Saturday October 29, 2011

It's been a busy summer as far as maintenance is concerned. It started with replacing the alternator and then the inverter charger. As we were coming up the ICW we were getting overheat errors and the charging voltages seemed off. I replaced our Freedom 15 with a
Xantrex HF 1800. The new unit only charges at 40 amps max as opposed to the previous 70 amps. So far it has kept the battery bank charged but we have been at the dock and under shore power.

Next I had to replace the aft head as it was cheaper to replace the whole head as opposed to buying a new pump and valve system. It is amazing how the builder was able to cram the unit in the platform. The new unit looks and works great so the effort and contortions were worth it.

The cockpit table and teak was in dire need of some TLC. I purchased some epoxy from MAS that is thin and doesn't have an amine blush when it cures and used that as a base coat on the teak as a sealer, The two coats of epoxy were followed by four coats of Epiphanes varnish. The hope is that next spring I will just have to scuff the top coat and re-varnish instead of taking the finish down to the bare wood. The result is amazing as the depth of shine of the finish is really deep and left the teak looking beautiful, we'll see if the durability is there after cruising the tropics this winter.

I had just finished with the teak when hurricane Irene hit. Our slip for the summer is at
Whittaker Point Marina and is fairly exposed to the Neuse under heavy weather conditions. I chose to leave the slip and head out to the South River and up a creek called Southwest creek where I anchored in about 8 feet of water with fairly heavy trees on both sides. The banks of the creek were mud flats about a ¼ mile on each side so I figured if the boat dragged it would fetch up on the mud. I used a tandem anchor with the lead anchor a fortress tied to a Manson with 20 feet of chain. I let our 140 feet of chain from the Manson and 40 feet of ¾ inch three strand nylon. I snubbed to the chain with 40 feet of line from each side of the bow led through chafe protection.

Larry Summers and his wife Julie invited us to ride out the storm with them and we chose to leave the boat and ride out the storm with them. Kathleen and I decided that there would be little we could do on the boat riding through the hurricane and discretion in this case was the better part of valor. The house we stayed in rode the storm out fine and even though the storm surge was about 10 feet here in Oriental and the Eye of Irene passed right through town the water only came up to the hub caps were we were.

On Monday when I took the dingy out to the boat Legacy was riding fine and looked to have come through the storm just fine. The only damage was out radar reflector broke one of the mountings and the windlass reversing solenoid needed to be replaced..

There were two boats that chose to stay in the marina that sank in their slips and there was extensive damage to many of the finger piers so it looks to me that we made the right decision in where to ride the storm out.

When we were able to get back into our slip I decided to replace the raw water impeller as a preventative measure. On most boats this would be at most a 20 minute job, but on our engine the impeller cover faces aft and is covered by the alternator, so to change the impeller the alternator and hosed need to be removed . (I discovered that Yanmar impellers have a thread cut into the hub that accepts a screw with a through bolt that makes removing the impeller much easier.) I also inspected and cleaned the raw water filter. After all that, when I started the engine the raw water steam was very weak and the exhaust note was much louder than it should have been. After much troubleshooting and pulling of hair ( I changed the impeller back to the original thinking that there was a problem with the new impeller) The problem turned out to be the raw water strainer. It is mounted above the water line and in order for the impeller to get water a vacuum has to be developed and the when I inspected and cleaned the strainer I broke the seal. I bought some liquid gasket and once the top was sealed the impeller worked fine. Another lesson learned the hard way.

Another maintenance item was our jib sail. The sacrificial cloth was in tatters and there some rips that need to be repaired. The sacrificial cloth was replaced with sunbrella fabric and the tears repaired. Wally Chapin of Oriental Sailmakers did an outstanding job and hopefully we have a jib sail that we can count on for a few years.

The last item has just been completed as we are now within two days of leaving for our annual trek south. The max prop had a lot of play and we noticed that performance in reverse was getting a lot worse. We had the prop removed at Sailcraft and sent to PYI for repair. The estimate to repair was close to the cost of a new prop. We had the new prop installed and we are now ready to leave Nov. 1 which is this Tuesday. Hopefully we are now set as far as boat repair is concerned.

The Saga continues

We left Lindbergh Bay and moved to Caneel Bay on the north coast of St. Johns Island. The north coast is a National Park and there are moorings set up so you don't anchor. The moorings are $15.00 per night and we stayed in Caneel Bay for 3 days. The weather is gorgeous with 85 degree days and mid 70's nights. There is almost always a sea breeze so it is very comfortable.

On day two Kathleen and I dingied into Cruz Bay which is a small town just around the point of our mooring.

On Day three we moved to Francis Bay which is a little more protected from the east as the winds were causing the anchorage in Caneel Bay to become a little rolly. We picked up a mooring and settled down for a few days of sun and beach.

Our next move was to American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook where Kathleen was able to pick up her medication and we were able to do some laundry and take a good long shower with plenty of hot water, what joy!

The next morning we left the dock headed for the Coral Bay on the south side of St John. I should say now that we have been noticing that our engine has been smoking and before we left I checked the oil and there the oil level was higher

than I remember when I last added oil. As we were leaving Pillsbury Sound the engine suddenly made a LOT of smoke ( Kathleen thought we were on fire) and the engine raced to about 5000 rpm for a few seconds. I immediately throttled back, put the

transmission in neutral and after what seemed like hours but was actually about 10 seconds the engine throttled back to normal idle. I then made sail for the nearest anchorage and as I was coming in to Rendezvous Bay a major rain storm came through and it was difficult to see the boats at anchor. We made it to anchor and shut the engine down and

collapsed from an overload of adrenalin and nerves.Rendezvous Bay is a beautiful location and the water is crystal clear> I could watch the anchor drop all the way to the bottom in 25 feet of

water. We will stay here at least a day and try to decide what to do. I guess if you are going to have problems like this there are worse places to have them in.

The next morning we tried to call Yanmar service but could not get through as there seemed to be no cellular service to the south side of St. John. We decided to up anchor under sail and move to Lindbergh Bay in St Thomas where we knew we could get cellular service. As we were sailing I got the brilliant idea to call Deaton's and see if I could

charlotte amalie, cruise ship

talk to a Diesel Mechanic and get an idea of what I was looking at and if they could recommend an authorized Yanmar service center in St Thomas. I talked to Gary at Deaton's and he said it soundedlike injectors or maybe the fuel lift pump

I called and talked to Fred the service manager
and he recommended I bring my injectors in and they could shop test them and rebuild them if necessary. I removed the injectors and dingied them to Offshore. To make a long story short the technician said that he had never seen a worse set of injectors One of them was just oozing diesel instead
caneel bay

of atomizing it and the other three were not much better. After they rebuilt and calibrated the injectors I returned to the boat and reinstalled them and the engine is running as good as new and no smoke! For the last week I was having nightmares of being without an engine and having to sail the Mona Passage with no engine. The only problem we have now is that the engine stop switch isn't working. After starting the engine to test it I had to stop the air supply to the engine to shut it off. Oh well, you know what they say “cruising is just doing boat maintenance in exotic locales”.





















rendevous bay

Feb 17
Ponce, Puerto Rico

Today Kathleen and I rented a car and stocked up on provisions as the cost for food in the Virgin Islands is at least triple that of PR. We went to Wall Mart, Sams Club and the local cash and carry and we think we have enough to get us through at least a month in the Virgin Islands if we decided to stay that long. Tomorrow we will return the car and top of the fuel and water tanks and leave the harbor at about midnight.

Fe b 19 The weather was no problem as we took advantage of the night lee of Puerto Rico. The wind was under 17 knots most of the time and the seas were less than 2 feet. As we moved beyond the three mole limit the seas became a little rougher so we stayed about 2 moles off the coast as we moved to jobo. We arrived at our anchorage at about 05:30 and had the hook set and were able to get some sleep before the next leg. We plan next to go to Vieques which used to be ( still is?) a test range for the US Navy with certain areas off limits due to unexploded ordinance. Sun Bay where we will anchor is outside the zone so we should have no problem with the Navy.

Feb 21Since the next leg will be outside the lee of Puerto Rico we will leave at 0600 and arrive at Sun Bay at a bout 1430 with plenty of time to get snugged down on our anchor.

This morning some rain showers passed behind us and we witnessed a spectacular rainbow. At the terminus of the rainbow the sea took on the colors as if the rainbow continued below the surface of the water for a short distance. At times there were actually two rainbows in the sky.

There were a few boats anchored here in Sun Bay with us and several of their passengers took to the beach.

Tomorrow morning we will make the trip to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands and plan to anchor in Lindbergh Bay for a few days. It is about 40 nautical miles from here and should take us about 10 hours as we will be going into the wind and current and if lucky will be able to make bout 4 knots.

Feb 22

We arrived at Lindbergh Bay and set our anchor down at 16:30. The bay is situated out form the runway of the airport but the air traffic seemed to

die down in the evening and wasn't really too bad. The main port of Charlotte Amalie is the next bay over and is where all the cruise ships make port.

Feb 25

This morning we are moving to St Johns, Caneel Bay where we will stay for a few days. The state park provides mooring balls for 15.00 per day and dos not allow anchoring unless in 60 feet of water for boats over 60 feet in length. The moorings are right off the beach and just around a small cape is Cruz Bay with a small town and lots of bars. Kathleen and I have been indulging in swimming and relaxing and yesterday as we went in to Cruz Bay to check it out we saw a Hawksbill Sea turtle swimming along.

The weather is great with plenty of sun but the air temperature is moderated by the trade winds and at night we still need a blanket to keep warm as the temperature drops into the mid 60s, while the wind maintains 10 to 15 knots.

Jan 27 Provodinciales, Caicos

We left Mayaguana and the wind was about 20 knots right on the rhumb line for Sandbore Channel and the seas at first were about 8 feet, so we crashed to weather making about 2 knots VMG( velocity made good) (ie on our rhumb line), Later in the afternoon the sea state calmed to 3 foot rollers with about a foot of chop and we were able to speed up to 6 knots. The distance was only 48 miles but it took us from 7:00 AM to 7 :30 PM to cover that distance. The route from Sandbore Channel to Sapadilla Bay is only about 9 miles but it was pitch black and there are coral heads to be avoided. Fortunately I had laid down a track from Sandbore to the Bay and I followed it but I was still tense as

the darkness was pretty complete and I hoped that the track I laid down last year allowed enough error to keep me off the rocks. In addition to everything else we lost our front nav light cover and it was showing a white light out front so I was concerned in case we should run into any fools other than ourselves out on the banks at night.

We dropped anchor down in the bay in 8 feet of water and finally at 9:30 PM were able to get to the mess down below that was thrown about by the high seas early in the morning.

We went to South Side marina the next day and were able to check in with customs and Simon took us into Provo to the grocery store to get some necessary provisions.

Later that evening Southside provided a grill for the cruisers to grill their own meats and the cruisers brought a dish to pass, and Southside provided ice cream and the toppings for desert. A great time was had by all.

We plan to hang out here in Sapadilla until Sunday and then take a slip for a few days at our favorite marina south of Florida, Southside, before moving on the Puerto Rico

Feb 2

We hooked up with Daniel and Chantal of Que Syrah for our trip to PR.

As we left the anchorage the wind was blowing at around 20 knots on the nose and it took us about 16 hours to make Great Sand Cay to anchor for the night.

Feb 3

At 09:30 we left the anchorage and headed out for PR. The wind was consistently around 25 knots and we ended up tacking a few times to make the rhumb line for Cape Cabron on the NE tip of the DR. As dawn broke in the morning we saw the steep mountains and we came up to Cape Cabron at about 1300. Just as we were passing the point we lost all of our navigation instruments, yep, wind speed, direction, depth sounder, chart plotter, all went dead.

Fortunately Daniel took the lead and lead us safely past the rocks and shoals of this area. About two hours later, one by one, the instruments started to come back on line and by 16:00 all were working. Don't ask me what happened , I have no idea but I was grateful to have the GPS and chart plotter back.

As we were coming out of hourglass shoals headed for Montague we sighted a pod of humpback whales cavorting about a mile away. The whales would leap out of the water and splash and roll. As I took my eyes off of the whales a pod of dolphins passed under us.

Henry Morgan indulging in his

favorite activity

Passing Ila Desecheo into Mayaguez there was a line of rain showers we passed through and we finally anchored at 17:00 local time.

Feb 5

We called customs to check in the next morning and were able to get cleared in over the phone so we then headed for Boqueron .

Kathleen indulging in her favorite activity

On Sunday they set up a rear projection TV in the main street of Boqueron and we watched the Superbowl right there in the streets. In Puerto Rico it is legal to sell beer on Sunday so I was right were I wanted to be with the Superbowl on TV and a cold one in hand.

Daniel got his outboard fixed today as the rubber inside the prop was worn and would not allow the prop to turn. He ended up having to buy a whole
new prop and his dingy is running as good as new.

We have moved on to Ponce and Daniel has rented a car and invited us to accompany them to San Juan.

The day was quite nice and Kathleen and I had a fun time sightseeing in the old town.We are still in Ponceas I am waiting for a part for the generator and weneed to get our mail. After we get our mail we will move on to Vieques and then to the Us Virgin Islands

The captain at the helm








Southside Office
















Lobsters on the grill











our host Simon








Daniel and Chontal






















View of Port of San Juan from the parking garage














The old fort












A sign in the casino ( a caution for sore losers?)












Notice the bird ( the one with feathers) is missing a foot-
perhaps a pirate bird?














Carriages in the park













A sidewalk view down a street in old San Juan































Pigeons galore

Dec 3-16
Miami:
We are here in Miami and the trip has been relatively smooth. We left Lake Worth at 0600 and headed toward Miami. The weather was clear and we had about 10-15 knots of wind and relatively calm seas. After dodging many fishing boats we arrived at Government Cut at 1630. There was a parade ( 3) of Carnival cruise ships heading for sea and the channel was clear for us to transit. ( Homeland Security won't allow small vessels to transit the cut if there are more than two in port. Just as it got dark we made it into the Venetian causeway anchorage and were safe for the night. The anchorage is handy as there is a Publix supermarket just two blocks from the public dock.
We are still having problems with the outboard being hard to start. I'll have to finish that before we cross to Bimini.
It has been unseasonably cold here in Miami ( one night the temperature in northern Maine was warmer than here). Hopefully we will catch up to the sun as we trek toward Georgetown.
Dec 17
No Name Harbor- Biscayne Bay
We will be leaving tomorrow early ( 0430) as the weather looks promising. We took on fuel at Crandon Park Marina. I finally got the outboard running OK. The solution was to drain the float bowl a few times and it is starting and running well.
Dec. 18 Bimini
The Gulf Stream crossing was smooth and we arrived in Bimini at 1430. I dingied in to the harbor and cleared customs and we anchored over night and pan to cross the banks tomorrow.
Dec 19
The banks were calm during our crossing but as we anchored for the night a front was moving through and we spent a bumpy night at anchor near the Northwest Channel Light.
Dec. 20
The transit through the Tongue of the Ocean was an exhilarating experience - we were on a broad reach the whole time. At times we were moving at 10 knots as we surfed down some waves! We made West Bay at 14:30 and snugged in. There is a front supposed to pass tomorrow so we will sit tight here and wait for it to pass before moving on the Highborne Cay.
Dec. 22
We are anchored outside Highborne Cay as the Allan's Cay anchorage was filled.
Dec 25
We have arrived in Georgetown and will stay here a while provisioning and relaxing.
Dec 28
We are anchored in Kid Cove Just outside Georgetown. The weather last night was kind of bumpy with 25 knot winds and a 2 foot swell rolling through. We survived the night but decided to move to Volleyball Beach where we are somewhat protected from the swells.
Jan. 3
There was a cruisers pot luck on Hamburger Beach in honor of Elvis's ( the owner of the bar) birthday. There were several cruisers with guitars and other instruments and a good time was had by all. It was a little difficult to find Legacy in the dark but we made it safely home.
Jan 5.
We got our propane tank refilled today. The ten pound tank was refilled for $11.00, about what it would cost in the states. I don't know if that means the cost in the US is high or the Bahamas is cheap.

Jan.7
We moved to Thompson's Bay on Long Island today. The weather was nice and it was about a 6 hour sail. We are snugged down and will await a weather window to move on to Mayaguana and then the Turks and Caicos. The Long Island breeze resort is a nice break, Kathleen and I both had showers and were greatly refreshed.
Jan 14
A front is moving thorough and the temperatures have dropped to the high 60's during the day. Here we are below the Tropic of Cancer and we are still being chased by the cold.
















No Name Harbor












South Bimini


















Northwest Passage



















New Providence
















Highbourne Cay













Staniel Cay

























Georgetown














Thompson's Bay





















Long Island Breeze Deck















New Government dock next to Long Island
Breeze









Mike. The owner of Long Island Breeze














sunset