Contents
Dinghy Motor, Generator and Cleaning
Cleaning up Bird Poop part III
Bananas on a Boat Are Bad Luck
Fixing the Centerboard and Cruising
Signing
Papers – Nov 18, 2005
Here
we are just after signing the
This was after Hurricane Wilma had come through and blown
off the solar panel and follow-me-TV dish. George was able to recover the dish
but the solar panel was long gone. We found a place to order a replacement
solar panel online, but it was backordered. It turns out that
The
Generator – November
19-23, 2005
We spent the first day back on the Questeria helping George install his watermaker on the Steel Lady. After a day the
generator stopped and without a solar panel, that was bad news.
At first we thought the problem was the fuel pump. We went
into
Next we decided that it was out of diesel fuel or the tank was bad. We went to a marina and filled a bunch of cans with fuel. When we poured them into the tank, in started to overflow. It still wouldn’t start. We determined that nether of these was the problem.
Next we bypassed the fuel filter and we finally figured out that the problem was a stopped up fuel filter. We replaced the fuel filter and everything worked. We were also able to get a solar panel and we installed that. We now had hot showers and coffee on Questeria.
Thanksgiving
– Nov 24, 2005
We finally got everything running on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. The fuel filter was bypassed, but it was a nice day and we felt that it could wait for a while.
Ron finally got to take the boat out. He discovered that is was a little different than driving a car. We left Newfound harbor and then went south for a while and turned around. We came back and docked beside Steel Lady again.
That night we ate smoked turkey and ham with George and Nancy. It was real feast.
Diving
on Looe Key – Nov 25, 2005
It is a great day take the boat out. We load it up with diving gear and take her out to Looe Key. This will be Fran’s first dive since she got certified.
Under George’s guidance Ron gets the boat to the reef and we tie up to a mooring buoy. The first dive takes a while since it’s the first time Fran and Ron have been in saltwater with wetsuits and they have to get their weights right. We get down and see the old light that was knocked down by hurricane Wilma. George catches a lobster and gives it to Fran.
For the second dive, we move the boat closer into the reef. The water is starting to get choppy and George warns us to stay away from the shallow areas. The current pulls us in that direction anyway and have a long swim back to the boat.
We head back to New Found Harbor and tie up to the Steel Lady. It has been a great day.
Sailing
– Nov 26, 2005
It was a good day for sailing. There was
enough wind to fill the sails, but not too much to make it rough.
George shows us how to raise the sails and we cut off the engine and take Questeria out of the harbor under sail.
We make good speed with the wind behind us. Ron turns the boat around and we start heading back to the harbor.
We are discussing how to tack and if it is possible to sail back into the harbor when Ron sees that we are heading straight towards a lobster trap. He tries to avoid it, but the wind is pushing Questeria sideways and we go right over it.
The rope gets wound in the propeller, which is free spinning. We are dragging the trap and the boat is hard to steer. We are headed toward shallow water so we drop the anchor to stop her.
Once stopped, we try to free the trap but it is wound around the propeller. George puts on his wetsuit and goes under to free it.
After we free the trap we decide that the inlet into the harbor is too narrow to tack with the direction of the wind. We motor her to a spot in the harbor and drop the anchor.
We eat lunch and then George and Ron go diving looking for lobster and fish to spear. The first lobster that George gets is slightly too small, but the second one is a keeper. We also see a huge jew fish, which is a member of the grouper family, but is illegal to spear.
Dingy 101 – Nov
27-29
It is windy and George and Nancy are
working. Ron does not feel comfortable taking Questeria
out on his own, so he decides to practice handling the dinghy.
If you have ever driven a dinghy, you know that it is not at all like driving a car. You steer by moving the tiller (handle of the motor) in the opposite direction that you want to go. You control the speed by rotating the tiller. There is another lever that you use to switch from forward to neutral and to reverse. You can’t steer unless it is in gear and if you put it in gear at too high of an RPM, you will jerk forwards or backwards. There are no brakes, so if you need to stop, you put in reverse. If you go too fast in reverse, you will flood the dinghy with water. Oh yeah, it doesn’t turn from the front like car; it turns from the middle, like all boats.
To make matters worse, the motor has not been running very well and stalls very easily and it is very windy.
Ron talks Fran into accompanying him on this exercise. Fran is afraid that Ron will get her wet. She is wearing a PFD (Personal Floatation Device).
Ron takes the dinghy around and tries to dock her at the swim platform. He repeats this exercise over and over. This proves to be beneficial as Ron’s control of the dinghy improves and Fran does not drown.
Ron does not get to use his improved dinghy skills since the
dinghy motor dies and will not start again. George has to pick us up in his
dinghy so we can go back to
Fran
and Greg to the Rescue – Dec 26, 2005
After a long drive from Raleigh, NC to Big Pine Key, FL we are finally back at Questeria. We have Adam, Ryan and Greg with us and have all taken turns driving straight through the night (everyone except Greg).
We have already been warned about bird poop (more on that
later). George and Nancy are still in Palatka with
The Jeep is packed to the brim, including a car top carrier. We start unloading the Jeep, wipe some of the bird poop off of the dinghy (more on this later) and load it up some luggage.
Ron, Ryan and Adam get in the dinghy and Ron starts the motor. They head out to the Questeria, leaving Fran and Greg to continue unloading the Jeep.
As Ron and the boys approach the Questeria the motor suddenly dies. Now they are drifting around in Newfound Harbor. Ryan takes the single paddle and tries to paddle to the Questeria while Ron tries to restart the motor.
In the meantime, Fran and Greg watch from Seacamp and think that Adam, Ryan, Ron, the dinghy and all of its contents will surely drift out to sea. Fran finds someone at Seacamp hoping he will take her out to save the boys in George’s dinghy. But he only starts the dinghy and shows her how to use it. Fran has never driven a dinghy before (see Dinghy 101) and she is worried that she will not be able to get to them, but she is more worried that her husband, son and step-son will drift out to sea, so she and Greg get in George’s dinghy and take off to the rescue.
Fortunately, Ron is able to get the dinghy motor running long enough to get to the Questeria and he is below, trying to start the generator, when Fran and Greg arrive. Ryan and Adam yell down that we are being boarded by pirates and Ron is surprised to see Fran and Greg on board.
The dinghy will not be fixed until after we go back to NC
because it is the week between Christmas and New Years and many businesses are
closed. But we get by using George’s dinghy until we get to Burdines marina in
Cleaning
up Bird Poop, Part I – Dec
26, 2005
We have just driven 16 hours straight, had the dinghy break down half-way out in Newfound Harbor and we are on a boat that is full of bird poop. We had been warned ahead of time, but had no idea it would be this bad.
To make matters worse, the batteries are drained from the anchor light because the solar panel doesn’t work very well through ¼ inch of bird poop. This means that we have no running water since our pressure pump runs off the batteries.
Ron tries to start the generator using a spare battery that George left for us. Fran, Ryan, Adam and Greg start cleaning up the deck and solar panel by hauling sea water in a live well bucket that we brought down on the Jeep.
Ron is unsuccessful in starting the generator and now has discharged the spare battery enough so that it fails to turn over. The bow, sail cover and bimini are still full of bird poop, but we have managed to wash away enough bird poop from the deck that we can unload the dinghy. We are washing our hands with Wet Ones® moist towelettes that Adam had brought down, but they are starting to run out.
Fran and Ron go into town to buy some Orbital Gel batteries.
We have finished eating and the generator is still running
to charge the batteries. All of a sudden it stops. Ron opens up the cover and
sees that everything is covered in motor oil thrown by the generator. Hoping
that the batteries got enough charge, Ron tries to start the engine – no such
luck. We are all exhausted so we go to bed.
To
Boot Key Harbor – Dec
27, 2005
We wake up to beautiful morning. Since we have no generator
we make coffee by heating water on the propane stove and using the French press
that we have brought with us from
We have reserved a slip at Burdines marina for four days. The problem is that we don’t have enough charge in the batteries to start the engine. The plan is to take George’s dinghy into town and buy two batteries to replace two that we suspect may be bad.
We get to Napa and they don’t have those batteries in the stock. They also tell us that those batteries are not Gel Cells. He sells us two lead-acid marine deep cycle batteries, which he claims are the same as what we had; only they are not sealed.
We go to eat breakfast at the Cracked Egg Café. This place is great! We order some to go for Adam and head back to Questeria (still using George’s dinghy).
Ron tries to replace the batteries and finds out that they don’t fit in the same compartment. Fortunately, he is able to swap them with the two batteries under the settee and make it all fit. He gets the engine started.
We need someone to drive the Jeep to Burdines. Ron is taking Questeria and Ryan, Adam and Greg want to ride on the boat. So that leaves Fran. Fran is looking forward to the hot showers at Burdines, but she is not looking forward to taking George’s dinghy back to the hill on her own.
Ron watches from Questeria as Fran starts the dinghy motor and take it to Seacamp. After calling to make sure she got it docked, he takes off toward open waters.
The trip on Questeria is pretty uneventful as Ron is following the track left on the GPS from when George sailed her to Newfound Harbor.
Fran wishes that her trip from Big Pine key to
Fran stops the Jeep. Surprisingly, the car top carrier is not harmed. She now struggles to get everything from the back to the front of the Jeep, put the back seats down and then put the car top carrier into the back of the Jeep.
With the car top carrier inside, she makes her way to Burdines marina without further incident. She takes a long hot shower and starts washing clothes that were worn while cleaning bird poop.
Ron has discovered that the engine overheats if you try to go to fast.
As Ron, Ryan, Adam and Greg make their way to Boot Key Harbor, the temperature is falling. The windscreen has been rolled up because it is full of bird poop. Ryan, Adam and Greg clean it off and roll it down. They are still cold and it is hard to see through the windscreen.
We get to Boot Key Harbor about 1630, just before sunset. Ron has some problems getting the boat into the slip and no one knows how to tie up, but the guys in the slip next door help us.
Once the boat is tied up and the water, electric and cable are hooked up, we remove the canvas sail cover and bimini, which are full of bird poop. Then we take showers and head to Burdines restaurant for dinner.
Dinghy
Motor, Generator and Cleaning – Dec 28-29, 2005
We are at Burdines marina in
We go into town for cleaning supplies and a pair of “ear muffs” for flushing the dinghy motor. We scrub the boat. We soak the sail cover and bimini, and scrub them, scraping them with a butter knife as needed (we throw the butter knife away when we’re done).
Ron tries to flush the dinghy motor with fresh water, but it is still not cooling properly. We remove it, put it in the Jeep, and try to find someone who can work on it. Most businesses are closed this week so we bring it back to the marina and set it down.
The sail cover and bimini are mostly clean. We get the bimini back on after four attempts. (We think we actually had it on right the first time after all.)
So far this vacation has not turned out as we expected, but surprisingly no one complains because it’s better than being in the cold weather or at work/school. We rent some wetsuits for Adam and Greg and we try them out at the beach. Tomorrow we will try to have fun.
Sombrero Reef – Dec 30, 2005
We take Questeria out to Sombrero Reef. The plan is to fish while anchored outside of the protected area and then tie up to a mooring buoy and go snorkeling on the reef.
Fishing is fun. Ryan catches a yellow tail snapper on the way out, but it is slightly too small. We catch a bunch of the fish pictured above, but we don’t know what kind they are. We keep some in the live well, but throw them all back when we pull the anchor.
We go into the protected area and tie to a mooring buoy. There are quite a few boats here so we choose a buoy from a boat that is just leaving. The snorkeling is better than we imagined. We swim out towards the lighthouse and return.
We head back to Boot Key Harbor. When we get back to the marina, there is a boat in our slip. As we wait for it to leave we are drifting towards one side. Because of this, Ron has trouble getting into the slip. As he turns the boat, he hits the dinghy into a post. One side falls and the seat comes off into the water. Ryan retrieves the seat and fortunately, there is no permanent damage.
Back
to Newfound Harbor – Dec
31, 2005
We
will take Questeria back to Newfound Harbor
today. Fran wakes up at 0430 to take Adam to the
Ron gets up later and looks at the generator. He determines that the problem is the gasket material where the old fuel pump was reattached after the new electric one was installed. He makes a temporary fix using aluminum foil, the top of a green bean can (we will have green beans tonight) and fishing leader wire from his tackle box. This will do for a while.
When Ryan and Greg get up we fill the water tanks, empty a
fuel container into the tank and fill the four fuel containers with diesel. We
are set to go when Fran gets back from
We get out of the marina without incident and start heading back to Newfound Harbor. Ron is following the track on the GPS, but has a chart book as well.
Ryan makes sandwiches for everyone and we are continuing along when the track on the GPS ends. We realize that it only has so much memory. We now are unsure where to turn to go back to Newfound Harbor. We see coral heads sticking up and realize that we have cut in too close. We quickly change course and get into deeper water.
Soon we spot the marker and find our way safely back into the harbor, but we realize should have a chart plotter and have paper plots as a backup.
It is New Years Eve, and we have dinner with George and Nancy
on the Steel Lady. We have some champagne, but we are all tired and we toast to
the new year well before
Up
the Mast – Jan 1,
2005
Cleaning
up Bird poop, Part II – Jan
28, 2006
James comes with us this time. We think we are prepared for the bird poop because we have sent down a pump, but it is so thick we spend the first night on Steel Lady. In the morning we get up and start cleaning.
The tarp we put over the sail cover and bimini has kept that canvas clean. We find out that these tarps clean very easily by tying them to the boat and letting them sit in the water.
The pump works okay, but we have a cheap hose that keeps kinking. Another problem is that it needs the generator. My temporary fix to the generator comes apart and cleaning must stop until George finds some better gasket material.
We get the boat pretty clean and tie up to Steel Lady. The birds still try to land on both Questeria and Steel Lady. It is obvious that we will need to do something more.
Looking
for Gill Net – Jan 29-Feb 1, 2006
We have read that birds will not land on top of gill
netting. We had some older gill netting from Fran’s and James’ granddaddy, but
we left it in
One thing that we come up with is replacement nets for small fishnets. We cut them up and tie the together with cable ties and stretch it over the solar panel. We also buy additional tarps to cover up more of the boat.
We have brought down an Osprey kite. We don’t think it will last, but we hang it out there anyway.
Cleaning
up Bird Poop, Part III – Feb 24, 2006
The netting over the solar panel partially works. There is still bird poop on the sides where it was not covered well. The additional tarps have helped as well.
The Osprey kite is stuck in the stays, but has done some good anyway. George said that he saw the birds watching it and if it moved in the wind, they would take off.
Cleaning is not as bad as last time. There is only the two of us, but we still have the pump with the cheap hose which is better than hauling buckets of water.
Adventures
on the High Seas – Feb
25, 2006
We needed to get some experience out in open water before we
take Questeria to
We make coffee, eat breakfast and get everything ready to go by 1000. We have a laptop computer with a chart program. The computer is hooked up to a touch screen so it stays out of the elements. However, we need some cables, so we have not permanently attached it yet. The computer itself is in a dry bag and the LCD touch screen is setting loose on the helm.
We
take off and the first problem is that Ron’s bifocal sunglasses are bad and he
can’t see very well out of them. (They end up in the trash after he removes the
stick-on bifocal lenses.) The second problem is that the LCD screen is not
screwed down and has to be held down so it doesn’t fall down.
We manage to find the red and green markers and head out towards Looe key. Once we get out there we encounter 2 to 4 foot seas. Ron is not yet accustom to sailing in waves. Fran is anxious and wants to head back but Ron wants to stay out and get the feel of the boat. Everything in the boat is on the floor and the filing cabinet goes from the shelf over onto the bed.
Ron tries to determine what direction to go and goes around in circles for a while. Then we start heading 180 degrees (due South). This is the direction we want to go, but it is causing the boat to roll. So we zigzag a little to keep the boat from rocking side to side as much.
We get down towards Looe Key and we can see a storm near where we are heading. Ron thinks it might be a good idea to turn back and Fran readily agrees.
Coming back with the wind to our back is much better. Fran takes the helm and brings us back into New Found Harbor.
We practice anchoring a couple of times and eat some lunch.
After lunch we tie up to the Steel Lady. It takes three tries because we try to tie-up to the middle of the boat first and the bow keeps away. The third time we tie the bow first and it is good.
Night
Moves – Feb. 26,
2006
We spend most of the morning cleaning the bottom of the boat. We borrow two scuba tanks from George and Nancy, who are at work. Fran goes up on the boat to rest and Ron is low on air so we decide to stop for lunch.
After lunch we notice the cold front moving in. We secure all loose items and close the hatches on both Questeria and Steel Lady. We wait out the storm until about dinner time.
We fill the water tanks using water from Steel Lady.
We had planned to cook chicken fajitas on the Questeria, but it is too windy for the grill and we have run out of propane for the stove. So we take everything over to Steel Lady and cook it there. After dinner, at about 2030, George listens to the NOAA weather report and decides that we should separate the two boats.
When we get outside we see that the wind has already picked up quite a bit. We pull in the dinghy and prepare to move the Questeria up further into the harbor. We try to get the laptop working but it thinks that the GPS is a USB mouse and the computer has a seizure. George let us use his handheld chartplotter and his big spotlight.
Earlier in the day Fran had tied off 85 feet of anchor line. George says in that in that much wind, we should add enough line to make 125 feet. Fran adds line to make 125 feet. Not knowing that Fran had added line, George adds enough to make 150 feet. But George says that you can never have too much anchor line so we leave it.
The plan is to go up past red marker number 8 into the end of the harbor. This doesn’t sound too difficult.
We set off and everything seems to going okay. There are some lobster traps but we successfully avoid them. Ron gets to a spot that looks like a good place to drop anchor, so that’s what we do. Right after we get the anchor down, we notice an unlit boat nearby. We feel it is too close so we decide to pull anchor and go somewhere else. Pulling 150 feet of anchor line in the dark, with the wind blowing so hard you can’t hear each other is not easy.
Fran finally gets the anchor up and we set off looking for another spot. The problem is that everywhere we go we see another boat close by. Another problem is that we have a hard time controlling the boat in the wind.
The second time we drop anchor, there are no boats around, but we end up in 5 ½ feet of water. Questeria’s draft is 4 ½ feet and we were at high tide, which is 1.6 feet.
So we pull up the anchor for a second time that night. This time goes a little easier for some reason.
The challenge is to find a spot in deep water that is not too close to another boat. This is not made any easier by the fact that some boats do not have any lights.
We finally find a spot and drop the anchor for a third time at about 2200. This time looks pretty good, but Fran has been beaten up by pulling the anchor twice. She has somehow bruised her forearm and her whole body is sore and muddy. She takes a shower and drinks some wine.
We are too wound up to go to bed. A little while later we
hear a noise and see a light. It is a sailboat dragging anchor down the harbor.
She passes us without incident. Then we hear a call on the marine band radio to
Passages. “Passages” is the name that is painted on Steel Lady.
We call
Since we are worried about dragging anchor (us or someone near us) we don’t sleep very well. We go to bed about at about 0100. We set the alarm clock for 0300. When it goes off, we check everything and it looks fine. We set the alarm for 0600, but Fran wakes up at 0500 and checks; everything is still fine. We made it!
Runaway
Hat – Feb. 27, 2006
Because of the 25 knot winds with gusts up to 30 knots we are hesitant about taking the dinghy to go out into town for supplies. We decide to give it a try when we are invited to the Steel Lady for a lunch of pulled pork. Ron loads the dinghy up with trash to take to the hill, the empty propane tank to be exchanged and the dry bag.
At about 1150 we put on what rain gear we have and Ron notices a small hole in the crotch of his plastic rain pants. By the time he gets out into the dinghy the hole has become a big rip down one leg.
Ron starts the dinghy motor. Just as he gets it started, his hat blows off and sails into the water. This happens to be his favorite hat and the only one on the boat so he decides to go after it before it gets away. He asks Fran to untie the bow line and throw him the fish net.
The first problem is that he is sitting on the wrong side of the dinghy. The second problem is that the motor is still running on fast idle when he puts it in gear. Then, in a panic as he goes to take it out of gear he puts it in reverse, which swamps the dinghy with water. With the hat still in sight Ron pushes in the choke and goes after it, still sitting on the wrong side of the dinghy.
The combination of high winds and water in the dinghy make it hard to control, but Ron is able to get close to the hat. He grabs for the fish net but it gets hung up in the dinghy and at the same time the motor dies. By the time he has freed the net he has drifted away from hat.
He puts down the net and tries to restart the motor, but it will not start and he is drifting towards another boat in the high winds. As he gets close to the other boat he is playing with the choke he realizes that the fish net handle had caught the kill switch and pulled it out so it would not start. He gets the dinghy started before running into the other boat, but he has drifted far from the Questeria and Fran, and his hat is now no where to be seen.
Fran is watching from the Questeria thinking that both cell phones are in the dry bag which is in the dinghy.
Giving up on his hat, he tries to get back to Fran. This is not an easy task in the high winds. Also, he has not noticed that he is still sitting on the wrong side of the dinghy. Every time he gets close to the Questeria the wind blows him away. Finally after about four attempts, he gets close enough to hand Fran one end of the fish net so she can pull him in.
Surprisingly, with his rain pants ripped down his entire
leg, Ron is not too wet. But we decide that we have had enough “fun” for one
day so we call
We stay there for the rest of the day. We tie a tarp to the dinghy davits so we can light the grill and make pork chops for dinner. The wind is blowing hard when we go to bed.
Leaving
Questeria – Feb. 28, 2006
It is our last day this trip. The wind has finally died
down. We get up 0630 and have coffee and the rest of the cereal, bananas and
muffins. We take the dinghy to Steel Lady and pick up
We go into town and buy groceries and some other things for
the boat.
We put spikes on both sides of the solar panel to keep the birds off. We had already put a “Daddy Longlegs” in the middle. Then we cover the satellite dish with the netting we had previously used on the solar panel.
We move Questeria back to a spot next to Steel Lady so George can keep an eye on her. Then we cover the bow and mainsail with tarps.
It is hard to leave, but we know we will come back in March.
Bananas
on a Boat are Bad Luck – March 23-28, 2006
They say that it is bad luck to bring bananas on a boat. Since I am not superstitious, and I like to eat bananas, I have been ignoring this tidbit of wisdom. After this last trip, I’m not sure this hasn’t been a mistake.
When we get to Questeria,
everything is great. The weather is gorgeous and George and Nancy had opened up
the hatches and aired her out before picking us up at
The next morning is also gorgeous. We have coffee and breakfast and tie up to the Steel Lady so we can socialize with George and Nancy. After a nice visit we set off for Looe Key. On our way out there the wind starts to pick up but seas are not too rough.
We
tie up to a mooring buoy at Looe Key and it is a
little rougher out here. We take a Pepsi break and turn back towards Newfound
Harbor. The wind is with us on the way back so we unfurl the jib and make good
time getting back.
We get back and tie up to Steel Lady. We go into town with
We get back to Questeria and put our groceries away. We are just finishing the pizza that we brought back from town when George calls and says that the weather report is predicting high winds. It doesn’t look like it will get bad, but we decide to separate the two boats to be on the safe side.
It is almost dark and the first time we drop the anchor we decide we should be in deeper water. So Fran pulls the anchor line and we do again. By now it is completely dark and we are worried that we may be too close to Steel Lady. We decide that we are fine and start putting everything outside away. Before we finish outside we have lightning and strong winds.
We had planned out a three day trip to Molasses Reef. Now we spend the rest of the vacation anchored in the Harbor. The next few days we will spend most of our time trying to stay warm, clean the bilge and fighting generator and battery problems.
We make some preparations for our trip up to
The next adventure will be the biggest so far. We may think twice before bringing bananas on board.
Fixing
the Centerboard and Cruising – May 4-9, 2006
We managed to take one more short trip to FL before bringing Questeria to NC. Initially we had planned to install the radar reflector and change the oil in the engine and generator, but instead we made arrangements with Marathon Boat Yard to pull the boat so we could have the centerboard repaired. The cable had broken and the centerboard was wedged in the up position. It would not be difficult to fix, but the boat had to be pulled out of the water to do it. In the end it all turned out great, but at times we thought we be able to get it done.
We got into Big Pine Key late Thursday
night. James and Ellen came down with us as well. The boat yard said we had to
be there by
On Friday morning we finally got the engine running by using the dinghy to pull Questeria over to Steel Lady and using power from Steel Lady to charge our batteries. We left at 1100, which was three hours later than we had planned.
We motored to Marathon Boat Yard, in Boot
Key Harbor as fast as we could. It was a pleasant sail and also my first
opportunity to request a bridge opening. Unfortunately we didn’t get there
until
We spent the next two nights on the Steel Lady. Since James and Ellen were in the aft stateroom, we had the honor of being the first guests to sleep on the galley table. It wouldn’t have been too bad if we had cushions that fit, but we had to piece together cushions from a couple of sofas.
On
Saturday we spent the day getting things for our trip, including a new anchor
line. We found that our anchor line was almost cut through. We plan to bind the
old one back together to use with our extra anchor. We also have some ½ inch
rope that we can make into dock lines.
On Sunday George took us out on Steel Lady. He had reserved a slip at Pancho’s Fuel Dock to move out the wood burning stove and old freezer and move the new washer/dryer, refrigerator and freezer. We took our time getting there and trolled for fish. Ellen and Fran each got to reel in barracudas, but we let them go.
Marathon Boat Yard is a short dinghy ride from Pancho’s Fuel Dock, so we took the dinghy to the Questeria Sunday night.
They pulled Questeria first
thing Monday morning, but they could not put her high enough to remove the
centerboard. To finish the job we had to lift up in the sling. Once she was
high enough, we got it fixed. They put her back in the water and we were out of
there before
We
stopped at Burdine’s marina’s fuel dock, behind Steel
Lady, and filled the fuel tank. When both boats were full of fuel, we
started back to Newfound Harbor.
The trip back was awesome. We put up the jib; saw dolphins and a beautiful sunset. After the sunset we had clear skies and a ¾ moon. We got back to Newfound Harbor at about 2200 and tied up to Steel Lady.
The next morning it was time to leave again. The next trip will be the biggest adventure so far, and I really mean it this time.
The
Big Trip from FL to NC – May 21- June
6, 2006
Harry, Fran and Ron fly into
On Saturday we change engine oil and buy some more supplies for the trip. These include a 12v fan, more groceries and things for the boat. The fan was worth it, but the one item that we didn’t get was bait. We get the freezer cooled down, but break the generator in the process. Ron is fiddling with it when it starts to over rev and burn. We get it started again, but are unable to use for the rest of the trip.
We wake up early on Sunday morning and
start off. We want to buy bait, but the marina doesn’t open until
At 1430 we try to get the generator running, but all we manage to do is get air in the fuel line for the engine. The engine stops and we drift while Ron bleeds the lines with some help from George over the cell phone. We get the engine started and we’re back underway at 1530. Fran makes an executive decision that we will take cold showers, buy plenty of ice, freeze the cold plate when we stop at marinas and not worry about the generator for the rest of the trip.
We tie up to a mooring buoy at 1900 at Hens and Chickens (24° 55.6' N 080° 32.6' W).
It is rough on the mooring buoy at night and our alarm clock doesn’t work so we sleep until 0620. When we try to start the engine, the batteries are completely drained so we have to use the spare battery. We leave at 0735.
We are making 5.1 knots at 1030 when the engine suddenly overheats. Ron turns it off and we are drifting about in 170 feet depths. It doesn’t take long to realize that the v-belt has broken. Fortunately we have a spare, replace it and are underway again by 1125.
At 1855 we drop anchor in No-Name Harbor, Key Biscayne, FL. No-Name Harbor is well protected but we get eaten alive by no-see-ums. Maybe it should be called No-see-um HarborJ.
When we shut off the engine, one of our batteries (new in December ’05) is sizzling - Ron disconnects it.
The next morning,
Earlier, we had discovered that we have a bad hose in our holding tank pump-out. Fran and Harry take it out and patch it up with duct tape while we are underway. Harry wants to take a picture of Fran with the top half of her body down the lazarette, but Ron doesn’t think she will appreciate that.
We dock in Cannonsport marina in Palm Beach, FL at 1745. We fill the dinghy with gas and Questeria with diesel. We put 4.35 gallons in the dinghy and the diesel starts overflowing after 2 gallons. I guess the pump puts out too much pressure. We run the cold plate and A/C and sleep great.
On the 24th we get up, fill our water tanks and disconnect another battery (also bought in December) since it is warm from charging. For the rest of the trip we would use the other four batteries as house batteries and our spare as a starting battery. We leave out of Lake Worth Inlet at 0635.
We head towards Fort Pierce Inlet, but decide to continue on in the ocean because it is such a beautiful day. We put the sails up and motor sail. Questeria does great! Fran cooks dinner under sail and we take tons of sunset pictures. We are about 4 ½ nm out when we see lightening. We drop the sails and move in to about 2 ½ nm. The sky clears and we see no more lightening. We anchor at Cocoa Beach at 2420.
On
We go around
We wanted to get to
On the 26th of May we wait until 0945 for slack tide. Ron tries to untangle the rode from the propeller but it is jammed tight. He needs to use scuba gear to get it off.
We depart at 1030 and continue on the ICW to Cement Plant Anchorage, where we anchor at 1600 using two anchors. Since the generator is broken, we don’t have hot water. But we do have a camping solar shower that works great.
On
We start heading up the ICW towards
The next morning we get up early with the intension of going outside since we finally have some bait. Unfortunately, there are thunderstorms and after three attempts we decide to take the ICW up to Fernandina Beach. It is Memorial Day weekend and there are a ton of boats on the ICW. We anchor at Fernandina Beach at 1822 in front of the petroleum factory.
The windlass has pulled out of its mounting bolts because it is too rusty and it can’t be used anymore. For the rest of the trip, Fran is known as the “Anchor Queen”. She puts on her “anchor clothes” every morning and evening for the rest of the trip and uses her muscles in place of the windlass.
On the 29th we pull anchor at 0650 and head out
St. Mary’s Inlet. We have North winds at 15 knots and 3 foot seas. Fran goes
below to look at the charts and starts to get nauseated. We are tired of
getting “beat up” in the rough seas and head back to the ICW. We go in at St.
We drop anchor at 1915 at Doboy Island. This is a wonderful anchorage. We are the only boat here and the sunset and sunrise are awesome. Fran goes to take the first shower and we can’t find our solar shower. We figure that it must have gone overboard when were in rough seas. I guess there are some fish out there that are taking warm showers these days.
The next morning we pull anchor at 0655 and head outside.
Our goal is
We have a difficult time getting away from the fuel dock because there is a boat in front of us and a boat behind us and the wind is blowing us right into the dock. We finally get our stern away from the dock by holding a line on the bow and driving hard forward. We are then able to get out, but we put so much pressure on the bow line that it started to melt together. We anchor in Herb River at 1922.
On the 31st we go out to sea the same way we came in to avoid a restricted bridge. That was a mistake because we have to go back South out to deep water. When we finally get out we are heading directly into 3-4 foot seas again. We have had the dinghy hanging on the davits and secured with lines and fenders. It is still swinging around and the ropes are wearing a hole in it. As Fran is securing it again she sees part of the grill fall overboard.
We are tired of getting beaten to death and go back in to Calibouge Sound, where we put up the jib and motor sail for a while. We go past Hilton Head and anchor at Brick Yard Creek at 2000.
The next day we pull anchor at 0650 and run aground. We figure we can wait for the tide to come in when a big power boat comes by and gives us a huge wake which allows us to get off.
We decide to stay on the ICW today because there are 3-4 foot seas outside again. We begin to realize that we won’t make it home by Sunday.
At 1015 Ron notices water is not being pumped out of the aft bilge. There is a lot of sludge in the bottom of the bilge. He cleans the filter in the pump and it starts pumping again.
We get to Wappo Creek Bridge at 1700. This bridge is restricted until 1830 so we anchor and take the dinghy to a public dock and walk to a grocery store. The most dangerous part of the trip may have been crossing this bridge on foot with its narrow walkway and high speed traffic. The people at the Piggly Wiggly are very helpful when we tell them we are walking. They carefully bag everything in double paper so we can walk back with two bags each.
We get up early on June 2nd (Fran’s birthday) to make it past the bridge at 0600. If we had planned better, we would have gotten up earlier because after we go through Charleston Harbor, we get to Ben Sawyer Bridge at 0730 only to wait until 0900 for an opening.
The seas outside are still 3-4 feet and inside the ICW is calm and sunny.
We anchor in Cow House Creek and celebrate Fran’s birthday with a good meal and a candle in a brownie. Fran says she could not have asked for a better birthday… well maybe a hot shower J
We leave Cow House Creek in a thunderstorm at 0640. We see
Greg, Dwight and Karen in
The bridge in Little River, SC will open on request, however it is stuck. There is also a barge waiting to get through on the other side. Ron practices backing up for 20 minutes while waiting for the bridge tender to “unstuck” the bridge. When it finally opens we proceed very carefully past the barge. We cross the SC-NC line and get to Sunset Beach Bridge just as its closing. This time Fran practices going in circles while we wait for the next scheduled opening.
We get to South Harbour Village
Marina in
On June 4th we wait around at the marina for a while because it is foggy. Our plan is to get to Wrightsville beach, find a place to anchor and leave early in the morning out Masonboro Inlet and then sail to Beaufort Inlet. This way we should get to Beaufort before dark. The weather forecast for Sunday sound promising as well.
Everything goes well and we get to Wrightsville beach and drop anchor at 1422 in front of the Blockade Runner. Fran and Ron take the dinghy into town and buy some Diet Pepsi, beer and snacks. Later that evening the weather forecast changes to thunderstorms likely.
We wake up to thunder at 0300 and take in the cushions and close ports and hatches. We wake up again at 0520 and wait for the storm to dissipate. No sailing in the ocean todayL. We pass the Wrightsville Beach Bridge at 0800 and Figure Eight Island Bridge at 0900 in a line of sailboats on the ICW.
At 1000 our aft bilge pump blows a fuse. Ron can’t find another 6A fuse so he puts in a 20A fuse. It works for a while but later he will replace the pump.
We are following a catamaran. We hear him on the radio say that he is slowing down so he doesn’t have to wait too long at the Surf City Bridge. Instead of passing them, we stay back. Unfortunately the skipper of the catamaran was wrong and we get to Surf City Bridge just after it closes. We wait around for about an hour trying not to go aground or hit another boat.
We are getting a good wind so we put up the jib and make good time. We decide to push our luck and head for Spooner’s Creek Anchorage. There is a chance we may not make it before dark, but we will be at the next closest anchorage way before sunset.
We change direction and have to pull in the jib. We don’t have the speed we were counting on and there is a bad thunderstorm coming from behind us. The weather report is warning of golf ball size hail. To make matters worse, we are in a place where we can easily run aground if we are not careful to stay in the middle of the channel. This becomes exceedingly more difficult as it gets dark sooner than normal because of the heavy clouds. So we are trying to outrun the storm and stay in the channel at the same time. Harry is at the helm, Fran is up front with the spotlight and Ron is jumping back and forth with the handheld GPS.
At 2125 we make it into Spooner’s Creek anchorage just as it starts to pour.
On June 6th, the last day of our journey, we get up at 0500 and are underway by 0605. The storm has passed and it looks like it will be a gorgeous day. By now we have this down to a science. We get up, start the coffee, hook the computer to the GPS and touch screen, turn on the handheld GPS, put out the binoculars, charts and guide books and prepare and eat some breakfast. We have been having very long days but we haven’t been bored once. We could have used more sleep, but we have eaten many good meals along the way.
After we get into the Neuse River, we put up the sails and take the engine out of gear. Ron is a little reluctant to stop the engine since we are down two batteries, but since we’ve been able to start every morning so far we go it. We are sailing with the winds! What a great ending to our trip.
We get to Northwest Creek Marina, in
Fran’s mom is at the marina to welcome us home and James and Ellen show up a bit later. It takes us a while to unload our dirty laundry and everything else that we are taking with us. On the drive home we all feel like 45mph is such a fast speed!
Oriental
– June 17, 2006
Crew is Greg, Ryan, Fran and Ron. At 1200 we went to the fuel dock and pumped out the holding tank. Then we headed to Oriental. We put up the sails and anchored at 1800. We had spaghetti for dinner. We pulled anchor at 0800 the next morning and motored back.
South
River
– July 5, 2006
Fran and I headed to
Duck
Creek – Sept 8 - Oct 23, 2006
We took Questeria to the Duck Creek boatyard to replace the rigging and paint the bottom. We also did some fiberglass repairs, waxed the hull and painted stripes and the name on the stern. On October 23 we restepped the mast and returned to NW Creek.
Here are some before and after pictures
Day
Sail – November 25, 2006
Greg, Fran and Ron took Questeria out for a day sail at 1130. The main sail was being repaired so we only had a jib and there was not enough wind to have control. We came back into the slip at 1645.
New
Slip – March 11, 2007
We have spent almost every weekend on the boat, almost always working. We have mostly worked on rebedding deck hardware. Today we get to move Questeria to a new slip that is farther away from the restaurant. It is much nicer! Thank you Bud!
Day
Sail – March 31, 2007
We finally got to go sailing with Bob McNulty. We tried out our new sail. It worked great, but we noticed that the reinforcement for the reefing slot was in the wrong place. We sailed around from 1000 – 1300. Winds were about 10 knots or less.
Day
Sail – April 7, 2007
Fran and I went out sailing. At 1130 we headed towards
Johnson Point and then towards