Norfolk, VA
To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.
I've gone the full round of sparring with Mr. Lehman, eventually got in two waza-ari, and came out victorious. And I have the cuts and bruises to prove it.
Earlier (Miami Connections) we rounded up the parts: Cole Hersee push-button starter switch and M202 solenoid.
The question is this: "Do …
Previously, we have noted that Mr. Lehman has been reluctant to start. The starter solenoid is a little rustball, and perhaps is on its last legs. For some history, see Mysteries, Cleaning and Watching.
Today, the starter didn't work.
Now we have time to do some diagnostics.
Previously, we could …
Cravings. Coffee (good coffee!), Power, and Wi-Fi. A short hop from the beach in the posh resort section of Vero Beach. This appears to be called Ocean Side.
It's a pleasant 1+ mile walk from the marina. Perfect.
Good, fast Wi-Fi helps with our passage planning. We're looking at the …
It's 1°C this morning. We're thankful for unlimited shore power, and two 1500W electric heaters plus a propane heater. Being at a dock is expensive, but sometimes the money's well spent.
We're thankful that I figured out how to operate the excess fuel cold start device on the Mr …
Our hard dodger has two tiny gaps at the for'rd corners.
It looks good, but, there's a path for rain to drip on the bench.
If the bimini cover went down low enough to prevent all dripping, it would be right difficult to get out of the cockpit …
Oil cooler no longer drips into the bilge.
All of the fittings are drip-free!
W00t w00t. It almost makes me feel like someday, I might know what I'm doing.
We have a ton of cleanup to do. A ton. We have old oil and old antifreeze to drop off …
Calling it quits.
The two high-pressure heat exchangers for oil and transmission fluid have been replaced.
The old main engine cooler has been removed and is ready to be replaced with the new one.
Also, the essence of the cooling hoses …
Started: Poquoson River 37°09.51′N 076°24.60′W
Docked: Hampton City Marina 37°01.48′N 076°20.44′W
Distance Run: 35.5 nm. Time 6¼ hr. Engine Hours 3.
Great sail down the bay. Until 13:00 when the wind died. We were just 2 …
Two tasks: Fix the propane. Get to Norfolk.
Note that we left the Bahamas due east of Ft. Lauderdale, ICW mile 1064. Norfolk is 283 ICW miles away. A hair over 25% left to go.
No trip is uneventful. In addition to propane weirdness, which cleared itself up, we had …
Friends First.
We're going to rendezvous with some other Whitby folks here in St. Augustine.
Last winter we had five Whitby's in St. Augustine. This week, we're expecting to have four Whitby's in St. A.
Meanwhile, we'll do some chores and plan our big maintenance tasks for the summer:
Dodger …
Are we there yet?
Have we broken anything new recently?
Anchored at 27°09.252′N 080°11.748′W in Manatee Pocket, near Stuart, FL
Walkies and Wi-Fi at Sammies for breakfast.
Washup was showers at the marina "not-to-be-named".
Dinghy over to the Hinckley …
Are we there yet?
Are our engine parts here yet?
Are all the parts we need here yet?
Have we broken anything new recently?
Anchored at 27°09.252′N 080°11.748′W in Manatee Pocket, near Stuart, FL
Walkies. Waste. Washup. Wi-Fi.
Walkies was a walk …
This was painful, but necessary.
Stuff broke. We knew something was amiss when Mr. Lehman developed an unusual new smell on Saturday or Sunday. Really. A new smell. We'd learned all of his various noises. And a diesel engine has a characteristic smell. But this smell was new and different …
This week we're hanging around in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Commodore Says: "We Can Haz Visitorz?"
The Commodore's aunt, Venerable Great Aunt (VGA) Diane may visit next week. So, for this week, we're just hanging out.
Docked at 32°49.93′N 079°56.03′W
Cleaned out …
This week we're starting south from Beaufort, North Carolina.
The Commodore Says: "I think we're ready to jump outside."
The Ditch has been very, very good to us. We sheltered from Hurricane Sandy. We got our sea legs. We worked out some of the kinks in the boat and our …
Things we find. Example: the old binnacle ammeter was both poorly installed (i.e. loose wire) and partially disconnected when I installed the new alternator (see "We Got The Power").
We did notice that the ammeter seemed to be stuck on zero.
Then, as I thought about it, the idea …
The Commodore Says "We need reduce our dependence on diesel fuel." How do we cut our dependence on petroleum? How creative do we have to be? Are we going to revert to cave-dwelling?
The diesel auxiliary ("Mr. Lehman") for moving the boat is difficult to restrict. We can try to …
On average, boat jobs require (as Lon says) 3.5 trips to West Marine, Hurd's Ace Hardware or the Napa store here in Deltaville. If you get a job done with only three trips, that means that there's a four-tripper in your future.
It's a natural law. Like Parkinson's Law …
There's that "Oh, Crap!" moment when things are clearly not working. This moment of horrigying clarity is balanced by the utter obscurity of the root cause. After all, I only changed a one simple thing. How could it go so horribly wrong?
A solution is something that must be earned …
Where do we stand on August 12th?
The engine (or transmission or something) is throbbing. A lot.
As the crow flies we're 94 nm from home. If we go back the way we came, it's 223 nm and four more days of travel. We have three days of vacation.
If …