Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Heading out for the crossing!

Well, down to the last day before departure!! After our brutal day of provisioning, unpacking and storing items yesterday, today was more high-speed errands. We were up early and immediately began to tackle the tasks we had on our respective lists. Ron headed out to get the fresh produce, hit the bank, and return to unload and unpack some more. Karyn was held hostage waiting for the dryer repair man (who never showed until after dark, unfortunately) but used the time to do last minute lists, and assorted must-complete correspondence. In the midst of it, Ally had a dentist appointment for a routine check-up and x-rays....which revealed she will need to have her wisdom teeth removed, as they are aiming to come in sideways on her lower jaw. Ouch! Never a dull moment around here!!
The high speed day continued until we headed to the airport to pcik up Paul and Muriel, who are making the crossing to the Abacos with us and spend some time together diving, fishing and relaxing in the sunshine! Unfortunately, their plane was delayed a bit and didn’t arrive until after midnight, but we took it in stride as we weren’t leaving until high tide at mid-day anyway! As always, it is SO good to see them again! We chattered away until far too late (early?) in the night, until we forced ourselves to get some sleep.
After keeping a sharp eye on the weather reports and tides, we were delighted when the day was sunny, the skies were clear, with south to southeast winds of 10-15 knots. Ron and Paul headed out from Outrigger Harbor aboard Equinox after Ally, Muriel and I helped with the lines, then Muriel and I followed in Tingum. We pulled up behind Equinox and secured Tingum in tow just before the the ICW and the St. Lucie River Crossroads, and then happily headed out the St. Lucie Inlet with plenty of water under the hull. Seas were a light chop on a 2’ swell, and despite the forecast of isolated scattered thunderstorms, we had a fabulous crossing. Gorgeous blue water, complete with dolphin escort  under warm sunshine...life is good! The crossing over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas was uneventful...which is the way we like it! 
Muriel & Ron checking out the dolphins at the bow


Here's to the crossing!

After hors d'oeuvres (Mrs. Peter’s Smoked Fish Dip and crackers) and a celebratory glass of wine on the pilot house roof at sunset, we enjoyed a simple but satisfying dinner in the pilot house as we crossed over onto the Little Bahamas Bank. The weather continued to be benign, and when darkness fell, Muriel and I were on watch, taking the 9 pm - 1am slot. The stars were glorious; we spent quite a few minutes star-gazing from the portuguese bridge, checking out the Crab Nebula (try to look directly at it and it seems to fade!) and later were astounded by the sight of a stunning moon rise! Just past the full moon, the orb was glowing orange and appeared so suddenly -- just huge on the horizon, ducking in and out behind some spectacular thunder clouds. An spellbinding sight and a great omen while on our  lovely cruise!

Well, down to the last day before departure!! After our brutal day of provisioning, unpacking and storing items yesterday, today was more high-speed errands. We were up early and immediately began to tackle the tasks we had on our respective lists. Ron headed out to get the fresh produce, hit the bank, and return to unload and unpack some more. Karyn was held hostage waiting for the dryer repair man (who never showed until after dark, unfortunately) but used the time to do last minute lists, and assorted must-complete correspondence. In the midst of it, Ally had a dentist appointment for a routine check-up and x-rays....which revealed she will need to have her wisdom teeth removed, as they are aiming to come in sideways on her lower jaw. Ouch! Never a dull moment around here!!
The high speed day continued until we headed to the airport to pcik up Paul and Muriel, who are making the crossing to the Abacos with us and spend some time together diving, fishing and relaxing in the sunshine! Unfortunately, their plane was delayed a bit and didn’t arrive until after midnight, but we took it in stride as we weren’t leaving until high tide at mid-day anyway! As always, it is SO good to see them again! We chattered away until far too late (early?) in the night, until we forced ourselves to get some sleep.
After keeping a sharp eye on the weather reports and tides, we were delighted when the day was sunny, the skies were clear, with south to southeast winds of 10-15 knots. Ron and Paul headed out from Outrigger Harbor aboard Equinox after Ally, Muriel and I helped with the lines, then Muriel and I followed in Tingum. We pulled up behind Equinox and secured Tingum in tow just before the the ICW and the St. Lucie River Crossroads, and then happily headed out the St. Lucie Inlet with plenty of water under the hull. Seas were a light chop on a 2’ swell, and despite the forecast of isolated scattered thunderstorms, we had a fabulous crossing. Gorgeous blue water, complete with dolphin escort  under warm sunshine...life is good! The crossing over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas was uneventful...which is the way we like it! 
Muriel & Ron checking out the dolphins at the bow


After h’or doeurves (Mrs. Peter’s Smoked Fish Dip and crackers) and a celebratory glass of wine on the pilot house roof at sunset, we enjoyed a simple but satisfying dinner in the pilot house as we crossed over onto the Little Bahamas Bank. The weather continued to be benign, and when darkness fell, Muriel and I were on watch, taking the 9 pm - 1am slot. The stars were glorious; we spent quite a few minutes star-gazing from the portuguese bridge, checking out the Crab Nebula (try to look directly at it and it seems to fade!) and later were astounded by the sight of a stunning moon rise! Just past the full moon, the orb was glowing orange and appeared so suddenly -- just huge on the horizon, ducking in and out behind some spectacular thunder clouds. An spellbinding sight and a great omen while on our  lovely cruise!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Think We Are Ready!

After a good month of inspection, detection, correction and/or upgrading of various systems as needed, Equinox is now shining and ready to set out upon the seas once again! Of course, if it weren't for the last minute, nothing would get done! Thus, we have been running at a high rate of speed the past few days in an attempt to wrap things up and prepare for departure. From today's provisioning for fresh vegetables for the boat, to dealing with the last items of correspondence and bills, to going to a dentist appointment for Allison, we've been on the move non-stop. After working to wrap up the last few frustrating loose ends, we're a bit tied in knots and more than a bit tired!

BUT... happiness is being able to look ahead! We have our good friends Paul and Muriel flying in tonight, and if tomorrow's good weather forecast holds true, mid-day at high tide we will cast off the lines and head for the Abacos. We're not on any tight schedule whatsoever, but rather, we're letting the weather dictate our itinerary. With Tropical Storm Alex churning towards Texas and the current focus of attention, we're not going to be cavalier about the weather, believe me! 

We're looking to do a bit of diving, some fishing, and most of all, some relaxing!! After the hard work of coordinating boat maintenance and repairs, we are definitely ready to kick back and simply enjoy being aboard. While we've hosted Paul and Muriel aboard several times before when we were cruising the Chesapeake with Equinox, this will be their first ocean passage. They're very excited to be making the crossing to the Bahamas with us, so we're hoping for good weather and calm seas so that their first taste of blue water will be a good one! Wish a bon voyage!




Friday, June 25, 2010

Gearing up and wrapping up...




...the work projects aboard both Equinox and Tingum, at long last! Tingum is now back in the water after getting the numerous little punch list items repaired, from small things like stripped screws to the larger items like scheduled 100-hour engine service, to getting a new dive ladder installed on the starboard stern to getting a new autopilot installed. We had the bottom painted, the entire boat detailed and waxed...and Tingum is now sporting her name on either side of the boat! With the new upgraded speakers and sub-woofer on the stereo system, she is sounding and looking sharp!


As for Equinox, we had a punch list a mile long after the months spent aboard in the Bahamas, and have gotten extensive work accomplished! Most important was the work done on both generators, inspecting, repairing and replacing needed items. From installing new stainless steel exhaust risers to replacing the leaky (12 kW) and almost-leaky (20 kW) raw water pumps, a lot of work was accomplished and both sets are now purring along beautifully. We had the tender davit system inspected and oiled, the hydraulics system checked and pressure adjusted, the flybridge grill cover replaced and the entire thing cleaned beautifully, the boat cleaned inside and out, detailed and waxed. We had Dick Murray, our water-maker guru, return today with a brand-new Clark pump to replace the old replacement pump (the previous one was refurbished, not new as we expected) and he now has the system making water to factory specifications. Ron's diligence and persistence in coordinating all these projects gets major kudos!!

Lots of other items got attention too, although some are still works in progress, including the Nitrox compressor, which still has an issue with the low-pressure side of the system. We'll get that addressed in August when we're hauled out for a bit, but until then, we'll make do with diving air, not enriched air. Ron also had Martek at work, from replacing the Sirius radio receiver power transducer to moving the auto-pilot remote plug-in to a better spot in the pilothouse to tracking down the sources of interference on the SSB (believe it or not, the back-lighting illumination strips on each of the breaker panels were a major source). It was a frustrating process, since electrical gremlins are the hardest to ferret out!


We're also keeping a wary eye on the alternators on the main engines, as the centerfielder apparently wasn't able to do its job properly since the wire runs to each engine were of different lengths, causing one alternator to dominate and run hot. The wire runs have since been changed to equal lengths, so we shall see how the system now performs. Seems like as soon as we fixed or improved one item, another issue would present itself. Enough with finding more issues!!

To add more fun in our lives, getting work done on the boat is not the only issue. We've had no dryer at the condo for the past couple of weeks, (the interface board circuitry died, apparently) so I've been lugging the laundry to the boat to get it done there. It's not any fault of our maintenance guy here, as he's been great in getting the service calls set up. But...we've had the dryer guy here three times already, to no avail, and this last time, he wasn't able to do anything since he'd ordered the wrong replacement part!! ARGH!! Getting work done on the boat was easier, I think! :)


We've been relieving the stress from all the boat work and dryer frustrations by bicycling in the mornings before it gets too hot. Ally has been using my bike (as we're nearly the same height) and she's enjoying it immensely. She's a natural at it, actually, and she and Ron have been doing 10-15 miles each time they go out. We've been able to do other things together as a family too; today we took Tingum for a family outing to Manatee Pocket for a late lunch/early dinner at Finz, happily being together on the water. It was a nice change of pace, and we all enjoyed watching the pelicans diving for their dinner, and sharing the ICW with dolphins and manatees on the way home.


Look, no hands...the autopilot is at work!

A sunny and breezy day as we headed home from Manatee Pocket 


Monday, June 21, 2010

Purging, Provisioning and Organizing...

...the oh-so-fun and familiar "PPO" routine before a cruise has begun! We are finally looking beyond the upgrades, repairs and continuing diagnostics on the ship's systems and focusing at last on the fun part to prepare for our next little cruise. We've taken the opportunity while Equinox is in our home port to go through all the storage spaces and purge the non-essential flotsam and jetsam that has accumulated over the past months aboard.  It's really amazing how you expand to fill the available space on a boat, and unfortunately, usually a day at a time, filling it with minutia and unnecessary items. UGH!! 

We spent the past couple of days doing a harsh inventory of the foodstuffs aboard: what we have and where, what we need, and what we don't need aboard. Every time we provision we get better at it, but it's no less of a time-consuming chore when faced with it before each cruise! We discovered that we totally overstocked on frozen vegetables during our last cruise, as we always found fresh vegetables en route that were more appetizing than what we could find if we went freezer diving. Yet getting the storage spaces emptied, cleaned, restocked, inventoried and organized is an accomplishment, and it's a relief to be actually be doing it! You feel very productive for yourself, as it reinforces that departure isn't that far off, adding to the thrill of anticipation. The hard work is behind us for the most part, with the majority of repairs and upgrades accomplished, and now we're gearing up for the fun part: cruise planning and itinerary ideas, routes and waypoints, plans A and B for various weather scenarios, and so on. 


During the past two days, we've gone over our wish list for menus and dinner ideas, then pared that down to practical portions before we hit the stores to buy what we'll need for our short journey. Frankly, provisioning for a month is easy stuff compared to provisioning for six months, but the concept remains the same: figuring type, diversity and actual portion numbers of meals needed. Ron and Ally did a major provision run for wine and liquor one afternoon, then Ron and I hit  Sam's Club's for dry goods, paper products and meats the following day. It's always overwhelming going into Sam's, as the sheer volume of items is astounding! A list is imperative, or you end up getting way more than you can possibly use, or -- even worse -- stocking up on impulse items that aren't needed at all! Oh yes, what did I say about expanding to fill the available space?

Ron during the (supposedly) dry goods run, if you 
ignore the Listerine bottles and case of beer in the cart 

Today was a more mundane day aboard, as I sorted, organized and stocked the last few items into the pantry closet, galley step storage and saloon bench storage areas. Ron focused on purging his closet and drawer space to get rid of the winter/cold weather clothing that we needed in the northern latitudes. I still have to do that, unfortunately....but there's always tomorrow!



Friday, June 18, 2010

Boat work and bicycling

Back in Florida, back to the daily grind of coordinating boat projects! Wednesday was a full-speed day as we had Martek aboard in the morning and then again in the afternoon, working on the Sirius unit and the SSB. We sea-trialed the boat mid-morning with Darryl of American Bow Thruster/Trac, to check out the hydraulics system pressure, as the starboard engine pump pressure has been oscillating a bit. Darryl adjusted the pressure, and inspected the rest of the system, reporting that the actuator arms are both in great shape. We may upgrade the system a bit later this summer, when we haul out for a bit in August and September.


Unfortunately, the Nitrox compressor remains in limbo; although Coltri Americas finally came up from Coral Springs to diagnose and repair it, they still don't know what is wrong with it. We've not gotten a lot of use out of it -- maybe 30 hours -- but apparently the low pressure compressor side of the system is the culprit. Unfortunately, in order to take it out and bench test it, the high pressure compressor will have to be removed first, since the low pressure unit is behind it. UGH! So...no results yet. There will be more investigation into the low pressure compressor next week, and we'll see how things fare then...

We also have had work continuing on the gensets: the leaky water pump on the 12 kW has been replaced, and we had the exhaust elbow upgraded to stainless steel. We did the same to the 20 kW, so all is good there. Unfortunately, with the 20kW, it seems like getting one thing resolved leads to another issue! For instance, the engine mounts for the 20 kW also support the clutched pump/PTO for the hydraulics that run the windlass and bow thruster. Unfortunately, one of those mounts is in such a place as to prevent the removal of the raw water pump (or you have to disassemble the entire thing, simply trying to get the water pump off!). Upon closer inspection, our mechanic discovered that one of the mounts itself had a hairline crack, so that needed to be replaced as well, to prevent a catastrophic break down if the the mount failed. The faulty mount was replaced with Northern Light's "upgraded" version of the original yesterday, so progress is being made on that front.

We also replaced the defunct battery monitoring system with a unit that actually works! We now have a Victron Battery Monitoring system so that we can keep track of the house battery usage and charging status. The former unit was supposed to keep track of both the house battery bank and the nav/com batteries, but in conjunction with our inverter and battery equalizer, only one side of the system worked, and even then, it would lock up at times. Hopefully, this new system will work more efficiently and provide us with the information we'd like. 

The remaining issue is with the alternators, as the center-fielder apparently isn't doing its job to synchronize their outputs. One alternator becomes the dominant regulator, depending on which engine you start first vs. second, even though the center-fielder says they're in synch So, back to Balmar with that question...always, another issue!

But, we're not all work and no play! We've been relieving the boat repair monotony with a lot of bicycling each morning. The weather has been unseasonably hot -- we've been told this is August/September weather, not June weather, so we've been riding in the mornings when the temperatures are cooler. Yesterday Ron and I did over 30 miles, and this morning, another 16. We're really enjoying the biking here, as the scenery along the Indian River or on the barrier island along the Atlantic is just gorgeous. Between the sun sparkling on the water, the diverse types of palm trees, the banyan trees and birds, there's always a view!  


The red cap on a sandhill crane


We passed a beautiful pair of sandhill cranes feeding this morning as we rode along the Savannas Preserve State Park, one of our favorite areas. Stretching more than 10 miles from Ft. Pierce to Jensen Beach, this preserve is one of the largest and most intact remnant of Florida's east coast freshwater marshes, or "savannas". It's a beautiful ride! We also saw the usual herons feeding along the Indian River, and white ibis along the marshes -- always pretty, and I never tire of seeing them. 

Ally is now home for the summer, after a couple days at the beach in Ocean City, MD with her OS girlfriends. She's been busy unpacking all the boxes that she shipped down from school, and is now focused on getting a job. Today she's working for a friend with a boat detailing business, but is anxious to get a true full-time job. While it's not the easiest time to find work, Ally is definitely persistent, so we have no doubt she will find something! 

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Hectic week of work and travel!

Work, work, work....boat work, that is. It continues apace, and Ron and I are still coordinating it all, from generator repairs, electronics issues, compressor diagnostics (since the low compressor side of the Nitrox system is still not working properly) to upgrades and repairs on the tender as well as the center console. Ron has no idea how he ever had time to work before, when being the "Boat Work GM" now consumes most of his time! It's been a crazy week, with a lot of running around and phone calls, but...progress is being made! From large issues (12 Kw water pump replaced) to small triumphs (summer kitchen grill cover repaired), we're grateful that it is all coming together. It's definitely one piece at a time, of course, along with a few stumbling blocks thrown in for fun. What can I say? It's a boat.

However, as a much-welcomed and highly-anticipated respite from all the juggling of boat-related activity, we spent this past weekend away, as we were up in Baltimore celebrating Ally's graduation with family and friends. It was a GREAT time; wonderful to be with family again, fun to be back in Baltimore, and the graduation ceremony was beautiful. Ally was all smiles walking down Graduation Hill at Oldfields, looking radiant in the sunshine! While all the girls at the school participate in the graduation ceremony each year, we'd never seen it before ourselves, as Ally wanted her senior year to be the first time we saw it. Seeing it for the first time was a heart-felt delight, as the OS traditions were beautiful, and the whole ceremony was a happy, memorable time! 

All the OS girls and the May Court assembling for graduation

Dinner that evening was in a private room at La Scala, our favorite Italian restaurant downtown in Little Italy, where the food was fabulous, the conversation continuous, with everyone celebrating happily. It was a great family time; after being aboard the boat this spring and cruising far from home, it felt very special to be together! Friends and family are what it's all about!

The view of downtown Baltimore from our hotel

Monday, June 7, 2010

Long weekend with Nicky!

Well, after a haul-out for Equinox on Wednesday, and fit and adjustment of the boat trailer for Tingum on Thursday (lots of running around there, from the trailer storage place to boat ramp to trailer store and back again), we finally took a hiatus from coordinating all the boat work this past weekend. The reason? We had a good friend from Baltimore visiting, Nicky, Ron's long-time former "day wife" aka his professional executive secretary from his former working life. It was great to see her and have her join us here in Florida for a few days! Her arrival didn't mean that all boat work stopped, for Mechanic Dave continued his efforts down belowdecks inspecting and replacing the water pump on the 12Kw genset and changing an exhaust fitting to the air filter on the 20 kw. Thus, progress was being made!

Heading out aboard Tingum Saturday morning with Nicky

We had a great time showing Nicky around. We went out for lunch and/or dinners at our favorite spots from Mulligan's to Ian's, to Conky Joe's to Crawdaddy's. We found good music and did some dancing, along with the great food! We went out in Tingum both Saturday and Sunday mornings to do some fishing in the Gulf Stream and generally just enjoyed being out on the water. While we weren't entirely successful in our efforts at fishing, we did get one mahi-mahi, although it was just a small one which we released. Nicky was happy to experience it, although with the waters being so calm and the days so bright, we should have been bottom-fishing if we wanted to be more successful. With the weather being so hot, hot, hot, we all wanted the breeze from trolling though, so enjoyed that! Maybe next time we'll stop and bottom-fish...

Nicky at the helm!

Ron skirting some ballyhoo

Saturday, on our return to the St. Lucie Inlet, we saw an absolutely huge leatherback turtle that was at the water's surface. At first we weren't sure what was at the surface, until we saw its huge helmet-shaped head and the very distinctive ridges on its leathery carapace. Out of the many, many turtles we have seen, either while diving or aboard a boat, this was our first leatherback sighting. According to the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources, leatherback turtles are the world's largest reptile, and the largest turtles in the sea, typically weighing in at 600-1000 pounds. Mature adult turtles can reach 6-7 feet long and some have tipped the scales at 2000 pounds! They are highly pelagic animals and make long migrations, so can be found in tropical waters to more temperate latitudes. I'm just sorry I didn't grab my camera in time to get a picture of it before it dove down and away from us, but for us, just seeing it was a treat and very cool!! 


After fishing for a bit Sunday morning, we took Tingum around to Sunset Bay Marina where we enjoyed a great lunch with our dear friends off the Miles Aweigh. More boat talk, good food and fun times there, then we cruised a bit more, exploring Manatee Pocket with its scenery, marinas and restaurants. We passed a floating "Coney Island" -- shades of the pit beef boat from Hart-Miller Island days of years ago! Between catching glimpses of dolphins and watching the pelicans along the St. Lucie River, we had quite a nice cruise! 

The floating hot dog stand, Coney Island!

We enjoyed showing Nicky around our new hometown, and were glad she came to visit. We also were delighted to speak with Ally, who is now back from her Argentina May Program trip. That was an amazing experience, and a great way to wrap up her senior year. She has one more week at Oldfields School before we all join her next weekend for graduation. Friends and family...that's what its all about!




Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Haul-out and a river run with dolphin escort!

Another couple of whirlwind days here, working to get the boat back in shape. Not that she is out of shape, we just want her to look her best! So, after Richard and his crew worked all weekend, we were delighted to see the results. Equinox is lovely! We were very happy with the way she looked, gleaming and glistening in the sunshine. They will be our go-to folks when we need the boat detailed in the future, for sure.

Early this morning, Ron and I zipped south in Eclipse over to the Hutchinson Island Marriot where Equinox was getting spiffed up; we needed to get the tender stowed back atop Equinox anyway, and it saved us the drive over. From there, we took Equinox west on the south fork of the St. Lucie River towards Lake Okeechobee to American Custom Yachts for a "fast haul-out" for a bottom power-wash and zinc change. It was a long trip -- two hours from Stuart, with the current against us, but pleasant with the scenery gliding past us. I have to say, I love Florida!! Palm trees, quiet canals lined with mangroves and pretty homes on the river....all good!!
A typical Florida river view: lovely!

We actually arrived at American ahead of time, but we were hauled out promptly after the launch of the boat scheduled ahead of us. Very efficent! Thankfully, Equinox's bottom wasn't so bad as I feared...the hull was quite clean, although the running gear had a bit more growth that needed to be removed. I do think our cleaning and scrubbing in the Exumas helped keep the growth to a minimum! The zincs were in need of replacement though, which was to be expected. So...a productive haul-out and we were delighted to have made the trip, happy to get to know the route and the lay of the land, and to have seen the facility. It's well-run and the guys are definitely professional in their work!

Equinox awaiting the launch of the boat ahead of us

Ron lining up Equinox before heading into the haul-out bay

She's a big girl out of the water!

Of course, the afternoon squall clouds arrived as we were leaving, and threatened showers all the way back to Outrigger Harbour. Thankfully, though, we had sunny weather and nary a drop of rain, despite the clouds ballooning about us. Even better, we had a pod of dolphins that escorted us along the way, from the Roosevelt Bridge down to the crossroads of the St. Lucie River and the Indian River. They were a cheerful bunch; I swear they each rolled on their sides to get a better look at us as we looked at them, especially when I waved and smiled at their antics alongside Equinox! It was a lovely moment in time, sharing the waters and appreciating their company!

Coming up alongside Equinox

Leaping and cavorting!

Just having fun!

Once secure and tied up at OH, Ron and I indulged in a hot tub before an early dinner in downtown Stuart at the Black Marlin. An old-time Stuart restaurant, we relaxed in the laid-back ambience and enjoyed the delicious food quite a bit, before the much-anticipated rains finally arrived. It was an appropriate ending to a satisfying and productive day! Never fear, we have more to do to tomorrow!