On Wednesday, May 13th, we stopped at a marina in Georgetown, South Carolina, so Judy could return to Merritt Island and Orlando for some American Heart Association business; she’ll return on Saturday and we’ll be back on the waterway on Sunday (weather permitting). In the meantime, I’m taking care of some little boat projects.

We took on 142.2 gallons of diesel yesterday morning and were for the second time able to calculate our burn rate while cruising. We’d cruised 88 hours since our last fill-up just before departing Manatee Cove Marina. During that time we’d operated the generator for about four hours – it burns about 1/2 gallon per hour at “normal” load. All that means that we’re burning about 1.6 gallons of diesel per hour while running the main engine – very good news in these days of extremely high diesel prices on the water (it’s higher than diesel for cars).

I’ve also replaced the electric horn which had decided to stop working the day we started our trip. The marina was able to order one from their wholesaler and had it delivered the next day.

The last day on the water our navigation computer had decided it didn’t want to operate, and after much work it is again working properly. We use it as a backup to paper charts and the electronic chart plotter, and in some instances it is more helpful than either of our primary navigation aids. It displays our location (via an independent GPS) on up-to-date electronic charts in real time, and when it is working we rely on it if we have to go into a narrow anchorage or have a question about where we are in relation to shallow water or a charted obstacle.

When Judy returns on Saturday we’ll do some shopping to get a few food items that we need, and on Sunday morning head north. We should be in the Chesapeake in a week to a week and a half, depending on where we stop along the way to sight-see.

Julie and Khepera are doing well. They seem to lounge around a lot, but they do that at home, also. Khepera goes outside to walk the decks in the morning, while I keep my eye on him while having my coffee. Julie seems to prefer to stay inside – it’s been windy and I think that bothers her.

Yesterday (Friday) was a long day. A friend at the marina had arranged for a fuel truck delivery around 0800 on Friday, and I had pre-positioned Sanderling at the fuel dock the previous afternoon (Thursday); my friend was going to bring his boat over and tie up behind me on Friday morning – early.

I arrived at Sanderling before 0700 in order to help my friend, and by 0730 his boat was tied up at the dock behind Sanderling. Then we waited for the fuel truck – and waited – and waited. We had several phone calls during the day from the owner of the fuel company, apologizing for the delay – he was short of drivers. Finally, about 1730 the truck and driver showed up and we were able to take on fuel.

Sanderling only held 150 gallons of diesel; I had anticipated around 200 gallons based on the number of hours the engine had operated since we filled up last May. Excluding the fact that the generator had run about 25 hours during that period of time, that means that we burned about 1.7 gallons per hour – much better than I had anticipated. If the generator burns even 0.5 gallons per hour (I’ll have to check on that today), that would mean the main engine burned about 1.5 gallons per hour!

Not all the waiting time was lost. The outboard engine had been serviced and was ready for pickup, so I brought it aboard (will get it onto the Zodiac today), and I took the two propane tanks to be topped-off.

On Wednesday we held “fast cruise” for a 24 hour period. This involves pretending that Sanderling is actually underway – in this case, we pretended that we were anchored and operating solely from internal electrical sources. I actually spent the night aboard (Judy was out of town visiting her mother in Kansas) in order to make it more realistic. We “anchored” at 1715, and through the evening I cooked dinner using the microwave (left overs), watched TV for half an hour (the evening news), read until about 2200, and fixed coffee and toast for breakfast. During the evening I had several lights, the GPS, a VHF radio and the AM/FM/CD stereo operating. I even flushed the heads several times (the Lectrasan consumes 12 volt electricity for about 2 minutes while it is cycling). The refrigerator was operating the whole time. During the 24 hour period we consumed 215 amps of the roughly 500 amps that are available through the inverter. That means that we can anchor out for about two days without running the generator to recharge the batteries.

We’re almost ready to cast off.

Last week a friend and boat electrician (one and the same person) came aboard for three days and vastly improved Sanderling’s electrical system. We installed a new Balmar 110 amp alternator and external regulator, and a Link 1000 monitor; rewired the battery banks to make one large (10 – 6 volt deep cycle batteries) house/engine/bow thruster/windlass bank and one generator starting bank; and split the 110 volt side of the electrical panel into two sections: one powered when the inverter is operating and everything powered when using shore or generator power. It was a big job, and the last of the three major projects necessary to complete prior to cruising.

In the process of checking out all the electrical systems after the rewiring project, we discovered a short in the spreader light circuit. Upon further investigation I discovered that the electrical line at the base of the mast where it passes through two stainless steel plates had become stripped of insulation and the hot side broken due to strain on the wire. The very short length of wire projecting beyond the base of the mast was not long enough to allow a crimped terminal, and I was unable to pull any additional wire from the mast; to top it off, there is no way to access the wires inside the mast – a real bummer! Now we’re faced with having to lay a temporary line along the outside of the mast to the spreader lights. There is always something to provide a challenge.

We’re still hoping to get underway around the 30th of April, despite the challenges of rewiring the spreader lights and provisioning food and clothing.

We’ll make it!

A few days ago we received the schedule for the Points East Fundy Flotilla which we’ll be joining. Currently, there are 32 boats registered. Here’s the schedule:

Saturday, August 9: Northeast Harbor, crew meeting at a downtown church, noon-3:00; drinks 5-6:30 at the Main Sail Restaurant at the harbor, followed by buffet dinner.

Sunday, August 10: Cruise to Cutler, Maine. Anchor, go ashore for lobster supper at the Methodist Church.

Monday, August 11: Cruise to Grand Manan . . max flood (1+ knots) in the Grand Manan Channel is approximately 1300 ADT, so plan accordingly. Moor or berth at North Head Harbor. Be prepared to raft at the floats. Go ashore to clear customs. dinner at The Inn at Whale Cove. Two seatings. Transportation will be provided. menu is al la carte; food is excellent.

Tuesday, August 12: Cruise to Saint John, arriving in plenty of time to pick up our “pilots” in the harbor and get to the Reversing Fall in time for low slack at 1930 ADT. Continue up the river and to the RKYC for moorage and dockage (if the latter is available). Be prepared to raft on the moorings.

Wednesday, August 13: Relax, clean up, banquet in the evening upstairs at the RKYC.

Thursday, August 14: Mid-morning tour of the operations center of Fundy CG Radio and Fundy Traffic in downtown Saint John. Then free time downtown. The RKYC puts on its usual Thursday night buffet and flotillians are invited – but you have to make reservations ahead of time.

Friday, August 15: enjoy the river.

Saturday, August 16: ditto.

Sunday, August 17: At Gagetown Marina; Flotilla dock party in the afternoon.

Monday, August 18: All-day outing to Kings Landing, including bus transportation, guided tour of the reconstructed early-19th century village, private-room luncheon.

Tuesday, August 19: Outdoor BBQ at the marina. Possible trip to Fredericton beforehand, if we’ve got a few fast cruisers to cart everyone up there.

Wednesday, August 20: Back to the RYC in order to be ready for an early – very early – crossing of the Reversing Falls.

Thursday, August 21: Cross the Reversing Falls at high slack (0535 ADT) and continue on to St. Andrews. Mooring or anchoring. No docks.

Friday, August 22: In St. Andrews, a great town for walking, shopping, dining.

Saturday, August 23: High tide is 0454 ADT, and you’ll want to be ready to head out of the harbor early, if you’re one of the slower boats, in order to ride the ebb to Eastport. There are additional docks and moorings in Eastport this year, which will be explained later. Upon arrival at Eastport, report in by calling Customs and Border Protection in Houlton, Maine. Then present yourself and your documents and those for your vessel and your crew to the Customs officials who will either be on the docs or in their office adjacent to the harbor.

Sounds like a great cruise!

We’re making progress in getting Sanderling ready for the trip. Most everything is completed except reworking the battery banks, and that should occur in early April.

We now plan to depart our marina on April 30th and take our time heading north (unlike our trip north in 2006). We’ll spend some time on the Chesapeake, renewing our acquaintance with some of our favorite spots and possibly heading up the Potomac River to Washington, DC. We also hope to spend more time on Long Island Sound, Narragansett Bay, and in Maine prior to the Fundy trip.

It’s been a busy year and a half since the last post. We began a hunt for a slightly larger trawler in 2006, and by May 2007 we had settled on a DeFever 41 built in 1987. Since then, we have been working to upgrade some of the systems and the decor, with a new Force 10 propane stove/oven to replace the dreadful electric stove/oven (requiring us to operate the generator every time we wanted to use the stove), a hand held Simrad auto-pilot control unit (in addition to the console mounted unit), new GPS, new curtains and cushions (absolutely beautiful), new bow-thruster (to replace one 1/2 the proper size), and soon-to-be rewired electrical system.

We hope to have everything completed in time for a departure in late April 2008. We’ll be heading to Canada, either via Maine on the ocean side of the continent, or via Lake Champlaine on the inside route.

Pictures of the new Sanderling can be seen at http://public.fotki.com/rmcleran/sanderling/