A good weekend for working on my tan, and oh yes, working on the boat. The essentials are done, having put the sails up as well as the cockpit canvas. The hot water tank is ready to fill and the refrigerator ready to turn on and fill with pop and beer.

Only a few inside jobs to finish. The woodwork on the outside needs a lot of TLC. Sanding, cleaning and applying Cetol will take time and patience. I hope that I can start that before the cotton balls are flying in the wind.

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend and our GYC Fleet Review on Sunday with a picnic to follow.

Water Colors is launched

The clouds over Rochester finally parted, giving me enough time to perform my spring commissioning on Water Colors. We missed our original launch date because of the cold wet spring, and now, two weeks later we are in the water.

What I see now is more work ahead of me. The birds had a field day using my deck as a poop deck. A good scrubbing is in store for the near future. Then there are the usual things like putting the sails up and sanding the wooden trim.

Ruth and I have decided to do a little club racing this year, so I figured that I would practice with somebody that really knows how to race. I hope to crew with my friend Bill Thompson on Tuesday night club races. Ruth and I will race the more relaxed Saturday races along with the Thursday Pizza Races every so often.

I guess that is about it for now. Hopefully I will blog more often than in the past years.

Waiting to launch

Another year has passed. Looking back on my blogging history, I see that I didn't keep my promise to blog during the sailing season in 2010. Will 2011 be different? I hope so.

Last year I was busy as Commodore of the Genesee Yacht Club, and for 2008 and 2009 I was Vice Commodore. Those tasks were accomplished because I had retired from my real job at Harris RF Communications. However, the recession hit, and so was my retirement account. I went back to work for RF Communications over a year ago, and still working even though the retirement account is healthy once more.

The working interfered with everything else I wanted to do, including sailing. Ruth and I managed to take two weeks to get in some cruise time on Lake Ontario and some day cruises when we could.

Now I am free from the GYC duties, but still not free from work. I guess we will make it one day at a time; sailing, house jobs, and maybe a short vacation south. Hopefully, keeping up this blog will also be on my to-do list. Oh yes, I must also remember to include pictures.

Cheers, and have a great sailing season....... Ken

Lesson Learned

Last fall I took my bimini to the local canvas repair shop to have the window replaced. This is the 14"X24" plastic that is used to look up at the masthead while sailing. It was less than 5 years old and starting to get UV damage as well as some scratches from accidentally having the boom too close.

A week ago my dear wife Ruth picked it up at the shop, expecting to pay less than $200. Guess again. The price was $400. She brought it home and presented the small cash register receipt to me. I hit the roof. $400 to replace a window? That's outrageous.

I went to the shop a few days later and asked for a copy of the work order. They replaced the window with 40G plastic, made a Sunbrella cover with Velcro on 4-sides, Repaired a binding and zipper, and installed a leather chafe patch where the boom had rubbed a bit. Material cost was $74. Labor charged was $371 for 4.25 hours at $70 per hour. Tax was $30. They had reduced the labor from 5.5 hours to 4.25 and didn't charge for the leather since I had not requested it (I suppose).

I told Tony that I was very unhappy at the charge. $400 TO REPLACE A WINDOW!!!

I tried to maintain cool, but was stone-walled by Tony, shrugging his shoulders saying that it is normal to spend half a day on that type of a job. I walked out of the shop very unhappy but with a lesson learned....Get a quote before having the job done. In my defense though, who would have thought that it would be so expensive?

I am willing to share the name of the shop with anybody that asks. Just send an e-mail to kpalmer@rochester.rr.com and I will give you the name of the place not to go to.

What's wrong with this picture?

Memorial Day is just a couple days away, and I still don't have Water Colors ready to sail. She is in the water but without her mast. The mast is at GYC sitting on saw horses waiting to get the new roller furling installed. A combination of procrastination, weather, room at the club, and just plain fear have been the reasons.

I finally got a clear place on the lawn after most other members launched and stepped their masts. Once I put the mast back together, installed the halyards and spreaders, I started on the roller furling. The instructions are far from ideal, not written for the mechanically disadvantaged folks like me. I found the I needed to replace the lower fastener on the bottom turnbuckle of the forestay. I read in the instructions that the part should be available at a local marine store... NOT! I ended up calling the furler company in Florida and ordered the correct part for over-night delivery. As my luck would have it, they typed my address incorrectly, and it didn't make it. After several calls to the manufacturer and UPS, I am told it is on the delivery truck today.

The weather forecast looks good, and with a little luck, I can get the furler built and installed today, and maybe even step the mast if I am really lucky. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Only a couple months to launch!

My, how the winter seems to drag on. We just came out of a week of continuous snow fall, and presently enjoying a January thaw. There is still some snow on the ground, but the sun has been shining and warming things up the past couple days. The forecast for the coming week is "dropping temperatures with rain turning to snow".

I am beginning to think about my new roller furling that I have to install on Water Colors before launch. The mast is down and stored at the club, so it shouldn't be too difficult a task. If I run into any problems I always have my friends at GYC to help me out.

I promise to address the blog more often as time gets closer to sailing season. I now have a nifty small camera to take with me so that I can post some shots here on the blog.

Until then... enjoy the snow!

Did you know?

Our friends in Canada have gone all out to regulate boating; not only to make it safe, but a little too far in my opinion.

Here is a quote from their official site at http://www.tc.gc.ca/marinesafety/debs/obs/quick/quick_visitor.htm#a

Anyone who uses a VHF radio must follow the procedures described in the VHF Radiotelephone Practices and Procedures Regulations. Currently, all VHF radio operators are required to have a Restricted Operator's Certificate (ROC) with maritime qualifications. Canada recognizes the American Certificate."

This has been tried in the U.S., and failed miserably. It would take an army to try to enforce this regulation. Granted, there are those nuts on the VHF radio that think it is CB radio, but on the most part, they are boaters communicating to other boaters in plain English. What if the government required all cell phone users to have a license?

Does the USA have a similar requirement? Ask 100 people and you might get 95 that say "no". Well, there is actually an FCC rule requiring an operators license for VHF marine radio. It says A marine radiotelephone license isn't required for vessels on inland waterways. However, if you visit a foreign port (CANADA), it is required.

I believe that a marine VHF radio plays a very important part in boating safety. We now have DSC (Digital Select Calling) which allows automatic Mayday calls with your current location (if you have a GPS receiver connected to your radio). Most folks however, use the VHF for chatting about fishing, weather conditions, what your plans are, and how is Aunt Sue doing?

If you can't beat them, join them. I hope that the Canadian rules for VHD radio operations are in the books just so they can say they have rules. If they are not followed or investigated by the Coast Guard, what difference does it make?

What do you think?