I added a picture of the Standard VHF to post #4 above. In the upper left corner of the VHF display it indicates which frequency set is in use.
Tom P.
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Thanks Jackie. Yes that was a tough year. I had the boat in LA (Cabrillo Marina) that I had sailed there from Alameda in 2015. But I live in Petaluma. I spent 2015-2016 driving between Petaluma and LA throughout the year doing prep, fabricating, installing, etc.... before I finally departed on 6/19/2016. I tried to squeeze in those seminars in between all of that.
Thanks for posting this great interview and info. I’ll be following with interest!
Thanks for sharing this story. Amazing feat that you sailed the remaining 1200 nm! It just happens that there is another Hinckley Sou'wester 42 Competition Sloop in KKMI right now. I noticed its upper rudder bearing bracket is rebuilt using all metal support and reinforcement, comparing to SEA WISDOM which was fiberbglass only, and was ripped apart. I think this is how I would rebuild the rudder box. I'm attaching photos for comparison between the fiberglass and the metal reinforced versions.Attachment 4525Attachment 4526Attachment 4527
Will, do you still think the damage was from hitting something? Could it have been from wave action (given the rough conditions) combined with the non-reinforced structure?
Thanks for trying to help me debug the VHF. I verified that my two HX890 handsets and SEA WISDOM's GX2200 VHF radio are all set to USA channels. FYI, 22A is renamed to 1022. They are the same channels. After realizing my HX890 was not working effectively on 22A, I also tried using my ICOM GM1600 which I took out of my grab bag. The GM1600 is a handheld VHF for GMDSS compliant survival craft communication. I thought the GM1600 would have CH 22A, but that was a mistake by my part. I just learned that the channel list for "Survival Operation" is a smaller subset of a regular VHF radio. Also, the cockpit remote mic for GX2200 was not convenient during a rescue operation. A reliable handheld VHF radio is paramount. Somehow my GX2200 did not have clear signal either on CH 22A. Interestingly, USCG's HX870 that the lifeboat tossed to me had crystal clear communication on CH 22A. My VHF communication with VTS on CH 12 was good on all my radios.
Attachment 4522
Hi Bob, we discussed this at length at KKMI. The main reason for the underwater collusion is the fact that both of the rudders were damaged at the same time during a relatively calmer sea state, especially comparing to Day 1 and Day 2 sea state. However, I do wonder now, if the rudder box is reinforced using all metal, would the primary rudder bend due to the collusion instead of being dislodged? Which case is better?
Fortunately, it was not necessary to deploy the drogue. I had a hard time just moving it around the boat. I could not imagine deploying it by myself. Here is a photo of the drogue during the rescue.Attachment 4524
Re the VHF: Are you set on Hi or Lo transmit power? This is set channel-by-channel and may be inadvertently set to Lo?
It looks to me like the steering box, the fiberglass one...the box itself is plenty strong enough. The box didn't fail, the attachment of box to deck failed.
Do I have that right?