Day 1 ended early. We retired from race one and went home to fix the jib and discuss how to do better tomorrow. I think mayhem forcing an abrupt tack right at the beginning (which was actually going pretty well) really kind of ruined our day. They protested relentless and race committee penalized relentless 30% but that doesn't really help us since we retired.
Also I think I need knee pads.
Got to meet John and the crew on Chessie. (AYC Wednesday night race, a first for me.) Was not on spin trim, just jib, which was neat because I am actually pretty decent at it on other boats. I liked the J105 set up, and I am looking forward to Saturday! (NOODS) Wind was pretty light, 6-8or so mostly. Beautiful evening, great sunset.
Quite gusty this afternoon. Very very shifty in front of dominos as well, not ideal. Was able to get through almost entire SH list, but only as practice and not while being observed. :-( Have to demonstrate tomorrow in worse conditions. 12-15 SSW ish but bouncing around everywhere. Low 70s.
Early morning at the docks was beautiful though.
Day 2 was bananas. Mega gusts and downpour hit right after we came in and started presentations.
Day 3 even crazier wind. Actually could not take boats out. I didn't think conditions could kick up as much as my cruising check out, but clearly was mistaken. Didn't get a chance to do last quick stop check so have to schedule that soon. :-( otherwise everything good.
Had a lovely evening sail on Akimbo. Wind was 5-10, E, mid 60s. Just a couple of hours but very pleasant.
Batteries were low and the radio did not work at all, so need to look into that.
Met early at DSC to get a ride over to Marinemax on Hoss, did last touch ups w/Albert, splashed Sun, drove back to DSC and couldn't NOT keep the bow straight while docking w/Josh waiting to catch me. Super embarrassing. I hate driving that boat so much. Anyway, it's in good shape now. The knot meter had a micro dribble coming through but Albert greased & tightened it so hopefully that's all set.
Then I took #4 to practice SH Robert from noon to 4. Wind was ESE ish, 10-12 or so. My POBs went great for a change but upwind docking remains extremely stressful. I keep clenching as the bow gets close to the dock and I am internally screaming as I turn up and try to scramble forward. I hate it so much.
Incredibly exhausting. Pics say it all. Scraped and sanded bottom, did 3 coats of paint. Waxed/cleaned & buffed topsides, etc, etc. 2 days working at the yard, and tomorrow will paint the patches under the stands and splash and help get it back to DSC.
Tom, James & I took Akimbo to fill up the fuel tank and were very surprised to only get 12.8 gallons in, when we thought it was only had 3-5 gallons in it, and every piece of documentation says it is a 36 gallon tank! Everyone always said to never let it get below half, which I thought was because we didn't have a gauge, or possibly due to some kind of condensation issue, but LO! It all adds up now! If we did have just a couple of gallons left on Sunday, it makes sense that the little hit of sediment at the bottom of the tank got shaken up and clogged the primary filter. We then added 3 gallons of Tom's rescue diesel, and changed the filters, and then it ran beautifully. So with the top up today, that puts us at ≈2+3+12.8 =17.8 AND, we crawled down into lazarette and measured the exterior of the tank which volume was a maximum possible total of about 26gallons, but we estimate the thickness of the tank, etc, would reduce that by 20%, which is very very nearly the 18 gal that came standard with the boat. I am so curious where this 36 gal number came from, and how many times getting below "half full" (hah!) resulted in a confusing failure. Anyway, now we know. And everything is clean and running great.
We pumped out the black tank as well so everything is good to go for the season. Tom straightened out the twisted wires behind the ignition and tighten the starter, so we thing the tachometer will stop flaking out now as well.
I did test the bottom of the tank and found no water, and just a bit of grime, nothing crazy. I guess the gunk that came out the bottom of the strainer had been there for a while building up. Added a teensy bit of biocide and called it good. Will fill the tank soon. Anyway, cleared out the starboard lazarette and found a rusty umbrella (wtf) at the bottom back, topped up the coolant and re-re-re-scrubbed the diesel drips off the cockpit. Still very gusty today, but sunny and beautiful so was nice to be on the water, though tied up. Need a nap now.
Met Tom to change filters (primary in the racor) and secondary, bled the line, and the engine started right up! Not completely sure what to do now b/c we did accidentally let the tank get pretty low, which I gather from the previous orientation doc could cause condensation and growth? So.... I don't want more sediment, but there didn't seem to be more than the initial chunky bits that came out of the bottom of the racor yesterday... I might go use a test bulb thing to suck a sample up from the bottom and see how it looks before deciding. Albert says to put a biocide in after getting the water and gunk out. I guess it couldn't hurt?
I can't believe we let the tank get low like this too, the sheet in the back of the log doesn't indicate it should at this level. AND, there's not enough in the fuel fund to fill up. I definitely need to make a point of bringing it up when I do the log. I got out of the habit last fall. :-(
Crazy oscillating wind at 10-12ish from SE-NE every few minutes. Went out with Susan at noon for some docking and POB practice. Had a great time, but I did really struggle a stupid amount to actually pick up the buoy the first couple of times. Had to bail on docking repeatedly too. Am feeling extremely extra terrible at J sailing atm. Came in around 4 and Susan did a great downwind dock.
helped Josh set a mast on a boat, went to akimbo and dawn soaped up the cockpit and scrubbed it down to remove any oil and diesel from yesterday.
Then hung out w/JB for a bit on set up the Bimini on Sun and watched while he replaced a secondary bilge pump. He hung out in the pit and ate pizza while I did some POB's and SH reefing practice on #4, and I did an upwind dock at the end. So, maybe 4hrs, and then another hour? 90 minutes? The wind really died down by the evening so I did a ton better with the POBs. And everything really. So as long as the BKI tops out at like 10 knots I'm probably fine. :-(