Favorite Things

We came in to our winter port, Friday Harbor, on October 30th -- two days before our 'sometime in November' plan.

And we have been on a frenzy of enjoying many of our favorite things:  coffee shops, bookstores, and kitties.

There is a new coffee shop right on Spring Street (the main street in town) called the Crow's Nest.  It passed muster!  Al's true test of a coffee shop is a cappuccino -- still in the quest of the elusive quality we found in Italy, theirs was probably the closest we have experienced.  Their one drawback is quite limited seating.  There are three chairs at the bar, one table and two chairs, and a window seat with pretty pillows.  We agreed that one more 'cafe set' of tiny table and two chairs would fit nicely.  In just a week and a half, the Crow's Nest has become our 'on the go' choice for coffee.

We still like the Bean best for sitting and relaxing, and we still need to go to the Demeter Cafe, which is really more of a bakery (no flavored lattes here, but I hear they make a mean mocha).

Serendipity was at the top of the list of places to visit immediately upon arrival in Friday Harbor.  They are a fabulous used-book store that will give credit for books they 'buy', and we had been saving up volumes.  Ha!  After two visits, we have used up all but $1.00 of our credit!

I was greatly saddened to see that the Harbour Bookstore has closed!  This was my favored place to buy new books.  Owner Keith was inside and heard us lamenting outside the door.  It was distressing to step inside and see the jumble of the last bits of stock being readied to move out, and the bare walls further into the shop. 

This forced me to go to the only other new-book store in town -- Griffin Bay Bookstore.  Though we did attend an interesting author presentation while we were here last year, and had partaken of the coffee in the shop at the back of the store, I didn't feel quite at home in this store -- VERY unusual for me and any bookstore!  I am sorry to say that feeling was reinforced this week when I stopped to pick up the book I was looking for -- Nora Robert's newest release.  Not only did they not have it in stock, the salesperson had to look it up!  Being I hoped to find it and read it before going to Portland for the holidays, I did place an order, with no shipping charges added.  It got the call yesterday that it had come in.

I don't remember seeing any raindrops on roses, but I did find some whiskers on kittens!  I myself have made two trips to the animal shelter already, and Al came along for the last one.  There are many cats there, and presently six kittens.  The two smallest ones came in with their mother and are waiting a couple more weeks before they can be adopted.  On our last visit, we were unable to see them, as they were in the isolation room.  I suspect they may have been recovering from neutering.  Four other kittens that were brought in feral were noticeably tamer on the second visit.  I spent most of my time on my first visit in their cage, so I feel somewhat responsible for that fact!  The shelter has a Free Cat Friday where any older cat adopted on a Friday is free, and kittens are half-priced.  

We also do peek at the dogs when we visit the shelter, and there was a sweet girl about to give birth to seven puppies.  She looked to be some sort of terrier mix?  The prettiest dog I saw on my first visit was gone on the second -- I knew she wouldn't stay long.  Sadly, two pit bulls, one a mix?, I recognized from our visits last winter. 

No-one ties up brown paper packages with string anymore, but I HAVE ordered two items in the mail.  Al has been shopping too, but he will have his items delivered to Lindsay's house for pick-up at Christmas time.  I have sent a couple of postcards to the grandchildren, and will soon send out a few packages.  Easier access to postal services is appreciated here too.

Other favorite things we do in Friday Harbor:  attend church, attend Power Squadron meetings, rent movies (or view first-run movies in the theater), take advantage of the unlimited data of the local internet to watch videos and catch up on favorite TV shows, and walk!  

What Do You Miss?

Kristi here.  After letting Al get all caught up on his more technical postings, I figured it was about time for me to write again.

Recently a new acquaintance, upon hearing we lived on a boat, asked me "What do you miss?"  This was a woman-to-woman question, and I answered immediately:  flush toilets!

Now there ARE fancy, push-button heads for boats out there, but Viking Star has old-fashioned pump handles and dial valves to bring in seawater for flushing.  Even when they are working well, it is quite a process, and CAN be rather strenuous to deal with.

Al serviced the pumps a couple of months ago, and the pumping action was much improved!  However, on the head that gets the most frequent use, the dial to set the see water valve was VERY hard to turn.

Soon, I began to have an annoying pain in my elbow.  Since I have fibromyalgia, my first question of any pain is:  is this a flare?  And, since I had not been sleeping as well, I assumed that was what it was.  But it did not get better.  THEN I begin to question my thyroid levels.  I am nearing the end of my one-year supply of medication -- is it not as effective?  Has it gotten stale?  But falling thyroid levels have a couple of additional annoying effects, and I wasn't experiencing those.

Hmmmm.

Weeks go by.  No relief.  I begin to notice that day-to-day activities are becoming difficult to do:  making the bed, cooking, brushing my hair --- flushing the toilet.  In fact, I begin to notice that the pain is the WORST when dealing with the toilet.

I keep Al informed of my difficulties at all stages.  I tell him that I am sure that it is the toilet that is the source of  the pain.  And it continues to worsen.  I've tried to use my other hand/arm, but the configuration does not work.

Finally, I say "It's so bad, that I'm afraid I am going to have to ask you to flush FOR me!"  And it got fixed that day!  Al removed the seals from the dial and 'since it's above the waterline, I think it'll be okay'.  Easy-peasy!  I can turn the dial, slick as a whistle!

That was a week and a half ago, and the elbow is improving, but slowly.  I think it took a couple of months to get to this state, I need to be patient about the healing process.

Cost to Cruise - October 2012

Not really a whole bunch to say this month.  We had two big expense items:  Fuel and insurance for the boat.  Other than that we only went 'overboard' by staying in Lopez Village for three days while Kristi picked wine grapes (and I stayed back on the boat to 'work work').

Meals out were a bit higher due to our side trip into Seattle, plus the 4 days we anchored out in front of Roche Harbor - stocking up on Cheese Burgers and fresh made cake doughnuts!

Communications includes a yearly renewal of the Skype account, and the starting of the WiFi service here at Friday Harbor.  Next month should show a major drop off as we turned off the Verizon MiFi for the Winter, and I will not need to use the Boost IDEN, nor the Verizon backup for my work calls as much now that we have a good solid Skype connection.

And as predicted, the Solar Panels are about done  for the year.  But the good news is my modeling predicted 50Ah / day, so the measured 51Ah was just right!

Next month will include the 1st and last for winter moorage here in Friday Harbor, plus a slew of 'Coffee Shops' as Kristi and I went wild the first few days here.  And we are starting our series of Medical checkups, plus we are getting ready for Kristi to get cataract surgery.  Discovered last winter, she had an eye check this week.  It has  stabilized and stopped changing really fast, and is ready for correction.  Look for that after the 1st of the year.

Water maker pre-filters failed!

Yesterday I went to service the Kubota EA-300 generator / watermaker.  Was going to flush and re-pickle the membranes, change the engine oil, and fresh-water flush the seawater cooling system.

I did not get very far.

We did not need to use the Watermaker this summer, as shore-side water was readily available.  So the system just sat happy in the pickling juice. When I fired up the unit yesterday, I could not get any pre-boost pressure - the pre-filters were all clogged!  Upon inspection I noticed that the head assembly had bits of white plastic in them.  Further inspection showed where that all that came from.

Here is a photo of the head unit (above).  Notice the large On/Off handle on the top?  This shuttles a small white plastic assembly inside the head back and forth, you can see it (below).

However, take a look at a different head unit.  Notice anything missing?

Yup, here it is:

And you should see the other guy!
This one shows clear signs of being dissolved away.

All three heads had these shuttles damaged.  They really looked like they had been eaten-away, and in fact some of the plastic was still soft and pliable when I pulled the parts out.  I can only assume the pickling solution attacked this plastic.  Wow.   Not going to think about that one too much.  (or, maybe it was a band of Polymites that tried to attack Viking Star.  Finding no plastic to eat, they went for the Filter housings!  Polymites, the scourge of Tupperware boats everywhere!)

Today I picked up three replacement filter units.  The lower-cost ones without the fancy 'valving' at the top. Though these new units come with a solid blue plastic filter housing, the threads are the same and I can reuse the clear housing from the old heads.

Replacement - No Valve Handle

And no White Plastic to fail

Will reassemble the pre-filters, and add in the high pressure pump safety vacuum interlock switch I have been saving while I am at it.

But bottom line:  know that there is something that attacks those fancy filter heads.  Given the usage, there is really no need for the on/off valves - I just chose them because I liked the clear housing.  But if you are sourcing these, get the simpler ones.

A new Post!

We have been slow with the Updates and Postings.  Guess that is a Sin when it comes to Proper Blogging...  well, with winter approaching  Kristi and I have been enjoying our last few days 'Out Here'.  Mostly hanging around Roche Harbor to take work calls and eat Doughnuts.

But I have also been putting a bit of effort into the Arduino based engine controller and smart regulator for our Kubota DC generator.  Have the initial hardware design completed and have been playing with a few firmware things like Watchdog timers and I2C communication   Those with a passing (or even active) interest can see more here:  http://smartdcgenerator.blogspot.com/

Today we just finished perhaps our last Coffee and Doughnuts for the year and are killing a little time at the Roche Harbor dock.  Will take a work-work call in about 20 minutes, then move back out and anchor before another one at 1:00.  We called Friday Harbor this morning to see about dockage for the winter, no issues.  Though that Sail Boat in OUR SPOT looks to be there for the winter.  Oh Well, we were told we could just tie up right behind them!

Well, another summer down.  Next year we will be heading north, but likely not too far.  Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast are what we have been talking about.  This winter we need to get the life raft serviced, and of course catch up on our health tasks.   And speaking of health, we just might have found a way to cut our health care insurance costs by 66% - you guessed it:  LEAVE THE COUNTRY!  Have a lead on an insurance plan that will provide EXACTLY THE SAME coverage we have now, at 1/3 the cost - with the condition that we are in the USA no more than 180 days / year.  Ah, love our system.  Pay us to get out of the USA!   (Sorry, will put my Soap Box back now)

I Did It!

I'm feeling fairly proud of myself today.  I made my first real 'landing'!

One of my goals this summer was to become more proficient at close-quarter maneuvering, but to be honest, NO practice was done this summer.

We have anchored in the harbor at Roche Harbor for the past several days.  On Monday, when we took the boat to the dock to go have breakfast and mail Al's ballot, I was at the helm while the anchor was pulled, as normal.  When Al came back into the cabin, he asked if I just wanted to take it all the way to the dock.  No, not this time.

So today, when we again went to the dock, this time for cheeseburgers and to mail MY ballot, I had been thinking about taking Viking Star to the dock.  Al asked again, and this time I did not say no.

SEVERAL years ago, on the Columbia River, on a lonely long dock with no other boats (or people) around to observe, I had opportunity to do several touch-and-go's..  But this time, though admittedly in the off-season, we were still in a harbor with boats and people around.  Okay, there was ONE boat at the end of the dock that I was approaching.

And as Al says, if no-one yells, and no-one gets hurt, it was a successful landing.  Yay!  Success!

Hints on connecting and debugging your ICOM M802 to a computer

Am still stepping through the SSB installation in Viking Star.  One of the things I have found out is Simple Directions DO NOT EXIST!  I also found out that the cable / DIN connecting that came with my Pactor modem was in poor condition and ended up bridging Vbat to the Trans pin.  Will, this blew a $0.23 FET IC inside the Pactor – as a result the whole digital HF communication aspect of this instalation is on hold until I get up enough stuff to make a Mouser.com order.    But till then, here are a few ‘hints’ I dug out when connecting the Computer to the SSB.

First off, why would one want to do this?  A couple of reasons:  Using Sailmail or similar product to send/receive Emails via SSB.  Another common reason is to allow for some level of automation when receiving weather FAX’s over HF.  How to do all this is another topic, for now I want to focus on a very small part of the overall system:  Connecting your Computer to the ICOM-M802 via RS-232 serial cable.

There are actually a couple of ways to let a computer control the ICOM:  Directly from the computer via an RS-232 cable, or indirectly through a Pactor modem, assuming you have one.  I chose to directly connect for three reasons:

1. Our navigation computer has LOTS of serial ports. (By choice! - see Hardware for a Navigation computer).
2. Some programs  (ala Ham Radio Integrator) cannot communicate through a Pactor modem.
3. My Pactor modem is not one of the fancy ones with a second serial port – so it would not happen anyway.

OK, enough.  Here are some hints:

• The serial cable only needs to carry TX and RX, plus GND.  Note that the ICOM instruction manual is a little confusing (err, more like wrong - they have RX and TX backwards) on this.  You only need a standard 9-pin serial connector – pins 2,3 and 5.  And more to the point, there is no need to bring forward things like DTR (Pin 4), DSR (6), etc.  So don't worry about them.  Just bring down 2,3 and 5 and get on with life.

• Configuring the ICOM M802.  Refering to the users guide - Section 12 (SET MODE), page 48 in my copy.  You want to verify / change the following settings:

                      REMOTE IF  = NMEA (the ICOM communicates using NMEA sentences!)
                      REMOTE ID = 08
                      REMOTE MOD = ACC  (Most Pactor modems use the round ACC plug)
                      AUTO TUNE = ON
                      ICOM TUNER = Pick the one you are using

Those last three are really general settings and not needed to communicate with the computer.  But as long as you are in there!

• Configure your serial port Port Settings (Control Panel / System / Device Manager / COM _ _):

                 Bits per second:  4800
                 Data Bits: 8
                 Parity:      None
                 Stop Bits: 1
                 Flow Control:  None


That is it!  Install the program of your choice and all will be well - - - unless it is not.  If things do NOT work you need to debug a little.  Here is where I had a bit of a struggle – trying to learn the system, debugging it, and using ‘complex’ control programs all at the same time.  One thing that was VERY helpful was being able to send and receive a simple test commands to  the radio and look for its reply - without a complex control program.

Under Windows go to Start / All Programs /  Accessories / Communication  and click on:  Hyper Terminal.  This will bring up the simple serial communication window.

• Type ‘ICOM M802’ in the Name Window, and press OK.
• On the next screen, change the last pull-down ‘Connect using’ to the serial port your radio is wired to.  In my case COM4 is the one.  Press OK
• This next screen is the Port Settings – it should agree with what you did above.  Press OK.
• Still a bit more to do.  Select File/Properties.  Choose the Settings Tab and click on the ASCII Setup.. button.  Check the ‘Send Line Ends with Line Feeds’  and the ‘Echo typed characters locally’ boxes.  
• Press OK’s until you are back at the main com window.  
• Type the following simple NMEA sentence:  $PICOA,90,08,REMOTE*7D and hit Enter.

If all is well, the radio will respond with something like $PICOA,08,90,REMOTE,OFF*42   It might end a little different, like , ON*50 - but never mind, the key here is:  Did you send a command to the radio, and did it reply.

And there you go.  If this simple test works your communication path between the computer and the ICOM-M802 works.  If the above does not work, double check the above steps.  But at least here is a simple test environment!