Kunena Site Syndication http://milwaukeesailors.com/ Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:30:22 -0700 Kunena 1.5.12 http://milwaukeesailors.com/components/com_kunena/template/default_ex/images/english/emoticons/rss.gif http://milwaukeesailors.com/ Kunena Site Syndication http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3258-chirp-chirp.html#3270 Whaaaa Hoooooo - Marilyn and I brought Witchcraft up to Port Washington Friday morning, I drove back to crew on SnakeBite (`82 Pearson Flyer) for the Friday night SSYC race from Milwaukee to Port Washington. 21.5 miles of 20-30 knot winds. What a ride and we took second in our division. 3 hours, 11 minute. Saturday was more of the same for a five YC, two race regatta off Port Washington. By 7 PM the wind disappeared and waters here are like a sheet of glass. [strike]Hope we have some winds again tomorrow as it gets kinda boring to motor Witchcraft all the way back.[/strike] Sunday was a great sail back to Milwaukee on Witchcraft. A little chilly but we had 15-20 knot winds out of the SSE. Made the whole trip back on only four tacks to Bradford Beach. Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:55:26 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/14-sailing-tips-and-techniques/3264-reefing-advice-please.html#3266 On my boat, in light wind I use a big Genoa. If the wind is above about 15 knots I rig a smaller jib. As the wind rises I get progressively more weather helm. At 18-20 I reef the main. This takes the weather helm out up to about 25. Above 25 a close haul is not particularly comfortable. Unless I have a gung ho crew that is itching to get wet and sail on the edge, I sit on shore and watch the waves smash on the seawall. Where you reef, and which sails will depend on how your boat handles. How to reef: Lower the halyard, Hook the tack (front reefing point). Raise the halyard. Tension the luff of the sail (cunningham if you have it, halyard tension if you don't). Pull the reefing line to tension the foot of the sail. Tie the reef lines. Remember the reef lines are housekeeping tools to keep the bundle of sail off your head, not sail shape tools. Keep the loops loose, so they don't pull vertical creases into the sail. Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:27:42 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3263-noaa-milwaukee-site.html#3263 Looks like they finally did the work to get the site up and running. Finally. A nice, good thing that they did it this early in the spring so as to provide us with weather data throughout the upcoming summer! :-O Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:47:59 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3177-great-lakes-marinemaritime-mobile-net-ham-hf-ssb.html?limit=10&start=10#3257 Hi Al, Antenna tuner, yes. (Automatic ($500) or manual ($70) Amplifier, no. 100 Watts from the transceiver is enough. Most Ham transceivers past 1980 are solid state, 12 V. You need a transceiver with general coverage receiver, 0 to 30 Mhz. Sure, I will help with a bid, PM me. kc9sgv AT gmail dott com. Bernie, KC9SGV Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:13:48 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/17-boat-talk/2762-nice-looking-bristol-27-for-sale.html?limit=10&start=10#3253 Actually, I bought that boat. Indeed, it looks like a nice boat. I will be sailing it up from the Calumet River in Chicago to South Shore Labor Day weekend. It will be on a pin just north of SSYC. As-of-now it says 'Circus' on the transom. Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:10:47 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/19-milwaukee-sailing-classifieds/3225-bristol-29-for-sale.html?limit=10&start=10#3252 I know! What gives Gary? Thanks Guy :D I'll actually be in Idaho on Saturday on a job interview. Interview #3 with Micron Technologies. Keep fingers crossed! Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:26:31 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/385-whats-your-ultimate-sailing-destination.html?limit=10&start=20#3249 Great for you, Congrats! Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:08:10 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3216-next-year-im-thinking-about-cruising-the-apostle-islands.html#3245 Just got back last night from pulling a 3000# U-Haul, w/o brakes, from NC State (Raleigh NC) to U Mass (Amherst, MA). I must have been sleeping so many years ago when my geography teacher was talking about the mountains in Massachusetts! Compared to my #2200 camper and the 1997 Camry I've towed (both with brakes), this was a job! The good news is as soon as I lost the trailer I called my son and told him to start planning our Door County trip! Little Myrtle is going on the road! I'm sure the Zoom Zoom Mobile can do it! I'll be asking you guys for more advise next spring. I meet a guy who did take the summer off and sail his Catalina 25 (28?)to the north shore of Lake Superior. He tried to blow some junk out of his fuel line and swallowed a mouth full of diesel! He was in a communication dead zone, and nothing - CB, marine, or phone, worked. He laid there for three days and figured he was just going to die. After a time everything "passed" and he was on his feet again. (Another reminder that our "play" can be dangerous!) Thanks for the offer to form up a caravan. I've been reading about different groups that have rendezvous, and they sound great. I followed the thread about the mid-lake buoy trip, but figured you big guys would be there and back before I got half way out. Some sort of "trailer-sailor" event sounds like fun. Summer's almost over. Enjoy a little more sailing. Doug Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:34:19 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3212-thinking-about-my-first-sail-with-the-macgregor-this-weekend-but-where.html#3237 Did you wait for the wind to abate before you rowed home? My son gleefully reminded me you suggest I row him back to the dock. Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:03:32 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3232-spider-time-yuck.html#3236 Yeah, I've been fighting the spiders for several years on our boat. They get everywhere. What is odd though is that many years ago there were hardly any spiders on boats in the marinas. We use to have quite a problem with bird poop and would hang lines of plastic flags all over the boats. We called it "goose gear" although the main culprits were sea gulls and particularly the arctic terns. For awhile I thought the cause of the spider population boom was bugs being blown over the mooring area from the land fill. But if south shore is getting the same problem then I'm not so sure as that area has not had any major changes like McKinley has over the last 30 years. It's very disheartening to have cleaned your boat of all the mess only to see it worse than ever the next week. I have made a few changes to eliminate some handy hiding places like moving my mainsheet from hanging over a bulkhead when I leave the boat. Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:24:01 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/2993-do-you-want-to-go-sailing.html#3227 Did you get out? I rowed by Sushi Bucket twice, and with that west wind I spent a long time alongside on the way back to the dock. . . Cool, wild wind. Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:33:18 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3193-a-foggy-day.html#3220 We installed radar on Tursiops based on similar fog encounters. Keeping track of boats in the area and finding the gaps in the breakwall is a piece of cake with it on. Ours does the radar overlay of the chart display so situational awareness is simple. With that said, I doubt I'd spend the money if I had to do it again. In retrospect and in all honesty, we just haven't used it enough. Even in a case like in the picture, good awareness and skills can keep you reasonably safe. I could have spent the couple thousand dollars on a new sail instead, used it all the time, and be much happier about the hit to the pocket book. Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:29:19 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/20-questions-and-answers/3165-sailing-with-1-sail.html?limit=10&start=10#3208 Yeah, I actually use audio cassette tapes myself. I keep an old cassette on board for replacement. Yarn works good too. I have yarn sewn into both sides of several of my headsails near the leading edge. Helps trim, sheet angle etc. Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:37:09 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/20-questions-and-answers/3205-sailing-with-no-sails.html#3205 The more I practice/pretend to be a sailor, the more I realize the importance of sailing smart — Allowing for the wind direction and speed is really important even when you have no sails up at all. Dudes are impressed when my sailboat just pops into a slip at LakeShore park or gently drifts up to the McKinley courtesy dock. The truth is not that I am a good parker, it's that I choose a spot that the wind will help me into. Having a bimini top up also sails your boat, I have found. One of the most important lesson I ever learned from my old sailing mentors is to drive so that you have the maximum amount of time to come up with a plan to save your boat if something were to go wrong. For example, if there is a wind out of the south and I am going through a harbor gap under engine power, I will hug the southern side of the gap. If I were to suddenly lose engine power I would have a few seconds to figure out how to fend off the rocks on the north side of the gap. My goal is to be that solo sailor that approaches the mooring into the wind (under power) and calculates the perfect time to cut the engine and then walk up to the bow just as the boat comes to a standstill, and grab the mooring lines. When sailing solo I usually have to grab them from the cockpit and walk them to the bow. Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:45:54 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/17-boat-talk/3192-refridgeration-repair.html#3202 Try Gene Cramer. Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:36:13 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/3184-gasket-material.html#3191 I've heard that butyl rubber gasket material is available at places that service campers and mobile homes. It's what is used in their window installations. I'd give one of them a call. Other than that, I have a roll of rubber conveyor belt material about 3'x 20' and 1/4" thick. It cuts nice with a sharp scissors or utility knife. I got it from a friend when Waukesha Rubber went under. Kept it because it's just too good to get rid of. Figured I'd find a use someday. If anyone has a use, I can cut off a hunk for you. Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:34:57 -0700 http://milwaukeesailors.com/home/9-milwaukee-sailing-chatter/2270-mid-lake-buoy-planning.html?limit=10&start=110#3190 I forgot my camera :( We made it 12 miles out and had to turn back as one of my crew was ill. We had some great wind on the way back. By the time we rolled into milwaukee it was gusting over 20 and it was a blast. I broke my boom vang line, and my knotmeter quit working. It was a fun sail though. Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:21:23 -0700