December 2009
Coinjock, NC to Wrightsville Beach, NC.
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| Date | Location | Log and Pictures | |
| 1 Dec 2009 | Coinjock, NC | Interesting day! Underway at 8 am for Coinjock. 10 miles into our planned 50 mile trip the pulley for the raw water impellor came off again after a $$$ repair just yesterday. We stopped at Atlantic Marine south of Great Bridge lock at 10:30 am. The repair mechanic explained how the original design would not work after the new pump replacement. They drilled and installed two new set screws directly to the stainless steel shaft of the raw water pump and we were underway again by 2 pm. With sunset at 4:50 pm and only 3 hours to make 40 miles before dark we moved the throttle forward and traveled at 17 mph toward Coinjock. The Atlantic Marine fix worked! No problems and the boat ran great at speeds we normally do not travel. It kept Carey and I on our toes and we had fun, even though it did not stop the large sport fishing boat passing us at 30 knots mid way to Coinjock. Passed a large tug and dredge tow with its small helping tug boat. We moored at 5 pm, enjoyed Manhattans onboard, followed by dinner at the local restaurant. We're aboard now and planning an early departure tomorrow for Dowry Creek (one of boaters' favorite stops), an 80 mile trip. | |
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| 2 Dec 2009 | Alligator Marina, NC | Underway at 7:30 am when NOAA issued a gale warning for the Albemarle Sound, the place we're headed. Looked like 35+ knots of wind would not start until 1 pm so we continued , but at a faster pace. We decided to stop at Alligator River Marina at the top of Alligator River, just 35 miles from Coinjock, arriving at 11:30 and safely tied up when the 40+ knots of wind and heavy rain started. We relaxed, did a little reading, and enjoyed the nice light house replica at the marina. That is the only thing the marina has to offer. Otherwise, the marina is just a Shell gas station with piers and not a place we'd stop again. All they appear to want is to collect money; no dockside assistance or friendly service of any kind. Carey cleaned and relaxed. I just relaxed. We'll see what the weatherman has in store for tomorrow. The calamity of the day was that our coffee pot died. Only thing worse is the icemaker dying. Will replace pronto. Can't drink tea or soda in the morning. There's a limit to sacrifice. But a great day overall as we get back to boating. moving with the weather and enjoying all that comes our way. | |
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| 3 Dec 2009 | Dowry Creek Marina, NC | Underway at 7:45 with 15-20 knots wind thru Alligator River and the canal to Pungo River, but a pleasant ride in mostly protected waters. By noon we reached Dowry Creek. Carey drove most of the day and we arrived in what was like a nice late summer day, with no wind and 70 degree temperatures. We used the courtesy car to go to Bell Haven for the new coffee maker and supplies. Had happy hour with our new friends Craig and JoAnn from Matthews, VA, traveling on their trawler, "On the Hook." Tomorrow should be a less than 15 knot wind day but with rain as we pass thru the open waters of the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers en route to Moorhead City, just beside Beaufort, NC. On Saturday we'll try for Wrightsville Beach, then Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach on Sunday, and Georgetown on Monday. |
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| 4 Dec 2009 | Beaufort, NC | Great start to the day. Carey got us underway at 7:45 for Beaufort, thru the Pamlico River and the Neuse River plus several canals and waterways. The Neuse, that can be very nasty, was beautiful and we steamed south in bright sunshine. Arrived in Beaufort at 3 pm. As we approached the town harbor put boat in reverse to go around a sand bar, a routine and at idle maneuver. Never touched bottom but a strange noise started from the engine room. After docking determined that the port shaft had backed out of the coupler connecting the shaft to the transmission. I disassembled the unit and found that the set screws had sheared. Hopefully, new set screws can be successfully installed tomorrow morning; The reason for the shearing is unknown, but could be just age. No damage was suffered to the propeller reported the diver who jumped in the water shortly after our arrival. The weather tomorrow is terrible so we would have stayed here tomorrow anyway, so no major heartache. We'll be underway Sunday calling tomorrow a combined weather/mechanical lay day. Carey is planning on doing laundry and I'll follow up on the shaft work. Looks like Wrightsville Beach Sunday night, Barefoot landing on Monday and Georgetown on Tuesday. | |
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Saw some colorful homes and lots of boats ready for the winter in most of the marinas. However, we are traveling with 3-4 boats on the waterway and each day we pass or are passed by 6-8 others, so there is still travel on the waterways this December. | ||
| 5 Dec 2009 | Beaufort, NC | Interesting day. Weather is lousy, 20 to 25 Kt winds and heavy rain. A machinist came aboard this morning and analyzed the port shaft issue. He said, one hour and you are underway, but not a good choice as there was too much play between the shaft and coupler. Much discussion later we decided we were far enough south for our goal for the first leg of the trip to the Bahamas and we want to ensure we have a boat capable of having a safe transit to the Bahamas. We'll move to Jarrett Boat Yard tomorrow, have both shafts removed from the boat and checked for wear and repair, as necessary. We'll leave the boat here vs Georgetown, and have therepairs made, coming back at the end of December to make our arrival in the Bahamas by mid or end January. Went to a local restaurant tonight enjoying a great meal. We should be back in Virginia by rental car by Monday night. We also had a front row seat for the winter boat parade. A dozen boats all brightly decorated motored down the docks as 200-300 people on shore cheered them on, which was needed as it was wet and cold. | |
| 6 Dec 2009 | Jarrett Bay, NC | Windy (+20 knots) start to the day and we're happy we had Tow Boat towing insurance. Tow Boat US arrived as promised at noon and put Apolonia on the "hip," as it is called and towed us 5 miles to Jarrett Boat Yard. Starboard engine and shaft working but Apolonia does not handle well with just one engine and in this wind we played it safe. By 1:30 we were tied up at Jarrett and preparing for the haul out and travel back home tomorrow. As we started this first phase of the trip to the Bahamas we had the problem with the newly installed raw water pump and now this port shaft problem. Everything else working great and we're actually happy the shaft issue happened were it did and we can take the time to have real professionals look at the issue and determine the cause and correct fix. Carey is smiling and all is well, especially when we found out that a tow of this nature we did today would cost $900.00; it's great we have unlimited insurance on towing that cost us only $98 per year. Tomorrow we'll arrange for the work and dockage until after Christmas, when we'll return and head to the Bahamas. | |
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| 7 Dec 2009 | Jarrett Bay, NC |
Looked back over the web site and it appears we have had "a problem a day."
Talked to my friend Tom Scanlin today and he reported the same impression.
From our perspective we had some unsettled weather, the problem with the raw
water pump impellor that took a few hours each of several days to get fixed
correctly, and now the shaft that came loose (shown below), but we really
enjoyed the trip to Beaufort. Most of the hours underway were simply
delightful. It won't affect our arrival in the Bahamas and we're
lucky
the shaft issue happened in the States. Got pulled this morning and
the machinist reviewed the problem. His thesis is that the set screws
were damaged in some routine maintenance work completed
just over a year ago and no one noticed it. They probably
broke when being taken out to remove the coupling for replacement of a
rubber connecting hose on the packing gland. There was a problem
getting the coupling off so another avenue was taken to fix the hose.
Neither the yard nor I realized the screws
could not seat properly when replaced because a small portion of the screw
was lodged in the coupling. Enough of the set screw came out that no
one measured the length of the screw nor noticed that it was not the length
it should have been. Then, with the improperly seated set screws, the normal
working of the engine on the shaft caused the shaft to finally slip out of
the coupling. Unusual situation and one the
machinist had never seen. Repairs underway and we're also checking the
starboard shaft to ensure it has properly seated set screws. It'll be
another day or two to determine the work to fix all properly, but we're in a
widely recommended boat yard (Jarrett Bay). We're the smallest boat there and they
appear very professional. Just one of the 50 or so boats they are
working now is shown below, a real beauty.
We'll let them do the work and we drive back to Virginia today to enjoy the Christmas holiday. We'll head back to Beaufort on 29 Dec to continue the trip. |
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| 8-9 Dec 2009 | Jarrett Bay, NC | Great news today from the yard. The shafts are ok, with just a little work to put them in spec. All that must be replaced is the coupler on both shafts which had both worn too much to be usable. It was good decision to have the starboard shaft checked also. Boat will be back in the water next week and ready to go. | |
| 16 Dec 2009 | Jarrett Bay, NC | Work complete on boat except for replacement of one fuel tank sending unit that initially arrived in a defective condition. New couplers installed and shafts in place on the boat. New sending unit in by Friday so we'll launch the boat on Monday, 21 Dec and after a sea trial put her in the slip at Jarrett Bay to await start of the second phase of our trip to the Bahamas which will recommence 29 Dec 2009. I'll go down for the launching as Carey finishes up with plans for Christmas. | |
| 21 Dec 2009 | Jarrett Bay, NC | Boat launched today with all work complete. I took Apolonia for a sea trial and all is well. The new couplings are large and I'm sure will never let the shaft walk out of their hold again. The boat is now in a slip awaiting our arrival. | |
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| 29 Dec 2009 | Jarrett Bay, NC |
Via rental car we arrived at the boat today for our 4 month trip. The
boat is ready and so is Carey. She's fixing dinner and I'm
checking the charts for the trip tomorrow. We'll have to stay inside
as the Atlantic is pushing 5-7 foot waves to the shore; not our "outside"
travel ideal weather. This is the first trip we've taken without
our dog Sophie and we're really sad. She loved the boat, barking hello
to everyone on the pier and always ran to the driving station when the
engines started. She also ensured we got off the boat everyday ... she
needed her trip ashore. We miss her. We'll travel at the speed
we can based on weather and tides, enjoying every day. Nice to be
here.
Jarrett Bay Boat Works did a great job for us and we are well satisfied. After the work was professionally completed they cleaned the outside and inside of the boat letting us leave here with a boat really ready to travel. We truly appreciate their work, lead by the Yard Service Manager Keith Tosto. Our hats off to Keith and his crew. |
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| 30 Dec 2009 | Swan Point, New River, NC | Underway at 10 am, we had a beautiful trip down the waterway; 45 degrees and no wind. Boat running great. Everything working. We traveled 48 miles and moored at Swan Point Marina at New River, a place we have not stopped before. It is full of shrimpers and clam dredgers. The nylon bags seen below on the pier were from one clam dredger. A 20 year old female Captain, with her 60 year old male crew member had dredged up 20 of these bags that were being loaded on a pickup for travel to the local market. We moored outboard an old shrimp boat after enjoying the beautiful scenery coming down the waterway. We'll continue south tomorrow in rain and 50 degree temperatures. A storm is expected on New Years Day so we'll plan on a nice stop tomorrow to wait out the storm. | |
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| 31 Dec 2009 | Wrightsville Beach, NC | Underway at 8:30 in mild rain and 45 degree temperatures we headed south, although icy deck and piers as we left. Several bridge openings to contend with got us to Wrightsville Beach at noon, a 30 mile transit. Further travel would put us at Carolina Beach Inlet at 1:30, exactly low tide. The Inlet is the worst shoaled area on the waterway and we felt it prudent to go thru that spot at high tide first thing in the morning, so we stopped at Wrightsville Beach City Marina, a nice spot. Walked around the town, mailed some letters, and relaxed on the boat. We'll go out for a New Years' Eve dinner this evening. Although it is expected to be cold for the next few days, the wind appears ok for travel so we'll head out tomorrow to get to warmer weather. After tying up we got a kick out of watching boats come thru the bridge and laughing at the guy on the water board paddling his way toward the Wrightsville Beach Bridge, the water temperature should he fall in is 45 degrees. | |
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