Flare up?

We used last nights fireworks as an excuse to fire some off our old flares. A few of us got our pistols out to test them, and get the experience of firing them. We had clear open water in front of us. I had two shells, that fired nicely, but burned well short of the indicated time, and really did not go that high. Very disappointed in the results. Another guy fired a shell, and his gun barrel cracked in half! The shell plopped into the water in about 6 feet, and a smoking hot gun barrel, metal, was dropped from his hands. Another sailor could not get his barrel to open! These were all Orion, of various ages. Sad that you may have to rely on these things some time in the future.

There were some of those flares, where you pull the string while holding the plastic tube above your head. On both of these the string broke, and they never fired. They were also Orion.

There was one guy who sent off a parachute flare that was spectacular. Good height, and almost a minute of burn time. These were in large tubes, with a pull ring, and I think they were Hansson.

 I was impressed, and will spend the extra cash on these babies. Keep in mind that these were all expired flares, and some were at least five years old. The small gauge plastic guns never worked, and a larger gauge barrel cracked in half. I had the only gun that worked, and it had a plastic barrel with a metal sleeve.

Expensive weekend

No, it's not expensive because I did something stupid in boat handling. Sorry to disappoint. It's because I bought some anchor chain, and had it delivered. Did not know that you can not get chain delivered to your residence. I really have no residence, but I was going to have it delivered to a friend nearby, so that they can stare at it for a week, while I figure out how to get it to the boat. I was told that the drop-off has to have a fork truck. Franks tractor was not good enough, so I had to have it delivered to the marina, where I will pay (at $75.00/hr) to have a guy remove it from the truck, and deposit it to the front of the boat. I'm assuming the delivery will be late in the day, and I will pay overtime, and the chain will be left at least a hundred yards from the boat.

We had a glorious sail yesterday, with my daughter Kelly, and Eric. They brought along some friends, Sarah and Zach. Good people, and all had a great time. We caught some wind, around 15 knots at times, and it was sunny and 90 degrees, and wind out of the south, which means flat water! Eight knots on a reach for 23 miles. Sweet.
The only weird part of the day was when we were docking. I usually come in a tad fast, as the nose is light, and any gust pushes me around a bit, so I maintain steerage. Well, our friend Ed had a dinghy close to our path, and I yelled "get that stinkin dinghy out of our way!" Ed replied, "Oh Christ it's Paul, get the hell out of the way everybody, he's probably doing 8 knots!". Well, there was a memorial service on the dock next to us, and they were in prayer, and I didn't notice, until I saw all of these people at a dock "party" staring at us. They were not smiling. I felt pretty bad. Bad that I interrupted, and bad that I forgot about the service. I knew Captain Jim, he was a very nice guy. So, the youth in our group yelling and toasting a good sail, then pumping reggae through the boat was probably not in good taste.

Payback.

Last night I woke Deb up yelling in my sleep. I was actually kicking the side of the berth. The weirdest dream ever. I was hit by a car, while  riding my bike. Nothing new there, but this time I was laying near death on the road, and no one was helping. I felt someone grab me, and say, "Sometimes plans change, let's go.". I turned to find Captain Jim pulling on me, trying to take me to where he now resides. Yikes. Hope he enjoyed the karate kicks to the groin. Good thing Deb woke me up. Then she told me I was screaming like a little girl. Well, what if a dead Captain had his boney hands trying to drag you the great beyond? Huh?  Then I remembered that all the ports and hatches were open. Ugh.
I hope they were all drunk and passed out last night.

A weekend of sailing and Jazz

We had light air, but we sailed! Finally we got the old barge out for a floater. We got out about 6 miles out into Ontario, and we picked up 11 knots of breeze. We sailed on all points to make sure she was trimmed, and she practically sailed herself. Sweet. Now we need some good air to make sure she's ready for the Toronto trip. No mishaps so far.

I remembered the camera this time, but noticed the memory card was missing. Damn. I hope to have some photos soon. Always nice to have pics to go along with the story. Then you can see how stupid our dinghy looks in the davits. I need to make some better straps, as they are too long, and the dinghy can't be raised high enough. We really need a smaller dinghy too, as the 11 foot zodiac is just too much, and looks enormous on the back of our boat. I had to help a friend at another marina about 4 miles south of us, and I took the dinghy instead of the car. This was fun, until I caught a wake and almost put her on her side. The bay was a tad choppy, and my ass is still hurting from the pounding. Plus I landed on the radio, which fortunately was sealed in a zip lock, for my protection.

Went to the Rochester Jazz festival on Friday to see Elvis Costello. He was great. What a talent. He rocked the Eastman for almost 3 hours without a break. His acoustic numbers were awesome. Record attendance at the festival this year. Something Rochester should be proud of. Good times.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110619/LIVING/106190353

Mack Packer

Spent all day getting a Mack Pack installed. I realize the mainsail is not going to fall fully flaked into a bag I can just zip up. I'm not that gullible, but I am hoping I can pound that crispy sheet of Dacron into some shape that will fit in the bag. The sail cover method doesn't work for me, especially on this boat. The boom is too high, and my legs are too short.  As long as we've had this boat, I have been climbing the mast on those pop out footholds, and hugging it while I tie up the sailcover with one hand. I was an accident waiting to happen. 
While at the boat show in 2009, Deb noticed this Mack Pack, or the guy standing next to it. Eight hundred dollars later, and I had some canvas and line in a box, with a CD that showed how easy it was to install. The guy in the video said it would take about two hours. Two years later, and we've got it done. We're a little slow.

Sails are on, the canvas is up, and I think we're going sailing tomorrow!

Blogging from the water

Friday they put our mast up, parked her in our slip, and left her for us to clean and rig. The only reason I knew the boat was ready, was I saw from the web cam a tall mast at the end of the docks. Customer relations, a concept untested in many places.

Spent Friday night under the stars, on a clear and cool night, thinking how an un-rigged, cluttered, dirty boat, can make all the stress of the week just melt away.  It's good to be back.