35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
I love this interview with Matt Rutherford. Matt was the man who sailed nonstop solo around the Americas in an Albin 27. Click below to hear Neil Conan do a great radio interview with Matt.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
A Cruiser's Hero
New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
I love this interview with Matt Rutherford. Matt was the man who sailed nonstop solo around the Americas in an Albin 27. Click below to hear Neil Conan do a great radio interview with Matt.
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
I love this interview with Matt Rutherford. Matt was the man who sailed nonstop solo around the Americas in an Albin 27. Click below to hear Neil Conan do a great radio interview with Matt.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Mystery Object
New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
Yesterday we spent a nice day with George and Carol from the cruising vessel Traumeri. Their land-based residence is here near New Bern. It was fun. Thank you much George and Carol.
While we were there, I used George's wood working shop to make the object in the picture below. It is something I've needed on the boat for a long time, but I couldn't make myself without woodworking tools. So now I'm making it a blog reader's contest. What is that object called? What is it used for? Post your answer as a comment. I'm confident that my knowledgeable readers will get the answer within minutes.
p.s. If you want one of those, I have two extras and George has three.
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
Yesterday we spent a nice day with George and Carol from the cruising vessel Traumeri. Their land-based residence is here near New Bern. It was fun. Thank you much George and Carol.
While we were there, I used George's wood working shop to make the object in the picture below. It is something I've needed on the boat for a long time, but I couldn't make myself without woodworking tools. So now I'm making it a blog reader's contest. What is that object called? What is it used for? Post your answer as a comment. I'm confident that my knowledgeable readers will get the answer within minutes.
p.s. If you want one of those, I have two extras and George has three.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Storing Anchors
New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
Secure storage of anchors is difficult. There are many types of boats, and types of anchors. In my opinion, most real life anchor storage arrangements are poorly designed and not seaworthy. To prove my point, I made a photo survey of actual boats here in the New Bern Grand Marina.
Most anchors and most bow rollers have holes to put in a safety pin that secures the anchor when not in use. Looking around, I see that 90% of the time the holes don't align making them useless. Of course not everyone sails offshore and if they don't the safety pin is less necessary. In my opinion, a safety line is better than a safety pin.
Tarwathie's rig, and some of the best and worst examples from my survey are below. At the bottom is a movie of all 71 pictures in my photo survey.
On Tarwathie, we are stuck with the bowsprit platform constraints. When at sea, I tie a safety line from the hole in our CQR anchor to the base of the staysail. I used to carry our Danforth anchor in a bracket attached to the bow pulpit. The second bow roller is useless for the Danforth. Then I read on the WOA forum that the extra weight of anchor stowage forward and up high costs up to 10 miles per day performance when at sea. Since then, I store my Danforth in the lazarette. As a matter of safety, I always keep the primary anchor ready for rapid use regardless of performance penalties.
Last winter, my friend Darrick on Y-KNOT bought a new anchor with a roll bar. It proved to be more difficult than he thought to mount it securely. He had to have a custom bow roller made.
The movie follows.
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
Secure storage of anchors is difficult. There are many types of boats, and types of anchors. In my opinion, most real life anchor storage arrangements are poorly designed and not seaworthy. To prove my point, I made a photo survey of actual boats here in the New Bern Grand Marina.
Most anchors and most bow rollers have holes to put in a safety pin that secures the anchor when not in use. Looking around, I see that 90% of the time the holes don't align making them useless. Of course not everyone sails offshore and if they don't the safety pin is less necessary. In my opinion, a safety line is better than a safety pin.
Tarwathie's rig, and some of the best and worst examples from my survey are below. At the bottom is a movie of all 71 pictures in my photo survey.
 |
| Tarwathie |
 |
| Terrible. No secure mount at all. |
 |
| Yikes! |
 |
| Perfect fit, snug, secure. Must be custom fit to the anchor. |
 |
| Oh God |
 |
| Storing Danforth type anchors is hard. |
 |
| This is the only one I saw with an adequate safety pin installed. |
 |
| This 37' foot boat uses a tiny anchor the same size as my dinghy anchor. Oh no! |
 |
| This stainless wire is too flimsy. It will break. |
 |
| Whoops! What happened here? |
 |
| Anchors with roll bars are difficult. Here's one with a well fitted bow roller. |
The movie follows.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
North Carolina's Inland Sea
New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
I've written before that we spend about 4 months of every year in migration mode, heading North or South. However, we manage to dawdle 1-2 of those months in North Carolina. Why?
At first, in 2005, we learned to love The Great Dismal Swamp, Elizabeth City, and Oriental. Those three delights made NC the most fun part of the journey.
Later, we began getting bored with the ICW in NC, and started doing side trips. We discovered Bath, Washington, Edenton and New Bern.
Still later, we discovered that skipping the ICW entirely and sailing the Outer Banks route to Manteo and Okracoke was much more fun.
Then, last year we had an added attraction. Dave and Cathy moved from Fairbanks to Zebulon, NC (near Raleigh). Hooray. Now, in addition to the other fun, we can visit family while here. To make it easier, the Grand Marina in New Bern rents a slip with excellent facilities for less money than we pay for a mooring ball in Marathon.
All that doesn't tell you what a jewel the NC inland waters really are. Take some time to study the lovely picture below. Click on it to see it full screen.
The big body of water to the East is Pamlico Sound. It is a huge body of brackish water, about 20 feet deep. When it is not storming, Pamlico Sound is a wonderful place to sail. Open waters, very few obstacles or shoals, and no ocean waves or swells. Anchor almost anyplace.
West of Pamlico Sound, from North To South. are The Abemarle Sound, The Pamlico River, and The Neuse River. These are each major rivers. The mouth of The Neuse River alone is 13 mlies across. At the head of The Abemarle, is Edenton, at the head of the Pamlico is Washington, NC, and at the head of the navigable Neuse is New Bern.
I estimate about 15000 square miles of inland navigable waters in NC. Compare that with 500 square miles for Lake Champlain, 25000 square miles for Lake Ontario, 3000 for coastal Maine, 1500 for San Francisco Bay, 4500 for Chesapeake Bay, and 150000 for The Baltic Sea.
Almost all of these waters are fresh, or only slightly brackish. The waters are also full of tannin which colors them brown like root beer. Also, there are hardly any tides in all these waters, but strong northerly or southerly winds can make water depths vary as much as 4 feet north to south.
The ICW runs North to South, crossing The Abemarle, Pamlico, and Neuse, via man-made connecting canals too small to see on that picture.
We enter NC via the Dismal Swamp and Elizabeth City at the top center of the picture, and exit at Beaufort Inlet at the bottom center of the picture. Cape Lookout is visible at the lower border of the picture and Cape Hatteras on the right border.
If the weather were better, we would be tempted to spend much more time here. Alas, in the summer months, NC and the Chesapeake Bay are characterized by stifling hot and humid weather and no winds. The winters are usually mild but still too cold for spoiled cruisers like us.
Weather aside, if NC only had mountain views like Lake Champlain offers, we would be sorely tempted to stay longer. Around this time of year though, we are fed up with flat land, and we yearn for New York and Vermont scenery.
If you are not a full time cruiser and you would like a change from chartering in the Caribbean, consider North Carolina in October. I guarantee you would have fun.
If you are an East Coast Cruiser following the ICW. I strongly suggest that you allow 2-3 weeks in your migration schedule to linger in NC and to get away form the ICW, explore the rivers, sounds and banks.
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W
I've written before that we spend about 4 months of every year in migration mode, heading North or South. However, we manage to dawdle 1-2 of those months in North Carolina. Why?
At first, in 2005, we learned to love The Great Dismal Swamp, Elizabeth City, and Oriental. Those three delights made NC the most fun part of the journey.
Later, we began getting bored with the ICW in NC, and started doing side trips. We discovered Bath, Washington, Edenton and New Bern.
Still later, we discovered that skipping the ICW entirely and sailing the Outer Banks route to Manteo and Okracoke was much more fun.
Then, last year we had an added attraction. Dave and Cathy moved from Fairbanks to Zebulon, NC (near Raleigh). Hooray. Now, in addition to the other fun, we can visit family while here. To make it easier, the Grand Marina in New Bern rents a slip with excellent facilities for less money than we pay for a mooring ball in Marathon.
All that doesn't tell you what a jewel the NC inland waters really are. Take some time to study the lovely picture below. Click on it to see it full screen.
 |
| US Geological Survey. Post-processing and production by http://www.terraprints.com |
The big body of water to the East is Pamlico Sound. It is a huge body of brackish water, about 20 feet deep. When it is not storming, Pamlico Sound is a wonderful place to sail. Open waters, very few obstacles or shoals, and no ocean waves or swells. Anchor almost anyplace.
West of Pamlico Sound, from North To South. are The Abemarle Sound, The Pamlico River, and The Neuse River. These are each major rivers. The mouth of The Neuse River alone is 13 mlies across. At the head of The Abemarle, is Edenton, at the head of the Pamlico is Washington, NC, and at the head of the navigable Neuse is New Bern.
I estimate about 15000 square miles of inland navigable waters in NC. Compare that with 500 square miles for Lake Champlain, 25000 square miles for Lake Ontario, 3000 for coastal Maine, 1500 for San Francisco Bay, 4500 for Chesapeake Bay, and 150000 for The Baltic Sea.
Almost all of these waters are fresh, or only slightly brackish. The waters are also full of tannin which colors them brown like root beer. Also, there are hardly any tides in all these waters, but strong northerly or southerly winds can make water depths vary as much as 4 feet north to south.
The ICW runs North to South, crossing The Abemarle, Pamlico, and Neuse, via man-made connecting canals too small to see on that picture.
We enter NC via the Dismal Swamp and Elizabeth City at the top center of the picture, and exit at Beaufort Inlet at the bottom center of the picture. Cape Lookout is visible at the lower border of the picture and Cape Hatteras on the right border.
If the weather were better, we would be tempted to spend much more time here. Alas, in the summer months, NC and the Chesapeake Bay are characterized by stifling hot and humid weather and no winds. The winters are usually mild but still too cold for spoiled cruisers like us.
Weather aside, if NC only had mountain views like Lake Champlain offers, we would be sorely tempted to stay longer. Around this time of year though, we are fed up with flat land, and we yearn for New York and Vermont scenery.
If you are not a full time cruiser and you would like a change from chartering in the Caribbean, consider North Carolina in October. I guarantee you would have fun.
If you are an East Coast Cruiser following the ICW. I strongly suggest that you allow 2-3 weeks in your migration schedule to linger in NC and to get away form the ICW, explore the rivers, sounds and banks.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
Lunation Lunacy
Zebulon, NC
Tonight's perigenal full moon was in the news today.
Do I seem obsessed by lunation phenomona? If so, that is because it's true. I think it is great fun to see the wonders of nature in a way that science and mathematics predict so accurately.
Spring tides are extra high/extra low tides that occur when the moon and the sun are aligned (new moon) or opposed (full moon). When sun and moon are 90 degrees out of phase, we have neap tides. Actually, spring tides happen a couple of days after new/full moons because of local effects.
Below, you see the tides for 30 days at Bridgeport, Connecticut. The spring/neap tide variations are very plain.
--Date----- -Latitude- --Approximate Place--
Unfortunately for me, none of those are the time and place where I'm likely to be. In fact, for a given longitude, one gets to see a perfect moonrise only once every 30 years. A perfect perigean moonrise happens once every 225 years at a given longitude. Therefore, the chances of seeing any of these events is very rare unless you are willing to travel to the given longitude to see it.
Tonight's perigenal full moon was in the news today.
Do I seem obsessed by lunation phenomona? If so, that is because it's true. I think it is great fun to see the wonders of nature in a way that science and mathematics predict so accurately.
Spring tides are extra high/extra low tides that occur when the moon and the sun are aligned (new moon) or opposed (full moon). When sun and moon are 90 degrees out of phase, we have neap tides. Actually, spring tides happen a couple of days after new/full moons because of local effects.
Below, you see the tides for 30 days at Bridgeport, Connecticut. The spring/neap tide variations are very plain.
The moon's orbit is not circular. It is closest ad perigee and furthest at apogee. The biggest spring tides occur when full or new moon correspond to perigee. They are called perginal spring tides. Below you see the tides at Bridgeport, Connecticut for a period of 400 days. At that scale you not only see the spring tide cycles, but the variations in spring tide levels and thus the perigenal spring tides. Cool huh?
Regular readers also know that I've written several times about perfect moonrises. I define a perfect moonrise as being the time when the moon rises in exact syncronism as the sun sets. That happens, of course, on the evenings of full moons. However, at the moment of full moon, there is only one longitude on earth where the moon is rising at that exact minute. The coincidence of that date, time and longitude give you the time and place of the perfect moonrise. I calculated those dates, times and longitudes for the next several years. See the table below.
2012 May 6 054W Suriname
2012 Jun 4 168W American Somoa
2012 Jul 3 077E New Delhi, India
2012 Aug 2 052W Cayenne, French Guiana
2012 Aug 31 151E Sydney, Australia
2012 Sep 30 050W Sao Paulo, Brazil
2012 Oct 29 062E Western Afganistan
2012 Nov 28 138E Papua, New Guinea
2012 Dec 28 156W Hawaii
2013 Jan 27 070W Buzzards Bay, Rhode Island, USA
2013 Feb 25 053E The Caspian Sea
2013 Mar 27 143W Chugach Mountains, Alaska, USA
2013 Apr 25 060E Ural Mountains, Russia
2013 May 25 067W Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
2013 Jun 23 174W Aukland, New Zealand
2013 Jul 22 086E Kathmandu, Nepal
2013 Aug 21 026W Thule, Greenland
2013 Sep 19 168W Midway Island, Pacfic
2013 Oct 18 006E Luxembourg
2013 Nov 17 131E Kyusu, Japan
2013 Dec 17 142W Marquesas Island, Pacfic
2014 Jan 16 074W New York City
2014 Feb 14 001E London, England
2014 Mar 16 102E Bangkok, Thailand
2014 Apr 15 116W Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
2014 May 14 070E Kabul, Afganistan
2014 Jun 13 064W Virgin Islands, Atlantic
2014 Jul 12 172W Midway Islands, Pacfic
2014 Aug 10 087E Rangpur, India
2014 Sep 9 025W Azores Islands, Atlantic
2014 Oct 8 163W Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea
2014 Nov 6 024E Athens, Greece
2014 Dec 6 173E Midway Islands, Pacific
2015 Jan 5 074W New York City
2015 Feb 3 013E Rome, Italy
2015 Mar 5 088E Dhaka, Bangaladesh
2015 Apr 4 178E Fiji, Pacific
2015 May 4 056W Buenas Aires, Argentina
2015 Jun 2 115E Hong Kong
2015 Jul 2 036W Mouth of the Amazon River, Brazil
2015 Jul 31 162W Nome, Alaska, USA
2015 Aug 29 081E Sri Lanka
2015 Sep 28 043W Rio De Janerio, Brazil
2015 Oct 27 179E International Date Line, Pacific
2015 Nov 25 019E Budapest, Hungary
2015 Dec 25 168W Niue Islands, Pacific
Unfortunately for me, none of those are the time and place where I'm likely to be. In fact, for a given longitude, one gets to see a perfect moonrise only once every 30 years. A perfect perigean moonrise happens once every 225 years at a given longitude. Therefore, the chances of seeing any of these events is very rare unless you are willing to travel to the given longitude to see it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
