Month: January 2017

January 5^th 2017

This is the first day of our actual journey.  We began bright and early this morning.  I got my shower starting at 6:30 am.  Then we went through the boat to secure everything.  Boy we were at dock a long time.  We forgot about travel and the need to make everything fast.  Then we started going through the leaving procedures.  Again, it has been a while since we left the dock. Finally, we went through the locking procedures.

We started the engines, called the Lock Master, and reminded him that we did not know what we were doing.  He gave us the same advice we heard from all the wise teachers.  Go slow.  We loosed the lines and started out of the slip.  Now I have never run the boat from the lower helm.  It was as if I had never run the boat before.  We eased our way out of the marina and into the lock.  All went well.  Pam lassoed the bollard with ease. 

As the water went down, so did the temperature.  We played a game of keep your end of the boat off the wall.  I was at the bow and it seemed to be against the wall most often.  Once we were out of the lock we began our journey down the river. I transferred the controls to the upper helm and found that the depth finder was not working. 

I had been working “under the hood” and thought that maybe I disconnected some wires that I should not have.  No problem, after a while I would have Pam captain and I would crawl “under the hood” again to reattach the wires that I bothered. We could use the Furuno Chart to stay out of trouble.

We settled down for the 30-mile trip to our anchorage.  We had looked at this segment of our trip at least 5 times.  We picked several alternative anchorages and No Name Bayou was our first pick. After travel for several hours, I had Pam take the helm and I started working on the Depth Finder. There are only two connections to the display.  One is the transducer and the other is the power supply.  I checked the voltage on the power supply.  It had 14 volts.  Not the problem. Now I am clueless.

In the meantime, we were fast approaching Clinch River and Kingston.  It was then that I realized we had passed the anchorage of preference. We proceeded down river until we came to the next of our anchorage options.  Once there,  we prepared to drop anchor.  We maneuvered into position and I pressed the down button.  Nothing.  I pressed the up button. Nothing.  I had Pam press both buttons on the upper helm. Nothing.

Now I am scrambling to find the cause. Pam is controlling the boat like a champ.  She kept us in position so that when I found the problem we were ready to drop anchor.  However, I could not find the problem.  Time for plan B.  I retrieve the backup anchor rode from the Lazarette and attached it to the Danforth.  We once a gain get into position and I drop the anchor manually.  We back off and Pam sets the anchor.  It does not hold.  She resets and it appears to hold.  Big breath. But the wind is blowing us back into the shallow water.  This is not good. 

We decide to move to the next place. I bring up the anchor and we set off to Hatt Cove. As we approach we both decide this will be much better.  The wind will blow us away from the shallow water.  By this time our great mentor Valt has given me words of wisdom.  The windlass has a reset button in the engine room.  As Pam approaches the best place to set anchor I run into the engine room and the main power switch for the windlass is off.  I turn it on and head to the bow.  I press the down button and eureka the anchor goes down.

We set the anchor; it holds the first time.  The anchorage is very pretty and we have settled in for the night.  Well not quite.  While in the engine room looking for the windlass power I noticed that the raw water pump is leaking water.  The very same pump that I replaced the impeller on a couple of weeks earlier. 

So, before I can go to bed, I must replace the O-ring.  Fortunately, I have a good one handy. It only takes a couple of minutes to replace, but almost an hour to clean up the water and mess.

After this I get to eat dinner clean up and get ready for bed and a better tomorrow.

 

 

Perilous times in the Snow?

Snow in Perilous times

Very eventful day. All went well until…depth finder stopped working…no problem…if Mark Twin can do it, so can we. Then the Maxwell anchor motor would not move…no problem. George can throw out an anchor. Getting  dark, no hold, so moved to another anchorage about a mile away. Now I must leave my relatively warm nest I have made for myself in the fly bridge to babysit the extra line George has tied to the anchor in order to cast it himself.  With the Maxwell windlass not working, and only one alternate plan for anchoring…we would not want to lose this line!

I have to say that for months I have thought, read, asked questions and stressed over the possibilities of things to go wrong and what plan A, B or maybe even C should be in place. At that moment, pressed for time before dark, moving forward into territory virgin to me…George was now the stressed one.  This anchorage was not in my plan A, B, or C.  So I sat on the very cold deck, feet pressing the lines to the deck, expressing to God once again where I was, and how George could really use a hand right now with his “dream”. I suddenly felt perfectly at peace as the snow flurries quickly fell.

After anchoring in this new and beautiful safe haven cove surrounded by tiny islands and beautiful houses, I turned to notice George quietly working intently on something down below in engine room. He explained yet another problem with faulty O Ring on water pump needing immediate attention.

The normal anal retentive Pamela would have totally lost it with the water in the bilge .It could sink the boat, dirty stinky water polluting my hard to achieve pristine boat, no trash can to dispose of excess paper towels used for the final clean up…the list goes on…

But this time George had taken full charge and was taking care of everything and I was at peace.  After all,

  God had sent me the snow.

In one of my former lives, about 45 years ago, I did not have the money to pay someone else to change the oil my car.  So, I would save up my quarters and buy 5 quarts of oil and an oil filter at the local HEB or gas station.  I would drive home and park my car on a rise in the yard.  That way I would have room to crawl under the car easily.  It would be even better if there was a depression in the ground right before the rise.  Then I would have plenty of room. 

I would then remove the drain plug on the oil pan and drain the oil on the ground.  If there was grass under the car, then I would catch the oil in the bottom of an old 5-gallon gas can.  It had been modified by cutting of the top off about 5 inches from the bottom.

Most of the time the oil filter was in easy reach from under the car so I would not have to crawl out from under the car to remove the oil filter.  I would then replace the plug and put a new filter on.  Then I would get my funnel, where was the funnel, oh well I could hit the filler hole without it. Pouring most of the oil into the engine was the most challenging part of the job.  Of course, I knew that you only poured in the first 4 quarts and then started the engine.  I always wanted to only pour half of the last quart in so that I would have some to put in when the old clunker would burn some and I would have to replace it.

If I caught the oil in the pan, then I would take it to the nearest red ant bed and pour it down the hole.  There was no such thing as a recovery collection center.

I mentioned this only because after changing the oil in the cat engines I was reminiscing the simpler times when life was uncomplicated by rules and regulations.  Of course, I could have done things differently and kept from smelling burning oil after every oil change.  But I was young and dumb and didn’t know better.  Don’t listen to the adults all they do is make things more complicated.

Now for changing oil in my Cats.

First, there is a pump to remove the oil and to put the oil back in.

Third, there are two filters on my Cats on each engine that must be replaced without spilling oil.

Finally, each Cat holds about 2 ½ gallons of oil. There is a disposal problem with this much oil.

The Starboard engine was my starting point.  I could remove the oil filters easily since they were in the center of the boat.  My filter wrench did the trick.  I had a bowl large enough to catch any oil underneath the filter. Getting the oil filters past the hoses was tricky without spilling oil especially since some of the oil spilled down the side of the filter making it very slippery. A thumb in the hole gave me a good hold.

Now the Port engine was another story.  The oil filters are on the outboard side of the engine. The exhaust hose, the propeller shaft and the same hoses on the Starboard engine. If I was a contortionist it would not be a problem.  So first the exhaust hose comes off. Then straddling the propeller shaft I removed the filters. It is a balancing act first class.

It all takes about half a day to change the oil in both of my Cats. If it had not been for the advice and help of my mentor Valt Melbardis it would have taken a full day if not longer. The moral of this story is find that boater that has experience and patience and keep them close.