My Yacht Log 04.20 – 24, 2007 –
Preparing for the
"In the
beginning they could not understand my insistence on getting away from the
compass, that god of the West. But in exchange, they began to hear the why and
sea talking with the boat. And when blue-tinted land appeared on the horizon,
looking as it did to the mariners of old, all nimbed
with mystery, a few of them felt that our rigorous techniques should leave a
door open to those gods which the modern world tries so hard to exclude." -Bernard
Moitessier, 'The Long Way'.
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04.20.2007
(Day 209)
Weather
information site I use these days:
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/index.html.
Also use Skype now (mederaron), some say it is better than MSN (aron@meder.hu). Of course, I can use it only in the harbor,
not on the ship.
Got a.
multifunction mp3 player from the Qpsi-s (can play
video too). It will entertain me on the ocean JJ.
Up
early morning, arranged things on the ship.
There is a lot of work on a ship!
Visited
the La Payita bar in the afternoon (Islas Flamenco) because Géza
(www.rotorman.hu) left a CD for me there about the mooring places of the
After this I
took a bus to the 'Happy Tours' office where was expecting my FedEx package to
arrive, but was not there yet. Have to go to the airport too for one of my
packages, the other one hopefully will arrive at the office.
Early dinner: soup for USD 1.
Evening: fuel
purchase (3 gallons) in the Fuel Dock, then filled 20 liters of water in the
cans.
Evening dinner:
sweet-stuff.
Went to shore because wanted to get on the net. It was a concert today and the audio
technician used all available 110 volt power, so I could get on only for a
short time till the people could endure (2 hours). The manager of the Balboa Yacht Club played
on mouth-organ.
Sat down to the
Bray's table, he is a 47-year old boatman who is sailing to
Sipped beer together
for awhile, then abut 23 hours went to sleep (reading a little Harry Potter too
in the ship – thank you Hugi!).
04.21.2007
(Day 210)
Got up at
the packages were shipped to the office of
Happy Tours, there were some contradictory talks L.
Return trip was
2 hours. The office was closed at
Lunch in the
city: fried chicken with fried yucca for USD 1.50.
Again, went to
the La Playita bar (Islas
Flamenco) hoping that the 2nd shift employees will remember my CD, but looks
like it got lost L. Met with acquaintances in the bar: Mike and some Norwegian boys.
Purchased silicon, acetone and epoxy in the nearby store in
the afternoon for ship repairs.
Mark came in the afternoon with his dinghy and took me to Nomadlife.
Graham invited me for a drink (rum and cola).
They arrived today from the Canal, came fast (7 knots all-the-way, so
they arrived at
Radio: The antenna halyard broke already
in
Furthermore Gyuri (PU2KER,
Thereafter at
Have some
fundamental problem: my transmission is breaking up, makes it difficult to understand. Task: check the whole radio, clean the
contacts.
Dinner: coffee
in the ship. Then went ashore neting (there is a free
one in the bar of Balboa Marina) till early morning
04.22.2007
(Day 211)
Radio: Got in contact with Géza (www.rotorman.hu) at
Ship repair
plan:
1. Replace the steering retaining screw with a
longer one, gluing with epoxy (the polyester stuff is not strong enough) –
later;
2. Re-installation of the motor separator
(every shelf was open during the canal transit to allow fast access to repairs);
3. Antenna suspension – tomorrow;
4. Mast adjustment – later;
5. Checking the radar reflector – ok
6. Handrail gluing with epoxy
Additional
tasks:
1. Water disinfecting (put in 0.1% chlorine,
this way the water will be good for several months) – ok;
2. Troubleshoot the High Frequency radio (I am
breaking up) – was a problem again with the
antenna, exchange
it for a new litze-type antenna;
3. Stowing away the two anchors – ok;
4. Testing the new sail – later;
5. Checking the bottom of the ship – later;
6. Solar panel gluing then assembly into the
rear of the ship – ok;
7. Trip planning – unpack the maps, load Wp into the GPS – tomorrow;
8. Purchasing banana, eggs, hot dogs and bread
– before start.
Breakfast-lunch: scrambled eggs.
Weather:
http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/hifi.txt
http://www.wunderground.com/
Most people
traversing the
Past
Main islands of
Galapagos: Pinta, Marchena,
Isabela, Espanola,
On the radio from now on:
23:00UTC 21.373
MHz Laci, Pali, Gyuri;
00:00UTC 14.287 MHz Laci,
Pali, Robi.
Not breaking up
now with my new antenna!!
Was on the net till late evening and talked with my acquaintances in the bar.
04.23.2007
(Day 212)
Got up early
morning and positioned Carina next to Nomadlife,
using its mast to allow me to feed the antenna suspending rope through the pulley
– Carina's mast could not support my weight.
Got it done in a jiffy, was an interesting maneuver. The antenna support rope broke back in
Went ashore at 9
because expected a call from Petőfi Club, but
could talk only with Sylvie. After this the usual getting on the internet. Talked with friends and acquaintances on Skype
and on MSN.
Thereafter went shopping in the boat store – epoxy and silicon spray, then to
Happy Tours office. Finally got my Waterlog
(the drinking water machine: http://www.watermakers.ws) and also an
autopilot. Back at the ship started to
study the Watermaker, it is not simple to attach it
to the ship.
Late lunch:
scrambled eggs.
Radio:
23:00UTC 21.373
MHz Laci, Gyuri 5-7, (did
not hear AA7UY Laci);
00:00UTC 14.278 MHz Laci (AA7UY) – 5-5.
Then
went ashore to talk with Nomadlife.
Herbert invited us to an Arab restaurant, at least something a little different J.
Late night interneting…
04.24.2007 (Day
213)
Got up in the
morning tired, then at 9 went to the marina, because I
gave the office the number of Radio Petőfi. Then back to the ship.
Batteries: used the backup battery for
the past 10 days for radioing, now started charging it. Stowed away the backup battery – from now on
will use only the main batteries.
Works:
- make deck plan
and carry out the rearrangement;
- tied down the
old sails and a new one on the first deck (packaged) plus 2 empty water tanks;
- rudder anchor attaching (with epoxy, then with transfering bolt);
- test erection of the new sails – getting acquainted with the
sail stiffener slats;
- make order in
the cabin;
- cleaning the
deck connector of the autopilot (the copper got oxidized already, generally
after 1
month.... spraying with silicon;
- assembly of the Waterlog – not completely.
Lunch: scrambled
eggs.
Radio:
20:00UTC 21.373
MHz, HA8RD Laci – Kiskőrös;
HA5CAR Karesz -
20:10UTC 14.290 MHz, HA8RD Laci – Kiskőrös;
HA5CAR Karesz -
Was good to hear
Karesz and Laci, hope the
rest of them are ok (Alex, Tibi…).
23:00UTC 21.373
MHz, Gyuri 5-5, unfortunately heard Laci (Fredi) AA7UY only weakly
(signal strength below 1);
00:00UTC 14.278 MHz, Laci AA7UY, 4-4, (changed the
frequencies: 14.292 MHz was better;
14.070MHz: my
laptop got discharged after 10 minutes in the middle of the PSK test, so don't
know if he got my message.
Unfortunately
there is a problem running the laptop from the main batteries but the problem
can be solved.
Dinner: omelet. After that I went ashore to internet – the
signals are so strong here that could have worked from my anchor point.
Start tomorrow!
Last quotation before starting (somebody
sent it):
John's 11:25,26:
Jesus told him:
I am the resurrection and life. He, who
believes me will live even if he is dead, and all who
lives and believes in me, will never die.
According to you
Dear Reader, what is the meaning of this?
Translated by Pali / N6DMV.