Messages

Ray,
This looks good.  My son in Portland just told me that it was 73 there yesterday, so I know you are having good weather.  It is currently snowing here in DC with 4" on the ground.

Wish we were there to join you this weekend.  We have been to James in the winter and there was no dock, but we moored between the piling and the end of the fixed pier and were able to step up on it when the tide was high.  Not sure when and if they take it out.

We are planning a Desolation Sound cruse this summer also.  We are thinking the month of July.  What are your plans.  Maybe we can get together on this trip.  We would like to go to Princess Louisa also.

Jack

Hi Ray,
As noted in my e-mail we are still hanging out in DC with the grand kids and enjoying the snow.  Had a nice few days up in Mystic, Connecticut and Newport Rhode Island.  I will check out the forum you mentioned.
Jack

Gene,Ray,
My e-mail address is jhutteball@seanet.com.  I am currently enjoying the snow in Newport RI and it will be a while before I get home, but I am checking the board and my e-mail regularly.
Jack

Randy,
I will keep my eyes open for a slip in Skyline if you are interested.  The owner I was renting from was OK with month to month.  I generally found moorage for the summer there when we had our 27 footer.  A little easier as there are more narrow slips.  As you are aware it is very handy to jump across to the islands.  Last month there were about three empty slips on B and C docks.  We are down on F45.
Jack

I am interested in doing something to keep in touch with the Anacortes group so we can possibly get together when cruising for a few days. I am open to pretty much anything, even a fleet if it will be easy to do.

By the way captran, I just moved out of a slip in Skyline, 38' x 16 for $250/month.  I think is still open if you are interested.  We bit the bullet and purchased a slip to build up a little equity.  I noted you are now out of the yard in Skyline.

I am currently in Newport RI testing the winter here.  I sure feel for all you sailors here that have your boats on the hard.  It is colder here than we are used to.  I feel blessed that we can keep our boats ready to go and actually use them in the winter.  Enjoying seeing your beautiful sailing country here.  Will definitely have to get back here in the summer to get out on the water.

Jack

Roland,

I recently purchased the Shafer cleats that Ron recommended.  Defender on the web had the cheapest price, but I went into West Marine and they sold them to me for the Defender Price just for asking.  I am very happy with them.
Jack

I left the nut soaking last Saturday so will give it a go this weekend.  It's definitely tough trying to hold two wrenches and get any leverage under the cockpit!

Jack

John,
I had this same problem on our 2001 model.  In my case the water was coming from the shaft.  There were no holes drilled in back of the engine pan just under the transmission that would normally allow the water to run down into the bilge.  There is a hump here so the water does not make it into the pan under the engine.  While sailing with the boat heeled this water indeed will run "uphill" as the side of the boat is now lower than the hump.  When the boat returns upright the water continues around the engine pan appearing in the head area or the floor of the aft cabin near the stove.  You need to drill two holes in the back of the pan at the bottom of the hump so the water can get through and under the engine pan to the bilge.  fixed my problem.

I thought I actually saw this fix on this website.  I made a copy of the directions for the fix if you need it, but I think I have it in the boat in the owners manual.  Plan to be on the boat Saturday to work on the shaft packing, so let me know.

Jack

Thanks guys for setting me straight.  Now all I have to do is get them apart!

Thanks for the advice guys.  I am a little confused about which way the lock nut turns to unlock.  I seems if you are looking down the shaft from the engine the packing gland needs to turn to the left to loosen, and therefore the lock nut needs to turn to the right to move away from the packing gland.  Is this correct or do the threads run the other way?

Ray, I appreciate your offer.  I will let you know as I plan to go to the boat next Saturday to take care of it.

What size wrench does it take to work on the shaft packing nuts?  I know mine is dripping faster than it should and I know I do not have a big enough wrench(s) on board.  Also, is there any trick to loosening/tightening them?  I have not had to make any adjustments since I took delivery of the boat 3 years ago.
Jack

Ray,
I'm not too much on the formal meeting stuff either.  When we had a Venture 22 many years ago we belonged to a club that grew from a few to a fairly large crowd.  What we liked about it was that we had a cruse every month, went someplace fun, actually used our boats, and had good fun socializing at the anchorages.  One other plus was seeing each others boats, and learning things from the other members.  (We really learned from each others mistakes in those days.  I flew the "boner" burge more than my share of the time.)  And there was generally someone around if one needed assistance.  All in all, pretty enjoyable.  We should get the four of us together when captran drops his boat back in the water to help him celebrate, and see how it goes.
Jack

Hi Bill,
I am interested in getting a group together in the San Juan area.  Our boat is in Skyline at Anacortes and it is only recently that I began to notice other C34's in the area.  I have thought about dropping in on CAPS cruses but weekends seem to short to bring the boat south to the events. Time is always the issue isn't it.  It would be great to be able to get together with some boats in our area.

Lets see if any of the others are interested.
Jack

Randy,
Thanks for a lot of good information.  I have been reading the board with interest regarding upgrading house banks, alternators etc.  All is definitely on my list, it's getting to it.  Generally its just the two of us but about half the time we have guests aboard.  We don't run a lot of extra things, but I will be bringing a computer along next summer.  So far power has not been a problem and we run the refer 24/7.  The original batteries are only 3 years old and I keep them up with a new charger as suggested on this board.

With four of us in the Anacortes area we should think about starting our own fleet.  We could even compete for space in the Mainsheet with the fleets in San Francisco and  Chesapeak Bays!

I would enjoy getting together with all three of you as all of you are way ahead of me in the upgrades you have made to your boats.

Jack

Ray and Randy,

Rowing is OK, one needs to get his exercise some way!  I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to using engine power.  I try to sail if there is even a light zephyr (yes, I am sometimes going backwards here in the San Juans) so that is why I am concerned about keeping the batterys up on a long cruse.  This is the first time I have had the luxury of real refrigeration on a boat so we use it.  I have adding a separate starting battery on my list after reading all about it on the board here.  Seems like the smart thing to do.

We definitely need to get together when it's time to shake the sails out.  This will be my first trip to desolation sound so you two can surely give me some pointers