Columbia River Day Sails and Tomahawk bay Marina

I just wanted to post a few pictures of the river at various times of day... If you see buildings with lights, I'm probably looking west... Mt Hood is up river due east.  That's the November 14, 2016 Perigee Super Moon at the bottom. The closest the moon has been to the earth since 1948 and until November 2034.

Clear Companionway Hanging Cover

It gets pretty dark in Oregon during the winter.  If the late sunrise and early sunset isn't enough, we get an average of 39" rainfall per year which means grey clouds and the sun AWOL for days at a time.  During mosquito season this summer I installed a hanging screen for the companionway by screwing a snap on top of each side of the companionway hatch.



That screen worked so well, that I recently went to TAP Plastics and bought a sheet of 20mm clear acrylic. The sheet has snaps on each upper corner for attaching to the hatch.














The clear sheet simply hangs down over the companionway.

The 20mm sheet is heavy enough to lay flat, yet light enough to easily roll up of flop up onto the hatch.

On the right is a view into the cabin when it is dark outside.





Below is the view of the light yet rainy cockpit... It helps that Sedna has a fully enclosed cockpit.

Clear Tape Tarp Repair

I'm not much for miracle cures, but Gorilla brand Clear Repair Tape really is incredibly strong. I bought this when white duct tape didn't adhere to Sedna's ripped canvas bimini. 

You know, the tarp that protects the cockpit from rain. Well, autumn is upon us and winter is coming. This 1.88" wide clear tape is heavy duty, has tons of adhesive, and it's waterproof.  I even applied it on damp canvas. Spendy at $7.00 for 27' in length?  Not compared to several hundred dollars to replace my dodger and bimini. That can wait until next spring. 

Spring has sprung...

I installed tile on the bulkhead where my Woodstove and hot water heater are installed. 

Spring came early this year. Good thing cuz I've been waiting for warm weather to mount new tile to the bulkhead next to Sedna's settee. 

Sedna has a solid fuel (wood) stove and I bought an lpg on demand water heater. I wanted heat resistant tile behind both. 


Update 8/20/2019:  I pulled out the LPG water heater over a year ago... seemed like a good idea, but I never felt comfortable that the flame wouldn't be blown out by the wind.  

Instead I bought a regular 6 gal AC Electric and engine cooling system heater which works well.

Used a water based adhesive to mount the tile then grouted, washed excess grout off the tile surface, and painted on sealer. 

All went much easier than I expected and I could drill behind or through the natural slate tile to mount the stove and heater.

Installing the stove pipe was a little work, this handy crimping tool was purchased from Home Depot. I cut the pipe to length with a metal cutting blade mounted on my battery powered circular saw.  I wrap painters tape around the pipe to provide a nice cutting surface and for drawing lines for the cut.  I wear good leather gloves because the pipe is super sharp and I don't like to bleed all over the boat...

I routed the pipes to two different Charlie Nobels. Both seem to vent fine. 

After I eliminated the LPG water hearer... instead of two chimneys, I have one chimney and another deck vent. 

Gadgets - Hot and Not

A few weeks ago I bought these suction cup items. The first one, a shower nozzle holder works great. It sticks well to the bulkhead or the head's mirror.

The second item is "not so hot" this hand hold with dual suction cups doesn't hold a suction even on fiberglass. That seems like an accident waiting to happen. 

Coffee!

Can't start my day without Joe, and a couple months ago I got this 1 liter electric kettle off Amazon. Works great when at the Marina and really saves time, effort, and propane. 

It's hard to believe, but I have been caught without coffee. Arrrrggggg. So I bought a package with 8 pouches of Starbucks instant coffee. Ok in a pinch. 

Snowshoe trials

It's Groundhog's Day and still a little too chilly for boat projects involving glue or coatings. 

During winter in Oregon, I lean toward Snow sports over sailing and, this being an El Niño year, we've had plenty of snow. Lisa and I decided to try out snowshoes and our neighbor loaned us two pair. MSR Lightnings and Tubbs Sojourn 25s. Both pair were purchased used but in good condition.

The Lightnings were an older model, with no heel lift and two toe/instep straps 25"x8" (retail new $219). 

Underneath the foot pad are two lateral static crampons extending the full 8" of width. There is also a toe crampon attached to the binding. Adding to all this gripping power are serrated sides to the aluminum frame. I never once felt like the shoes would slip, uphill, downhill, sidehill, climbing over logs. 

The bindings attached snugly over my Sorels giving me good control. 
Lisa however was wearing hiking boots and the shoes seemed sloppy in the binding.


She had some difficulty getting her foot positioned properly fore and aft in the binding. The result, she tripped twice in these shoes and fell down.  She also said her right foot, which seemed to be too far forward, hurt. 

The Tubbs Sojourns are no longer made. They seem to be a beginner model which probably retailed around $150-$200.  Note the tag end of the straps are not secured and flopped loose on my left boot.

The bindings have a molded plastic toe pocket that really holds your boots in place with straps that cross over the instep.

Current year models seem to have improved on the already good binding design.

Traction comes from the toe crampon and a V shaped crampon under the heel. The 25"x8" frame is aluminum tubing. 

After using the MSRs with the long serrated side rails, I felt unsure when walking downhill or side hill. The snowshoes slipped and our conditions were not icy. 

Bottom line: Tubbs have a nice toe pocket and binding, but the shoes lack traction. The MSR Lightnings have great traction, but it is harder to get your boot placed correctly in the binding.  If these were the only two models of snowshoes in the world, I would choose the MSRs and Lisa would choose the Tubbs. I felt like the 25" long shoes gave plenty of buoyancy for day hiking with me at 5'8" and 180 lbs and a fanny pack.  With a full backpack, I might want some extra length.

Next we'll try renting MSR Evos and something else so, I'll be back.







So I just bought the MSR EVOs.  We used them one day at Timberline Lodge in 24" of fresh snow and they were great.

A 3rd Hand to Loosen Nuts

I frequently work alone on the boat, and almost as frequently run into a problem where I need a 3rd hand, 6 foot long arms, or the ability to pass through solid objects...

Today I was removing a bracket from a bulkhead. The bolts passed through the bulkhead with nuts on one side. So I taped the wrench holding the nut to the bulkhead. Then I unscrewed from the other side. 

11/2016 I got an email with a picture from Heinz Zerbes with tape holding his spanners to the transome of his boat. Note the lanyards to prevent loss of the wrenches in the deep blue sea...