Cushions and V-Berth Mattress

We left Questeria for over six months for our Alaska RV trip. When we got back, we thoroughly cleaned inside. We washed the cushion covers and threw away the old foam. We also threw away the mattress topper in the v-berth and the mattress foam in the aft cabin.

Original Cushions

When we bought Questeria, the cushions were old and uncomfortable. One of the first things we did when we brought the boat to NC, in June 2006, was replace the interior cushions. We had Fran’s Aunt Rachel come out and measure. She used to work for Hatteras. We had her make cushions for the main salon, v-berth and aft cabin. She also made us a mattress for the aft cabin, which is where we slept at the time.

Later, we set up the v-berth for sleeping. We cut out a piece of wood to fill in the gap in front and cut a piece of foam, in the shape of a trapezoid, to fill it in. (I actually used the wood as a desk when I was still working remotely for IBM.) We bought a king-size memory-foam mattress topper, and trimmed it to triangular shape to fit. We put the whole thing in a king-size mattress cover, that was tailored to fit.

Cutting Foam

I know of two ways to cut foam yourself. The best way is to buy a foam cutter, starting at about $200. In hindsight, this is what we should have done. We have replaced the foam in our cockpit cushions, RV cushions and more. But we went for the cheaper method of using an electric knife for about $12.

At first, the electric knife works well. The problem is that it gets dull quickly, and then it becomes hard to cut. I haven’t found a way to sharpen the blades, or replace them. So we are on our third or fourth electric knife. I guess we we’re still ahead of the game. The end result is not anywhere as nice as a foam cutter, but you can’t tell once it’s put in the cushion cover.

V-Berth Mattress

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In February, when we moved back to the boat, our first priority was the v-berth mattress. (See Update, Back to the Boat). We still had our original v-berth cushions to sleep on, but it wasn’t very comfortable, and we temporarily used our cockpit cushions in the main salon.

We ordered a mattress topper on Amazon.com. This included memory foam and a topper. We cut the memory foam using our electric knife. We cut and resewed the topper to fit. We had to purchase a trapezoidal piece of foam locally. They charged us $80. We could have done it way cheaper, but we we’re in a hurry. It all went back inside the mattress cover, and we were sleeping comfortably again.

Main Salon Cushions

Our cushion covers from 2016 were still in excellent shape. We found a place to order foam to go inside. We went to the Foam Factory website for custom cushions, and put in our measurements. We got our measurements by measuring the cushion covers and adding half an inch. We ordered the high quality foam with dacron wrap. We ordered two seat cushions and two back cushions.

Aft Cabin Cushion

We have an aft cabin seat cushion that is an irregular shape. We measured the largest dimensions and ordered a regular quality rectangular cushion with dacron wrap. We pulled back the dacron wrap, which was stapled together, and cut the cushion using our electric knife. Then we trimmed the dacron wrap with a scissors and put it back with adhesive spray.

Everything turned out great. We still need to get a twin foam mattress and trim it to fit the aft berth.

Returning South

We spent the holidays in the Carolinas, visiting family. We have an appointment at Camping World, in Fort Myers, FL on January 27. We have a week and a half until then, but it’s getting colder so we start heading south.

Savannah, GA

Our first stop is Savannah, GA. We stay at the Elks Lodge No. 183. They have one 30-amp plug-in and one 50-amp plug-in. The 30-amp outlet is not working, so we plug into the 50-amp outlet. We are the only RV here.

We luck-out and come on the night of their fish fry. There are a lot of members and one other guest here. We have a great dinner, and meet lots of wonderful people. They have no fee for RV parking, but we leave a donation.

St. Vincent’s Academy Savannah, GA

The next two days we drive the car to the waterfront area, park and walk around. It is the weekend and there are lots of things happening. It is crowded, but we have lots of fun.

It’s supposed to get colder, so we head south again.

Faver-Dykes State Park

As we get into Florida, it gets warmer, but it’s harder to find a place to stay. We see a couple of walk-ups at Faver-Dykes State Park in St Augustine, FL. We get a spot for the night. This is a huge park, we take a nice hike. We would stay longer, but there is no availability.

Sebastian Inlet State Park

We luck-out again and get three nights at Sebastian Inlet State Park. This place is great, but the weather is not. It is cold, rainy and windy.

Ortona South Campground

We have four nights at Ortona South Campground. This is an Army Corps of Engineers park, so we get it half price with our senior pass. It is also a very nice place. We can watch the boats go through the lock,

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After we get settled, we see on Facebook, that our friends, David and Brenda are staying nearby. We get together with them for dinner in LaBelle.

One of the reasons we chose this place is that it is pretty close to Camping World, in Fort Myers. We want to get there early Monday morning so we can get the RV fixed.

Camping World, Fort Myers

On May 28th, we were waiting in line at US Customs, entering Alaska. The driver of the RV in front of us left the driver’s seat, and the RV rolled back and damaged our RV. (click here for details.)

In November, we took it to Camping World, Fort Myers to have the collision damage and other items fixed. They fixed some items, but they had to order parts; the front-end cap, a replacement awning and parts for the slide-out. Now it’s January 27 and plans have changed. They are going to repair the front-end cap because the insurance company won’t pay for a replacement.

The awning and slide-out parts are in. They can finish those things. But, the body guy still insists that the front-end cap is unrepairable. They will take more pictures and send them to the insurance company.

We leave the RV and drive the car to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. After that we drive to Fort Myers Beach, park the car and walk around. We have a really good time.

We get back to Camping World and the tell us they ordered the wrong awning. Now we wait again for the awning and collision repair.

Southern Comfort RV Resort

We need to find an RV site close to the boat, in Marathon, so we can transfer all of our stuff to the boat. Once again, everything affordable in the keys is filled up. We a find a site at Southern Comfort RV Resort, in Florida City. It’s about 1½ hours drive from Marathon. They also have RV storage there. We get a spot for a week, and pay for a month of storage after that.

We have stayed here in the past. In is a nice park. It even has a Tiki bar. We don’t spend much time here because we are back-and-forth to boat almost everyday.

2018 Summer and Fall RV Trips

When we started planning our trip, I called it Summer 2018, but I should have called it Summer and Fall, because ran past October.

T. Y. Campground

In May, we take the RV to T. Y. Park (Topeekeegee Yugnee), in Hollywood, FL. Alicia and the boys are visiting and we think this this place will be fun because it has a waterpark.

Water park
Jackson at Water park

Bahia Honda State Park

After T. Y. park we go to the boat, and then to Bahia Honda State Park. The park is not completely rebuilt after hurricane Irma, but it’s still one of the best state parks in Florida.

Bahia Honda
Grandma and Jackson

We take our guests to the airport, and head north.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Our next stop is Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, FL. We explore the park and surrounding area. We tour the Jupiter lighthouse and walk on the beach. We do a turtle walk and get to see a sea turtle laying her eggs. We also get a chance to meet up with our friends Robert and Angela, who have their RV in Juno Beach.

Jupiter Lighthouse
Jupiter Lighthouse

McKinney Campground

Our next stop is McKinney Campground in Acworth, GA. We enjoy Allatoona Lake with our inflatable stand-up paddle board/kayak.

McKinney Campground
McKinney Campground

Chester Frost Campground

Our next stop is Chester Frost Campground, in Hixon, TN. We visit our friends, Gary and Ellen. We also stop and see Fran’s brother Jerry and his family in nearby Athens.

Canal Campground

Our next stop is the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. We stay at Canal Campground in Grand Rivers, KY. There are lots of of attractions here, such as an elk and bison prairie and a working 1850s farm. One of them is Patti’s 1880 Settlement. They are known for their 2″ pork chops. Unfortunately, the restaurant burnt down, but they have a food truck that sells pork chops.

pork chop
Patti’s Famous 2″ Pork Chop

Camp Reinberg

Our next stop is Camp Reinberg in Palatine, IL. This Cook county campground is ideally located between my mom’s and two sisters’ homes.

We spend time visiting with family. Erika, Steve and Johnny fly in and things get even better. We go to the Volo auto museum, Lambs Farm and more.

Lambs Farm
Lambs Farm

Camp Reinberg only allows us to stay six days, so we move the RV to Illinois Beach State Park.

Illinois Beach State Park

Illinois Beach State Park is a very nice campground, but not as convenient as Camp Reinberg. We have a cook-out with my mom, my sisters, their families, my aunt, uncle and cousin.

Door County

Our next stop is Potawatomi State Park, in Door County, WI. My family always talked about Door County, but this is our first time here. We enjoy a fish boil, wineries, and more. We go to Al Johnson’s twice; once for dinner, and again for swedish pancakes. Unfortunately, there are no goats on the roof these times.

Fish Boil
Door County Fish Boil

St. Ignace, MI

We stay at the St. Ignace Moose Lodge. We take a ferry to Mackinac Island for the day. We were hoping to see our friends come in from the Port Huron sailboat race, but there was no wind and everybody is later than expected.

Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island

Niagara Falls

We drive to Four Mile Creek State Park outside of Niagara Falls. Our campsite fee allows us to park at Niagara Falls for free.

Niagara Falls is really crowded, but we have a great time. We buy the pass that lets us into all the attractions and ride the shuttle. We take full advantage of this.

Niagra Falls
Niagara Falls

We also enjoy some hikes and other attractions in the area, like the Schoellkopf power station, the aquarium and Whirlpool State Park.

Watkins Glen

Next we go to Watkins Glen State Park. We have a great time walking through the falls and other attractions here.

Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen

Virginia and North Carolina

We head south again. Beach Week is August 4-11.

We stop in Weems, VA to spend a few days with our friends, Bill and Lynn. We park in their driveway and stay in the RV, even though they invite to stay in the house. We visit a winery and farmers market and have a great time seeing our friends.

Then we go Fran’s brothers house in Ernul, NC. We park the RV in his yard and get ready for Beach Week in Ocean Isle Beach, NC.

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After Beach Week, we go back to Ernul for 12 days, before heading west for our next adventures.

NC, TN, AK, OK and TX

We start heading west on I-40, stopping for the night in Marion, North Carolina and Nashville Tennessee. We stop at Willow Beach Campground, in Scott, AK and take a side trip to Hot Springs National Park.

Hot Springs National Park
Hot Springs National Park

We have a fun time touring the national park. We continue heading west on I-40, stopping for the night in Checotah, Oklahoma and Amarillo, Texas. We are stopping at rest areas and running the a/c on the generator, trying to cool down the RV.

In the meantime, our friends, David and Brenda are travelling west on I-70, to the north of us. They are staying cooler than us. Labor day weekend is coming up and we have to find someplace cooler. We decide to go to Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs

We drive to the Colorado Springs Elks Lodge No. 309. They have 13 RV 30-amp hook-up sites. No reservations, first-come, first-serve. We get there just as the last site is taken. But they have plenty of space for dry camping.

It is cooler here so we are comfortable running our a/c on the generator a little bit in the afternoon.

Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak

We have a great time in the area. We walk around Manitou Springs, tasting water a various locations. We visit Garden of the Gods, take a train ride in Cañon City, go to the top of Pikes Peak and more.

Taos, NM

We drive to Taos, NM for the Big Barn Dance. We have a site for one night at Taos Valley RV Park. This location is nice, but it’s far from the Big Barn Dance. Tomorrow we’ll move to Kit Carson Park. We meet Robert and Angela and visit the town.

The next morning we move to Kit Carson Park. These are temporary, dry camping sites, setup just for this event. We are joined by our friends Phil and Deana and Steve and Anja. We have a great time.

Pikes Peak
Big Barn Dance

Pagosa Springs and Durango, CO

We have some time before the next scheduled event, so we go to Robert and Angela’s house in Pagosa Springs, CO. We go on hikes around Pagosa Springs.

Continental Divide Trail
Continental Divide Trail
Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock

Next, we go to Navajo Lake State Park, We hike to the top of Chimney Rock. We are close to our friends Phil and Deana. We call them and they invite us do go on a color run. We don’t know what that is—it means driving through the mountains and looking at the aspen leaves changing color.

Color Run
Color Run

Next stop—Red River, NM.

Red River, NM

We drive to Road Runner RV Resort in Red River, NM. This is a beautiful RV park. There are some cheaper places, but this is very convenient to walk or take the shuttle downtown. Our main purpose here is the Red River Folk Festival at Aspencade. But this is a fun place, and we would come back just to visit.

Red River Folk Festival
Red River Folk Festival

We have a great time in Red River.

Mesa Verde, Moab and Santa Fe

We don’t have any plans for the next eight days. We go Mesa Verde National Park for one night. Then we go to Big Bend BLM (Bureau of Land Management) in Moab. There are several BLM sites in the area that are suitable for a 31′ RV. They are all first come, first served. We find a site and pay for three nights of dry camping at the self-serve kiosk.

Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde
Big Bend BLM
Big Bend BLM

This is a beautiful campsite, but our main purpose here is Arches National Park, a few miles away.

Arches National Park
Arches National Park

Next, we go to Cochiti Lake Campground, which is near Santa Fe and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. We go into Santa Fe for our anniversary and hike Kasa-Katuwe the next day.

Kasha-Katuwe
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks

We drive the RV to Los Sueños De Santa Fe (about 30 miles) and meet up with our friends Robert and Angela. The next day we drive to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. David and Brenda join us on the way so we can be together.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

We drive to Balloon Fiesta Park, in Albuquerque, NM. We made reservations for the Balloon Fiesta a long time ago. We line up behind other RVs and get three spots together. The RVs continue to come in for days. We reserved dry camping sites, so we have to run our generator sometimes. There are no water and sewer hookups, but there are trucks that come and fill our fresh water tank and dump our black and gray water tanks.

Balloon Fiesta Camping
Balloon Fiesta Camping

The balloons don’t go up everyday, it’s highly dependent on weather. That’s why we made reservations for seven days. We get to see balloons a few days, and have an awesome time.

Balloon Fiesta
Balloon Fiesta

Returning

We head back east after the Balloon Fiesta. We stop in Tega Cay, SC and visit with Alicia, Jeff, Jackson and Oliver. We Leave the RV in Ernul and drive the car back to Marathon.

We come back in December to visit family and stay in the RV. We take it to the Wilmington Elks lodge for the Christmas holidays.

The leveling jacks stop working again. We winterize it and bring it to Tony Hobbes and Son RV. They can’t work on it right away, but they say it will covered by our extended warranty since we brought it in before it expires

Miami Everglades RV Resort

Our daughter in-law is coming to Miami with our 14 month-old grandson, and we are babysitting. The original plan was to bring him down to Marathon and stay on the boat, but we decided it would be easier to take the RV to someplace in Miami.

They are flying into Miami on March 4. We have to find a campground near the airport for four nights. It is not easy finding campsites in south Florida in the winter. We find a spot at Miami Everglades RV Resort. On paper, or should I say on screen, it looks good. It’s not far from the airport and has a playground and pool. It’s pricier than the county and city parks in the area, but they are all filled up this time of year.

In actuality, it is a long drive to the airport in rush hour traffic. It does have a playground and pool. The playground has a couple of slides, but nothing else for a toddler. The pool does not have a kiddie pool—it is mainly for seniors. But we can make it work.

Jameson on Slide
Jameson on the Slide
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We get there the day before so we can set up and get groceries. The RV park is in the boonies. We have to drive a ways to the grocery store, We see a number of farm stands on the way, so we buy eggs and some produce there.

It works out good. There is a nice, paved walking trail. He likes the playground, but not the pool. The people here are very friendly and helpful, and they have balls we borrow for Jameson to play with. They also have a nice laundromat on site.

Reading Books in the RV
Reading Books in the RV

This is a nice RV park, and is not far from the FL Keys. We may come back again. Of course, we enjoy babysitting and visiting with Katie.

Website Update

I started this website in 2005 and added the WordPress BLOG in 2014. (See About Questeria WordPress BLOG.) Since then, I have added over 140 posts and pages to the WordPress BLOG. Some are about boating, some are about RVing, and some are about other things.

When I first started writing about RV adventures in 2016, I thought I could keep the BLOG organized by using Pages for RV stuff and Posts for everything else. This didn’t really work. Now I’ve come up with something new. I decided to add two web pages, one with links to all our cruising BLOGs and the other with links to all our RVing BLOGs. I have also been adding links to the Tools for Cruisers Articles page.

The links to the cruising BLOGs are in Journal N – 2014 to Now. This is on our main website www.questeria.info, with journals 1-6.

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The links to the RVing BLOGs are in a new URL, www.questeria.info/rv-adventures.

My posts that are useful articles for cruises, boaters and sailors, have links on the main website, under Tools For Cruisers, Articles. These are links to things like Marine Weather and Planning Cruises.

I continue to fix problems with the entire website, as I find them. Most of these changes are not noticeable to the average user.

Marine Weather Updates

As I’ve written before, weather is one of my hobbies. So, even though we aren’t planning any cruises right now, I’m logging the weather in Marathon. There have been some changes since I last posted about weather, and I am fine tuning my techniques.

National Weather Service Links

Some of the NWS links have changed. For example http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/hfgulf_mobile.htm is now https://www.weather.gov/source/marine/mobile/hfgulf_mobile.html. Currently, if you enter the old URL, you are redirected to the new URL, but you should update your bookmarks, as this is temporary. I have updated all the links in my posts.

GRIB Files Revisited

In Weather, Part 8, I talk about GRIB files. GRIB files are extracted, on request, from a global computer model. You specify a model, area, density, valid times and more, for a customized forecast. You send this request to query@saildocs.com. You receive a response with a GRIB file attached. You need a tool, such as Viewfax, that comes with Airmail. When sending your request to Saildocs, you can either request a single GRIB file (Send) or a daily subscription (Subscribe).

To recap the Weather, Part 8 post, GRIB files have their advantages and disadvantages—they are extremely customizable, but are unchecked, raw data, extracted from a computer model. GRIB files are very useful in double-checking other resources, such as Radio Faxes and NWS zone forecasts.

There is a trade-off between content and file size. If you are not on an unlimited, high-speed internet, you should carefully consider how much detail you need.

I have gained a greater appreciation for GRIB files since I wrote that post in 2017.

Marine Weather Recap

When I started preparing a cruise to Moore Haven, FL. I wanted to make sure I had the right weather data for our extended trip from Marathon to the Okeechobee waterway. See Planning Multi-day Cruises—Overview. I subscribed to a GRIB file, a NWS Zone Forecast, and Synopsis for the area. I also looked at the Radio Faxes each morning.

Radio Faxes and NWS Zone Forecasts are divided into 12 hour segments, so I want my GRIB files in 12 hour segments. The GFS model data is updated every six hours, starting at 00:00 UTC. I want it on an even 24 hours, so it conforms with the Radio Faxes at 24, 48, 72 and 96. I could request every 6 hours, but I think that’s too much.

Radio Faxes

I look at the Radio Faxes most mornings. The Surface Forecasts for my location are 24-00, 48-00, 72-00, and 96-12 hours. When cruising, I may not get them everyday, or they may not be readable. If it’s readable, I can determine surface pressure, wind direction and sometimes estimated wind speed. Refer to my post Weather, Part 3 for a description of how I analyze Radio Faxes. These four charts show me how what the pressure and winds will be like over the next three days.

A Surface Forecast gives me a snapshot of pressure and wind at that time in the future. The following example shows a ridge over the Florida Keys. There is no clear wind direction or speed, because the 14 isobar line encircles the area.

Radio Fax for 72 Hour Surface Forecast

The NWS Zone Forecast for that time says “Variable winds near 5 knots” and the GRIB forecast, which has no way to express “Variable“, says “Wind: 5.4@260, Press: 14.2“.

NWS Zone Forecast

The NWS Zone forecast has Wind Speed, Wind Direction, Seas and precipitation, for 5 or 5½ days and nights, depending on when it’s requested. For example, Sunday night to Friday night. This is for an entire zone, and is not as precise for a specific location. Refer to my post Weather, Part 7 for more details.

GRIB File Recap

We used GRIB files in the past, but I started looking at some of the options and decided I could change my request to better cross-reference with Radio Faxes and NWS Zone Marine Forecasts. This allows me to evaluate the confidence-level of my forecasts.

Nothing has changed in the way I receive and look at GRIB files. For that information, refer to Weather, Part 8. What has changed is my subscription and analysis of the data.

The NWS zone forecasts are for 5 or 5½ days, so I request six days, at 12 hour intervals—hours 0 through 132. My request looks as follows:

GFS:27N,24N,084W,081W|0.5,0.5|0,12..132|PRMSL,WIND

This request is for 29,000 square nautical miles, in 0.5 degree spacing , for hours 0 to 132 in 12 hour increments. When in the Bahamas, I requested 104,000 square nautical miles, in 1 degree spacing for hours 0 to 120, in 12 hour increments. Both requests asked for Mean Sea-Level Pressure (PRMSL) and Gradient Surface Wind Speed/Direction (WIND). Both GRIB files are about 5K—reasonable to receive on a SSB radio.

The default subscription is for 14 days. I get a notification the day before my subscriptions expire, with instructions on how to resubscribe.

Viewfax Screen

I want my GRIB file to start at 00:00 UTC. The model is updated every six hours, so I send my request to saildocs at around 22:00 UTC, which is 6:00pm EDT. The GRIB file is extracted around 04:30 UTC and sent around 05:00 UTC. I send my NWS Zone Forecast and Synopsis requests at the same time.

http://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/marine/coastal/gm/gmz005.txt

http://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/marine/coastal/gm/gmz043.txt

When I look at my emails from saildocs in the morning, the forecasts are in sync. The first segments of the forecasts have already happened, but I can see how accurate they were. If I am going out on the water that day, I check the latest forecast for any changes.

Weather Log

I keep a weather log in a 3½” x 5½” notebook. I didn’t log all of the GRIB file information in the past, but I realized that there is information there that I don’t have in other resources. In my posts Weather, Part 6 and Weather, Part 7, I talk about my weather log.

There isn’t a lot of room to write in a 3½” x 5½” page, but I use abbreviations and leave out unneeded information. For example, I record a pressure reading of 1023.1 millibars as 23.1.

I write the date and location on the top of the page…

 23 Mar 20        24.7N    81.0W

I leave some space, and list the Radio Fax pages that I plan to look at.

  • 06ZSA – Surface Analysis for 06Z (06:00 UTC)
  • 2400ZSF – 24 hour Surface Forecast for 00Z (00:00 UTC)
  • 4800ZSF – 48 hour Surface Forecast for 00Z (00:00 UTC)
  • 7200ZSF – 72 hour Surface Forecast for 00Z (00:00 UTC)
  • 9612ZSF – 96 hour Surface Forecast for 12Z (12:00 UTC)
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When I look at each of the above pages, I list surface pressure, wind direction and estimated wind speed. Surface pressure is the last two digits in millibars. Wind direction is one to three letters, such as ESE. Wind speed is estimated wind speed in knots. Refer to post Weather, Part 3 for an explanation of how I get these.

Next, I look at actuals. I fill in the 06Z (2:00am EDT) Surface Analysis right away. I go back three days and fill in the Surface Forecasts. I use data from my tablet, phone or the internet, depending on my circumstances. My tablet and phone can log barometric pressure for three days. There are also weather stations, on-line, that log barometric pressure, wind speed and wind direction. Sometimes I write in values from multiple sources so I can calibrate my devices.

The page looks something like this when all the actuals have been recorded.

06ZSA     22 E      9   22.4↓ (22.4)  E 16-19
2400ZSF 21 ESE  6   21.3↑ (21.3)  ESE 12-15
48   "       17 SSE   5   18.2↑ (18.2)  E 5-6
72   "       14 V       ?   14.8↑ (14.8)  WSW 4-5
9612ZSF 14 V       ?   16.0↑(16.0)   N 6-8

The first column is the weather map, as listed above. The next three columns are the pressure, wind direction and wind speed, derived from the Radio Fax. After that are actual values, in the same order. In the above example, the first value is the pressure from my android tablet and the one in parenthesis is from a nearby weather station. I also keep track of whether the barometric pressure is rising or falling. Actual wind direction and speed are from a nearby weather station that shows average wind and gust speeds.

I could not determine wind direction and speed for the 72-00 and 96-12 entries, so I it wrote them as “V ?

Next, I write the NWS Zone ID I am using, in this case, gmz043. Refer to Weather, Part 7 for finding Zone IDs. I also write the date and time of my first GRIB file entry on this line.

The next twelve lines are numbered 0 through 132, by 12s. Then, I write today’s day between lines 12 and 24, tomorrow’s between lines 36 and 48 and so on for five days. I abbreviate them Su, M, Tu, W, Th, F and Sa. I don’t label line 0, which is actually last night.

When I look at my zone forecast in the morning, it is from last night. So I write the forecast for “TONIGHT” on line 0. Then, on lines 12, 24, etc. I abbreviate and omit things to save space. For example:

East winds 10 to 15 knots, increasing to near 15 knots late. Seas 1 to 3 feet. Nearshore waters a light to moderate chop. Isolated Showers.

I write as…

E 10-15↑nr 15 1-3' IS

I write the GRIB file data to the right of the zone forecast. If there’s not enough room, I continue it below line 132.

I use Airmail /Viewfax to read my GRIB file. Viewfax shows wind speed and direction for my saved location. My location is set in Airmail as follows:

  • Click Tools tab
  • Click Options
  • Click Settings tab.
  • Set Station Location Lat: and Lon: to desired latitude and longitude.

When I open the GRIB email in Airmail, I see the attached GRIB file. I double-click on it to open Viewfax. I see a boat icon at my location. There is a tag with wind information. It reads something like …

wind: 11.6@105

Wind is specified as speed@degrees. This is a more precise way than one to three letters, but for me it is harder to visualize. So, in my head, I divide the degrees by 30 and visualise a clock face. In the above example, 103÷30 is between 3 and 4 o’clock, or East Southeast.

In Viewfax, the pressure is not automatically displayed for your location—I have to move the mouse cursor to the boat icon. I see a tag with wind and pressure information:

Wind: 11.6@105
Press: 1021.6

I log the pressure as 21.6. I write these values to the right of my Zone Forecast, starting at line 0, and continuing to line 132. If I run out of room to write, I continue it below line 132.

Weather Log Page

Next, I compare today’s actuals to yesterday’s forecast. Finally, I compare the GRIB forecast, the NWS Zone forecast and the Radio Fax forecast. Then, I compare today’s GRIB pressure forecast to yesterday, yesterday’s to the day before, etc. This gives me a confidence-level for the forecast. I use a spreadsheet to do these comparisons. It compares forecasted pressure values with actuals or their previous 24-hour values. It calculates the average, maximum and minimum differences. I write these numbers in the log, under the date and location.

Avg 0.3  Max 0.6  Min 0.0

GFS Surface Forecast Spreadsheet

I use a spreadsheet to compare forecasted pressure values with actuals or previous 24-hour values for my location. The first column is the date. Then, twelve columns, labeled 0, 12, … 132, for the forecasted values I get from my GRIB file. Followed by two columns for actuals, labeled 24 and 36. This is followed by eleven columns of differences, labeled, 0, 12, … 120

GFS Surface Forecast Spreadsheet

I put the actual values in the row for the previous day, since my GRIB file was extracted over 24 hours prior. They are labeled 12 and 36, for times 00:00 UTC and 12:00 UTC (8:00pm EDT and 8:00am EDT).

The Differences column labeled 0 is the difference between GFS 00:00 (8:00 pm EDT yesterday) and the actual value from my barometer app, or the local weather station. The next column, labeled 12, is the difference between 12:00 UTC (8:00 am EDT) and the actual reading. The remaining columns, 24 through 120, are the differences between todays forecasted pressure and yesterday’s forecasted pressure. For example, the difference between 23-Mar 00 hour and 22-Mar 24 hour.

The next three columns calculate the average, maximum and minimum differences.

I considered comparing 48, 72 and 96 hours, but this would make my spreadsheet too large to view on one screen. I think this gives me a good idea of how accurate the GFS model is for my location.

Barometer Calibration

I get barometric pressure values one of several ways. I use my Android tablet, iPhone7, or look on-line. There are many Barometer apps for Android and Apple, but I want one that continuously monitors the pressure in the background. I have an app on my Android tablet called Barometer Monitor. I also have one on my iPhone 7 called Barometer. I usually use the one on my Android tablet, because the iPhone version doesn’t always run in the background. Another alternative is to look at a nearby weather station. There is one about a mile away from me called VCAF1. I noticed that the three readings didn’t match.

I am going to assume that NOAA weather station is more accurate than either of my devices. Comparison of the GFS forecasted pressures, to this station support that assumption.

The Barometer Monitor app on my Android tablet has a setting for an offset. I set it to -0.6 and now my tablet tracks pretty close to VCAF1 station and GFS forecasts. My iPhone app does not have that setting, but it is only different from VCAF1 by 0.1 or 0.2 millibars.

Summary

I am making more use of GRIB files to double check other resources and refine my ability to read surface analysis radio faxes. I keep track of the previous forecasts, and go back and see how they compare to each other. I also check my barometric pressure reading against other sources.

I hope you find this post useful. Even I found some new things, while writing it.

OpenCPN Version 5.0

In my previous post on Planning Multi-Day Cruises—OpenCPN I talk about using OpenCPN to plan my routes. OpenCPN was upgraded since I wrote this article. Most of the article is still true, but a few of the details have changed. I updated the post, with footnotes to address this. See OpenCPN.org/OpenCPN/about/ver500 for details about what has changed.

I also added footnotes to the post Planning Multi-Day Cruises—Example.

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Another item that needs attention is that NOAA has decided to discontinue Raster Nautical Charts (RNC). Click here for details. I’m not sure what this means, but I recommend downloading all the RNC charts that you need before they are no longer available.

12 Volt Freezer Upgrade

In 2015 we installed an evaporator plate in our freezer. (Refer to post New 12 Volt Freezer.) In this post I describe how we upgraded it to run on shore power, as well as batteries.

When we bought Questeria, the only way to run the freezer was on shore power. The compressor is very loud, but fortunately it only runs for about an hour, a few times a day. This is because it charges a cold plate. Once the cold plate comes to temperature, it shuts off. This is a nice feature when cruising, because we can run the generator for few hours a day and keep our food frozen. But, it’s loud, especially when it first starts, and it comes on randomly. We might be just starting to fall asleep, or listening to music, and startles us.

We installed an additional 12 volt compressor and evaporator plate for when we are not connected to shore power. This runs more often, but is very quiet. It runs off of our house batteries. We don’t run it when connected to shore power, because it may drain our batteries.

This system worked out great when we were cruising in the Bahamas. Our solar panels would usually keep our house batteries charged and run our 12 volt freezer and refrigerator, as well as everything else. We only had to run our Honda 2000 generator when we didn’t have enough sun.

We were away from the boat for a while. See 2019 RV Trip—Alaska. We left Questeria in our marina, in Marathon, FL. We emptied the freezer and unplugged it.

When we returned to Questeria, we needed to start the freezer so we could transfer frozen food from the RV to the boat. We didn’t have enough battery power to run the 12 volt compressor. We didn’t want to our battery charger, because we had already burned up one battery—they are old, and need to be replaced. So, we would have to use the 110vac compressor/cold plate, but we had a different idea…

The compressor/cold plate has served us well in the fourteen years we have owned Questeria, but it has it’s disadvantages.

  • It is loud and comes on any time of the day or night.
  • It doesn’t have a thermostat—it uses a pressure sensor to turn on and off. It’s difficult to adjust so that it is cold enough, but shuts off in a timely manner—it tends to run continuously.
  • It generates a lot of heat when it’s running.
  • It’s old. We aren’t sure how much longer it will keep going.
  • It only brings the temperature down to about 20°F, ideally, you want it at 0°F.
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… Our idea, was to run our 12 volt compressor on a convertor, when on shore power. A converter creates 12 volts DC from 110 volts AC.

  • We can switch between shore power and battery.
  • It’s much quieter than the 110vac compressor/cold plate.
  • It has a thermostat—we can better regulate the temperature.
  • The convertor can be used as a battery charger in a pinch.

I ordered a convertor from Amazon.com. It’s a 30 amp, which is way overkill, but I wanted something with good DC output voltage, and this was best and smallest one I found. I installed it in stages. I needed to get the freezer running on shore power quickly because our house batteries were failing.

At first, I plugged the input into an extension core and wired the output directly to the compressor. Later, I mounted it, and then, I wired the input to a 110vac circuit breaker on our electrical panel. Finally, I wired in a DPDT switch so I can switch between the converter and batteries. I left the old compressor as a back-up,

So far, we are happy with our modification. We have a full freezer that operates quietly and doesn’t drain our batteries when we are connected to shore power. We installed new batteries and our solar panels keep them charged, without running the battery charger.

Boatyard

Questeria is overdue for a bottom job. The last time was October 2015. The type of paint we use is not effective if it is out of the water, and she was hauled out for Irma in 2017. Now, in 2019, the paint is chipping off.

There are other things we want to do while the boat is out of the water. We need to fix leaks in the cockpit drains—they drain below the water line. Also, one of the seacocks is stuck. We also need to refurbish the dripless shaft seal. We expect to find more things once we are out of the water.

Preparation

We get to Marathon in September, after our Alaska RV trip. Questeria has been closed-up for six months. The air conditioner has been off for months because the filter plugged up. Everything is musty and smells bad.

In anticipation of not staying on the boat, we reserved an RV site at Curry Hammock State Park. This is close to the boat—I can easily ride my bike back and forth.

We can’t get in the boatyard for a couple of weeks, so we use the time to thoroughly clean everything inside the boat. We throw away a lot of things that have absorbed odors.

We also get the boat ready to motor to the boatyard (The sails have been taken down for hurricane season.)

We motor to Marathon Marina and Resort boatyard on October 4. Our friends David and Brenda help us.

We get to the channel to the boatyard ahead of schedule. They tell us on the radio we can come in, but we will have to wait inside. It’s a while but we finally get pulled out of the water. The bottom is in bad shape.

Bottom Paint

The last time we pulled out for a bottom job was at Outta The Blue boatyard. We paid them to sand off all the old bottom paint, put on a barrier coat, and two coats of bottom paint. We find out they put the barrier coat on over old bottom paint. So now, instead of a light sanding, we need to remove all the old paint.

It looks like it will take longer than we thought. We make arrangements with the boat yard to stay a full week.

We meet P.J. and Michelle, from Big Pond Boatworks. They have a NautiPrep dustless glass blaster that can take off the old paint down to the gel coat. We decide that is what we want to do. We also ask them to do the barrier coat. I had decided to do the bottom paint myself, so I could make sure it was done right, but in hindsight, I should have had them do it all.

Barrier Coat

It turns out great.

Lower Bobstay Attachment

We notice that the lower bobstay attachment (AKA cutwater) is rusted almost all the way through. I call Keys Rigging and Curt comes out and looks at it. He says that after he gets the old one out, we need to get a new part fabricated. It will take two to three weeks. We make arrangement with the boatyard to stay a month.

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Old Bobstay

The cutwater is embedded in epoxy. Access is in our v-berth. It takes about five hours to dig it out. We prepare for this by isolating the forward cabin in plastic wrap, so we don’t get dust in the whole boat. It turns out to be a stainless steel bar, with a pin, that was embedded in epoxy.

Old Bobstay

We find an alternative to fabricating a new piece. It is a bronze piece that bolts to the hull. We order one from Spartan Marine. Between Keys Rigging and Big Pond Boatworks, we get the new bobstay attachment on and it looks great—boat jewelery.

New Bobstay

Interior Work

While others are working outside, we are working inside. (For as long as we can stand the heat.) We refurbish our dripless shaft seal (stuffing box). We also fix the leaking cockpit drains and the seacock to shut it off. We have to cut a larger access hatch in the floor to do this.

We continue cleaning. We buy a small electric pressure washer and clean the bilge. It works great.

Pressure Washer

Painting Hull

Since we were going to be here for a month we decide to hire Big Pond Boatworks to paint the hull. We pick out a white color for the hull and a blue color for the top stripe. We decide to eliminate the boot stripe at the bottom.

Working in Proress

The gel coat on Questeria is very thick, but it is oxidized. The blue paint is cracked and in very bad shape. Everything must be sanded. The blue trim must be completely sanded off.

Launching

Back in the Water

We launch on November 12. Questeria looks great. The paint job took longer than estimated, but they charged us what was quoted. The boatyard is great as well—they don’t charge us for the extended time.

We get Questeria back to our marina. We are still living in the RV, hopping between Curry Hammock and Bahia Honda state parks. The interior is still torn up and we aren’t finished cleaning. We leave her again to take the RV to Fort Meyers for repairs and maintenance.

Update

It’s been a while since my last post, and I thought I would share an update of what we’ve been up to in the past five months.

Return to the East

Family

My last post, in mid-September, was about returning from our Alaska RV trip. After that, we left the RV in Denver, CO and flew to Charlotte, NC for our annual “Beach Week”, which was actually on a lake this time. We flew back to Denver and stayed in the Colorado/New Mexico area for a while. We left the RV at Cochiti Lake Campground, near Albuquerque, NM, and flew to Chicago, IL for Labor Day weekend. We got together with family, and buried my mom’s ashes. We flew back, and went to Taos, NM for the Big Barn Dance. After that, we stopped to see our friends, Gary and Ellen, in Chattanooga, TN. Then we drove to Florida.

The Big Barn Dance

Boatyard

Questeria was in need of a lot of work. She was closed up for six months, and needed lots of help. She was also way overdue for a bottom job. What started as a few days in the boatyard ended up taking a month. We stayed on the RV, flipping back and forth between Curry Hammock State Park and Bahia Honda State Park. They were both pretty busy, but this time of year there are cancellations. We lucked-out and found a spot in one park or another the whole time. We got the boat back in the water, and it looked great on the outside, but was torn-up on the inside.

RV repair and Maintenance

We had an appointment at Camper’s World, in Fort Meyers, FL, to get the RV repaired. Besides the repair for the collision damage from our Alaska trip, there were several other things that need to be done. After a week, we got some of things done, but then we had to wait for parts. The remaining items would have to wait until after the holidays.

Thanksgiving

After that, we drove to Jonathon Dickinson State Park, in Hobe Sound, FL, and then to John Prince Park, in Lake Worth, FL. We spend Thanksgiving with some family in Delray Beach, FL.

Holidays

Then, we drove to North Myrtle Beach, SC, to see Ryan and Audrey. Then, Wilmington, NC for Johnny’s 4th birthday, and Jameson’s 1st birthday a week later. We hung out in the North Carolina for the rest of December.

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The grandkids

Waiting

We called Camping World, in Fort Meyers to find out the status of the parts needed to finish the job. The insurance company would not pay for a new piece, and said it had to fixed. Also, the wrong awning was delivered. They would reorder the awning. We made an appointment for three weeks later.

Savannah, GA

While we waiting, we drove to Tega Cay, SC for a few days, to spend time with grandsons Jackson and Oliver. Then to Savannah, GA for some sight seeing. Then we drove to Faver-Dykes State Park in St. Augustine, FL and Sebastian Inlet State Park, in Melbourne Beach, FL. Then, to Ortona South Campground, in Moore Haven, FL.

Second Time

We drove to our appointment at Camping World, in Fort Meyers, FL. We talked to the body repair guy and he said the damaged part needed to be replaced. We asked him to send more pictures to the insurance company to justify it. We left the RV there so they could fix the slide-out and replace the awning.

When we came back that afternoon, they had taken more pictures of the collision damage, and fixed the slide-out, but they didn’t replace the awning because they got the wrong one again.

Back to the Boat

We were ready to go to the boat, but at that point it was torn-up inside and had been closed up for three months—it was unlivable. It was the end of January, and the affordable state parks near Marathon were fully booked. We booked a week at Southern Comfort RV Park, in Florida City. It’s about a 1½ hour drive to the boat.

We spent the week driving back and forth between Marathon and Florida City, but we got the boat in shape. We paid for a month of storage at Southern Comfort RV Park and moved to the boat.

There is still a lot of work to do on the boat, but we are here now, trying not to work too hard.