Algae Threatens Olympic Sailing

Here is a NYT article discussing how algae blooms in Qingdao could pose a serious problem for the Olympic sailing competition scheduled to take place in six weeks. Officials have begun clean-up efforts and are confident that the waters will be algae free by July 15th. Small boats are scooping the algae from the water and using it to feed animals on local farms. To be fair, China has promised a "Green Olympics".

Algae growth can be accelerated by a combination of conditions including sea temperature and nitrate concentrations. Chinese scientists identify seasonal warming in the Yellow Sea and increased precipitation as responsible for the most recent bloom. However, the common practice of dumping raw sewage into surface waters in China would certainly tend to increase the nitrogen content of the coastal waters. Furthermore, runoff water rich in minerals due to soil erosion and agricultural fertilization supply additional N to the mix; an effect that would be exagerrated by increased precipitation. Interestingly, this phenomenon (nitrogen eutrophication for my nerds out there) has been linked with fish kills in the estuarial waters of North Carolina and other Atlantic locales.

Some interesting things from a political perspective:

"Media reports estimate as many as 20,000 people have either volunteered or been ordered to participate in the operation, while 1,000 boats are scooping algae out of the Yellow Sea."

"On Tuesday, [Beijing] will begin removing 300,000 high-polluting vehicles, mostly trucks, from local roads. Later in July, the city will institute temporary restrictions to remove half of all vehicles from the streets."

"But air quality remains such a problem that officials also are preparing contingency plans that could force temporary factory shutdowns across much of northern China if conditions warrant."

Zac Sunderland's Circumnavigation Attempt

On Sunday, June 14th Zac Sunderland began his quest to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe alone in a yacht. He left Marine Del Ray in CA in his 1972 36' Islander Intrepid.

Zac has a lifetime of sailing experience and is saltier than most. Wish him luck and keep track of his voyage on his blog.

How to Take a Dog Sailing

You will need:
1) A Dog
2) A Sailboat
3) A Dog PFD

Helpful tips:
1) Get a PFD with a handle on the back, you can tie a line to this, just in case
2) Ice Packs: the refreezable kind can slide underneath the dog PFD and helps to keep them cool
3) Bring plenty of ice water and a dog bowl

Axl did much better than I thought he would. Other than being really hot, I think he had a really good time. He's not big on swimming... but he's good at it. The handle on the back of his PFD (Outward Hound is the brand) allowed us to dunk him in the water to cool down while under way. It is also good for tying a line to.

It was Courtney's first time on the boat since it was finished. We had a great time and got off the lake before a storm blew in. The wind was inconsistent and mostly still, but it wasn't nearly as hot as it has been. Lots of powerboaters and jetskis. I've decided that the only people that like jetskis are the folks riding them.

Anyway, I guess that's the way it's going to be now, sailing logs and pics only. A few more projects that I could post about (electrical, cabin aesthetics, etc.) but those are low on the totem pole since I can go sailing. One thing I will be doing shortly is replacing the halyards (wire and rope) with all rope (probably 1/4" Sta-Set X). I learned how to make an eye-splice and an end splice in preparation for this. My first one came out beautifully! There is a link on the right where you can find instructions. They are good, but I would definitely recommend reading them through once or twice before beginning. It is easy to get confused when you start threading the pieces into each other. Also, I was able to do a good job with 1/4" Sta-Set without a proper fid. I used a long steel finishing nail with the tip ground smooth.

Splash!

Went to Jordan Lake with some friends for the boat's "new inaugural" voyage. Wind was nonexistent most of the day, but picked up to a consistent 5-6 knots for a little while.

Done!

Well, as much as any boat is ever done, that is. Which is to say, there's always a list of projects. I have finished all of the projects that I started over a year ago and the boat can finally be sailed. The last push involved reinstalling a handful of cleats, clasps, hinges and the stemhead (at least that's what I think it's called). I also had to reinstall the rubber rubrail insert. This was great exercise for the hands! I also decided to paint the cabin interior with white paint, as I had removed the old vinyl liner. In fact, the paint is still drying as I write this.

Reinstalling the Stemhead

The stemhead had an interesting aspect of reinstallation. The problem was that the two forward bolts went through an uncored portion of deck and the aft bolts through a cored section. On the underside this created a ridge. The original installation procedure used what appeared to be very stiff cardboard as a backing plate. Once torqued this material conformed to the ridge. I was not satisfied with this and felt that since this component received a great deal of force it should have a proper backing plate. The obvious problem is that a properly stiff backing plate wouldn't sit flat on the underside of the deck owing to the cored vs. noncored ridge betwixt the fore and aft bolts. I decided that I would fashion a custom backing plate out of fiberglass and use thickened epoxy to fill the void between the underside of the deck and the plate. I layed up around 12-14 layers of medium weight fiberglass (sorry, don't remember the actual weight) over several days. The glass was kept smooth by squeeging it between two layers of wax paper. I then created a pattern of cardboard which I test fit and then cut the fiberglass to shape. I thickened West System epoxy with colloidal silica until it was a nonsagging, frosting consistency. I waited until it was slightly tacky so that it would hold the plate into position and fixed it into position. The cardboard template and duct tape was used to hold it into position while the epoxy kicked. I was happy to see that the epoxy had completely filled the gap and oozed up through the bolt holes. I then redrilled the bolt holes and installed the stemhead in the normal manner.

Wrapping It Up
So, I am really looking forward to blogging about sailing this vessel instead of working on it! In truth, working on this boat has been a real pleasure, and I purchased it with full intentions of doing just that. I suppose that things got slightly out of hand and ended up taking much longer than I thought they would. Someone gave some advice to a new boat owner on the SBO forums which was something like, "don't set a time frame, you will overshoot it and become frustrated." Never a truer word has been spoken. If you ever decide to do something like this, just enjoy the adventure and don't cut corners. In retrospect, I might have been better served by starting one project at a time and not starting another until I had finished. Oh well, we live and learn and I've had a blast doing this.

All that's left to do is test raise the mast to readjust the standing rigging and commissioning the outboard. Tohatsu's are tough little motors and I don't anticipate any problems with it. It's a two-stroke after all, basically an underpowered chainsaw attached to a prop instead of a chain. I plan on removing the sparkplug and spraying WD-40 into the cylinder to overcome any starting friction. I have also pulled all of the electronics and am busy rewiring them. Several of the panel switches are bad and need to be replaced. Also, the wiring was not well organized or labeled, a problem that is easily remedied. I am consulting Nigel Calder's Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual for boat wiring info. I highly recommend this book, my father gave it to me as a gift and it has been very handy.

Hoisting the sails.