December 2017: Hanging Out in Fort Myers

DECEMBER UPDATE

In the past we have mentioned that “BOAT” is actually an acronym that stands for “Break Out Another Thousand”, and thus we’ve talked about spending in increments of “Boat Units” rather than dollars.  Lately we are considering the acronym may also represent “Broken Or About To (be).” 

As we sought some dates early in the month for our sea trial we had to settle for a single three hour river run in advance of a cold front that was bringing significant winds and generally unpleasant weather to our part of the Florida peninsula.  (We’ve gotten accustomed to lousy and untimely weather patterns in 2017….and hoping that 2018 will be different.)  The results of that three hour test flight were a mixed bag:

The Good:

• The main engine shaft/prop vibration was gone; very smooth at all RPM following the removal of the tangled crab pot line.
• The Naiad stabilizers appeared to be ops normal; a river run isn’t a great stress test, but the fins were active and effective in the few boat wakes we encountered.
• The main engine oil pan leak also appeared to be under control; after 3 hours Rick noticed only a small seep on the right side of the pan gasket, so he put some more torque on those bolts.

 The Bad:

• The engine-driven hydraulic pump for the Naiad stabilizers was still leaking grease through its aft seal even after torquing down the rear housing’s attaching bolts.
• The Furuno chart plotter in the pilot house was showing the boat’s position as somewhere in the Atlantic off the coast of Miami….although we were in the Caloosahatchee River on the west coast of Florida.  WTF.
• The damned stuffing box on the main engine shaft was showing signs of overheating again after just an hour underway…up to 133F.  WTF times two.

 The Ugly:

• The dishwasher sprung a leak….we had (lots of) water on the galley floor and under / in the galley cabinets.  (Love our wet/dry shop vac.) 

The New Gasket Should Fix This Grease Leak

The continuance of the hydraulic pump grease leak wasn’t a real shock.  Since we had previously ordered a replacement gasket for the rear housing, once back at the dock Rick replaced that in short order without drama….although it will require a more extended sea trial to ultimately verify the fix.

That the pilot house Furuno chart plotter seemed hopelessly lost – we were about 200 miles west of where it showed our position, and the heading was at least 90 degrees off as well – was initially a real head scratcher.  As it turns out (and this took some sleuthing) somehow the Furuno’s MFD default settings had gotten all whacked out and its “Demo Mode” had been switched on; turning that off returned sanity and accuracy to the display.

No Quicker Way to Get Navigationally Disoriented Than
Accidentally Getting into "Demo Mode"

As for the damned stuffing box temps….grrrr.  We had fought this battle for two months earlier in the year, and thought we had it solved after good behavior during the week long sortie from Palm Beach to Fort Myers.  Guess not.  Rick spent over an hour in the engine room on this last sea trial trying to get it back under control.  Ultimately we got the temp down from 133F to 106F (at SST’s under 80F) by drastically loosening the box’s follower collar while underway (while Chelle ran the boat on the wing engine), but most assuredly something was still amiss. 

Once back at the dock Rick disassembled and repacked the stuffing box yet again, but this time using the Gore GFO packing material instead of the traditional PTFE (Teflon) rings.  We had used GFO previously with success on our N47 to solve a similar issue, so we figured it was worth another try.  This material isn’t without controversy – it’s expensive, and contains graphite, which is quite high on the galvanic nobility scale: don’t even think about using it on a bronze propeller shaft, unless you want to watch your shaft melt away as a sacrificial anode.  But it’s as slippery as duck guts on a door knob, and the Aquamet stainless steel shaft on Ghost Rider theoretically should hold up to it.

Tearing Apart the Stuffing Box Again

Stuffing box surgery is always a bit dicey while the boat is still in the water (recall our in-water shaft realignment?) because removing the follower collar and packing rings will get you get plenty of sea water into the bilge unless you work quickly.  (If anyone ever invents a seacock for shaft water flow, we will buy it.)  Unfortunately the Gore 3/8” packing size was too small – even with four rings inserted we could not adequately stem the water flow.  Next we tried the Gore 7/16” size and found that too big to fit the groove.  So we reverted back to the original packing yet again – it actually looked to be in good shape, water flow and alignment looked good as well.  We are guessing that the crab pot tangle may have had an impact – either the vibration itself, or perhaps some debris ingestion into the shaft gland (hopefully now flushed out.)  We’ll know more after the next sea trial.

The dishwasher leak turned out to be relatively simple to locate – once the lower access panels were removed we could see water leaking (at an alarming rate) from one of the pan gaskets for the heating element; its attaching nut was a flimsy affair with a crack in it and consequently quite loose.  Obtaining the replacement part took a couple weeks, but once it arrived the fix was straightforward, and Chelle is once again happy with the galley.

The New Furuno BBWX3 SiriusXM Weather Receiver

Being somewhat masochistic, we also decided to tackle a new project while all this was going on: installing SiriusXM weather functionality for the Furuno navigation system.  We’ve had that (or WxWorx which is very similar) on the last few boats and have found it extremely valuable to have near real time weather graphics overlaid on the chartplotter…especially during summertime cruising when we want to detect frontal and/or thunderstorm activity beyond the range of the boat’s radar.  When combined with the GRIB file capabilities already onboard, the SiriusXM functionality would round out our meteorology tools nicely.  Furuno uses a black box called the “BBWX3” to interface the SiriusXM weather antenna to its network and MFDs, so we purchased one of those, and Rick spent a few deliberate hours getting it installed.  That installation is fairly straightforward – just mount securely with a few screws, hook into a 12V power tap, run the Ethernet cable to the hub, and then attach the Shakespeare SRA-50 antenna cable; lastly power it up and activate the Sirius weather account.  Simple, right?

New Network Switch Sitting Atop the Old Furuno Hub

Not so much.  After four days of post-installation troubleshooting we still were not receiving any weather data.  Only after bypassing the Furuno hub and connecting the weather unit’s Ethernet cable directly to the MFD did we get weather data to display.  A call with Furuno tech support revealed they were aware of a problem with their Ethernet hub, and they suggested we remove and send that unit to them (out on the west coast) for an update of some kind.  With five other Cat-5 cables plugged into that thing we weren’t too keen about crippling our nav network, so Rick substituted a standard 8 port desktop switch for about $25 – and that seems to work quite well so far.  That Furuno hub is for now just a backup spare – although we can buy about 13 Cisco switches for what Furuno charges for one of their hubs.  

Finally...a Weather Display That Works.

We sacrifice what is known as “power synchronization” (turning all other Furuno devices on or off with a single switch) but that’s a feature we weren’t using anyway.  All that's left to do there is test network speeds to be sure we have not accidentally introduced any performance issues.

Finally, Rick also managed to finally find and install a replacement battery temperature sensor (BTS) for our legacy Xantrex charger / inverter unit.  That will enable us to re-test the LinkPro battery gauge setup with and without the automatic charge relays engaged, and get more definitive about the cause of the LinkPro undercharge readings.

Scott, Kaitlin, Kelly & Riley in Party Mode on Ghost Rider

Despite all of that "boat business" we've still been enjoying the occasional time on the boat during our dirt-dwelling months at the condo.  We recently had the pleasure of hosting good friend Scott Schatzle and his young family for a fun evening aboard Ghost Rider (Sangria for the adults, reindeer cupcakes for the kids!)  Riley, at just 7 years, seems to be a budding engineer and kept Rick busy with some pretty penetrating questions about the boat's systems.  Perhaps she should examine our stuffing box.

And now it's time for some Christmas relaxation and fun. As has become our tradition, we are hosting Chelle's family for the holidays and finally enjoying some very pleasant weather in south Florida....plenty good enough for a 4 hour fishing charter the other day that netted us a tasty haul of Redfish and Spotted Seatrout for dinner.

We hope y'all have a blessed Christmas, fun holidays and an excellent New Year.

November 2017: St. Louis and Fort Myers

LATE NOVEMBER UPDATE

The Granite Mural at the Missouri Military Memorial

After living on the boat for just over three months it was a nice break to get back to our home port and our condo in Fort Myers to do a little dirt-dwelling for a while.  Our side trip to Saint Louis was a welcome change of pace, giving us the opportunity to visit with friends and family there, along with the usual fun of spoiling the grandkids and attending our favorite charity fundraising event.  And per our tradition we took the opportunity to visit Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery to chat with some of our ghosts.  While there we also stopped by the nearby Military Memorial that was erected earlier this year – a moving experience for us over the Veteran’s Day weekend.

Rick & Chelle With One of Our Ghosts

After all that we returned to Fort Myers and wonderfully warm weather and enjoyed visits from Chelle’s mom (Char) and Rick’s daughter (Suzi) over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  Apparently neither Chelle nor Suzi can tolerate simple relaxation (nor football on TV) so we had a schedule that included events like wine-making at Hangar 41 (LINK HERE, stay tuned for a Ghost Rider-branded Zinfandel) and line dancing lessons at a saloon called “The Ranch” (LINK HERE.) Thankfully for Rick they had a well-stocked bar, and our Cowboy Dan would have loved this place...reminiscent of Billy Bob's in Fort Worth.  And then there was the bike ride to view the sand sculpting competition on Fort Myers Beach….a round trip of 22 miles (insert panting sounds here….the incline of the Matanzas Bridge is steeper than we remembered.)

View from Atop the Matanzas Bridge.  The Climb to the Top Didn't Result
in Any Cardiac Episodes, So We Continued the Ride to the Sand Sculpting.

One of the Many Sand Sculptures on Fort Myers Beach...Amazing.

LATEST BOAT BUSINESS

Of course we also continued to work on boat projects after our return to Fort Myers.  The shaft vibration turned out to be a simple fix….we hired a diver for the standard monthly bottom cleaning and in the process he found and removed a tangled mess of black polypropylene crab pot line from the prop.  We thought we had done a pretty good job of dodging the numerous pots that dot the waters around the Keys, but perhaps not; we are guessing that we tangled with one that had been orphaned during Hurricane Irma’s passage.

The Diver Pulled This Tangled Mess of Crab Pot Line Off of the Prop.  Our
Shaft Line Cutter Probably Minimized the Impacts.

We were able to partially resolve the stabilizer issue on our own – we had the diver manually move the port side fin which appeared to be stuck or at least difficult to move, and after that we got normal pressure readings on the gyro and system gauges.  But there was a faint clunking sound when the fins moved. So we had Stabilized Marine (based out of Fort Lauderdale, LINK HERE) make a visit to perform a thorough system health check.  They made some deflection and centering adjustments to the port fin via the gyro, and replaced one o-ring, but other than that the system was pronounced healthy.  The grease leak on the hydraulic pump appears to require a new backing gasket which we’ve got on order, although we are hoping that just tightening the supporting bolts may do the trick....we'll see.

Our Big Lovely Lugger Running a Bit Naked - We Removed the  Safety
Shield & Belt Guards for Better Access Low & Forward.

As for the main engine oil leak our diagnosis pointed to the oil pan gasket, and when James (Yacht Tech, LINK HERE) visited on 30-Nov he concluded the same.  We (again meaning mostly James) removed the safety shield and belt guards from the front of the engine giving us unfettered access to the oil pan bolts, and re-torqued all of them.  After about 90 minutes of running time we saw no more leaks, but an extended sea trial (to be scheduled soon) is required to verify.

A New "Hat" for Ghost Rider -- a Navy Blue Sunbrella Bimini Top
to Replace the Old Wind-Ravaged White One.

At about the same time we made another, mostly cosmetic, improvement to Ghost Rider, by replacing her old and weathered fly bridge Bimini top.  After one hurricane and several tropical storms, the original had developed some serious scars (holes) so we had a replacement top custom fabricated in Sunbrella navy (using beefy Tenera thread for its zippered seams) by Atlantic Marine Canvas (LINK HERE).  We had to install it ourselves since we had ordered /measured it while back in Palm Beach and they had shipped it to us once completed, but it fit like a glove.

Now as for that sea trial....we have been dirt-dwelling for over three weeks and Ghost Rider needs some exercise, so we'll be looking for a window in the near future for some nearby coastal cruising and anchoring exercises.  After that we should have a much better idea of how close Ghost Rider is to ops normal.

November 2017: Back to Fort Myers

LATE OCTOBER / EARLY NOVEMBER UPDATE

While we were waiting out yet another tropical system (Phillipe) at Old Port Cove in North Palm Beach, we used that time to solve the remaining major maintenance concerns.

Another Damned Tropical Storm (Phillipe)

The LinkPro battery monitor issue turned out to be related mostly to an automatic charging relay (ACR) that was installed by a previous owner when the backup battery charger was also added.  There are actually two ACRs – one for the wing & generator start battery, and a second for the two main engine start batts; it appears the former is wired in a fashion that confuses the LinkPro gauge calculus….so Rick disconnected that.  We still have the old fashioned manual parallel switches (which we prefer anyway) so no real functionality is lost.  Rick also suspects the original charger’s temperature compensation probe is a bit off, so that, too, is disconnected while we test further.  But at least we appear to have a solid battery gauge now.

We also managed to solve the overheating stuffing box for the main engine’ shaft; it required another sea trial sortie with Rick playing with packing adjustments for about another hour, but it’s running a lot cooler now, staying within 20 degrees of the ambient water temp and with a reasonable drip rate.

Our InReach Track Around South Florida

Lastly the annoying coolant overflow on the main engine has finally gone away – we are fairly sure whoever last serviced the cooling system overfilled it and the engine just had to puke out the excess.  We’re keeping a catch bottle at the end of the overflow tube and monitoring just in case.

So it was time to toss off the lines and start a serious shakedown cruise.  By the time Phillipe trucked past by us and the winds died to tolerable levels it was Monday, 30-October….we sortied Ghost Rider out of Old Port Cove Marina (after a big thank you to James Knight and his Yacht Tech gang) at 0800 that morning.  The usual diary of each day’s events follows, and our InReach track for the journey is HERE.

MONDAY 30-OCT

Our first leg was south, down the east coast of Florida to the Hollywood area just south of Fort Lauderdale.  It was a cool but pleasant day, with light following seas running on the outside and Ghost Rider ran well.  Typically we like to RON at the Pier 66 Marina when in the Lauderdale area but they were full up with the upcoming FLIBS, so we opted for Suntex Marina a few miles south down the ICW, where I think we took their last available slip.

Chelle at the Pilot House Helm on Day One

We managed to time our arrival at each of the three bridges we had to traverse such that we had minimal wait times on final approach (pure luck) and arrived Suntex at 1630.  Our assigned slip was a tight fit but we managed to stern in without hitting anything….although the owner / captain of the lengthy sailboat on our port side sure was attentive and looking worried as we reversed in.

A Tight Fit at Suntex Marina in Hollywood, Florida

It was an uneventful leg and a peaceful night.

TUESDAY 31-OCT

We departed a bit earlier the next morning as we had a long run to Tavernier Key where we planned to drop the hook, and we wanted to get that accomplished in daylight.  Se we were underway at 0800 and fortunately we didn’t have to wait on either of the two low bridges….we were able to squeeze under them by lowering the two taller VHF antennae.  (Observation about east coast bridge tenders:  irascibility must be a job requirement.)  Then we negotiated a third (fixed) bridge at Bakers Haulover Inlet -- where the current absolutely rips -- also with antennae down and without any drama.

After that the run down the coast on the outside was again very pleasant and uneventful, and we managed to set the anchor on the first shot without bumping bottom in Tavernier’s shallow bay.  We had just a little current along with a consistently fresh breeze out of the northeast, and the boat barely moved a few feet throughout the night.

Ghost Rider Entering the Inlet at Stock Island....Photo Courtesy of Dan Clark

WEDNESDAY 01-NOVEMBER

We had another lengthy run to the next day as we wanted to make it all the way to Key West – all the facilities at Marathon that could normally accommodate our draft were still rebuilding from Hurricane Irma’s aftermath, and we didn’t (yet) want to anchor out on consecutive nights.  The wind and seas picked up a bit (15-20K and 3-4 feet) but it was still quite comfy out there since both were on the stern and the autopilot handled it well.

When we pulled into the Stock Island Marina channel Dan & Cher Clark were there to greet us.  They had driven down from Punta Gorda so they could join us for the final few days of cruising back to Fort Myers.  Dan even got a good photo as Ghost Rider entered the marina basin.  The brisk north wind required corrective attention as we backed into our slip, but the fairway and slip were wide enough that we avoided any excitement and stuck the landing.

We got Ghost Rider all tucked away for the evening, and we then enjoyed cocktails and dinner aboard the boat with Dan and Cher.

Chelle, Cher & Dan for Cher's Birthday Brunch

THURSDAY 02-NOVEMBER

After hosing down the boat and topping off our water tanks, we took the rest of the day off on Thursday to celebrate Cher’s birthday.  We had an excellent brunch at Sarabeth’s restaurant, and then headed over to Sloppy Joe’s bar for a round of celebratory Bloody Mary’s.  That evening we dined at The Hogfish Grill and then retired to Ghost Rider’s fly bridge for dessert and drinks, continuing the birthday party for Cher.

While the general Key West area looked to be in pretty good shape after the pounding they took from Irma, the crowds were noticeably smaller than what we are used to seeing there, particularly on the normally vibrant Duval Street.  Everyone we spoke with commented on how slow business had been since the storm.  Hopefully it will pick up soon.

We were also fortunate to get a close up look at the sailing vessel When and If -- which belonged to General George S. Patton; and we also had a long chat with its crew, who are in the process of lovingly restoring her.  See pic sat the bottom of this blog entry and this WEB SITE.

Fun at Sloppy Joe's in Key West

FRIDAY 03-NOVEMBER

We got an early start on Friday and just before 0800 sortied out of Stock Island, around Key West and up the Northwest Channel to Florida Bay, then headed northeast towards the Little Shark River.  Winds were brisk out of the northeast near 20 mph and the bay was stirred up, presenting us with square 3 foot waves at short intervals on the nose.  The bulbous bow on Ghost Rider would occasionally pound on the rebound, and we took plenty of spray, but still the ride was generally comfortable in the pilot house.  The main challenge was dodging the crab pots, which were numerous – stone crab season is from October to May in south Florida.  But Dan helped us out by taking several of the helm shifts.

Other than that the weather was very nice – low 80’s and reasonable humidity once again, making for a pleasant day cruise.  Despite the choppy water we made good speed, averaging close to 9 knots, and we arrived at the mouth of the Little Shark River around 1700.  However, at that point it looked like we were joining a parade....there were several other vessels entering the mouth of the river, making our intended anchorage a tad too crowded for our tastes.  So we dropped the hook about a mile offshore just south of the river where depths seemed acceptable and at least one Active Captain review indicated good holding.  Just to be safe, though, we let out nearly 200 feet of chain.   It was humid, and while the bugs were not horrible, there were enough in the area that we decided to run the genset and A/C all night and kept the boat closed up.  Our 100 pound Manson Supreme anchor held just fine in the 15K NNE wind, and other than some occasional small rollers throughout the night, it was another peaceful night.

Dan & Cher at the Helm Dodging Florida Bay Crab Pots....Lots of Them

SATURDAY 04-NOVEMBER

We weren’t in a big rush the next morning since the planned route from Little Shark River to Marco Island (Factory Bay) was fairly short – about 7 hours if the current didn’t kick up too much.  We had the anchor up and stowed by 0845 (right at low tide, giving us an indicated 1 foot of depth under the keel.  We would have liked more, but we didn’t touch bottom.

After Chelle got us established on our route to the northwest she turned the helm over to Cher, who capably weaved us through several more mine fields of crab pots.  After a few miles we finally saw more than 3 feet under the keel, although we did not see more than 20 feet until we got near Cape Romano Shoals – typical southwest Florida water.  Air temperature initially hovered in the 70’s while the wind stayed steady at 15 knots from the northeast giving us some chop to muddle through the first half of the day; by early afternoon it was in the low 80’s with ample sunshine and the wind died off, making for a very smooth ride.  That enabled some quality fly bridge time for everyone.

Cher at the Helm & Chelle Giving Guidance

We steered Ghost Rider into Marco Island’s Capri Pass around 1630 and arrived at the Factory Bay Marina about 15 minutes later.  Chelle took the helm for docking alongside on a t-head this time and did a fine job as usual.  After that we spent some time giving Ghost Rider a much needed bath – she was as salty as a pretzel after two days away from dockside water.  After we and the boat got cleaned up we took Dan and Cher to one of our favorite restaurants, Old Marco Pub, just a short walk from the marina – the food was as good as we remembered from our last visit.

SUNDAY 05-NOVEMBER

With just a short leg to Fort Myers (7 hours) and the change from DST we decided not to set an alarm, and as it turned out all four of us awoke way too early anyway.  We didn’t rush the departure, waiting until 0830 to get underway.  It was a perfect day with clear blue skies, pleasant temps (low 80’s by afternoon), and nearly flat seas. 

Cher & Chelle Playing Rummicube with Dan at the FB Helm

The calm sea conditions were a really good thing as Ghost Rider’s Naiad stabilizer system crapped out early in the sortie.  No matter what we tried we couldn’t get either actuator to work; after reading the manual and trying several different fixes we just gave up after a couple of hours, pinned the fins and turned the system off.  We’ll add it to our new punch list.

As we did the previous two days we rotated helm duties among Chelle, Cher, Dan and Rick, with the entire leg being comfortably piloted from the fly bridge.  We made our way up the coast past Naples and Fort Myers Beach, and finally into the Caloosahatchee River and into Fort Myers and Legacy Harbour Marina by 1530.  Our new home port slip is in a tight corner way the hell out on “D” dock, practically a different zip code from the marina office, but it’s quiet and comfy and good to be back home for a while.

Ghost Rider Back at Legacy Harbour Marina in Fort Myers

We bid adieu to Dan and Cher as they were anxious to get back to their Punta Gorda home, then gave Ghost Rider another bath, and then called it a day.

WRAPPING UP

It was great to get Ghost Rider out into big water and cruise her for a full week. Even better, we got the opportunity to enjoy Dan & Cher’s company for the last four days, while (finally) cruising our little ship to her home port in Fort Myers.

Now we’ll be taking a break from the boat, packing up and heading to the St. Louis area to visit with family for a week.  We’ll then return to Fort Myers to tend to boat business as well as more family fun over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.   The Bahamas are on the radar some time after that.

BOAT BUSINESS

In spite of the stabilizer issue generally the boat and its systems performed well during our week-long shakedown cruise. But as usual we added a few things to the punch list:

·        On the final part of the leg into Key West we noticed a shaft vibration on the main engine….it was mild at normal cruise (1450-1500 RPM) but definitely got worse as the engine revved up to WOT.  We checked motor mounts, shaft coupling bolts and stuffing box, but could find nothing out of whack there.  We’ll have a diver inspect the bottom and running gear while at Legacy Harbour to what that may reveal.

·        The hydraulic pump for the stabilizer system developed what appears to be a melted grease leak that we’re monitoring.

·        The main engine has been dripping motor oil from or near the front of the oil pan gasket; some drips from a continuous duty diesel are to be expected, but we’ll be monitoring for any trend.

·        We noticed some discolored fuel in the bottom of the wing engine’s Racor bowl that Rick drained – it looked suspiciously like algae (and that filter assembly had earlier been removed, disassembled and cleaned for that reason.)  None of the other Racors had any such evidence.  Requires investigation.

·        On our last leg from Marco Island to Fort Myers the Naiad stabilizer system crapped out; we’ll need to engage some pros to figure out that one.

General Patton's When and If Sailing Yacht at Stock Island Marina in Key West

The Gorgeous When and If Sailing Yacht

Mid October 2017: More Boat Business

ANOTHER OCTOBER UPDATE

As we were keeping a careful watch on Hurricane Nate’s path we had some time (and finally some pleasant weather) this past week to focus on a few remaining maintenance and repair items.  And as usual those work efforts led to more interesting “discoveries”.

Batt Charger Mounted Directly  on the Engine Room Wall

As part of troubleshooting our LinkPro battery monitor mystery we went back to tracing more potential grounding issues; and while James was staring at our second battery charger it suddenly occurred to us the thing had multiple grounds – there was its standard and required grounding post, but it was also screwed directly into the engine room’s metal clad wall.  Apparently that’s a no-no in a Nordhavn since that cladding is connected to the boat’s bonding system ground.  We rectified that by fashioning a starboard mounting plate to place between the charger and the wall.  That does not completely solve the LinkPro issues, but it is one less variable removed from the equation.

Batt Charger Remounted on a
Starboard Backing Plate

Next we went to work sea trialing the latest stuffing box adjustments for the main engine’s propeller shaft, with Chelle doing all the helm work while the guys hung out in the engine room.  But unfortunately the sortie revealed little to no progress – even removing one of the three packing rings to obtain an obscene amount of raw water flow gave no temperature improvements.  While Rick was shooting the thing with the infrared temperature gun he noticed an odd discrepancy – the temp at the front of the collar was around 8 degrees hotter than the reading at the back of the collar….only 3 inches away.  That had to mean a misalignment producing more shaft friction at one end vs. the other.  A closer examination of the shaft’s stern tube coupling hose revealed it wasn’t quite straight, nor was the propeller shaft’s entry into the stuffing box.  And the shaft’s coupling at the business end of the transmission wasn’t quite flush either.  Uh-oh.

We returned to the dock, with Chelle at the helm for a challenging docking exercise, and then attacked the problem again the following day (a Sunday).  After James noodled on it a while we decided to try (a) removing the stuffing box follower / collar and the shaft’s stern tube hose, rotating the latter, while also (b) adjusting the engine mounts to achieve a more aligned shaft coupling arrangement…all without hauling the boat out of the water.  That isn’t nearly as simple as it sounds.  It requires some really big wrenches to handle the torqueing requirements of the shaft coupling and motor mounts on a 3800 pound diesel engine; and it seriously tests the efficiency of your bilge pump (lots of water coming in along the shaft through the stuffing box.) 

James:  You got a good bilge pump?

Rick:  Your guys installed it, you tell me.

James:  What’s the depth here?

Rick:  Maybe 3 to 4 feet under the keel.

James:  So we wouldn’t sink very much.

James in the Background Working on the Stuffing Box; Jay in the Foreground
Working on the Motor Mount Readjustments

It took James, Jay and Rick several hours to get all that done (the bilge pump kept up), then we headed out for another hour of sea trialing.  We saw a 17 degree drop vs. the previous day’s measurements with no temperature variations across the follower / collar.  While only one hour of running time isn’t a particularly thorough test, it did involve runs at wide open throttle and there was no vibration….so it was very promising.  We want to improve the temps a bit more after letting the packing rings set in, but it tells us we may finally be on the right path.

James with His Head in the Bilge Working on the Stuffing
Box and Shaft Realignment

We also still have an intermittent and annoying coolant overflow on the main engine, even with a new pressure cap installed.  We’re going to replace the expansion tank’s neck assembly next to insure the new cap has a tight seal.  Unfortunately that’s a special order part that is being shipped from Seattle, so it will be several more days before we can replace and test that.

On the social front Chelle has been able to squeeze in a couple more rounds of golf, and we enjoyed a wonderful overnight visit from Chelle's mum, Charmaine, who has returned to her winter home in central Florida.  She also allowed us to take her out to dinner at the Sandpiper to celebrate her birthday, which was great fun.

As for the weather: Hurricane Nate moved well to the west and north of us and is currently soaking the northeast U.S., which left us a few days of mercifully dry and calm weather for our latest sea trial outings.  While Hurricane Ophelia - now downgraded to a tropical storm - is spinning way out in the middle of the Atlantic, it is a non-factor for us given its distance and direction.  But there is yet another low pressure system to the east of the Bahamas beginning to slowly spool up to and will be headed this way.  While some models develop that into another tropical system, it doesn’t look all that likely to encounter favorable development conditions.  Still, its predicted path will bring some wind and rain to south Florida late in the coming week….so we’ll continue to hang out here for a while longer, with our focus on conquering the remaining maintenance items.

That Low Pressure Trough East of the Bahamas Will Head
Our Way and Trash Out Our Weather Later This Week.

It’s looking more and more likely that when we finally do cast off we’ll be heading south from here, down the Keys and then up the west coast of Florida….back to Fort Myers and Legacy Harbour Marina.

Rick Sweating Away in the Lazarette Servicing the AC Strainer Basket. We
Discovered That's Required at Least Weekly Given the Rate of Slime and
Barnacle Growth in These Warm Tropical Waters.

We Also Mounted a New U.S. Flag on Ghost Rider and a Solar Light to Keep
Old Glory Lighted at Night.  The Old One Was Pretty Tattered & Weathered. 
And No, It Had Nothing To Do with the NFL or Pinhead POTUS Comments. 
We Respectfully Retired the Previous Flag per Accepted Protocol.

But This Is Still the Most Important Flag on the Boat.  It Goes
Wherever We and Our Ghosts Go.

October 2017: Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

EARLY OCTOBER

Nuts.  It’s October and we are still at Old Port Cove Marina. And it is still hurricane season.  Just as we were thinking we had the boat nearly ready to cruise and would also see a break in the weather, neither has turned out to be true.

No Sense in Heading North Given This Model Plot

As for the “boat stuff”, we still appear to have a too-warm stuffing box that requires more attention and sea trialing, and we have not yet figured out the LinkPro (battery monitor) accuracy issue.  The water seepage at the front of the engine room is also still under investigation – although that does not appear to be originating with the main engine’s raw water cooling loop as previously thought.  That’s good, but more sleuthing is required.

As for the weather, Invest 99 set up over Florida this past weekend, with the east coast forecast going downhill for the coming week. And the NWS began expressing concerns about tropical development closer to home (Caribbean) after all that passes.  So with the rain, wind and wave forecasts looking bleak, and a few priority punch list items being annoyingly persistent, we are staying close to the dock for at least another week or so.

We did manage to take on a load of fuel last week (816 gallons of diesel) as part of our latest sea trial sortie, and Chelle also got some stick time at Ghost Rider’s fly bridge helm for a healthy dose of close quarters maneuvering practice.  (She hasn’t lost her touch.)  We also took care of several late-breaking “discoveries” – replacing the sea strainer baskets for the main engine raw water intakes (big holes), same for the air conditioner strainer (its basket literally had to be chiseled out of its housing), and also changed the generator’s secondary fuel filter (perhaps the cause for recent surges / dropouts….apparently it had not been changed in recent memory.)

Ghost Rider in Her New Berth in the OPC North Basin

With the decision made to hang out in North Palm Beach a while longer, this past weekend we drove back over to Fort Myers and picked up our own vehicle, returning the rental car back to Enterprise; when we do cruise out of here we’ll leave our car with friends on this coast and figure out a retrieval plan later.  We also moved Ghost Rider over to Old Port Cove’s north basin – James offered us an unused and a nicely-priced maintenance slip there; definitely helps with cost control.

Winds & Whitecaps Kicking Up...Added Lines & Strapped Down the E-bike

Today (03-Oct) The wind is currently cranking at 25-30 out of the east, we have whitecaps inside the marina basin, it’s raining sideways, and the boat’s Bimini top is acting like it wants to be a parasail.  We’ve doubled up on a few lines and strapped Chelle’s new e-bike to the dock.  It looks like a good evening to hang out in the salon and watch the MLB playoffs.

In one of Jimmy Buffett’s best songs, “Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season”, he wrote:

Squalls out on the gulf stream,
Big storms coming soon.
I passed out in my hammock,
God, I slept way past noon.
Stood up and tried to focus,
I hoped I wouldn't have to look far.
I knew I could use a Bloody Mary,
So I stumbled next door to the bar.

And that is sounding more and more like an excellent plan for tomorrow.

Chelle Serving Up Port Wine Cheese & Crackers for the Big Game

Mid September 2017: Back to Boat Business

THROUGH 17-SEP

Ghost Rider in the Foreground Approaching the PGA Bridge as We
Move from Loggerhead Marina Back to OPC Marina

What follows is the blog post we were originally composing when all hell broke loose with Hurricane Irma’s stroll up the Florida peninsula.  With that melee concluded and with Ghost Rider tucked back into her Yacht Tech slip at Old Port Cove Marina, we can return to our focus on the punch list of remediation / repair / upgrade tasks.

Looking back at what has been accomplished, we’re feeling pretty good about overall progress. We did get the main engine starter replaced (new, not rebuilt) shortly after it died a couple weeks ago. But then the following week the thruster control panel on the fly bridge developed a short that we had to manually bypass for a sea trial just before Irma rudely interrupted our refit task list.  And that had to wait until this weekend until all the post-storm movements and restorations had been completed.

As is typical of any punch list on a brokerage boat – particularly one that’s 15 years old – the items on that list are a mixed basket consisting of remediating survey items, repair needs that are discovered later, and then certain upgrades and personal preferences in how our boat is outfitted.  Here’s a sampling of what’s been accomplished thus far:

• We had 6 main engine survey items to address; all are complete, including a couple of re-welds and a transmission oil change.
• We had 2 generator survey items to address; now complete, including oil & filter changes.
• We had 7 wing engine survey items to address; all those are done, including some hose replacements, solving a troublesome salt water weep at the shaft support mounts, and repairing the wiring harness going into the hydraulic clutch.
• We had 18 general boat survey items to address; with the exception of a few cosmetic cleanup items, all of those are complete including a new bilge pump, freeing up some stiff thru-hulls, and replacing some bad GFCI outlets.
• Tamed the main engine shaft’s stuffing box temperature for now – turns out that book-recommended 7/16” packing size is too big, but with a step down to 3/8” we got the temp down to 113F in 90 degree water at WOT; still requires monitoring for extended runs.
• Plugged a rain water leak through the spotlight wiring hole (that also corroded the ST60 wind instrument, which we also cleaned up.)
• Tracked down a fresh water leak below living quarters floors (turned out to be a loose fill line going into the forward water tank).
• Replaced the leaking sump pump in the forward head.
• Replaced a leaky feedback unit on the starboard stabilizer actuator.
• Relocated the wing engine instrument panel to the eyebrow panel in the pilot house (where we could actually see it).

That Hole is Where the Wing Engine Instruments Were -- Perfect Location if
You are Two Feet Tall.

Wing Engine Panel Moved to the Eyebrow Panel - Given Its Role in Powering
Our Hydraulics, It's Important These Be Within Easy View

• Replaced a leaking main engine muffler hose and double clamped it.
• Replaced the fresh water accumulator tank (would not pressurize).
• Mounted a permanent GPS tracking device with geofencing capabilities (insurance requirement).
• Removed and shimmed the salon entry door so it wouldn’t drag / stick.
• Removed and cleaned the Racor 500 fuel filter for the wing engine to clean up old algae buildup in the bottom of the bowl.
• Installed a Linkpro battery monitor for the six house batteries.
• Replaced the hydraulic cooling pump and flushed out its discharge line.
• Replaced two defective coils on the bow and stern thrusters.
• Removed all inline hydraulic pressure gauges (each a potential failure point) with capped test ports.
• Cleaned up the bow thruster compartment – treated some surface corrosion, cleaned up traces of old hydraulic leaks.
• Replaced the LPG manifold and refilled the two tanks.
• Cleaned out several sump / bilge pump strainers (yuck) and cleaned the bilge cavity (an equally yucky job).
• Dumped the anchor chain on the dock and marked it at 25 and 50 foot intervals; also replaced the anchor with a Manson Supreme SS 100



Laying Out ALL the Anchor Chain on the Dock and Marking
Increments with Colored Zip Ties

• Repaired or replaced 4 deck courtesy lights, along with installing some new sink faucets, rugs, and assorted personalization tasks.
• Cleaned up some surface corrosion of the aft fuel tank lines.
• Replaced a faulty Aigean AN-7000 WiFi booster unit (a warranty item, yay!)
• Replaced a cracked strainer housing on the low water bilge pump that was leaking into the lazarette.
• Replaced the thruster control panel on the fly bridge….it was thoroughly corroded.
• Procured a new E-Bike for Chelle for our anniversary.

Chelle's New Folding E-Bike -- It's a Battery Powered Magnum.  Chelle
Made the Boat-Bike Storage Rack Out of PVC Pipe.

While not a comprehensive list, hopefully this gives you an idea of what’s been going on with Ghost Rider II for the past six weeks – in parallel with the provisioning of the galley, and stocking spare parts, all sorts of tools and general supplies.  Well, all that and dealing with the crazy weather.

What remains?  It is now a much shorter list, but as of 17-Sep they include installing a cover plate over the hole where the wing engine instrument panel used to be, and then troubleshooting these remaining annoyances:

• Intermittent coolant overflow from the main engine; could be just a combo of a bad pressure cap and excessive coolant level.
• When we were running on generator only during the post-Irma power outage we noticed an occasional surge & dropout of generator power; need to check voltage levels.
• The new LinkPro battery monitor gauge likely has some wiring issues….it was still showing 100% capacity after running some light loads on battery power during the Irma storm, which can’t possibly be reality.
• An intermittent and slight leak from a raw water intake cooling hose for the main engine.

We ought to be able to knock those out within the week.  Of course there is also another list of relatively minor stuff that we would attack on our own while voyaging up or down the coast.  (There will always be a “list’.) 

Ghost Rider Approaching the Entry to OPC Marina.  (Pic Taken by Paul
of Yacht Tech from the Deck of N55 Giddy-Up.)

However, we still need to exercise patience with our cruising plans and keep a close eye on the tropics.  Since we have three named storms currently spinning in the Atlantic – with Jose tracking up and near the east coast, and Maria and Lee vectoring in its wake – there really isn’t anywhere we can go right now that is very appealing.

Lastly, a side note....Chelle drove back over to Fort Myers this weekend to check out the condo and car following Irma's spin through that area.  Other than having to remove some wet carpeting from the lanai and one missing fan blade that is in some other county by now, all looked good.  We are thankful.