Page 5 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast
Results 41 to 50 of 65

Thread: Hedgehog

  1. #41
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    3,485

    Default

    Aaaaand he's off!

  2. #42
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Posts
    2,095

    Default

    Looks like Dave and the H.Hog are heading out (a little before noon, Thursday)....
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  3. #43
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Posts
    2,095

    Default

    Station 46026 is reporting nice conditions. Dave should have a nice quiet ride to the Farallones!

    Wind Speed (WSPD): 11.7 kts
    5-day plot - Wind Gust Wind Gust (GST): 13.6 kts
    5-day plot - Wave Height Wave Height (WVHT): 3.0 ft
    5-day plot - Dominant Wave Period Dominant Wave Period (DPD): 12 sec
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  4. #44
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    South Bay
    Posts
    14

    Default

    Speed: 4.90 kts
    Course: SSW
    Elevation: -32.22 ft
    Did you bring a periscope?

  5. #45
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    3,688

    Default

    For those not watching, Hedgehog made it past the Farallones before dark, a good thing. Now he's probably enjoying beans and tater-tots, or whatever solo sailors like to eat on passage.

  6. #46
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    South Bay
    Posts
    14

    Default

    Name:  Screenshot from 2020-09-03 21-49-06.png
Views: 693
Size:  237.9 KB

    AIS stopped updating 47 minutes prior to 9:49 PM Pacific time. My guess is that at 9:02 Hedgehog passed beyond the range of whatever AIS listening equipment MarineTraffic.com gets their data from.

  7. #47
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Posts
    2,095

    Default

    Dave should be starting to feel the wind pick up, I think. He told me he was going to get a bunch of "North in the bank", so that when it got sporty, he could head back and have the wind over the stern quarter.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  8. #48
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Alameda CA
    Posts
    497

    Default Ticket Punched

    So that was fun! – Apologies for a few extra days for the write up below…

    I Got to spend some time on the ocean in a good range of conditions, and find out a bit more about Hedgehog, what works and what needs adjustments.

    The weather pretty much was as predicted, 10-15 from the NW for Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s weather proved consistent with the GFS model – eg 19-25 knots, going more Northerly as the pressure built.
    Given the wind pressure and angles, I ended up essentially beating / close reaching most of Thursday and much of Friday with the wind ~32 AWA & 60 TWA. The strategy was all about setting up for Saturday, keeping high enough on Thursday to get my required 100 miles of westing but still stay north enough to leave enough of the lighter pressure and waves on Friday to work north before heading back out for the required mileage. I hoped to have at least a broad reach home through the snotty stuff. That all worked according to plan.

    Saturday (and into Sunday) was a hard, wet and fast 165 miles that included about 10 hours of 25+knots with 6-8’ swells and occasional breaking crests. Really good practice for the first day(s) of the race, just in the opposite direction, and without the option to ease off the 90 degree angle to waves and wind.
    I turned for home about 0100 Saturday, with 235 miles on the track and 170 miles showing back to pt. Bonita. At that point the wind was building to the high teens and I had the #3 jib and one reef in the main. That sail combo worked well for a few hours. By dawn the wind had veered North, as predicted, and was up to 21 knots. I dropped in another reef and debated a headsail change. Ultimately, I decided against going forward and changing to the #4; partly not wanting to get even wetter, partly hoping that this was the upper limit of what I would see.
    Instead, I twisted off the #3 as the wind passed 23 knots sustained and carried on.
    I found it interesting to observe the progression of the sea state; from fairly confused as the wind shifted around and built to much larger seas with a longer period as the wind built.
    The Pelagic AP worked well for the entire time, and did a fine job of anticipating the crests of the waves, and bearing off down their faces at mostly appropriate times; having the sail plan slightly unbalanced forward seemed to help, as the extra pressure in the jib at the top of the waves would help to pull the bow down the face of the wave.
    As I came into the lee of Cape Mendocino, the wind dropped to a relatively sedate 20 knots.
    I passed between the North Farallon group and Maintop Island about 2000 with the breeze still in the 18-20 range, seas dropping.
    Wind continued to drop, and by the time I was nearing the bucket it was down to 10-12 knots and the seas were much reduced. Shook out the last reef, dropped the jib and finally set a kite.

    Ironically all this ended in a complete glass-off with 4 miles to go. For about an hour, I let the remaining flood and sloppy swell push me forward. But when I started moving backward with the ebb ~0200 with 2 miles to go, something needed to be done! So, I dropped the sagging spinnaker, centered the main and rocked and sculled the boat forward until the mileage on the tracker said 401. At that point I declared victory, got the outboard on the stern and headed in.

    So that’s the basics – here’s a brief synopsis of what worked and what needs improvement:

    What Worked –
    Solar and Batteries – with 3 days of full sun, it's probably not a worst case test, but the solar had no issues keeping up with the AP driving and other daytime loads and recharged the batteries to near 100% by nightfall from around 65%, even on Saturday, when the sails effectively shaded the panels until 1230 or so.
    Clothing – I have a very nice Ocean Rodeo dry suit from 2016 and it was invaluable for Friday and Saturday; I only wish I had started with it, instead of soaking through my traditional foulies first. That said, layers of polypropylene & pile kept me warm even when soaked.
    Basic But Necessary – Gold Bond, baby wipes & hand sanitizer plus water proof container for “paper products” and the items above. Don’t forget any of that!
    Food – I tried out a new means of heating food. It’s basically a chafing dish powered by a quicklime packet. Same heating principle as a “heater” K ration meal, but you can choose better food. My go-to is pre-cooked Indian stews and rice, throwing in some canned chicken or tuna for extra protein. On balance this is an improvement on my old method of heating the packets in boiled water, and then dumping the contents into a bowl. There’s room for improvement on the meal prep, so I don’t end up juggling multiple messy bags, but I do like not having a pot of scalding hot water swinging around… particularly in a very small space that is in constant motion.

    What needs improvement –
    Leaks – lots of them. Having a constant amount of green water over the deck is a very effective way of identifying where the water gets into the cabin. Some of these are relatively minor, some need major attention, but eliminating all of them is now the goal.
    Hatch board – the single piece G10 one that came with the boat is heavy and hard to fit from the inside of the boat… requires a better engineered solution.
    More interior hand holds and tie downs – nothing seriously shifted, but I didn’t take any full knockdowns, and I did get thrown about enough to destroy 2 buckets by landing on them while they were on their sides.

    What I broke –
    Not much. I broke the cockpit connector the RAM mic, will have to find a better placement where I wont accidentally sit down on it.
    I also broke the rear connection to Pelagic #2 in a similarly oafish way. Will work on that… there’s a solution somewhere.
    Oh, and the buckets. That could have been much more serious with a longer time frame.

    OK – that’s about it. All in all not to bad… boxes ticked, ticket punched. Onward!

    DH
    Last edited by DaveH; 09-09-2020 at 10:09 AM.

  9. #49
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    South Bay
    Posts
    14

    Default

    Great report!

    Do you have any concern about storing the spent quicklime packages?

  10. #50
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Alameda CA
    Posts
    497

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jamesmcn View Post
    Do you have any concern about storing the spent quicklime packages?
    Short answer is no, but it's not that I haven't thought about it.
    Nominally the spent packs are bio-degradable, consisting of paper the consistency of a toughened coffee filter and the calcium hydroxide (AKA Slaked Lime), which is the result of the chemical reaction.
    That said, I'm not gonna be tossing them overboard... just no.

    Re handling, while the Slaked Lime is very base, and you wouldn't want to open up the packet, putting it in the trash bag doesn't present a challenge.
    If you're really worried about it still having some heat left to give in the trash bag, just add some more water to make sure its completely converted.

    I sort my trash into recyclable, landfill and "compost ashore", and I THINK the packages fall into the last bin, but I honestly am not certain yet...more research is required.
    Unfortunately the individual packages that keep them dry before use are not green at all, and will add to my plastic waste.

    DH

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •