Breeze On

Recently, when dropping the anchor, George noticed that he couldn’t differentiate the markings on the anchor chain. We have three colors of spinnaker cloth tied on the chain at intervals so that George can tell how much chain is out. I heard the idea from Pam Wall at a Women and Cruising seminar several years ago. It is important to know how much chain is out to ensure you have enough for the depth and conditions. Other options for marking the chain include painting sections of chain different colors or inserting colored plastic markers that are made for that purpose. Pam Wall recommended the spinnaker cloth because it is easy to attach and doesn’t interfere with the windlass. She said you can go to a sailmaker and ask for scraps of spinnaker cloth, and we did just that.  We went out for a few days at anchor this week. Before we raised the anchor this morning George cut a few more pieces of spinnaker cloth.  He replaced the discolored pieces as he raised the anchor. It is no wonder the

For the past few weeks—since we returned from our last trip on Breeze On—we have been building a new dodger. It is a miserable job, one I have been avoiding for over a year. The original dodger was a nice fit but the fabric was not of great quality. I feared it would fail at a time when it would be impossible to fix. I had originally planned to build the new dodger last summer but talked myself out of it, hoping that the dodger would last another year. Fortunately, it did last but I didn’t dare put it off any longer. I purchased the same Stamoid brand vinyl fabric that I used for the new bimini I made two years ago. I had considered using a rigid, thin polycarbonate material, such as Makrolon, for the windows but decided against it for a variety of reasons. The marine grade Makrolon is hard to find and ridiculously expensive. It is difficult to sew and does not bend well around curves. The windows on our dodger have a pronounced curve and I wasn’t sure if I could make the rigid window

Tropical storm Isaias roared over us a few days ago. We were keeping our eye on the storm and became concerned as the forecasted track moved closer and closer to us. George started listening to Chris Parker’s forecasts which helped us to understand why the track was so difficult to forecast and also why the wind remained so strong even after it the storm had been traveling over land for several hours. On Monday, the day before Isaias was supposed to hit us, we decided to remove all of the canvas and sails from Breeze On to reduce the windage. In addition, George doubled up on the dock lines, added spring lines and fenders. We were most concerned about wind from the southeast, which comes straight down the creek without being blocked by buildings or trees. A wind from the southeast hits Breeze On on the beam and can cause her to heel over if strong enough. That is what happened in the storm a few months ago that almost caused us to lose the bimini. Also, the slip is very narrow and Bree