Thursday, March 26, 2009

Another Jeep update

I have, for the most part, a fully functional Jeep now.

So, I yanked the rear shaft a couple weeks ago when I installed the upper control arms. Since then, I shipped the shaft to the builder in Utah, who rebuilt both the CV and the U joints. I got the shaft back and installed. The jeep's nice and quiet now, without that rumbling, grating and thuka-thuka going on. The only thing to do now is to recharge the AC, but that shouldn't be too hard to do here. I also need a new sun-shade, since the cheap one I'd had before melted.

So, as of now the Gila Monster stands tall with 5.5" lift, 32x11.5" AT BF Goodrich tires, Tom Woods Custom shaft and SYE, custom rear bumper with spare tire carrier and a Surco safari rack on top.

On wishlist now: Rock Krawler lower control arms or Rock Krawler long arm kit, K&N cold air intake, headers, cat-back, custom front bumper w/winch, bike rack that mounts on spare carrier, beadlocks, maybe fresh paint, on-board air system, lights, lots of lights, and a shaded parking spot, preferably in a structure.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Conundrum Explained

Last night was the Arizona Yacht Club's racing rules seminar, featuring Dick Rose, rules guru, editor and author. My summary is below:

I brought up Tillerman's conundrum (on an upwind laser meeting a downwind, by-the-lee boat on the same tack) after the main talk and I received the answer that the only rule that applies is rule 14, avoiding contact. The boats are overlapped, since neither is clear ahead or clear astern of the other. The next step would be to figure out which boat is leeward, or in the lee of the other. The definition of leeward when sailing by the lee is the side the boom is on. Because the boats are meeting, neither the upwind nor the downwind boat is in the other's lee. This situation makes all but rule 14 non-applicable. If a protest were to come up for contact between boats in this sketch, the odds would be for the committee to toss both boats for failure to obey rule 14.

It was quite an interesting discussion, and I find the result to be something akin to what Tillerman found on his blog. This scenario has been bugging me for a while, so I just had to hear what the authority would say about it.

The Blueish One


The Blueish One, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Well, I went ot the Desert Botanical Garden the other day, this is what I saw.

Three agave


Three agave, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Light and Blues


Light and Blues, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Boat


Boat, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Mill, Light and Water 2


Mill, Light and Water 2, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Light and Light Rail 2


Light and Light Rail 2, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Our Boatel


Our Boatel, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Interesting concept: Rent out space in a boat that's in a marina. It's not a hotel, it's a boatel! Well, that's what a few of us did for the long beach regatta. We used this boat, owned by the United States Sailing Center (yes, the people who organize the US olympic sailing trials), as our hotel while in Long Beach. It worked out pretty well, plus it put us right in the heart of the action when the event got underway.

Bird


Bird, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

So I'm back in Tempe after a long regatta in Alamitos Bay, just inside of Long Beach. So, I was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of falcon this is? It perched itself upon the spreaders of the 40 ft boat we spent our nights on.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Jeep Noises Update

Well, for the past few months my jeep's been making noises beyond the normal. I've know about the CV joint in the rear drive shaft for a while now. It makes the "thk-thk-thk-thk..." noise that increases with speed and becomes quieter when coasting. So, it looks like I'll be taking the shaft off next soon and ship it back to the manufacturer to have it rebuilt. The other thing is of course to get to put on my new Rock Krawler control arms. The broken one sometimes clunks around down below, scaring first time passengers. Sometimes the whole vehicle scares first time passengers.

So that's the update.