Sailing and restoring #9874

[AaronD]

I don't know the science behind it -- but all truck and trailer calamities happen on Sundays. The good thing is it makes the trip unforgettable. Glad it turned out as good as it did.

Isn't that the truth? Ours was about 11:30 PM on Saturday night - and yes, we won't forget that one! Thankful for people who helped get us back on the water, so our vacation was saved.

A few notes about having the boat + trailer towed, as I'm sure I won't be the last C-22 sailor to find him/herself in a bind:

• BoatUS was really professional - every time I called them, they checked on our safety ("Are you in a safe place? Are all your family members safe? ..."). And they were always really clear about timeline and next steps.
• Unsurprisingly, I suppose, it was totally up to us to find a good destination to tow to. BoatUS didn't have any advice there.
• The tow truck they dispatched was a standard automotive flatbed, and the driver hadn't ever put a boat trailer on before. That was my only negative surprise about the experience - I somehow thought that BoatUS towing contractors might be selected for boat-trailer towing experience. But maybe that's too rare a skill-set to expect, even in near the Puget Sound and Lake Washington.
• Our C-22 trailer just barely fit on the truck widthwise - when we got her aligned just perfectly, we could get her on the bed, but I think one or both tires were touching the side rails. A trailer wider than our C-22 would be out of luck (or waiting for an even larger tow truck - no idea what BoatUS might have done then).
• As I said above, our trailer jack (a Fulton 1500 lb XLT) made it through the adventure. But even that flexed a bit while being winched. I think a smaller one might have dropped the tongue on the truck, for an even bigger adventure. I wish I had an even beefier roller system. Suggestions?
• The flatbed was about 3.5' off the ground, so the total height was < 12'. No problems with overpasses. Thankful for a mast riding flat - my old, taller mast crutch that held the aft end up another 12-18" might have been a problem.
• Once the boat was on the truck (and chained down), she seemed to ride just fine, and we haven't seen any subsequent problems.
• As alluded above, the brakes + hubs + bearings were relatively new and in good shape. The only thing I know of that might have triggered the problem was a car ahead of me slamming on their brakes in traffic, forcing me to stop shorter than I normally would - I wasn't following especially closely, but I noticed it. By the time we noticed the failure, the bearing buddy was gone, so we'd lost all the grease.

Hope somebody finds that helpful.

 

[AaronD]

How are you deploying those 200 watts of solar?

4x 50w semi-flexible panels, on the bimini with velcro. Or laid out on the cabin + bow when at anchor if we want the bimini down. I have 2 through-deck connections wired in parallel - one near the stern pulpit and one near the bulkhead. So I can plug in from either place.

I'm not very happy with the velcro solution - the velcro sticks to the panels great, but often pulls off the bimini; even stitching in a few places hasn't worked all that well. I may try a magnet solution instead next year - if it works, I'll post pictures.

We have a Rogue 20A MPPT controller. Good design, recommended by @Maine Sail. And made here in Oregon, until they stopped making them. And now we have a Sterling ProCharge shore-power charger. Pictures to come someday (don't hold your breath).

 

[Gene Neill]

The Bimini makes sense. I could see doing that in order to run a fridge, assuming 200W on the Bimini plus 60W on the stern pulpit would get the job done.

What about some of those little twist-lock fastener thingies, in lieu of Velcro? The kind most mainsail covers use?

 

[Hayden Watson]

The Bimini makes sense. I could see doing that in order to run a fridge, assuming 200W on the Bimini plus 60W on the stern pulpit would get the job done.

What about some of those little twist-lock fastener thingies, in lieu of Velcro? The kind most mainsail covers use?

They are called "common sense fasteners" and they would be a good choice for this use.

 

[AaronD]

Solar System (failed)

First, the failed attempt. I bought a Genasun GV-10 MPPT controller, which by all accounts is a good controller. The unit is small, and the standby power draw is measured in microamps (yes, that's micro). But I found out too late that the voltages aren't programmable. Its default settings are pretty reasonable for flooded batteries (which are more tolerant of off-spec voltages anyway). But I really wanted to take good care of our expensive AGM batteries. So I replaced the Genasun with a Rogue MPT-2024 20A charger (@Maine Sail recommended it at the time; unfortunately, it's not manufactured any longer). I gave the Genasun to my brother-in-law; hopefully it will serve well on their camp trailer.

One note: Genasun will configure a unit with custom voltages. I just decided the price tag for that route was too close to the larger Rogue controller with a remote display.

 

[AaronD]

Solar System (better)



I installed the Rogue controller in the coffin, and the remote display on the port side, along with the electrical panel. I love having a remote display accessible in the cabin. As I noted above, the Rogue is discontinued; if I were starting again, I expect I'd use a Victron, which has Bluetooth - and I think the full setup would be slightly cheaper.



I used Scanstrut cable clams to pass the wiring through the deck - one near the stern pulpit, for plugging in panels in the cockpit, and one at the front of the cockpit, next to the front bimini mount, with wiring leading up the bimini support.



I couldn't justify the cost of Solbian panels. For a full-time cruiser, I'm sure they'd be the right choice, but for my usage, I had to stick with cheap off-brand alternatives. Available at Amazon for ~$100 each. At one point, we had a single 100w, but it failed after a few seasons (we think a friend walked on it when it was sitting in the cockpit). When I replaced it, I decided on 2x 50's instead. For a few reasons:

1) They're easier to store when not in use (usually under the V-berth cushions)
2) If we kill another one, we still have a working (if degraded) solar system
3) The price difference between 1x 100w and 2x 50w is pretty minimal

A couple seasons ago, I had to do some remote work during our cruise in the San Juans, so I added another 2x 50's to account for the laptop consumption, so we're up to 4 now - 2x Allpowers, 2x Renogy - the latter seem better made, but all 4 work. I'm pretty certain hard panels would come closer to their rated power output, but the semi-flexible panels are better on a bimini and stow under a cushion - definitely the right choice for us.

Historically, our power budget (when I'm not telecommuting) is ~350 watt-hours per day (or about 30 Amp-hours). I've heard that estimating 5 hours per day x <rated panel wattage> is a reasonable rule of thumb. That would be 500 watt-hours. In the Pacific NW, I estimate 3.5 hours instead, and that seems to come pretty close. That's probably partly related to clouds and rain (it is the PNW, after all), and partly that I don't always pull out the panels if we don't have the bimini up (they work on the cabin-top, but get in the way there).

When we leave Breezy in a slip, I usually leave a panel or two in the cockpit. The batteries are always topped off when we return.

Cost: ~$800
4x 50w panels: ~$400
MPPT controller and display: ~$300
2x deck pass-throughs: ~$50
Wire, connectors, velcro: ~$50

Time: Unrecorded (installation and updates were spread over several years). But I'd guess you can do something similar in ~8 hours.

PS - I have a small 30w panel propped up outside my shop to keep the batteries charged over the winter. I had some extra romex wire from wiring the shop, so I ran a cable from the exterior to the boat (hanging down from the ceiling) and plug it into the normal MC4 connectors. That system wouldn't work in the far north (where the panel would be covered in snow), but here in western Oregon, snow is a rarity. And even our grey winter days provide enough juice to keep up with the parasitic drain. That way I don't have to disconnect the batteries and I can do winter electrical projects without constantly connecting + disconnecting.

Protip: Remember to disconnect the winter charge cable before pulling the boat out of the shop. It turns out that MC4 connectors pull off of romex wire pretty cleanly, but they can't be reused. We'll see if I remember that next spring.

 

[Gene Neill]

Historically, our power budget (when I'm not telecommuting) is ~350 watt-hours per day (or about 30 Amp-hours).

Wow, that's fantastic. We consume about 15Ah/day WITHOUT a fridge. What fridge do you have, and can you describe how it is used?

 

[AaronD]

Wow, that's fantastic. We consume about 15Ah/day WITHOUT a fridge. What fridge do you have, and can you describe how it is used?

Sorry for the confusion. That 30 Ah/day was before the fridge. Fridge post coming.

 

[AaronD]

Freezer

I mentioned this in a trip report, but I'll post a couple pictures and a little extra info. We added a little compressor freezer for this year, primarily to re-freeze sealed ice packs for the other coolers. We use Cooler Shock sealed ice packs and Coleman Xtreme coolers - in our PNW cruising grounds, we can usually get 3-4 days from a couple ice packs. And after that, it was bagged ice - resulting in soggy lettuce, rotting peppers, dripping cheese, etc.

So we tried an Alpicool K18 as a freezer. It fits 3 of the large Cooler Shock ice packs, with room on top for a few ice cream bars or a couple quarts of Ben-N-Jerry's. We cycled freshly-frozen ice packs into our coolers every day or two, and it worked great.



There are a lot of manufacturers of little compressor refrigerator / freezers. I looked at:

• Dometic (~$800)
• Iceco (~$400). Recommended by a friend. It looks like the compressor is probably better than the Alpicool, and might be more efficient.
• Various other cheap Chinese imports.

I picked the Alpicool over those because:

1. At $220, it was by far the cheapest
2. It comes with an AC adapter as well, which we might find convenient for use off the boat.
3. Unlike the small Iceco, the Alpicool K18 has flip-out handles. I wanted some way to strap it down in the coffin, and didn't want to have to resort to the sort of surgery I did on a $30 cooler (risking $30, fine. Drilling holes in the ends of a $400 item is a bigger risk).
4. Of the Chinese imports, it was the brand I saw sticking around for the couple years I sat considering this project.

I mounted it in the coffin with a couple footmans' loops, close enough to stern that I can access it reaching through the port lazarette. Not comfortably - I wouldn't want our main cooler there - but it works for a freezer that we only open ~1x daily. It's controlled by an iPhone app, so I can set or check the temp without sticking my head in the coffin.

I wired it permanently via an inline fuse to our switched power bus in the coffin (and bought a second DC power cord to replace the one I used for that wiring, in case we want to use it on a non-boating trip).

As I noted in our trip report, the freezer used up most of our ~100Ah usable battery capacity in ~60 hours without solar, or ~40 Ah/day. I didn't try to track it very precisely, but after we were recharged and turned it back on, I think that usage rate was pretty consistent. So in the PNW, our 200w of solar won't quite keep up with the freezer along with our other electrical usage (~20-30 Ah, as I noted in the solar post above), but it will keep us going for several days. And if necessary, it's no problem to turn off the freezer for a couple days until we get back to sunny days or shore power - just pop the freshly-frozen ice packs in the coolers and we're fine for a few days.

I can't really comment about longevity of the Alpicool, but it's worked fine for us thus far.
EDITED TO ADD: The Alpicool's insulation isn't ideal for use as a freezer. It's sometimes cool to the touch, and I noticed some condensation in the coffin. I plan to try wrapping it in XPS foam insulation; perhaps that will reduce the condensation (and might reduce power consumption too).

Cost: ~$250, including a little wire and connectors, fuse holder, a couple footmans loops, etc.
Time: 2 hours
Weight added in the coffin: ~25 lbs

 

[AaronD]

Shore Power



We have 200w of solar, which generally keeps everything running. And I do like not having to think about the hazards of 110v AC. So, for most boats our size, I'd advise sticking with just solar.

This is really more forward-looking - to the days when there will be just two of us cruising together. Don't get me wrong - we love sailing with our kids. But it won't be too many more years before our cruising schedule won't be limited by the school calendar, so we'll be out when it gets a little colder. Thus, a little heat might be nice. We bought a small 12v heater (Caframo markets it as a defroster, but in a little C-22 cabin, 100w warms things up quickly). At ~8A, we could run it for an hour or two per day on batteries. But our solar wouldn't keep up indefinitely, so we'd want to be able to recharge when we get back to power. I suppose we might someday add a real (vented) propane heater, but that's not in the cards anytime soon.

And - for days on the other end of the heat scale - we have our Alpicool freezer. Thus, we looked into 'real' shore power. That and the fact that I'm a geek and like playing in my shop...

So on to the actual system:

I found a Blue Sea 8027 panel on eBay (new) for $120, and a used ProMariner FS30 fail-safe galvanic isolator for $90 (@Maine Sail details how to test a galvanic isolator, and this one checks out good).

I mounted the panel in a sturdy plastic enclosure, with a little FRP reinforcement on the interior where the panel screws in. I learned a lot more after the initial panel purchase, and I ended up replacing the main breaker with an ELCI version (from here at the SBO shop; as always, they were really helpful!). In retrospect, it might have been cheaper to buy an ELCI panel up front; live and learn.

I used a Marinco EEL cordset (a little better than their economy version) and replaced the boat end with a SmartPlug end. I originally used a 25-foot cordset, thinking that should be plenty for a 22-foot boat. But no, it turns out some marina pedestals are a fair distance from the bow, so I replaced with a 50-footer this winter.

I decided to buy the Marinco over SmartPlug's own cord because I wanted the female end as well to make a pigtail for use in my shop (I could have bought a shore-power style outlet for my shop, but that would cost more and seemed overkill).



I elected to install the SmartPlug inlet in the port-side cockpit pocket, planning to route the shore power cord over the coaming near the bulkhead and underneath the cockpit cushion back to the inlet. Hopefully that will avoid tripping hazards, and it keeps everything out of the way. That required a bit of 1/8" fiberglass epoxied in place, to create a level surface for the mount.


I wired a single hospital-grade GFCI, mounted in an exterior electrical box next to the panel (I may chain another outlet or two off this GFCI eventually, as we figure out where they'd be useful). I wired those connections with heat-shrink fork connectors (the screws are captive, so you can't use a ring connector). Don Casey says that you can use stranded wire in the clamp-style outlets (commercial-grade screw-tightened clamps - not the spring-loaded connections I don't even trust for home wiring). But a crimp connector seemed more familiar to me, so I picked up a package of forks.

That was the entire system the first year, and it went essentially unused. Last year, I added a Sterling ProCharge Ultra battery charger (trying to spread out the boat bucks just a bit). I bought it from @Maine Sail (when his store was still open), and selected a 40A charger based on the following logic:

1. We currently have 2x 105Ah Lifeline AGMs, for a total (new) capacity of 210 Ah. @Maine Sail quotes Lifeline as saying .2C is the minimum. That would be at least 40A of charging capacity. That recommendation might be more applicable to sizing an inboard's alternator, in an effort to get the batteries back up close to 100% with relatively short engine runs, but I went with it anyway.
2. When it's time to replace the AGMs, we might go for LifePO4s, which would also like plenty of charge current.
3. When plugging into shore power, we'll almost always have 8+ hours of charge time. Including the freezer, lights and laptop charging, we might pull as much as 5-6A while plugged in. So at 50% discharge, a 20A charger should bring us back to ~80% in ~4-5 hours, with another ~3 in absorb. Fine, but not a lot of headroom. The 40A was only $76 more than the 20A, and the connections are real 1/4" lugs instead of the screw clamps on the smaller models.

A couple pictures of the back side of the panel - one of the original installation, and another with the voltmeter and charger wiring. The jumper block in the latter one is 12v, for panel LEDs, etc.


The only other change I made is a flip cover on the AC panel (which you can see in a couple of the most recent pictures). The panel seemed well protected in the coffin, but we realized once last year that shoving a duffel back into the coffin had flipped the master breaker and turned the charger off overnight. That was a pretty easy fix; tapped mounting holes directly in the aluminum panel and screwed it on.

The system is working great. No complaints thus far.

Time: 19.75 hours
Cost: ~$1050

• Marinco EEL 50-foot cordset: $100
• SmartPlug Inlet: $46 (Amazon return)
• SmartPlug retrofit connector: $75 (Amazon)
• Blue Sea 8027 AC Panel: $120 (eBay, new old stock)
• ELCI Breaker: $125 (SBO)
• Electrical box for AC panel: $28 (Amazon)
• ProMariner FS30 Galvanic Isolator: $90 (eBay, used)
  • (I couldn't justify a $1k+ isolation transformer for a system of this size
• Hospital grade GFCI Outlet: $20 (Amazon)
• Wire and fork connectors: ~$30 (GenuineDealz)
• Charger: ~$360 w/shipping (marinehowto.com)
• Digital Voltmeter (mounted in AC panel box): $15 (Amazon)
• Ground bus: $20
• Flip cover: $15
• I already had other assorted connectors, some scraps of #6 cable, and #6 lugs

PS - Now that I have a 50' cordset, I plan to reassemble the shorter one, making an extension cable of ~23'. When my order for yellow heat-shrink tubing arrives, I will crimp it together (with good crimps). PM me if you're interested.

 

[Hardhead]

Thanks for the informative post - looks great!

 

[AaronD]

Tohatsu Sailpro Additions

A couple small additions to our ~2010 Tohatsu 6hp Sailpro that others might find helpful

TinyTach tachometer / hour meter



The setup is really simple - just wrap a sensor wire around the spark plug wire, and set it to 1-cylinder mode. There's a gap in the bottom of the cowling where you can route the sensor wire (along with the alternator wiring, in my case). I zip-tied the tach to the tiller arm, and that's worked fine for a couple seasons (the larger wire you see in the picture is a charge cable wired to the magneto; twist-tied to the tiller while not in use). You could also mount it to the cowling with Velcro; a permanent mount to the cowling probably wouldn't work, because you want to remove the cowling occasionally and don't want to dangle it by the tach wire.

Quick-release Flush Attachment (T-H Marine QF-2K-DP T-H Quick Flush Kit)

The Tohatsu has a flush port on the bottom, with a bolt plug (like a oil pan's drain plug, but smaller). The standard flushing system clamps to a hose and screws in to the outboard.



But I found that rather onerous at the dock.
1) You have to reach out from the dock or the boat with a wrench and try to unscrew the bolt without dropping it in the water (yes, I bought and carried some spares...)
2) I never got the hose to attach to the flush attachment perfectly straight, so starting the threads was never easy (again, while leaning out and reaching underneath the outboard)

I skipped flushing more often than I'd prefer.

This gizmo is like an air-hose attachment - when removed, it auto-seals. I just leave the female end on a hose in my dock box (or in the V-berth bilge locker on a longer cruise). It screws directly to the garden-hose female end I had already attached to the Tohatsu flush gizmo.


Yes, it looks a little hackish with the scrap of green hose to connect it to the original flush attachment. Oh, well. It's worth it to connect and disconnect in a few seconds. It leaks just a little while the motor is running, but only a few drips, so it's not compromising the overall coolant flow.

It also makes it easy to test the motor at home, or run it dry at the end of a season.

Cost:
--TinyTach: $58
--T-H Marine Flush kit: $25 @eBay
--Tohatsu flush adapter: $7 @East Marine
+a scrap of garden hose and a fitting from the spares in the shop
Time: A few minutes

 

[pclarksurf]

I'm not coming down until I see the Margarita machine in play Outstanding as usual !!!

 

[AaronD]

I'm not coming down until I see the Margarita machine in play Outstanding as usual !!!View attachment 203430

I thought that was on YOUR list for when we go buddy-boat cruising?

 

[Leeward Rail]

Yes, it looks a little hackish with the scrap of green hose to connect it to the original flush attachment.

Should be easy enough to do that whole thing in metal. Almost looks like a product idea..

 

[AaronD]

Should be easy enough to do that whole thing in metal. Almost looks like a product idea..

A good project for someone who likes playing with a metal lathe... The flush port is M8 / 1.25mm thread pitch. The standard plug bolt is 8mm long; I found 12mm long bolts as my spares, and those seem to fit in fine, so there's a little room to play with.

Let me know if you decide to go into production - I'll buy one from you. In the meantime, maybe I'll look for a scrap of black hose so it blends in a little better.

 

[AaronD]

Halyards - Dyneema + Staset

I thought I'd posted this long ago, but when I went looking, I found it in my file of partially-written-posts. I have no idea how old the wire / rope halyards were when we bought Breezy. But the line was getting stiff, I didn't trust the wire, and I wanted to trim some weight aloft. So I replaced the halyards with all-synthetic lines.


First Attempt (partial failure)
I tried Allen's Sta-Set to Amsteel splice - 1/8" Amsteel is cheap, as is 1/4" Sta-Set. The 1/8" Amsteel is skinny enough to fit in the existing masthead sheaves, and with stretch comparable to the wire. Of course, bare Amsteel is hard to handle and won't hold in a cleat or clutch, so we need a tail of something larger and more comfortable - thus the Sta-Set. When the sails are raised fully, the working line is almost all Amsteel, with only a few feet of Sta-Set in front of the clutch, so the system is nicely low-stretch.

That was the theory. And the short story is that it mostly worked. But there are a few issues, and I ended up trying again (2nd try below).

1. The splice is a real bear. I managed it, but just barely. Easier to just buy Amsteel or Endura 12 for the full ~60' halyard length and cover the tail with Tenex or the cover from 1/4" Sta-Set. That's not much more expensive, and much easier than the splice.
2. I found that the 1/8" Amsteel could jump out of the sheave on my T-38 deck organizers. That hung up the main halyard once, in enough of a breeze that I nearly had to cut it to drop the main (It's possible a T-25 would have avoided this - the strength is certainly adequate for a C-22, and the smaller organizer have a little less space around the sheaves).
3. When I said that the Amsteel would fit in the standard halyard sheaves, I didn't think about the long bury from the eye splice (72x diameter = 9"). When the sails are raised fully, the bury ends up in the sheaves. So I ended up spending the $40 ($10 each?!? Really?) to replace the sheaves with the CD all-line models. If I were starting over again, I'd terminate it with Allen's Hybrid Soft Halyard Shackle, which keeps the bury short (and thus leaves the Amsteel thin up to about 3" from the bitter end). That way, I could continue to use the original sheaves without risk of chafing.

Second Try (success this time)
The next winter, I rebuilt the halyards, using 5/32" Endura 12, partially covered with the cover from 1/4" Sta-Set. Since we're not depending on the Sta-Set for strength, its higher stretch doesn't matter. And 5/32" makes a very nice core for 1/4" cover. The splice is the same as Samson describes for stripping the cover from Warpspeed.

This time, I ran the cover a little further, such that it runs through the deck organizer and the mast-base turning blocks and we don't risk the thin line jumping out of a sheave again. They've been working great for the last few seasons.

And we save some weight:

Stock halyards (ignoring the slightly longer jib halyard for the calculations):
35' 5/16" Sta-Set (.031 lbs/ft)
25' 1/8" cable (.03 lbs/ft)
Total: ~1.8 lbs each (~.8-.9 lbs on the mast when the sail is raised)
New:
--35' 1/4" Sta-Set (.018 lbs/ft)
--25' 5/32" Amsteel (.0065 lbs/ft)
--Total: .75 lbs each (~.18 lbs up high when raised)

Those are rough numbers that don't account for overlap in splices, etc, but overall it saves about 1.5-2 lbs up high.

Estimated cost (possibly out-of-date):
Hamilton Marine often carries 50' and 100' mill ends of Sta Set and Endura 12.
2x 100' 5/32" Endura 12 ($32 each)
2x 50' 1/4" Sta-Set ($10 each)
Total: $84 + shipping, and you have a bunch of line left over for soft shackles, etc. (or probably enough for a reefing line if you want to do that too)

West Marine (if they ever again have a 40% off all line sale):
120' 1/8" Amsteel: $.59/ft - 40% = $43
70' 1/4" Sta Set: $.89/ft - 40% = $37
Total: $80. But you don't have any line left over, and WM doesn't carry 5/32" Amsteel, which is a better core size for 1/4" Sta Set cover.

Time: ~2-3 hours splicing. A nice way to spend a winter evening.

Protip: I've since learned that, while splicing old double-braid is generally impossible, Amsteel is slippery enough that you can feed it into old cover, so it would be possible to reuse a section of 1/4" dacron as the cover.

 

[AaronD]

Coming soon...

The current project - with my 11-year-old daughter - a 3D printer kit. I have a few boat parts in mind when I learn a little 3D modeling. OK, with that in mind, perhaps “Coming someday...” is a more accurate description.

 

[pclarksurf]

If only you could print in stainless steel -- jealous, some day an X-carve needs to land in my pile of tools

X-Carve Pro CNC Machine | Professional CNC System

Inventables, Inc.

www.inventables.com

 

[AaronD]

San Juans 2022

This time with a brief excursion to Canada, and 2 days on Lopez with friends. 11 days total.

Anacortes -> Blind Bay (Shaw Is) -> Port Sidney -> Sidney Spit -> Parks Bay (Shaw Is) -> Fisherman Bay (Lopez) -> Olga (Orcas) -> James Is -> Anacortes

Crossing Haro Strait to Canada was pretty smooth. 3' rollers and a nice reach on the way over - never dangerous, but it scared the youngest crew. Smoother on the way back.

Beautiful anchorages



Veggie tofu scramble for breakfast (and several batches of crepes, not pictured)



Fireworks from our friends' balcony.


And a house which also included a dry roof, huge beds, and real showers - much appreciated by the crew. We'd woken in the morning to brisk rain and thunder booming while at anchor in Parks bay. Never something one likes to hear while sitting under a 25' aluminum rod. I usually don't worry much in a marina - there's always someone a dock or two over in the big-boat row with a MUCH taller mast. But it feels pretty exposed while at anchor...

A little paddling, although less than normal, as the 14-year-old crew has long-COVID fatigue and spent a lot more time than normal in the hammock chair with a Kindle.



A few eagles, herons, and a nearby Osprey with her catch (not pictured - I'm not fast enough with a camera, even if I carried the big one while salt water cruising).