Happy Hours

M/V Broulee passing the light at Thomas Point Shoal (Annapolis, MD)

     What was supposed to be a quick one day reunion with Rick, Deb & Izzy (M/V Broulee) has turned into the start of our newest adventure as we have decided to start moving south.  We will buddy boat with Broulee for a few days, slowing moving down the Chesapeake Bay.  One of the many perks of having a buddy boat is the "mandatory" happy hours.

Make It Neat

     When it rains it pours.  Our streak of bad luck continues to haunt us as we have experienced yet another setback/delay.  Last Friday, we discovered the refrigerator went on strike - permanently.  The refrigerator is a vintage 1991 model that had been repaired once already by a previous owner for a refrigerant leak in 1999 and has developed another leak.  The freezer, a separate unit which is from a pre-refrigerator era, is questionable as to its true condition and is suspect for catastrophic failure in the very near future.  So, out with the old and in with the new. Both units will be replaced this week.  Hopefully, and if my calculations are correct, the new units will greatly reduce our electrical loads on the house batteries because they are dual electric, 12VDC & 120VAC.  The old units were 120VAC and between the two we would burn up 300+ amps hours (12VDC) between battery chargings.  We will run the new units on the 12VDC side at about 1/3 of the amp draw or less.  More on that later after we have a chance to get some real time operational data.  The only down side to the new units is they are a little smaller and the freezer does not have an ice maker.  No ice maker, oh well, back to scotch - make it neat.

Stink

     Delays, delays and even more delays.  Last week we tried to return to Pennsylvania one more time before we shoved off for points south (read Bahamas).  Ten minutes before we were to drive back to Pennsylvania, Sharon checked the shower box (pump) in the forward bilge to make sure it had worked properly after I took a shower.  The pump worked as designed but the holding tank macerator pump had ruptured and raw sewage had found its way into the front bilge.  Wait, I just took a shower, now I got to clean up poop?  Long story short, the holding tank vent had failed due to corrosion in the hull fitting and the tank aerator built up pressure in the holding tank until sewage was forced out a failed gasket in the macerator pump.  Glad it was the pump and not the tank.  For tank repairs, a seacock would need to be removed from the front bilge and that would call for the boat to be hauled onto the hard, then the seacock and tank could be removed from the front bilge compartment.  That would have been an expensive proposition to haul the boat again just one week after it was launched.  Now, we are back on course although we are preforming sea trials and other tests of boat systems while staying in close proximity to the marina.  And to debunk a myth, EVERYBODY'S poop does stink

2012 Cruise, Part II

     On the 29th of July, Big Run was gracefully slipped back into the water.  This past Friday, August 3rd, we did a short sea trial and I am proud to say everything checked out okay (or not).  The work on Big Run continues and the work list is getting shorter.  Although we were land lubbers for 10 weeks and we enjoyed it very much, especially reuniting with family and friends, our short sea trial has rekindled our passion to be on the water.  Our tentative plans are to return to Pennsylvania this week, drop off my mother's car, and my sister will bring us back to the boat so that we can start the 2012 cruise, part II.

Cheers

     We learned a very valuable lesson this past weekend.  When boaters get together, it's always a good time, even if you are on land!  Although Short Walk (Joe & Ann - they'll always be Short Walk to us) sold their boat, Sharon and I traveled to Doylestown, Pa last week to visit Joe & Ann.  We had a wonderful time reuniting with Short Walk and learned that, although you are homeless (read boatless), boaters still know how to have a great time.  In addition to meals that make you go back for seconds, the company was the best.  And if that wasn't enough excitement we went on a field trip and toured Fonthill Castle (www.mercermuseum.org), very cool.  So the moral of the story is, "You can run, you can hide, hell, you can sell your boat, we will find you and a great time will be had by all".  Cheers!

Fonthill Castle - Note the "all concrete' construction, including the roof!

Fonthill's owner, Henry Chapman Mercer, was an avid tile collector and tile manufacturer (Moravian Tile Works).  In the photo is a very small sampling of the tile that was incorporated into the home.  Interior photos are prohibited, this photo was taken, by permission, of an exterior porch ceiling.

Two of my favorites ladies, Ann and Sharon.  I have more!

Portable outhouse at Fonthill Castle, check out the air conditioner on top!

  

We Are Living

     This posting is long overdue,  Just like our return to the boat is very long overdue  Back in May, after our return to "our" marina in Rock Hall, we spent some time on the hook catching up on boat maintenance.  Then on May 17th, we had the boat hauled and put on the hard for the summer.  I know it sounds crazy for full time cruisers to have their boat on the hard for the summer.  We thought it would be a new adventure to "go home" for a few months,  What an obscene notion!  When we developed the boat motto, "Everyday is an adventure, every evening is an event", little did we know that the adventures on water are far better than those on land.  We are currently staying with family in metropolitan Harrisburg, PA.  For two people that lived most of their lives in the country with only two traffic lights, our tolerance for red lights in the city went out the window many weeks ago.  We would rather be waiting for a bridge opening on the ICW.  And with the traffic lights come traffic congestion.  We never saw a rush hour on the water.  We never had to keep the boat between the painted lines, just out of skinny water! We never had to look for a parking space, just a place with the best vista to drop the boat hook.  We never have boats tailgating us, because they all pass us whenever they want to, albeit some of them wake us. When we are on the water, without a car, having to walk to grocery stores, waking up to a new adventure every day, we are living.

Emergency Repairs

     Over the last few months I have discussed the woes of boating, in particular from the maintenance point of view.  We had our major mechanical malfunction while in the Bahamas with the ruptured oil cooler for the transmission resulting in catastrophic transmission failure.  This past Friday I installed a new fresh water pump for the domestic side of the boat.  You know, so that we can take a shower, wash dishes or flush a toilet.  The old pump needs a complete overhaul including the pressure switch and, once it has been overhauled by yours truly, will be placed in the boat's inventory as a spare.  We carry many spares and with Big Run spending most of the time on the hook and traveling to remote areas (read Bahamas), we need to carry a large inventory of spares.  Back to the new water pump.  Less than 24 hours after being put into service, as Sharon was taking a shower, the pump failed.  After diagnosing the new pump I discovered that the pressure switch, for one reason or another, had failed.  Fortunately,  the pressure switch from the old pump was still good.  Now, we need to remove the new pump, reinstall the faulty pressure switch and return the entire unit to the vendor that supplied it to our marina where we had purchased the pump.  

     After our transmission "adventure" I started thinking about preventive maintenance and how much is enough.  I had once asked Rick (M/V Broulee) "How much preventive maintenance is enough?"  Rick just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.  I replaced the water pump as a preventive maintenance measure and what do I get?  More aggravation.  For anyone thinking about a boating lifestyle, you may want to reconsider boating if you lack a mechanical and electrical background.  You must also understand that you are on call 24/7 for emergency repairs.

Back In The Exumas

     This past week has been very busy with land adventures and adventures on the water.  On Sunday we traveled through the Dismal Swamp Canal.  The canal is a little like the interstate, straight and boring.  Sunday afternoon we found a free dock in Portsmouth and waited for Joe & Ann on S/V Short Walk to arrive on Monday.  Short Walk arrived just in time to take one of the last two free dock spaces.  That evening we dined at the Bier Garden where we enjoyed some wonderful German cuisine. 

      Tuesday was a new adventure as we toured the Battleship Wisconsin.  Joe at 6'4" and myself at 6' found it difficult to navigate the decks because of the low overheads.  Joe, a former serviceman of the Navy, was able to get around better than myself.  Thanks to hardhats, we all walked away without injury.

     Tuesday night was a planned outing that exceeded our expectations.  The four of us went to The Commodore Theatre in Portsmouth.  This theatre was restored to an art deco design of the 40's with an additional flair of having tables instead of rows of theatre seating.  On each table was a telephone, your direct connection to the kitchen.  Call in your order, dine at your table before the movie, and if you tell the kitchen to hold your desert, it will be served part way through the movie.  What a unique experience!  The movie - The Hunger Games - my rating 6 out of 10.

     Wednesday morning came at 6a.m. as we prepared to run the Chesapeake Bay non-stop.  We did this last year because of the weather and did it again this year for the same reason.  With a little push from the winds and favorable tides at the right times we got back to Long Cove Marina on Thursday morning at 7:10a.m.  That was 3 hours better than last year's run.

     Thursday morning was a time of recuperation but on Friday it was boat work, boat work, boat work.  Saturday was boat washing day before the rains came!  Now, it's time to get back out on the hook.  The next three weeks will be spent painting teak and whatever other work we can manage to do.  Who said "Let's Go Boating!"  Who knows, but maybe I'll get a chance to kick back with a cold beer and watch a sunset reminiscing that I was back in the Exumas (Bahamas).

On the foredeck of Battleship Wisconsin

Hard working woman

The ladies take a stroll on the fantail

Joe & Ann (S/V Short Walk) at Commodore Theatre

The Pasquotank River

     When you depart the Alligator River in North Carolina and are heading north, you must make a navigational decision - ICW Route 1 through Coinjock or ICW Route 2 through the Dismal Swamp.  We have always chosen Route 1 through Coinjock, whether we were heading south or north.  However, there is always an exception and that would be our migration north this spring, when we chose Route 2.  When you depart Elizabeth City, NC for the Dismal Swamp, you travel north on a river to access the Dismal Swamp Canal.  There is an abundance of wildlife on this river as shown in the photos below.  This river is our third installment in the Best Scenic Waterways.  This river is the Pasquotank River.

M/V "Rust Bucket"

     The only reason this boat qualifies for the "Boats of Interest" label is because the twin 150 Mercs mounted on the stern are worth 25 times more than the value of this rust bucket.

The Rest Is History

     The story has been told once or twice, or even more, but it does warrant another time because it was purely a chance encounter.  Sharon and I were on our inaugural trip south on the ICW.in 2010.   Somewhere in the vicinity of Cocoa Beach, FL we were passed by a sailboat.  Yes, I said passed by a sailboat.  When you're a slow boat to China, aka a trawler, you do get passed by other boats that are traditionally slower than yourself.  But in this case, being passed by this sailboat was a very good thing.  After being passed, the sailboat's Admiral, Ann, hailed us because of our boat name and our hailing port.  We are Big Run with a hailing port of Rock Hall, MD, and they are Short Walk with a hailing port of Furlong, PA.  Okay, the hailing ports don't match but they do keep their boat in Rock Hall, MD.  It's all about the boat  names. We chatted on the radio with them for awhile.  As these two slow boats traveled south on the ICW that afternoon, we were never separated by much distance, and soon it was time to look for an anchorage.  Both Short Walk and Big Run shared an anchorage that night at Pine Island which included an impromptu happy hour, and the rest is history. 

Goose Creek

     We have passed through this waterway many times, but never on a sunny day.  Although each day was grey and overcast, it was always a beautiful and scenic waterway.  Located in North Carolina just south of the Pamilco River, the creek is about 5 miles long and is packed with swamps, marshes woodlands and small tributaries.  It has earned our title of best scenic waterway, this is Goose Creek.

A Fighting Chance

     We've been slowly making our way north since our departure from Stuart, FL on the 30th of March.  Some days we cruised for 40 or 50 miles.  Some days we cruised 60 or 70 miles.  Sometimes we took the day off.  We cruised for 5 days with our good friends Rick, Deb & Izzy (M/V Broulee).  One day we cruised for 87 miles with the help of a flood tide so that we could rendezvous with our good friends Joe & Ann on S/V Short Walk.  Since reuniting with Short Walk on the 9th of April, we have been cruising with them.  They have been taking side excursions to different towns to visit friends.  We have been meeting some of our friends on the waterway.  Just last night I went up to the pilothouse just before sunset and spotted M/V Epilogue, another Krogen 42, heading off for a different anchorage.  They had not seen us because of the other boats that had anchored with us.  We hailed them on the VHF radio and managed to catch up on some things.  This morning Epilogue stopped by for a drive-by hello.  We hadn't seen Phillip and Connie for almost 18 months and we managed to say hello and spend a few moments "together" albeit from 30 feet away as we each stayed on our respective boats. 

     If our planning pans out, remember Jello, Short Walk should catch up to us on Thursday morning in our current anchorage on the Alligator River. Our anchorage is on the south side of the Albemarle Sound.  This body of water has always been our arch enemy because we do not have stabilizers which would prevent us from rolling from side to side.  The Sound is oriented in a east west lay and with its shallow depth can provide for some very rough seas when the winds are strong.  Big Run always handles best when she is very heavy so yesterday we topped off the fuel and fresh water tanks to give us a fighting chance.

ICW Sunrise

M/V Broulee departing Cumberland Island (4-5-2012)

S/V Short Walk on the hook at Butler Island (4-11-2012)