Posted By RichC on September 4, 2014
Here’s an idea that came from one of those “pagination” oriented list sites … which has become the bane of Internet reading; I’m talking about those sites with multiple pages of photos or news sites requiring a bunch of page clicks in order to read an article – in my opinion the practice needs a social protest movement in order to stop it. Obviously the more clicks, the more profitable the website becomes, but it sure is a pain for readers. For my part, I refuse to participate 95% of the time.
That said, here was an interesting water saving idea posted on such a site (refuse to credit them) and promoted on Twitter (this water saving faucet concept would be great for the boat):
The sleek curve of this faucet makes you think it belongs on some gravity-controlled spaceship. In fact, there’s nothing futuristic or high tech about this faucet beyond it’s look. The 1limit faucet is just an elegant way to conserve water. The see-through glass tube of the faucet holds exactly 1 liter of water, which is supposed to be the amount of water one needs for a quick hand wash. The lever simply turns on or off, permitting or stopping the flow of water from the tube. Problem is, once you’ve used up the water you need to turn it off to refill the 2 liter tube.
Category: Archive, Innovation, Social Media |
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Tags: bathroom, conservation, faucet, kichen, sailboat, water
Posted By RichC on September 3, 2014
One of the reasons, besides age and appearance, that I replaced the halyards on our sailboat this year was due to the stiffness of the double braided line. Here’s me holding up the line demonstrating just how “stiff” this old mainsail halyard was.
Question: Is there a way to find out what kind of rope this is; because the “core” material cut like steel … very tough stuff (just age and weather or was this a premium low-stretch line?)
Category: Sailing |
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Tags: cordage, encore, halyard, line, rope, sailing
Posted By RichC on September 2, 2014
Since I’ve owned a variety of tractors and yard implements over the years with my favorite being the multi-function Bobcat branded skidsteer, I knew that I would want to share this little video gem (a friend shared on Facebook).
Category: Misc, Video |
1 Comment »
Tags: bobcat, construction, landscaping, skidsteer, talent
Posted By RichC on September 2, 2014
My wife is slowly coming around to the idea of an Elio as a commuter car. The PR swing they have been making around the country seems to have others showing interest too … but can they keep the quality up in order to sell it for $6800???
Category: Automotive, Marketing, Video |
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Tags: cars, elio, Marketing, public relations
Posted By RichC on September 1, 2014
The big news this Labor Day 2014 weekend was that my niece Jackie’s boyfriend Ben proposed her while on military leave. The announcement made for big excitement and the thought of another family wedding. Long time My Desultory Blog followers (those who follow the personal and family posts) might remember Jax from events like her high school graduation in 2007. My son’s big concern was that with his cousin receiving a ring, that “the torch has been passed.” Speaking of rings, Ben proposed with the ring her late father (Mark Howard) gave to her mother Lynda. Very nice.
Category: Personal, Photos |
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Tags: engagement, family, howard, jackie, wedding
Posted By RichC on September 1, 2014
Here’s a “large, hungry” Hammerhead Shark feeding in the clear “shallow” waters in Destin Florida … as viewed from a balcony.
Category: Environment, Nature, Travel, Video |
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Tags: beach, florida, hammerhead, panhandle, shark, youtube
Posted By RichC on August 31, 2014
Archiving a great sailing tip from the sailboat-cruising.com website starting with a tip on how to adjust the jib sheet car when using a roller furling genoa:
Deck-sweeping genoas are not wonderful on a cruising boat if you’re at all interested in what’s going on ahead; nor do they work well with furling gear unless you’re happy to move the mainsheet traveler every time you adjust the furler.
It’s a geometry thing, the jib sheet must pull equally along the foot of the sail and the leech, or the shape of the sail will be distorted.
To check if you’ve got the jib sheet traveller in the correct position to achieve this, try luffing up while watching the tell-tales in the luff:~
● if the upper tell-tales break before the lower ones, then the jib sheet car is too far forward. ● if the lower tell-tales break before the upper ones, then the jib sheet car is too far aft.
● when all tell-tales break at the same time, then you’ve got the car in the right position.
Link to PDF
Actually here’s another tip that I need to check on before re-rigging my roller furling headsail: Avoiding Roller Reefing Foul-Ups
Category: Archive, How-To, Sailing |
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Tags: cruising, encore, headsail, roller furling, sailboat, tips
Posted By RichC on August 30, 2014
The past week had me on an enjoyable but quick trip to take care of a few sailboat maintenance items in Florida. The sails were re-stitched and needed to be picked up from South Sails as well as new halyards spliced and hoisted. Unfortunately the summer sun has been hard on every exposed part … and the humidity not all that kind inside, but what can a “commuter cruiser” do?
Figured I might as well save a couple sunrise memories since they were beautiful … I need a few more.
While I’m archiving photos from the past week, I might as well include a couple more from future projects: 1) anti-siphon valve needs to be repaired or replaced (above) and 2) the diesel fuel tank needs to TLC and the fuel needs to be polished (cleaned and re-filtered (growth in the tank).
A third project is to address my lack of a permanent 3) LED anchor/tri-color masthead light as well as replacing the bulb in my steaming light (not shown).
Category: Archive, Sailing, Travel |
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Tags: encore, florida, harbortown, list, marina, projects, sailboat, sunrise
Posted By RichC on August 29, 2014
Mercedes-Benz leads the pack in having the most satisfied customers, with only the American brand Buick making the “most satisfied” WSJ screen shot. I can’t say that “satisfied” list was a big surprise, but I was shocked that the “least satisfied” brand was Acura … according to the survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Category: Automotive, Video |
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Tags: cars, models, wsj
Posted By RichC on August 28, 2014
I picked up the repaired sails from South Sails this week and had initial success after stitching in a nylon thimble multiple times (I’m learning) into Encore’s new jib halyard. I still have the main sail halyard to go, but hopefully it will go smoother after the practice? I noticed the old halyards were oversized for the Westerly Corsair II according to information 
derived from SailboatOwners.com – 1/2” rather than 7/16” – so for the next time I will assume 1/2” line will go through the sheaves? The old halyards had “hardened” and stiffened in the weather, something I noticed when stitching the new halyard to the old when replacing without going aloft. The rock solid core of the old halyard has me wondering if it could possibly be a premium cored low stretch line? (something to ask an expert)
The Harken roller furling gear was a little bit more straight forward although the old 3/8” line was a bear to dig out of where it is knotted at the bottom of the drum. All in all, the upgrade will may me a little bit more comfortable when attempting to furl the headsail in a strong wind.
I’ve noticed that it is also time for a bottom cleaning so I gave my DiverDown buddy Roy a call and set him up for next month. Need to get back on an every other month rotation anyway. I’m not happy with the added expense, but it sure beat hauling out and powerwashing … or getting into the brackish water and scrapping it myself.
Category: Sailing |
1 Comment »
Tags: encore, florida, halyard, repair, replace, rigging, running, sailboat
