Swedish September

Martin Rutgersson, Laser Sailor from Stenungsund, Sweden (just above Gothenberg on the west coast), sent along a video of him doing some bombing around in a Laser in September. Apparently fall twilight in Sweden lasts between 2-3 hours and sailing in this muted light is an entirely different sensory experience. From Martins email:

"To sail in the beautiful long sunsets we have here in Sweden this time of the year is just marvelous.

Martin also sent along this spectacular sunset photo.

Martin Rutgersson

I was under the impression that Stenungsund was a Swedish backwater until I went poking around the Internet and discovered that Stenengsund is the focal point for the Tjörn Runt, a 50 km race. round Tjörn Island, held in August that attracts 1000 sailboats of all types, from all-out multihulls and carbon monohulls to the mom and pop cruiser  Evidently this race is also popular with spectators as there are parts of the course where the sailboats must navigate narrow inlets; short tacking among crowded groups and sometimes crashing into the shore. A short video advertising the 2014 race:



Martin has also put together a stunning slideshow of his photos taken during the 2013 Tjörn Runt.

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January 19 Coconut Grove to Pumpkin Key 24 8 Miles

We had first feline drama last night: It was dark. I opened the cafe doors of the companionway to let the cats in but Alfie didnt come. So flashlight in hand I walked around the deck, opened the stack pack (a favorite Alfie hiding place by day) and checked atop the canvas, under the helm seat and in the dink. No Alfie. But then we heard the first of her cries and they were from behind the boat. So I swept the water with our strong flashlight, but no Alfie. Time for the 2,000,000 candle power floodlight, but we had trouble hooking it up to the cigarette lighter socket and stretching out the cord. Time to lower the dink and search for Alfie in the water behind the boat (where the current would be taking her. But her cry was not the powerful piercing "Im in trouble" scream, but rather her petulant mewl. Lowering the dink takes me five minutes -- Ive timed myself -- perhaps longer in the dark. Lene has now started whimpering and I asked her to please stop because such is not useful.
Before actually completing the lowering we found her. With the possible fuel flow problem that morning, I had advised Lene to take the hand held VHF radio that morning: "Just in case -- so you can call for help if you need it". It was in the little compartment in the bow of the dink created by an aft opening hinged padded seat there. I had forgotten to take it out when hauling the dink up that evening and the lifting lines run across the opening edge of the seat, making it hard to lift the seat once the dink is raised.

But I had gotten the seat up enough to reach in with my hand and retrieve the radio, for use the next day. And the seat was left raised -- just enough for Alfie to squeeze herself in. But with lower footing on the inside of the cabinet, she was not strong enough to get herself out, without help. She craves small spaces. What a relief!

Today we were underway for about five hours and I looked forward to a good sail because except for two dredged and charted channels, one a quarter mile long and the other a mile or so, the water was open. Shallow at 8 to 11 feet, but open. But though I put up sails as soon as we cleared the Dinner Key Channel, the wind did not cooperate, until the last half hour, a time when one is always eager to get the passage done. The wind was from behind us and too light to move the boat at a reasonable speed.

Pumpkin Key is a roundish lump of an island on the ICW side of the Keys, just off the northeast end of Key Largo. No services or shore activities, just a hangout place for boaters on the go.

 There are about ten boats here, mostly power, with plenty of swinging room. The water is ten feet deep all around, and we have 60 feet of snubbed chain out and do not expect heavy wind tonight. All of the boats are on the south side (lee side) of the island; the other side becomes the anchorage if the winds come from the South.
The Keys are stretched out in a mostly east-west direction with just a bit of southing as you head west for Key West. There are two routes to Key West from Miami: one way is the ICW route which is north of the Keys, in the Gulf of Mexico. It has many marinas but is quite shallow, too shallow for us after this point. The alternative is called the Hawk Channel which runs south of the Keys in the Caribbean/Atlantic. It is called a channel because there is an off shore underwater coral reef running parallel to the Keys. Hawk Channel is deep enough and wide, ideal for sailing, if the wind cooperates, but has few marinas or anchorages along the way. From here we expect and hope to be mostly separated from the wake-making power boats which prefer the ICW route.
There are several passages by which one can switch between ICW and Hawk. Our plan for tomorrow, subject to weather, is to go through Angelfish Creek and the Hawk Channel to Rodriquez Key, off the other end of Key Largo  -- before reaching Marathon, which is a rest station for cruisers, the next day. The only potential problem is that some books and folks say that Angelfish Creek is too shallow for ILENEs 5 8" draft. Others say we can make it if we go shortly before the high tide, which is scheduled for 8:10 a.m. tomorrow. And the entrance to the Creek is only about a mile away -- I already have it loaded in as our next waypoint. So we plan to leave at daybreak. And we will check in and let you know how it went, in our next post -- either from Rodriguez or Marathon.

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Sewing Machine For Upholstery and Enclosure Canvas

A few years back,my girlfriend and I purchased a 1962 Singer Fashion Mate 237 from my aunt for a song.Soon after,I located an owners manual for the sewing machine on Ebay.Reading through it,I have found that the sewing machine is capable of doing upholstery and canvas sail cloth work.I was a bit surprised that the sewing machine is rated for canvas sailcloth.The sewing machine is heavy,around 80 pounds.I believe the body is cast steel.I know the internals are high quality precision machined steel,possibly hardened.I worked for a friend that did auto,rv,and marine upholstery.His father also owned a household upholstery shop.I worked for him when we didnt have work.At those two shops,I used a Pfaff and a Consew.I briefly had an auto upholstery shop where I leased some off brand sewing machine.It was a horible machine that wouldnt hold its timing and constantly bent or broke needles.Its not fun having a needle fly past your eye at sub light speed.Always wear safety glasses.Sounds goof,I know,but flying needles can be dangerous.Some of the newer industrial commercial machines have clear plastic glass guards to protect the operator.I dont need,nor can I afford,to go with an industrial sewing machine.

Recently,I had been looking into Sailrite sewing machines.I know that when I build my boat,I will want to do all the work I can myself.After viewing some of their sewing machines,I feel confident that my sewing machine will handle the job.I am not knocking Sailrite sewing machines.They are quality.My sewing machine may not have all the options and accessories as a Sailrite,but it is more than enough for the simplistic interior and canvas work that will be on my boat.I will have a few seat cushions,interior,and exterior window coverings.I wont have a flybridge to deal with covering and/or enclosing.I will enclose my rear deck.I will have a rack over my rear deck to carry my dinghy.My plan is to hang my canvas from the rack like the old external frame tents used in the 1950s and 60s.It will seal to the back of the cabin with a belt rail system similar to those used on Jeep CJs and Wranglers.All in all,there wont be as much sewing on my boat compared to something like a Bayliner of comparable dimensions.


Here are some pictures of my sewing machine.It came with a beat up cheapo cabinet.I will build a small table to set it in when I get ready to do the upholstery for my boat.



Here is the cabinet open.The sewing machine nestles down inside of it. Lifting the stand allows the sewing machine to rotate up and out of the cabinet. Here is the speed control(gas) pedal.It is aluminum with a plastic pedal. Here is the machine rotated up out of the cabinet.You can see all the precision steel machine work.Also visible is the date stamp,8162 or August 1,1962. This machine has a lot more options than first appears.About 60 different ways to set up for sewing.It will even do embroidery and buttons.Thats gotta be useful. Here is a picture of the built in light and the motor.Dont be fooled by the motors compact size,it got some power.

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A BUNCH OF LINKS

Freebie of the week - Sparrowboard1450 PIC18 Development Board. | NUMATO.CC 

Autorino Autopilot on Hydrofoil Boat V1 || Dechsendorfer Weiher - YouTube 

RC hydrofoil - YouTube 

Motors - fastelectrics.net 

Numato Lab (numato) on Pinterest 

New Tab 

DIY RC Receiver (Serial PPM) - AI Matt 

Files - Razor AHRS - Q&U Lab Project Hosting 

Controlling a motor using a wifi connection and a gamepad 

Hydrofoil basics & craft configuration - Boat Design Forums 

GeoGuessr - Lets explore the world! 

Jobs on SEEK - New Zealands no.1 Employment, Career and Recruitment site 

OneTab shared tabs 

Search - Ako Aotearoa 

Track your item - Australia Post 

Selbstgebautes Tragflügelboot / Hydrofoil RC Modellboot - YouTube 

PSK Foiler RC - YouTube 

Edgetracker 426 Open Offshore Power Boat Design - YouTube 

BEST OF RC hydrofoil trimaran - YouTube 

Hysucat Elan 850 trial run 23 Nov 2011 - YouTube 

Arduino Playground - ReadReceiver 

Trailer Parts Online 

www.arkcorp.com.au/Content/manuals/eziguide-Instructions.pdf 

EG11 Eziguide 11 - Boat Trailer Spares 

Multi Roller Conversions & Parts - Conversion Assemblies - Boat Trailer Spares 

? Hysucat 830 elan water flow.MP4 - YouTube 

SF9DOF_AHRS_1_1.zip - sf9domahrs - Razor 9DOF IMU AHRS V1.1 Lite version for AT328/AT168 - AHRS for Sparkfuns "9DOF Razor IMU" - Google Project Hosting 

9 Degrees of Freedom - Razor IMU - AHRS compatible - SparkFun Electronics 

Python 3.3.2 Release 

Arduino 9DOF ArduIMU Controller ATmega328 (ACCEL/MAG/GYRO) 

9 Degrees of Freedom - Razor IMU - AHRS compatible - SparkFun Electronics 

Changes - sf9domahrs - AHRS for Sparkfuns "9DOF Razor IMU" - Google Project Hosting 

itg-3200driver - Arduino driver for the ITG-3200 3 axis MEMS gyroscope by InvenSense - Google Project Hosting 

Sparkfun IMU Razor 9DOF AHRS code - YouTube 

Changes - sf9domahrs - AHRS for Sparkfuns "9DOF Razor IMU" - Google Project Hosting 

Tracking System using 9dof Razor IMU and Servo - Arduino Forum 

Guide to gyro and accelerometer with Arduino including Kalman filtering - Arduino Forum 

Arduino Playground - PIDLibrary 

.net - C# find and extract number from a string - Stack Overflow 

?: Operator (C#) 

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