More Practice and Still Living Aboard
March 14 to March 20
Monday March 14 2020
Had a lot of fun today. The morning was dead calm and had good coffee then Dianne started driving. The goal was to travel to a new marina about 30 miles out and stay for a night. The marina we selected was Harbor Village Marina 25 miles north. We plotted the route on two different GPS systems and checked them against each other to make sure it was safe.
Jay the boat dealer said he would drop by and see the boat so I texted him our plan. Jay texted back it was a good practice ride and very nice marina.
After we passed a south bound Barge Dianne said she was done driving. I though she did a great job and even used the autopilot.
I took over and everything worked. Even fired up the generator and had a hot cup of coffee during the ride. The scenery was great.
From the boat underway
And me hard at work driving the boat.
The marina had a shallow entrance and the texted a course to follow which was not a problem at all. Had more than 6 feel of water under the boat the whole way in.
Rode our bicycles around the neighborhood and it full of big one family homes looks like 5-6 bedrooms everything looks expensive to me. I told Dianne we were not well enough off to even talk about buying in. I think just the land price would be more than I could afford. But to be honest even if I could afford a home here I would not buy one they are too big and in most cases impractical for most living styles. For example many have 3 floors in addition to being build on the flood poles.
Tuesday 15 2022
After a hot shower last night climbed into bed and fell asleep quickly. Woke with pain in my hands which is more common now. Read a little fell back asleep woke again at 5 a little chilly so covered my head and dozed. Dianne seems to sleep better in her sweats.
Saw a derrick sail boat off the coast during our walk last and asked about it. Turns out it was a stolen sail boat from last July. The owner did not register it and the man that stole did not know how to tight knots. Washed away from shore on a King tide and grounded. Police arrested him and the boat was abandoned now waiting for government to pick it up and haul it off.
We had a normal breakfast of two coffees and half a toasted bagel and got underway. No problems except for normal fools on the way home. First coming out from bridge and marine a big cruiser pulled up behind without any warnings and passed us slowly much too closely. I became uncomfortable with the channel depth and stopped to let him go by. No wave no contact on Radio no horn nothing. Then later an oncoming boat on the wrong side of the Channel did not yield any space. I was on very edge as a slow boat should be and was forced out of channel into shallow water. Lucky for me it was deep enough for Just Do It to stay off the bottom but I was not happy,
Later a boat came off the shore and waved at us. Turned out to be Jay our boat agent. We stopped and caught up on stuff. Here are the pictures he took of use.,
Wednesday March 16th
The weather was clear so we decided to attempt the run to Southport. So once again we plotted the course and got underway in good time. Dianne drove out of the dock and through the Snow Cut. Although this is not a long run it is very narrow and wanders all over the place. So navigation and driving requires a lot of steady steering, following the course and understanding of the Buoys. To make it interesting they, flip them in the Snow cut so on both ends the red is right, but in the cut the Green is right. Not sure way but it does make have a to date GPS important.
North of Southport on the Fear river there is a navy ammunition dump, with lots of restricted water areas. I must have gotten too close to the signs not behind them but close enough to read them with binoculars. A small PT boat came and followed us along behind the signs. I was feeling nervous not wanting to get shot or cause trouble I moved away from the signs and restricted areas and that boat went back to base.
Made it all the way to SouthPort and turned around and started back home again. This time I was on the opposite side of the channel and no one came out to follow me along.
Saw a dredge and I should have taken a picture of it is at least a mile wide and has a ton of service boats running around it. Barges that take away the sand and boats that move booms and lots of radio commutations all around.
Once back Dianne and I played Bocci ball I lost again this is getting to a habit with me.
Thursday March 17
Had a plan to drive up to Wellington Harbor and spend the night. However the plan also included a test anchor drop. So while in the dock I tried to use the anchor winch and got nothing no sound, no movement and no anchor drop.
Started looking into the equipment and I found that the clutch could be released allowing the anchor to drop but even the manual bar supplied I could not budge winch, meaning gears had to be seized. I took out my tools and started digging into the gearbox. Went all the into the gear box and removed the idler gear found the motor was free but the main gear would not shift even a little. I put the 6 inch hand bar supplied on it and then stood on that and then jumped on it. It shifted a little bit. Repeated the exercise again and freed it up. Then spayed in Rust buster and scraped out all the salt and rust and could just turn the drive with the short hand and bar lots of muscle. After applying more oil and grease I closed the box back up now I turn the winch manually, but still no motor movement at all. Went back to the boat yard and asked for advise and they suggest looking for the motor reset, as should have tripped before the motor burnt out. After looking in the back of the boat, checking all the fuses I was about to give up when I remembered the storage area under the bed having some electronics in it. Checked there and breaker was tripped. Reset it and the anchor worked just fine.
As this required most of the morning the planned overnight trip was canceled. So we took the boat out to side of the river dropped the anchor with a current and let out rope, low and behold it held fast for 20 minutes. We decided that was enough of a test raised the anchor and did a little more practice driving and docking. Had a dinner and off to bed after I lost at cards again.
Friday March 18
Decided to put the canoe on this morning. What a mess it made! Carried it down and tried to place it on top I could get it up there but the rack was too small and canoe too big. Both the bow plate and stern plate would ride on the fiberglass roof and/or the sunlights. Just not good! Took it back up to the car and tied it back on to go home.
Next we decided to play with the searchlight as I noticed it while working with the canoe. I could make it come on sometimes but not move. So again more rust buster and little force and it started to work well. Then the light would not come on at all. Looked into it and clearly it was burnt out. Most likely it was the original from 2009 as it no longer made. Priced a new one $145 reluctantly I took the bulb out. Then off to the marine supply store. But the more I looked at the light the more convinced I became it was same size as a car headlight. So I stopped and bought one for $25 including the wiring harness.
Back I went to the boat and installed it. Now my day was complete everything was working.
Saturday March 19th
Did the run to Wellington and it was good start. But about 3 miles out the weather turned. Wind jumped up and water was Rough. Time to start back. Listened to the weather and an advisory was issued for thunderstorms with high winds. The boat was bucking and splashing water over the top of the cabin. But the boat just kept on track and aside from be bumpy did not seem to have any problems. Made it back to the dock without problems with a smooth ride all the way in after we left the Cape Fear River.
However we did notice the new wiper was upside down. OK I can fix that. Then we noticed the shower head had snapped off. Back to the hardware store and more parts and more work. Both jobs went well. The weather was closing in and we decided to call it a trip and go home on Sunday. So to leave the boat in the best shape I wax the area where the fenders rub and spend $100 for new felt fender covers. The boat looked great.
Sunday March 20
After coffee I was cleaning the back deck and getting the water disconnected and ropes adjusted. I noticed the bilge pumping was cycling a lot more than normal. So an investigation found hot water running into the bilge area. This was a relief as it there was not structural damage or a broken hose. However the hot water heater is not cheap. So I looked at the heater for the leak and found nothing unusual. Asked Dianne to turn on the water pump and water spayed everywhere back under the deck. Now I am upset I think the heater must have a hole in it. So I start looking for how to take it out and in the toilet bilge sump I find a loose hose fitting on a tee. Boy was I happy 5 minutes everything was back together and working fine even pressure tested. A half hour latter buttoned up all the doors and hatches shifted the boat to the center of the slip and we started driving home.
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