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April 22, 2001
I have been very slack in updating the journal since February, but I
have also been very busy. After retiring on March 9th I came down to
Oriental to work on the boat. On March 10th I celebrated my 50th birthday
in solitude. Ann was planning major bash for me, but with her passing it
just did not mean much to me. Justin came down and spent most of the week
with me. I came home late in the week for a few days and then headed back
down again. I have been keeping this schedule since then. I have set
May 15th as the launch date for Annabelle. Almost all of the deck hardware
has been stripped from the boat. Justin has buffed the boat hull a couple
of times, and he has put 6 coats of wax on it. John came down one weekend
and helped him. The hull shines like it was new. An amazing
difference from before. All the interior wiring is done. I am now up
to installing the new battery charger and other charging components. The
two heat pumps have been mounted and registers and returns put in place. I
need to make a supply box for each and run the flex duct. On the outside,
I have finally finished preparing the boot strip (the area of the hull above the
rub rail and below the deck). I removed the old paint, filled holes and
cracks with epoxy and got the first coat of primer on today. It was black,
but will be Hunter Green when done. Justin has been working on the deck
teak and has it looking good.
I met the former owners of the boat Easter weekend and went to church with
them on Easter. It was fun to get to meet them.
I also have heard from the parents of a girl I dated in Jr. High
School. When he retired they left for a 4 month shake down cruise in their
36 foot sailboat - they made it back 10 years later. Sailboats are time
machines. I knew that life slowed down when on one, but wow. Capt.
John T. Roberts (and wife Teresa) had a lot of good advice on cruising for me to
which I was grateful.
I will be spending most of my time at the boat between now and May 15th
getting ready for the launch. Memorial Day weekend a large number of my
family and Ann's family will be heading to Cape Lookout to spread Ann's ashes
per her request. The gathering will be fun, the trip will be fun, but the
spreading of the ashes will be difficult.
May 15 Launch Day!
The past few days have been hectic for me. I have
been getting up at 7:30 AM and working till midnight. I am satisfied that
not all my work will be done when the boat is launched, but there is nothing I
can do about it. That which must be done will be done - the rest can
wait. The boat was scheduled for launch at 10 AM today, but it was 4
PM before the travel lift picked her up. In the travel lift, her lines
were gorgeous - there simply is no other way to put it. About 5 PM she was
slipped into the water. The employees at Sailcraft were kidding me about a
betting pool they had going as to how long she would stay afloat - they all
lost. Even though they quite work for the day at 5 PM, several of the
employees at Sailcraft volunteered to stay and put the masts back on the
boat. It took just over an hour to set the main and mizzen masts.
Justin, his friend Allison and I spent the night in the launch slip. The
night before Laurin came down with a cake and a present from she, Justin, John
and Julia. The present was a pair of shirts with Annabelle monogrammed on
the front in Ann's handwriting as is on the side of the boat. Captain is
also embroidered on the left sleeve.
May 17 Moving Day
Since re-launching we have remained tied up at Sailcraft Services,
continuing to do work on the boat. The final act was to remove the 300
feet of 3/8 inch chain and replace it with 350 feet of 5/16 inch chain.
The new electric windlass uses 5/16 inch chain, thus the reason for the
change. There was a contingent of employee's from Sailcraft to see us
off. As we were pushed off from the pier, I engaged the transmission
only to find it stayed in neutral. There is a pin that can be pulled out
allows the throttle to be engaged without activating the transmission - it was
out. We then motored the 1/2 mile to Whittaker Creek to fill up with
diesel. It was a wet cool day and Justin had left his sweat shirt at
Sailcraft, so after fueling we headed back. They tried to wave us off, but
like a bad penny we came back. We then motored over to the Annabelle's
berth at Pecan Groove. The cats had mixed reactions to the engine - Gab
came out and watched where we were going - Kosh hid the best he could in the
cabin. Allison, Justin and I went out to eat and then they left to return
to Chapel Hill to prepare for college graduation that weekend.
May 19
After being in Oriental for the past three weeks I returned home today for
Justin's graduation. I continued to work on the boat after Justin and
Allison left Thursday night and then all day Friday until about 1 AM. I
finished up with a couple of things this morning and then headed home.
May 22
I returned to Oriental today to continue to work on the Annabelle in
preparation for the scatter of Ann's ashes this coming weekend. I got the
instruments installed and talking to each other - pretty cool.
May 23
Justin, and my parents arrived today for the trip to Beaufort tomorrow. I
was able to get a few more things done prior to their arrival late this
afternoon. Mother and Justin brought the Annabelle II up from Sea Harbour
and docked next to the Annabelle.
May 24
Leslie Rhodes and her husband Jim and their children Emma and Hanna arrived
this morning for the trip to Beaufort. After loading their luggage we
started the engines. Justin and my parents were in the Annabelle II
and pulled out first. The Rhodes were with me and we backed out of the
slip picture perfect. But when I started forward I discovered I had no
steering! The Annabelle has hydraulic steering, so I checked the pressure
in the system and it was fine. Then I remembered that I had opened the
lines after I moved to Pecan Grove to fix a leak on the auto pilot pump and had
not bled the system afterwards. I grabbed a wrench and quickly bled the
system and we had steering again. We proceeded down the Intracoastal waterway until we were about 2/3rds of the way to Beaufort. We pulled into
Sea Gate Marina to raft together and eat lunch. As soon as we had stopped,
Gab jumped ship and ran under a deck. I ended up having to hose down the
deck to force him out - he was not a happy kitty. The remainder of
the trip was uneventful. We docked at Beaufort City Docks.
May 25
Bob Buckland of North Sails Carolina showed up today with my new
sails. We got them hanked on with minimal problems. Ann's brother
Paul had come down late yesterday with his 26 foot Bayliner for the scattering
of Ann's ashes. He and Justin went to Cape Lookout this afternoon and
Paul's boat lost oil pressure just as they arrived. He ended calling
TowBoat US to get towed back in. Being unable to get his boat repaired he
and Brian headed back to Graham.
May 26
It is a beautiful day with a good wind blowing. Ann's parents along
with Ann's sister Gail and husband came down to the boats to find out that Paul
had left. They had intended to ride with him and consequently decided they
did not want to make the trip in sailboats, so they headed back to Graham.
In attendance was myself and our children Justin and Laurin, my son John and his
wife Julia, my parents, my younger sister Billie Luck, Ann's best friend Elaine,
and the Rhodes. We headed out to Cape Lookout. The wind was not in
our favor to sail so we motored out. It took a couple of hours. Once
in the hook I dropped anchor and Justin rafted up to the Annabelle with the
Annabelle II. After getting settled Leslie lead us it a brief service that
ended with scattering of Ann's ashes. Everyone had a chance using scallop
shells. Leslie ended us with a prayer. We next enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches
and a time of relaxing. Several people dingyed over to Cape Lookout
seashore. After several hours the weather started to deteriorate so we
raised anchor and headed back. Using radar we could see the thunderstorms
and managed to miss them. Arriving back in Beaufort we once again docked,
showered and we went out to eat.
May 27 (57.9 miles total
trip by knot meter, 12 hours)
We said goodbyes to John and Julia and headed back to Oriental. The
wind was blowing and made backing out of the slip tricky. Justin got out
first and made it to the Beaufort Draw Bridge just in time to pass though (it
opens ever 20 minutes starting on the hour). I was several minutes behind
him and gave the boat all the speed I could with the engine. As I rounded
the corner to the bridge I made contact and the bridge tender seeing me coming
at 8 knots agreed to keep the bridge open for me. There was a boat in
front of Justin that was not sure of the channel. They took a wrong turn,
so we both called them on the radio to warn them about going aground. They
either did not hear us or ignored us and ran aground. We again stopped at
Sea Gate marina to eat lunch. Gab stayed on the boat this time! Upon
leaving Sea Gate I notice the engine temperature above normal and the tach was
dead. I killed the engine and raised the sails and sailed the remainder of
the trip down the ICW and across the Neuse River. Once back in Oriental
the Rhodes left for Burlington.
May 28
My parents left this morning. Justin and I continued to work on the
boat.
May 29
Justin left after lunch so he could move from one apartment to another in
Chapel Hill. I continued to work on the boat.
May 30 (6.7 Miles by knot meter,
2 hours)
I filled the internal coolant with water and antifreeze and took the boat
down to get the holding takes pumped out. I then headed out in the river
to check the engine cooling. It still over heated, so I dropped anchor and
went down to take a look at the engine. It was then I discovered a broken
belt. I felt like a total idiot. I knew that the tach was driven by
the alternator, but I guess I forgot. I motored back at an idle, went to
town and got a new belt. With the new belt installed I headed back out
again and everything was fine. I calibrated the fluxgate compass for the
auto pilot and then headed back into my slip.
May 31
I had planned to finish installing the windlass and the aft heat pump today,
but a main water tank leak took up a fair amount of the day. Mother and
Daddy arrived this afternoon for the trip to Ocracoke. We went to New
Bern to find a couple of parts I needed to fix the water tank leak.
June 1 (45.5 Miles by knot meter, 6 hours)
The parts I purchased did not fix my leak, so I made several trips into town
to get parts. By the time I had fixed it Justin had arrived. We left
the slip about 10:30 AM for Ocracoke. I had set up a route with 6 way
points to take us from the entrance of Oriental Harbor to the entrance of
Ocracoke Channel. Once we were out of the Oriental channel I engaged the
auto pilot and it took us on the preplanned course. It was amazing to
witness. We had raised the sails out side of Oriental and only had to
adjust them when we changed headings. The new winches and sails performed
wonderfully. The wind built into the afternoon to 25 knots. We took
in some of the Genoa and dropped the mizzen. We typically we doing
over 7 knots with the highest speed seen of 8.5 knots. Of all the trips I
have made to Ocracoke it was the best sail there yet. I calibrated the
paddle wheel speed meter by the GPS - it was running slow. We arrived about
4:30 PM and docked at Anchorage Marina. Marco was there to greet us and
introduced us to his Father who had come back with him from Mexico this
winter. A catamaran that followed us from Oriental tried to take a
shortcut into Ocracoke's Silver Lake, across a sand bar. They were stuck
for several hours until the Coast Guard was able to pull them off with the help
of the wake of a passing ferry. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Back Porch.
It rained a good part of the night.
June 2
We have had a wonderful day in Ocracoke. The weather has been
beautiful although windy. The forecast for is for diminishing winds
blowing Southwest turning Northwest - could be perfect for the sail home to
Oriental. I helped a powerboat come in that was being driven by the
wind. I was able to throw them a line that was then tied to a dock
piling. I do not think that he could have made it in any other way. June
3 (52.2 miles by the knot meter, 6.5 hours)
Well the wind did not shift last night and continues to blow from the west
at about 18 knots. We motored the entire trip from Ocracoke. The
seas were running about 2 feet, so we got some spray for a while. The wind
later abated to 12 knots and we were able to pick up speed without getting
sprayed. The auto pilot once again performed flawlessly. The
distance was 7 mile farther by the knot meter log, but that was probably due to
the calibration I performed on the knot meter on June 1 as we got fairly close
to Ocracoke. Once back and docked, Justin hosed down the boat, took a
shower and headed on back to Chapel Hill to get ready for his trip to
Europe. Daddy and I trial fitted the Plexiglas that makes a dodger out of
the hard top bimini. We labeled all the pieces for refinishing. I
plan on having new Plexiglas panels cut as the current ones are badly
weathered. Mother, Daddy and I took showers and went to M&M's for
dinner. Upon returning I measured the cockpit seats for cushions. We
are all planning to return to our homes tomorrow. I am going to stop by
Greenville and have dinner with Laurin. Mother and Daddy feel like old
salts now, having enjoyed both this weekend's sail and last weekend's trip on
the Annabelle. June 19 (28.4 miles by the knot meter, 3.5 hours, engine
2031.4 hrs)
I arrived in Oriental on Friday June 15 to get some more work done on the
boat. I got the windshield in, the generator plumbed (but not wired), the
EMON (energy monitor) in (but not wired), the main sail cover finished, the
cockpit cushions cut, and one almost finished covered. Laurin finished
summer school today and came down after her exam. This morning I broke the
first rule of starting an inboard engine - I did not check for water coming out
of the exhaust. When I finally noticed it, it was too late for the fresh
water impeller. I had turned off the water supply while I was plumbing the
generator and forgot to turn it back on. I got the impeller replaced with
minimal problems. However, on the trip down the ICW today, the engine
would overheat any time I tried to run it above 2200 rpm's. Hopefully it's
just being low (like almost out) on internal coolant. We left Oriental about 2
PM and headed down Adams Creek to Morehead City. We continued to follow
the ICW till we got to Spooners Creek (extreme edge of Morehead City).
According to Claiborne S. Young's Cruising Guide to Coastal North Carolina,
there is a wonderful restaurant there that features a grilled shrimp covered in
crabmeat and cheese sauce that is wonderful. It was too much to pass
up. I contacted Spooners Creek Yacht Harbor on the radio and they had a
slip available - they were only a mile away. There use to be two
poles/markers designating the entrance to Spooners Creek - however the port
marker was run over by a barge and was replaced with a floating buoy. I
was contacting the harbor master as I turned in and was not watching the current
- it pushed me out of the channel and on to a sandbar. Bummer. We
tried powering out, heeling with the sails to reduce out draft, but to no
avail. In the end I called Tow Boat US and they came and pulled me
free. We made it into the slip only to find out that the restaurant had
closed! We ended up walking a couple of miles to an Applebee's for
supper. We just had showers and I am washing clothes. We plan on
getting an early start tomorrow to make Southport by the evening. June 20
(103.6 miles by the knot meter, 13.75 hrs, engine 2044.3 hrs)
This has been a wonderful, long, tiring day. I awoke at 6 AM and left
Laurin sleeping. I pulled out of our slip at 6:45 AM - and made it out to
the ICW without grounding. Most of the ICW is amazingly straight. I
guess out of the 13.75 hours I probably only used the wheel an hour of that time
- the rest of the time the boat was on autopilot. Using the +-1 degree and
+- 10 degree buttons I could make most all corrections. I add more coolant
to the engine hoping that would solve the overheating problem - it helped, but I
still was limited to 2100 rpm or the engine would overheat. My next things
to try is a new radiator cap and to check the heat exchanger for parts of the
old impeller blocking the tubing. I hate to say that Claiborne S. Young's
Cruising Guide to Coastal North Carolina is dated - however my edition was
published in 1994 and other that the restaurant at Spooners Creek being gone,
info on some of the bridges has changed also. The Onslow Beach Bridge now
opens every half hour rather than on demand. The Figure Eight Island
bridge is no longer on demand, but I think is every hour on the hour. The
Wrightsville Beach Bridge is still every hour. After passing under one the
4 or 5 bridges today the water way was wide and unmarked - we promptly ran
aground. A passing gentleman pulled us free and indicated that the area
had shoaled badly. Why the doodles it was not marked beats me.
Anyway, in an effort to make one of the once an hour bridges Laurin and I raise
all the sails and pushed the boat up to 8.7 knots with a favorable current - unfortunately
we were still 5 minutes too late and had to wait for the next opening 55 minutes
later. The time went quickly as we could not get the main sail down - the
new sail is still stiff in it's tracks. I ended up dropping the 60 lb
anchor (which means I got to use the electric windlass for the first time and it
was cool) and then ran Laurin up the mast in the bosons chair. By the time
we finished getting the sail down we only had another 10 minutes to wait on the
bridge opening. The last bridge was the Wrightsville Beach Bridge was our
last time obstacle - if we had gotten there after 7 PM we would have had to wait
until tomorrow for it to open - but we made it about 5 or so. The rest of
the journey took us to the end of the ICW before the Cape Fear River, which is
accessed by a man made channel called Snows Cut. While I had been warned
by a friend of shoaling in that area I did not run into any - which amazed me
- after running aground twice in as many days. The Cape Fear is not
the best marked river - the marks are very far apart. Looking at my trail
on the chart plotter you would think I was drunk the way my course weaved around
down the channel. We made the turn into Southport about 8:30 PM. A
dockhand for Southport Marina had stayed behind after hours to help get us
in. Also waiting for us were long time friends Jimmy and Denise Horn and
their children Joseph, Jenny, Ben, and Joseph's friend Elizabeth. They all
went with us to Provision Co. to watch us eat supper. After they left,
Laurin and I took showers and hit the sack. I am not really sure why
Laurin was so tired - I mean she slept until 8 AM this morning and took several
naps during the day! Oh well, she says she is recovering from summer
school. June 21 (The Horns, children and guest came down to the boat about 11 PM this
morning. While the rest of them went on down to the boat, I got Jimmy to
take me to get a new radiator cap. We left out of Southport and headed
down the Cape Fear river channel to the ocean. Once in deep enough water
(35 feet about 4 miles off shore) we turned due South and sailed for a couple of
hours. With several of the children getting restless, I turned up into the
wind, dropped the sails and anchor, and we all went swimming for an hour or
two. The water was 85 degrees and felt wonderful. We eat a wonderful
lunch of sandwiches that Jimmy had made. We watch thunderstorm clouds form
over the land showers fall from them. According to the radar they were
typically 10 - 15 miles from us. Later in the afternoon we raised anchor
and sails and started back toward the Cape Fear river. The wind was
blowing the wrong direction to make much progress, so we dropped the sails after
a while and motored back in. Once docked back in, about 6:30 PM, Southport
Marina we again headed to Provision Co. to eat supper. Being the kind soul
that he is, Jimmy paid for Laurin and my supper. After enjoying the
sunset from the restaurant, we parted ways, took showers and headed to
bed. Tomorrow we will head back up the Cape Fear toward Wilmington for the
weekend. June 22 (22.72 miles by the knot meter, 4 hrs, 2052.6 engine hrs)
Laurin and I got up about 9 this morning, ate breakfast, freshened up and
then motored over to the fuel dock. I had 1/2 tank of diesel according to
my dipstick (the tank does not have a gauge). It took 62 gallons to fill
the tank - with the engine having been run for about 50 hours (actually less - I
forget to turn off the key on occasions and it runs the hour meter) then the
engine uses about 1.24 gallons per hour - or in car terms it gets about 7 miles
to the gallon. We then motored most of the way up the Cape Fear River to
the Wilmington Marine Center. We did sail for about an hour of the way
until thunderstorms got within 4 miles of us (according to the radar). We
then took them down and finished the trip. While we saw a number of storms
develop, they all passed north of us heading east. After docking my older
sister Jo Ellen came and picked us up and took her to her house.
There we took showers and rested with other local family members passing
through. We had bar-b-que for supper. Laurin and I then used one of
their cars to come back to the marina for the night. While I still had
some trouble navigating the Cape Fear, it is my kind of water - deep. The
channel is typically 45 - 50 feet deep, and even when you get a little outside
of the channel it is 25 - 35 feet deep. I talked to RayMarine technical
support on the way today. The heading vector coming off the vessel icon
has always been about 20 degrees off. Turns out there is a software error
in the RayStar 120 GPS Receiver. I will have to send it back in for a
software upgrade - but that can wait until after the Manteo trip. The
Wilmington Marine Center has power and water, but no restrooms or showers.
Cost was good at $1.00 per foot, but as a BoatUS member the rate was only $0.75
per foot June 23
(0 miles, 0 hrs)
I took the heat exchanger core out this morning - about 1/2 of the tubes
were stopped up. After eating breakfast at Jo Ellen's, Laurin and I went
to a book store and to Lowes where I got a 3 foot section of 10-24 rod. I
cleaned out the tubes and hopefully this will put an end to my engine
overheating problem. June 25 (69.35 miles by the knot meter, 11hr 15 min,
2063.5 engine hours)
I do not like the water around Swansboro! I now know that it was there
I ran aground last Wednesday, and I did it again today! We left Wilmington
at 8:30 AM and made it down the Cape Fear to Snows Cut and the ICW with no
problems. We had to wait 30 minutes on the Wrightsville Beach Bridge, then
20 minutes at the Figure Eight Bridge, 5 minutes at the Surf City Bridge, and 10
minutes on the Onslow Beach Bridge. There is a high rise bridge (65 feet)
between the Surf City and Onslow Beach bridges. The day was beautiful -
thunderstorm clouds developing but never maturing. Laurin read, napped and
listened to music. I kept looking for the place where we ran aground
coming down, but thinking it was after a bridge I could not find it - then as we
were approaching Swansboro I found it. It is a wide channel and all the
depth readings get shallow - so moving around to find deeper water I ran
aground. Laurin and I tried heeling over with the sails up, but to no
avail. So we called our good friends at Towboat US and 5 minutes later
they were there. It probably took him 5 - 10 minutes to clear us of
the sand bar. We then finished our trip to Swansboro where we docked at
Casper's Marine Service. Laurin stayed on the boat while I went up to
register. They had some groceries there, but no milk. A lady waiting
on her daughter volunteered to take me to a grocery store where I could get
milk. Upon returning from the store I was below putting up the milk, water
and Gatorade, when Laurin shouted down that Gabe had left the boat. Not
only did Gabe leave the boat - but Gabe when inside a motor yacht that was
across the dock from us! The gentleman inside picked him up and handed him
to Laurin. I guess since Gabe had been on the outside of other boats he
wanted to see how the insides were! Kosh surprised us today and came up to
the cockpit about an hour after we left Wilmington. He stayed there all
day - sleeping. He and Gabe both wanted to sleep at the companion way
entrance - it was interesting watch them fight for position. The engine
was still trying to overheat - I guess I am going to have to have someone look
at it. Laurin and I took showers and went to Captain Charlie's for supper
- it was good. We both are dead tired and were in bed by 10:30 PM.
We should make Oriental tomorrow afternoon. 0830 - Left Wilmington Marine
Center
0 miles
1130 - Wrightsville Beach Bridge (opens on the hour) 23.95 miles
1240 - Figure Eight Bridge (opens on the hour and half hour) 28.55 miles
1319 - mile marker 275
1353 - mile marker 270
1455 - Surf City Bridge (opens on the hour - not sure about half hour)
44.55 miles
1543 - mile marker 255
1602 - high rise bridge north of marker 27 52.85 miles
1618 - mile marker 250
1720 - Onslow Bridge (opens on the hour and half hour) 63.35 miles
1816 - mile marker 235
1900 - stuck at Queens Creek - just south of mile marker 230 after a turn
- stay
to the ocean side of the channel!
1945 - arrive a Casper's Marine 69.35 miles June 26 (51.06 miles by the knot meter,
5hr 16 min, 2068.4 engine hours)
Back in Oriental after covering 309.26 miles. We left this morning at
8:20 AM and entered more familiar waters as we got to Morehead City. I did
not feel threatened anymore about running aground. Coming down Adams
Creek, I spotted a thunderstorm on my radar about 10 miles away. While
visually watching it, I noticed a finger like dark cloud start descending.
Using my 7x50 binoculars is was evident that it was truly a funnel cloud, or
tornado in the making. It never extended to the ground and we eventually
lost it behind some other clouds. As we entered Pecan Grove Marina, I
noticed a large gray power boat in the formerly empty slip next to mine.
As we pulled up two young men exited the boat and helped Laurin and I
dock. They were with the North Carolina Marine Patrol and will be stationed
at Pecan Grove for the next month during shrimp season. They typically
work at night. As I was getting things settled, Laurin was stepping off
the Annabelle just as Gabe decided to jump ship - he hit her leg and fell into
the water. While it is about a 3 foot drop, he came up swimming
strongly. The biggest problem was now to get to him. The Annabelle
is docked at the end of a T dock in the center of the basin. He tried
swimming into the side of the boat and a pylon, but quickly found out he could
not get up. As I jumped into the dingy that was floating between the boats he
turned and swam to it. I was able to pick him up out of the water with
only his pride hurt. Laurin dried him with a towel and he gladly stayed in
the rest of the afternoon. He spent most of it grooming. We went out
this evening and he stayed in one spot in the cockpit. Laurin took a
shower and headed back to Greenville about 3:30 PM. I got the solar
powered ventilator installed and started working on the cover for the
windshield. The engine continued to overheat today, so I finally called out
local diesel mechanic for help. He stopped by this evening and we talked -
he laid out many bad scenarios and only one good one. The best is a
bad thermostat. The worst is a blown head gasket with cylinder scoring due
to running the engine at an elevated temperature. He is going to check it
out later this week. 0820 - Left Casper's Marine in Swansboro
0 miles
0847 - Bogue Banks Bridge (high rise) forgot to record mileage
0856 - mile marker 225
(missing)
5.0 miles
0937 - mile marker
220
10.5 miles
1013 - mile marker
215
15.31 miles
1026 - pass tug/barge Sharon
B
16.8 miles
1124 - Atlantic Beach Bridge (high rise) 25.1
miles
1149 - Morehead City Bridge (high rise) 28.1 miles
1213 - mile marker
200
31.8 miles
1241 - unknown high rise
bridge
35.7 miles
1319 - mile marker
190
41.1 miles
1354 - exit Adams Creek to Neuse River 46.0 miles
1436 - arrive at slip in Pecan
Grove 51.06
miles June 29 (0 miles, 0 hrs)
I came home today after spending a few days at the boat following Laurin and
my trip to Southport/Wilmington. I spent all day Wednesday making a cover
for the windshield from Sunbrella - it turned out pretty good. It is held
in place with twist lock fasteners. The center 3 panels of the
wind shield are hinged about 12 inches from the bottom so you can get ventilation.
I worked it out so that even with the cover in place these sections can still be
used. Thursday was spent working in the engine room working on continuing
to wire the electrical systems. I got the inverter totally wired and
tested. It was pretty amazing to watch it run my 7000 BTU heat pump off
the batteries - it only took 107 amps at 12 volts! The inverter was only
putting out 1000 watts, and it is rated at 1800 watts continuous. The
batteries would not last long at this rate - but that is what my 12v 175amp
generator is for. I fixed a couple of leaks in it's water system and am
now ready to wire it's alternator and controller. I messed with the engine
some in the late evening Thursday and feel I found the source of the over
heating. The expansion tank is cast iron or such, and the neck that holds
the radiator cap is brass or bronze. It was soldered/brazed to the
expansion tank. In that joint I developed a small opening that is allowing
all coolant to escape as soon as any pressure starts developing. I
contacted my diesel mechanic with my findings but have not had any response
yet. With any luck Laurin and I will be able to keep our sailing trip to
Manteo next week after all. After I got home today I cut out all the
Sunbrella material to cover the remaining cockpit cushions. I should be
finished with them by the time I head back to the boat.
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