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Southern Atlantic Seaboard Here's the place for shooters from Georgia up to Maryland, including the Carolinas and Virginia.

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Old 09-13-2012, 12:05 AM   #31
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

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What is power source? Diesel generator?
The standard Texas Tower light design had two largish diesel generator sets for the hotel load, either one of which could carry most of it although on Chesapeake if one went down it was a choice between lights and AC if you needed to fix dinner too. The large ones were sized about like the engines in a 82' "Point Class" cutter. Once the light was automated these were only operated when there was a crew in residence.

There was a small diesel generator that put out enough to run just the radio beacon and light, and our weather station. Our packages used considerably less than 20 watts average. The small one was sized about like the engine in small Toyota pickup. The radio direction finder beacon put out enough energy to warm the filings in your teeth if you were standing on the roof next to it working on the sensor mast when it was turned on.

Refueling the light was a significant operation with the cutter pumping fuel into the main tanks for about an hour, followed by a couple hours transferring potable fresh water if the light was to be inhabited for any time period. The fuel and water tanks built into the service deck below the habitation deck were not small. My credit card wouldn't fuel it anyway.

BTW the light structures perturb magnetic compasses to varying degrees. Chesapeake was off by over 90°. All of them have a set of center-punch marks on opposite sides of the helicopter deck edge or handrails marking a long true north lubber line across the top of the light confirmed by both gyro compass and star shots. That line was then transferred to the base of the anemometer mast for use in aligning the anemometers and directional wave instruments.
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Last edited by FredT; 09-13-2012 at 08:38 AM.
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Old 09-13-2012, 08:08 AM   #32
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

Friggin badass dudes, thats a slab of a hog... Next time your goin out lemme know!!! Been stationed here almost 2 years and still have yet to do any legit slaying.
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Old 09-24-2012, 01:15 PM   #33
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

http://vimeo.com/49932802
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Old 09-24-2012, 04:33 PM   #34
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

Awesome, truly awesome!!!! Nice fish too!!!

How do yall manage the boat overnight with changing winds, tides, etc?

We have a couple of towers here Ive thought about overnighting on but to leave the boat down there unattended would freak me out.......
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Old 09-24-2012, 08:10 PM   #35
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

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Awesome, truly awesome!!!! Nice fish too!!!

How do yall manage the boat overnight with changing winds, tides, etc?

We have a couple of towers here Ive thought about overnighting on but to leave the boat down there unattended would freak me out.......

I would be interested to know too. Gotta put some boat lifts on that thing! I'm sure it's in the future works, but would be real nice to start converting power to wind and solar, add rainwater collection system, rooftop green house (to keep the salt off the garden) etc. Make it relatively self-sustainable. Zombie apocalypse hide-out. Would of course have to had some serious weapons for defense.
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Old 09-24-2012, 08:59 PM   #36
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

Bro that's a big ass hog nice
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Old 09-25-2012, 03:25 AM   #37
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

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I would be interested to know too. Gotta put some boat lifts on that thing! I'm sure it's in the future works, but would be real nice to start converting power to wind and solar, add rainwater collection system, rooftop green house (to keep the salt off the garden) etc. Make it relatively self-sustainable. Zombie apocalypse hide-out. Would of course have to had some serious weapons for defense.
Now you are talking!!!!
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Old 09-25-2012, 07:54 AM   #38
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

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I would be interested to know too. Gotta put some boat lifts on that thing! I'm sure it's in the future works, but would be real nice to start converting power to wind and solar, add rainwater collection system, rooftop green house (to keep the salt off the garden) etc. Make it relatively self-sustainable. Zombie apocalypse hide-out. Would of course have to had some serious weapons for defense.
He has some large solar panels on the roof. He is adding more batteries and a larger inverter. He is planing on adding wind power, plenty of free wind and good mounting locations. The roof collects the towers non potable water supply. There are some neat gadgets and sensors on that thing. He is letting them place sensors on the roof that measure bird traffic to see how offshore windmills would affect the birds.
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Old 09-25-2012, 12:40 PM   #39
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

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He has some large solar panels on the roof. He is adding more batteries and a larger inverter. He is planing on adding wind power, plenty of free wind and good mounting locations. The roof collects the towers non potable water supply. There are some neat gadgets and sensors on that thing. He is letting them place sensors on the roof that measure bird traffic to see how offshore windmills would affect the birds.
Sweet! So how do yall do the boat? Sorry to repeat myself but I am just really curious......
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Lucky Jack - .......The Surprise is not old; no one would call her old. She has a bluff bow, lovely lines. She's a fine seaboat: weatherly, stiff and fast, very fast, if she's well handled. No, she's not old; she's in her prime.
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Old 09-25-2012, 12:57 PM   #40
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

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Sweet! So how do yall do the boat? Sorry to repeat myself but I am just really curious......
We put out two anchors. We were able to dive and make sure they were in good spots. We keep the boat far enough away from the tower that it wouldn't swing into it with changing winds and tides. We had to swim over to the tower to be hoisted up. It was nerve racking leaving the boat. He plans on putting in some mooring buoys.
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Old 09-25-2012, 01:11 PM   #41
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

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We put out two anchors. We were able to dive and make sure they were in good spots. We keep the boat far enough away from the tower that it wouldn't swing into it with changing winds and tides. We had to swim over to the tower to be hoisted up. It was nerve racking leaving the boat. He plans on putting in some mooring buoys.
I hear ya! Talk about your worst nightmare, waking up to realize the boat is nowhere in sight.

Up till now I was thinkin one anchor and a chase line to the tower leg to pull it over but I guess two anchors is a little bit more "insurance".

Thanks bro, yall killed it! Nice work!!
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Lucky Jack - .......The Surprise is not old; no one would call her old. She has a bluff bow, lovely lines. She's a fine seaboat: weatherly, stiff and fast, very fast, if she's well handled. No, she's not old; she's in her prime.
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Old 09-26-2012, 06:08 AM   #42
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

Thats all LOWVIZZ! He is the video master!
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Old 10-11-2012, 02:06 PM   #43
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

Hell I need to get on Spearboard more....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Waiting2Exhale View Post
How do yall manage the boat overnight with changing winds, tides, etc?

We have a couple of towers here Ive thought about overnighting on but to leave the boat down there unattended would freak me out.......
As Eric said, we dropped the big plow anchor and physically crammed it in a crack in a ledge (on scuba) to make damn sure it wouldn't work itself out. I also tossed my wreck hook out about 30 degrees off the main anchor line and THEN threw a stern anchor off the back. So, it was actually three anchors. I wasn't as worried about it coming loose as much as swinging around into the tower with a wind/current change. Even with all that, I basically woke up every 30 minutes or so with semi-panic attacks, haha.

Todd and I did some combined bug hunting/ mooring anchor scouting on scuba and found a perfect natural location to wrap a chain or cable next time we are out there. That one will be a little further away so boats can swing 360 degrees without getting jammed up in the tower structure.

I think the best advice I could offer anyone trying to do something similar is to run a tag line or something to the tower leg in case the current has picked up and/or shifted to a different direction. I was a little worried about the swim back to the boat the next day - if you get blown off the tower in a nasty current, you're gone and the boat won't do you any good at that point.
I've never seen it rip at Frying Pan, but I've been to Diamond Shoals when the current is too damn fast to swim against. Something to think about before you decide to all get off the boat!

It truly was a major highlight in my diving 'career'. Major thanks to Richard Neal for the opportunity and I look forward to going back to dive and help get the place fixed up any way I can. You can learn more about the tower itself or reach Richard at http://fptower.com/ or find him on Facebook under FryingPan Tower.
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Old 10-14-2012, 08:09 AM   #44
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Re: Frying Pan Shoals (pics)

Flippin' awesome.
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