.--- Next to the Rincon Waiting Out Wind ---
...................................--- Sunday Oct. 11, 2009 ---
Day's Starting and Stopping Points Under Sail:
Today's Starting Waypoint #12 = N. 37o 20.086' -- W. -110o 50.064
Today's Ending Waypoint #12 = N. 37o 20.086' -- W. -110o 50.064
Night's Anchorage: Very end of a narrow channel on the northwest side of the Rincon.
Anchorage = N. 37o 18.330' -- W. -110o 48.275'
Today's Progress: Sailed Total =0 miles -- Up-Lake = 0 miles -- Motored = 0 milesTrip Totals: Sailed 89 miles -- Up Lake Miles 67 -- River Mile 75 - Motored 21 1/2 miles
They were predicting 20+ mph winds for most of the day and we were pooped and on a good mooring, so we decided to stay put for the day here next to the Rincon.
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I'm not sure how it happens, but even on those off days the time flies by. We both brought a bunch of reading material that has still remained un-read. The first night or so Ruth had petitioned to stay up past 10 p.m., but now we are in bed around 9 each night and up between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m..
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Since we were staying for the day we had the pop-top back up along with the cover Ruth had done such a fine job of modifying. To get on shore I just went forward and stepped off the bow.
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Besides the sand dune next to the boat there was a lot of sand here.
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Less than 100 feet up from the boat I found a number of Desert Big Horn Sheep tracks and ...........
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........ they were crossed by cat tracks. The sheep had come down to drink and either the cat was thirsty or hungry or both.
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I'm not sure if these tracks were Bob Cat or a small Mountain Lion, both of which call this area home. Notice that there are no claw imprints at the front of the track. That is the give away that they are cat. Coyotes can't retract their claws, so they show up in their tracks. Cats do retract their claws except when needed, so don't leave claw marks in front of the paw imprint.
I've seen Mountain Lion twice in Wyoming and Bob Cat also twice and they caught a young Mountain lion next to my house in Blanding, but we didn't get to see who made these cat and sheep tracks while we were here.
I had gone off the boat with the cell phone in search of a signal. To reach high ground I had to climb some steep sand slopes following the Big Horn Sheep trails. I would stop every so often to check for a signal and sometimes the cell phone would have a bar, but I still couldn't get it to connect.
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I climber higher and higher until I was almost directly above the Kera Jane but....
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............still with no reliable signal I lost sight of her as I climbed yet higher. I could still see the motor boat down the way from us with the jet ski and had a great view north up the lake towards Bullfrog/Halls. The white spot out in the lake is actually a floating rest room. They have these scattered up and down the lake and we saw about 4-5 on this trip.
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Higher yet and about 1/2 mile from the boat and probably about 500-700 feet in elevation above her I finally got Shawn's phone to ring only to get his message box that had not been set up yet. Then I tried Ruth's son Tommy who lives in Anaheim, CA and got through. He took Shawn's number so he could let him know we would be ready for him to pick us up at Halls later in the week.
I assured him we were alive and well, but left out some details as I didn't want to scare him. He had put his mom's safety in my hands and in fact if it wasn't for Tommy we wouldn't of been out on Lake Powell. He had bought his mom a subscription to E-Harmony, so as he put it, 'she would meet someone other than the bums she was dating'. That was how Ruth and I meet and then the sailboat came into both of our lives like some kind of gift to the both of us.
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Shortly after the phone call on my way back this beautiful Osprey circled me. They are fish eaters and I guess a number of them call Lake Powell home although this and two others with it were the only ones I saw on the trip.
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I started back down to the boat and made the mistake of not going back the way I had climbed the hill thinking I could get down just a little ways further south. Well there was a sheer cliff there, so I ended up having to walk about 1/2 mile past the boat south before I could find a way down and then 1/2 mile back to the boat. My knee was pretty much back to normal except if you pushed on it and the shoulder was better, but I still couldn't really use it for much and this walk was more than I should have done.
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I was glad to finally get back to the boat.
While I was away Ruth washed clothes. Before I was hurt I had been washing them as we sailed with her on the tiller. She said this was the first time she had washed clothes by hand since her kids were babies.
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In the evening we discussed the next days plans and decided to rise about 7 a.m., about 30 minutes before the sun and an hour before we would actually see it due to the Rincon to the east of us. Then if it wasn't already blowing hard, they had predicted 15-25 mph winds for the next day, we would motor the 3 miles back down the lake to our stopping point 2 days before and see how far we could get before the winds hit. With that decision made it was off to bed.
As I mentioned above my injuries were better. I was able to brush my teeth for the first time with my right arm. Seems like a small thing, but that and getting my t-shirt off and on have been really hard and painful. I still can't pull with the arm, so have some problem handling the sheets and halyards for the sails, but manage. As the days walk showed I can walk on the injured knee with just slight pain and now just have a large black and blue spot on both sides of the knee. I'll go to the Dr. with the shoulder when we get back, but don't think anything is broken (I wasn't right about that). I, we, were very lucky as things could of been so much worst.
The tour of the inside of the boat continues for those interested. The first part of the tour is about the head and using something other than the conventional porta-pottie. We use the Reliance Double Doodie bags and would never go back to a porta-potty. There is no clean up with these and we don't notice any more or less smell using them. Now if this type of subject bothers you feel free to skip this section, but I'm putting it in as it answers a lot of questions about using this system that we couldn't find when we first considered doing away with the porta-potty.
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Since the V-berth was enlarged the head had to go somewhere and that somewhere is here under the starboard cabin seat. To use it you remove the cushion as above then...........
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........... you lift the main cover up and lay it back against the wall. This reveals the throne and the all important lid under it that contains all the odors. You don't smell the head as long as that lid is in place. With it off the smell is about the same as a porta-pottie. To remove the lid you just....
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.............. tilt the next lid up with the seat on it and remove the lid.
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Here the seat platform is removed for the picture. It isn't on hinges, but slides into a captive slot that acts like a hinge. Next set the platform over to the side if you are changing the Reliance Double Doodie bags that we get at Walmart. The whole build of the head is ( HERE ).
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The bags are in two parts. There is a stronger outer bag that then has this bag inside of it. You pull the inside bag out and wrap it around the top of the bucket and the outer bag is down inside the bucket bottom and around this black bag at its bottom.
The right arrow points to more of the Reliance Bio-Gel that is a gelatin powder that solidifies waste and contains odors quickly. Each bag contains the Bio-Gel and we haven't used the extra we bought that is in that jar.
How to deal with the odor. When using the head as soon as we lift the seat assembly and take the lid off there is going to be smell if the bag has been used. We immediately spray a couple squirts of Glade Powder Fresh Spray...
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....into the head and a couple squirts into the cabin air. Then when done we sprinkle some....
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....Glade Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator into the bag over the load and put the lid back on.
UPDATE NOTE (2011): In 2011 we started using a liquid that West Marine and others sells to put in holding tanks to help with orders. We just add a cap or so at each use.
Is this going to eliminate all odor? No, but it is less and we feel just a fact of life if we don't want to be tied going to marinas every 3-5 days if they are even available where we are.........
Under the lid to the left of the head there are three antifreeze containers that we use for pee. You do want liquid in the Double Doodie bag to make the Bio-Gel work, so don't be afraid to go there also.
Depending where you are boating the antifreeze containers may or may not be needed. On Lake Powell now you are suppose to contain all waste, solid and liquid, so the need to carry 3 containers. There are places to dispose of the liquid on floating rest rooms that you will see every now and then on the lake.
A note for the ladies who don't want to use the head all of the time, but would like to also use the antifreeze containers. For Ruth we bought a couple of the Lady J Adapters for about $7.00 each, but.................
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.................. she actually prefers to use these .......................
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.......... funnels that you can get at almost any discount store in the automotive department for $1.00.
Now the next picture might not be for the faint of heart or squeamish so proceed only if you feel comfortable.
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Here are 3 of the Double Doodie bags with their cargo and sealed up. You just fold the larger black bag down into them and then the silver bag has, (from their web site ) "a double zip locking mechanism that ensures a tight, leak-proof seal and a tough outer bag that minimizes any chance of puncturing, the Double Doodie is an essential for any portable toilet use".
We used 6 of these bags on this 18 day trip, but your mileage may vary. Until you know how far you can go on one, change it more often, as you don't want to overfill one of these. So far we have not been in that predicament.
Since we don't change them after every use we dump a little powdered carpet deodorize in the head with each use to help with the smell when the lid is off. I designed the lid fit so that when the seat top is down it is pushed down on the bucket. I did this with modifying the bucket height which resulted in putting the lid on upside down vs. how it was when the bucket was stock height.
Even thought the bags seal good keep them upright as if they are upside down they can seep a little liquid. We carry a couple of these containers that will hold 6 bags.
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The containers are the ones you buy bulk laundry detergent soap in. We like them as the lids snap on very tight and contain the odors that the sealed bags emit. One other thing we do after using the head or while using it is spray a touch of odor neutralizing air scent into the air of the cabin.
On our fall 2010 trip to Florida when the bags were in there longer we started getting smell from the container. Not much, but we could smell it every so often. Remember this stuff is fermenting or whatever it does and is releasing gases. We had some large plastic cloths bags...
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...and put the container in one of those and tied the top off and no more smell. We are ordering...
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....some lids that will fit 5 gallon plastic buckets and have a screw in middle that is suppose to be air tight when we go back. We will still have the plastic bags on board.
For us 5-10 minutes of smell a day is the price we will pay for the freedom the bags give us. And the clean-up process sure beats taking a porta-potty ashore and dumping it and cleaning it. We won't go back to that. What about you? Are you tired of hauling and cleaning the porta-potty. I've mentioned it before, but will again. I was very skeptical about these from the beginning...were they legal, the cost, would they leak, etc.. As you can tell I'm not a skeptic any longer. Are they for everyone? No, but it you want to have extended trips they sure can be the ticket.
UPDATE NOTE (2011): For our last trip, first with the Endeavour, we modified what we are now doing with the Double Doodie bags. On our trips of 2-3 weeks we noticed that the Double Doodie bags seeped just a little fluid. This wasn't a problem on the boat as it would happen after we had 4-6 bags piled in a 5 gallon bucket over time. By that time we were using the second bucket for storage and had the plastic bag over the first one, so there was no smell.
The problem occurred when we would dump the bags into a dumpster after a trip. When you opened the bucket and dumped them they smelled in the dumpster and we felt bad about that for the garbage guys or anyone else using the dumpster before it got dumped. Then you had to clean the liquid out of the bottom of the 5 gallon container and that proved to be a problem away from home with no hose or anything.
What we did that we feel is a good solution is to use a cheap, under $3.00, 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot with a lid also. On the next trip we stored the used bags in this cheap bucket and when the trip was over just threw the whole bucket in the dumpster. We were out $3.00, but that isn't much expense for a 2-4 week trip. Now the dumpster doesn't smell and we don't have to clean anything.
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The container with the bags (center) is stored in the aft berth area behind our trash tub and in front of another tub and next to the coolers. We have never had a problem with it tipping over there, but if we got into some really rough waves we would tie it to the cooler/sail storage next to it.
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If it becomes filled we replace it with an empty one that we store under the V-berth that is tied to the upright (arrow). Tying it there also ensures it won't tip over. On this trip we took two spares, but since we used 6 bags we didn't have to use either spare.
We are very happy with the head in the cabin and don't regret having it there for one moment. I can't imagine having to work within the confines of the stock head location and it was such a waste of space.
One thing we did for the times someone else would be on the boat with us and need some privacy using the head while sailing is ....................
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..................... Ruth made a privacy cover for the companionway that .........
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..............still allows for ventilation and light while using the head.
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The left arrow points to a container for guest storage next to the bed they would be using (the Double Doodie bucket wouldn't be there in this instance though). These containers past the yellow one can slide all the way over to the starboard side where they are then off the aft berth. On this trip we used the 'guest container' for our winter clothes. To the right of it are two empty containers that we could have used for extra trash storage if needed, but since we dumped trash at Dangling Rope we only needed the one container shown in a previous picture that is to the left of the yellow bucket.
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At the very back of the aft berth is the tub with the drill and other tools. The pop was bought at Dangling Rope for $9.00 a case and we ended up not drinking it and saw it at home for $3.00 a case on sale. With that being said I didn't complain about any of the prices at Dangling Rope as the place was a life saver when it came to ice. The yellow case behind the bread is dingy stuff, a motorcycle 12 volt battery and a 12 volt air pump to inflate/deflate the inflatable Zodiac.
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Along the wall are odds and ends including the gin pole to raise and lower the mast.
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Here are the three 1 gallon jugs we fill every couple days from our main water containers with the electric transfer water pump. We then pour from the 1 gallon jugs into smaller water bottles that we have with us in the cockpit.
The arrow points to the 2 way battery switch that I started leaving on 'both' so that both batteries are charged by either the solar panel and/or the generator at the same time.
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One battery is under the sink and the other is under the head of the V-berth (above) along with the main water container that is hooked to the sink (left arrow). The other blue container is a second 7 gallon Reliance water container. There are also two 4 gallon Reliance containers just ahead of here ..........
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..............also under the V-berth and shown above. For this trip we had one additional .......
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............. 4 gallon container in the "V" at the very foot of the bed (all the way forward at the bow -- arrow). That gave us a total of 26 gallons in these containers for the trip, plus we started with the 3 one gallon containers full. At the end of 18 days we still had about 8-9 gallons left. We use a little over 1 gallon a day. We are very conservative on how we wash dishes with it.
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Here was our new toy for this trip. Ruth's daughter, Jane, gave her this I-pod Nano for her birthday and we proceeded to fill it up with music. While on a recent trip we bought the speakers at Walmart for $20. The speakers use 4 AA batteries. We loved this setup and used it in the cockpit and cabin and Suburban. The sound is unbelievably good and we only used one set of batteries for the whole trip and we played it most of the day. We have a tape deck/AM/Fm radio with speakers in the cabin and speakers that can be laid out in the cockpit, but we won't be using it much anymore, unless we need to listen to the radio. Once the trip was over we bought an I-pod Classic that holds about 160 gigs of music. That will do us as the Nano wasn't large enough. I didn't think I would like the I-pod, but really do. We are putting all of our old records and tapes on it along with Sirius music. We are using a Xitel INport Deluxe that will let you make MP3 files from your stereo/phono or anything with phono or earphone output jacks.
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For lights we only use LED ones and have a number of these stickup lights. This one is in a mount we got for the GPS, but don't use it with the GPS.
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We like it in this location as we can bend the neck to see the stove or bend it to shine on the table in the middle of the cabin when we are eating after dark.
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We have one above the seats on both sides of the cabin for reading and ...........
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........ one over the sink. The original light still works. I heard the Velcro stick-ons that come with these lights didn't work very well, so used Velcro we had bought from Sailrite and it works fine and the lights never fall down. We have a couple other stickup and book LED lights that are loose and use them like you would a flashlight. We will be putting some in the berth areas with the Velcro method also.
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I also added a paper towel holder before this trip.
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In the area under the port cabin seat where the worthless ice box was we use these containers for storage. The left one has all of the gear to set the mast up/down and the stuff for the onboard hoist/winch to lift the outboards. The smaller middle box is for the tools I use during setup and break-down (mast, rudder, etc.). The right box holds all the lines and hardware that are used under sail.
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There are about 3 more containers stuffed off to the right in this area for things we hardly ever get to. They are smaller in side as the space decreases going forward.
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Sitting out the wind for the day next to the Rincon (bottom left arrow).
