your boat

[TitusTiger]

Do people rotate their 'safety package'

I have a back pack with me most times (much like a purse), I have a wind beaker, bike tools, other things ---- and a couple Clif Bars. I try to eat the bars every too much and put in new ones in. ...

I just read an article where a woman's life was saved by having a cellphone with her when she fell overboard. The reason why she had done this was from petering from her mother. This is to say, these things are only of value if they are handy

Reading a book by Reese Palley: "Call of the Ancient Mariner." I recommend it in dealing with this topic. One of the suggestions, which might no be as relevant to a really small sailboat is having fire extinguishers in different places so you aren't cut off from it because of a fire. He even suggest having them on both sides of the hatch, so you don't have to grab one that is on the 'fire side' and burn your hand

[lustyslogger]

Always too much! My challenge is to pare down.
-Always a chart of the area even though we have a handheld GPS & use it like a crutch.
-MREs are a good idea, b/c you really do never know.
-Lots of water.
-Chocolate.
-A handheld VHS.
-I keep my knife, phone, a twenty dollar bill, compass, and my ID in my PFD on me.
**Color me jealous of your weather station!! It was just pointed out to me that day sailing with in sight of land like I do now a barometer would be much more useful than a compass.

I've never been very consistent with log books and often regret that. Maybe that will be a goal for the little boat.. I'll start a log book with my first sail and keep up with it.

Logs are fun and useful. In the off season you can pull out the logs to remind you of the best sailing. Most of mine just say, left dock at 0930 on a course of 330. Tacked 2.7 million times trying to get to the Island of Barbies Toes (there are a number of unnamed islands in this lake because for half the year they are not islands so I have named them, Barbies Toes, Trina's Dad, A Back Hoe and the island of all islands Hi, Why Ya. They make for far more interesting destinations than island 1, 2 or 3 don't you think?). Then I might add, returned to slip 1500. When the cruise is better than average (although they are all good) I will write up specific events - "saw topless boater on ski boat" or other things like that for example.

[TitusTiger]

Not sure which I would like to see a new thread on?

Naming island (how did you come up with Barbie Toes?)

or

Topless sightings

[lustyslogger]

Not sure which I would like to see a new thread on?

Naming island (how did you come up with Barbie Toes?)

or

Topless sightings

Barbies Toes was originally named Barbados but that was too hard to spell.
Trina's Dad is of course Trinidad, A Back Hoe is Abaco and Hey Why Ya is Hawaii.

There are a lot of topless boaters here. Now, I will have to admit 99.999% are male.

This lake (Cherokee Lake) was created when the Holston River was dammed in the early 1940's by the TVA. During the summer its 100 feet deep or more at the dam. During the winter the flood gates are opened and the depth drops 70 feet or more leaving most of the "islands" to become high and dry. My slip drops from 80 feet in June to 20 feet in November. A Back Hoe and Trina's Dad become one solid land mass. There was a movie back in the 60's "The Wild River" which was loosely based on building these lakes

[TitusTiger]

Interesting...

how do you dock a boat with that much change? Is there a 'docking season' when they keep the water level about the same?

I was just thinking the launch I have been using, might not be as easy to use in late July-August when the water levels recede (we have had lots of rain), but that is nothing like what you have... Your launch(s) does it go out couple hundred feet?

[lustyslogger]

Interesting...

how do you dock a boat with that much change? Is there a 'docking season' when they keep the water level about the same?

I was just thinking the launch I have been using, might not be as easy to use in late July-August when the water levels recede (we have had lots of rain), but that is nothing like what you have... Your launch(s) does it go out couple hundred feet?

The docks are floating docks and are always the same height above the water line If you are talking about launching a boat from a trailer for example, when the water level drops to its lowest hardly no one is on the lake. Most of the larger boats simply stay in the water and the trailerables stay home. The ramps are quite long and I haven't seen anyone have any real problems.

Remember as well that the lake levels are at their lowest for a period of about 2 or 3 months. They close the gates allowing the water to rise around the end of March. I generally put in on April 15 and by that time the ramp is short enough to be useful. They start draining the lake after Labor Day but that takes until the end of October before its an issue. The ramp is somewhere between 75 and 100 feet long. When the lake is all the way up the ramp is only maybe 10 feet long before you are deep enough to launch.

I really hadn't thought about the rising and falling of the lake except to compare it to the Bay of Fundy but only twice a year rather than twice a day!

[TitusTiger]

I understand floating docks, but I usually think of them in the context a foot, not feet.

So the poles have to be like 20 feet high? I would guess they could be 10 feet on the shore and when the water dropps 20+ feet, they are just sitting on the ground.

Do you have any before and after pictures of the same area?

[TitusTiger]

when it comes to 'what to have on board' there is a thread about 'ditch bag'

here: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruising- ... bag-2.html

[Friends with SCAMPS]

Love it! Is there another island? Fry Tortillas is up for grabs. I'm sold on the ships log. What a lovely thing to read in AC comfort when it's 105 in the shade..

Yes, I do go through all my safety & first aid stuff every 6months or so to make sure nothing is out of date, waterlogged, or squished.. Interesting about a "ditch bag" as we get the little boat together I wonder how much they(the boats) can share or if I'll end up with duplicates to keep it simple(sort of). Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

[TitusTiger]

The thing I thought about with ditch bag... is

Person Overboard readiness. I mentioned I have a whistle on my life jacket... I don't sail anywhere where it wouldn't be too hard to swim ashore if I fell out of the boat, but I suppose having a cellphone in a waterproof case on the lifejacket would be good too.