Sea Rescue In Bahamas Aboard Liberty Clipper

  Forgot about my Blog again. Have been working as Fleet Engineer with Liberty Fleet of TallShips for the Past 2 Years, Operating out of Boston in The Summer and Bahamas in the Winter, Bahamas is a great way to avoid the Brutal Southern California Winters.........

  We Anchored off of Great Guana Cay, part of Exuma Islands in Bahamas. We heard a Mayday Call over the VHF, A small boat had capsized near Dotham Cut, A small channel with a strong current. Me and The Captain Launched The 60 HP Zodiac and sped out to help. After communicating on the VHF we spotted the Small Boston Whaler overturned with a Lady on Top. We closed in handed her a PFD and brought her aboard. She told us about her friend was safe on shore after swimming and was picked up by another boat.
  A few Center Console boats showed up to assist, Including Guana Cay Police. I cut away the stern anchor and boat was pulled away to calmer waters. Unable to reach under and attach a line I jumped in, after pulling my leatherman,flashlite, and pocket clutter. I was able to tie a line to a stancion to flip it over. We successfully flipped the boat over. A boat from Staniel Cay Yacht Club showed up to retrieve the rental boat and Passengers.  After all was said an done we went back to Clipper like nothing happened, It just sticks in your mind what could have happened. Glad to be part of a Crew that can react and work together.

Reminds me of a quote from Irvine Johnsons Around Cape Horn From 1929:

“There’s something about these vessels that cause some kind of hypnotism, you do things you’d never dream of doing in your ordinary mind”

Landsition Transition and Land Yacht

 After over 10 years Roving The High Seas, I decide to Make my way for a job and

Life Ashore. Having not owned a Vehicle in over 10 years. I was eager yet cautious 

to what vehicles I wanted and ended up Awesome Vehicle I could have imagined.

  Baja Bugs where some of the first cars I looked, Fun, easy and cheap to fix,

 Decent fuel mileage but I found there lack of space for my tools lacking. 

  

   Keeping on my German car kick I looked at a few Mercedes Benz Diesels,

The ones that where maintained by loving owners and kept repairs where nice.

 But usually on my next call to look at it again they where already sold. Not

much in between the Good Mercedes Diesel and The Bad, mostly run down

 leaking and puking various fluids, and lackadaisical attitude of there owners.

   I looked at a few Nice Isuzu Trooper, They are reliable ruggedly built trucks

with ample room A few former Captains and did little or no maintenance on them.

 One ran 275k Miles before its motor wore out. Knowing that I looked at a few.

   Finding one that was decked out for a Paris/Dakar Rally or Zombie Apocalypse

had been rebuilt and maintained by its owner. I was very interested and went to sort out

purchasing it, However it was already sold the next morning. Troopers I looked at

after that they just did not interest me any more.

  What followed was a slew of sleazy car dealers, I had been to a few public auctions

 to get a feel of what cars where actually going for, My Dad has been in the Auto Industry

for 50 years and learned a few things from him. Ford Exploiters,Nissan X-Terribles

Worn out Toyotas, Smokey Jettas and various rattle Pick-ups  where shown to me. All
started to look the same in a tickey tacky/cookie cutter way. I had spent nearly 2-months on the Job and Auto Hunt From Oxnard to San Diego resulting in nothing. 

I Was in Newport Beach finishing up a search on Harbor Blvd Car dealers. June Gloom was heavy that day and heavy traffic and the haze made the Smog stick to your skin and irritate your nose. Heading back to my room I made a detour to a kwiki-mart to get a cheap tuna sandwich/ comfort food at that point.  Then Bright Red Car brightened my Day!

 I nearly crashed my bike as my eyes locked on it. Something about This Car, I read

 the for sale sign and swore I shock went through me as I touched it.

  68' Dodge Polara 318 many new parts.    $####### 

 I had left my smartey phone in my room that day, I went to the Auto Shop next door and

asked if I could borrow a pen, To my surprise one of the mechanics owned it. Being a mechanic

 myself instantly left me at ease. He talked about all the parts that where replaced, New Heads,

 most gaskets, new steering,suspension, alternator..........

 Opening the Hood I was pretty much sold. When it started my adrenalin stared
kicking in ( Not much adrenalin flowing on Land, Kinda boring, The occasional
Car trying to run me over is about all I get these days.)

  In these days of Environmental awareness and going green with $4 a gallon gas
This Car is so wrong, But to me it is so right! No Smog check, cheap insurance
and a vehicle I can fix with out having to computer to diagnose it. The detail
in the mechanics restoration. Plus it Turns heads! A reliable daily driver
 with character.

You Tube Links:

Polara

Polara New Exhaust

  Will have more to come soon as I am putting together more things to Blog.

 Cheers,
Mike McV









   

Silence of the Fans......

   Silence of The Fans........

  From Years of being an Engineer on TallShips. I have had many Fans on Each ship.
some strong, some did not last, some went to wereabouts unknown.

   Usually in the couch surfing between jobs on land odd things seem to happen. First is the lack of movement. Landsickness? Body not adjusting
constantly to movement. Sometimes having to take a ride on a bus,trolley,
Subway for a sensation. My usual withdrawal remedy is to rattle home aboard an Amtrak Train, seems to help.
  Also Taking the Train to a Tallship seems to help getting your Sea-Legs back.

 One also notice the lack of noise, Tallships are full of creak's,clanks,rattles not limited to noise made
by The Ship and surrounding Waters, Also the happy banter of crewmembers returning from a night ashore.
 Each Vessel is unique for the sounds it makes, And Crew.

   Brings me to My particular subject. Silence of The Fans.................

  Engineering aboard Tallship's you learn to dial in the noises that make up vessels particular Language or Speech. Sound of the Main Engine at different RPM's noticing if a Captain makes a hard shift while docking.
 More sounds of Pumps,Refrigeration units, Generators. Oh and I am referring to
electric Fans.  How do they help? I have dialed my self into my cabin/bunk fan.

  How, Don't know secret ninja sailor training maybe? A fan running lets
me know by its sound what is happening for the Ships Electrical system.
 A Pump,Galley stove,washer,dryer loads up the and changes the sound
 of the fan weather it be a generator,inverter bank, cruddy shorepower.
 ( Cruddy Shorepower could and will be a blog someday)

Sodium Canine 2011

So, In Closing what happens with The
Silence of The Fans? I instantly wake up and
 listen to see if it is just a switch-over to shore
power, Tanked inverter bank. Breaker or other
Electrical Problems. A fan running on land seems
to help out, they keep me in tune-  Mike McV

Haiti Sailors

Summer of 2010 I was able to serve aboard a Cargo Vessel delivering relief supplies to Haiti.
After 7 Days of steaming from Louisiana in moderate seas. We where held up for nearly 2-weeks
by the Corrupt Bureaucracy before able to offload our much needed supply's to The Haitian People.
One thing that really hit me hard was to see the Local Sailors, Working there rag-tag Sailboats day in
and day out. These Sailors showed me the true Spirit of the Haitian People. No Motors, 90lb sacks of
concrete loaded and offloaded by hand. Sails and rigging made from whatever they could scrounge.
Here is a Short compilation of the videos I shot:





Will load up more videos as Able.

Sailing/ Rigging Knife

Here is a Picture of the wreck with someone for Scale, will set up more pictures as able.

Check out My Sailing Knife I made in 2007 on this Voyage:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sailing-Knife-Mod-for-Cold-Steel-True-Flight-Throw/


Do Not forget The YouTube video.

Link

Kingman Reef Plastic Island, My Visit

In The summer of 2007 I had the chance to serve as Second Engineer onboard The SEA Vessel Robert Seamen.


The voyage took us from Hawaii to Christmas Isle of the kiribate nation.
this blog mostly focuses on our visit to Kingman Reef with pics and narative.

From Wikipedia:

Kingman Reef is a largely submerged uninhabited tropical atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at 6.400, -162.400. It is the northernmost of the Northern Line Islands and lies 65 km NNW of the next closest island (Palmyra Atoll), and about 920 nmi south of Honolulu. The reef partly encloses a lagoon up to 73 meters deep, with the greater depths in the western part. At times, its shoreline might reach three kilometers in circumference; the total area within the outer rim of the reef is 76 km². There is just one small strip of dry land on the eastern rim, with an area of less than 0.01 km². The highest point on the reef is about one meter above sea level and wetted or awash most of the time, making Kingman Reef a maritime hazard. It has no natural resources, is uninhabited, and supports no economic activity.

Plastic Island?

After looking over the small atoll you would not want to get shipwrecked, and I was amazed and shocked! it seemed the Island was made a 3rd of plastic waste!

Old Shipwreck on the reef,
Appears to be an old tramp steamer, The rebar and concrete
must be whatwas remaining of the boiler and machinery. Anybody research this wreck?
Crew's fate unknown, Spooky!

The difference between the debris on the Lee side below is amazing!

Somewhere on the Web, I Believe it was The Aguilita captain was quoted to

say it would take every human being 20 pickup trucks full each to Clean up The Oceans

I am not using this blog as some green crusade, As an Engineer I use,Plastics,Composites,

And other Petroleum based products everyday. Naturally derived compounds are being discovered everyday and recycling of plastics is increasing. Research is finding large amounts

of plastic in the tissues of marine life.

I will be covering in my Blogs great pictures and stories of my Sailing Adventures.

More to Come! Subscribe

Mike McV

PS maybe you could build a raft out of the bottles and line if wrecked there!