John V. G. Mayton's Blog (33)

After work on Thursday I drove down to the boat and spent the night.  In the morning I trudged up to the Captain’s Lounge for a shower and then back to the car to stop by the Waffle House for breakfast.  Back to the boat I got busy clearing Marina’s cabin out by pulling her beding and mattresses into the solon.  I removed all the access covers and stuck my head down into the…

A four day weekend is just what I needed.  I turned in my data to my tax accountant last week and the relief of getting that behind me was ecstasy.  At any rate Marina, Josh and I drove down to New Bern and over to the Bridgeton Harbor Marina to select a slip, then we drove one of the cars back to our old marina to check out and get the boat underway.  We stopped first to have lunch at Persimmons for.  The food was great and we had a good time talking as we looked out at the rain through the…

We will move the boat to another marina this week.  Bridgeton Harbor Marina will be our new home.  I went over yesterday to drop off some paperwork, visited with Tom, the dock manager, and stopped at Hurricane Marine to check it out.  They had a couple of hard dinghys for sale, one of which has a mast, rudder, oars, sail, and dagger board.  I gave them $50 to hold the boat until my shipmate has a chance to look it over.  It will be a lot of fun to mess about in and will take care of one of…

Marina and I drove down to the boat Thursday night after I finished up with my substance abuse counseling group in Kinston.  Once onboard, we turned on the lights, put a case of Yoohoo in the fridge and turned it on, moved the cockpit cushions out of the solon to the cockpit along with the helm, drank a Yoohoo, checked the bilge, and then we both went to bed.  In the morning…

The picture was taken by Marina from the top of the mizzen mast where she was installing the topping lift.

Friday, after we had secured everything below deck, removed hatch covers, and led lines to wenches, we got underway to do a bit of educational sailing.  We have not had the sails up since the sea trials and we needed some time to let the boat teach us how to sail…

I spent the Thursday night on the boat again.  I brought along a small electric heater, thinking that it would be more efficient then the propane heater we used bringing the boat north from Florida.  My electricity at the dock is metered so I’ll watch my slip rental fees closely this month.  I tried using the DC to AC converter, but the heater seemed to draw more than the…

We got to the boat later than we had hoped, but we had a great time talking on the ride to the marina.  It took a bit of trying different ways to rig the boatswain chair so that I could hoist Marina up the mizzen mast to remove the topping lift.  At first I tried the winch on the mast, but it was too small.  Then we tried the port jib sheet winch, but the lead was too high…

We got underway from Stuart, Florida a bit later than we had wished. A last minute problem with the propane system required some expert help be called. With a bit of assistance from the broker who sold us the boat and an email to the former owners, Ken and Becky Gunderson, who are in Thailand, we got a hold of a competent electrician. So about Noon we cast off and proceeded down the river towards the ICW. It was my first time to transit an opening bridge, so you can imagine I was…

Arrived in Florida late last night.  We are getting an early start on loading up the boat and doing a number of chores.  We have to rig the cockpit covers, put up another solar panel, check engine oil, battery water, fuel transfer pump fuse, paint depth markers on anchor chain, replace the mizzen topping lift line (Marina will be going up the mast for that), get propane tanks filled, check the raw water impeller, go to Wallmart for food, and whatever we can…

Marina and I spent the evening working on charting our trip North from Florida.  We plot the a course up the ICW (Intercoastal Waterway) for each day determining things like, two or more possible anchorages for a night’s stay (because we are not sure how much progress we will make each day partly from a lack of experience with the vessel as well as other unknowns like currents, weather, bridge opening delays, etc. because we don’t want to get caught trying to find a place drop the hook in…

We went and did it.  We are now the excited owners of a 37 foot sailing Ketch.  We have a couple of odds and ends to wrap up in the morning such as insurance and USCG documentation then back to the boat to button it up for a couple of weeks until we get back down to sail her back to New Bern, NC.  There is a strorage shed full of boat gear that came with the purchase that needs to be transfered back onboard, so we will most likely head back south a day early to get…

Marina and I spent the day looking over the boat in more detail.  Yesterday we did sea trials, so that took up much of the time.  So we really dug in deep, looking in every nook and cranny, tracing hoses, electric cables, trying to ID everything we could.  The learing curve is very steep right now.  Some of the systems we need to understand before we bring it home are, engine, DC power production and storage, anchoring gear, fresh water, and propane/stove set up. …

Heading down to Stuart, FL to look over a Northern 37 Ketch.  The recent Survey looks very good, so if Marina likes the boat, we'll buy it.  Then it will become hectic; insurance, slip rental, collecting up what boat stuff I still have, renting a car, drive back to FL and then get the boat ready to sail her home the first of January.