It is a beautiful morning in Virginia Beach. The sun is
coming up in a clear blue sky over the eastern horizon about to meet a solid
grey bank of clouds representing a big weather system with storms stretching
all the way back to our home in Ohio.
It is odd to think of weather systems in that “meta” kind of
manner but we spend a lot of our time now watching the sky. Not only does the
weather influence how we dress, shorts or jeans, rain gear or sun screen, but
it impacts whether we can or should travel today.
We have been camping out here in Virginia Beach since
October 12. Today is October 30. We are putting down roots here at Cavalier
Yacht Club. Not a bad place to wait for November 1 when magically the insurance
companies give the “ok” that hurricane season is over and we can move south
past Norfolk VA on our journey to Florida for the winter.
Getting to VAB was eventful. Three days running on the
outside: New York City to Atlantic City, then across Delaware Bay to Ocean City
where we waited for two days for the wind to turn from south to north so we
could travel over 110 miles from Ocean City to Virginia Beach. Three travel
days plus two wait days means we traveled 250 miles in three days. That is a
big deal.
It was a windy, bumpy day to travel. We left very early,
around 7am. The sun was just starting to come up (remember it is late fall –
sunrise is very late). We left the wide inlet and turned south (right)
traveling 20 to 22 miles per hour because we had to cover a lot of ground.
There is almost no safe harbor once you leave Ocean City so we were committed.
Actually we found an inlet at Chincoteague Island but no one considered that a
pleasant alternative so once we started we had to finish. It was a long day.
Kermit got the GPS and autopilot to work when we traveled
between Atlantic City and Ocean City which took a lot of pressure off the
captain. This time we had a different problem. The GPS
This time we hugged the shore and Just BilEve traveled what
seems like about 8 to 10 miles off shore, where we usually travel. On the loop
when we traveled with another boat we stayed together in case something
happened but we often lost sight of Just BilEve. Not a problem, just
interesting.
Maryland’s eastern shore curves inward towards the west so Kermit
figured that if we hug the shore and travel in a straight line south we would
have a direct route to the Lynnhaven Inlet, our target. This worked perfectly
for us; not so much for the idea of traveling inland with Just BilEve.
We got there first. “Just BilEve, Just BilEve, where are
you?” “We are east of the freighters lined up to enter the Chesapeake” – about
10 miles east. At 20 mph they were half an hour away. Not hugging the shore
like he usually did. More like where we usually travel. Quite the role
reversal! So we waited. But waiting at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is a
little like waiting in the Moseley Channel by Cedar Point in Lake Erie on a
Saturday afternoon. Lots of bouncing around in boat chop coming at you from all
angles. We turned around and headed out to the freighter line so we could keep
moving since standing in one place with those tall square waves was definitely
not fun. The pilot boat looked at us like we were crazy. I am not complaining.
Bill and Eve waited for us before. Sometimes it happens like that.
Finally we met Just BilEve and proceeded through the
entrance to the Chesapeake Bay to the
Lynnhave Inlet at Wolfsnare Creek. As we entered the inlet we waved at Hattie
Hetchkopf standing on her balcony waving a red towel at us. We couldn’t see her
very well (the boat was bouncing a lot) but she could see us!
It was a relief to enter the inlet, tur
n to the east and
travel on an inland waterway after three days traveling in the ocean.
AHHHHhhhh… the water was flat, the skies cleared up, little angels played calm
music in the sky. You know the drill! That moment when you are off the big
water slipping into safe water.
It took almost another hour to travel the six miles to
Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club. You can look it up on Google Maps. Most of the
way is no-wake passing beautiful homes and boats fortunate enough to live in
such a beautiful place. Honestly I could live here year round.
Michael and Judy Hechtkopf grabbed our lines when we
arrived. So nice to see them again after several years of texting. Hugs all
around, we changed clothes and headed to for dinner at the Hechtkopf house with
Mike and Judy, their son Matthew, daughter in law Stephanie, Hattie Hechtkopf
who is now 101 years old, and Jay and Sandy Tischler. We had a wonderful time,
laughing and catching up. The fried chicken dinner was amazing.
Sadly, Mike and Judy left the next day for a cruise in
France. They have been gone the entire time. We will see them one day before we
leave VAB on Monday. Oh well. Maybe they will join us in the winter in Florida
for a few days.
The last 18 days have been lovely. We have become a fixture
at Cavalier. I returned to Ohio for a few days to give some speeches and do
some work during the teens of October so I drove the truck back to VAB. Now we
have wheels and can go and do whatever we want. We like that flexibility.
While I work most days Kermit has been very busy with boat
maintenance. This is the part for the boat guys.
Oil Change: He changed the oil on both engines and the
generator. FYI it costs a lot more and is more complicated to do an oil change
on a diesel boat than a gas boat because there is just more to maintain. The
boat comes equipped with an oil changing system so that part is easier – just
press a few buttons – but there is a lot more involved. For example it takes
two 5 gallon drums of Rotella 15W40 oil, 2 oil filters per engine, 2 crank case
breathers per engine, and every other oil change you have to change 3 fuel filters
per engine. It took one morning to complete but it took a week’s worth of
ordering to get all the parts assembled in one place.
Preventive maintenance with the engine belts
Problems with the starboard engines: We had another big problem with the
GPS in the Atlantic as we approached the Chesapeake Bay. The rollers kept
getting bigger. The boat slows as it heads up a roller and surfs (goes a lot
faster) as the boat heads down a roller into a trough. The idea is to time the
boat speed to stay at the top of the roller if possible just because you can go
faster when the waves are pushing you with the wind from the north or northeast
while we are going south. With waves about 3 or 5 feet in height, we are not
talking about anything huge or scary. When we rode the waves down Kermit
noticed that the autopilot disengaged sometimes and the boat would start
veering to the starboard (right side). Not good. The starboard engine sounded
funny too. This complicated the experience of waiting for Just BilEve in the
choppy mouth of the Bay. We hoped we were not losing an engine. We did not
relish the idea of hanging out in the Bay with one engine.
The diesel mechanic came on board and discovered a few
problems that resolved starboard engine problems as well
as the question of why we were getting so much diesel soot on the rear
starboard quarter. The starboard engine was losing power causing the GPS and autopilot to go goofy. A couple of issues actually
- We had a clogged fuel line on the starboard engine. They ran the boat up to 2300 rpms and saw bubbles go through the fuel filter. They figured out that there was a pin hole in the fuel line! It is fixed now.
- There was some sort of goop on the starboard engine around one of the filters. Turns out this was dead bugs - bacteria that gets into the diesel fuel. The mechanic had to saw a small chunk of wood under the stairs to access this filter so he could open that section, clean out the goop and change the filter.
Next: How we are keeping busy
No comments:
Post a Comment