THE RAINEY SEASON June 14, 2016
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Caribbean, Clearwater, Durbeck, Florida, ICW, Pensacola, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing, Sailing the ICW.add a comment
With the tropical storm we did have one more good feeder ban during the middle of the night. Caused me to get up and look around. The wind had started to shift from the south to the west. The wind was still strong, but the direction put it almost straight on the bow. That made for some good sleeping for the rest of the night.
Tuesday started as with the tropical storm finely leaving the area. Still some rain squalls around. Now it rains sometime during the day. Getting tired of it. I believe yesterday was the first day with out rain. It may have rained during the night.
Yesterday I spent the day cleaning the port side of the hull. Today we finished the cleaning. Now it needs a good waxing. No buffer, guess I can’t do that.
About a year ago our aft air conditioner died. That was not a big problem in the island where the trades blow hard. In Tampa, with no wind and rain, it is hot and muggy. Therefore I ordered a new unit. To my surprise, it was to be delivered today. That meant after finishing the hull, I had to dig out a old rusty 50 air conditioner. The mate and I were just lifting the old unit off the boat when the dock master comes rolling up with the new unit sitting in the back seat of his golf cart. Nothing better then having a big healthy 30 year old to carry the new unit and put it on the deck and take away the old one.
About dinner time I fired it up. A small water leak where I attached the water hoses. A turn with the screwdriver to a hose clamp and all works like new. The mate is heading for bed and was commenting about it being cold in our stateroom. Have not heard that for over 2 years.
Next to call the water maker people and set up their coming over to find my leak. I think it is an “O” ring. I think. I hope, that sounds inexpensive.
January 12, 2014
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, ICW, Punta Gordo, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing, Sailing the ICW, Sarasota, South Florida.1 comment so far
THAT WAS A DRILL, WE ARE STILL HERE
Yep. Got up early, ate cereal while looking up all my weather apps. I am over loaded with info most of the time. Today I could not get Chris Parker the weather guy on SSB. A front went through at about 1 AM and the atmospheric conditions were bad and could not hear anything. So I chicken out and stayed. That was good.
We are traveling with this couple going to the Bahamas and they are following along. We decided to go to West Marine to get a few things and we rented bikes to do some touring on the way. Got our stuff, ate some lunch and rode around. Rodger, you would have been proud. Land cruiser type bikes. That was good, because I can not remember the last time I rode a bike.
It was a beautiful day, and we will stay at least a couple more days because the weather is iffy and we could be stuck in Little Shark River or Marathon. Little Shark River is in the mangroves of the everglades with nothing but bugs, Marathon is nice but expensive. We need a weather window big enough to move to Marathon and then up to Key Largo to stage for the trip across with out doing a 24 stint. The Mate does not want to do that if possible. I am if full agreement.
On our Facebook page the mate is writing a daily what’s happening with lots of pictures. May be of interest. Our Facebook is: http://www.facebook/ralphknoerr.
WE HAVE WIFI January 5, 2014
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, ICW, Punta Gordo, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing, Sailing the ICW, Sarasota, South Florida.add a comment
It is Sunday night and we have WIFI. That is good. We spent 3 days at Cape Haze and no WIFI or TV. Not good. We were there to avoid bad weather. Friday we got winds during the night in the 30’s. We were in this great hurricane hole that had a bottom of mud. Friday about noon we were dragging and the weather was not that bad. Put out about twice the anchor line and we held through the night with mid 30 winds.
We left this morning for Cabbage Key and a hamburger in Paradise. Did that and walked around the island. A very enjoyable Sunday afternoon.
Tomorrow morning we leave early for York Island. It will give us protection from the next cold front coming our way. It seems to be diminishing in severity. The temps are only going to be in the low 40’s. They were taking mid 30’s a couple days ago. Come on, I am in south Florida, not Pensacola. We will see. After this anchorage, we are going into a marina to do laundry, fuel up and top off the water. Then we will wait for a weather window to head to Marathon in the Keys. We will wait for a window there and head up to Key Biscayne and maybe pick up my son to go across with us. He wants to fish the Gulf Stream.
This past week has been chilly and overcast. Oh and no wind when we were moving. We have sailed maybe 4 hours the whole trip and then only an hour with out the motor running. This to will pass. I think the didoes on the alternator got fried. The alternator is not putting out any power to the batteries. Really not good. I have a spare alternator that I will put on while we wait out the bad weather. Maybe get it fixed at the marina we are going to . Or we will wait till Marathon.
HEADING INTO CLEARWATER December 9, 2013
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, Pensacola, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing.add a comment
CLEARWATER ENTERANCE December 9, 2013
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, Pensacola, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing.add a comment
December 9, 2013
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, Pensacola, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing.add a comment
December 9, 2013
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, Pensacola, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing.add a comment
December 9, 2013
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, Pensacola, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing.add a comment
December 9, 2013
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, Pensacola, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing.add a comment
STEP ONE – TAMPA December 9, 2013
Posted by sailingnightwatch in Clearwater, Durbeck, FL, Florida, Repairs, Restoration, Sailing.1 comment so far
We left and cleared the pass in Pensacola about 7 pm Saturday the 30th. Light to no wind. As the night went on we went from 2 foot chop to 3 foot steep chop like the Gulf likes to give sailors. Saturday night was clear and not to cold. The stars were out like you only see at sea. We got a great view of the comet. Problem is only 2 of us got to see it. The rest of the crew was sleeping. That what happens when you do not want the watches in the middle of the night. Sunrises and sunsets were also fantastic.
Sunday the seas calmed a little, but the wind was mostly on the nose and light. We did motor sail for about an hour, but that was it.
Monday the wind picked up a little and moved enough north to give us a hand getting in. We needed it. I had some work done on he heat exchanger which included the brazing of a new elbow on the unit. It cracked and began leaking raw water at an ever increasing rate. We lowered the RPM a little and motorsailed into Clearwater, our first destination. 48 hours, dock to dock. A fast run. We got the heat exchanger fixed and on Wednesday headed out in the afternoon and anchored that night in Pass – A – Grille. Thursday morning we went onto the St Pete Yacht Club for the night and visited the St Pete Boat Show. On Friday, we moved to the West Shore Yacht Club. Both are very nice places. Why Yacht Clubs. The first 2 were because both of my crew members are members of Yacht clubs with reciprocity for a free night at the dock. Where we are now is because the marina we were going to stay at is full and they work with the yacht club which has a lot of slips. We will be staying here till the 26th.
Another little incident that made the trip more interesting was a loss of oil pressure as we transited to Pass – A – Grill. We checked the oil and had to add about .8 of a gallon. It hold 2. No visible leaks. Ran about another 1-1/2 hours and the oil pressure started dropping again. Added another gallon. Another hour and another gallon. Still no leaks, and the engine is not smoking. Called my mechanic in Pensacola. Said it was a leak in the oil cooler that was allowing the engine to pump the oil over the side. He had a new cooler shipped to the yacht club and I will install it today. I do not know that I am having fun yet.
Pensacola FL Sailing Blog - sailingnightwatch 