Broke wrist at start of cruse.

My wife's brother invited us to go sailing on his boat with him this year. H sail's up to Maine ech summer. My wife jumped at the invitation and we planed our trip.  The day we were to head out was a bad stormy day and Wendy wanted to check how our boats were tied up just in case a bad storm hit our house when we we gone.  I went down to the dock and slipped on the stairs that go down to the dock.  I did a twisting fall and came down on my butt on one of the steps and I tried breaking the fall with my right arm.  I new I had broken my tail bone ( I have done that before ) and my right wrist hurt like a &#@!.   I checked out my wrist and I figured nothing major was broken.  As a old X-Ray tech I have seen lots of broken forearms and wrists so I felt sure nothing major was broken.

I thought I might have a chip fracture of the styloid process of the ulna and if so a splint not a cast was  ball that was needed.  I was NOT going to the ER just for that.

We headed out.  An extra pillow on the seat took care of the tailbone and the wrist was sore and only hurt when I rotated it.  The wrist got more sore as the day went on. The next morning it was nicely swollen...fat knuckles and very tender over the lateral side of the wrist.  I ace wrapped it and took some aspirin.

We got up to Maine and got to the boat.  I quickly found I was not much help as a crew man with the wrist.  I also found the a life jacket was great to sit on.  Like a ring pillow, the neck hole let you sit with out putting pressure on the tailbone.  After 4 days the swelling had gone done, but turning the hand hurt.

The worst thing was using the head.   Getting pants up and down one handed with the boat healing and bouncing was a feat.  One day when we had ruff seas with rolling waves...I now know what a ketchup  bottle feels like when it is pounded on.  8-)

Still, all in all, the trip was fun.  Both body parts now are not giving me much discomfort.  The wrist has a notable larger styloid process then I had but everything works right if I do not over do it.  Some twisting movements still makes it hurt.

Thanks Rumery's Boatyard 8-)

We just got back from a sailing trip with my wife's brother up in Maine.  We drove up to Maine from Florida and met him at Rumery's Boat Yard in Biddeford, Maine.  Walter had called the boatyard and ask if they had a mooring for a night and if there be a problem with picking us up there.  To his surprise and pleasure they said that it was no problem, that he could tie up to the dock for the the night and meet us the next day and at no charge.

We got there late afternoon.  The boatyard had provided a key to the locked gated yard so we could get in and out of the yard.  We had a great meal at a local restaurant on the waterfront, and then went back to the boat for the night.  We left the next morning after filling the fuel tanks at the boat yard.

We all wanted to give a big big thanks to the Rumery Boatyard and it's staff.

 

Anchoring with a centennial weight

On a sailing trip with a friend I got to see the use of a centennial when anchoring.  At one anchorage on our trip a sudden short storm blew over us and two boats near us drug there anchors. One boat even had two anchors out.  It is an old low tech technique that really helps keep your anchor set.

A centennial is a weigh that is attached at your anchor line after you set the anchor.  It is attached and dropped in the water so it slides down the anchor line and causes the anchor line at the boat to drop to the bottom.  A separate line is attached to the centennial so you can bring it up when pulling up the hook.  This retrieval line needs to be just long enough to lower the centennial weight down to the bottom.

What this weight dose is helps the keep the pull of the anchor line on the anchor along the bottom and the anchor stays dug in.   It is almost like having a all chain anchor road.

To make a centennial is easy. You need a weight of some kind, a shackle or two and a length of line for the retrieval line.  The one I made is crude but it works great.  I sail on a river and bottom is soft muck.  Even when I can not put out as much scope as I want the centennial keeps the anchor dug in.  8-)

I made this one for my 21'er using a few old diving weights, a web strap, and two shackles.  I tie the retrieval line to the shackle on the web strap. the other shackle goes over the anchor line and attaches to the first shackle and that lets the weight slide down the set anchor line to the bottom.  The retrieval line is then tied off so the weight stays at that point on the anchor line.  That way the weight lets the anchor line stay on the bottom and helps keep the anchor dug in.

To leave, you pull up the centennial, remove it from the anchor line and pull in the anchor as normal.

I made one with more weight for our 40' boat, but this one work great for my 21' er.

Bug screens fror your boat

Down here in Florida mosquitoes are a major problem if you want to be n your boat.  Many anchorages and marina's are near salt water swamp ares and the mosquitoes are more than bad.  I made screens for the overhead hatch and cabin entry and the ports.  They are framed screens I custom fit for each opening.  They work great BUT they are a BIG problem to store. They just take up a lot of room and they do take a little time to put on each opening.

I was on a friends boat and when we anchored he got out a small bag that had screens rolled up in it.  Each screen had a edge that had 1/2 of a Velcro stitched to it.  The other matting 1/2 of the Velcro he had attached around the openings in the boat.  To put the screens in you just unrolled them and stuck them in there respective openings.  For the hatches and ports, you just undid a side of the screen if u needed to close it.  They were fast, easy and the stored in almost no space.  I wish I had come up with the idea.

I just put this one in quick fr the picture and did not position it neatly.

This worked so well that I am going to make some for my bat and for a few windows at my house that need to be screened.