Under Way and Not

1/30/07 – Well this is it, if we’re not ready now, we never will be. Boat is loaded and (hopefully) as ready to go as we are. Amanda and Stella joined us for our rededication ceremony and then saw us off.

The skies are clear and water calm, at least here in the channel. Since this is Tuesday we are hoping there are not too many other boats on the Inner Coastal Waterways (ICW) giving us plenty of room to maneuver. Part of my duties as Navigator and Co-Captain is to run around the boat and continually check things, and keep an eye on the Navsoftware “Tiki”. (Tiki is our back up to the Garmin Chart plotter Tom installed in the pilot house). On one of my checks I noticed some pale red liquid running out of a vent onto the starboard side deck and down a drain hole into the water. (Ugh!) So we hustled and began mopping up the diesel fuel which was running in a nice steady stream out of the vent. Tom switched fuel tanks he was drawing from and that appeared to fix the problem, temporarily. We anchored, shut down both main engines and expected to leave the generator running for a bit when we notice, again, some pale red liquid running out of a vent onto the starboard side deck and down a drain hole into the water (double Ugh!) BUT it was a different vent. So we shut down the generator and mopped up the new stream. Turns out, we think, the tanks were overfilled; so we are hoping with continued use the levels will lower and stop running out of the side vents. Just in case, we’ve cut a couple of small buckets, and taped them to the side of the boat to catch ANY fuel that appears. This is our first anchorage so neither of us expects to get much sleep tonight.

1/31/07 – We must have done something right, we held our anchor all night. What started out as a great day, turned ugly very soon. We thought the starboard transmission was dead, played with it a little and it began to function properly. Next time we worked the transmission, while waiting on the Flagler Bridge opening tens miles up the ICW, all pilot house power went dead. I smelled smoke and noticed it coming from the engine room vent. (Holy Sh**t) Tom steered clear of the channel, dropped the anchor and killed the engines, we lifted the hatch and yup there’s flames. So we extinguished the fire and I made tea and coffee. Well I had to do something while the engine room cooled before Tom could assess the damage. With no electrical power aboard, I phoned Amanda for assistance. So here we are, our second day out and we’re being towed into the Newport Cove Marina in Riviera Beach, FL.

2/1/07 – Could we have picked a more expensive place to break down? The marina is full of Mega-yachts. They have quite the valet service for smaller fishing boats as well. Tom spent all day in the engine room evaluating the damage and cleaning up. He says “the starboard engine starter cable shorted to the transmission case”. OK, so we have a few cables and hoses to replace, but all in all it could have been much worse. The weather as picked up and the marina is full of other cruisers not wanting to anchor out. We met our first fellow cruisers, Jerry & Rosalyn (MV Sunrise). They are heading south doing the “little loop” around Florida. The couple next to us is from Connecticut and they have 2 cats aboard. Even though it’s been very windy, and water choppy it’s still pretty warm and sitting on the back deck watching sunsets has been wonderful.

2/2/07 – Amanda came up and drove us around to pick up our hoses, cables, and get our starter repaired. We had not expected to see her and Stella again so soon, but it was a wonderful day with them. Earlier this morning, and far north of our location, a tornado swept across Florida, causing much damage. It made me appreciate the fabulous weather we were experiencing today as well as the marvelous company. We met Pierre & Valerie (MS Echappe) docked next to us. They live aboard with the two cats mention earlier (Charlie & Francis) and are heading to the Bahamas, and then across the Atlantic with 3 other motor-sails also docked here - they are waiting for their weather window sometime next week. Tomorrow we start putting everything back together. I've run out of computer time, and there's a line of folks waiting to get on, so I'll sign off for now and upload more pictures later.