Tug Spotting ~ 37VT23

La Salle just seen heading into the shed for sprucing up at the Fairhaven Shipyard.

East Coast LNVT Rendezvous 2017

Announcing the annual LNVT East Coast Rendezvous. This year's event will be hosted by John and Ellen Isaksen and their family, Neptune 37VT35

July 27-30, 2017 (Thursday-Friday)

Location:
Fairhaven, MA
Fairhaven Shipyard
50th Fort Street

Point of Contact: Randi Isaksen (John and Ellen' daughter), 774-644-0644, sail2525@comcast.com. You can reach John at (774) 644-7457, Ellen at (774) 644-0643 or at their home (508) 997-2230.

Slips can be reserved* through the Harbormaster, Fred Stenquist, 774-263-3357, fred@fairhaveshipyard.com
Price is $2/foot and $15 for 30 amp
No reservation deposit required

The quaint town of Fairhaven is a great backdrop for the gathering. Attendees can walk through town, shop and visit the whaling museum during their stay. There will be folks available to to provide transportation to laundry mats, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc. The Agenda is still being planned and various details will be updated as they are finalized.

Thursday:
Arrivals throughout the day
Lunch on your own
Dinner is a Pizza party at the marina in the "Vintage Shed"

Friday:
Coffee and goodies at the marina in the "Greenhouse"
09:30 Tug Talk in the "Vintage shed"
Lunch on your own
Tour of a scallop boat
Pot Luck Dinner in the "Vintage Shed"

Saturday:
Coffee and goodies at the marina in the "Greenhouse"
Walking tour of Fairhaven
Lunch on your own
Tour of the harbor with John Isaksen
Catered Dinner featuring fresh scollops in the "Vintage Shed" with pot lock desserts

Sunday:
Coffee and goodies at the marina in the "Greenhouse"
Departures throughout the day

New crew member

Wally 41VT02 just added a new (and possibly the cutest) crew member.  Looking forward to seeing him aboard in the Pacific Northwest.

Bulwark foam

From Ken Smith, Polar Mist, 49VT07

Thought you might like these aft bulwark pics. Looks like they used various different types of foam, whatever they had, some not cured and never filling the whole space.

From what we have discovered it appears the yard drilled holes  through the hull to deck joint; sometimes a slot and poured foam into these openings. We believe they did this in stages not knowing how much. We have found evidence of the pour lines and several different foams used. Some were not fully mixed and still gooey.  Some spaces were never fully filled as you can see in the pictures below.  We even found a copy on Taiwan funny paper (I kid you not)--no shoes found yet.

Pictures below show a big void going around the corner to port.  

Loon 37VT57 in Maine

 Good morning from Maine. We've had about 30"of snow so far this winter and we're getting pretty tired of clearing the snow off of LOON. As you can see, she's spending another winter in the water so she does require some additional attention.

Think Spring!

Alice & Andy Mutch

The Treacherous Window Wells

Sally Seymour, Sally W 37VT42
sallyvt@me.com

On this matter, tuggers can be divided into two categories: 1) those knuckleheads who have dropped something into a window well in the pilot house, or 2) those who have not, or, who have yet to. Either way, it's good to know that there's a handy device that's good to have on hand for the next mishap.

It's a mechanical pick-up tool made by Husky and sells for $8.97 at The Home Depot. It's 24 inches long and has a flexible shaft. Best of all, there's a light on the end. Is it crazy to want to try it out? [http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-24-in-Lighted-Mechanical-Pickup-Tool-70396H/206264355]

The Perfect Deck Re-caulking Tool

Ken Maitland, Victorious 37VT26, made the perfect tool for removing the teak decking caulk. He cut and sharpened a #6 zinc-plated screw hook (first photo, available at any hardware store) and screwed it into a simple 4"-6" wood handle as shown in the second photo. The handle is made from a scrap piece of wood and is nicely curved so it fits well into your hand.

Mini Scuba Dive Tanks

These tanks are a lightweight alternative to heavy scuba tanks. With one mini scuba dive tank you can swim freely for 5-10 minutes underwater. The Mini Scuba Dive Tank has a hands-free harness that you strap around your body. There are 4 ways to fill the tank, including a hand pump which works similar to a bicycle pump. [Price: $159. http://awesomestuff365.com/mini-scuba-dive-tanks/]

The Price of technology

Dave Howell, Nellie D. 37VT63

Technology is advancing so quickly.  This point was driven home recently as I searched for a way to keep Nellie's Slurpee from running at night.  The noisy ShurFlo pump, mounted under the stateroom floor, can wake the dead.  Since the Slurpee's micro controller doesn't have a built-in clock, the search was on for one that I could add.  Allow me to digress for a minute.  When Bicki and I set sail for Mexico in 1995 it was at a seminal moment in history.  Since the 1800's sailors have gone to sea with sextants.  We had one too.  But we also had a new fangled, handheld device called a GPS.  For the princely sum of $800 it told us instantly and continuously our lat/long.  An added benefit was that it could tell UTC time with the accuracy of an atomic clock.  And this brings us back to the Slurpee and the solution to its real-time clock problem.  Since 1995 GPS prices have halved and halved again.  Today when the  GPS pictured below can be had for $3.32.

Improving the Water Tanks

The stainless steel tanks on our tugs were made with an aluminum hatch. To recap our previous discussions on the problem of these two dissimilar metals [see 2014 TUGGERS, Issue 58, page 5]:

"...when the dissimilar metals of the aluminum lids and the stainless steel water tanks are exposed to relatively high pH water (+8), aluminum hydroxide will form. The aluminum hydroxide manifests itself in two rather unpleasant ways: as a clear gelatinous precipitate on the lid; in myriad gray/green granules on the tanks bottom."

Some owners have replaced the aluminum lids with plastic deck plates. Another option is one Fred Nusbickel, Georgia J. 37VT65, implemented. He simply put insulating gaskets between the dissimilar metals (red arrow in photo). Since adding the gaskets, Fred said he no longer gets the aluminum hydroxide in his tanks. The biggest problem with the job was getting the original bolts loosened.

Fwd: Time and GPS's

From Dave Howell, Nellie D 37VT63

  Technology is advancing so quickly.  This point was driven home recently as I searched for a way to keep Nellie's Slurpee from running at night.  Its noisy pump, mounted under Nellie's stateroom floor, can wake the dead.  Since microcontrollers don't typically have built-in clocks, the search was on for one that I could add.  Allow me to digress for a minute.  When Bicki and I set sail for Mexico in 1995 it was at a seminal moment in history.  Since the 1600's sailors went to sea with sextants.  We had one too.  But we also had a new fangled, handheld device called a GPS.  For the princely sum of $800 it could tell you instantly and continuously your lat/long.  An added benefit was that it could tell UTC time with the accuracy of an atomic clock.  And this brings us back to the Slurpee and the solution to its real-time clock problem.  Since 1995 GPS prices have halved and halved again.  Until today when this GPS can be purchased for $3.32.

That's right, GPS's are so inexpensive now you can buy them as substitutes for cheap clocks.