Well today saw the first afternoon battle with NABS. John coffil, Jay and my self were there with Chris E in attendance. It was a balmy 4 degrees C (39 F). No ice on the water but it looked might cool. John had the Tirpits armed with 4 cannons, The scharny was ready to go. The PE had the rudder servo go and the kept blosing a gas line. So it went out as a target. And needless to say everyone had a good time. There were no sinks. The cool weather seemed to be having an effect on the co2. Here are some shots: Here is the shot of the bow of the Tirpits after a ram on the scharny The last battle will be on saturday. It was so cold that Jack the Monkey abandoned his pearch from the PE. So now the PE will go in for a complete resheeting of the hull. In 14 months I have had her she has performed magnificently.
Cool photos. I recall attending an event with the LEAG a few years ago up in Erie. It was actually snowing just a little bit. And we had bottles freeze in the ships. It seemed really crazy to be out there battling in that kind of weather. But it was great fun. In the MBG, we would battle until the pond froze completely over some years. We had a battle one time and the pond had a thin layer of ice around the edge, and some patchy ice floating around in the center. It was really thin, and some of the skippers tried to drive through it to break it up. One ship had the ice tear a long gash in the side. It was absolute madness. And it was great fun. I am becoming a fair-weather sailor in my old age. haha. Mikey
The PE definitely needs a resheet as I only took two below and it was taking on a fair bit of water. John C managed to put a few copperheads into the hull.
Gee, with that kind of weather it looks like you'd get more shots out of an HPA bottle than a CO2 bottle. I've seen Big Gun ships freeze their bottles in their boats, but never Fast Gun ships before. Good to hear you enjoyed your battle. You're crazier than I am, fair-weather Californian that I am.
It was mighty cold all the ships cannons were not working well due to the cold weather, it is suposed to go up to 9 degrees but I would not hold my breath on that. It was a good time and good to get together with the guys from NS again. I hope to get together moer often next year with a new boat.
What's going there with the cannons freezing up? I have had Bismarck out in minus temperatures and never had the cannons freeze up. The only time I had an issue was when the Houston Sank on Dec 21, the pond froze over and it was 3 days later before the model was recovered from 15ft of water. Once out of the water I put a battery to it to try the guns and they fired but froze coming out. There was not a lot of pressure left in the bottle. Course there was a wind chill blowing at the time of recovery. However I did notice the bottle in Bismarck turning into a chunk of ice while firing the cannons. Brrrr brings back memories. Glad to hear you guys had a good time.
Hey: what happened last weekend guys? any reports? anyone sink? anyone show up? anyone... you get the picture.
Well Steve C and I were there be it a bit late. My friend Terry and our newest member. Capt of a Graf Spee, was there when we arrived. Also my friend Barry from Calgary was with us too. The four boats, Scharnhorst, Nagato, Lutzow and the Sinker Maru were up and running. Both Terry and Barry ran Lutzow and Terry ran Nagato for a bit. The Sinker Maru was used as a mobile target for practise and it was fun, Terry's daughter ran that one and did a good job too. The Maru sank a couple of times due SERIOUS 'lead poisoning' *(resheeting is way required). Well, Scharnhorst finally sank to damage!! No one pulled her over or rammed a big hole in it. Unfortunately the only pics that were taken have gone back to Calgary, but Barry will send them to me and I will post what is there. Found out what was going on with the guns, at least on Scharnhorst. No freezing up of the guns, there is a BB dimple on the very end of the STBD side mount and a huge dimple on the port gun. Forgot all about putting the hose back on the gun barrels DOH!. The BBs were coming out of the breach with a loud crack but then they hit a dimple and slowed right down and just bounced of the other ships hulls. This made the exchanges look god but unfortunately the normal number of belows were missing on Nagato this weekend. Lesson learned there. I also had my drive gear come loose so I lost propulsion too. Both defects are fixed, in case we go out again. The stern mounts worked the best for Scharnhorst this weekend. After the recovery, Scharnhorst acted as a shore battery, quite effectively too. Holed Lutzow and Nagato above the waterline. (It is illegal to leave unfired BBs in a gun here is Nova Scotia so I had to do something). Good fun was had by all. If anyone wants to get out this weekend let me know. J
