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Thursday, 27 April 2017

Im so tired

In the 30's, there is thin ice in the marsh. I pick small sheets of it out of the water. It is clear and window glass thick. I head out east of the burial island and find a barrel floating in the water, which I haul out. Both eagles are on the burial island perch. I see three otters near the north point perch. The scavenger is continuing to chew on the neck of the dead swan, which has been pulled to one side of the carcass since yesterday. One eagle is now at the lunch counter perch. I haven't seen them hunt today. I pick up an annoying tire and drift with the wind, drinking coffee and passing a falcon sitting in a tree on one of the islands. I sit still and the falcon stays and lets me pass.

Saturday, 22 April 2017

I have no comm port so I must scream

Six weeks ago I embarked on what should have been a fairly mundane task of getting NMEA data from a GPS and some older Simrad gear imported into a laptop running Nobletec's Odyssey Time Zero navigation software. This wasn't my first time at the NMEA data rodeo, and the results were pretty typical. Using the existing Prolific serial to USB converter I could only have one talker, and one listener, not that I didn't try to get a second talker to work. Alas, but not unsurprisingly one talker only for you, and some of the older NMEA version data was getting lost in translation. To help with these issues a Actisense NDC-4 was purchased.

The little box arrives, and I install it. It's a pretty straight forward job. The NDC control panel software loads up from the CD, The comm, and USB port drives get installed. I find the comm port (6), and set it for 36,400 baud. Open the control center, and click on port 6, and also 36,400, and it all works as advertised.

I connect the GPS, and data flows to the Nobeltec system. Excellent methinks. I create various configurations to learn how to do them, and whoa, it's almost five. The lure of happy hour tugs at me. Everything gets shut down, and I'll come back in the morning to wrap this install up. That was six long weeks ago, and until yesterday I couldn't get it to work for love or money.

A fresh new day sees me on the boat. I fire up the computer, and add a second talker to the Actisense box. I open the control panel, and it's there, but now insidiously ghosted. Something must have gotten changed. Control Panel/Device Manager/Ports, and there it is on comm 6 labeled as Actisense, just like yesterday. I check the speed, and port configuration. That's all fine. I look at the USB port. That's fine also, and it says in both cases "The device is working properly." No it isn't you piece of claptrap PC junk. It ain't working properly at all. Back to the control panel and check the speed, and port. Both are correct, but the little box won't connect to the comm port. The PC knows it's there, if I unplug it from the computer, it disappears from the port list. Plug it in and it reappears. It's just mocking me.

An email goes off to Actisense in my usual windy fashion describing what I have done and how I wired the little box. A response comes soonest suggesting I shouldn't have really connected 12 volt power to the little box, ground looping may occur causing my connection problem.

The first aha moment occurs. It seems the manual in the box, is not the full user manual. I download the full manual which discusses powering the box in greater detail, and ship's power is promptly remove from the box. But this doesn't solve the problem. More emails, uninstalling, and re-installing occurs. Crap, I take the disk, and the little box home and install it on my computer. It works perfectly on my computer. More emails, and then the question appears can you verify the drivers you are using are version 2.8.24.0.

Back to the boat I go for the umpteenth time and check. Yes it is. So what do I now know? It doesn't work on the boat's laptop, but it does work on my computer at home, and now my little net book also. It has to be a problem with the laptop unit, although I don't know what. The owner gives the laptop to an IT guru, and it gets scrubbed clean, updated, and all of that promotional stuff you get on a new computer is removed. Meanwhile I'm yachting on the Salton Sea. I get back and try the computer again, nope, same thing. The little box is there, but it isn't. It acts like it can't connect, because it is already connected.

I'm running out of options here. There is one more thing to try. The IT guru did not have the little box when she cleaned up the computer, so I arrange to meet her with the computer, and little box in hand. I plug it in, and show her how to set up the ports, and how it's used. I also show her that everything seems to configured correctly. She takes off fingers flying, and then gets a little frustrated, and confused. Then the really big aha moment occurs. On a whim she rolls back the driver for just the USB port back one generation to 2.6.2.0, and the little box works. It was an orgasmic moment, in a geeky sort of way, and I now know what happened.

When I took the little box back home, I plugged it into my computer, and it no longer worked. Mr Gates had been my undoing. When I first installed the little box, the CD was the source for the drivers, and the USB driver was version 2.6.2.0. Both my computer, and the boat's laptop had an automatic Windows 7 update, which noticed the out of date USB driver, and did us the favor of updating it to a current version. This was not currently compatible with the Actisense NDC-4. Subtle it was. See it you could, but work it would not. PC's just drive me nuts. Six freaking weeks. The really smart IT guru set up the laptop to never allow an update for all time to come, and I'm fine with that.

The Actisense products are great, and their tech support people stuck by me in spite of my mildly acerbic emails at times. I understand they are working on this quirky little automatic update wart.

Friday, 7 April 2017

Everything is So Blue

I'm back on the water after two weeks. The day is warm, but the wind is light. I am lazy and don't take advantage of the cool morning, putting my canoe in during the heat of the day. But, I put in on the sound and the millions of gallons of 57F water cools the surrounding air and it is all quite pleasant. I head from my favorite Elliott Bay launch west to 4 mile rock and then north to Discovery Park. I see two osprey as I paddle along the bluffs and also a flock of small sea gulls. A very large person in a small kayak wallows in my direction, but I turn around and paddle back. I'm watching the trees and shore for birds and I look forward and there is the black head of a seal, or perhaps sea lion, watching me. It disappears the second that I notice it. I forget to reset my camera's white balance and all of my photos are blue.

Tuesday, 28 March 2017

Special Occasions can be so much more special when Cruising Marcona Inlet

19 – 20 July 2016

We had been holed up in Cid Harbour for a week while the wind blew and the rain fell. Although intermittent showers were persisting, at last the wind was settling down. Naturally we were keen to move on but Rob was especially so. The following day was our Anniversary and surrounded by dozens of charter boats in Cid Harbour was not where he wanted us to be.

We finally said goodbye to crowded Cid Harbour in search of some sunshine.

The Whitsunday Islands are world class cruising grounds so finding somewhere truly secluded during charter season is not easy but there are some spots less travelled than others. We upped anchor a had a short but pleasant sail north to Marcona Inlet on Hook Island. It’s a secure anchorage and very beautiful spot but doesn’t have the high profile of nearby and usually crowded Nara Inlet. Most people anchor in a bay half way up the inlet but we made our way all the way to the end and were delighted to find the only two other boats there were friends Greg and Sue on Sunshine and Brian and Petra on Bella.

Grey skies greet us at the entrance to Marcona Inlet.

Cid Harbour to Marcona Inlet -7.5 Nautical Miles - 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Average Speed 4.9 Knots Max Speed 6.9 Knots

Most people anchor in the wide bay but we went up to the far end of the inlet.

We got hooked in and arrangements were soon in place for sundowners aboard Sunshine later on. We then got the dinghy down off the davits and did some exploring around the inlet and landed on one of the beaches for a stroll.

Beach combing in Marcona Inlet

The rain forest vegetation is beautiful and full of bird life.

Looking back to the entrance of Marcona Inlet.

Friends of Greg and Sue’s also arrived during the afternoon on another cat but there was ample room for us to be well spread and not in each other’s pockets. Susan and Alan from Africat made it eight for sundowners and as always, drinks on Sunshineproved to be a barrel of laughs.

We did find Sunshine in Marcona Inlet but it was the boat and not the clear skies we had been hoping for. It was great to catch up as drinks and nibbles were a ton of fun as always.

Our Dreamtime anchored in front of Sunshine in Marcona Inlet.

We’ve always tried to make birthdays and particularly our anniversary special events in our family. We started a tradition on our 10^th anniversary when Rob organised a three day break as surprise for Karen. The morning before the big day he simply said “Pack some comfy clothes, we’re going for a drive.’ The car had already been secretly loaded up with delicious foods and probably too much drink. Away we went for a wonderful time to celebrate our first decade of marriage in front of the fireplace in a secluded mountain chalet. Very suitable as our anniversary is in mid-winter.

Each year after that it became Rob’s mission to organise surprise anniversary celebrations for Karen. The 12^th proved to be a real surprise when she snooped enough to correctly guess that we were flying to a destination rather than driving to somewhere nearby like previous years. Somehow she then concluded that we were going to chilly Melbourne. It wasn’t until after we took off and the pilot welcomed us over the PA aboard our flight to tropical Cairns that she realised why she was the only one on the plane with an overcoat. It proved an expensive trip by the time she went shopping and bought enough light weight clothes for our week long stay plus an extra bag to take it all home.

In the nearly two decades since we have popped the champagne cork to celebrate in Paris, Bali, the ski fields of New Zealand, Hawaii, Ibiza, Rome and many fantastic places in between. Once we began our cruising life we wondered if we would have to forego this annual indulgence. Fortunately it’s only taken a bit of planning and imagination for us to continue to celebrate each year of our union in style.

Karen put this lovely arrangement together with our rings to photograph on the morning of our anniversary.

After days of miserable weather, magically July 20 dawned clear and calm. We loaded the dinghy with everything needed to make our 31^st Anniversary as memorable as any and made our way to one of the number of small beaches in the inlet. Tree lined with beautiful sand lapped by crystal clear warm waters, the setting was perfect. There was even a rope swing seat hanging from one of the trees. It was our own private tropical paradise.

Our private anniversary beach in Marcona Inlet

We soon had our chairs and improvised table set under overhanging trees complete with Moet Champagne and a cheese platter. The rocks at one end of the beach became the location for our bush kitchen where we prepared the rest of our three course celebration lunch.

Where could you find a more exclusive spot to celebrate 31 years of marriage.

Rob fired up our portable gas burner and soon had the duck breasts rendering down nicely in the pan. These were to be accompanied by baby potatoes and green beans.

Karen in our bush kitchen

The duck breasts cooking nicely

Time to serve.

Sitting in the sunshine on our own private tropical beach, eating delicious Crispy Skin Duck Breast in Raspberry and Chocolate Jus with French Champagne we were entertained watching turtles surface nearby and a sea eagle soaring above. Then there was desert, Apple and Almond Tort with Passionfruit and Chocolate Sauce. Both the setting and our self prepared treat easily equalled any of our previous anniversary celebratory meal experiences including the one we had on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Every bit as good as it looked

A nice rich desert to cap off a great anniversary lunch

Rob enjoying his Moet in tropical paradise

What a magical day! We have absolutely no idea where we will be for our 32^ndAnniversary. Guess it will be a surprise.

Our cruising life has certainly not impacted on making anniversaries special so what about birthdays? Well Karen’s big Five Oh birthday was just a scant eight days later. You’ll have to read our next blog to find out about that blast.

Back on board with more bubbles and some snacks to watch the sun set on an awesome anniversary.

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