Time to think about skiing

[Tim R.]

Well, I finally hauled Cordelia for the season today

. I have some projects to work on this winter but that will have to keep me going until spring. Maybe I'll launch in April or even March next year. I will have to wait to see how the winter goes.

Projects include:

- Gelcoat chip repair. I have about 30 chips around the deck, cabin and cockpit that need filling.
- Rewire electrical panel with new panel and breakers.
- Rebed more deck hardware.

And last but not least. Paint touch ups and a new Imron clear coat topsides to help protect her.

 

[BobM]

Imron clear coat? Wow... I have thought about using Poliglow on the non non-skid areas of my boat...but clear coat. Gloss or semi?

 

[rardiH36]

A good worthwhile list of sailboat projects. Though probaby not enough to take 100% of your time. So will you go skiing?

I hope to spend a quite a few days skiing this year. But so far the California ski season is shaping up about the same as for many years now ... not so good. The deadline for early discounts for season passes has passed. I've put off instead to buy when enough snow falls to cover most of the rocks until at least end March. Last year it didn't happen.

For those sailing in San Francisco area, is it just my imagination or has the average wind velocity around the bay (not counting SF Bay's the "slot") diminished over the past several years ... (just like the snow pack)? Its been a few weeks now with not enough wind for a good day's sailing. Maybe a couple of hours of light breeze here-and-there, but then escalating back to nothing.

rardi

 

[Tim R.]

This will be a gloss clear coat over existing Imron paint.

Dupont does make an Imron clearcoat that goes over gelocat but I have no experience with it.

 

[rardiH36]

Where does one buy Imron paints?

 

[Stu Jackson]

For those sailing in San Francisco area, is it just my imagination or has the average wind velocity around the bay (not counting SF Bay's the "slot") diminished over the past several years ... (just like the snow pack)? Its been a few weeks now with not enough wind for a good day's sailing. Maybe a couple of hours of light breeze here-and-there, but then escalating back to nothing.

rardi, c'mon, it's WINTER!!!

This happens every year when the high pressure starts drooping south and the "Canadian winter storm express" starts allowing fronts to pass through. In between fronts, it's calm.

It's why my 85% jib lives on the forestay during the summer, but my BIG 110 comes out for the lighter winter winds.

Sometimes it's nice to be able to cross the slot on 12 knots instead of 25 knots of breeze....

Enjoy it until April.

Harold Gilliam wrote a very good book "Weather of the Bay Area" University of California press, originally written in the 70s, recently updated and reissued in a 2nd edition. That and "Sailing the Bay" by Kimball Livingston, are very useful books for sailing around here.

 

[Tim R.]

Where does one buy Imron paints?

Dealer list:

http://pc.dupont.com/dpc/en/US/html...nication/mar/Marine_Finishes_Distributors.pdf

 

[Dan Johnson]

Tim...

before you start pulling wires off the old panel's breakers, take a roll of masking tape and label each wire temporarily with a tab defining function or location on the old panel so you won't spend so much time head scratching later.

Also, take the time to bundle up wire runs with tie wraps to clean up what could be a rat's nest behind the panel if Ericson wasn't that tidy during manufacturing. Organize the bundles into groups according the breaker position (column on the panel) they will be reattached to and you'll go a long way in making the panel safer to remove and work on in the future.

 

[rardiH36]

Dear Tim::

Thanks for the link to the Dupont Marine paint suppliers ...

 

[Tim R.]

before you start pulling wires off the old panel's breakers, take a roll of masking tape and label each wire temporarily with a tab defining function or location on the old panel so you won't spend so much time head scratching later.

Also, take the time to bundle up wire runs with tie wraps to clean up what could be a rat's nest behind the panel if Ericson wasn't that tidy during manufacturing. Organize the bundles into groups according the breaker position (column on the panel) they will be reattached to and you'll go a long way in making the panel safer to remove and work on in the future.

Dan, Ericson did a fairly neat job. It was the people that worked on it since then that have made a mess. The wiring will all be labeled and terminated at a board in the back of the wiring compartment. I will then run a loom of wires to a hinged panel. This will make access to the wiring and future troubleshooting a breeze.

 

[rardiH36]

rardi, c'mon, it's WINTER!!!

This happens every year when the high pressure starts drooping south and the "Canadian winter storm express" starts allowing fronts to pass through. In between fronts, it's calm.

.

Hi Stu:

.... But don't you think we are having fewer fronts and hence longer periods of calm? Also more of the fronts when they arrive turn the sky gray, maybe produce some rain, but don't bring wind either before or after. As I said maybe my imagination, but I've been in the Bay Area 50 years and something's changed. Even during the summer, it seemed that less wind existed outside the central bay. I was frustrated several times attempting an afternoon's sail in the section between the Richmond Long Wharf, the San Rafael bridge and the back side of the Tiburon Penninsula. A friend that lives above Benecia on a west facing ridge has told me that he and his wife have noticed over the last couple of years that everday high summer time afternoon winds are no longer a sure thing nor typically as strong. I was becalmed several times this summer just south of and under the Bay Bridge. But as you alluded, I need to stop whining and just enjoy the float -- and try not to notice the difference between the GPS's SOG (showing say 2.0 kts in a direction opposite to the desired destination) and my paddle wheel thru- hull knot meter (showing say 0-1 kt)!

Because the wind out of Sausalito varies all over the map on the same day, this summer for the most part I kept my 135% genoa on the furler and I most often went out with the mainsail reefed at the dock. That way I could quickly reduce area sail for transitting the slot and then let it out again for the calmer areas. Even though my Genoa has a rope bundle sewn into the luff to hellp reduce the belly when furled, the genoa still doesn't fill too great with it taken in by many turns. But with 25 kt+ winds, its still a quick ride in the slot. With the genoa fully out for light/moderate winds, and that my boat's masthead rig causes the jib to have greater influence on speed than the mainsail, I don't think that I was sacrificing too much with a constant reef on the mainsail.

It's 11:00AM and WindandTides.com is showing Angel Island winds in the low teens. Also a breeze at the GG Bridge. I think I'll head to the marina. If the breeze is still up then I'm going out.

I've got a copy of "Sailing the Bay" Certainly a store of good info.



Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Stu Jackson]

Happens to me all the time!

rardi -

I was becalmed several times this summer just south of and under the Bay Bridge.

I get that every time I go back to my slip in Alameda!

I was frustrated several times attempting an afternoon's sail in the section between the Richmond Long Wharf, the San Rafael bridge and the back side of the Tiburon Penninsula.

There's always a wind hole there. There's only one area with consistent winds and that's off Paradise Cove, aptly named !!!

This is a bad year to ask me these kinda questions, since I've only been out on Aquavite a half dozen times since last January, with the initial broken leg and the second surgery in late August.

I do look at Latitude 38's link to Bay winds regularly and it seems normal to me for the summer season.

The areas you mention are sometimes wind holes, although I can't account for your Benecian friend's observations.

Try Gilliam's book, too, more localized data. You'd probably find it in a good sized library's reference shelf.

Hope you had a good sail,

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, and to all.

Stu