This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)
cruising adventures on the Great Loop!
DAY 148 - August 26, 2017
Today we did not do very much at all. I played around a bit trying to see how the fender board might be deployed. I am pretty sure I have it backwards from the way Dr. Bob explained, that is, the rubber pieces screwed to the 2x4 are supposed to face in toward the boat, not out toward to post or wall, to keep the fenders inside the ends of the 2x4. But when I tried that, it just did not seem to work, and this did. I have the fenders hung from the top grab rail secured with clove hitch + double half hitch knots, which seem very secure. The fenderboard is then secured to the fenders with short lengths tied with double hatf-hitch knots. If you use a fenderboard, tell me how you do it! Frankly, I hope I never have to deploy the fenderboards for real, it is quite a PITA trying to do it from the walk-around!
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| Test deployment of fenderboard |
We also rode our bikes up to town and did a little shopping, but that was about the extent of our activities. But the harbor was a zoo! There was a constant parade of all kinds of boats coming and going! There were a lot of families with kids in bow-riders who would come and tie up for a few hours and then leave, frequently two families, and we wondered where their PFDs might be, because nobody was wearing them, and bow-riders do not have a lot of storage space for seven or eight PFDs! There were also a lot of Sea Rays, Rinkers, and other fast cruisers, some coming for the night. By the evening all the slips were once again full!
We had some people stop by today to admire the C-Dory. It is clearly an uncommon vessel here. They said they loved the classic salty lines, which as all C-Dory owners know, happens every time we stop at a rest area, a gas station, or boat ramp! They were confused, as is apparently common, of the name C-Dory to Cape Dory, a sail boat. Completely different and unrelated! These folks were sailors, and said they were considering moving to a power boat due to their age and the work involved in sailing. It was very nice chatting with them!
What has surprised us most, however, is that we have been here eight days, and other than Tom and Mary on Clear Water, we have not seen any other Loopers here. Reading their blogs and also running the AGLCA Meets app, the ones I know are mostly at the northern end of Lake Michigan. One couple has bypassed ourfavorite place, Mackinac Island. They could have an easy time or a very difficult time making their way down Lake Michigan as August becomes September. I suspect the winds will tend to increase as it gets later in the season, although that is a day by day thing. We check SailFlow twice daily, and over the last week, about five days running were not days we would have cared to venture out. We'll be keeping tabs on them as they make their way down the lake!
pat,
ReplyDeleteI tie my boards to the hand rails on the hard top after I adjust them. Than I just put them on the hard top when not in use. This way I don't have to tie and untie for every use. Real easy for use. Yes, the rubber goes against the boat. We use the boards when pillings are exposed. Hope this helps.
Hi pat,
ReplyDeleteYou have an ingenious way of deploying the fender boards. I put the fenders down first, and then tie the fender board to the points on the boat, and put them outside of the fenders. I do not tied the fender board to the fender. I have never seen it done that way.
You can put the board down first--and that is one of the reasons to use the bumpers on the inside of the board--and then deploy the fenders inside of those bumpers.