our home. PERFECT!

Isla Mujeres Mexico to our dock in St. Pete Beach, 2 days 16 hours. (64 hours)..........we entered Mexico as the 2nd or 3rd boat during the St. Pete to Isla Race seemingly confusing a few "watcher's", but WE were not entered in the race, having left Panama days earlier and NOT from  Florida,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but eastern Panama.

However, Maybe next April we will participate in this race.........maybe.  We and Memory Rose are competitive.

"Thankyou" US Military!

Third Week in March

 We bought our beef in large pieces and I did the final cutting in our own galley.   I became the butcher when back on the boat and one particular cut of meat, cut nicely into  20 bacon wrapped Filet Mignons.

 All meats and fish were wrapped and vacuum packed in double portions, then frozen in our magnificent 5 cubic foot freezer.

 After a tour of Colon, last week, we stopped at a resort and noticed this wonderful 'fat belly' tree.

 Dorothy goes out with a couple of gals here early in the A.M. to get great shots in the jungle. (Toucan high up in the canopy)

 Spider and Howler monkeys are everywhere.  Spiders, like this are mostly seen and Howlers heard.

 This 2" fish was floating flat on the top of the water looking at the seafood delights on our dock.

 Sloth was as slowly as ever, eating a bud near the top of a tree. " This Buds for you! "

 Jimmy Buffet dropped into the Marina.....  Truly!  His boat Continental Drifter was came into the Shelter Bay Marina and he dropped out of the sky via his seaplane..........   Weird life it is here at the dock! ;)

 A short trip to Panama City, Panama allowed us an evening with friends and a wonderful dinner at El Patio.
Outside, the musicians treated the passing pedestrians and stalled traffic. Fun guys!

 Not much explaining to do here.  This is a tree that does not want you to get up close and personal.

Somali Pirates sieze yacht with Americans aboard/ It continues!

sorry to say, they have been killed!

 Piracy seems to be on the increase and sometimes deadly for sailors.

IT CONTINUES: 

.....DANISH VESSEL WITH CHILDREN ABOARD, TAKEN HOSTAGE 2 DAYS AFTER SOMALI'S MURDER AMERICANS.

NEWS STORY ON DANISH VESSEL 

Rio Dulce, Guatemala. We were just across the river at the time    ..................2008
Canadian murdered by locals in Honduras, while at anchor. .............................................. Late 2010
Kidnapping for $........................Guatemala's Lake Isabel...............................Late 2010
Piracy, Puerto Escondido, north coast of Honduras.........................................Late 2010
MISSING YACHT AND OWNER/GUATEMALA'S RIO DULCE ...........vessel located. towed in by Nicaraguan Navy because of total electrical failure.  We are glad he is safe.

News from the Rio Dulce online newspaper, RIODULCECHISME, CLICK HERE  provides cruisers current info on Piracy and all kinds of good local stuff.  However,  the news of  a Canadian sailor murdered in front of his daughter(crew) aboard their boat, anchored in a bay of Honduras and other such serious crimes should be followed by cruisers anywhere and everywhere, as we sometimes are a small close knit family.

Others have been boarded by pirates in the same country off the NE coast several times this season, possibly near where the latest missing boat has had to pass, out near reefs of Media Luna.

Still more reports filter through the cruising community and I wonder how many are repeats or how many of these NEVER hit the news media.

This month, here in Panama, we have been glued to email reports and online postings from the Panama Guide.com's editor.  His persistent assistance in alerting the boating community and authorities of a possible serial killer on the loose in our area.  Well, he has culprit has been caught.

JAVIER MARTIN CAUGHT     ..........numerous articles Feb.10-19 so far and ongoing!

Now online Reuters news article of a large sailing vessel captured with Americans aboard.

SOMALIA: PIRACY OF SAILBOAT 
(click on the links for more info)

It's not important each and every time who is onboard.  To me it's important that this is occuring at all.  The cruising community is  made up of all nationalies, but we often 'pass in the night', moving on without much contact.  We need to stay focused on the problems we all face and not just when it's our countryman. Out here, we are all from the same place.

Now the Interior!

After a 9 month layup, the stored items aboard Memory Rose, must be put back in their proper places.

The interior of the boat was FULL.  Our bed was covered with our genoa sail, rolled up Avon dingy, Honda generator, oars etc. etc.

The Navigation Station was covered with loads of small stuff and the instruments had to be reinstalled.  They were removed and stored in a Faraday box (oven) and anti-static bags to protect from Lightning strikes.

Aft head, lines, dorade boxes, work material for bottom job, tools etc. etc.

Saloone had more sails, running rigging, dorades, etc. etc.

Still further, dehimidifier, pillows, tools, fishing gear.

Saloon table food storage and sorting area.  The Port settee had our mainsail over it, but now we replaced the cushions.

V berth, more of everything!

Aft cabin Port side, spinnaker and other light air sails,  extra lines, washing machine, tools...etc.

And after an excursion into Colon, more food to be sorted and stored.

Propeller Protector

Also, in 1994, I added a cable system under my propeller, from the lower tail end of the keel, to the lower tip of the skeg.  This protects the propeller from most floating lines, crab and fish trap floats etc.

.........for old photos see this link. Original 1994 Propeller Protection cable

(Photos and description of newest system are below)

Both connectors were made of 3/8" stainless steel.  Two, 2" x 3/8" plates were bolted through the keel and bedded with 3M's 5200, with a tang facing aft to connect the cable to.

The skeg stainless bracket was affixed to the back of the skeg by drilling and tapping the skeg for 2" x 3/8" bolts/also bedded in 5200.

Originally I had a H.D. cable with turnbuckle but have now gone to a 'Sacrificial' cable.  I thought it better if the cable broke, than the system broke!  So far it has held up fine for the last 6 years, so I just replaced the 3/16" cable and clamps.

I use the standard steering cable used for small boats for this application. It's thin cable covered in clear plastic.  On the ends, I seal the metal cable with heat shrink used for electrical wiring.  This keeps water off of the metal and therefore it does not rust and degrade.

For an adjustment, I make the cable about 4" shorter than needed and then use 1/8" lanyard wrapped numerous times as in a 'truckers hitch', around the aft end of the cable and the bracket on the lower skeg.

IF needed then, I can cut the cable free with a knife or serated blade quickly....no tools.

When done, paint it all and launch.

Oh, also made an additional plate that attaches to the bottom of the skeg bracket that keeps any lines from catching between the skeg and rudder.
 Before the Travel Lift places the pick up strap under the boat/through the slot of boats bottom and prop protector, I cover the cable with plastic.  Easy to remove with a dive, but protects the anti fouling paint on cable when the yard recovers their lifting strap.

No problems since installed in 1994.

Gelcoat Blisters... part 2

Once set up, I took a High Speed Grinder with 40 grit disc to "Seriously Remove the old/failed Gel coat".

Having spent many years doing 'body work, custom paint and custom car fabrication', I can handle this without much trouble other than this work is 'physically hard'.  I was a professional and 'very' good then, now I'm just good enough..... but better than I can hire.  'Nuff said!

. For those of you that don't want to try this, Fine!...but it is still GOOD for you to "KNOW" HOW IT IS DONE...or should be done..........................

Grinding Gel Coat down to real resin/fiberglass.  BLUE TAPE is 'registration marks'  6" above the Lower Boot Stripe line.   this way, when done with work, I can measure back Down 6" and then mark Tape Line for renewing the Boot Stripes bottom line.  "hope you get this...it saves tonnes of time".

 Ground off ALL of the damaged areas around the water line.

Then, sand with 80 grit to smooth out all rough edges.

 Anything that looks white or clear is "original UNSATURATED fiberglass strands in the Mat"  (NO RESIN)  I removed those many, many spots in the Mat with a quick scuff with a Rotary Rasp on a drill.  It is quick work. but leaves you with GOOD material ready to accept a few coats of Clear Epoxy resin as the next barrier coat.

Now, to go further,  When you get this far, make sure to add a barrier coat.  We gave this naked area 4 coats of West System resin.

Fill the ground out area with West System Epoxy and 407 filler then sand in preparation for Epoxy Barrier coats.

4 coats of clear resin to seal up old fiberglass.

Dorothy keeps up with keeping me stocked with materials and cleaning things between stages.  Often SHE is working much harder than I.

Once applied, the West 407 Fairing Compound needs to be sanded, clear coated for a barrier, then the Registration Marks from the Blue Tape Markings need to be dropped to remark the Bottom of the Boot Stripe.

 

It is difficult and careful work, but once you get the concept....the reapplication of tape lines 'flows'.

On the Post "Gelcoat Blisters, Part 1", this shot showed plenty of blisters.  Not Now!

Tape and sand for preparation of Boot Stripe Paint.

Don't forget to get under the keel..  We had scrapes that needed a smoothing out, from our "Rio Dulce Grind"...crossing the rivers bar.

Memory Rose, now 32 years of age,  looks better than many almost new boats.  Why? Well continual upgrades and attention to detail..  Do it right, don't take shortcuts and the results will not only show but  last.