Indecision 2012

I really really hope Sarah Palin runs for president, and stays in the race, and that Michele Bachmann stays in. Both are way too radical for mainstream Republicans or independents like myself to win the nomination, but they will provide a lot of entertainment value. Hopefully the Tea Party will polish their egos enough that they will stick it out for a while. I look forward to their frequent need to explain their dumb mistakes, foolish comments and uninformed ideas.

I find it unfortunate that the GOP hasn't found a decent candidate, or at least a decent popular one, yet. I wouldn't mind voting for someone more conservative than Obama.

Raising the Titanic

Friday morning I looked out my back window and thought that my row boat didn't look quite right. It had been tied up on my Jet Dock raft for the past 3 or 4 weeks. (I hadn't been rowing recently because of back pain for a week or two and then just reluctance to get all sweaty in the SoFla humid mornings.)

I dressed and went out to the dock to find that it was all but sunk but still tied to the raft and dock. The water was over the gunwales (side rails) so I couldn't just bail it out. How the hell did that happen?

The night before, I'd heard the neighbor's kids across the canal out running their jet skis at full tilt up and down the canal at 4AM, but it didn't sound like they could have knocked the Good Ship LOL off the raft.

Part of the problem leading to the sinking was that I'd removed the cork from the drain since heavy rain was in the forecast on almost a daily basis and I'm a little paranoid about the kind of foot deep rain I saw a couple years ago happening when I'm not around to pull the drain plug. When whoever knocked, pushed or pulled it into the water, it would have started filling with water even if it had been afloat. That it sank so completely was at least partly attributable to the cracked keel I had yet to repair, which let even more water in. The double wall construction should still have given it more floatation than it did.

I think the mysteries of how it got in the water and how it got so sunken remain. One theory I have about how it got in the water is that the next door neighbor's 34 footer caught the bow of my row boat when they pulled away from the dock. It is tied up only a few feet away. However, he hasn't gone out since Sunday and I think I would have seen my boat in the water before Friday if he had hit it.

So then I was faced with the need to get it afloat again. It turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. I had come up with a plan to tie both ends tightly to the dock before low tide so the tide would cause it to be pulled up and I could bail it out once the water ran over the sides.

I tied the boat up to wait for the low tide. I had to secure it so it didn't get stuck under the raft, and of course I had to put the cork back in the drain. Then I thought to use a couple water noodle pool floats to increase its buoyancy a little. It turned out that those, once placed under the seats, were enough to raise the gunwales just to water level so I could bail it out. A couple dozen buckets of water later and it was pretty much back to normal.

Lessons learned: 1) Keep the cork in it. 2) Keep the water noodles under the seat. 3) Repair the keel (most important). 4) Keep an eye on the neighbors.

A rowing setback

I was doing okay with the rowing, with my stroke and endurance improving, when I hit a snag. I'd rigged up a post on the stern to hold a video camera pointed at me. I'm planning to post a few video commentaries at some point so people can see what I'm doing.

On March 22nd I had everything set up and went for a late afternoon trip. I got about half a mile from the dock when the starboard oar suddenly jerked inappropriately toward the bow (boward?). Something in the bracket had broken and now the oar was out of position. I cursed and made my way slowly and clumsily home.

Upon further inspection I found that the cylinder casing inside the rigging bracket had cracked. It was clear that my efforts to tighten the grip on the rigger had hit the end of it's range. My new rigger was simply too small for the bracket. The same would be true for the port side bracket, so I thought maybe I should gingerly try to loosen that one before it too broke. Nope. In doing so the handle broke off in my hand. I had probably already twisted it almost to the shearing point. The counterclockwise turn was all it needed.

Now I was kind of pissed. Brand new riggers that were too small for the brackets indicated poor quality control at the factory. Replacements for the brackets list for $150 each on the Little River Marine website. $300 wasn't in my budget with the wedding coming up and the too-slow recovery of our business.

I called LRM and learned that the owner would have to talk to me about any kind of compromise on the replacements, but he was away for the next week. When I finally spoke to him on the 30th, he told me that brackets are a wear and tear item that eventually break. He said the expected life of one is about 1,000 miles. I have doubts that mine have seen that much use in 10 years, but can't say for sure. In the end we negotiated a discount, but not one that took the pain away. Because my rowing is my therapy, I broke out the credit card and said a prayer to the economic boom gods.

Now, the boat is back in service and the riggers are working as intended, although I have some concerns that they are still a little out of tolerance. Paranoia? Maybe.

By the way, I sold off my tandem kayak to make me feel better about the bracket expense and got about the same money. It sold in a matter of hours and offers to buy it sight unseen came in for days so I guess I under-priced it. I hadn't used it in over a year so it will not be missed.

Latest update

I've built up my stamina to the point where I can go about 1.3 miles somewhat comfortably, although I sometimes cut that short. My tendonitis is still a bit of a problem, and darkness is again a factor in the mornings now that the clocks have changed. I'm not all that self-conscious about being seen as my stroke has improved. I still have a few clumsy moments, but I've avoided running into anything.

I haven't done anything about the cracked keel yet since it isn't creating any real challenges. After I row, I usually leave the boat tied up in the water to allow some water to drain out before pulling it up on the raft. Once on the raft the water leaks out completely, I assume.

I've researched getting a jet ski Jet Dock to add to the raft so I can accommodate the boat easier and don't have to pull it up so much to get it on the raft, but the market price for used Jet Docks on Craigslist is about $750 and not in my budget now.

I also have an issue with the tightening mechanisms on the riggings. The tightening bolts have practically seized. I could replace the assemblies but Little River Marine charge $150 each, so that's not happening soon either. Right now both are just loose enough that they will swing inboard. Fortunately when you row, the rowing action holds them tight against their stops and it doesn't affect the stroke until you attempt to stop, so sudden stops are pretty much out of the question unless I can tighten them a little bit, but they really don't want to turn at all.

I don't know what happened to make them get so tight since they weren't tight when I got the boat. Blaming it on salt air is about all I could do. (BTW, I've soaked them with Liquid Wrench to no avail.)

I've rigged up a metal "mast" at the back of the boat to hold my little video recorder. I need to add a little pocket to hold it steady and then I'll record and post some video of me. I might even sing.

I called it

On Oct. 1, 2009, I predicted "a very major natural disaster somewhere along the Pacific Rim...in the next couple years" and I think it came true yesterday in Japan. I had brushed off the earthquakes in Chile, Haiti and New Zealand as not being realizations of the prediction. Not so this time. I hope the toll is not too high.

Rowing progress

I've increased my distance to 1.3 miles, but I'm not out as often as I was at first. I have developed a little tendonitis in my right elbow that takes about 3 days to return to close to normal between rows. I saw my doctor last week and she gave me a shot of cotisone and said it should take care of it (it didn't change much).

On the plus side, my cholesterol wasn't that bad (230). The blood was taken before I got the Heritage, so I have to give my kayaking most of the credit. I certainly haven't been all that good with my diet. I think it will get even better from the rowing which is far more aerobic than kayaking ever was, at least the way I did it. My wife does say I look a bit leaner already. Lean is not a term that truly applies to me, but leaner is leaner, and I'll take all the encouragement I can get.

My boat now needs some repair. Back when I got all the water in it from the missing cork, I apparently damaged the keel hauling it back onto the dock with all that extra weight in it. The fiberglass is cracked on either side of the center of the keel. It lets a little water in now, but the double wall construction keeps it from getting too serious. I think it will continue to get worse until I get it repaired, but I don't want to take it out of service yet. I have a guy who can probably fix it pretty quickly and cheaply, but it will have to wait.

Row Conditioning

As expected I'm getting a little better at this rowing stroke, and going a little further too. I might not be too embarrasses to be seen either, but not by seasoned competitive rowers. Judging from the comments I see on YouTube videos, competitive rowers are very harsh critics. Drop a shoulder or drag an oar and they will crucify you. Maybe they'd be a little charitable to someone fighting 60.

Anyway, I get out about every other day, generally in the AM and I do the entire length of my canal, which is about a mile. Maybe this weekend I will go a bit farther.

I am feeling the punishment in my shoulders and back, but very little in my legs where I thought I'd feel it the most. Nevertheless, the mile that I do is getting easier so I can probably start rowing longer distances, or at least a little faster. It takes me about 20 minutes, maybe less to do the mile now, but that includes a few moments to breathe, drink a little water and enjoy the serenity of the morning on the water.

It would be nice if I got conditioned enough that I didn't sweat like a pig in the summer.