Off the Dock & Shake Down

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I Wanda (a nicholson 40 pilothouse sloop built by Camper & Nicholson in 1979) re launched in early March after nearly a year and a half on the hard for a refit. After cruising full time for over 10 years and over 50,000 Nautical Miles we wanted to spruce up the interior and upgrade a lot of systems. We were excited to get launched and ready to cruise again. Launch went smoothly on March 2 and we had an uneventful trip to the dock in St. Marys so we could reload things that had been removed for the work. Gremlins had moved on board so the shake down took longer than expected and we aborted our earlier plans to head first to the Bahamas before heading to New England for the summer.

Well, we made it to the next phase of the departure-- we actually left the dock and moved to Cumberland Island to anchor! Among the things we need to do here are REST, RELAX, finish putting the boat together and test the communications systems. At the dock there is always one more thing you can think to do and you get stuck like Velcro and just need to GO. There was also too much electrical noise on the dock to really test the radio. Kitties made the trip fine. Were a little surprised at the engine noise but are now napping with contentment.


After a year and a half on the hard there is a combination of memory loss (oh really?) and gremlin invasion. For those of you pining to be back out cruising remember that there are times like this-- when things that have worked faithfully in the past (most of the time) now no longer do. You simply have to go step by step and recheck all the connections and test and retest.

So what is amiss? Well, we do not seem to be putting power out for the SSB/ham rig. All equipment had been removed from the boat and had to be re-installed so there is the possibility that we fouled it up but Christian has checked and re checked. We still have the spare radio so we switched it out and did not solve the problem. We checked connectivity between the radio and the tuner and that checked out. However, when we switch frequencies the tuner does not seem to be clicking. It clicks when we turn on power, but not when we change frequencies. When we tune in the Waterway net or Cruiseheimers’ we barely hear anyone. When trying to send airmail messages in Pactor III there is not enough power, it seems. To be continued...

We do have a WiFi signal nearby... if only I could get one of my FOUR external antennas to work. I NOW remember that each time I installed a new one I had to be talked through it by the Linksys folks. Did not remember REMOVING the software... but there you are. I try and load it and no dice. Now WHY didn't I try that system out at the house where I had both good WiFi AND a good telephone line to use for tech support?? Why indeed! At high tide I can take the laptop to the companionway and connect but this is not satisfactory when you are USED to connecting from the comfort of the nav station both via winlink and WiFi. SIGH

There are many things on the boat that we can live without and in an emergency I guess we could manage without SSB... but who wants to? And knowing you have a WiFi signal but it is JUST a little too weak to pick up adequately with the internal antenna is beyond frustrating. Of course we could go buy internet service from Verizon but really PREFERRED what we had before with winlink and the occasional WiFi connection.

Sunny and lovely so I suppose we will head ashore for a walk today. Kitties (Carter & Bisous) are adjusting. Floors look great. First person we heard on VHF was Harrison formerly of Deliverance and now Segue. That was nice. We'll meet up in the Chesapeake.


Mary & Christian / I Wanda

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