The Other Woman???

Silver Fox is starting to wonder why is this Cal 34 getting so much attention from Ralph & Brigite???

Weekend Outings (Nov 27th & 28th)

More sunny weather, but getting colder now. We have been keen to get out all week, and on Saturday Ralph took the boat out for a few hours, and on Sunday both of us went out for a short sail.

On Saturday I was expecting a strong breeze out of the NW going North, and I went out with the #3 and a reef, but soon shook out the reef as the wind was decreasing. Sailed out past first island and on the way back I felt I was on a collision course with a container ship that was coming over the tunnel and would meet me mid channel!

The ship was decreasing speed as it went over the tunnel, but I decided to play it safe, and gybed back North. On the way back to the South and towards the channel, I was wondering if the wake from this monster would be a problem, as I know from AIS data that they go through here at between 12 and 16 knots. This ship seemed to be at the lower end of the range, and barely put out any wake at all.

Sailed back in and was in the car just after sunset, having left the boat ready to sail again the next day.


On Sunday the wind was out of the NE around 8 knots. We sailed out in front of Ocean View and back. It was an enjoyable, uneventful afternoon cruise.

Saturday Sail 11/20/2010

Still lovely sunny weather here, with High Pressure in charge and the Jet Stream keeping all the weather passing to our west and north, so off we go...

Cruised for a couple of hours in the cool WSW breeze that dropped from 15kn to 10 as we were out there. A very relaxing & enjoyable afternoon. Air temps around 60 and the Bay is at its Nov average of 55 degrees.

The Canadian geese are flying south, in impressive V shaped formations of around 60 birds. Very cool!

All good on Planet Silver Fox.

Ralph Out.

November Sunday Sail

Has been a sunny week, with a large high pressure to our west keeping the skies clear and the wind out of the north at 10 to 15kn, I have been very keen to get out, but Saturday afternoon was spent successfully getting the water pump rebuilt and installed - which I was very pleased with the work and outcome. Another system that I am now very familiar with.

Sunday there was not much wind in the morning so we did chores and went out around 1330 to a nice breeze out of the NE and going E. We broad reached North and had a quinoa salad for lunch, then had a great close hauled sail back to the outer distance mark (K). It was good sailing in the relatively flat water, fully powered with the #1, probably 8 - 9 knots.


The instruments were working as were the other jobs I had been working on! But the speedo only seems to work at high speeds. We sailed back up the harbor as we put the boat away and were back at the dock and buttoned up by 1700.

Maintenance Update

Drip is visible in this sideways pic.

Noticed a water leak from the engine water pump, researched it, and the camera confirmed the leak was from a weep hole. Which means a seal has failed. There are 2 seals in the Oberdorfer pump, one stops the raw water getting back into the motor, the other seal stops oil and gunk getting from the motor to the impeller.

Accessory Drive w/water pump removed

I removed the water pump - the hardest part is removing the lower bolt attaching the water pump to the housing, as the bolt is very hard to access. Used a paint can opener to get the old seals out. Got replacement parts from Moyer Marine - 2 seals, a gasket for the impeller cover, and a spare Impeller. The original impeller is just over a year old, and still in good shape. Total cost including shipping came to $78, and with UPS the packaged arrived the next morning (regular ground shipping).

I cleaned the pump pieces and rebuilt the pump with the new pieces, being careful to place a seal on either side of the weep holes and I cleaned and refilled the grease cup.  Reinstalled the water pump and fired up the engine - everything seems to be working perfectly, and no more leaks. Nice.

While the pump was off I also cleaned the rust from that part of the engine and hit it with Loctite Extend to protect against more rust.

I have been testing the speedo for a few days now, testing the electrical connections, etc, and cleaning the connections. The impeller appears to be working, and the unit seemed in excellent condition when I opened it up, so I was unsure what to do. In testing at the weekend it seems to be working at higher speed, but jumps around a lot. But it is better than nothing, and I'll keep working on it.

Recently I also caulked in the refurbished depth sounder, and it is working fine, but gets confused in shallow depths.


Also last week I installed the auto pilot mount and tiller pin with epoxy, for a permanent installation.

I also made and installed the lee-board, and topped off the battery water (distilled).

Single-handed Saturday

 Sat 10/23/2010. Brigite had to take care of some things, so I went for a sail alone. It was a nice sunny October day with a light SW breeze.

Put up the chute in the channel, and cut it close with the fising boats at the entrance to the cut. The wind was ahead of abeam, and I was just making it out, sometimes having to flog the cruising main.

Once out the wind started to drop, I went to First Island and the wind crapped out. I tried to will the boat on, but no dice. I turned around, but the GPS said I was still going East - out the channel! The tide was forecast to be slack, but I still had over a knot under the boat.

A massive container ship was steeming in from sea, with a HUGE bow wave, and I was thinking I need to get outta here! But I wasn't going anywhere on port so I tacked to starboard and got out of the channel. The Container ship eased off the gas, and passed through the bridge at only 12 or 14 knots, with me well clear of the channel.

I was close hauled coming back, sailed over EOV, and tacked for home, making it in around 5pm, just in time to go get the car from the repair shop. The last part of the sail was magnificent as the wind came up to where we were fully powered up with the #3 & Cruising Main and in flat water.

Just had time to button the boat up and give it a full rinse before bolting to the car place.

Overstuffed??

I have been closely monitoring the new stuffing I put in last month.

What I discovered was the box dripping about every 8 seconds - BUT the stuffing box was getting hot to the touch. That shouldn't be the case according to my research, the box should only get 15-20 degrees hotter than the ambient sea water temperature (67 degrees at the moment). So 87 degrees should not feel hot, warm yes, but not hot. Hot to the touch is between 130-150 degrees.

So how is it dripping, but so hot??? My theory is that the drips are from the water coming thru the threads on the nut, not from the stuffing, and the stuffing is not getting lubricated/cooled as it is too tight in there.

So it must be the 3 turns of PFTE packing was too much. I took one turn out and we appear to be in business now. I do not seem to need a drip though, with no drip things are staying warm and thus I can assume lubricated.

Methinks I will have to keep monitoring for a few more trips...

A Voyage of Discovery...

(10/17/2010) On Friday we say a ship come in the channel, then suddenly do an abrupt 180 turn - very strange! Then it dropped anchor just south of the shipping channel, and was shadowed by a small Navy vessel. In our 2 years here, we have never seen a ship anchor inside the Bridge Tunnel, something strange was up! Then on Saturday the boat disappeared, and on Sunday it was back, and at anchor!

It was a lovely sunny day today with gusty SW winds - we decided to take Silver Fox out and investigate! We had a lovely sail out and ate lunch on the way. Someone from the Ship came out to the fly deck and waved to us. The ship had Beluga Projects on the side, and was called Beluga Recognition. She had a red flag flying from her port flag staff, adding to its mystery!

We googled it all this evening, and found out lots of fun information...
(1) The Red Flag means it is carrying explosive materials!
(2) The ship is quite cool as it is partially WIND powered! It has a huge kite that it can deploy, to power it along and get 20% fuel saving cost!
(3) The ship is currently chartered by the US Navy.
(4) As I write this the ship has just pulled anchor and is heading out to sea towards the Panama canal.
(5) Full vessel and AIS information is available at this great site MarineTraffic.com.

More info on the ship here: http://blog.greenlogo.com/?p=11


Also on our sail back in the cut, we watched as the dredging continued and is in the cut/channel now.

Great fun!
Ralph Out.

Thimble Shoal Cruise, Sat Oct 2nd, 2010

Nice Saturday afternoon, warm (around 70), sunny and a NE breeze around 10 knots - pretty good for a relaxing cruise. The boat had not sailed since Earl (a month ago), due to our travels (Chicago - J/105 NA's & Rochester - M24 NA's), so Silver Fox was all buttoned away. We had to bring down sails, and take the boat out of hibernation, which took about an hour.

We headed out of the cut at the beginning of an ebb, but still flooding outside. The end of the flood here runs from south (the beach) North up the Bay, and thus was under us and we were making good speed over 6kn on the GPS. With good progress we decided to continue to Thimble Shoal light as it was a reach out and would be a reach back home too.

It was puffy, and the puffs must have been about 5 minutes apart, and were oscillating (may have been velocity too though).

Its a 12 mile round trip, and took us 3 hours door to door. Put the boat away as the sun set on a very relaxing and enjoyable afternoon.

Final Race of the Year

We (Silver Fox) were RC last night.

It wasn't too bad when we went down to the boat, so we decided to go ahead with the race!
Made the announcement on the VHF at 5:30, and as we dropped the dock lines, the rain filled in.
And didn't stop until... actually, its still raining now!!

With the persistent rain came a building wind out of the ENE. Sustained 25 knots of wind with higher gusts, when all was said and done.
The seas also built up, and were easily 5 feet plus, and quite confused.

Being stubborn buggers, and since some boats made the effort, we set a course, a start line and ran a sequence, while holding on to the boat as it rocked and pitched its disapproval!

3 boats were out; CYMRU, Coeur d'Alene, and Trouble.
Trouble was the only one to come to the start area, but apparently the crew refused to hoist any sails, and they motored home, followed by the two other boats under sail.

So there was a start, but no racers.

Can't say I blame them!

Hurricane Earl - Fri Sept 4th 2010

Hurricane Earl, was forecast to most likely stay offshore, but provide a glancing blow to the area. The paranoia began around Monday when forecasters could not tell how close it would come, but we could get winds up to 75mph sustained. It was all that anyone talked about, and all over the news and weather programs. Hysteria was building, and it was hard not to get caught up in it.

Boat US is our insurance carrier for the boat, and their policy is to pay for half the haul, wash, and blocking, so I decided to play it safe, and as a bonus get to do some needed work to the bottom of the boat.

The biggest project planned was to stop the dripping stern gland/stuffing box. We had a drop about every 6 seconds - while the engine was OFF. It has been like that for probably a year, but had to be stopped.

The next project was to paint the prop and shaft with Cold Galvanising as it was too popular with the barnacles. We had nothing on there up to now.

And the final project was to touch up the bottom paint around the waterline and on the rudder.

The boat came out on Thurs the 2nd Sept, and went back in on the Tuesday after the Labor Day weekend holiday.

Opening the seized stuffing box was a bugger, and when I tried it on the water last year, I think I loosened the seal to the stern tube. That is why I wanted the boat out of the water this time.

The stuffing that came out was a one piece multi-strand string. It was done, and may have been original as most of the things on the boat are.

Anyway, replaced with 3 pieces of square shaped PTFE flax stuffing ($5 a ft). 5/16ths is the size, and the 3 pieces fit in perfectly. Each piece was over 4" long to go around the 7/8ths shaft (so get more than a foot of the stuff).

The stuffing box and locking nut were frozen together. Used PB Blaster overnight and 2 big pipe wrenches to force them apart.

We had the boat on the hard for the project, as it was my first time doing something like this.

Did have a drip every 6 seconds (with engine off) before, but a nice dry bilge now (1 drip every 20 seconds when under power).

Can get the packing nut tight enough by hand - no wrench needed there. Make sure to use wrenches to tighten the locking nut though, as it will work loose otherwise.

Next Brigite & I touched up the bottom paint. We couldn't get a quart of the Trinidad Pro, so used Trinidad SR instead, and got a great deal at only $42 for a quart at West marine, plus we used a $10 off coupon.

Got the rudder and a foot of the waterline twice with a quart of paint (400 sq ft coverage), plus we touched up around the top of the keel. Let the bottom coat dry overnight before applying the second coat. Used the roll and tip method, and got a very smooth finish. Much smoother than what was there before.

The engine RW intake was oozing a day or so after the boat was hauled so I took it off to look in there and found a disgusting slimy habitat! Cleaned it and painted it with some borrowed blue antifouling (Micron).

The cold galvanizing was easy enough, and we also hit all the metal thru hulls with the stuff. Used a full aerosol can on the project, and the can cost around $8 at Do It Center.

What about the Hurricane? Well it stayed about 150 miles offshore and only gave us 30 kn winds for a couple of hours. But we got some great projects done on the boat, much needed projects and the boat now has a dry bilge, which is very satisifying, and I am sure better for the boat. The only down side is that now that it is dry it stinks, I think there is mold growing there now!!! Pweeeuueeee!!!

Boat US provided us the hauling refund check in a matter of days for half the full cost.

Trifecta #2, even sweeter!

No race on the 18th Aug, due to ongoing storms. The racing was cancelled first via e-mail and then over VHF at the appropriate times.

Aug 25th - Trouble was RC again! Are they our lucky charm?? Our our cruel tease??

Wind was W and going left, more than expected when we went out at around 7kn. Trouble came out late and set up by K. Course: J, L, S - all green. Line was almost perp to wind which was good and the clockwise course was all to Starboard which was also an improvement!

The start sequence was bizarre, with the horn, timing and orange flag all over the shop! But I figured they were tracking GPS time, and starting at 1830 exactly. When it went tits up I got back to the line as fast as I could, but I spun too hard and completely stalled the boat and removed the air attachment to the sails. We sat for 30 seconds before moving, but still had a decent start at the boat end.

I wanted to go right as soon as I could and we did. We got out to pressure and a little lift. 3 of us went there, us, CYMRU and Bona Dia, and we crushed the rest of the fleet that went to the shore. The boat was feeling good, and with the settings I created the other week, I knew the sails were trimmed correctly and I could focus on driving. We had good speed and impressive point in the 4-5kn of breeze.


We rounded first, followed closely by CYMRU and then Bona.

Tub came up fast and was abeam but to weather and sailing higher angles for no gain. The wind was down to about 4 kn now, and Brigite did great to keep the chute working.

Trouble shortened the course mid-leg, to finish close to L. We had to gybe to get to them, but were first to finish, with a couple of minutes to spare! Next was Tub, then Bona and Cymru.

Another Trifecta for FOXY, and this one felt better! First to finish, first in class and first overall. Sweet. And should have propelled us into second overall for the series!!!

Trifecta #1

Couple more races to report...

8/11/2010 - Veraldi was supposed to be RC, but Trouble showed up and took it. The pin was upwind of the boat! The clockwise course had port roundings, and there was no beat. Ok, this was going to be interesting!!!

We had a good start, but I lost sight of the line and was probably late as I was cautious reaching into the line (at the favored pin), but I dug a good hole and was clear to leeward.

We sailed high to not get rolled by the bigger boats, but Seal got over us, we let them go. Veraldi was ahead and drove Seal to the moon, allowing us to close the gap back leading into the mark.

We rounded and thread the needle through the Stbd tackers and had another close reach from K to J. A good leg for us as we kept high with clean air. Got a nice puff card to power us around the mark - another 270 degree turn, and off on the run.

We hoisted clean and were off. Again protecting high. We rolled a couple of big jammers and they blanketed Tub who was clear ahead of everyone. Mike was very late to get a chute up, and we are faster downwind, so we got overlapped with him.

The s mark was red, so to be left to port, and I think I was the only one to realize it. Tub didn't and went straight through the line and thus sailed the wrong course! We told Mike and the bog jammers about the red S and everyone followed us.

We doused the spinn, didn't unfurl and rounded up to finish - first to finish! Mike a BL behind, and then the jammers. We got a late horn from Trouble the RC boat, as I think they were also confused about our finish!

So our trifecta was: first to finish, first overall & first in class. Sweet. BTW: I think we would have corrected over the Tub had they finished legally. Results are MIA, even 2 weeks later, but I am holding out hope they will yet get to the scorer, so we can get our just dues.

Cape Charles Cup Cruise

A spectacular weekend cruise, shadowing the annual Cape Charles Cup regatta.

We didn't want to race in the Cape Charles Cup, but did want to cruise over there and participate in the party. Had a late start in the morning, leaving at 1100. Forecast was for E winds all weekend, warm conditions and no weather expected.

Beautiful sunny Saturday morning, NE breeze around 13 knots and smooth seas. We put on the cruising sails (#5 main and #3 jib (105%)) and headed out just after the last of the racing fleets had departed.

Strong flood swept us over towards buckroe, and we were about 30 degrees west of the Rhumb. We were powered up with the #3 so long as the wind was 12 kn or more, and we were close hauled. Fully powered up at 14+ true.

Lovely relaxing sail towards cape charles, and we caught up with the back quarter of the racing/cruising boats, remarkably even the catamarans, which were all surprisingly slow, and we overtook them doing only 5.x knots. I guess they don't go upwind!

It got quite light, to around 8 knots, and we were going slow - but no problem as we were in cruising mode. Got some breeze closer to the E shore, and sailed up to Cape Charles before starting the donk.

We perfected the settings for the #3, with the car in hole 7, and a nice inhauler just behind the aftermost shroud. Provided a good angle of attack and some shape in the foot. Just got to remember to take off the inhauler before tacking!!!

We motored up to Bay Creek, which was full and we rafted up there. Enjoyed the dock parties, and the BBSA (which we are members) beer and punch. It was a gorgeous evening, and we left before sunset to get the hook down before dark.

We had wanted to go up Cherrystone Creek, but had never been there before. Our newly refurbished depthsounder was spotty at best, but worked when we needed it most! With the GPS we navigated up the small channell and only had one soft bump as I went a tad to far west of the channel.

Beautiful sunset as we dropped the hook and started the BBQ. Peaceful night, with no other tourists nor boats around, the only noise was from the party and live bands over at Bay Creek.

Not a sound all night, and no waves or wake, etc. It was almost eerie and too still, whereby one thinks something is wrong because its so quiet. Didn't sleep great in the little bunk, and woke at sunrise around 0620. Checked everything on deck and went back to sleep.

Woke again at 0900 and we had breakfast and headed out against a strong tide. Suprising how strong the tide was running into the little bay since there is not a large water mass in there. Good breeze out of the SE, stronger closer to shore.

Ran aground on the way out, probably too close to the little grass island close to the channel split with Bay Creek. Got off ok, from the slow, soft landing.

Beat our way against the tide up to Kiptopeake. The cruising sails were ideal, but it took forever to make the 8.5 miles because of the tide. Dropped the hook around 1500, and we were short of time so we didn't use the dingy. Brigite swam ashore, and I scrubbed the bottom of the boat & followed her to the beach. We had a nice walk and then headed for home, pulling the hook around 1600.

Tight reach coming back with a solid 15kn and choppy water. We were nice and fast on the rhumb line, but it was a bumpy ride at times, and a handful for the autopilot which we used sparingly. Just past third island we came upon a very active school of dolphins. They were splashing away, and then started jumping clear out of the water! It was a great show, and we got a couple of photos of airborne mammals.

Came into the cut around sunset and were in the car with the boat buttoned up and rinsed by 2100. A great weekend, and a much needed overnight cruise.

Racing Update

Couple of races to report on...

On 7/21/10 the third series began, and per my math Silver Fox was 3rd in the second series! I am pleased with that, even though it was pretty much an attendance prize.

We are the slowest boat in the racing fleet, of that there is no doubt, and the top 3 boats will always beat us, unless they do something really dumb. The top boats are: Turbo's Tub, Quickie and Schock.

7/21/10 - there was a good flood tide running and a light WNW breeze. We had a killer start, with the competition all over early, and trying to fight the current back to restart.

We tacked out to get to the breeze, as the shore was very light. It was a good move, but the wind was left, so the shore guys who came out late didn't get completely slaughtered!

Overstood a tad at Y, but in the mix. Caught Quickie in the run, and were not far behind Schock. I was thinking we had this in the bag, as the last leg would be a close reach, not enough for the competition to get away from us.

But then the wind suddenly went right 60 degrees from a run to a tight reach. We were stuck to the water, while the competition slipped away. The boats behind also came up and passed us. It was like we were at anchor or something!!!

We did a bit better in the drifter run to the finish, and beat Baserunner scratch, but it was frustrating to have been stuck to the water for so long, trying to get some sails up that would free us.

7/28/10 - Brigite & I flew to Michigan this evening and missed the racing. We were going there for the Little Traverse Regatta with Carter on his J/105. There seemed to be a good breeze, and was a good 7 mile race.

8/4/10 - Very puffy SW wind on this evening. Gusts to 18 by my estimation. We went with the #3, as the 1 is too hard to tack in that much breeze. We had another killer start at the favored pin, at speed and with clear air.

Tacked to get accross the big boats, before they pinned us to the left. Got a lift and were overstood, letting some boats below in there.

Gybed and had a nice set, were faster than Quickie so overtook them with only the Tub ahead. But in the beat we were underpowered, and with the outboard sheeting had no point at all with the #3. The wind was decreasing as the race went on.

It was a relaxing, fun race, that we enjoyed, and the boat is unscathed, which is important to us.

Sat Evening Cruise Aug 7th.

Been busy racing in Newport (Rolex J/105 ECC's), and Harbor Springs (Little Traverse), so not been much cruising on Silver Fox over the past few weeks.

But took the boat out today, as there was some breeze out of the NE, around 7kn, and a warm sunny evening. Sailed upwind and got some good upwind settings on the main with the AP driving. Brigite had to do paperwork so I was on my own.

Sailed out past L to the channel markers, then put the chute up and sailed to the house, dropped the hook and called B. But the sun was settings, so it was getting late.

So I sailed back, and it was a lovely sail as it got dark.

Got in and rinsed the boat down and by the time everything was put away it was 10pm.

It was great to get out and have some quality time with the boat on the water!

Ralph Out.

Spontaneous Sunday Cruise (7/11/10)

A beautiful summer day here, and I wanted to clean the prop shaft and prop on the boat, Brigite wanted to go for a swim, so we took the boat out to East Beach.

But there was a nice breeze, so we went for a lovely sail first - out into the bay and back. Wind was from the South around 6 kn and puffy.

We dropped the hook and had a very nice swim in the warm water. The shaft and prop had some barnie growth, and the hull had a layer of slime, which I brushed off. I got another jelly sting - which is no more than a sting from nettles from back in the homeland.

We hung out on the boat for a couple of hours on the hook, then had to go home as we didn't bring any dinner with us.