Went to the boat Thursday night. Saw a beautiful sunrise Friday morning and headed to Rio Vista for our haul-out. While transiting through 3 Mile Slough, I watched the depth-sounder go from 25 to 20 to 15 and I let off the throttle. It was a pretty steep bank it seemed we were headed for. The Navionics chart I was using said 15-25 ft. Well, the sounder went all the way 10, 5 1 and sure enough we very gently bumped the bottom. I'm sure it was just a silt deposit. I was in neutral and we were probably making 2 knots or so and the boat just went over it. 25 ft past it, we were in 20 ft of water again. I guess I can now check 'running aground' off my list. I have been through that slough probably 6 or 7 times this summer and never had a problem before. Looking back, I'm not sure how I could have avoided it except to have jammed the boat in reverse and throttled up, then try to have poked around a bit to find a route around it. What I have noticed is that the soundings charts for this area can be extremely inaccurate except for the shipping channels. I'm new to 'river cruising' and unsure if I should have done something different or if that is just the way it goes.
We made it to Rio Vista without incident and Frisky was hauled at Walton's. I was able to pull off the stern thruster and the short connecting hoses which I will deliver to Dickson to have rebuilt. I was able to drain the supply and return lines going to the engine room as well. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to drain the rest of the system thoroughly as there is no drain in it. Since there is water in the system, I'm not even sure just draining it will be enough. Before I refill the system, I'll have to create some way to be able to empty it easily before I refill it, so I can change the oil a few times to make sure I get all that water out. I'm curios if there is a simple water separator I can get that will handle the flow rate of the hydraulic pump. I could put it on the return line so it is only under suction. I'm not familiar with hydraulic thrusters enough to know what is involved in it.
The new transducer is pretty big. The fairing block is about 18" long. Apparently its a little bigger than anticipated. The guys at the yard think I am some sort of treasure hunter. I am sure they will do a good job with it.
Having the new dinghy came in handy. After the boat was lifted, we took it back the the marina to fetch the car. I'd guess the trip one way is about 10-15 miles or so. Having a fast dinghy sure adds another dimension to our boating experience. I'm sure glad we have it.
In the afternoon, I was going over the work I needed done with the yard manager and I fell through the engine hatch (again). I hurt myself pretty bad. I was sure at the time I broke a rib, but I didnt. I'm totaly bruised up and torqued my right knee pretty bad. I ended up going to the doctor today for x-rays. As a result I am sporting a very keen knee isolating brace. The doctor said if it doesn't heal within a couple of weeks, I'll have to get an MRI and possibly surgery after that. Let's hope for the best. I do need to create some sort of system to protect me from myself and this engine room hatch. I am thinking about hanging a bright tennis ball from the overhead directly above the hatch down to about waist level to remind me that it's open. All other ideas will be appreciated. The only other thing I can think of is to completely rope it off, but that would make transiting the pilothouse a difficult affair.
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