It took us about four hours to motor Liberty up to Safe Cove where she will spend the summer.  We were slower than normal, the grow on our prop seemed to cost us about 1/2 knot and the exhaust gas temperature (a measure of how hard the engine is working) was up another 150 degrees over our normal 625 degrees at cruise.  The route takes us through a small lock that you run yourself simply by pulling on a chain to operate the electrically operated gates.  Once through the locks it is about five miles through fresh water which effectively flushes the engine.  We also ran the genset for over one half hour to do the same.  Once we were at the dock we ran the air conditioner to circulate fresh water through it but of course forgot to run our sea water wash down pump.  I guess that will have to live with salt water in its line for the summer.

We are located at the pin, a couple of miles inland from the coast.

Once at the marina we dropped the mast and finished prepping the boat deck for our haul out scheduled for 1300 the next day.  As things turned out we were at the office the next morning at 0930 and they said the boat scheduled for 0900 still hadn’t come through the lock yet.  The office told them if they missed their scheduled time they go to the back of the line, in this case it might be days before they got pulled.   We did them a favor as we were ready to haul and took their spot and they were able to pull out at our original time.   Actually it helped us out as after they pressure washed the bottom and put us in our hut we were able to begin the unloading process and get stuff over to the storage unit.

Liberty is where the yellow circle is located, the storage unit is circled in red, a very short distance away on a dead end street. It couldn’t be more convenient. Their rates are more than reasonable but that might have to do with being out in the middle of nowhere.

Initially we were able to back the truck right up to the stern of the boat to load it but on day two they put a boat in behind us as well as a boat right next to us which cramped our style a bit.

We did a good job of filling this 5 x 10 unit with twelve 65 gallon containers as well as cushions, mattress and anything else we didn’t want to chance getting mildewed or moldy as this Florida storage is new to us.

 

The enclosure is big enough to bring the boat in on their one week old travel lift. The yard crew was great, blocking and setting the jack stands all the time asking me if things were satisfactory.

 

While our bottom was pretty clean, the stern thruster was turning into a coral reef. We use different bottom paint on the thruster as it is aluminum; we better find a better paint.

 

This guy must have snuck aboard a few years back as we don’t remember seeing him until we cleaned out our cabinets. He is now living at the Salvation Army with a number of bags of items that we no longer need.

 

Our new neighbor, a Krogen Manatee. Their owners were glad to see us again, they remembered us from Dowry Creek Marina in North Carolina last spring.  We were the crazy cruisers who headed north when it was blowing 25 knots and everybody else was staying put.  If you look close you will see a light right below the anchor pulpit.  In theory, if the this is not lit the yard should investigate why our electrical power is out.

Our second day out of the water didn’t end until 2030, as darkness was falling.  We sprayed vinegar on almost every interior surface, sprayed our tea tree oil in all the cabinets, lockers and anyplace where mildew might start, fired up three fans, our two Aire-Dryer units and spread 15 lbs of charcoal around in aluminum baking tubs.  We locked up the boat, climbed into our over-full truck and headed for the closest motel, 15 minutes away.  We had to leave behind the radio controlled sailboat, two cases of wine (they will be OK in the climate controlled storage unit), and our Torqeedo outboard among other things we had planned on bringing north.  The skipper didn’t sleep well that night as we were wondering what we forgot to do in our rush to get the boat buttoned up.  Early the next morning a quick trip to the boat was made while the mate was in the shower to check on things and put our mind at ease.  It turns out we forgot to leave the door to the head open when we left, but everything else was in order.

A stop over in Charlotte, NC was made to stay the night with Nancy, one of Bobbi’s traveling friends, the following day found us back in Erie.  Two days of traveling verses three months.

Of course we arrived to days of rain and temperatures in the 40’s (they were calling for snow but thankfully it didn’t) wearing Florida garb as our up north clothes were in some container in the back of the truck.  We quickly dived into preparing our up-north boat for the water.  With the weather being what it was we were limited to inside activities such a working on installing the new fuel tank and such.

We finally got a break in the weather, allowing us to compound/polish the topsides of the boat. This turned into full two days of work. The cloudy area is the before, the shiny white, the after.

If you have ever owned a boat you know how one apparently simple job leads to another, and before you know it you have a major project on your hands.  Case in point:  the shower in the head on the boat needed a bit of work.  The shower controls were original (1979 vintage) and needed replaced (flat out didn’t work).  Some of the lower woodwork (plywood with the world’s thinnest layer of Formica or something) also was tired and needed work.  How difficult is it to replace the control?  The holes just above the tub on the right show the location.  However, this is below the sole of the saloon, in a not very accessible location.   A 1-1/4 inch socket with a long breaker bar took care of the adapters (after a 12″ crescent wrench failed to have any effect).  Unfortunately, the flanged nuts holding it against the wall  appeared to require a 1-3/16 socket, which we didn’t have.  Out came the Fein multitool and we sawed them out (one handed due to access issues).  How easy this would have been if the controls were placed on the back side of the bulkhead of the head cabinet shown below at the lower left.  I can tell you this, the new controls are going there, the water lines for the sink are in this cabinet so what could be easier?  The copper water lines are also being replaced by PEX, at the moment from the main bulkhead forward (head area).

Shower/tub area of the head with the lower panel, some trim and paneling removed.

We have a issue with the 1-1/2 inch black water hose (polite talk for sewage line) that runs from the head which is located well to the left in the picture above to the holding tank, located below the sole of the hall outside the head.  This hose turns out to be 12′ long, runs from the head, through the cabinet, under the shower then down into the bilge before going to the holding tank.  Needless to say it is original, installed before the shower and woodwork was put in.  As such, replacing it can be a major project itself.  Getting it out might be easy, by reaching under the tub and sawing it into pieces, but how about installing a new one?  New hose that is rated for such purposes is expensive ($9/foot) and as you can imagine, the hose is extremely stiff making dragging it through tight spaces with twists and turns very difficult.  We figured that since we are replacing parts in the shower it would make sense to get as much space to work as possible so after about a day’s work (seriously) we managed to get the tub raised up almost two feet to give us access to spaces not seen by humans  since the late 70’s.

Finally, room to work.

We really needed to get this done as we have to get the new hose ordered.  With out the hose, we can’t use the head (we discovered it was rotten when we had the great diesel spill fiasco over the Christmas holiday), making it difficult to live aboard the boat when it is in the water.

Long story short:  we have decided to forgo buying/installing a new hose and instead have ordered a Nature’s Head (composting toilet).  We have come across a number of cruisers who have gone that route, RV people seem to like them as well as people living off the grid.  The fact that our current head is original (read: no repair parts available), it uses sea water to flush (smells) and there are 12′ of line to clear on each flush also weighed into our decision.

Anyhow, this is how a simple project grew 8 heads, trying to bite you at every opportunity (and gobbles up hours of your time).

So, in the last nine days we have put the new fuel tank in and plumbed it with new fuel and fill lines, the polishing system reinstalled, odd hoses replaced, a new bilge pump installed in a less than accessible location (deepest part of the main bilge), some copper water lines removed and PEX installed, injection pump oil changed, old head and intake line to the holding tank removed, topsides compounded, as well as a bunch of other odd tasks taken care of.

We launch in two days at which time we can fill our diesel tank, bleed the system to get the engine started, pump and fill the holding tanks a few times so we can remove the holding tank pump out hose (another 1-1/2 line) and then move the boat to our dock.  At that point we can start to move aboard while continuing our never ending project.  Waiting in the wings is our Star class sailboat that needs a bit of maintenance before we bring it down to the club, Wednesday night racing has already begun.

Dave