Humans and sailboats

8º 20.378s 137º 08.729w

Sun May 05 2019

Most little general aviation airports and skydiving dropzones have a rock hanging from a tripod. There’s a sign next to it, stating that it is the airport’s precision weather measurement system or some such. You pilots and skydivers know exactly what I’m talking about.

Here’s a similar stimulus – response matrix for a sailboat:

· Feeling wet? Go indoors, close the hatches, and put your foulies on

· Feeling cold? Close the hatches, maybe light the furnace, or at least put some clothes on

· Smell something burning? Check the stove, maybe grab a fire extinguisher

· Smell something rancid? Double bag the galley trash and stow in the forward locker until reaching land where it can be disposed of properly

· Smell something really nasty? Probably a blocked head; tell Mark because that’s one of his maintenance headaches

· Hear a squeal from the engine compartment? Investigate NOW and look for loose belts or failing bearings or leaking seals. No joy? SHUT IT DOWN! Look some more.

I could go on for hours. . .

At the big aerospace company our flight test instrumentation guys used oscilloscopes to examine various transducer signals for noise, proper output, etc. I initially worked as a noise and vibration test engineer, and with the help of some common sense technicians at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia, I learned to use my ears when troubleshooting noise and vibration sensors and systems. The signals were all in the audible range anyway, and it was easy to pick out static, crackling and popping, and other problems caused by corroded or loose connectors, damaged cables, loose accelerometer mounts, etc. just by listening to the microphone or accelerometer output over a cheap stereo. I didn’t need to initially see the waveform, only after a problem was detected while I looked for the cause.

Seems to work in a similar way on a sailboat. The sails are trimmed and I’m sitting on the settee facing aft. The first sign of trouble will be a rustling of fabric, or the banging noise the boom makes as it starts to jerk around. I’ll then get off my lazy butt and investigate, do a bit of trimming or tell Chevy to point a little differently, then return to my slothly ways. I’m also big on gluttony, but that’s a different discussion.

JollyDogs is like the high performance sailplanes I used to fly. She talks to us. If you pay attention, she’ll tell you what she needs, and if you’re using all your senses, you can generally anticipate what you’re about to discover when you go looking around.

One more example: I’m such a geek engineer I prefer to look at the output from the mast top wind instrument to see just exactly how hard it’s blowing. Thad looks out at the sea, examining the waves for white caps, then pronounces with astounding accuracy what’s going on. Turns out to be pretty useful when a frigate bird lands on the wind instrument and breaks the damn thing off.

Use all your senses.