UH OH!: A BATTERY ANOMALY

Just when I thought I was ready to splash BIANKA for the season I made a disturbing discovery concerning one of the batteries in the 48 volt propulsion bank. The Dual Pro PS4 battery charger showed battery number four with a blinking green light where as all the others were steady after having been charged.  This was a new development as for the past several weeks all the batteries had been charging normally on my visits. For some reason the charger thinks battery four is not yet fully charged. I disconnected the power from the charger to let the batteries sit overnight and make sure it would not fire up when I plugged the extension cord  back on my return in the morning.

The next morning I went into the cockpit and threw the switch on the helm instrumentation panel that powers the individual battery meters. My suspicions were confirmed. Battery four is not being charged properly:

As you can see the bottom meter which is reading battery four is only 11.1 volts where the other three batteries are much closer to each other in voltage. So it looks like I will have to forget about launching the boat until I can investigate what it is going on with this battery. TO BE CONTINUED.

NOW THIS IS COOL!

Since I've recently retired I've been taking my time getting BIANKA ready for this years launch. Recent travels in the Keys and Bahamas have pushed things back a bit. The weather has also affected my plans. Speaking of the weather we have had a few days of temperatures in the mid 80 degree Fahrenheit range. Temperatures more common for mid August than late May or early June here on the Isle of Long. Needless to say it could get quite warm while working on the boat before any cooling afternoon sea breezes make it across the island.  Those conditions led me to an impulse buy of the Ergodyne Chill-Its Evaporative Cooling Towel . 

 I have to say this item really works well. The special fabric holds water quite well. You run it under some water until it becomes saturated. Ring it out a bit and drape it around neck and as the water evaporates it cools your body down quite nicely. When it  drys out in a few hours just repeat the process.  A simple idea that works on a hot day. I look forward to using it especially on a hot summer day when running with the wind and not having any breeze in the cockpit. It should make things much more comfortable.

AN INSIDE JOB

I've been taking a little time this spring to refinish some of the cabin interior before launching. The left side in the photo has been done the right still needs to be. I'm using  Cetol Natural Teak. Easier to do this kind of stuff with the boat on the hard.

SQUALL AT ANCHOR 50+ KNOTS

 I've been out traveling for the past few weeks and so have not posted anything in awhile. But, here is a video I took while cruising in the Exumas when a squall came through one morning. It did not last long but, long enough to rip apart the dodger which you can see flapping at the top of the screen in part of the video. The boat behind us also had it's dingy flip over with a brand new outboard attached:

COMFORTABLE SWIM GOOGLES

I spent most of January cruising through the British, U.S. and Spanish Virgin Islands. Did a lot of swimming and snorkeling during that cruise. Several weeks after returning home I began to miss the ability to swim everyday like I did on the cruise. So I decided to see if I could make do with a substitute until the waters warm up enough and I could just jump off BIANKA for my daily swim.  So I signed up for a membership at a local health and fitness club that had a decent sized pool:

This worked out well for me and I soon got into a good routine for an early morning swim. Though I needed to find some type of googles to keep the chlorine out of the eyes as much as possible. While cruising I was mostly using my dive mask and snorkel when swimming. But, in the pool it's a little bulky and does not allow for ones nose to be used for breathing and exhaling.

I find that the swim googles I've seen most frequent pool swimmers use don't really fit my face well:
They tend to leak requiring frequent stops or require me to keep them overly tight. Plus they never fit my eye sockets comfortably.  So I went looking for an alternative that would fit my face.







The solution to my problem is the Aqua Sphere Vista Swim Mask



Unlike other goggle type swim eye wear it is shaped so it seals around ones forehead and cheeks. Yet, it still keeps the nose clear so it is easy to exhale when swimming which is one of the draw backs of a dive mask. It also does not put pressure around the eye sockets like the usual swim googles do.   I've been using them  for several months and find it very comfortable to wear and I can do an entire thirty minute swim without it leaking.  I'm so pleased with it's comfort and use I plan to buy another one to keep on the boat for my frequent cool down swims off of the boat during the summer .

SPRING TAKING OFF

Got back to BIANKA for a quick check after doing some traveling. The sailing season is getting closer from the signs in the harbor. The moorings including BIANKA's have been dropped onto the harbor bottom:

Power boats are also starting to fill up the docks:

All signs it's time to start to get a move on getting BIANKA ready for the upcoming season. I'm starting off with removing some of the items that are no longer needed to have on board. These include the snow shovel I used to clear the deck of snow and ice over the winter and also the spare anti freeze that can be put away until next fall. I'm also taking off the rigging lines that will be washed at home before being rigged  :

Small steps but, at least it's a start.

TOOLS: POWER8 WORKSHOP

Here's an item that would fit right in on a cruising boat or even a landlubbers apartment:
 It's called the Power 8 Workshop:


It looks like it has just about every tool one might need to do a lot of different projects on board yet stores in a very compact space. Which is an important since space is always a concern.

• Includes 4 Power Tools; variable speed hammer drill, circular saw, jigsaw and flashlight. Each tool integrates with the workbench to become a drill press, table saw, scroll saw and table light

SPRINGING FORWARD AND GETTING OUT OF THE DOLDRUMS

I've been in sort of a boat doldrums for a few weeks now. I've not had much urgency to get down to the boat since my Electric Propulsion system does not require a whole lot of maintenance. I've instead been spending some time spring cleaning around the house and trying to figure out what to with some of the left over stuff I pulled off the boat when converting to Electric Propulsion. Thinking about EBAY, donating or selling out right. I've been cleaning out a lot of stuff in the Den where I'll be hopefully working on a new sail cover and cushions for the Engel refrigerators in the main cabin. Now that Spring has officially arrived I feel the boat calling again. So I ordered a few items I know I'll be needing for the upcoming season.

I pretty much am a single hand sailor these days. One thing I bought since it really makes a lot of sense for me to use is a Pick Up Buoy.   I don't know why it has taken me so long to buy one. I was getting along quite well with an empty milk container tied to the mooring pennant lines and a boat hook since 1996. But, after watching a neighboring sailboat use his it just makes a lot of sense for me. Especially since the winds and the currents in the harbor do not always cooperate sometimes requiring me to sometimes make another pass to snag the line.

Another item I knew I'll be needing in the up coming weeks is some Cetol Marine Natural Teak Wood Finish. I've been using Cetol for years mostly on the cockpit hatches, bright.work and handrails. Last spring I decided to use it to spruce up the galley area, companionway steps and the headliner project . I was pleased with the look and ease of application. So I'm planning on using it on other areas of the cabin this year. I bought two quarts since I also plan to use it on some unpainted molding at the house.


I've got a few more things I'll need to order  for the up coming season but, they can wait until I get closer to a launch date. For now these along with 9 yards of Sunbrella fabric for the new Sail Cover will keep me busy enough.

A TASTE OF THE SEA

My girlfriend had the week off from her teaching gig because it was Spring Break. So we jumped in the car and as we often do head to a place where we could be by the water. In this case it was Ocean City Maryland. A few days in a hotel with an ocean front view over looking the Atlantic Ocean can do wonders for the soul when one still has the boat stored on land for the winter.

Just watching the waves, having the smell of the sea and the sound of the surf can rejuvenate ones plans for the up coming season. Add to that the taste of fresh seafood at meals and one feels once again close to waters that surround us. Though for me the most impressive part of the day is the sunrise:

You can get a feel for how impressive and vast things are by noting the person on the beach in the lower left of the above picture. On another morning I may notice a local fishing boat heading out at dawn to get the catch of the day:

I'll watch the boat pass by and wish I was out there with BIANKA.  In another few months I will be.

A TASTE OF SPRING

With the temperature rising into the 70's earlier this week there was no excuse not to head down to the boatyard and check on BIANKA. It had been a couple of weeks since the last visit and despite some nasty weather and a couple of days of high winds I saw no further damage on the deck area. Even the bilge looked surprisingly similar to when I left it. No additional water had entered except the little bit of antifreeze I splashed into it back in February:

Good to see. Apparently the previous water levels I had observed were from snow that had gotten blown in through some of the hatches during the winter storms. All was well so I got to work on starting to implement some spring projects. one was to make some custom seat cushions for the two Engel refrigeration units I have on board in the main cabin. Unpacking some of the patterning material I had bought from Sailrite I quickly made an outline of the Engel tops on the pattern material:

After cutting out the pattern. I'll be taking it home to use my Sailrite sewing machine in fabricating the new cushions. I'm not the only one who will be fabricating some new things this year. The boatyard guys are busy fabricating some new floating docks to replace ones that were damaged when the harbor suffered a quick freeze during a cold snap a few weeks ago:

Spring is just around the corner and I'll be getting busier getting BIANKA ready for the up coming season.