Morgan OI 33 Sailboatv2

Morgan OI 33 Sailboatv2:

3D model by Jim

Updated Model of my 1973 Morgan Sloop with a proposed wind turbines, solar mounts and davit design.

On Stage Tonight...

The 1st Mate and I have been singing and playing in some of the nightspots in San Carlos in recent months. We just got our promo photos done and tonight, turned on GarageBand and did a quick little recording of our opening number. While Bliss sings, I play guitar and use a "vocalizer" to expand my voice into a quartet. Neat technology.  We use a backing track on an iPad for drums, piano and bass.
Hope you like it.

Goodbye, Dave. Goodbye, Steve.

This week my Uncle Dave passed away from a brain tumor. He was 87 and was surrounded by loved ones. Dave introduced me to sailing, and I now sail 2,000 nautical miles a year, on average. I was impressed as a child by his architectural renderings and became an artist, which led me to cartooning and illustrating in newspapers and magazines, and eventually, to publishing, where I am today (and the last 23 years). I'm still painting if I can find the time. Good for the soul. So it's safe to say that Dave was a phenomenal influence in my life. He was gentle and kind, but could be firm too. A good man. I'll miss him.

Also this week Steve Jobs died from pancreatic cancer. He was 56, and I always thought of him as being older than me.

When computers were first available to the public, I bought a Commodore 64 and taught myself BASIC programming. There weren't a lot of software titles at the time so if something interested me, I would have to write the software myself. A little later I learned to code in "assembly language" because BASIC programs ran so slow. Assembly was a library of three-letter codes that addressed the computer chip directly. It would only add and subtract, so if you wanted to divide or multiply, you had to figure that out for yourself. It was fun and challenging and I found myself dreaming code in my sleep.

Steve's Macintosh computers enabled me to take my artistic skills (see above) and make them commercially successful. Because of Apple's simple and elegant interface and software, I quickly developed the ability to start and run a publishing company and a commercial art and design studio. I found I could work at home and having gained that freedom, took it a step further and moved to Mexico where we run a publishing house from our condo near the beaches and our sailboat (also see above). I'm an Apple "fanboy" because Apple allowed me to write my own ticket.

I try to remember that when someone I admire passes on, that they are still in the universe... and therefore, still close by.

Woke up this morning, got myself a Gretsch.

For the past 10 or 15 years now, I've been buying Ibanez guitars... Acoustic, bass, semiacoustic, jazz acoustic, solid body... I gave the solid body guitar to the 1st Mate. She's taking lessons now and the Ibanez RG I bought from her son long ago is much easier to play than the acoustic guitar she has. That left a space on my wall for a new guitar.

When I was a teen and learning to play, I sold my moped for $50 so I could buy a new Sears-Roebuck black and white Silvertone electric guitar. My friend Bob Niesmith and I started a rock band called the Titans. We would play wherever we could, and eventually started getting paid for it.

My dream guitar was a Gretsch, like the one played by Chet Atkins. (At the time, I really didn't much care for the songs Chet played, 'cause they weren't cool. But I admired Chet's skill, and especially his Bigsby Tailpiece equipped Gretsch.) The Gretsch he owned would have bought a new Chevy Corvette in the early sixties, and I would have certainly bought the Corvette if I had that kind of cash...

Fast forward to 2011 and Chet has died and gone. I have a space on my wall. Gretsch now builds a line of guitars that are less than the "Chet Atkins Country Gentleman" that still fetches $4,000 and up. So I shopped around the internet until I found a lightly-used double-cutaway Gretsch Electromatic in a beautiful natural mahogany finish and I bought it.

I picked it up this week when we traveled north for a business trip. It's a fabulous guitar, and as much as I like the Ibanez quality/price balance, the Gretsch is heavenly.

My new favorite guitar, with a Bigsby Tailpiece. Stay tuned for some recordings later..   (pickin' & grinnin')

Screw Facebook

I got a notification from Facebook that I have 2 messages, 2 event invitations, several comments, etc. When I tried to log in they notified me that my account information had been "compromised." Whose fault is that? Guess who.

I logged on and after a grueling process of establishing a new password ("No, you can't use that. No, that one doesn't have any numbers. No, that password is in the Nigerian dictionery, etc.") they require me to upload a copy of a government-issued photo id. (That way the hackers will now have my drivers license to use to purchase weapons and drugs and kiddie porn).

Why does Facebook think I need them in my life? This company is an example of pure arrogance coupled with an unlimited sense of entitlement. I'm posting this to let all my friends know that Facebook is out of my life forever, and if they want to get in contact with me, they can just email it to me.

Anything with Facebook in the subject will be deleted before I even see it, unless of course, you attach your government-issued photo id to the email.

Our Summer Job

Happy B'Day to the 1st Mate. She's XX years old today.

And we're into our summer pattern... which includes the four letter word, w-o-r-k.
Each summer for the past 23 years, we've fired up our little publishing business. It's online version is here.This routine has developed into a series of activities that go like this:

I'm in charge of graphic design and promotional material; the internet presence (web page and site design, writing code for special online functions,  uploading changes and corrections, building the eBook version for downloads, etc); creating the annual custom database (rate increase data, carryover of past due balances, updating forms for invoicing, etc.); and designing the cover for the next edition. As advertising comes in, I produce the ads, place them in the book, create a custom detailed map, send the finished page to the database on the 1st Mate's computer for proofing. When proof changes come in, I fix those, resend the page for final proofing if necessary.

I'm  also the sysop of our little network. Which sometimes can be challenging: We're Mac-based, and certain functions, like purchasing postage online for our Dymo Labelmaker requires work-arounds (in this case, a mix of virtual Window programs, Java applets and a virtual printer) because the Mac isn't supported.

I do some calling of potential advertisers and sell some ads, prepare packages for mailing, and do followup calls. And print labels and postage for mailing promotional materials and single copies.

We do the cover design early in the process. Above, the 2012 Edition.

The 1st Mate is the real powerhouse of sales activity in our business, and is constantly on the phone or emailing potential and existing customers, to present our latest idea to generate interest in our book.

Once the book is completed in the fall, we email (or ftp) the pages to our printer in the USA, who generates proofs for us. Once approved and final corrections are sent and incorporated, the press house plates up their web presses and runs off 65-70,000 copies. They box them up and hold them until we send Fedex our shipping list. Fedex drivers deliver the labels to the press house for affixing. Then Fedex sends a semi to pick up and ship the books to our advertisers. This print job results in 25 pallets about 6 feet high of boxes filled with books. Very heavy.

Once the books arrive, we start getting calls about the errors in the book (nobody is perfect). I make the revisions and post the updates on the eBook and the online version of the Guide.

Together, we build free web pages on our website for our advertisers who want one. This is a promotion that has worked well for us over the years and excites interest.

My work on the website then begins in earnest. I go through the book in the design program I use, adding hyperlinks where needed and then export each page individually into a format that retains the hyperlink data. When these files are uploaded to the internet my work for the year is done.

The 1st Mate writes an occasional blog for the website throughout the year, keeping interest alive there, as well as taking calls from potential customers who like our work.

Checks are sent off to Fedex and the press house, and we (and Uncle Sam) get to keep what's left.

It's a good system... it's really too hot to be outside now and we can work in air-conditioned comfort... in Mexico!

The Bitter End

Today our sailboat, SV BLISS, was hauled into the dry storage yard (behind the boat in this photo), where it will sit for awhile. Someone once called Marina Seca (dry marina) and it's plethora of masts, "The forest of broken dreams."

We were scheduled to splash the boat in the wet marina last Thursday, and in my final preparations, I mounted the 31" destroyer-type wheel on the steering post. I had rented a slip for a day/night to do final loading of the boat, and once in the water, we would motor over to the slip, take care of stuff and then motor out to the mooring the next day. I had also rented a mooring (and that's another post).

The helm felt funny, and when I turned the wheel something snapped under the cockpit floor and the wheel spun freely. I emptied out the cockpit lockers and climbed in to find one of the sheaves had broken from it's mounting. I devised a way to fix the problem, and bought the parts to do that. When I tried to move the rudder it would not budge.

Somehow the rudder had frozen to the steering tube during the two months in the workyard. That precipitated the break in the sheave mount.

I tried long levers; I tried spraying lubricants; hammering; dripping muriatic acid into the steering tube in case the problem was barnacle infestation. All the time working under the cockpit in a space the size of the trunk of a compact car. Temperatures were hitting well over 100° (ten miles away, in Empalme, the record was broken at 114°).

I soon realized the entire steering post/steering tube would have to be cut out of the boat. That would create a ragged hole 5 inches in diameter where the thing sits now, if I can drop the rudder. It's a big job, and I've had enough of big jobs for awhile. I decided to put the boat in storage until parts can be found, a place to drop the rudder can be located (I need a pit about 6 feet deep under the stern), the money could be earned to attack the problem (boat yard fees increase each month to discourage long term project boats) and I'm ready for it. I cancelled the launch, the slip and the mooring.

We've spent more money than we wanted to, we missed Loreto Fest completely, and the last 2-1/2 months have been hell. I've been getting up at 5-6 am daily, working to sundown, and sometimes past that. I'm exhausted from the physical labor and working conditions, and lack of rest: I've had to work every day because the yard fees have gotten so high it's a waste of money to take time off.

All this, and I end up with a boat I can't use.

As a consolation, I've kept the dinghy out of storage and we will use it for snorkeling and short fishing trips around the bay. It's pretty small (7-1/2 feet) but it will have to do for awhile.

Credit Where It's Due

The 1st Mate says that I'm doing all the work on the boat... if so, who's this?

1ST MATE

But she does more than sand and stick down blue tape.
She provides me with the best possible infrastructure I could ask for.

When I get up at 5 am to get an early start on the boat (when there's a lot less heat and no wind) she's up making coffee and breakfast so I can get out the door in a timely manner... usually, I get a wake up call from her- hot espresso in hand, a kiss on the lips.

She just now delivered a load of workyard laundry... with all the fiberglass particles, sweat and dirt washed out. Fluff dried and ready to put on tomorrow morning.

When I break for lunch, she's got that all ready to eat, and when we're done we stretch out for a brief nap. She makes me another coffee and sends me off to work while she does the dishes and cleans up the galley at home.

She shows up at the workyard when I need her, sometimes stopping off at the paint store to pick up supplies (with her own money), and sometimes she brings colas, Dr. Pepper, cookies.

Tomorrow she'll mix catalyst and gelcoat for me to spray the deck, cockpit and topsides and stand by if I need something else masked off or taped.

If I had to do all that stuff myself, I'd still be months behind.

1st Mate. She really earns her title.

On and on...

We've finished spraying the sides of the hull and the 1st Mate is busy putting blue tape all over the deck in preparation of the new gel coat. Meanwhile, it falls to me to disassemble and remove the hardware we don't want painted or we're just not using anymore. The stern, shown below, had four pairs of brackets used to hold a Monitor wind vane steering system I installed prior to our trip to Mexico in 1997. The vane worked fine, using the water sweeping past the boat for power, and the wind telling it which way to turn the wheel, We would set it and forget for up to 24 hours as we made our way down the California coast. The prevailing NW winds didn't vary much until we entered Southern California at Point Conception. Since then, the winds have been either too light or too shifty for it to be much use to us, so we removed the vane and stored it (installing instead a electronic autopilot on the helm). The brackets have sat, stuck to the stern, dripping rust for thirteen years now and it's time to remove them. That part wasn't hard, the sealant I used held up well and the 16 quarter-inch bolts came out with just a little coaxing, but the rust under the brackets will keep me busy for awhile. I have to remove all the sealant so the epoxy filler I use will stick to it. Just another step along the way.

We're both feeling really good about how this project is shaping up, and we're losing a little weight because of the exercise. We get to the boat at 7am and work until lunchtime, nap for an hour and drive back to the boatyard to finish up the day when the shadows get long.

Today a Mexican yard worker next to me gave me a lesson on using polishing compound. I had been using it like rubbing compound, where you keep your powered buffer loaded up with compound and just swirl away until you get a shine... Nope, wrong.

The idea is to spread a thin coat of polishing compound over the area, let it dry for an hour or two and then come back with a clean buffing pad to shine it up. Here's the result of the stern, after a few days of filling, plugging and sanding... priming, painting and buffing.

And from the side...

and the port side hull using the new buffing technique... thanks, Arturo!

Hole in my heart

Last week I got a message to call my Uncle Dave in Santa Barbara. He's in his late eighties and is in the final stages of life with a brain tumor. I made the call and surprised myself with my own honest expression of my emotional state... something I normally keep, if not hidden, at least camouflaged.

Dave Smith is a highly regarded architect and has designed many of the larger homes in Santa Barbara. His use of Spanish tile roofing was quickly copied by others when in the '90s, Santa Barbara was hit by a series of large fires. The only houses left standing in the ravaged areas were Dave's tile-roofed structures.

When Jack in the Box Restaurants wanted a national redesign of their eateries, Dave got the contract.

He was very influential in my life. When I saw his gouache architectural renderings as a child, I chose to pursue art, which led to college-level classes on a scholarship at Carnegie Institute at age 14. Later, I chose commercial art (now called graphic design) as a way to keep myself in food and art at the same time. My graphic design business led to publishing, my current occupation.

In the early '90s, Bliss and I would stay at Dave's large cliffside home while we worked selling ads in Southern California for our fledgling Collector's Guide publication. Dave fed us tri-tip roasts from the barbie in the evenings, and made us pancakes in the morning. We would eat on his treetop patio, so high we could see the oil rigs seven miles out in the Pacific Ocean.

And he would take us sailing in his Santa Cruz 27 racing sloop. We learned to sail in and out of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club harbor without a motor, tacking through traffic to his slip. Dave was a charter member of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, and in 2000, was told he no longer needed to pay his annual dues... the board felt he had paid enough in his lifetime.

We would go the SBYC for an occasional lunch, sitting in the glittering crystal finery, being served by immaculate uniformed waiters and waitresses.

Dave got us started in sailing.

We wait for the news, bags packed.

Semana Santa in SC

San Carlos is a beach town. So when Easter break comes to Mexico, Mexico comes to us. Our little town is home to about 4,000 residents, 3/4 of whom disappear to higher latitudes around this time of year. When Easter week gets here, our population swells to around 10,000. The party starts at 5pm and runs 'til 5am. Tecate beer tents pop up on every street corner to make sure nobody runs out. The music is LOUD. My friend, Greg Pyros took these grand photos of the event and I built a little slideshow with my Mac. If your browser can play Quicktime content, it should be just fine.

Painting in the wind...

This week I was just going to touch up a few spots on BLISS' hull and purchased some primer and gelcoat to do it. I sanded the entire boat from accent stripe to the bottom of the keel, and when I started shooting the gelcoat I was stunned at how good the boat looked... so I started painting the entire hull. It just has one coat on it now, with two more to come. Then  I'll tape off and paint the waterline stripe (the "bootstripe" it's called) and the accent stripe our favorite color of blue/green. Then two fresh coats of bottom paint. It will look better when that's done but I had to post this photo to keep my spirits up.

Life in the boatyard is complicated by the wind, which still "lingers" if you can call 50mph lingering! This is today's wind chart thus far.

When it gets windy, the painting stops. So, I've been going to the yard at 7am and shooting until noon or so. After that, I'm wiped out and ready for some down time. Sleep. Read. Eat. Blog.

In like a Lion, Out like a.. Lion

If you look at the wind speed for today, you see the extreme at 43 mph. That's not just the highest the wind reached today, that's just the last time it clocked in at 43. It's been hitting that speed all afternoon.

My boat BLISS, is in the workyard and I've been replacing the styrofoam in the dinghy (see The Three Dollar Cure). The stryofoam I used then was the open cell stuff and it didn't hold up. Now I'm using the closed cell foam that I bought for the FLASH. Trying to work with styro in a gale is foolhardy. So I came home and took a shower and wrote a blog. That's it.

Xmas in March- a new guitar

Tomorrow the 1st Mate and I are heading for Errorzona. I'm picking up a new jazz guitar and we're celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary in Tucson on Thursday, St Pat's Day.

We've been a couple since 1989, but it took her 3 years to finally propose. : )

Perspiration, then Inspiration...

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.
  - Frank Tibolt

The quote above popped up on my iGoogle home page this morning, and it's really tuned-in to my thinking these days.

A couple of weeks ago, the 1st Mate and I joined a group of cruising folk at a local pub and the instigator of the event, Jimmy B. of the Morgan 28 OI "Anne Marie" started bragging about my watercolor art.

He suggested that I start painting for money, and turn the money into materials and extra labor for the Green Flash project. That idea has been slowly revolving around in my brain since I heard it. One of the things I like to paint the most is water and boats, and there's a lot of that around here... this painting was done in Northern California. Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner large enough to accommodate this painting, so the photograph shows artifacts from lighting and the glass in the frame... and the colors are a little off. Oh well.

There are quite a few large yachts in the marinas hereabouts, whose owners may provide a market for my work.

Nothing would please me more than to be able to hire an army of workers to unleash on the Flash project. And painting for money can be fun. 

In other news, the 1st Mate and I are making plans to attend LoretoFest for the first time in late April. LoretoFest has been known as a big party for cruising families and musicians, with lots of performances and potlucks, boat races, etc. We'll leave San Carlos Easter week aboard SV BLISS and slowly cruise down the Baja coast to Loreto. If the 1st Mate approves, we'll continue down to her favorite city of La Paz for some R&R after LF concludes.

The Pix are Out...

Local photographer (and aspiring rock star) Greg Pyros snapped some photos of the concert (see previous post). Now that it's dipping into the 50s at night, everybody bundled up against the cold... especially those of us who live in Mexico year 'round and walk around comfortably in 100+ degrees in the summer. Anyway, here we are doing our jazz sets...

Benefits

One of the benefits of living in Mexico is good weather.
Also good friends.

The 1st Mate and I elected to perform (along with several amateur and professional bands) in a concert tonight at the Fiesta Hotel in San Carlos. A benefit concert for the local orphanage. Tickets were 100 pesos per person and included two free drinks and free music. A low cost dinner menu was offered and... did I mention the weather was good?  The event sold out.

The entertainment was to start at 5 pm, so at 3 we all showed up for sound checks... at least the gringos & gringas did.  One Mexican group did their sound check at 5 pm. But it's Mexico, and nobody sweats the small stuff... like what time it is.

In this photo, sound engineer Ron Daisley is setting volume levels for the Trailer Trash Royalty band, and yes, they're amateurs. They've gathered each winter for years to play country/western/bluegrass music in their trailer park to amuse themselves and their neighbors.

Between the soundman and the bermuda-short-wearing bluegrass guitar player, sits the 1st Mate chatting with the producer. And you can see it's a lovely location overlooking the Sea of Cortez.

How did we do? Well, the producers want us to come in and spend some time in their recording studio, so I guess it turned out ok. They'll be posting some photos by a very talented amateur (and friend) and some video in the next few days. I'll update this blog then, so stay tuned.

Finally, I had a chance to chat with a sax player about other jazz musicians in the area and I've got some warm leads. Very beneficial for all concerned.

In other news,
I ok'd the adoption of the white puppy we had fostered for a few days.. or a week.

We've decided we'll call her Daisy.

The Design Stage reaches maturity

Like a fine wine, the Green Flash has evolved to a pretty good design. The image below was created in three different computer programs (four, if you count a Windoze emulator). The first was Adobe InDesign CS5 for 2D planning and layouts, then FreeShip for Windows to create the 3D hull, then to Google's Free Sketchup 3D program to create decks, bulkheads, floors, etc.

The rendering above was done in Sketchup7 using a plugin called IDX Renditioner ... a close up of the cockpit is here...

And this is the non-rendered 3/4 view of the Flash without the pilot house in place. The Flash has an inside steering (hydraulic/electric) station for inclement weather and/or night watches.

Directly under the interior steering station is the diesel genset and electric motor propulsion system, in sound proof enclosures.

Now that bulkheads are designed in, I can start creating a shopping list for the materials. The structural bulkheads will be doubled 3/4" marine ply covered in an off white laminate, the others will be doubled 1 inch foam sheets, with the same covering. Deck will be doubled 1" foam sandwiched between layers of fiberglass and/or carbon fiber and epoxy.

After the Electro-Shock Therapy, He Escaped...

The 1st Mate and I have a favorite soap: Dr. Bronner's All-One liquid and bar soap. We buy it at Trader Joe's when we're in Errorzona, the US of A(nxiety). We've been using it for years (I discovered in the 60s) and, this morning, as I unwrapped a new bar of soap, decided to Google Dr. Bronner and see what there is about him online.

Wikipedia says, "Emanuel Heilbronner (who was never really a "doctor") was born in Heilbronn, Germany in 1908."

He migrated to the United States in 1929, dropping "Heil" from his name. As his father was Jewish, he pleaded with his parents to emigrate with him for fear of the then-ascendant Nazis, but they refused. His last contact with his parents was in the form of a postcard saying, "You were right. —Your loving father."

Bronner was the subject of a documentary film,"Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox." From the producers website:

"Dr. Emanuel Bronner was a master soapmaker, self-proclaimed rabbi, and, allegedly, Albert Einstein’s nephew.

In 1947, after escaping from a mental institution, he invented the formula for “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap,” a peppermint-infused, all-natural, multi-purpose liquid that can be found today in every American health food store. On each bottle of his soap, he printed an ever-evolving set of teachings he called “The Moral ABC,” designed, in his words, “TO UNITE ALL MANKIND FREE!”

A human story about a socially responsible company, “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox” documents the complicated family legacy behind the counterculture’s favorite cleaning product — Bronner’s son, 68-year-old Ralph, endured over 15 orphanages and foster homes as a child, but despite difficult memories, is his father’s most ardent fan…"

From YouTube, the trailer for the documentary...


The film is available for rent on iTunes...

Procrastination: A Labor Saving Device

Today I decided to remove the remaining 16 foot section of portside deck on the FLASH, and unlike the starboard, I did it without cutting up fiberglass and creating clouds of dangerous dust. It occurred to me that I could just use a hydraulic jack and some jackstands from the car to force the deck off the boat.

And it worked.
If I had done this job in the distant past, I would have continued with saws and drills and all manner of dust generating devices, but I procrastinated. And this way was a lot easier and cleaner. As I dug into the boat, though, I discovered a layer of black mold between two pieces of plywood that had been bolted together.

Since I had removed the decks from the other side, I had fought battles with mold after two major floods, and discovering the other boat, BLISS, covered in mold in Barra de Navidad. My research then had taught me that this stuff was not to be messed with... and that white vinegar was my friend, so I fired up the compressor and fitted my engine cleaning wand with a gallon of vinagre blanco. A few minutes of spraying with the face mask on, and I could leave the mold to die overnight.

So, by putting off the work, I gained knowledge from intervening projects to make the day's work go easier and safer.
By the way, it was a warm and sunny 75 degrees in the ranchitos today. Eatcher heart out!

Danger on the Low Seas

Our Morgan 33 OI series sailboat BLISS is currently moored in San Carlos Bay with a bunch of other boats, and as is normal this time of year, we get "northers." When high pressure builds over the 4 corners area of the US, that pressure is relieved by blowing down into the Sea of Cortez, usually for days at a time. The winds are normally about 25 knots, but gusts to 50 are not uncommon. It makes the Sea a lively place to be and unsheltered anchorages a place to avoid. In the Bay of San Carlos it looks like this:

Note the boat in front of BLISS... it's a Hunter sloop of recent vintage named MYSTIQUE and lies directly upwind of our Morgan. Today I took a tour around MYSTIQUE's mooring ball and discovered the chafing around the thimble (the teardrop shaped metal piece in the picture) had almost cut that line.

Then I noticed the other line holding this boat had chafed and had just two weak strands between the mooring ball and total disaster for the Hunter. And possibly BLISS as well, since it's likely the rope would part in a strong northerly gust and send MYSTIQUE barreling down into BLISS. That's 10-15 tons of sailboat crashing into our Morgan. Not good.

So, I motored back to BLISS and found a heavy 3/4' dock line that could hold up when both of the Hunter's ropes failed and looped it through the hardware and tied it off on the deck.

I checked at the marina office when I got back to shore only to find they had no record of the owner. Later today, I'll jump on the internet and see if I can find a link to someone responsible for this boat... but in the meantime, we'll both be safe for awhile.

ADDENDUM: After an hour of searching the web I found out the boat belonged to a local resident and he's been notified.