Sorry to skip the entire return trip, but we'll get to that later as it was uneventful and enjoyable.
After considerable delay, the surgery to repair my torn rotator cuff is complete. I've had several major and minor surgeries in the past and this is the most painful by far. The nurses told Micky that the number of nerves and vessels disturbed in the shoulder joint explains the difference. A nerve block in the neck was to prevent most of the pain for the first 12-14 hours. It did not work well and when they awakened me, it was not a pleasant time. The anesthetist did a second block that calmed the misery down to a bearable level.
I enjoyed the time before the surgery in the prep area talking with Pete Flanagan, my commanding officer when I was First Sergeant of the Augusta Marines. Pete was having both knees worked on. In both our cases, decades of physical fitness training had damaged the weight-bearing joints of our legs. Marines run. The cult of running and physical fitness is literally bone-deep in the Corps to a level found only in the elites of other services. And we pay for it in our senior years. Most of the career Marines I know have knee, hip and back problems that can be laid squarely onto the overuse of our legs through running. I am not talking about jogging or occasional distance running, but daily long-distance pounding out the miles. From this side of life, it seems wasteful to have required and encouraged such extreme behavior. But that's exactly what we did. More than any other activity, running defined your ability to lead. Intellect, zeal, competence, and ability were completely negated if you could not run three miles in 28 minutes. And that just allowed you to remain in the Corps. 24 minutes or less was required for a first-class score. Promotion to the upper ranks was dependent on a first-class score.
No one can deny that it takes real fitness to carry the combat load of a Marine. The weight of arms and armor is immense. The picture of Marines struggling along with full packs fighting insurgents in tennis shoes is ridiculous.
But enough of that!
I came through the cutting well and can begin to see that the surgery will work. This time next year, this will all just be a fading memory. It just can't happen fast enough!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Campgrounds and Rocket Launches
One of the major expenses with driving an RV, is camping fees. Although you can just pull off in a WalMart parking lot overnight, It ain't a resort. And just like timeshares, there's a secondary market for campground memberships. Most of the trading and buying is done online. But this area has enough business to support the Campground Membership Outlet in Minneola, Florida. Micky found them because the building beside US27 looked like a fruit stand that was ready to fall down. Online she learned that they had moved a few miles and were now in a better building.
Chad Hoel has been reselling memberships for 11 years. The business has been there for 25+ years and is a BBB member. We made an appointment and had a very pleasant, no-stress hour discussing the ins and outs of getting into and out of these arrangements. Many people buy into them and then want out later as their situation in life changes. And the programs vary from deeded property like a timeshare in one park that gives you access to several others to straight discount programs.
The one we were primarily interested in is Resort Parks International. With them we pay a yearly membership of around $150 and then camp for $10/night. The initial outlay is where the negotiations and hoodoo lie. With our Thousand Trails membership, we would have to upgrade to "National" access before they would even offer RPI. Total cost invariably around $4000. Chad listened to what we wanted, and was very impressed when Micky pulled out the 2" binder full of notes and printed web material. He accurately explained what we were going to be quoted by TT and how the system would work. Then he offered us a contract with a campground in Unadilla. Georgia that would get us into RPI Preferred for $850 with a yearly $150 dues! We bought it. If you can make Micky happy to spend, you've hit a real sweet deal!
The next morning we sat through our required presentation with TT and a truly nice guy named, ominously, Jim Jones. He worked out his program and sure enough, it was $3999, but with the buy it nows it came out to $3000. The part that was of interest, was the spiel being given to the couple behind us for $15000. They were just regular folks that had accepted a 4-night stay with TT in Orlando in exchange for the required presentation.
Like all of these programs, they take you on the tour of the property, then start adding things into the pile right up until the time for a decision. The price will come down considerably if you're walking out, but many people have bought packages that include condo is Hawaii for $18000 and even more! It is legitimate! You get everything they offer, but most people never do the math to figure out the cost/night and compare that to what they're getting.
Micky and I figure a full hook-up site in a resort-style park is going to cost us $30-80 per nite depending on season and location. Here in Orlando, our rate with a KOA discount was $79/night plus taxes. The bill for all the nights we've stayed here is zero! and we can come back for two-week stays as often as we like as long as we're out of their system for a week. Since we truly are travelers and not snow-birds that's not a problem. Using $60/night as a good Florida and Keys average the initial lump of money has been well-spent and all the rest of our visits to Thousand Trails preserves anywhere are free!
The weather finally broke Saturday and was clearing up as we finished our shopping trip to IKEA (even I love going there! The meatball dinner is superb!). We hurried back and picked up the camera, warm clothes and most importantly, my amateur 2-meter/440 Mhz handheld radio. I drove over via SR 528 (Beachline) and enjoyed hearing the beep from our pre-paid toll transponder as we flew through the toll booths at 75 MPH! We spotted the crowd at the base of the Banana River bridge and were looking for a place to turn around near the Port Canaveral cruise ship docks when I spotted people off the road with and even closer view of the gantry. We pulled in and I setup the camera and met a guy name Dave as he came by letting us know the latest launch time. I thanked him and said that I was listening to the EOC on the Ham bands. So was he! They had another repeater working on 146.940 MHz. Made it very informative since one member was a retired missile guy at home monitoring SpaceflightNow.com and relaying the updates. At the last opening in the window, a weather balloon failed, but a backup gave them enough data to launch.
I know for Rhonda and others in her generation that space and rocketry are just old hat and part of the background noise of their lives, but for my generation it is THE BIG DEAL of all time! When I was born, steam locomotives still pulled into Union Station in downtown Augusta, so the chance to see spaceflight happen is terribly exciting. It was perfectly clear, cold, windy night with Orion rising in the East as the rocket lit the entire world! Starting slowly and silently the Delta IV cleared the tower and began arcing away from us. We were well to the side of it so the arc was very apparent. After the rocket had traversed maybe 35 degrees, The sound hit us! Literally and physically hit us and pounded the hollows of your chest like a drum! The sight of the red glowing nozzles of the separated solid-rocket boosters tumbling through the constellation of Orion is absolutely seared into my cortex.
Can you tell that I want that experience again!
I know that you can't set your watch by rocket launches. They are hugely complicated, expensive things that need great care before they are committed to fly. But you all need to add a rocket launch from Canaveral to your "bucket list"! And it is Cape Canaveral not Cape Kennedy! Correctly it is the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. The navigational treaties of the Western World wouldn't let the actions of an over-zealous Democrat congress stick.
More later.
Chad Hoel has been reselling memberships for 11 years. The business has been there for 25+ years and is a BBB member. We made an appointment and had a very pleasant, no-stress hour discussing the ins and outs of getting into and out of these arrangements. Many people buy into them and then want out later as their situation in life changes. And the programs vary from deeded property like a timeshare in one park that gives you access to several others to straight discount programs.
The one we were primarily interested in is Resort Parks International. With them we pay a yearly membership of around $150 and then camp for $10/night. The initial outlay is where the negotiations and hoodoo lie. With our Thousand Trails membership, we would have to upgrade to "National" access before they would even offer RPI. Total cost invariably around $4000. Chad listened to what we wanted, and was very impressed when Micky pulled out the 2" binder full of notes and printed web material. He accurately explained what we were going to be quoted by TT and how the system would work. Then he offered us a contract with a campground in Unadilla. Georgia that would get us into RPI Preferred for $850 with a yearly $150 dues! We bought it. If you can make Micky happy to spend, you've hit a real sweet deal!
The next morning we sat through our required presentation with TT and a truly nice guy named, ominously, Jim Jones. He worked out his program and sure enough, it was $3999, but with the buy it nows it came out to $3000. The part that was of interest, was the spiel being given to the couple behind us for $15000. They were just regular folks that had accepted a 4-night stay with TT in Orlando in exchange for the required presentation.
Like all of these programs, they take you on the tour of the property, then start adding things into the pile right up until the time for a decision. The price will come down considerably if you're walking out, but many people have bought packages that include condo is Hawaii for $18000 and even more! It is legitimate! You get everything they offer, but most people never do the math to figure out the cost/night and compare that to what they're getting.
Micky and I figure a full hook-up site in a resort-style park is going to cost us $30-80 per nite depending on season and location. Here in Orlando, our rate with a KOA discount was $79/night plus taxes. The bill for all the nights we've stayed here is zero! and we can come back for two-week stays as often as we like as long as we're out of their system for a week. Since we truly are travelers and not snow-birds that's not a problem. Using $60/night as a good Florida and Keys average the initial lump of money has been well-spent and all the rest of our visits to Thousand Trails preserves anywhere are free!
The weather finally broke Saturday and was clearing up as we finished our shopping trip to IKEA (even I love going there! The meatball dinner is superb!). We hurried back and picked up the camera, warm clothes and most importantly, my amateur 2-meter/440 Mhz handheld radio. I drove over via SR 528 (Beachline) and enjoyed hearing the beep from our pre-paid toll transponder as we flew through the toll booths at 75 MPH! We spotted the crowd at the base of the Banana River bridge and were looking for a place to turn around near the Port Canaveral cruise ship docks when I spotted people off the road with and even closer view of the gantry. We pulled in and I setup the camera and met a guy name Dave as he came by letting us know the latest launch time. I thanked him and said that I was listening to the EOC on the Ham bands. So was he! They had another repeater working on 146.940 MHz. Made it very informative since one member was a retired missile guy at home monitoring SpaceflightNow.com and relaying the updates. At the last opening in the window, a weather balloon failed, but a backup gave them enough data to launch.
I know for Rhonda and others in her generation that space and rocketry are just old hat and part of the background noise of their lives, but for my generation it is THE BIG DEAL of all time! When I was born, steam locomotives still pulled into Union Station in downtown Augusta, so the chance to see spaceflight happen is terribly exciting. It was perfectly clear, cold, windy night with Orion rising in the East as the rocket lit the entire world! Starting slowly and silently the Delta IV cleared the tower and began arcing away from us. We were well to the side of it so the arc was very apparent. After the rocket had traversed maybe 35 degrees, The sound hit us! Literally and physically hit us and pounded the hollows of your chest like a drum! The sight of the red glowing nozzles of the separated solid-rocket boosters tumbling through the constellation of Orion is absolutely seared into my cortex.
Can you tell that I want that experience again!
I know that you can't set your watch by rocket launches. They are hugely complicated, expensive things that need great care before they are committed to fly. But you all need to add a rocket launch from Canaveral to your "bucket list"! And it is Cape Canaveral not Cape Kennedy! Correctly it is the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. The navigational treaties of the Western World wouldn't let the actions of an over-zealous Democrat congress stick.
More later.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Rain, Fantasies, and Birthdays...
I keep telling everyone what a wonderful "catch" Micky is. Most people believe me, but put it off to public "sucking up" by a dependent husband. There is none of that. Micky is the most admirable person I've ever met!
This entire year we have planned and plotted a Disney vacation on her birthday. It just never occurred to us that the storm of the century would sweep in and make Florida through Maine wet and cold. The front stalled right over us and just poured 4-5 inches of wet, windy weather all day. The Disney birthday offer is only good on that calendar date. Micky didn't blink or whine, she faced the reality and moved on. "Pulled up her big-girl panties"
So we went to Kermit Week's Fantasy of Flight and had a ball. Kermit Weeks has a great technical collection, but what he does best is exhibit the romance and poetry of flight. One of the first displays is a simple six-sided box of mirrors with a video of soaring through the clouds playing and wind blowing. The simple act of leaning over the railing puts you in the clouds with a bird's soul view. I've done this before in small airplanes with open cockpits, but never without the life-affirming hammering of an engine.
The place is decorated in the art-deco style of the late thirties ,when flying was the penultimate expression of man's technical ascendancy over superstition. In addition to the airplanes, displayed next to them are the toys and silliness of aviation. Pedal car flyers and one man's road plane. Designed to drive to town on days when flying was out of the question. And the races and distance flyers are all here. I'm not sure that I'd like Kermit if I had the opportunity to meet him, but I do like his whimsical heart.
Micky found great joy in a simulator that let you try to fly and land a hot-air balloon and soar with cute little flying penguins in hang gliders.
More later.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Easy Riding!
We drove the coach down to Orlando today. We were supposed to leave last night and spend the night in Crooked River State Park just inside Georgia. I called that portion of the trip off.
Micky and I and have a long-standing agreement when diving that either one of us can call the dive off without ever offering an explanation. The psychology behind the lack of explanantion is that there is no embarassment involved. Most men are reluctant to admit fear and women will allow themselves to be dragged into bad situations in an effort to acommodate their partner. This policy removes all the mind games and forces acceptance of the reality that any reason for abandoning a recreational activity is good enough.
Fear, fatigue, lack of preparation, or any other reason can take all the fun out of it and make a pleasure dive into an ordeal. And safety is always compromised when that happens.
So I was able to go through the entire process of departure right up to the point of locking the house, and then say "Sorry, I don't want to do this." Micky immediately understood and did not press me or even show disappointment. I did offer the explanation aand she agreed with my logic, but it was not required. How many arguments and scary situations would such an understanding have helped you with?
The trip this morning was really very pretty. It was a crisp, middle thirties, sunrise on the road rolling through farmland. Very light traffic and a very fun responsive rig amke for the best sort of RV'ing.
We had one problem. After hitting a small bump in the road, the auto-leveling control panel lit up and set off it's alarm horn. Repeatedly. Almost every bump.
The purpose of the alarm is to prevent you from driving off with a leveler jack not fully retracted. Believe me, that would be very expensive and time-consuming. I put up with the problem until we got to Statesboro and then pulled into the parking lot of an AgSupply store and cycled the levelers down and back up. That did not work, but I did visually confirm full retraction of the jacks. My plan was to continue the trip and then call LazyDays for advice on disabling the system to stop the horn. But then I noticed the frequency of the alarm going off was changing. Eventually the problem stopped and now the alarm doesn't go off with road bumps. The problem is either an intermittent up switch (most likely) or an intermittent connector some where in the wiring (vedry difficult to find), so I'm glad the problem just stopped. And if it comes back, that's what we paid extra for the extended warranties for.
The campsite at Thousand Trails is more than adequate. Good power and sewer and level. Not scenic, or even pretty, but absolutely free makes up for it.
Be sure to follow along on the SPOT shared page at http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0YGVEARyz58yYfP6WWJRxezsrv67JhLMZ
Even though it didn't get a fix and report position until Statesboro, it still did a good job after that. I need to find a better position on the dashboard to allow it to see satellites.
Tomorrow, we're going to poke around locally, but Thursday, we're going to see ICE at the Gaylord Center. They brought in forty Chinese ice sculptors from Harbin in northern China and created a show that's amazing. That night I may finally be able to see a rocket launch if the Delta IV makes it.
More later.
Micky and I and have a long-standing agreement when diving that either one of us can call the dive off without ever offering an explanation. The psychology behind the lack of explanantion is that there is no embarassment involved. Most men are reluctant to admit fear and women will allow themselves to be dragged into bad situations in an effort to acommodate their partner. This policy removes all the mind games and forces acceptance of the reality that any reason for abandoning a recreational activity is good enough.
Fear, fatigue, lack of preparation, or any other reason can take all the fun out of it and make a pleasure dive into an ordeal. And safety is always compromised when that happens.
So I was able to go through the entire process of departure right up to the point of locking the house, and then say "Sorry, I don't want to do this." Micky immediately understood and did not press me or even show disappointment. I did offer the explanation aand she agreed with my logic, but it was not required. How many arguments and scary situations would such an understanding have helped you with?
The trip this morning was really very pretty. It was a crisp, middle thirties, sunrise on the road rolling through farmland. Very light traffic and a very fun responsive rig amke for the best sort of RV'ing.
We had one problem. After hitting a small bump in the road, the auto-leveling control panel lit up and set off it's alarm horn. Repeatedly. Almost every bump.
The purpose of the alarm is to prevent you from driving off with a leveler jack not fully retracted. Believe me, that would be very expensive and time-consuming. I put up with the problem until we got to Statesboro and then pulled into the parking lot of an AgSupply store and cycled the levelers down and back up. That did not work, but I did visually confirm full retraction of the jacks. My plan was to continue the trip and then call LazyDays for advice on disabling the system to stop the horn. But then I noticed the frequency of the alarm going off was changing. Eventually the problem stopped and now the alarm doesn't go off with road bumps. The problem is either an intermittent up switch (most likely) or an intermittent connector some where in the wiring (vedry difficult to find), so I'm glad the problem just stopped. And if it comes back, that's what we paid extra for the extended warranties for.
The campsite at Thousand Trails is more than adequate. Good power and sewer and level. Not scenic, or even pretty, but absolutely free makes up for it.
Be sure to follow along on the SPOT shared page at http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0YGVEARyz58yYfP6WWJRxezsrv67JhLMZ
Even though it didn't get a fix and report position until Statesboro, it still did a good job after that. I need to find a better position on the dashboard to allow it to see satellites.
Tomorrow, we're going to poke around locally, but Thursday, we're going to see ICE at the Gaylord Center. They brought in forty Chinese ice sculptors from Harbin in northern China and created a show that's amazing. That night I may finally be able to see a rocket launch if the Delta IV makes it.
More later.
Abortion Rights! A good deal!
Micky and I are too old and "modified" to have to worry about the more common problem, but aborting travel plans needs rules.
Today I aborted the trip to Crooked River SP. I invoked a rule that we use when diving. Anyone can abort any dive or the whole trip with no explanations! If you want to explain, you can, but you don't have to. I trust that if Micky says no, her reasons are good enough for me!
Today, I was the problem. The 1145 appointment stretched a little long. I don't take the narcotic painkillers heavily when driving, and being off the anti-inflammatory drugs means everthing hurts. I was also str4essed out about the operation of our headset radios (WGAC interference) and the portable lighting rig on the tow.
So I aborted the travel for today. Micky was cheerful, loving and appreciative. Made my decision so much easier.
Today I aborted the trip to Crooked River SP. I invoked a rule that we use when diving. Anyone can abort any dive or the whole trip with no explanations! If you want to explain, you can, but you don't have to. I trust that if Micky says no, her reasons are good enough for me!
Today, I was the problem. The 1145 appointment stretched a little long. I don't take the narcotic painkillers heavily when driving, and being off the anti-inflammatory drugs means everthing hurts. I was also str4essed out about the operation of our headset radios (WGAC interference) and the portable lighting rig on the tow.
So I aborted the travel for today. Micky was cheerful, loving and appreciative. Made my decision so much easier.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thousand Trails Orlando
Today we finished the repairs at LazyDays. They did a great job of fixing everything they could. I say "could" because we have some drawers that have come open during hard turns. The problem is one of loading. We had a lot of heavy items in the drawers and the weight would force open any conceivable furniture style latch. I'll rig other methods to ensure closure, like draw bars and bungees. I especially appreciated the re-alignment of the toilet. The toilet was "aimed" towards the sink cabinet. Ever sat sideways on one?
The new steps are perfect and once again a zero bill!
Thousand Trails is a pre-paid campground membership company. It works similarly to a time-share, but there's no "deed" or weeks involved. LazyDays paid the initiation fee of over $6400 for ten years and we just have to pay the annual dues of $500. Of course they had a "Sale" and we only paid $399. We were skeptical of the details, today I called the reservation number and made a two-night reservation in Orlando. No problem and no bill.
This is the real RV scene. I'm next to a full-timer and his wife that move between parks every two weeks. The wife works two days a week for Disney. Their net expense for rent/mortgage/preoperty taxes on land, etc. equals zero. And it never snows. Now this place is divided into short-term and long-term residents. If you don't ever want to move, you can stay forever for $5700/year. The style of landscaping is straight out of playing house when you were a kid. Makes pink plastic flamingoes look sophisticated. Lots of rope lights spelling out your name, that kind of stuff. And that's the fun! Folks from all over, who've already done all the adult, responsible stuff. Make enough to afford a really nice motorhome and just decided to move to Florida and stay. The guy next door moved down 10 years ago, sold the house 5 years ago and isn't looking back. Micky and I have no need to sell off the home to finance the lifestyle, but we may be gone for long periods.
What we've found is the necessity to make and keep medical appointments are what limit the time away on the road. So we're going to be more careful about when we make the appointments. Cluster them all. That way we'll only have to be home two or three times a year.
The new steps are perfect and once again a zero bill!
Thousand Trails is a pre-paid campground membership company. It works similarly to a time-share, but there's no "deed" or weeks involved. LazyDays paid the initiation fee of over $6400 for ten years and we just have to pay the annual dues of $500. Of course they had a "Sale" and we only paid $399. We were skeptical of the details, today I called the reservation number and made a two-night reservation in Orlando. No problem and no bill.
This is the real RV scene. I'm next to a full-timer and his wife that move between parks every two weeks. The wife works two days a week for Disney. Their net expense for rent/mortgage/preoperty taxes on land, etc. equals zero. And it never snows. Now this place is divided into short-term and long-term residents. If you don't ever want to move, you can stay forever for $5700/year. The style of landscaping is straight out of playing house when you were a kid. Makes pink plastic flamingoes look sophisticated. Lots of rope lights spelling out your name, that kind of stuff. And that's the fun! Folks from all over, who've already done all the adult, responsible stuff. Make enough to afford a really nice motorhome and just decided to move to Florida and stay. The guy next door moved down 10 years ago, sold the house 5 years ago and isn't looking back. Micky and I have no need to sell off the home to finance the lifestyle, but we may be gone for long periods.
What we've found is the necessity to make and keep medical appointments are what limit the time away on the road. So we're going to be more careful about when we make the appointments. Cluster them all. That way we'll only have to be home two or three times a year.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Towing
Today we left the Coxes towing the Prius for the first time. If you didn't see it in the rear camera, you wouldn't know we were towing. Acceleration and braking were exactly as before. The lighting harness was a little short and ended up being tight. Sure enough, pulled the plug out, ripped the plug right off the wires.
Stopped for first fillup at the Pilot truck stop in Fort Myers. What a PITA! If you paid for diesel with a credit card you could only pre-pay. That meant guessing how much fuel you needed. Micky guessed first and signed up for $100.00 @ $2.99/gal. That put in around 32 gallons, but the tank wasn't filled. Next we guessed $75.00 but only got $18.15 in. Now we get to go back inside and wait in line for the refund. I'm avoiding Pilot, if that's their policy. I want pay at the pump just like filling up a car!
Found a great coffee table at Camping World! the top is on a spring and hinge assembly and raises up around 18 inches to give you a really usefull work surface.
Rolled into LazyDays Rally park and was assigned site 100 for my first back-in at night. The guy across the street made it hard by parking his monster pickup in the street. Shortly word was out that I was a new guy doing it for the first time. that truck got moved without me even asking! Dinner at Cracker Barrel and a dip in the pool and hot tub made for an early evening. More later.
Stopped for first fillup at the Pilot truck stop in Fort Myers. What a PITA! If you paid for diesel with a credit card you could only pre-pay. That meant guessing how much fuel you needed. Micky guessed first and signed up for $100.00 @ $2.99/gal. That put in around 32 gallons, but the tank wasn't filled. Next we guessed $75.00 but only got $18.15 in. Now we get to go back inside and wait in line for the refund. I'm avoiding Pilot, if that's their policy. I want pay at the pump just like filling up a car!
Found a great coffee table at Camping World! the top is on a spring and hinge assembly and raises up around 18 inches to give you a really usefull work surface.
Rolled into LazyDays Rally park and was assigned site 100 for my first back-in at night. The guy across the street made it hard by parking his monster pickup in the street. Shortly word was out that I was a new guy doing it for the first time. that truck got moved without me even asking! Dinner at Cracker Barrel and a dip in the pool and hot tub made for an early evening. More later.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Last night in Naples, Supper on the Beach
Tomorrow we're rolling up I-75 to Lazy Days for the electric step installation and completion of a few items we discovered on the "shakedown" cruise. Nothing major, just some lights out. They're hosting us at the Rally Park overnight. A really class act!
We hate to leave our friends behind. Phil and Gayle Cox have been the perfect hosts. Tonight we capped the visit off with a picnic on the beach. Naples has a world-class beach right in downtown. We sat and watched the sun go down while the airplanes flew the approach into Naples Muni. Beautiful towering thunderheads out in the Gulf and a really pretty city. Phil and Gayle enjoy living here, but haven't been able to make the all-encompassing friendships they made in Augusta. They've got some land out in Appling and are looking forward to retirement near the Lake. And we're looking forward to having them home.
The problem with Naples is money. Way too much of it. The seasonal residents are conspicuous consumers on the grand scale. On the way back from the beach we passed an entire city block lined with Ferraris. This weekend there is a car show for Ferraris. The two Bentleys on the block looked like ugly taxicabs next to all the low-slung Italian testosterone on that street. Then we passed the Aston-Martin dealership. Like I said way too much money! An inordinate amount of it in the hands of the nouveau-riche from New Jersey and Canada. The economy doesn't look too bad from this vantage point. The problem is the entitlement attitude that goes along with it. And they really look down on the full-time residents. Poor working stiffs like Phil, even though he make a very good living and lives an upscale life in the 'burbs, are beyond the pale for these people. So even though Phil and Gayle have the charm of new puppies, friendships are inpossible. Gayle has made a few friends through her Sweet Adelines choral group and Phil is involved with his church, but still, genuine open friendships like our group in Augusta are worth moving back.
We hate to leave them, but we're planning to see them over the Xmas holidays at the Lake.
I'm excited about the driving tomorrow. First time with the tow behind us and the first fillup at a truck stop. We're also visiting Shell world for Micky to stock up on little shells for a decorating project and another trip to Camping World in Ft. Myers to finish off the little bit of outfitting this coach needed. It feels funny not to have a to-do list of major modifications and upgrades. The only things I want are a tire pressure monitoring system and a curtain track to enable us to close off the back of the coach while driving. The dash air conditioner can't pull the heat load when the sun hits the expansive picture window up front.
Today I had the opportunity to carefully examine the wiring. This is the closest thing to aircraft wiring I've ever seen. No spaghetti bundles. I operned the forward junction box and was very happy! A large well laid out, marked printed circuit board with around 50 fuses and relays feeding well-marked molex-style plugs branching out to the various user circuits. All the bundles tied and loomed. And white wire with the wire function printed the length of the run. Beautiful to the eyes of a retired corporate aircraft modifications chief like me. I'm going to contaact Monaco and pay them for the wiring diagrams. I know they ahve them at all the service centers, but I want to be able to install my amateur radio rigs and other toys. I paid $400 for the set for the Prius and haven't regretted having them.
Yesterday, I was overjoyed to find that the only "major" cosmetic problem with the coach was easy to fix. The last owner had backed into something and left a large grey mark on the right rear corner of the body about a foot long with some scratches in the clear coat. Underneath the 7-way trailer connector had been involved with something and was bent. A little hammer work straightened that out. The marks on the rear lokked bad. I thought I'd have to have the area re-sprayed and in deep metallic paints, it never looks right. The problem is the spray angle and the way the metal flakes settle in the paint never matches. On a hunch I started rubbing the area with Turtle wax and the smear started coming out! I borrowed some 3M One-Step from Phil and worked it with a soft terry cloth. Got all of it off! And the clear coat was untouched except for microscopic scratches. It looks new again! Now the whole coach looks like it was just delivered. I don't know how the coach got 12,891 miles on it before I bought it, but we can't find any evidence of use. every appliance and fitting looks and smells new. And underneath the coach looks like it has never splashed through a mud puddle! An amazing buy! I plan on keeping it looking this way.
More3 after we get to Lazy Days tomorrow.
We hate to leave our friends behind. Phil and Gayle Cox have been the perfect hosts. Tonight we capped the visit off with a picnic on the beach. Naples has a world-class beach right in downtown. We sat and watched the sun go down while the airplanes flew the approach into Naples Muni. Beautiful towering thunderheads out in the Gulf and a really pretty city. Phil and Gayle enjoy living here, but haven't been able to make the all-encompassing friendships they made in Augusta. They've got some land out in Appling and are looking forward to retirement near the Lake. And we're looking forward to having them home.
The problem with Naples is money. Way too much of it. The seasonal residents are conspicuous consumers on the grand scale. On the way back from the beach we passed an entire city block lined with Ferraris. This weekend there is a car show for Ferraris. The two Bentleys on the block looked like ugly taxicabs next to all the low-slung Italian testosterone on that street. Then we passed the Aston-Martin dealership. Like I said way too much money! An inordinate amount of it in the hands of the nouveau-riche from New Jersey and Canada. The economy doesn't look too bad from this vantage point. The problem is the entitlement attitude that goes along with it. And they really look down on the full-time residents. Poor working stiffs like Phil, even though he make a very good living and lives an upscale life in the 'burbs, are beyond the pale for these people. So even though Phil and Gayle have the charm of new puppies, friendships are inpossible. Gayle has made a few friends through her Sweet Adelines choral group and Phil is involved with his church, but still, genuine open friendships like our group in Augusta are worth moving back.
We hate to leave them, but we're planning to see them over the Xmas holidays at the Lake.
I'm excited about the driving tomorrow. First time with the tow behind us and the first fillup at a truck stop. We're also visiting Shell world for Micky to stock up on little shells for a decorating project and another trip to Camping World in Ft. Myers to finish off the little bit of outfitting this coach needed. It feels funny not to have a to-do list of major modifications and upgrades. The only things I want are a tire pressure monitoring system and a curtain track to enable us to close off the back of the coach while driving. The dash air conditioner can't pull the heat load when the sun hits the expansive picture window up front.
Today I had the opportunity to carefully examine the wiring. This is the closest thing to aircraft wiring I've ever seen. No spaghetti bundles. I operned the forward junction box and was very happy! A large well laid out, marked printed circuit board with around 50 fuses and relays feeding well-marked molex-style plugs branching out to the various user circuits. All the bundles tied and loomed. And white wire with the wire function printed the length of the run. Beautiful to the eyes of a retired corporate aircraft modifications chief like me. I'm going to contaact Monaco and pay them for the wiring diagrams. I know they ahve them at all the service centers, but I want to be able to install my amateur radio rigs and other toys. I paid $400 for the set for the Prius and haven't regretted having them.
Yesterday, I was overjoyed to find that the only "major" cosmetic problem with the coach was easy to fix. The last owner had backed into something and left a large grey mark on the right rear corner of the body about a foot long with some scratches in the clear coat. Underneath the 7-way trailer connector had been involved with something and was bent. A little hammer work straightened that out. The marks on the rear lokked bad. I thought I'd have to have the area re-sprayed and in deep metallic paints, it never looks right. The problem is the spray angle and the way the metal flakes settle in the paint never matches. On a hunch I started rubbing the area with Turtle wax and the smear started coming out! I borrowed some 3M One-Step from Phil and worked it with a soft terry cloth. Got all of it off! And the clear coat was untouched except for microscopic scratches. It looks new again! Now the whole coach looks like it was just delivered. I don't know how the coach got 12,891 miles on it before I bought it, but we can't find any evidence of use. every appliance and fitting looks and smells new. And underneath the coach looks like it has never splashed through a mud puddle! An amazing buy! I plan on keeping it looking this way.
More3 after we get to Lazy Days tomorrow.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Packing it in!
Today i unloaded all my stuff from Phil's garage and began loading up the basement of the Neptune. We have more storage room than we've ever had, but it's still not enough! The big difference is that we NONE of it on the floor or bed! Of course, even though I'd pulled everything out and staged it on the driveway, I forgot the "blue boy" sewer tank! Now I have to unload a bit and get it into the basement. Might have to bring a little into the house and store it under the bed or put it into the PRIUS. A lot of the stuff is going home to stay there! It's redunant and not needed in this motorhome.
I wiped down the exterior the stainless steel wheels. I need to clean up the tailpipe and get the burned oil off.
While Micky was doing the laundry I had to run the genset to cool the unit, but that's an easy thing to do! More later!
I wiped down the exterior the stainless steel wheels. I need to clean up the tailpipe and get the burned oil off.
While Micky was doing the laundry I had to run the genset to cool the unit, but that's an easy thing to do! More later!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
First Drive!
We took delivery of the Neptune yesterday and drove down to Naples to the Coxes. What a great driving experience! But before I get to that I need to let you know about the 88 Presidential. It sold in less than an hour after it hit the market! Everybody who saw it at LazyDays was abuzz about what a cream puff low-mileage motorhome it was. a relative of one of the service techs snapped it up from David Jones. I was always very proud of the work I did fixing it up and making it road-worthy. The night we did the final changeover, Micky and I took a couple of hours scrubbing down and wiping down the interior to make sure the new owners didn't have to clean it up. And I wrote a six-page letter to the new owners telling then all the stuff we did and how to operate the camera system,charging system and all that. And I gave them contact information in case they had any further questions. It worked. While we were waiting for the Neptune to have the punchlist finished, they rolled the 88 up nose on to deliver it to the new folks. Dana Smith, our delivery coordinator, also worked that one and remarked that it was odd that the new owners didn't even want them to clean it!
LazyDays fixed all the things we found on the walk-around that morning and delivered on-time at 2 PM. When the time came to leave, Dana called me and said it's ready and you can leave. There was none of the ususal visiting the cashier to sign a workorder or anything. No bill, not even for incidentals. Just thanks for buying it!
Friday afternoon Micky and I took the RV Confidence Course from Barney Alexander along with 7 other folks. That was a great course. Barney has developed a series of small dot markers that are placed on the windshield, side mirrors, backup monitor and the driver's side of the RV that enable the driver and the ground guide (wing walker) to accurately put the RV in your lane and back into a spot. After the great classroom session, they took us over to the Rally Park and we boarded a 40-foot Winnebago Class A and drove around the park in very tight quarters.
I really enjoyed seeing wives that were always relegated to copilots and scared to death of the size and width of the RV's wheeling that huge Winnie around with confidence. One of the hardest parts is the tendency to start turning too soon, because you can't see 13-20 feet in front of the motorhome. So you measure off the distance of the blind spot in front and at the spot where you lose sight, you place a little green dot on the windshield centered in front of the driver. Then when you come to a sharp turn, you drive forward until that dot touches the curb before you start turning. That keeps both fron and rear of the RV in your lane and you don't take the nose off on-coming traffic. The other main trick is driving forward until your hips are aligned with the line you want your front wheels to take and then turning hard on a turn. That keeps the back wheels and the rear of the unit in your lane and clears the right curb or other parked vehicles with no fear. Two red dots on the mirror show the point on the ground where the back wheel are aligned and two feet out. Make the dot clear and the RV clears. Backing in re3quires a dot 8 feet forward of the back wheel centers and a little trick with the wing walker wiggling her fingers at her shoulder. All up the system works exremely well. Add in bluetooth phones and speakerphones and you've gor communications and no yelling.
Until I got to Naples and had to back down the Coxes narrow, tree-lined winding driveway to get in here. Unfortunately Micky had help. Phill had the back of the unit and saw where the back was going, couldn't see the right front. I got Micky to watch the front and avoided several expensive crunches with the mirrors and awnings.
Power from a residence for a 50-amp RV is a real problem. After trying several combinations of extension cords and 15-amp receptacles and popping a breaker, I opted for running the genset overnight to cool the unit down. Today, I drove to Fort Myers and the Camping world for a very expensive 50-amp 30-foot extension. Most homes with an electric dryer have a 220-volt 50-amp receptacle already built in!
I snaked that 1.5 inch cable out the back door to my auto transformer/surge protector and the unit plugged into it! Perfect! Conditioned safe power with no damage to the RV or the house!
We went to the huge Costco (don't have one in Augusta) and were amazed! Loaded up with good stuff. Gayle is having too much fun geocaching with the GeoMate Jr. that I surprised her with. Found one on the way and then she and Micky looked for a few more. Phil is a great cook and did a wonderful job with smoked salmon tonight.
This has been the most fun and exciting trip, ever, for both of us. Now it's time to go to bed and spend tomorow loading and organizing the unit for the trip back to Tampa to get the new steps installed. Then we'll drive around North Florida like gypsies for a while before heading home. More later.
LazyDays fixed all the things we found on the walk-around that morning and delivered on-time at 2 PM. When the time came to leave, Dana called me and said it's ready and you can leave. There was none of the ususal visiting the cashier to sign a workorder or anything. No bill, not even for incidentals. Just thanks for buying it!
Friday afternoon Micky and I took the RV Confidence Course from Barney Alexander along with 7 other folks. That was a great course. Barney has developed a series of small dot markers that are placed on the windshield, side mirrors, backup monitor and the driver's side of the RV that enable the driver and the ground guide (wing walker) to accurately put the RV in your lane and back into a spot. After the great classroom session, they took us over to the Rally Park and we boarded a 40-foot Winnebago Class A and drove around the park in very tight quarters.
I really enjoyed seeing wives that were always relegated to copilots and scared to death of the size and width of the RV's wheeling that huge Winnie around with confidence. One of the hardest parts is the tendency to start turning too soon, because you can't see 13-20 feet in front of the motorhome. So you measure off the distance of the blind spot in front and at the spot where you lose sight, you place a little green dot on the windshield centered in front of the driver. Then when you come to a sharp turn, you drive forward until that dot touches the curb before you start turning. That keeps both fron and rear of the RV in your lane and you don't take the nose off on-coming traffic. The other main trick is driving forward until your hips are aligned with the line you want your front wheels to take and then turning hard on a turn. That keeps the back wheels and the rear of the unit in your lane and clears the right curb or other parked vehicles with no fear. Two red dots on the mirror show the point on the ground where the back wheel are aligned and two feet out. Make the dot clear and the RV clears. Backing in re3quires a dot 8 feet forward of the back wheel centers and a little trick with the wing walker wiggling her fingers at her shoulder. All up the system works exremely well. Add in bluetooth phones and speakerphones and you've gor communications and no yelling.
Until I got to Naples and had to back down the Coxes narrow, tree-lined winding driveway to get in here. Unfortunately Micky had help. Phill had the back of the unit and saw where the back was going, couldn't see the right front. I got Micky to watch the front and avoided several expensive crunches with the mirrors and awnings.
Power from a residence for a 50-amp RV is a real problem. After trying several combinations of extension cords and 15-amp receptacles and popping a breaker, I opted for running the genset overnight to cool the unit down. Today, I drove to Fort Myers and the Camping world for a very expensive 50-amp 30-foot extension. Most homes with an electric dryer have a 220-volt 50-amp receptacle already built in!
I snaked that 1.5 inch cable out the back door to my auto transformer/surge protector and the unit plugged into it! Perfect! Conditioned safe power with no damage to the RV or the house!
We went to the huge Costco (don't have one in Augusta) and were amazed! Loaded up with good stuff. Gayle is having too much fun geocaching with the GeoMate Jr. that I surprised her with. Found one on the way and then she and Micky looked for a few more. Phil is a great cook and did a wonderful job with smoked salmon tonight.
This has been the most fun and exciting trip, ever, for both of us. Now it's time to go to bed and spend tomorow loading and organizing the unit for the trip back to Tampa to get the new steps installed. Then we'll drive around North Florida like gypsies for a while before heading home. More later.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Neptune
I'm sitting in the heated massage recliner in my new-to-us 2007 Holiday Rambler Neptune 34-foot luxury motorhome. There I've said it! It's ours. Micky and I have always wanted one just like this. It truly is a buyer's market. We got this unit out the door with all the added warranties and add-ons for 30% the 'Blue Book' value.
The nice thing about this is we will use it. we didn't get it just to acquire a pretty thing. We were always happy with our pop-up and when the time came and we could afford a motorhome, we were happy and satisfied with it right up to today. In fact, it's very sad knowing that one of the guys that works here is going to snap it up. The trade-in inspector today was looking over the unit and gawking at the condition. " This is a nice old sled! I may have to buy it myself!" and he was being sincere, not just flattering me. And true to form the unit ran like a top all the way here. Sure, the windshield wipers came on uncommanded, but only once! Andf there's a new clunk in the front end, but only at low speed. I really am gonna miss crawling under the old gal and plotting a new modification.
Now i have to negotiate with the managing partner over every screw hole. I've staked out the underbelly and basement as "Free-Fire Zones", but all else must be evaluated for style and "ickiness".
Tomorrow we take the driving course and go through the full-blown inspection and instruction sessions on systems. This thing is complex. The closest thing to taking delivery of this motorhome is the inspections done at "pre-buy" of a corporate aircraft. I've done dozens of them and will apply the same standards.
As for LazyDays, they are a world-class outfit in every respect. Communications via phone and email over progress of the pre-delivery inspection was excellent. Today we called in and reported that we were 30 minutes out. At least 5 people were notified. We were whisked directly into Tyler Yeager's office for the final financial tango and then on to Insurance and then to the Delivery center for our benefits presentation. Of course we arrived on the property at 1600 (4 PM for you soldiers!) and by the time we were checked into trade-in and escorted to the delivery site (door-to-door with our new unit, already powered up with the airconditioner running to dry out the shampooed carpets, detailed to perfection inside and out) it was near the end of business. They would have continued as long as we chose, but we called the processing off until tomorrow so we could get some sleep on the new mattress (Sleep Number). We'll get up in the morning, wander into the cafe and have breakfast on them, just as we can do everyday for the rest of our lives as Club LazyDays members! Then after the driving course, we do a detailed walk-through inspection and systems checkout. Now we don't drive our unit in the course, they have a 45-foot pusher that's used just for that purpose, their gas and insurance!
Included in the purchase price is free 30-day functional warranty of all the major systems, if we find a problem and can't get back in 30 days, they just want it documented so they can fix it when we do come down. And if we end up in a service bay, if the unit is otherwise liveable, we live in their service bay, just no open fires, please!
If you ever want to trade up or buy for the first time, please let me know! I'll get some referral credits, but the real reason is the honest first-rate recommendation I can give to this place. I've never even heard of better!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Walk-through Inspection Friday
We're leaving the Coxes wonderful home tomorrow for LazyDays in Tampa to take possession on Friday. We've left the Prius and tow dolly with a mound of stuff at the Coxes. If all goes well, we'll be back Saturday Night in Naples to show off the new unit (the Coxes are going camping in their own driveway!). Sunday we're going to load up and start north. I'd like to spend some time running the west coast of Florida and then kayak and dive the springs before we get home. I'll blog more about this wonderful visit later.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Charleston for the weekend
Micky and I drove the rig to Charleston this weekend for a museum tour. They have about a dozen different museums on the peninsula and offer a special tour. Twenty dollars gets admission to nearly all of them.
We're parked in a jewel of a campground on James Island. This place has all the amenities of a commercial park at a very reasonable price. The park itself has a dog park, crabbing dock, miles of paved bike and walking trails along the Stono River and even Wi-Fi! And it is full! Glad we made reservations!
The trip down was uneventful except for the house batteries. Before we left I checked the water level and found the two golf-car batteries were dry. Filled them up and hoped for the best, but by the time we got here they were hot and stinking of sulfur dioxide! So hot that I had to pull out the battery tray and hose them down before I dared to handle them. Luckily, there's a Sam's club! Two new batteries installed. That led me to thinking about how they got fried. The charger/converter in the RV is an old ferro-resonant type charger. The batteries are constantly charged as long as the RV is plugged up. Since these old chargers are single-stage with no regulation at all, they boil the juice out if you don't stay on top of the batteries.
Consulted with Robert and decided that a different charger was the solution.
Guest builds the chargers in most of the newer high-end RV's. I researched the net and found a Guest 20 Amp two-bank unit on Ebay for $200.00. It'll arrive at the house next week and I'll remove the old one and install this one to handle both the house and the starter batteries. Problem solved.
We enjoyed most of the museums except for the Aiken-Rhett house which needs major renovation! The Confederate Museum is a one-room affair, but crammed with interesting artifacts. Micky and I were both moved emotionally by the exhibits in the Slave Market Museum. What got to me was the display of a small set of shackles designed to fit a child. I intellectually understand the economics that drove the institution of human slavery, but from our viewpoint of history I'll never grasp the mental detachment that it must have required. Especially repugnant is the complicity of the Christian churches and ministers in the subjugation of an entire race. Any one that can read the Epistles of Paul and their admonitions that slaves should serve their Christian masters especially well and still maintain ties with that philosophy is deluded.
Charleston is especially suited to people-watching. I was struck by the sheer number of cookie-cutter blondes on the streets. Literally dozens of pony-tailed Barbie dolls sometimes in clots of three and four together distinguished only by minor variations in the standard uniform of flip-flops, shorts, and baby-doll tops with sunglasses perched on top. Each one 120 pounds of fluff and nonsense. And I'm also tired of their male counterparts with sandals,shorts, and a tee-shirt furiously printed with vaguely rebellious wordings topped by a mop of curly ringlets. Really makes me pine for the genuinely outlandish fashions of the Sixties.
One of my best finds of the day was made by Micky. She spotted a sign on a cigar shop on Meeting Street touting "Legal Cuban" cigars. The Tinder Box has cigars made from pre-embargo Cuban tobacco. A cigar company in Clearwater, Florida imported 23 tons of cigar leaf in 1956,1958 and 1960. They went bankrupt after the embargo was in place and the tobacco was tied up in the courts until 1999.
I bought two over-priced cigars and enjoyed one tonight. Tobacco is best when well-aged and I guess 50 years ought to do it. The cigar was smooth and mild like the last Cuban I had, but the rolling was a bit off. An uneven packing by the roller means the cigar doesn't burn evenly with tight areas causing the ash to lack symmetry as it is smoked. But the taste was good and the smoke was mild.
We go back tomorrow to finish the tour, then drive home on Monday.
We're parked in a jewel of a campground on James Island. This place has all the amenities of a commercial park at a very reasonable price. The park itself has a dog park, crabbing dock, miles of paved bike and walking trails along the Stono River and even Wi-Fi! And it is full! Glad we made reservations!
The trip down was uneventful except for the house batteries. Before we left I checked the water level and found the two golf-car batteries were dry. Filled them up and hoped for the best, but by the time we got here they were hot and stinking of sulfur dioxide! So hot that I had to pull out the battery tray and hose them down before I dared to handle them. Luckily, there's a Sam's club! Two new batteries installed. That led me to thinking about how they got fried. The charger/converter in the RV is an old ferro-resonant type charger. The batteries are constantly charged as long as the RV is plugged up. Since these old chargers are single-stage with no regulation at all, they boil the juice out if you don't stay on top of the batteries.
Consulted with Robert and decided that a different charger was the solution.
Guest builds the chargers in most of the newer high-end RV's. I researched the net and found a Guest 20 Amp two-bank unit on Ebay for $200.00. It'll arrive at the house next week and I'll remove the old one and install this one to handle both the house and the starter batteries. Problem solved.
We enjoyed most of the museums except for the Aiken-Rhett house which needs major renovation! The Confederate Museum is a one-room affair, but crammed with interesting artifacts. Micky and I were both moved emotionally by the exhibits in the Slave Market Museum. What got to me was the display of a small set of shackles designed to fit a child. I intellectually understand the economics that drove the institution of human slavery, but from our viewpoint of history I'll never grasp the mental detachment that it must have required. Especially repugnant is the complicity of the Christian churches and ministers in the subjugation of an entire race. Any one that can read the Epistles of Paul and their admonitions that slaves should serve their Christian masters especially well and still maintain ties with that philosophy is deluded.
Charleston is especially suited to people-watching. I was struck by the sheer number of cookie-cutter blondes on the streets. Literally dozens of pony-tailed Barbie dolls sometimes in clots of three and four together distinguished only by minor variations in the standard uniform of flip-flops, shorts, and baby-doll tops with sunglasses perched on top. Each one 120 pounds of fluff and nonsense. And I'm also tired of their male counterparts with sandals,shorts, and a tee-shirt furiously printed with vaguely rebellious wordings topped by a mop of curly ringlets. Really makes me pine for the genuinely outlandish fashions of the Sixties.
One of my best finds of the day was made by Micky. She spotted a sign on a cigar shop on Meeting Street touting "Legal Cuban" cigars. The Tinder Box has cigars made from pre-embargo Cuban tobacco. A cigar company in Clearwater, Florida imported 23 tons of cigar leaf in 1956,1958 and 1960. They went bankrupt after the embargo was in place and the tobacco was tied up in the courts until 1999.
I bought two over-priced cigars and enjoyed one tonight. Tobacco is best when well-aged and I guess 50 years ought to do it. The cigar was smooth and mild like the last Cuban I had, but the rolling was a bit off. An uneven packing by the roller means the cigar doesn't burn evenly with tight areas causing the ash to lack symmetry as it is smoked. But the taste was good and the smoke was mild.
We go back tomorrow to finish the tour, then drive home on Monday.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Geocaching and Getting Wet
Geocaching and getting wet!
Our big adventure today was to go find a geocache named "Yogi and Boo-Boo's Stash". For those not familiar with the sport, geocaching involves using GPS and the internet to find small stashes of inexpensive trinkets that have been placed all over the world. I discovered the sport last year and have turned several folks on to it through www.geocaching.com. It is an especially kid-friendly thing to do as the caches usually have several small toys for kids to trade out. Another aspect of the sport involves trackable items. Called Travel bugs or Geocoins these have a unique serial number engraved on them and in some cases an objective such as to visit the Eiffel Tower.Today we moved a geocoin from Big Pine Key, Florida to this cache. It started out in Germany a few years ago. Since we know the serial number, we'll be able to track all the bugs we've found as they move through the world.
In many ways geocaching is like a hidden world. If you don't know they're there, the caches are hidden and invisible. Similar to spies and their hiddden message drops, all are in public places but hidden. In fact, the name for curious people that don't know the game is "Muggles" from the Harry Potter novels where the "normal" world exists unaware of the magical world in their midst. It's always a worry that you will be "muggled" while in the act of retrieving the cache from its hiding place. Some muggles will vandalise a cache just because they don't know any better.
Many geocaches are placed so that you will slow down and take a walk in a very pretty place and see something you wouldn't ordinarily stop for. Some are virtual caches that ask you to learn something about the place you are in order to get credit for the find.
After you find a geocache, you go online and log the find and what was taken and moved.
For those of us who travel, this is a really fun adjunct to any trip. There are literally thousands of geocaches hidden around the world. They say that at any given place on earth, you aren't more than 25 feet from a rat. Nearly the same with as geocache. Inside the park are three and within 5 miles around fifty. Nearly every rest stop on the interstate highways have at least one. Military bases, national parks and most private property are off-limits as are hazardous locations. But some require rock-climbing and the airplane at the lake requires Scuba.
After walking through the woods,we found the nice paved trail and followed it for a few hundred feet to the cache. It was an old ammo can full of toys and trinkets for the kids. Savannah and Harken enjoy that part.
We put a geocoin into the cache. We picked up that coin in No Name Key, FL in May. It had started life in Germany and had no other purpose than to travel and be tracked, which is another facet of this sport. It is fun to see where some of these items have been and how diligent people are at moving them along.
Our last geocache for the day was a "virtual" cache. These have no container or logbook, but are really neat places to go that you wouldn't go without a push. In this case it was a rickety fire tower. The state put an odd sign up that said you were allowed to climb it, but it was all on your nickel. Just beyond the sign were two completely broken cast iron steps. Really intimidating when you look up and see acouple more that have been patched. The top platform was wood.
I made it to the first platform, but felt that wisdom did not include load-testing a fire tower. Terri, Rhonda and the kids went all the way up!
Terri did it twice as the objective was to count the steps in order to get credit for the cache.
Our big adventure today was to go find a geocache named "Yogi and Boo-Boo's Stash". For those not familiar with the sport, geocaching involves using GPS and the internet to find small stashes of inexpensive trinkets that have been placed all over the world. I discovered the sport last year and have turned several folks on to it through www.geocaching.com. It is an especially kid-friendly thing to do as the caches usually have several small toys for kids to trade out. Another aspect of the sport involves trackable items. Called Travel bugs or Geocoins these have a unique serial number engraved on them and in some cases an objective such as to visit the Eiffel Tower.Today we moved a geocoin from Big Pine Key, Florida to this cache. It started out in Germany a few years ago. Since we know the serial number, we'll be able to track all the bugs we've found as they move through the world.
In many ways geocaching is like a hidden world. If you don't know they're there, the caches are hidden and invisible. Similar to spies and their hiddden message drops, all are in public places but hidden. In fact, the name for curious people that don't know the game is "Muggles" from the Harry Potter novels where the "normal" world exists unaware of the magical world in their midst. It's always a worry that you will be "muggled" while in the act of retrieving the cache from its hiding place. Some muggles will vandalise a cache just because they don't know any better.
Many geocaches are placed so that you will slow down and take a walk in a very pretty place and see something you wouldn't ordinarily stop for. Some are virtual caches that ask you to learn something about the place you are in order to get credit for the find.
After you find a geocache, you go online and log the find and what was taken and moved.
For those of us who travel, this is a really fun adjunct to any trip. There are literally thousands of geocaches hidden around the world. They say that at any given place on earth, you aren't more than 25 feet from a rat. Nearly the same with as geocache. Inside the park are three and within 5 miles around fifty. Nearly every rest stop on the interstate highways have at least one. Military bases, national parks and most private property are off-limits as are hazardous locations. But some require rock-climbing and the airplane at the lake requires Scuba.
After walking through the woods,we found the nice paved trail and followed it for a few hundred feet to the cache. It was an old ammo can full of toys and trinkets for the kids. Savannah and Harken enjoy that part.
We put a geocoin into the cache. We picked up that coin in No Name Key, FL in May. It had started life in Germany and had no other purpose than to travel and be tracked, which is another facet of this sport. It is fun to see where some of these items have been and how diligent people are at moving them along.
Our last geocache for the day was a "virtual" cache. These have no container or logbook, but are really neat places to go that you wouldn't go without a push. In this case it was a rickety fire tower. The state put an odd sign up that said you were allowed to climb it, but it was all on your nickel. Just beyond the sign were two completely broken cast iron steps. Really intimidating when you look up and see acouple more that have been patched. The top platform was wood.
I made it to the first platform, but felt that wisdom did not include load-testing a fire tower. Terri, Rhonda and the kids went all the way up!
Terri did it twice as the objective was to count the steps in order to get credit for the cache.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Corrected Signs and Markers
(This article gets into atheist philosophy. If you're offended by that line of thought, don't read this. "Take the Red Pill and everything will remain as it was"-Morpheus)
Today we loaded the whole assemblage into Robert's big "King Ranch Special" and started scoping this place out. The rain stopped long enough to let us have a really good look.
I said before that I'm not a mountain guy. That will probably change. This is a beautiful place.
The area is part of the Cumberland Plateau formed by regional uplift from sediments laid down under the Tethys Sea 200 million years ago. That is the truth as the best minds have deduced it from careful study. Apparently that's not good enough!
The signage and markers here have been diligently defaced in a very specific way. Any reference to the age of the rocks as in "200 million years" has been scratched through with knives. Even the beautifully done displays in the Nature Center have this disfigurement.
This is a battleground between truth and the enlightenment of "Science" and the revelation of anonymous prophets in the "Scriptures".
The vandalism was done by successive waves of "Young Earth" Christian activists. If you add up all the lifespans in the Genesis stories as Bishop Ussher did you arrive at the conclusion that at 2 in the afternoon of a nice October day 6000 years ago the Judeo-Christian Sky Daddy said, "Yeah, I'm lonely! How about I create something?" And these doctrinaire redactors are a reminder of that "fact".
The scary thing about it is that these probably aren't drooling idiots brought here on the "short bus" for a tour, but otherwise normal folks capable of operating 21st Century technology such as cars, computers, and guns. They also vote. Exactly the way "Brother Johnson" at the Calvary Worship Center says.
Normally this group of people is aghast at the vandalism of the "tagger" and decry the general degradation of public spaces by the young. But they don't see their act as vandalism, but as evangelism. They know the "truth" that those educated in "government schools" don't. They've integrated this truth into their lives and don't see any schism in using a quantum physics derivative such as a High-Definition Plasma TV to watch a carefully groomed millionaire evangelist like Rick Warren on their satellite dish.
My main concern and worry with all this is the redactors' "certainty". These folks are detached enough from reality to be "certain" about this. Science isn't certain. The truth is not an absolute. "Truth" really doesn't exist. We only have maddeningly approximate solutions that explain what we see most of the time. Einstein destroyed the concept of "truth" by showing that even time and space aren't what we believe.
So "Christian Truth" is just a shortcut without all the messy fuzz that is really there. The easy way out. I saw a bumper sticker that said "The Bible said it, I believe it, And that settles it!"
Enough! It just always startles me that such intolerant, wrong-headed, arrogance is elevated to the position of reverence that we allow it. Eventually, people are hurt by this. Whether it is the "auto da fe" and burning in the public square, or the more socially acceptable demands that the people you elect or do business with be "good Christians". Even if they're uneducated boobs.
As for me, I think the majesty of sedimentation over millions of years trumps "Whoop! There it is!"
Today we loaded the whole assemblage into Robert's big "King Ranch Special" and started scoping this place out. The rain stopped long enough to let us have a really good look.
I said before that I'm not a mountain guy. That will probably change. This is a beautiful place.
The area is part of the Cumberland Plateau formed by regional uplift from sediments laid down under the Tethys Sea 200 million years ago. That is the truth as the best minds have deduced it from careful study. Apparently that's not good enough!
The signage and markers here have been diligently defaced in a very specific way. Any reference to the age of the rocks as in "200 million years" has been scratched through with knives. Even the beautifully done displays in the Nature Center have this disfigurement.
This is a battleground between truth and the enlightenment of "Science" and the revelation of anonymous prophets in the "Scriptures".
The vandalism was done by successive waves of "Young Earth" Christian activists. If you add up all the lifespans in the Genesis stories as Bishop Ussher did you arrive at the conclusion that at 2 in the afternoon of a nice October day 6000 years ago the Judeo-Christian Sky Daddy said, "Yeah, I'm lonely! How about I create something?" And these doctrinaire redactors are a reminder of that "fact".
The scary thing about it is that these probably aren't drooling idiots brought here on the "short bus" for a tour, but otherwise normal folks capable of operating 21st Century technology such as cars, computers, and guns. They also vote. Exactly the way "Brother Johnson" at the Calvary Worship Center says.
Normally this group of people is aghast at the vandalism of the "tagger" and decry the general degradation of public spaces by the young. But they don't see their act as vandalism, but as evangelism. They know the "truth" that those educated in "government schools" don't. They've integrated this truth into their lives and don't see any schism in using a quantum physics derivative such as a High-Definition Plasma TV to watch a carefully groomed millionaire evangelist like Rick Warren on their satellite dish.
My main concern and worry with all this is the redactors' "certainty". These folks are detached enough from reality to be "certain" about this. Science isn't certain. The truth is not an absolute. "Truth" really doesn't exist. We only have maddeningly approximate solutions that explain what we see most of the time. Einstein destroyed the concept of "truth" by showing that even time and space aren't what we believe.
So "Christian Truth" is just a shortcut without all the messy fuzz that is really there. The easy way out. I saw a bumper sticker that said "The Bible said it, I believe it, And that settles it!"
Enough! It just always startles me that such intolerant, wrong-headed, arrogance is elevated to the position of reverence that we allow it. Eventually, people are hurt by this. Whether it is the "auto da fe" and burning in the public square, or the more socially acceptable demands that the people you elect or do business with be "good Christians". Even if they're uneducated boobs.
As for me, I think the majesty of sedimentation over millions of years trumps "Whoop! There it is!"
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Eight Tons of Wet, Slippery Fun!
We're in Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN. Getting here was ALL the fun!
I'm not a mountain person. Hell, I'm not a hill person. I knew we were going to have trouble when the temperature alarm started to sputter.
I had looked at the route that Google Maps and the GPS said was shortest and adjusted it using a terrain overlay map to take the worst grades out. US 127 and TN111 are the truck routes. Nice wide shoulders in most places and four lanes much of the way, but there isn't much that can be done about the mountains. Long steep grades are bad for engines going up and going down.
Once we got on 111 the fun starts. First couple of grades were no sweat, then we started the long slow haul up.
The Holiday Rambler weighs over seven tons dry and is powered by huge Chevy 454 carburetted with a Rochester 4-barrel. And we're towing a 700 pound dolly with a Prius on it. All up around eight tons of rolling thunder.
And I don't DO mountains! This is the first time I've ever been off an Interstate highway in the verticals.
Now I understand why the big trucks get up insane speed in the bottoms. They need to get as far up the mountain with gravity helping as they can. Once the pull of Earth's core hooks into my recreational equipment, speed goes way down.
The pedal is welded to the floor, big four barrel pouring money and air down to eight bucket-sized pistons screaming up and down amid the explosions results in 27 miles an hour!
And the coolant is getting hot! I never thought of the water temperature gauge as particularly responsive or critical, but I'm getting a new one for the top of the dash and a transmission temp gauge and oil cooler too! Anything to cool this reactor down.
The temp gauge starts visibly moving towards that red rectangle of danger and then I find a new feature that Holiday Rambler built into my coach. A red "Temp" light and buzzing horn!
By the time we started hearing the horn, I could see the end of the climb. Pushed it through both times.
And just like sex, once it's over, things relax fast. I know the cooling system is in good shape because as soon as the load is off, the temp comes down withing fifteen seconds.
I've learned to kill the airconditioner, but I forgot the trick of turning on the heaters and using them as auxiliary radiators.
Coming out of here, I'm going to dismount the Prius until I hit US127 (around 40 miles).
Now for the slippery part!
Tennessee may be the Indian word for "rinky-dink"! (George, calm down!) In other states they're all over signs telling you the grade, and warning RV's and heavy trucks to take another route. Not here!
Once we got off 111, there were the usual brown, reflective direction signs into the park. Inside the park, they use wooden signs with routed-out 2-inch letters painted white. That's not a really bad thing, until they make the sign 4x8 feet and covered completely in letters and arrows. Two at each intersection. One points down each road telling you everything that's there. And I mean everything!
Approaching the intersection, even at low speed, you don't have enough time to read both signs completely before you start your turn. And towing means a turn is a commitment on the order of marriage vows or taking a commission in the Russian Navy! You can't back out of any of them!
So we committed to the long route inside the park. Saw the fire tower and the riding stables. And then we collided with the road. These are paved "all-weather" roads through deep gullies in high majestic forests. Some of the roads don't see much sun and have algae growing on them. Throw a bike down in a Milli-second.
And they stop my fun immediately! This "bottom" was like a folded piece of paper, down then up. And on a curve, too! No hope of building speed to coast up the other side.
When the dually's lost traction, my primary concern was sliding sideways in the heavy rain.
I got my left foot on the brake, loaded up the torque converter and modulated power to the wheels with the brakes while steering for the middle of the road. Out of the slick-worn tracks and straddling the relatively clean and pointy macadam in the center. It worked and squalling and bucking, up that hill we went!
Later, when the cute teenage girl at registration gave us a park map, I could see that that last six miles went around the perimeter of the park. If I had gone straight for two miles of reasonably flat road I'd have avoided the problem.
Guess which way I'm going out?
I'm not a mountain person. Hell, I'm not a hill person. I knew we were going to have trouble when the temperature alarm started to sputter.
I had looked at the route that Google Maps and the GPS said was shortest and adjusted it using a terrain overlay map to take the worst grades out. US 127 and TN111 are the truck routes. Nice wide shoulders in most places and four lanes much of the way, but there isn't much that can be done about the mountains. Long steep grades are bad for engines going up and going down.
Once we got on 111 the fun starts. First couple of grades were no sweat, then we started the long slow haul up.
The Holiday Rambler weighs over seven tons dry and is powered by huge Chevy 454 carburetted with a Rochester 4-barrel. And we're towing a 700 pound dolly with a Prius on it. All up around eight tons of rolling thunder.
And I don't DO mountains! This is the first time I've ever been off an Interstate highway in the verticals.
Now I understand why the big trucks get up insane speed in the bottoms. They need to get as far up the mountain with gravity helping as they can. Once the pull of Earth's core hooks into my recreational equipment, speed goes way down.
The pedal is welded to the floor, big four barrel pouring money and air down to eight bucket-sized pistons screaming up and down amid the explosions results in 27 miles an hour!
And the coolant is getting hot! I never thought of the water temperature gauge as particularly responsive or critical, but I'm getting a new one for the top of the dash and a transmission temp gauge and oil cooler too! Anything to cool this reactor down.
The temp gauge starts visibly moving towards that red rectangle of danger and then I find a new feature that Holiday Rambler built into my coach. A red "Temp" light and buzzing horn!
By the time we started hearing the horn, I could see the end of the climb. Pushed it through both times.
And just like sex, once it's over, things relax fast. I know the cooling system is in good shape because as soon as the load is off, the temp comes down withing fifteen seconds.
I've learned to kill the airconditioner, but I forgot the trick of turning on the heaters and using them as auxiliary radiators.
Coming out of here, I'm going to dismount the Prius until I hit US127 (around 40 miles).
Now for the slippery part!
Tennessee may be the Indian word for "rinky-dink"! (George, calm down!) In other states they're all over signs telling you the grade, and warning RV's and heavy trucks to take another route. Not here!
Once we got off 111, there were the usual brown, reflective direction signs into the park. Inside the park, they use wooden signs with routed-out 2-inch letters painted white. That's not a really bad thing, until they make the sign 4x8 feet and covered completely in letters and arrows. Two at each intersection. One points down each road telling you everything that's there. And I mean everything!
Approaching the intersection, even at low speed, you don't have enough time to read both signs completely before you start your turn. And towing means a turn is a commitment on the order of marriage vows or taking a commission in the Russian Navy! You can't back out of any of them!
So we committed to the long route inside the park. Saw the fire tower and the riding stables. And then we collided with the road. These are paved "all-weather" roads through deep gullies in high majestic forests. Some of the roads don't see much sun and have algae growing on them. Throw a bike down in a Milli-second.
And they stop my fun immediately! This "bottom" was like a folded piece of paper, down then up. And on a curve, too! No hope of building speed to coast up the other side.
When the dually's lost traction, my primary concern was sliding sideways in the heavy rain.
I got my left foot on the brake, loaded up the torque converter and modulated power to the wheels with the brakes while steering for the middle of the road. Out of the slick-worn tracks and straddling the relatively clean and pointy macadam in the center. It worked and squalling and bucking, up that hill we went!
Later, when the cute teenage girl at registration gave us a park map, I could see that that last six miles went around the perimeter of the park. If I had gone straight for two miles of reasonably flat road I'd have avoided the problem.
Guess which way I'm going out?
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Passage ( 24 hour sailing race)
Last weekend was the "Passage". I entered my boat "Jazz " and had Gene and Tom aboard as crew.
The race is a 25-mile closed loop on Lake Thurmond on the GA/SC border.
I devised this particular toture session several years ago as a way to break out of the windward-leeward dinghy-style racing that the Augusta Sailing Club seems to prefer. I have a big-butted "oven-class" cruiser that will wail its way through heavy winds that'll curl the toes of a dinghy racer. Especially in the dark at 3 AM. And I wanted a real test of navigation. Even though the lake has excellent depths and well-marked channels, grounding the boat is only one missed buoy away!
This year Ian Buckley organized the event and decide to change the start/finish time to 0900. (No I do not use the redundant Army-style 'hours'! Aboard the real ships of the US Navy a four figure time signature with the appropriate letter to designate the local time zone is the official usage) Therefore the "official" start time was 0900R or 1300Z ( both the same). Incidentally 1300 UTC is another way of talking about Greenwich Mean Time. Okay, enough! We started at 9 in the morning on Saturday.
This year the race was very unusual in that we had good wind the entire time. My boat and crew love heavy air. The boat rolls over and literally punches away through the waves. If the boat slowed to less than six knots some one was not paying attention! The peak speeds were 7.4 knots both up and down wind.
We led the race three times. At the start for two hours we roared up the lake, until we got into a slower patch of wind than Ian and Greg Hatcher. Once the sun went down, my superior electronics gave us a real edge and we made up over a mile of separation and pulled away again.
I ran a rolling watch system to allow a litle crew rest. I went below and pulled the settee cushion onto the cabin floor and went to sleep with the boat heeled over and tacking through 30 degrees of heel. I didn't put everything into the floor, and paid for that mistake by getting clonked in the face by Tom Renard's very heavy gear bag when it launched across cabin in a "roll and jump" tack.
While I was down an innocent navigation error cost us the lead. The racing was close enough that any error was good for a place change. Both Greg and Ian slid by.
When I cam back on deck at 0300 we were behind the leader by a measured mile on radar. This was on a downwind run in Little River, a winding unlit blackness full of keel-grabbing humps and underwater cliffs. We ran double headsails and managed to pull up on the lead pair while they struggled in the dark with spinnakers and a zig-zag in the course. They were conservative and stayed a quarter-mile north of me in the mouth of the River and allowed me to slide past when when we turned south for the dam. I know they think I cut a corner at Green 11, but I had both radar and visual contact on the buoy to my starboard.
After that exchange, we led for three hours until two unfair things happened.
First the wind got light. My boat is fast in the wind, but heavy for her size. When the power goes down, the boat slows. Then the Ebay jib hung up on the mast spreader tips. I had repaired the rips in the sail from hangups at the Hangover Regatta on New Year's Day. New rips. I would have traded that $400 sail for the lead easily, but when it hung up it was firmly anchored to the spreader and back-winded. It's like putting on the brakes and if you allow it to persist, the boat will sail backwards at up to 3 knots, or more! I had to spin the boat to get the damned jib loose. Twice.
That put us behind the leaders, but competitive. Until a petite and very smart lady named Sue smacked me with a lee-bow maneuver. Since she saved my life in 1997, I'll never be mad at her, but a few self-directed Middle-English imprecatives did escape!
After that, we could stay with them, but not close the gap. Finished an honest third after sailing over 100 nautical miles in a day. I know a lot of cruisers who would kill for a hundred-mile log!
The brunch at the club, a cooling shower and good friends made for a memory that beats rooting for any football team.
The race is a 25-mile closed loop on Lake Thurmond on the GA/SC border.
I devised this particular toture session several years ago as a way to break out of the windward-leeward dinghy-style racing that the Augusta Sailing Club seems to prefer. I have a big-butted "oven-class" cruiser that will wail its way through heavy winds that'll curl the toes of a dinghy racer. Especially in the dark at 3 AM. And I wanted a real test of navigation. Even though the lake has excellent depths and well-marked channels, grounding the boat is only one missed buoy away!
This year Ian Buckley organized the event and decide to change the start/finish time to 0900. (No I do not use the redundant Army-style 'hours'! Aboard the real ships of the US Navy a four figure time signature with the appropriate letter to designate the local time zone is the official usage) Therefore the "official" start time was 0900R or 1300Z ( both the same). Incidentally 1300 UTC is another way of talking about Greenwich Mean Time. Okay, enough! We started at 9 in the morning on Saturday.
This year the race was very unusual in that we had good wind the entire time. My boat and crew love heavy air. The boat rolls over and literally punches away through the waves. If the boat slowed to less than six knots some one was not paying attention! The peak speeds were 7.4 knots both up and down wind.
We led the race three times. At the start for two hours we roared up the lake, until we got into a slower patch of wind than Ian and Greg Hatcher. Once the sun went down, my superior electronics gave us a real edge and we made up over a mile of separation and pulled away again.
I ran a rolling watch system to allow a litle crew rest. I went below and pulled the settee cushion onto the cabin floor and went to sleep with the boat heeled over and tacking through 30 degrees of heel. I didn't put everything into the floor, and paid for that mistake by getting clonked in the face by Tom Renard's very heavy gear bag when it launched across cabin in a "roll and jump" tack.
While I was down an innocent navigation error cost us the lead. The racing was close enough that any error was good for a place change. Both Greg and Ian slid by.
When I cam back on deck at 0300 we were behind the leader by a measured mile on radar. This was on a downwind run in Little River, a winding unlit blackness full of keel-grabbing humps and underwater cliffs. We ran double headsails and managed to pull up on the lead pair while they struggled in the dark with spinnakers and a zig-zag in the course. They were conservative and stayed a quarter-mile north of me in the mouth of the River and allowed me to slide past when when we turned south for the dam. I know they think I cut a corner at Green 11, but I had both radar and visual contact on the buoy to my starboard.
After that exchange, we led for three hours until two unfair things happened.
First the wind got light. My boat is fast in the wind, but heavy for her size. When the power goes down, the boat slows. Then the Ebay jib hung up on the mast spreader tips. I had repaired the rips in the sail from hangups at the Hangover Regatta on New Year's Day. New rips. I would have traded that $400 sail for the lead easily, but when it hung up it was firmly anchored to the spreader and back-winded. It's like putting on the brakes and if you allow it to persist, the boat will sail backwards at up to 3 knots, or more! I had to spin the boat to get the damned jib loose. Twice.
That put us behind the leaders, but competitive. Until a petite and very smart lady named Sue smacked me with a lee-bow maneuver. Since she saved my life in 1997, I'll never be mad at her, but a few self-directed Middle-English imprecatives did escape!
After that, we could stay with them, but not close the gap. Finished an honest third after sailing over 100 nautical miles in a day. I know a lot of cruisers who would kill for a hundred-mile log!
The brunch at the club, a cooling shower and good friends made for a memory that beats rooting for any football team.
Back to the Blog!
Well I got back home and got very busy with life and other clutter. Now I need to unload the hamper of my brain onto the blog.
I'm excited about the prospect of getting this bum shoulder fixed, but disappointed that I have to wait until January. I absolutely understand the need to wait until the healing of my last cardiac stent is done enough to come off the blood thinners. I certainly don't want to clog up or bleed out, but this upper trunnion hurts a lot!
I've been playing with my Ham radio station and really enjoying it! Loaded some software that lets me control the radio from my PC. That means the radio in the boat and RV also. Ive also changed the antenna farm to a single dipole hung between the trees. I shoot the lines up using a modified potato cannon.
The cannon is pneumatic and has an electronic trigger. Basically it is a 2-inch PVC pipe barrel with similar-sized air reservoir that I pump up to 90 PSI (I use really good PVC and careful joinery!) with a Rain Bird sprinkler valve btween them.
The secret to happiness is, as always, complete discharge! The valve is an electric unit designed for home irrigation control via timers and switches and uses a clever servo-assisted dump valve. For those who've always wondered what "servo" means, in this case, it means that a small amount of the water pressure is controlled to do the major mechanical work of operating the valve. The electric motor of the servo controls a very small orifice that ports enough pressure from the high side of the valve into a chamber that swings the valve open just a little, then the valve itself does the work. Think of the last time the wind snatched a car door away from you. It took just a little work to get the door open a crack and then the wind took over.
The cannon projectile is just a wieghted plastic bottle with a piece of construction twine tied to it. I have major trees in my yard. Well over 80 feet and wide as only Georgia live oaks can be. This contraption can fire all the way over the biggest of them and out the other side.
Now for the guilty confession--- I read a bout this on the Internet several years ago and played hooky from work to stay home and build two of them! With me it's just a mental health issue.
I'm excited about the prospect of getting this bum shoulder fixed, but disappointed that I have to wait until January. I absolutely understand the need to wait until the healing of my last cardiac stent is done enough to come off the blood thinners. I certainly don't want to clog up or bleed out, but this upper trunnion hurts a lot!
I've been playing with my Ham radio station and really enjoying it! Loaded some software that lets me control the radio from my PC. That means the radio in the boat and RV also. Ive also changed the antenna farm to a single dipole hung between the trees. I shoot the lines up using a modified potato cannon.
The cannon is pneumatic and has an electronic trigger. Basically it is a 2-inch PVC pipe barrel with similar-sized air reservoir that I pump up to 90 PSI (I use really good PVC and careful joinery!) with a Rain Bird sprinkler valve btween them.
The secret to happiness is, as always, complete discharge! The valve is an electric unit designed for home irrigation control via timers and switches and uses a clever servo-assisted dump valve. For those who've always wondered what "servo" means, in this case, it means that a small amount of the water pressure is controlled to do the major mechanical work of operating the valve. The electric motor of the servo controls a very small orifice that ports enough pressure from the high side of the valve into a chamber that swings the valve open just a little, then the valve itself does the work. Think of the last time the wind snatched a car door away from you. It took just a little work to get the door open a crack and then the wind took over.
The cannon projectile is just a wieghted plastic bottle with a piece of construction twine tied to it. I have major trees in my yard. Well over 80 feet and wide as only Georgia live oaks can be. This contraption can fire all the way over the biggest of them and out the other side.
Now for the guilty confession--- I read a bout this on the Internet several years ago and played hooky from work to stay home and build two of them! With me it's just a mental health issue.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Settling back into stationary life.
The tree is out of the front yard and driveway. The neighbor that did the work is absolutely a jewel. Started last night with cleanup of the vehicles. I personally caused the rain. I know this from many past experiences and could easily do an infomercial citing documented proof that when I wash my cars and RV the rain will come in 24 hours.
For just $29.95 plus shipping and handling, I will break the drought in your neighborhood too! But wait...There's more!... for an additional $39.95 plus separate shipping and handling I'll protect your car from bird droppings! Watch this! After causing the rain by my patent-pending "Wash-o-rama" method, I'll wax at least one of my vehicles! This will cause, without fail, all birds within a 3 mile radius to void their cloaca on my vehicle, thus protecting YOUR Car! Amazing!
Yesterday, the propagation and ionosphere was perfect for HF radio to Japan. Heard several loud stations working, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. Most of the "Big Gun" stations are running ten times my power and highly directional beam antennae. I'm setting up a new antenna here to try to learn the skills necessary for reliable HF work on the boat.
I shoot a light line over the 80-90 foot trees in my yard with a pneumatic potato gun I built several years ago. The gun is made of 2-inch PVC pipe, a Rainbird electric sprinkler valve and a home-made electric trigger box. Clears the trees easily.
After the new antenna is up, I'll install my new-to-me antenna tuner and see what we can get going. I really want to be able to tune the 80 and 160 meter bands here and 40 meters on the boat.
For just $29.95 plus shipping and handling, I will break the drought in your neighborhood too! But wait...There's more!... for an additional $39.95 plus separate shipping and handling I'll protect your car from bird droppings! Watch this! After causing the rain by my patent-pending "Wash-o-rama" method, I'll wax at least one of my vehicles! This will cause, without fail, all birds within a 3 mile radius to void their cloaca on my vehicle, thus protecting YOUR Car! Amazing!
Yesterday, the propagation and ionosphere was perfect for HF radio to Japan. Heard several loud stations working, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. Most of the "Big Gun" stations are running ten times my power and highly directional beam antennae. I'm setting up a new antenna here to try to learn the skills necessary for reliable HF work on the boat.
I shoot a light line over the 80-90 foot trees in my yard with a pneumatic potato gun I built several years ago. The gun is made of 2-inch PVC pipe, a Rainbird electric sprinkler valve and a home-made electric trigger box. Clears the trees easily.
After the new antenna is up, I'll install my new-to-me antenna tuner and see what we can get going. I really want to be able to tune the 80 and 160 meter bands here and 40 meters on the boat.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Getting home to a clean house and yard!
We made the trip home uneventfully. Which after the news about the tree falling over in our driveway was a welcome circumstance. On the trip home, I decided to just follow the GPS and take I-10 to Jacksonville then I-95 and I-16 to Statesboro, GA then home on US25. I've always avoided that route, preferring to take the back roads through the middle of the state. I like the GPS route. It is very easy to drive, except for the 40 miles of construction on I-95. When you're driving a wide vehicle like our coach, narrowing the lanes with concrete barricades is jangling to the nerves. The worst of all was right here in Augusta!
Sure enough, the tree is down all over the garage and front of the house. I cut off the limb that was still lying on the garage to allow access.
The tree was actually the property of my neighbor, Richard. The way it works with trees is that unless a professional or your insurance company has told you to cut down a tree, the responsibility for repairs and removal is that of the homeowner that the tree fell on, not the one who owned the property where the tree originally was. We have cooperatively taken down limbs and even a huge cedar tree at our expense to protect our neighbors cars. And we've all helped to clean up after windstorms. That's the sign of a good neighborhood.
True to form, Richard has offered to pay the majority of the removal cost and another neighbor Melvin will do the work.
Micky's mom scrubbed our house spotless, and her brother's family kept up the yard. The surprise was the repairs that Rex and our friend Greg did to our deck. I had around a dozen boards that needed replacing. The work involved in removing the old boards after more than a decade and screwing down the new ones is miserable labor at the wrong height for humans. I was literally floored! Floored! Get it?
Coming home to such loving friends and family makes planning the next trip seem sneaky. But we are planning more adventures.....
Sure enough, the tree is down all over the garage and front of the house. I cut off the limb that was still lying on the garage to allow access.
The tree was actually the property of my neighbor, Richard. The way it works with trees is that unless a professional or your insurance company has told you to cut down a tree, the responsibility for repairs and removal is that of the homeowner that the tree fell on, not the one who owned the property where the tree originally was. We have cooperatively taken down limbs and even a huge cedar tree at our expense to protect our neighbors cars. And we've all helped to clean up after windstorms. That's the sign of a good neighborhood.
True to form, Richard has offered to pay the majority of the removal cost and another neighbor Melvin will do the work.
Micky's mom scrubbed our house spotless, and her brother's family kept up the yard. The surprise was the repairs that Rex and our friend Greg did to our deck. I had around a dozen boards that needed replacing. The work involved in removing the old boards after more than a decade and screwing down the new ones is miserable labor at the wrong height for humans. I was literally floored! Floored! Get it?
Coming home to such loving friends and family makes planning the next trip seem sneaky. But we are planning more adventures.....
Monday, May 18, 2009
Kind of a Good Day All-round!
Okay, After all the problems with getting underway from Ichetucknee Springs yesterday (see last blog) I never thought that the delay would be a good thing. But it was!
Pat, our next door neighbor, called to let us know that a suspect tree that we both had been watching deteriorate had fallen across the front of the house and our driveway. If the rig had been parked there, major damage to all our toys would have followed.
I called Rex, Micky's brother, and asked them to get some pictures and document the situation in case we need them for insurance purposes.
Pat said "some guy" drove by and said he could clean the tree up and haul it out for $375. We have chosen to wait to contact our insurer and find out the coverage. With our high deductibles, it'll be up to us for the majority of the cost anyway.
As it stands, a problematic tree is no longer an issue, the cars and this rig are undamaged, and home is still standing.
Oh, and ReserveAmerica waived the $10.00 cancellation fee! I won.
Pat, our next door neighbor, called to let us know that a suspect tree that we both had been watching deteriorate had fallen across the front of the house and our driveway. If the rig had been parked there, major damage to all our toys would have followed.
I called Rex, Micky's brother, and asked them to get some pictures and document the situation in case we need them for insurance purposes.
Pat said "some guy" drove by and said he could clean the tree up and haul it out for $375. We have chosen to wait to contact our insurer and find out the coverage. With our high deductibles, it'll be up to us for the majority of the cost anyway.
As it stands, a problematic tree is no longer an issue, the cars and this rig are undamaged, and home is still standing.
Oh, and ReserveAmerica waived the $10.00 cancellation fee! I won.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Floods, Lightning, and Other Calamities
Micky and I were going to kayak today in the Ichetucknee River. This is a wonderful gin-clear 72-degree river with some of the most idyllic southern scenery in the nation. Took the convertible and drove US27 into Branford, a funky little intersection that used to have signs at the entrance proclaiming them the "Cave Diving Capital of the World." Along the way, the road passes over the Ichetucknee. It was not the clear beauty with a white bottom we expected.
When the rivers here flood in the spring, the pressure of the high water reverses the flow of some of the springs that form the local rivers and force tannin-colored water into the Ichetucknee. I have encountered pockets of such water 1500 feet from the entrance of Peacock Springs while cave diving. At Branford there is a major spring feeding the Suwanee. It too was tea-colored. That cancelled our kayaking desires for this trip.
But not the shopping fever that occasionally swirls over Micky. She loves Bealls Outlets. she had me locate the nearest one on the GPS and promised that she only wanted one item and that it would be a "guy shopping trip".
Men enter a store, walk in a zombie trance to the exact location of their purchase, snag it, and walk purposefully to the cashier. Send a man to a store for a blue tie and he cannot tell you if they also sell red ties. We don't shop.
Women view the exercise differently. It is not a defined mission, but an activity. The mission is to see everything in the store that pertains to that category and all other related items. This drives most men loony. It has taken me years to submerge the testosterone-driven frustration enough to allow me to even enter a Bealls Outlet, Steinmart, or Ross with any woman. I am quite proud of my growth.
Shopping over and freshly provisioned from Winn-Dixie we also stopped at True Value and obtained new lynch pins for the tilt-bed of the car dolly.
After letting Don, the manager of the campground that we would not be kayaking, we started packing up intending to drive home immediately.
First came the thunder, then the vigorous and frequent lightning. I do not like lightning so close that there is no discernible gap between the stroke and the sound. Too close. And the rain was coming in sheets. So inside and stowing stuff we went.
I hooked up the GPS and attempted to start the coach. Lots of noise, but no engine run. And the GPS acted like it had no power also. I have to be careful with this Rochester carbureted 454 as it will flood easily. No, not easily, willfully. On the other hand, you do have to pump it once or twice after sitting. It would not start. I didn't smell excessive gasoline, so I started checking for ignition voltage and other electrical problems.
One thing that happens when a rainstorm comes through is that the density of the air changes as it saturates with water vapor. That increases the likelihood of flooding a sensitivie engine. After 45 minutes of truly impressive probing around with a Fluke 73 multimeter, the engine started right up. Not my fault!
I did learn that the GPS power plug had only 2 volts on it, so I need to trace the wiring back and find my hookups.
The upshot of all this commotion is that we will not leave here tonight. One of the big advantages of being among the "un-scheduled" is that we travel when ready. And tomorrow is a philosophical touchstone as well as a time cooordinate.
When the rivers here flood in the spring, the pressure of the high water reverses the flow of some of the springs that form the local rivers and force tannin-colored water into the Ichetucknee. I have encountered pockets of such water 1500 feet from the entrance of Peacock Springs while cave diving. At Branford there is a major spring feeding the Suwanee. It too was tea-colored. That cancelled our kayaking desires for this trip.
But not the shopping fever that occasionally swirls over Micky. She loves Bealls Outlets. she had me locate the nearest one on the GPS and promised that she only wanted one item and that it would be a "guy shopping trip".
Men enter a store, walk in a zombie trance to the exact location of their purchase, snag it, and walk purposefully to the cashier. Send a man to a store for a blue tie and he cannot tell you if they also sell red ties. We don't shop.
Women view the exercise differently. It is not a defined mission, but an activity. The mission is to see everything in the store that pertains to that category and all other related items. This drives most men loony. It has taken me years to submerge the testosterone-driven frustration enough to allow me to even enter a Bealls Outlet, Steinmart, or Ross with any woman. I am quite proud of my growth.
Shopping over and freshly provisioned from Winn-Dixie we also stopped at True Value and obtained new lynch pins for the tilt-bed of the car dolly.
After letting Don, the manager of the campground that we would not be kayaking, we started packing up intending to drive home immediately.
First came the thunder, then the vigorous and frequent lightning. I do not like lightning so close that there is no discernible gap between the stroke and the sound. Too close. And the rain was coming in sheets. So inside and stowing stuff we went.
I hooked up the GPS and attempted to start the coach. Lots of noise, but no engine run. And the GPS acted like it had no power also. I have to be careful with this Rochester carbureted 454 as it will flood easily. No, not easily, willfully. On the other hand, you do have to pump it once or twice after sitting. It would not start. I didn't smell excessive gasoline, so I started checking for ignition voltage and other electrical problems.
One thing that happens when a rainstorm comes through is that the density of the air changes as it saturates with water vapor. That increases the likelihood of flooding a sensitivie engine. After 45 minutes of truly impressive probing around with a Fluke 73 multimeter, the engine started right up. Not my fault!
I did learn that the GPS power plug had only 2 volts on it, so I need to trace the wiring back and find my hookups.
The upshot of all this commotion is that we will not leave here tonight. One of the big advantages of being among the "un-scheduled" is that we travel when ready. And tomorrow is a philosophical touchstone as well as a time cooordinate.
A series of mistakes (Ours and Theirs)
Today we travelled from Sebastian Inlet to Ichetucknee Springs in North Central Florida. Before leaving the campsite, I went on line, and checked the reservation at Oleno State Park. Florida has contracted with a Canadian outfit named ReserveAmerica to handle all their park reservations. I was floored to see that not only had my reservation been cancelled, but also a $10.00 fee had been charged. A call to the park, yielded a very nice park ranger that confirmed the lack of a reserved spot and that there was only one spot left. My internal pressure began to creep up at the thought of having to drive this rig 5 hours to find out if I could stay there. I thanked her and moved on to ReserveAmerica.
A phone call to "Marie" informed me that they had a "problem" and the credit card did not go through leading to the cancellation. They called my home phone number and left a message on the machine and cancelled.
I did not argue with "Marie". Micky wanted to make sure there was no problem with the credit card. There was no problem. In fact, at the same sitting we had made arrangements on the same card, same method for the stay in Sebastian Inlet.
Now the scramble was to find a place to park this thing. We do not like the thought of camping in a WalMart, although WalMart doesn't mind.
I had indeed, given ReserveAmerica my current cell phone number and they had successfully emailed all the confirmations. I was fully pressurized at this point! Fired off an email to their, as Clark Howard calls it "Customer No Service" portal demanding that they refund the $10.00. Micky found us a spot at the Ichetucknee Springs Campground. More about that separately.
Confident that we had a place to park, we pulled out of the site and prepared to put the convertible on the dolly.
The tow dolly has built-in ramps, a feature dependent on a strong half-inch diameter pin that must be pulled out each time to load the vehicle. Once loaded and strapped down the pin is replaced and secured with a clip. Micky and I have been having unusual communication problems with this process. Telling her to put the vehicle in "Park" as compared to setting the "Parking Brake" has been uncharacteristically difficult. This too increased my pressure.
Additionally, one of my unidentified Marine brethren from the Vietnam War had gotten to the dump station ahead of me and was taking forever to make his deposit and move on. I know that man has dealt with fecal matter. The Lysol Spray into the ends of the sewer hose seemed a bit prissy for a man of his size, especially considering the number of tatoos.
We loaded and strapped the car, but left the tilt-bed pin laying on the pavement.
It all rode surprisingly well. Even when I did a full-on emergency stop, nothing spectacular happened. I could feel a strange "rubbery" action to the rig, as though there was a "bungee" cord between the trailer and the coach. When we stopped for gas, I checked and found a loose strap on one wheel. No more "bungee"!
It wasn't until time came to unload the car that I found my mistake. Nice to know that Master Tow built enough redundancy into the system.
We are staying at the Ichetucknee Springs Campground. I've been here before around 1985. Jim Gill and I were down here cave diving and ran into Ron Wheatley with a student class. The tavern here is called the "Jug". We all ended up here,and after a sufficient surface interval drinking beer, started playing volleyball in the rain. Among the casualties were my right shoulder, an injury that I still suffer with, and the dignity of several players as we decided that diving under the net and "Pantsing" an opposing player was just a tactical ploy.
When a certain lady used this tactic on John Lowe, I'm sure she felt safe from retaliation, protected as she was by her husband's presence and her status as a Southern woman of considerable charm and pulchritude. She just didn't know John Lowe well enough!
The camping here is spectacular. Micky and I have become accustomed to mangroves and the short trees of the hammock. Here you are in a green cathedral of water oaks and huge cedars festooned with Spanish moss. I'll try to get some pictures, but portraying the scale of these trees will be difficult.
Tonight I got the typical non-response response from ReserveAmerica. I've sent the rebuttal, and they have about two days to see the light before I get my credit card company to mark it as a disputed charge and stop payment. Such is the power of platinum. And retired guys have plenty of time to write long irritating letters and wait through phone queues to speak to supervisors. All over $10.00
A phone call to "Marie" informed me that they had a "problem" and the credit card did not go through leading to the cancellation. They called my home phone number and left a message on the machine and cancelled.
I did not argue with "Marie". Micky wanted to make sure there was no problem with the credit card. There was no problem. In fact, at the same sitting we had made arrangements on the same card, same method for the stay in Sebastian Inlet.
Now the scramble was to find a place to park this thing. We do not like the thought of camping in a WalMart, although WalMart doesn't mind.
I had indeed, given ReserveAmerica my current cell phone number and they had successfully emailed all the confirmations. I was fully pressurized at this point! Fired off an email to their, as Clark Howard calls it "Customer No Service" portal demanding that they refund the $10.00. Micky found us a spot at the Ichetucknee Springs Campground. More about that separately.
Confident that we had a place to park, we pulled out of the site and prepared to put the convertible on the dolly.
The tow dolly has built-in ramps, a feature dependent on a strong half-inch diameter pin that must be pulled out each time to load the vehicle. Once loaded and strapped down the pin is replaced and secured with a clip. Micky and I have been having unusual communication problems with this process. Telling her to put the vehicle in "Park" as compared to setting the "Parking Brake" has been uncharacteristically difficult. This too increased my pressure.
Additionally, one of my unidentified Marine brethren from the Vietnam War had gotten to the dump station ahead of me and was taking forever to make his deposit and move on. I know that man has dealt with fecal matter. The Lysol Spray into the ends of the sewer hose seemed a bit prissy for a man of his size, especially considering the number of tatoos.
We loaded and strapped the car, but left the tilt-bed pin laying on the pavement.
It all rode surprisingly well. Even when I did a full-on emergency stop, nothing spectacular happened. I could feel a strange "rubbery" action to the rig, as though there was a "bungee" cord between the trailer and the coach. When we stopped for gas, I checked and found a loose strap on one wheel. No more "bungee"!
It wasn't until time came to unload the car that I found my mistake. Nice to know that Master Tow built enough redundancy into the system.
We are staying at the Ichetucknee Springs Campground. I've been here before around 1985. Jim Gill and I were down here cave diving and ran into Ron Wheatley with a student class. The tavern here is called the "Jug". We all ended up here,and after a sufficient surface interval drinking beer, started playing volleyball in the rain. Among the casualties were my right shoulder, an injury that I still suffer with, and the dignity of several players as we decided that diving under the net and "Pantsing" an opposing player was just a tactical ploy.
When a certain lady used this tactic on John Lowe, I'm sure she felt safe from retaliation, protected as she was by her husband's presence and her status as a Southern woman of considerable charm and pulchritude. She just didn't know John Lowe well enough!
The camping here is spectacular. Micky and I have become accustomed to mangroves and the short trees of the hammock. Here you are in a green cathedral of water oaks and huge cedars festooned with Spanish moss. I'll try to get some pictures, but portraying the scale of these trees will be difficult.
Tonight I got the typical non-response response from ReserveAmerica. I've sent the rebuttal, and they have about two days to see the light before I get my credit card company to mark it as a disputed charge and stop payment. Such is the power of platinum. And retired guys have plenty of time to write long irritating letters and wait through phone queues to speak to supervisors. All over $10.00
Friday, May 15, 2009
New Florida Travel Toy
We've moved from Bahia Honda in the Keys up the coast to Melbourne and the Sebastian Inlet. This is one of the premier treasure-hunting beaches in Florida. A fleet of Spanish galleons stuffed with looted Indian gold sank in a hurricane in 1715 and the gold and silver have been washing up here ever since.
We took the Turnpike and used a new Sunpass transponder for the first time. I know that the more civilized readers will scoff at the idea of my wonderment with the thing, but in Augusta we don't even have toll roads. The transponder is suctioned to the windshield of the RV and instead of stopping to pay the tolls, I've set aside money from a credit card, and we just roar through the special lanes at the toll booth at full speed. The transponder gives a satisfied long beep and I know that not only did I pay the toll, but also got a discount. The savings in gas alone makes it worthwhile, the time savings are just gravy.
My legs look like shredded toilet paper. The burned skin is sloughing off in inch-long sheets. It's creepy and ugly, but doesn't hurt. I'll be very careful to never repeat this particular recto-cranial inversion again.
We took the Turnpike and used a new Sunpass transponder for the first time. I know that the more civilized readers will scoff at the idea of my wonderment with the thing, but in Augusta we don't even have toll roads. The transponder is suctioned to the windshield of the RV and instead of stopping to pay the tolls, I've set aside money from a credit card, and we just roar through the special lanes at the toll booth at full speed. The transponder gives a satisfied long beep and I know that not only did I pay the toll, but also got a discount. The savings in gas alone makes it worthwhile, the time savings are just gravy.
My legs look like shredded toilet paper. The burned skin is sloughing off in inch-long sheets. It's creepy and ugly, but doesn't hurt. I'll be very careful to never repeat this particular recto-cranial inversion again.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Odd places to meet nice people!
Biked the Old Seven-Mile Bridge this morning. Cool morning with the 10-15 knots of wind back. Overheard one fella telling another, "Yeah I missed the three days of boating this month!"
On the way out we came across several large turtles. This is like riding out over an aquarium. And the tailwind made it very easy pedalling. The reason the old bridge is still used is to get out to Pigeon Key. This small, round island was a convenient place to house and feed men while building and operating the Flagler Overseas Railroad. It's mostly used by youth groups as a summer-camp adventure.
They also used the old bridge as a set for the movie "True Lies" . There are several burned spots and series of small holes where charges were set to simulate cannon fire from the Marine Harriers used in the film. Micky and I were down here during the filming and got to see a stunt that never made it into the film. They had a stuntman in a parachute harness suspended beneath a Bell JetRanger helicopter over Stock Island. The man would kick and squirm in apparent terror as the JetRanger lowered him into an electrical substation. The traffic was all stopped in both directions as this scene was repeated three times, then the stuntman settled back in the harness for what had to be the best scenic ride over Key West possible.
At the Pigeon Key end there's a gap in the bridge. Across from the gap is where a van truck was delicately balanced with a bad guy in it, until a wayward pelican landed on the windshield and sent the van nose first into Florida Bay with a huge explosion.
At the barricade protecting us from the gap was an obvious expatriate Yankee carrying on animatedly with his friends aboard a sailboat just clearing the bridge a mile further on. After his call finished, he told us of the three sharks that had just passed and of his love of riding out on the bridge. We introduced each other and made the acquaintance of one James MacArthur, retired from the city of Tampa, but indelibly stamped with the intonations of Back Bay Boston. Winthrop, to be exact, which James assured us was the only reason there was a Boston. James is living on his 33-foot Morgan Out Island "Second Avenue" at the Marathon City Marina. His boat name causes some confusion at drawbridges when calling the operator for an opening of the bridge. It would be hilarious to hear the exchange when one street asks another for the span to be raised! Came down last September and intending to stay the entire season. The Marina is apparently the best deal in the universe at $280/month for a mooring. I agree.
Immediately, as is habit with cruisers, the conversation fell to the three obsessions of sailors, DC power generation, water suply, and waste disposal. James has no overboard discharges at all, since his is a Great Lakes boat, but the marina has great facilities and, I believe a pumpout barge prowls Boot Key Harbor like a demented remora.
James has a really good solution to the problem of supplying water without making a trip to a dock. He puts a 60-quart cooler in his dinghy anf fills it with water at 5-cents a gallon. At the boat he drops a bilge pump rigged on an extension cord and pumps the water into the tank. Never has to lug 60-pound 7-gallon water jugs around! Brilliant!
DC power on his boat is boat solar and wind generated. He claims you need both. Recommended the Air Marine brand without the slip rings. Since the unit is used primarily at anchor/moored the 360-degree rotation of slip rings (and chance of corrosion) are not needed. Makes good sense to me.
Anchoring down here is best done with a "Claw"-style and fixed-shank anchor. Says a delta-style anchor will slide around without catching. Now I'm looking for a "Claw". There are no universally useful anchors.
James also had a few tips on getting free parking at the City Parking structure in Key West. Go to Turtle Kraals and drink two Happy-hour beers and your ticket gets validated. During Fantasy Fest go to the Bull and watch the craziness from above rather get down in the mix. Porky's in Marathon is recommended.
James' brother Tom sails a $2000 Pearson and recommends anchoring in a place shunned by most cruisers- near the Coast Guard station. Says there are no Pirates there. James says the mouth of Boot Key Harbor is similarly infested with the Brethren of the Coast and should be avoided.
All told a most productive 20 minutes. The only regret is-- No cold rum drinks were exchanged!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Out of the sun for awhile.
I need to stay out of the sun for a while. The blisters on my legs are popping and the skin is peeling. I feel so stupid about this. I preach sun protection and then get fried. Dumb!
Stayed inside on the computer most of the day. As usual, that can be an expensive hobby.
I'm looking for a method of world-wide communication via email that doesn't have ongoing subscription or usage fees.
I am a licensed amateur radio operator with privileges on all Ham frequencies. I've already setup a station on the boat, RV and in our home. The home station is running a wire antenna strung up in the trees. That's not possible in the boat or RV. I have what is called a "screwdriver" antenna mounted on the bimini frame and the side of the RV. It is a noisy and inefficent solution. The efficiency of an antenna is not related to whether it works, but in how much current it converts to RF energy.
On sailboats, the common method is to insulate the backstay and use a tuner to turn it into a antenna. My Hunter has a split backstay with the radar mounted on it. That pretty much rules it out as an antenna.
I've been loking for a way to deploy an antenna separate from the rigging. One solution is to run the wire up like a topping lift. I plan to sink a suitable wire inside a section of line and then use the line to take the load. This is not a new idea, but the execution of it requires an antenna tuner. Without getting more technical than I already am, an antenna tuner adds different capacitors and inductors into the antenna line to make the radio think the antenna is perfect.
You can do this manually if you only want to operate on one frequency, but that won't work.
So today I bought a used automatic tuner for use on the boat and RV.
Stayed inside on the computer most of the day. As usual, that can be an expensive hobby.
I'm looking for a method of world-wide communication via email that doesn't have ongoing subscription or usage fees.
I am a licensed amateur radio operator with privileges on all Ham frequencies. I've already setup a station on the boat, RV and in our home. The home station is running a wire antenna strung up in the trees. That's not possible in the boat or RV. I have what is called a "screwdriver" antenna mounted on the bimini frame and the side of the RV. It is a noisy and inefficent solution. The efficiency of an antenna is not related to whether it works, but in how much current it converts to RF energy.
On sailboats, the common method is to insulate the backstay and use a tuner to turn it into a antenna. My Hunter has a split backstay with the radar mounted on it. That pretty much rules it out as an antenna.
I've been loking for a way to deploy an antenna separate from the rigging. One solution is to run the wire up like a topping lift. I plan to sink a suitable wire inside a section of line and then use the line to take the load. This is not a new idea, but the execution of it requires an antenna tuner. Without getting more technical than I already am, an antenna tuner adds different capacitors and inductors into the antenna line to make the radio think the antenna is perfect.
You can do this manually if you only want to operate on one frequency, but that won't work.
So today I bought a used automatic tuner for use on the boat and RV.
Why post all this techno-crap? The same method and equipment works with a standard Marine SSB radio. If you don't have either an amateur radio or a Marine SSB in your plans, you need to change your plans! VHF and cellphones won't work over the horizon. Reliance on an expensive satellite phone in a small boat without a dedicated satellite antenna is not a good idea. The problem is in a raging storm you would have to leave the relative safety of the cabin (think drum of a washing machine) for the cockpit to make a call. Most of the phones will quickly die when exposed to breaking waves and heavy spray. And you will find it impossible to hear and be heard over the roar of even 30 knots of wind and flogging sails.
Amateur radio has dropped the Morse code requirement, and a General-class license is just a matter of study. Marine SSB is a license for the boat, and a no-test license for the operator. The fee isn't bad.
Both amateur and commercial systems use the same equipment with costs in the $3400.00 range installed on the boat. And it's a one-time cost for the amateur system with no user fees afterwards. You can use the same radio to get weatherfax, call for help, relay messages home, and even do phone patches to your homies. But you can't do business. If it makes you money, it's illegal on the amateur bands. Commercial doesn't care.
In reality, the speed of the systems will restrict photos to very small and very rare. Web-surfing and web page downloads will not be practical. Satellite phone and sat email will allow that usage, but the expense of even a rented phone is nuts!
A year out is the time for making preparations for sailing away, so for those of you heading out like Micky and I next year, get the license, install and test the gear before you go.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Parrotfish in the shallows.
Went for a nice kayak paddle this morning. On the way, while hauling the kayaks on the Seitech dolly, met a couple that volunteers in the park system, Ed and Jennifer Bilby. They're from Greenville, SC and come down here to get free extended stays in return for labor. A good way to cut the cost, but more importantly to stay down here in Bahia Honda longer than 14 nights. They had to wait a year to get a slot.
The wind has died and we timed the tides for a high tide crest to cut down on the flow under the bridge. Didn't see much in most places. The normal sponges and soft corals. Really not electrifying sea life. Then we found an area of maybe 200 feet just beyond the quarry pit that was teeming with stoplight parrotfish mob-feeding on the rocks. These were large super-male fish in their best mating colors. Parrotfish have the normal two sexes, which they go through in phases, all start out female, then male, then the final stage of super-male during which the neon-bright colors are displayed. Try as I mught, I could not get a picture of these fish from above or below the water. I forgot that you have to set a special U/W mode to get it to work well. So, sorry, you'll just have to take my word for the brilliance of the colors.
We also found a pair of horseshoe crabs mating. The smaller male climbs up the females back and hangs on for an extended period of time. I'll have to look up how long they do this and whether they drop over dead afterwards. I know a couple of weeks of rodeo sex would kill me!
As we kayaked through the quarry pit we saw Ed and Jennifer cleaning one of the cabins they have here. They asked us if we'd like to look inside and we jumped at the offer! These are very nice and at $130.00 per night for a two-bedroom efficiency, the best deal in the Keys. If you can get a week or two in them, it's well worth changing everything else in your schedule just to make it work.
The blisters on my legs are popping and the skin is peeling. I went very heavy on the Bullfrog for this mornings trip, but may have to lay low for the rest of the trip.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Water- the not so pretty part!
Micky and I really enjoy the water. In it, on it, around it and drinking it in. Most people do. But for the American psyche it's all about input. That changes when you get a boat, sail or power, or an RV. Or simply take more steps away from civilization than your bladder will allow.
So, shoo the children away from the monitor, I'm going to talk about output.
Except for sweat, every ounce of water we take in is gonna come back out. If you do all the right things it comes out on schedule, has the right color and consistency, and you feel really happy!
It's the colors and consistencies that the water picks up on the way through that cause the problem.
We have evolved a very deeply seated revulsion aimed at our own waste. This is really good as we call those who indulge in coprophagia crazy! And other people's output is absolutely horrible when compared to the daintiness and necessity of our own. Even a loved one makes a horrible mess.
I calculated for a friend that his baby would generate 800 pounds of soiled diapers in a year. Even the Gerber baby is a terrorist on this account.
On a sailboat, it all has to be dealt with. Even though we spend the time and money to simulate the same white porcelain dainties we have at home. The pipe ends about four feet away.
In an RV, we have a home-style facility not 150 feet away. But you wouldn't believe what happens to the water that we drain from the sinks in the kitchen and bathroom when it sits in 85 degree heat for anytime at all.
Which brings me to the point of all this. Waste always flows downhill.
In our RV the highest point of the euphemistically-named "grey water" tank is about 3 inches higher than the drain of the bathtub. When the tank fills, the bathtub does too.
Last night, despite the presence of electronic tank gauges, and a regular schedule of taking away 27 gallons of wonderful at a time, the tank filled. Micky demonstrated to me the DNA-deep nature of our aversion to that smell in no uncertain terms. No amount of rational explanantion absolved me of the smelly fact that the dirty clothes bag was soaking in the fetid, bacteria-rich soup that is our "grey water".
This is not a good use of "Grey". The low, leaden clouds scudding across a New England winter sky. That's grey. The smooth side of a porpoise sliding next to your boat. That's grey. Even the upholstery on a rented 1988 Ford Taurus is grey!
It should be called what it is. Waste. Necessary, ubiquitous, world-choking waste.
What you do with it is what matters. We are evolved to make waste and move on. The problem is there are limited places to move to. So I did the right thing and in the middle of the night, moved the waste from the internal tanks to the portable tank and then put it in the sanitary system provided. All so that I didn't have to move on.
So, shoo the children away from the monitor, I'm going to talk about output.
Except for sweat, every ounce of water we take in is gonna come back out. If you do all the right things it comes out on schedule, has the right color and consistency, and you feel really happy!
It's the colors and consistencies that the water picks up on the way through that cause the problem.
We have evolved a very deeply seated revulsion aimed at our own waste. This is really good as we call those who indulge in coprophagia crazy! And other people's output is absolutely horrible when compared to the daintiness and necessity of our own. Even a loved one makes a horrible mess.
I calculated for a friend that his baby would generate 800 pounds of soiled diapers in a year. Even the Gerber baby is a terrorist on this account.
On a sailboat, it all has to be dealt with. Even though we spend the time and money to simulate the same white porcelain dainties we have at home. The pipe ends about four feet away.
In an RV, we have a home-style facility not 150 feet away. But you wouldn't believe what happens to the water that we drain from the sinks in the kitchen and bathroom when it sits in 85 degree heat for anytime at all.
Which brings me to the point of all this. Waste always flows downhill.
In our RV the highest point of the euphemistically-named "grey water" tank is about 3 inches higher than the drain of the bathtub. When the tank fills, the bathtub does too.
Last night, despite the presence of electronic tank gauges, and a regular schedule of taking away 27 gallons of wonderful at a time, the tank filled. Micky demonstrated to me the DNA-deep nature of our aversion to that smell in no uncertain terms. No amount of rational explanantion absolved me of the smelly fact that the dirty clothes bag was soaking in the fetid, bacteria-rich soup that is our "grey water".
This is not a good use of "Grey". The low, leaden clouds scudding across a New England winter sky. That's grey. The smooth side of a porpoise sliding next to your boat. That's grey. Even the upholstery on a rented 1988 Ford Taurus is grey!
It should be called what it is. Waste. Necessary, ubiquitous, world-choking waste.
What you do with it is what matters. We are evolved to make waste and move on. The problem is there are limited places to move to. So I did the right thing and in the middle of the night, moved the waste from the internal tanks to the portable tank and then put it in the sanitary system provided. All so that I didn't have to move on.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Light
Thinking about light. Micky and I are both drawn to light. We travel to places that have more light than home. Our main hobbies are all outdoors in the light. We enjoy being outside. And we both desparately need to avoid the sun! Micky is so fair-skinned and freckled that sunburn doesn't work out well at all. And I have blister the size of a half-dollar on my right ankle from the sun two days ago. But we all love the sun.
I've really enjoyed the sunsets and the stars here. It's jarring to realize that light takes time to travel. That means that everything we've ever seen was always in the past. From mere nano-seconds in the past, to millions of years in the past. The closer things are the less time it takes for the light to get here. And most of the light we see every day is already thousand of years old before it escapes from the Sun's surface to get here. Sure, it's only about 8 minutes from the time it leaves the surface until it glows up from the bottom of the water here showing us the rays, tarpon, and turtles.
When the sun slides beneath the edge of the planet and the sea darkens to a leaden, rippled sheet, blue-green stars twinkle, not in the sky, but in the warm water sliding under the bridge. In some undeciphered code, tiny shrimp announce to each other their readiness for a reproductive waltz in the swirls.
The stars are next. Their pinpoint, eons-old light shifting position in our thick, hot atmosphere causing them to twinkle. Only the planets are close enough to retain their round disks. All their twinkling is kept to themselves.
Light only takes a little more time to bounce off the moon, but it creates beauty on that trip. Scattering most of the blue out to give us a deep, rusty red ball rolling on the horizon. And after a few minutes, a shimmering ladder of light on the water.
Chickens in Key West.
We went to KW yesterday shopping. It's always a hassle in the old section finding a parking place. And they are rude! Not the tourists, but the natives. I'd be pissed too if I had to work in all that. But laying on the horns is just plain rude! I guess they're not used to little retired women carying big Glock handguns!
Back to the chickens... They're everywhere! Gives new meaning to the term 'free-range'. And they are gorgeous. These aren't the genetic mutant albino dumbasses that get mashed into McNuggets. These are the cocks and hens of art and story. Remember "Chanticleer"? I saw him yesterday standing behind a strip mall near the Winn-dixie. Nearby was his hen and all the chicks. These chickens fly, roost in trees and hide under the houses to get away from the really scary homeless people.
Back to the chickens... They're everywhere! Gives new meaning to the term 'free-range'. And they are gorgeous. These aren't the genetic mutant albino dumbasses that get mashed into McNuggets. These are the cocks and hens of art and story. Remember "Chanticleer"? I saw him yesterday standing behind a strip mall near the Winn-dixie. Nearby was his hen and all the chicks. These chickens fly, roost in trees and hide under the houses to get away from the really scary homeless people.
Blistered!
My legs hurt! This is the first time that I have actual blisters from a sunburn since 1968. I'm gonna lose the skin on my lower legs in a few days and feel really stupid. I know better! When Micky said she wanted to go around the island, I should have stopped it for just that reason. About an hour later, I was committed. Literally, too close to the point where it was equidistant to get back. Bullfrog goes into the kayak- today!
Friday, May 8, 2009
A Lazy Recovery Day Making Plans.
My legs got badly sunburned on the trip around the island. Other than that, Micky and I did not have the expected soreness after paddling for that distance and time. But we still just took it easy yesterday. I did happen across a spectacular flowering whatever growing beside the road in the park. I haven't a clue on what it is, or if it's a native species, but it is gorgeous. Micky thinks it's some version of lily. Any ideas?
We did get out for a little while checking out the monthly rates at Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge. We love the place, but next year we plan on cruising in "Jazz" to the Bahamas. This year we want to use the boat on the Lake and begin the modifications and preparations to transform her into a real cruiser. Although she's a good boat for a week or maybe two in close to American-style marinas, she'd be a pain in the butt for remote locations.
Here's what I plan to do, in a nutshell. Add refrigeration, solar power, and storage.
The boat uses an ice box built into the hull. At the Sailing Club ice is free, so 40 pounds for a weekend is okay. When ice costs $3-4.00 for 10 pounds and takes 2-3 hours to get in a dinghy, when you can get it, an ice box is not a good option.
Once you put refrigeration on the boat, power generation and storage have to be increased or the motor must run for 1-2 hours each day. The fuel cost is not extreme, but the heat in the boat, noise, and wear on the motor are objectionable. Wind and solar are expensive to install, but free after that. I prefer solar to cut down the noise. A rack of solar panels will fit over the bimini aft of the boom and provide a large amount of power in the sunny southern latitudes.
Sailboats have a lot of internal volume that can be used to store all the stuff and food needed for cruising. The problem is most of it is really inconvenient to access. For sailing trim, it's better to have weighty stuff as low as possible, but getting down on all fours to retrieve a can of pork 'n beans gets old. By putting hinges on dinette seats and creating vertical storage areas, we can stack and load much more efficiently.
Fuel storage will be plastic Jerry cans tied to the rails. Water is in similar containers kept below. My boat has good sails, anchors, and electronics. We do need better cockpit cushions, though. And all the bimini/dodger canvas will need replacement.
For Micky and I preparation is half the fun.
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