The IRCWCC 2009 NATS was my first event with IRCWCC  group. I got hooked on the hobby by Curt Stokes and was battling locally with the North Atlantic Battle Squadron (NABS).

When it was announced that the IRCWCC NATS was being held in Rhode Island, I started making plans to attend. The first thing I realized was this was going to be a long drive. A nice 12.5 hr drive without any stops but still I made my plans. I tried to convince some others to come along but those plans fell through. My initial plan was take my Prinz Eugen (a VU class warship) as my primary and take my USS Alabama as my reserve. The reserve boat was contingent on it’s completion during the winter.  I had just received the Prinz Eugen about 2 weeks prior to 2008 CANNATS.  The winter of 2008 saw no progress as I was planning on moving into a house from a 1-bedroom condo in the spring. So all of my hobby stuff was stored in a storage locker. I even tried to get my first bout, the USS South Carolina ready but it was not completed in time. So on July 18^th the car was packed and I was (to quote Family Guy) on the road to Rhode Island. The only place I had any concern was the US-Canada border. I did not think it wise to tell the agent the ships were armed with bb cannon so I just kept the story to a model boat regatta. So once I crossed the border it was several hours until I hit the hotel. After checking in I unpacked and turned on the TV.  Channel 3. Nuff said. So the next day it was off to the pond for speed tests and other tests. Of course I did not print off directions to the pond so I was searching for the place. I finally make it and I see others by the pavilion. I finally mad it to NATS. The Prinz Eugen passed all tests except for speed check. The moss on the pond just stopped he boat cold. But thankfully all was not lost. Someone had an extra pair of props to loan me and the boat seemed to move fine after that.  So after the tests were completed for the day we all went to supper at a place called Bishop Hill tavern. To say the food service was a little slow would be an under statement. I think I was the very last one served. I guess a turkey wrap is harder than it looks. After that it was retiring to the room and make sure I changed over from channel 66 to my 2.4 radio.

Day 1 Battle 1

The Prinz Eugen (PE) was launched and ready to go. Prior to the battle I was having a little issue with the pump hose it seemed to want to come off from the pump. I thought I resolved it by pushing it on a little more. Now came the signal for war to begin. Coming from a battling experience of 4 to 6 ships at an event to around 22 was a little but different. I was used to having room. Now it was staying in a pack. A part of the dreaded “swarm” The ship seemed to performing well pumping out the water. Although it was hard to keep the pump on as the gimbal settings were off and I had not made any correction. But still the pump stream was working. So I decided to call my 5 and hopefully escape but it was not to be. I noticed the stream stopped coming out. So it was steer as close to shore as possible for the inevitable sink. And sink I did.

Battle 2

Having patched the damage the PE launched and was ready for the declaration of war. I hung back once again as part of the swarm. The Allies really did not like going near the swarm and for a good reason. A boat would get chewed up quicker than piranhas on a cow. I did notice one of my cannons was firing rather weakly. So I decided to call my 5 and come in. In between sorties I adjusted the cannon hoping it would fire a little better.  The second sortie saw the PE try to sneak up and pot shot some unwary allied captain. I got some shots off but I am not sure at how successful I was. When I felt the ammo was expended I called 5 and in I came

Day 2

Due to the weather it was decided to have 1 on 1 battle’s today. I only had 1 battle. I challenged the USS South Carolina. Well it was a bit of a disaster for me. Not one scoring hit at all on the South Carolina. The battle was called when the PE rudders healed over and could not move. Some other noteworthy battles were the father-son battle and the Baden sinking an Iowa in a 1 on 1.

Day 3

The debate was on whether to run Campaign Lite or fleet battles. Fleet Battles won out. Also today was the dreaded night battle. So the PE was ready and was launched. Now once the PE was launched I noticed I was having some issues with the radio control. So just when war was declared, the control issues were coming worse. So I called my 5 and thankfully escaped. I then took the PE back to the table to see if there was any noticeable reason for the control issues. With nothing visible I had to bite the bullet and open up the balloon coating that held the receiver. There I saw my problem. Moisture was inside the receiver and had shorted it out. Thankfully Steve Andrews had a spare Spektrum receiver and Dave Simmons had a spare watertight box. So a hole was dug, the servo extensions inserted and the receiver hooked up and then binded to my transmitter. However at this point I was on the shelf until the goop dries. And believe me it took a while to dry. It was dry enough for Night Battle. As the park has lights it was not pitch black for battling but dark enough. Interesting at how people put illumination on their boat. From Nate’s superstructure that had led lights mounted in the cage masts to Rob A’s christmas lights on the Alabama.  It was definitely hard to tell friend from foe. So after a few potshots at some nearby boats I decided to call 5 as I did not want to sink and possible damage someone else’s receiver.

Day 4

Campaign Battle

The campaign was different as this was the first time I battled where there were convoy ships out on the water as targets as well as attempting to defend your own convoy ships. Convoy ships could touch you and send you to the shore for a few minutes. You could relaunch and reload your bb’s and gas unless you sink. I launched twice and was having issues with the battery life on the Spektrum transmitter. I was not lasting long. Still I managed to load and launch twice until the hour was up.

Battle 5

We moved back to the fleet battles.  As with past battles I was hanging out with the swarm. I did notice that the transmitter battery life was decreasing all week. So After I had managed to unload my rounds I decided to call 5 and come in. During the second sortie I almost had a major disaster. The transmitter died while the PE was in reverse. I immediately called out of control 5. Thankfully the ever present moss stopped it cold until I could get a spare transmitter battery in and after my 5 brought the boat in.

Battle 6

It is Friday and sadly the time just flew. So in Battle 6 with diminishing battery on the transmitter I decided it was go until I sunk. At this time the PE had hoisted the Canukistan flag. The canukistan flag was my idea after Steve and I were bantering all week. I went from Paul to P to Pete. Steve’s NC also was adorned with the Canukistan flag as well as a loonie and a twoonie. It still didn’t prevent him from getting shot at from me. So into the furball I went and promptly paid the price. Down she goes as I see the Pen sink. Thankfully it was close to shore for an easy recovery. Once it was recovered I was seriously considering entering the ship for the last event. The RING OF DEATH!! However I was having a tough receiver that would work on the bench and fail at pond side so I decided against it. After that it was off to Fall River for the Awards banquet about the USS Massachusetts. I must say I was impressed with the size of ship. I would definitely like to tour it again. I was named rookie of the year, which was a complete surprise to me.

I am already planning to try and make it for next year’s NATS. It was a blast.

Well I am still alive. Barely but kicking. Actually it is not that bad. I just completed a move into a house from a condo. I hate moving. God the packing. You really do not know how much crap you have until you move. All of a sudden it seems to expand to every available nook and cranny. Seriously. How can a condo require two 5X10 storage lockers and still have a ton of stuff back in the condo. There was no furniture stored there. At least I now got a work bench to start working on the boats again. So let’s see what I have in the fleet:

SMS Prinz Eugen is battle ready. Some minor tweaking of cannons and testing of systems. All battle damage from last has been repaired.

USS Alabama is back under construction (for the third year in a row). The old balsa has been stripped. It needs new water channeling installed. Also repairs need to be made to the deck. A cross brace has broken. A new cannon kit was purchased during the winter and the canons would need to be installed. Also pump needs to be installed.

USS South Carolina was in retirement. i think I am going to take her out of retirement and run her. it needs two cannons, pump and regulator.

DKM Graf Spee is just a hull. This year it will be cut. I have the hardware kit. No cannons and other stuff. I need more sintra  to create deck and super structure

HMCS Prince Robert. the hull is cut but no gear. It will remain that way for this year. I might build as a runner.

Also I am planning to obtain another hull. My thoughts are either a Tennessee, A QE class British battleship or get the Espana.

I am drawn to the Class 4 warship. I just love the small boats.In 2006 it sank the most feared vessel in the hobby of the IJN Nagato. of course I sunk first. Having no working pump will do that.

Well I am still alive. It has been busy since I moved to tech support. A day that is 8.5 hrs can some times be a 10 hr day. It is not too bad. The only pain in the ass are the calls that deal with Mac. Mac might be cool but don’t expect the world to revolve around you when 95% of everything else is designed for a Windows environment. And of course all these Macusers get bent out of shape when they are told they need a dedicated Windows environment to resolve their technical issues.  For example if you need an app load you need a Windows pc. No ifs ands or buts about it. Screaming at me that we did not bow down to your decision to spend $$$$ on a system nobody makes a lot of software for does not help. The second bitch is that Mac produces errors that are cryptic. You might as well get Sherlock Holmes on the case to figure it out. At least with Windows it may crap out but there is a defined message and support article for it. An Error 1 skipping with PocketMac and an Error 3 skipping are two different issues. Then of course which leaves me the the wireless carriers. Instead of telling you that you need a Windows based PC they decide they will transfer you off to some one else to tell you it. What a bunch of douche bags.

Ok I will say it. I have fucking snow.  A nice New Year’s Blizzard to ring in 2009. Well it proves once again that Al Gore and his band of enviro-scammers are wrong.  So i spent yesterday inside watching some movies. of course the movies were so bad that I shut them off about half way through. The first one was Star Wars: Clone Wars. It made absolutely no sense and well that got shut off. Then second was Cloverfield. I am sorry but I loathe movies that are shot from the perspective of a camcorder. It reminds me of the Blair Witch project. I hated that movie. It sucked. So that one lasted about halfway through. i could have watched more if they dropped the camcorder schtick. But I digress.

It is 2009. i wonder how many people made resolutions. Mine has always been never to make resolutions.

So here is the SMS Prinz Eugen. It will start it’s second season under my command. The year 2009 will be it’s first full season. I am hoping to get down to Rhode Island for IRCWCC NATS this year. And who knows the USS South Carolina (BB26) may come out of retirement.

First of all I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I know it is late but I have been busy.

Speaking of busy. I will now be moving into tech support. yep. Out of customer care and into the wolf pit of troubleshooting. The product is the ever lovable and addictive BlackBerry. I am looking forward to it.

The price of gas dropped this week. It dropped to a shocking 69.6 cents a litre. Whoo Hoo. Drop baby drop.

Thank a Vet for your freedom.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Well it is a week until the US Election. The choices could not be more crucial. But the choices are so ho hum.

There is the empty suit Barrack Obama. Does anyone  know what he stands for? I mean other than the usual “change” mantra. Change?  Loose change? Of course it is highly convenient that the MSM seems to have already thrown their hats on the obama bandwagon. Nothing like doing their jobs but then again if they annoyed “the one” that they would lose access.  Then of course the phrase” spreading the wealth” should  give you shivers.  When governments say spread the wealth, it means you are going to pay more in taxes. And more taxes until you are now “poor”. Of course you just won’t be the “official” poor. You know. The people that groups such as ACORN claim to represent.

Then there is McCain. He would spend money like a drunken Democrat. it just wouldn’t be as bad. My question is. if you want to spend money or your priority items, what items will you cut? No politician will say what he have to cut. I mean that makes too much sense. If they don’t  say they will cut then all is well with the world.

As always, if you don’t vote, don’t bitch at how the results turned out.

Well today is Election day. What a load of farm grade choices to choose from.

Elizabeth May:  all I can say is that she is a nut who screams green but for some reason is probably Liberal Red. Would it surprise me that she has made some more “deals” with Dion.

Stephane Dion: Go back to what ever work had the  regret at hiring you. Academics is not real work.

Jack Layton: Please go back to Toronto. After all it is not like you know what work is. I would like to know what income lever you need to become “rich” so that the NDP can then soak you for every dime.

Steven Harper: about as warm and cuddly as a cactus in the arctic. Please don’t hurt yourself with a smile. Thye medical bills alone should you display some personality would be monumental.

Gilles Duceppe: Don’t we have treason laws somewhere?

The important thing is to Vote. if you don’t vote then don’t bitch as to why things didn’t turn out the way you want it.

Well CANNATs X is approaching. It is less than 2 weeks to go. The Price Eugen has arrived and is ready to go. The USS Alabama is not quite there. I am in the process of re-sheeting and painting. The balsa has been  glued on but now it has to be bondo’d. What is Bondo you may ask. Bondo is the automotive body filler. It is great for sealing cracks. Once the balsa has been bondo’s it will be sanded and then painted. I am hoping to paint on Thursday. That is if the F^&%^&% rain will hold off.

Whomever decides our schedules should be forced to eat a 10 ton pile of dog shit. Three FUCKING weekends in a row. What kind of lunacy is that I am pissed beyond belief. More later. Work beckons