Decision Made

I spent the last couple days putting Zoe to bed for the winter. With the help of a couple friends I moved her over to Bert Jabins and had her pulled.

We were fortunate and got the sails down and stored dry. We weren't as lucky on day two as the rain and the temperature both started to fall. We spent the afternoon putting the winter cover on in 37 degrees and a driving rain. Hopefully there is enough air flow to allow everything to dry out. I will probably make a run over in a week or two to make sure everything is alright.
Capt. Mike

To Float or Not to Float

Winter is around the corner and I have been trying to decide if I want to leave Zoe at her dock or pull and winterize her. Winter temps don't drop to low in Annapolis. We have bubblers at the dock and I am told a heat source in the boat is all that is required to keep things from freezing. Kat and I ran over this weekend and I put antifreeze in everything I could get to with one arm. Fortunately the boat is set up with ports that I can hook up to and pump the antifreeze through. The only thing I couldn't get to was the engine and the heat pump. They set low and I have a heater plugged in until my shoulder will allow me to climb down in the engine area.

If I pull her for a couple months I wouldn't have to drive over every couple weeks to check on her. I could also get the check valves working and do some Brightwork in the spring.

I'll think about it awhile longer.

Capt. Mike

Ahi tuna

I am setting here in my own personal dry dock, my left shoulder in a sling from a surgical repair and typing right handed in between drug induced naps. I just read that one of the couples that I am following south on my I pad are having ahi tuna for dinner. Man, that hurt. Kat and I have spent a week each of the last several years running around the southern coasts on our Harley in search of good Sea food. I am a huge fan of ahi tuna. I prefer it "swimming around the dock". I think the best I have found was at Sharky's in Key Largo ,although, I had a steak in a restaurant on the inner harbor in Baltimore that was close. South Padre Island is a close third.

The best chowder came from the Rockfish grill in Annapolis. Kat told me that if it was better than the chowder we had run across in a little bar in the middle of Pennsylvania, that would be the sign that we should buy Zoe. I swear it really was better.

We tried manatee burgers at Bert's bar and grill in Matlacha Florida (not really manatee so don't hate me), there was a very cool kayak tour of Pine Island sound there also. We had great fresh snapper sandwiches on Sanibel Island.

The worst we have ever experienced was in New Bern N.C. We were there looking at a steel hull that had never been finished. (thank god that deal didn't work out) and the gal at the desk at our motel suggested a place. The fish tasted just like the bottom of the river. The waitress asked if we needed a box and without thinking I replied "God No!". I think I might have hurt her feelings.

Without question, the best lobster and the best price for lobster was at Sidney's Peace and love bar, Little harbor in the BVI. For 30 bucks we got a lobster that covered 2 full size plates and all the fixings. This is definitely one of my favorite places on the planet so far.

Kat and I are excited about this years adventure as we just traded in our bike on a new one. We really didn't need to trade but the upgrades Harley made for 2014 are really something. Kat really never bonded with the last one after she fell off of it in a parking lot within the first 300 miles and broke her elbow. She rode the rest of the weekend with her arm strapped to her side, refusing to let me take her home. No, she isn't hard headed. Hopefully she will get alone better with this one.

Time and Tide Clock

When we bought Zoe, neither of the wall clocks were functioning. Batteries fixed the 5 inch time clock but not the 7 inch time and tide.

The only marking on the clock are. Housing India, Movement Germany. Fortunately, Kat came across Moore and Co on the Internet and was able to match up a movement from Pictures on the site. I reassembled the clock with the new movement and I think we are in business. The time is very good and the tide seems to follow the Atlantic coast pretty well.
Capt. Mike

Boat show weekend

Monday Oct 14
We spent the weekend hanging in Annapolis. I'm am very excited to report that our fridge problems turned out to be an electrical problem with the water cooling pump. I am also happy to report that the windlass problem was a wire left off during the bow repair this summer. Two problems solved with very little expense. Wow that never happens!

We found a cleaner to hopefully polish up our windshield and bought a sewing machine.

I have been promised that I will be able to sew with this machine. I made the salesman give me his cell #. I am going to bug him if I can't figure it out. It just occurred to me that I didn't try his # out. I wonder if he gave me somebody else's. Hmmm.

We also found this wonderful oil lamp at a tent sale complete with dents to replace the one that Zoe would have had originally.

All in all, a pretty good weekend. Next up, find a new movement for Zoe's time and tide clock.

Capt. Mike

Dinghy or kayak or maybe both

I ran over to Annapolis to check on Zoe this week. It drives my crazy to not be able to run down to the boat and just check to make sure everything is ok. I had raised the dink on its davits the last time we were there. Upon my return I found one of the tubes had gone flat. I suspected the valve as the o-ring sealed cap was in very poor condition. I tracked down a new cap at Annapolis Inflatables and decided now might be a good time to do a little rehab. I loaded the dinghy in my pickup with the help of my tommy lift.(everyone should have one of these) and headed home. I picked up some sealant from west marine and have been flopping said dink around my back yard to distribute the sealant in the tubes.

I think I'll do a little fiberglass touch up and maybe buy some paint to dress it up.

Our other addition is a used inflatable kayak.

Worked great in the living room. I can't wait to see how it does on water.

Capt. Mike

Docked in Annapolis

Labor Day Sept 2nd

We spent the morning cleaning and packing. One of my chores was to hang the motor from the back rail and raise the dinghy on the davits. This is a bit of a challenge as we have a canoe stern. I have worked out a system in which I raise the motor to its bracket using the lift on the radar mast then hook up the dinghy and climb over the stern rail into the boat. After dragging my overweight self over the rail and raising the dinghy, I realized I had left the plug in. Of course that won't work as the dinghy would collect water and collapse the davits. I tried to stretch between the rails and reach the plug rather than going back through the whole process. I managed to get the plug out but had extended to far and could not pull myself back through the rails. All I could think was "Oh lord, I can't call the rescue squad". I could see myself on the evening news. "fat guy stuck upside down between rails on his sailboat, film at 11:00". Anyway, fear of humiliation gave me enough strength to squeeze my rib cage back through the rails. Man did that hurt!

So for the next year Zoe will berth in Annapolis while we work out more kinks and plan our eventual escape.
Capt. Mike

Solomons to Annapolis

Sunday Sept 1

Woke up from a great nights sleep on Mill Creek. We got everything stowed and I hit the switch on the windlass to raise the anchor. Of course, nothing happened. I guess I will add another line to the repair list. After a great morning workout hauling 60 feet of chain and a 60 lb spade, we headed out to calm water and very little wind. I am happy to report that the drive line repair was a success and we experienced much less vibration as we motored north.

Made for much better napping.

As we reached the West River, we ran into an ongoing Regatta

Since Zoe really doesn't sail in much less than 15 knots, we zig zagged between the boats and headed on.

We reached Annapolis around 3:00 after 7 hours of motor sailing and jumped off the dock into a taxi to rent a car and retrieve our truck from Point Lookout.
Capt. Mike

Headed north again

Saturday Aug 31
Zoe is back together and we are headed for the Solomon islands. We are timing our departure from Point Lookout Marina on the Potomac for a high tide and falling tide to ride down the river.

Our plan was perfect. We had a nice reach out of the river with 10 to 15 knots from the south. We turned the corner and had a downhill ride to the Solomons. Total trip time 5 hours. We anchored in Mill creek. We found plenty of water and a quiet setting for the evening.
Capt. Mike

Shear Pin

Well, I think we caught a break. Turns out our driveline failure was a brass shear pin in the drive coupling. I will elaborate further when I get back to the boat and check it out. I think it would have been a good idea to find out where the shear pins were before we took off the first time. Man do I feel stupid.
Upon further review, the part that failed was the brass key stock in the propellor side of the shaft coupling. it apparently was installed incorrectly as only about a third of the key was in the keyway. I will mention that the last installer was Diversified Marine Services in Annapolis. I will also mention that they did my winterization last fall and the fridge hasn't worked since. I can't actually place blame for the fridge but it was working before and was not after. I have to say I am impressed with the service at Lookout Point. Unfortunately, it is a long run up there. Time will tell but our conversations have led me to believe the they have a pretty good handle on the repair business. They certainly seem to have a following in the big money go boats. We are going to do a short haul, check the shaft and get the prop reconditioned and balanced. Hopefully the tranny will last until we are ready to repower in a few years.

Capt. Mike

Back Home for Now

Saturday the 17th, We started the toe rail refinishing project. I guess if you can't sail you can always find a project to work on.

We headed out about 3:00 and will return in a week to see how things are progressing. We have found ourselves, not only paying for space in Point Lookout but also, a dock in Deltaville and our new one in Annapolis. hopefully, the outlays will slow down soon.

Capt. Mike

Hangin at Point Lookout

We had Service Manager Jake and Mechanic Bobby stop by Friday to assess the situation. After checking things out and conferring with the other mechanics, it was determined that our Volvo transmission, although appearing to have been well maintained, had simply worn out. I am not sure what the average lifespan of a transmission is but this one appears to have lasted for approximately 3000 hours. we are hoping for a short layover while the trans is rebuilt. We have been told about a week and a half. Kat and I keep hearing the Eric Stone song "It'll be ready tomorrow". We were able to rent a car from Enterprise and head back to Deltaville and retrieve the truck so we could head back to work for Monday. That killed the rest of the day as it was a 6 hour journey.

Heading North

Thursday Aug 15th, we got up early to take on water and head out for a long day to the Solomon's. We attempted to time our arrival at the Potomac River on the flood tide as the wind was to be from the northeast. Getting away from the dock proved to be a challenge as the area is a little tight and Zoe will not respond in reverse and immediately tries to turn down wind upon stopping. We had to maneuver back to a docking piling and hold the bow while the stern floated around in order to get headed in the right direction.
After taking on water, we headed out without incident and turned north. Wind was tight on the nose so we decided to motorsail. About 6 hours into a beautiful day,

We developed a new noise. My first thought was something vibrating in the storage area below as we were in 50 feet of water with no obstructions in sight. After about an hour the noise disappeared and the engine smoothed out as if I had shifted into neutral. After shifting back and forth and not finding any drive in either direction we decided we had a serious problem. I dug out the lazarette and determined that the shaft was still in place and we were not taking on water. To shorten the story we were in virtually no wind were not forecasted to get any more for at least a day so we made the call to be towed in for repair. About 6 hours later after a lovely dinner and a very pleasant cruise up the Potomac thanks to Tow Boat US, we ended the day at Point Lookout Marina.

Capt. Mike

Ready to splash

Wednesday Aug 14 was splash day for Zoe. After a long summer of waiting for repair we left Deltaville Yachting Center (thanks to Lew and the crew there). We headed back to Stingray point for the afternoon to prepare for a trip back to Annapolis on Thursday. After taking on fuel we headed for the pump out at Stingray but were unable to dock as there was a transient tied off for the night. We decided to take on water on the way out in the morning. We spent the evening preparing the dingy and motor for use on the trip and loading the new Honda generator.

After a nice dinner at Cocomos we called it a day.

Return to Virginia

Kat and I made the trip back to Virginia this past weekend. Zoe has been on the hard at Deltaville Yacht Center since the beginning of May. We had the keel inspected to make sure we had not sustained any damage during our grounding last spring. We have been waiting for the paint repair to the bow where the anchor came loose and stainless repair to the pulpit that was also damaged during our trip down from Annapolis. The work was finished and done very well. Unfortunately, the paint that was sent did not match and must be redone. I took the opportunity while the bow sprit was broken down to refinish the areas that are difficult to reach. The repair is being done with Algrip 2000 as the Emron paint was not readily available. Kat worked on the teak trim around the house. Hopefully we will be back in the water soon.

Whatta deal

We launched our Catalina 30 for the season on Atwood lake. The new cushions are installed and look great

Sail track reinstall complete

Kat and I flew back to Virginia for the weekend and, after three long days of sanding filling and drilling, the sail tracks are installed and we appear to be dry. I ended up using butyl tape to seal. It went down easy. We will see how well it holds up. Next on the list is to make new trim pieces to replace the cracked ones that seems to be part of the problem.

Our last order of business before flying back out was to transfer Zoe to Deltaville Marine to have the keel inspected and the paint damage on the bow repaired. The damage was from a poorly secured anchor that came loose in some heavy seas on our way down from Annapolis. Of course, we got up to a driving rain and, not having a choice, we turned Zoe loose and I headed out while Kat headed to the car to meet me at the marina. Visability was poor and the path back to Deltaville marine is shallow. Even though we waited until close to high tide, I still had less than a foot of water under my keel on several occasions. As I coasted up to the marina, the dock I was supposed to tie up to was not immediately visible so I nosed up to an open space and tied off the bow until I could get my bearings. Kat pointed out the dock I was searching for from shore so I turned loose the bow and backed off the dock. With no room to maneuver, and nobody on board to fend off, I was a little nervous as to how I was going to swing a 40 foot boat with a full keel end for end. At this point Zoe and a breath from God took over. The bow spun on a dime , I bumped the engine and Zoe floated past the corner of the dock. I stepped off, tied off the stern line and Zoe came to rest like she knew where she was headed. I, of course, acted like this was an every day occurrence. Zoe is on the hard now waiting on repair contractors. We hope to get her back in top form and in the water in a couple weeks.

Capt. Mike

Chasing leaks.

I headed down to Virginia last weekend. We have been chasing a couple leaks in our salon for some time and I decided to rebed the sail tracks and see if that might dry things up. Of course the head liners had to be removed in order to reach the back of the bolts. I found evidence that I might be on the right track(no pun intended). I used a probe to inspect the bolt holes after removing the bolts and found evidence of voids in the balsa core in a couple different places. I am guessing these were caused by water. I couldn't detect any softness in the fiberglass so I filled the voids with some epoxy wood filler from West Marine.

A bigger issue developed as I removed the tracks from the roof. The gel coat underneath was in poor shape. There was also evidence that the tracks had been taken up prior and the "bad spots" underneath were filled in with something like 4200 caulking. I have to say it almost worked because they only leaked a little bit.

So, my rebedding project morphed into a fiberglass project. I have never really worked in fiberglass so I called my friend Chuck in Florida and he filled me in.(again, no pun intended) I really like the West Marine system. Chuck told me to get a gallon of 105 and a pint of 205 and buy the pumps that go with them. One pump of each and mix in some thickener and spread it on like butter on bread. It worked great. First, of course, I had to grind out all of the bad gel coat and all of the hair line cracks down to good glass. In retrospect, I ground out the bad spots and patched the holes but probably should have taken all the gel coat under the tracks off and put in a complete new bed. I got the epoxy down and called it a weekend as the roof should be sealed.

I will head back down to reinstall the tracks next weekend. The next big question is what to use to seal. West Marine suggested 5200 but I may need to do this again so I have decided to use either 4200 or butyl tape. The latter was suggested by the local repair yard at Stingray Point. As Chuck said. "you can't really mess this up because you can always grind it back out and try again" I figure I will give it a try and if it doesn't work I can always have someone who really knows how to do it clean up my mess. So far, I am pleased with the job and what I have learned. If it seals, I will consider it a success.
Capt. Mike

Back in Ohio

We had a great long Easter weekend with Justin and Sean. Unfortunately, we had to come back to Ohio and reality for now. Here is a pictorial recap for posterity.

Justin at the helm

Tarentella Pulling away

Family photo

Approaching the bridge on the way back from Urbanna

Sean cam

Crew Zoe

Zoe at Stingray Point Marina

Again

my favorite Pic, thanks Bianca!

Happy Easter

Got up to a cold and rainy Easter in Urbanna. We chose to finish up a couple boat projects and motor back to Stingray Point.

We have been fighting clogged drains and I have been putting off taking them apart. I took apart the kitchen sink and found the sink and hose clogged with goo. I suspect that when Zoe was prepped for sale the varnish brushes were cleaned in the sinks. Unfortunately, the bathroom sink is not draining either and I suspect I know what the problem is. Oh well, a project for another day. We, also, got the trim back on the rub rail and figured out the propane system for the stove and heater. We are headed back to Ohio tomorrow. I sure wish we could stay here.

Capt. Mike

Headed for Urbanna with new friends

Got up this morning setting in the mud at our dock so we went to town for breakfast. After noon we headed out for Urbanna with new friends Jim and Jody on Tarantella and Tom and Bianca on Die Valkrye. We had a very nice downwind run up the river. Justin and Sean handled the sailing and ,although they were outrun by two larger boats, put on a respectable showing. Actually I think, if we had a proper hadicap, they might have been very close. Definately two sailors in the making.

We were invited over to Tarantella for dinner and good conversation. Jody made a very nice dinner with contributions from Bianca and Kat. Overall, with the exception of finding mud at the beginning of the channel into Urbana, it was a pretty perfect day.

Zoe flying up the river at 4 kts

Capt. Mike

Friday at Stingray Point

What a good day. We slept until we wanted to get up. We took Zoe for a daysail.

Unfortunately, we ran out of wind so we headed back in and worked on a couple projects

Seems like there is always something to keep you busy on a sailboat.

Capt. Mike

Easter Weekend

We headed down to Stingray Point Marina today. It is pretty chilly outside but we are buttoned up with the furnace running and watching Captain Ron with our guests Justin and Sean.

We will get the weather in the morning and decide our course of action.

Capt Mike

Stingray Point

We lost a half day so we had to rise early again and head out in the rain. Man do we like our cockpit enclosure.

Visibility was poor but the water was calm and we made good time to our destination. Unfortunately we were not home yet. We pulled into the channel leading into the marina and, again, we ran aground. As we were discussing with the marina the fact that the channel has to be cheated to port in order to avoid the finger that sticks out into the channel on the starboard side, a large fishing boat blew by us and the wake gave us enough lift to get free. We made our way to Zoe's new home and put her to bed. Next up, keel inspection and damage repair.

Capt. Mike

Reedsville Virginia

Trying to do things on the water on a schedule is a very bad idea. We, again, had to make the call after a difficult night to continue on. Nothing good happens when you are exhausted. We headed out in the channel and even though I have a chart plotter in front of me and Kat was pointing at the green marker, it simply didn't register that we were out of the channel. we ran aground again. Thank heaven I was able to simply back up and go around. I wound not have been able to face the tow boat captain two days in a row.

We rolled down the Patomac on glass calm water. We thought we had the day made until we turned southeast directly into the wind. We spent the next three hours fighting our way around Smith Point. By then it was 3:30 in the afternoon and we were still 4 hours away from our planned destination at Stingray Point. We were able to make contact through Stingray Point to Reedsville Marina that was closed but had power. We decided to duck in for the night.

The approach to Reedsville was narrow but well marked. The town is home to a large fishing boat fleet. Avoiding the fish traps was the most difficult part.

They are nothing more than fields of sticks in the water and pop up randomly.

The entrance to the river was marked with a spider light mounted on an old lighthouse base.

After two days of 20 plus winds and 10 ft seas we were ready for a quiet evening.

Capt. Mike

Stupid is as Stupid does

I laugh at other people's folly. Actually I do it a lot. Today is my turn. It started innocently enough. Kat and I want to be at Stingray point in Virginia on Friday so even though the wind was in the 25-30 range and the temp at freezing, we decided we had to go.

That was mistake #1.

We were in a nice marina but had little room to spare for our 6 ft draft. As I spun around to head for the channel out, we ran aground. Fortunately, we were able to back off and be on our way.
The wind was at our backs so we went with a main and no head sail. We made good time and assumed that later in the day we would simply see where we were and find a place in the area to stay.

That was mistake #2.

We found a place on the Patomac that sounded alright and made a reservation. Unfortunately, there were two marinas of the same name about 7 miles apart. We, of course, went to the wrong one and found it empty with no power. We tied off at the main dock and considered staying. In retrospect, that would have been the correct move. We decided to move on to another marina as we need power to run the furnace and someone hadn't bothered to check the propane tanks for the stove and heater.

That was mistake #3.

We called another marina on the St Mary's river about 5 miles away and took directions on how to approach. Well, as it turned out, the directions were not correct. We checked the charts and the gps and thought the channel described looked narrow with shallows on both sides. We rounded into the river and found ourselves fighting 25 mph winds on the nose and took the rest of the day getting to our destination. When we turned into the channel, we found ourselves aground dead center in the channel. We took someone else's direction over what we saw on the chart and didn't get actual coordinates to verify.

That was mistake #4

This time we weren't as lucky and had to call for a tow. The tow boat arrived about a hour and a half later well past dark and with a foot less water under us. With a lot of effort and minor damage to our pulpit we were again afloat and received an escort to the marina. We will have the boat pulled and the keel inspected soon. The marina ended up being a mile farther up the channel.


What we have taken from today is, even for a simple move down the coast, planning is everything and don't assume anything. We were simply moving our boat and found ourselves stuck out without a heat source because we didn't prepare properly. Simply checking the propane would have allowed us to either stay in the first vacant marina or wait for high tide to float back out. Double check everything. We assumed that the directions to the marina were correct and ended up stuck in the mud in the wrong channel.

Capt. Mike

Herrington Harbor North

I finished Zoe's bottom on Monday and she splashed on Tuesday. Definately a couple long days.

We took off this morning for Zoe's summer home at Stingray Point in Virginia. It was 40 degrees. Fortunately we discovered that Zoe has all the pieces for a fully enclosed cockpit. Life is good!

We landed here at Herrington Harbor North for the night and plugged in so we can run our furnace. Its supposed to be a brisk 34 in the morning. We did pass what I would consider an ideal home site on the way.

I wonder what the property taxes are like?

On a down note our 1982 fridge seems to have developed issues. Maybe it just needs a charge.

Capt. Mike

First coat

Well, the first of two coats of bottom paint is on. We had to wait until 2 o'clock to get above 50 degrees so didn't have enough time for two and drying. Kat has a seminar for work so we are being put up at the Inner Harbor Marriott for a few nights. The Valet guy was quite impressed when I showed up in my orange pickup covered in red bottom paint.

I let him off the hook and parked it myself. Plan is coat two tomorrow and am also working on the teak rub rails. Kat is furiously scrubbing the paint off her hands and face so they don't ask her to leave her infection control conference.

I know it's under water but I think the red bottom coordinates much better with our red white and blue color schemes.

Capt. Mike

Bottom prep

We are in Annapolis today rubbing Zoe's bottom down in preparation for a couple coats of bottom paint.

We are using Interlux micron csc. I have no experience with it but it is what was already on the boat and I don't want to completely strip the hull so we will give it a try. The reviews run very positive and we had virtually no growth on the boat at haul out. We are, however, only talking about a three month period. We are taking the suggestions of many and using a different color to give us an indicator of when we need to recoat. This an ablative coating.
Capt. Mike