45 Days: Planning and the Unknown...

Since the arrival of our charts and waterway guides, Todd has spent a lot of time planning.  Yesterday he was looking more at our course from Lake Erie to Chicago.  Then one of our friends who will meet us at some point called.  He was trying to set his plans and make reservations at the rendezvous point.

We had originally planned to meet in Key West for a week.  All of the condos and resorts that belong to Dave and Peg's vacation group were full.  We talked about a rendezvous in the Bahamas but that would be iffy nailing down a date for us because of weather.  Next we considered Charleston, SC which was appealing since it would be driving distance for them.  Todd thought we'd be there as it would be the probable site for the AGLCA Spring Rendezvous.  Then Dave called last night and mentioned two marinas in Hilton Head.  Todd looked those up and they seem very appealing so that rendezvous point has been established.

Today Todd and I started talking about the Bahamas again.  Todd began reading blogs of Loopers that have just been in the Bahamas.  Looking, planning and excitement shifted to the Abacos, Bahamas.  A little fear crept in as we looked at the charts and read Loopers recounts of the water depths going to 10,000 feet as they crossed from Miami to the Abacos.  A whole lot deeper than the water depths in the Great Lakes where we've spent the majority of our cruising time.  Funny how you can feel your stomach churn without having left your office chair!

While Todd continued to read and compare stories to charts and guides, I decided to check where the AGCLA Rendezvous had been this spring.  MYRTLE BEACH!  Todd worried and thought maybe we should change our rendezvous with Dave and Peg to Myrtle.  I thought we should stick with Hilton Head since the area sounded really awesome.  So that seems settled once again.

The conversation darted back to the Bahamas, when we should leave Key West, when he thought we might arrive in the Abacos, how long we could stay and when we would target getting back to Miami to start our trek north.  Good grief, we haven't even left Lake Erie yet!  Now I'm exhausted and feel like I need a nap.

Charlie has the right idea!

48 Days: Little by Little, Bit by Bit...

Eight days since my last post and our accomplishments are adding up.  Last weekend we traded our old dinghy for a new Brig hard bottomed inflatable (10'10").  Our dinghy engine was traded for a new Mercury 9.9HP 4-cycle with electric start.  The old dinghy was the same except in name...it was a Zodiac and served us well these last 5 years.  It came with the Ocean Breeze so had been in saltwater for its first 3 years of life and the skin had deteriorated.  Inflatables only last so long.  We decided now was as good a time as any to update.

Our old engine was a Mercury 9.9HP as well, however it was a 2-cycle.  It has been a faithful partner for the last 10 years.  We are giving it up only because it is a 2-cycle and is needing more and more maintenance because of it's age.

Also, we had 'Spiderman' come to rid us of those ugly arachnids.  Once he did his thing, I cleaned all of the dust and webs off of my saloon blinds.  I always wanted blinds in my boat thinking they would be so much easier to maintain than curtains, especially with all the spider filth we get from our little Great Lakes friends.  Well, now I have learned that isn't true.  The blinds are a horror to try to take down and washing them in place is difficult and much less thorough.  Nothing is perfect in an imperfect world.  But the spiders ARE GONE (for the time being!).  I have a new gallon of Home Defense to help me keep them suppressed.

I tried to fix a leaky faucet at the bar sink last weekend.  The new washers failed so I decided to try to find better washers during the week at home.  No luck there so that's become an ongoing project.  It may well result in a new faucet at the bar sink.

I also had ordered two LED lights to replace the bulbs in our fixtures over the galley sink.  It was more of an experiment to make sure they would work in our light sockets.   All of our lights are DC and pull power from our house batteries.  At dockside, that leaching of power is no problem because the batteries are being charged by the supplied AC dock power.  However, when we are at anchor or on a mooring ball, we depend on the batteries to keep our refrigerator running and our toilets flushing.  So we are trying to decrease the amount of draw created by other DC applications.

The LED lights slipped into the fixtures and work fine!  I got the warm white so the light is much like the bulbs that they replaced, however the draw is very little.  I immediately ordered 5 more LEDs to replace bulbs in our two bathrooms and our master stateroom.  Because they are expensive, I am only replacing lights necessary to see our way around the inside of the boat.  The rest of the fixtures will remain with bulbs and are fine for dockside.

I installed a new towel rack in the master bath.  The ones that came with Ocean Breeze look pretty but aren't very functional.  I also put a hand towel rack inside the bar sink cabinet.  It looks much better without a towel hung over the cabinet door!

We went home Monday only to mow the lawn (the grass is growing at an unbelievable pace this summer!), Todd had vestry on Monday night at the church and he was attending a friend's retirement party on Tuesday.  Wednesday, before we came back to the boat, all of our navigational books and charts were delivered.  We will be pouring over those during the weeks to come.

Last weekend's projects led into this week.  I liked the bar sink hand towel ring so well, I added one to the master bath over the sink.  I also hung some clothing hooks behind our master stateroom door, inside my closet door and in the guest stateroom.

All the while I was putting more holes in the boat, Todd was cleaning the upper station in preparation for a new (to us) dock box I found on Craig's list last week.  We had been looking for a dock box to store our fold-up bicycles.

This was a great deal and not only fits our bikes but cushions we use in the dinghy and other odds and ends.

We also took our dinghy harness to West Marine to price out adding another cable.  The harness is necessary to lift the dinghy from the cradle on the top deck to the water below with the winch (small crane).  Our new dinghy has a four-point attachment instead of the three-point of the old dinghy.  They had everything necessary to build the cable, except a pin cutter and the crimps needed for the cable.  They said they would have all that today so we hope to complete that project this afternoon.

AND, after all the problems with the anchor and the shackle, Todd slipped the Peerless Shackle on with no difficulty yesterday morning!

On the electronics side, all we have left is the installation of our Raymarine Satellite Dome for the television.  Until we find our installer, it sits quietly taking up space in the pilothouse!

We also keep checking in with the canvas folks...still waiting there.  Patience is a virtue...but I know I have great difficulty in that category.  Todd talks to most of the folks we are dealing with.  He is so much more patient than I.

56 Days until Departure: Shackled!

Yesterday I ordered a shackle for that Fortress Guardian Anchor.  You'd think we could go to West Marine and just buy a shackle.  We did just that...and the shackle didn't fit.  I returned it and bought a BIGGER shackle...and it didn't fit!  So I measured the darn anchor shank, went back to West Marine and even their biggest shackle would not fit!  I emailed the company where I ordered the anchor.  They sent me to Fortress, the manufacturer.  I e-mailed Fortress.  They said most of the shackles sold in the USA are made in China and won't fit.  Yeah, got that from my experiments...so now what?  Another e-mail came to say they tried a 'domestic' 3/8th shackle and it fits if put on from the side.  An e-mail search for a 'domestic' shackle brought hits from Peerless.  I went to E-Bay and found that shipping was more expensive than the darn shackle!  I found what looked like a Peerless 3/8th shackle and offered a bid of $0.99 (it looked rusted in the package and I noted that in my comments).  The bid was rejected with an all CAPS reply that this was a new shackle in a sealed package...I think I raised his shackles a bit!  It's been about a week since that incident and the Captain (Todd) said to me, "Where's that darn shackle?"  Uhoh!  So finally yesterday I ordered a Peerless 3/8th shackle from another source on E-Bay. 

$7.78 for a $1.79 shackle...I hope it works!

I also have a doctor's appointment today to renew all of my prescriptions.  Todd got that done last week.  Charlie will go see the vet the end of July to update his vaccinations.  I've had to move up all our routine appointments by 4 to 5 months.  Our heads are full of 'what needs to be done to prepare for nearly a year away from home'.  It's really kind of frightening to try to think of everything between home, ourselves and the boat.  We're trying to stick with taking one day at a time.

Of course, the Oil Report seems the same:  http://deepwaterhorizon.fsu.edu/projections/hycom/hycom_gfs.html

Captain's Orders: Update That Blog!

Time is passing painfully slow.  So are the repairs on the boat.  The holding tank still has issues after two attempts at repairs by our maintenance team.  Although they are not anxious to wrap their arms around the obvious, holding tank removal and replacement may be the only solution.  Should that occur, all the sanitary hoses will be changed as well.  Currently, we have not received any updates on the situation.  57 days until departure and counting...

As promised, I am posting pictures of the main control panel in the pilothouse.

Hey there Captain, move over so we can see what you have there...

That's better...

The AIS unit is tucked in at the left of the instrument panel behind the black seating.  As you look across the instrument panel, you can see the new radio.  The screen directly to Todd's right is the new Raymarine screen with radar, chart plotter, AIS indicators (locating other vessels with AIS...ferries, freighters and barges when we get into the rivers), and Sirius weather.  The computer on the far right has the current NOAA Charts combined with GPS (a small tethered receiver is just to the right of the computer).  We will still have paper charts and Waterway Guides, however, the NOAA Charts online have the most recent updates concerning the waters we will navigate.  All in all, it's really fun to watch everything happening on the screens...however, we have to stay alert to what's in front of us as well.  Logs and flotsam don't show up on the radar!  And they are definitely something we don't want to find with our props.

We continue to plan our departure, even though repairs still are on paper and not completed, the canvas order still has not been acted on and the Wax Man has not yet cometh to wax the boat.

Oh, and the oil continues to flow in the Gulf.

The Starting Point...

It has taken me a while to find a detailed Great Loop map to detail our starting point at Bay Point on Marblehead in Lake Erie.  I finally came upon one that was still sharp in detail after enlarging.  I was able to transfer it to a JPG file to make a clear transfer to this blog.

I also highlighted our intended route since there are so many options on the AGLCA map.

We won't be going to the boat until tomorrow evening.  Hopefully the mechanics will have the holding tank taken care of by then.  Todd called this morning and they were 'on their way out there'.  Anyone that has a boat knows what that means!

Busy, Busy, Worry, Worry...

All of the electronics have been installed (except for the satellite TV dome).  We took the boat out with the electrician on board Monday, May 24th.  He programmed the autopilot and helped Todd begin the learning curve.

Left to right on the arch are the AIS antenna (to help us track the huge barges on the rivers between Chicago and the Tennessee River), upper station GPS receiver, radar (and hinged anchor light), old TV antenna (which we will probably keep) and lower station GPS receiver.  On the dash in the center of the picture is the upper station monitor for the chart plotter, radar, GPS, depth as well as other navigational readings.  Left of the dash is one of two new marine radios with emergency MMS identification to help the Coast Guard locate us if we are in trouble.  We hope we never have to use that feature.  The lower station in the pilothouse has all of the base equipment that transmits to the upper station.  I'll get pictures of that and post them later.

The certification cruise was made even better by having our two grown children on board.  Both David and Carissa had come for a family wedding on Saturday, May 22nd.  They grew up at Bay Point and on the water with us in our many boats.  The weather was good and we had an excellent time together.

David and Carissa both left for their homes on Wednesday, May 26th.  Todd and I went back to the boat for our first real shakedown cruise over Memorial Day Weekend.  We left for Put in Bay, South Bass Island Friday morning.

Todd had no problem using his new navigation equipment.  The autopilot worked flawlessly, although Todd found there is definitely a learning curve involved with its operation.  When he would reengage the autopilot after avoiding fishing boats in the path, the boat would make tight turns to get back on the plotted course.  It made the cruise pretty interesting.

Todd learning our new marine radio.  Lots of books and lots of reading to do!

When we arrived at Put in Bay, the mooring field was nearly empty and we were able to take up our favorite mooring.  Our newly established house DC would be tested for the next 4 days.  We had decided to replace our old 8D battery with a bank of two golf cart batteries.  Tests have reported longer duration between charges and better recovery with golf cart batteries.  We need dependable DC during the Loop to keep our Tundra refrigerator running.  Of course, use of the head (toilet) and lights are nice too!

We had a beautiful weekend on the mooring.  The house DC setup functioned well.  We ran the generator for a couple of hours each morning and an hour or so each evening to charge the batteries.  We were a bit disturbed to see the voltage meter drop down between charging.  However, the ice cream in the Tundra never softened and we never noticed sluggish heads or dim lights.  We did try to conserve DC in the evening and at night by keeping usage of the lights to a minimum.

While Todd learns his navigation equipment, I'm learning my Olympus Stylus Digital Camera.  This is a panorama shot beginning at Perry's Monument which commemorates the Battle of Lake Erie, near Ohio's South Bass Island, in which Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry won the greatest naval battle of the War of 1812. The memorial also celebrates the lasting peace between Britain, Canada and the United States that followed the war.   Following on around to the right are the Put in Bay Municipal Docks and the Boardwalk (awesome restaurant).  There really isn't a hill in the water...my learning curve to keep the camera level!

Continuing around from the Boardwalk is the Crew's Nest private membership dock.  Getting better at following the cue in the camera.

Continuing...is Miller's Marina public dock, more of the Crew's Nest docks and the free State Park Docks that only accommodate smaller boats.  Golly, by now I've got some confidence in my picture taking.

...until I got to here.  Note the piece of a boat above?  Continuing the tour...behind the moorings you can see the old Fish Hatchery (the white building) and part of the OSU Laboratories as well as Peach Point.  The passage between Peach Point and Gibraltar Island is not navigable by visiting boaters.  The area is full of large rocks that have taken out many a prop!

Back on track, with a better alignment of pictures...this is the OSU Stone Lab on Gibraltar Island.  It is the nation's oldest freshwater biological field station and the Island Campus of The Ohio State University.  Classes are held here year round.  A huge amount of research is done at this facility on the Great Lakes aquatic life, invading marine species as well as endangered marine species.  Tours and educational lectures  for the public are held here during the summer.  This also gives you a good idea of the Boardwalk mooring area we love so much.  It is always our preference when coming to the Bay.

It's always a treat to see the USS Niagara come for a visit out at the Bay.  Her home port is Erie, PA but she makes trips throughout Lake Erie all summer long.  She is manned by very dedicated volunteers that take their vacation working on her two weeks at a time.  The Niagara played a pivotal roll during the War of 1812.  On September 10, 1813, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet defended against an attacking British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie here at Put in Bay. Perry's flagship, the USS Lawrence, was destroyed in the encounter.  Perry was rowed to the USS Niagara, carrying his battle flag (reading "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP", the final words of Captain James Lawrence).  Every September, Put in Bay celebrates this victory with a full weekend of reenactments of the battle, orchestral tributes on the steps of Perry's Monument and encampments depicting the era.  We try to come to Put in Bay for the celebration but hope to be on the Loop this year during that time.

Todd and I brought the boat back to home port Monday, May 31st (Memorial Day).  The forecast was not looking good and we wanted to avoid bad seas.  Once back at Bay Point, I pumped out the holding tank in preparation for repair of the leaking connections.  Before we left for the moorings, Todd and I removed the SaniGuard filter and made a direct connection with the vent hose to the outside.  As I pumped out, I could finally hear the air moving into the holding tank.  My theory throughout this problem had been that not enough air was allowed to exhaust through the filtered vent, creating a build up of pressure inside the holding tank and actually 'blowing out' the connections.  Once back at the dock, I went below into the bilge to clean up the usual mess and found much less drainage.  I think this confirmed my suspicion about the pressure in the holding tank.  I look forward to no more cleanups in the bilge!

Monday evening thunderstorms rolled through the area.  Todd and I were able to watch them on our newly established Sirius Weather by way of our radar.  It was fun to see what was coming and compare it to the front on the computer.  Sirius will come in handy when computer internet becomes spotty during our trip.  With more rain in the forecast, we came home on Tuesday to take care of appointments during the week.

So what's to worry about?  We continue to watch the tragedy in the Gulf with the BP Oil Spill.  The AGLCA website updates us on the situation for pleasure boaters and Loopers.  They are telling us to continue with our plans.  However, Todd and I are now beginning to discuss alternatives.  The range is from taking the boat through the first half of the Loop and wintering on the Tennessee River, moving through the Loop clockwise instead of the preferred counter clockwise route or scuttling the trip until August 2011.  Only time will tell...

The Waiting Game...

This is the hard part...the waiting.  Waiting for the maintenance work to be done.  Waiting for the electronics installation to be completed.  Waiting to try new things out on test runs.

The weather has not been very cooperative.  We've had a few good days mixed with lots of rainy, windy days.  We were supposed to take the boat out with the electrician on board late Saturday afternoon.  The new batteries had not been installed and Todd was concerned after the dead battery problem at launch.  He tried to start the port engine and there was nothing in that battery.  The starboard started fine.  Once again he tried jumping the starboard battery to the port.  There just wasn't enough cranking power to turn that engine over.  So the trip with the electrician was scuttled.

Todd called the mechanic to check on the new batteries.  Yes, they were in but the mechanic was out on an emergency call.  There was no one in the shop to bring them out and install them.  So Todd called the electrician and cancelled the appointment.

Time was not wasted.  Todd worked on his laptop, learning new computer charting software.  He has compiled the list of charts, waterway guides and software we need for the trip.  That order will be placed soon.

While he worked on his laptop, I filled the fresh water tanks.  We've been on city water since the boat was launched.  We've had a lot of water collecting in the bilge (the basement of a boat).  I wanted to switch the boat to the water pump to see if it would run intermittently or stand quiet.  The pump ran which meant water was squirting out a pipe (or pipes) somewhere.  I dove into the underground world of the bilge.  Right away I could see one of the fittings on the hot water heater squirting.  Add another problem to the list!

Meanwhile, our old problem with the leak from the lines leading to the holding tank (think septic tank) has started again.  I knew Sunday's task...clean up the mess and flush out the bilge.  Nothing is ever that easy.  There is one drain scupper that loves to clog.  It is located in such a tight spot.  So Gumby (that's me) has to snake in with the drain cleaning brush and get the mess moving.

After I finished my job in the mid-bilge, Todd decided to clean out the starboard side of the aft-bilge.  It had collected dirt and leaves over the winter.  Once both projects were completed, we looked proudly into our clean bilge.

We left the boat on Monday and stopped by the mechanic's shop on the way home.  The batteries would go in Tuesday (today) and they would start work on the head (toilet) problem as soon as we pump out the holding tank.  We will go to the boat tomorrow and pump out the head.  Until then drip, drip, drip...