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THE SUN RISES, AND THE SUN SETS

1/27/2015

Posted by Monty

And once in a while, it sets with a vengeance.

This was our view on Sunday, from the deck of Dick and Libby's boat a few "balls" down from ours. Taken with an IPhone, so no special equipment was used. (If I had special equipment, I would not know what to do with it anyway.)

Just magnificent. And no admission required.

Oh, wait. First, buy a boat...

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BEAM ME UP

1/22/2015

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Posted by Monty

Short trips. That's what we have done for the past two days.

Yesterday we decided to go out to Sombrero Reef. It's got a really old navigation light that was built in 1858 and was actually manned until 1960, where the operators focused a flame through a Fresnel lens that was actually built by Monsieur Fresnel. It cost $20,000 in 1858 dollars.

The forecast was for waves of less that a foot, and winds of less than ten knots. Perfect for picking up one of the mooring balls provided (so your anchor does not damage the reef) and doing some snorkeling. So off we went.

The water was as clear as a bell.

Closing in on Sombrero Light

People used to live in the box and climb the staircase to operate the light. This is about 3 miles offshore. Not sure this is for me.

On the way out, we noticed the wind and waves were both bigger than expected. No problem, we thought.

Right.

We picked up the mooring ball with a minimum of fuss. We were in about 15 feet of water that was clearer than a bathtub. I could clearly see the patches of sand and rock below Sea Bird. We then got ready to eat lunch, with the plan to snorkel afterward.

Sombrero light is right at the edge of the reef that protects the Keys. Instead of the predicted small seas, we were getting ocean swells of 2-3 feet, confused seas, with the biggest ones on the beam. (The beam refers to the side of the boat.) The result was we were getting rolled. Back and forth, with another wave set contrary to the first lurching the boat in odd directions.

Now some history comes into play. While we do live on a boat, we have spent the last month in Boot Key Harbor. Protected from all sides, the biggest wave we have seen is maybe one foot. In a storm. And driven by the wind which means we are taking it on the bow, as we will naturally point into the wind. We got the bread and sandwich accoutrements onto the cockpit table and looked at each other.

We have lost our sea legs. Time to get moving.

So we cleaned up without eating, cast off the mooring line, and headed back into the harbor. Still choppy, but waves and forward movement we could stomach. Along with lunch.

Today we headed out knowing the weather would deteriorate but wanting some more time on the water. We made it to the cut through in the Seven Mile Bridge before we turned back to Boot Key. No problems with stomachs this time, so maybe it won't be much of a problem to get our immunity back. We could have continued, but the forecast is calling for some uncomfortable wind as yet another front moves through.

No complaints though. The weather here today was around 80 with copious sunshine. Lowest of the lows for the next week is supposed to be in the low 60 degree range. Winds will be in the high 20's or so.

But neither wind nor wave will be on the beam....

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UPDATE FROM BOOT KEY

1/19/2015

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Posted by Monty

Wow. Has it been a week since I last posted? Guess things have been busy.

On the boat project side...

The starter supplied by the Evil Giant (Amazon) did not fit. I stared at it for a couple of days (just like I have stared at an Ace trying to make it a Deuce), and then went wandering around Marathon. I wound up at the local Yanmar parts house where I inquired as to the availability of a new Hitachi starter like the one I pulled off the engine. It was not in stock, but could be had for the princely sum of around $800.00. Further wanderings led me to the other Yanmar dealer in town, run by a guy named Chico. Chico quoted me roughly the same number, but had a starter (aftermarket) in stock that would work (he assured me). The problem I had was that the starter he handed me looked like a toy compared to the one I pulled off my 30 year old engine. The price, however, was right at $220.00. As I was talking to Chico, Anthony (another cruiser we met, who limped into the harbor and had Chico do some work on his Yanmar) came into the office and bought an oil filter. He then offered me a ride back to the marina on his dinghy, as I was walking. I gladly accepted and left to mull things over.

After thinking about and researching the matter overnight, I came to the conclusion that improvements in magnets and other technology during the last thirty years have indeed resulted in smaller frame motors perfectly capable of spinning my diesel fast enough to start it. After purchasing and installing the starter, a week later it is still performing flawlessly. The Evil Giant, after I returned the starter I bought from them, looked upon it favorably and gave me full credit (less my cost to ship it back). All in all, I'm happy with that. Having slayed the starter dragon, I went on to a few other things that have been nagging me.

I pulled off the inspection ports on the port and starboard water tanks (after fabricating a tool to do so) and verified they are clean and in good shape. We have had one tank lasting much longer that the other one, for no apparent reason. My best guess now is that the valve on the other tank has a slow leak that acts to replenish the long lived one. No problem for me, I'll just empty both of them and then refill one from the third tank I have that is forward under the v berth, with a transfer pump. At that point I will know it's time to go get water, and I have about three days to accomplish that.

I plumbed in a shower/washdown sprayer in the cockpit, in anticipation of fresh water rinses when we climb back on the boat after swimming/snorkeling. The salt content of the water here is very high. We also need a way to rinse out the cockpit (the rain does a pretty good job getting the salt off the boat, but the cockpit is covered).

We took Sea Bird on a short hop to the marina to fill the water tanks. While I was there another boat pulled along the wall in front of us, changing my exit strategy. Because of the wind and the narrow confines of the channel, I wound up backing Sea Bird out of the channel to a place where I could safely turn her. What a joy to have a boat that will predictably handle in reverse. Most boats become unmanageable. (Our first boat, No Regrets, never acted the same way twice when in reverse.) We then took her to the fuel docks for a drink. We have used about 25 gallons since last we fueled in Biscayne Bay on the way down. That includes our daily engine run for refrigeration.

Giving up on the magic liquids, I removed, cleaned, and reinstalled the carburetor on the dinghy. I even walked down to West Marine and bought a new spark plug. The Tohatsu starts and runs fine, I'm just not sure Carol can become one with it or any engine that starts with the adjustment of a choke and the pull of a rope instead of a turn of a key. This is a theme that was repeated on many a yard maintenance piece of equipment (leaf blowers, string trimmers, etc.) and I KNOW she wanted to start those on her own. See her previous post on the actual driving thing. I have no comment...

On the fun side...

Carol was unable to pull the Panthers through. We went back to the bar to revenge root for Green Bay when they played the Seahawks. No Joy on that one either. Carol tells me I am spending too much time in bars. So tomorrow (weather and attitude permitting) we are taking Sea Bird on a little adventure for a couple of days. We are going to the Gulf side and do some actual sailing, explore a few of the islands, do some snorkeling, and maybe find a deserted beach. Perhaps Carol can manage to put her Florida fishing license to the test (maybe resulting in dinner?).

One can always hope. Here are a couple pictures for your viewing enjoyment. I know I enjoyed them.

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bUMPER dINGHYS

1/12/2015

4 Comments

Posted by Carol

In my youth or as a young adult I was never one to ride 4-wheelers or motorcycles. Thus the process of turning the throttle down to speed up and turning the throttle up to slow down is quite confusing.

As most of you know, I am now taking Driver’s Ed classes in dinghy operations. I would like to think that my skills are improving daily, but alas, I don’t think that’s actually the case. Poor Monty sits quietly by my side as I putt along. When I try to speed up I usually turn the throttle the wrong way and slow down. When I’m trying to slow down, guess what, I speed up. Now, out in the open water through the harbor that’s not such a big deal. Our little dinghy engine just sounds like its having a bad day! When we’re trying to dock, well, it’s a horse of a different color.

For example. Imagine 50 or so dinghys all lined up on the inside of a U shaped dock and me trying to pull in to the only available spot. In the middle!

My stress level goes up and my heart starts to palpitate as I consider my options. I then start doing some self-talk to reassure myself I can do this. So closing my eyes, (it’s a bad idea I know) I say a quick prayer and then proceed to power through it.

Now, mind you, I have an audience. On yeah, people are milling around, getting on and off their own dinghys so anything out of the ordinary gets their attention.

So here I go. Monty is talking quietly to me in a reassuring voice telling me to throttle down, now turn. . . hard right. . . take it out of gear. . . now reverse. . . No! Not forward! Reverse! Oh Lordy! Did it go badly! Not only did I have an extreme bumper car (boat) episode, I backed into a dinghy behind us, broke off our light pole and managed to turn us 180 degrees from where we needed to go.

It was at that point I just shut off the engine!

Monty, immediately started reassuring me that I didn’t do too badly. “It could have been worse,” he said. “Nobody was hurt, and nobody fell overboard so we’ll count it as a win”. Well I was mortified and making it worse was the fact I had an audience to witness my debacle. Thankfully one of the ladies took pity and said not to worry that at some time they had all been there. Practice makes perfect she assured me.

On that note we eventually got tied up to the dock after pulling ourselves around and through the other boats. I guess it’s part of the process but it may be a while yet before I pass my Dinghy Certification Exam as given by one Mr. Monty E. Brumbles.

4 Comments

MAIL CALL

1/6/2015

1 Comment

Posted by Monty

We got mail today.

In the "normal" world, that is pretty much a non event. We, however, have received no mail since we left Oriental on November 20th. Today we received a bulk shipment and spent the day going through it. Only a couple of surprises as our mail sorters do a pretty good job of alerting us when things come up that need attention (thanks Allison. And Ashley, who subs when her sister travels.).

Our time here has been spent divided between boat projects and play projects. One of the biggest boat projects is the starter. I took it (and the alternator) to a repair shop before we left Oriental and had them both reworked. The alternator seems to be working OK, but the bendix started sticking on the starter. What that means is it was not engaging the flywheel gear, and was just spinning against it. This causes some wear on the starter gear which is (by design) a softer metal than the gear on the flywheel. We use the engine twice a day because of the holding plate on the refrigeration system, so it really needs to work. I finally took it off and cleaned the bendix so it moved freely.

Unfortunately, the starter gear had worn enough so that the lead on the teeth was basically gone. That means that the alignment to the flywheel has to be perfect for it to engage. So I ordered a new starter from the Evil Giant (Amazon).

You can see the shiny part where the gear has worn away.

The new starter came today (WOAH. TWO packages had to be loaded onto the dinghy!). Maybe tomorrow's project?

Then there was the Bilge Pump Project. I rebuilt the pump itself, replacing a couple of sets of caged roller bearings that had siezed, and got the pump working from the manual switch. The automatic (float) switch, however, steadfastly refused to actuate the pump. After taking Carol in to do laundry (do you think I do everything?) and tracing wires throughout the boat, I came upon a heretofore unknown circuit breaker that had tripped. Resetting this brought the pump to life. That gave me the opportunity to do a cleaning of the bilge (yuck).

Also there was the dinghy carburetor project. I tried to fix this with SeaFoam. This is a product you add to gasoline that cleans the internals of fuel injectors and carburetors. (It's always the carburetor, right Rob?) Unfortunately, this time it wasn't doing the job, even after motoring the dink out to the ocean where I could open it up and plane it off. We can't do that in Boot Key Harbor due to the manatees. So I took the carb apart and cleaned the jet with Carol's sewing needle. Which she promptly threw away. Tomorrow will tell, but it seems to start a whole lot easier and if so, will facilitate the confidence Carol needs to solo the dinghy.

On the fun side...

The marina is located right next to Marathon Community Park. Really nice, with ball fields, tennis courts, batting cages, skateboard park, exercise trail, amphitheater and more. They had a Craft Beer Festival. So we HAD to do that. We listened to a few local bands as well.

The Carolina Panthers are in the playoffs. Carol has, so far, been unable to get us thrown out of the Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House, despite recruiting all the people at the bar to cheer for the Panthers. She has managed to pull them through.

We decided not to go to Key West for New Year's celebrations. We did our usual deal, going to bed before midnight. The new year always seems to make it through without us (unlike the Panthers).

This weekend, there is a Celtic Festival at the park. Guess we will have to do that, as we bought tickets at the beer festival. Insidious, right?

We have had cocktail parties with a couple of people we met here. Good people. One couple that we met in Vero Beach invited us to their beautiful Morgan and we also went out to eat at Dockside, a dinghy friendly bar located at the edge of the harbor. They are going to the Exumas as soon as they get a prop problem worked out.

Another couple are doing some engine repairs. We dropped by their boat this morning to offer assistance, but they seemed to have the project well in hand. Hope it went as planned.

And we invited Dick and Libby over for cocktails that turned out to be dinner, as we were so delighted to visit with them. We have been following their inspirational blog for a couple of years now, and it's great to finally get to know them.

There is a cold front coming through tomorrow night. Lows in the mid sixties, with lots of wind. That's crazy talk.

Maybe if the starter project goes OK tomorrow, next week we will get out of the harbor and find a deserted piece of beach to anchor off of. Do some swimming and snorkeling. Catch and grill a lobster or two. I think we'll stay in this area for another month.

The weather and the company, after all, are great. And the sunsets never disappoint.

1 Comment

THE SUN RISES, AND THE SUN SETS

BEAM ME UP

UPDATE FROM BOOT KEY

bUMPER dINGHYS

MAIL CALL

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