Vanguard Nomad Discussion Forum

The folks at YachtPals have seen enough discussion and interest on the Vanguard Nomad topic on their site that they have set up a Vanguard Nomad forum. You can find out more at this link: http://yachtpals.com/vanguard-nomad-sailboats

Thanks, YachtPals, it is great to have a REAL home port on the internet!

See you there!

Vanguard Nomad Rigging Guide

For those looking for an electronic copy of the Nomad 'Owners Manual' have a look here. Torresen Marine is still hosting a copy on their site.

I have purchased a new spinnaker outhaul, so I can more easily douse the spinnaker; the original line was too short, and it was almost impossible to pack the spi without climbing to the fore deck. I plan to upgrade the jib halyard to a vectrus line to address the twisting of the halyard inside the mast. The current wire halyard imparts a twist to the halyards inside the mast -- a considerable task to correct. I also plan to upgrade the jib furling gear with high load swivels.


Update (July 3) As of my most recent experience untangling the jib halyard, I decided that I would no longer detach the t-ball connector from the mast while unrigged. Thus instead of keeping the halyard in the mast, and subject to tangling, I now leave the wire inside the mast, and coil the rope into one of the spinnaker bags. So far this has prevented the rope tangling again, but a few more days of raising & lowering the mast will let me know the real effect of  this change.

Anyone else care to share their mods?

MEC Gear for sailing

MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) is a well-known outdoor sporting goods supplier here in Canada. Their product lines support "self-propelled" outdoor pursuits, but many of the kayaking gear they supply is also suitable for sailing. On a recent trip to  the city, I picked up the following:

• waterproof pants (with integral booties)
  These are great for early season sailing, when the water is cold!
• protective boots for the above
• gloves
• phone & radio waterproof container
• waterproof bags
• windproof jacket
• polyester clothing (drys quickly)
• fleece

I'll add further comments as I use these items.

Computer crash!

Not mine, it was that of the minister of our church. On Saturday morning. It got me thinking about the issue of backups. One of the challenges is the steps one must take to complete a backup. The more user intervention, the less likely to occur. To address the issue at St. Stephen's, we purchased a small server to maintain our files on a RAID drive. This unit, a Dlink DNS-323 is connected to our wireless router, and holds shared files of all our users. However, data security extends far beyond simply consciously saving file to a network drive, so a number of other steps were added. As I have an existing account with a web hosting company, web based backup space was readily available, but needed to be accessed. In addition, we needed easy ways to maintain files. Here are some of the utilities I found to make the task easier.

• GFI Backup Home edition - a great utility from GFI Software which allows easy backup of files to a number of destinations, including USB sticks, DVD, LAN Drives of FTP sites on the 'net.
• Fling - by NCH Software of Australia, appears as one or more folders on your desktop, or anywhere else you care to place it, and allows you to drop files into the folder, and they are automagically uploaded to an FTP site. Originally created for easy maintenance of websites, it's a really useful tool for ensuring your most important files are kept safe in an off site location. We also looked at a similar product, Tango Dropbox, but found it less useful.
• Dropbox - a handy file store & file sharing tool. Like Fling, Dropbox appears as a folder in your documents folder. Placing a file in the dropbox moves it to their servers. You can invite other dropbox users to share folders within your Dropbox, and any changes anyone makes are immediately shared with the rest of the group. You can also place files in a Public folder, where anyone can access a specific file if you send a link to it. We have found Dropbox a great tool for collaborative work.
• OpenDrive - this was another program that showed promise, but I was unable to get it to work on my computer. It is similar to Dropbox in concept -- a network drive appears in the 'My Computer' folder and is accessible as is any other drive on your computer.
• Mozy - a popular file back-up option was not assessed due to its cost.

We are now backing up the files at the church on a daily basis. Now the task is getting folk who are used to placing everything in the documents folder on the c: drive to start using other options, so other users can share the files!

Mobile Computing

As computing technologies mature, and the expectation of users is that access is ubiquitous, a number of technologies are filling that dream. Today many of us carry any of a variety of internet connected devices -- laptops, netbooks, and smartphones. We also have the ability, through many ISPs to access email, etc through a webmail interface.
But what happens if you want to travel REALLY light? 
In the early to mid 2000's, Sandisk created a USB stick with a number of applications on it which allowed the user to have portability of their applications, and retain Addressbooks, weblinks and all the other detritus we collect as we use the web. The Sandisk U3 continues to be available.

Google, Yahoo, MSN, and others offer a number of other functions to allow the connected user to keep their lives in order, but there comes a point where maintaining a plethora of accounts becomes a challenge. This is where the inter-connectivty of using the cloud  becomes attractive. By using the same or similar applications,  on various devices, all can share in the same information.

The ideal of freedom from a particular device has not been lost in the public domain either. The website PortableApps.com  has complied an excellent array of open source applications which can be kept on a USB key and used on any PC-based (including wine) system. The beauty of this product is two-fold: the apps are all freely available, and the user leaves no trace on the host's computer. You can borrow just about anyone's computer for your internet activity, and retain all your bookmarks, addresses, and histories on your USB key.

For the user who does not wish to carry a laptop, this seems a viable option.

Kootenay WiFi Spots: Creston

This blog entry is the beginning of a series describing Wireless spots in British Columbia's Kootenay Region. We'll start in Creston, on the International Selkirk Loop, one of the first Canadian locations many travelers visit. Most of the motels in Creston offer free wireless connections to their patrons. There are  few other locations where travelers can connect for free or a fee:

• Break in Time Caffe - free WiFi, and coin operated terminal
• Renee's Mainstreet Diner - free WiFi
• Kingfisher Books - free WiFi (a donation is suggested)
• Buffalo Trails Coffee Shop - free WiFi
  
• Creston Library - free WiFi and free termainals (busy in the summer months)
• Black Bear Books - WiFi, and coin operated terminal
• New Life Church -- Bacchus Coffee Bar -- (a donation is suggested)

If you are aware of more WiFi hotspots in and around Creston, please let me know.

Sailing in Light Airs

It seems that a great amount of my sailing time this year has been in low wind situations, apparently commonplace in the interior of the continent. We've drifted around on a number of lakes in the area this summer, at times sitting with enough weight to leeward to give the sails shape. In these conditions, there's often insufficient wind to properly fill the asymetrical spinnaker -- the sail folds in on itself, and more time is spend trying to manage the sail than actually sailing! I've been wondering if it's time to look for a 'Drifter' or MP-G (multi-purpose Genoa) for the Nomad.   My thoughts are that if I could use the spinnaker attachment points -- halyard, sprit, and sheets, I'd about double the size of the jib. If I can bring the clew further astern, by installing another pair of sheaves , this sail could be over 3 times the size of the jib and 3/4 or more that of the spinnaker. By having this sail constructed of light weight nylon, as is the spinnaker, I hope to address my light air challenges.


Or should I just resort to the motor?