More Projects at Burnt Store

Like good retired people, we have been “busy”.  The locals at Burnt Store had a yard sale, these are the full time residents as the snow birds haven’t really made their appearance yet.

Our yard sale find, a new, still in the package fender for the piling on our starboard side. We paid all of $10 (OK, you can buy them for $25) but it was worth $10 to us to “upgrade” our slip. In the picture we have moved the boat back in its slip to work from our amidships gate so we could attach this low on the piling. The Pilgrim’s rub rail is only about 8″ above the waterline.

The forward cap rail got sanded and a coat of varnish shortly after arriving in Burnt Store.  While the majority of the boat was shaded from the sun at the out of the water storage in Safe Cove, the first 10′ of the boat had some exposure during the day.  You could easily tell that the sun was beating on it.

Last year we were climbing over the rail to get aboard all the time as almost all finger piers in the marina are short, as in twenty feet long, not long enough for us to enter through our side gate.  Before we left this fall we made a nice step from from stainless, salvaged from our no longer needed kayak rack from our boat deck and a piece of teak that used to be the intermediate step on the side decks before we replaced it with no maintenance Starboard (plastic).  Of course now that we have a step, we don’t need it as our current dock extends almost the length of the boat.

We still need to add some leather padding where the stainless hooks over the cap rail so we don’t mar the varnish, but now there is no hurry to get that done.

The freezer in our Nova Kool refrigerator doesn’t really keep things cold enough to our liking as the freezer temperature is a function of the fridge portion.  The fridge goes into defrost mode for an hour once every twenty four hours meaning that our freezer temperature cycles from 7 degrees to 21 degrees so we thought that adding a small dedicated freezer in the basement (generator room) would be a good addition.  This was a good excuse to get down there, sort things out and make some room.  Our very nice stainless trash compactor will have to go but since we no longer are spending extended time at anchor it is a fair trade.

Since the freezer needs to be level we had to fabricate a shelf for it to sit on. The holes in the piece of wood capture the front legs, keeping it from sliding around.

 

We have our own private work area (dock) next to the boat.

 

Even though the capacity is only a bit over one cubic foot it allows us to shop at Costco. Small enough to run off a small inverter we can take it to Erie in the truck and install it in Freedom. The current freezer in the Norcold aboard Freedom is only big enough for two trays of ice cubes.

When we were at Safe Cove we had cocktails with Wally and Darcy aboard their Manatee which was hauled out next to us.  They gave us a quick rendition of The Cat Came Back, the video also shows a bit of the interior of their boat.  Our prior blog post didn’t have this included as we were using a slightly different WordPress editor that no longer allowed links to YouTube videos with out paying an upgrade fee.  We thought that odd and managed to find a back door to the old editor that while not as polished, we like better 🙂

 

Since we are at the dock a good bit of the time, and got used to being directly connected to city water (which means not having to continually fill our water tanks) we decided that maybe it was time to hook Liberty up to the water on the dock.  Liberty still had the disconnected water pressure regulator fitting mounted in the port side so it was only necessary for us to plumb it into the water system.  As this was an old fitting, it had the tapered pipe threads that would allow us to easily connect it to our Pex plumbing.  A trip to Home Depot and Lowes yielded the missing parts, namely some Pex tube (we carry around the tool, valve, clamps and fittings) and some of the fancy white hose that is food grade.

All hooked up and ready to go. Not quite. The 29 year old pressure regulator leaked.

 

You can imagine where this is going. We already knew that the new fitting would have parallel threads and not tapered threads. When it showed up it was obvious that the mounting hole pattern (and overall size) was different.

 

We fastened a piece of plywood to the inside of the boat to help center our hole saw and cut a new, larger opening.

 

The Pilgrim Vagabond (Hull #40) showed up and is staying for about four months. She recently went though a pretty extensive refit at American Custom Yachts.

Our good friend Bill was down visiting his brother in Miami and came over to stay with us for four days.  Unfortunately the wind was up while he was here keeping us from going out in Liberty but we managed to occupy our time with other socializing activities.

Bill and Dave at our apparently private pool. We figured it must be ours as there is almost never anybody else it in. That might have something to do with the time we use it, usually around 1600 hours; just about early bird dinner time.

 

Mike wanted to get his PDQ over to Pelican Bay to scrub the growth off his props so we elected to tag along. Besides I was interested in seeing how the PDQ would handle the choppy water.

While Bill was around we managed to have a nice little dinner party at Mikes place as well as entertaining Mike and Tim for dinner aboard Liberty.  Mike told us about Pineland Shell Mounds which is on Pine Island directly across the street from the Tarpon Lodge where we dined with Doug and Carol last spring.  The place sounded interesting so we dragged Bill down there for the afternoon.

View from the top of one of the shell mounds. The Calusa Indians lived here for about 1500 years and the shell mounds (30′ high) were actually refuse piles although the Indians lived (built houses) on top of them.  Ponce de Leon spent 21 days searching for treasure on Pine Island.

We made another weather cloth for Liberty while in Erie, this one for the aft rail on the boat deck.  The rail is curved at one end requiring us to mount some eyes in the deck  so the material will follow the curvature of the rail.

We don’t believe in simply screwing eyes down to the cabin top as it is cored and water will eventually penetrate the core starting it to rot. When ever we mount anything, the first thing we do is to drill larger holes, and fill them with epoxy before drilling the holes for the screws.

 

The final result. The eyes in the deck are located below the turn of the rail.

The Fort Myers boat show is a big thing down here.  Doug needs a new AC unit for their Grand Banks 42 so we tagged along to check out the show and an excuse to go to dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack.

Evidently you are a fishing nobody unless you have quad 400 hp outboards on your fishing machine.

 

Beneteau has made it’s name manufacturing sailboats. They are generally considered the Chevy of the boating world; not high end by any means. They have recently branched out into the so called fast trawler market, really a planing power boat with trawler styling. Their 34′ boat has a special boat show price of a measly $420,000 plus tax and title. Florida sales tax is the same as PA tax, $25,200. You would think they would throw in the title fee for free.

With the return of light winds we thought we should get Liberty over to Pelican Bay.  Mike was taking Tim to the airport so we couldn’t entice him to go for a slow boat ride so it was just the two of us.

Anchored in Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa.

 

Once ashore on Cayo Costa we walk the one mile path over to the beach on the Gulf side. They have a tram that will drive you over but we always choose to walk as we have to get our “steps” in.

 

Just hanging out on the beach, hiding from the sun.

 

The Mate looking for shells. The Gulf water was a little cold for swimming as we have gotten quite used the 86 degree pool water.

 

On our way back to the marina we slowed down so we could watch the sun set over Charlotte Harbor before calling it a day.  The dolphins were out looking for dinner as we drifted but we weren’t able to get a picture of them and the sun setting at the same time.

Other news of note:  We finally ditched the skippers original Verizon unlimited data plan that dates back to 2010.  The Mate was chewing up her 2gb data allotment early in the monthly billing causing us to purchase more data for her phone and the skipper had to pay for every text message adding to the bill.  By switching both of us to the Beyond Unlimited plan we didn’t have these additional charges.  Our bill increased by $16/month over our normal bill so the new plan is essentially a wash when considering our overage charges every month.  The benefit is that we are guaranteed 22gb of 4G data (each) before they throttle us if the towers are busy, 15 gb of fast hotspot data (no more popping our sim card out, putting it in and then quickly turning our hot spot on multiple times to fake out their newly imposed restriction on non-Verizon hotspot utilization) and unlimited text messaging.  Now the Skipper doesn’t complain each time he gets a text that it just cost him $0.20.  🙂  With three days left in the billing cycle, the Skipper has used 35gb of data with no indication of any slow down.  Actually, Speedtest shows our download speeds to average about 50 Mbps and uploads about 5 Mbps, quite fast in anybody’s book.

Dave & Bobbi

Back at Burnt Store Marina

We loaded up the truck (actually packed it full) and left Erie on October 16th and headed south east.  The goal was to pester some of our friends who put up with us when were were heading south with the boat.

All the tools that we feel the need to drag back and forth to Florida. This fits in the trunk which is located under the small bed of a Honda Ridgeline pickup.

Our first stop being at Bicki and Dave’s home at Church Creek on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay.  They made the mistake of telling us we could stay as long as we liked, so we stayed three evenings.  I helped Dave spend a boat buck ($1k) on some real nice cherry and plywood so he could continue their never ending home building project, this wood being used to trim out the master bedroom.

While at Church Creek we took a day to go into D.C. Eight miles of walking that day and we brilliantly left at 1630 hours so we could experience rush hour in the nations capital.

After leaving there we managed to meet Dave and Mary and stayed overnight on their Pilgrim Gatsby in the Newport News area.  We “almost” missed seeing them this trip as they were cruising from Annapolis to Richmond, exploring the James River.   As fate would have it (unlucky for them, but lucky for us) they had the front seal fail in their transmission and had to be towed into the Leeward Municipal Marina.  While waiting for repairs (magically were able to get it fixed in a day) we were able to catch up with them.  We were able to have dinner together and then spent the rest of the evening catching up on things before turning in for the night.  Dave and Mary graciously gave up their down below cabin for us, Dave explaining that it only made sense as the berth in the salon was closer to the head, he being twelve years older than us.

Dave and Mary took us out on Gatsby for our first Pilgrim ride, even before Liberty was launched. We bought Liberty with out doing a sea trial.

Leaving Newport News it was on to Surf City NC to visit Carol and Bob who we met once upon a time at the free dock in Portsmouth and have moored off their house each time down the coast.

This is our view from the guest room at Carol and Bob’s. It’s a wonder they don’t have people staying here all the time.

 

Bob caught some King Mackerel in the morning on the day we arrived and we had it for dinner that evening. It was great, we ate like kings.

We went for a “quick” tour of the inlet and the next morning went to see the high bridge that is being built to the island that will eliminate the swing bridge which ties up road traffic once an hour to accommodate those pesky ICW travelers.

Leaving Surf City it was off to the Sunset Beach area of NC to visit Uncle Dick and Aunt Marlene.  Of course we had a great time with them, dinner and then a game of Mexican Train dominoes that they let Dave win before retiring for the evening.

Next on the list where our Pilgrim friends Scott and Deb, owners of Firefly in Vero Beach FL.  After a nice dinner out it was lights out in their guest room.  The following morning Deb was off to work (soon partially retiring) and Scott, Bobbi and I sat around discussing a number of topics (mostly boat related) before we had to shove off.

Wandering around at Vero Beach on the ocean side.

Under way again this time it was to visit Niece Lea, her husband Matt and daughter Maddy in Land O’ Lakes FL that is north of Tampa.  We had dinner at some out of the way place that was having a Trivial Pursuit contest and we were the youngest people in the place.  At that point we knew we had truly arrived in Florida.

The following day had us finding a pet place that gave us a lesson on clipping birds wings.  Finny, our traveling cockatiel, was overdue for a wing clipping as she was beginning to fly again.  After that we headed for Brandon (east of Tampa), visiting Mary and John, one of Bobbi’s friends from Erie.  Actually, Mary was in our wedding forty four years ago; how time flies when you are having fun.

While visiting, Finny, who was out of her cage but inside of their enclosed lanai decided that the pool looked like a good place to take a bath and headed for the pool.  Her clipped wings got her as far as a few feet into the pool from the edge while she patiently waited to be “rescued”.  If we were thinking we would have taken a picture as she looked pretty happy just floating around in the pool by herself.

An excellent dinner at the house was followed by a soak in the hot tub with an after dinner drink.  It was the first time in months they were able to open up the house as the heat and humidity has been extreme this summer.  We were glad to have brought some cooler air with us.

Next on our hit list was our friend Margaret who lives in Seminole, west of Tampa.  Margret was one of our neighbors in Fox Hollow in Erie for about ten years.  We saw her last when we stayed in St. Pete two years ago.  We had dinner in a nice, local Italian place, stayed in her guest room overnight and then had breakfast the next morning which include her mother and mothers sister.

Left to right, Margret’s mother, aunt, Margret and Bobbi.

Having run out of friends who may or may not wanted to see us it was time to get to Liberty and prepare her for launching, so it was off to Safe Cove in Port Charlotte.  2250 miles after leaving Erie by truck we pulled into Safe Cove.  What is odd about that is that it is almost the same distance we traveled by boat (2326 miles) to get here.  If you don’t take the scenic route it is 1250 miles on the road, 1000 miles shorter than our meander south.

We found Liberty just as our friends said we would, the interior dry and mildew free.  The outside of the boat was another story.   The hurricane force winds (which were probably less than hurricane force here) left sand, dust and debris all over the exterior of the boat which was pretty much as expected.  Now came the job of re-loading our packed 5 x 10 storage unit back onto the boat.

We had returned mid day on Friday,  October 27th and retrieved some basic items, the most import ones being the mattress and bedding for our stateroom so we would have someplace to sleep.

Saturday became the major move-in-day.  A few truck loads of items were brought aboard, and stowed, taking up pretty much the entire day.

Sunday was more of the same, unpacking and re-storing items.

Let the unpacking begin.

More stuff to stow.

We were wondering why we had such stellar cell phone reception.

Monday saw us touch up the bottom paint on the hull,  load the last two truck loads of items from the storage unit after which we had wine, cheese and crackers aboard Summertime with Wally and Darcy, the Krogen Manatee that shares our shelter.

A Krogen Manatee isn’t the prettiest boat around but they are eminently functional. The owners of Summertime said their first choice was a Pilgrim but none were for sale when they were looking so they chose the Manatee. The stern gate is a nice touch as it functions as both a boarding ramp and swim platform.

Tuesday the 31st was launch day.   As we weren’t scheduled to go in the water until 1100 (it was closer to 1200 as they had to move the Manatee to get the travel lift over us) we took the time to replace the impeller on the sea water pump; see below.  When we went in the water we ran up the canal for a bit to warm up the engine and found that the packing gland on the prop shaft had more than a drip from the packing being baked in the Florida heat over the summer, water just was pouring in.  That doesn’t seem to happen over the winter lay up in the north.  A quarter turn of the the packing gland solved that issue in short order.  All other systems checked out normal.  We then did a quick rig of the boat (raised the mast, attached antennas etc.) a fast scrubbing and had dinner aboard Liberty with Wally and Darcy.

Evidently this is what happens if you do not remove your impeller when you are out of the water for six months in Florida. The center section was uncompressed while the inner and outer parts were folded over due to its rotational location in the pump. Needless to say, removing it was extremely difficult. Normally you can just grab on to two vanes with a pair of needle nose vise grips and pull it out. We finally gave the starter a quick bump which turned the pump shaft a bit enabling us to remove it.  The one vane also had cracks in it.  Note to self; remove impeller when laying up the boat next May.

Another casualty from the summer heat. These are those yellow plastic gloves sold in supermarkets for cleaning chores. They basically melted. How hot does it get down here in the summer?

There is obviously a big difference in the hull shapes of the Krogen (on the left) and a Pilgrim (on the right). The Krogen has a much blunter bow starting a few feet above the waterline. The boat is four feet shorter although it’s cabin extends right to the rails meaning there are no lower decks to walk on when going forward or aft. The boat has a single steering station on the fly bridge which is quite spacious.

Waiting for the travel lift to put us back in the water. We gave Safe Cove a deposit for next years summer storage and they indicated they would most likely place us in the same spot.

In the water at the dock in Safe Cove we had this turtle hanging around the boat. He doesn’t look big in the picture but his shell was about 18″ long so was good size. It was obvious that boaters feed him as he acted friendly. The only thing he got from us was shrimp tails but he didn’t complain.

Wednesday, November 1st headed for Burnt Store.  Down the canal, through the lock you work yourself (it is electric) and four hours and twenty six miles later we were at our new dock.  The weather was wonderful, cool on the water (needed to wear jeans) and warm (mid 80’s) when we got to shore.  Winds were NE at 5 to 10 knots, a great ride over.

Repairs are being done on some of the docks as a result of the hurricane so our choice of slips is somewhat limited until boats get moved. They offered us this dock temporarily but we think we will stay here as we can walk aboard through our side gate and not have to climb over the rail.   We are also in the shade of the condo’s and palm trees for a good part of the day with the sun being low in the winter, a real plus for keeping the boat cool. The only real disadvantage is being so close to the side walk. We must have talked to over a dozen people so far that have been walking by and we haven’t been here twenty four hours yet.  Actually we are quite used to folks stopping to chat about the boat, it simply comes with the territory.   Eventually people will get used to seeing us here and will just give us a wave. Last year we were on this same dock but outboard about six boats and weren’t so noticeable.  We might have an issue with our draft in this slip as at dead low tide we could be on the bottom.  Since the bottom is soft silt it shouldn’t bee too much of a problem and maybe we can dredge it out some by running the boat in gear while tied up.  At the worst we just have to pay attention to water levels when we enter or leave.

Our friend Tim drove us back to Safe Cove to retrieve our truck, now we can head for Costco and do some real shopping.  We had Tim aboard for dinner; grilled rolled pork loin.  I know, quite a change from the salmon we usually force on people.  Tim’s wife Deb passed away about a month ago, her company will be missed.

Thursday, November 2nd we did our final electrical hookups, got the marina staff to cut off a 3×10 that was protruding into the slip from repair work that was recently done, and adjusted our fenders.   Our boat chores done for the day (lots to do, just done for today) we headed down to Fort Myers to Costco.

We got the essentials and the big box of coffee pods gets the price down to about $0.27/cup.  Retirees on a fixed income have to be frugal :).

Enough excitement for one day, maybe it is time to visit the pool for a dip before happy hour.

Continuing to live the good life…..

Dave & Bobbi