A Drama

Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL
34 42.54 N 081 05.58 W

Sometimes there is drama right outside your window.  If you don't look out, you don't see it.  That happened the other day, so I'm giving you this report second hand.

Out here among the moored boats, close to Tarwathie, a man fell out of his dinghy.  Evidently, he wasn't using the dead-man safety switch that all modern outboards have.  The usual arrangement is for the switch to be connected to a cord that you wear around your wrist.  If you fall out of the boat, it yanks the cord which stops the outboard motor right away.

A long time ago, in my high school years, my next door neighbor and friend Lindy, had such an accident. Back then there was no such thing as dead-man switches on outboards.  Lindy was alone in the boat.  He fell in the water.   The boat continued at high speed going around in circles.  Three times as the boat approached, Lindy dove deep and escaped.  The fourth time it got him.  Lindy's injuries were very severe.  In essence, it chewed one of his legs to hamburger.  I'll never forget what happened to him.

This time, in Boot Key Harbor, there were no injuries to the swimming man.  There was a time however while a dozen or more skippers in the harbor watched and wondered who and how the runaway dinghy would be stopped.  Finally, one of them jumped in his own dinghy and chased it down just like a rodeo cowboy roping a calf.

Me?  I was on board and nearby, but perhaps I was napping.  I never heard or saw a thing.

Below: Sunday night's glorious sunset.

From Drop Box

Dead Conchs In The Sunset

Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL
34 42.54 N 081 05.58 W

The Florida Keys, and especially Key West, are famous for their spectacular sunsets. It's a lovely part of the day here in winter to sit out in the cockpit and watch the sun go down.


It is also a keys and a Bahamaian tradition to blow a single blast on your conch shell horn at sunset.


Tonight, I was first off the mark. I blew when the half the sun disappeared below the horizon. That started a chorus of other blasts from around the harbor -- perhaps two dozen all told.


Some people are more accomplished at conch blowing than others (including me). I'm judging quality by the volume and duration of the blast. All modesty aside, while I'm not good at it I am getting better.


Few or none of them are able to get the modulation and note playing as the lock tender Robert at Deep Creek, VA. Robert told me part of the secret is to find a smaller shell with thinner walls. I'm going to try to find one.


Here in Marathon, there is a man who lives in one of the harbor-side apartments. He comes out on his balcony and fires a cannon, then he plays taps on a loud speaker. I always visualized him as a retired Marine general, or the ghost of General Patton. He used to do it every night, but not it's only occasional.


Newcomers don't always get the point. A few days ago, I overheard a woman on a nearby boat remark the first time she heard the sunset seranade. She said, "Is it happy hour?"

Weather, Theory and Practice

Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL
34 42.54 N 081 05.58 W

Monday and Tuesday nights we watched a seminar on marine weather theory. I say we, because I shared the experience with four other captains. The seminar (or webinar as they call it) was taught by Chris Parker over the Internet.

I suppose that the technology was impressive. We could see and hear Chris in his home talking to us on a boat with a wireless connection. At the same time about 4 dozen people from who-knows-where in the world were listening too. The technology worked about 90 percent of the time.

Chris Parker, for those of you who don't know is the guru of weather forecasters for sailors in the Bahamas, Caribbean, and southern North Atlantic. Chris knows about local effects, and most important he knows what the sailors really care about. If you're looking for a comfortable passage in which nobody gets seasick, you'll find Chris' information more directly applicable than other sources.

Unfortunately, skilled practitioners aren't necessarily good teachers. The technology can also get in the way, resulting in distraction. In any case, the consensus of our group was that the seminars were disappointing. Did we learn anything. Yes, we all got something, but less than we hoped for, and the usefulness of the things we learned seemed doubtful.

The webinars are also pricey. $60 for the two evenings. If it had been me alone, I would never have spent that much money. However, splitting the cost 5 ways by inviting other captains made it acceptable.

We had a bit of irony at the end. A bit of real life weather, in the form of a strong cold front, was approaching rapidly. I got a text message from my brother that it was blowing 70-90 mph in Melbourne, Florida. That made me take out my Droid and look at the weather radar. Sure enough there was a front 30 miles away and approaching rapidly. Since we had long dinghy rides to get back to our own boats, we terminated the seminar before the bitter end.

Update: After returning to Tarwathie, I continued watching the front approach on my Droid.  Surprisingly, it weakened and disbursed minute-by-minute as it approached.   When it did pass over 90 minutes later, it had become a much weaker front.  Based on what I learned in the seminar, I conclude that there must have been converging air masses above  us at the 500 mb level.  So there, I did learn a little and I did apply it the same night.

The Other Use For Solar Panels

Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL
34 42.54 N 081 05.58 W

I seemed to be confessing a lot of mismanagement lately. Oh well, c`est la vie.

Bob Williams of Salt Technologies is a local businessman here in Marathon. He has been presenting a number of free seminars on marine topics which are well attended and much appreciated. Two weeks ago, I went to Bob's seminar on solar and wind technology. There I learned something that totally changed the way I manage my batteries, and with great success.

First some background. We have a small 50 watt solar panel on Tarwathie. We also have two deep discharge batteries on board. Both are the biggest I could find, group 31 size, and rated 100 to 125 amp-hours each. There is no more room in our double ended boat for more batteries, so we have to live with just two.

I confess that this is the first year, out of 6 on board, that we have not bought new batteries. In every case, the batteries went bad weeks after arriving in Florida for the winter.

I know that 2-3 years seems to be the minimal life, and that many cruisers go 5-6 years before changing batteries. Somehow though, it didn't work at all for me. I might have investigated deeper except that West Marine provided me with replacement batteries free of charge three times. That insulated us from a lot of the financial consequences (e.g. $400-$500 per year). Money aside the question remained; what was I doing wrong?

Here's what Bob said at the seminar. “Lead acid batteries get sulphated and lose much of their capacity. Sulphation is caused by not charging the batteries fully. You may charge your batteries to 14 volts, but to fully charge it, you need to run your generator 7-8 hours more at only 1-2 amps charging current. Most people don't do that. The nice thing about solar panels is that they can provide that low charging current all day and thus prevent sulphation.” WOW! I didn't know that what caused sulphation, nor had I ever thought of using the solar panels that way.

At the time I went to the seminar, I was on the verge of buying new batteries for the 6th time. They had degraded so much that I could charge them up to 14.2 volts, and 4 hours and 10 amp-hours later they would be down to 11.5 volts. I had to run my Honda generator 3 times per day. I suspected sulphation, but neither my alternator, nor my shore power controller had the so-called equalizing cycle that helps desulphate the batteries. I looked around on shore but I never found anyone who could desulphate them for me. I was ready to throw in the towel.

Bob's talk turned me around. I had been managing my solar charge backward. My practice was to let the solar panel generate whatever was possible during the day, then to run my generator before sunset to finish the job, and (hopefully) give us enough juice to get through the night with the refrigerator/freezer running. Using the computer, such as to watch a movie online, was such a big drain that we would either have to run the generator again at night (not nice) or shut off the fridge for the night (also not nice).

Since the panel was so small, the difference between a sunny day and a cloudy day was that I might have to run the generator 80 minutes instead of 90. The contribution of the panel was so small, that I lost interest in maintaining it and operating it. The wiring was old and I suspected might have parasitic resistance. I had a charge controller. It prevents overcharge by cutting the solar current off if the voltage reaches 13.8. But the controller it never did anything because the battery never got close to 13.8 during the sunny part of the day.  Basically, I thought the small solar panel was useless and I lusted after 240 watts of solar capacity.

After hearing Bob's talk, I changed everything around:

1. I put in brand new wiring to make sure that the solar panel worked at peak efficiency.
2. I wired in a DPDT (double-pole-double-throw) toggle switch. Now I have off-on-controlled modes of operation.  In the on mode, the charge controller is bypassed.
3. I took more interest in the solar panel and adjusted the tilt to point at the sun 3-4 times during the day.
4. I ran the Honda generator in the morning until the battery voltage reached 14-14.2 volts. Then I allowed the panel to generate 2.5 amps through the day with the charge controller switched off.

The results were immediate and dramatic. On the first day, the solar panel brought the battery voltage up to 15 volts for two hours. On the second day I did the same. Since then, battery performance has been like new. Instead of 4-6 hours (10 amp-hours) between generator runs, I can now go 24-36 hours (40-60 amp-hours). WOW! That's a huge improvement.

So here's my new policy.

1. Run the generator in the morning.
2. 6 days per week, leave the charge controller in the circuit.
3. Equalize: one sunny day per week, remove the charge controller from the circuit an allow the batteries to charge to 15 or more volts for at least one hour. That's my equalizing cycle.  I also monitor the battery temperature to make sure I don't boil the water.  So far, the temperature never exceeded 80F at 15 volts overcharge.

So far, things are much better. Thank you Bob Williams.  Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Hatteras

Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL

34 42.54 N 081 05.58 W

Reader Richard has a sharp eye.  He asks,"One question I had is why you went through the “dismal swamp” going north and south. As someone who is unfamiliar with the ICW it seems to me that it would be better to go outside; but this apparently isn’t done. I thought it interesting that you took the side trip into the ‘dismal swamp lake’ on your trip north."

Your observation is correct Richard.  We did go on the outside around Hatteras our first year, but since then we know better.  There are three reasons.

1. Cape Hatteras, and the nearby Diamond Shoals are know as the graveyard of the Atlantic.  Sometimes the Gulf Stream comes in close to shore there.  If a northerly gale comes along in that case, the waves can be mountainous.
   
   Of course the weather isn't always bad.  That first year in 2005, we sailed from Charleston SC to Norfolk, VA nonstop.  We passed close in to Diamond Shoals the the weather was lovely.
   
   
2. The inland waters of North Carolina are a delight.  That includes the Dismal Swamp Canal.  Sailing there is one of our favorite times of the year.  We would hate to miss it.
   
   
3. Pacing:  Because of hurricanes, we try to not arrive in Florida before November 1, and we leave in the spring before June 1.  Actually, our insurance company required that.   Other cruisers have even more restrictive clauses in their policies.  Most cruisers start moving northward in March.
   
   We also learned the hard way that we must leave Lake Champlain to head south around Labor Day targeting arrival in Florida by November 1.  If we delay 2-4 weeks later than that, the weather deteriorates rapidly.  It can get very cold in the Carolinas and gales start blowing making it impossible to get offshore.   Every year, we meet first time cruisers who don't make it to Florida until December.   Almost all of them report that they froze on the way down.
   
   On the other side, it is best to not arrive in northern waters too early in the spring because the water temperature is still cold.  Twice we went to Maine for the summer.  Both times we avoided most of the fog by arriving no earlier than August 1.

Between the departure and arrival constraints, you can see that there is a bias toward prolonged north south migration passages and a a bias against sailing past Cape Hatteras on the outside.   Some cruisers enjoy spending that time in leisurely travel up and down the ICW.  They may travel only 20 miles per day and sample every stop.  Libby and I prefer to spend more of the time in North Carolina.