Motored up to Port Canaveral in the expectation that the winds will shift to an easterly and (hopefully) southerly direction tomorrow. I went through the Barge Canal bridge. The bridge tender had no complaints about my radio. In fact, I think my radio may be too strong now. I think I had two bridge tenders respond to my initial contact.
From my experience, the antenna on a radio is just as important as the radio itself. Maybe more so. I had the idea that an antenna was just a piece of wire that you plug into the radio, but apparently there is more to it than that. In fact, I'm thinking that if you are on a budget, more money should be allocated to the antenna.
I bought a $40 rail mounted antenna in Melbourne. Really on a sailboat, the antenna should be atop the mast. But I've only been up the mast in a bosun's chair once before, and it scared the bejesus out of me. As I get older, I have a little more fear of such things. The nice thing with the stability of a catamaran is that when you go up the mast, there is less rocking of the boat. The bad thing is if you were to fall, there is a lot more deck to fall on.
I wasn't really surprised by the easy contact with the bridge. I've been doing radio checks daily, and instantly have gotten a "loud and clear" from SeaTow (I think in Port Canaveral).
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Can You Hear Me Now?
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12 comments:
I'm sure you know that those VHF radios typically have a low and high output setting and that 90% of the time the low is preferred - especially when talking with someone who's very close (i.e. - bridge tenders). Apparently the high setting can produce so much input for nearby receivers that it'll distort the signal.
I'm not a big fan of trips up the mast either. I once went up (in 5 foot seas) to retrieve a wayward jib halyard that had gotten loose. Quite a memorable experience of the 'once was enough' variety.
Glad that you're apparently feeling better.
Yep. Good point as usual Ross. There is a button to turn my transmissions from 25 watts to 1 watt. But right now I'm pretty excited to blow everyone else out of the water.
I'll try to turn down the volume in the future.
I hope the wind changes soon. I really want to go sailing tomorrow, and am feeling better.
Carla, if it isn't apparent at my anchorage what the wind conditions are, I wouldn't mind a sea report. I know that the conditions on the ICW and ocean can be vastly different.
Scott,
The wind was still from the Northeast today.
Wow, I guess the shuttle just landed!! That made me jump. Yup, Endeavour is home after traveling 6,875,000 miles in 16 days.
Anyways, the winds have laid down, but not shifted direction yet. There is a "small craft exercise caution" in effect tonight. As of 15:30 today, there was still a pretty big ground swell, (about 4-6') but the wind chop had laid down.
I'm off tonight and tomorrow, so I won't be able to give you much of an in person update, but I can call the ship and find out for you if you like.
If you decide to stick around through Thursday, we're taking some out of town friends on an airboat ride through the swamp at Lone Cabbage. (google it) You are totally welcome to come along. It's something everyone should do! We'd be happy to pick you up.
Oh, and Amy, always have a turkey baster. You will never use it, but you'll be the heroine for having it. You can never go wrong with a nail file either!
Carla
Scott,
I forgot to say, if you do go offshore tomorrow, DO NOT CROSS THE SHOALS. The swell is too big, and you'll get your arse handed to you. Go out to R "2" buoy (a little over 9nm from the jetties) before you attempt to go north. From there you head to Hedsel Shoals. Which I think is "R8" but check your charts. It's been awhile since I've gone north. The swell is from the north, and it'll be alot bigger after you clear R2.
Carla
Carla- I need to be careful with what I add to the boat. For everything "home-like" that I add to the boat, Scott is planning to add something nautical-themed to our new home. That's how he keeps me in check!
Sail safely, Scott!
It's OK. The turkey baster is for adding water to the batteries.
Carla, I wondered what that noise was. Sounded like a couple gunshots. I thought the boat was under attack.
I understand the turkey baster. A simple pump like that would be useful for the batteries, and probably a bunch of other things too. What's the nail file for?
I'm praying for the wind to change today, but if I'm still here on Thursday, I'd totally be up for the swamp ride. I'm pretty determined to do some sailing north, but I can't sit here forever waiting for the right wind.
Scott,
The nail file is for cleaning the carbon off of spark plugs, plus lots of other stuff.
I don't know if you went today. There doesn't seem to be any wind right now. I'm still trying to round everyone up for the airboats. We were up pretty late last night, and there might be a few sore heads today!
Carla
Carla, I had it in my head that today was Wednesday. I do lose track of time on the boat. I'm getting ready to head out. There's a light north wind on the icw. Hopefully that will keep up and push me out past the shoal and then I'll find some other wind out there.
I figure that the worst that will happen is that there won't be any wind and I'll have to come back in. I'm going to fill up on fuel on the way out, so I'll have enough to motor up to Ponce inlet, if need be.
Wish me luck!
Sails up. GPS on. Fishing pole deployed. Woohoo!
Winds 5-10 from the east. Seas 2-3 feet.
I even picked up a cobia lure at the fuel dock. Advice was to keep an eye out for large manta rays. That's where the cobia are. Haven't seen one yet.
Everything's working! The boat cam images look great and the Nautig tracker is showing good progress. Based on your current location I assume that this'll be an overnight leg - at the least.
Hard to beat those favorable winds and small seas - ehh?
Took a beating motoring out. Should have left earlier. But the conditions are perfect now.
Plan is to get out far enough that I can hove to for some catnaps tonight. Weather is predicted to be favorable for the next couple days. We'll see whether my endurance or the good weather lasts longer. I'd be really happy if I could do a two nighter.
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