Category: Life Aboard

Lisa’s “Deadliest Catch”

For those of you who missed intermediate episodes, Lisa and I DID NOT off to the Bahamas as advertised. We had problems with our refrigeration system that eventually took about six weeks to resolve. Besides, we really weren’t interested in wandering too far from “home” during hurricane season.

Since we weren’t off exploring foreign lands, Lisa and I decided to explore where we are more thoroughly. By and by this evolved into getting more serious about catching fish — rather than fishing which is one of my more favored pass times.

As luck would have it, a friend of ours at the Marina who is a charter boat captain and an experienced fishing guide took us his wing and is teaching us how to hunt (and catch) the different species of fish around the keys — which gets me to to the point of this story.

By the way, the Florida Keys and Key West (in particular) are one of the most varied and productive fishing grounds on the planet. There are a variety of environments raging from deep sea (1000+ ft) fishing for Marlin and Sail Fish to bottom fishing for giant (500+ lb) grouper and sharks, to flats (very shallow) fishing for Tarpon, Bone Fish, and Permit. All of this is available within about 10 miles of Key West.

In order to CATCH fish here, however, it helps to have live bait. Yeah, I have learned to throw a cast net, but there are easier ways to catch bait fish — namely use a fish trap. So … our friend Capt. Bill generously loaned us a fish trap that he wasn’t using as well as a pen to hold the fish we trapped. We were ecstatic!

Lisa and I duly loaded the trap with chum (a disgusting fish-oliy goo) that attracts fish and laid it out on a nice patch of sand for our prospective. The first time we did this, we got a nice haul of bait fish, and had a great day hooking (but not landing) tarpon on light  spinning tackle.

The following day when we checked our trap,  it contained a whole bunch of the little gray faces of the grunts and snappers we were becoming accustomed. It also had a mean, green, rather annoyed looking … eel. Besides our bait fish, we had managed to catch a four foot green moray eel. You can see his face at the bottom left corner of the picture above.

Fortunately we spotted the eel before we up-ended the trap into out bait bucket on the dinghy. If we had, the very-irritated-by-this-point moray would have got loose in the dinghy which would not have been fun, to say the least. Discretion being the better part of valor, we decided to open the trap, let bait fish escape, and the eel depart without further ado. Even though they aren’t venomous, tangling with a 4 ft angry eel wasn’t either Lisa or my idea of fun.

Fun would be catching a 50 lb Tarpon or Tuna on 10 – 20 lb test. Stay tuned for more fishing adventures.

A Spitting Baby Sunfish

Living on the water, every so often you see really curious things. This is a video we took a while ago of a little sunfish that was hanging out around the docks, spitting … It’s cute. It’s kinda funny. I think he was just having fun.

Sunfish are really cool. They grow to be about 1000kg or 2200lbs. This one’s just a tiny baby. Check out the wikipedia link about them.

Here’s a little video clip of all the action.

[jwplayer mediaid=”1627″]

Getting to the Bahamas fom Key West

For the past 3 months or so, Lisa and I have advertized that we are in imminent “danger” of heading to the Bahamas. This tends to peak at the end of every month. We have, however, kept suffering all kinds of setbacks: the engine raw water cooling system on Pearl glitched; the dinghy started coming unglued; we needed to install davits; we were missing parts; the list goes on.

At this point, both Lisa and I have given up on “trying” to leave. Perhaps we will just … leave.

For those of you who are interested, we are considering three different “landfalls” in the Bahamas, and there are a couple of different ways to handle the trip. There is an added question of where to check in and clear customs, etc. More on that later.

Option #1 (Green): “Landfall at South Riding Rock, check in at Chub Key in the Berry Islands. This is the most aggressive approach to getting to the Bahamas, but also likely the fastest. The idea here is that one heads more or less due East out of Key West, catch the Gulf Stream off Sombrero Key Light, and ride the gulf stream all the way, get on the Bahama Bank at South Riding Rock. We’d spend the night anchored in the middle of nowhere on the Bank, and then head for Chub Key in the Berry Island Group to check in. This would be 18 – 24 hours to make landfall on the bank, and then another 10 to 16 hours to get to the Berrys depending on the current on  the bank.

There are a number of people who’ve recommended this option to us, and it’s a popular route with lots of traffic (particularly on the Bahama bank). The great thing about this option is that it’s two days (roughly) to get to the crusing grounds. The downside is that if we read the weather wrong, we’re pretty exposed.

Option #2 (Red-Pink-Cyan-Orange): “Hop up the Hawk Channel to Marathon and Key Largo/Rodriguez Key, making landfall and check in in at Bimini. This option takes the longest time and is the most conservative way to make the trip. It also gives us the option of joining up with other boats making the crossing, which given our lack of experience with the Bahamas would be welcome company. This option would still require us to spend a night on the Bank getting to the Berrys, but the pace we’d be at gives us many more “fall back” options.

Option #3 (Yellow-Orange): Catch the gulf stream off of the Sombrero Key Light to Cat Cay (or Bimini), and stage there for a banks crossing. This option has the benefit of using the Gulf Stream current as it rips though the Florida Straights to accelerate our passage up the Florida Keys and onto the Bahama Bank. It also allows us to to rest up at a secure location at the end of a long transit. The time frame for this trip is the same as option #1, with the difference is that the first night stopped would be at a marina rather than on the hook, and during the first two thirds of the trip we can duck back into the Hawk Channel if necessary.

We are still figuring out which option to take, but will most likely take the third option. If you’ve done this trip, we’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

Choosing a new Dinghy for Pearl

Sadly, we had to retire Ziply Banana Rocket, the AMI XL 300 we purchased in Portland last year. While she was new out of the box, she’d been made in 2009, which when she was relocated to the “tropics” caused some one of her tubes to leak.

As a result we decided to donate her to the Key West Community Sailing Center (a sailing co-op with the skills and resources to fix her). They plan to use her as a chase boat for the youth sailing program. “Come here little duckies!” We were very sad to see her go. The question was with what we were going to replace her.

Ziply with a leaky tube

The matrix of choices when it comes to buying a dinghy are pretty impressive.

  • PVC or Hypalon
  • Rigid hull Inflatable Boat or Rollup (hard or slatted floor)
  • Air floor or Hard Floor
  • Aluminium or Fibre glass hull RIB
  • Single or double hull

The choice between PVC and Hypalon seems pretty easy. If you’re in the tropics, choose Hypalon. The issue according to a repair shop that I spoke with is that the glue used on PVC degrades in temps around 80 degrees causing the seems to fail and the tubes to leak over time. Apparently the glue used in the construction of Hypalon boats doesn’t suffer the same problem — hence the choice for us.

The choice between RIB or Roll-up has has to do with space. It’s arguable that RIBs are heavier than Roll-ups, however the roll-up we had was heavier than the RIB we have now.

Ribs are great. The are drier, plane faster, and are more robust from the perspective of driving them up on a beach. The downside is that you either need to be willing to tow it, store it on deck, or lift it on davits.

A roll-up, on the other hand will “roll up,” you can put it in a dinghy stuff sack, and turn it into a nice little package that can even be lashed on the fore deck or even stored in a locker. The down side is that they are wetter, less comfortable on long rides, and potentially less durable.

There are a couple of three choices for Roll-Up dinks, soft/air floor, slatted floor, or hard floor. We didn’t spend much time on these options because we wanted a hard floored RIB as a result of Harley. What I have heard, however, is that the high pressure floors with an inflatable keel work quite well to get you on a plane, etc. Based on personal experience, the slatted floors are not great for anything but very minimal use. The hard decks are quite nice, our previous dinghy had them and they worked very well. The only downside is that you have to find the space to store the floorboards.

If you choose a RIB, you have to decide between an Aluminium or Fiberglass hull. Aluminium is more durable than fiber glass, it is more resistant to dings than the gelcoat on the fiberglass hulls but more challenging to repair. They are also lighter! We wanted an aluminum hull but finally opted for fiberglass due to the cost ($5000 instead of $4000) and availability.

Note that there is a very affordably priced aluminum hulled Highfield RIB. We opted not to go with this as the buyer for a major online retailer who’d evaluated the dinks refused to carry them as he thought that the hull-tube bond would fail as the hull was powder coated before the tubes were glued on. I would encourage you to do your own research on this one. AB, however, has a couple of very nice but expensive aluminium hulled RIB models.

After all of that, we came up with the following criteria:

  1. Must be made of Hypalon: it last better than PVC in the tropics
  2. Must be light as it will be carried on davits
  3. Must be rated for a 20 hp engine: what we have–> Must be FAST! (Lisa)

After looking at several dinghies, we ended up with the following short list:

– Caribe 10X  @ ~ $3500.00
– Achilles HB315DX @ $4000.00
– Zodiac Cadet 310 RIB @ $3000.00
– AB VL10 @ $4000.00
– Highfield UL 310/340 @ $3000.00

The general consensus among the cruisers and sales people we spoke with was get either a Caribe, Avon, or AB.  Our initial preference was to get the Caribe 10X which is double hulled, has a bow, locker, etc. When we looked at a Westmarine 340 which had a bow locker, the locker seemed pretty pointless, and it seemed like we be better off and save the weight by getting a “single hull. Also, the “single hull” on the AB isn’t really accurate as the VL has a flat floor.

While we did not personally inspect and test all five choices, what we did find out was that it’s really hard to get Caribes any more as they come out of Venezuela. We also found out that dinghy sales people were remarkably disinterested in selling product in this price range. The notable exceptions were Adam and Mike at the Inflatable Boat Center in Portland, OR and Jeff at Lifeline Inflatables in Miami from which we purchased our dink.

What we finally purchased and extremely happy with is an AB VL 10. It has the right combination of features for us and most importantly, seems to be very well put together. Stay tuned for pics and video of our new dink!

What you have above are a lot of my opinions and I’ve made a number of generalizations that you should take for what they are worth.  On the off chance you are buying a dinghy, I hope they will give you some food for thought. If you have navigated this process yourself, I would love to hear you thoughts and opinions.

 

 

Harley’s Bar Hopping Adventure

Yesterday (Labor Day), Lisa and I took Zipply-the-yellow-dinghy out exploring into the flats with Harley. Our original plan was to head out to Snipes Keys a secret local’s hang out a little ways out of Key West that you can only get to by boat.

DSCF5148 - Version 2

Harley, however, had other plans for us. When we got to the sand bars en route to snipes, Harley took one look at the gin-clear water and started whining and bouncing on the bow of the dinghy trying to jump in. I have to admit Lisa and I were pretty keen on getting in as well. It was a PERFECT day to play in the water — sunny and hot.

A fun day lounging on a sand bad was all we got. Our plans for fishing, snorkeling, and lobstering had to wait for another day.

 

 

 

Video: Harley Climbs a swim ladder

One of my biggest concerns with having Harley on board when out sailing is that he will hop off the boat while at anchor and not be able to get back on — without help from either Lisa or myself. I figure if a cat can be trained to poop in a toilet, Harley can be taught to climb a swim ladder.

So when Lisa and I were in Andersonl, South Carolina, about a month or so ago, we visited a her family friends on Lake Hartwell. This proved to be the perfect opportunity to try teaching Harley how to climb out of the water using a swim ladder. If you noticed the video of the sharks at sunset marina, you’d understand why I’ve been reluctant to try this experiment of the boat at the dock.

For those of you who are interested, here’s video of Harley’s first attempt at climbing a swim ladder.

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A glitchy shower pump and learning how to stay afloat

Pearl has had a problem with the shower pan in the head filling up for a while. This has driven me nuts. Sometimes it fills faster than others, other times, it’s fine and bone dry. The fundamental problem was that water was siphoning back through the shower pump, but given several other factors, none of this made sense. The problem could be easily fixed by installing a loop with a vacuum break to prevent the siphoning but didn’t answer why the problem occurred intermittently.

A couple of days ago, I decided to dismantle the self priming diaphragm Jabsco Shower Pump that seemed to be the source if the problem. Once taken apart, the problem was obvious and simply resolved. Hair had got through the pump guard (filter) and was breaking the seal on the pump that prevented back flow.

While aggravating, this project taught me a lot. The first is that diaphragm pumps are a pretty good solution for situations where there might be back pressure, as well where the pump needed to be self priming, and/or possibly run dry without burning out. The second, which is more important, is that the same pump (more or less) empties out Pearl’s bilges. The third, is that backing plates on the through hull fittings will be a very good addition when the boat gets pulled to have the bottom painted.

For the most part, the Jabsco diaphragm pump is a works well to keep the bilge clear of drips. In the event of a real problem, however, like failure of a through hull fitting, I didn’t think there there is no way it would keep keep up with the influx of water. So, i decided to run the numbers.

On average, Pearl’s through hull fittings are between 1″ and 2″ in diameter, and they are somewhere between 6″ and 12″ below the waterline. My question was how many gallons per minute would that generate, and what sized bilge pumps would I need to accommodate that influx of water. As it turns out, this is the inverse of the “emptying a tank” problem that many of us had to solve in college. I have a vague recollection of how to calculate the answer, BUT as it turns out there is an easier solution, an online flow rate calculator (see http://www.efunda.com/formulae/fluids/draining_tank.cfm#calc).

The net of this story is that I need to size my bilge pump(s) better. Fortunately, this isn’t too hard a problem to solve. West Marine had 2000 gph bilge pumps on sale for $100 ea this week, and the locating them and running the required hose isn’t too much of a problem. This is, however, and important consideration even if you leave your boat parked at the dock and aren’t planning to go sailing.

Depth of spout (ft):
 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00
Spout exit diameter (in): 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
Exit Velocity, V (ft/s): 5.67 8.04 9.84 11.35 5.67 8.02 9.83 11.30
Volume Flowrate (gal/min): 13.60 19.20 23.60 2.72 54.40 77.00 94.30 109.00
Volume Flow Rate (gal/hr) 816.00 1152.00 1416.00 163.20 3264.00 4620.00 5658.00 6540.00

A “Ghetto-Fabulous” Inexpensive Boat Airconditioner in 5 Steps

Not to denigrate ghettos in any way since several of my closest friends live in them, …. The solution that Lisa and I came up with for an air conditioner with which to survive summer in Florida was literally that: a jerry rigged but very effective, inexpensive installation. Yes, it does make Pearl look a little bit like the Clampett’s truck, but I can live with that for the moment. At least we aren’t sweating.

Requirements for a Ghetto-Fabulous AC

  1. An appropriately sized AC for your boat
  2. A suitable place (like a forward hatch) to install it
  3. A roll of non-marking 3M Duct Tape
  4. A sheet of plexiglass
  5. About 2 feet of bath-liner vinyl (this is pretty wide so you need to cut it down)
  6. Installation Instructions
  • Cut a rectangular piece of plexiglass approximately the width and height of the front of the AC
  • Square the AC off in front of one of the forward hatches so that the plexiglass sits on the hatch at an angle
  • Attach the plexiglass just above the air intake panel for the AC
  • Drape the bath liner vinyl over the AC so that it covers the front of the AC that would be inside the window in which it’s installed and tape it to the AC
  • Fold or cut the vinyl as required so that it can be taped to the deck.

That’s pretty much all it takes to get up and running. You can make the system more efficient by taping the plexiglass to the vinyl sheet. There will be other tweaks you can make depending on your boat, but this is about as quick, dirty, and effective as it gets.

There are several people I know who install window style ac units in the companionway. That turns into a huge pain as you have to clamber over it every time you try to get in or out of the cabin.

We’d love to hear if you have a better idea on how to cool your boat for cheap!

 

Airconditioning — to sweat or not to sweat

Having finally go back on Pearl after essentially six months of traveling around (Portland, Atlanta, 3 cross country trips, South Carolina, etc.,), Pearl is in serious need of some TLC. Given that it summer in Florida, one of the first orders of business as far as I was concerned was to get the boat air conditioned again. Without an AC, working below decks makes working in a sauna sound attractive.

So, on to the ACs. There are three basic options for air conditioning one’s sailboat. The one you choose, as with anything else, depends on a combination of budget, storage space, and aesthetics.

Option #1: Sea Water Cooled ACs

This the ideal. It’s integrated with the boat, making it a magical oasis of blissful cool in the tropical sun. All you need to do is plug into shore power or fire up your generator and the magic will happen — but for a price. These babies cost about $2500 for the necessary hardware and about the same for installation by a professional. As an added benefit, these ACs can also be used as heaters if you happen to be somewhere cold. Check out this handy guide at Dometic for more details.

Option #2: Portable ACs

This was the first option I tried. The basic idea is that you park the air conditioner some place in the salon or head, run the ducting to a port light, power it up and you are off to the races. Sounds simple enough, and really is — until you get hit by rain, have to close the port light so the boat doesn’t get flooded, and en up broiling below decks.

I was really pretty excited about this option (actually used it for most of last year) and it worked pretty well until Lisa and Harley came on board. Adding two more bodies seriously cut down on the available space and increased the heating requirements. Next.

Option #3: Window Unit

On first glance, a “Window Shaker” seems like the least attractive option for adding AC to the boat, but as it turns out, this solution has great merit. Firstly, this is the least cost per BTU if you get a household unit from Home Depot. Secondly, you don’t lose interior space. Thirdly, if installed correctly, it works great even it it’s raining! Ok, so it looks a bit “ghetto,” to have an AC strapped on deck, but for the price, I can live with that.

Summary

Initially, I was really keen on getting a sea water cooled system, but given a choice between spending $5000 on an AC or comparable amounts on either a water maker or upgrading the navionics, I decided to choose the latter. My rationale here is that if we are cruising, we aren’t likely to be using the AC too much as I don’t want to add a big generator, the fuel to run it, blah, blah. Quite frankly, I would rather have balmy tropical breezes at an anchorage. Air conditioning, however, is mandatory when you are at a slip where there is access to shore-power etc. If we find ourselves at a slip outside the US for any length of time, my guess is that we would be able to replicate the window-shaker solution for relatively low cost.

More shortly on how to I handled installing a Window Shaker Air Conditioner on Pearl….

Harley the Boat Dog

For those of you who haven’t met Harley, he’s my dog, a Lab x Pointer, who weighs in at around 90lbs. In my mind, Harley is a an expensive poop generator who only rivals the boat in terms of being the source of costly repairs. Most people who meet him think he’s adorable, but then again everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.

Anyway, since I will be in the US for the rest of this year, I decided to bring Harley out to the boat with me. A part of this was prompted by Lisa who met him while helping me sort out my house in PDX and fell in love with him.

While I had some concerns about integrating Harley into life on Pearl, my fears proved unfounded. Harley seems to have taken to life on Pearl like a Lab to water. He springs on and off the boat from the dock without a problem — no stairs required. He seems to be quite comfortable traveling in the dinghy. Most importantly, as far as he’s concerned, he’s decided that his bed is the tiny bit of floor at the foot of the V-berth.

Here are some pics of Harley in his new environment.