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#81

Tales and Trip Reports / Sea Pearl 21 Slides into Lake ...

Last post by Charles Brennan - Nov 10, 2024, 09:49 PM

OK, Maybe it slipped into Lake George, Florida and didn't actually slide! 
My Son has been working on a Sea Pearl 21, that he purchased last April and has been itching to take it out, but needed access to a truck.
(Cue: 1800 CALL-DAD.) 
So this morning, I went over to his house near Ocala, Florida.
(Saying : "Near Ocala, Florida" is MUCH easier than saying "his house in Ocklawaha, Florida".) 
We got the truck loaded up with his gear, boat hitched up, lights checked and we were off!
I have missed out on Kayaking this past Spring, Scalloping this past Summer and Sailing this past Fall, all to build a boat in my carport, so I was MORE than anxious to get out on the water on SOMETHING!! 
ANYTHING!! 

Now, some of you may have read of me railing from time to time, about what the State of Florida laughingly    calls "Un-improved Ramps". 
These are basically, wet spots alongside a road or a dirt path, up here in north central Florida.
Here's one:
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How do we know this is a boat ramp?!? 

'Cause the State of Florida spent all of their boat ramps budget, on a sign proclaiming that it's a boat ramp! 
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Quite a far cry from the kind of boat ramps I used to frequent:
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However, we waded around a little and found enough of a slope to get the boat launched without incident
Although at first look, I was wishing my tow strap was available for a rope launch, instead of being back home in the garage.
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The boat tipped enough when I boarded, that we decided we were going to fill up the water ballast tanks, after all.   

We had the wind blowing right into the (Ha!) ramp and since the Son's Honda 2.3hp outboard was subject to Brennan's Motor Dictum:
"The Only Thing An Outboard Motor Does Reliably, Is Fail."   
It did. 
It would start, then lug and stall, then start again, then lug and stall again ad infinitum until the kid's attention was sufficiently distracted to nearly put us into driftwood, stumps and the occasional over-turned Cypress tree, courtesy of recent Hurricanes.
I had to fend off    with his (really nice!) Shaw & Tenney oars a few times and also employed a sweep stroke, every now and again, to keep us from returning back to shore.
Eventually he got it sorted out and got the recalcitrant motor beaten into sufficient submission, that we could get out far enough, to get the sails up and start sailing.
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"Look Dad!! I'm Sailing!!"   

This was his wife's first sailing trip in a boat smaller than a Windjammer.
We explained to her, the origin of the nautical term: BOOM!!   
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The boat was moving along smartly, headed towards the only blue skies we could find.
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Did I mention we were moving along, "smartly"?!? Like, 5.5 knots, smartly?
And on half-reefed sails! 
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What? Is that a little water on the GPS? 

Yes, indeedy. We spent the afternoon zig-zagging, to avoid rain storms, sometimes with limited success.
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We had both the main and mizzen sails reefed 50%, partly in deference to his wife's first sailing trip on a small boat, the son's conservative approach to an unfamiliar boat that he was trying to get a feel for, plus the inclement weather and . . . . .
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 . . . . . . .    WITH ABSOLUTELY NO HELP FROM HIS FATHER!! 
I kept ragging him about sailing so conservatively and pointing out there was a LOT more sail wrapped around those masts.
His wife, (who had no concept of the possible risks to setting full sail on a small boat, when a rainstorm could easily outrun and overtake us) joined in on the heckling.
Fortunately, he ignored both of us, for the sake of safety.
Guess I taught him better, than I knew.

I was heartened to see that I'm not the only one who trashes cockpits, while sailing.
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Felt good to be sailing again! 
Well, OK!! Motoring again! 
(Headed back in, while the son furls the main.)
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I was surprised to see channel markers in a lake, but they had them and seemed to be marking an honest-to-goodness channel.
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We could have gone back and forth all afternoon, dodging rain showers, but a problem cropped up:
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A leak somewhere, that will have to be dealt with.
Since we had no idea how MUCH water, or from WHERE it was coming, the son elected to return to the (snicker!) boat ramp.

So we furled the sails and headed back.
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You can actually see the Mental Checklist of tasks, playing across his face.
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Pointing to the only place where there ISN'T rain scudding across.
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Securing the boat for the trip back home.
Hey!  Who came up with that Great Idea for rotating the license plate out of the way, for launching/retrieving?!? 
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I was a little surprised at how much stuff has to be secured for the road. 
Note the straps that support the lee boards.
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Road Ready!!
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No Trailer Disasters, just a nice uneventful trip to a nearby restaurant and then a leisurely trip home.
Nice day.
I don't know which of us, needed it more.
Charles Brennan

#82

TSBB General Talk / Re: General Talk: OT, not abou...

Last post by Doug SC - Nov 10, 2024, 09:35 AM

I think I would want something like a 10 or 12ga with 3.5" BBs and a thick shoulder pad. Actually it would probably need a magazine. Now think drone swarms.

A close friend hunted with an old model 12 Winchester pump.

#83

TSBB General Talk / Re: OT: Yards and yard work

Last post by Riley Smith - Nov 10, 2024, 08:40 AM

Yep, bumble bees are bad to the bone. So are yellow jackets. Nests in the ground are like land mines. And then we have red wasps and guinea wasps too, that dearly like to hide their paper nests. You'll be stung before you even knew they were there. We keep a close eye and a can of wasp spray handy during wasp season. As far as "lawn" goes, it is called "grass" by me and is whatever grows there and not some artificial carpet, although we have supplemented the natural there on the beach in a few places because it is such a hostile environment. There definitely isn't a sprinkler system. I let the wildflowers grow along the hurricane wall there and it brings tons of butterflies and other wildlife in to the flowers. I don't think the millionaires like it but I don't care. I also left the last two "cigarette" rolls left by storms to decay to build the soil up. Once, everyone cut EVERYTHING down to the water. And immediately cleaned those cigarette rolls. And the resultant erosion was bad. Over time I've demonstrated that little strip between the water and land is of prime importance and have mostly left it to grow. And I've USED that cigarette roll to supplement the soil along the hurricane wall. Yeah, I understand Wayne, believe me I really do, and go as far as I can in that direction.

#84

TSBB General Talk / Re: General Talk: OT, not abou...

Last post by Riley Smith - Nov 10, 2024, 08:18 AM

The drone tech is amazing in it's sophistication and frightening in its implications. Some of the Russian soldiers were wanting shotguns. Now, even saying that word to a military person brings a sneer, but I wouldn't want to leave my foxhole without it! No kidding, the MIC has been looking at all kinds of ways to counter those things, but nothing works across the board. Except lead. A person that hasn't EVER fired a rifle before the military trying to hit that bumble bee with ONE round per shot? You're mostly wasting your time, even one who had had MUCH training would find it difficult. I want Model 12 Winchester in that mud and wet.

#85

TSBB General Talk / Re: A night on the Scamp.

Last post by Riley Smith - Nov 10, 2024, 08:03 AM

I've been threatening to get/make a cover for the catboat all these years and have never made it that far. Only a few times in her life would it have come in handy, as an overnight is unusual and I can usually plan around it. The ONLY thing I miss from watching TV is college ball and baseball...All that trash talking is a riot! A nice trip and thanks for the pics. I know it takes an effort to participate and I'm throwing slurs at the lazy ones. I'm currently scheming to go to the beach for a while. Thanksgiving is coming and we always go there for it. There's dock space so the rigging and unrigging are reduced. And besides, the fish are biting still. Right now, it's raining and maybe just maybe, we won't get TOO much off that Rafel or Roberto or whoever he is that has been sitting there for DAYS. It is no longer a hurricane and I can put the boat back in the water 

#86

TSBB General Talk / Re: A night on the Scamp.

Last post by Doug SC - Nov 09, 2024, 08:29 PM

A couple more photos taken at sunset sailing back in for the night at the club.

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#87

TSBB General Talk / Re: OT: Yards and yard work

Last post by noelH - Nov 09, 2024, 08:18 PM

Living in a water "rich" area. We have good ground water in terms of quality and quantity.  Then there is L. Superior and all the artesian wells along the coastline. But I collect rainwater for all outdoors use except for the end of season power wash Vela gets. But times are changing. Rainfall has become more days apart resulting in drought conditions routinely with relatively heavy rainfall when it happens. So, for the past couple veggie growing season I have had to occasionally use tap water from the well. Little over 300 gallons of rain barrels end up empty.  Water everything by hand using a 2 gallon ancient steel Haws watering can and newer 3 gallon steel pale. Takes a bit of time, but I don't mind. Some people wonder why?  It's a waste not to. Then the comment "you need to get a life". Whatever that means???

No lawn. Planted ground cover that now has spread over what would have been from my perspective too large a lawn. Haven't had to mow, water, or fertilize a lawn for +30 years.  Mid-summer the ground cover becomes a dense field of tiny flowers. In the mornings and early evenings the buzz of bees is relatively loud. One must step very carefully during flowering season. Never new there was such a variety of different bumble bees in this area.  Also discovered bumble bee which are usually very friendly can sting you multiple times. I always thought bees could only you sting you once.

#88

TSBB General Talk / Re: Outboard mounting advice s...

Last post by Timm R Oday25 - Nov 09, 2024, 08:10 PM

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The replacement brackets has a much nicer mounting plate for the outboard and more range of motion .
The original mounting pad was several layers of plywood . Is they anything inherently wrong with using solid wood seriously encased in fiberglass . I'm making 2 versions of the mounting pad . The thicker one will give more clearance for the outboard front mounted controls will and inch or two. Make that much differance in how the boat handles the weight being further back ? You cannot view this attachment.

#89

TSBB General Talk / Re: General Talk: OT, not abou...

Last post by noelH - Nov 09, 2024, 07:56 PM

Brain took a real tangent when the word drone was posted.

Regarding stealth. One of the issues are the radio transmission signal needed to control the drone and the video transmission signal if needing live view. Guessing someone in some country's defense department has designed a finder. Also assuming since drone radio jammers have existed for a time that the drone used to bomb people are preprogrammed to fly to a given target area. Or do as the Ukrainian have done months ago. They have already hacked into DJI. Assuming to mess up any DJI drone flying around that they prefer would be grounded.

Stealth tech if possible for a drone similar to the DJI's agricultural spraying drone would make life even more miserable for people living in a conflict zone.  Imagine a bad person just packing a detonating device to cause the lithium battery to explode. Instead of 50kg of herbicide you stick a 50kg larger lithium battery onto the drone. Might not even need a detonating device. Just the impact with the ground might set off a bad lithium explosion and fire.

#90

TSBB General Talk / Re: General Talk: OT, not abou...

Last post by noelH - Nov 09, 2024, 07:37 PM

Closet UAS flier off and on since post recession. Quadcopter, what most consider as drones are not looked on positively up in this neck of the woods. Scott Bretting in Ashland,WI shot one down back in 2022. Local law enforcement, FAA (not legal to shoot down UASs), FBI (occurred on Tribal Lands) all involved. Bretting has deep pockets and claims not to have after admitting (police report) doing so when he realized shooting down a UAS is a potential felony.

FAA Registration expired in '18.  Just back into flying both FPV, LOS quads and fixed wing platforms last Spring. If you fly outdoors anywhere FAA has jurisdiction. Even over private property. Proof of passing the TRUST program must be carried with you. If you fly anything over 249gm you need to register with the FAA and obtain a Small UAS Registration.  250gm and up the UAS must have a RID, which you register with the FAA. In the past you were limited to a 25mW video transmitter unless you had a HAM license. All this to fly just for fun. Any other reason or if you get any form of payment requires Part 107 and a bunch of different variances for specific situations.

Use to be a "modeler", but with my old age laziness just prefer to fly v. build, tune, fly, crash, repair, repeat until trashed and just salvaging parts. So I did something I never thought I would do. Became part of the DJI "ecosystem".  A real closed "ecosystem" and until recently a bit invasive when it comes to privacy.  But their tech is more or less state of the art.  Only two models flown. Avata2 and just recently purchased Neo. Neo is their least expensive quad until you add all the hardware needed to fly anything but "autonomous, aka selfie mode".  Amazing ~$200 quad. Latest and most advance DJI video system. The previous generation 03 video system alone  use to retail for MSRP of $239, but now reduced to $179 and out of production. Range under ideal conditions is further than you can fly due to battery capacity(supposedly +10km).  In what DJI calls N and S mode with their MotionController3 anyone can fly from day one. No skill really needed. Total opposite if you switch over to real Manual mode with trad. stick controller.  IMHO, DJI came out with a "winner". Price point for what you get is a good value. With the FPV RC3 controller you can select even in flight N,S,or manual mode. Landing and hitting the landing pad became easy when flying Manual mode. Just flip the mode switch to N. Backwash, wind. No issue. Digital quality video live view and recorded. Sub 249gm. Multiple autonomous features including various tracking modes for all you selfie people. Personally could care less about selfie modes. Into immersive flying. Handles up to F4 breeze better than any other 135gm quad I've every flown. Lightweight and underpowered quads fly manual mode require a high degree of skill under those conditions or fly and crash like a fluttering leaf.

The commercial DJI drones are a whole other world in terms of tech. IIRC, one of their commercial docking stations retails in the 5 digit range. Add the vehicle to move the dock around.  I think their agricultural unit that can spray fields has a 50 kg payload capacity. The geo positioning is way more accurate than our toy DJIs. The two I fly if I activate or it goes into auto RTH(return to home) usually misses the landing pad by a good meter. Programing determines when to activate auto RTH based on distance and battery capacity remaining. Good old days we use guess and hope and sometime cook a battery or take a hike to retrieve.  Assuming you can find a downed drone. DJI has a "find my drone" feature. But you still need to take a hike.

Retired neighbor use to be a Tribal Forester.  When he retired the Tribe was using drones for scaling wood. The time savings and cost saving were significant. One "local" commercial drone operator. Until local law enforcement acquired their own drones he was it for search and rescue. Thermal imaging camera on one of his drones. Now you can pay the man mega $$s for locating the deer you shot that you probably should have passed on. Some tourist love to have video footage of themselves. Now they can just purchase their own Neo and stuff it in a daypack with a few extra batteries. Just what we need. More clueless tourist being followed around by their personal Neo dronie. Guessing majority are clueless for the need of TRUST certification or don't care.