My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on September 21, 2016

In a previous post, I sketched out a "Generator Cage," for the lack of a better term, for our sailboat Encore. The idea is to slip off a Sunbrella cover so we can use the Honda EU2000i Inverter Generator mentioned here on the aft deck when needing power at anchor to charge the batteries and power higher wattage devices. The aluminum cage permits the generator to be locked securely to the deck, but run with unimpeded airflow and moved to be stored below or onshore. 

The "cage" will have two matched keyed locks on each side that holds the "eventual" lid, step, seat, worksurface on top. The cage as mentioned will be thru-bolted to the deck and be fitted with a cover for sun and weather protection. It has been sized slip in from the front with the lid removed but locked in place if the lid is in place.  The final fitting with nylon washers for leveling might change a few things, but I’m planning a foam insert under the lid to semi-secure the generator from wiggling around. (yet to be seen)

Above — a few expendable items I need to replace from Lincoln as the previous eBay ordered part from last year were incorrect. Of course I didn’t check them until I tried to use them!

It is amazing how quick you lose TIG welding skills if you aren’t doing it everyday … from setting up and tweaking the correct power and equipment settings to the coordination between foot pedal, right hand torch movement and left hand filler rod feeding … all behind a darken mask!

Category: Energy, Misc, Personal, Sailing, Tidbits | 1 Comment »
Tags: aluminum, encore, EU2000i, generator, honda, inverter, tig, welding

Posted By RichC on September 20, 2016

Here’s  a last minute blog filler for those who have ever (or might) hit their fingers when hammering in a small nail or tack. For years I’ve used needle-nose pliers to hold the nail, but since we have a bunch of extra "bag clips" (it is what we primarily use clothespins for) laying around, I figured passing along this tip wouldn’t hurt. I’ve tried it and it works great.

It just occurred to me that most of our clothespins were left over from my photography darkroom days where I had them strung up on a coated wire line to hang up rolls of film and RC paper prints — prior to that we used a "print dryer" with a polished stainless steel plate in order to achieve a glossy surface — wow, I dug deep for those memories!

Category: Memories, Photography, Tidbits, Tools | No Comments »
Tags: clothespin, darkroom, dryer, Memory, nail, photography, tip, workshop

Posted By RichC on September 19, 2016

Good question: By ear, the slightly smaller and far lighter Honda EU2000i inverter based generator is definitely quieter than the less expensive, but larger in dimension, weight and power Predator 2200. Read on for a few more points.

I like both of inverter generators and each will serve a slightly different purpose. The Honda is as quiet as a generator can be made as far as I can  tell … and puts out an appropriate amount of power to use on Encore, our sailboat. With the correct plug (thanks to my buddy Mark Jones), the Honda plugs directly into the shore power plug and will power most of our electrical needs at anchor and charge the batteries … this reduces running the Volvo diesel engine when only charging batteries.

The Predator is of similar design, but noticeably heavier and louder. It can handle a largers loads with a maximum power draw of 2500 watt "surge" and 2200 rated watts. The lightweight and quieter Honda EU2000i only surges to 2000 watts and is rated at 600 watts less at 1600 watts. Again both serve a purpose and the price is most definitely different — the Honda is twice as expensive (and likely higher quality, but that’s just my assumption from reading, etc). In my case the Predator will replace the much larger full framed generator that overheated last year — cough, cough … I’m not pointing a finger at my wife …

As you can see in the photos in my side by side testing with exactly the same load, the Honda was 6 decibels quieter recording an 81dB on my iPhone meter at a distance of 4 feet … both units were in exactly the same location. I’m not an audio guy, but listening by ear at a distance of 45 feet, the Honda was barely noticeable while the Predator, which recorded a steady 87dB in my 4 foot test,  was definitely rumbling along and easily heard.

If it is quiet and reliable reputation you need, buy the Honda. If you need something just for emergencies and as a backup or want to save a buck, the Predator seems to be an excellent inverter generator. Time will tell. 

Category: Advice, Audio, Energy, Misc, Sailing, Tools | No Comments »
Tags: comparison, decibels, EU2000i, generator, honda, inverter, predator 2200

Posted By RichC on September 18, 2016

After sitting quietly most of the summer, my friend Jeff needed to borrow a set of wheels for a week. He has intimately name the 1982 MB diesel the "old girl" and seems to appreciate her many quirks. Since it isn’t covered, there was a little dust, but she still looks pretty good to me. I’m going to have a difficult time selling when our Elio eventually arrives.

As for the new boat project mentioned in the subject line, it is a project that I’ve been batting around in my head for a while ever since I put the shelf and workbench in the Honda Odyssey. For that, I welded some square aluminum tubing together and liked it enough to contemplate a way to securely house the Honda EU2000i Generator on deck without someone easily stealing it off the deck when at anchor. A second and third use would be a seat or work surface for cleaning fish! The illustration is a sketch of the aluminum components that surround the generator. The small rectangle section is under the lid/seat and when fitted surrounds the handle and prevents pulling the generator out. A couple padlocks fasten underneath each side and once the Sunbrella cover is removed, the generator can run with open airflow. The "surround" will be through bolted to the aft deck and generator moved off the boat or below when we are not around  (the top is not shown in my preliminary sizing sketch).

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Mercedes, Sailing, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: 300d, elio, encore, generator, honda, mercedes, project, sailboat, turbodiesel

Posted By RichC on September 17, 2016

This content is restricted.

Category: Audio, Music | No Comments »
Tags: fly, mp3, Music, song, sugar ray, summer

Posted By RichC on September 16, 2016

Continued from 9/14/2016 and 9/15/2016 — This is PART 3:

Instead of heading home, we picked up pizza and headed over to my nephew Justin and his wife Keity’s new house (photo above) about 25 minutes from Wayzata. He and his son Evan gave us the grand tour while we waited for his wife and daughter Madelyn to return home for supper.

The sun was setting and we enjoyed the rest of the evening in the backyard making S’mores over the fire.

We finally left so they could go to bed after a long and busy weekend … but it is always great seeing them when we come up to Minnesota!

Finally a nice meal out is always in order when we visit — The Cov (below) this time … although we loved all of Katelyn’s new breakfast/brunch ideas … I especially liked the eggs baked in cinnamon rolls.

And in keeping with my text messaging weekend theme in getting a “lyft” to and from everyplace by using the excellent “Drew-BER” service … thank you to my son-in-law for hauling us around all weekend. Very much appreciated!

Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: brenda, drew, drewber, family, justin, katelyn, keity, minnesota, trip, wayzata

Posted By RichC on September 15, 2016

Continued from 9/14/2016 — This is PART 2:

Sunday was fully planned as well. Katelyn and Drew had scoped out a car show in previous years and they knew it would be something I would enjoy. So before going to a ballgame, “we” (well at least “I”) enjoyed the old cars — and shared a little too much of the “who cares” information.

Their house is within walking distance from the center of Wayzata and with the number of paths and bike trails, getting around on foot or two wheels is a cinch. Highways have walk overs, every town is connected by trails and even towns have sidewalks (something sorely missing where we live in Liberty Twp, Ohio). About the only thing missing were government designated and regulated air-routes for drone flying — but give them time! #sarcasm (that’s me above flying Drew’s quadrotor … FUN!!!)

The AFTERNOON:

Lucky I guess, but it just happened that our FIRST place Cleveland Indians were in town playing the Minnesota Twins … so off we went to downtown Minneapolis with special event tickets Katelyn was able to finagle through her Wayzata Children’s Clinic & local hospital connection — what a treat! To top it off … the Indians won the game handily.

Since we were at an afternoon game, that left us with time to swing past the BRAND new USBank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings and host to Superbowl LLII on February 4, 2018.  It is a beautiful “ship” ??? — looks kind of like one.

See part 3 … Friday.

Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: brenda, drew, family, indians, justin, katelyn, keity, minnesota, trip, twins, wayzata

Posted By RichC on September 14, 2016

Tempus fugit (Latin phrase) for "Time flies" when you’re having fun!  … and we certainly had a good time this past weekend with our pregnant daughter Katelyn and husband Drew. This trip to Minneapolis was the first since Thanksgiving 2015 — shame on us — but at least we waited for great weather to visit.

Katelyn did a lot of planning for our visit and lined up terrific activities — she even tried out a couple new recipes. We in turn brought her a few of Grandma Corbett’s recipes from her several boxes and books (items she was to get from my parents estate), but it will take a little more space for us to move all of my moms’ cookbooks, etc.

Our day started with a festival in Wayzata, MN (their town), which was celebrating James Day Hill Days which was worth the visit on its own. We walked the streets and visited the booths, shops and displays on Saturday … and took a ride on the restored 1906 steamship Minnehaha. The sky was blue, blue, blue with a few white puffy clouds, temperature 80 F or so with a perfect breeze off of Lake Minnetonka. The sailboats were out in force racing as we made a loop on Wayzata Bay … very picturesque (thanks for sending me your photos Drew!)

Sailing history: The Minnetonka Yacht Club, was founded in 1882 and one of the club’s founders, Hazen Burton, is credited with developing the inland lake racing scow in 1893. I’ve heard the original is on display in nearby Excelsior, MN?

The fun was not done because the day was not over; we returned for fireworks out over the lake. We laid out our blankets and sat on the water’s edge to a terrific pyrotechnical show topped off by the passing of a train whistling and rumbling by a few feet from where we were sitting. I forgot just how a locomotive shakes the ground.

See part 2 …  hopefully tomorrow.

Category: Personal, Photos, Travel, Video | 1 Comment »
Tags: brenda, drew, family, fireworks, james day hill days, katelyn, minnesota, trip, wayzata

Posted By RichC on September 13, 2016

T-Mobile US  said on Tuesday that pre-orders for Apple’s  iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus broke the company’s record and Sprint (S) said they were almost four times greater than last year.

Pre-sales of the phone, which started on Friday, were up fourfold from the next most popular iPhone and set a single-day sales record for any smartphone in T-Mobile history, the carrier said. Pre-registrations for the iPhone 7 also broke records at T-Mobile, beating pre-registrations for the iPhone 6 and 6s, the company said.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will be available on Sept. 16.

At Sprint, pre-orders from new and existing customers are up more than 375% in the first three days over last year, the carrier said.

Appleon Sept. 7 unveiled the new phones, along with several other new products including the next-generation Apple Watch and upgraded software.

The new iPhone is water resistant, has a longer battery life and an improved dual-camera system. Both models did away with the headphone jack, meaning all headphones will have to be wireless or connect through its lightpoint port, Apple said.

Apple  is trying to keep up with competitor Samsung, which increased its market share to 22.3% in the second quarter this year from 21.8% during the same timeframe in 2015, according to researcher Gartner. Apple ( AAPL ), meanwhile, came in second but saw its share of the market fall to 12.9% in the second quarter of 2016 from 14.6% last year.

03:27 PM EDT, 09/13/2016 (MT Newswires)

Category: Apple, Cellphone, Financial | No Comments »
Tags: aapl, investing, iphone7, MTNewswire, sprint, t-mobile, trading

Posted By RichC on September 12, 2016

Unfortunately when one faces cancer, the outcome isn’t always what we want. It is a terrible disease and one which we can only hope medical science will eventually cure … the sooner the better.

I’ve corresponded with Judy and Mark Handley for many years via email and Winlink (email via Amateur Radio) and we have always talked about meeting up (mentions on my blog). We hoped it would be sailing or anchoring in a beautiful cove, but probably would have been satisfied with a cup of coffee on either of our boats.

I knew when I read Judy’s last few emails that Mark was struggling in his long battle, but the end came far sooner than expected. Perhaps that was a blessing as it may have minimized the suffering in the end? All I know is that I will miss "picking his brain" over boat issues as he was a wealth of knowledge and always willing to share. He will be missed, but by none more than Judy, his wife of 44 years. My deepest condolences to all of the Handley family.

Here is a “public post” from Judy … as always, beautifully written:

Life After Windbird, Day 30: What a Wonderful Life
Date: Sunday, September 11, 2016
Weather: Clear; High 75 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

What a wonderful life. Mark Daniel Handley was born on July 7, 1942 and tonight, September 11, 2016, he left us. Heather, Justin, and I spent our day with Mark and met with a fantastic Hospice representative. His name was Will and he was so informative and reassuring. On his recommendation we all gave Mark our permission to opt out of his long-standing battle with cancer. And also on his recommendation, Heather and Justin brought the grandchildren to see Granddad. There were some beautiful moments even though Granddad was not very responsive. Heather stayed with Mark while I went to have dinner at her house. When I returned Heather reported that Mark had been doing a bit of a travel through time blurting out periodically something like, “Get that boat part.” He was a sailor to the end. I insisted that Heather and Justin go home with their families for the night. None of us thought he was close to the end. But sometime after 9 pm, his breathing changed and he wanted to hold both my hands. I practically sat on him in that tiny hospital bed for the next half-hour, telling him how much I love him and reminding him of how lucky I was to accompany him on his life’s adventures. Mark was a man of dreams and he made those dreams come true. Lucky me that I got to tag along. A part of me is gone forever, but I will rebuild with what is left. Mark was my lover, my friend, and my partner in life for almost 44 years, minus seven days. We met on September 18, 1972. Four has always been my lucky number and these 44 years have been spectacular. Mark left behind so many wonderful memories as well as two very special children and their equally special spouses, and five fantastic grandchildren—The Fab Five. It really was a wonderful life. Thank you, Mark Handley. I will be with you forever.

Category: Obituary, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: boats, friends, handley, obit, Obituary, sailing