Search This Blog

Monday, September 1, 2014

Hunting...

Recently there has been discussion on the Rosborough list server regarding the boat's propensity the swing while on the hook. In sailor's terms, this is because the high cabin top starts so far forward on deck creating a center of effort that is on the front half of the boat. Similar to sailing a boat with headsail only, the boat wants to "fall" away from the wind, as in lee helm.



With more than a few years of cruising experience and anchoring, the last 15 while owning three different Corsair trimarans ( www.trimarankimosabi.blogspot.com ), I first attempted to use an anchor bridle on Buddy. The bridle was attached to the anchor rode and run to the midships cleats. This did not help. I also attempted other attachment points forward of the cleats with no real success. One thing I have done that appears to help a little bit is use to use an anchor snubber that is attached to the bow eye on the boat.  A side benefit is the scope of the anchor rode is increased because the attachment point on the boat is closer to the water. A 10-12" loop of yacht braid is used to quickly attach the snubber to the anchor line. The second photo is an attempt to show how the loop of yacht braid is attached to the anchor line.Buddy has 50 feet of chain plus 150 feet of braided nylon anchor line.



When we have our full cockpit enclosure up, the center of effort moves back, but not really enough to stop the swing.

Monday, August 25, 2014

The big move... Twice in a month!

Well, we didn't get any summer cruising in as the game plan changed a bit. In July we moved what wasn't either sold or given away in Wisconsin to our home in SW Florida. After pondering our circumstance there a bit, we decided we needed more house (actually, we figured this out before we moved). So... we bought another one. We moved in this week, bringing Buddy 8 miles from one home to the "new" one yesterday. Unfortunately, we'll have to have another boat lift built as our new place doesn't have one...





Sunday, July 6, 2014

Changes...

It's been a while since an update on Buddy's travels. That's because there haven't been any... Long story short, but we did return to Wisconsin the Wednesday before Memorial weekend. Buddy got launched on Memorial Day. Since then Buddy has been away from the dock a total of six times and traveled a wopping total of 18.4 NM.
The reason for this shameful activity is we have a sale pending on our home in Wisconsin, closing in a week. Since  Memorial weekend we have been in full purge mode at the house. Since our home south is furnished, not much in Wisconsin was needed. The purge is over, the house is empty, and we have moved aboard Buddy for the rest of Wisconsin's very short summer. These are a couple of photos from Buddy's new summer home, Harbor Club Marina in Sturgeon Bay. We'll tow south in September.
Hopefully, there will be time to cruise a bit this summer and there will be a good reason to post. But first we have a road/air trip to make to Florida...

Thursday, January 23, 2014

One cold winter

A friend sent me this image of Buddy in our driveway in Wisconsin. At the last minute before we headed south, Buddy lost the indoor storage spot we have had for about eight years, so I had to leave our poor Buddy out in the elements. Needless to say, it has been a cold winter. Even here in SW Florida, temps are averaging 10 degrees below normal...