Where Were You-50 Years Ago Today....

This time of the year the question comes up about where were you on Nov 22, 1963. That was the day that President John Kennedy was assasinated in Dallas, Texas.

I remember that day very well. I was at Chico Elementry school in 5 th grade. My teacher, Mr. Hopkins came into class and his words will always live with me. He said "I am going to tell you something and don't let anyone tell you differently, the President has been shot". Then later he came in and told us that the President was dead. The little boys joked about getting the shooter and a couple girls cried. We were allowed into the library where a TV was set up and news was being shown. I think we were sent home that afternoon..

The next several days our family was glued to the television during the subsequent murder of Lee Harvey Oswald and then the funeral. I remember my dad telling my sister and I to pay attention because someday we may be asked about it.

Today, the news shows are recounting the events and interviewing people who were there when the assassination occurred. The questions always surface about how could Oswald do this and was there a conspiracy? The Warren Commission, established by President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the assassination, concluded in 1964 that Oswald acted alone. And then in 1978, the House Select Committee on Assassinations ended it's own inquiry by finding that Kennedy "was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy".  Who really knows.

So who was Oswald? He was a troubled youth and joined the US Marines in his teens. Trained as a sharpshooter, his time in the Marines was turbulent and after two court martials, he was discharged. He was impressed with Marxism and defected to the Soviet Union. After becoming disillusioned with the lack of opportunities, he returned to the United States with his Russian wife.  He protested against the Cuban blockade and was out spoken against the United States. Was his hatred enough for him to assassinate the President?

Following the assassination, Oswald fled into the residential neighborhoods of Dallas and killed a policeman before being apprehended. Two days later while being moved at the jail, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby. The reason was never fully known why Ruby killed Oswald and with Oswald dead, his reason for assassinating the president were never discovered.

Could Oswald have acted alone? I think it is very possible. He was a sharpshooter in the Marines and had been seen at a rifle range practicing his shooting in the weeks before the assassination.

Pacific Marine Expo 2013

Wednesday,  I went to the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle. This is a show for the marine/fishing industry to check out the latest equipment and services that vendors have to offer. Each year I receive a free ticket and attend. I like to see what is new and wish that some of it was available when I was working. It is interesting to talk to some of the vendors that are selling equipment that I used to design installations for. I had a really good discussion with a vendor who performs laser scanning of machinery rooms and develops 3D CAD models of the piping systems. This was something that was talked about when I worked, but never implemented. 

 

I caught the 0845 ferry from Bremerton and was at the show, picked up my ID and was on the floor shortly after the 1000 opening time.

I made a quick trip of it and was on the 1235 ferry after stopping at Ivars for lunch. YUM!

 The displays fill the floor of the Century Link Field Event Center.

 Lots of equipment to look at. Wednesday was the first day of three that the show was open. There was a good turnout early in the day.

This is a General Electric 12V250 diesel engine. This is not the largest diesel engine I have been close to or worked on, but it was impressive that this engine was on display at this show. It can produce 4690 HP. Is about 10 feet tall, 14 feet long and weighs 44,500 lbs. It was by far the largest diesel engine displayed at the Pacific Marine Expo this year..

 

A New Boat, Another Project

I went to Silverdale today and while I was there I made my usual stop at Goodwill. Today they had a sailboat displayed for sale. I looked at it. It seemed to have most of the parts and a note said that the rest of the parts were in the back. I stopped a worker and she confirmed that some of the missing pieces came with it. Some of the rigging was in disarray, but I was sure that I could get it straightened out. I wandered around some and thought about it for a while and decided to buy it. I loaded it into the back seat of the Bronco and brought it home.

 

Now my readers are probably saying "What, you bought a sailboat and loaded it into the back seat of your car?". Yes, you see, this is a radio controlled sailboat model. What I ended up with is a Victoria class model sailboat. It is about 32" long with a 42 in mast. Most of the parts seem to be with it and the controller and manual were the parts that were in the back of the store. In some ways, it looks like it has never been sailed as some of the rigging is in disarray. Fortunately the manual has all the assembly instructions and details.

 

When I got home, a search on the Internet yielded lots of information on these model boats. The Victoria class are very popular and many clubs and organizations race them. One friend said that they are raced on Green Lake in Seattle. Furthermore, there are many sources of rigging upgrades and go fast hints and tips. Some people have upgraded the mast to a carbon fiber stick or a lighter aluminum mast made of lightweight arrow shafts. Hi tech film sails are available. The stock parts are available, so if the electronics are fried, I should be able to buy new.

 

So, now I have another project. I have always wanted one of these. 

Some say that these are a replica of a 12 meter. I would say that it looks more like an AC72 with more beam.

All the major parts seem to be here. The hatch is missing, but I should be able to easily build a new one.

Gig Harbor LeMans Race-Nov 9

What is a LeMans Race? In motorsports, it usually refers to a race with a LeMans Start. This is a start where the drivers run to their cars, jump in, start the motor and then race onto the track. This type of start is rarely used anymore. Safety issues such as drivers not buckling in properly and cars colliding during the mass start lead to it being phased out and replaced by more structured starting procedures.

But, a race utilizing a LeMans Start is alive and well in Gig Harbor and has been raced for nearly 50 years. But the Gig Harbor race is raced with sailboats. The competing boats anchor in a "box" encompassed by four buoys. The crew hides below decks and at the starting signal run up on deck, raise the sails, weigh anchor and sail down the course.

For this race, I was invited to race onboard "Dulcinea" a J105 in my club. I like sailing on other boats sometimes. It is a great chance to learn how other boats sail. Since I have my own boat, I don't get invited aboard many other boats.

The day started cold and clear with light winds predicted. The drive to Gig Harbor was in very dense fog. We hoped that it would clear. Sure enough, by the time we arrived at Gig Harbor, the fog had lifted but the wind was non existent.

After the 0900 meeting, we motored out to the starting box near the starting line for our 1040 start. The wind was light out of the north and if it held, the start would be downwind. So we anchored with a single anchor and our bow pointed toward the line. After we established our spot, other boats anchored close and the "box" became crowded.

At the starting gun, our crew of five ran topside and pandemonium ensued. I raised the anchor while the others set the spinnaker and raised the main. The wind was light out of the north as we ran down Gig Harbor towards the narrow entrance. We sailed hot angles and sailed close to the other boats in our class. At the harbor entrance, the fleet compressed and it was crowded with all the boats trying to sail through the narrow entrance together. As we sailed out of the bay and headed north, we set the jib and dropped the spinnaker for the beat north up Colvos Pass. The beat became an exercise in trying to follow light bands of wind while still staying in favorable current. We saw winds as high as 5-6 knots a couple of times, but mostly it was very light with bands of winds just out of reach and dead spots to try to avoid. We rounded the mark at Olalla and started running against the current back toward Gig Harbor.

We reached across Colvos Pass only to find better winds on the west side. So we reached back toward the west side while still trying to maintain target speeds. The race committee announced that the race would be shortened at Pt Richmond. Now as the wind got lighter we wondered if we could even make it to the shortened course finish line within the 4-1/2 hour time limit. We passed a few boats and closed with the finish line, got flushed back by the current and with only a few feet to go ran out of time. It was very intense racing right to the end! When the results were presented, the race was scored at the Olalla mark. Setting a finish line at Pt Richmond was not an option in the rules. It was still fun working so hard to try to get to where we thought the finish would be.

We motored back to Gig Harbor and went to the post race party at the Gig Harbor BoatShop. This was a fun party. The boat shop is a real working shop that was originally the Eddon Boat Shop where the original Thunderbird was built in 1958. We ate pizza in a shop with old  unfinished wood walls, heavy work benches and woodworking tools scattered everywhere. This shop was saved from being razed for a condominium project by the taxpayers of Gig Harbor a few years ago.

At the post race party, the race chairman said that when the 50th anniversary of the race occurs in a few years, he plans to revive the original start of the race. The way the race was run in its beginning was the skippers rowing a dinghy to their boats and then tow the dinghy throughout the race. That would be more of a "true" LeMans start!

Thanks to Matthew, Mike, Mellisa and Tessa for inviting me along on this race, I had a good time.

 Looking down Gig Harbor before the start. There was not much wind!

Boats in our class anchored waiting for the start.

Taking The Bronco On A Road trip To Port Townsend

It has been a few months of work and frustration on the Bronco. First it was the discovery of a failed transmission cooler that flooded the transmission with engine coolant and contaminated the engine coolant with transmission fluid(UH OH!, UH OH! Part 2 and UH OH! Part 3). And more recently, it was a flooding problem that required disassembly of both the primary and secondary float bowls of the Holley 4 barrel carburetor. After it appeared that these problems were finally getting behind me, I thought it would be a good time to take a road trip on Monday to test the Bronco.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a strong breeze blowing out of the north. I drove across the Hood Canal bridge and took the first right. This road took me through Port Ludlow and I continued north towards Hadlock. This was a time to explore, so I took a side trip on Olympus Blvd to the county park/launching ramp at Mats Mats Bay. I have been here before, but I mistakenly took a different route to get there. I also had arrived by boat in the 60's when there was a small marina at the location of the county park.

Back on the road, I made the right turn and crossed the bridge over the Port Townsend Canal onto first Indian Island and then Marrowstone Island. I drove north to Fort Flagler State Park. I drove around the park and wandered through one of the old gun sites and headed back south. At Mystery Bay, I took a left and drove the East Beach Rd that looped back to the main road and off the island.

Back on the mainland, I turned right at Hadlock and drove to Port Townsend where I stopped to shop at the bookstore before continuing on to Fort Worden State Park. The wind was really blowing and was crashing over the rocks. After a quick walk around, I drove back home with only one stop at the Port Townsend Goodwill Store.

It was a great day to get out for a drive and the transmission shifted smoothly, the engine temperature stayed stable and the carburetor did not flood.

 

Mats Mats Bay. This is a very protected bay with a narrow, shallow entrance. We came here in the 60's on my dad's boat. There used to be a marina here where I think we bought fuel. 

 Mount Baker

Pt Wilson lighthouse. 

Heading home over the Hood Canal Bridge. The purse seiners were fishing off to the right.

A Better Place To Work

I call it my shop, but it really is a two car garage that like a lot of two car garages, two cars really can't fit. And like a lot of garages, the previous owner did not park his cars in the garage, but used it as a shop and storage area. He did install three workbench sections across the front wall that look like store counters. They are stoutly built with wood and formica tops and storage underneath. There are also two drawer units that look like cut down chest of drawers.

 

I do park one of my cars in the garage and the "second car" stall I use to park the motorcycle, some bicycles and other loose items. Fortunately, the car I park in the garage is short, so I do have some room around the workbench. This is my "shop".  It is nice to have an area to work in that is at least dry and well lit, even if it can be cold this time of the year.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a nice metal top workbench at Goodwill for $12. The people at Goodwill called it a desk and it does have a foot well that allows me to set with my legs underneath. This is what I have been looking for. I sometimes want to set on my high stool when I work on small stuff and with the old bench, I had to set "side saddle".

 

So one morning last week, I moved most of what was in the second car side of the garage outside and started rearranging the work benches and the drawer units. The workbench sections were heavy and would not slide. I had to get the hand truck under the end to get them to move. When all was done, I actually ended up with more room, or so it seems. Part of what I did was to get rid of a lot of junk too. Any shop needs to be cleaned out occasionally. Over the course of a few days, I rearranged some of the mounted tools. The air compressor was now too far down the bench, so I moved it to an empty storage bay closer to where it originally was. Of course, the compressed air piping does not line up any more, so I need to reroute that. Then I swapped the location of the wash tank and brake press to open up more room around the grinder. And last, I cleaned off the top of the bench and stored or disposed of what was there.

 

My "shop" may not be large or fancy with a lot of tools, but a lot of amazing and successful projects have been accomplished here.

 Here is the bench/desk that I found at Goodwill. It is 50 inches long with a steel surface and is close to the same height and depth as the exiting workbench.

 First I moved everything from the garage outside. With everything outside, I took the opportunity to sweep the floor too!

After clearing out bicycles, bicycle workstand, motorcycle, table saw and a lot of other stuff stored in the corner. 

First I had to move the drawer unit 90 degrees from the north wall to the east wall. My bench grinder and band saw were originally on the drawer unit. 

It looks like a mess(and was), but I needed to move the two sections of work bench to the right to insert the new bench. 

 With the two sections of work bench moved, the new bench/desk fit well. And I can set on my stool with my legs underneath to get close to my work.

 After the rearrangement. Some stuff that was on the floor is now on the drawer unit. The bench grinder and the band saw mount with more room and a better height on the work bench. There is more room around the drill press and more room in the corner.

 The entire work bench. I had to move the air compressor and still need to reconnect the shop air piping. I also cleared off a lot of loose stuff off the surface so I can actually see the top now.

I moved the wash tank to the last section of work bench and the brake press from the last section to the center section.

Commodore's Cup Regatta

The Commodore's Cup Regatta is a three race regatta sponsored by West Sound Corinthian Yacht Club(WSCYC). Not many people know of the history of this regatta as many of the current racers were not racing for WSCYC when this regatta was started. This regatta is limited only to members of WSCYC. It is like a season championship for our club. I am not sure of the year(I did race in the first one), but I think it was 1989 when our Commodore(I will not mention his name) who was a great racer, bought the cup for the club and set up the first regatta. The cup resembles a large brass ice bucket mounted on a square wood pedestal. The winner gets his name engraved on the cup and gets to keep it until the next year. This regatta has attracted some interesting entries. Because it was open to club members only, sometimes you could see fast boats(and crews) from other clubs show up at the starting line after being "chartered" by club members.

The Pacific Northwest has been in a period of high pressure. This has resulted in foggy mornings and light winds. The winds on Saturday were predicted to be light and they were. At each start, the winds were only 3-4 knots and combined with a short starting line each start was very crowded. There were more infractions and over early starters than we usually see all season. We were over early in the second start, but we made a quick turn around the starting pin, a large turn around the mess of stalled boats and ended up with a pretty good start at the breakwater end.

Each race was a light air affair. "The Boss" finished ahead of us in each race pacing first for the series with us second overall.

Thanks to my crew of Tim and Jim for all the good work for the day.

Results(when they are posted) should be found here: http://wscyc.net/event/commodores-cup-regatta/

 

Some boats behind in the light winds. Swan is leading Blackout and just out of the photo to the right, Falcon.

Here we are drifting along in very light winds.

Photo Credit: Chris Mathews