February 2018: Boat Biz Updates

Early February Boat Business

Main Shaft Zinc Anode....With Proper Clearance on
the Line Cutter and Cutless Bearing

While we've been anxious to get Ghost Rider out of her slip for a sea trial, Rick wanted to wait until the diver could get back to the boat and not only clean the bottom, but take photos of the zinc anode positions on both prop shafts.  That finally occurred on 06-Feb and everything below the waterline looked good.  We got a good tide later that afternoon, so we sortied out into the river and headed downstream on a lovely winter day in southwest Florida – sunny skies, moderate southeasterly breeze, with air temps in the low 80’s. 

We had a bit of a struggle backing out of our tight corner slip this time….it took Rick a few minutes to figure out the right combo of thrusting to port with a back-and-forth throttle in the breeze that was pinning us to the dock.  But we finally got out of there without kissing the dock or dinging the two boats beside and behind us.

When We Started the Sea Trial This Was the Position of the Stuffing Box's
Pusher / Follower Collar....With Inadequate Water Flow.

Eventually We Had to Back Off the Follower By a 2x Factor, Pumped It
Back & Forth, Then Reset to Its Original Position.

But within the first 30 minutes of the sortie the main shaft’s stuffing box was already above 100F in water temperatures that hovered around 72F….even at a low 1200 RPM.  Not catastrophic by any stretch, but the drip rate was insufficient and that mark was certainly above Rick’s preferred target of ambient plus 20-25 degrees.  So once again Chelle manned the helm and Rick went to work in the engine room making a series of stuffing box adjustments.  It took another 30 minutes before he got it figured out, but eventually we got to the point where the main stuffing box was holding steady at just under 92F – even at wide open throttle.  We (finally!) were able to declare victory on that item.

We did not have a lot of time to play with the wing engine’s shaft, but a short run revealed too-warm temps and insufficient water flow….we’ll schedule another sea trial where Rick can focus on and play with that one, but after some more dockside adjustments.  Wing engine stuffing boxes tend to be temperamental, even without alignment issues, so that one is not a big surprise.

The Final Result Was a Reasonable Drip Rate and
a Very Good Temp Reading Even at WOT.

All other systems were tactical on this sea trial sortie…basically it was a good day.

Upon return to Legacy Harbour Marina we decided to dock up stern-in to our corner slip vs. bow-in.  This was mainly to position Ghost Rider so we could launch the dinghy into water vs. onto the concrete dock, as we wanted to be in position to perform some sea trials on the tender’s outboard engine -- we have not run it since we left Palm Beach in late October.  Rather surprisingly the docking went quite smoothly, with zero drama.  That made it a very good day.

Ghost Rider Sterned In to Give Us Room to Float the Dinghy
Which is Limited to a Starboard Side Launch

After we got Ghost Rider tucked in, plugged in and cleaned up, Rick pinged James over at Yacht Tech via SMS to let him know the results; typical of James he immediately called back to Q&A about the details of the anode inspection and sea trial results, and make some recommendations for the wing engine.  Classy guy.

The next day we turned our attention back to the water heater.  Craig from VIP Marine came to the boat in the early afternoon as previously scheduled. We managed to extract the big anode pipe from its near-permanent thread sealant, and replaced it with the new magnesium anode.  Rick also asked Craig to test the unit’s pressure relief valve while he was there as we had concerns with its discharge valve – it did not drain very well, nor did it appear to be fully closing once the lever was released.  Turns out it was pretty much shot. 

Located Underneath the Master Stateroom Bunk, the Water Heater With
the Old Anode Removed (On Top) and the New Anode Installed

A faulty pressure relief valve on a water heater can be dangerous – water heaters actually make pretty good bombs when that valve fails to meter temperature and relieve pressure.  (When your bunk is located right on top of the thing it makes you ponder such matters.)  We found a replacement valve at a nearby hardware store and swapped it out.

Next up:  we've still got a few weeks to tend to some home-based administrative and social obligations while we also work through the remaining minor and preventative maintenance items for the boat, and continue to provision for the upcoming journey.

It Hasn't Been All Boat Maintenance...We Thumbed a Ride on Dan &
Cher's Gorgeous New Grady-White Last Weekend

Captain Dan at the Helm of His New "Baby Grady" Heading to Brunch in Charlotte Harbor

Another Shot of Ghost Rider Moored Stern-in at Her Slip at Legacy Harbour in Fort Myers

January 2018: New Year Boat Business in Fort Myers

Our Continued 'Boat Business' Adventures

Somebody once said a boat owner is just somebody who has more money than common sense.  There just might be some truthful wisdom in that.

Visual Evidence of Common Sense Disorder?

Thus here we are a month following our last post – having moved out of the condo and back onto Ghost Rider – and we are still trying to resolve the overheating stuffing box issue.  Actually that situation had worsened….on our last sea trial (after yet another repacking) not only did the main engine shaft’s stuffing box get overly warm, but the wing engine’s unit was absolutely cooking.  We could have baked bread on its small shaft.  We had barely made it to the first bridge down-river when we had to turn around and limp back home.  Rick once again spent more hours in the engine room while we were underway trying to adjust tension and water flow – while also running a stream of cooling water from a garden hose on the shafts – but to no avail.

So James Knight from Yacht Tech made another trip across the state to see if he could figure out what the hell was going on.  Our working theory on the main engine’s shaft / stuffing box was that the crab pot tangle we experienced way back in November put enough uneven force on the shaft to cause yet another alignment issue.  (In hindsight, running the boat even at reduced RPM for those few days probably was not wise; we should have sought out a diver in Key West.)

James Back at Work in Ghost Rider's Engine Room

So we once again pulled apart the main engine’s stuffing box, removing the follower collar completely, and first assessed water flow.  While we saw decent volume it was uneven….not enough flow on the top of the shaft unless we raised the level of the shaft with some manual muscle power.  So that led us to another realignment attempt, removing the clamps that held the shaft hose in place and rotating the entire mechanism until we got even water flow around the entire shaft.  We then torqued everything back down, satisfied that we had minimal friction and a symmetrical flow of sea water around the entire shaft circumference.  And, thankfully, once again our bilge pumps kept up with the sea water influx. 

Pulling Apart the Main Engine's Shaft Tube and Stuffing Box...Followed
By Plenty of Sea Water Flow

After that we attacked the wing engine’s stuffing box.  The level of difficulty there is significantly higher as the working area space is severely constricted to just a few inches of clearance between the wing engine’s transmission and the floor pan.  But eventually we were able to remove its follower collar and remove the old packing rings – which looked pretty gnarly and felt just about petrified (from overheating, no doubt. Rick was willing to bet they were the original packing rings from 15 years ago.) Unfortunately, even with all that removed we weren’t getting very good sea water flow.  So we double-tied our dock lines, put the wing engine in gear and then applied throttle.  That eventually forced an acceptable rate of water flow (and expelled years of unidentifiable crap from the shaft tube).  Fortunately we didn’t rip out any of the dock cleats or ram the dock in the process.  We installed two new rings of 5/16” packing rings, but kept the follower collar fairly loose to let those PTFE rings settle in while keeping water flowing in the shaft tube.

Wing Engine's Disassembled Stuffing Box....We Discovered Its Shaft
is an Aquamet 22 -- Better Quality than the Main Shaft's Aquamet 17

Packing Rings Removed from the Wing Engine's Stuffing Box -- They Were
Most Definitely Shot to Hell

At this point, however, a combination of a full / super moon, along with an extreme low point in the tide cycle and a brisk north wind, was providing us only a few inches of water under the keel….so while we would not have sank very far if the bilge pump(s) had failed to keep up, we couldn’t sortie out yet for a good sea trial.  The tide / moon and wind conditions should improve after a few days, and we’ll be anxious to get out of the marina to exercise and adjust both stuffing boxes – we’ve learned from experience those are not one time “set and forget” items.

In addition to all of that shaft and stuffing box fun, we’ve also continued to address other routine maintenance and remediation items, learning more about Ghost Rider and her various systems nearly every day.

  →  Rick replaced our Aigean WiFi AN-7000 booster with a new and upgraded version of the same thing; it was a volunteered freebie from the manufacturer, can’t beat that kind of service.

LPG Control Panel in its New Location in the Galley; Its Previous
Location is Visible on the Left

   →  We had some LPG troubleshooting to pursue after the gas range started having intermittent issues; turns out one of the previous owners had relocated the galley control panel to a new location, but one that lacked enough clearance for the switch wires, resulting in bent terminals and odd behaviors.  Rick was able to repair and relocate the panel and the stove is once again tactical.

   →  Our Wheelhouse maintenance program reminded us that it was time to have our Winslow life raft serviced and repacked; that’s recommended at 3 year intervals.  Fortunately Winslow has a full service center nearby so we were able to drop it off vs. having to ship 55 pounds of bulky raft packing back and forth.

   →   Wheelhouse also was nagging us that our dinghy’s Yamaha outboard was due for its annual servicing.  It’s nearly impossible to get a qualified Yammer tech to come out to a marina to work on a small outboard anymore, so Rick decided to tackle the job himself.  It took nearly a full day but the oil and filter change, lower unit oil change, two fuel filter replacements, anode replacements and new spark plugs all got accomplished without too much drama and only a minor mess.

   →   During our latest monthly bottom cleaning the diver noted that both prop shaft collar zinc anodes needed to be replaced, resulting in a bit of a scramble to find the correct sizes; that took some sleuthing as the boat’s manual isn’t very good on specifying those particular part numbers, but we finally got it done.

Engine Room with Red Fire Bottle on the Right...It's 32" Tall and 7"
in Diameter.  A Simulated or Real Discharge Will Make the Engine
Room a Suddenly Quiet Place.

   →   Yet another Wheelhouse maintenance reminder told us it was time for the annual test of the Fireboy fire suppression system.  This was an interesting exercise: first you start all three diesel engines and energize all engine room ventilation fans; then you disconnect the lead wire at the engine room and lazarette fire bottles (separately) and verify that the engines and fans shut down (they do); then you place the fire suppression toggle switch to its “override” position and verify that you can restart the engines (we could).  It’s a pretty slick safety system and we were pretty happy that none of that experimentation resulted in a fire bottle discharge.

Our 20 Gallon Raritan Water Heater Cleverly Hidden Beneath the Master
Berth. That Big Rod is the Magnesium Anode that Needs to be Installed.

   →   Lastly, it was also time to replace the water heater’s sacrificial anode; the tank is oh so conveniently located beneath the master stateroom’s bunk, and that rod is a beefy 16” by ¾” hunk of magnesium located in the hot water discharge pipe.  After depressurizing and partially draining the tank, this should have been a straightforward task.  But not on this boat; someone had used permanent pipe thread sealant on the existing anode threads.  That resulted in a call to a real plumber who could apply a blow torch to that connection & soften it enough for removal. (Scheduled but not yet done.)

The other – and nearly perpetual – set of activities that continues is provisioning….Michelle has been stocking the boat with all manner of food and beverage, and apparently in sufficient quantities to make the boat list quite a bit to port.  Rick is trying to offset and balance that with the appropriate spares and pales of oil plus some fuel transfers, but so far is losing that battle.

Still....the fact that we continue to stock the boat at least means we must be optimistic about getting Ghost Rider away from the dock and cruising sometime soon….hopefully in early March, or at least that's our target. J

Note to Family....Ghost "Gaucho" Resides in Our Pilot House Now

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