Between newness and the end

I don't know how it is in the rest of the world, but in the Southeastern Unites States, decaying, semi-sunken and abandoned boats are a major problem.

 Every boat has a story. Each story likely starts with joy and pride and promise. It is hard to know what happens between the newness and the end. These stories can only be imagined.

For example, here's a boat that was recently lifted from the Savannah River near Ms. Bettencourt's home port.

I think this wooden lady was once a shrimper. For at least the last 15 years, she sat in the Augusta Marina. I don't know how she got there. I have never seen her move. I know she was not taken from the water over this period.

Three owners ago, the boat was known as the Paid-4, a name attested by that label painted in 4-foot high white letters on either side of her hull. It seems to me that there was always a party going on aboard the Paid-4.

Then one dark and stormy night, some malefactor unplugged and stole Paid-4's shore power extension cord. The news was not good the next morning, since the missing cord and a 120-volt pump were all that had keep the old shrimper on top of the water.

She didn't go to the bottom, but she was never the same after that. The boat changed hands again. There was some painting that obscured the old girl's billboard name on the hull. It appeared from a distance that a new barbecue grill was installed. The partying was somewhat muted, but partying continued.

More time passed, then the boat was somehow moved downstream from the main marina, to a moderately remote location where boats suffering some kind of disgrace usually wind up.

For a long time she appeared abandoned. I checked her extension cord every time I went by and hoped for the best.

Then a couple of weeks ago, there was a story in the newspaper about how the latest owner had donated the boat to a local religious group. A crane showed up and lifted her off the water. The new owner says he's going to restore her, and that he will probably be ready to relaunch in three months or so.

A close look at the hull suggests some major work will be required. I have never seen a  patch made from a piece of truck tire on a waterline rotten spot before. But that repair appears to be quite substantial, compared to...

...this plywood and caulking bandage on the opposite side. This patch seems to be held in place with drywall screws and aerosol insulating foam.

(You may wish to click a photo to enlarge for a closer look).






Meanwhile, another long stationary vessel sits just across the yard.

When this fiberglass boat rolled in last fall, I asked a marina worker what he knew about her.

He told me the boat was a minesweeper and that was all he knew.



Of course, she's not a minesweeper. She is a navy or coastguard motor whaleboat.

I can imagine a sharply uniformed cox'n directing this saucy little vessel, with passengers loaded junior ranks first so senior officers can debark first-off on arrival.

And there's more. About a half-mile up the river, sits a once-elegant wooden Matthews of 1950s vintage.

This old timer has been getting some  topside repairs. Unfortunately, that work could prove too little, too late. 

It is possible to practically see into her hull through rotted planking at the waterline on her starboard side.

Like the old shrimper, the Matthews was recently moved here from the main marina upstream.

I think that's a shore power cord drooping off her bow. Something tells me that power cord and a pump are all that are keeping her on the surface.

Solar vent-II: The cheapskate's revenge

Please recall that Ms. Bettencourt's forward cabin Nicro Day/Night solar ventilator packed in a month ago and that I am too cheap to shell out another $160 USD for a replacement. Instead, I trolled around the Internet until I found some ideas on how to fix it myself. Here are the results:

After extracting the unit's defunct motor and removing the push-button switch, I used a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel to slice the end off the motor housing.

The new motor ($8 plus shipping from an Internet vendor), is fitted with a collar sliced off and old sink drain pipe, then pressed into the motor housing.

It's a nice, tight, fit. You may click on a photo for close-up views.

My friend Paul, an electronics tech with steady hands, flips the unit and solders up connections for the new motor, the switch, battery tabs and the solar collector.

Insert the solar battery and button up the collector...

Flip the unit yet again, press the fan blade hub onto the motor shaft, push the "on" switch, and....


... the blur you see in the middle of this photo is the fan going around and around, just like fans are supposed to do.






A couple of dabs of glue around the motor housing will keep the motor and motor collar in place.

Small amounts of glue were applied judiciously to allow easy removal of the motor unit should it be necessary to install yet another replacement motor in the future.

Solar vent hack (in progress)

Ms. Bettencourt has two day/night Nicro solar cabin ventilators. They don't move much air--I think only about 600 cubic feet per minute-- but they do help keep summertime mildew and mustiness at bay.

The unit in the forward cabin quit. The motor has gone bad. Replacement parts are not available from Nicro. Replacement of the whole unit would be about $160 USD. Too much.

I found a 2008 conversation on the SailNet website in which the author detailed how to buy an $8 solar motor and fix the ventilator. I am working on that today.

A success/failure report will have to await help from my friend Paul who is an electronics technician. He can solder. I'm no good in that department.

For now, I have gutted the ventilator and begun the re-purposing of a plastic sink drain pipe.

A piece of the former drain pipe will serve as an adapter to hold the new (smaller) solar motor in place inside the ventilator.

That's the new motor in the foreground in this photo. The defunct motor is hanging by a wire in the background.


On another topic: A reader has asked some housekeeping questions about how my friend Major and I apportion various duties during our cruises:

Q. With long hours at the helm, how often do you switch seats?

A. We take turns of about an hour on and an hour off, unless one of us gets really nervous about the other's piloting.

Q. What kind of food do you take and how do you keep perishables?

A. We subsist mostly on sandwiches and junk food between carefully planned overnight stops at marinas with restaurants nearby. Ms. Bettencourt has an Igloo cooler that holds three one-gallon jugs of  frozen water, a bag of ice and whatever else needs to be cooled.

Q. When you and Major travel, who is the cook? And who does the dishes?

A. Major cooked one time on a previous cruise and he claims it was a coincidence that we were both laid low by food poisoning that night. Since then, we go to restaurants. Dishwashing is not a problem. We use paper plates on those few occasions when plates are necessary.

And finally, the curtains are finished and a spirited discussion has arisen about throw pillows.

Throw pillows? Please tell me there is a Coast Guard rule prohibiting throw pillows....

Routes to Southport

I know people who look upon coastal cruising as just another boat trip. They load up the boat with ice, food and beverages, trailer off to the water, splash the boat and have fun. While that approach may work for some, it won't for me.

I have to know where I'm going, when I'm leaving and returning, and most of what is to happen in between. You may call that obsessive. I call it prudent. I still have fun.

My friend Major and I are going to Southport, NC, late next month. Generally, the plan is to trailer Ms. Bettencourt to Georgetown, SC, then proceed up the Atlantic Intracoastal
Waterway in a northeasterly direction. The round trip will take at least several days. We'll be getting together next week to firm up specifics.

Meanwhile, I have been acquiring charts and messing around with GPS routes. Ms. Bettencourt has a Garmin 546s chart plotter and I use Garmin BlueChart and Garmin Homeport software on a PC to plot routes for our trips.

I have set up an older PC with the navigation software and a 12-volt power supply for the chartplotter in one corner of an office in our home. I keep my charts, files, cruising guides and other stuff nearby. The resulting accumulation has turned into a very useful "navigation station."

Here's the setup. If you click to enlarge the photo you will probably be able to see the routes for the Southport cruise on the PC monitor with the waypoints mirrored on the chartplotter.








So far, this work has produced four route segments. I broke the journey into four pieces, based on factors such as estimated departure time, tides, currents and potentially interesting places to stop.

The following table comes from routes data calculated by the software. It should provide a handy guide, both as we make planning decisions and after we get on the water.

Trip segment		Distance (nm)		Time (hours)
Georgetown-Osprey Marina		23.8		3.5
Osprey-Myrtle Beach		12.2		1.8
Myrtle-Bellamy's F.C.		31.1		4.5
Bellamy's-Southport		12		1.8
TL nautical miles		79.1
TL on-water hours				11.6

A lot of decision making and fine tuning remains to be done, but this is the way I usually get started planning for a cruise.

I would be very interested to learn how other cruisers approach their trip planning. Please share your wisdom and ideas for improvement using the comments form below.

It's curtains! (again)

Yes, another bulletin from Ms. Bettencourt about the Never-ending Curtains Project. My good friend Erena and her magic sewing machine have been astounding me weekly. As of yesterday, were were half way done. She sews.  I do what I'm told.  The three windows in the forward cabin are completed. I think they look pretty good.

Three more windows to go, all in the back cabin. We may finish this job next week.






Meanwhile, planning has begun for a cruise with my friend Major up the South Carolina coast from Georgetown to Southport, NC. We hope to set a date soon for a departure in late April or early May.

This will be one of those trips where logistics could be a concern. I am thinking now that we might trailer the boat to Georgetown, launch and leave it in the marina there. Then, we would drive the truck and trailer to a RV storage place in Southport. We would return to Georgetown in a rental car.

This could be too much hassle and expense just to avoid a return to Georgetown on the water. We may or may not do it this way, but there is time to explore the option.

Finally, please recall a post January 26 about folding print-on-demand nautical charts. I have found a place that offers NOAA print-on-demand charts folded for an extra dollar.

I ordered NOAA 11534 for the Georgetown-Southport trip. It should be here next week. Meanwhile, if you are in the market for charts, you may want to have a look here: http://www.nauticalchartsonline.com/