[Rhodes22-list] Mast Crane and DC Happy Hour

[Hank]

Dave,

I thought I mentioned in an earlier e-mail that I am on Vacation down south
until 8/5.  If I only thought I didn't and neglected to ACTUALLY do it, I
apologize.  I have had limited connectivity on vacation so I am trying to
quickly catch up.  I'll try to respond better next week when I should have
better connectivity.

Hank

On 7/24/07, DCLewis1 at aol.com <DCLewis1 at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> Lee,
>
> Haven't heard from Hank.  If we get any more Rhodies involved we may  have
> to
> notify DHS, they'll want to keep a lid on the event.  Security, you  know.
>
> I don't know where Hank keeps his boat but if it's at all local we
> might  all
> meet there.  My thought was that you and I could stand  around sipping
> cool
> libations while watching Hank bust his tail getting the mast  up in the
> hot
> sun.  We could help the process by shouting up wildly  contradictory and
> uniformly bad advice.  Is this a great plan, or what? (  Could this be why
> we haven't
> heard from Hank?)
>
> Seriously, at this point we need input from Hank.
>
> We've been out on the Bay a couple of times recently also. We
> average  once a
> week - it takes an hour to get to the marina so we don't go daily,
> and  some
> weeks we're out of town.  Some weeks we're out twice.  It's been  a
> remarkable
> season, we've had plenty of wind all summer.
>
> FWIW. this last weekend we tried a new maneuver called "trolling for crab
> pots", and we actually caught one.  Actually, it caught us.  I  realized
> our
> good luck when I noted the rudder didn't have sufficient  steering
> authority to
> turn us from the land ahead. I thought to check the  OB and there, jammed
> between the prop and the lower motor housing, was a  crab pot float with a
> rope
> streaming off to the rear.  This has never  happened to us before, some
> people
> are just lucky.
>
> Turns out I'd decided to leave the motor down and linked to the tiller in
> case things got out of control  I didn't want to be hanging off the stern
> disconnecting and then reconnecting things in the wind and chop.  Early
> on  I
> measured the wind at 18 kts, and we were making more than 4 kts when
> I  made the
> measurement; I wasn't real comfortable.  In retrospect, I  should have
> disconnected the linkage and raised the motor once we left the  harbor.
>
> At any rate, I was able to raise the motor to the point I could access the
> prop with our boat hook, then by levering the boat hook I was able to pry
> loose the float and clear the float and rope from the prop.  Once I  found
> the
> right leverage point it wasn't hard, but it took a few moments.   In the
> meantime
> the land was coming up and that added to the excitement of the  moment.
> Fun?
>
> The above has probably happened to everyone who has sailed the Chesapeake,
> but it was the first time for us.  I'm sure there are more crab pots than
> crabs left in the Bay, and we found ours.  The moral of the story  is,
> keep your
> motor up.
>
> I think I've learned something nearly every time I've gone out this season
> because I had to deal with an unanticipated situation nearly every  time,
> and
> that's largely a consequence of the relatively high winds we've  had this
> season (15kt to 20kt).  What ever happened to sailing as a simple  and
> genteel
> sport where you glide reliably, serenely, and securely from  point to
> point upon
> quiet, gentle, water?
>
> Seriously, I look forward to hearing form Hank, and I look forward to
> meeting you.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
>
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