October 31, 2016
The watch schedule had me at the helm from 6:00am until 9:00am which lined up perfectly with our arrival into Cabo. Sunrise on the last day of the passage The first sign we were close were the massive stream of fishing charter boats coming out to greet us. Then the resorts dotting the pacific coast, and finally we came to…
October 30, 2016
We departed Turtle Bay at 14:15 in the afternoon looking forward to three nights at sea after deciding to skip Mag bay to ensure we would be in Cabo for Halloween and Dia de los muertos. Sunrise to start our second day at sea While everyone slept I made myself a tasty breakfast Becalmed conditions make for a comfortable passage…
October 26, 2016
Just the way you like to start a long passage, we had a mellow start with light winds and nearly no swell a great way to find the rhythms of non-stop motion. This passage would be about 300 nautical miles and ultimately took 51.85 hours with an average speed of 5.75 knots. We did pick up winds enroute but still…
October 23, 2016
So what happened? Well I suppose the best term would be burn out. After working the month of July averaging 85 hours weeks, when I headed back to Minnesota, I was ready for a break from boat work. I did return for a few days in early September where I knocked off a couple of things and continued a frustrating…
August 30, 2016
The sail down to the Sea of Cortez is quickly approaching. Thankfully the list of projects is shrinking and looks like there should be a green light for making the downwind cruise to La Paz in October. Looking at my original list there were two categories of items, 1. Critical to the safety of the boat and 2. Things that…
August 15, 2016
Well I suppose it should be expected that the one hatch that leaked would be over my bed. At least in Mexico and San Diego there isn’t a lot of rain so it wasn’t major issue. Mostly just a just a pain in the ass when washing the boat, since I had to remember to put a bin under the…
August 7, 2016
By dumb luck I saw a Safety at Sea brochure at Downwind Sailing, the training was to take place at the end of my refit trip but if I hunkered down I thought I could squeeze it in. And seriously, it probably is a smart thing to do given the plans to sail down to La Paz in October/November. Snapped…
August 4, 2016
The last thing you want to happen in an emergency is to struggle to know where things are located. Especially important for visiting guests who aren’t intimately familiar with the vessel. In an effort to pump up the safety margin on Strikhedonia, I have put together a laminated map of where safety equipment and potential failure points are located. Any…
August 2, 2016
Disassembly of a Harken 46 was pretty straight forward. The pictures were a big help in making sure everything fell back into place when reassembling the winch. Supplies used: Bucket for clean and dirty parts Small cleaning brush (nylon) 1” Paint brush Harken Winch Grease Harken Pawl oil Large and small flat head screwdrivers Allen wrenches Clean rags Mineral spirits…
August 1, 2016
It was an exhausting, at times overwhelming, grind, but from July 7th until August 1st I buckled down and cranked out a lot of work. The days were long often starting before 6:00am and not knocking off until after 8:00pm. I skipped a bunch of meals and made daily trips to the marine store, Home Depot, and Target (some times…
August 1, 2016
Well that didn’t last long. Dave (SV Nimrod) filled me in that the InterVolt Programmable Voltage Relay, that we both were using, are only low voltage relays and would not chop the connection in over-voltage conditions. Shit, that is no good. While the LiFePO4 don’t catch fire they can smoke and make a big mess, not to mention destroy the…
July 26, 2016
Two engines means two chances to get it right. Or to screw it up… Clip the zip tie holding the coolant hose Remove the alternator belt guard Remove the lower bolt from the back side of the alternator Loosen both the front and back bolt holding the alternator Remove the alternator belt Remove the alternator cables Zip tie the alternator…