Things I’ve learned: 2015 edition
At the end of last year’s season I had posted this list of Things I’ve Learned on my personal blog but I’ve decided it’s time for an update.
Now, with two seasons of cruising 5 weeks or more under our belts, we have “learned” a lot of things, some of which we already knew—sort of, and some we just thought we did. And of course some that never even occurred to us. So here’s my new list of things we’ve learned, in no particular order:
- Reefing a roller furling main is more complicated than you think it should be
- You never practice reefing your roller furling main when the winds are calm. But you should…
- What is it they say about schedules being the most dangerous thing in boating? Yup.
- Boats leak from the damnest places
- Trying to find where boats leak generally leads to profanity
- Propane is either hard to find or right in front of your face: there is no middle ground
- A wheeled grocery cart is a godsend
- Check the dates on propane tanks
- Wind against current is… interesting
- Idiot lights are idiotic
- Voltmeters are the devil’s tool
- Sailing from start to finish is a great, great day
- Ocean swell. Huh, who knew…
- A little leak in the canvas is way more annoying than just taking it down and getting wet
- Walk-through transoms are awesome. And you almost never get to use them
- Finally having a dinghy that can get up on plane is more fun than strictly necessary
- Things fall overboard
- A 29 knot gust with too much sail out is scary-scarier-scariest
- You can sail “quite fine” at 30° heel. But later you can’t really figure out why you did
- Water slapping on your transom when you are tied up stern to the waves is really, really annoying
- Dolphins are the best. Two hours with the same two dolphins is transformative
- My son has orca-fu. Four sightings in the one week he was aboard…
- Things they don’t tell you about stern tying: stern tying more often than not includes: wet feet, losing track of the tender’s painter (and often the tender itself), ophidiophobia, leaks in the dinghy, bizarre knots in 240′ of line, coiling a wet, stinky bundle of 240′ of line, searching for rings below the water, climbing cliffs above the water, trying comically to pull on 100′ of line while floating in a dinghy, being exactly 2′ short when you get back to the boat, and interesting “discussions” between skipper and crew when the skipper is the one ashore
- Stern tying is hilarious when other people are doing it
- You can do 2 knots in 4 knots of wind, but you can’t do 5 knots in 10 knots of wind, you wouldn’t want to do 10 knots in 20 knots of wind and you don’t care how fast you are going in 30 knots of wind
- The remote for the auto-pilot is addictive. You are left feeling very hollow when it stops working
- Having extra fenders is great; stowing extra fenders is a pain
- There are things you never seem to learn: leaving the hatch almost all the way open is not the same thing as leaving it all the way open. Yup, still hurts.
- Seriously, where the hell am I supposed to stow the damn spare gasoline!
- Pillows magically attract mildew
- Other people’s diesel heaters can be annoying; yours is just comfortable
- Just because the nice lady on the radio said back in on a starboard side tie, doesn’t mean you should stubbornly try, and fail, a half dozen times when the wind is against you
- Other cruisers are suddenly very helpful with lines after you fail a half dozen times on a windy day on a crowded dock
- 4 different crews working together trying to tie your boat up on a windy day on a crowded dock are actually much less effective than a single crew and a less stubborn skipper. Comedically less effective even…
- Any completed docking without damage can be deemed a successful docking (or so I keep telling myself)
- Battery monitors are mysterious and addictive, but not the devil’s tool
- After September, you can never have enough blankets
- Fleece sheets—fleece, not flannel—are the best thing ever in a cold, damp boat
- The split ring from your keychain is not a good substitute when you break/lose a stainless steel one
- In the narrow channels of the Broughtons, it often seems your mast is poking up into the low lying cloud
- In the narrow channels of the Broughtons, sea planes quite often fly under the low lying cloud
- In the narrow channels of the Broughtons, low lying cloud can be scarier than fog
- Docks have gravity. Once you are tied up for a while, it gets harder and harder to untie in less-than-perfect conditions
- A 14″ laptop screen is just fine. Black Books is just as funny
- Nothing beats the evening light at Big Bay on Stuart Island. Seriously…every time…
- Don’t trust that the work they said they were going to do at the top of your mast is the work they did at the top of your mast
- Getting to the top of your mast is hard
- The bottom of your dinghy is disgusting after a season trailing behind your boat
- If you have 105′ of chain, then 105′ of chain is almost always the perfect amount of chain to put out
- The difference between Roche Harbor and Garrison Bay is night and day. Together they make for a great couple of days.
- Getting anchorage advice from fellow cruisers is great
- Taking anchorage advice from fellow cruisers can be … dangerous
And here’s a few from the previous list that are so worth repeating:
- Fridges in a sailboat are…quirky
- BBQs make a real mess on the transom
- Gauges that measure liquids (water, diesel, holding tanks) never seem to work
- Powerboaters really are, well, oblivious
Tides. Huh.
Stuart Island Community Association Dock
And this was fun…why?
—Captain Why #Posts
Instagram This Week
Instagram This Week
I am trying a new plugin to display my Instagram images. I have been lees than pleased with the auto poster I have been using and like the idea of an aggregator that posts once a week like my Twitter does. Instagrammy Goodness is still in a 0.4 version number but seems to be something of what I want.
It has three display options. The first is a Gallery but that omits captions and makes the images a tad small. It also removes the possibility of seeing videos (the second images is a pan of my backyard). The second option displays the images in a list full size (a tad big) and links to the main image in the blog. The third also displays full size but links back to the Instagram account. I think for now I will start with the second option and see where that takes us.
A few things need to be fixed though. The Category is my site default and can’t be specified. I think the display size should be adjustable and the posting date is generic: Monday, early or late… It also seems like it only posts a draft and I will manually have to go and post the images. But I guess we’ll see…
or
or
Books: 2015
This year’s reading. Hmmm….
Four years running I have kept track of my reading. For the previous three years (2012 (85 books), 2013 (95 books), 2014 (106 books)) I have been posting all the books I read. So as again not to break with tradition, my first post of 2016 will once again share with the world the bizarre list of literary crapola I fill my mind with. How many this year? Well you’ll have to scroll down to find out.
So here they are, appearing in the order in which they were read, with a few months as subtitles:
January
Strong Arm Tactics Jody Lynn Nye (2013 [2005])
— ebook;
The Sleeper and the Spindle Neil Gaiman (2013)
– HC;
Oath of Swords David Weber (1995)
War God Book 1 – ebook; reread
The War God’s Own David Weber (1998)
War God Book 2 – ebook; reread
Humans of New York Brandon Stanton (2013)
-HC;
Wind Rider’s Oath David Weber (2004)
War God Book 3 – ebook; reread
War Maid’s Choice David Weber (2012)
War God Book 4 – ebook; reread
Caliphate Tom Kratman (2008)
– ebook
War Dogs Greg Bear (2014)
– ebook
Fortune’s Pawn Rachel Bach (2013)
Paradox Book 1 — ebook;
Honor’s Knight Rachel Bach (2014)
Paradox Book 2 — ebook;
Heaven’s Queen Rachel Bach (2014)
Paradox Book 3 — ebook;
Fireworks in the Rain Stephen Brust (2014)
Incrementalist Novella – ebook;
The Curse of Chalion Lois McMaster Bujold (2001)
Chalion Book 1- ebook; reread
Paladin of Souls Lois McMaster Bujold (2003)
Chalion Book 2 – ebook; reread
Stormdancer Jay Kristoff (2012)
The Lotus War Book 1 – ebook; reread
Kinslayer Jay Kristoff (2013)
The Lotus War Book 2 – ebook; reread
Endsinger Jay Kristoff (2014)
The Lotus War Book 3 – ebook;
Damnation Jean Johnson (2014)
Theirs Not To Reason Why Book 4 – ebook;
Dragon in Exile – eARC Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (2015)
Liaden Book 18 – ebook;
Strands of Sorrow John Ringo (2015)
Black Tide Rising Book 4 – ebook;
Karen Memory Elizabeth Bear (2015)
– ebook;
The Armor of Light Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett (1988)
– ebook;
Ender in Exile Orson Scott Card (2008)
Ender’s Game Book 4 – ebook
Dauntless Jack Campbell (2006)
The Lost Fleet Book 1 – ebook
Fearless Jack Campbell (2007)
The Lost Fleet Book 2 – ebook
Courageous Jack Campbell (2007)
The Lost Fleet Book 3 – ebook
Valiant Jack Campbell (2008)
The Lost Fleet Book 4 – ebook
April
Relentless Jack Campbell (2009)
The Lost Fleet Book 5 – ebook
Victorious Jack Campbell (2010)
The Lost Fleet Book 6 – ebook
Unbound Jim Hines (2014)
Magic ex Libris Book 3 – ebook;
Stark’s War Jack Campbell (2000)
Starks’ War Book 1 – ebook;
Stark’s Command Jack Campbell (2001)
Starks’ War Book 2 – ebook;
Stark’s Crusade Jack Campbell (2002)
Starks’ War Book 3 – ebook;
The Future Falls Tanya Huff (2014)
Enchantment Emporium Book 3 – ebook;
Mutineers’ Moon David Weber (1991)
Dahak Book 1 – ebook; reread
The Armageddon Inheritance David Weber (1994)
Dahak Book 1 – ebook; reread
Heirs of Empire David Weber (1996)
Dahak Book 1 – ebook; reread
Warning Do Not Open this Book! Adam Lehrhaupt & Matthew Forsythe (2013)
-HC
A Fire upon the Deep Vernor Vinge (1992)
-ebook;
The Hub: Dangerous Territory James H. Schmitz (2001)
The Hub Book 4 – ebook;
June
Old Man’s War John Scalzi (2005)
Old Man’s War Book 1 – ebook; reread
The Ghost Brigade John Scalzi (2006)
Old Man’s War Book 2 – paperback; reread
Monster Hunters International Larry Correia (2007)
Monster Hunters Book 1 – ebook; reread
Monster Hunters Vendetta Larry Correia (2010)
Monster Hunters Book 2 – ebook; reread
Monster Hunters Alpha Larry Correia (2011)
Monster Hunters Book 3 – ebook;
Monster Hunters Legion Larry Correia (2012)
Monster Hunters Book 4 – ebook;
Monster Hunters Nemesis Larry Correia (2014)
Monster Hunters Book 5 – ebook;
Ancillary Justice Anne Leckie (2013)
Imperial Radch Book 1 – ebook;
Ancillary Sword Anne Leckie (2014)
Imperial Radch Book 2 – ebook;
Green Jay Lake (2009)
Green Book 1 – ebook; reread
July
Endurance Jay Lake (2011)
Green Book 2 – ebook; reread
Kalimpura Jay Lake (2013)
Green Book 3 – ebook; reread
Lord Penric’s Demon Lois McMaster Bujold (2015)
Chalion Book 3.5 – ebook;
Space Viking H. Beam Piper (1963)
– ebook; reread
The Cloud Roads Martha Wells (2011)
Books of the Raksura Book 1 – ebook
The Serpent Sea Martha Wells (2012)
Books of the Raksura Book 2 – ebook
The Siren Depths Martha Wells (2012)
Books of the Raksura Book 3 – ebook
A Call to Duty David Weber & Timothy Zahn (2013)
Manticore Ascendant Book 1 – ebook; reread
A Call to Arms -eArc David Weber & Timothy Zahn (2015)
Manticore Ascendant Book 2 – ebook;
Fire with Fire Charles Gannon (2013)
Caine Riordan Book 1 – ebook
Earth Unaware Orson Scott Card & Aardon Johnstone (2012)
The First Formic War Book 1 – ebook
Live Free or Die John Ringo (2010)
Troy Rising Book 1 – ebook; reread
Citadel John Ringo (2011)
Troy Rising Book 2 – ebook; reread
The Hot Gate John Ringo (2011)
Troy Rising Book 1 – ebook; reread
Earth Afire Orson Scott Card & Aardon Johnstone (2013)
The First Formic War Book 2 – ebook
Earth Awakens Orson Scott Card & Aardon Johnstone (2014)
The First Formic War Book 3 – ebook
His Majesty’s Dragon Naomi Novik (2006)
Temeraire Book 1 – ebook; reread
Throne of Jade Naomi Novik (2006)
Temeraire Book 2 – ebook; reread
Black Powder War Naomi Novik (2006)
Temeraire Book 3 – ebook; reread
Empire of Ivory Naomi Novik (2007)
Temeraire Book 4 – ebook; reread
Victory of Eagles Naomi Novik (2008)
Temeraire Book 5 – ebook; reread
Tongues of Serpents Naomi Novik(2010)
Temeraire Book 6 – ebook; reread
Crucible of Gold Naomi Novik (2012)
Temeraire Book 7 – ebook; reread
Blood of Tyrants Naomi Novik (2013)
Temeraire Book 8 – ebook; reread
1632 John Ringo (2000)
Ring of Fire Book 1 – ebook; reread
Between Planets Robert Heinlein (1951)
– ebook; reread
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen – eARC Lois McMaster Bujold (2015)
The Vorkosigan Saga Book 15 – ebook;
November
Arrows of the Queen Mercedes Lackey (1987)
The Heralds of Valdemar Book 1 – ebook;
Arrow’s Flight Mercedes Lackey (1987)
The Heralds of Valdemar Book 2 – ebook;
Arrow’s Fall Mercedes Lackey (1988)
The Heralds of Valdemar Book 3 – ebook;
An Ancient Peace Tanya Huff (2015)
Peacekeepers Book 1 – ebook;
Ancillary Mercy Anne Leckie (2015)
Imperial Radch Book 3 – ebook;
Uprooted Naomi Novik (2015)
– ebook;
The Human Division John Scalzi (2013)
Old Man’s War Book 5 – ebook; reread
The End of All Things John Scalzi (2015)
Old Man’s War Book 6 – ebook;
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower C.S. Forester (1950)
Horatio Hornblower Book 1 – ebook;
Hornblower and the Big Decision C.S. Forester (1951)
Horatio Hornblower Book 1.1 Short Story – ebook;
Lieutenant Hornblower C.S. Forester (1952)
Horatio Hornblower Book 2 – ebook;
Hornblower and the Hotspur C.S. Forester (1962)
Horatio Hornblower Book 3 – ebook;
Hornblower and the Crisis C.S. Forester (1967 – unfinished)
Horatio Hornblower Book 3.5 – ebook;
Hornblower and the Atropos C.S. Forester (1953)
Horatio Hornblower Book 4 – ebook;
Total: 92 books, 7.66 books a month, 1.77 books a week, .25 books a day
58 new books
34 rereads
92 is down from the last two years, but considering we spent half the year sailing, I think its not too shabby. There is much less leisure time available on the boat and generally what leisure time you have you dedicate to experiencing new things. And, since you are generally a bit more tired, the evening reading is much shorter than usual. That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it.
All but four were ebooks. On the other hand, that means my ebook collection is up to 429 ebooks. W00t! And with the Hornblower collection I moved away from my Sci-Fi/Fantasy fetish a bit more than I have in previous years. Good for me.
Interestingly, all but 11 books were part of series of some sort. I guess I am a lazy reader and once I find something I like I don’t want to explore further afield. And it gives me an excuse to go back and reread the first few books in a series to get caught back up.
Books that are part of a series: 81
Total different series: 30
Series read/reread in their entirety: 16
Total authors: 35
New authors: 6
Books published in 2015: 10
Oldest book read: 1950
I pretty much stuck with my Kobo Aura. It is a pretty damn good little reader if you can get over the proprietary nature of the hardware—and obviously I still haven’t. I really can’t understand why the publishing industry is letting booksellers control distribution like that; it marginalizes one of the more significant aspects of publishing and leaves them increasingly more prey to the booksellers’ predatory instincts. Yup, still not over it.
Speaking of the Aura, one of the boons of the ebook is that I can remain in denial about my need for glasses. With adjustable text size and backlights I can comfortably read in bed in the bad light and pretend its all like it used to be. A print book however necessitates the use of reading glasses in anything other than perfect lighting. Sigh. I do have a few print books on my pile—I just keep putting them off.
And that was 2015.
As for the people who started this nonsense, here is Earl’s list for 2015 and Leslie’s limited contribution as well.
My cellphone sees…
Xmas Eve at the Empress and a glass of Armagnac. Perfect.
Have a Fabulous Festivus!
My cellphone sees…
Still not used to this… December20
My cellphone sees…
Back in the saddle again. And my forearms aren't happy! #cragx #climbingfool #nottooold
Preventers
In an old post I mentioned the importance of preventers. But given the nature of the Never for Ever‘s B&R rig and our cockpit enclosure, I have never managed to rig one the completely satisfied me. A preventer, in case you are wondering, is a method of preventing the boom from swinging accidentally and sometimes violently from one side of the boat to another. When sailing downwind your mainsail is generally out as far as possible and when gybing (moving the sail from one side to another as your stern moves through the wind ), one always centers the boom before turning the boat to ensure the boom is moved from one side to the other under control. But in the case of an accidental gybe, the boom can fly across the cockpit generating line-snapping forces and being a huge danger to anyone in its path.
There are all sorts of fancy boom brakes available but the simplest way to rig a preventer is by tying the boom into position. The issue on our Hunter 386 is that the only place to tie off a preventer that I have access to is midway down the boom and it isn’t easy to tie that off to anyplace except the chain plates (or worse a stanchion). The angles involved don’t give me much reassurance about the rig’s ability to handle any of the massive forces an accidental gybe can generate.
Well I decided the other day to shake off the old Google-fu and see what the internet had to say. And lo and behold Selden’s website pointed out the obvious solution. Their downloadable Hints and Advice Guide from the rigging section spelled it all out and also solved a minor mystery for me.
One of the lines that came with the boat (that I had previously used to try and rig a preventer with) was a length of about 8 feet of braided line with a eye splice in one end. I could never figure out why this line was a part of the boat’s inventory, but used it as a handy line when I needed a short length. Turns out it was used as part of the preventer but not in a way I had imagined.
The line was meant to be pre-tied to the outer end fitting of the boom and then temporarily attached spliced eye end to the kicker slider. This means you don’t have to worry about accessing the end of the boom when at sea (something that due to our bimini I gave up on almost immediately).
Then, when rigging the preventer, you tie off a “preventer guy” to the loop and lead it forward to the bow cleat (or a snatch block if I ever get a spare). If the line is long enough you can lead it back to the cockpit so you don’t have to go forward to release the setup.
The manual also stated “The preventer guy must not be fitted to the centre of the boom since that could cause damage, especially if the end of the boom goes into the water as a result of rolling” which is what I had been doing and had been wholly dissatisfied with. Turns out I am getting some good sailorly instincts after all…
—Captain Why #Equipment, #Posts
My cellphone sees…
A great day to wander Sidney!
