Getting ready to go
Author: Shirlz
Rio Dulce
24 November 2014
The weather has cooled off a bit lately making it much easier to get things done. It’s time for making preparations for moving on and there is a lot of activity as people who spent the summer at home are returning to their boats for the sailing season.
Although it has been a relatively quiet year for hurricanes, I feel superstitious about leaving before the end of November. Rather like starting a voyage on a Friday. I’m uncertain about the weather heading north from here and there have been dire warnings about the dreaded ‘northers’ that come sweeping down straight off the prairies and lash the Gulf of Mexico. So the plan is to creep gently up the coast of Belize, staying inside the reef, then up the Yucatan peninsula to Isla Mujeres where I hope to wait for calm weather for the crossing to Cuba. My aim is to spend next summer in Nova Scotia and, although I don’t like planning the details too far in advance, the general idea is to sail from Havana to Fort Myers and cross Florida via the Okeechobee Canal, then Bermuda and on to Shelburne in Nova Scotia.
A few days ago I joined Henry and Neal, also single-handers, for a bus ride to Puerto Barrios. It is a major port with a constant stream of container ships in and out. We were on the lookout for a better selection of canned food than what is available in Rio Dulce. But it was much the same: refried beans, sweetcorn, tuna, sardines and a hundred varieties of chilli sauces. Well, there was a good hardware store where I found a state-of-the-art LED head torch and a few other odds and ends that I needed. The trip wasn’t wasted.
I moved out of the marina on Saturday and found a good spot in 4m on the outer edge of the anchorage. It felt like I was back on a boat again. An easy row to shore and a very good view of the bird island which is home to hundreds of cattle egrets, neotropic cormorants and brown pelicans with a sprinkling of kingfishers and flycatchers. An occasional little blue heron makes an appearance.
The only blot on the horizon came when I dropped the anchor and after making sure it was set on 20m of chain, I let out another 10m to bring the total to 30. Oh dear, that 10m looked horribly rusted. Probably because I almost always use the same length of chain unless the water is deeper and needs more. Nearly 6 months in a warm damp chain locker had not done it any good.
Scrabbling around in a cockpit locker unearthed a 30m length of reasonably healthy looking chain and I thought about using it to replace the rustiest section. Next day I bought some galvanized shackles and had a closer look at it. Not so good. It already consisted of two unmatched joined sections. Not really what I wanted for my main anchoring system. I decided to take advantage of the convenient re-galvanising service offered by Ram Marine. I re-anchored using my Fortress anchor and they came to fetch the rusty heap of chain in a big lancha, promising to have it back in a week. That night quite a strong wind sprang up but the Fortress held firm.
Next I discovered that the ship’s battery wasn’t coming up to a full charge. Ho hum. The hydrometer revealed a faulty cell. Well the battery is nearly 10 years old so I shouldn’t really complain. I walked over the bridge to a small shop in what is locally known as the ‘concrete mall’. They specialize in solar power and stock the Trojan golf cart batteries that I was hoping to find. They couldn’t deliver them to the boat anchored out on the river so next day I was back at the dock. It was a major battle to wrestle the old batteries out of their snug berth. Many thanks to Henry who contributed some much needed muscle-power.
Another innovation that I’m working on is getting an HF receiver set up to get weather faxes which I can decode on the Samsung tablet. It would be a big help to be able to pick up a forecast at sea. I must be getting soft in my old age.
November 27th, 2014 at 06:26
Hi Shirley, We met when you were fitting out Speedwell at Port Owen. For an cheap HF/UHF receiver, try a USB receiver with upconverter from http://www.nooelec.com. I use it on laptop and Asus tablet. Software is free. SDRSharp works great. Free software for AIS, navigation and wefax is on Internet. Try OpenCPN for navigation. Very interesting following your blog.
November 28th, 2014 at 13:07
Hi Edward
Thanks for the info. SDR radio sounds very interesting. I am having a fair level of success with a Sony AM receiver capable of SSB and an app on my Samsung tablet.
November 29th, 2014 at 06:36
Amazon Kindle book “The Hobbyist’s Guide to the RTL-SDR” explains everything about SDR. Most software is for Windows so a laptop is needed. There is an SDR receiver app on Google Playstore and it works well. Hope it all works for you.
December 2nd, 2014 at 04:32
Hi Shirley
Glad to read your post… been checking almost daily 🙂
I wish I could join you in Nova Scotia – one of my fave places… and an interesting journey , hope all is well otherwise – ummm, are you travelling alone ? or is there a chance of a furry friend ?
best wishes…
fair winds , and plenty of them
Kris
December 10th, 2014 at 13:32
Hi Kris
I’m not sure if I’m ready for another furry friend just yet…