Month: October 2023

Fettlin’ Day! October 29, 2023

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Colin aboard Frank.

Frank used to have a 12volt fridge, which also ran off mains when alongside.

I mentioned (https://wordpress.com/post/frank-justfrank.com/306 October 2015) the fridge, which I extracted from its hole by the engine : “Most useless kit: the refrigerator. I donated this to a charity in Dartmouth. Every time I had a problem with the electrics or engine I had to haul it out of its home.”

So ever since I have had this hole, having converted the icebox to be a fridge:

The gaping hole where the fridge lived.

I am going to finally turn it into a storage cupboard. I’ll leave access to the engine water inlet. There is a separate access door under this pic.

Crow’s Nest

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Frank is at the end of her pier. Originally I was Billy Nomates, and happy with it. Less busy and easier to park (Frank is a bitch to park..).

Now, it is busier. But a disadvantage of being here is the bird shit. The birds make free, and some of them are baby pterodactyls. With poop to match.

People put streamers on the standing rigging and rubber snakes on the deck. Owls and eagles on the mast. Here is my solution:

Bird Spikes! Here’s the view tonight as the foul fowl avoid Frank (mind you, me sat here might be a factor…

Frank’s Boom…

Unhappy Crow – Happy Frank.
Crows’ Night: Hitchcock’s “The Birds” Movie Started Like This.

Will it work? Dunno. The pterodactyls break off my windvanes and antenna atop the mast. I think this is a pterodactyl: gotta be 2 feet high. Zoomed in pic on someone else’s boat.

Pterodactyl in boat in Corpus Marina.
Stop Press: Just turned up. 3 foot high pterodactyl. Giving me the evil eye.

The Yucatan Tango

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I’ve been looking for these files for 6-7 years!
Just a quick view of my route to Texas, passing between the Yucatan Straight between Mexico and Cuba. I’d been going 5-8 knots from St Croix, north of Jamaica/South of Dominica/Haita, since leaving St Croix on Christmas Eve, 2015. On Jan 2, 2016, around 10 am, the engine would not start (to charge the batteries). Then the wind died. I had some solar panels but was cautious about draining the batteries.

So I was becalmed, in a busy ship lane, slowly drifting North. Later, the wind picked up, so I started doing 4-5 knots North West- and then it turned into a storm. I dropped the sails and was sort of spat out of the wind, doing a 360º turn right on the line between Mexico and Cuba.

Then I ambled West for a while. By now I’d figured “it’s a sailboat – I don’t need the engine”. Next came the wind and the waves. It was awesome – just like skiing moguls into the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately I have no video – I was too busy sailing.

Here’s a quick animation.

Frank’s route in the Yucatan Channel, January 2-5 2016.