Friday, September 30, 2011

Where the Hell is Coinjock

We departed Top Rack Marina for the 7am Steel Bridge opening. The last before rush hour restrictions went into effect. It was cool and the ground fog was forming in a beautiful early morning run.






Beautiful  foggy marshes as we traveled south of the bridge.





A few miles south of the bridge is the first and only lock on the east coast ICW,  the Great Bridge Lock. There is really not much of a tidal difference but on the other side there is not current and the water is now fresh or maybe brackish... We have been through this lock dozens of times so no surprises but it is always interesting and a sentinel event for changes either north and greater civilization or south and remote areas. We like the ICW for the most part for the sense of remoteness and wildlife. There are certainly areas we would rather avoid and some areas that are so built up as to be like driving in the big city but for now this is like stepping back in time.

 

As we traveled further south the bird watching got better. Jeannie found this lesser Blue Heron proudly perched on a floating log.





Tropical Storm Irene is still leaving a trail of dead head logs and debris. We followed this Carver who went faster and became the cow catcher, we followed in his wake and missed any unhappy surprises.





Jeannie found two beautiful bald eagles and so earned the eagle eye award for the day. He does look rather proud of himself.



After a relatively short day  we pulled into beautiful downtown Coinjock NC, literally a wide place in the river. They have tee shirts that ask the question Where the Hell is Coinjock?..says it all. We stop here as it is convenient to our north and southbound trip. They have great food and a wonderful atmosphere, meaning very informal and good southern food. The marina is on the left, all face docks, we are tied up behind a sports fishing boat. Usually there are a dozen or so boats tied up by dinner time. We have been here when it is very crowded and barely any room.




Tomorrow we are off again and will anchor just north of Bellhaven NC.



Thursday, September 29, 2011

first day

We pulled out at first light. Jeannie manned the helm as I did the fenders and lines. It was overcast and a bit dreary but all in all an uneventful departure.


Sea conditions were pretty mild for the most part : 2-3 ft seas and winds 10-15 kts.



About a third of the way into the trip we ran  into a a brief storm that popped up out of nowhere;  thankfully  there was no lightning.



At the northern and southern parts of rivers merging with the Bay we had a northern outgoing tide and a southern wind which added to the outgoing current at the mouth of the Rappahannock and York Rivers, kicking the waves up a bit and making the seas a bit confused. In these areas where the currents combine are the worst...typical Bay stuff,  short steep choppy seas.


Just as quickly as the rain started it was over and the sun came out and it was beautiful. Thimble Shoals Light, long unused, is a familiar landmark to many in the area. We came through here last Spring in gale winds and an opposing tide, heck of a ride. In contrast this was a cake walk.

 
We have been through Norfolk so  many times that we have lost count as we travel north or south. It is here in Norfolk that the official ICW mile marker zero is. The Naval base is always so impressive with 20-30 large ships docked at any one time.





It is such a busy port with commercial and pleasure craft as well as military vessels,   knowing the rules of the road and being courteous is very important. Throw on top of this several dredging operations and a diver in the water which adds to the excitement...as always never a dull moment.






Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Woo hoo

We have been busy as all get out and have done almost everything on our "to do list". We are planning on departing at first light,  stopping about 9 miles south on the ICW. We will make out way to Moorehead City and if the off shore forecast are favorable we will jump out there.....

We have provisioned and have tucked things into every nook and cranny. We have will not starve, that's for certain.

Sea conditions tomorrow down the Bay are looking good. A darn site better than we came home in April and had wind, wave and current working against us at Thimble Shoals, that was a heck of a ride.

Woohoo!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Getting ready to head south

It seemed that it was summer one day and a front blew through and it has been cool, pleasant and fall like. A nice change but a reminder that colder weather is coming and best to enjoy this seasonal change while it is still here and we get really serious about heading south.

Doing things around the house had us focused on things non-nautical but our departure time is near.  We have started our provisioning by getting the non-perishable things on-board. We have enough laundry detergent to last for quite a while, stamps envelopes and the like. Early in the summer I had turned off the freezer in the lazerette, defrosted and cleaned it. I have recently turned it back on as we have begun to add frozen entrees for times when we are tired and want a quick dinner or frozen individually wrapped  portions of meat/chicken. We will continue this process until next week when fresh food will be bought.
 



Changing the oil becomes front and center for the next big chore. We need about 20 gal of Shell Rotella Heavy duty motor oil. We buy sixteen gal for the main engines and the rest for the gens and some to spare. The transmissions take about 2 gal each of a different grade of the same oil. We always get funny looks at the local auto shop when we clean out their supply of oil (used to car needs, not boat needs).  


A good portion of the work is just getting the oil from the store to the boat and into the engine room. The other is moving the old oil from the boat back onto the dock and then disposal to a used oil recycling facility.


We have two different types of oil, Shell Rotella 15-40w for the main engines and Shell Rotella 30W for the transmissions. The black 5g containers with red lids are for the old oil.


We have a Reverso oil change system which is in the right side of this picture. This will pump oil to and from the mains, transmissions and genset making oil changing much easier. The old oil is pumped into the 5g container.


For the main engines which hold a bit under 8g I have two 5g containers set up. These larger containers make it easy to transport off the boat, dock and to the oil recycling facility. I like to store the old oil in these larger containers and while I can buy new oil in the same size I like it in the 1 gal sized. In part if I were to use for the new oil in the larger 5g containers then judging how much oil to pump in is a bit of a challenge, but using the 1g containers I can be very precise.  Additionally reversing the pump puts a slug of old oil back into the engine because it is in the length of hose between the pump and engine.

For each engine,  transmission and generator there is a valve to control the flow of oil to the Reverso pump as you can see here.


Here is the new oil filter ready to go for the John Deere main engines


Looking down on the on the oil filter house on the port engine. Need to remove this cap and replace with a new one.


The old oil and empty containers accumulating to be disposed of. I carry a folding hand truck just for this purpose. 

When we depart next week I will carry enough oil for another change somewhere along the trip so I will not have to find a place to go and transport it back to a marina. One time we had some one bring it to us from an auto parts shop but we cannot always count on such helpfulness.

I will also carry the oil with us until I can find a recycling facility that is easy to use. AYB in Chesapeake VA, for instance, takes your oil and uses it as a fuel for heating but a number of marinas will take your old oil and recycle it for you.

We will continue to work the list of maintenance items but this was the heavy lifting one that I am happy to have completed. We hope to depart in less than a week.






Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Back and getting ready to go!

We have been traveling to the west coast to visit two of our kids and got back last night. Still a bit buzzed by the time zone difference. It was a great trip, a fun time and we ate way too much.

Now we begin to focus on Seabright and getting ready to depart. Our plan as it stands right now is to depart and head south in late September. Everything is weather dependent, but we hope to start our slow journey south pausing along the way in the Carolinas and Georgia. Due to insurance restrictions we cannot go further south than Cumberland GA until November 1st.

If the weather is good and the insurance company feels OK about the forecast, we can sometimes get a waiver to go further south early; usually a week or two before November 1st, but will not know until then. So we plan for a longer the stay and hope we can go further south early.

Our goals for the next few weeks will be to get all of the needed maintenance and administrative items done. Last I looked, the list  had sixty some items, some easy and others quite time consuming. However the weather has cooled a bit and working outside is not as painful as it was this time last month.

Next update will be the maintenance list!