Trip to Europe (and back) begins

dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
Davidasailor26 said:
If the switch is just used as a service disconnect bigger is fine. If it's used as circuit protection you're right you shouldn't go up. dlj the circuit is fused at 200A, so that's what's providing the overcurrent protection, and the switch should be rated for at least that much.

Whether the 200A fuse is really the right size for the wiring in the circuit is a whole other matter. Maybe worth a quick look at the wire gauge to make sure it's adequate and all matches up.
Click to expand
It's just a disconnect. The circuit is correctly protected with a 200 amp fuse. I looked at the wiring. It's correct.

I do not need the disconnect to be protecting the circuit. The fuse is there for that. I sure don't need that switch to be melting in the circuit as it's running, what it has been doing currently (no pun intended). That is a fire hazard!

dj
 
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dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
kappykaplan said:
dLj still has his AIS on - you can see the boat's drift over the past 24 hours:
View attachment 223147
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Don't know if you can see when I turned it back on. But it was late last night.

It's on because it's where I have my anchor alarm. My AIS unit has a good anchor alarm. Check your scale on that image above. I'll be really curious.

I was hanging out last night listening to music and such and noticed I was beyond a boat that used to be behind me. Yeap, my anchor was just sliding through the mud here! Yikes! So i fired up the engine, pulled that anchor, and went looking to see where to re-anchor. The wind had shifted such that all the boats were now stacked differently, took me a couple passes to figure out a potential spot to drop the hook - it's fairly deep here, about 40 feet. I really prefer 5:1 but 200 feet out is too much with the spacing so I'm more like 4:1.

I switched over to my Fortress anchor as the plow was obviously not working. This is the second time on this trip where I've had to do this. The Fortress works well in mud, better than the plow.

Given the anchor problem, i wanted to sleep and not worry so I turned my AIS on and set the anchor alarm. I'll probably leave it on for awhile until I'm confident this anchor is working. At least last night it seemed to hold well. My new spot looks OK with the boats around, but there hasn't been strong winds yet so I've yet to see how it's doing with greater forces on it....

dj
 
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dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
Here's what an undersized switch looks like after failure... Not a pretty sight. Glad is simply broke rather than go up in flames...

dj

PXL_20240221_173054289.jpg
 
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dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
kappykaplan said:
Are you still having some anchor holding problems?
View attachment 223151
Click to expand
Oh yeah, I'm just slip sliding around... I'm moving in just a bit. A large cat just left, I'm going to head over to where he was. I'm hoping I'll get better holding there. But at least I'll have a lot more room. Haven't left the boat since day before yesterday as I can't trust the anchor right now.

dj

p.s. but it's pouring out right now so I might wait until it clears up a bit. Will see, I also don't want someone to just come in and grab that spot...
 
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dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
kappykaplan said:
I get that from the track from Marine Traffic. Stay safe! :beer:
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Yeah, at least we've had little wind. Can't imagine what I'd be doing if we'd had some serious stuff... I'd just have to move somewhere I guess...

dj
 
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dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
kappykaplan said:
Stay dry!
Click to expand
Just caught a break in the rain. Changed my anchoring position to where the Cat was. I was listening to John Kretschmer talk about how he sets plow anchors. He puts them down, then gives a little reverse and lets them set. He does this several times allowing them to dig down and get set better. I'm in the process of doing that now. I've done two backs ups that were mild. Last one felt pretty solid. I'm going to let that sit a bit then go do it again. If it still feels solid then I'll give it more reverse to make sure... But I'm feeling better already!

dj
 
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dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
kappykaplan said:
Clear to see on MT:
View attachment 223152
Click to expand
Yeah, look how close I was from my earlier tracks to where I am now. I was definitely nervous before. What you can't see is the boat that was off to the left on that chart. At one point I was probably less than 50 feet from it on the one swing. And this is where the most room in this anchorage is currently.

Good thing I moved when I did. Another cat came in shortly after I re-anchored looking for space to anchor... They came near me and then went to the other end of the anchorage... They are quite far from the dingy dock now. As I'm rowing, I prefer being as close as possible.

In Jolly Harbor, I was out in Mosquito Bay, it was about a 20 minute row into the dingy dock. Good exercise but as they say, been there done that...

dj
 
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kappykaplan

kappykaplan

.
May 1, 2011
4,762
Pearson 37 Lusby MD
dLj said:
Yeah, look how close I was from my earlier tracks to where I am now. I was definitely nervous before. What you can't see is the boat that was off to the left on that chart. At one point I was probably less than 50 feet from it on the one swing. And this is where the most room in this anchorage is currently.

Good thing I moved when I did. Another cat came in shortly after I re-anchored looking for space to anchor... They came near me and then went to the other end of the anchorage... They are quite far from the dingy dock now. As I'm rowing, I prefer being as close as possible.
Click to expand
Good on ya, dLj! :beer:
 
dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,909
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
kappykaplan said:
The image on the right is what I posted this morning, and the one on the left is what I captured just now. Looks like you may have moved a bit.
View attachment 223158
Click to expand
Yes, feels like the anchor is digging in. This is one slippery anchorage! I've reset my anchor alarm and will watch how she moves. At least I have a lot of swinging room and am in a spot now with a lot of space around me. I also have quite a bit of chain out. My anchor alarm system placed a circle around where I set it. I can watch how my boat moves within that circle which can give me a good idea of drift - but I really welcome your observations! They are extremely helpful!

dj
 
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