No not the fish that killed Steve Irwin, but the best car ever built, the 2014 Corvette StingRay. I was struck by the styling and numbers on the new models even before they hit the streets and planned to buy one in the Spring of 2015. I had chosen the colors and interior and was waffling about Z51 package and wheels. I also wanted to do the "museum delivery" to make it special, since this may be the last sports car I'll buy.
On our trip back to Augusta, we passed the transporter full of new Corvettes leaving town. I went by Milton Ruben and there in the showroom was the exact car I'd been spec'ing on the website! In detail. So, after showing the car to Micky and then doing an overnight talk, I bought it.
The car is cyber gray metallic with a transparent removable roof, Kalahari brown leather package with the GT seats and five-spoke chrome wheels. The electronics are superb with navigation, Bluetooth, Bose ten-speaker system, and a heads-up display.
The driving experience is world-class. I have never felt such a confident, sure-footed stance and when you ask it to show it's ass- pure American street attitude! The exhaust is a symphony of aggression. The accelerations are controlled and can be calibrated over a range from mild to painful. The StingRay is at once the most exciting car I have ever heard of and a great cruiser. Just like a balanced handgun, the car gives you the freedom to ignore all the loudmouth challenges. When you know the outcome, you can let the insults slide.
Monday, March 31, 2014
New toy and parachutes at night.
Micky and I have been talking for a while about alternatives to hauling scuba tanks into areas where refills are inconvenient, if not impossible. Diving is integral to our lives. We have had such wonderful experiences and adventures, that sitting thirty feet above beautiful and rarely dived coral is just not an option. Once you leave the local area, going ashore for refills involves at least a half day of logistical nightmares not counting the actual transit time to get to a dock near a dive shop.
The choices are to carry eight to ten tanks lashed to the deck, buy and store a high-pressure scuba compressor (with all the maintenance and space problems that entails) or go surface-supplied.
Our answer is the Brownie's Third Lung gasoline-powered floating low-pressure compressor. The unit is extremely well-made and has been used for decades. Setup is a little more extensive than we're used to and the system isn't good for depths greater than around sixty feet despite the actual ninety foot rating. We think the ability to stay at thirty to forty feet for up to 3 hours more than makes up for the minor drawbacks.
One major consideration is the lack of a buoyancy compensator. I really miss my pushbuttons to adjust neutral buoyancy and to rest at the surface. We're working on that.
The float with the compressor is really not a problem at all. After just a few minutes you forget the float is there.
Today was the last day of the lobster season and we had high hopes to catch a limit today, but our other new toy was temperamental. The new Yamaha 20 was reluctant to crank and when I finally got it going after a good hour of fiddling and furious pulling, the engine wouldn't run smoothly at idle and actually did some backfiring through the carburetor when going from idle to mid-range. Ran like a scalded cat at speed, though. Tomorrow it goes to the dealer for what I hope are just spark advance adjustments.
Key West is infinitely interesting. Everyday we see something new and interesting. Today it was Army Special Forces training off Sigsbee. Three times during the day a C-130 Hercules flew over delivering SF teams by parachute into the water along with their rubber boats.
Tonight the training continued. The Hercules came right overhead after the drops. They train like they fight. No lights and only one safety boat whose primary job was apparently marking the drop zone and keeping the lookie-loos away. If they had not lit up the C-130 in deference to their proximity to the Key West airport you could not see the teams chuting in.
The choices are to carry eight to ten tanks lashed to the deck, buy and store a high-pressure scuba compressor (with all the maintenance and space problems that entails) or go surface-supplied.
Our answer is the Brownie's Third Lung gasoline-powered floating low-pressure compressor. The unit is extremely well-made and has been used for decades. Setup is a little more extensive than we're used to and the system isn't good for depths greater than around sixty feet despite the actual ninety foot rating. We think the ability to stay at thirty to forty feet for up to 3 hours more than makes up for the minor drawbacks.
One major consideration is the lack of a buoyancy compensator. I really miss my pushbuttons to adjust neutral buoyancy and to rest at the surface. We're working on that.
The float with the compressor is really not a problem at all. After just a few minutes you forget the float is there.
Today was the last day of the lobster season and we had high hopes to catch a limit today, but our other new toy was temperamental. The new Yamaha 20 was reluctant to crank and when I finally got it going after a good hour of fiddling and furious pulling, the engine wouldn't run smoothly at idle and actually did some backfiring through the carburetor when going from idle to mid-range. Ran like a scalded cat at speed, though. Tomorrow it goes to the dealer for what I hope are just spark advance adjustments.
Key West is infinitely interesting. Everyday we see something new and interesting. Today it was Army Special Forces training off Sigsbee. Three times during the day a C-130 Hercules flew over delivering SF teams by parachute into the water along with their rubber boats.
Tonight the training continued. The Hercules came right overhead after the drops. They train like they fight. No lights and only one safety boat whose primary job was apparently marking the drop zone and keeping the lookie-loos away. If they had not lit up the C-130 in deference to their proximity to the Key West airport you could not see the teams chuting in.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Damn! Time to go home!
This is an unpublished draft from June 2013
There's a great Jimmy Buffett song titled "Why do we ever go home?". I'm feeling that one right now! Sure, in the sun it's "Kill the white-man" hot, but damn it's interesting down here.
Yesterday, we saw a porpoise pair chasing fish right under our dock, an osprey perched on a light pole, and more weird-looking homeless men. You can always offset the ugliness of those that have come to end of US1 as truly the end of their road, with beautiful people riding bikes and running. Sometimes the beauty and the weirdness down here are all in the same guy. For example, the seventy-something year old man running on South Roosevelt in a bright well Speedo and a floppy pink woman's hat drawing approving honks from those passing by. We're eleven degrees south of home and a million miles away.
The boat is stripped down for hurricane season. All the sails and canvas are going home with us, the canopy bows are in the van, the cushions from the cabin are going north, all to be re-done. I've signed up Connor Pope to check the boat weekly and Jay Thienes for final hurricane checks.
Some of the last work done was to verify that I had a bad transducer installed. Now the economic decision is whether to pull the boat out and replace the thing, a process that costs nearly as much as the part, or just put in a "Thru-the-hull" transducer.
The overheat problem was exacerbated by the lack of a reliable cooling water switch. The switch was broken off at the screw. The tachometer sender is bad (wiring and tach itself are good). I cleaned out the heat exchanger and checked all the hoses. Changed the thermostat. The engine still seems to run hotter than I'd like.
There's a great Jimmy Buffett song titled "Why do we ever go home?". I'm feeling that one right now! Sure, in the sun it's "Kill the white-man" hot, but damn it's interesting down here.
Yesterday, we saw a porpoise pair chasing fish right under our dock, an osprey perched on a light pole, and more weird-looking homeless men. You can always offset the ugliness of those that have come to end of US1 as truly the end of their road, with beautiful people riding bikes and running. Sometimes the beauty and the weirdness down here are all in the same guy. For example, the seventy-something year old man running on South Roosevelt in a bright well Speedo and a floppy pink woman's hat drawing approving honks from those passing by. We're eleven degrees south of home and a million miles away.
The boat is stripped down for hurricane season. All the sails and canvas are going home with us, the canopy bows are in the van, the cushions from the cabin are going north, all to be re-done. I've signed up Connor Pope to check the boat weekly and Jay Thienes for final hurricane checks.
Some of the last work done was to verify that I had a bad transducer installed. Now the economic decision is whether to pull the boat out and replace the thing, a process that costs nearly as much as the part, or just put in a "Thru-the-hull" transducer.
The overheat problem was exacerbated by the lack of a reliable cooling water switch. The switch was broken off at the screw. The tachometer sender is bad (wiring and tach itself are good). I cleaned out the heat exchanger and checked all the hoses. Changed the thermostat. The engine still seems to run hotter than I'd like.
Tango Is Ready!
Okay, we had a busy year with family matters over the summer, but now it's time to catch up with the blogging.
At the end of February we declared "Tango" a "fine sea-bird and quite fast, if well-handled" and ready for habitation. My sister and her husband Ricky did a beautiful and skillful job of remaking the salon cushions. Over the summer, I rebuilt the bimini and dodger. The new depth transducer works well, the engine runs cool and well. There are no leaks.
The only drama was the operation of the dinghy engine. I never could get that damned black hearted Mercury to run at idle. Solved the problem with a Brand change to a new Yamaha 20 hp. That dink is fast!
In fact, the whole boat is fast and gorgeous! I don't want to imply that we're through, the "to do" list is a forever thing, but the priorities are less pressing, the work less involved.
I did one innovative and noteworthy thing this spring. Every off-shore boat needs to be able to communicate on the HF bands for weatherfax, information, and email. I installed my Yaesu FT-897 with the tuner feeding a separate 50-foot Stainless steel wire from the port davit to the masthead and laid out a "KISS-SSB" tuned counterpoise in the aft Lazarette. I've had great success with this and good signal reports from Turks and Caicos and the Midwest.
Another winner is the Engel holding plate in the refrigerator. Over killing the number of plates with a second system has made for a truly useful reefer. I can make ice!
At the end of February we declared "Tango" a "fine sea-bird and quite fast, if well-handled" and ready for habitation. My sister and her husband Ricky did a beautiful and skillful job of remaking the salon cushions. Over the summer, I rebuilt the bimini and dodger. The new depth transducer works well, the engine runs cool and well. There are no leaks.
The only drama was the operation of the dinghy engine. I never could get that damned black hearted Mercury to run at idle. Solved the problem with a Brand change to a new Yamaha 20 hp. That dink is fast!
In fact, the whole boat is fast and gorgeous! I don't want to imply that we're through, the "to do" list is a forever thing, but the priorities are less pressing, the work less involved.
I did one innovative and noteworthy thing this spring. Every off-shore boat needs to be able to communicate on the HF bands for weatherfax, information, and email. I installed my Yaesu FT-897 with the tuner feeding a separate 50-foot Stainless steel wire from the port davit to the masthead and laid out a "KISS-SSB" tuned counterpoise in the aft Lazarette. I've had great success with this and good signal reports from Turks and Caicos and the Midwest.
Another winner is the Engel holding plate in the refrigerator. Over killing the number of plates with a second system has made for a truly useful reefer. I can make ice!
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