Heading South Pt. II

KJ said:

Oh yeah, could've been a lot worse. You could have heard about it second hand. KJ

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Thank goodness I'm not. Be well my friend.

Speaking of mega-yachts, this mini-mega boat was dogging me all the way through Ft. Lauderdale. I thought for sure he was going to run me over a couple of times. In fact, I took the picture for insurance purposes. After about twenty minutes, the Coasties pulled him over for a “courtesy” inspection. Poetic justice. KJ

Surge protection on boats has long been a concern and issue. In fact, the Coast Guard has had to issue warnings against using typical home protectors for computers and equipment. However...there are some working on complete systems. There are some protection devices for your shore power cord, but only up to 50 amps. Then there is this, a complete boat system that will handle up to 90,000 amps.

Marine: C-Power Surge Suppressors

KJ said:

Supposedly. he had a couple of "monster" gensets all running at the same time and when they exceeded the boats capacity it tripped the breakers and back-fed into the shore power system. He had two hundred amp lines running into the boat.

I dunno, sounds like a bunch of BS to me. I mean, how power hungry is this guy? KJ

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Runnng two 100a cords is nothing unusual for a larger boat. We're they single phase or three phase?

They most likely had the gensets running because the power sucked at the marina. Not uncommon for larger boats.

But I can't quite figure out how power from a ships Genset can back feed to shore. That would be a good trick considering it would have to jump an open switch or two. Not to mention you said breaker tripped.

Did you talk to the ships engineer, if they had one, about what happened? How big was the boat? Name?

Marshall Islands maritime law follows US law for the most part. That plus the fact I'm sure they're insured means you could go after them. If of course you could prove they did something wrong. The reality is that the owner would most likely just pay if off himself if you could show just cause.

KJ said:

Speaking of mega-yachts, this mini-mega boat was dogging me all the way through Ft. Lauderdale. I thought for sure he was going to run me over a couple of times. In fact, I took the picture for insurance purposes. After about twenty minutes, the Coasties pulled him over for a “courtesy” inspection. Poetic justice. KJ

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It's Lauderdale, you may not want to boat here if you have personal space issues. Much like driving here.

Did you call him and ask him if he would like to pass you?

Capt.Bill11 said:

It's Lauderdale, you may not want to boat here if you have personal space issues. Much like driving here.
Did you call him and ask him if he would like to pass you?

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I don't have personal space issues, but I do have personal injury issues. I've been through Ft. Lauderdale several times and know the crazy boating conditions there. This guy was just being a jerk.

I hailed him several times with no response. Passing? Ft. Lauderdale on a Sunday afternoon? A gazillion boats right in front of me and as many coming the other way, including a paddlewheeler. No passing possible. Just gotta be patient and get through it. KJ

The real reason I left the Bahamas in such a hurry was that the word had spread throughout the Islands that a certain Rufus T. had left Freedonia and was going to be in Ft. Lauderdale for a visit.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity to meet such infamous scoundrel, I made haste to leave the enchanted (albeit windy) islands and hotfooted it to FLL only to find that he was travelling under a pseudonym with an encrypted boat name and was nowhere to be found.

Oh well, I was hoping to let him buy me a beer. Maybe on his return voyage.


It is April 1st, isn’t it? Capt. E. Fudd

Hey Kenny
The slip next to me in Hollywood is empty if u need a spot...

Or if you need ground transport or anything else for that matters. I am very competent with electrical systems

Hey Michael, good to hear from you. Been a while.

I'm up in St. Augustine now. I'll be hanging out here for a bit. A guy is coming out on Sat. to go through my whole electrical system and some of the other systems too. I should have given you a shout when I passed through Hollywood. As it was, I anchored at Lake Boca Raton (would somebody please tell me why they call that a "lake") with a couple of hundred other boats, all partying. Fortunately, by dark most of them left and it was pretty quiet.

Anyway, thanks for the offer. Hope to see you next time down, or if you're going north, stop at my place in SC. KJ

Lake Boca Raton

ken. . Ok cool. Good luck. ,last summer when I stayed at the George Town Yacht Club the docK power was a 137 volts. I do not understand why and my main battery charger has not been the same since. I guess that's what can happen in the third world

On the Road Again

After a month of R&R (repair & refit) in St. Augustine (actually Marineland) we’re back on the water. Feels good to be out there again, although we’ve had a pretty wild ride so far, with some really, really, windy conditions.

After a couple of very breezy days at Cumberland Is., we headed out, anticipating a rough passage at St. Andrew’s Sound. However, it wasn’t really that bad, just lumpy seas with 3-4 foot confused waves. We did manage to hit it at just about slack, so that helped a lot.

Jekyll Creek was its usual pucker factor self, as was the Little Mud River. Crossed Doboy Sound in 40+ mph winds (they were clocking 50+ at Thunderbolt). The boat was heeled over more than just a few degrees. Very intense. It reminded me of my sailboat days. Spent a pleasant night anchored in New Tea Kettle Creek after the wind died down. Had a nice rainfall to wash the boat down.

Yesterday was very windy again. We had an uneventful passage through Hell Gate and anchored in the Vernon River for another pleasant evening, with a short hop to Thunderbolt today.

Next hop is to Beaufort (not Bowfort) were we’ll tie up at Lady’s Island Marina and then on to St. John’s just south of Charleston.

We’re keeping an eye on Ana, which is supposed to make landfall at my home port of North Myrtle Beach. I’m not too hot on the idea of going through the skinny water section right after Isle of Palms during stormy weather. We’ll most likely anchor in either Awendaw Creek or Minum Creek and then on to Bucksport for a night.

Next Friday (5/15/15), makes it six months since I left Barefoot Marina. Seems like only yesterday (or forever). I have to admit, I’m looking forward to getting “home”. Florida was fun, the Bahamas were great (albeit windy), and the ICW “interestingly challenging” (again). But it’s time to “click my heels” and get home and rest from my “vacation”. KJ

KJ, You are now an old hand on the AICW. Now, go north to the Chesapeake.

Moonstruck said:

KJ, You are now an old hand on the AICW. Now, go north to the Chesapeake.

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Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. I lived in Maine for a while and wouldn’t mind cruising “Downeast” either. KJ

Home sweet home

Well, we finally made it back to Barefoot. Seems like a long time since I last tied up at the ol’ home marina. Got the boat cleaned up and am heading up to NJ (driving) for some “land time”.

We had pleasant stays at Thunderbolt Marina (can’t beat those doughnuts), Lady’s Island Marina at Beaufort, and St. Johns Marina (south of Charleston) with pretty much uneventful passages wind-wise. Tropical storm Ana had moved further north so the weather was pretty nice. We stayed at a lot more marinas on the way back up this time, I’d say about half the time. It’s very easy to get used to the comfort and sense of security (weather–wise) being tied up at a marina dock.

We transited through the Isle of Palms at low water with three sailboats and a barge grounded in the middle of the channel. I followed two other trawlers through at idle speed and made it through OK. We were reading 8 inches under the keel at one point. High water wasn’t until later in the day so there weren’t a lot of options. We anchored in Minim Creek for the night and stayed at Bucksport Marina the next night, waiting for high water to get into Barefoot the next day. A sailboat grounded right in front of my dock at Barefoot later that day.

The fresh water pump gave out a week before getting home. Fortunately, I had an old spare pump that I was able to put in place. The bearing in the port raw water pump also gave out, but the engine was still getting sufficient water to the heat exchanger. I have already replaced the bearing and seal (and impeller).

So, other than having my battery bank and inverter fried in Nassau, there really wasn’t that much in the way of major problems, which I think is pretty good for six months of travelling, thank goodness.

I’ll probably just do local trips this summer and think about heading north next summer.
Time to let the old girl (the boat) and skipper rest for a while. KJ

All the electrical repairs went well?

Yup. I replaced all the batts and inverter (which fortunately, was still under warranty). The charger somehow survived. Replaced some cables and wires and had the whole system checked out by a marine electrician. Put in a new alternator while I was at it. Everything is running fine, maybe even better than before. KJ

PS I passed you guys while you were heading south (around Hobe Sound, I think). Talked to you for a few minutes on the radio.

Now that's the way to enjoy a boat. That's how we put a lot of miles on. In fact, we're heading North next Wednesday. And makes sense some short trips over this summer and then head north next summer. One should always be planning the next trip after finishing one.

Welcome home! I am back in Little River, we should get together sometime.

Yeah, that would be nice. Perhaps we could meet up at Bird Island sometime, if summer ever decides to show up. Or you could come down for the fireworks show on July 4th at Barefoot Landing.

It would be really cool if someone could organize a TF rendezvous in our area. Lots of great places to go to. KJ