[Rhodes22-list] Mast Crane and DC Happy Hour

[DCLewis1 at aol.com]

Lee,
 
Haven't heard from Hank.  If we get any more Rhodies involved we may  have to 
notify DHS, they'll want to keep a lid on the event.  Security, you  know.
 
I don't know where Hank keeps his boat but if it's at all local we might  all 
meet there.  My thought was that you and I could stand  around sipping cool 
libations while watching Hank bust his tail getting the mast  up in the hot 
sun.  We could help the process by shouting up wildly  contradictory and 
uniformly bad advice.  Is this a great plan, or what? (  Could this be why we haven't 
heard from Hank?)
 
Seriously, at this point we need input from Hank.
 
We've been out on the Bay a couple of times recently also. We average  once a 
week - it takes an hour to get to the marina so we don't go daily, and  some 
weeks we're out of town.  Some weeks we're out twice.  It's been  a remarkable 
season, we've had plenty of wind all summer. 
 
FWIW. this last weekend we tried a new maneuver called "trolling for crab  
pots", and we actually caught one.  Actually, it caught us.  I  realized our 
good luck when I noted the rudder didn't have sufficient  steering authority to 
turn us from the land ahead. I thought to check the  OB and there, jammed 
between the prop and the lower motor housing, was a  crab pot float with a rope 
streaming off to the rear.  This has never  happened to us before, some people 
are just lucky.   
 
Turns out I'd decided to leave the motor down and linked to the tiller in  
case things got out of control  I didn't want to be hanging off the stern  
disconnecting and then reconnecting things in the wind and chop.  Early on  I 
measured the wind at 18 kts, and we were making more than 4 kts when I  made the 
measurement; I wasn't real comfortable.  In retrospect, I  should have 
disconnected the linkage and raised the motor once we left the  harbor.  
 
At any rate, I was able to raise the motor to the point I could access the  
prop with our boat hook, then by levering the boat hook I was able to pry  
loose the float and clear the float and rope from the prop.  Once I  found the 
right leverage point it wasn't hard, but it took a few moments.   In the meantime 
the land was coming up and that added to the excitement of the  moment. Fun?
 
The above has probably happened to everyone who has sailed the Chesapeake,  
but it was the first time for us.  I'm sure there are more crab pots than  
crabs left in the Bay, and we found ours.  The moral of the story  is, keep your 
motor up.
 
I think I've learned something nearly every time I've gone out this season  
because I had to deal with an unanticipated situation nearly every  time, and 
that's largely a consequence of the relatively high winds we've  had this 
season (15kt to 20kt).  What ever happened to sailing as a simple  and genteel 
sport where you glide reliably, serenely, and securely from  point to point upon 
quiet, gentle, water? 
 
Seriously, I look forward to hearing form Hank, and I look forward to  
meeting you.
 
Dave
 
 



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