Hello Everyone,
We have finally left Canadian shores, and we are currently in a marina in Oshwego, New York. It wasn't until we got here that the whole adventure became real to us.
Dave and I have divided up our blog, and my part will be to write about, as Dave calls it, "the fluffy" side. He's going to write about, as I call it, "the geeky, techy, testosterone" side. So, you can decide what you want to read about or what side you hang on!
So today, for fluff, I want to reminisce a little (it's one of the only advantages of getting old, so don't knock it). As we passed through the lift bridge and left Hamilton harbour, I was thinking about all of the things I had learned while living in the area. I won't bore you with everything, but here are a few of the memories/thoughts I had.
- Hamilton is a small city with all of a big city's amenities, and a completely unnecessary inferiority complex
- A circumstance, (such as living year-round on a boat) doesn't build a sense of community; it takes the truly extraordinary power of individuals within the community to share, communicate, participate, negotiate and basically be willing to consider the needs/wishes of the community as a whole over their own needs/wishes
- A good friend is still a good friend even if he/she doesn't defend you or be there for you every minute or every time
- To paraphrase what Maya Angelou so wisely wrote, "what other people think of me is none of my business". People believe what they want to believe.
- Customers of, let's say a small restaurant business can be variously fickle, finicky, dismissive and even destructive or faithful, friendly, supportive and sensitive. (A big thank-you to Amy, Angelo, Dave, Doreen, Gerry and many others for saying just the right things at just the right times.)
- A customer (his name unknown to me) called me a "hero". Imagine that! I had never thought of myself that way. But maybe, at least at that time, I was being a hero (or more accurately, a heroine). If I profess to believe that it is wrong to cheat people, then I have to live that way, even when it is really hard to do.
- The heroines I will never forget and will always be grateful for having known are my staff, Eva and Farida. Thank you so much for your extraordinary effort and steadfast support.
I hope you will indulge me a little more, and allow me to tell you a story. There was one fellow who taught me a lot, and to my everlasting chagrin, I don't even know his name. He brought the Globe and Mail paper to my restaurant every morning. I called him "the paperboy" even though he was a man, not a boy. He's a tall, lanky guy with lots of missing teeth and a somewhat taciturn disposition. One morning, he was late with the paper and in quite a dither. It was unusual for him to say anything, so I was surprised when he blurted out, "The damn .truck was late, and now everyone will get their paper late. It's not fair to them." Then, he scurried out the door, clearly quite anxious to get his papers to everyone as quickly as possible. I sat there for some time just thinking. How extraordinary he is and how arrogant I am! The lowly, poorly paid, mostly invisible paperboy has a better grasp of customer service than I, the beleaguered but mostly privileged restaurant owner. It changed my day and my life.
As we left Hamilton and took a lost look back at the lift bridge, I thought I should take a picture, but then realized that most of our memories can't be contained in pictures. Thanks John, for your steadfast friendship, and thanks to both you and Chrissy for your absolutely essential sense of humour; thanks to Alan, Kelly and Russ for special times together and yes, Russ, even for those very naughty emails; thanks, Kelly, for your hard work in trying to sell the restaurant and, of course, for your friendship; thanks to Barry and to Mark for providing super and effective solutions to boating issues; a thank you to Charlotte/Scott and Karen/Jean-Michel for your generosity towards us; thanks Lori for being my cheerleader and thanks Bill for sharing with us your music and special events (like marrying Lori!); a thank you to Len/Lisa and Ian/Terry for fun boating times and memories; a big thank you to Ian/Joan for helpfully taking care of Dude when it was most needed; and last but not least, thanks Tony and Dave/Troy for just being who you are.
Sheesh! Enough already, Pat. On to our adventure!!
So, after leaving Hamilton, we motored to Toronto Island and spent a couple of days just working some more on the boat; stowing and storing. We met up with our best friends from Port Credit, Paul and Monique, who graciously invited us to join them with their friends for Thanksgiving dinner at the Ontario Place marina. We had a super time and met some super people, as you can see from the pictures.
But Paul and Monique weren't finished with us yet. They joined us back at Toronto Island and gave us a champagne and smoked salmon farewell. Thank you guys, you are the best! Luc and ??? joined us. (So Luc, you aren't the only one who forgets names!)
We left Toronto and motored to Frenchman's Bay (Pickering) where we spent some wonderful days with Dave's children and spouses, granddaughters and the newest male addition to the Bowman clan. Thanks guys for giving us some special memories. And thanks Mark and Beth for loving and caring about your Dad so much; he deserves it.
We were continually having boat problems, but I'll let Dave tell you about all of that. Suffice to say, that the boat problems and the windy weather kept us at Port Whitby Marina for a few days longer than expected. But finally, we left about 4 PM on Thursday, crossed the lake overnight and made port in Oswego, New York about 9:30 AM on Friday. The sail was very bumpy because the wind did not die down as predicted (thank you weatherman!!)
Tomorrow morning, we will be starting down the Oswego Canal. Since it is so late in the season, there are no other boats here waiting to go, so we expect we may be the only boat going through the Oswego locks until we hit the Erie Canal. There should be other boats, maybe quite a few, once we have moved along the Erie to the spot where the locks have been closed for hurricane repair. The fellow at the Canal System office that we talk to on a regular basis assures us that the currently closed locks (4 of them) will be open on or before November 21, which is the date that Governor Cuomo promised.
We will post another blog once we are settled at anchor in Lake Oneida. We expect to stay there until just before the November 21 opening of the currently closed locks.
The Geeky, Techy Testosterone Side
Our adventure started some 10 years ago but finally took flight this summer. So much to learn. Initially of course we decided all must be done and ready prior to our departure. In the end, it was "let's get moving. We'll finish along the way" Thank heavens for optimism, but it clouds issues at times.
From a technical point of view, it was fairly straight forward. We'll spend the summer at anchor, test all our systems, make sure they are solid and head out. I suppose essentially that is what we did. However, the H&E can be a demanding mistress and is rarely happy unless some quantity of my blood has been donated to whatever project we've undertaken.
I know Pat wrote about the touchy, feely, emotional things but perhaps a word or two from me might not be out of place. The friends we have made will be in our hearts forever, and their words and encouragement are very much appreciated. Each has touched our lives in a wonderful way. As our friend Monique is known to say, "we miss you already."
For all the VAs and VEs out there, you may have noticed I have not been on the air. Radios are in position but not yet hooked up. Too many other priorities. Had hoped to be on Echolink, but the Internet is iffy to say the least. Will try and catch up with you over the next couple of weeks.
OK, enough of that.
Couple of thoughts on things I've learned which you may or may not find useful or amusing, should you decide to embark on an adventure like this.
1: At this time of year, heat is a great thing. When you are in a marina, it's not to difficult to achieve. When you are out at anchor or travelling – different story! We use (and have done so for many years) our Espar D12 diesel furnace and despite all the parts we've changed (along with commentary on the designers ancestry) these can be very reliable units. Too bad it took so long to figure it out – the books are no help whatsoever! The biggest issue is POWER, specifically the voltage and available current. The book gives you upper and lower limits the unit should work within. OK. So here's what really happens. If you try and run at the lower limit, it will run, sort of, but usually just fills the boat with smoke. I know you're thinking, can't happen because the combustion chamber separate etc. etc. – ya right. But I'm telling you, when there is a 1 volt drop in voltage, you better shut it off and save yourself lots of aggravation. At the upper limits, there is a little more tolerance, however, again there's a catch. It will run quite happily at 3 or 4 volts above the nominal (i.e. 12 or 24), for a while. It will then start burning out glow plugs and pop breakers – all for no apparent reason. Enough said, we learned the hard way! I built a regulator to solve the upper limit problem but it has to be disconnected when just on batteries or it raises the power limit. More on the consequences later.
2: Batteries – you can't have enough. We lived quite happily at anchor with our 450 amp hour 24v and 225 amp hour 12v systems requiring a charge every 2 or three days provided we didn't run the stove, microwave, toaster or power tools. Just ran the fridge (full size energy efficient household type), computers, lights and kettle/coffee maker. Travelling though, things change. When running in daylight (no heat or navigation lights), the batteries fed the inverter and the engine alternators fed the batteries. No problem. After a number of hours of running, you arrive with about the same charge as you left with, including a couple pots of coffee and a couple pots of tea. Now do it at night when it is marginally above zero and the water is miserable and lumpy. Furnace comes on – a lot; nav lights gobble up 10 amps; furnace another 7 or 8; autopilot pump (cause it is working so hard) 17-20 amps and then the usual fridge, coffee, kettle, computer, radar, VHF radio, and GPS. Fifteen hours into the trip, aside from being very tired, a little testy and perhaps a little fed up with making like a high wire artist just trying to move from one place to another (let alone not spill anything) it finally hits home you're running out of power! At this point, you have to become selective 'cause some things will just shut off when they sense the batteries are becoming exhausted. The consequences are things like the furnace not working properly, the autopilot feels its had enough so shuts down, and the VHF radio (which you rely on to give the Coast Guard your position reports at regular intervals 'cause you are good cruisers and always file a sail plan when doing long distance and over nighters) now doesn't have enough juice to have an understandable transmission! Have to hand it to the Cdn Coast Guard though, provided you have a DSC radio with your GPS connected, they'll poll your radio (using your MMSI number) and get the info that way. Very cool! Because it is data and not analogue voice, much easier to get. Lastly, when the radio says enough already, the Coast Guard will leave you a voice mail with their phone number to call when you get within cell phone range. Better than sending out S&R right away. Thankfully if you do not give some kind of response within about 15 minutes of your scheduled check-in, S&R will be on their way. In the end, we shut down the auto-pilot, turned down the furnace, disconnected the bow light and hoped for the best. As it turns out, it was enough.,
For those of you who know the story of our leaky seals - a little grease goes a long way :) For those who don't, it is a bit of an amusing investigation. Once upon a time, Dave's engine room, while cluttered was very clean and dry. To the point where he painted the bilge white. Then, as is often the case, life happens. Work and more work, no big trips and our floating home was just that. But then the time comes – enough already – lets get on with it. After much blood sweat and tears over decks and cowlings and upper stations etc. etc. let's tackle the engine room. Hmm, not dry. Why? Must have a leak from somewhere – oh yes, fresh water tank's (new last fall) clean-out dribbles. So seal it – lovely, problem solved. Oops, bilge not dry. Why? Start taking up floor – ah! ha! shower hot water pipe joint dripping – fix it. There, done. Oops, bilge not dry. Why? This is getting tiring. We can see the water but where the heck is it coming from? Start cutting holes in head cupboard – there's the water but...oh no, water is coming out where the shaft goes through the stern tube, darn and other colourful adjectives. OK. Tighten stuffing box – but wait, can't see said stuffing box, in fact can't see much of anything. This presents an opportunity – to buy a borescope – and Pat thinks I'm a tool junky – go figure. In any case, we both agree we need it, so once in hand, we start looking again. This is a two person job - I have the camera part and by hanging half upside down through the hole I cut in the head cupboard floor. Pat can sit more or less comfortably on the stairs with the screen and tell me where to put it, I mean aim the camera.
Ta da! We can see the leak – to our dismay we can also see this is not a typical (in the pleasure boat world) stuffing box configuration. On the Net, on the phone, what have we got here – grease filled stern tubes is what and the grease seals are shot. At both ends. Furthermore, the other side has the same problem. OK. Fill em with grease - doesn't fix the seal but sure slows down the water. Bad news is, the boat has to come out of the water to replace them. Here we are, days away from leaving and now this. Lovely, just lovely! OK. Call around with a few key criteria: need a place with a travel lift big enough to take us, must have a mechanic available who is familiar with this configuration AND must have the time and space to do it without breaking the bank. Found one. All looks good but lots of doubts: what if they take it apart and can't get the parts?; what if a more important job comes along?; will we get bumped? Time is running out and we are anything but comfortable with this.
Thankfully, two things happened. First, our very good friend John sent over a marine engineer who knows a lot more than we ever will, or want to about such things. Second, my friend Nick has a buddy who owns a marina on Sodus Bay, and they are ready, able and willing to do it for us.
Fortunately Tim, the ME, who incidentally is not afraid to hang half upside down in the head to see what the issue is says – don't sweat it. Give the tubes a couple shots of grease a day, get to where it is warm, and fix it then. Tim then went on to explain the what and how and, oh by the way, that other project (to build a fuel polisher), do it this way. Me? I took a lot of notes. We had heard of Tim by reputation prior to this event. We believe he knows what he's talking about - a shot a day is a good temporary remedy for anybody or anything, so I give the tubes a shot of grease every day. Bilge is much dryer but as with many things, only a temporary situation.
As our good buddy John says, "cruising is all about fixing your boat in evermore exotic places." Frankly, I'd never thought of Caroles Point, Frenchman's Bay or Whitby Harbour as exotic, but hey, what do I know?
Chapter 2 or 3 or whatever in the ongoing saga of my may never be dry again bilge.
I mentioned earlier that whilst we were at anchor, in the summer, we'd run the generator to charge the batteries – usually everyday 'cause I'd be using power tools much of the day. An interesting thing happens when the things you once used once in awhile, as on holidays, get used everyday. They break down.
There we are happily cooking dinner, (well OK, Pat is cooking dinner, I'm having a beer) when the generator just stops. Going into the engine room, I'm greeted with a steam bath. Can't see two feet in front of me for the steam. Turns out, weeds caught in the fresh water intake, plugged it, the generator kept running until it boiled off all its internal coolant. OK. Clear the plug, refill the coolant, away we go. We go to Frenchman's Bay to visit family. Frenchman's Bay also likes to grow weeds. Weeds find there way in generator intake – same problem. This time though, it runs a little longer and destroys the muffler. Lovely, no generator, no charge batteries, no fridge no heat etc. Start looking for parts. What to do in the meantime though? Got it - cut the ends off the broken muffler and JB Weld them together. Noisy, but works. OK, let's find parts (this was on a Wednesday). Fortunately, HMP has a waterlock and muffler in stock and will send out immediately. Part is shipped to Mark's (my Son) house and we get them on the Friday. Install the parts, once again life with the generator is quieter – till Monday. (Monday Monday – don't trust that day) Weeds in intake, generator stops. Darn, must be a way to fix this. Just to top it off, all the new parts are ta da! – plastic! Generator exhaust very hot when not cooled by water. Melts plastic parts. Seems we are back at square one. Back on the phone to HMP. Good news, bad news. Yes I can just buy the melted intake fitting, no they are not available in Canada. Would be at least 2 weeks – this will not work, what to do. Ah ha says I. I'll rebuild the old one with – you guessed it – JB Weld. Man I love that stuff! Problem though. I know the JB will hold up long enough for us to get the parts once we get to the states. I also know that should the intake get clogged again, the JB Weld is no match for raw exhaust gasses. Solution, install a flow detector on generator raw water intake line. Back to HMP and my new friend Peter – 'cause I talk to him almost everyday. Yes, he'd be happy to sell me one but, none in stock. If I give him a bit extra for shipping, he'll fly one overnight from BC. Done deal – NOT! Shipper uses old box but neglects to take off hazardous material sticker. Airline won't accept package, I won't run generator with out it. Enough already!
What to do, what to do: no power, need a marina to tie up and charge batteries. Tried them all (marinas) in Frenchman's Bay, but no luck so we'll have to move. Keep in mind there had been wind and gale warnings out on the lake for days and it had been blowing like stink. We get up early and decide to head out before the wind. EC (Environment Canada) says wind is dropping, should be OK. NOT!
Nine foot waves, everything flying all over the place – and we broke our #1 rule about travelling: if the weather looks bad, stay put. By the time we saw just how bad it was we'd cleared the channel at Frenchman's Bay, and I was not keen on trying to turn around and re-enter it. It is narrow and shallow requiring caution in the best of conditions. Pat agreed, so we went on to Whitby. Suffice to say it was a most unpleasant experience. After the fridge doors flew open dumping most of the contents of the fridge on the floor, I wondered if we would ever get everything properly secured. The only one who really enjoyed the trip was Dude (our dog). He got to lick up the fridge droppings!
Just to top it off, when we went into Whitby Harbour, they said to dock at pier 9. OK, we saw pier 9, saw big boats tied up to pier 9, saw open slip at pier 9. Ran hard aground just before pier 9. Oh, you meant the other side of pier 9 – thanks for telling us! In any case, wrestled her free and docked in a not so lovely 30 knot breeze. No damage, just frayed nerves.
Oh ya, and the detector? It arrived in one piece, looked good but minus an alarm. Was a bit of miscommunication between Peter and I. My understanding was that it was a kit - all I needed was wire and 12 VDC. No, it was a detector only. Fortunately, I had made some engine alarms that we had not yet installed, so I used one of those. Very loud, very good. One problem, detector stuck in position that says water is flowing – even when it's sitting on a table. Talked to the manufacturer who gave me a number of things to try – tomorrow is yet another day – besides, wind is dropping so let's cross the lake :)
