Another day, another State

Well we lost two weeks but today we made out of Florida and bypassed Georgia into South Carolina.  The boat is running well.  We ran offshore up to 5 miles in very benign seas and made Beaufort just after the marina closed. But we called by cell and had the details. We are tied up on the face dock ready to refuel in the morning.  Jo is cooking smoked salmon pasta after we have had a couple of glasses of wine.  All is well.

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When we come back in a few years we will enjoy these places.  Very friendly folks.

Good News

The repaired propellers and strut performed very well.  A small vibration that existed when I accelerated up on plane before has now disappeared and we are all set to continue.  Not only that but the bill was less than my insurance deductible.  We have provisioned with food and drink and will head out late tomorrow morning for Hilton Head.  For now a seafood dinner tonight and a good night's sleep.  Oh and a glass of wine or two!
 

So we move along slowly....

As I mentioned yesterday, the props and strut arrived yesterday but it took a couple of visits to get them moving to install them.  The strut is in now in place but we won't get to sea trial today due to storms on their way into the region and the hull repaint which wasn't started until yesterday. "Materials only arrived yesterday" they said.  Everything I asked to be applied is in stock at the Jacksonville West Marine!  I am now planning on a Saturday morning start.

Jo's flight was cancelled from Ottawa to Washington and she is now on a flight to Chicago and Jacksonville arriving late tonight.  Like I said, Saturday start...

On the bright side, I went all over the new canvas and they did a super job.  Far better than original.  Bravo Botswain's Locker in Jacksnville.  On time, above expectations on quality.

Here is the repaired prop:

And here is the waiting lounge:

It could be worse....

P.S. I did finish the Clancy book.

Back in Florida

Six hours on the thruways and here I am back on Amelia Island.  I swung by the marina and the props and strut had just arrived.  Hope to be in the water for a sea trial around noon tomorrow. I just checked in to the hotel so I think I will don swim shorts and see if I can finish Tom Clancy's Dead or Alive 950 page epic.

Back to Fernandina Beach tomorrow

Jon and Janice have been amazing hosts but tomorrow I expect the new canvas to be installed and the props and strut to come back from Georgia. I should be at the marina by about 2:30 in the afternoon. Jo arrives at Jacksonville airport Thursday evening so, with a bit of luck, we could be back underway mid-Friday.  The sea trial will tell all.  No vibration - good, vibration - bad.

Larry, I don't mind if you have a word...

Thanks

Thanks to all who have wished well over the past few days.  I have to admit it has been difficult sitting here stationary when we should have been in Norfolk meerting up with Jo by now.  Very frustrating when I won't know for sure until we get the props and strut back next week whether we will be able to continue.  In the meantime I continue to sit and wait...

Props and Strut gone to the doc...

Finally, they are in Georgia to be replaced or repaired.  Jo is now scheduled to join me via Jacksonville next Thursday afternoon.  Here's hoping...

Still in Charlotte.

I found the company that did the original canvas on this boat and have them doing a new set.  The existing canvas is in a useable but very worn state and will be torn to shreds in the first bad storm.  They also did the windshield cover that protects the interior from direct sun.  They are doing that as well.  The neat thing is that they already have the patterns so they can make it and bring it to install rather than having to make patterns first.  That stuff will be delivered in a week's time.  The props and shaft should be pulled today or tomorrow.  In the meantime I am living here with Jon and Janice waiting to here news of the condition of the boat.

At Jon's in Charlotte - Updated

The boat was hauled yesterday morning. Both props are u/s and one strut is bent.  The shafts visually seem straight but they will need to be checked properly.  The hit on the sandbar took off the bottom paint to the gelcoat so that will need to be fixed as well.

Repairs will take over a week so we rented a car and drove to Jon's.  I will stay here until I know when the work will be finished.  I am going to see if I can get the canvas replaced while it is out of the water. So much for the time we had made up!

Another post

The boat is safely tied up in a fine marina and will be hauled first thing tomorrow.  For now I have showered and feel better.  I might have a few glasses of wine to sleep better!  This is where we are:

 I will post later tomorrow on the condition of the undercarriage.

This will be short...

...because I am not in the mood to write more.  After making up almost all of our time we hit an uncharted sand bar today.  We were beached well and good for a couple of hours.  It felt like I hit rocks - we were doing 20 knots.  I made my first Mayday call and was convinced initially we were going down.  Once we knew it was a sand bar and found the hull had not been holed things got a little better.  We are currently under tow to a service marina to be hauled to see what happened.  I know the left prop shaft is vibrating.  The starboard may be ok.  I can't imagine the props won't be a mess.  We have spares fortunately.

Almost back on Schedule!

We left Titusville at 0730 this morning and planed at 20 kots where ever we were allowed to.  At that rate we needed fuel at Titusville where the marina guy informed us that most of the trip to Jacksonville was low speed zones.  I checked the routing and found we could get into the Atlantic at Ponce de Leon and back in at St Augustine.  So that is what we did.  We ran just over a mile offshore in 1 to 2 foot waves at 20 knots.  We tied up here in St Augustine Municipal Marina at 1845.  My original schedule had us in Jacksonville at this point but if the weather holds we will run offshore again and easily meet the rendezvous in Charleston.  

Touch wood.

We are in Vero Beach.

We made pretty good time.  Weather is fine.  This is the Okeechobee waterway.  It links east and west Florida via Lake Okeechobee.
  

Okeechobee Lake was a bit choppy but the Atlantic Intracoastal was perfect.  

The marina is picture perfect. 

More diesel burning tomorrow...

Good News!

Pantropic Caterpillar in Fort Myers was able to send a technician who was an expert on these particular engines.  He found the fault and we found the part at a local Caterpillar dealer.  Just a $20 relay and, yes, I did buy a spare one. Our mechanic had correctly diagnosed the problem over the phone with me but I had switched over the wrong relay from starboard to port. The boat is ready to go.

 
Just as an aside, the marina has a courtesy car here called "Gloria".  It is a 70s vintage Cadillac limo said to have been owned by the Vanderbilts.

So we stayed two days longer than planned but we could have been in a much worse place.

Jon and I just reprovisioned and we will set off again in the morning.  Most of the run to Charleston looks pretty open so I might be able to make up the time by burning more diesel!  Once Jon has done a 4pm conference call...

... the bar calls.

Looking forward to getting back under way........

Hit a snag...

Not a mechanic to be had in these parts.  I have the guy who did my engines coming here with an electrician on Monday (poss Tuesday) next week.  So we will be at least a week adrift.  I can make up some time by burning fuel but we are going to be delayed.  I won't update this blog unless something changes.

Here goes for a week of cleaning, installing etc. but no northward motion!

8:45 Monday 11th April

Waiting for mechanic.  Port engine died en route yesterday.  Made it to scheduled stop on one engine.

Day One

We made it through the first lock on the Okeechobee.  Just a bit ahead of schedule.  All seems ok.  Fuelled up in Fort Myers ($$$) and the autopilot seems to hold a course if it doesn't do anything else.  Tied up in a very nice park for $24 - with power.  

Good progress so far.

Pre-Day One

The Generator works fine thank God.  There was a switch on the back of the control box that has to be flipped.  It is not in sight.  Clever design.  Jon handled provisioning yesterday and cleaned out the galley.  He also cleaned it all before putting everything away!

Plan for today is to call in on Fort Myers City Marina to get fuelled up and to change the water in the tank.  Weather looks perfect.

Here goes....

Launched on time...

Dream Weaver is afloat.  Engines started fine and she is docked.  Tomorrow we do a "sea" trial to check things out.  The generator did not start, so that will be one thing to attend to.  Here's the boat at the dock:

 The finished hull had blue running gear for no reason other than that was the only colour available.

And this is the Travel lift that gets the boat from the work space to the water:

It is hotter than hell on board in the sun.  That's how I found out the genny was not working.  I was looking to get some air conditioning on!

Work Continues

I arrived in Tampa at 2pm yesterday and picked up some "supplies" nearby.  Then down to West Marine in Port Charlotte for some more "supplies". Supplies for boats are always expensive, especially when one of them is a 3KW Inverter!

This morning I picked up six 6V deep cycle AGM batteries and custom cables that will "feed" the inverter and give us 110V power without running the generator all day. Then I went to see the boat.  The "after" picture of the starboard rear hull follows:

 

The hull is not finished yet.  Another coat of bottom paint is to be applied and all the thru-hull fittings are being replaced.  I also found I needed new actuators for the trim tabs and a new sacrificial zinc fitting.  But it is all looking much more seaworthy and we should launch per the new schedule tomorrow afternoon.