The Lithium Lowdown – PassageMaker
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The Lithium Lowdown
Battery technology is improving and expanding. There’s a lot in the works that is promising.
See also Securing Lithium-Powered Equipment
CRUISERS NET
Cruisers Helping Cruisers
Comprehensive cruising resource for the Intracoastal Waterways
from Norfolk to the Northern Gulf and Bahamas.
from Norfolk to the Northern Gulf and Bahamas.
FREE to use due to the generosity of our sponsors - please patronize them
Good News from Dismal Swamp Canal, AICW Alternate Route
The Dismal Swamp Route departs the southbound Waterway at MM 7.2 and northbound via the Pasquatank River. Our thanks to Sarah Hill for this invitation from Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR!
Good Morning!
Hope all is well! Passing along some fall images from the Dismal Swamp Canal & Dismal Swamp State Park- we’re starting to see some autumn colors pop up.
Happy to report from recent boaters, very little to no duckweed- no issues. Locks & drawbridges operating on normal schedule.
We’ve put together a few “Know before you go” DSC Boating tips on our website:
https://www.dismalswampwelcomecenter.com/boating-paddling
Please feel free to share.
Many thanks to everyone cruising the historic waterway ~ we look forward to seeing you soon!
Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP
Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome CenterChairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority
2356 US Hwy 17 North, South Mills, NC 27976
252-771-8333 | shill@camdencountync.gov www.DismalSwampWelcomeCenter.com 
Comments from Cruisers (1)
- Reply to Herve
Just pass the canal on 10/29-30 /24. 6 feet of water and wonderful stop at the visitor center. A beautiful trip in a serein environment. No rag weeds. A first for us and I am glad we did it.
-
Keep Your Home Clean & Pet-friendly 🐾 – Kanberra Tea Tree Oil
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Response from Morningstar Marina at Golden Isles, AICW MM 676, Frederica River, GA
Morningstar Marina at Golden Isles, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, lies along the southern reaches of the Frederica River, between Lanier and St. Simons Islands, south of the charted 9 foot bridge.
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window Zoomed To the Location of Golden Isles Marina
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CITY OF GULFPORT UPDATE – October 16, 2024
City of Gulfport
2401 53rd Street South
Gulfport, FL 33707
(727) 893-1000
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 16, 2024 – 4:40PM
City of Gulfport Update: A Message from Mayor Sam Henderson
FEMA Assistance and Debris Removal Updates for Gulfport Residents
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is providing direct assistance to residents impacted by Hurricane Helene. Assistance will be available daily, from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, at the Gulfport Public Library through Tuesday, October 22, including Sunday.
The City of Gulfport is actively working on debris removal. We ask for your patience, as it may take several months to complete the process. Our focus is on clearing construction materials first, followed by vegetative debris. Multiple passes will be required. Please place your debris near the roadside, away from power lines and other obstacles. Separate vegetative material, construction materials, garbage bags, appliances, and paint for easier collection. Regular sanitation and recycling routes have resumed their normal schedules.
For more information about flooding and FEMA’s guidelines on substantially improved or substantially damaged buildings, visit the City of Gulfport website at https://mygulfport.us/ under the “Quick Links” section. You can also view FEMA’s guide on this topic at FEMA Guide on Substantially Improved/Substantially Damaged Buildings.
At this stage, Gulfport is in the “Muck, Dry, and Wait” phase of recovery. While conditions may worsen before they improve, we will rebuild safer and stronger. For more information on what to do after storm damage, visit Pinellas County Storm Damage Guide.
The City encourages residents to stay informed through official channels as recovery efforts progress. Please visit https://mygulfport.us/ for updates and further information.
Stay safe, Gulfport!
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Mean Spirited: The New Boat Show Vibe – Peter Swanson
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes mariners with salt water in their veins will subscribe.. $7 a month or $56 for the year and you may cancel at anytime.
Click link for Mean Spirited: The New Boat Show Vibe
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Q&A: Catalina 22 Seeks To Distance Herself from ‘Lieutenant Dan’ – Peter Swanson
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes mariners with salt water in their veins will subscribe.. $7 a month or $56 for the year and you may cancel at anytime.
Click link for Q&A: Catalina 22 Seeks To Distance Herself from ‘Lieutenant Dan’
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Fishermen’s Village currently in clean up/recovery mode, Punta Gorda, FL
Fishermen’s Village Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, is temporarily closed for clean up and recovery.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Punta Gorda, FL – Fishermen’s Village Mall, Resort and Marina is currently temporarily closed as we progress through cleanup and recovery efforts following hurricane Milton.
A Reopening date will be announced and released as information becomes available.
Thank you.
Kathy Burnam
Marketing and Events Manager941.639.8721
Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers Net Marina Directory Listing For Fishermen’s Village
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window Zoomed To the Location of Fishermen’s Village
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A Steadfast Repair – Janice Anne Wheeler
If you have any interest at all in boat building, or just messing about in boats, then this article is for you. Thank you Capt. Wheeler.
SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE ~~ latest addition! Settle back for your Sunday Morning Read. I’m so honored that you’re following along. Thank you.
Please enjoy the latest passages from STEADFAST. As of August 1st, 2024 we are undergoing extensive repair and refit and will be for several months. In boating terms we are hauled out “on the hard.” I plan to mix Sailing Stories with the challenges and intricacies of restoring a 90-year-old Sailing Yacht. I’m always open to suggestions as to content….please feel free to weigh in. Thank you. J
Boatbuilder Duncan Macfarlane has an old soul. Alive for just under four decades, he prefers music recorded prior to his birth and reveres vessels built long before that. His passion for wooden boats is so strong, in fact, that he’s made it his life’s work to bring them back to what they once were. Back to what they should be. Back to what their designers wanted them to be, and maybe, just maybe, one shade better. On his first day I said to him, “My father always told me, ‘Measure twice, cut once.’ Is that your Mantra?” He looked at me steadily and replied with just a touch of levity. “Oh no. We measure many times.”
In this photographic essay, Duncan fits the knee, (which you can see being shaped in the post MORE PRECIOUS COMMODITIES), recreates the stem, (or very front) of STEADFAST, and attaches the two together, preparing for installation. The new Purpleheart is a stark and startling contrast to the century-old materials it is replacing and supporting.
This is the knee, which attaches the stem to the forekeel, or bottom, of the vessel. What a contrast to the original oak. We want it to last another 90 years! The final photo is the view from inside.
Duncan trims our PRECIOUS COMMODITIES down to size prior to the final shaping of the larger new component, the stem. 
Patterns were created from the removed damaged stem as well as from the original 1934 William Hand Jr. designs, which we obtained from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s collection.
The rectangular inlay is called a Dutchman and is used to eliminate an unwanted quality in the lumber. Everything Duncan does has that level of detail. 
When the Purpleheart is cut, the color comes alive. I call this Duncan’s Purple World. 
He spent hours lofting, which is laying out the plans to scale, and he spends more hours making sure the new fit is perfect, adjusting as he goes. 
Tools of the trade range from the rudimentary to the advanced, and it is the attention to detail that will pay off in the end. 
STEADFAST’S two new components are fit together for the first time and holes are drilled for the long custom bronze bolts that will hold them together. You can see the seam where the knee and the stem come together. 
This precise work requires a bit of guidance, a bit of strength and a hell of a drill bit. The curve that you see here will eventually be what is commonly referred to as the bow. 
The holes drilled are precisely the same size as the bronze bolts and it takes some brawn to pound them through the tough tropical hardwood. Tar seals the seam, and there is a ‘key’ (the small block of wood between the stem and the knee) ensuring that everything fits just as it should. 
This may be the last week we can see outside from the inside. It is truly a disconcerting view. 
The apparatus is in place to install the half-ton of meticulously recreated replacement components, giving STEADFAST back her shape. Progress indeed! Duncan is on the right, owner Steve Uhthoff is on the left. The ancient art of shipbuilding is, like many ancient arts, becoming more and more rare, as are boatbuilders themselves. It was determined a few decades ago that other materials lasted longer and were far easier to maintain. Progress? That, of course, is a matter of opinion. Regardless, what an opportunity it is to see how complex, intricate, interdependent and STEADFAST vessels such as this one really are. Thanks for following along as we complete the painstaking and joyful repair and refit of our floating home. There are many more steps to come!!
Your input is appreciated and welcome! Love wooden boats? Build them? Never seen one? People certainly fall into all these categories. Like our Boatbuilder himself, STEADFAST most certainly has an old soul, in more ways than one.
*** I will always keep the articles I have written available for free to my readers. If you see value and possess the means, it’s great encouragement to have paid subscribers. If not, simply ‘liking,’ commenting, restacking and sharing these tales helps spread the word about me and what I have chosen to do. There should be someone on your email list that would be intrigued! Sharing is caring.
Share SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE
Most importantly, YOU, MY READERS, ARE TREMENDOUSLY APPRECIATED!
And lastly: our weekly sunrise. These can be seen on Facebook YACHTING STEADFAST each and every morning until 2025.
A Deadrise Workboat goes out at dawn in the last month of the Blue Crab Season here on the Chesapeake Bay. Miss STEADFAST is the two masts on the right, hauled out at Yacht Maintenance Co. in Cambridge, Maryland. You’re currently a subscriber to SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE.
There are options available to support my work AND there is absolutely no pressure, but if you choose to do so, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
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© 2024 Janice Anne Wheeler
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104Be the first to comment!
Gulfport Library Open Today with Essential Services, Gulfport, FL
City of Gulfport
2401 53rd Street South
Gulfport, FL 33707
(727) 893-1000
#13 For Immediate Release: Saturday, October 12, 2024 – 9:15AM
Gulfport Library Open Today with Essential Services
The Gulfport Library will be open today from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We are pleased to offer internet access, flushing toilets, Wi-Fi, and access to library materials and holds.
While we currently have limited air conditioning, the temperature inside the building remains comfortable. Please note that the city is under a boil water notice, so our water fountain is unavailable.
For more information, please call 727-893-1074 after 10:00 AM.
Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to welcoming you today.
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