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Thread: Around the World from West coast?

  1. #461
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    Is it a California Gull?

  2. #462
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tchoupitoulas View Post
    Is it a California Gull?
    Don't know anything about that :-)

    If you prefer going straight to YouTube:

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...&feature=share

  3. #463
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    Quote Originally Posted by sleddog View Post
    If you haven't checked out Kathi's video of the largish bird resting on PJ's head and nesting in his hat on their delivery of CHANGABANG to HMB, itsa hoot. Good images of the deck layout.

    What kind of bird is that anyone? https://pjsails.com/a-blog-about-sai...und-the-world/
    I’m no bird expert, and at my best identifying Big Bird, but thanks to living with a scientist we have an excellent library. Per THE SIBLEY GUIDE TO BIRDS, there are 27 species of gulls in 5 genera. Sibley goes on to say, “Gull identification represents one of the most challenging and subjective puzzles in birding and should be approached only with patient and methodical study. A casual or impatient approach will not be rewarded.”

    Luckly, we have been provided with an excellent collection of photos. Based on those, I believe it’s a Black-legged Kittiwake (p. 229). Kittiwakes are pelagic gulls that nest on cliff edges and are found at sea.
    Tom P.

  4. #464
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    My only hope is it's not an albatross, but if it is no one harms it. We don't need another ancient mariner wandering through our literary lives.

  5. #465
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    May 2015
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    Well, I had big plans but things turned out differently. Forecast looked good for having an overnight fun trip, light winds today, building up tomorrow. I drove to CaB, spent more time doing small jobs, and finally mustered enough energy to get going. Pushing CaB off the docks and casting off solo worked just fine. We motored out, hoisted the big mainsail, and turned off the engine. The plan for the day was to try the Code 0. There is no trying, only doing, says the tiny one.
    The Code 0 came out of the bag, the tack went to the furler, the head to the halyard, and sheets to the clew. And that's where things stopped working cleanly. Twists in lines caused all sorts of mess:
    1. When I pulled the tack to the end of the bowsprit I noticed that the tack line was getting all twisted on its own. Also the furler had been rigged incorrectly and the exit was facing forward instead of aft. Oh well ...
    2. Next I hoisted the sail. More twists went up the halyard as I hoisted the sail but I did not notice.
    3. I unfurled the sail, turned a bit downwind and we took off. Ah, the fun of this boat picking up speed!
    Now I was left with the obvious problem that I was going South, that the wind was going to pick up, and that I wasn't sure what to do with the sail now. It looked like I was not going to be able to furl it back. So I spent some time riding the tip of the bowsprit and ultimately was able to roll the sail up.
    It's now that things really got problematic. I tried to douse the sail by easing the halyard, and it wouldn't come down.
    I decided to turn around and head for port. Someone was going to have to go up the mast and figure out what was going on.
    Lucky me, before leaving, I came across Michael LG, with whom I worked in the past. As I was motoring back, I hit him on LinkedIn asking for his help to get me up the mast. And he gracefully accepted! He saved the day really! I couldn't let the sail up with the expected wind on the forecast.
    So up the mast again, only to discover that because of tons of twist in the halyard, it was wrapped around itself (the code 0 is on a 2:1 halyard). And the friction in those wraps was enough to prevent the sail from coming down! I eased the sail down, spent another several hours getting the boat back in order, and finally drove home.
    A long day ...
    If anyone knows of a way to remove twists from a 2:1 halyard without taking it out ... let me know ...

  6. #466
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamottep View Post
    If anyone knows of a way to remove twists from a 2:1 halyard without taking it out ... let me know ...
    That was done yesterday, well, I think it was. We'll see the next time I use that halyard ...

    Today was a lousy day. Got a mobile diesel mechanic to help with the throttle cable. He didn't seem to be much on top of his game ... After 4 hours nothing was accomplished. And now I can't even use the jerry rig I had in place since the cable is gone. He owes me a part number but has now gone silent.

    And while he was poking at the engine downstairs I tried to fix the ripped seam on the forward zipper of the mainsail cover. Only to find out that when I was done and I tried to zip it closed again, the seams on the other side of the zipper let go ... A lousy day ...

  7. #467
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    What do mechanics cost down there in the big city anyway?
    Quote Originally Posted by jamottep View Post
    That was done yesterday, well, I think it was. We'll see the next time I use that halyard ...

    Today was a lousy day. Got a mobile diesel mechanic to help with the throttle cable. He didn't seem to be much on top of his game ... After 4 hours nothing was accomplished. And now I can't even use the jerry rig I had in place since the cable is gone. He owes me a part number but has now gone silent.

    And while he was poking at the engine downstairs I tried to fix the ripped seam on the forward zipper of the mainsail cover. Only to find out that when I was done and I tried to zip it closed again, the seams on the other side of the zipper let go ... A lousy day ...

  8. #468
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    Sep 2008
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    Saratoga
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    Quote Originally Posted by WBChristie View Post
    What do mechanics cost down there in the big city anyway?
    A few of my friends recommended a diesel mechanic that charged $130 an hour with a three hour minimum.
    I try to do as much of my own maintenance as possible, but that was some of the best $390 I've ever spent. He not only fixed a bunch of problems, he left me a list of stuff I could work on. Diesel boat engines is all he has done for 30+ years.
    I hope to use him again this year before going down the coast in the Fall.
    I am afraid he is so busy that he wouldn't travel farther than the East bay (Richmond, Berkeley, Alameda), but I guess you could ask?
    Anyone who wants to know the name of this diesel genius can PM me.
    The Sea is my Church; the Boat is my Pew.

  9. #469
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    Sep 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamottep View Post
    If anyone knows of a way to remove twists from a 2:1 halyard without taking it out ... let me know ...
    Hi Philippe - I have a 2:1 pole lift in the rig (the lift does double-duty for hoisting and tensioning the vectran storm jib stay), with the bitter end spliced onto a padeye set in the spar. That lift will get twists in it, just as you describe for your halyard. The twists are put into the halyard based on how the line is removed from the halyard winch - normally people will do a careful series of wraps around the winch and this is like winding line onto a spool of thread, there's no twist in the line. The twists are then inserted into the halyard after the hoist, when the line is pulled straight up off the winch and now there are as many twists in the line as there were wraps on the winch.

    To remove the twists you first need to work out which way the line is twisted (clockwise or counter clockwise), then you're going to full hoist the halyard (with a tag line attached so you can pull it back down to the deck), put as many opposite twists in the tail in your hand that would normally be on the winch, then pull the halyard back down via the tag line - while pulling the tag line back down try to prevent the twists you just added to the halyard from un-twisting (e.g., keep rotating the halyard tail as it feeds back up into the mast). Keep doing this working the halyard up and down, eventually the reverse-twists you're adding to the halyard will work out through the mast sheave and you've untwisted the halyard. It can take me 8-10 up/downs to clear all the twists.

    Once you've done that, keep track of how you're taking the halyard off the winch to see if you're adding twists to the halyard - I watch the flecks on the halyard cover to see if they are running straight on their way into the mast or if they are rotating (which means there a twist in the halyard). I try to remember to put the reverse twist onto the halyard as I load the winch prior to hoisting, that tends to counter-act what happens when I take the halyard off the winch after the douse.

    - rob/beetle

  10. #470
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    Quote Originally Posted by tiger beetle View Post
    - rob/beetle
    That's exactly what I did to remove the twists :-) I think it took 3-4 hoists.

    I'll keep an eye on what happens at the winch going forward. I'm guessing that when I remove the line from the winch I then need to straighten out those twists out before dousing. If they are inserted on the winch then they should just go away. Or maybe there is a way to load the winch without putting twists on the line, which would seem the smarter thing to do?

    Diesel business ... So the guy left with my cable and the end bits that fit the shift and throttle control so he could tell me what to order. He tells me to order a universal part so I'm like nope. I drive to Helmut Marine to get the proper Volvo Penta cable and ask him to return my cable. He does so reluctantly, tells me it's waiting for me on Changabang. I go check it out ... All that's there is the cable. He kept the end bits with all the screws and what not to attach the new cable. How bad can this get?
    Last edited by jamottep; 04-02-2020 at 06:16 PM.

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