Hampton

We spent the night on anchor in Hampton, VA right in the center of town on a very busy channel. When we were coming in they were having some sort of regatta, which was pretty cool to see.    It was nice area and a fairly big town. We took an UBER to Autozone to try and find more fuel filters and a tool to get the oil filters off so Wes could change the oil.  Wes got it changed, which was quite a chore. Everything that seems should be so simple turns into a huge chore.  

Then when we woke up we had no power on the boat.  Wes was able to get the engines started and we headed out.  He will need to look into this because we bought all new lithium batteries thinking that they would be better for storing the power.  The solar is working just fine so we're not sure what the problem is, but it's always something. 

On a happier note, we headed over to Norfolk which is where the Inter Coastal Waterway (ICW) starts, which is the way we are going to go down rather than out on the Atlantic.  We're hoping it will be much calmer (and warmer).  When we were just about heading into the start of the ICW, a huge navel ship was turning around, so we had to wait for them to maneuver around. It was pretty interesting to watch.  

Night shots of Hampton

Navel Ships in Norfolk

Day Two

Today was day two of our adventure. We didn't have any mechanical problem today. Yesterday we had the bilge pump hose break and then I tried to let fuel out of the fuel filter and got some air in the fuel line. But today everything ran perfect.

We almost made it to Norfolk. We stopped about 10 miles north. I didn't want to have to get in a marina at night. So tomorrow we will get out of the Chesapeake.  Then we have to go through the Dismal swamp. It sounds worse than it is. 

One problem we have is it gets cold at night. We brought only summer cloths thinking we would be in warm weather by this time. The engine guy screwed that up. 

So we don't have heat on the boat and last night we could have used it.

There was no wind today which made for a pretty smooth ride but we didn't get any help from the wind. We did see some dolphins and a lot of pelicans.  

Sorry I didn't get ant pictures of the dolphins 

 

 

On Our Way

We headed out at the crack of dawn yesterday (Friday) and made it half way across the Chesapeake just inside Virginia.  We anchored in a quiet inlet called the Little Wicomico River.  We didn't have any trouble and the engines ran great.  It's just really cold here and we about froze our butts off last night because we couldn't run the heater unless we ran the generator all night.  I can't wait to get to warmer weather!!! Hopefully once we get in the dismal swamp and below South Carolina it will start to warm up.   We are hoping to get to the start of the ICW today which is at Norfolk. At least it's not too rough out on the water today and we are basically going with the wind, which makes for a nice smooth ride.  

These were some of the houses around us where we anchored and you can see the leaves are changing.  We did have a very nice sunset.

Gettin' Close

We've just about got everything done to head out.  We are just waiting for a new temperature sensor, new props and a coupler for the water heater.  Hopefully everything will be in tomorrow and we can head out on Friday.  Wes took the truck and trailer over to Pam & Gary's today so we are without a vehicle.  We took them out for a couple hours on the Chesapeake and the engines were running great until we got to the dock and the starboard engine died.  Come to find out it was a clocked fuel filter.  Probably from old gas that was left in the tank.  Thank goodness it was an easy fix-new fuel filter.

We bought a new anchor light because the old one wasn't working and we were able to convince Aiden to go up the mast in the bosun's chair, which is a little seat that you sit in and then someone has to pull you up the mast using the lines.  He was able to replace the light without any trouble.  Thank goodness for 22 year olds with no fear.  The mast is just under 50 feet and it was a bit windy so there is no way I was going up there  Aiden is the marina manager and he has helped us out a ton.  He helped out a lot with all of the engine work too and did a great job.  

The boat is in the water.

 Well, we finally put the boat in the water today. Hurray!! I told the owners here that if the boat wasn't in today that Karen does have access to firearms. That seemed
to help motivate them a little. We took it for a little ride and the engines worked well. We still have a couple of minor things to get done on the engines but they are working on that.

 I've got most of the work done on the boat that I can do. It was a lot of stuff. The most frustrating has been ground wires that have gone bad. You have 12 volts on something and then you hook it up and you have 6. I ran a lot of ground wires. I also had to rewire my panel, get the GPS and auto pilot working.

 Tonight will be Taylor's first night on the boat when its in the water, we will see how she does.

 

 

New Engines Are Installed

They finally got the engines in and hooked up last week.  They put it in the water and the port side started great but they couldn't get the starboard side to run so they took the boat back out to do some adjustments and put it back in.  They were able to take it for a trial run and Wes went with them.  They got it up to 8 knots, which is great since our previous engines barely got to 6 knots.  Steve, the mechanic, noticed that the starboard engine was vibrating a little so he will need to adjust the motor mounts and it was also heating the exhaust up but they ordered the parts and they will be here on Monday and Steve will be back on Monday to work on it and get everything finished up.   The prop guy will also be out on Monday because we will need to put new props on.  They pulled the boat back out but they're letting us stay on it even though it's on the hard, which is great because we don't have to drive 17 miles back and forth and pay for the hotel, where we've been staying for the last month.  

It does get tiring going up and down the ladder all the time and Taylor does not like being up on the boat, so she has been spending a lot of time sleeping in the truck.  Hopefully they will get it back in the water on Monday and it will stay in the water.  I'm hoping Taylor will like it more when it's in the water.

We've been getting a lot of things fixed, which is good.  Wes has been working on rewiring everything, which has been quite a chore but it will be so much better when he's done.

Getting Closer

We got the dinghy engine on, put it in the water and took it for a spin.  Taylor wasn't so sure about it but I think she will get used to it.  Well, she will have to or she'll be stuck on the boat all the time.  Wes was in heaven and I think it met all of his expectations.  No more dinghy envy for him-YAY!

They are making progress on the engines but not as quickly as we would like of course.  They just have the mufflers to finish then hopefully we can get it in the water and see if they run.  We're getting close so that's good.  Wes and I are getting a lot of other things done on the boat while they work on the engines.  A lot of things aren't working after sitting for 9 years.

It was crazy this morning because while we were driving out to Taylors Island (where the boat is), which is about 17 miles from Cambridge, (where we are staying) you can see when the tide is out or in by looking at certain sections close to the water.  But this morning it looked like the tide was way in and the water was up to the road and up to people's houses.  Come to find out after talking to John (the marina owner), hurricane Imelda was causing the tide to be higher than normal.  

Still No Engines

We got a bunch of stuff done today (well, Wes did) but we still don't have the engines hooked up and we haven't seen hide nor hair of the guy who's supposed to be working on them in a week and a half.  But Wes got the water working, the stove working and the TV working.  All important stuff.    And we did get the name put on the back.  Another productive day!!

It is still so hot and muggy here in Maryland and hopefully the good weather will hold out till we get down south.

Another Days Work of GettinThings Done

It took a few days but we got the whole top side of the boat painted and boy does it look good.  The back is ready for the new lettering that we ordered.

When we took out the mainsail to put it back on the mast, Wes decided that it was not in very good shape, so we ended up ordering a new one.  Below is his diagram that we had to send to National Sail Supply with the specs for the new sail.   Dirk was awesome to work with.  We're just not sure where we will be when they are ready to ship it as they said it takes 3-5 weeks. 

Things are coming along but very slowly.  But that is boating life.  I don't think I've worked this hard in my adult life (at least manually). Every muscle in my body aches. 

 

No pictures again

 Well it's time to blog again. All I can report is that we are working hard on the boat. We worked all week and we still don't have it done. But we are making progress. We painted the bottom and most of the top. The boat is looking a lot better. We tried to put up the main sail but found it was falling apart. Also the halyard rope is falling apart so we have to run new ropes. Thank god for google. There is a video showing how to do it.

On the brighter side we do have the freezer and microwave working so we don't have to go to town for lunch. They have been working on the engines,  mostly ordering parts for the input and output water system. Hopefully we will have the boat in the water a week from Tuesday.

That can not come soon enough, We look out over the bay and we long to be sailing on it. With a little bit of luck we will be doing that soon.

 

 

 

Down at Taylors Island

 Well I guess its time I put my input into this blog. Sorry no pictures with this post. Karen put some up yesterday and we don't have all that much to show anyway.

We got down here on Wednesday the 10th. As expected the engines were not fully installed. Looks like we won't be leaving Taylors Island until Oct 1. If we are lucky. For now that doesn't matter. We have a lot of work to do on the boat. When they put the new engines in they removed most the wiring I had for the house batteries. That means that I will have to rewire the house batteries. That will be a job because of all the connections I have to make. There is the solar, the shore charger, the alternators plus about 5 more systems that have to be hooked up.  

The good news is we have the bottom painted. Next week we will paint the top and I should be able to start working on the electric system.

I now know why God set up the seven day week with one day off. My body hurts. I need a day off. Just climbing on the boat 50 times a day has made it hard to walk. So we are taking today off and going to a sports bar to watch the football games.

I should have some more to posts next week. So bye for now. 

Back To Tropical Diversion

Wes sold his truck and retired on 8/1/25 and my last day at the bank was 8/29/25 so we loaded up the pickup, trailer and Taylor and headed east to Maryland, which is where our boat has been since we pulled it out of the water in 2016.  We checked on it a few times when we went to Ocean City but we haven't really done much to it so needless to say, it was in pretty sad shape.  

We got here on Wednesday, 9/10 after stopping in Michigan to pick up a new dinghy.  We had ordered a new dinghy engine before we left home and hauled it out with us.  Wes is very excited because he now has the dinghy of his dreams, a 12 foot hard bottom dinghy with a 25 hp mercury engine.  

We ordered two new engines (18 hp Westerbeke's) back in December and the Marina hired a guy to install them.  Wes checked on them a few times over the past 8 months but they were moving pretty slow with the installation.  The gentleman (Steve), that is working on them is a local Police Sargent and has been working on them on the side.  When we got here, they were both in the boat and one was just about installed but the other, on the port side still needed quite a bit of work.  Steve showed up yesterday and worked on them all day.  He will need to come back but won't be able to come until the 22nd.  

We painted the bottom of the boat today and Wes worked on the electrical.  We have a ton of work to do, but it was a good start.  

Wes cleaning the bottom

After the bottom paint

New Starboard Engine

New Port Engine

This is what it looked like when we got to here