Chapter 2........

1/10/2014
Friday

Link to chapter 1

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/adventure-begins-12707.html


Greetings and salutations to all. Much has happened since I last posted of my adventures, and much more will happen as chapter two progresses.

I left LOTTIE, at Jarrett Bay Boat Works in NC, on the hard and scheduled for bottom paint, and possible new electronics. Over the intervening weeks, negotiations with the electronics installer fell through so I have the same electronics as last time. As far as I know Jarrett has done the bottom paint but I will not know until Monday at the earliest, as I have been delayed at work due to the weather. The choppers don't fly in the fog! Tomorrow should be better and flights should resume. Then the long drive from the New Orleans area to NC.

Go forward plan:
Get back to the car and high tail it to NC, looks like rain and bad driving weather. Once in NC evaluate the boat for any freeze damage, and if necessary repair and replace what has broken.....I drained every thing, and Jarrett Bay put heaters in her, so damage should be minimal, or if I am really lucky non existent!

So excited to be doing work ups for the next leg!

Hope to see y'all out there!

1/13/14
Monday

What a great day! After an extremely long drive with some trepidation, I arrived back in NC. Last night when I showed up the boat yard was locked up so I took a hotel down town. You just have to love off season prices!

Finally got a board around 0800, and started checking things out. Found no ruptured pipes or other frost related damage! So a big shot out to Tim and his crew at Jarrett Bay for taking care of the old girl, they even came and put heaters in during the cold snap, so I am giving them the credit! Also they came in under budget, even with additional work added on! Bottom job was done well, and the additional work was professional and tidy.

Ok....so splashed her around 0900, mechanics aboard at 0915, all system re-commishioned by 1030, and the the mega run to Wally World for victuals and some odds and ends. Tonight celebrate with a beer, finish moving aboard and get a good night sleep!

Go Forward:
Weather may be a little snotty in the AM but if it is not to bad I will at least head into a little ways with the boat and stop in town. I did get a new camera so the pics should be a little more plentiful this chapter. I have until the 20th then i have to stop and head back to NOLA for two days,and then I should have another week and a half to enjoy the ride.

Hope to see y'all out there!

Glad to have you back with us again, and looking forward to more reports on your trip.

01/14/14
Tuesday

Well today started out interestingly enough. Middle of the night the cops and fire department banging on my hull. Some one had spilled diesel all over the place and the basin had a thin coating.so they wanted to see if it was me! Well fortunately it was not. Latter the Sea Tow guys came by asking the same question. I just had flash backs to the last time I had dealings with law enforcement on one of my boats......I got raided by the FBI and Federal Marshals,looking for the Bare Foot Bandit while I was staying in Norfolk, a few years back.....funny story for another time...

Underway at 0700 right into a sucker hole.not more than a mile from the marina, vis closed I and the rain started for real. There are a few nice things about cursing in the. Winter, and there are a few not so nice things. One plus is there are very few others out there so traffic is light, also no BUGS! One down side is there are not many folks out there......no complaints only observations.

Made it to Hammock Bay at Camp Lajune, other than the reported poor to fair holding this is a nice stop. There are a few 53's flying around the weather is improving and all is well. Timed the bridge perfectly but not necessarily part of the plan.

GO Forward
Looks like the cold is back, forecasted rain and snow mix, so it may be an interesting day tomarrow. Other than that head South! If any one knows of any good stops I should make please let me know!

Hope to see y'all out there!

And it keeps getting better! The Marines are playing with their 22"s! This has to be the coolest anchorage ever!

01/15/14

On the buoy at Carolina beach, SSDG #1 on the line, reviving LTE from shore.

Great day today, got pulled into another sucker hole, even after the WX hold, however when I departed Hammock Bay it was magnificent,dolphins, pelicans and the gentle thump of 155 mm shells in the distance. Truly it reminds you of how great we have it and that there are others among us that are defending us! May the Good Lord keep the Marines safe!

So transit was uneventful, however it looks like SSDG #2 is in need of a heat exchanger cleaning...time to find a sporting goods store, and pick up a gun cleaning kit. Any one remember what size brush I need to stroke out the tubes? If I remember right it is .308 but if any one remembers different please let me know. NL 12 KW units.

Vis cleared up around 1000 and all was well, small delays at two bridges, but even that was enjoyable, more time to practice holding station. So far picking up the buoy has been free but I am guessing they will be out here in the AM for their cash. This really is a nice field!

Got. Passed once today by a power cat, fellow was fairly considerate, however he seemed to have no regard for the boats secured at their berths......not sure what to make of that, why would you give a 50K Lbs trawler a slow pass but throw max wake for a mile and beat all the mores boats? I guess he has never owned water front property.

Oh yeah finally put my dink in the water today, started fairly easily and ran well will get fresh fuel for it I the morning, davit worked well, so I am stoked!

GO FORWARD:
WX check in the morning, then cross to the south side of cape fear and head to SC! However if the weather is snotty again, then I may just hold right here!

Hope to see y'all out there!

Watch for the markers changing entering and exiting the Cape Fear. Mind you gold triangles and squares.

01/16/14

Did not go far today! Decided to enjoy the day and stop in South Port Marina, as I have visited a few months ago while shopping. I have to admit that I would not stop here again. Very nice facilities, however the staff is not as helpfully as I would have thought, possibly a bad day for them we all have them.

As Moon said the Chanel can get interesting coming out of the cut and joining the river, took my time went slow and had no issues.

My hats off to Zimmermans, as they were very helpful and allowed me to dispose of some waste oil and racor filter dregs.

This morning be fore departing I put my dink in the water for the first time, wat a zippy little boat, and the davit worked like a champ! I am very pleased! Can't wait to use it on the St. John's river to explore all the little byways and do so some fishing!

Go Forward
Want to make SC tomrow and have to start looking for a place near an airport that I can drop the boat for three days as I have a meeting in the NOLA area. If any one knows of a. Convenient place please give me a shout out.

So far this chaper I have not had any of the great interactions with folks or boats that I had last time, but I imagine that will all change as I get further South.

Hope to see y'all out there!

Will, if you make it to N Myrtle beach you are very close to Grand Stand airport. It's a small airport and have no idea where you can fly too but might be worth a look. You are also very close (30 ish) minutes to Myrtle Beach airport and from there you can fly wherever you need to go. Safe travels!

Will said:

01/16/14

Did not go far today! Decided to enjoy the day and stop in South Port Marina, as I have visited a few months ago while shopping. I have to admit that I would not stop here again. Very nice facilities, however the staff is not as helpfully as I would have thought, possibly a bad day for them we all have them.

As Moon said the Chanel can get interesting coming out of the cut and joining the river, took my time went slow and had no issues.

My hats off to Zimmermans, as they were very helpful and allowed me to dispose of some waste oil and racor filter dregs.

This morning be fore departing I put my dink in the water for the first time, wat a zippy little boat, and the davit worked like a champ! I am very pleased! Can't wait to use it on the St. John's river to explore all the little byways and do so some fishing!

Go Forward
Want to make SC tomrow and have to start looking for a place near an airport that I can drop the boat for three days as I have a meeting in the NOLA area. If any one knows of a. Convenient place please give me a shout out.

So far this chaper I have not had any of the great interactions with folks or boats that I had last time, but I imagine that will all change as I get further South.

Hope to see y'all out there!

Click to expand...

Inexpensive, close by and well protected...look it up on active captain

Osprey Marina
8400 Osprey Rd
Myrtle Beach, SC 29588
United States (US)
843-215-5353

Nice to have you back on the water Will. Come on south!

Dave

1/17/14

Second try, computer error?

At Lightkeepers Marina for a few days. Had a great run down, and have to get my fridge fixed. Not sure about the reality of having regular household appliances on boats......but I have to get it fixed!

Lots of dolphins, and pelicans today!

Headed to work for a few days so have to abandon the boat untill mid week, then back to motoring South!

LKM has the Officers Club, good food and reasonable prices,a long with live entertainment!

I had written a lot more but it got lost.

Will update again on Thursday evening!

Hope to see y'all out there!

Back in the swing....

1/25/14

Ok it seemed like it has been an eternity, but back from NOLA and still headed South.

Lots has happened. Fridge is fixed, and a big shout out to Rico over at Lightkeeps marina for getting that done. Google is great, it allowed me to trouble shoot and assist in the repair.

Also the Gang at Lightkeepers is awesome, they ran me to the airport and took great care of LOTTIE while I was away.

Departed Lightkeeps and made it to Georgetown the other day, shot the rock pile at low water with no issues, then got into to he cypres swamps, I do love the cypress swamps. Had a great trip down to George town and stayed the night. It was so cold I did not even go out, just cooked aboard and enjoyed the evening.

Took off from there and made it to charleston where I am for the night. The trip down was great, no traffic until I got to isle of palms area then one sail boat waiting for the bridge. It was windy as all. Get out by the afternoon, and at times I was craving down the Chanel with over 10 degrees of leeway. Did the last few miles at just past high water and had no less than 6 feet under me at all the shallow spots, tide was a little over +4 today, so I am starting to think that it is the charleston boaters that are putting all the shallow spots on active captain to keep every one away......

One small casualty other than the fridge. This time it is my number 1 charger/inverter that started to smoke. No visible fire, but light smoke, secured power and headed to Savana to have it looked at, that is where ther mastervolt repair shop is......I think I started to stress it out when I had both compressors on my hydronic system running on the generator, pass ally dirty power, also think that is what caused my fridge problem.

Back to meeting great people on the pier, again.....had a wonderful dinner with several of my new boat friends, that is the part that I like the most!

Go Forward,

Take of early and head towards savanna, start thinking about laying the boat up there for a few weeks when I return to work, and have the inverter fixed or replaced. Enjoy the ride!

Any recommendation of where to dock for 3 to 4 weeks in savanna?

Hope to see y'all out there!

Pics attached......

More pics......

Hummmm they don't seem to be working.........

1/26/14

Datwa Island, SC. Very nice marina, and great food! Had dinner with the two guys off the Mathews that are headed north, trying to beat the snow! They gave me a heads up on a shallow spot on the Savanna river. So I am warned!

Charleston was beutiful' especially on departure this morning, highly recommend the Fish House, good service nice people and great food! Also where else can you have dinner and view one of the most kick butt carriers ever?

The rivers were low today never touched bottom, but boy was there a lot of mud visible! No other traffic and a magnificent day!

Go Forward,
Look at the tides and try to slip down to Savanna for lay berth, I have to get my Mastervolt inverter/charger fixed or replaced, it basically caught on fire the other day..... Recover my car from Jarrett Bay and start heading back to work.

1/27/14

Savanna GA, and bracing for the cold weather....trip down was great, started cool, but ended up on the fly bridge fir the last ten miles! Made the aquantance of the locals,made dinner and had a great time swapping stories of old boats and fun times!

Go Forward:
Check. Yeah weather and aim for JAX.......simple as all get out.....

however he seemed to have no regard for the boats secured at their berths......not sure what to make of that, why would you give a 50K Lbs trawler a slow pass but throw max wake for a mile and beat all the mores boats? I guess he has never owned water front property.

The waterway was there before the developers sold off waterfront lots.

The land boat owner is responsible for securing his boat for the waterway traffic .

In Fl with a large number of large high speed boat drivers , the use of lifts and joists is the norm , in traffic areas.

The entire AICW can not be turned into a no wake zone for a few low buck lot owners.

I can understand your point of view, and yes the water way was for the most part there before the houses and piers, but it is just common courtesy, which seems to be lacking. No where in the rules do I see where the land owners are charged with proper securing etc, however I do see where the vessel operator is responsible for their wake.

What ever happened to the golden rule? Treat others as you would wish to be treated? I seriously doubt that you would find it acceptable to have a fully loaded wake board boat towing a boarder up and down the marina slips, or through your anchorage

Will said:

I can understand your point of view, and yes the water way was for the most part there before the houses and piers, but it is just common courtesy, which seems to be lacking. No where in the rules do I see where the land owners are charged with proper securing etc, however I do see where the vessel operator is responsible for their wake.

What ever happened to the golden rule? Treat others as you would wish to be treated? I seriously doubt that you would find it acceptable to have a fully loaded wake board boat towing a boarder up and down the marina slips, or through your anchorage

Click to expand...

I have to agree with FF...

I have run my share of large motor yachts up and down the ICW over the years...more and more houses were built sporadically here and there and land owners thought that they could just throw up no wake signs and basically slow the I-95 of boats down to a crawl.

Up and down on a large MYs engines is hard on them and also the crew.

Most of the states along the way recognized the boaters legit complaint and have enacted laws that say it's illegal just to throw up a "no wake" sign.

The "rules" talk about prudent seamanship. Part of that is making sure your boat is protected even when moored. If I come along and build next to an airport or a landfill...can I reasonably expect my neighbors to totally change their land use?

Yes you are responsible for your wake...but until the states come right out and say that it's slow speed no wake ALL the time...personally I think it's the "new" landowners that have a responsibility to take proper precautions.

Personally.... I run a 6.3 knot trawler now so it doesn't affect me too much. I do think that someone who buys property where their dock is going to be somewhere within a few hundred feet of the ICW channel is foolish and wrong to think that they have the right to slow down traffic on the ICW...if you don't like that there's HUGE amounts of protected waterfront property just off the ICW...buy there.

Most people who are buying along the ICW know the deal and put even huge sportfish up in lifts these days. I would say by the percentage of new properties that do have lifts...it may be even be a requirement to help keep the roar about no wakes to a minimum.

During my 12 years of teaching boating safety classes...nearly every class the discussion would come up and I have said this for a long time....the next great battle on the water after jet skis will be over no wake zones....might be wrong but it seems like I sure read a lot about no wake issues these days and I'm usually not sympathetic towards the complainers as 99% of the time it's a whine...not a legit complaint.

Due to my having owned piers and slips, with my boat in them, I chose to slow for floating structures as a courtesy, and because I believe that I am responsible for my wake. In the past I have had to replace broken piles, twisted metal, dock pluming and wiring, caused by large wakes, I just don't want to damage other people property.

Hope to see y'all out there!

Will

There are multiple examples in Ft. Lauderdale that anchorages or certain parts of the canal that boats are aloud to go fast as long as they are pulling a skier or whatever. Something you have deal with if you do anchor, if you don't like it go get a slip at a marina. Lake Silvia and Ski beach are two good examples of that in my area.

Well it has been a while and this could actually count as chapter three....

Made it to JAX, and so far very happy with the over all experience! Have the old girl moored up the Ortega River, and so far have had a wonderful time exploring the Saint Johns, and getting some work that needed to be done, completed!

Thanks to all who, read and as always:

Hope to see y'all out there!

Will