by miami | Sep 1, 2014
The newly repaired windlass hummed under Ryan’s foot switch bringing in the anchor and rode from the bottom of the bay where President Lincoln, General Lee and hundreds of thousands off others had anchored since forts were built on the north shore of Hampton Bay.
The Monitor and Merrimack fought to a standstill 2 miles from here.
I love history! We toured Fort Monroe this morning on a beautiful clear Sunday. This place takes in an amazing 52 acres, is moated and is the largest stone fort built in the US. Try to visit…
Now we are four miles out sailing up into Chesapeake Bay under the hot last day of August sun, headed north to our next anchorage for the night. The crew is sunbathing.
The trip from Wilmington to Norfolk was breezy at best. The wind came to the Northeast and blew hard for four days. We ended up motoring most of the way, and some of it was a little rough.
Traveling up the waterway is like traveling through the past. These towns were once the hub and center of the community where all local foods passed through out to the rivers and needed items came in by water.
Now they are all sleepy southern towns with the old style Main Street downtown, where people are super friendly, know each other and are glad you are visiting.
For four days it was pull up the anchor by 615, and head north through the sounds, rivers and man made cuts that make up the intercoastal waterway. We would go to 530 or 6 and find a place to anchor, usually by one of the old towns like Bellhaven, Elizabeth City, Morehead City and take Goose ashore to just walk.
If we could travel in a day what a car does in an hour we were happy. Of course, we are moving our home…
Because of all the rains, we were fortunate enough to be able to pass through the Dismal Swamp Canal. This place is awesome. Much of it was cut in the 1700’s by hand to 12 feet deep and 50 feet wide and was dug for 20 miles! Think about that…
It passes through beautiful parts of NC and Va, is full of history, and a joy to pass through. Pictures cannot do it justice.
The canal itself has two locks. We left Elizabeth City about 3 and ended up looking at the wall of a lock at 530 that would not open until 830 the next morning. So we turned around and anchored in a narrow split in the channel.
After we found a place to run Goose and had returned to the boat, we noticed a crab pot and line had become wedged in the rudder. It turned out the only way was for someone to get into the water and cut it off. Yuk. Guess who got voted that job.
That was a hot, muggy night at anchor in the middle of a ‘swamp’ with plenty of mosquitoes.
The next day was perfect. Like the first day of fall. First thing in the lock, we rose up eight feet for much better visibility. Here we are going in.
And going out after being lifted.
After motoring 20 miles (including a stop at the Dismal Swamp Hwy 17 Rest Stop where we pulled up to dock and cars were pulling in from the highway. Boy did they stare!) we ended up at Great Neck lock and were lowered back down to sea level for the entrance into Norfolk.
What a culture shock to be in a quiet, tree lined canal then 1 hour later to be in Norfolk and the largest natural harbor in the world!
Four of the five US Navy carriers were in port. They are big! The pic is not the best but…
We spent a night in a marina, getting fuel, doing laundry and miscellaneous errands. Then it was back out and up to Ft Monroe.
Tonight we sit at anchor in Horn Harbor, halfway to the Potomac River.
We celebrate 29 years of marriage tomorrow and Sept 2 is my 59th year on the planet. Sheesh.
We will be at sea, but looking for someplace cool to be. Maybe Mount Vernon?
It is just 150 miles to Washington DC and the Combined Federal Campaign for paws4vets. If you don’t know about that visit http://paws4vets.org/CFC. We have come more than one thousand miles since leaving Marathon.
This was the plan before we even found Yume. You have to love it when a goal is within reach.
We truly appreciate your support and love to hear from you.
by miami | Aug 24, 2014
Our road to work this morning sure looks nice.
630, the sun peeks up over the horizon, a fresh 15 knot NW breeze on the face and 300 miles to go to Norfolk!
We left Wilmington at 545 yesterday morning so we could ask for the 600 bridge opening on the river just north of Wilmington. It was dark! Terry Henry was waiting for us at the city docks and came aboard for the 5 hour trip down the Cape Fear River, through Snows's Cut and back up the Intracoastal back up to Wrightsville Beach.
We dropped him off on a dock just in time to catch the on the hour opening of that bridge, then settled in for the next leg of our journey to DC.
Rain had been promised and as soon as we dropped Terry off, it came with a roar. Sails had to come down, and we motored most of the rest of the day.
It is great to be back on the water again!
We got to a good anchorage just north of New River just at dark as a big rainstorm came barreling in. The crew decided to go ahead and take Goose in anyway. Halfway in the outboard quit, and it being easier than find the problem, Ryan broke out the oars and rowed them in and back out.
Luckily for them, I could take pictures from inside. Hehe.
We are just barely making way, waiting for the Onslo Beach Swing Bridge's 'on the half hour' opening. Awesome breakfast smells are wafting up from the galley. And the sun is fully waking up.
We sat on the dock in Wilmington for 31 days. Although docks provide great places for getting things done on the boat, (and for plugging in for air conditioning) much of the magic of living on a boat is lost. Another reason it feels so good to be out there.
Jim and Pat came to visit while we were there. Since Jim is a reader of the blog, it was cool to be able to show him what he had been reading about!
A lot got done while we were there. Fortunately, much of the work is now making the boat look better, and things to make her easier to live in, maintain, and use.
Things like digital voltmeters to see exactly what is going on. And 12 volts run to the cockpit for a new VHF radio, and power supply for the ipad so I can blog like this while steering. 😉
Shelly chose new fabric for the interior cushions while she was visiting her mom in Marion, and got the first two done the day before we left. They are going to look great!
And Yume is looking very ladylike with more coats of paint, varnish and oil on the teak.
Well, I hear the ringing of the bells for the bridge, so it is back to work. At least traffic is light this morning!
by miami | Aug 7, 2014
I had to look to see where we left we the last post and it was back in Myrtle Beach fixing things…
Well… Guess what we have been doing?
Hehe
First the good stuff. We had a very nice trip up to Southport, and then up the Cape Fear River to Wilmington. It is really amazing to sail in the same water that ships have since the 1700s.
But I had an engine… 😉
Wilmington was the largest cotton shipping port in the world at one time. They also built Liberty ships here during WW2 – 150 of them!
It is a really cool town and well worth a visit if you have never been. There is tons of history and they have done a very nice job of restoring and cleaning up the waterfront area.
We will be here for a couple more weeks. Shelly and Ryan are in Marion helping her mom pack up and get her house ready to sell. It is kinda quiet around Yume, but means I can tear stuff all up and work!
And I have. All the new flooring is in and looks great. We are just tickled pink with it.
This is a picture of the very forward bottom of the starboard fuel tank. It leaked again. I was so bummed I almost sat down and cried. You are looking at aluminum corrosion coming from the outside of the tank and working its way to the inside.
But after a day or two, I just opened it back up and found this. In Florida, I had cut into the middle of the tank, and left the forward part alone thinking it was ok. I was wrong.
In that hole next to the mast was a black water tank (sewage) that had to be removed, then the floor cut out, then the fiberglass, then the aluminum tank again in a different place. All fixed ( hopefully).
I have been puttering just making things better as this job progressed. The ac units have new cooling lines and have been cleaned up. The engine has a new air intake filter system. The generator engine wiring has been all redone and the alternator cleaned up and reassembled.
As we are at the dock, it is much easier to varnish so we are adding coats of varnish to the port toerails and handrails. And the mainmast got a new boot to stop water from leaking down into the boat.
Shelly sewed new cushions for a friend’s boat, and is looking for the right material to redo all ours. Then we will redo all the outside cushions.
Both of us are spending more time on paws4vets fundraising activities, especially with the Combined Federal Campaign. The plan is to keep moving north to be in DC for the late fall events.
I just hope we don’t freeze our fannies off before we can turn around and run south with the winter storms!
Ryan turned 16 last month. Amazing. We went out for Alaskan king crab and a good time was had by all.
I am getting to dislike pictures. Somehow I am starting to look my age. Why is it we have to get old?
The restaurant was right across the river from the battleship.
Very cool ship.
So we are hanging out here in NC, getting ready for the next phase which is moving to near Norfolk Va to the next event, then on up into the Chesapeake. We want to try and get to as many places as we can. Maybe up the Delaware River to Philly, then Annapolis, and the Potomac (right past General Washington’s home!) to DC where we could drop an anchor in sight of the monument to him.
How cool would that be?
Stay with us!
Instead of a picture of Goose to end this post – have you seen his new video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY-8IikJv8k
And a video of living on Yume – 1st 6 months!
by miami | Jul 19, 2014
Even though my fingers and toes are crossed that all is well, we did start the engine and run it just a little late today. It sounds good, ( no knocking, no mechanical banging and crunching, and so far we have only one small oil weep. Normal for a 30 year old engine although I would love to have zero leaks!
Sure is pretty, don’t you agree? We will see how long that lasts.
Here is what we have done during the last two weeks.
Engine – pulled the transmission, bell housing, damper plate, four motor mounts, heat exchanger, oil cooler, fresh and salt water pumps, valve cover, injectors and lines, fuel filter, oil cooler hoses, oil pan.
All these were degreased and cleaned with wire brush in a drill, then washed, primed and painted. Gaskets, prongs and seals were replaced as needed. Then it was all reassembled with new filters, oil for the transmission and engine and coolant.
Fun.
Then while that was going on, Shelly added coats of varnish to the starboard toe rail, deck trim and removed the entrance hatch and trim to strip, sand and varnish. It looks great!
We have had some small very annoying water leaks, so to find the one aft we pulled the trim, pulled out the port (window for you landlubbers), and removed the wall panelling. It didn’t take long to find the leak when you could see it!
Kinda scary having a big old hole in your boat!
So that got sealed up, and we cut new paneling, varnished that and the trim, reinstalled the port and tested. No leaks!
For fun, she wrapped rope around the legs of the salon table as the chrome long ago began to rust…
The table top is teak veneer and has been refinished too many times so that the veneer has been sanded through and needed something. We tried to cut a piece of the paneling, seal and varnish and just glue and clamp it right over the old table, then pour an epoxy like on a restaurant table. The jury is still out on that project…
Goose thinks it is so funny that we work so hard while he just lays around and sleeps.
So now we are talking about what next. Tomorrow we run the engine at the dock to flush the engine coolant through a couple of times and bring it up to temperature. We need to check for leaks, and work the transmission at the dock before we take off.
Update… Since I didn’t get this post finished yesterday…
We had leaks. Coolant, fuel and oil. The coolant and fuel were relatively easy to stop, but the oil pan leaks are not. Gotta love a challenge!
Tinkered with it all day. Rode the bike 5 miles to walmart for broiler pans to slide under the engine to catch any oil and keep the bilge clean. By 4 pm most everything looked pretty good. Tested the engine at the dock in reverse for a while and I think we are ready to go.
Next .. The old town of Wilmington NC – 20 miles up the river from Southport and 50 miles from here.
Take off time it is. Very soon. Maybe even in the morning. Our friends from Marathon on Luck Of a Fool are already there and waiting to show us where the happy hours are.
Easy peasy. (With a running engine and working transmission!)
