Quiz Time 193, 56, 2000

Three units are missing at the end of each set of number. Any ideas?
Clue 1 – 2010 sailing season

On Saturday we motored over the Marina Bay in Quincy for Prairie Gold’s winter home. Its been a windy weekend with a surprising number of sailboats out in the harbor. Also the Coastguard were out in force and one had a brief discussion with us. Vice President Joe Biden was coming to town so there was a security zone around the airport. On the way over we were disappointed that we didn’t have sails on the boat. However, when we go to Quincy and watched others trying to take down their sails and fold them, we felt that we had been wise to do this last weekend when there was almost no wind. Clue 2 – One of the units corresponds to distance

Approaching Quincy

When we were in Quincy we finished winterization – oil and filter change, as well as flushing anti-freeze through the raw water cooling system. Now we wait for her to be taken out of the water.

Lots of docklines in these heavy winds. Just heard on the news that there will be sub freezing temperatures tonight. Winterized just in time!

Answer:

2010 Season

193 days on the water

56 legs of trips

2000 nm elapsed

Sail Time

Sunday winds were close to zero kts so we took the opportunity to take down the sails. The most difficult part is folding the sails on deck. We read a tip about using Irwin Quick Grip Handi-Clamps (available from Home Depot) to help hold the folded luff of the sails. It worked like a charm as can be seen beneath.

By-the-way, it is said that timing is everything. One hour after taking down the sails for winter it started raining. Fortunately our sails are dry and made it to storage before the rainfall.

Now we just have to motor over to Quincy to Prairie Golds winter home - planned for next weekend. Fingers crossed for another weather window.

Winterization begins

Today was a sad day. 2010 sailing is over and the winterization began. Before we take Prairie Gold out of the water for 2010 it is necessary to remove all water to prevent frozen pipes. Today we emptied all water tanks, then used antifreeze and pumped through the water system. Last year we added a bypass to the hot water tank. It is worth its weight in gold and simplified the process dramatically.

In addition to the fresh and cold water system, we also used antifreeze throughout the toilet system (note the pink color to the toilet bowl,

as well as the bilge.

The fridge is defrosting and its effluent path will have antifreeze added tomorrow.

In addition to finishing the fridge tomorrow we will remove the sails - so long as they are dry. Then we will be ready to take Prairie Gold to Marina Bay marina in Quincy where she will be hauled out until May. Once in Marina Bay we will then change the engine oil and filter, and add antifreeze to the engine raw water cooling system.

Up the mast

You may remember from an earlier post that the spinnaker halyard needed to be retrieved from the top of the mast. Thanks to Rochelle and Dustin we now have it again. After a long work day we ventured to Prairie Gold and hoisted Rochelle up the mast. Now that we have the spinnaker halyard we are one step closer to getting Prairie Gold ready for the winter. This weekend we will be starting the winterization steps and will take her over to Quincy to Marina Bay (her winter home) either Sunday, or during the following week.

Tufts Crusing Rally to P-Town

Over the weekend four Tufts couples sailed in three boats to Provincetown to a sailing rally. Winds were light on Saturday, with the need for a lot of diesel assistance. For a couple of hours Prairie Gold flew the spinnaker. However, as we were putting her back in the bag and immobilizing the halyard, Phil did not check the snap shackle. As the halyard was tightened, it went high up the mast. Guess we will leave it there for a week or so and fix it when we take the sails down for the end of the season.

We met in Provincetown marina, and went for dinner. One problem we had not anticipated the dearth of dingies: between eight us we had one dingy with oars to take us from the moorings to dock. So we decided to use Prairie Gold as a ferry. This went well as we went to land. However, after dinner it was extremely dark and we had to navigate the mooring field in the dark to return everyone to their boat. It wasnt until the next morning that we realised how many mooring buoys there were.

Sailing back to Boston on Sunday was in record time. We were on a beam reach with 15-20kts of wind, averaging 7-7.5kts most of the way. We made it back to the marina in a little over 7 hours - not bad for a 50 mile trip. We were happy to have a dodger on Prairie Gold as it was hit by water many times. However, twice we did not escape. Phil was sitting on the high side and took a face and body full of water (thank goodness for foul weather gear) and later Yolande got covered head to toe while standing at the helm.

We had a great weekend, but realise it is probably our last overnight trip of the 2010 season.