[Public-List] Launching 148

Wed Sep 7 13:28:01 PDT 2011

Your comments on my next page post (below)appreciated.

Thanks Rick,

You have inspired my first "wet" report.  

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, "PREFECT intensions" PO reported he
was motoring on the Potomac one evening and the prop shaft broke.  It slid
aft and the prop jammed against the side of the rudder so he could only turn
left. (SIDEBAR: So, which is better, to only be able to turn in one
direction or, have the shaft slide out all the way and be able to turn any
way you like with a 7/8" hole in the boat; suppose it depends entirely on
"proximity circumstances" and timing.)

For my launch many years later, I decided to let the good old 148 settle
into her "in the water shape" before aligning the shaft and motor motor.
During one of my 3:00 AM discussions with myself a little light went on in
my head (might have been the bathroom night light, who knows) and I woke up
and said, "Self, if you don't connect the shaft, you should clamp it in a
way it won't slide aft and mess you up like it did the PO."  I was proud
that, even in the throws of "launch frenzy," I could wake up in the middle
of the night thinking about clever and meaningful things during my voyages
to the night light.  I resolved to clamp Vice Grips around the shaft forward
of the stuffing box.  To build on the drama and suspense, I even postponed
it until the day before the launch, challenging my steel trap mind to
remember an important task for five whole days.   

Just after launch I discovered the dripping leak from the stuffing box
reported earlier on this very same page.  When a friend came by, I figured
for the cost of a beer or two, I could get some advice on fixing the
problem.  He stuck his head aft and said, "OK if I take these Vice Grips off
to see things better?"  Just before the steel trap brain rusted shut I said,
"Sure." We discussed the fix and moved on to the task of moving the boat to
her new slip.

That was a short voyage.  We had to go downstream between two railroad
bridge piers pretty close together.  At first, we were worried about
clearance but earlier we measured the stone courses; two feet tall, 22 total
equals 44 feet. Our mast is 35'-1" and about 5' above the water; no problem,
more than 3' to spare.  I resolved not even to look up while going under.

A friend towed us with his Whaler; first pull the boat around in the channel
between the inner and outer docks, then head downstream between the piers,
make a "UE" and head upstream to the slip on the outer dock.

Turning around in the channel was slow but once we straightened up and
headed downstream to the bridge piers we got up to about 2-1/2 knots with
intrepid skipper concentrating on not looking up at the bridge.  The tow
boat was moving around a lot (think the tow line was too short) requiring
occasional rudder adjustments including one to the left that "just stuck
there."  Intrepid skipper turns into the Terminator and the "inside his
eyeball heads up display" flashes;  "Situational Analysis... boat with eight
years invested... involuntarily steering toward large, solid stone pier...
cause... some idiot... did not place vice grips to restrain shaft... shaft
now stuck against the right side of the rudder.... then a bunch of those
meaningless but so cool looking graphics showing distance, compass heading,
3D rotating cubes, see thru radar and other stuff like that came on the
display, all in night vision red; very distracting, especially when reacting
is so important.

And react I did; I jumped overboard before impact.  Not really!  There was
actually enough time for me to scream to partner Dan to come aft and steer
the deer after which I went below and, with full confidence in the nature
and cause of the problem (isn't it great when you know your boat), grabbed
the shaft and pulled it forward just before Dan made his necessary right
turn; I love teamwork.  To add insult to injury, the slippery little thing
kept spinning around in my hand for a while before I tamed it with the Vice
Grips; "bad shaft, bad shaft!"

The rest of the voyage was uneventful.  We got towed about 200 yards and
nestled in between a couple of large motor boats, pretty pictures were taken
(but the fenders were out), motorboats went by more closely than usual
staring at us.

There is one other thing.  Since it is about 250 steps from the parking area
to the boat, we drove the car down the launch ramp and used the inflatable
to haul the stuff we needed to get on and off the boat by water.  Gigi was
onshore taking boxes from me when I noticed the bow drifting away from the
side of the ramp and asked Gigi to grab the painter.  

She bent over, leaning further out as the painter slipped off the ramp.
When she realized she had passed the point of no return, like some kind of
Olympic diver, she pushed off, did a mid air 1/2 turn and landed forward of
the seat, back and legs on opposite sides with derriere perfectly centered
in the bottom of the boat.  Now Gigi isn't a klutz but she also isn't too
athletically inclined and, although the degree of difficulty of that dive is
fairly low, she got a very high score for execution and a perfect score if
they give points for fast thinking.  We were both so surprised at the
outcome of what looked like certain disaster we couldn't stop laughing for
10 minutes.  Boy, I wish someone had had a video camera!

So, "PERFECT intensions" and her imperfect owners with good intentions have
made their first impressions on their fellow boaters at Aspinwall Marina,
mile 6 on the Allegheny River, right side descending.  We clear low bridges
with reckless abandon, steer collision courses toward immoveable objects,
leave our fenders out and drift around in blow up boats laughing endlessly
for no apparent reason.  They suspected sailors were dingy, I guess it is
our obligation to confirm it.  Wait until they see the breaking system I
have devised to slow us down when we sail to the dock! 

All the best,

The Kingslands & the Marks (AKA, Clueless in Pittsburgh) hanging out with
"PERFECT intentions"

PS - Since we are in the throws of fixing the packing gland problem at the
slip, the Vice Grips are NOT clamped on the shaft.  But, they ARE clamped to
the tiller as a subtle reminder that, the next time we "must down to the
RIVER again," full steering capabilities increase one's sailing enjoyment. 

-----Original Message-----
From: public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org
[mailto:public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org] On Behalf Of
rixquik at yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 1:20 PM
To: public-list at lists.alberg30.org
Subject: [Public-List] Launching 148

Congratulations Roger and crew!!  Now to enjoy there other side of boat
ownership!  I, for one, have enjoyed the narrative of your "journey" so far,
and look forward to reading some sailing reports. Be safe, have fun, and
with a nod to Neptune and Aeolus...good luck!

Rick Leach
Sugar Magnolia, 121
Monterey, California
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