The New Normal

Well, this is certainly not a post I envisioned when I headed out to the boat to prepare for the trip to the Bahamas.  Up until recently I've been working hard to get the boat back into proper cruising shape and I think it is about there.  There is one big item left...but more on that later.

Unfortunately, while I was busy working on the boat, the SARS-Cov-2 (Coronavirus or COVID19) virus was busy spreading across the planet.  For a while, perhaps fueled by some of the mis-information that was available at the time, I had held out hope that the spread would slow or not reach the more remote places and small towns where I am or intended to travel.  Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case at all.

Around the time the replacement standing rigging finally arrived at the boat, it was increasingly evident that the trip was not likely to happen.  My help had gone back home several weeks prior while we awaited the creation and delivery of the rigging and it was obviously unwise for him to return to the boat once the rigging made it to the boat.  It also seemed like a bad idea for me to pack up, drive more than half-way across the continental United States and return home.  The idea of all that public contact by staying in hotels (if they were even open), eating fast food, and getting gas and supplies for the trip would only increase my risk of coming in contact with the virus and possibly spreading it with me.  So, I decided that I would "shelter in place" and take the time to continue working on the boat...albeit at a slower pace.

In some aspects, the cruising lifestyle lends itself rather well to physical isolation.  If you are on your boat and are well provisioned, it is fairly easy to isolate yourself from society for a relatively long period of time.  Unfortunately, if like me, you have not yet provisioned for a trip, all of the panic hoarding of supplies has made it almost impossible to provision now.  Trying to get groceries and supplies for a week or two can be an exercise in frustration.  Not only are you met with bare shelves, but physical isolation seems nearly impossible as everyone seems to crowd the stores trying to find coveted items like fresh meat, canned goods, cleaning goods, and toilet paper. Fortunately I was partially stocked for a trip with four people, so I do have enough to get by...at least until our supply chain can catch up and some of the panic hopefully subsides.

Amid all the bad panic behaviors, there is also what seems like a sizable contingent (at least here in relatively rural North Carolina) that still believe this is a hoax, or just another flu, or will somehow disappear in a few weeks, or for other reasons that escape me, seem to ignore hygiene and physical distance recommendations of the scientific community. While I'm not at anchor and completely isolated, I am glad that I am at the farthest slip out at the far end of the marina, so there is very little traffic around my boat.

My hope is to reschedule this trip once all of this blows over.  In the meantime, I have a number of projects to work on...guess that is another advantage of owning a boat in these times...there is always something to fix or improve on a boat. I should also have a bit more time to catch up on blog posts. 

Hope you are all staying safe and finding good ways to pass the time.

Fixin' Things

Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have called this blog "Fixing my boat in every location" as I think the majority of my posts deal with boat maintenance and repair.  And this one will be no different.

Having been unable to get out to the boat for almost two years left the boat gremlins plenty of time to break things.  I was actually fairly surprised that I haven't found more problems, but still have more than enough to keep me busy.  Fortunately one of my crew, Doug, joined me a week ago and he has been a great help as we tick things off the list.

As previously mentioned, one of the bigger items I found during my initial inspection of the boat was a leaking water heater.  Doug picked up a new one while en route to the boat, saving both shipping time and cost.  A few days ago we removed the old water heater and installed the new one.  A quick pressure test and....oops, forgot one hose clamp.  A second pressure test with the hose clamp installed and all is well in the fresh water system again. 

Of course, the leaking hot water heater did do us a bit of a favor by showing us that the electric bilge pump in the engine room was not working.  We discovered the float switch had broken free of its mount and was...well...floating.  After pumping about 14 gallons of water out of the bilge, my crew member was gracious enough to volunteer to work on that project (and having spent a lot of time in that engine room, I was happy to take him up on the offer).  He diagnosed that the problem with the system was that the float switch was not working as well as needing a new mount.  We decided to construct a new mount that would allow for easier maintenance, similar to the mount in the port engine room.  The new switch is now held securely in a new mount behind the engine where it belongs.

Mid "MacGuyver-ing" the new float switch mount.
No, the final version uses bolts and not electrical tape

I would like to say we gave the old water heater a fond send-off...but this thing has now tried to burn down my boat and sink it.

Mr. Broken Heater, meet Mr Dumpster.

Another maintenance item related to fresh water system was to clean and sanitize the fresh water tanks and lines.  This is a relatively simple, if not time consuming process of pumping the existing water out of the fresh water tanks, filling them up with new water, adding a little extra bleach to the mix, and running that solution through all the pipes.  Over the course of the past week and a half that was done (211 gallons is quite a bit of bleached water) and, after obtaining a new water filter for the under sink filter, the water on board is deemed once again safe.

We have had some wins in the maintenance department as well.  Another bilge pump, the main one in the port hull was inoperative but after disassembly and cleaning, we were able to get it running once again.  The raw water pump for the main reverse cycle air conditioning unit was also not working, but after removing the pump head, cleaning it and giving the motor a few spins by hand to free it, it is again among the working systems on the boat (a good thing too...as it is 28 degrees F outside as I type this but much warmer in the boat with the unit running in heat mode).  I even found a good deal on the replacement float switch.

So, things are coming along and the boat is getting back into proper shape.  Due to the cramped spaces and difficulty sourcing parts the projects always seem to take longer than you think it should, but definite progress is being made.

An Anchor is Hard to Digest

I've been trying to figure out what to write for a while now.  It isn't easy these days. When someone stops cruising and moves back to shore, they call it swallowing the anchor. Having not done many of the things I had hoped we would, I'm finding this process rather difficult.

After weighing our options, we decided to stay in Southport and put the boat up for sale here. It is probably not the ideal scenario, but neither was hurricane Matthew. Finding a place to stay further south just wasn't a financially viable option.  Maybe after more of the area rebuilds and more dock space is available we will reevaluate the situation. If so, maybe I can get one last sail on her.

In the meantime, we have been working on plans to move off of the boat, finish a couple of projects, and clean up so we can put Rover up for sale. In order to clean up the boat and finish the projects, it made sense to get another place to stay so we rented a furnished condo. We have partially moved off the boat and have been staying at the condo while we work on the boat.

A presidential election has come and gone since my last post and it only serves to make me question if selling the boat is the right thing to do.  Part of me certainly wants to sail off down through the islands and stay there for the next four or more years. The cruising community is far more appealing than all of the silliness happening on that spec of dirt that was once my home. Of course, being a Caucasian male, I can imagine a great many others in the country find this sort of exit plan to be more of a necessity. But I'm pretty sure I would rather spend the next years among cruisers than integrated back into what passes as U.S. society these days. I guess if anything, this whole thing may have increased the value of my boat.

Meanwhile, the work continues.

Waiting Out Hermine

We think we have a basic plan for making it down the Chesapeake. We even plan on doing some of the Albemarle Loop. Of course, Hermine (just upgraded from a TS to an H) also seems to be planning to visit everything we will on our way south.  So, for now we will sit here in what we hope will be a bit safer location to wait out the storm.

The forecast "cone" seems to change a bit as we go, but so far Baltimore seems to be outside of it. The worst of the forecasts are showing winds no more than 30 knots or so in the area.  We have doubled up on dock lines, added extra chafe protection, and removed most loose items from the cockpit.  Tomorrow is supposed to be the calm before the storm, so we will continue to watch the forecasts and make appropriate preparations.

To all our friends and acquaintances in the path of Hermine, we hope you stay safe and secure.

Thanks!...and stay tuned.

While we are making preparations for one last, hopefully more enjoyable, run down the Chesapeake and east coast, I wanted to take a few moments to say thank you.  We have received a overwhelming amount of support via the blog and email since I announced the unexpected change in plans.

As I guess is often the case in a public forum like this, there are a few that seem to feel it is necessary to point out how you were wrong and they would have done things differently even though they don't know or understand the whole story. Fortunately, in the cruising world, those types seem to be few and far between. That is the thing about the cruising lifestyle, the people out there doing it or dreaming of doing it are simply the best.  To those, I give my sincerest thank you for all of your support.

In other news...

Plans continue for our trip south and move back to land. I'm letting my wife decide the itinerary and timing and expect we will be taking off in the next week or two. In the meantime, believe it or not, there are a few minor things that need to be done on the boat.  This time they are not really necessary for safety as they are desirable for sale.  This has given me the chance to check out a couple stores in nearby Annapolis.

Our first stop was Bacon Sails.  Known for a large inventory of used sails, they also have a large selection of other used and new equipment.  The store is somewhat similar to Sailors Exchange in St. Augustine, but they have a bit less inventory and, well, less junk.  I actually went in looking for, among other things, a replacement handle for one of the hatches.  Somehow I managed to break the handle at the thickest part (I can only assume this is an old manufacturing defect). I didn't really expect to find the old Goiot handle so I was completely flabbergasted when I showed an employee the broken handle and he pointed to 3 baskets and said he thought he saw one in one of them.  Sure enough, we found it and it was even a never-used part.  Not a bad find for $4.

We also stopped by Fawcett. It is a West Marine like store with better prices.  I ended up picking up a cabin fan to replace a noisy and anemic fan we currently have as well as a couple other odds and ends.

I've added entries for these two stores on my Better Marine page. Well worth the stop if you are in the area.

The past week has been a heat wave here on the Chesapeake, so one good thing about being at the dock is we have air conditioning. Stay tuned...we will be heading out sometime soon.

One Last Cruise?

Well, here is another post I didn't think I would be writing. After the decision to abandon ship (so to speak), we started trying to figure out how we were going to go about moving off the boat, selling it, and moving on. A difficult task at any time, but even more so when emotions are running high.

We are currently sitting at Port Covington in Baltimore. Not a place I would consider scenic by any means. This is a very industrial port in a city that I doubt anyone would consider picturesque. On the bright side, it isn't as pricey as most of the surrounding areas if you are sitting at a dock.  So this was as good a place as any to let things settle a bit and decide how to proceed

On the dock in Baltimore.

Do we move off the boat and put her up for sale right here? As I mentioned, this is a relatively inexpensive place to let Rover sit while up for sale.  The boat would be accessible for anyone who wanted to take a look at her.  With the Annapolis boat show coming up, having it a reasonable drive away might be advantageous, but I'm not sure how many people are actively shopping for used boats while there. Baltimore is quite hot right now, but it doesn't stay that way. If the boat weren't sold by the time it starts getting cold, the boat would need to be hauled and winterized for the season.  Winterized, the boat wouldn't be easy to look at for a potential buyer. We also don't have anyone we trust who could keep an eye on the boat. In the end, it doesn't seem like keeping her up here in the Chesapeake is the best option

The other option is to take the boat south.  When we were shopping, we spent most of our time in Florida.  It seems that is where many of the catamarans tend to reside (at least the ones in the U.S.).  It is also where more services that are familiar with catamarans tend to reside. To top it off, it is where the broker we intend to use for the sale is located. While it is a long way from the Annapolis boat show, I just don't see it generating much more traffic beyond "tire-kickers", so I don't think we will miss much.  On the other hand, being available year-round and well positioned for a new owner to take the hop over to the Bahamas might be more worthwhile.

Of course, there is a bit of a problem with this second option.  Remember that my wife said she didn't want to do this anymore?  Yeah, that might be a problem. This is why I didn't really suggest this option.  Surprisingly, she did.

I've asked her several times now, and it seems she is OK with this.  In fact, the last few days she seems happy (or maybe that is just the hopes of leaving...ahem...scenic Baltimore harbor).  In any case, it appears we may be taking one last cruise.

A while back in St. Augustine

This time I hope all the schedules and pressures are gone and we can have a leisurely trip south...and hopefully we can keep the need for repairs to a minimum too.

And if anyone has any sights not to miss on a trip from the Chesapeake to Florida, let us know.

A Sudden End

This is certainly not the post I thought I would start writing just a few days after returning to the boat.

Our brand new Smartplug chordset

We were returning to check on the work that was done in the boatyard and determine our next steps. I thought I would be writing about our brand new custom poly fuel tank that should last significantly longer than the old one. And the new coat of anti-fouling paint and how it should adhere far better now that all the old layers are gone. And the new SmartPlug shore power connector and cord set that make shore power a little safer. I hoped I would not be writing about boatyard screw-ups like those I've experienced in the past. I certainly never expected to be writing this.

Our brand new fuel tank, full and ready to go.

Unfortunately, I'm writing to let you know that our adventure appears to be ending before it even really began. Four days after returning to the boat, my wife tells me she just can't continue living on the boat. 

While I don't recall if I have written about this, it is not a completely new subject around here. Back when we were finishing up the hardtop, my wife first mentioned that she wasn't happy with how our new life was unfolding. Since arriving on the boat, her experience consisted of a few long passages racing our insurance hurricane season requirement up the coast and a lot of time working on the boat. Having lived most of it in a boatyard at that time, I couldn't blame her and can't say I was feeling all that great about those months. Cruisers often speak of this life filled with high highs and low lows and we seemed to be at a low. I, however, had the advantage of good memories of the previous year on the boat to help keep me going. We talked about the issues and decided to press on to the Bahamas next season and then reevaluate after that. I figured once some of the highs could be realized, it would help balance things out.  You know, that whole fun to suck ratio thing.

In fact, one of the reasons I decided to risk trusting a boatyard again (despite my previous experiences) was so that she could take a break from the boat and go see family. The boat still needed the work but we didn't have to be the ones to do it and I figured the break would do us both some good. Up until we arrived back in Baltimore I thought it had helped. During the trip we told stories about life on the boat to friends and she seemed more upbeat in general. Dolphins playing at the bow of the boat, anchored in the Keys, and the mass of lights of cruise ships passing in the night were some of the often repeated stories.

I was more than a bit stunned when, during a discussion of our next steps while sitting on the boat, she exclaimed that she just cant do this anymore. Honestly, it left me reeling. For a long time we have invested a lot of effort learning to sail, chartering boats, searching for a boat, buying it, fixing it up and transitioning to full-time live-aboard cruisers. We've endured time apart, too much time in a boatyard, unexpected repairs, and other roadblocks. To me it feels we are so very close to cresting the maintenance hill left by the prior owner. It is absolutely heartbreaking to give up now.  With the Olympic coverage playing in the background as I write this, the analogy of an athlete training for the Olympics only to suffer a career ending injury just before getting on the plane to Rio seems a good analogy.

Three ducklings adrift on a piece of wood in the marina.
I wonder if they feel like I do right now?

My wife said she felt a wave of anxiety and dread wash over her when we got back to the boat. Even if we were to try and push on to the Bahamas, I see now that it will likely not be a fun experience for either of us. Ever since the discussion at the boatyard in Virginia she did a good job of hiding how bad she was feeling from me, but these feelings seem to have been building ever since that time and have finally boiled over. I wish I had understood how bad she was feeling much earlier, but now I think the damage is well beyond repair if it ever could have been repaired. The only solution seems to be to get rid of the thing causing these feelings. So, it looks like sometime in the near future, Rover will be up for sale.

Another soul adrift in the marina, just hanging on this morning.

We are still trying to figure things out, but I guess we will soon start moving off of Rover and then prepare her for sale. What is next for us, I simply do not know.  Right now we are just working on picking up the pieces.  My hope is that we can still find an escape from the rat race, but...I guess...it will not be on Rover.

Regular System Checks

Unlike a house, often on a boat it isn't the best idea to wait for things to fail. When your home moves around a lot, it seems even more things can fail and fail more often.  As a result, I perform regular checks on all sorts of systems on the boat.

Since we are getting ready to go, I was performing some basic system checks related to moving the boat.  I turn on all the navigation related lights to make sure bulbs and circuits are behaving. Easier to change a lightbulb a couple days before we leave than that morning...particularly when it is only the fault of the bulb about 1/2 the time.  I check the standing and running rigging for any wear issues or other problems.

I check fluid levels, strainers, belts, and hoses, and other items on all the engines as well as give them a general look for anything that appears out of place (something that has gotten longer and longer as I run into issues en-route in our travels). I then start and run the engines a bit to confirm function. While tied to the dock, I test the transmissions to verify shifting and power and make sure there are no strange vibrations or noises. I engage the generator to verify it is also providing power (didn't think I would forget that motor, right).

One of our drive motors.

Those are only a few of the checks one does before heading out.  There are also a number of regular checks I do when just sitting at the dock.  Battery condition and charge, strainers and raw water output for air conditioners, inspection of bilges, and exercising through hulls are among those tasks.  I also try to run the engines and transmissions every 10 days or so even when we aren't going anywhere to splash oil around and hopefully knock off any growth that is trying to attach to the props.

Lots of checking and some fixing. One item I learned to check is what I understand to be the single largest cause of boat fires, the shore power cable.  And that is actually the subject of this post. After performing the pre-departure checks I did a few of the static checks.  I very regularly check the shore power cable and connector temperature by hand when we are running higher load items like air conditioners. I'm not sure exactly how often I check the connectors, but it is typically more than once a week.  If the connector feels warm at all, I will get the non-contact thermometer out for a better look.

In the past I've been able to write off most abnormal temperatures to heating from sitting in direct sunlight, but not this time.  With the air conditioners running regularly the last couple days I check the connectors at the power pedestal and the boat.  The boat-side connector felt warm enough to justify the the thermometer.  I get the thermometer out and sure enough, the connector was reading about 20 degrees higher than ambient at 115 Fahrenheit. The interesting part was that it seemed to be coming from a very specific point in the shore power cord connector.

Since I had the generator running at the time anyway, it was a simple task to switch the AC over to the generator and pull the power connector.  I checked the connector and didn't see any damage or obvious signs of overheating. But I figured it would not stay that way so we made plans to replace the chord. My guess as to the problem was that the connectors inside the boat-end of the connector (the female 30 amp twist lock plug) were getting weak or possibly bent and not making good contact. We monitored the plug and limited power consumption but the connector continued to be warm when we would run the air conditioner for any length of time.

Our long range solution is to replace the chord with a new Smartplug chord and boat connector.  I've looked at the research on the plugs and prefer the simple design with larger contact surfaces. Unfortunately these are not in stock anywhere nearby and we intend to leave soon.  So, as a temporary measure, we replaced the connector on the end of our current chord.  After replacing the connector, we again monitored temperatures and now the connector and boat side receptacle were remaining at ambient temperature. The old connector, when removed from the cord a day later was just starting to show signs of overheating at one of the connections...but it was still a far cry from the scary pictures I've seen in failures of these connectors. I'm very glad I monitor this regularly and caught this early.

Just a bit of discoloration at the socket end.
(Yellow casing removed from end of connector)

Being the curious sort, I decided to cut apart the connector I removed from the chord.  After all, it didn't seem like it was in bad shape at all and I had tried to take good care of the chord, using dielectric grease, always making sure power was off before disconnecting, always using the locking ring, and never forcing or over-twisting.  When I started cutting the yellow cover off of the connector, I found that the embedded screw terminal that clamps the wire to the plug's contact was charred and black. Further inspection revealed that the contact within the plug itself was in good condition and the failure point was indeed the screw clamp terminal. Why it failed I do not know.  Did water manage to make its way into the plug and start corrosion?  Did the wire not get clamped properly?  Was the fact that the wires in this Marinco cable don't appear to be tinned to help limit corrosion a contributing factor? We will probably never really know.

The failed screw clamp and charred wire inside the
molded boat-side connector.

All I can really say is that I'm very glad I checked that plug regularly and found this well before it became a bigger problem.  If you are plugged into shore power, please make inspection of these connections a regularly scheduled check.

A collection of failed twist-lock connectors from Compass Marine.
Read their article comparing these to the new Smartplug 

So what regular checks do you perform that may not be obvious but you feel are absolutely necessary?

Playing Motorboat Again

Well, our need to make tracks north and Mother Nature's need for unsettled weather along the southeast coast seem to be in conflict.  The trip would have been a few straight-forward hops on the outside, but for the high winds, unsettled seas, and threats of thunderstorms.  Since some progress is better than none, we opted to take the more protected route up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

With the weather forecast to be OK (except for the seas in the Atlantic), we departed Hilton Head on Wednesday morning.  We wound our way through the countryside and anchored in North Edisto river.  This morning we awoke to grey skies but nothing threatening and continued winding our way toward Charleston.

A part of our ICW path north of Hilton Head.

The twists, turns, bridges, and my unwillingness to travel it at night make travel on the ICW very slow.  In just over two days we could have made it from Hilton Head to Southport on the outside.  Instead, we made it just past Charleston.  As I sit here and write this the news is playing in the background and the local weather guesser is calling for more unsettled weather for the next couple days.  Guess our trek up the ditch will likely continue.

It isn't all bad though.  At least there is some different scenery to see.

Ladys Island Swing Bridge near Beaufort, SC.

Along the ICW.

Hard to believe the weather isn't going to be nice for a while.

I'd prefer to be using less fuel and making a bit better time, but I guess I'll just have to be happy playing motorboat.

Not Going Anywhere

I have to admit, we haven't been all that impressed with Hilton Head.  The goal when we stopped here was that it was easier access to the ocean for our trip north.  Well, apparently Mother Nature has decided that we need to spend a little more time here.

The Weather Channel's forecast map

We tried making our escape yesterday afternoon in what was forecast to be a small weather window opening.  Unfortunately, the 10 to 15 knot winds were actually 25 to 30.  The seas were rough and we hadn't even made it past the Port Royal Sound.  We quickly decided that it wasn't worth getting beat up and made our way back to the marina.

The National Weather Service forecast map.

Not much different a couple days later.

Today the wind has died down, but thunderstorms and rough seas are  forecast for the next few days. So, maybe we will spend a little more time here and see if we can find the appeal of this area. 

A Few Hours in Savannah

As you know, we moved up to Hilton Head SC on our trip north.  We ended up choosing the marina we are at based on access to an inlet so we can easily get in and out on our trip and, of course, the price.  We needed a marina so we could shuffle cars up the coast once again (in addition to the usual costs of a car, when you are more transient, having a place to park a car or two while in transit can be a challenge).

As long as we have the cars available, we wanted do a little exploring. Honestly, we didn't know what to expect of Hilton Head, but what we found was very much a tourist vacation spot with lots of gated communities and resorts (I think more than a third of the island is locked behind a gate of some sort). And, honestly, this is not what we are looking for. We needed to get away and decided to spend a few hours exploring Savannah, GA.

We decided to take one of those city trolley tours since we only had a few hours and figured that was the best way to get our bearings and at least touch on a few highlights of the historic district.  Being able to hop on and off and check things out made sense.

Savannah is a charming city with an interesting layout. The city was laid out around squares, small park areas that make for a very charming city landscape.  I guess in the past the squares were places where the locals could congregate and even defend the city.  One square supposedly had a community oven that could be used so you didn't heat up your own home in the warm Georgia months (a concept most cruisers can appreciate).  We ended up walking part of the bus route and, although I was an idiot and forgot my better camera, did manage to get a few pictures with my phone.

Chippewa Square in Savannah

A picture with General Oglethorpe, a founder of Savannah.

One of the many Oak shaded streets in the historic district.

Not every day you see a Gothic style synagogue.

More typical historic Savannah.

Catholic church...more typical of Gothic style.

The Savannah River waterfront with the Westin hotel
in the background.

Unlike Hilton Head itself, I think this will be a place we will have to come back to and spend a bit more time exploring when we get the chance.

Nature's Visitors

We are continuing our way up the coast. This leg of the trip took us from Hammock Beach, Florida to Hilton Head, South Carolina.  We left Hammock on Sunday morning and motored up the ICW to St. Augustine. There we motored out the inlet and made a beeline for Port Royal Sound. A day and a half later, we arrived at Skull Creek Marina along the northern side of Hilton Head Island.

The trip was mostly uneventful other than the usual inaccuracies of the weather forecasts. The one thing of note was the varied wildlife that came to visit us along the way. Pulling up the fenders in Hammock we found a couple small crabs hanging onto a string that was accidentally left dangling in the water. These were the first of several visitors for the trip.

After making our way out of St. Augustine, we were met by a couple of dolphins that came to play at the front of the boat. This is actually a fairly common occurrence, but this time the water was calm and they hung around long enough I could grab my phone and take some video.

Once the winds picked up and we were making good time under sail, a much larger pod of dolphins came and played in front of our boat for a while. We tried counting, and there must have bee at least a dozen swirling around and jumping in front of the hulls. I can't imagine how they can manage not to crash into each other as they go blazing by the front of the hulls. While dolphin visits aren't all that uncommon, it never seems to get old.

Early the next morning I found a small hitchhiker hanging on to one of the lifelines. Later he found a perch on the genoa sheet. I'm not sure that was the best seat given how the wind-filled sail would bounce the line around, but he hung on there for a while.

Later in the morning we spotted a turtle as we approached the sound. Of course, as is usually the case, he spotted us and dove before we could get a camera.

The last few thousand visitors came as we approached the Port Royal Sound.  The wind had died, and every manner of flying bug seemed to descend upon us.  Moths, flies, no-see-ums, and others that I couldn't identify. My homemade bug spray got a workout and I think it helped with the no-see-ums, but it wasn't perfect.  My wife got out a fly swatter and was playing "Whack-A-Mole" with them until bug carcasses littered the cockpit.  Fortunately the winds did pick back up, and they eventually scattered.

Lots of wildlife encounters, some good and some less so.  All part of the sailing adventure I guess.

Cheap Marker Lights

I've often wondered how effective the anchor light on a sailboat actually is.  A white light that can be seen for miles sounds like a good idea, but having that light 60 feet up in the air seems problematic to me.  From a distance you can look out across an anchorage and see the anchored boats.  But what about when you are in the anchorage trying to maneuver between boats on a dark night?  Or when someone in a dinghy is trying to make their way back to their boat after the bars have closed?  Do the lights sitting up 60 feet just blend into the stars or a nearby city skyline?

I decided a while back that it would be a good idea to add the equivalent of marker lights to our boat. Having not spent a lot of time at anchor, it was not a high priority (until recently). When at a BJ's Wholesale club back in Virginia last summer, I found and purchased a 4-pack of solar powered deck walkway lights. I figured if I could devise a way to mount these, they would work well.

Naturally, while sitting at anchor out at Elliott Key, a long way from a hardware store, I remembered my purchase and decided to see if I had any way to temporarily mount them and see how well they would work. After a little pondering, I remembered that one of the things the prior owner had left on the boat were these clips designed to make it easier to attach and adjust fenders.  I never found them particularly handy so they have been sitting in a settee locker since I discovered them.  I decided that I could use zip ties to attach the lights to the clips and see how well they would work.

It only took a few minutes to assemble.  I clipped them onto the pulpit and pushpit rails at the four corners of the boat.  We used them during most of our trip to Key Largo and so far I am pleased with how they work.  They are relatively low profile so they don't get in the way.  They cast light outward and a little downward to light up the hull. And since they are solar, they require no wiring and turn on and off automatically, so even if we forget to turn on the anchor light, we have lights warning others that we are there.

So far I am pleased with the result.  The units seem at least somewhat sealed from the elements so I hope they will last at least a while in the marine environment.  Looks like I will need to find a better way to mount them when I get a chance.

Everglades Park

We left our convenience anchorage at Tarpon Basin on Friday (4/22) to check out some of the keys in the nearby section of Everglades National Park. The goal was to see if we could find a spot near Nest key. The water is a bit thin except at the north side of the key so this would only be possible if the winds calmed down and shifted to the south as forecast. Naturally, the forecast was a bit off and we decided to duck in behind Shell key.

Panorama of the Shell key anchorage.

Before we left Tarpon Basin there was one task I wanted to accomplish. While I have depth sensors on both hulls, I've often wondered how they were calibrated. They have never read depths as deep as I would expect and I figured they were showing readings either from the sensor location or from the bottom of the keels and not from the waterline. Since water depths in the Florida Keys are shallow, it would be good to know exactly what the readings represent.  I got out a boat pole and extended it to its full length. I then used it to measure the depth as close to the sensor positions as I could. What I found was that when the depth sensors read 3.8 feet, the boat was sitting in 6 feet of water. So, as I thought, it seems the sensors are reading depth from the bottom of the hull with a bit of safety buffer. Good to know.

We threw out the hook at the south end of the anchorage behind Shell key in about 5 feet of water. We can just see civilization off our bow on Key Largo over the top of the key. Behind our boat are small uninhabited keys separated from us by turquoise water. The water isn't as clear as I had hoped, I guess the wind is keeping a bit of silt churned up. Except for visits from a few fishing boats and a small pod of dolphins, we've had the anchorage to ourselves. It was a beautiful place to hang out, swim a little, read a little, write a little, and watch the sunset.

Dolphins stop by.

The next morning we decided to go check out Nest Key. The winds were forecast to clock around to the west and die down. Our current spot didn't offer much protection from the west and we did want to check other areas out. So, after a leisurely breakfast we hauled up the anchor and made the short sail. We apparently forgot it was the weekend until all the small power boats and pontoon boats started zipping by. They were headed to Nest as well. It is one of the few Keys in the park where you can go ashore and apparently the camping spot and beach on the west side is a popular place to congregate on the weekends.

I never get tired of sunsets from the boat.

We tried to find a place to anchor on the northeast side of the key, but every time we thought we found a Sandy spot, we would discover these light colored round coral heads.  Our path around that end of the island probably looked like one of the weekend party goers had a bit too much to drink as we tried to locate a suitable spot. In the end we didn't want to risk damaging any coral and gave up. 

We have sailed more than
motored most of this trip.

We sailed over to Porjoe key to see if there was a suitable spot there to throw the hook. As we made our way over, we checked the weather again and found the forecast was now for stronger winds from a more northerly direction. We couldn't find a good spot around this small key and ended up anchoring along the east side of Shell key across the key from where we spent the previous night. Winds were around 20 knots as we sat with our bow pointed at the setting sun and our stern pointing at Key Largo in the distance.

The next morning we awoke to nearly the same winds as the night before, only coming from the northwest. Guess the calming aspect of the forecast didn't come true.  We decided to do a bit more sailing and threw the hook for one last swim east of Shell key before we made our way back to Tarpon Basin to meet up with some fellow Coloradans (who also bought a catamaran and sailed away) for sundowners.  Thanks for the invite Ken and Mary!

Despite the weekend traffic, it was a nice and relaxing time.

Free

There's a term that puts a smile on most cruisers faces.  Those out living on their savings (or cruising kitty as it is often called) like to be frugal, to stretch their savings and keep the adventure going as long as possible before having to find a way to refill the kitty. So things that are free or low cost are certainly helpful when they can be found.

We've been at the anchorage in Tarpon Basin just off of Key Largo for a week now. "Parking" the boat here is essentially free (since we don't have solar or wind, there is a small cost in diesel for the generator to charge the batteries).  This beats the $60+ a night it would cost to be at a marina (and most marinas around here are far more than that).

Shore access can be an issue when at anchor.  When the shore is lined with private property, access can be tricky.  Often there are businesses (marinas, restaurants, and bars) that will grant access for a fee or only if you are visiting their establishment. This is what makes the nearby free government dock a nice feature of this anchorage. It allows us to explore Key Largo without being tied to one given restaurant or have to pay a daily landing fee.

Waste is another issue that needs to be dealt with when you are your own floating little island. Fortunately, the government center also has a dumpster and recycling containers where anchored boats are allowed to deposit trash. We try to minimize the amount of trash we produce, but in the pre-packaged society we live there is inevitably some trash (or recycling) produced by any household.

Of course that isn't the only waste that needs to depart the boat.  The...um...other stuff...needs a place to go too.  Fortunately, Monroe County (the county that includes all of the Keys) has a solution for that as well.  The county has contracted with a company called Pump Out USA to provide a weekly pump out service for boats anchored in their waters.  In places that didn't already have some sort of service, they setup a weekly schedule and will stop by your boat and relieve it of the unwanted cargo. To use the service, you fill out a registration form on the Pump Out Florida Keys web site and they will get you on the schedule.

This area really does offer quite a bit for the cruiser, but I think it is about time to move on.  We would like to do just a bit more exploring before we have to make our trek back up north.  I think we are going to pick up the anchor today and go find another spot to drop it.  Not sure what, if any, internet access will be available, but I will continue writing and post when I can.  In the meantime, I'll leave you with a picture of the sunrise over the government dock this morning.

Better than the other picture options for this post.

Less Drama

Believe it or not, things have been lower in the drama department the past couple days.  No semi-critical systems deciding to have a fit, no boats trying to go walkabout on top of us.  If it weren't for the winds being a little blustery on the Atlantic side of the Keys, I'd say it has been downright nice here.

Tarpon Basin Anchorage. Dock just left of center.

The anchorage we are at is rather convenient for a variety of things on Key Largo thanks to the free dock at the park behind the Monroe County building. The two wooden docks are a bit rickety (loose boards and some splinters but not unusable by any means), however the sea wall has steps at a couple locations that make tying off there and bypassing the wood docks a nice alternative. There is space for a number of dinghys and crime doesn't seem to be much of a problem with the sheriffs department located right inside the building.  The park adjacent to the dock is a great place to let the dogs stretch their legs. The county building also has nice restrooms and public WiFi.

A sunset at the anchorage.

Unfortunately, there does seem to be some drama between the county and a group of "boaters" here. I put that in quotes because, while they live on boats, these folks don't seem to ever move them. Instead of cruising, this is more the case of low cost floating housing and the county feels these folks are taking advantage of the situation.  To that end, the county doesn't allow the people they are having a dispute with into the building (and the exterior bathroom doors are now kept locked). The access to water has also been turned off.  I do hope these two groups can come to a mutual understanding because it would be a shame to lose this resource for boaters visiting the area.

While things are reasonably convenient to walk to from this location, our bikes make it much more accessible. For instance, the grocery store is now 5 minutes by bike instead of 15 or 20 by foot. John Pennekamp State Park, West Marine, Divers Outlet, Napa, a dozen restaurants, and ICE CREAM are all easy trips now with the bike.  We even rode the 4+ miles to the Visitors Center in the middle of the day.  Being able to throw the foldable bikes into the dinghy and take them to shore is nice.

Wife in the big chair at the visitors center.

We visited Pennekamp today and did some kayaking.  Would like to go out and see the reef, maybe do some scuba or snorkeling, but those aforementioned winds I think are probably making trips out to the reef (in 5 foot waves) "fun" and I doubt visibility is very good. If things improve before we leave, we may still check it out. Meanwhile, we had to settle for a paddle through the mangroves.

Kayaking through mangroves in Pennekamp Park.

The ice cream deserves special mention.  On a warm day of biking around the island it is a special treat.  Add in that our boat refrigerator won't get cold enough to keep ice cream for long and it becomes a rare treat.  We found a place called Mr C's that has truly hand-made ice cream.  You can tell this isn't the usual stuff, and it is worth a stop if you happen to be in the area.  The only catch is that the hours they are open seem to be a bit random, but if you find them open you will like the ice cream.

Well, that is what we've been up to the last few days.  Living on the hook and exploring Key Largo.  What will we do tomorrow...who knows (Ok, there is one thing on the schedule, but we won't worry about that right now). Cheers!

Another Day (or Two) in Paradise

Our pump arrived!  At 10:30 on Saturday I get the call that our replacement raw water pump for the generator was delivered to the shop. I hop in the dinghy, go to shore, make the death-defying crossing of the Overseas Highway (US-1) on foot and retrieve the pump.  The shiny new lump of bronze and stainless steel was a mere $350 and shipping was another $72, but we now had the pump. One more crossing of the highway, back into the dinghy, and the pump was at the boat and ready to be installed.

I install the drive gear onto the pump, add a little dish soap to the impeller to act as lubricant until water makes it to the now dry raw water lines, and bolt it back onto the generator's motor.  Hook the hoses up, complete an oil change, and the generator was finally ready to go again.  I'm happy to report that the generator is once again alive and cooling water flows from the exhaust and no oil or water is flowing from anywhere else.  Batteries are now capable of being fully charged (the inverter/charger running off of the generator is far more efficient and does a much more complete job of charging than the drive motor alternators).  As a celebration, we even ran the air conditioner that evening while the batteries were topped off.

This morning we sleep in.  No big tasks for the day and the wind is howling outside. We get up and make ourselves a nice breakfast.  Using the stove in the boat is much more palatable when there is a strong wind outside to sweep the hot air out of the boat.  Eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes.  As we are cleaning up, we notice a small sailboat had anchored fairly close in front of us.  Not all that close, but where there hadn't been a boat just a short time earlier.  We load the dogs into the dinghy and take them to shore for a little time on terra firma.

About an hour later we are on our way back to the boat when we notice that the small sailboat was now only about 15 to 20 feet away from us.  Oh crap, this boat is dragging anchor! No wonder we didn't see them arrive.  We quickly get the dogs on the boat and go over to see if anyone was on board.  Of course, no one was there.  Only a brokerage sign was found indicating that this boat was for sale.  We go back to our boat, get out a couple of fenders to try and fend off the boat if need be, and call the number on the sign.  The broker said they would call the owner, but that didn't really help us with the fact this boat is inching closer to us.

Way too close for comfort

We decide first order of business was to get our boat out of harms way, so we carefully pull up anchor and move upwind of the anchor dragger.  Fortunately there was some free space that was recently vacated by a trawler so we had the room.  Once the anchor was reset, I hopped back into the dinghy to see what I could do.  I checked to see if there was more rode that could be deployed but it appeared to be cleated at the very bitter end.  Best we could tell, the boats anchor seemed to reset and hadn't moved from it's resting spot that was feet from our original anchor position.

I head back to our boat and find the owner had tried to call and left a message.  I called him back and he let us know that he had called a friend in the area to come check on the boat since he was in Philadelphia.  I told him I couldn't promise anything, but at the moment the anchor seems to have reset. While I was talking with him, his friends arrived on scene, boarded his boat and found an anchor and some rode hiding in a locker, and deployed it as a second anchor to hopefully help keep his boat from going walkabout again. All I can say is I'm glad I'm upwind of him now.  Hopefully no other unattended boats will decide they need to come pay us a visit.

After the morning excitement, we decided to go to shore and take a bike ride to see what else was in the area.  Fortunately there is a decent bike path that runs along the highway and makes for a safer ride than if we were on the street.  We visited a couple shops, grabbed a bite to eat and had a nice afternoon. Upon return we found our boat right where we left it (the Mantus anchor has been very reliable for us in a variety of conditions thus far) and fortunately the dragging boat stayed put as well.

No idea what the plan is for tomorrow...and I think I like it that way.  I just hope that we can forgo dragging boats and emergency repairs and of one sort or another for a while.

The Art of Fixing Your Boat

Ok, this is getting more than just a bit old. I know that cruising is supposed to be the art of fixing your boat in exotic locations, but we seem to be spending all of our time fixing, and haven't even made it to a really exotic location yet.

Sorry...had to get that off my chest...let me back up a bit. A couple days ago we departed Elliott Key heading for Key Largo. The day started well enough. We fired up the engines (recommended for windlass operation), pulled up the anchor, set the sails, shut the engines down, and were sailing along in Biscayne Bay.  After a nice stop at Elliott, things were finally starting to feel like they should.

Sailing along in Biscayne Bay

Since we had been under sail most of the trip and we don't yet have solar, I decided it would be a good idea to fire up the generator and top off the batteries.  Don't want the beer getting warm, right?  I fire it up and there is no cooling water coming out of the exhaust.  Argh.  I shut it back down and go grab a wrench to check the impeller since that is the usual cause of such issues.  I find it looks just fine.  Hmm....this seems familiar.  I grab a couple more wrenches and pull the pump.  Once again the drive gear has come loose.  Unfortunately this time I discover the seals on the pump are also starting to fail.  So it looks like we will either need a new pump or to rebuild this one.  In either case, no generator until this is resolved.

Despite being able to sail, we fire up an engine so we can use it to charge the batteries.  We motor sail the rest of the way to Tarpon Basin on the east side of Key Largo and drop the hook. We chose this location since Active Captain said it had a dinghy dock behind the county building and was close to grocery and other supplies. It is also well protected and there are storms predicted in the near future. Best to be somewhere protected while we work out this issue.

View of the Tarpon Basin anchorage from the Monroe
County free dock.

Once we arrived, we started the hunt for parts for our ailing generator. We search for parts and repair facilities in the area and don't find much online. In desperation, we call the local West Marine. They can special order the parts, but it will take 3 weeks or more before they can get them in. At the end of the day,  our only option seems to be a long wait for a part. Needless to say we were more than a tad frustrated. How can we be in the Florida Keys, a boating mecca, and can't find a pretty simple and common part?

One of the "guard dogs" at the dinghy dock.

The next morning we take the dinghy to shore, armed with smartphones and a tablet, determined to find a better solution. Sadly, the marine industry seems severely lacking in online presence. As some of the local boaters came by, we would ask them if they knew of any marine diesel repair shops around. We finally found a guy that pointed us toward a couple of places nearby. We hopped on our bikes (we brought them to shore in the dinghy), and with the failed pump in our backpack, went to the shops.

The first shop we stopped at told us they didn't have what we were looking for, but there was a small marine diesel guy down the street that might be able to help. We head over to this shop in our quest for generator power. Ironically, this shop is almost exactly across the street from the county building with the dinghy access. No real signage other than a couple small diesel manufacturer logos on the windows (once you were close enough to see them). We go in and tell him tales of our woes, show him the pump, and ask if he could help. He said he could probably rebuild the pump, but it might be cheaper to buy a new one (their labor rate is $125/hour). He checked and could have a new pump shipped for arrival today (Saturday) for about the same price as rebuilding the one we have. Not a cheap option, but next day service for what West Marine was going to take 3 weeks to accomplish.

So, we wait for the pump as I type this. With all the work we have done on the boat I would have thought we would have some credit built up...but I guess not. At least the county building has WiFi so I can finally update the blog. I can even go back and add pictures to the posts I had queued up and ready to go.

Yes, We Can Sail This Boat

Another post that either disappeared or didn't manage to get posted.  Guess the internet was more spotty than I thought.  Oh well.  This should have been posted somewhere around 4/16/2016. At least this time I found a couple of the pictures for the post.

We departed the marina at Lake Worth, where we picked up the batteries, around 1PM. Yes at least this time it was not a multi-week process to replace the starting battery. We made the short trip out the Lake Worth inlet and pointed the boat south once again.

We unfurled the sails and put the engines to rest. With the southeast winds, we were set up for a nice beam reach down to Biscayne Bay.  We sailed down the coast, past Palm Beach (and a dozen other towns with beach in the name) Bocas Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, and the Port of Miami.  It is amazing how deep and how blue the water is here just a couple miles from shore.

How most of the coast looks...high rises along the coast.

As we were passing by Boynton Beach, the Coast Guard came on the radio and said there had been a report of an airplane going down a mile west of the inlet. We kept a lookout, occasionally scanning the sea with our binoculars. Soon a Coast Guard helicopter and a couple small Coast Guard boats were searching the area around us. After a couple hours, as the sun was setting, they gave up the search. Since we were in the area around the time the plane supposedly went down and we didn't see anything, I suspect this was a false alarm or they got the position wrong.

We made between 4 and 5 knots under sail for the entire trip from Lake Worth to the Biscayne Channel entrance. Seas were 1 foot or less on a 4 to 5 second period, and that made for a fairly comfortable sail.  It was nice to finally make significant progress without the aid of diesel.  We did fire up an engine briefly to help us negotiate the channel.  We passed by the stilt houses and into the Bay.

And you thought good fences made good neighbors...

A Stiltsville building with Miami in the background.

We continued our way south and anchored just off Elliott Key early in the afternoon. We were about 3/4 of a mile away from the key in 6 feet of clear water.  We dropped the dinghy into the water and went over to check out the dock and ranger station on the key.  It was deserted except for the millions of mosquitoes that make it home.  The signs say you can camp there for a $25 fee...but I don't think I'd pay to feed the mosquitoes all night.  Camping here does come with a luxury though; they have restrooms with running water and even cold water showers. When you live on a boat with a small holding tank, you take advantage of restrooms when you find them.

After we decided that we fed enough mosquitoes, we headed back to the boat.  We swam in the clear water around the boat, and even got out a bit of soap for an impromptu bath.  Enjoyed a beer while sitting on the bow of the boat as dusk approached. Anchored this far away from the key gave us a nice breeze, and the mosquitoes didn't come out to visit.

This is more like it.