Crazy Friday Nights

What to do with the boat hauled? Maintenance for 2016! After failed attempts to loosen the corroded screws on the impeller cover the other option was to remove the whole raw water pump. So tonight replaced the impeller, impeller gasket, impeller cover, screws and water pump O-ring.

R15

Uneventful upgrade to R15. Looking forward to the WiFi updating so I don’t have keep downloading the update to a card then bringing it out the boat.

Also downloaded the Navionics Boating app. More to come on that...

New-New GPS Update

R15 was just released today by Raymarine. In addition to the other fixes and improvements “R15 allows users to connect their MFD and Raymarine network to a Wi-Fi hotspot and download and install future updates direct from Raymarine.” This will making future updating easier! Now I just need Wi-Fi on the boat (winter project).

Team Practice

Joined by Mark and Pete we practiced maneuvers tonight. With a small craft advisory issued for the area we didn’t venture out of the harbor. Also with no depth instruments running we only sailed in familiar areas. We did learn that push button tiller extension would easier for all instead fiddling with clips and pins.

Mixing it up

Mixing up fuel this morning. Added Seafoam to both diesel and gasoline. I usually add the oil, treatments, etc to the fuel containers first. So when I go the pump everything mixes well from the pressure of the fuel stream at the pump.  

2 gallons of diesel for Nauti-Dog with Sea Form & Star Tron Enzyme Diesel Treatment. 

2 gallons of gasoline for the dinghy with oil, STA-BIL and Sea Form 

Battery Switch

Finally mounted the mini dual battery switch this evening. I kept it simple using scrape plywood and black paint. It has been wired for several weeks but just dangling by the companionway ladder. Only 1 battery is connected now and supports both the starter and house electronics. Still need to purchase wire to connect the second battery. Next up will be to label the panel.  

Sputter, sputter, stall ….

The outboard has been running rough the past few days. The other night it completely stalled at mid-throttle. Sounded like a fuel issue. I decided to refresh the tank with new fuel. When I grabbed the Sta-Bil from the basement to mix a new tank the bottle looked as dark as oil. The Sta-Bil was given to me and I used it to in the tank for the outboard. I knew Sta-Bil only had 2 year shelf life and this bottle looked much older. Unfortunately there was no easy way to read manufacturing date but there was a 16 digit-alphanumeric code. After a quick search I found Cool Rides Online. (http://www.coolridesonline.net/news-blog/how-to-maintenance-tips/how-do-i-know-if-my-sta-bilis-still-good-to-use) The site explained the coding on the side of the bottle. After decoding it was from February 6, 2009. So off to the store now for new bottle.

Fair Winds Sagres

NRP Sagres departed New Bedford harbor this evening. Form the mooring you could see a people lining the whole length of the State Pier plus others gathered on Pope’s Island and the hurricane barrier. A missed group of mixed sail and power boat escorted her out of the harbor.

Fair Winds Sagres!

Maneuvers

This afternoon it was just Steve and I sailing. During a typical pleasure sail the opportunity to try various maneuvers just isn’t available. With just the two of us we had the chance to do several maneuvers to familiarize him with the boat.

-Knot skills

-Starting the engine

-Casting off from the mooring

-Steering with a tiller

-Unfurling the jib

-Sail trim

-Steering under sail

-Furling the jib

-Picking up the mooring

-Shutting the engine down

Covert dinghy launching

The dinghy docks are in! So time to claim a spot. It wasn’t a secret mission but under the cover darkness I inflated the dinghy. It was pretty uneventful and I also clamped add locked the outboard. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to start it. One thing to remember for next year is to turn the inflatable on its side to slide the floorboards in. It was a whole lot easier than trying to get them into place with the inflatable flat on the dock.

Dinghy Dock In

The Gifford Street dinghy dock is in! This is one of the first real signs of the harbor coming back to life. It also signals the time that we need to start preparing Nauti-Dog and the dinghy for the sailing season. Over the weekend we are going to rebuild the outboard carb and drain the lower unit oil.

Melting winter

Winter is finally loosening its grasp! Harbor ice is melting and snow drifts are giving way to what has been buried below. We can finally see our project dinghy again. It is old fiberglass in need to repair and care. This Spring…Summer…Fall we’ll keep you updated on the progress.

Still Frozen

With temps in the low 40s there are still large portions of the harbor still frozen. I wonder what double red buoys mean?

Team Meeting at BBB

Enjoying a team meeting at Buzzards Bay Brewing! Island Creek Oysters shucked some excellent oysters and the crew enjoyed the new release of the 2015 Lizzy's Famous 81 Whacks Red IPA. We decided that this summer we must sail to Cuttyhunk Island to compare Island Creek Oysters with Cuttyhunk Shellfish Farms.

First sign of Spring!

The Defender catalog was delivered. Too bad it can't help melt the snow.

Shoveling

After record snowfall this winter decided I should check in on Nauti-Dog before the approaching storm this evening. This next storm was calling for freezing rain and a wintry mix.

Several other people were down at the boat yard too silently working to clear snow and ice. Thankfully there was only thin coating of snow/ice on the deck but the cockpit was full of snow. I used a small plastic shovel and my hand to remove nearly all of the snow.  Next winter we will definitely be investing in a cover or shrink-wrapping the boat!

First Team Meeting 2015!

First team meeting of 2015! At Buzzards Bay Brewing with crew looking over harbor charts and enjoying some great brews together. We are trying to figure out a good area to practice for the coming season. But mostly just missing sailing and boats.