Lake Monroe 11/28/14

It was a cool windy day with a steady 20 - 25 knot wind.  I just loaded the 150% Genoa on the furler with it furled to about the size of a storm jib and left the main tied to the boom so we would just make 3 knots.  The boys had a great time at the helm practicing holding courses using the built in compass.  Kimberly and Pax wound up taking a nap for a bit over three hours in the V-berth as we just cruised around the lake.  The boys had a great time and it gave them confidence that they could steer the boat and stay in control in the higher gusty winds.  Around 4pm in the afternoon I dropped anchor and pulled the sails and stored them below deck.  

We motored into the marina and the boys helped me land the boat at the dock for the first time without help from my wife.  My 10 year old was at the bow with the dock hook and 25' dock line and my 8 year old was at the rear of the boat with a 25' dock line.  My son at the bow was able to hook the dock cleat and hold us.  I helped my younger son wrap the dock line around a dock cleat at the back and tie the boat off.  I then went to the bow and helped my older son wrap his dock line around a cleat and tie it off.  It was the first day that I have set the boat up, launched, landed, and packed back up to trailer home with just my two older boys.  My wife was able to show up with our toddler before we left the dock and head home after we landed back a the dock.  

Setting the boat up and taking it down is easy and actually relaxing for me.  The boat floats on and off the trailer without the motor, which is nice.  I enjoy mechanical things and the way the mast is perfectly balanced and cranks up and down easily with the wench is great.  

Lake Monroe 09/07/14

We had a perfect day sailing around Lake Monroe.  The wind was a constant 5 - 10 knots.  I had the full main sail and 150% genoa up and we cruised around at 3-5 knots.  It was a nice easy sailing day so the boys took turns on the helm and the sails.  

Dar es Salaam 07/28/14

I spent a Sunday with my friend in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  Since I enjoy sailing and watching sailing, we spent a few hours at the beach watching the local fishing sailboats come in to sell the days catch at the local market.  Some of the sailboats had cotton tarp sails and some had plastic tarp sails.  It was really something to watch these boats carved out of one piece tree trunks appear on the horizon and sail into the little harbor.

Scalloping at out Crystal River 07/11/14

We launched at Crystal River, Fl and motored out onto the gulf and went scalloping.  Some friends met us out on the gulf and we had a great time on the water.  The kids were able to find some scallops, but also saw starfish, coral, and some tropical fish.  That night we motored back into Crystal River and spent the night which was great.  Since the river is spring fed the night was very cool for a Florida summer.  The next morning we motored back out to the gulf for some more scalping.  Another boat of friends met up with us and had another great afternoon.  That evening we motored back into the river and pulled the boat out of the water and drove back to Central Florida.  We did not set the mast and just motored the entire trip.  The Tattoo 26 made for a great weekend on the water.

A couple of gallons of scallops were shelled for a small pan of scallops to go on top of a large bowl of pasta.

Sarasota Bay @ Longboat Key Club 05/18/14

I had a conference in Sarasota and we normally stay at the Longboat Key Club resort.  This time we stayed at the Longboat Key Yacht Club since we now have the boat.  I put the boat in the water at City Island with the two older boys as a storm was moving out and we motored through Sarasota Bay to the yacht club.  The bay still had four foot swells that were breaking over the bow.  I had the boys go down below and keep the forward hatch closed.  The swells tossed the boat around a bit, but the high sides kept the water out with out any problems.  After motoring through the bay I was able to land it without any problems at the dock.  My wife and youngest were waiting with the dock master for our arrival.  I had been very nervous navigating through all the expensive boats, but in the end I did not have any problems.

We drew a lot of attention at the Yacht Club since we were the smallest boat with the most people staying onboard.  Over the week a few people came over to check out the new Tattoo 26.  They seemed pretty amazed that so much was in the cabin below.  

By staying at the Yacht Club we had full Longboat Key Club Resort privileges.  So, while I went to my conference during the day my family played on the beach and at the pool.  The Key Club is a gem of a resort where Floridians go for weekend getaways.  

After a few days of conference we motored the boat out onto the Bay and raised the sails.  The wind was very gusty and the bay was packed with boat traffic.  Large motor cabin cruisers kept running up real close to us and cutting us off at times.  After about an hour I lowered the sail and just motored us back to the ramp.  At one point a wind surfer totally cut across my bow and I had to throw the motor in reverse to keep from running him over.  So, if you are going to or through Sarasota Bay I would not do it on a spring weekend.

When we were docking the boat at the ramp there was a bad gusty wind to the rear of the boat.  My wife was able to use the boat hook at the bow.  But then the wind blew the rear of the boat away from the dock and I had to use the engine to pull the boat back against the dock.  It was a little dicey for a minute, but then I was able to get a dock line secured at the rear.  We were able to get the boat on the trailer without any problems and made it home safely.

Pax tanking a nap

Lake Monroe sailing 1st time 05/04/14

The first time I took the boat sailing on my own was with a friend of mine.  The wife and kids were out of town and the wind was perfect at Lake Monroe.  We just put up the main sail in a steady 15 mph wind.  The boat cruised at a steady 7 Knots with very little effort.  You can see in the pictures I did not even have the sail luff trimmed correctly.  I probably needed to raise the head a bit more. But, it was a very relaxing day just cruising around the lake.  It was my friends first time sailing.

Broke elbow at Ponce Inlet 03/15/14

So, another water way I know fairly well is Ponce Inlet.  We trailered over and launched at the Dunlawton Bridge.  We then motored down to the Inlet and were going to stop at a restaurant and see a touring historical ship there.  When, the motor died on us about two hundred yards from the restaurant.  So, I dropped the anchor since the current was strong and there was a fair bit of boat traffic.  I got the motor running again after taking off the new EPA regulated gas cap.  We motored to the restaurant dock, but the boat tour had ended by then.  The motor dying had killed our schedule.  So, we then motored into a cove in the inter coastal and dropped the anchor for the night.  I set the anchor alarm and we went to bed.  The alarm went off around 2am and I woke up to let out more scope on the anchor and went back to bed.  

The older boys woke up early and fished and we slept in, which was nice.  As I sat in the cockpit later that morning, I noticed that all the boats that were running down the inter coastal and out the inlet then returning after about 30 min.. So I checked the weather and the winds were really kicking up out on the Atlantic.  I scrubbed our plan for going out the inlet on to the Atlantic and we motored back to the ramp. 

The ramp was very busy, windy, and I was pretty cranked up about the motor still having problems.  I pulled the boat up to the dock adjacent to the ramp and 'jumped' out to tie the boat to the cleat like I always had in my small boats.  When I leaped from the back of the boat my right foot caught on a Bimini strap and I fell face first on the dock landing on my elbows.  I cleated the boat off and stood up.  I felt the end of my left elbow and told my wife I just broke my elbow.  She said how do you know? and I replied cause it is a bit crunchy.  She took the keys and backed up the truck and trailer.  We loaded up the boat and my wife and 10 year old son did most of the work.  After the hour ride back to town we dropped the boys off with friends and I went to the hospital.  The surgeon put one 3" deck screw into my elbow and a few months later it works as good as new.

The lessons learned are; 1. Do not get off the boat unless it is anchored or fully tied to the dock.  I bought a dock cleat fastened it to a board and everyone in the family practiced in the backyard 'landing and tying up the boat'.  2. Do not get in any hurry at the boat ramp.  If people complain you are taking too long to bad for them.  3. I bought a set of 25' dock lines to have plenty of rope to tie up with from the cockpit and bow of the boat.  4. Hold the boat in place with the motor against the dock then tie off to the cleat or throw a spring line over a cleat.

After that trip I threw away the EPA caps.  I bought two new old style screw down vent caps and drilled out the vent hole with a 1/4" bit to allow maximum air flow.  Once the outboard tanks were properly vented I have never had a problem since with the motor.  I have also changed out the primer bulb from Evinrude with a higher quality one just because. 

After several test on my own I have come to realize the engine was pulling fuel out of the tank correctly.  The EPA cap was not allowing air into the tank at a fast enough rate to make up for the big fuel draw at 3,000 RPMs or higher.  Even though the cap might have been letting in some air at 5psi pressure it does not allow enough volume of air to offset the suction of the gas.  What gives first is the primer bulb goes flat and locks up.  The only way to 'reset' the primer bulb and open up it's internal valves is to turn off the motor and open the gas cap to relieve pressure on both sides of the bulb.  It is nonsense if the EPA or ETEC thinks you are going to turn off your motor every 15 min.  It does not matter what the EPA or the ETEC computer says it is simple observable physics.