Day 234: Midwest LNVT Rendezvous, Day 3

Clearing the Blocked Thruhull with the Glinski Fitting

LNVTs Attract a Lot of Attention

Al Peterson Models His New LNVT Shirt

Still in the St. Croix Marina, Hudson, Wisconsin.  No miles today and holding at 4,230 miles for the journey.  DBH

Day 233: Midwest LNVT Rendezvous, Day 2

The Tugs All Dressed Up

Our Villa On Parade

Al Peterson, The Leader of the Pack

Al and Rie Peterson joined us aboard Nellie for today's parade of tugs.  They're an inspiring couple: they bought their tug, Kedge, new, some 30 years ago; they've done the Mississippi seven times; Al's 90 and they're still on the river.

Presented at tonight's dinner, It's Official--We're River Rats!

Hudson to Stillwater--Navigable Terminus of the St. Croix River--and Back

We had a slow paced, relaxing, 15 mile, out and back cruise today.  Since there's virtually no current on the St. Croix River, 1000 rpm yielded the same speed as 2000 rpm on the Mississippi.  The trip's total is now  4,230 miles.  DBH

Day 232: Lord Nelson Midwest Rendezvous

Nellie on the Mississippi Yesterday (Photo: Dee Anderson)

Five tugs and 16 folks have gathered here in Hudson, Wisconsin for the fifth annual Midwest Lord Nelson Victory Tug Rendezvous. 

Cruising up the Mississippi is tough.  Nellie's crew, being the latest to finish the trip, received some good natured ribbing today from the crews of her sister ships.  Bottom line is we all survived the trial of wing dams, high currents, towboats, and locks.  For Bicki and me it feels good to be accepted as fellow River Rats. 

Joe Glinski with His Fitting for Cleaning Thruhulls

Nellie's certainly not the first tug to suffer a plugged raw water thruhull.  After Joe and Arvilla Glinski had a similar problem, Joe made the fitting pictured above.  Connect it to the thruhull, then connect two garden hoses to it, turn on the hoses, and the powerful flow of water will clear any blockage.  Tomorrow morning Nellie will get the Glinski treatment.

In the St. Croix Marina, Hudson, Wisconsin.  No miles today and holding at 4,215.  DBH

Day 231: Hudson, Wisconsin

Lee and Dee Anderson's Jack Robert

We left Hansen's Harbor with two other Lord Nelson tugs this morning.  In the vernacular, traveling in the company of others is called buddy boating.  This is the first time we've buddy boated since leaving Naples. 

Fall Colors are Starting

There are advantages to buddy boating, like safety in numbers.  It's also nice to have other cruisers, especially ones familiar with the waters, lead the way.

Trev Croteau on Hjortie in Lock 3

However, there's a big downside to buddy boating with equally lovely sister ships.  Hjortie, leading our pack, turned every on-lookers head.  Jack Robert, who was just behind Hjortie, got plenty of smiles, waves and thumbs-up.  By the time it was Nellie's turn for adoration, the on-lookers had grown bored of the procession.  Nellie was lucky to get a sideways glance.  Needless to say, this was a crushing blow to Nellie's ego. 

Burlington Northern RR Bridge, Mile Marker 0 on the St Croix River

For the first time since the ides of August, Nellie isn't on the Mississippi.  After 811 miles going up the big muddy, Nellie made a right turn and proceeded up the St. Croix River.

Hansen's Harbor, Minnesota to Hudson, Wisconsin

It was an uneventful 51 miles to the St. Croix Marina in Hudson, Wisconsin.  Total miles for the trip is now 4,215.  DBH

Day 230: Great Idea Gone Bad

Nellie's Coolant Overflow Bottle and the 30 Wiffle Balls Which Were Inside It

Humility.  I'm getting a big dose of it lately.  My latest surefire idea to go south involved putting 30 wiffle balls in the overflow bottle to keep the coolant, which is bouncing all around because of engine vibration, from escaping out of the cap's vent hole.  The escaping coolant problem has dogged Nellie for 10 years.  The wiffle balls were the first remedy that cured the problem.

What's the Gray Matter?

A few months after the balls went in, I started noticing an accumulation of gray matter in the overflow bottle.  While cleaning the bottle today I took all the balls out and inspected them.  It appears they are being dissolved by the coolant as they're both thin and brittle.

The clean bottle is back on the engine, there are no wiffle balls in it, and I'm a little humbler and back to square one on solving the problem.

Tomorrow we head north towards Hudson, Wisconsin.  Nellie's still in Lake City, Minnesota.  No miles today and 4,165 miles for the journey.  DBH

Day 229: Chasing the Gremlin

The Waterlift Muffler's View When Looking Back, Through the Exhaust Hose, at the Engine's Raw Water Injection Elbow

The hose, pictured above, is rated at 250°F.  A few weeks ago, when cooling water didn't emerge from any of those 20 little holes, thanks to my bout of forgetfulness, 600°F engine exhaust, emerged from the large center hole and scorched the hose's interior. 

As dramatic as the failed hose looks, I doubt it's the gremlin causing the engine to currently overheat.  Needless to say, that scorched hose was replaced today.

The Stern Exhaust Hose, Removed from its Thruhull, with the 'Chimney Sweep' that's About to be Pulled Through it

My working theory for the overheating problem was that the exhaust hose was partially blocked by pieces of PVC which had melted out of the muffler.  Two other Lord Nelson tugs had this very thing happen.  The theory was shot down, however, when a 'chimney sweep' went through the 21' long hose unobstructed.  Darn.

When everything's ruled out and the problem remains, something has been overlooked.

Perhaps the gremlin is in one of the very first places we looked: the raw water thruhull.  In this case what was overlooked, or at least discounted, was the thruhull's low flow rate.   Using a waterhose and forcing water backwards through the thruhull improved the flow rate dramatically.

So, it appears that the over temp problem was a simple matter of marine growth or debris blocking the thruhull.  Darn, my melted PVC theory was so much more elegant...

Where's Nellie?  Way up North!

In Hansen's Harbor Marina, Lake City, Minnesota.  No miles today and 4,165 miles for the journey.  DBH

Day 228: Lake City, Minnesota

The Wide Vista at Lock 5A MM 727

The Mississippi is a river in a hurry.  The current's speed varies but the flow is relentless.  For the last month, against the relentless current, we've been happy traveling 5 mph.  If Nellie made it all the way to 6 mph there'd be big, goofy smiles on our faces.  Today we entered a wide spot on the river called Lake Pepin.  It might as well be the Twilight Zone.  For it was here that we saw 8 mph! 

Lake Pepin at MM 774 Looking North

Lake Pepin Chart at MM 774

I knew that mechanic pictured in yesterday's blog posting was not to be trusted.  Today the engine's over-temp gremlin was back and playing hide and seek with us.  One moment it was there, the next gone.  The solution to this problem lays in its consistent inconsistency.  Stay tuned.

Hjortie and Nellie Last Visited on the Chesapeake in 2012

Winona, Minnesota to Lake City, Minnesota

Tonight Nellie's in Hansen's Harbor Marina which is just a few miles north of Lake City, Minnesota, MM 776. Fun fact: Lake City is where water skiing was invented.  Today's was a 50 mile trip and that ups our total to 4,165 miles.  DBH