Get Ready!

Took advantage of the unusually warm weather to pay a visit to the boat, currently on the hard. There was a fine breeze too. Took the outboard and batteries home for servicing. Looking forward to an early launch this year.

Summer's Over

But a little bit of sailing can still be squeezed in before winter comes.

Launching Day

Bright and early on Tuesday morning, we hooked Vidi Aquam up to the tractor and watched her trundle down the road to the marine railway behind Coastal Marine for launching. There was some anxiety about whether the Yamaha outboard would behave itself, but the new fuel pump did the trick. No thanks to Yamaha for not telling anyone that they had updated their fuel pump design. I am trying to think of something that makes less sense than a sailboat owner worrying about an outboard motor and I can't come up with anything. Once at the Port Clinton Yacht Charters dock, we stepped the mast and I gave the decks a good washing. Then back to sunny Columbus the same day (had a construction meeting Wednesday 8 a.m.).

The Rudder that Went for a Swim

At the very end of September, when Lake Erie sailors are facing up to the reality that it is time to remove the boat from the water, came a sustained and mighty wind out of the west. The waters around Port Clinton are not that deep to begin with, and the wind pushed a lot of the more useful water down to the other end of the lake (and we hope they appreciated it) causing the water level to drop 5 or 6 feet. Coincidentally, that's just about exactly how deep the water normally is where Vidi Aquam is docked. You do the math.
VA, secure at her mooring, moved neither to the left nor to the right. She just moved straight down. One of the dock owners went to look things over and found VA looking pretty, but somewhat abbreviated. Her rudder was gone. Either floated off its pintles or bumped off. I was not too upset when I got the phone call, as I had been thinking of buying a new, more aerodynamic rudder -- and then I found out what new ones cost. That sobered me up a bit. Then, two days after the initial call, came another informing me that the lost rudder had washed up at a neighboring dock. The photo shows the wandering rudder next to my garage door, which gives you a scale. It is about six feet high and weighs about 35 pounds (.024 hectares). It could use a wash and brush-up sometime before April.

Ohio's North Coast

Those who have never been to Ohio, and most of those who live in Ohio, when thinking of Ohio (if they ever do), don't picture such a scene as this. But there it was, just a week ago Sunday evening, as seen from the cockpit of the sloop Vidi Aquam.

I'm Over the Transom

Yesterday I pointed the transom of Vidi Aquam. This had been gnawing at my mind since last year when I repaired the transom and left some epoxy exposed on the outside of it. Unpainted epoxy, when exposed to air and light, turns a very unattractive yellowy brown. Intolerable. Simply intolerable. Now that winter is (almost) over, it was possible to remedy the situation with a good paint job. Now, as your Grandpa always taught, the key to getting a good paint job is surface preparation. So I removed decals, sanded, scraped, removed adehsive left behind by old registration sticker and boat name decals, drove to the chandlery for dewaxer, wiped down the surface with a volatile dewaxer (kids, don't do this at home and if you must do it put out your cigarette first or you will be blown to smithareens), cascaded water on it to see if the water beaded up (indication that wax remains on surface), hit it again with dewaxer, took a break, applied masking tape, drove back to chandlery for a decent brush that I was supposed to pack the day before, then took a deep breath and started painting. I applied one coat of Pettit Easypoxy with a small roller, then tipped it with a brush. Looks like a million bucks. The picture was taken before the masking tape was removed. Next week the outboard goes back on. Eight days later, into the drink she goes. Just in time for the season. BONUS EXPERIENCE: watching the family of eagles that nest near the storage yard. Thanks to DeDe for the video.

Around the World Alone Non-Stop

Today marks the 40-year anniversary of a remarkable feat of single-handed sailing. On April 22, 1969, Robin Knox-Johnston became the first man to sail around the world alone and unaided, without making a single stop or taking on supplies at any point in the journey. A psychiatrist who interviewed him pronounced him "distressingly normal." Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (yes, of course he was knighted) later commented that the psychiatrist seemed a bit off. Knox-Johnston, now 70, keeps up an active career training new sailors for great adventures. Congratulations Sir Robin!