Mid-Winter Blues

[Ed422]

New boat to us…. Albin 30 needing a fair amount of refurb. The 1st mate/admiral is redoing all the cushions and probably cockpit vinyl. I’m working on various other projects, swim platform, the metal piece that goes from the keel to the rudder shaft (what the heck is that piece called?), solar, replacing the hardtop, replacing the refrigerator, etc. I did some stuff, refurb the freshwater system, winterizing all the systems, etc. before the weather turned.

Now we’re in the depths of a cold snap and it’s just too dang cold to do much of anything outside (and my workshop isn’t heated either). I try to not wish my life away, but I sure am ready for spring.

Ed

[DCatSea]

Know that feeling. At least it's February, Spring is round the corner, you're in MD. and there's an R in the month.

[WillieC]

"the metal piece that goes from the keel to the rudder shaft (what the heck is that piece called?)"

I believe that is called the skeg.

I have been following those horrible weather reports with Mt. Washington poking into the stratosphere due to troughs in those atmospheric layers. We had some uncommonly low barometric pressure troughs during the December king tides that flooded a bunch of waterfront properties near us on the Puget Sound. We got saltwater in our crawl space.

Spring is coming. Put another log on the fire and post pictures of your re-upholstery project. I may tackle same myself this season.

[Ed422]

Assorted project pics.

[Tree]

Thankfully my season is year long. I’ve just got back home from being on the water all evening in balmy 9°c temperatures. Fishing was rubbish but better than watching Saturday night tv.

[DCatSea]

Know what you mean about Saturday night TV in UK. Just got back from GUZ, and thankfully there are several great pubs within walking distance of daughters' houses (i.e. "The Dolphin"), so the TV is usually a moot point.

Sorry about the fishing, but you are in the right place for some pretty spectacular deep-water catches. Do you ever dive on the Martello Towers for lobster?

[Tree]

I don’t dive anymore Doug. Sadly diving has got stupid technical with mixed gases and people wanting to push the limits more and more. Virtually nobody in my old club wanted to dive the Solent because the viz is generally so bad but that’s what made me enjoy it - scratching around on the bottom finding stuff everyone else drifted by. The Solent is an archeological treasure trove but you’ve got to put in the time. This time of year is normally best for clear water when the plankton isn’t in bloom - dry bag or semi dry suit is a must though with water only being around 6°c at the moment.

[DCatSea]

I don't dive, other than a couple of years weighted snorkeling on reefs in Qatar, as a volunteer catching specimens for the National Aquarium. Great fun and in usually less than 15'. We used a Rotork Sea-Truck (Dyson's nice landing craft knock-off) so could step off the front and re-enter the same way. Great fun. Viz was very good, thankfully, and there were occasionally a few large fish around that we wanted to keep away from.
Most scary however was a Manatee that surfaced about six feet from me and exhaled violently. I darn near walked on water, much to everyone's amusement.

BTW: To Ed422 - That's some nice-looking work you've been doing there. I may steal a couple of ideas, esp. the arrangement for holding the skeg in place.Mazboot was born without one, and now we're on the Potomac a skeg might be a useful upgrade - there's a lot of sub-surface crap and logs in this river, and thin water.

[Ed422]

BTW: To Ed422 - That's some nice-looking work you've been doing there. I may steal a couple of ideas, esp. the arrangement for holding the skeg in place.Mazboot was born without one, and now we're on the Potomac a skeg might be a useful upgrade - there's a lot of sub-surface crap and logs in this river, and thin water.

Like I said above... the cushions are all my wife's handiwork. I have a guy who made the skeg. slaysmanforge.com It was very affordable and seems like it will do exactly what I need. Apparently, in a previous owners hands, the rudder, skeg, and about 10-12 inches of the keel were broken off. I'm not sure if I'm happy with the replacement rudder, but it works for now and I may (or may not) do some fiberglassing to make it a bit more hydrodynamic in the future. I need to find that mix between work and fun... too much work, and it's not fun anymore. LOL I already have a ton of projects for this winter.

Ed