Month: June 2016

Dancing Wu Li Master Earthworm Jim teaches in lesson #42: “You’ve forced me to use the most powerful weapon of all! Strategic retreat!”  And so too do we find ourselves invoking the same wisdom as we shift gears from sailing Newfoundland to exploring Lake Ontario/1000 Islands this year. As with all our decisions, we’re just goin’ where the wind blows us.

So yes, continued problems with the engine have pushed us to delay our St. Lawrence journey. But truth be told, there are other factors as well. We’re still disengaging from land life, and still have too much stuff to deal with. And I think we’re both feeling a bit creaky when it comes to sailing and cruising skills. The Rock will still be there next year. In the meantime this opens up the whole Thousand Islands and Lake Ontario for leisurely exploration.

What wisdom, the wind. Keep a weather eye, and always be willing to change tack.

Despite the engine setbacks, and our general slow pace at accomplishing things, we did actually manage to get off the dock and go sailing. Our mechanic did solve our latest fuel leak problems, and Grampa Tractor, as we affectionally call the engine, sputtered, coughed and roared to life. The next day we took her for a spin; the first time we’d been off the dock in our boat in nearly two years!

The test went great, so we decided to follow our friends from Windover (Chris and Deb) up the Bay to Trenton so we could watch the air show, and then spend our first night at anchor. It was an amazing little trip. And what was even more amazing is that we remembered how to sail and anchor.

 

 

   

 

The boat worked great, and so did we. We had a wonderful time with Chris and Deb, rafted up for meals, and just getting to know each other. The only glitch was when we went to start the engine again in the morning and it wouldn’t fire. Ann quickly found another fuel leak, and Chris, who is not only a master sailor, but seems to be able to fix anything, leapt aboard to help us. He tightened things and bled the engine — and she fired! Off again, but this just confirms our decision to stay nearby. We must have a reliable engine for the St. Lawrence.

Meanwhile, life at Stillwater Marina (where we’ve decided to haul out again in the fall) continues to be mostly pleasant and peaceful . It’s also been Stinkin’ hot at times, with the occasional scary storm rolling through:

So now that we know we can still sail, and that the engine seems to be working most of the time, we’re prepping for our first real journey in two years. A group of us Stillwaterians (seven boats, apparently) are heading down the Bay of Quinte, out into the Open Lake. The plan is to sail to Main Duck Island for Canada Day, and spend a few days revelling in the company of new friends.

Today we’re installing new batteries after confirming our old ones had gone to battery heaven. No surprise really since they were going on seven years old, and I have tried to murder them at least twice over the years (froze them solid one year 😉 ). The install went beautifully so now we have three new Group 31 true deep cycle batteries installed (vs our previous “dual purpose” batteries), plus one true starter.

All this just to keep the beer cold 😉

ADDENDUM: I forgot to mention, I had a birthday. Celebrations started in Ottawa with Mom and Kathy, and carried on at home on our boat. I am now the happy recipient of a new cordless drill, thanks to my love Annnneeeeeeeeee. And I also made great use of an LCBO gift card, which has kept our fridge full of excellent beer. I like this getting older thing 😉

As the old saying goes: Two steps forward… I hate engines. At least, I think that’s how it goes 😉

After over a month and a 1/2 at the dock we’re close to having everything ready to go … all except the freakin’ engine. We (and when I say “we” I mostly mean our mechanic, Dave) got the beast running smoothly. We thought we were all set, but on the day of the big sea trial we turned the key and… nuthin’. Wouldn’t start.

We dive in, and find a fuel leak, but can’t figure out where it’s coming from. Oh DAVE!!!!

Dave comes back. It takes him a while (which is nice to see … I guess we’re not total idiots), but he finally finds a nearly invisible crack in one of the high pressure fuel lines. He also notes that the valve cover’s gasket is leaking badly. What idiot put that on? (OK, that would be me 😉 ). So Ann is now taking over that job.

But it’s not all retrograde motion. We’ve made some great steps forward. Ann tightened the stuffing box, so now we’re sinking a lot slower than before. I got both the gas generator and the outboard engine running, including putting together our dingy and taking it for a spin. I finished wiring the new solar panels, so now we’re generating a lot more power. And Ann got the car into the shop for general service and to fix the odd wobble (it’s fine … they say). I got our composting head fully functional, while Ann set up our boarding ladder and ran some more cable for the radar.

And then the big one … the one I’ve been dreading, dreaming and stressing about for six months. I finally drilled a Big Freakin’ Hole in our deck!

I’d been whining and complaining and moping about this for months now (as many of you know). Finally a dock mate and new friend (Chris) came over, did some measures, and said: Drill Here! So I did.

   

The next steps will be to re-drill it, run the new wires down, and install the deck gasket. Then all I have to do is figure out how to actually wire the new radar and display/chartplotter. Easy peasy 😉 .

Life on the boat is not all sweat and stress though. Ann’s been giving Maddy the Marina Child swimming lessons, and we had another great visit with Mom and Sis.

We also went to The Music Man, put on by the Belleville Theatre Guild. It was a great show, and our former landlord and new friend Marvin played a great Charlie Cowell.

In Ottawa we got to see Colleen and Connor (Connor Michael James O’Reilly … I’m still shocked and honoured). Connor’s doing amazing. He’s a new person compared to the last time I saw him. We had lots of fun.

 

Back on the boat we’re continuing with preparation, and feeling a bit like we’re caught in a Samuel Beckett play: Waiting for Dave-ot.

Ann: Do you think he’s coming today?

Mike: Yes, he said today. But maybe not today.

Ann: But he said today … or was that tomorrow?

Mike: Yes, today. No, tomorrow … what day is it anyway?

Ann: He will come. We can wait.

Mike: Yes, we can wait. We have to wait. But do you think he’ll come today?

Ann: Yes, he said today. But maybe not today.

…

We’ve settled into a fairly comfortable routine here on the boat. Mostly lazy mornings, followed by a flurry of project work, followed by late cockpit dinners and drinkies. Despite our slow pace, we are actually getting closer to being able to cut the dock lines. I finished building the frame and structure of our new solar panel bimini. Since I didn’t really know what I was doing (as usual), the fact that it seems to have come together is, well, kinda neat. All that remains is to wire it into our electrical charging system. Piece of cake 😉

The other big piece was our engine. It now seems to be working thanks to Dave the Mechanic. He aligned the pressure pump and it immediately smoothed out and now purrs like a kitty — a really big, grumpy kitty. One more gasket to build and install and we should be ready to motor away.

Of course life hasn’t been all work. There’s been plenty of play as well. Mom and Kathy drove down for mom’s birthday celebrations. We spent a few days wining and dining with them, including visits to a few fantastic local wineries. Of course, we got to show off our floating home, which is slowly getting sorted and cleared of junk.

Speaking of clearing stuff, Ann’s been hard at it, beating down the piles of junk that still dominate our little floating home. She’s also been working on the water system, which with the installation of some new filters, is now “AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL!!” to quote my Annnneeeeeeeeee.

And believe it or not but we’ve finally begun to try and sell some big items, including our two motorcycles. They’re both listed on Kijiji now as individuals, or someone can buy both at the same time for an added discount. So far no takers, but we’re getting lots of clicks. Hopefully…

We have had one offer to store the bikes on a new friend’s land, so perhaps we can keep them after all. As usual, we don’t know what the future will hold.

In the meantime it’s work, interspersed with lovely dinners with friends, cat sightings at the local chandler , and the occasional visit from Maddy the marina child.