Evanston: soloed
Evanston: soloed
During our first five years here I did not pay much attention to the wind. It was like being a passenger in a car rather than the driver. So I don’t know if this summer is typical; but I have the impression that it is. For the past two months the wind around Chicago has been very light--8 knots or less--except on the forward edge of thunderstorms when it quickly and briefly exceeds 50 knots. There has been very little in between.
And so it was yesterday when I finished with GANNET’s electrical system and took her out on Lake Michigan for the first time by myself. It was a lovely day, but as on the previous sails with Carol on board, the wind was very light and the lake flat. GANNET sails remarkably well in such conditions, even with 112 new pounds of batteries on board, but it isn’t very interesting or instructive. I came back after an hour. I felt the wind pick up some as I was waiting to catch the 3:00 p.m. train home.
I had gone up the day before and worked until 8:00 p.m, completing the installation of the depthfinder display, reconnecting the compass light, wiring two cigarette lighter sockets--now called “12 Volt DC Outlet Receptacles”--and adding an inline circuit breaker to the positive lead from the batteries to the main circuit breaker panel. ‘Main’ seems a bit much for what is so simple a system.
With the wiring of the depthsounder, GANNET’s instrument package is complete. The only other part is a Velocitek ProStart, which runs from AA batteries on a mast mount. While one of its features is to provide exact time and distance to the starting line for racers from its internal GPS, I use it to show speed and course. I’ve had such poor experience with TackTick’s wind unit, that I am not tempted to have more on GANNET than a masthead Windex for wind angle, and my own judgement for wind speed.
When I switched on the depthsounder, it gave two loud beeps and told me that we were in 8.4’ of water.
I had taken along the last inch, or maybe two, in a bottle of Laphroaig and poured myself a glass--actually plastic for although I have bought GANNET her own two Dartington crystal Exmoor double old-fashioned glasses, I don’t yet have a safe place for them on the boat--and waited for it to get dark enough to see if the lights on deck work. When it was, I did, and they do. Running, steaming, and compass.
I also noticed that the moon was full. As I’ve written here before I tend to lose the sky ashore in cities; but never on a boat. Even one in a marina.
The photo above is of GANNET in her temporary home on ‘F’ Dock. She doesn’t quite need a 40’ slip.
At nightfall the temperature dropped into the 60ºs, so I changed into a long sleeved shirt and Levis for my last few sips of Laphroaig on deck.
The marina was very quiet and no one else was around.
GANNET’s open interior contains no lockers and few bins. Having found space and a place for everything necessary on CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE, which was often the home to two people in port, I am confident that I have enough room on GANNET, but do not yet have a clear stowage plan. Additionally there are few surfaces into which anything can be screwed. So I am feeling my way.
Also in the photo, are the Mighty-Bright lights, which are more than enough to illuminate GANNET’s Great Cabin; and to the left of the chain plate, the handheld Icom VHF.
Last weekend I took canisters of powered milk, oatmeal, trail mix, a jar of instant coffee, a Paul Revere tea kettle, and a MSR Pocket Rocket cartridge stove to GANNET. Small boxes of orange juice were already there.
The MSR is similar to the Camping Gaz stove I used on CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE. It gets very positive reviews which often note that it’s only defect is instability. You might think that would be a disaster on a boat. But all I do is boil water, and on GANNET I will do what I did on CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE; hold the tea kettle in one hand, set the canister on the floorboards and hold it in the other. The Rocket had the tea kettle whistling in less than two minutes.
If I decide the Rocket won’t do, one alternative is the Countoure CookMate, a non-pressurized alcohol stove like the no longer manufactured Origo, which is my back-up stove on THE HAWKE OF TUONELA.
EGREGIOUS and CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE had no lifelines. GANNET’s are at shin level and certainly won’t keep you from falling overboard unless you are sitting or lying down. But they are something to hold onto.
The new ones are 3/16” Amsteel, which has a breaking strength of over 5,000 pounds. I bought it from Defender for 84 cents a foot. It is 12 strand and can be spliced, but not by me. I tie knots, which I know reduce breaking strength, but not in this case enough to matter.
I always buy a feet feet more line than I need.
Single digit wind is forecast all weekend. We’ll try to go sailing anyway.
Friday, July 15, 2011