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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Splash!...North Star has a Wetted Surface!

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/24/2004 : 17:26:12

After a few weeks of work, my Dad and I splashed North Star today and sailed her to her summer marina.

The temperature was 55 degrees with winds out of the NE at 10-14 mph. Getting out of the marina where I lay up for the winter was a bit tricky due to lower water levels. As I rev'd the motor, the boat slooooowly eased out of the travel lift slip and, after spinning her around, I noticed the depth was very low, though it appeared we were still floating. Initially, I thought it was the new high thrust prop because it didn't feel like we were hanging up on the bottom, but the trail of muddy water astern told a different story. Anyway, with the motor rev'd up we travelled for 100 feet at 1 knot, when suddenly the lake bottom let go of the keel and we were off.

We headed to open water through the channels between the islands, which were clogged with walleye fisherman that are currently banned from the lake proper, and set the sails for the marina. The trip was short, about 5 miles, but the sailing was good.

Upon arriving at North Star's summer home, I thought I'd be first sailboat in the marina, but alas I was beat by a Columbia 26 by two days (he works at the park where the marina is located). So now in the marina there are two sailboats, four powerboats, and 121 empty slips.

Although I didn't sail for too long today, the spring work is done and the season has started...Ahhhh, life is good!

Don Lucier

North Star SR/FK

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2004 : 19:49:14

Ahhhh, life is good!

You bet your sweet *** it is!

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Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1772 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2004 : 19:51:25

Congratulations! I am green with envy

What do you think of your new prop? I know it's just your best guess, but do you think it helped you plow through that first 100' of mud any better than your old prop would have done? Did you get to use it to slow you down as you approached your slip in the new marina? I'd really like to know if you could tell any difference in performance this first time out.

'Hope y'all have a great sailing season!

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2004 : 21:41:22

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Buzz Maring
 ...What do you think of your new prop? I know it's just your best guess, but do you think it helped you plow through that first 100' of mud any better than your old prop would have done? Did you get to use it to slow you down as you approached your slip in the new marina? I'd really like to know if you could tell any difference in performance this first time out.

'Hope y'all have a great sailing season!

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Buzz,

I'm not sure if I detected a whole lot of difference with the new lower pitch prop, but then again, after the initial hang ups I didn't use the engine much so I can't yet give it an honest review. Tomorrow I'm planning on going down to the marina and if I take it out, I'll give the motor a workout and see what she'll do.

And thanks for the well wishes...I hope that you too have a great season...even though yours really never ends.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 09:38:35

Wetted Surface Day Two:

With yesterday's splashing, I've finally got what I've been waiting months for...a wetted surface. Unfortunately, today I have an extra wetted surface, the deck...its raining!

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 10:31:13

Neptune ask the sky god to wash the rest of the land residue off. I have seen people with soft scrub and brushes out on their decks in the rain. (Warmer rain

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 10:38:52

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by fhopper@mac.com
 ...I have seen people with soft scrub and brushes out on their decks in the rain. (Warmer rain

.)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I'll be one of them in a little bit!

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tinob
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 13:18:32

Don,
Good to hear that you're in the water and hope that you have one heck of a season afloat. Calista's cover was removed yesterday in anticipation of her wednesday splash. Hope all goes as well as your's did.
Val on the hard DAGNABIT

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 13:58:15

"trail of muddy water astern told a different story"

Hmmm.. You're late. I finished my spring plowing several weeks ago...

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 21:39:07

Thanks Val, I hope your splash goes well also.

Day two started out wet, but the rain stopped around noon so I went to the boat to recheck the docklines and work on a few other things.

Upon arriving at the marina, I stopped by the only other boat on the dock, a Columbia 26, and talked to the owner. As we chatted, he asked, "What happened to your Windex?"

I said "Whadda ya mean?" and, as he pointed to my masthead, he said, "Look".

As I turned and looked to the top of my mast, I discovered that my Windex was now pointing to the constellation Ursa Major because sometime between when I left yesterday and this afternoon, a bird in need of weight watchers used it as a perch!

Hmmmm...not a great start to the second day of the season, but oh well. Anyway, my friend lent me his bosun chair and I said that maybe I could talk my oldest daughter into going aloft, but a call to the Admiral nixed that idea.

As I pondered solutions, I thought, "hey, I'll just go up and fix it myself.

I removed my 4:1 mainsheet and attached it to the main halyard and the bosun chair. I then payed out the mainsheet all the way and hoisted it as far as it would go up the mast. Next, I somewhat effortlessly hauled myself up the mast by pulling down on the line with one hand while the other hand was pulling the line out the cam cleat of the fiddle block. This got me so I was standing on the spreader sockets, and then I took my boathook, which was attached to a line tied to the chair, and pushed my Windex back up to its normal position. The actual scary part was not going up, but coming down because I had to release the line from the cam cleat. It wasn't difficult, but I was sure to keep a firm grip on that line!

After fixing that, I puttered around and then decided to give the new low pitch prop a little test while the marina was empty. I fired up the motor and proceeded to back up and do various manuevers, with tests in both calm marina channels and choppy open water.

Truthfully, I wasn't all that impressed with the new prop's performance. When backing out of the slip with my old prop, I would just throw the motor into reverse and it would start backing up, but with the new prop I had to give it a little extra gas before it started making headway. This was the same in forward gear as well. Additionally, I found that I needed higher rpm's to maintain speed, which I knew would happen, but it appears that the rpm rise was a little higher than I anticipated. This means that my fuel consumption is going to increase (I estimate somewhere around 25-30%) which will decrease my cruising range when motoring. I didn't test reverse when coming into the slip because I glide in (in neutral) and don't use reverse gear to stop.

My motor may be working more efficiently within its power band, but motoring in first gear (low pitch) on a cruise might require another tank of gas. I'll monitor the situation in the weeks aheads and post back with any other thoughts that come to mind.

Anyway, I did get a little sailing in today, but the winds were a little gusty so after an hour I headed back. Just minutes after returning to the slip, the wind changed directions and started to really howl from a fast approaching front so I was glad I got off when I did.

I can't wait for Day Three...and hopefully the %$@#% birds will find another perch!

Edited by - dlucier on 04/26/2004 11:27:45

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2004 : 11:29:46

In reference to the prop, I'm thinking of installing a fuel flow meter so I can get hard data between both props at different rpms/boat speeds.

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