Spring Fever!

[Knot Tied Down]

I decided to pull the boat out of storage tomorrow To start installing all of my *christmas presents* I bought the dual thrust prop for my Yamaha 50hp, a 1000 watt Yamaha generator, an on board dual bank battery charger, auto release rudder cleats, jib sheet bulkhead mounted organizers, etc... lots of little things. I'm having a new forstay made up tomorrow, as well as a new pvc luff for my FF2 flexible furler * turns out they are not that flexible
basically I'm just getting the sailing jitters, and need to start getting some parts put on, so that when the ice breaks I can get out there fast!
Anybody else getting ready a tad bit early?

[Doug W]

Anybody else getting ready a tad bit early?

Definitely! I've started digging into the boat in preparation for this coming season!

[Kittiwake]

.... Anybody else getting ready a tad bit early?

Well my new toys don't stack up to much compared to a new Honda generator (sigh) ... but I have been making a stack of narrow, shallow shelves for the head out of leftover 1/4" plywood and lots of epoxy glue ... and we're in for another 2 months of overcast & rain.
Hey, Doug W, I thought you had (already) been sailing all winter down south.
Kittiwake

[yukonbob]

Ya started diggin out this weekend with more than a month to go til it goes in the water IF the pass is clear and who knows how long til the weather will be nice enough to actually go out on that water

[Kittiwake]

You know, Knot Tied Down, I was thinking: you have brought up an issue that is really important to many of us - how to get out earlier in the season. Your Honda generator could be great for this. I didn't mention that this winter, in addition to my attempts at carpentry, I picked up the extension cords and outlets necessary to hook to shore power at marinas ... along with a very simple 120 V AC electric-fan/heater. My plan is to hope to hit the water earlier, but tie up at marinas if the weather is lousy and have the heater/fan keeping the interior cozy and dry. Yukonbob did mention in another thread though that you can end up with it raining in the cabin (under such circumstances?).
Kittiwake

[Knot Tied Down]

At The moment I have moisture pellets in there, and I'm thinking I will keep a container in there while running the heater just to keep it from getting too wet. I bought a Mr. heater portable which puts out 4 or 9 thousand btu depending on the low or high setting. I have a battery powered fan which will circulate the air while the heater is running, and will hopefully keep the condensation down. The heater is propane and I will be using a carbon monoxide detectorfor for safety. Getting an electric heater for shore power sounds like a great idea, and would save a small fortune over buying propane.
The water will be very cold and the cabin will be warm, so that is a problem with moisture ... is there any easy solution for this?
my generator is to charge the batteries, and so I will never have a dead starting battery at the worst possible moment.
I'm glad I'm not the only one going stir crazy :p

*Dustin*

[kitcat]

To just add a few more mods and jobs done in winter, I've had a new stack pack sail cover made and now fitted my lazyjack lines [see my Q regarding where to tie them off to on the mast, I've taken them to the spreader, about 1' out from the mast]. I'm now working on a reefing line system, led back to the cockpit, all hints and tips gratefully received BTW .

I'll also nip up all nuts and shims on the steering gear to reduce slop, and lightly grease the mast base, which I did last winter and had no troubles throughout last season.

I'm hoping to get back in the water in April, weather permitting, I can't wait.

Paul

[Mac26Mpaul]

Geez I hate it when you guys all start getting excited about the coming sailing season. IT means its going to be getting a bit chilly soon.....

[kitcat]

By chilly, I suppose you mean temperatures down to a cool 22 degs C I suppose, we're lucky to ever see that throughout our whole summer [such as it is!]

Paul

[Mac26Mpaul]

I wish,,,,
average daytime temps where I am in Winter, are about 18 to 21 degrees Celsius! At the moment they are still around 29ish which is about perfect. My missus/kids wont come out in the boat at all in winter, and I tend to just sail my dinghy (even wear a jumper some days )

But there are benifits to your climate. You get to do more sailing, where as my missus and kids expect me to stop the boat on some island and go swimming every 5 minutes
Here is Saturday just gone (mast free day it was]

[Knot Tied Down]

Geez I hate it when you guys all start getting excited about the coming sailing season. IT means its going to be getting a bit chilly soon.....

We still have snow on the ground here in michigan, but it's getting less and less! And hopefully it will stay that way.
I do have a 50 foot tarp to put over the boat while its out of indoor storage and into the elements in case of foul weather.
I made a list last fall of all the things I needed and wanted... and almost everything is crossed off! No autopilot or misses for the boat Yet, *they are both controlling*

Mac26paul ... I remember saving a photo of your boat a few months ago for inspiration on placing my boats name on her sides... but I have numbers and a sticker at the bow that would force me to have the name further back which doesn't look as good as yours when I photoshoped it on one of my photos.

Dustin

[yukonbob]

Yukonbob did mention in another thread though that you can end up with it raining in the cabin (under such circumstances?).
Kittiwake

Ya it can get a little moist, but stops after the first half hour to an hour. Just keep the air moving and check your bilge more frequently. Also leave your lockers open when your away, I find it helps keep the musty smell down.

[kitcat]

Paul those photos of Little Annie on the beach look just awful, how do you endure that sort of thing? All that blue sky and blue water and ...........sun! 18 - 21 eh? that's around 68 -70 or so in English, we reckon we are lucky over this side of the pond to see those temperatures at the height of the English summer, and even then they are tempered by a gentle force 4, meaning heavy duty sweaters, so no T shirts and shorts and especially no swimming!

Paul.

[Phil M]

I wish,,,,
average daytime temps where I am in Winter, are about 18 to 21 degrees Celsius! At the moment they are still around 29ish which is about perfect. My missus/kids wont come out in the boat at all in winter, and I tend to just sail my dinghy (even wear a jumper some days )

At 21 degrees Celsius my shirt comes off to get a suntan ...

It's still winter even in Hawaii. I noticed that while the native Hawaiians are usually bundled up, the visiting northerners are in shorts and t-shirts.

Phil M

[Mac26Mpaul]

Paul,,, now I understand why my Welsh father, English mother migrated here Hey, at least your boat wouldnt oxidize 5 minutes after polishing like mine does ...And as I'v boasted before, I dont even own any long pants (except for work )

Dustin, snow?? I saw that once on an American Christmas special...

Glad one of my photos gave someone inspiration We have to have the numbers on the rear port, stbd or stern Sailboats only need 75mm high numbers but powerboats (anything that goes over 7 knots I think it is) have to have them 200 high unfortunately which explains my huge ones Actually I'v noticed most other Mac owners seem to ignore this rule.... The font I used for my graphics was a freeware one I found on the net which I believe was called "Coka Cola". I just emailed it to the vinyl sticker guy and he made my graphics, very easy to apply.