Slow Hand – End of the line

[folivier]

Open hatches. I remember as a kid, maybe 7 or 8? years old dad had a wooden trawler which he kept at our dock on the Bayou Teche in Louisiana. One day I was playing around and ran through the pilothouse. Wham! didn't see that open hatch. Still have a scar on my head where I hit the engine.

 

[dannc]

Open hatches that can slam/slide shut on fingers are also a risk.

 

[wfleenor]

Happy to hear you will stick around on the forum. I have benefitted from many of your posts over the years. I don't post a lot myself. Being on the west coast and not getting to TF until at least 9pm, I have never found a purpose to saying 'I agree with post number#', but I do find a need to add occasionally.
I didn't know I had a kindred spirit whose wife hated boats so you go out alone or invites friends. I always say my wife is a destination girl rather than a journey girl. She will join me sometimes after I have made the journey to the destination. Maybe there's a new group in that genre.

I have still been doing a lot of consulting, so I haven't put on the miles you have, but I am pulling the lines in and heading to the Gulf of California this fall and will leave the boat down there for a few years.

Best of luck to you

 

[JDCAVE]

Janice.thanks for the advice on the open hatches. I will follow rule from now on.

Jim

 

[Seevee]

Daddy died aboard our 40'er... it is doable. Now he had intended to build a houseboat for when he got old, however age caught up with him and that never happened. He stayed aboard the sedan cruiser he built in the 1950's.

Daddy's boat:

Here she is in the 1990s. We sold her in the early 2000s... like Ted, it was a fast sale. Mother put a sign in the starboard window on a Saturday. A broker contacted her on Sunday. Listed on Monday. First appointment that afternoon. We had a second interested individual scheduled for Tuesday. The Tuesday guy offered all cash/no inspection Monday night. We had already signed a contract on Monday. Cash in the bank account on Wednesday, so five days. It was a hot market and the boat was fabulous!

Because of that I experience -- Daddy having been aboard until the end, I have been adapting Seaweed to take me until forever aboard her. Excluding the tuna door I have accomplished all I set out for originally some 16-plus years ago. My Seaweed is not the boat she once was. She is however 41 years old.

I can safely live aboard her at anchor without issue. Sufficient power is provided by 460 watts of solar, a wind generator and a small Yamaha 1000 generator. Due to lacking the upper body strength you fellows have, I opted for a 1k genny. (I am unable to pull start a Honda2k UNLESS it is warmed up -- the compression is simply too much for me)

In the meantime this past year I have spent doing the normal things you do aboard a vessel built 41 years ago: replaced everything except me! Well, actually that includes wiring. All my AC is new and upgraded/more appropriately sized for today's needs. Four decades ago we did not have the power hungry devices of 2024.

A bad fall into a bilge took me out of commission for a couple years. I lost my confidence. Just about the time I was back to my old self, Covid happened. The enforced isolation did nothing good for me personally and I HATED it.

Last year a neighbor took a fall too. Both of us made the EXACT SAME ERROR. Both of us were injured badly too. Here's what went wrong: we both walked inside a boat from outside where it was bright and sunny. We both stepped into an open hatch and fell into the bilge.

Lesson learned: ALWAYS close the hatches even if only for five minutes. We would both like to think we are smarter than to step into a hole, but alas, we are not! Seriously, I believe we were blinded by stepping out of the sunlight and neither of us stopped a moment to allow our eyes to adjust.

I did write an article which might amuse and warn you of the stupid stuff that can happen when we are just a smidge too confident in our capabilities:
Rules for Life article on janice142

There are a lot of things we can do to make our life safer aboard our homes...

Glad you could recover from you injuries. I've had similar and not fun. Are you still in Mad Beach? Where are you anchored/docked?

 

[janice142]

Nearby... was just speaking tonight and IF the wind drops the plan is to take Seaweed over to the American Legion or the Elks club for a cup of sangria over ice. I will be back at the dock long before dark as the idiots come out in droves on holiday weekends.

I'm sure you know that the first 24-36 hours after winds such as we have had lately the water is still choppy. No matter what the VHF says, day one after windy conditions is only fit for masochists. I like smooth or light chop.

After 15k at the helm of our 40'er, I appreciate smooth water. Plus of course my girl is strictly a coastal cruiser. She did get a fresh paint job last autumn on the forward cabin.

 

[Seevee]

Nearby... was just speaking tonight and IF the wind drops the plan is to take Seaweed over to the American Legion or the Elks club for a cup of sangria over ice. I will be back at the dock long before dark as the idiots come out in droves on holiday weekends.

I'm sure you know that the first 24-36 hours after winds such as we have had lately the water is still choppy. No matter what the VHF says, day one after windy conditions is only fit for masochists. I like smooth or light chop.

After 15k at the helm of our 40'er, I appreciate smooth water. Plus of course my girl is strictly a coastal cruiser. She did get a fresh paint job last autumn on the forward cabin.

Janice,


If you wander over to the Legion or Elks, let me know and I'll buy the sangria for you. Would love to say hi and see how you're doing.

I usually stop by the Legion 2 or 3 times a week to exercise the boat and docking practice around 4:30. The times to avoid it are Tues, Fri, Sat and Sun. The tourists are heading back north in a few weeks, so it will not be so crowded.

 

[PNK]

End of the Line?

This thread really struck a chord with me, since I have been thinking about another boat, and wondering whether, at 74, it could be too late.
I haven't noticed huge changes, but I have definitely gotten less reliable with certain tasks that used to be automatics.
So, I had the idea of taking a "trawler school" course, mostly so a professional would be watching me and noting whatever was not working, and give me an unbiased opinion at the end of the course. I wasn't sure if such a thing even existed, but I ran across a 4-day course offered by Trawlers Great Lakes, in Traverse City, which sounded pretty close to what I am looking for. Plus, I have never boated in that area, and thought that getting checked out in unfamiliar waters would be a better test than sticking to my backyard here in the Northeast.
Does anyone know anything about these courses? I know they are the Nordic Tug dealer up there, so there may be some salesmanship involved, but I don't mind that, and actually wouldn't mind learning more about this brand, which is one I would be interested in.
Pretty much everyone else on TF is way more experienced than I am, and the course is not cheap, so anything I could learn would be really appreciated!
Thanks! Peter

 

[janice142]

Janice,I usually stop by the Legion 2 or 3 times a week to exercise the boat and docking practice around 4:30. The times to avoid it are Tues, Fri, Sat and Sun. The tourists are heading back north in a few weeks, so it will not be so crowded.

Great to know the best days. I do prefer weekdays so Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are perfect. With these winds and the holiday weekend, I will not venture onto the G-ICW as initially considered earlier this week.

These weather temperatures are perfection. I truly prefer overcast days such as these. Enjoy...

 

[Miz Trom]

Ted:
You have my sincere sympathies. Letting go of your pride & joy is hard. Your beautiful, bristol boat, which I saw once in Tarpon Springs, is a work of art.
As others have mentioned, the new owner will be a very fortunate new owner.

Warmest Regards,
Mrs. Trombley