Power-loading the boat, periodontal fun, “The Queen’
(posted from home)
(this post covers 23-26 April)
===============================================
Thursday, 26 April-
Labashi and I went to York and to Lancaster County today, another colder and rain-threatening day. She’s still planning her living/dining room upgrade and we needed to check out some technical details on lights she wants to order. While out and about she also did some shopping at antique shops in Columbia and near Elizabethtown.
That evening we watched ‘Survivor’ and ‘Survivorman’. I enjoy watching Les Stroud on his adventures, stranded somewhere with his cameras. I think it’s more authentic and less contrived than ‘Man vs. Wild’.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 25 April-
My project for this rain-threatening day was to shop for replacement downspout and accessories for the back of the house. Last Spring I re-hung the rain gutter to get rid of a low spot and standing water but it always has had an overflow problem in a hard rain. So I’m going to change the 2 x 3 downspout to a 3 x 4 downspout to see if that will resolve the overflow problem and resulting muddying of the siding.
That evening we watched “The Queen” with Helen Mirren. She was fantastic and the story artfully told. Recommended!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 24 April-
Ah, another fun day at the periodontal office. I had two procedures done today. First, the troubles with my implant which failed last Fall appear to be behind me. My periodontist tells me the new bone material in my jaw looks very white and good and he went ahead and drilled the bone, then screwed in the titanium dental implant--- just like placing a concrete anchor. On the x-ray it looks like a fat little screw placed well down into my jawbone. This will anchor my new tooth (cap).
My second dental procedure today was a ‘crown lengthening’. A few weeks before my Florida trip I broke off a tooth and the broken part extended below the gum line. My dentist put on a temporary cap for my trip but now it’s time for the more-permanent fix. The periodontist had to remove gum material to prepare the tooth for capping. It’s not yet clear whether the tooth can be saved. I guess I’ll learn that next week when I return for follow-up.
The other thing I had going today was a visit to the car dealer for a recall on the fuel-pump relay on Labashi’s car. We received a letter last week warning us of the recall and making us aware the relay could fail and leave us stranded. The appointment only took a half-hour or so.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 23 April-
It’s another beautiful, 80-degree day today but I was way behind on the blog and spent the morning catching up. That afternoon I trailed the fishing boat to a Fish Commission launch ramp on the Susquehanna to work some more on launching and loading single-handed. After the last few days at Codorus State Park I’m comfortable with the process when I have a small floating dock which allows me to walk the boat onto the trailer using the docking lines. But I wasn’t sure the docks at Goldsboro are configured the same.
As it turned out, I couldn’t use the docks at all. Recent rains have raised the river level so high that the walkways connecting the floating docks to the riverbank are all under several feet of water. It’s very odd to see the nice recently-refurbished floating docks out there ready to be used but no way to get to them.
But it occurred to me that this is a perfect day to practice launching and loading single-handed without a dock. I could use the ramp as much as I wanted and wouldn’t have to worry about blocking someone else’s access.
I first backed down the ramp as far as I could go leaving just enough space for me to step up on Mocha Joe’s rear bumper to push the boat off its trailer. But it was a no-go. I needed to back up another foot or two to float the stern of the boat enough to make it light enough to push off. I remembered I still had my knee-high boots in the van from the Codorus trip; I had taken them along in case the floating docks there were still in winter storage. I put the boots on and backed the trailer a few more feet into the water…just enough to float the stern. I waded to the tongue and climbed aboard and started the engine. I was going to step back out onto the trailer tongue but then thought I’d just try backing off using the engine. After checking prop clearance, I gave the throttle a burst and the boat backed off rather easily. Ta-da!
Since the van wasn’t blocking anyone’s access to the ramp I decided to take advantage and try another exercise—power loading, i.e., driving the boat up onto the trailer using the engine. I had a fairly strong river current coming from my starboard side and a puffy, ten mile-per-hour wind from the port and a bit forward of amidships. I found that wind trumps current on this ultra-low-draft boat. I had to point the boat at the port-side guide-on in order to be positioned in the center of the trailer by the time I got to it. I tried about a dozen iterations, each time pulling well out into the river and approaching from a different angle. I completely failed in two of the load attempts, getting the boat so crossed-up I had to abort and slam it into reverse to avoid damaging the boat or trailer. But otherwise I learned if I just get onto the trailer anywhere near straight—even well off-center— the load is good. If I missed the bow keel-roller I can still step out onto the trailer tongue, push the boat back a bit, and then lift it onto the keel-roller and pull it into place. All in all this is a great confidence-builder for Florida next winter since the lakes down there have no docks—all you get is a ramp leading into the water. But I need a lot more experience in different conditions. It’s going to be real interesting to power-load with any wind above ten knots, particularly one coming from astern of amidships. Of course if it gets too bad I can just jump off and wade the boat onto the trailer. But what fun is that?
That evening I mowed the lawn for the first time this year. It’s still a little early to mow given that the dandelions are mostly too low yet but Labashi wants to put down some corn gluten meal tomorrow in time for the rains due later this week.
(posted from home)
(this post covers 23-26 April)
===============================================
Thursday, 26 April-
Labashi and I went to York and to Lancaster County today, another colder and rain-threatening day. She’s still planning her living/dining room upgrade and we needed to check out some technical details on lights she wants to order. While out and about she also did some shopping at antique shops in Columbia and near Elizabethtown.
That evening we watched ‘Survivor’ and ‘Survivorman’. I enjoy watching Les Stroud on his adventures, stranded somewhere with his cameras. I think it’s more authentic and less contrived than ‘Man vs. Wild’.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 25 April-
My project for this rain-threatening day was to shop for replacement downspout and accessories for the back of the house. Last Spring I re-hung the rain gutter to get rid of a low spot and standing water but it always has had an overflow problem in a hard rain. So I’m going to change the 2 x 3 downspout to a 3 x 4 downspout to see if that will resolve the overflow problem and resulting muddying of the siding.
That evening we watched “The Queen” with Helen Mirren. She was fantastic and the story artfully told. Recommended!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 24 April-
Ah, another fun day at the periodontal office. I had two procedures done today. First, the troubles with my implant which failed last Fall appear to be behind me. My periodontist tells me the new bone material in my jaw looks very white and good and he went ahead and drilled the bone, then screwed in the titanium dental implant--- just like placing a concrete anchor. On the x-ray it looks like a fat little screw placed well down into my jawbone. This will anchor my new tooth (cap).
My second dental procedure today was a ‘crown lengthening’. A few weeks before my Florida trip I broke off a tooth and the broken part extended below the gum line. My dentist put on a temporary cap for my trip but now it’s time for the more-permanent fix. The periodontist had to remove gum material to prepare the tooth for capping. It’s not yet clear whether the tooth can be saved. I guess I’ll learn that next week when I return for follow-up.
The other thing I had going today was a visit to the car dealer for a recall on the fuel-pump relay on Labashi’s car. We received a letter last week warning us of the recall and making us aware the relay could fail and leave us stranded. The appointment only took a half-hour or so.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 23 April-
It’s another beautiful, 80-degree day today but I was way behind on the blog and spent the morning catching up. That afternoon I trailed the fishing boat to a Fish Commission launch ramp on the Susquehanna to work some more on launching and loading single-handed. After the last few days at Codorus State Park I’m comfortable with the process when I have a small floating dock which allows me to walk the boat onto the trailer using the docking lines. But I wasn’t sure the docks at Goldsboro are configured the same.
As it turned out, I couldn’t use the docks at all. Recent rains have raised the river level so high that the walkways connecting the floating docks to the riverbank are all under several feet of water. It’s very odd to see the nice recently-refurbished floating docks out there ready to be used but no way to get to them.
But it occurred to me that this is a perfect day to practice launching and loading single-handed without a dock. I could use the ramp as much as I wanted and wouldn’t have to worry about blocking someone else’s access.
I first backed down the ramp as far as I could go leaving just enough space for me to step up on Mocha Joe’s rear bumper to push the boat off its trailer. But it was a no-go. I needed to back up another foot or two to float the stern of the boat enough to make it light enough to push off. I remembered I still had my knee-high boots in the van from the Codorus trip; I had taken them along in case the floating docks there were still in winter storage. I put the boots on and backed the trailer a few more feet into the water…just enough to float the stern. I waded to the tongue and climbed aboard and started the engine. I was going to step back out onto the trailer tongue but then thought I’d just try backing off using the engine. After checking prop clearance, I gave the throttle a burst and the boat backed off rather easily. Ta-da!
Since the van wasn’t blocking anyone’s access to the ramp I decided to take advantage and try another exercise—power loading, i.e., driving the boat up onto the trailer using the engine. I had a fairly strong river current coming from my starboard side and a puffy, ten mile-per-hour wind from the port and a bit forward of amidships. I found that wind trumps current on this ultra-low-draft boat. I had to point the boat at the port-side guide-on in order to be positioned in the center of the trailer by the time I got to it. I tried about a dozen iterations, each time pulling well out into the river and approaching from a different angle. I completely failed in two of the load attempts, getting the boat so crossed-up I had to abort and slam it into reverse to avoid damaging the boat or trailer. But otherwise I learned if I just get onto the trailer anywhere near straight—even well off-center— the load is good. If I missed the bow keel-roller I can still step out onto the trailer tongue, push the boat back a bit, and then lift it onto the keel-roller and pull it into place. All in all this is a great confidence-builder for Florida next winter since the lakes down there have no docks—all you get is a ramp leading into the water. But I need a lot more experience in different conditions. It’s going to be real interesting to power-load with any wind above ten knots, particularly one coming from astern of amidships. Of course if it gets too bad I can just jump off and wade the boat onto the trailer. But what fun is that?
That evening I mowed the lawn for the first time this year. It’s still a little early to mow given that the dandelions are mostly too low yet but Labashi wants to put down some corn gluten meal tomorrow in time for the rains due later this week.
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
1 Comments:
Denny,
Try Redline MTL for the Miata's gearbox. That should at least extend the life of the trans if not cure the noise.
Ed Cain
Post a Comment
<< Home