Fri, 11-May….to Old Port Cove For
Scheduled Maintenance
We
had excellent weather and sea forecasts for Friday, 11-May and the morning sun and light breeze seemed to
support that, so by 1000 we had departed the dock at Pier 66 Marina and were
back underway. We exited the Port
Everglades channel in light traffic and pointed Ghost Rider north, paralleling the Florida coastline about a mile
offshore.
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| Southeast Florida Departing Fort Lauderdale....but the Entire Coastline Pretty Much Looks the Same All the Way to Palm Beach |
Temperatures
hovered in the upper 70’s with a northeast breeze around 10 knots, making the
humidity quite tolerable. Sea conditions
were nearly ideal – a light wind chop on top of a small swell at pleasant
intervals, so the ride was excellent. Those conditions brought out quite a few
other boats, especially the local fishermen along the numerous fish havens
located in this area, but only occasional evasive action was required. We
handled the helm from the perch on the fly bridge the entire day, averaging about 8 knots of ground speed.
At
1530 we entered the Lake Worth Inlet in calm waters, joined the ICW and
followed it five miles north, arriving at Old Port Cover Marina in North Palm
Beach at 1605. Rick pulled Ghost Rider
bow first into her assigned slip, where she would be staying for about the next
month for her annual service call at Yacht Tech. For an idea of what that consists of, see our
summarized punch lists below.
As predicted, the weather went to hell in a hurry shortly after arrival. A combination of an upper level trof, a Bahamian high pressure center, and a developing low in the eastern Gulf of Mexico quickly led to a massive area of precipitation that smothered the Florida peninsula and most of the western Bahamas in squalls. So while we had to cut our Bahama cruise short by a few days, we were content that we had made a good decision to return when we did.
As predicted, the weather went to hell in a hurry shortly after arrival. A combination of an upper level trof, a Bahamian high pressure center, and a developing low in the eastern Gulf of Mexico quickly led to a massive area of precipitation that smothered the Florida peninsula and most of the western Bahamas in squalls. So while we had to cut our Bahama cruise short by a few days, we were content that we had made a good decision to return when we did.
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| Ghost Rider Tucked Back into OPC Marina....if the Shot Looks Familiar, It Should....We're in the Exact Same Slip as Last Time |
Thus concludes our Bahamas adventure for this year. We covered 527 nautical miles in the 34 days
since we had departed OPC back on 08-April, consuming approximately 420 gallons
of diesel fuel along the way (still leaving 900 gallons in the tanks....with the generator accounting for a good portion of
the fuel burn.) From Grand Bahama,
through the Abacos, the Berrys and Bimini we visited 12 different islands,
including 11 anchorages and 4 marina stops.
Overall it was an excellent experience and enjoyable journey, making for
a very thorough shakedown cruise, and helping us get to know our Nordhavn that
much better. Weather challenges intervened
a bit too often for our tastes, but we still made the most of the opportunities
we had along the way. And we will likely
return next year – at some point we want to visit Eleuthera, The Exumas and
Andros.
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| There is a Lot More to See in the Bahamas....Hopefully Next Year |
We
also gained more insights into proper provisioning for food and supplies as well as
spare parts. Chelle did a fabulous job
stocking the boat and galley with all our food and drink needs, and usually found the expected local
opportunities along the way to replenish certain fresh foods. Mechanical spares and fluids were over-stocked
in most cases (no worries, they eventually will get used), the main exception
being some repair parts for the Racor water separator fuel filters. Towards the end we did run short of fruit
juices needed for the Goombay Ghosts, but who could have predicted that new
development?
The
boat itself did very well. From the mechanical
propulsion and electrical generation perspectives it was nearly perfect. The “boat business” issues we did encounter
were relatively minor and certainly did not impact the journey or the schedule.
Boat Business: The Punch List
Nevertheless,
after a long cruise, the vast majority of it in areas with little or no boat
services available, it’s typical to develop a list of things that require
attention – some by experienced pros, others that we can attack ourselves; some
qualify as routine or scheduled, others as repairs.
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| Rick Placed Aluminum Baking Pans Under the Main Engine's Oil Pan to Measure Loss Rate and Cut Down on Absorbent Pad Use |
Our
list for the pros includes: address main engine oil pan leak (again…warranty
item); replacing the wing engine transmission’s torsion coupling (old age);
repitching the main prop so we can attain the rated RPM at WOT (on the list since we bought the boat); replacing the
main shaft’s cutless bearing (old age); bottom paint and zincs (a below the water
line bi-annual event); coolant flush and valve adjustment for the generator
(every 600 hours); and install a new sonar unit for the dinghy (the old one is
dead).
The
list for ourselves includes: restocking
some spare parts and supplies – filters,
light bulbs, shop towels, engine oil, that sort of stuff; ditto for
re-provisioning the galley; remove, clean and reinstall the generator’s starter/solenoid
cables (previously tightened when the genset wouldn’t start, just a precaution);
take an oil analysis sample from the generator (a good periodic practice to be sure the engine internals don’t have developing issues); remove &
replace the generator’s water pump impeller (another periodic maintenance task);
change the oil on the wing engine (done annually); seal a rain water leak in
the radar arch (an old cable hole requires re-caulking); repair a
fraying ground wire on the wind instrument in the pilot house (new discovery); replace the leaking Racor filter water drain (and get at least one spare
to carry, we don’t like fuel leaks); replace or repair the clam
shell seals in the toilets (old age).
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| A Large Baggie Over the Search Light Seems to Have Halted Its Rain Water Leak....Not Elegant, but Effective. Poor Housing Design. |
We’ll
be able to attack some of these items in the coming week before we leave
Florida for some dirt-dwelling time with family. But we won’t
be able to get the boat hauled out for paint and prop work until the end of May
– apparently it’s a busy time of year for the local boatyards – so that’s why
we’ll have the boat here for close to a month before we sortie again.
In
the meantime we are looking forward to spending some time with Chelle’s family
in Oklahoma City for our nephew’s graduation; followed by Rick’s family in the
Lake of the Ozarks for some inland boating with the kids and grandkids, and then in St. Louis for more
family time and an annual charity event. When we return to the boat in early June we’ll have an update on all the
boat business action items, along with a better idea as to when we’ll be
departing for our east coast cruising this year.
