Hot Water

The last time we sailed away, we were content with just basics. Through either age or experience, I have expanded my necessities list to include features previously considered a luxury. Myron seems happy to indulge me in this regard, as long as my requests are reasonable. One particular request was a dedicated shower with HOT water. And to be perfectly clear: hot, FRESH water, inside the shower, inside the boat.
That probably bears some explanation. Our former cruising boat was a Gulf 32 pilot house. Without a doubt, we were thrilled to have her. But she did not have a shower and the only time we had hot running water at the sink was when we were on shore power. Out at sea or at anchor, it was my routine to heat up fresh water for rinsing when preparing to do the dishes. As to personal hygiene: teeth were brushed in cold water, face was washed in cold water, and we managed with a sponge bath (sometimes warm, sometimes cold) when underway. A 'shower,' so to speak, required a buddy system and was therefore only attempted at anchor. The process was: jump in the sea water, back in the boat cockpit to shampoo hair and lather up, back in the sea water for a salt water rinse, and then back in the boat cockpit for a quick turn under the fresh water container held up by your buddy. Not a horrid task when air temp is in the 80's and water temp around the same. It becomes a much greater chore when the sea water temp is 55F and the air temp is not much warmer. This was the case on the Pacific side of Baja, Mexico. Sponge baths can only go so far since the hair must be washed to feel truly clean. Dreadlocks were not my thing. The strategy in this scenario again relied upon the buddy system: Sit in the cockpit with your buddy pouring a bucket of sea water on you, shampoo, lather up, and rinse off via the buddy and bucket of sea water routine, and a final fresh water rinse. The record speed at which this task was accomplished was slowed only due to uncontrollable shivering. Once, while at anchor on the Sea of Cortez inside of the Baja, the sea water was full of aqua males. These little jelly fish are impossible to see in the water, but show up like clear balls the size of a grape when a bucket of sea water is poured in to the cockpit. Their sting is more irritating than painful and does leave a mark.
Probably sounds traumatic. Maybe it was for me or I am just getting too old to voluntarily put myself in that situation for any long-term period. Myron said it was not too much to ask: fresh, hot water, inside a shower inside the boat. Done.
Well, easier said than done. The fact that Hold Fast has two heads (boat bathrooms for land lubbers) is a big start. We have dedicated the forward head as a shower. Myron ran the lines and installed a shower sump and pump to extract the water from the shower pan. He also installed an Excel tankless on-demand propane water heater. While we carry about 300 gallons of water (compared to about 100 gallons on the Gulf 32), Myron will still install an engine driven water maker that is designed to produce over 60 gallons of fresh water per hour out of sea water. He is still finishing up the installation as there are many aspects to it: water intake, pressure pump, pressure vessels and membranes, flow gage, a water purity meter that measures total dissolved solids, and the appropriate valves and plumbing to send brine overboard and acceptable water to the tanks. In addition to all that, we have a reverse osmosis system that draws from the tank water so that we have pristine drinking water at the flip of a switch.

It is fantastic! Clearly, as Myron told my dad, no more camping.

{GMST}30|16.501|N|081|42.951|W|We are getting close!|OYCM{GEND}

Nav Station & Helm

You only need to know Myron for a short time to recognize that he helps out a lot of folks around the marina. Problem solving, it is in his nature. That problem solving social network keeps him informed of good deals on used equipment. As a result, we now have a dual chart plotter function and NEMA 2000 network. We have an AIS (Automatic Identification System) VHF radio and Garmin 546 GPS chart plotter at the nav station that is networked with the RAM (Remote Access Mike) and Garmin GPA Map 441S at the helm. Our Raytheon radar is stand alone because it is not of a vintage conducive to networking.

The radio/RAM mikes are also connected to our hailer on the main mast, which gets exercised when the weekend water warriors are disruptive to the marina. But I digress…

From Nav Station & Helm

A little about AIS and RAM – Commercial ships are required to transmit information about their vessel, such as name, heading, speed and destination. Our AIS equipped radio receives that information. It does not broadcast anything about us. When we cruised before, foggy days or night encounters with cargo ships could be unnerving to visually or audibly ascertain heading of these behemoths. AIS takes all the stress out of that interaction by showing us distance apart and whether or not we are on a collision course. There is an audible alarm should we be on a collision course. The AIS also gives us a ship name to hail on the radio as well as the ability to call the ship digitally, which is recorded on their system. The RAM at the helm has a digital readout in the mike itself and the ability to controls the radio channels, volume, and even the hailer from the helm.

A little about the Garmins – They are both GPS chart plotters. We can chart a course and see our progress against that course. The course and progress can be viewed at both stations. In addition, some of the fish finder data on the Garmin at the helm (depth and water temp) is shared with the Garmin at the nav station. Data on bottom contour is only displayed at the helm.

From Nav Station & Helm

It appears we will not add wind. Many cruisers mention that they do not use their wind instruments. It is an expensive addition and another difficult run of line up the inside of the mast. We will likely pass it up. Rather, we can use tell-tails and do visual comparisons to the Beaufort scales and leave it at that, unless we get a hand held wind instrument. Always subject to change if Myron helps someone out and we get wind instruments out of it!

In addition to the nav station network, we have outfitted with a Kenwood TS480 HAM radio, a Super Tuner, and just recently, a Pactor for email transmission over the HAM. Myron ran a sloper antenna from the main mast to the deck and he has been able to make contacts as far as Montana from right here in the marina. Myron has already hooked us back into the Maritime Mobile HAM net.

Yes, it is hi-tech. Not to worry, we still have old school: A Ritchie helm compass, a sextant, a watch, paper charts and a pencil.

From Nav Station & Helm

From Nav Station & Helm

Wood/Coal Stove

We caught grief for lack of attention to the blog, honestly it grieves us as well that we have not had time to keep you all informed. All our attention has been focused on Hold Fast herself, not the blog! Following is one update, clearly not all the way to current, but headed that direction nonetheless.

Wood/Coal Stove – January 2011
In the first month of our relocation to Jacksonville back in 2008, we learned that Jacksonville reaches frigid temperatures that simply should not be allowed for any zip code within Florida. We tried to take it in stride as preparation for southern Chilean latitudes.

We are so glad we kept the wood/coal burning stove on board. To add to our delight, Rich and Paulette on Morningstar brought 160 pounds of anthracite coal from New York state. Not exactly fluffy bedding Lucky dog wanted for the long drive home. We were thrilled, but it must be noted that it took some experimentation to get the coal to burn for any length of time in our little stove. Coal likes to burn very hot. No point in firing it up if it was 55 degrees or more outside, it would cook us out.

For the most part, Myron’s most successful formula was to use lump charcoal, also known as cowboy charcoal, and add the anthracite peanut coal in several layers on top. The top layer of coal tends to be cooler, so at least 2 or 3 layers are necessary to keep the coal hot. This configuration would provide us with serious heat for up to about three hours, at which point the coal would smother itself in its own ashes due to our small ash tray. Solution: Clean out ashes and repeat. We consider the coal a great solution as long as it is accompanied with lump charcoal. I attempted to capture the rich blue flame from the coals in a picture. A big thanks to Rich and Paulette!

From Wood/Coal Stove

More updates soon enough. In the meantime, you can see updated pictures at our Picasa site. There is a link on the right of the blog site, or here is a link: http://picasaweb.google.com/SV.HoldFast/

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful time Christmas Eve at Marie’s. She invited folks from our old Sunday school class. It was great to see Johan, Loren, Jonathan, Bill, Royce, Devon and Bubba. And always a riotous pleasure with Marie’s kids Brian, Julianna and Gracie. Rogue, Marie’s dog, even got to participate in the games, until the food came out.

We worked all day in the cold without a real meal. What an extra treat that Marie and Julianna had wrestled up a home cooked meal, even after Marie’s full day of contact shopping. I opted for efficiency and brought the cookie makings to Marie’s. Nice to bake more than nine cookies at a time.

The group had a Bible study, a view of our Christ from the perspective of His second coming. Good discussions, even with the kids. We also had hours of giggles and some side splitting moments when Devon came out of his shell. For Devon’s sake, we will recount none of it here. I understand there is sufficient disinformation published on Facebook.

As we said our goodbyes after midnight, my heart went out to Marie. She still had the kid’s presents to wrap and other preparations for the morning. The kids had long since gone to sleep, rapidly restoring their energy levels in support of launching a morning foray to which Marie would undoubtedly succumb. But only momentarily – no time for pity parties as a single mom! And she’s doing great.

For Christmas Day we were invited to Casey and Melissa’s house. It was delightful to visit with them and their daughter Mia. Even before three, there were a number of sayings Mia learned to quip at just the right moment, such as Myron’s infamous, Jersey influenced “how you doin’?” [directed by Mia at an unknown man in the grocery store]; and, after learning about capitalism and socialism, “Pelosi wants to take my toys.” No quotes today, mostly play acting with new toys. I suspended Rapunzel in a 'tower' and Buzz Lightyear flew up and saved her, in total disregard to storyline boundaries.

Even so far away from family, it is a pleasure to have family in Christ right here to share in the celebration of His birth!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

P.S. - 12.26.10
Still in JAX. Today, wind 25 knots and freezing rain. An inside day.

12.14.10 Preparations Update

We are still in JAX. In an effort to maintain a positive attitude – which contributes far more than words can describe – we are looking at our extended stay not as a delay, but as preparation for the southern ocean. It was a brisk 25 degrees Fahrenheit when we started stirring this morning. Myron’s first order of business was to fire up our wood/coal stove; my first order of business was to wait for Myron to fire up the stove. The weather report warned that wind chill would make our temperatures between 10 to 15 degrees. Unfortunately, the stove prematurely extinguished itself shortly after Myron headed to the “facilities.” We use the marina’s “facilities” since there is no pump out station here. I estimate a one way trip from our dock to the facilities to be somewhere between 100 and 200 yards. It brings new meaning and effort to the “call of nature.”

I have not yet mastered Myron’s magical stove starting and maintaining formulas. Consequently, Hold Fast was quickly cooling off prompting me to venture out in the windy cold on a quest for physical evidence of the temperatures. I did not have to travel far. A leaky dock faucet stalagmite was visible from our boat. [See Pic]

I give credit below to a few items that help us better handle the cooler temperatures, inside and outside Hold Fast:
• Smart Wool underlayers - such as Merino wool; there are two operative words: “wool” and “layers”
• Wood/Coal stove – today we are burning mesquite, a double treat of heat and aroma; it is also a dry heat, something that contributes to a more rapid removal of condensation
• Insulation – closed cell foam, purchased from Home Depot, we lined the hull sides wherever accessible
• Beanies and gloves – probably does not need to be mentioned, however, most females are not willing to wear a beanie
• Toasty blanket – we made a duvet out of fleece and inserted an old poly-fill coleman sleeping bag. The intent was a storage solution for the sleeping bag. We were pleasantly surprised with the thermal results after testing the combination on a sub-freezing night with no heater running. The super-soft comfy factor is a bonus! We made the duvet closure buttons using a standard terminal knot called a Monkey’s Fist. [See Pics]

We continue to press toward departure. We appreciate your prayers and well wishes.

Sunrise

Sunrise over Jacksonville
Photo taken from Sadler Point boatyard

All is well

New Rudder
We are back in the water.

Hold Fast on Ortega River

{GMST}30|16.500|N|081|42.952|W|Hold Fast|Boat{GEND}