I BOUGHT AN UNDERWATER DRONE

I made a post a few weeks ago about an underwater drone geared toward fisherman that I thought might be useful on board BIANKA if the price was reasonable. Since it is over the one thousand dollar mark I scrubbed that idea. But, doing further research I can upon an alternative underwater drone that was in an acceptable price range for my budget. The only problem is it has not yet hit the market and will not be available until at least June. So placing an order for a non existent product is somewhat a leap of faith. But, I have been there before. Like in 2007 when I decided to convert BIANKA from having a diesel engine to installing electric propulsion. Not a lot of sailboats had done such a conversion at that time. So I had no real models to follow. Though since this drone is considerably cheaper than the EP conversion it is a much better risk. At around $500 the Fathom One drone is the right price for my budget and so I decided to take the leap and buy one sight unseen.
I'm looking at the drone as another tool to have on board not a toy. My primary reason for buying it is to use as a visual check on how BIANKA's anchor is set.  The five hundred dollar price seems worth it if it helps me know that my much more expensive boat is anchored well so I can sleep at night. It can also help me see what the anchor might be hung up on if I sould have trouble raising it. Another use might be to find an item accidently lost over board. Of course it might also be fun to see what lies below the boat too. But, checking the anchor will be it's primary use. I will post more details and show how the Fathom One works out once I have it on board and can test it's abilities. So stay tuned.

WHAT LIES BENEATH: PowerRay Underwater Drone

Those of us who spend time anchoring in murkier waters than most places in the Caribbean often have this question nagging us: How well is the anchor really set? Yeah,  you do a back down test but, it is still an unknown. If you are in places like the Exumas where the water clarity and temperature make it easy to check on the anchor it is not an issue. But, in places like the Northeast U.S. where visibility may be ten feet if you are lucky and the water temperature is in the low 60's it can be a problem. That's where this new underwater drone might come in handy. It's called the PowerRay and is primarily marketed toward fishermen who want a little more info on what is exactly underneath their boats. But, I see using it as a way to easily check on the anchor without guessing in less than clear or inviting waters. Since it's a tethered Drone there is less chance it will be lost to Neptune too. There is no price on it yet but, if it's reasonable it could be cheap insurance to have a restful nights sleep when the winds start to pipe up. It could also be very handy to see what ones anchor is fouled on if it does not come easily when trying to lift it. Another use would be to locate an item that went over the side that needs to be found.

HURRICANE STORM PREP: Before and After

In early September I was facing a serious dilemma. Hurricane Hermaine was heading up the coast. This meant I would have to try and prep BIANKA in advance of the storm. But, I also had booked passage on a Cruise ship leaving New York and heading to Bermuda during the same week the storm was expected to hit. Due to a number of SNAFU's and personal travel plans I had decided to give up on sailing this season and just hung out of BIANKA at the mooring. This decision was fortuitous because I did not have a need to put the sail on the boat. This made storm preparation a little easier since I did not have to remove and store BIANKA's 540 square feet of sail to reduce windage.

I did have to do a few other things to give me some piece of mind in case the Hurricane hit the area. One thing I needed to do is remove the 33 pound Bruce anchor off the bow roller.

 The flukes of which can cut easily cut through the mooring line like a knife and set the boat adrift. It's not a difficult job but, it is awkward handling the anchor while leaning over the bowsprite. An extra line helps make sure you won't accidentally drop the anchor while handling it. I was also glad I had previously coated the shackle pin threads with Tef Gel . This made for a quick and easy removal of the shackle holding the anchor to the chain. I wish the neighboring boats would do the same but, I have not seen anyone else come out and start to prep their boats.

Once the anchor was removed and the mooring pennant lines set in the bow rollers. I used several large Ty Wraps through holes in the rollers:

These will prevent the mooring lines from popping off the  rollers and start chaffing as the bow pitches up and down in a storm. This could possibly set the boat adrift.

I also made up some spare mooring lines I planned to add to the existing mooring line as extra insurance. I got the last two 3/8" thimbles at the local West Marine and sliced them into some Tenex line I had on board:

I used a hot knife to cut out the bad section of the line before installing the thimble:

 The hot knife really helps to make quick neat cuts in some of these new high tech lines.

I also used some Parachute cord to secure the BIANKA"S Solar Bimini. The bimini had survived the 95 MPH winds of super storm Sandy but a little more security never hurts when expecting a blow:

My plans to add two additional lines to the mooring did not work out since the attachment point on the mooring ring did not allow room for two shackles so I was only able to add one line:

This was better than nothing. Though it would have been better to find this out before a storm approaches. I may see if the boatyard can increase the size of the mooring ring next year so I can fit two additional storm shackles instead of just one.

A LESSON LEARNED: Hermaine did not hit the area full strength which I was glad to learn of while on the cruise ship. There were some strong gusts but, nothing near Hurricane strength. However, after I returned and was rowing out to the boat for the first time since returning from the cruise. I saw that my spare storm mooring line was dangling in the water. I thought at first it had broken even though it was rated at over 5,000 pounds. When I inspected it this is what I found:

Apparently, I had secured the shackle pin to the thimble with a Ty Wrap to but, I had forgotten to do the same to the shackle that attached to the mooring ring. As a result of the pitching up and down the pin loosened up and eventually fell out make my spare storm mooring line useless. When this happened is anyone's guess. But, it is a lesson learned to make an inspection list before leaving the boat when prepping for a storm.

ANCHORS AWAY

I'm  trying to catch up on things and put up some blog posts of things done and not done this past season on board. One of the things I had been planning to do was to attach a waterproof camera to the 33 pound Bruce anchor that serves as BIANKA's main anchor. It has been a doing a great job since I bought the boat. It has held in 30 to 40 knots of wind including a brush with Hurricane Earl. I trust it but, I was still curious how it was doing it's job. I never did setup my camera for some underwater video of the Bruce but, a fellow in the Pacific Northwest has. He shows it setting pretty nicely with a 2.5:1 scope Here is his video:

REMOVING A FROZEN ANCHOR SHACKLE AND SWIVEL

I recently mentioned the anchor swivel's pin that was approaching a "yikes" moment. Since I had a spare on board I looked to replace it. It had been attached for as long as I have owned the boat and normally should have been a five minute replacement job. Except for one thing the pin of the shackle that attached the swivel to the anchor was seized and no amount of PB Blaster, wrenches and even  micro torch supplied heat could move that shackle pin. Looks like that five minute job just got a little longer since I was going to have to cut this shackle off too in order to replace the swivel. But, what to use? It's a tight space around where the anchor and shackle lay. A hacksaw would be awkward to use in the confined space take quite a bit of time even if I had a new blade which I did not. Enter the Dremel 200-1/15 Two-Speed Rotary Tool Kit with a pack of heavy duty cutting disks. I am able to power the Dremel a number of ways on board. One is with my on onboard Honda EU 2000 generator which is really over kill for the power requirements of the Dremel Tool. Another is with the AIMS 1500 Watt 48 volt Inverter I installed last year. Though for most jobs I just use the 200 watt 12 volt Powerstar Inverter that I bought back in the 1980's. It not a pure sinewave inverter but, it powers the Dremel Tool quite nicely for all sorts of quick projects.  The Dremel made short work of cutting through the swivel that was attached to the seized anchor shackle as shown here:

Once the old swivel was out of the way I could start to work on the seized anchor shackle.  I probably should have used a  Dremel 1-1/4-Inch Reinforced Cut-Off Wheel but, even the Dremel 420 Heavy Duty Cut-Off Wheels  I used did the job. Though I did have one or two disks break in the process. They still cut through the swivel and shackel quite easily despite not being reinforced. I was impressed.

After removing the swivel I tackled the stuck shackle pin. Rather try and cut through the crown which would have required two cuts to remove the shackle. I decided to see if I could just cut through the one lug of the shackle where the pin screwed into. Perhaps just cutting away enough of the lug would allow the pin to be removed:

I was careful not to cut into the anchor shank. After a few partial cuts of the shackle lug I was able to easily unscrew the shackle pin:

Which still looked pretty good but, the corrosion that held it in place was pretty tenacious so it needed to be replaced along with the swivel.  I used some  Tef-Gel on the replacement shackle threads to help insure that I will not have to cut the shackle next time I have to remove it:

With the old swivel and anchor shackle replaced I could now sleep easier when BIANKA is at anchor:

ASSUMPTIONS PART TWO: Moorings

So since I got a late start on my cruising plans I headed out as soon as my schedule was clear.  When I got to Mattituck I was looking at a pin that held the swivel to the anchor chain. It was looking somewhat iffy. I had  new replacement shackles and swivel on board. So I thought when I got to my next destination which was Three Mile Harbor on Long Island I'd pick up a town mooring and replace the anchor swivel and shackles.  I arrived at the channel to the harbor at just about sunset and by the time I got into the harbor after dark. I could not find the town moorings so I picked up and vacant one. In the morning I gave the harbor master a call to ask where the town moorings were located. He replied that the town trustees had decided not to put them in this year. Once again my assumption that the moorings would still be available turned out to be my mistake. Luckily, I was able to get on another mooring thanks to a local boatyard who had a spare mooring available due to the owner being away. At least I was able to replace the anchor swivel at a leisurely pace. But, it was a reminder not to assume that things that were there before will still be there on your next visit.

SHACKLE UPGRADES

In addition to the 200 feet of new galvanized anchor chain I also ordered two special shackles from 1st Chain supply. Normally, the weak link (no pun intended) in the anchor system is the shackles used to connect the chain to various thimbles and swivels. The problem is the shackles that one finds in the Marine store that fit inside the chain links have working loads less than the chain they connect to. The ones that are as strong as the chain have pins that are two big to fit inside the chain links.
There are two solutions to this problem. You can order the chain with oversize links at each end. but, order lead times are much longer (four to six weeks). The other solution is to use special alloy shackles that are as strong or stronger as the chain links they connect to. That is what I did. 1st Chain Supply has these alloy shackles available on their website they are in stock and I was able to order them when I ordered the chain. As I usually do before I connected them to the chain I coated the threads with Tef Gel to makes sure I will be able to take them off when I want to in the future.

ANCHORS AWEIGH

"RUST NEVER SLEEPS"

- Neil Young

When I bought BIANKA in 1995 it had one hundred feet of chain of 3/8" connected to 140 feet of pliant braid on board and a 33 lb Bruce anchor. It has worked well over the years for me in all kinds of conditions. Including a brush with a catagory one hurricane Earl in eastern Long Island. I notice it starting to rust over the years but, the rust got knocked off with the first time I anchored each season. At least that part that entered the water. I rarely had to put out more than 75 feet of chain when anchoring. Which meant the remainder of the chain sat in the damp chain locker rusting away. I had a "yikes"moment last year when I saw some of this severely rusted chain go over the anchor roller. I thought it is about time I got some new anchor chain as after twenty six years BIANKA's original anchor chain really did not owe me anything.

I had a hard time trying to figure out what size chain to order. I was pretty sure it was 3/8" chain but, the chain was so rusted I had a hard time figuring out what size it really was by measuring it as this photo comparing the new chain to the old shows:

These two chains were originally the same size but, rust has severely reduced the size of the original chain on the bottom. Just to be sure I would buy the correct chain I ordered a one foot sample of 3/8" anchor chain for ten dollars. I don't want to make a mistake in ordering almost a thousand dollars worth of chain weighing several hundred pounds as the shipping is expensive. I originally thought I had 125 feet of chain on board but, it really was only 100 feet. But, I ordered 200 feet of new chain so I would be able to put out  more scope when anchoring in the future with the chain. I ended up with a half barrel (200 feet) of chain being delivered. I bought it from 1st Chain Supply which had a pretty good price including delivery for 3/8" ACCO BBB galvanized chain.
Now it was time to remove the old chain. Since the boat was still in the boatyard I removed the Bruce anchor and used the windlass to drop the chain to the ground:

and onto a piece of scrap shrink wrap to make sure I would not be picking up a lot of dirt when I picked the chain up:

 Once the chain was off the boat I then removed the pliant braided anchor line from the chain locker. What remained inside the chain locker was about 5 pounds of rusted anchor chain:

I vacuumed the rust up and cleaned out the anchor locker.  I then took the rust covered pliant line that had been sitting under the chain for the past sixteen years to a laundromat put it into a machine with some Woolite :

After it was washed I bought it back to the boat and using my Forespar Nova Lift and hoisted the line up in a large duffle bag:

I then laid the line out over the deck for two or three days to dry out before putting it back into the chain locker  and attaching the new chain to it. After I attached the chain to the line I marked the chain with a bunch of red cable ties to let me know when deploying the chain that I am reaching the end of the chain. I marked it about 15 feet from the end:

I will eventually mark the chain with both paint and cable ties at various points along the chain 25, 50, 75, 100 etc... so I will  know how much has been let out. But, for now cable ties will do. I was a little concerned that perhaps 200 feet of chain might make the boat a little bow heavy but, happily that is not the case. The best thing is I can now sleep better at anchor knowing that BIANKA rides on some brand new anchor chain.

MOORING IN AMERICA

There was good news and bad news this week about BIANKA's upcoming sailing season. In the mail from the town came the approved 2012 mooring permit. So BIANKA has a home port to come back to when not out cruising.  It's a sure sign that start of the season is in sight. There was more good signs as I pulled into the boatyard yesterday:

The good sign was that the moorings were starting to be lined up and the boatyard was getting ready to be put them out in the harbor. Some had new chain. Some had new pennant lines.  Some just needed a new coat out anti fouling paint.

Then came the bad news. My town requires that the moorings be inspected every season before they are dropped out of sight onto the harbor bottom. I think it is good idea and also makes sure that only secure and reliable moorings are dotting the harbor. Which may have been why there was so few boats lost or damaged in the harbor when Hurricane Irene came to visit showing us her bad side.  As I was getting out the car one of the guys working the boatyard came up to me and said I need to show something on your mooring. This is what he showed me:

Yeah, it's looking a little worn at the bottom shackle attachment point on one side where the chain connects to the mooring. BIANKA having survived Hurricane Irene might not be so lucky next time with the mooring  looking like this. Some of this damage might have been a result of riding the Hurricane too. So it looks like a new 300 plus pound mooring is in BIANKA's future along with some unexpected expense for Capt. Mike. Though it's still cheap insurance if another storm like Irene should head this way.

SAFETY AT SEA AND ON THE DECK

I was on someone elses boat recently and came upon this scene on the deck:

Now the batteries may have been dead as far as the boat owner may be concerned but, maybe not totally. Still there is no excuse for a situation like this. A little movement and that chain  would make a nice buss bar with all the current remaining in the batteries flowing through it. Pretty soon you would have the makings of a pretty good boat fire. All I'm saying is be careful where you stow things even if only temporarily.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Spent most of yesterday on board. It was a beautiful cloudless windless day. A fine summer day in August.  It would be hard to predict what was coming from these conditions. It was a tad humid and hot and as a result I took a few swims in between prepping the boat for the arrival of Hurricane Irene. I got a email from Bob who writes the BOAT BITS blog and who recently had some sundowners on board his boat while the eye of the same Irene passed over St. Criox a few days ago. He mentioned that Jeff Masters at Weather Underground said the eye wall of Irene was weakening. Meaning that the storm was not strengthening. That good news was tempered with my talk with the guys at the boatyard who said that during Hurricane Gloria the last storm to directly hit the Isle of Long there were 100 boats on the beach. I'm trying to make sure that BIANKA is not going to be one of them after this storm.
There were a number of owners out preparing their boats but, not everyone. Some were just wrapping their sails up.  While others like myself and those on the moorings around me where taking them off completely.

Funny how an approaching storm can get one to focus on those little projects that one has not gotten to on board. Like replacing the temporary cable tie that was holding up one of the solar bimini frames.

I had the eye strap on board for over a week and did not get around to installing it. Irene got me focused on making sure it was installed. Cable ties are useful things on a boat. But, trusting them to hold up in Hurricane conditions is asking too much from them.

I also secured some of the wiring for the solar panels that was on my to do list too.
While on board I decided to do add some additional attachment to the mooring beyond the primary and secondary mooring line.  I was worried about my Bruce anchor which hangs over the bowsprit  could catch on an errant boats life lines or pushpit and could drag BIANKA along with it or cause a lot of damage. So I removed the anchor and stowed it below. I then used the anchor chain to act as a the "all hell breaks loose" third pennant to the mooring chain. I shackled it to a different link than the line pennants with a shackle and a swivel. It's always good to have a number of shackles of various sizes on board.

They may cost a few sheckles but, in situations like this they are priceless!  I'm also glad I took the time last year during Hurricane Earl to use some Tef Gel on the shackle threads. This made them able to unscrew easily when I needed them. I also wrapped and secured the chain around the mast. This made sure that the Sampson Post was not the only point on the bow recieving the stress from the storm pull. I feel with the anchor chain now secured to the mooring system BIANKA my drag onto the beach but, it will be taking it's mooring with it. I added some anti chaffing to the existing lines and adjusted the anti sail bow drogue I used last year while riding out Hurricane Earl in three Mile Harbor. I stayed on board until about 10:30 pm exhausted and tired having done everything I could think of to make sure BIANKA would still be floating come Monday. Now I only have to watch and wait for the storm to arrive.

LESSONS FROM A HURRICANE: AN ANTI SAIL DROGUE

While I was preparing for Hurricane Earl checking the lockers for "needful things" I might use in preparation for the storm. I came across something than was on board when I bought BIANKA. It was a surplus military "sea anchor" made in 1957 according to the markings stenciled on it. It was only about 3 feet around and I wondered what one of the previous owners had used it for.  It did not look like it would hold up as a sea anchor or drogue in a rough sea.  But, it looked like it would be useful as I prepared  the boat for the arrival of Hurricane Earl. It was. In my research I came upon the concept of an anti sail drogue.  BIANKA with it's cat boat design can fishtail or "sail" at anchor pretty far while at a windy anchorage. Anything I could do to minimize this would be helpful especially in storm conditions. So I turned this surplus military sea anchor into anti sail drogue. Here is what it looked like completed on deck:

 This is how I rigged it. First I took some 1 inch webbing ran it through a five pound dive weight and stitched a loop on each end so I could attach a line to it. I then ran the line up though the drogue and attached it to the drogues parachute cord attachment point.

I then ran this line through the bow roller and cleated to the deck. The anti sail drogue should be about three or four feet below the surface. So I marked that on the line with red electrical tape and a red tie wrap as shown below:

And here's a view of it deployed off the bow::

The markings are good to have in case you have to lift it and redeploy it without trying to guess in storm conditions if it is at the right depth. Finally here is the antisail drogue in action off the bow:

I must say it worked pretty good. It did not stop all the fishtailing but, it certainly minimized it. I think an added benefit could be if the anchor started dragging the drogue would fill and slow down the drag perhaps enough to allow the anchor to reset. But, I hope to never have to find out if that hunch works. Now that I've made the anti sail drogue I have it ready to deploy if BIANKA needs to ride out another storm or even just in a windy anchorage to stop or minimize any fishtailing that happens.

EARL: RED SKYS AT NIGHT SAILORS DELIGHT?

The sunsets as a Hurricane approaches can be very beautiful. As the photo below shows taken this evening on BIANKA as it sits anchored in Three Mile Harbor on eastern Long Island:

So much for the adage red sky at night sailors delight. Friday looks like it is going to be a long day for me as Earl approaches with Tropical Storm force winds. But, today was busy too. I started the day by launching the dingy taking trash to a marina dumpster, picking up some shackles, refilling an empty gas container and picking up some ice. This was the first time I've been on land since last Friday. I guess I've been on board too long because I forgot to put on shoes. I'm out of Blueberry muffins but, I did manage to pick up some Biscotti to have with my morning coffee for the next few days. After the errands it was back to the BIANKA continuing preparations for Fridays visit of Earl. I've let out all my chain and rigged up a second anchor ready to be deployed  if the boat starts dragging during the storm. I also plan to rig a third anchor tomorrow in the morning. A few things remain which I'll take care of in the morning. We had some pretty strong southerly winds this afternoon in the 20+ range including a gust to 36 knots. But, the anchor held fine and did not drag so I am hopeful it will make through Earl. Tonight should be the calm before the storm as the first rains should arrive around daybreak and things should go down hill from there. Friday night will not be fun from the looks of it. But, things should improve by Saturday morning. I hope to post during the day as BIANKA and I meet the challenge of Earl. But, a lot is going to depend on how busy I am.  I'm not alone in the harbor there are about five other boats here with crew waiting for Earl. I am hoping for a good sleep tonight satisfied that my plans and options will be enough to whether the storm. There is not much more to do but, wait for Earl.

Anchors away! And so was the owner!

Meanwhile up in Maine, PANBO has the the tale of a good looking trawler almost ending up on the rocks but, luckily the story has a happy ending thanks to some good local mariners. Here is the money quote:

I'm generally quite reluctant to fault fellow boaters when things go wrong, because I've made about every mistake possible myself at some point, and probably will again. But what I hear about this scene, captured in part on YouTube, is a bit disturbing. That big beautiful trawler didn't actually drag onto the rocks around Northeast Point, but that's probably only because crews from from Wayfarer Marine, Yachting Solutions, and the Harbor Master's office worked hard to hold her off, in pouring rain and lots of wind. A local hero even managed to squeeze his way through a pilothouse window, figure out the complex starting procedure, hoist the anchor, and put the boat safely on a dock. But the owner, who showed up after the storm had passed, was apparently somewhat casual about what happened, though most boaters would know that a salvage claim was a possible road not taken by the rescuers, and...

Here's some citizen sailor journalism of the incident from the deck of the LET'S DANCE:






Hats of the the folks who saved the boat. I just hope the owner learned a lesson from the incident too.

SO MUCH FOR THAT!

"It's not an adventure until something goes wrong!"

Yvon Chouinard

So what happened yesterday as I tried to join the flotilla welcoming Reid Stowe back to New York? I should have know something was up when I saw Stowe hoist anchor at 6:15 am. He probably had better weather forecasts than I did. The first thing that happened as I went forward to uncover the sail is I noticed the anchor snubber line had crossed over during the night an been frayed by the anchor chain and was about to let go.

 A few seconds after I took the above photo it did. Things went downhill from there. Bob at BOATBITS says when one is sailing one should never say you are going to a destination but, rather one is going toward a destination. Just like I should have never said I was going to take BIANKA and join the Reid Stowe flotilla. After I got the boat ready I went to lift the anchor. Being alone on board this was problematic because the winds had picked up to 15 to 20 knots. The bow was pitching up and down about two to three feet in the waves. I needed to weigh anchor but, had no one at the helm to help use the motor to ease the strain on the windlass. I was hoping it would hold up long enough to lift the anchor but, it did not. The chain started to reel off the capstan. Now instead of 75 feet of chain I had 100 feet of chain out that I would have to retrieve by hand with the boat facing 15+ knot winds. It took about forty five minutes of slowly pulling in the chain sometimes only a few inches at a time. I guess the good news is I'll be able to do another post about repairing the Maxwell Nilsson VR700 windlass.

BLOG UPDATE:  I went back to look at some of the wind data on June 17th to see why I got into such a bunch of hurt that day. This chart of wind gusts from Robbins Reef shows where I went wrong.

The winds were hitting 36 knots. Not quite Gale conditions but, close enough for me. The story continues... 

I finally got the anchor up and raised sail. I was glad I put in two reefs because the winds soon increased more. I was moving along at times 6.4 knots double reefed with spray hitting me in the face from time to time. At some point one of the hanger lines that holds the sail in the cradle let go. This caused the sail and reefing lines droop just enough to catch the edge on one of the solar panels when I tacked. It broke the frame holding it and threatened to carry solar panel overboard.

It was a scramble to get it temporarily secured while trying to keep the boat in control. Needless to say I was not having a fun day. I called the flotilla organizers to let them know my situation and I that I would try  and catch up to the flotilla but, I never did. I was down by Governors Island when Reid docked at the World Yacht Pier. Happily, the Tugster was on  the Pioneer and got some great shots of the Reid and the other bigger sailboats in the flotilla here and here. So I can see what I missed. As you can see from his photos boats were healed over quite a bit as the winds were blowing pretty good. But, the day turned out to be not all bad for me and BIANKA. After I was near the Staten Island Ferry terminal the winds began to subside and I enjoyed a rather pleasant sail to the Newport Marina where after a few cold beers I was able to enjoy the beautiful Alpenglow on the city of New York as the sun set.