It's never SIMPLE

We found out that the engine can run without building up pressure.(The mechanic that we talked to didn't know what he was talking about! The engine does need to build pressure ) So now Warren is replacing or rebuilding everything that is involved with the cooling system. We also found out the best place to get a new fresh water pump is in the U.K. This engine is really a British Leyland built in England and Westerbeke just added some components and put their name on it. If you try and buy a Westerbeke part here in the USA they charge you an arm and a leg plus your first born. So now we are waiting on the pump.....and we paid way less then half of what Westerbeke ask. Warren was researching this for two days. I am really really really hoping this will fix it. The fun is going to happen someday I promise!!! Even if I have to get there in the dinghy!!! :)

ON THE WATER....FINALLY

Today, with the help of Capt. Roland Briere we took Sea Notes out on our first sail.
Capt Roland did a great job of setting aside our worries about handling Sea Notes, she is a very steady vessel. The winds where in the right directions leaving port but on the way back it was on the nose. We started up the engine, and we where watching the temp gauge very close. It didn't disappoint us, our temp was rising. The heat exhaust manifold cap was leaking pressure, we think.  This will not let it build up the pressure like it is suppose to and then it over heats.  Exactly like a radior in a car. Hopefully we can get a new one tomorrow. And that will fix that, and just 2 other things to do to on the mast and one on the rudder we should be set to leave.
We want to thank Capt. Roland for his patience!

It's hard to believe, it's finally happening!!!!

A Day off the Boat

While we are waiting...... we decided to check out the place where we are going to store the car. Warren really thinks that since we will be in the Keys we should keep the car just in case we have problems. We found a place for $25 a month in Punta Gurda, 100 miles away. It was a beautiful day for a drive.  On the way we stopped at Gamble Mansion it's the last sugar plantation in Florida. Here is a web site if you want to know more http://www.thegambleplantation.com/component/content/article/39-rokstories/55-southern-antebellum-mansion

front view

side view

Well at top and kitchen bottom         

RV and picnic area

We also stopped at Emerson Point Park, this is where the Manatee river and the Gulf meet.  That's Warren walking I tried to get a picture of is pony tail for all you a home. But I don't think you can see it very well. Sorry, I know its hard to believe, since he aways had a military cut.

New name needed!

This is our new yellow dinghy. We decided to take it out for a little spin and check out the channel that we will be leaving through. I don't know if it was the bow pointing to the sky or the white foam trailing behind the boat. But we attracted some company.
Some nice men in a Law Enforcement boat stopped us.
We where going to fast and we had no whistle.
So after a warning about our speed they let us go.
What a nice way to break in the boat! I think the new name should be "C ME GO FAST".  :)



A BIG THANKS to Tony Flores from Alaska Series by Gary Kings for taking care of us. We hope this one will take us thru out our travels.

This is one of our problems, we have been waiting for the stainless steel guys to come out and do some
welding. A previous owner decide to cut out a section of the bale so his anchor would fit. The bale's purpose is to stop the anchor from falling out of the anchor tray in rough seas. These guys should have been here so many times I have lost count. Today was one of those days. I don't know what Warren will do now.  Also the air conditioning unit has a leak, now we need someone to come out and fix that.
My new motto is "NOTHING IS EVER EASY"!!!!

Waiting

We have the engine running good, the injector pump being rebuilt took care of the RPM's. Now the problem is with the temp gauges. Warren has replaced all the wiring on the temp gauge, new buss bar, new sending units, new gauge and still has to much resistnace in the circuit and reads 200 degrees when it is really only 170 as verified with a older mechanical gauge.  So because its required that the temp gauge read correctly, he ordered a mechanical gauge. It should be here Monday and then we are just waiting on the glue for the dinghy.  While we are waiting, we are installing a deck wash down pump. You use this to keep the mud and sand out of the chain locker.
On a previous post we were getting the inflatable(dink) fixed.  The dealer was re-gluing the patches that hold the oars, and rings on.  So about a week after he returned the dink we went out to drop the dink back into the water to go for a ride and we noticed that several of the patches and rings were coming off again.  So I called the dealer again and let him know and he said that he did some research on why the heat down here is making the glue come off.  And this is the honest to goodness truth that he told me;  our dink was made in Korea and was the last batch made in that factory before they moved to a new maker in China.  Anywise, there were two manufactures of glue, one factory is "Ding Dong" which makes the glue that lets go when it gets hot and the other(I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP!) is "Dong Ding" which makes the permanent one.  So he was telling me that the factory was using glue from Ding Dong and not the one from Dong Ding because the factory was having problems with the Dong Ding and decided to go with Ding Dong instead. So I'm on the phone listening to this story and thinking that this guy is stringing me along with a good yarn.  So he is now trying to convince me that he is telling me the truth with Ding Dong and Dong Ding and in the process we both degenerated into fits of laughter to the point we couldn't talk anymore. And that is the truth and I'm sticking to it.

A walk on the beach

After a frustrating two weeks of trying to work on the boat and Murphy poking his head in everytime something seems to be working out ok, we decided to take an afternoon off and just lounge around.   After a nice rain this morning we figured we would go down to the beach and enjoy walking in the Gulf water.  Here,  Kathy is enjoying a walk along the water line at about half past seven in the evening. The water is warm, the company is great and everything seems just right.   

Here is a great shot of the sun going down close to quarter after eight.  It was wonderful with a slight warm breeze and a spectacular view of the sunset.  Couldn't ask for much more from a lazy evening off.  Tomorrow I will install the injection pump, lines and purge the air from the fuel system and perform an ops ck(operational check for those of you who are not familar with military techno bable) of the engine rpm's.  More to come.

Tarpon Springs

 We had a nice drive today to Tarpon Springs. It's

about 30 miles north of St Petersburg straight up hwy 19. We stopped at this nice sponge shop and I bought some Greek soap and olive oil lotion.

    

We also had lunch at Hellas a nice Greek restaurant, they have a great Bakery. We couldn't pass up the Baklava ....it was delicious!  I also took a picture of the sponge docks....where the few boats that still sponge dive tie up.  It was a really nice day.
Warren is going to change all the fuel filters ......( which I mentioned weeks ago)  and he hopes this might help with  the RPM problem. We'll try the easiest things first.  I am keeping my fingers crossed :) I
I am still waiting for something to go easy. Warren says if it was easy we wouldn't appreciate it. HA HA
                                                   


Hellas



Sea Trial

The sea trial was short......Very low RMP and 20 degrees to hot. Now Warren is researching what is causing this. So we'll be here!  The weather is great 86 degrees and blue skies. We are taking a drive up to Tarpon Springs tomorrow to get a RTS, (remote temperature sensor) for the batteries. This will keep them from over charging. I'll show some pic's of Trapon Springs, here is a brief low down. Tarpon Springs Sponge Industry helped build a Greek Community that is now famous not only for the worlds finest sponges, but for some of the finest Greek Restaurants, Markets, and Bakeries in the Country.
 This will be a good break from the boat. Did I say Warren is getting frustrated.........just a little :)

We found it!!!!

We are almost ready to start sea trials and what should happen??  The beast of "one step forward, and two steps backwards" rears it's ugly head.  After getting the battery box ready for the new batteries, I repositioned a bunch of wires, installed a new fuse for the engine starter and just tidied up the area from the mass confusion of existing wiring from previous owners.  In the process I removed a grounding wire for the fuse box, reinstalled it and didn't get it back tight enough, thus causing the refrigerator to go into ground fault mode.  It has taken me a week to track down the faulty ground and then when I found it, it wasn't the wire I was looking for.  Lucky me for touching all the ground wires on the buss bar and finding it.  So far tonight, the fridge has worked without going into the fault mode and the batteries are keeping up with the load.  A few more nights with it working like this  and we'll call it good.  You should have seen Kathy do the "We found it!" dance.  Hilarious!  I do need to take some kind of electrical course so I can at least tell my butt from applebutter. :)  Just a couple more things that are safety concerns to complete then its on to sea trials.
TTFN

New Batteries

The batteries are in, we have to monitor them to make sure they are charging and everything in working right. Warren feels very weak in the electrical department, he his still having a few issues with the start battery. He says he is retired so he's not going to work around the clock.  He wants to enjoy working on the boat.  He just said he is having a blast. I wish I was:)
Now that it is getting late in the season, we are thinking of just sailing in the Keys this summer.
It will help build our confidence and we will still be near things if anything doesn't work right. I really really hope we can do some sea trials sooooon!!!!!!!

The Auto Pilot is DONE!!!!

Everything has finally come together and Warren is done with the Auto Pilot .  The picture to the right shows the control panel....which almost became another whole story of  its own. 
Now we have just two more things to do ..Wait for Warrens spare glasses to come in and fix the battery problem. We had to break down and buy some new ones. We drove to Miami Friday, it's the only place in Florida to get Rolls batteries. They are the best deep cycle batteries on the market. When we got back to the boat we saw that one appears to have a small leak. So now we need to drive back to Miami and exchange it. 

He also finished the swimming platform!!!  Here a quick picture of Warren attaching the ladder that is used to exit the water. As you can see, it's a beautiful day, 80 degrees and clear skies.  Boy am I glad we are here and not in Fairbanks where it's only 36 degrees.

Other matters

While we where waiting for the AP parts that we didn't need. Warren worked on the batteries, the swim plateform, refrigeration and finished somethings on the mast. I won't go into all the details but needess to say he has been very busy. He even drilled the palm of is hand (ouch),while trying to finish the swim plateform. It still needs the ladder to the water.  I think he is going to get that done tomorrow. Hopefully with no more bleeding. I'm sure glad there are no sharks or alligators here, that hole he made in his hand was dripping so much it reminded me of the movie Romancing the Stone. The bad guy got his hand bit off, thats a big Ouch!
That never happens to the good guys.........which Warren truly is!!!!

The end of March

Well we have been trying to get the auto pilot in for the last three weeks. We thought they ordered the wrong controller for the cockpit but found out today that all we needed to do is just cut the end of a cable off and put a different one on. But Warren is getting frustrated and is taking today off.

We went to a nautical flea market today. We found what we needed a cheek block for only $10 they sell for $53. The flea market was at Echerd College, all the stuff is donated and the proceeds go to help their nautical programs. As you can see lots of people.
We meet Matt and Julies, v/s Coup d'Amout a few months ago. They have been working on their boat in Treasure Island, which is by the beaches. I meant to take their picture today at the flea market but they had a long list of stuff to look for and I forgot. They are heading down to Venice. We wish them all the best! They have a blog also

 http://matthewandjuliesail.blogspot.com/
Here are a few pictures of Venice beaches we took these a couple weeks ago.

We really want to leave here April 4 or 5 but I have stopped making plans. If Warren can get the auto pilot in and a few sea trials, All the rest of the projects we can do anywhere. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed. If I had anything else to cross I would!

The Auto Pilot

  This is what I like to refer to as the beast, the stainless steel bracket took two weeks to get welded. The arm on the shaft was made by Dad. Everyone thinks its just a little beefy, but if you know Warren bigger is better. Now he needs to finish the other parts and get it wired in. I am really hoping it goes faster, I want to get going!!!!!!

It is a beautiful day sunny with a little wind, only in the 60's because a front just passed through. The weekend looks great, in the 70's. I hope Warren gets a lot done:) This is my view as I bead, not to bad:)

Visitors from the North

  Pete and Barb from Fairbanks decided to take a break from the cold. They lived in Florida many year ago. It was great to see them, we went to dinner at the Crab Shack and showed them around the boat. It was great to see friends from home. Warren and Pete worked together for over 20 years, now they are both retired. Life is good. We thank God everyday!
 We have been in the water now for about three weeks. Our plans to leave in Feb. went kaput because the auto pilot is taking longer then planed, as usual!!!Next blog is the pictures of the auto pilot.

One step closer

This is Jason & Eric they really do a fantastic job. The swim platform looks great. We need to put the starboard across it still and the ladder to the water. I really hope Warren can get things finished up by the end of the month.  We'll paint the bottom this weekend and hopefully be back in the water Tuesday. This picture of the bow is for you Dad so you can see how the fitting fits. You did a great job, thank you so much! I don't know what we would do without you...OH wait, I know what, we would be boat poor! Machinists charge $100 hour here. 

We are still waiting on the titanium bolts. They should've been delivered by now, I hope they come soon and not hold us up any longer.

On the Hard Again

Here we go again.....but this time we are a lot closer to the end.

We had to make sure the straps for the sling where juuuuust right other wise the prop line protector that we added last time would get broken off.  What helped out was the pictures we took last year just before we putting her back in the water. This time we will add perminate marks where the straps go so we don't have to go through this again.  Friday Jason from On The Spot Welding came by to get measurements for the swim platform so I hope Monday or Tuesday he'll be back with it.  They also have a few things to finish on the arch. After putting 60+ pounds up there on top it acted differently and now needs to be stiffened up some more.  I think it is going to be very interesting to watch them reach that high!  Everything that needs to be done is on the uppermost outside edge which is about seventeen feet up. I know there is a tall latter around here somewhere........ Living on the boat now is very challenging to say the least. On the bright side I do get my exercise going up and down the latter. Oh Kathy, I need a screw driver ..... oh and some rags.....oh and some mineral spirits, oh and, oh and, and on and on and on. I wish I could lose a pound for every trip :)

What is he smiling about?

This was going to be the first day working on the auto pilot.....but
last night the head decide to keep filling up. SO... the day was spend rebuilding the head!  What fun!! Now Warren has really touch every part of the boat.:) You know you love your spouse when you work on the potty together and can smile about it. And it even worked when we where done!

We're getting closer.....

 B-flat is finally ready! We named it that because when we first used it, every air valve leaked. Warren just worked on the dinghy for 2 days redoing the transom. We took it for a quick spin .....weeeeeee what fun,  I felt like the little pig in the Geico commercial. Next week, the swim platform. Now if everything works out right, we'll start the auto-pilot tomorrow after we install two  stantions for the life lines.  We just might get to leave the boat yard soon!!!!!!

Let The Sun Shine

The welder came back and finished up the arch and the stand for the electronics last week. Here is a view of the chartplotter and stand.  It is up and runnng. Now Warren is working on the solar panels, he should be finished Tuesday if everything works out right.  The panels are three Samsung 241 watt, 24 volt panels fed into a MTTP controler charging a 12 volt battery bank. We also designed the stand for the chart plotter but forgot that we needed to make it so the wires for the auto pilot could feed into it. Oh well, we'll just have to do what we can. The auto pilot is the next big project.. We will always have a bunch of little project to do along the way. I don't think this boat will every be done!!! But it was 75 degrees today and that is awesome. Its so nice not to be freezing!!!
New Year eve was quiet here and we didn't do to much. There were a lot of fire works and things going on down town in St Pete's, but there are way to many people and traffic is terrible. So we just sat in the cockpit and watched the fire works from afar.
Hope everyone has a great year with many blessings!!!

We're Back in Florida

This is one of three picture that was taken on our trip to Washington and Alaska. It was taken by Grace, which was a nice surprise. She is a good friend from Fairbanks who just happen to be in Wasilla for her sons basketball game.  We took the camera but forgot to take pictures. These are our grandniece's Lily and Natalie. It was a wonderful quick visit. The weather was cold and snowy, the next time we return it will be in summer:) Now it's time to get the boat ready to sail.  I decided to look for a used out broad motor, and found one first try. I looked on Craig's list and found one in Weeki Wachee that's a town about 60 miles from St. Pete's. It had just been listed a few hours before I started looking, a good price also..(a Johnson 15 hp--1995 low hours)  Now that's a blessing!

Just to let you know it's COLD here too:( 

Warren is reworking the battery box, the hot water heater needs to be readjusted. Not to interesting and I didn't think he is having a good time. Well my waters hot for my cocoa, time to warm up!!!!

Low Low Low Tide

How Low, you ask? Well, today Warren needed to check a fitting on the bow. First he needed to get in the water, for this he needed a ladder just to reach it. He could've jumped but then he wouldn't have been able to get back up. The water has been so low that the only thing holding up the boat are the dock lines.  We sure are having fun....HAHA

Still Working

Today it's raining so we are working on the front bathroom (the forward head). Replacing the old counter top, faucets and fixing doors. I'll take a picture when it's done:) We put the new sails up yesterday. Boy are they nice and crisp. We also learned everything you don't want to do when putting up the main sail. IE...... make sure all the other halyards are out of the way, put the line on furler so it rolls the right direction and don't hit your head on the boom. We hope to try them out soon, but we have to take the truck to Washington and store it at my Aunt Sandy's.(which we are very thankful for)

We are going back home for Thanksgiving so we have a lot to do, we want to head on down to the Keys by the end of Dec.

The Arch

The arch is on, but we still have a few more things to get welded on to it, outboard engine mount, gps mount, gate eyes and the solar panels. Most will happen next week, Warren is still deciding on what size for the panels. We also have to finish the wood work on the toe rails and the lazerette hatch covers. The hatch cover  will be our first go at spraying on gel coat(that's the paint that's on the deck):) We also have about 1000 other projects but we still hope to get out of here in Dec. Oh, we also had to order new sails. I bet your thinking we are crazy! But when we are cruising in that clear blue water in Bahamas with dolphins swimming along side us and I post that picture you might think differently:)