5 Old Stand-By Cleaners

These are the way our Grand Parents cleaned things (except for the last one) 8-)

White Vinegar: This cleans, neutralizes odors and can remove soap scum and mineral deposits. Spray it on, scrub it in or soak it on stubborn stains.

Baking Soda: This cleans, deodorizes, and acts as a mild abrasive. You can sprinkle it on  a damp sponge or pour it right from the box, or use it as a paste mixed with water.

Lemon Juice: This bleaches, disinfects, polishes and removes stains. It can be used undiluted or mixed with water. 

Club Soda: The carbonation brings spills to the surface (the salts that are in the soda will prevent staining). Pour it on cloths or carpet as soon as possible, then blot with clean cloth.

Rubbing Alcohol: The alcohol can be used to remove a number of stains and stickers on surfaces.  It will also disinfect surfaces.

You can use old dryer sheets to dust and polish…the can eliminate static cling and odors. I always have to peel them off my socks when I take clothes out of the dryer and I recycle them. 8-)

Home remedies

Home remedies  #1

I came across a sheet with of old home remedies for housecleaning. These “Old Farm Girl” brews did the job that many of the store bought we use today. They are cheap and easy. Here are a few.

A germ fighting spray for around the sink and countertop is made with 1 tablespoon of bleach in a spray bottle of water. Spray on, rinse thoroughly and wipe dry.

A good floor cleaner that leaves your floor with a shine is a ½ cup of vinegar and a gallon of warm water.

Keep drain pipes clear by pouring ½ cup of baking soda and a ½ cup of vinegar down a clogged drain. Let stand for a few minutes. Follow with hot water. Pouring boiling water down a drain once a week is also a good preventive measure.

Oven cleaning: For cleaning ovens and stove tops, sprinkle with baking soda and mist with water. Let it soak and then wipe it clean. For oven spills, sprinkle salt on them and let them set over night, They will often wipe clean the next day.

Removing spots on stainless steel cutlery can be done with undiluted vinegar or club soda.

The list I have will let me post a few more blogs like this. I like going back to basics like this.

Fishing Hook Morphology

There is a lot more to fishing hooks then just a bent wire with a barb on it. The hook manufactures put a lot of testing into these products to make them more than just a wire with a barb on it. Design, sharpness and strength all are considered by the manufacturer to create a hook that can drive through the plastic body of the lure and into the fish’s jaw to hook the fish.

The worm hook, for example, has many designs to pick from. The wider the gap of the hook has, the better the odds of a hookup. But the wider the gap is, the higher the chance the hook will open under pressure. A heavier wire will prevent bending out, but with a bigger wire the point has to be sharper to make it easy to set. The heavier the wire the harder it is to get the sharpness needed.

As a rule of thumb, the finer the point and the smaller the barb the easier the hook sets, but if it is too fine and the barb too small you will lose the fish. Some hooks have rounded points, some 3 sided points, and some have more than one barb. All the premium hooks are super sharp so be very careful. They go in you almost painlessly, but trying to get them out is a different story.

Most manufactures make some hooks with a double 90-degree bend at the eye end of the hook. These bends help hold the bait on the hook and can keep the bait straight so it will not spin. Some hooks have barbs or composites and other things on the shank to lock the plastic bait in place.

Swim-bait hooks are hooks that are designed to get the lure to swim true and at the same time having the point exposed above the thick body of the lure. These hooks are odd shaped and have wide gapped hooks.

There are also a number of specialty and finesse hooks for drop shotting and other finesse tactics. The unique fishing tactics have their own unique designed hooks to meet the fishing method.

So the designers of fish hooks are helping us to be more successful in catching our fish by the little tweak and styles they are fashioning. I appreciate it because there are days I need all the help I can get to catch them fishes.

The Umbrella Fishing Lure.

After seeing an Umbrella fishing rig for sale, I wanted to try it but did not want to spend the $35.00 price tag that was on it. OK I am Cheap, so I looked at the rig very carefully. I am pretty good at making things, so I was looking at how it was made, what it was made with, and I decided that for what making one would cost in time, effort and materials was what the rig was priced at. And this one was on the market and it claimed it was “better than good” at catching bass. Still I am Cheap. 

After a little research I found over 25 umbrella rig units for sale and they started at about $12.00 and went up from there. 

An umbrella rig starts with a plug or ball that you attach you line to. The ball has a number of wires off the back side of it like the wires of an umbrella and there are swivel hooks at the end of the wires that you attach your fish hook, lure, and or bait to. The open umbrella with lures on the ends gives a wide path of yummies for the fish to pick from.

Since these rigs are banned from some fishing competitions is a real good indication they work well.

OK, I bought an inexpensive one (NOT A CHEAP ONE) to test out. Now I just have to set some time out to try it.8-)

Presidential Candidate Fishing Lures

My sister lived in Arkansas for years and Arkansas is not a backwards, out of touch place to live any more then some parts of any state. My sister’s best friend would often say to people, when they found out that they were from Arkansas, that “most of us drive cars, have cell phones and wear shoes”.

Fishing in Arkansas is good and almost a requirement if you live there. At a sporting goods shop, in the fishing lure section, I found fishing lures for the up and coming presidential election. There was one for the president and one for each of the Republican politicians going up against him. The description on the lures had remarks like “aggressive attitude” or “Flip flops” or “wiggling through” or “runs to the left”.

The politico lures may not catch fish but did catch my interest.

Arkansas Fishing Stuff

I stopped at a truck stop for fuel on the way to Little Rock and found a quite complete section of fishing gear.  I got side tracked at looking at all the stuff they had and noticed that they had umbrella rig bass lures. I had not seen these before.

First they were not cheap, and they would let you cover a wide path through the water, feet wide, with just one cast. It seems unfair to the fish.

I think this may be called an Alabama Rig, but I am not sure. In need to do some research on this. There was a sign about the Alabama Rig and it being banned by Bass-master Elite Series competition, but I did not have time to read about it. This I want to research. 

Bad Got Worse

Everyone gets those days that everything seams to go down hill. My Tuesday day started bad and then, mid morning it got much worse.

The first thing I did was spill my coffee on myself before I had even had a sip of it. I figured it would get better after I had my coffee. There had been a down pour of rain last night so I figured I should check the boats first thing.

I got quickly side tracked to scoop the cat litter box. Our newest cat that we inherited from my sister would not use it till it was scooped. The cat yowled outside of the box till the butler service was done. He is training me to meet his needs!

I got down to the boats and found the tender needed bailing and all three boats needed hosing off. The trees riverside look so beautiful, but they are messy when it rains. The boats were covered with leaves and seeds from the trees. I used the leaf blower to get the big stuff off then hosed and boat brushed the rest off.  I got well grunged, but the dog loved it.  

I took my soggy self up to the house for a shower.  I thought I would use the shower off our bedroom. We do not use that shower much because that bathroom is not laid out well. The shower is too small and it is hard to get into because the toilet is in the way. The shower must have been an afterthought when the bathroom was laid out. The shower is actually a projection into the garage and tucked into a small space by the water heater. They should have relocated the water heater and put the shower where it was.

The unused shower had a few cleaning things in it in a bucket, so I figured I would give the shower stall a cleaning at the same time as I cleaned myself. I emptied out the shower, got undressed and tried to turn on the shower. The knob would not move. I muscled it and it moved a little. I tried to think when the shower was last used and put more force on the knob. The water came and the knob broke off. The water was ice cold and the stall was too small to get out of the way of the cold stream of water. I spoke French and I saw two cats and the dog run out of the bedroom. 

The broken knob would not work to turn off the water. There is no turn off valves for the shower water source.  Wet muddy, grungy me had to get out of the stall, dry off a little, throw something on and go outside, across the back yard to the pump shed and unplug the water system pump. I flipped the hot water heater breaker off and went to my plumbing stuff to see if I had a spare knob or something I could use to turn off the water. 

I gathered some tools and headed back to the shower. The telephone rang. A woman speaking broken English wanted me to take a few minutes to go through a survey on…I hung up on her. The dog looked at me from across the room and just the tip of his tail was flipping slowly. He did not move. 

I got the shower turned off, then had to go back out side and turn the water back on and rushed quickly back in to see if it was truly off.  I was feeling good that at least that worked.

I went to the other bathroom, got undressed again and hopped under the shower. The water was not all that hot, and I figured it would warm up as I showered. I got most of the way clean and the water turned COLD. Most of the hot water had emptied of the hot water heater at the other shower stall and when I turned on the water, I did not turn on the power to the water heater. I quickly finished up speaking more French.  I dried off and found I had trashed both bathrooms and tracked stuff all through the house. Hey, It could have been worse…ceramic tile is easier to clean up then carpet would have been. 

About an hour later I had most everything cleaned up, and even the shower stall was clean. The dog was acting normal, and all I needed to do was get a replacement knob.

The dog and I went to the hardware store for a replacement knob. I found that a replacement knob cost more than a cheap replacement fixture of the same brand. So I bought the replacement fixture to get the knob. I can, maybe down the road, replace the stiff fixture with the one I bought if needed.

I sure hope my wife asks me how my day was, so I can tell her this story. 8-)

PS: She did not ask how my day was, so I ask her if she would read this blog. I got a "Poor Baby" after she read it. *-)

Cable steering system

The owner of the boat at the next dock over was having his boat worked on again. The boat's hydraulic steering system was not working right again and it looked like he was going to have to replace the steering cable unit again. Lack of use and maintenance is the real problem, but I could not figure a nice way to tell him that. The problem eliminated itself by the mechanic telling him as much.

He asks me if my boat had the same problem. I said no, but I have a drum and cable system that is of the type that is not used very much anymore.  He wanted to see it.

I showed him the one on our 37’ boat and explained how it worked. Then I showed him the one I made for the little schooner I built, that tied the rudder on the stern to a ships wheel I had made. The schooner set up works well but it is a little rough looking. When I made it I was not sure I could get it to work so the wheel is not as nice as it could be. I also made the drum from scrap plywood so it looks a little crude also, but it is hidden and is not normally seen. Next time I pull the boat out I will make a wheel and drum that looks better.

He said that the system looked like the one that his Granddad had on his boat, but that was over 30 years ago. I told him that it probably was basically the same. Once set up, not much can give problems.

The system has a steering wheel with a drum that has two sections to it.  There is a passage hole that lets you run your cable through the hole so that part of the cable can wrap around the drum on one side, clock wise and the rest of the cable can wrap around the other half of the drum counter clock wise.

When the wheel is turned, cable wraps on to one side of the drum while the other side of the drum lets the cable unwind. When the ends of the cable are attach to a motor or tiller that pivots, one on each side, turning the wheel will turn the motor or tiller. Springs on each side are used to keep the cables tensioned as you turn the wheel.

Pulleys are used to rout the cable from the wheel to the motor or tiller. The basic system is simple and time tested.

I had to get creative to get the set up to work on my rudder that hung off the back of my sailboat. I wanted to have a tiller override, which could take over ASAP, so I ended up with multiple linkages and springs. 

Old ideas and systems do not make them obsolete. When I wanted a way of knowing someone came in to a shop I was running, I was ready to go out and buy the components to build a buzzer for the door. My Father-in-law said, just put a bell on the door handle. What a great low tech, low cost solution that was. He was always using Occam’s razor…the simplest explanations or solutions are the most plausible.

I put a cord on the drum for the picture... the cable would not stay on the drum for the photo.

Why Does My Steel Boat Magnetic Compass Come With Two Balls?

Steel hull boats can cause a magnetic compass to read incorrectly.  A Steel Boat Compass comes with two spheres, one on each side of the binnacle and they are used to compensate for the deviation caused by the steel boat hull.

These soft iron quadrantal spheres are used to adjust and compensate for the steel hull and it may have to be adjusted by a professional compass adjuster. In some steel boats, flinders bars or heeling magnets may also be needed to be used to compensate the deviation. 

Large changes in latitude effect the deviation of a steel or iron boat compass. This must be considered when cruising.

When sailing vessels heel out of a horizontal trim, this may cause a compass to need heeling magnets to reduce their deviation. The heeling magnets go under the compass. By sailing an N-S heading and maintaining a constant heading, heel the boat slightly. Place the correction magnet vertically under the compass so as to ELIMINATE ONLY THE DEVIATION INDUCED BY THE HEELING. If you cannot make the adjustment, then at least note the difference the heel had on your compass. 

 

The quadrantal spheres of soft iron are used to compensate the deviation caused by the iron or steel hull.­­

Digital compasses:

Electronic or Fluxgate compasses are subject to the same disturbing influences as are ordinary compasses, but with electronic compasses the sensor unit may be remotely located in a position where the bad effects are absent or minimal. With these units the compensation can be done with magnets or electronically. A variation can be electronically inserted so that the instrument gives a true heading. This is one big advantage to a digital compass. A disadvantage is that it has to have electricity to work.

With a digital compass system, multiple displays are easy. You can have them both above and below deck, and many need no wiring to connect them. It is nice to have a Tell-Tail compass below deck.

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Reading a Compass

Most of today’s compasses are easy to read. Many can be read from the front or from above. The compass may have one set of lubber lines (the lines on the compass that line up with the lines on the card that turns) that are used when you look down on the compass and another set when you look at the compass from the side. When there are two lubber lines sets, you need to look at them closely. See the photo below. The way the top scale and the side scale have to be made they, at first glance, are different. It can be confusing if you are used to using a compass with only one set of lubber lines.

By tradition, most compass cards were subdivided in to 32 points to complete a circle. North, East, South, and West are the Cardinal points of the compass. The Inter-cardinal points are Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest.  Many of today's compasses have the Cardinal points marked on them. Some new compasses just have a degree number listed. North is 0 degrees on a compass.

The point system was in common use before World War II, now the degree system is mostly used. It is still useful to know the degree numbers of the Cardinal Points of the compass.

On most new compasses the Lubber line thickness equals one degree. This is a handy thing to know when you are trying to follow a specific course that is between increment lines on the compass card.

The lighting on a compass should be red in color, bright enough to see the compass but not bright enough that it will cause loss of night vision.

The new digital compasses display the degree number and it may or may not give a Cardinal Point. These are easy to read and accurate.

When picking a compass, the most important thing is that it is easy to read. Large is better than small. If it is a magnetic compass, a good compass is one that is repairable and has a good warranty.

     A digital compass may have Cardinal Points shown on them as well as  the degrees.

 This compass can be read from the front or looking down at the compass card. With a card like this the front lubber line is to the right of the 0 degree and the rear lubber line is to the left of the 0. This can cause confusion if the reader is not aware of this.

Aground on a Falling Tide

Depending on how large the tides are in your area, your boat could be left high and dry on a falling tide. If so, there are a few things you should do and can do while you wait for the tide to rise and float you off.

First, try to brace the boat so it will stay upright as possible so it will be easier to re-float.

If there is anything to get a line to, even an anchor, you can make the boat lie over on whichever side you choose as it loses buoyancy. The boat may need assistance in standing up when the tide comes in. Suction of mud and the boat's own weight may work against re-floating. Try to think ahead and be safe.

If there are other boaters present they may be able to help even if the boat cannot be pulled off. They can assist when the tide comes in. Make sure they keep their boat safe and not join your boat aground.

If you are high and dry, take the opportunity to check out your boat's bottom.  There may be a number of little jobs that you can do, short of a haul out. You are stuck till the tide comes in anyway, so you might as well make the best of it and use the time well.

Once re-floated, make a careful check for leaks and damage before you sail off.