On Monday morning we dropped off a weathered Stars and Stripes at the local Ace Hardware store, returned the rental car, made one last stop at Publix, dropped the mooring line and headed for Fort Pierce.
The forecast called for a week of perfect trawler weather--beautiful with light winds. We wanted to go straight from Ft Pierce to Cape Lookout (which is just a few miles past the inlet at Beaufort, NC ) and in fact started out on that route, but then thought better of it and headed to Charleston, SC instead.
The problem was fuel. Our large tank was nearly empty and the smaller one was only half full (the last time we fueled up was early December in Daytona--how about that one stink potters. Remember that when you leave us in your wake).
Fuel prices vary widely on the East Coast now. Sometimes there's an 80 cent per gallon difference. Florida has recently added an extra 7 or 8 cent per gallon tax for pleasure boats, so we determined we would fuel up somewhere else since we could. That and the lack of wind in the forecast (no sailing) forced us to hang a left at Charleston.
The anchor was up at first light Wednesday and we had delightful weather throughout. The first night, the wind made an unexpected appearance for 8 hours and we enjoyed a lively 8-9 knot sail--with a little help from the Gulf Stream. At 2 am the wind died, but we picked up speed as we moved closer to the center of the stream. With the engine running at low rpms, we were doing 10 and 11 knots. The center of the GS is not in the same place everyday, so unless you have access to a forecast that gives you up to date latts and longs of it's current position, you are only guessing at it's speed and location.
Because we caught more of the stream than anticipated, we had to slow down our slow boat for the final 18 hours. We needed to keep our average speed at 5 1/2 knots or less for the remainder of the trip. This was so we didn't arrive at the Charleston Inlet before first light, although I won't worry about that in the future. It's a very easy inlet and channel. Plus, if you anchor when everyone else is asleep, you don't have to endure their "don't anchor too close to me" glares.
On our second afternoon out, we were in the process of making water (actually converting very salty water into delicious much much less salty water--the best tasting water there is, by the way) when Lisa reported the alarm on the watermaker was blinking. After a couple of attempts to restart it failed, Lisa noticed our bilge pump was spitting water out to the sea. After checking the engine room, I could see the leak was coming from somewhere behind the engine and stuffing box (where the prop shaft comes into the boat). Of course, that's where the main part of our watermaker is located, so it was time to empty the lazerette so that I could crawl down there and investigate. It was nice that the conditions were calm.
I assumed that a hose on the watermaker had burst open, but it ended up being the end cap to the tube that holds the membrane (where the high pressure pump blows the sea water and the membrane stops most of the salt, which is then flushed overboard). A chunk of the hard plastic had literally blown off the tube. After calling the watermaker company, they said there was a batch of bad end caps around the time ours was made, so they are shipping us 2 new end caps since the other side may be defective as well.
With the help of a mirror, you can see the hole where the high density plastic blew out.
The problem was fuel. Our large tank was nearly empty and the smaller one was only half full (the last time we fueled up was early December in Daytona--how about that one stink potters. Remember that when you leave us in your wake).
Fuel prices vary widely on the East Coast now. Sometimes there's an 80 cent per gallon difference. Florida has recently added an extra 7 or 8 cent per gallon tax for pleasure boats, so we determined we would fuel up somewhere else since we could. That and the lack of wind in the forecast (no sailing) forced us to hang a left at Charleston.
The anchor was up at first light Wednesday and we had delightful weather throughout. The first night, the wind made an unexpected appearance for 8 hours and we enjoyed a lively 8-9 knot sail--with a little help from the Gulf Stream. At 2 am the wind died, but we picked up speed as we moved closer to the center of the stream. With the engine running at low rpms, we were doing 10 and 11 knots. The center of the GS is not in the same place everyday, so unless you have access to a forecast that gives you up to date latts and longs of it's current position, you are only guessing at it's speed and location.
Because we caught more of the stream than anticipated, we had to slow down our slow boat for the final 18 hours. We needed to keep our average speed at 5 1/2 knots or less for the remainder of the trip. This was so we didn't arrive at the Charleston Inlet before first light, although I won't worry about that in the future. It's a very easy inlet and channel. Plus, if you anchor when everyone else is asleep, you don't have to endure their "don't anchor too close to me" glares.
On our second afternoon out, we were in the process of making water (actually converting very salty water into delicious much much less salty water--the best tasting water there is, by the way) when Lisa reported the alarm on the watermaker was blinking. After a couple of attempts to restart it failed, Lisa noticed our bilge pump was spitting water out to the sea. After checking the engine room, I could see the leak was coming from somewhere behind the engine and stuffing box (where the prop shaft comes into the boat). Of course, that's where the main part of our watermaker is located, so it was time to empty the lazerette so that I could crawl down there and investigate. It was nice that the conditions were calm.
I assumed that a hose on the watermaker had burst open, but it ended up being the end cap to the tube that holds the membrane (where the high pressure pump blows the sea water and the membrane stops most of the salt, which is then flushed overboard). A chunk of the hard plastic had literally blown off the tube. After calling the watermaker company, they said there was a batch of bad end caps around the time ours was made, so they are shipping us 2 new end caps since the other side may be defective as well.
With the help of a mirror, you can see the hole where the high density plastic blew out.
I don't think we were ever in any danger. The water stopped flowing when the watermaker shut down (and after we quit trying to restart it), but we shut the intake through hole, reloaded the lazarette, and continued on our way.
Lisa woke me from an afternoon nap to watch a large pod of dolphins playing off our bow. It was sunny and calm with clear water so it was a treat to watch them dart around. They made several appearances over the 2 days and nights we were out.
Now, that is calm water.
Steeple in Charleston.
While in the Charleston anchorage, we were reunited with fellow Texans Rick and Linda. It was good to see them again. They just sold their Catalina and purchased a catamaran. We got to be the first dinner guests on their new boat.
Day one at the city anchorage was uneventful. Day two was not. Charleston has a 6 foot tide, and the anchorage has a very strong current. In calm weather this is not a problem--the holding is very good. When the wind pipes up and goes across the current, it gets interesting. That's when boats start doing a white man dance--all out of sync.
Day one at the city anchorage was uneventful. Day two was not. Charleston has a 6 foot tide, and the anchorage has a very strong current. In calm weather this is not a problem--the holding is very good. When the wind pipes up and goes across the current, it gets interesting. That's when boats start doing a white man dance--all out of sync.
In a normal anchorage, boats generally swing together--more or less. In anchorages with strong currents, skippers need to allow for more room. The total scope of your boat's rode and the rode of any boat around you plus maybe another million feet.
On our second day, a boat anchored too close to us, and then the wind piped up. We ended up fending them off several times. Turns out he had a fuel pump he was trying to fix. It became apparent that would not happen soon enough, so we weighed anchor, and moved a couple of miles south away from other boats.
We reanchored at the city a couple days later so that we could do laundry and pick up our watermaker parts, but then returned to our more secluded anchorage for the night.
We had the watermaker parts overnighted from California. Since we needed them pronto, they had us pay shipping, but not for the parts. After a day of bending every which way, and basically hurting all of my muscles and bones, the water maker is operational again--at least it passed a 6 minute test. We won't know for sure until we run it for a few hours.
When the weather settles, we will head to Cape Lookout. If the weather is nice, we may go around Hatteras and up into the Chesapeake.
On our second day, a boat anchored too close to us, and then the wind piped up. We ended up fending them off several times. Turns out he had a fuel pump he was trying to fix. It became apparent that would not happen soon enough, so we weighed anchor, and moved a couple of miles south away from other boats.
We reanchored at the city a couple days later so that we could do laundry and pick up our watermaker parts, but then returned to our more secluded anchorage for the night.
We had the watermaker parts overnighted from California. Since we needed them pronto, they had us pay shipping, but not for the parts. After a day of bending every which way, and basically hurting all of my muscles and bones, the water maker is operational again--at least it passed a 6 minute test. We won't know for sure until we run it for a few hours.
When the weather settles, we will head to Cape Lookout. If the weather is nice, we may go around Hatteras and up into the Chesapeake.
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