Makes the Oregon law about fuel pumped only by station personnel suddenly seem forward thinking.what about the gas pumps?
Makes the Oregon law about fuel pumped only by station personnel suddenly seem forward thinking.what about the gas pumps?
Been doing a lot of reading on this: Corona virus is easily killed by washing in soap and water, so laundry contamination is no issue. The washing machine, coins, door handle or fuel pump handle are a concern, so wash hands well after handling and before touching face. In a laundrymat put down your own clean cloth on a table or machine before you place clean clothes on it, then put the cloth right into the laundry bag for the next wash. It can spread airborne if a cough or sneeze makes it aerosol/airborne, so stay upwind or keep the wind abeam of the other person. I doubt if fuel vapors would matter.Laundry mats are hard to avoid when living aboard. I'd also be interested to know how the airborne virus does around fuel dock and gas stations? Do the fumes have any affect on it? A contaminated door handle is a real problem, but what about the gas pumps? Maybe there's an inherent germocide surrounding refined fuel stations.
Glad you made it home. Be well and stay safe!Quick Smitty update. We left Antiqua on Wednesday around 10 AM. We had intended to leave at 3 AM to catch the tail end of the wind and ride that as it diminished. However COVID-19 has the local authorities so messed up we couldn't checkout on Tuesday after spending several hours trying. Still took 3 more ours on Wednesday to finally get clear. They have no concept of weather windows. so we were left with the choice to leave right a way and have to motor more than we wanted or wait until Saturday and have potential large seas for our Oh-my-gawda Passage (Nick name for the Anegada, between Saint Maarten and BVI). It's 200 nm and we carry just enough fuel to make that trip under good conditions. Normally this wouldn't be an issue because we would stop at Saint Maarten for fuel. But the islands are closed, even for fuel and rest. We we had to do it as a straight shot.
We had winds around 14 knots dipping to 10 for the first half day. We were able to sail at about 5 knots. Unfortunately the angle was wrong and left us wishing for a whisker pole.
The first night the winds dropped to 11 to 9 knots. We were able to maintain sailing at 3.2-4 knots through the night. Near day break we had some squall lines. We rode the squall line and were able to get to 5 knots again. When the squalls broke up, we had no wind and had to turn on the motor. We had covered 100 nm and this resolved the fuel issue. Well at least as it relates to quantity. We turned on the engine as SXM began to fade from sight.
We have been fighting a fuel contamination issue since hurricanes Irma and Maria. In the next 24 hours of motoring we went through 5 fuel filters and had something clog the fuel line once. We were able to deal with it and got onto our mooring this morning.
Coming past St. John was a surreal sight. Anchorages that are normally empty were packed with boats. Refugees waiting for the weather to be more favorable for a return to the Mainland. We are seeing a lot of cruisers who are having significant plan changes thanks to COVID-19.
Good luck everyone. Stay safe. And fair winds if you can get to your boats.
I believe sitting on lily pads counts as sailing.....at least as being at anchor!The virus will not affect my sailing plans at all this year.
I might...but I have been a slip holder for quite a while, so I am hoping the guards are a little less Rambo when the marina manager is not in the office.Just a thought- if it’s closed by the town you might be fined if they patrol it and catch you there.
In my town the municipal marinas (3) are in parks that are closed. If they’re patrolling it’s regular cops. They might be lenient or not, depending on attitude (theirs and yours). At the same time CT declared marinas and marine services are “essential“ so private marinas are spared. The marina my boat is in now (on the hard) is open but practicing social distancing. I expect it’ll be a delayed launch and maybe no extended cruising this summer (more 4 day weekends) but we’ll see.I
I might...but I have been a slip holder for quite a while, so I am hoping the guards are a little less Rambo when the marina manager is not in the office.
This is the same crew that decided all slip holders should provide $1M in liability insurance, naming the marina additional insured, because they decided to set up paddle boards, jet skis, etc in half of the marina...and realized someone could get killed.
I will find out tomorrow. I didn’t get a spring line on before they rushed me off on Tuesday, and we are expecting some significant storms tomorrow. I at least need to do that and check the bilge.
Wish me luck!
Greg
Well, I will see tomorrow. I am the only sailboat in and 1 of 3 or 4 total boats in (some charter fishing boats are in).In my town the municipal marinas (3) are in parks that are closed. If they’re patrolling it’s regular cops. They might be lenient or not, depending on attitude (theirs and yours). At the same time CT declared marinas and marine services are “essential“ so private marinas are spared. The marina my boat is in now (on the hard) is open but practicing social distancing. I expect it’ll be a delayed launch and maybe no extended cruising this summer (more 4 day weekends) but we’ll see.
You are obviously not from New England. Here, you're only local if your grand parents were born here and no one can remember your family came from somewhere else.if your paying land taxes, or leasing or renting a land tax property, your a local. IMO