Saturday, October 18, 2014

Ahh a lay day

A lay day is pretty much a day you don't do anything. Just eat and drink and soak up the local color.

The day started that way. I puttered around the new dinghy and applied a coat of "new skin" from ISland Girl. Then went to the beach and walked around. Got to dip those toes in the Atlantic.

Beach was crowded with kids from UNC Wilmington. Man I wish someone had paid my way through school in a town like this. They don't know how they have it made at this age.

BAck on the boat I had some lunch of Robert's famous chicken salad and then relaxed watching the young kids play on the sail fish and other small sailing dinghies all sponsored by the local yacht club.

It was enjoyable until about 3pm when the call went out "no water!". Karen couldn't rinse he dishes.

Well it looked like the pickup tube plugged again but hadn't. While looking at the shelf with the pump I noticed it all wet. Then I saw water coming out of the top of the pump. Great.. Investigation showed a diaphragm had burst. I replaced that with some difficulty because of all the boat traffic rocking the boat. Still it did not pump. Further investigation showed some debris in the pump filter but after that was cleaned it still didn't work.

The suction from the pump felt weak so I replaced the valves. Now it works Yippee... Now I need to order some new spare parts.

Dinner was just leftovers. Jim and Barb came over at 7:30pm to try to take the Farkle championship away from me.. Well they did. Everyone won a game tonight except me -- Boo Hoo.

Just before they left thew forecast cold front arrived. A dry one with no rain but lots of wind. Guess I won't sleep soundly tonight

Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy a real Lay Day tomorrow.

BuBu - what's up!

We had a really nice ride from Mile Hammock Bay to Wrightsville Beach yesterday. The trip around the New River Inlet was uneventful. The lowest water was 9 feet at 2 hours before low tide. Once around the inlet the markers start over at 2.

The current was against us for about 2 hours then we had a favorable current most of the way to Wrightsville. Around marker 99 though we had some real "skinny water. Green can buoys near the red side and obvious sand encroaching from the Red. Ohh but I'm ahead of myself.

As we were approaching this area a sailboat called BuBu was slowly and painfully approaching and trying to pass on my starboard side. HE was probably a half k not faster than us. Finally I got fed up and was approaching an inlet where I was between the inlet and BuBu and the red marker. Not a good p,lace so I slowed down to idle and let him pass. We go back up to cruising speed and not more than a couple of minutes later BuBu suddenly slows down. I'm fast gaining on him and I don't see anything real unusual except those 2 can buoys on the red side. I get on channel 16 and I exclaim the usually boat call sign and question and it comes out "BuBu - what's up!" Everybody had a life. Sounded like dialogue from a cartoon.

We made the bridges easily but hit Figure Eight Island bridge on the half hour. Wrightsville only opens on the hour and we can't make it in 30 minutes so we half to kill 90 minutes now. So we just drifted down on Wrightsville - a whole pack of boats.

While going down there and near the bridge I start to play with the radio and hail Jim. I get him on the line and start talking just as my depth alarm goes off and I bump the bottom -- soft mud and I get off easily. But due to my exclamation while transmitting -- Jim knows it too. Ohh how embarrassing.

Wrightsville anchorage is pretty crowded. We find a spot near Jim and Barb on the south side of Motts Channel entrance buoys. The new-ol Rockna just dug in on the first try -- I am pleased.

First I half to troubleshoot and fix the fresh water system. The pump is running but no water -- tanks have plenty. I check the filter and sure enough at its entrance there is a pack of white crystals from the tank blocking it. Clean it out and the water is flowing easily again.

We get ready and head to Roberts Grocery. Unfortunately we find it partially empty and limited pickings -- it's being remodeled.

Karen goes for a walk and I head to the Motts Seafood store for some fresh fish for dinner. Found some fine Grouper and a pound of fresh shrimp. Good eating tonight.

After dinner we went to the Thompson's and played Farkle. I'm pleased to say I won all three games!! They be looking for revenge tonight.

We plan to stay until Monday then it's off to the Cape Fear River.

Today we just play at the beach and on the boat.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Trawlers Galore

I love the weather after a big system runs through. Blue skies and crisp air.

We left Spooner's at 7:30am and had a nice run down the ICW to Mile Hammock bay -- a short run of 34 miles. We entered Mile Hammock and we were the first boats to arrive.. Ahh the pickings were great.

I kinda took a nap after awhile and when I woke up 2 trawlers and a sailboat had arrived. Then more POURED in. When it was all over we had 17 boats in here tonight. Kinda close but no weather or big wind expected tonight so should be fine.. For those that know -- the intrepid DYAD of "Big Dumb Boat" came in at just sundown.

We had sundowners with Jim and Barb tonight and it was great fun commenting on how these new arrivals anchored and where they chose to anchor. Karen gave a few the look of "are you kidding me!!".

While others made questionable choice in where to anchor -- Dyad picked a great spot for the last boat in.

Trawlers Galore -- man I have never see so many trawlers underway in one day. We must have been passed by 20 today. All the high dollar mega trawlers went onto Wrightsville Beach just the cheapo wanna be sail boaters came into Mile Hammock bay.

No military maneuvers here tonight so pretty quiet so far.

Tomorrow an early exit and a tense passage around the New River Inlet and then on to Wrightsville Beach. We will stay there probably until Monday then run -- the anxious for me -- Cape Fear River to South Port.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Baby the rain must fall

And boy did it!! 1.91 inches since this morning. I didn't have the rain catcher set up last night so don't know how much then but it did pour!! lots of wind last night too.

We made a good decision to wait this weather pattern out here in Spooner's Creek. Only one other sailboat came in yesterday -- Jim and Barb on SKAT.. Everyone was too tired to visit last night but if this rain ends soon maybe tonight. It is supposed to be clear and nice tomorrow. Finally we will leave here.

Took advantage of the "lay" day to get some projects done. Fixed the cover on the life sling with a new Sunbrella top and made up a Velcro strap to secure the Soda Stream when we are underway.

Had one not so nice job this morning. Someone -- not saying who to avoid embarrassment was using the aft head when a loud pop was heard. The head on one of the anchor bolts broke off. Well can't let that go or we will have a bigger mess. I found a 2" bolt in the spares but needed 1 1/2". The bolts are not threaded all the way so I could not cut it down so I just added an extra nut and washer and Voila -- fixed. Of course it was the most difficult bolt to reach.

No Sun and not much wind in the rain today so the batteries were losing juice. I had to run the Genset for a couple of hours and the batteries are happy now. Used that time to charge everything and Karen did some ironing -- quilt stuff -- and sewing on her Juki. Its an 8KW genset and doesn't care what we turn on..

Waiting for the rain to stop which should be in the next hour and we can open some ports to let the heat out from the genset -- its not too bad.

Not much planned for the evening. Just view the warnings on the problem stretches of the ICW between here and Mile Hammock Bay and maybe some Farkle with Jim and Barb..

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Expect the Unexpected

Today dawned nicely. I was up early to check the weather reports. Today would be blustery but manageable but tonight they expected strong thunderstorms and lots of rain tomorrow.

We planned on stopping at Mile Hammock Bay in Camp LeJeune which is good holding and somewhat sheltered but usually crowded. Not a good place to weather some storms.

While I was contemplating what to do I noticed we were near low tide and I wanted to know how much water was under me. I turned on the instruments and the depth sounder did not come online --- ohhh crap.

I knew I needed to dive on the boat and change some shaft zincs soon so today seemed like the perfect time now. I dove first on the depth sounder transducer and sure enough there was a mass of stuff on it. I scrapped that off and it started to work. I then changed the prop zinc (underwater now) and that went well. I had to fin my way against the incoming current to screw the 3 allen screws in. Visibility was not good. I then scrub a lot of the hull from the water but could not get down to the keel because of visibility. Over all the hull was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Ohh a little excitement while changing the zinc. A weird looking worm like creature kept rising above one of the prop fins to look at me. Kinda looked like a leech. I didn't have gloves on so I didn't shoo it away. I had to go up for a missing screw and when I returned it had left. Karen freaked when I told her about it.

Done by 11:30am and whipped. We decided to stay here to weather the storms tonight and tomorrow. Should be on the move again Thursday.

Jim and Barb on Skat just anchored near us so we will have some company tonight and tomorrow then on to Mile Hammock Bay unless the depth sounder acts up again.

It comes up but takes about 40 seconds. I don't remember it taking that long in the past. All we can do is watch it. If it is bad then we have to haul out to get it replaced.. Ohhh I don't want to do that.

Time to fix dinner.. Have a great evening.

Monday, October 13, 2014

We Be SNOW BIRDS!!!

WOW -- finally underway on our big Bahamas Cruise of 2014/2015.

Greetings Land Lubbers -- we are no longer one of you.. I hope you like this Blog.

Ohh the preparations have been non stop. Obstacles popped up every day. You have got to love it or it would never happen.

We left the marina at 7:30 and took all the dock lines -- no return..

No wind and an easy exit. The boat was very sluggish and slow reacting -- we are loaded to a inch of the water line -- normally 4 inches and there is slime on the bottom. I'll dive on the boat and scrub the bottom and change the Zincs at Wrightsville beach. The water is fairly clean and good visibility there.

Quiet on the Neuse until about 9am when a very thick sea fog came in. Visibility was down to less than 50 feet!! No problem we ran on instruments. My museum piece Garmin GPS (Garmin 48) at the forefront. Andy told me he saw my everyday GPS in a display of "Historical" GPS units at the Smithsonian this last summer.

When we approached the Ferry Crossing I turned on the Radar but it was not working -- hell worked 3 weeks ago..

The NC Ferries don't run AIS so I couldn't see them. At one mile I hailed the Ferry and asked if he saw me on his radar or AIS receiver -- unh huh -- I have an AIS transponder on board now..

He saw me ok. Said he was approaching the dock and no ferries would be leaving until 10:00 so I had 30 minutes to get across the crossing.. A piece of cake and then the fog lifted.

Nice run down Adams Creek and minimal hassle through the Turning Basin. We had a nice ride to Spooner's Creek and surprisingly we are the first boat on anchor here this afternoon at 3pm.

The Rocna anchor dropped backwards but still set immediately.. Got to love that anchor. The real test will be in 70 MPH winds in a storm -- probably this Wednesday. I think we will weather the storms at Mile Hammock Bay anchorage.

Heck it is 83 degrees here today and time for a well deserved Sun Shower.