The last week or so I have been chasing Comet Tsuchinstan-ATLAS. It has been playing 'peek-a-boo' between the scuttling clouds. Never taken photographs of a comet before, so its been a steep learning curve.
Equipment used has been:
Winter is coming and Arwen is being packed away for the end of the season. And this has set me thinking! What do people do to pack away and winterize their boats?
This has been my routine for the last few years but I'm sure there are better ways or things I have forgotten to do.
With regard to my trailer
Occasionally I post about my other passion - astrophotography. I will in the near future be setting up a new blog about my astrophotography but for now, I do occasional posts here on Arwen's blog.
During the summer months I turn my attention from deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae to milky way landscape shots. A completely new skill set, as I am not a daytime landscape photographer either!
I invested in a new lens - it came highly recommended on youtube and various astrophotography forums on facebook. A samyang 14mm F/.8 manual focus wide angle prime lens. It is a beast of a lens - such great light capture at night. And, its taking some time to master its use as well!
Here are some of my first efforts. As always, I will say, again, that the data collection bit is easy - the post editing bit is a dark, dark art! Oh! And so is learning how to compose a good landscape shot in the dark!
Most of these shots have involved using the following equipment and software programmes. It is very early days!
Equipment:
The stars aligned. A gap on the family calendar. No travel expeditions or trips to get in the way. A whole day of sailing! Oh my! Lost for words!
Arwen was taken off the drive the day before and given a good scrub down and clear out. Even got the 'dyson' out to hoover up odd bits and pieces from her bilges! Ssssh! Don't tell SWMBO!
Everything was taken out of Arwen's substantial, spacious hull and laid out on the lawn! Wow! I mean seriously - WOW! What am I carrying in her? After the clean up, a sort out and pruning of gear that went back in!
Wheels were checked. Wheel bearings greased once more as were keel rollers. And then, just like that, she was 'ready to go' for the following day!
Then a test of the outboard on its home built outboard stand. She started on the third pull as usual. Great stuff.
And the following day arrived with a stupendous sunrise. Through the bedroom window I watched the sky transform through a colour palette worthy of Turner or Van Gogh, and slowly, the fiery orange disc that is our sun, poked above the hilly horizon beyond the valley.
Light winds, predicted temperatures of 22C and afternoon high tides. Perfect for launching and 0900 and returning around 1600
"Specific sailing plans?" I hear you ask?
None whatsoever - just a pootle around the sound! No beachings, no sailing up creeks or rivers - just open waters and tacking back and forth! Six hours of just pootling about!
The launch was easy, the slipway clear. Arwen just rumbled backwards off her trailer with only two pushes. I motored out of the little marina and harbour and raised sails on a vacant outer mooring buoy in the Cattedown; and promptly got visited by several cadet boats, all with two very scary looking, highly competent teenagers in each one. All polite, all close enough to my transom to shake hands with; all chilled, laid back and relaxed. I miss interactions with teenagers - retirement as a teacher can be brutal in this sense. The world cadet sailing championship taking place all week in Plymouth Sound. As far as the eye could see up the Cattedown, a humongous flotilla of small white hulls and white sails - interspersed with safety ribs - I reckoned over 100 boats easily - but then maths was never my strong point! All heading downriver for the sound. Making easy work of the fickle incoming tide and head on winds! A masterclass in how to sail in light winds. Also, teenagers who appreciated boats like mine. Arwen drew many admiring compliments and waves from these crews.
And so it came to pass, we took an hour to get out of the cattedown tacking back and forth from the mountbatten breakwater to the corner of the citadel area at the entrance to sutton harbour. Incoming tide and winds directly from the west! Well, you just have to take what the day brings! 😆
Right along the outer edge of mountbatten breakwater, close into Jennycliffe beach at the rear of the old flying boat hangers and then following the coast close in all the way up towards Fort Bovisand. Tucking under the bow and stern of a large motor yacht moored in the bay. Avoiding the little laser fusions and the young people learning to sail, out from the local watersports centre. Passing well to the north of the inshore lobster pot boat, the single crew working hard to rely the pots. Waving to local kayakers and quickly closing with two drascombes to pass greetings and quick chats. More enquiries about Arwen "What type of boat is she?" "Did you build her?" "Who is her designer?" "What are the seakeeping qualities like?" "Isnt she such a beautiful little boat - you must be very proud of her?" Yup! She's a little weathered and worn and needs some cosmetic TLC but she's still sound 15 years on!
Over to Drakes Island and back again. Some setting sails so she sails herself. Marmite and cheese sandwiches and apples. A little sail trimming and boom setting.
Did I take any photos? Nope! Was having too much fun - sorry!
Did I take any video - yep loads but haven't the time at the moment to edit it all down. Will try to do something over the next few weeks, promise!
So, just a pootle out on the water. As Wallace would say "A Grand day out t'was that"
We've been north of the Arctic Circle several times in Norway and Finland. We spent four weeks touring Iceland.
So it's typical that the best display of northern lights we have ever seen was in our own back yard. Friday May 10th. A night we shall not forget in a hurry.
And all taken on a midrange android smartphone. 🙄😆
I make no apologies for this. Arwen's meanderings is overwhelmingly a blog about Arwen, my John Welsford designed 'navigator'. I have a separate blog about our motorhome adventures in 'Bryony' our autosleeper broadway EB. If you are interested in motorhoming you can find this blog at www.wherenexthun.blogspot.co.uk
Now occasionally, and by occasionally I mean 'not at all that often', and 'mainly during winter months when sailing is almost impossible due to inclement weather', I will post about my stargazing activities. This is because I rarely post about them and don't want to set up a third blog! Two is enough!
The weather has been inclement. I haven't had an opportunity to get out on Arwen and although I post mainly about astronomy on my Facebook account, I have a few friends who don't use facebook but are interested in my astronomy and so I post occasionally here where they can subscribe to it. They ignore all the boat posts as none of them are boaty 😂
Anyway, if you aren't into astronomy, ignore this post! Normal boaty stuff will resume in next one.
I have got into astrophotography in a big way. I'm a complete newbie at it - so many silly errors but the Facebook astrophotography groups I am a member of, like the sailing ones I enjoy, are a tolerant, kind and supportive bunch and go out of their way to help newbies.
I have recently upgraded my kit to the following: (bold are new additions)
Using
ASIair mini and autoguiding with SWSA 2i
A .
setting up mount
1. Polar alignment – level tripod – polar line MANUALLY
(tracker off)
2. Balance - counterweights RA and DEC - green dovetail as low as poss on mounting plate of SWSA
3. Take test shots – with main camera and Bahtinov mask
on - slew to target for night – East heavy - and test shots –– tape focus ring
4. Recheck focus and then Star safari – get co-ordinates for night’s target
5. Connect cables to Asiair - CHECK TEMP
FOR NIGHT – PROTECT
ASIair MINI IF BELOW 0 degrees – BUBBLE WRAP?
6. Power up ASIair and check plate
solving works – annotate
to see Polaris;
7. Check gain and focus guide scope
camera (gain 60 – 70) focus in focus mode; give settling time – manually adjust until star size
low and peak value high) (To focus the guidescope I found I had to switch off the guide cam - then switch off the main camera. Then go back to main camera settings and select guide cam as the main cam - put in correct focal length of guide cam. Then under main camera in preview take some test shots and adjust your guidescope until it is correctly focused. when this is achieved, go back through all the settings and return them to what they should be i.e. your main camera is your DSLR with correct focal length entered; your guidecam is whatever guide cam you are using with correct Focal length; and the mount is switched on)
8. Test photo – annotate to check
polaris in frame – cross hairs on
9. Plate solve for Polaris should be – RA 2h 31m 47s Dec +89D
15’ 50”
10. Now polar align within ASIair app (tracker
ON) - mount to home
position – aiming for less than 30” and smiley face – slew to between 60 degrees - follow PA instructions in app.
B.
start the plate solving process
1. Check that PA is still accurate - if not start again
2. Slew to target for night
3. Select guide interface LHS - Tap
plate solving –
check target in position - tap clear calibration
4. tap preview – tap plate
solving
5. Adjust RA and DEC – use 5” exposures – increase to 10”
if need be – repeat until close to coordinates for tonight’s target – test
shot after each move – adjust RA first! Hit cancel when adjusted
and then repeat for DEC
tips - Carry out az/dec adjustments – after each refresh, wait 3” and refresh again before next adjustment to allow vibrations to settle down - try to work away some distance from tripod to prevent ground vibrations. Aiming for less than 10” error
C.
start the autoguiding focus/calibration
1. Focus Guide scope and auto-guide camera – NOT
ON POLARIS AREA – go to DSO target
2. Clear calibration tab – top right corner graph
3. Double tap graph – guiding screen – check
DEC IS OFF; or guiding settings
4.
3” exposure zenith 2”(gain 60 – 70)
(can take 5 to 10 mins for calibration)
5. Try calibration step of 5000 not 2000
– see side box
6. Start calibration - if ASIair doesn’t choose star – increase the
gain for guide camera – aim for star peak of 80 – 200 for proper lock on
If number of steps <4 –
calibration = poor - adjust
calibration step to smaller number in the guide menu
If number of steps too many – ASIair
wont reach 25 px in reasonable time – you get a time out message – so adjust calibration to
larger number - try 5000
If imaging towards zenith – increase
calibration step
Don’t
pick brightest star for green box – mid level bright star best – tap on chosen star – green
box appears (Aim to minimise star halos when focusing) Then click crosshairs icon
If DEC red
line jumps off graph = poor polar alignment – redo. Aiming for +/- 4 on RA line.
If graph jumpy – decrease RA aggressiveness in guiding tab
E. set
up auto run/main camera settings
1.
preview – autorun
2.
first delay 15” – interval 3” – set up for 1 image only; put in target
3.
when image appears on screen – zoom in and check no star trailing – if
unclear go back and refocus main camera and then start from C above
4.
set up auto run details for night
- fill in target etc
5.
lights info - AVOID MERIDIAN FLIP – DO CALCULATIONS OF
EXPOSURE TIME TOTAL - work out how many
lights required before meridian flip – enter data - press autorun
Tips:
DO EXPOSURES
IN 20 – 30 MIN BLOCKS
At end – repeat main camera focusing procedure – preview – test shots x 3” – zoom in on screen and check sharpness and adjust main lens focus accordingly. Repeat autoguider refocusing procedure. Adjust for temperatures changes
