This was an emotional two week cruise.
We went approximately nowhere. We fixed a lot of things. I learned some lessons along the way.
Week 0
Our preparation week had to be extended again. Ideally, we'd like to shove off on Sunday, the 21st.
April 19
Launch. The rest of the day is in-the-water preparation. Mostly, we need to fill the water tanks.
April 20
Dock Day.
Some final fooling around. Do the final load of laundry. Any final grocery shopping. Park the truck out of the way.
And.
Consider what's wrong. It appears the alternator is not charging the batteries. A little testing seems to reveal the alternator is not producing anything, and needs to go.
Folks tell me the Balmar alternators -- with their external regulators -- are prone to failure. It's the regulator, they say. It glitches out and bad things happen.
Sigh. It's Saturday. So. Nothing until Monday.
Week 1
In which we finally get off the dock.
April 21
We are not going anywhere.
We have time, it turns out, to unload some stuff.
Back in 2013, we moved onto the boat. A few boxes of stuff went to a few relatives for storage. Everything else we owned went to the boat. Everything.
When we moved ashore late in 2014 to get jobs, we continued to store stuff on the boat. The 2021 journey, for example, was easy because we had so little in our apartment. Moving to Las Vegas? Pack things in the truck. Move back to the boat? Donate the furniture to Goodwill and pack clothes and computers for the boat.
Now, however, we share a house in North Carolina. We have storage for things we don't use.
Some stuff we don't even really need anymore.
April 22
Alternator to the Starter/Alternator guy.
He's also grumpy about Balmar alternators. Not because the regulators are glitchy. He's grumpy because the 712 series had a lot of specialized parts no longer available. The 621 series is better for maintenance and repair. He'll see what he can do.
Back to the boat.
Clean a little.
Organize a little.
Tighten lifelines.
Look at the mess I made of the anchor roller.
April 23
Alternator is done. Pick it up and install it. And test it.
A non-Balmar rectifier (and some extra wiring) was crammed into the case. It will work, but, it's a hack. "Buy a proper backup," is the advice.
Yay!
The engine charges the batteries.
Time to get off the dock.
Which didn't actually happen.
-
A line jammed between the piling and the dock. (There's a technique to flipping the line over. It's an easy mistake.)
-
Then -- while struggling -- the engine died.
The bad luck was to jam a line turned out to be good luck for pulling a dead Red Ranger back to the dock.
Take a breath. There's no reason to rush, rush, rush. We'll try again tomorrow.
Consider installing and testing the alternator to be today's big accomplishment, and relax.
April 24
Okay. Let's blame the primary fuel filter.
Today's attempt got a hair further. All lines off the dock. Red Ranger out into the canal. Then the engine died.
Neighbors saw us in difficulty and grabbed our lines. While we fended off another boat, they moved theirs down the dock a piece. We got back, and tied up safely, thanks to their good seamanship.
Mr. Lehman ran yesterday for a half an hour. Today? Not so much. What’s different? CA noted that he doesn't seem to run “Under load.” Both times he died when I put it in gear. So. Must test under load.
After changing the primary filter, and bleeding air from the lines, Mr. Lehman started.
And ran.
And ran pulling against the docklines.
Therefore, we're out of here.
Third time was the charm.
Here's our view at 17:03.
Travel
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Depart | Save Cove 26°52.3584'N 82°14.0004'W |
| Arrive | Interceptor Lk 26°53.4444'N 82°10.9788'W |
| Distance | 5 nm |
| Time | 1hr |
| Engine | 1hr |
April 25
At anchor in the lake.
Today's theory: one of the secondaries might be leaking a tiny bit of fuel. A few ounces over 12 hours. Barely visible when running.
I stretched a clean oil diaper down to see if I’m right. If not, I’m stuck for ideas. I hate changing these while at anchor. Diesel gets everywhere. I’d have to siphon a quart from the tank to prime them. At the dock, I can run to a gas station and buy a gallon of clean diesel.
April 26
At anchor in the lake.
April 27
Sigh.
Actually relax and unclench.
We're within limp-home distance.
We have our fully paid up Bout US towing account.
Week 2
Some reflections.
April 28
You’ve been away from the boat since you closed her up in May of 2022, how are things? Answer. Peaceful. We’ve gone about nowhere. The view here is pretty sweet. The anchor is holding. The solar panels and batteries are working. CA cleaned and filled the water tanks. We have a mountain of food. And a stack of books. I am running low on rum. Kill Devil, specifically.
Tomorrow, which I think is a Monday, I may go up the mast to fix the anemometer. Today it will be a bit too breezy and bouncy.
Here's the mess I made of the anchor roller.
You can see how the bracket at the bottom of the picture is folded down. This exposes a 1/2" of the roller pin. It leaves a space for chain to jam.
April 29
Up the mast to look at the anemometer. It's completely jammed. Doesn't move.
Down the mast to look at the installation guide.
The thing just unclips. Unplug (and cap) the wire. Unclip it.
Okay. Should have figured that out before I went up the first time.
Go back up the mast to remove the anemometer.
I found some videos of taking it apart. It's not too difficult. I think I've got the needed 1.5mm hex key. But. I reached a point where stuff was so corroded it would not move and I couldn't get the bearing off the main housing.
I squirted a lot of Silicone Spray Lube in. And spun it until it stopped making the grinding noise.
Then I squirted a lot more it. And spun it until it felt like it was spinning freely.
Then I squirted a lot more in.
Here's our view.
April 30
We tackled some "minor" jobs today. This is our preferred pace. Hang around, maybe to a job.
The pressure of time in the yard getting ready and time at the dock getting ready is emotionally draining. There's a time constraint, and things simply must get done so we can be launched during our scheduled launch window. Work. Work. Work.
Work quickly. Don't waste time in contemplation.
It's much, much nicer to have a slip from which we can depart when we're ready. Fixing things at anchor is a little more work, because you must have the right tools and parts. And you have to be able to dispose of things like old oil or old diesel.
Here are today's two jobs.
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This is a little cleat that clamps on a shroud. It lets us hoist signal flags and daysigns. The old cleat had -- essentially -- corroded until it fractured.
Old Cleat and New Cleat -
The bilge pump's filter keeps filling with gunk. This is unsuprising. The bilge contains a mixture of some old dried-up diesel residue and silty mud from the anchor locker. It sets up like Play-Doh.
May 1
Today, we head back to the dock.
Of course, the fuel line is full of air.
Worse, there's hardly a drop showing in the diaper.
I tried to prime it. We started, and then we died.
I bled all the air from it. Started it again.
CA pulled up the anchor, but left it just about ready to drop.
We had no confidence.
And. That was appropriate.
After about 40 minutes, the fuel system had sucked enough air that we died in the canal, just past the final red.
Once we were anchored, I bled it again. Started it again.
We limped to the dock.
Got tied up with few mishaps.
While securing lines, the fuel system had sucked enough air that we died at idle.
Okay. Time to clean out the trash, and the laundry. Start getting ready to be hauled out.
We have a checklist. It starts with configuring the mizzen boom, topping lift, and running backstays so (a) Red Ranger fits in the crane, and (b) Hurricane-force winds.
May 2
Haul out. Finish Hurricane Prep.
I have a nagging problem.
We have two bilge pumps:
- Originally, a fancy pump with a pressure sensor was configured to do bilge pumping or anchor washdown. This had the original deep float switch.
- I added a second, submersible pump, that did only bilge pumping. I put the float switch for this up six inches to act as an emergency backup.
The deep switch triggers a pump with a filter screen that's prone to jamming.
We'll be away for months. If the filter screen is clogged, the pump runs until (1) it overheads or (2) the batteries are dead.
I've been cleaning anchor sand from the bilge filter daily. The possibility of problems is real.
Then. I had an epiphany.
What if the new rugged, reliable, submersible pump had the original deep switch?
Then the less rugged, less reliable pump can be the emergency use pump.
It works like this...
Swap the Deep and Shallow float switches.
Now, the deep switch runs the submersible pump.
The shallow switch is the backup pump.
I can sleep at night.
In Summary and In Conclusion
We had a great time.
We fixed the remaining damage from Hurricane Ian. Things that were very hard for the insurance adjuster to see. They couldn't check the starter, nor could they check the alternator. Those are fixed. The bilge pump design is improved.
We'll be back at the end of the year to try this whole thing again.