"Ship Shape Boat" Category
On January 12, we arrived back in Portsmouth to pick up the boat and head south again.
So, here is a list of all the work we had done:
- bottom painted
- new salt water zincs installed
- 2 new stuffing boxes installed
- 2 new hatches in the master cabin to access the stuffing boxes
- pressure tested both engines for coolant leaks
- new water-lock and flow alarm on the generator installed
- port engine injectors re-built and new leak-off pipe installed
Our first impression?: the new hatches looked great, her bottom looked great (the boat, silly) and her new zincs sparkled. She even had new nuts on her prop shafts. There was no water coming in from the stern tubes and no oil leaks from the port engine or the generator.
The next day, we put the boat back in the water and took a sea trial and that leads right into our next category.
"Can't Catch a Break" Category
The sea trial did not go well. The starboard engine kept cutting out at 1500 RPM. The mechanic thought the boat probably needed new fuel filters. So, we pulled in at the marina, and the mechanic started doing an oil change and a fuel filter change. It was late Friday afternoon, and the service department is closed on the weekends, so he couldn't finish the work until Monday. In the meantime, we discovered that the newly installed flow alarm for the generator didn't work, and it would take two weeks to get another one. So, now we were without a way to tell if the generator was in trouble.
The next two days were extremely windy (30 knots), so we didn't leave until January 19. There are a lot of swing and lift bridges in the Portsmouth area which only open on the hour or half hour, and with little room to dance around waiting for the opening. We gave ourselves just enough time to make the first bridge opening and managed to arrive in time for all of the others along the way, except we had a problem at the last one (Dominion Blvd. bridge).
We had to pull over to the starboard side to let a barge go through first, and when we tried to follow, we suddenly lost power and some steering. We had to back out from under the bridge and drive back and forth for an hour. We thought we might have picked something up in our rudder. It couldn't be a problem with our engines, could it?!! We had just spent a small fortune getting them fixed!!
Our second travel day, Dave checked the engine room before we headed out, and low and behold, there was fuel in the bilge!! He discovered it was a leaky fuel filter and put zip-loc bags over them all to catch any leaks and implicate the culprit. The oil pressures and coolant levels were okay.
On our third travel day, the port engine wouldn't start!! Dave discovered a broken wire on the start solenoid!! At the end of the day, as we were entering an anchorage, we noticed that the oil pressure in the port engine had dropped too low!! We turned off the engine. When Dave checked, he found that almost all of the oil from our recent oil change was sitting in the bottom of the bilge!!
Then came Day Four!! Dave did his engine checks before we started out as usual. He found that there was practically no oil in the port engine!@! Guess what - a leak!! The pipe that goes from the oil pressure port to the emergency shut-off was fractured!! Well, how could that happen, you ask?? Could it be that the mechanic who worked on our engines broke it//!! Dave had to cut out the fracture and re-solder the fittings.
Naturally, he checked all of the fluids, and guess what? He found a coolant leak!! Both header tanks were leaking where they join the head!! This is not trivial, as the whole cooling system needs to be drained, all hoses disconnected and 50 pounds of header tank lifted off, resealed and all put back together. On both engines no less! And to do all this while scrunched up like the hunchback of Notre Dame position! Dave decided to just keep adding coolant and fix it once we reached warmer climes - and when he is not so depressed about it all!!
On Day Five, all hell broke loose!! We pulled up to a bridge in North Caroline (Figure Eight bridge), but we missed the opening by about 5 minutes. So, we had to dance around for about 1/2 hour for the next opening. It was a narrow channel with a pretty strong current, and the winds were blowing at about 12-15 knots. As we made our final turn to enter the bridge area, suddenly the wheel would not go to port!! Further, the starboard engine had no thrust!! Pat was at the wheel and completely frantic. Dave took over and joined her in panic!!
The boat would only turn to starboard. Period. Sadly, the wind and current grabbed us and we banged into the bridge pilings!! We tied off on the pilings because there was nothing else we could do. Meanwhile, the bridge operator was most unsympathetic and said he didn't care, just get off his pilings!! We were really not in the way, but we tried to comply by pulling the boat, by hand, around to the other side where we would be completely out of the way. Meanwhile, the boat was being continuously bashed against the pilings. Pat tried holding it off while Dave called Boat US for a tow.
The bridge operator still wasn't happy and insisted we get off his pilings. He said he was contacting the coast guard as we were now in violation by tying up to his bridge. Dave explained that we had a tow coming and that there was no way we could do anything else. He just kept telling us to move away. At this point, we tried to anchor, but the anchor would not hold because there was not enough room for the scope we needed.
Finally, about 50 minutes after this all began, the tow boat arrived. The tow boat captain (Tom) threw us a line, took up the tension and as soon as we had the anchor up, he pulled us out of the way. Believe it or not, the bridge operator would not open the bridge until his regular time, so we danced under tow for a few minutes and were finally pulled through without incident. Here is a picture of the tow boat pulling us through the bridge.
So, there we were trying to relax and calm down, being very expertly towed and feeling like, maybe we could get through this day yet!! Next thing we see is a coast guard boat!! They hailed us and asked if they could come on board to inspect our vessel. Well, we sure weren't going to say no!! Oh, and they said Fisheries and Wildlife will likely want to do an inspection too!! Fisheries and Wildlife?? Huh!!
So, Pat was near to tears and Dave wasn't much better. We thought we might be fined for holding up the bridge, and those fines run in the thousands of dollars.
The Coast Guard boat came alongside, and the guys jumped across to our boat. It was actually quite interesting to watch them do this. The first thing they said was - "Oh, you're a pleasure vessel." Then, they laughed. Turns out the bridge operator had told them we were a Canadian flagged fishing boat, so they were justifiably concerned. So, that explained Fisheries and Wildlife!! Since they were already there, they checked out our safety equipment and our credentials. We passed with flying colours. Overall, it was not an unpleasant experience considering we were being towed to a marina to face whatever damage and repairs we would need.
As soon as we were docked at Wilmington Marine, Dave had a look below and discovered that the starboard shaft had backed out of the coupling because the screws had not been tightened up and the keys had never been inserted!! He checked the port shaft assembly as well, and found that the keys were in place but the screws were not tight!!
So, we are making an insurance claim for two burst fenders, a broken bow light and repainting of both the port and starboard sides and rub rails. Dave was able to fix the starboard shaft himself, but we had a mechanic check it out. His fees will go on the insurance claim too. We have decided to not lift the boat to check the prop and rudder unless we have a problem further along the way. The insurance people will be contacting Ocean Marine, but we will also send them an email with info on everything even the things that won't be listed on the insurance claim because Dave was able to fix them himself.
"Old Age Ain't for Sissies" Category
We are going to gripe now about getting old. Dave had severe arm and hand pain while we travelling in New York and New Jersey. We discovered it was arthritis in his shoulders when we saw a doctor in Grand Cayman. The medication is helping greatly. Pat didn't want to be left out, so she started getting arm and shoulder pain after we returned from Grand Cayman. Dave's medication is helping her greatly too. But we've got to say that until you have arthritis, you have no idea how painful it is!!
Pat has had only occasional, mild vertigo from her Meniere's Disease, but her hearing is 'deafinitely' gone in the right ear. We are now using ear plugs while we travel because the engine noise is at 90d B most of the time. Got to protect what's left of Pat's hearing and keep Dave's hearing as long as possible.
To our great chagrin, our energy levels just aren't what they used to be - by a long shot. We wake up feeling 40 and go to bed feeling 80. Our minds and thoughts tell us we have energy to spare. Then, our bodies say something quite different. Pat has been muttering lately. Sounds something like, "I'm just not me anymore." What's that? A senior identity crisis??
"Good Stuff" Category
Just so you don't think everything is horrible for us, the rest of the categories will cheer you up. Although Ocean Marine didn't do some important mechanical things well, they did live up to their high ranking on Active Captain in other ways. First of all, as we mentioned in our last posting, they are all exceedingly friendly and welcoming. They did not charge us for the marina fees for over the weekend because they still had work to complete on Monday. We also got fuel there, and it seems they have one of the best prices per gallon on the ICW.
Even though we had quite a few foggy or stormy days when we could not travel, we went from Mile 1 to Mile 285 on the ICW from January 19 to January 29. We often had days when we were able to travel 50 miles due to following wind and currents.
The Abermarle Sound in North Carolina is known for being treacherous, but we had no problems whatsoever. The wind was from the north pushing us, and we completed it in record time.
We were able to finally get a pump-out in Beaufort. Whew!! Beaufort is a very pretty place, and we had hoped to spend a day exploring and having dinner out - even after being greeted by a very surly and unwelcoming dock attendant. The weather didn't cooperate, however. We anchored across the channel from the town. It was pretty filled up, mostly by townies boats, and there was not a lot of room, but we found a comfortable enough spot. Then, a storm rolled in - winds gusting to 27 knots inland and at 40 knots on the ocean. Also, the river we anchored in had a 3-4 knot current. Our anchor started dragging badly, and we were heading backwards into the channel. We lifted it and tried to reset it 4 times, with the winds raging and the rain pelting. It was completely nerve racking, especially when we came to within a few feet of a boat behind us which was anchored on a ball. We decided it would be better to just travel instead and see if we could find another anchorage close by. We motored out of the river and turned a bend and saw a great little spot (which was also marked on our chart plotter). It was beautifully sheltered from everything. We had never experienced a problem with our anchor up until then, so we did some thinking about it. We realized there had not been enough room in the town anchorage to let out enough scope, especially with almost gale force winds and other boats not moving because they were anchored to balls. Still very happy with our Rocna anchor.
We enjoyed quite a few lovely meals on board, including some fresh-caught grilled catfish with rice and salad. It was great to have to generator working again!!
"Firsts" Category
We saw our first pelican on our way to Beaufort, and two small dolphins played in the water beside us and swam under the boat. We were able to take a picture of the pelican, but the dolphins were too fast for us.
We also had our first T-shirt and shorts day in Wilmington.
As we mentioned earlier, we had our first tow from Boat US. The operator was exceptional, and he brought us through a narrow channel right into a slip at the marina with no problems. A membership with Boat US and the associated towing package is well worth the small annual fee. Lots of marinas and marine stores give discounts to Boat US members.
"Small World" Category
We were desperate for a pump-out, so we kept contacting marinas along the way to see if their pump-out was open. All of them were closed for the winter until we hit Beaufort. But we had a truly great experience with one of our calls, as follows:
Us: Dowry Marina, this is the H&E Hope. Is your pump-out open?
Dowry Marina: No, sorry, it's closed for the winter. But is this the H&E Hope that used to be tied up in Port Dover years ago?
We were so excited because we had never met anyone who knew the history of our boat. We dropped into the marina even though their pump-out wasn't working, just to have a chat with John and Linda. They are Canadians who have been travelling on their trawler for about 10 years, going back and forth to Canada, going to the Bahamas and doing the Great Loop. They are currently staying at the marina to help run it for a friend. John is a marine electrician and he did some work on the Hope many moons ago. It was great to talk to them and pick their brains. They gave us some handy tips and ideas, including buying a car GPS in order to easily find things on land when docked or anchored. The charts books most often don't even have the names of the smaller town/cities, and the weather stations are always talking about counties when describing the weather. Being able to find our way around and being able to find specific stores etc. when on land will be perfect. It's our next Wal-Mart purchase!!
John and Linda are lovely people, which is no surprise because most boaters are super. We expect we will run into them again.
"Fun Facts" Category
Just a few interesting things to add about this part of the trip. First of all, there are three possible routes to take when leaving Norfolk/Portsmouth to get to the inland waters of North Carolina. One way is out in the ocean, but it is actually a longer trip for this section (70 miles). Most boaters take either the 'Virginia Cut' or the 'Dismal Swamp Canal' routes. The Virginia Cut is wider and deeper than the Dismal Swamp, but it also has a lot of commercial traffic. Your boat can't draw more than 6 feet if you want to take the Dismal Swamp route. It was closed when we were there, so we really didn't have a choice, but apparently, it is very scenic.
At one anchorage along the Alligator River, we lifted the anchor to leave and discovered we had also lifted a huge piece of a tree!! Forgot to take a picture.
Telling kids how the Alligator River got its name can make for a great, scary fireside story, if embellished. Apparently, the black bears, red wolves and wood ducks used to swim across the river - until the 'gators got hold of 'em!! You can bet the kids won't be bugging to go swimming after they hear that.
Beaufort inlet is where the remains of Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was found in 1996. The archaeologists are graduallysalvaging it, but it is taking quite a while due to lack of funds. Artifacts are on display in the local museum, and there are water and diving tours available. The whole town has gotten into the pirate swing of things. You can read more about this at www.qaronline.org.
We always have the marine radio on channel 16 when we are travelling, so we got to listen in when a Canadian warship was talking with a pilot boat one day. We were thoroughly entertained! It went something like this:
CANADIAN WARSHIP: Pilot boat, pilot boat, pilot boat. This is the Canadian warship, Canadian warship, Canadian warship.
PILOT BOAT: Gotcha, warship.
The warship continued to use all of the proper and precise marine language to guide the pilot boat alongside. The pilot boat continued to use casual and colloquial language, and with a strong southern accent. It was just hysterical to listen to their exchange.
Here are some pictures of typical waterfront North Carolina homes.
We saw some boats that had clearly been beached during hurricane Irene. Here are some pictures.
Even though some of the waterways appear quite wide along the ICW, the fairly narrow channel is the only part that is deep enough. Here is a picture of a bird that is standing on land just below the surface. He was only about 40 feet away from us.
