Day 6: The Con Leaki

It was a nice run up to St. Pete today.  As the picture below of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge makes clear, there's wasn't any traffic to contend with.  We made it under the bridge without having to lower the mast.  It was close though with only 425' to spare ;-)

I found two more leaks today.  One from the rudder's packing gland and another from the waterlift muffler.  The first is an easy fix.  The second, not so easy.  Especially since I don't exactly know where the fiberglass muffler is leaking.  I'll remove it and do a visual inspection--which is easier said than done.

2015 has certainly been the year of water leaks.  Fortunately the year is almost over. Just in case the woes are going to continue Bicki and I batted around some new names for Nellie.  Con Leaki tops the list.

33nm today and 106nm for the trip. DBH

Day 5: I Don't Wanna Go...

So we didn't :-)  Instead we had a leisurely morning and a nice day in town.  Above is our view of Sarasota on this fine evening.

Running the 5kW Onan genset one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening replaces the approximately 75A/day that Nellie has been using while we sit on the mooring. 

I was startled to realize how inefficient using the genset to charge the batteries is.  Of the 10kW available only 1kW is going into the batteries!  The limiting factor is the speed at which the batteries can absorb the power. 

This is why solar makes so much sense for charging batteries:  the solar panel's output better matches what batteries can absorb.

Conclusion: for Nellie's battery charging while on the hook we'd be better off with a $260 panel than the $5,000 Onan.   It would be lower maintenance too.

0nm today and 74nm for the trip.  DBH

Day 4: Going Nowhere--Today

This cruising life is exhausting.  That's why after three consecutive days underway we decided to R&R today.  OK, the truth is we like Sarasota and see no reason to rush off. 

Nellie's on a mooring ball under the blue dot in the picture above.

0nm today, 74nm total.  DBH

Day #3: Moving, slowly...

It was a leisurely ride to Sarasota this morning.  The houses along the waterway got bigger the closer we got.  For reference, the homes were White House sized about halfway here.

Slip prices are high.  For Nellie it would be around $130/night.  Fortunately Sarasota has a mooring field.  At $25/night, which includes use of a dinghy dock, showers, and WiFi it's much more reasonable.  What we don't get is electric.  But even in Nellie's crippled state, it's hard to justify $105 for electric.  So, to conserve power the refrigerator is now an icebox.  An 8lb block was $4 which drops the net savings to $101/night.  Hmm, a 240W solar panel would be really useful about now.

Got two things repaired today.  A little WD-40 on the head's anti-siphon valve seems to have stopped its small leak.  Yes, I know I claimed to have fixed this very same valve yesterday.  But yesterday's leak was a big one.  Tomorrow I'll probably be discussing how I fixed the small drip from the valve.  The second repair is my favorite kind.  The kind that fix themselves, which is exactly what the main bilge's float switch did today.  It seems enough bilge water sloshed over the float to clear whatever was sticking.  That's good news.  The bad news is all the water that's in the bilge; it's getting by the dripless packing gland.  The gland is dripless alright; I couldn't see a single drip from the solid stream of water coming in! 

12nm today and 74nm total.  DBH

Day #2: Fixing Things Faster than They're Breaking

The first night on the hook is always hard; doubly so when there's a question about the engine starting in the morning.  The anchor chain made noise all night when the winds picked up from the East.  I slept better with the noise knowing that silence (i.e. the anchor dragging) was what I should fear.

We woke to find the batteries at 12.8V.  The batteries aren't short of power, they just can't  deliver it in a short period of time.  So, we can't start the engine with the batteries alone, but otherwise, we're operating pretty normally.

I have eight items on my immediate repair list.  Good news, got one thing fixed.  The toilet isn't spraying fresh water all over the head anymore.  Dousing its anti-siphon valve in vinegar got the valve working.

After a nice long walk on Venice Beach we dropped the hook for the night off Blackburn Point.

33nm today and 62nm thus far.  DBH

Day #1: Escaping the Yard

It's an inauspicious start when the engine won't!  Seems the summer on the hard roasted the batteries.  Fortunately there's enough juice to start the genset.  With it on, and the Trace charger putting out 100A, the Cummins started right up.

With fewer systems working than we'd like we push away from the safety of the Yard and head towards Cayo Costa.

It takes 1-1/2 hours to exit the estuary that the yard is in.  The last hurdle before hitting open water is a lock.  It's a self operated affair that drops us about 2'.

The anchor is down by 1430 and we're off to walk the beautiful beach.  The dinghy, its reworked engine, and new depth sounder works perfectly. 

On the hook at Cayo Costa, FL.  28nm today.  DBH

Nellie's Yard Progress

Nellie is scheduled to launch on 10 December.

It took two days, a quart of blood, and some superglue stitches (don't
push your leg into a hose clamp) to get the transmission's shaft coupler off.

All things being equal a conventional packing gland is less prone to
mishap than a PSS. However, if it's hard to perform the routine
maintenance a conventional packing gland requires, then the maintenance
free PSS is the safer alternative. I decided to stay with a PSS shaft seal
after my bloody forearms revealed how tight the area around the packing
gland is. Naturally this realization didn't occur until after the
conventional packing gland was successfully remounted. Yea, I'm slow on
the uptake, but sure it's the right decision. The $138 PSS rebuild kit
should be here this week.

The refrigerator wasn't cooling. A $133 service call later it's working.
There's a pinhole leak in the top of the icebox. Epoxy is currently
playing the part of the little Dutch boy. It appears to be working.
We'll know shortly if a new Adler Barbour is in Nellie's future.

The paints ($600 bottom, $40 bootstripe, and $70 barrier coat) are on
order and will be applied this weekend.

The dinghy's new $99 replacement depth sounder is installed. It's got a
color screen now. I guess they were having trouble sourcing black and
white ones :-). I'll start the dink's engine today to make sure the ethanol
laden fuel hasn't gummed up the works. The old fuel tank is leaking. It's
time for a $50 new one. The dinghy's hypalon cleaned up nicely and is in
good shape.

Well, that's the update from our treehouse perch in the yard. Reports to
follow as progress continues.