Log of SV Free Spirit and ships company

The chronicles of the schooner Free Spirit and her crew, embarking on an open ended journey upon the great rolling heap. Free Spirit is currently pursuing humanitarian and commercial goals in the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola. Working under the Ocean Reach USA and Paradigm Research banners, she is serving as logistics headquarters, workshop, and development laboratory for many ongoing projects. This is the log of her journey.....

Contributors

Google
 
Web sailfreespirit.blogspot.com
If you are joining us for the first time, click here for an introduction!
Books and more, at the Schooner Free Spirit Chandelry
Clothes and more, at the Free Spirit Logo Shop!

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Staniel's Cay

I always hope that my fascination of sunsets do not bore our visitors... I feel that they are really just too beautiful not to share :-) Many times we arrive at a new anchorage just before sunset, and this time is savored.



Looking out across the Exuma Banks just off of Staniel's Cay.



We did not spend a lot of time in the community of Staniel's Cay, but what we did have time to see was beautiful.



Bretton and Matthew doing coral head watch while we looked for a good place to anchor for the afternoon at Thunderball Grotto.



Just off the dinghy dock, there were tons of Nurse Sharks swimming around looking for scraps from the fishing boats. At first, I was a little intimidated, but soon learned that they are harmless to humans.



Just a little slice of the flavor of the community.



The anchorage that we stayed at for the few days we were there, was just north of the town and Thunderball Grotto. One of the things that the island near our anchorage is famous for are the wild pigs and goats. We would see the goats occasionally, but as soon as we got the dinghy close to shore, they would run and hide.



Unlike the swimming pigs!! They are trained enough to know that if you are coming to see them, you MUST be bringing them some sort of food.



As soon as this one heard our motor, she started swimming towards the dinghy sniffing around.



Of course, we brought some old produce and scraps to feed her, so she was not disappointed :-)



Mind you, although pigs are generally friendly, she was aggressive and big enough, that even the boys were slightly nervous to get too close.



After 'playing' with the pig for a while, we headed up the cliff behind the beach and did some exploring. The view was amazing! We were anchored just behind the tree on the right side of the picture.



Exploration is a huge part of learning...



Another view from the top.... The family that came just after us (on the lower left hand side of the picture) had some treats for the pig as well. But, when they started to get close to the beach, the pig actually tried to jump inside their dinghy a few times! The ladies aboard were having a harder time seeing the humor in this situation than we were :-)



Matthew, Paul and Bretton doing some small cave exploration with P'tit Louis' metal dinghy.



A pic of my little angels!




posted by CT | 5:20 PM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Introducing Propcalc 4.0

Use Propcalc to easily match your hull with your engine, transmission, and propeller
Put the known data in the top fields, then hit the Update button to get the answers.
Results, of course, should be verified by a Naval Architect or qualified surveyor.
Data is provided for three bladed propellers of average type
For two or four bladed props, use the modifiers shown below.

Fill out the fields as follows:

Vessel LWL (ft) = Waterline length
Vessel Disp (lbs) = Vessel displacement
(max) HP = Rated Engine Max HP
Engine RPM max = Engine RPM at Max HP
Engine RPM cruise = Desired or estimated cruise rpm
(Cruise or Max) Kts = Speed to work the calculations for
Slip = Propeller efficience. 45% is average for a displacement cruiser.
Gear ratio = 1: Gear ratio of transmission
SL Ratio Adj. = This value will be added (or subtracted, if a negative value) to the calculated S/L ratio.

Key information:

If the "hp required" is greater than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too low for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is significantly less than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too high for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is greater than the "Max HP", then your target speed is too high for your engine/hull parameters.
The S/L ratio is calculated automaticaly based on your input. It can be adjusted if necessary, but normally it should be left alone.
If the calculated S/L ratio exceeds S/L MAX, then the results are likely to be non-predictive. Try a lower speed requirement.
SL Ratios of 1.1 - 1.4 are typical of displacement hulls. Semiplaning or planing hulls can go higher.

Typical propeller slip values:

Sailing auxiliary, barges, etc less than 9 Kts............45%
Heavy powerboats, workboats 9 - 15 Kts....................26%
Powerboats, Lightweight Cruisers 15 - 30 Kts..............24%
High speed planing boats 30 - 45 Kts......................20%
V bottom race boats 45 - 90 Kts...........................10%


Note:

it is possible to get irrational answers by irrational input , I.E specifying excessive speed for hull type and length
Any attempt to exceed hull speed (1.34 times the square root of the waterline length in feet) with a displacement hull are likely
to fail unless the hull is extremely fine (multihull) or otherwise exceptional. In such cases, an S/L adjustment would be in order.

2 and 4 bladed props:


For two bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by 1.05, and the pitch by 1.01
For four bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by .94, and the pitch by .98
PROPCALC
  Inputs:
Vessel LWL (ft) =
Vessel Disp (lbs) =
  (max) HP =
  Engine RPM max =
  Engine RPM cruise =
  (Cruise or Max) Kts =
  Slip =
  Gear ratio = 1:
  SL Ratio Adj. =
   
    Solutions:
  Prop rpm max =
  Prop rpm cruise =
  Pitch =
  Diameter =
  Static Thrust =
  Cruise HP =
  Cruise HP% =
  SL Ratio =
  DL Ratio =
  SL Max =
  HP Required =