Breeze On

Caleb came yesterday afternoon and installed the new sensor. While he was at it, he installed our spare thermostat. After Caleb finished we ran the engine again and found that it was running at lower temperatures than it did before he completed the work.  We believe everything is now fixed but won’t feel sure until we leave the marina. Speaking of leaving the marina—we negotiated one extra night and had planned to leave tomorrow and motor a few hours to the anchorage at Cape Lookout. That way we would be able to test the engine without going too far from Beaufort. We planned to stay at Cape Lookout until Saturday then sail to Brunswick, GA. However, there is a very strong area of low pressure coming our way on Friday and the forecast is worse with every update. The last forecast predicted sustained winds in the mid-forties with gusts near 60. So we extended our stay until Sunday and may leave sometime on Saturday if the winds calm down. It is disappointing but seems like the sensible t

The good news is the inverter is working. It does not communicate well with the new monitor and controller—Victron Cerbo GX—we had installed this summer. The lack of communication caused the inverter to shut down. It has been rebooted and is now working. We may have to disconnect the inverter from the Cerbo to keep it from shutting down again but that is a minor issue.  The bad news is the engine is not fixed. The new part arrived just before noon yesterday. Coincidentally, the mechanic who was scheduled to come to Breeze On Friday was available yesterday. George installed the new hose reducer and the mechanic, Caleb, arrived a short time later. Caleb checked everything, said it looked fine, and we fired up the engine. We ran it for about 45 minutes while Caleb continued to check the engine. Everything looked good so Caleb left. Wouldn’t you know it, high coolant temperature alarm sounded before Caleb even got off of the dock. George called him, he came back and said he suspected a fau

Just when we thought we were making progress with the engine, another problem arose. Our inverter, which allows us to use AC power on the boat, has stopped working. George is planning to communicate with the electrician we use in MD and try to sort the problem. As I write this George is attempting to gain access to the inverter that is hidden behind a locker—no easy task.  The engine test we conducted yesterday was a success. We are on track to attach the new hose fitting once it arrives tomorrow.  If it all works well after that we will leave the marina on Wednesday. Today we attempted to replace the hose that collapsed with a hose that has stiffer walls and will be less prone to collapsing. Because it is so stiff we were unable to attach the hose to the water pump. We even tried soaking it in hot water. A man on a YouTube video suggested using a tailpipe expander to stretch the hose so we have one on order. Luckily Amazon deliveries to Beaufort are quick.  I also wanted to mention th

We have spent the last two and a half days attempting to find the cause of the overheating engine and believe we may have found an answer. On Wednesday afternoon George noticed that the seawater pump intake hose starts to collapse—flatten—when the engine runs over 1500 rpm.  Video of seawater hose collapsing at higher rpms. It is especially noticeable when the engine is turned down to neutral.  Although we aren’t engine mechanics, we both thought that wasn’t a good sign. We have since confirmed that the hose is not supposed to do that and have focused our efforts on finding where there might be a restriction in the flow of water that causes the hose to collapse.  The seacock—opens and closes to allow seawater in—was an obvious suspect. Things can grow in the seacock or debris can get sucked in.  George borrowed a high pressure hose nozzle from Dan and used a hose to spray water from the inside boat out through the seacock. That made no difference in the collapsing hose. He then disconn

I have a few reasons to feel disappointed today. For the purposes of this blog, though, I will limit my discussion to reasons related to Breeze On and our trip.  We left Homer Smith Docks and Marina at 5:45 this morning with a plan to go to Brunswick, GA. About an hour after leaving the dock we had enough wind to raise the mainsail. As the sail was going up the engine alarm went off. That was the first time that had ever happened and we weren’t initially sure what it was. When we checked the display on the engine controls it said the temperature was too high. We turned the engine off and sailed at a very low speed in light wind for a time while we discussed a plan. A short time later we turned around toward Beaufort and George called Tow Boat US. We are now back at Homer Smith, but in a different slip. We are very grateful to Dan, the dockmaster, for finding a slip for us at this very busy time of year. We had tried other marinas that have mechanics on site but they did not have room f

The other day I was attempting to clean a mildewed bottle brush with a little bit of bleach. I must have splashed a little on a new shirt that I had recently made. I happen to like this top so I was disappointed to see a few tiny white spots a little while later.  George suggested I paint the shirt, so today—while we were out running errands in the courtesy car—we bought some fabric paint at the dollar store. I painted a swoop of tiny white dots that I hope will look like they belong there.  We are planning to leave here on Wednesday and go to Brunswick, GA. The forecast for the Bahamas area is too uncertain (potential tropical storms) for our tastes so we aren’t even considering going directly there from here.  My shirt with its new design.  Shrimp boats across the creek.  Tonight’s sunset. 

Our day started with a visit to the farmers market where we purchased vegetables and a basket made from cotton clothesline. Next we walked to the Beaufort Historic Site where we purchased tickets for a tour on an authentic double decker bus (built in England in 1967.)  Although the weather was cool and blustery we thoroughly enjoyed the informative tour.  Our bus. It recently had a “new” (old) transmission installed. Nevertheless, whenever the driver had to back up to turn around, he had to turn the engine off and restart it to go in forward again. He did an amazing job driving around the narrow, crowded streets of Beaufort.  Our guide, Fritzy, starting the tour. She was a font of information.  The Old Burying Ground—it is actually a cemetery since it was not limited to just members of the nearby church. There decorated grave is that of the young daughter of a captain Sloos. He had sailed with her to England for a visit and promised his wife he would bring her back. After she died on t

Our plan was to leave Beaufort for Brunswick tomorrow morning but, after checking the forecast this morning, we decided it was better to wait until next week.  George finished the through hull job yesterday by re-connecting the hoses to the through hulls. We used the courtesy car to visit the marine store once again and buy more through hulls. The plan is to eventually replace the remaining above-the-water-line through hulls.  This evening we had dinner at the Black Sheep restaurant with Marla and Tommy, a couple we met here at the marina. After dinner we visited Beaufort’s Day of the Dead celebration. It was interesting and fun. As we entered we saw people in costume and several decorated tables filled with photographs of loved ones who had passed. A large band was playing while some couples danced to the music.  Photos from the Day of the Dead celebration

Our reservation to stay at Homer Smith Docks and Marina in Beaufort, NC was for seven days. Prior to leaving Cape Charles we had checked the forecast and it appeared that we would have unfavorable winds and seas for at least a week. Since we wanted to secure a spot in the marina we made the reservation for a week. When Dan, the dock master, confirmed that our non-refundable reservation was for seven days I thought, “Seven days—that’s a long time!” When we are living on the boat we like to move on after about four days. Even though we love Beaufort we would likely get antsy before the week was over. I started making plans for activities we could do to entertain ourselves—a boat tour to one of the barrier islands, a ride on a double decker bus. Well, as it turns out I needn’t have worried. When George was looking for the source of the salt water in the bilge yesterday he found a through hull that was loose. As he checked other through hulls one cracked as he was attempting to tighten it

We left Cape Charles just after 5:30 Sunday morning with a goal of reaching the Homer Smith Docks—in Beaufort, NC—before they closed today (Monday) afternoon. We motored down the bay for about 45 minutes, waiting for there to be enough light in the sky to see what we were doing when raising the mainsail. We passed over the bridge tunnel, leaving the Bay, at 8:00 am and had a pleasant sail with just the mainsail, averaging over seven knots with wind of 15-18 knots. In the afternoon the wind dropped to below 15 knots so we unfurled the jib and sailed with both the jib and main.  As we approached Cape Hatteras shortly before midnight the wind increased to over 20 knots and the boat rounded up. It was time to furl the jib. It happened not long before we were scheduled to change watches. George was in the cabin but heard the commotion when we rounded up and came into the cockpit to help. We sorted everything out and I went to bed. After George rounded Cape Hatteras we were sailing dead down

We started the day by focusing on boat chores—securing the dinghy for offshore sailing, tightening the boom brake line, buying fuel, and reattaching an enclosure zipper. Once most of the chores were finished we walked into town for coffee and a stroll up and down the shopping district. Since I went a bit overboard preparing food before we left home, we decided to eat dinner on the boat rather than in town.  Cape Charles is a lovely, thriving small town. We visited the here on our “around the Chesapeake Bay driving tour” before we moved to the Eastern shore. We might have moved here if it wasn’t so far removed from things such as health care. Today the town was having a Halloween trick or treat event. We saw numerous families with children in costume and even some adults in costume.  We plan to leave here early tomorrow morning and head toward Beaufort, NC.  The town’s “Love” sign overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.  Some of the many children in costume.  Securing the dinghy for offshore sa

Today we motored all across the bay to Cape Charles, after a day and a half of great sailing. The concrete plant across the channel from Cape Charles Town Harbor seems to be booming. We plan to work on boat chores and take a walk through town tomorrow.  Breeze On snug on a dock tonight.  Busy concrete plant.  Let’s hope they don’t start work early on a Saturday morning. 

Our day started at 4 am when the wind shifted—as forecast—from the S to the NW. The whistling wind and creaking anchor chain snubber line woke us both.  We slept very little after that. We left the Dun Cove anchorage just as the sun was rising and pointed toward the Chesapeake Bay. The forecast called for wind in the mid-twenties so we put a reef in the mainsail. We tried sailing with both the mainsail and the jib but the waves were pushing the boat every which way, making it hard to keep our small self-tacking jib filled. Since we had plenty of wind to keep us moving we bypassed Solomons and decided to go to either the northern shore of the Potomac or Ingram Bay, just S of the Potomac. In the end we chose Ingram Bay because we have been here twice before and knew it was a nice, calm, protected anchorage. In ten hours we covered 66 miles—almost all of it under sail—and are ready for a good night’s sleep.  Sunrise in Dun Cove.  Sunset in Mill Creek, Ingram Bay. 

We are on our way to the Bahamas once again. Since arriving home last March we have struggled with the decision for various reasons. The first reason was the challenging weather we experienced in the Bahamas last year. Frequent cold fronts led us to spend too much time in some protected anchorages while avoiding other favorite islands and anchorages altogether. There were other reasons leading us to question whether to go but the final reason was a strange noise coming from the engine at idle speed. George tried several fixes over the spring and summer but none did the trick. He even tried to get an appointment with the Volvo mechanic in Annapolis who replaced our saildrive gasket a few years ago. After a few  phone calls and promises we would get an appointment, the mechanic ghosted us. Early this fall George found another Volvo mechanic who was much closer to home. This young mechanic actually came onto our boat, heard the noise, and diagnosed it as a bad damper plate. We took Breeze

After 47 hours of mostly motoring—with a few peaceful hours of sailing—we completed the last leg of our trip home. The water was so calm along the outer banks of North Carolina that it seemed like glass.  Now Breeze On is safely tucked into her slip and we have started to unload our clothes and leftover food.  We are tired and quickly ran out of steam this afternoon after a few trips of unloading. Fortunately, we have plenty of time in the coming days to complete the chores required to get Breeze On cleaned and organized.