Re: [Cal_Boats] Sailboats not sailing, was: Ethanol was Waterlogged rudder, etc.

Chris, in my sailing area (Wareham, MA on Buzzards Bay) there are several sailboats that I wonder if they really have a mainsail hidden under the sail cover.... or if they just use the cover to decorate the boom. They power out for a few miles, then power back in, or some power out to a local anchorage (about 2.5 miles outside the harbor), drop the hook and spend the day there. In late afternoon they weigh anchor and power back in, sometimes they do unfurl the jib (to justify having sails?) but I very rarely if ever see them under full sail. One of those boats is a Freedom 21....... <GRIN> only has the mainsail (cat-rigged), I've seen them take off the sail cover, but can't remember the last time I saw them sailing. Like you, I am on a mooring, and use my outboard rarely, in fact most of the hours put on the motor each year are the 1.5 mile trip each way to/from the boat ramp. I've had great luck using "StarTron" fuel additive to combat ethanol problems. My 3-gallon tank is heavy plastic and I am pretty sure so is the pick-up tube inside the tank, that might be helping? (Bombardier "Dura-Tank") Why do I enjoy sailing, well... one reason is that it takes me a very enjoyable 1-2 hours to do a round trip that I see powerboats make in 15 minutes (PWC could do it in 5 minutes?). I'd think they would get bored awfully quick! Plus, they burned more gas getting out of their slip than I used all season! We also have a little 14' powerboat, great fun for days with out wind. My Dad and I took the boat to a local lake one time (back when we used her as a trailer boat in Spring and Fall) and after launching, we made a run at slow cruise speed around the lake...... OK, that used up 10 minutes (small lake), now what to do? Well, let's make another pass, a bit slower and perhaps check out behind that island we passed......... OK, that used up another 20 minutes....... shall we go around again? Ho -Hum! We idled around again then hauled out....... been there, done that! Well, at least we were on the water for an hour or so! I could have spent all day exploring that lake in a small sailboat/dinghy (even on my Day Sailer it would be interesting for several hours!). As I say, on a calm day, the powerboat lets me make a trip that would take most of the day under sail (if we had wind), but at speed can be done in about 1 hour or so. Great if I want to explore "distant" harbors....... but, except for the day that I made that trip in the powerboat in foggy weather, sailing provides more satisfaction. (Scary how the times that I have been out in fog (either boat), no other vessel is sounding fog signals! I once saw a "go-fast" actually ACCELERATE into the fog! Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" 1979 O'DAY DS II #10201 previously: "NODROG" 1970 CAL 21 #285 On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 12:01:43 -0500 "ccampbell cc… [at] lsnm.org [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> writes: On 2/10/2016 10:03 AM, pw… [at] aol.com [Cal_Boats] wrote: Chris - I have a fuel polishing biz and my machine will filter out all the water and other contaminates from diesel or gas but with ethanol there is no point, you just have to get rid of it. 99% of my business is disposing of bad ethanol. I tell all my customers not to put any more ethanol in their boat than they will burn in a month. Problem is that we sailors tend to sail more and power less, so the gas can sit a long time. In fact, my Cal 20 is on a mooring, so I usually sail on/sail off and use no gas at all. I find that the ethanol-free gas actually lasts a long time, especially when it's periodically renewed with a dose of fresh gas. Those folks who use their boats as floating condos and never actually sail will use more fuel. I see a bunch of those around here. On a nice calm day they'll power out of the marina and putt around for a while, and if they are really bold they'll unfurl the jib for a few minutes. Chris NetZero now offers 4G mobile broadband. Sign up now. http://www.netzero.net/?refcd=NZINTISP0512T4GOUT1

Chris, Rod, I once had someone ask me if I got tired of seeing the same five miles of the bay in my sailboat (Chesapeake Bay). I told him it wasn't the destination that was fun, it was the journey. That said, I remember when I was shooting photography for the Volvo Race as they came up the Bay, I took my powerboat from Cambridge to Annapolis back to Cambridge then to Solomons and back to Cambridge that night shooting photos. I'm guessing I put around 145 miles on my powerboat that day and thinking that would have been a 3 day voyage on my sailboat LOL. Amazing how small the Bay gets at 45mph. Paul From: rj… [at] juno.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: Cal_Boats <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>; ccampbell <cc… [at] lsnm.org> Sent: Wed, Feb 10, 2016 1:10 pm Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Sailboats not sailing, was: Ethanol was Waterlogged rudder, etc.  Chris, in my sailing area (Wareham, MA on Buzzards Bay) there are several sailboats that I wonder if they really have a mainsail hidden under the sail cover.... or if they just use the cover to decorate the boom. They power out for a few miles, then power back in, or some power out to a local anchorage (about 2.5 miles outside the harbor), drop the hook and spend the day there. In late afternoon they weigh anchor and power back in, sometimes they do unfurl the jib (to justify having sails?) but I very rarely if ever see them under full sail. One of those boats is a Freedom 21....... <GRIN> only has the mainsail (cat-rigged), I've seen them take off the sail cover, but can't remember the last time I saw them sailing. Like you, I am on a mooring, and use my outboard rarely, in fact most of the hours put on the motor each year are the 1.5 mile trip each way to/from the boat ramp. I've had great luck using "StarTron" fuel additive to combat ethanol problems. My 3-gallon tank is heavy plastic and I am pretty sure so is the pick-up tube inside the tank, that might be helping? (Bombardier "Dura-Tank") Why do I enjoy sailing, well... one reason is that it takes me a very enjoyable 1-2 hours to do a round trip that I see powerboats make in 15 minutes (PWC could do it in 5 minutes?). I'd think they would get bored awfully quick! Plus, they burned more gas getting out of their slip than I used all season! We also have a little 14' powerboat, great fun for days with out wind. My Dad and I took the boat to a local lake one time (back when we used her as a trailer boat in Spring and Fall) and after launching, we made a run at slow cruise speed around the lake...... OK, that used up 10 minutes (small lake), now what to do? Well, let's make another pass, a bit slower and perhaps check out behind that island we passed......... OK, that used up another 20 minutes....... shall we go around again? Ho -Hum! We idled around again then hauled out....... been there, done that! Well, at least we were on the water for an hour or so! I could have spent all day exploring that lake in a small sailboat/dinghy (even on my Day Sailer it would be interesting for several hours!). As I say, on a calm day, the powerboat lets me make a trip that would take most of the day under sail (if we had wind), but at speed can be done in about 1 hour or so. Great if I want to explore "distant" harbors....... but, except for the day that I made that trip in the powerboat in foggy weather, sailing provides more satisfaction. (Scary how the times that I have been out in fog (either boat), no other vessel is sounding fog signals! I once saw a "go-fast" actually ACCELERATE into the fog! Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" 1979 O'DAY DS II #10201 previously: "NODROG" 1970 CAL 21 #285 On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 12:01:43 -0500 "ccampbell cc… [at] lsnm.org [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> writes: On 2/10/2016 10:03 AM, pw… [at] aol.com [Cal_Boats] wrote: Chris - I have a fuel polishing biz and my machine will filter out all the water and other contaminates from diesel or gas but with ethanol there is no point, you just have to get rid of it. 99% of my business is disposing of bad ethanol. I tell all my customers not to put any more ethanol in their boat than they will burn in a month. Problem is that we sailors tend to sail more and power less, so the gas can sit a long time. In fact, my Cal 20 is on a mooring, so I usually sail on/sail off and use no gas at all. I find that the ethanol-free gas actually lasts a long time, especially when it's periodically renewed with a dose of fresh gas. Those folks who use their boats as floating condos and never actually sail will use more fuel. I see a bunch of those around here. On a nice calm day they'll power out of the marina and putt around for a while, and if they are really bold they'll unfurl the jib for a few minutes. Chris NetZero now offers 4G mobile broadband. Sign up now.