March 2020: Continued Maintenance & Madness

Foreword:  We are still hunkered down, observing public health protocols, and like everyone else closely monitoring the continuing Covid-19 conundrum.  Up until 01-April here in Florida some businesses and beaches actually remained open (and crowded), a stunningly stupid idea. Leave it to Florida to finally announce mandatory stay-at-home on April Fool’s Day.  Of course the federal efforts are just as mysteriously nuts.  We hope you are staying safe & sane despite the chaos.

The Loggerhead Marina Office in Palm Beach Gardens

Over the previous weekend we were saddened to say good-bye to Dave and Amy, as they were heading back to their dirt-dwelling home in Tennessee.  They had also recently decided to put their N40 (hull # 36) Intrepid up for sale (with Yacht Tech as broker, the listing is HERE.)  Dave is a pilot and Amy is a flight attendant, and they were missing their own airplane. Chelle had volunteered to finalize a few things on their boat after they departed, such as the disposition of a few remaining food items and defrosting the freezer chests, but that didn’t take long.

Also over the weekend we got a brief update from Brad & Lorraine Carlton aboard N55 Adventure.  They had been working very diligently and generously on hurricane relief efforts in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas when the Covid-19 crisis intervened.  Here is Lorraine’s email update as of 29-March:

Chelle Finishing Up Work on N40 Intrepid

“We are hunkered down on GTC. 24 hour curfew in effect except for food, water, exercise.  We haven’t left the boat in 4 days. Got word today that we can go subsistence fishing with members of own family only. So, that is our plan today. No dinghies allowed on beaches. Needless to say, our construction has stalled for now. 

One restaurant (McIntosh) remains open for take-out only. The grocery store is still open. The ferry is no longer running to Treasure Cay so the island has been isolated. 14 confirmed cases in Bahamas. 12 in Nassau and 2 in Grand Bahama. Stay safe!”

Brad and Lorraine have done incredible work over there for several months now, and it’s worth reading about when you have a few minutes at this LINK.  We regret not being able to join them.

Maintenance – Part II

On Monday, 30-March we returned our attention to the punch list.  Dan from Yacht Tech came to the boat early to work on the control board for the MSR’s A/C compressor.  But after fiddling with it Dan determined that the entire board wasn’t toast. (This is the board we had salvaged from the old pilot house compressor two years ago.)  Instead, his sleuthing revealed the problem was now the “Triac” switch, which is a small transistorized relay on the control board.  There are two of them on each Cruisair compressor unit – one controls the cooling cycle, the other the heat cycle.  

The Two Yellow Arrows Point to the Triac Switches....the One for Heating
 Was Functional but the Cooling Switch Was Not....Se We Swapped Them.

Dan removed the one for cooling and swapped it with the heating Triac…and voila, the thing started working.  That means we still needed to source a new Triac for the heating side, but that most certainly is not a priority right now in south Florida, and those things are cheap compared to a whole new control board.  Dan is now officially Rick’s favorite marine electrician.

By Tuesday, 31-March one of our last punch list items remaining was servicing the windlass gearbox.  A proper maintenance curriculum calls for draining and refilling its gearbox with 90W gear oil every three years and that was now due.  There is a (mostly accessible) drain plug, but getting it refilled was another story.  The manual for the hydraulic Maxwell 3500 indicated the entire motor assembly had to be dropped for that part of the operation (their assumption being you would also replace seals.)  But Glen & Rob from Yacht Tech have a technique of pumping oil into the sight glass cavity, and while a bit messy it gets the job done.  Rob and Rick fired up the wing engine and hydraulics, ran the anchor through a few up/down cycles, double-checked the oil level in the sight glass and called it a success.

The Hydraulic Windlass Motor....Which is Located in the Chain Locker at the Bow of the Boat.

How Glen Crawled into the Chain Locker is Best Left to the Imagination.
The Same is True for How He Got Out of There.

On Tuesday evening Yacht Tech owner James Knight stopped by for a courtesy visit, and given how hectic his world has been, we were quite appreciative.  James had returned from Washington state (where Yacht Tech was branching out) about a week ago and had gone into a self-imposed quarantine while awaiting his Covid-19 test results.  We celebrated his negative results with Goombay Ghosts and entertaining conversation, and as usual James had some thoughtful advice on the few remaining maintenance items for Ghost Rider.

James and Chelle Aboard Ghost Rider

While the weather had been very pleasant since we left Fort Myers back on 12-March, on Wednesday, 01-April we awoke to even better conditions.  A mild cold front had passed through overnight, and after a brief rain shower in the wee hours left a cooler and drier air mass behind.  Temps stayed in the 70’s all day with humidity hovering around 44%, which by south Florida standards is quite dry.  After Rick hosed down and mopped the boat we shut down the A/C and opened hatches and doors.  The perfect weather was a bit mocking since there was no place to go.  Coincidentally, that same day the governor of Florida finally got his act together and reluctantly, under pressure, issued a state-wide “stay-at-home” order, which effectively shut down all non-essential businesses.  As it turns out, that did not include Yacht Tech.

Testing the Boat’s Bonding System

In the previous blog entry we had briefly mentioned at its conclusion that Rick wanted to determine just how well the boat’s bonding system was performing.  A vessel’s bonding system is what keeps its various metal components that are immersed in sea water (a very good electrolyte) from acting like battery terminals and corroding to a quickly dissolving death.  Technically speaking, that’s called galvanic corrosion.  The concept is simple – connect all those metal parts (bronze thru-hulls, stainless steel shafts and rudders) to a much less noble metal (one or more zinc anodes) and make that less expensive chunk of metal the sacrificial device.  A small slab of zinc (or aluminum) is a lot cheaper and easier to swap out than a thru-hull, shaft, rudder or engine block.

The Always Handy Multimeter and Reference Electrode Assembly. The
Latter Needs Enough Cable Length to Go Over the Side & Into the Water.

Ghost Rider’s bonding system consists of #8 green AWG wires and copper plate straps that run fore and aft on either side of the hull.  These are connected at several locations to embedded through-the-hull terminals fitted with 4” x 8” sacrificial zinc anode plates.  (Prop shafts have their own “donut” zinc collars.)  Then, inside the hull, all metallic parts and thru hull fittings touching water are connected together with more #8 AWG (tinned & stranded copper) that are branched off the fore and aft wire and copper runs. 

While we’ve never observed galvanic corrosion damage or uneven wearing of zinc anodes, Rick was curious.  A bonding system check is properly conducted using a “reference electrode” (usually with a silver-chloride element); it gets immersed in the water around the boat and its long cable plugs into the negative port of a multimeter; the positive probe of the meter is then connected to the (hopefully) protected metal component, and the meter then displays the voltage delta.  On a fiberglass boat protected with zinc anodes the meter should register from -550 to -1100 mV per ABYC standards, though Steve D’Antonio prefers a more conservative range of -750 to -1100 mV.  (And it’s worth noting that the adequacy of any boat’s bonding system can only be tested with the boat in the water.)

Testing in Progress on the A/C Raw Water Through-Hull.

The readings Rick took (initially just on three thru-hulls) on Ghost Rider were in the sweet spot, all at -940 mV.  Theoretically at least, all such readings should be identical if all the connections to the boat’s bonding system are solid and consistent. Likewise, the readings should remain the same when taken first with the shore power cord disconnected, and then again when shore power is re-connected to the boat’s electrical system – that’s a comparative that tests whether the vessel’s galvanic isolator device is doing its job.  And those also looked good on our meter readings for Ghost Rider.  If you are a boat nerd, want to know more about marine corrosion, and have time on your hands (who doesn’t during the current lockdown?) the ABYC webinar video at this LINK is edifying.

We still have a few punch list items to address, but both scheduling and obtaining parts are getting to be a challenge.  We hope to have a better idea of what will be possible early next week.  Stay tuned and stay safe.

March 2020: Madness & Maintenance

Foreword:  Just because we are still blogging please don’t think we aren’t taking the Covid-19 situation seriously.  We, like you, don’t know how bad things may yet get, or how long this all will last.  We will follow the facts and science, and accept that the recommended social distancing and hygiene practices not only benefit ourselves, but also our family, friends and neighbors.  There’s nothing like a crisis to inform whether your priorities, principles and values are correctly defined and aligned.  Eventually we’ll all get an expensive & painful lesson on how (and how not) to deal with a pandemic.  Perhaps more importantly, we’ll get an important reminder of what real leadership looks like and how its absence can be fatal.  For now Ghost Rider has become our lifeboat, and we need to take good care of her.  The blog is just our therapy. 

Even before we had arrived at Loggerhead Marina in Palm Beach Gardens we had received word from All Hands and Hearts (AHAH, LINK) that they were shutting down their relief efforts at Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas for at least two months.  This of course was one of many ripple effects of the emerging pandemic, and it also affected all of the AHAH relief sites around the globe.  At a minimum that meant that we would not be hauling supplies to them as originally planned.  And other changes were obviously in the works as travel restrictions evolved and businesses shuttered, including many ports and marinas….both across the Bahamas and the Florida Keys.

Looking Down "B" Dock at Loggerhead Marina in Palm Beach Garden

Practically speaking, as of this posting date we’d been in our own self-isolating lock-down on Ghost Rider for 18 days (since 11-March).  Other than an evening with good friends Bernie and Sylvia in Jupiter, and one round of golf for Chelle at their private club before it closed down, our only outside contacts have been with fellow Nordhavn owners at the marina a few guys working on the boat here at Loggerhead Marina (LINK).

We had no clue where we would go next, nor when, so we mainly focused on our maintenance punch list with a lot of help from the capable folks at Yacht Tech (LINK).  But in spite of the new social distancing norms now in place we also had the opportunity to make more Nordhavn friends.  Also on Loggerhead’s “B” dock were three other Nordies:  N40 Intrepid (Dave & Amy), N40 Barefoot Girl (Joe & Carol) and N68 Migration (George & Marci).  While all of us stayed busy during the day, it was always enjoyable to gather for docktails and a sunset to wrap up an evening....even with the physical buffer zones in place.

Docktails...from Left to Right: Dave, Chelle, Amy, Joe & Carol.

Maintenance – Part I

As for Ghost Rider’s punch list, first up was replacing the raw water pump on the main engine.  Technically it was due only for an impeller replacement, but we couldn’t see a way to do that with the pump still on the engine.  So Rick had purchased a whole new pump assembly and Casey from Yacht Tech did the grunt work swapping out the pumps.  The old unit is now a spare (it and the impeller still looked new.)

Two other major service items that had also come due were the valve clearance adjustments for both the main engine and the wing engine.  While not rocket science, it was Rick’s practice to team with an experienced mechanic on the first attempt at things like that.  Yacht Tech recommended local diesel mechanic Tommy Tubbs for the project and we spent an entire morning in the engine room with wrenches and feeler gauges getting the two jobs done in accordance with the specs in the Lugger service manuals.    Since he had removed the fan shrouds for access to the crankshaft pulley, Rick took that opportunity to check the belt conditions and tighten the belt tension for both alternators.

Making the Valve Clearance Adjustments on the Main Engine

Surprisingly the smaller wing engine was a tad more challenging – there was a bit less room to work in that corner of the engine room, but manually turning the crankshaft for valve positioning wasn’t possible without removing the PTO’s hydraulic pump.  We said no thanks to that.  Instead Tommy rigged a remote starter switch by tapping into the starter’s hot wire in the engine-mounted relay/fuse box, and we used that to kick the crankshaft to position the valve lifts.  After all adjustments were done and reassembly conmpleted, we ran each engine for a spell at RPM to check for valve cover gasket leaks.  All looked good.

While we were waiting on parts for a couple of other punch list projects Rick attacked some smaller items on his own:  updating the electronic charts on the Furuno and Nobeltec systems; pulling two engine instrument clusters to clean and tighten some gauge connectors; performing the annual maintenance on the crane davit; and installing two more smoke/fire detectors – one in the lazarette and one in the bow thruster compartment.  The latter completed our goal of having such a detector in any “out of sight” compartment and behind every electrical panel that housed either machinery or wiring, in addition to all the living & crew spaces on the boat.

Dan from Yacht Tech Working on the Engine Room Fan Rewiring Project

By Tuesday, 24-March some of our parts arrived and that allowed Dan from Yacht Tech to work on the next project, which was to modify the wiring on our two big Delta-T engine room cooling fans.  The goal was to integrate these with the boat’s fire suppression shutdown system.  It was a safety issue that had been nagging at Rick since we bought the boat – the two fans at the forward end of the engine room would shut down (along with the main engine and the generator) when the fire suppression system was triggered (tested), but the big fans in the rear kept spinning; not what you want if you ever have a real fire down there.  Dan installed a junction box to tap into the AC power feeding the forward fans, then ran a wire from there back to rear fan DC power switch through a relay box fused at 30 amps.  Worked like a charm.

While Dan was routing, connecting and heat shrinking wires Rick went to work on a small issue with our Force 10 gas stove.  One of its three burners would light but not stay that way, extinguishing as soon as its control knob was released.  That typically means a bad thermocouple, but we had not been able to source one (out of production.)  Fortunately Bob at Yacht Tech had an old stove sitting on the shelf for cannibalizing and he scavenged one out of that.  Replacing it required removing 15 screws and the three burners to get at the damned thing. Rick likely set a record for the longest time for that disassembly, but the swap-out was successful.

Old AP Control Head on the Left, New One on the Right.

We also had one of the local diver shops come out and give Ghost Rider’s gear and hull below the waterline a good cleaning.  He reported only mild fouling on the bottom, anodes in good shape and no barnacles on the running gear.

Next up for Rick was to replace the autopilot control head on the fly bridge, an old Raymarine ST6001+ unit.  While it was still functioning well enough, its display was discoloring with a bad case of LCD burn and was getting exceedingly difficult to read.  We found a good used unit on eBay (another discontinued item you can’t find new), the swap-out was relatively painless, and it tested with the autopilot computer without issues.

About that same time we experienced an unexpected system issue – this one beginning with an odd pulsating sound from the vicinity of the lazarette followed by the pungent smell of burned wiring.  That odor always gets your undivided attention. Rick scrambled to turn off all the breakers on the AC power breaker panel and we began the sleuthing.  The odor was definitely strongest in the laz, so Rick grabbed the infrared heat gun, flashlight and a fire extinguisher, emptied that compartment into the cockpit and started poking around in earnest. 

The Fried A/C Control Board.  The Green Arrow Points to the
Melted Pigtail, the Yellow Arrow to the Separated Circuit.

After eliminating some systems (inverter/charger, batteries) and putting those back online, eventually we concluded the source was almost certainly one of the port side A/C compressors.  So we decided to leave those electrically isolated and opened the boat for fresh air ventilation for that night.  Thankfully it was a pleasant evening with just enough breeze to keep us comfortable.

The next day Rick started pulling apart control boards for those two A/C compressors looking for internal evidence of arcing and burning.  The innards of the big unit for the salon looked fine, but the board and pigtail plug for the master stateroom unit definitely had problems – with the control box cover removed, that lingering pungent smell was obvious; one circuit had separated from the board with obvious heat issues, and one corner of the pigtail connector was melted.  Rob from Yacht Tech stopped by to take a look and he discovered a leaking raw water hose connection (loose clamps) that likely created the whole damned problem.  As he worked on tightening those Rick went hunting in his box of spares for another control board – we had saved one when we replaced the pilot house A/C unit two years ago.  But that one turned out to be faulty, too.  Humbug.  A new board has been ordered.  In the meantime we were able to safely restart the other three A/C units and keep the boat comfortable.

The Yellow Arrows Point to the Vicinity of the Sump Pump Mounted on
the Inside of This Cabinet Enclosure. Not a Fun Place to Get Your Head Stuck.

Back when we first arrived at Loggerhead Marina, Chelle was cleaning the shower pan in the master suite and realized that while the sump pump was running, it was not draining the pan.  That typically means the pump’s diaphragm is shot, so Rick went to work on removing that (as usual, it was in a limited access space), and gave the specs to Yacht Tech so they could source a new replacement.  Supply chain disruptions are real – it took seven days to get the new pump and in the interim we used the forward (guest) shower.  But we finally received the new pump (plus a spare!)  on Friday, 27-March, and despite the boat yoga required, Rick got that installed and operational without too much cursing.

Another DC Fan Mounted in the Pilot House

That same day Rick finally got around to installing another Caframo DC-powered fan in the pilot house.  That space, with all its glass, can feel like a greenhouse on sunny days, and up to now we had been using a small AC-powered portable fan to help push and circulate cool air emitting from the A/C discharge vent that was tucked into a far corner.  But that portable unit often interfered with our access to the big freezer chest in the same vicinity, and Chelle had finally said “no more of that.”  After tapping into the wiring for a nearby LED reading light and drilling a few mounting holes, we finally had a more permanent and elegant solution.

On Saturday, 28-March we mostly relaxed.  Chelle took a break from the banzai cleaning spree she had been on during this maintenance stop, and we slept late, sunned on the boat deck, read our latest books, and fiddled with the blog.  Rick did “work” for an hour or so, but it was on a “curiosity project”….which was to find out just how well the boat’s bonding system was performing.  We’ll have more on that and additional maintenance activities in the next blog post.  Stay tuned, and in the meantime, y’all stay safe and sane.

Dave & Amy's N40 Intrepid Parked Off Our Bow at Loggerhead

Joe & Carol's N40 Barefoot Girl at the Other End of "B" Dock

George & Marci's N68 Migration Heading Out for Some Tests.  If the Name Sounds Familiar....Their Nordhavn Holds the
Record for the Northern-most Latitude Visited by a Private Powerboat (81N).

March 2020: Underway Again

We were finally ready to get moving again.  Our initial goal was to get Ghost Rider around to the other side of the state to Palm Beach for a rendezvous with Yacht Tech (LINK), for whom we had accumulated a lengthy punch list of service needs. After that the plan was to head over to the Bahamas where we hoped to deliver some much needed supplies to the All Hands and Hearts disaster relief team in Marsh Harbour (LINK).  Following that we wanted to go explore some of the out islands around Eleuthera.

Our Path from Fort Myers down to the Keys, then Back Up the East Coast
to North Palm Beach and Loggerhead Marina....About 320 NM.

With provisioning largely complete and (at last) a decent weather window opening up after weeks of windy conditions that had been churning up the seas, we made the move to the boat on Wednesday, 11-March and settled in.  Chelle finished stowing the final haul of provisions, and Rick completed our preflight checklists, updated our charts and verified our routes.  It was time to go.  We would go south to the Keys, then "around the horn" and up the east coast...Lake O was too shallow at this point for Ghost Rider's deep draft.

Thu, 12 Mar….From Fort Myers to Marco Island

We finally departed Legacy Harbour Marina a 0900 on Thursday, 12-March, and pointed the boat's bow south.  With an outgoing tide we picked up a nice trailing current and easily averaged 8.5 knots even with a leisurely 1400 RPM setting on the main engine.  We had sunny skies, with temps in the low-to-mid 70’s, a mild east wind and flat water.

Ghost Rider Docked on an Alongside Tie at Factory Bay in Marco Island

Our modest goal for the day was to reach Marco Island, a fairly easy day cruise of 50 nautical miles down the west coast of Florida.  We ran the boat from the fly bridge in perfect conditions, dolphins vectored in and out of the bow wave but without lingering too long, and the boat ran well.  With the light winds and flat seas even the Marco River inlet was refreshingly boring at a high tide.  Chelle wasn’t feeling well most of the day – an apparent reaction to a recent vaccination – so Rick did most of the driving and handled the docking at the Factory Bay Marina (LINK) just before 1600.  Mindful of the emerging pandemic situation we ate dinner on the boat that evening and just chilled out.

Fri, 13 Mar….From Marco Island to Shark River

We did not dally at Marco and got underway the next morning before 0900.  Weather conditions were again near perfect, with light easterly winds, clear skies and low relative humidity.  We thought the outgoing mid-tide conditions would be suitable for exiting the inlet, but as it turned out Ghost Rider’s keel bumped the bottom twice in rapid succession – smack in the middle of the well-marked channel and very near the outer markers.  By the time Rick reacted with a neutral throttle it was over and we were back in deeper water.

We had a Grand Banks Following Us and a Defever in Front of Us On the
Sortie Down to Shark River

Fortunately that was the only “aw shit” for the entire day.  Once again we were blessed with smooth water and a following current, making for an easy cruise around Cape Romano Shoals and all the way down the southwest coast of Florida and into Everglades territory.  Chelle was also feeling much better and handled much of the helm duty from her perch on the fly bridge.  We also had company – a Defever (Inshalah) and a Grand Banks (Tuscarora) were headed to the same destination, so we had a rather loose 3-ship formation for much of the day.  Some dolphins joined in for part of the sortie, and a sea turtle about the size of a truck tire made a brief appearance as well.

Sunset at Our Shark River Anchorage....It Never Gets Old.  But No
Green Flash This Night.

We arrived at the mouth of Little Shark River around 1530, motored a few hundred meters south of there and dropped the hook, letting out 100 feet of chain in ten feet of water, and obtained a good set on the anchor about a half mile off the Glades shoreline.  We figured that would be smooth water for the night (correct) and far enough off to avoid the bugs (incorrect.)  After briefly opening the salon door a moth-like creature the size of a small bird zoomed into the galley, putting an end to that strategy.  We closed up and ran the generator and A/C for a while.  But later we were able to open a few portals and hatches that had screens and shut down the genset for a quiet and comfy night.

Sat, 14 Mar….From Shark River to Marathon

The next morning broke clear and mild once again (we were digging this boring weather) although the easterly breezes freshened a bit and temps eventually warmed into the upper 70’s, topping off around 80F.  The house battery bank was still at 85% SOC which was a very reasonable draw down for the 10 or so overnight hours.  We cranked up the generator to start putting a charge back into the batts, picked up the hook and got underway by 1000.

Chelle at the Fly Bridge Helm

While the wind chop had picked up with the increased breeze it was still a very pleasant ride south towards the Keys.  Inshalah, the Defever 48 from the day before, fell into a trail formation since they were headed to Marathon as well, and together we dodged numerous crab pots for most of the day’s sortie.  We were punching into a head current most of this day, so we only averaged around 7.5 knots.  While enroute we also ran a water maker test for about three hours and it cranked out about 40 gallons, quite satisfactory for our upcoming Bahamas touring.

The Marathon Anchorage Just Off of Boot Key Harbor Was a Bit Crowded

After crossing under the Seven Mile Bridge we curved around to the east and headed into the anchorage just outside of the Boot Key entrance channel – and the place was already packed by 1545.  We squeezed Ghost Rider into a rather tight slot between the channel and a small sailboat, dropped the hook, let out 100’ of chain and set the anchor rather hard.  We spent the first hour verifying the set with range finder readings and monitored our swing room, but it all worked out.  The only downside to the location was nearly constant boat wakes from vessels going in and out of Boot Key.

We ran the generator and A/C for a few hours, enjoying another nice meal on board, and another lovely sunset.  The mild temperature and stiff breeze allowed us to shut down systems again for the overnight period with just a few hatches and portals open to the night air.

Sunset at the Marathon Anchorage with Seven Mile Bridge in the Foreground.

Sun, 15 Mar….From Marathon to Rodriguez Key

Weather-wise Sunday morning looked a lot like Saturday evening, which was a good thing, although we anticipated the 15 knot wind from the east would be chopping up the Atlantic side of the state.  By 0930 we had retrieved the anchor and snaked our way out of the crowded anchorage; an initial southerly heading brought Ghost Rider into Hawk Channel and there we turned her east.

Another Anchorage and Another Sunset, This One at Rodriguez Key with
the Key Largo Area in the Background.

Once we had left the lee of the Boot Key land mass, the wave action got a bit more frisky as expected and predicted, generally from two to three feet but rather square and at narrow intervals.  But we weren’t pounding and regardless the boat didn’t care.  Crab pot avoidance was the order of the day again, but surprisingly they weren’t as numerous as we’ve historically seen in this area.  Wind and waves backed off a bit the final few hours of the sortie, and with air temperature reaching into the low 80’s it was another fine day of helming from the fly bridge.

By 1600 we had tucked in behind Rodriguez Key and set the anchor in ten feet of very clear water; the anchorage was somewhat crowded but there was still plenty of room to find a comfortable slot with plenty of swing room.  We repeated our generator and A/C routine from the previous two nights, able once again to shut everything down for the overnight period – after appreciating another gorgeous sunset.  That just never gets old.

Mon, 16 Mar….From Rodriguez Key to Fort Lauderdale

This would be our longest single day run (70 NM) so we got an earlier start, pulling out of the peaceful anchorage at 0815.  It was another typical south Florida day in mid-March – sunny sky, brisk easterly breezes, temps approaching 80F with a moderate humidity level.  For the first 30 or so miles we were still running (mostly north now) with a reef to our starboard, so the seas were quite reasonable and comfortable at around two feet.  But as we approached the Miami area and left the reef protection behind, the washing machine action started.

We Had to Dodge This Departing Cruise Ship As We Came Into the Port
Everglades Inlet.  Notice the Empty Decks.

Seas were now running 3 to 5 feet with plenty of vertical wind chop on top, and the wind clocked a bit to the northeast, so Ghost Rider started to pound into the head sea component.  The boat didn’t care, but we did.  We had also picked up a stiff following current and speed-over-ground (SOG) was showing 9 to 10 knots.  So we backed the RPM down to just under 1400, still got nearly 8 knots out of that, and the ride improved considerably in the sloppy seas.

At Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades inlet an outgoing current was bashing into the inbound wave action making it a real mess; Rick hand steered to negotiate the inlet entry as the autopilot’s counter-rudder response just isn’t up to that task, and we got between the breakwater jetties without incident.  About that time we also encountered two large cruise ships departing and heading out to sea – and they were both empty of passengers, looking like gigantic ghost ships.  It was a very weird sight, indicative of the pandemic panic that had started to sweep the globe.

Chelle on Ghost Rider's Forward Deck After Docking Up at Pier 66.

After some evasive action to avoid those big boys we passed under the 17^th Street Bridge and then turned into the Pier 66 Marina basin (LINK).  That turned out to be more challenging than normal as the place was packed with enormous vessels parked in odd and inconvenient places, and Rick had to be careful during the five 90 degree turns it took to get Ghost Rider sterned in to her assigned slip.

But we got tied up without incident and then spent a full hour hosing the salt crust off of the boat.  Continuing to respect the unknowns around the viral outbreak, we dined in and relaxed onboard for the remainder of the evening. 

Pier 66 Marina Was Packed.  This Nordhavn 120, Aurora, Parked at the Entrance to Our Fairway, Didn't Help Matters Any.

Tue, 17 Mar….From Fort Lauderdale to North Palm Beach

By the next morning you could not tell that we had given the boat a decent bath the evening before.  The marina had a lot of construction in process and the boat had a layer of dusty, dark grime on it; a brief although light rain shower then turned that into a layer of pasty mud just as we were preparing to depart at 0915.  We delayed that plan by about 15 minutes to let the rain pass, but we only had 48 NM to our Palm Beach destination, so the pause was not a concern.

Chelle at the Helm in the Pilot House En Route to Palm Beach.

Rick carefully maneuvered Ghost Rider through the tight turns to get out of there and shortly thereafter we were outbound in the Port Everglades shipping channel; and it was rough.  An another outgoing tide was bashing into waves driven by easterly winds that were clocking 15 to 20 knots, and the boat was doing its best imitation of a poorly designed roller coaster, with the bow diving into 7 and 8 foot holes and throwing spray well above the boat deck level.  Rick retreated from the fly bridge and down to the much drier pilot house.

At the end of the channel we saw half a dozen ships in the deep anchorage area – basically quarantined – and maneuvered around them to finally get Ghost Rider pointed north.  That put the rough seas on the beam, where the stabilizers could at least mitigate some of the bouncy action rather than the bulbous bow pounding directly into the turbulence.  Seas were steady at four to five feet with the occasional six footer, and at least one eight footer that rearranged some furniture and a variety of other small gear.  But again we had 80F temps, mild humidity and sunny skies.

Our XM Weather Display Reporting Sea Conditions

Nevertheless, Ghost Rider kept fairly steady on her northerly heading, slowly passing by mostly empty beaches at Lighthouse Point, Deerfield, Boca Raton, Delray and Boynton Beach, and Mar-a-Lago – where Rick was dreaming of launching a cruise missile or two.  By 1500 we were transiting the Lake Worth inlet inbound, where an incoming tide made the channel fairly tame, and shortly thereafter found ourselves in the welcoming calm of the ICW.  We had to wait on two bridge openings (Parker and PGA) because of a high tide that gave us less than the needed 23 foot clearance (with the big sticks lowered) but still made Loggerhead Marina before 1630. 

Our assigned slip was a roomy one that required a bow-in approach to keep our boarding door oriented correctly, but it was also a fairly high fixed dock that made getting on and off a gymnastic exercise.  But Paul (from Yacht Tech) and two other Nordy owners were there to take lines and help us tie off, so overall it was quite uneventful.  Ghost Rider got another much needed wash down to shed all the dirt and salt, then we settled in for a quiet and air conditioned evening, and slept very well.  It was a good St. Patty’s Day night.  Erin go Bragh.

Wed, 18 Mar….At Loggerhead Marina in North Palm Beach

The next morning we were happy that we didn’t have to go anywhere and just relaxed.  Bob and Paul from Yacht Tech stopped by as promised to review and discuss our punch list – with us adding a couple of new items that had developed the night before – and we began to flush out a rough work schedule.  We’ll have more details on all of that in the next blog post.  From the news we’re getting on the developing virus scare it seems we’ll have both the need and perhaps some time to figure out what’s next.

Stay tuned.

Ghost Rider at the End of "B" Dock at Loggerhead....All Cleaned Up and Ready for Some Maintenance

Feb 2020: Departure Preparations

Our February, as expected and planned, was all about making sure the boat would be ready to cruise again come March.  And as it turned out, multiple cold fronts accompanied by strong winds out of the north combined with our rather typical low winter tides to keep Ghost Rider pinned to the dock…frequently with at least part of the keel on the river’s soft, silty mud bottom.

Nordhavn 46-54, Beverly S, Moored at the End of 'B' Dock at Legacy
Harbour.  We Enjoyed Our Time with Owners Larry & Sue.

But we also started the month with a very pleasant surprise.  Another Nordhavn, Beverly S (N46-54), showed up at Legacy Harbour, and we had the distinct pleasure of meeting owners Larry and Sue Tomback.  We exchanged happy hour visits, war stories and cruising plans and overall just hit it off.  Larry and Sue are veteran cruisers, having started out on the U.S. west coast and following a recent transit through the Panama Canal are now exploring the east coast.  Beverly S (named after Sue’s late mother) is a gorgeous example of the original Nordhavn trawler that originally set the standard for power boat voyaging.

The Genset's Racor Housing After a
Thorough Flush Out.

Throughout the remainder of the month Chelle continued to provision Ghost Rider with the usual galley supplies and durable food stores.  It’s easy to tell when that’s in process as the boat sits a few inches lower in the water once she’s done.

Rick of course kept busy with maintenance and related system preparations.  That included our annual inspection of the fire suppression systems, oil and filter changes for the main engine and generator, flushing some accumulated asphaltenes from the genset’s Racor fuel filter housing, and the annual maintenance on the dinghy’s outboard engine (oil change, new fuel filters, and a new start battery.)  The water maker also got a fresh set of prefilters.  Notably, this is the first time we've had to perform time-based oil changes (annual vs. hours-based) on the main engine and generator.  The boat's bottom and running gear also got a thorough scrubbing.

Additionally, we also decided to order two new (vertical) LPG cylinders for the boat.  After previously discovering that our existing tanks were restricted to horizontal mounting – yet had been installed vertically back in 2002 – we had experimented with a single cylinder with a proper horizontal mount.  That worked well enough (and was a whole lot safer) but there was room for only one tank in that orientation....and we could not find a safe place to store the second spare tank (which, according to ABYC standards, is subject to the same safe storage standards as a tank-in-use; we simply do not have such an additional space on Ghost Rider.)  The 20 pound LPG aluminum cylinders are NOT inexpensive, but the unsafe alternatives easily justified the spend.

Our New (Vertical) Aluminum LPG Cylinders.  We Had to Get Creative with the Mounting Brackets -- Turns Out that
'Galvanized Deck Post Ties' from Home Depot Are a Perfect Fit After Drilling Holes to Match the Mounting Studs.

Lastly, we continued to coordinate with the All Hands And Hearts organization on what supplies we could mule over to the Bahamas aboard Ghost Rider.  Right now that appears to be numerous boxes of roofing materials, mostly screws and hurricane clips and perhaps rolls of peel & stick roofing membranes.

At this point we’re mostly waiting on a good weather window to make the trip around Florida to Palm Beach.  After a maintenance depot stop there we’ll pick another window to cross over to the Bahamas.  But for now the windy conditions continue to exacerbate the low tidal waters in addition to boiling up the coastal waters, making departure somewhere between a non-starter and a bad idea.  Apart from the winds, however, the sunshine and temps are quite nice, so it looks like this is a good time to take in some MLB spring training games.

Jan 2020: Projects in Port & in the Abacos

Happy New Year!  We welcomed 2020 still confined to port, as poor weather had intervened and prevented our planned cruise up to Sarasota for Christmas week.  That meteorological mess consisted of a cold front accompanied by gusty winds and rain for several days, and was enough of a deterrent to keep Ghost Rider tethered to the dock.  One of the many nice things about retirement is the flexibility to pick our weather windows….our car got us to Sarasota and the planned family rendezvous just fine.  The remainder of our time since our last blog post has mostly been occupied with out-of-town visitors escaping the cold winter weather to the north.  And Chelle took a side trip back to the Abacos….more on that further below.

That also gave us time to turn our attention to a few more boat projects….some expected, some not.

We Replaced Four of These Poly-planar Speakers
Due to Splits in the Speaker Cones

First up was replacing some of the stereo speakers in the boat.  Ghost Rider has three pairs of these (salon, pilot house and flybridge), and both pairs of interior speakers were in dire need of replacement – the speaker cones had deteriorated with splits and cracks and the distorted sound was getting annoying.  (We don’t know the age of these, but strangely the exterior flybridge units are holding up better.)  At any rate, it was easy enough to find drop-in replacements (Poly-planar 6x9 200W on Amazon), and with only six screws and two wires each were easy to remove and replace.

Having to replace yet another Whale fresh water T-fitting was an unpleasant surprise.  During one routine morning boat-check Rick glanced at the bilge pump counter and saw “36” – where normally we expect to see something from zero to five over the course of a day and that’s only if the A/C has been running.  Uh-oh.  After scrambling to check the bilge level (normal, so the bilge pump was keeping up) the scavenger hunt began….from where was that water coming?  While checking various under-floor panels we heard the fresh water pump kick on and run for an extended period; a quick check of the fresh water tank level showed a significant decrease from the previous day, too.  So now we knew we were looking for a fresh water system leak.  We turned off the breaker for the water pump, and eventually Rick found the culprit, one of the many Whale 15mm T-fittings scattered throughout the boat….this one immediately adjacent to, and on the supply side of, the fresh water pump in the engine room.  We carry spares, so the replacement fix was relatively quick and easy.

The Yellow Arrow Points to the Whale
T-Fitting That Was Leaking

Then it was time to call out an A/C tech to the boat once again.  The air handler in the master state room had (again) started to throw “HI PS” errors and shutting itself down.  Previously Rick had been able to clear that error with strainer cleanouts and running reverse cycle heat; but those techniques were proving fruitless this time.  Using the infrared heat gun we found compressor coil temps reaching 156F (normally around 120F) and the unit would shut itself down after a few minutes of runtime. Craig from VIP Marine (LINK) found a hole in his busy schedule to make a visit and after hooking up his manifold pressure gauges (finding high-side pressure way above the normal range) he quickly diagnosed the problem as clogging in the fresh water cooling loop.  We really had no idea if or when that plumbing had last been scoured out, but in an oft-used A/C system in these warm waters it’s not uncommon for raw water loops to get sclerotic with barnacles and other unwanted nasties.

Our first step was to remove the hose from the thru-hull intake, where we found the equivalent of a small tree growing; we cleared that out using a long screwdriver as a rigid drain snake.  Next up was to remove the four raw water manifold hoses downstream of the pump and run an acid cleaner through those.  A loud “pop” and debris coming from the port side discharge was evidence we were progressing with removing considerable sclerosis from the cooling loop.  After a few hours of effort followed by a leak check of the reassembled plumbing, the A/C system was pronounced healthy again.  The improved water flow, pressure and temperature checks confirmed that.  Rick followed up with a “Barnacle Buster” soak over the following days as additional preventive insurance.

When We Removed the Hose and Elbow Coming Out of This A/C Seacock We Found a Small Tree Growing
Inside the Thru-Hull.  First Step Was to Unclog That Mess.

Another project involved updating the ship’s Nobeltec computer.  That device is a Silverstone DC-powered computer running the TimeZero Professional navigation software; unfortunately that’s a mission critical system running under the Windows 10 (Pro) operating system, which is at best only a consumer-grade platform, and not particularly conducive to high availability needs.  Once huge drawback is Microsoft removed almost all ability to control the frequency and timing of its software updates, which occasionally can be quite disruptive.  To manage that we generally keep that PC’s Internet connection turned off, and on top of that we run a 3^rd party utility that effectively interrupts that “phone home” behavior.

Thus periodically we need to manually check for OS security updates and functional upgrades/fixes, but only when we have the time to manage possibly adverse consequences.  And that did not go well – after twice applying updates, and then rolling back to recover, the computer turned into a brick. It took Rick three days to recover it – performing a BIOS reset and fresh install of the latest build for Windows 10, followed by reinstallation and configuration of our Nobeltec TimeZero Pro navigation software.  At least we were able to recover routes and other data files from our backups.  On the other hand the newer version of Windows 10 would not recognize the computer’s PCI serial I/O card (which feeds backup NMEA 0183 navdata to the TimeZero software) even after reinstalling new drivers.  A newer I/O card and driver set finally resolved that.

The Ship's Navigation Computer is a 12 Volt Small Form Factor Silverstone Model.  It's Tucked in the Pilot House
Console Locker, a Challenge to Access.  This Pic is with Its Cover Removed to Provide Access to Its Innards So
the PCI Serial I/O Card Can Be Replaced.

Additionally, in the category of “better late than never” we made an interesting discovery regarding the boat’s LPG system.  Ghost Rider carries two aluminum 15.8 pound (empty weight) gas bottles to feed the galley’s gas stove and oven, a common arrangement in long range cruisers – alternative electric units are energy (battery) hogs. The LPG bottles have been securely mounted (vertically, side-by-side) in an isolated and ventilated cockpit locker mostly in accordance with ABYC standards.  Suspecting one of the bottles was approaching empty and requiring a refill, we removed it to weigh it on a digital scale – and for the first time took notice a label on the bottle that read “horizontal cylinder.”  After researching exactly what that meant we realized the heretofore vertical installation violated a rather significant safety measure (and probably interfered somewhat with consistently reliable operation.)  Rick bought some stainless hardware and drilled new studs in the floor of the locker to allow for a secure horizontal mount – although only one bottle would fit in there with that orientation. 

The Revised Horizontal Mount for LPG.  The Yellow Arrows Point to the Two New Stainless Steel Studs and
Wingnuts that Were Required.  The Red Arrows Indicate the Previous Studs Used for Vertical Mounting.

The second (spare) LPG bottle got strapped down in the lazarette storage area.  The better longer term solution would be two new bottles designed for vertical installation – but those aluminum things are pricey and that can wait.

As for Chelle’s side trip…to the Abacos:  Not being one to take the traditional approach to retirement, she has yet to master the skill of being laid back.  After accommodating holiday visits by her mum, then her sister and entire family, then our daughter, followed shortly thereafter by four of her gal pals, she headed off to Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas for two weeks of disaster relief volunteer work.  Via the All Hands and Hearts organization (aka AHAH, LINK), their gritty manual labor efforts are targeting the reconstruction of schools, a clinic and library, and teachers’ homes.  

For more details on that experience, check out the separate blog entry at this LINK.

What’s next:  We’re not planning any significant sorties until the March timeframe, at which time we are hoping to cruise around to the east coast for a (brief?) visit to Yacht Tech’s yard in palm Beach, and then heading off to the Bahamas again. February will be preparation month – provisioning all sorts of supplies and food, along with pre-departure oil changes and other system preparations.  We're also looking into using Ghost Rider as a "mule" to haul needed supplies to The Abacos relief efforts.  More on all that in the next blog post.  

Once again, we wish all a Happy New Year and best wishes for a safe, healthy and enjoyable 2020.