Archive for September, 2009

Centennial – now with shore power

Monday, September 28th, 2009

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Centennial spent all of its prior life on a mooring, which made shore power hook-ups semi-irrelevant. Slips (with power included) are remarkably affordable and convenient at Meinke’s on Lake Erie, so I added shore power. Pretty cheaply, I must add.

The inlet you see above was less than $60 from eBay, and the inside bits were all off-the-shelf… Continue reading

The Best Onion Rings So Far

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

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Yeah, I think we got it sorted out. What you will need:

  • A big onion. You’ve seen ‘em at the store.
  • Besan (gram- or chickpea-flour). This is what South Asians make Pakora and Bhajis from.
  • Flour. Plain ol’ white flour, please.
  • Amchur. (Powdered dried green mango.)

Centennial underway (at last)

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

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Jo and I went down to Meinke’s on Friday night. We checked out my wiring job (all the lights work correctly!) and sacked out on board.

This morning (Saturday) we got up, made breakfast, and motored out onto Lake Erie and hoisted sail. We were able to do all the things we tried. Neat-O!

We sailed up… Continue reading | 2 Comments

So. Now you can buy a shirt.

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Click the above if you want to show Centennial Pride at the Stop&Shop. Or wherever it is that you buy your necessities. All profits go to CafePress… Continue reading | 3 Comments

Ready?

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

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We got the last sail — the main — on today, and we took a crack at hooking up the mast-head lights (won’t know if that worked until we are down there in the dark, but it feels correct).

Sailing next weekend? Looks like it… Continue reading

Mizzen and staysail (not pictured) now bent

Friday, September 11th, 2009

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There was light wind — and that right on the Centennial’s nose — so I was able to get the Mizzen put on (‘bent’) today. The lazy-jacks seemed to work OK, and the sail cover was easy to get on.

Don’t know if I’ll be sailing on Saturday, but we’re darn close… Continue reading

Joanna caught us as we were (attempting to) dock.

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

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Gives a good idea of scale.

This was an iPhone snap; I toned it a little… Continue reading

Another pic; I’m as bad as a new parent.

Monday, September 7th, 2009

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As Mark Best tells us, it is every boat-owners dream to get their boat in the water before Labor Day… Continue reading | 3 Comments

Afloat. Finally.

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

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And not taking on any water (as far as I can tell). (There’s a boat across the channel, a little powerboat, that has a bilge pump that kicks off every five or ten minutes; Centennial is drier than that, for sures, anyway.)

Sam and I got quite the ride getting her from the launching slip to B-106 where… Continue reading

Also:

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

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OMG! Hundrety-leven! Centennial is all put together.

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

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Wow, there’s a sailboat. We contracted for mast-hoisting service, they showed up, and everything went together from there.

The stays were all the correct length, and all the turn-buckles pinned in fine. The ropes were correctly run. The wires all pulled through. Jeez, September 5th. All ready to go in the water.

Awesome… Continue reading | 1 Comment

Oh, man. Finally done.

Friday, September 4th, 2009

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And there it is, all painted. In person, the bottom paint doesn’t look as red as it does here; more coppery. And less blotchy, actually. The copper in the paint makes the camera go kinda’ nutty.

I am so pleased with how it came out.

(The photo is another quicky HDR, BTW.)… Continue reading | 1 Comment

The bottom-painting begins

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

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This is actually an HDR composite of 3 bracketed shots. It’s not a perfect job, but it was my first HDR, and it was done quickly.

Went down and started painting the bottom (no, ‘bottom-painting’ does not involve a submissive in any way). I used the Interlux VC17m stuff that was so scary sounding, but, with a few… Continue reading