The Winter Close-down Ritual

I can’t believe the season is over already – it only seems a few weeks ago we were launching. Haul out is such a pain and picking the day is a crap-shoot. The longer you stay in the more likely the haul out weather will be miserable. But hauling out early seems to be a waste and shortens an already too short season.

Our haul-out date was set for the 15^th. Since were using the boat right up till then the only advanced winterizing I could do was the generator that we very rarely even fire up. Everything else would have to be done after haul-out.

October 15th - Friday

As we arrived at the marina it was pouring down. But by the time we were ready to move Plan B to the haul out well the sun was out. Haul out went smooth – we chose to power wash ourselves – partly because I think they use too much pressure and partly because it gives me a chance to check things over. Anyway, they got us on the hydraulic trailer and round back where we were placed in a row. First year here so we will see how this works out but from what I can see they pack ‘em in real tight so …….Anyway, we saw nothing untoward on the boat as we had a close-up look. At least she was out save and sound.

The following week-end Mary came up with me to winterize the systems – except the main engines. As expected it turned into a bigger ordeal than I had figured. The hot water tank – the bane of every boater – actually went well. I by-passed it, drained it and added some anti-freeze – not too messy or painful. Next was the A/C system. Despite all my efforts it would not pump anti-freeze up to the forward unit and out. After wasting 4 jugs of AF I checked the front unit and the pipes were very frosty – maybe some thing is frozen inside them?? Getting irritated by now (and short on AF) I moved on to the water system. Disconnecting the suction pipe I added a length of tube and feed it directly into the AF container. I then start at the bow (furthest from the tank) and worked my way back. After all the taps were done it is on to the shower sumps and heads. Then at the end back to the A/C for one more try. Low and behold it worked. What a pain but it is done. I wanted to vacuum the remaining water out of the water tank but there was no access without adding another hole and I am not prepared to do that. So I dumped AF in (just like last year) and we will see how it goes.

I had the yard winterize the big Mercruisers. Basically cheap insurance. If I pay someone to winterize them and something goes wrong through the winter, my insurance covers the repair / replacement. If I do it my self…….tough luck. A cracked block could be upwards of $20,000 when all the dust settles. Compared to $125 per engine and the decision is easy. Now they are done I can start work on covering her – the yard asked to let them get on and winterize first. I guess most covers make access challenging to say the least. We had paid to get her shrink wrapped last year and had hoped to use the wrap a second year – effectively halving the shrink wrap costs. At $20 / ft that was $800 and that seems a lot to spend to just throw away if it is still good. Well, Bayfield did a really nice job of shrink wrapping Plan B so by the spring the cover was still excellent. So, we carefully cut it open at the bow and pealed it back. Then folded up the cover and stored it at home. So, out the cover came and out came the frame work I had made last year.

October 30^th - Saturday

To get the complete frame in place requires the canvas be removed since one support leg goes into the cockpit and there is a frame over the radar array that ties to the arch. So, it really needs to be a decent day to do this. Well, it was not bad on Saturday although very windy. So Natalie and I tackled unrolling this 20 x 60 ft cover and trying to get it in position same as last year. It took a couple of hours once the frame was up but we managed. The shrink wrap has tension in it and when we cut the bow open the plastic kind of springs back. So, when we dragged it on again there was about a 3 ft gap at the bow. Once we had the cover tied in place we found some old shrink wrap in the boat yard and roughly taped it in place as a temporary measure. Plan is to try to re-shrink the plastic on Sunday………………….

Oct 31^st – Sunday

George came up with Will and I. George had borrowed a torch and bought the materials and shrink wrapped his boat this year. So he helped and offered advice on the shrinking process. It was a cold day and windy – way windier than yesterday and out of the north. So I started at the transom, lit the torch and went at it. After a couple of tries I got it so that the plastic would smooth out and then as it cooled it shrank – quite tight. The challenge is keeping it warm in the cold winds but not so hot that the wind stretches the plastic – the goal here was to shrink it tight…… Second challenge is reaching the center of the boat – impossible with a step ladder and other boats stored inches away all around. However, I managed to shrink a few feet from the edges and it seemed to tighten up reasonably well. Only time will tell if it is tight enough to support a snow load. We also tidied up the extra piece added to the bow. Now, having gone around and shrunk as much as possible on the outside I thought a bit of work near the ridge pole from the inside would just finish things off great. Well………..lets just say that conditions are quite different inside the cover vs. outside with the wind and cold. Inside a little heat goes a long way and rises quickly. So as I put the blower on the plastic it quickly want from cold to warm to very hot, to blowing up like a hot air balloon to a big hole. Oh crap! We used the special shrink wrap tape to fix the hole and quickly put the blow torch away before more damage was done. However, overall we classify this as a success.

The only thing left to do is remove the cockpit carpet and vacuum the cockpit out. Oh and bring our life jackets home.

After that I need to sort out the winter projects for this year.

Under the cover with a blow torch......nothing good can come from this! !

It's not as pretty as last year but for a second "shrinking" and my first attempt at it, I think it went pretty well. Time will tell if it can withstand winters onslaught.

Our New Marina Home

August 20^th – Friday

Natalie dropped Will and I at the boat in Bayfield Thursday night. Today the plan is to bring her back down to Sarnia. Natalie and Mary will meet us for the week-end in Sarnia after Mary’s work shift.

It’s a weekday so virtually no one around. We start up and cast off with no good-byes. We will miss some of our friends on the dock but are looking forward to Sarnia. The wind has been blowing out of the North and then the south so it is a confused pattern with 3 footers. But we make the trip in 2 ½ hours and dock without incident. Plan B is in her new home.

We spend a lot of time on the boat through the rest of August and the week leading up to Labour Day (I have that week off). Natalie says it feels like being at a resort – there is free Tim Horton’s coffee every Saturday AM, free newspapers Saturday and Sunday, free internet and the cable TV. Pretty much regardless of the weather we are comfortable and never worry about the boat. And I have to say the Bridgeview Marina staff (especially Mike) have been very welcoming and helpful.

We popped across to Port Huron one evening for supper and some fuel. The gas is so much cheaper there. On a full fill-up from empty we save over $500! And it is nice just to pop across for a change of scenery. Will and I took her around to Sarnia Bay one Saturday morning and had breakfast there – great fun and 5 mins away. This is another reason we moved down here – there seems to be more to do and pretty much regardless of the weather you can go out either on the lake or down the river.

We plan to spend the Thanksgiving week-end (this is the Canadian Thanksgiving people - on Oct 11^th) on the boat and weather permitting across at Port Huron for the week-end. The weather could not have been nicer. Mid October and we are in shorts with light breezes and blue skies. This is our first trip up the Black River under the bridges. It is not a long trip up to the River Street Marina but made more interesting by having to radio bridge masters to get lift bridges open. River Street is managed by Bridgeview also and so we get a transient rate of a flat $25. – got to like that. It was also George & Jens anniversary so we went to dinner at the Quay Street Pub. As we left on Monday afternoon we grabbed some more fuel – we now have ¾ tanks for winter. It was a fantastic relaxing week-end and a fitting end to the season since we haul out on Friday the 15^th.

Moored up at River Street Marina - Port Huron

Thanksgiving / George & Jen's Anniversary Dinner at the Quay Street Pub.

2010 Vacation

Since I am still catching up with the events of 2010 I will summarize the vacation in one long post. But, I am getting close to caught up here.

July 23^rd - Friday

It was blowing all week so we are assuming the lake is kicked up pretty good for the trip down to Sarnia. At supper time we get a call from George saying they are at the marina and the lake doesn’t look too bad. So after an animated discussion at home about if we should leave Friday after supper, we pack and head to the boat. That evening we do the final checks, load the dingy (with my new and untested davit system). Plan is to leave early Saturday morning since winds are forecast to pick up again from the SW.

July 24^th - Saturday

Up at 6:30. It is a bit breezy already but the lake doesn’t look too bad. We want to get to Sarnia - then we are on the river and less dependant on the weather for a few days. Iron Jenny casts off about 7:30am. We are underway around 8:00. Out on the lake it is lumpy – 3 – 4 footers from the south so we are punching into them. Fair bit of spray being thrown about and then blown back with the wind. It is surprisingly comfortable in the cockpit – not the bone jarring ride you would think……and all the sailors lead you to believe. We had put the puppy (Emma) in her crate in the forward cabin while we got underway. The ride was certainly a lot more like being in a martini-shaker for her and the wave noise more amplified…..to the point she was sick in her crate. Once up in the cockpit she was fine if a little subdued.

Emma - our Cocka-Poo - a little worse for wear after a shaky start to the trip

We are cruising at 3200 RPM and I decide to see if a little more speed would change things. Confidently pushing the throttles forward I only got a response from the starboard engine – nothing more from the port one. Backed the throttles down and tried again….same thing. All the gauges looked OK. Well, we were making our cruising speed so we pressed on. The further south down the lake we went the smoother things got. We picked up some showers on the radar but a good trip. We got the fast running river current as we passed under the Blue Water Bridge – doing about 24 knots over ground! We passed the entrance to Bridgeview Marina and then the first red mark by Sarnia Bay Marine. So we wheeled around and headed east along the south stone wall towards what we assumed was the entrance. Assumed…..the radio comes to life with Sarnia Bay harbour-master “Sir…..you are in very shallow water”. A quick glance at the depth sounder – 3 ft……and what do we draw – I am sure it is 3 ft at least…. CRAP. Right down to idle. OK – where the hell is the channel then? I turn towards what I think must be the channel “Skipper – you are well outside the channel and in perilously shallow water” Thanks. Neutral. We are barely moving now. There are red and green marks but the route is far from obvious. Luckily we do make it in without touching and get tied up (thank goodness water levels are high this year). Iron Jenny get stopped by the US coastguard as they come under the bridge and have to slow to idle and pass over all their papers. No idea why they were stopped or why they had to show papers and passports. Canadian boat going from one Canadian port to another- go figure. Once cleared they carry on and take the same “route” into Sarnia Bay we did! I checked the Ports book and sure enough it warns not to do what we did…..Well – holiday has started – time to clean the boat and relax.

Small world

We were very surprised by the number of Sea Rays in the Marina – it seemed ever second boat was a Sea-Ray and some were every big!!

That evening I was watching yet another Sea Ray coming in - a very clean looking 400 Sedan Bridge coming in for a transient slip. There was only one dock attendant to help so I wandered down to lend a hand. This turned out to be my cousin Jackie and her husband Paul’s stunning new boat but I did not realize that as I helped them tie up. Not until Paul was on the dock and recognized me. We had heard they had bought a new and bigger boat down in Michigan and were going to be moving it back to Lake Simco but details from family has been sketchy - even about the make of boat. What are the chances that they pull into a transient slip in a marina on the same day we did? It was short visit but great to see them and swap a few Sea Ray stories.

Jackie & Paul's lovely new Sea Ray 400 Sedan Bridge - "Boogaboo IV"

July 25^th – Sunday.

A relax day. The kids try a zip line wakeboarding “game” set up at one end of the bay. They had a blast. It is very hot so lots of trips to the nice salt water pool. We get a tour of Sarnia Bay Marina and also Bridgeview Marina. Sarnia Bay is city owned but managed by Bridgeview. We are considering moving to one of these in the fall. Mike Miller offers us the 2 available slips at Bridgeview as transient slips on our return trip if we choose. Both marinas are very nicely maintained and great facilities.

July 26^th – Monday

We have a great breakfast at the restaurant overlooking the marina, get the dingy loaded, get a pump out and set off (using the correct channel out of the marina) down the St. Clair River. The destination is Ecarte Marina by Walpole Island. The trip is about an hour (hard to get used to this after traveling at 5 – 6 knots for years). The weather is hot again, the sky blue and the water a beautiful blue. It is a great trip, following the flip chart and GPS.

We choose to tie up on the wall on the river rather than take a slip off the river. The view is nicer and this is different than a typical slip. We swim in the river and messed with the dingy. We even dingied down the river to a restaurant about 15 minutes ride away. Apparently we can travel quite a distance down this river with a boat our size – have to do that on a return trip one day.

Ecarte Marine fuel dock

July 27^th – Tuesday

Had a quick chat with the local marina owner / mechanic about the mystery throttle issue. He suggested a distributor / timing issue. Hhmm – hadn’t I just got that fixed? Fueled up – port engine is taking a fair bit more fuel according to the gauges. We plan to get to the Detroit River / Lake Erietoday. Duffy’s marina is suggested as a stopping off point. So, another hot sunny day with light breezes and blue skies. Iron Jenny cast off while we fuel up. We head down the river enjoying the properties of the very wealthy. Lake St. Clair is calm and a lot of people fishing in small boats. Now – there is a lot of lake here so why do some of them insist on anchoring in the shipping channel to fish? And then use rude hand signals as we go by? We pass Iron Jenny as we near Windsor and continue down the Detroit River, keeping to the Canadian side of Belle Isle and then on down past the Windsor and Detroit water fronts. Canadian side is dominated by Caesars casino, Detroit by the Renaissance Center and GM headquarters.

Iron Jenny crossing Lake St Claire

Detroit from the river

Wind is picking up now from the south and the river is quite turbulent as we pass under the Ambassador bridge. On down past Fighting Island it is easy navigation as long as you keep track of where you are – we found the flip charts and chart plotter combination useful. As we got down towards Bois Blanc Island (pronounced Boblo by most non-French types) we started looking for Duffy’s. Truth be told there is a lack of full service marina facilities on the Canadian side down these parts. We could not see what looked like a real marina but as I watched the GPS it showed we had just passed Duffy’s. We turned around and idled back up near the shore and sure enough there was a restaurant called Duffy’s and some very rickety and empty docks. There was a fuel pump at the end of the docks with a small jet ski fueling up. We moved within shouting distance and asked about transient slips and the fuel dock attendant shook his head – not here! So much for that bit of advice. We had seen Boblo marina on the charts but the depth of the channel was indicated at 2 – 3 ft. We asked and the jet ski owner who says we could get in – that he was there on the weekend and there was a 65 footer in there. So we headed to the north end of the island, rounded the tip of the island into the small channel between the main north and south bound channels and then slowed – depth started at about 12 ft and dropped to about 6 with a 4 ft reading at the entrance to the marina. We got tied up and radioed Iron Jenny with the details of where we ended up. We were settled early afternoon. It was very hot but also very windy out of the south.

The Boblo Experience.

Boblo Island has some old history dating back to 1796 but is really known for the BobloAmusement Park that opened in 1898 and closed in 1993 – in part a victim of the bigger and better Cedar Point we were told. Thousands of people visited every week-end – coming in large river steamers from Detroit. I am sure in its hey-day it was quite the place.

Today, well…….they have a resort community being developed. There are condos built and lots laid out for many more with a ferry crossing from Amherstburg. But the eerie part is that the old amusement park is still there – at least buildings and structures are. They are boarded up but this did not stop 4 teenagers from exploring them. Reportedly the creepiest was the old theatre that still has the wooden stage the seating, the velvet curtains etc. The area is well maintained with landscaping people always working but we never saw anyone – it is very strange. There was no one at the marina, no harbour-master or dock hands. A live aboard suggested a couple of slips we could use and opinioned that if no one showed up we would have no-charge transient berths. Your imagination quickly runs away with you and you can almost imagine the ghosts of past amusement park visitors walking around.

It certainly creeped the kids out. We had a 2 family barbeque that evening and planned to depart the next morning for Put-In-Bay. The winds were forecast to pick up from the south again tomorrow so we figured an early start would get us across before the lake kicked up.

July 28^th – Wednesday

We are up and cast-off by 8:00 – about ½ hour behind Iron Jenny. There is quite a wind blowing already. We have been told to go north up the channel and then turn south into either the up-bound or down-bound shipping channels to run out to the lake. We do as we are told. As we enter the main shipping channel we bring Plan B up on the plane at 20 knots. We have the aft canvas removed but all the forward panels in place – it’s a bit cool this morning and we are not sure about spray on the lake. George radios its choppy as they enter the lake but they are pressing on. As we approach the lake we start to experience a swell and then small waves. Once into the lake proper the waves are a fair bit bigger – about 4 footers. We are head to the wind and the wind is blowing spray straight back at us – lucky the panels are still in place. A few minutes into the lake and we are running into 6 footers. But it is still reasonably comfortable. I look at Nat and she says she is fine carrying on. George radios they are taking spray clean over the fly bridge and they are turning back. We are still managing 18 knots so press on. But we soon hit a few 8 foot waves with spray and water clean over the boat. Wipers are running non-stop. We had forgotten to latch the forward hatch and as we drop off a wave it flings open, destroying both struts. William dove down below and into our cabin to close it before the next wave of solid water washes over the bow. He got it closed but likened the experience to being weightless as we fell off waves. We are talking to George on the radio about maybe turning back when another boater several miles further out into the lake comments that it just gets worse the further out you travel. Ok, no point in beating the boat up. We swing around the stern of a north-bound freighter (it somewhat locally flattened the lake) and head back to Boblo surfing through the big waves. We get tied up- again and it pours down. Best we are here. The kids joke that the island is haunted and won’t let us leave.

The big waves on Lake Erie. And this was running with the waves

A 40 footer looks kinda' small in these 8 ft waves!

July 29^th – Thursday

Ok – we try again to cross to Put-In Bay. The wind has died down significantly and the trip is a bit “roley” but OK. Iron Jenny left ahead of us and is just nosing into their assigned slip as we passRattlesnake Island and enter Put-In Bay. We radio the Crews Nest who promptly and very efficiently guide us to our assigned slip on the west side of the bay – F dock actually – and the dock attendant is there waiting to help tie up. The trip took less than 2 hours and not bad conditions. But the port engine fuel gauge is showing way low on fuel already – it is really drinking the stuff. Got to be that throttle problem.

Put-In-Bay

This is our first US port of call so we have to call in. There is a video phone to use in the park and although it takes a while to get a line through we manage to clear in using passports and I-68’s without getting arrested. We are given an entry number and told to report in when we leave to another US location. It seems a bit extreme but OK.

Put-In Bay is an awesome place – certainly a new favorite of ours. I liken it to a combination of Key West and Annapolis. The whole area is completely dominated by the harbour and boating – it does not get any better than this. Put-In-Bay has a quite well founded party place reputation – especially on week-ends. But we were here on a week-day so it was bit quieter – just how we like it. We rented a golf cart – the only way to get around and headed to town to shop and pick up some beer at US costs.

Put-In-Bay

The Golf Cart

July 30^th – Friday

We cast off and Nat goes to step off the end of the finger dock and onto the boat around mid-ships.But she is leaning a bit back and as I watch from the helm she looses her footing and slips. She is hanging on to the rail, dangling over the water. Will runs to try to help. I yell to Mary at the stern to get up there to help also. But it is futile, Nat has to let go and fall in the water. I am in neutral at this point but kill the engines anyway thinking she can swim to our swim platform. But Nat swims back towards the boat next to us in the dock. We are of course now drifting with the wind in very tight quarters. Seeing her moving and well clear of the boat we re-start the engines and move to the end dock where we hurriedly re-tie up and I run down the dock. Nat is now in the neighbors dingy, soaking (of course) and a bit shaken but unhurt. I help her onto the dock and wrap her in a towel.She goes below to change and comes back up insisting she is good to go.

This is the dock Nat slipped off as we were leaving

Our transiant slip at The Crews Nest

So…we head for the fuel dock (again) and top up the tanks – the starboard engine has plenty of fuel but port…….. On the up side I am getting the hang of maneuvering and docking the boat now – nothing like practice in a different situation every time. I dock at the fuel dock and the harbour master pops out of his office, compliments me on a nice docking and disappears again – oh yea, feeling good!

Cedar point is 17 miles away – 45 mins and another bright sunny day with a breeze. As we close in on Cedar Point the roller coasters come into view first. The kids have the binoculars out trying to identify the rides and getting really excited about the park. The entrance into Sandusky Bay is well marked but really kicked up with wakes from all the boat traffic. Friday and everyone it seems is heading to Put-In Bay – it is like a freeway. However, we get into the Cedar Point Marina incident free and get to our assigned dock. We clear customs again – this time with a quick visit from the customs officers who walk down the dock – assumably to check that we were really where we said we were. We got a 2 day pass for Mary and Will to the park that included the water park. Josh and Carly have the same. We don’t see much of the 4 of them fro the next couple of days.

We have dinners out with the Dierolfs. The favorite by far is Famous Dave’s down by the marina office. We order 2 of the family sampler platters and they are huge. Up-side-down metal garbage can lids full of food. So much meat. The marina is very nice and well kept – and large. Natalie catches up on laundry while we are here.

August 1^st – Sunday

Another hot sunny day – we are having great weather. We are heading back to Put-In Bay again – just way too nice a place. We have to leave our slip by noon but are recommended not to try to get into Put-In Bay until after 3:00 and it is less than an hour away. We head to the fuel dock to top-off the tanks and then cast off. We arrive at PIB about 2:00PM and it is busy. Most boats are leaving but quite a few looking for slips. We radio in and are told we have to wait a bit. So we maneuver around – holding our position reasonably well with the breeze and keeping out of the way. Natalie thinks they have forgotten about us but eventually they radio us and assign a slip near where we were last time. Iron Jenny decide to pick up a mooring ball for the night. They dingy over to our slip for the evening.

Josh, Jen, George & Will

August 2^nd – Monday:

We are trying to decide where to head to today – everyone agrees Not Boblo again! Will goes to the marina office and asks and gets the names of several marinas that we try to check on the internet. We settle on Harbor Hills – in the Detroit area,

We cast off and set off. Once clear of Rattlesnake Island and on course Natalie takes the wheel and helms us across the lake and up to the Detroit river. We catch up to Iron Jenny right by the DetroitRiver. The trip up the river is incident free. Harbor Hills is located across from Belle Isle very near toLake St Clair. It is 54 miles from PIB and the total run is less than 3 hours. This really is the only way to travel. Stress free and with plenty of time left after the trip.

As we approach Belle Isle we are traveling on the US side and have to go under a relatively low bridge with a quite narrow arch that si the main channel. I take the helm from Will as we get closer and start to back the throttles down. There is a small boat anchored off to starboard. As we get closer I can see a blue light – Police Boat. They move closer and motion to slow down. I do but we were still doing 17 knots and as we come down to about 10 the wake is huge. Much frantic waving from the police convince me they mean dead slow. They come along side and ask if we know there is a no wake zone on the entire length of Belle Isle…….”no officer – we did not but thank you for letting us know”. We proceed slowly. We radio George to advise him to slow when he gets here.

We get settled in Harbor Hills and Iron Jenny arrives a short time later. Once everyone is settled George tells us our radio transmission was a bit broken up and he only heard to slow down by Belle Isle. Well, apparently his “slow” was not slow enough for the Police boat who had heard us radio the heads up to George. Anyway – no real harm done but they apparently were not well pleased.

We enjoyed Monday and Tuesday at Harbour Hills – relaxing in the pool and hot tub (and catching up on laundry ….again). The weather continues to be amazing. We ate at Sinbads both nights. It is in Keans Marina – right next door to Harbor Hills and a quick dingy ride away. The food was great – especially the clam chowder.

August 4^th – Wednesday

Destination is Bridgeview Marina to try those transient slips we were offered. The trip up is uneventful…..with the exception of fuel consumption. As we are passing Stag Island the port engine fuel gauge is very low. Nat and Mary are asleep. Will and I are both eyeing the gauge with concern. I’m am not sure how accurate these gauges are but the starboard engine shows over a ¼ tank left – that is quite a difference. We decide to press on for Sarnia. We have the option to run on one engine or run both engines off the starboard tank if need be. We arrive without a fuel incident.

Mike gets us settled and helps arrange the mechanic JD to squeeze us into his schedule on Thursday. We are enjoying a nice dock, free internet and cable TV hook-up. JD arrives Thursday with a lap-top in hand to have a look. I explain the history since we got the boat and he explains that you have to re-set the timing when a new distributor is installed. To do this you need the computer and Mercruiser software. The laptop effectively takes the engines computer out of the equation – putting the engine into “base timing mode”. Effectively running like an old fashioned engine without the computer adjusting timing every few mili-seconds. As he puts it into BTM it stalles. It shouldn’t but a good sign he is on the right track. He makes a slight timing adjustment and this time in BTM it stays running. Then using a timing light JD dials it in. The engine sounds fantastic – completely different and like the starboard engine. Without this set-up the Engine ECM does not have a baseline to adjust the timing so everything is out of whack – including fuel consumption. Now, I don’t mind that Ron in Bayfield did not have the software to do this (it’s expensive) but I do mind being told everything is set up when it was impossible to set-up. Not only were we mis-lead but it cost us about $500 extra in fuel for this trip.

JD's computer hooked up to the engine - bit like a medical procedure

More Police Boats:

JD suggests a quick sea trial to be sure it’s fixed. I ask George of he wants to come along. George is on the dock with an acquaintance (Phil) and invites Phil along (he has never been on an express boat before – sailor). Unbeknownst to me Phil has a beer with him. I have water – JD a pop. As we are idling out of the marina the Police boat is coming in. I guess they see Phil’s beer. They turn around and follow us, hailing us to be in neutral and that they are boarding us….just great. We get a lecture about no open alcohol allowed while underway. I honestly thought the rule was that the operator had to be sober (which I very much was) but apparently not. He had a look in the fridge and generally around, decided we were not going to re-offend today and departed with a warning (and pouring Phil’s beer overboard). Anyway, once clear of all this fuss we got out to the river and opened her up – she ran up to 4000 RPM with both engines with ease and smooth. Top end is 4500. Almost 1 year to the day since we bought her – that engine was fixed.

We signed contracts for 2011 slips at Bridgeview that afternoon (both boats).Jenny has an extra week of vacation and wanted to leave the boat at Bridgeview which was fine with Mike. We had to get back to Bayfield to get the cars and pack our stuff up and agreed to take George and the kids with us. Friday the wind was up but Saturday was forecast to be better so we kicked back and relaxed.

The gang in the cockpit in Bridgeview Marina

Aug 7^th – Saturday

Bright and sunny but a westerly wind. We fuel up and try to balance the tanks – adding more in the port one. We get it close. We cast off and head up the river and onto the lake, The lake is calm at the south end with this wind (no fetch) but we get 3 footers as we get nearer Bayfield. We get in with no incidents, get Plan B secured and begin the arduous task of packing up after 2 weeks.

Vacation Summary:

We had an excellent time. The weather was awesome. We got to try Plan B in big waves, we saw lots of new places and we relaxed. The travel is relaxing and the boat is comfortable. We ran about 380 nautical miles. And we got the engines fixed and a new home we are looking forward to. Oh, and my davits worked a treat J

Marina woes

I think I would be remiss if I did not mention the concerns we were having at Harbour Lights Marine. We like Bayfield a lot and we have friends on the dock. But there were a few nagging issues. First the marina itself. We have seen quite the deterioration in the docks etc over the years – like the owners are avoiding any investment in maintenance – do as little as possible and maximize dividends or profits. So the docks just seem to get in worse shape every season (go figure if you don’t do anything to them summer and winter). There were a lot of new docks made and some seawall replaced a couple of years ago but that was because an ice jamb on the river destroyed them…no choice. And unfortunately our floating dock survived that so never got any work done. I can’t believe it is still floating. And then there is the lack of any security, the dirt parking lot that turns to mud every rain, the smelly water you don’t want to drink or bathe in etc.

This sort of leads to the second issue. Plan B is a fair size boat and some of the sailors on the dock were not shy about pointing out how big and heavy it was and how much load it with putting on the dock in a bad blow (when the surge comes off the lake). It was a concern to us also as was how rough it gets in the spring and fall. But why complain to us. Is it because it is a power boat? If the concern is the integrity of the dock why not complain to the marina – pressure them into making docks that can take the boats it’s customers are getting rather than hint we should not be there. And add to this that the costs were not any cheaper than other marinas and this was starting to wear thin. Also, the lack of places to cruise to without a major excursion -the area is not ideal for power-boaters. So we planned to check out marinas in Sarnia as we traveled on vacation.

Start of a New Season - 2010

So, as we prepared for launch and the 2010 season we got the boat uncovered and assembled and waxed and the bottom touched up and…….you get the point. Anyway, as launch date neared we were still waiting for our new distributor and rebuild circulating pumps to be installed. Finally, with only a couple of days left it got done. So we launched, eager to see how the port engine ran with it’s new distributor. It started right up and idled well. The starboard engine gave a bit of trouble, not wanting to pick-up water. Eventually we used a hose to force water into the engine and it primed the system and circulated water.

So, launched and engines running.

Through the early summer we really only had one trip at all – quick run to Goderich (10 miles north) for an afternoon anchored off the beach in the harbour. The boat seemed to run fine although we did not push it beyond my 3200RPM cruising speed (remember this mistake - more later). The July week-end was hot and calm – allowing some calm anchoring off the Bayfield beach. But we were starting to get ready for the much anticipated vacation down to Cedar Point with the Dierolf family and they 38 ft Bayliner the “Iron Jenny”– George, Jen and offspring Josh (18) and Carly (16).

Amongst the many little projects were the dingy davits. We wanted to bring the dingy with us. Towing was out of the question, so that left either strapping to the cabin top (a pain to get up there, unattractive and a real view blocker for the helms-person), or attaching it to the swim platform somehow. I am not a big fan of the Weaver davit system where the dingy is tipped on its side – effectively blocking the entire transom, covering the name and the stern light. Plus you have to remove and store the engine….and then manhandle it back onto the dingy every time you launch. There are some systems on the market to store the dingy flat on the swim platform but they are over $1000. On the Club Sea Ray forums there were some posts regarding home made davit systems. Taking some ideas from that I designed a system with hinge brackets that clipped into the Weaver Davit receiver brackets on the swim platform. Then I made 2 dingy supports that bolted to the hinge brackets, painted them white and added a plastic slider rail on top to spread the point load and ease the load and launch. Bottom line, they look professional, worked a treat and cost about $70 total J.

The fabricated hinge bracket that locks into the old Weaver Davit Holder.

The "Slider Rail" that spreads the load and helps make the dingy slide on and off with less effort.

The davits in the down position

With the dingy strapped in position.

Winter Projects

Working on a boat in winter in our climate has special challenges. The obvious one is the cold. But also just getting on and of the boat in the snow is difficult. Even trying to uncoil the shore power lead when it is -10ºC is an ordeal. So I decided to do as much as possible at home. That meant taking off all the doors and trim I had to work on and making templates of all the wood accents so I could make them back home. The flooring was another issue but at least getting the old carpet up when it was cold out avoided sweating since it was a tough job. Anyway, by March we had the projects underway and through April we made reasonable progress although it took a concerted effort to get the work done and the boat ready for our mid-May launch.

Exterior:

Wiper arms – refinished to silver – for some reason Sea Ray build a stunning polished stainless windshield frame and then put less than attractive gray wiper arms on them that in my case had started to rust – even in fresh water.

New dash / helm cover of matching Sunbrella – tan with black edging. Sewed this myself. I’m far from ready to do big jobs but this came out good and looks better than throwing a beach towel over the instruments.

Interior:

Stripped out the carpet on the floor in the salon and forward cabins and installed engineered hardwood. That was quite a project. Sea Ray glue the carpet down with something I think they get from NASA – it is really tough to get off. And they never intended there to be anything but carpet on the floor which hides a less than perfect floor underneath. So once the carpet was scraped off I took a belt sander to the floor – what a messy job that was. Then I started laying the floor – using the edge of the floor hatch openings as the straight edge. The entire floor was cut and dry-fitted first before being removed in order and then glued down.

The "work-shop" in the cockpit

Wood accents – as I’ve stated before the interior was very off-white. I added veneer to the 2 head doors, the mid-cabin locket door, the mid-cabin “alcove” and a new trim panel on the aft bulkhead. In addition veneered the shelf above the fridge and salon TV. All the veneers were stained, satin varnished and hand –rubbed. A quick note on the veneers – I started by using an oak veneer but once I had it on and stained and varnished I really did not like the look at all – it just did not suite the boat. So, it all got pealed off. Then I re-applied a maple veneer. I tried a gel stain and re-stained the mid cabin locker door…….still didn’t like the effect. So I stripped that again and then changed the technique that I used to apply the stain. Rather than using a cloth I brushed it on quite thick, letting the brush create a grain effect in the stain. It takes a couple of days to dry enough to varnish but the final effect is great.

Salon TV – removed the old CRT TV with VHS player (classic), built a close-out panel for the opening and added matching veneer. Installed a 19” LCD with built in DVD.

Installed a second LCD TV in the mid-cabin alcove. This one is portable so the kids can move it to the cockpit – at least till I figure out getting one set up there in the future.

Trim pads above the fridge and 2 under the cabinets above the settee. They were all off-white – matching the walls and head-liner. I removed all 3 and re-covered with a vinyl matching the coffee colored leather cushions – adds a nice accent like I am seeing in the newer boats.

Fridge – the door panels were – surprise surprise…..beige. So I took the fridge doors off and replaced those panels with new ones with a Stainless film added – instant update to 2010!

Trim beads – these are the aluminum strips around all the openings, under edge of the counter, on the trim pads etc. They were all a brassy gold color. Personal taste issue but IMHO they didn’t look nice. I have refinished them with a nickel finish – looks way more up to date.

Door hardware – the push buttons and trim rings were all gold. Same opinion as above – they are now all nickel finish. Head and forward cabin door handles were white – now refinished to nickel.

Cabin lights – these are actually good quality solid brass. But to tie in with the chrome / brass factory pot lights and the nickel trim theme I refinished the center rim to match the rest of the nickel finish in the boat.

There were only 2 small wood trim pieces in the mid-cabin from the factory. Both were oak with a light finish. Stripped and re-finished to match veneer stain. Edge of the mid-cabin sliding doors were also stained to match.

Boat Shows & Big Ideas

The Toronto international boat show is every January …..somewhat obviously in Toronto. It is a nice break from depressing and dreary winter when you start to think there is no way this part of the world will ever warm up again. Some of us also start to wonder why we have so much invested in a ‘hobby’ that we can only participate in for a few short month. But that is a separate musing.

We try to get to the show every year – making a week-end of it. We arrive Friday evening at the hotel (which offer special boat show rates thank goodness) and meet up with our good friends George & Jen and Chris & Karen plus all our associated off-spring. Total is 13 people. Bright and early Saturday we take the shuttle to the Exhibition center where the show is held – arriving before it opens. My and Georges reasoning for this is that if we are there as it opens we can take the morning to view the boats with less line-ups and then tour the equipment area in the PM. By afternoon the place is so packed that the waits to get on boats – especially the ones our size is ridiculous. Everyone who ever even thought of owning a boat is there and most just ogle the big boats, letting little Tommy play with all the switches and levers, much to the dismay of the sales staff I’m sure . Do they know how much those power-train units cost as they ram the shift levers back and forth????

We wanted to get on some of the new express cruisers to get some “decorating” ideas. Basically we wanted to update the interior since it was kind of beige inside and a bit too 1997. So, what better way to get ideas than on the latest boats. We made a bee-line for the Sea Ray booth and looked on both the 450 and 470. Speaking with the sales rep I found out that the 470 is actually the replacement for our boat. The 400 became the 410, then the 43 and now the 470. Seem Sea Ray are back to including the swim platform in the measurements. By that reasoning ours would be called a 440. However, who am I to question how boat manufactures name or measure boats.

So, we perused the new Sea Rays and the new Regal 44SC and took both pictures and mental notes of the materials and finishes being used. To keep it short and sweet, we noted the following trends:

Hardwood flooring

Lots of wood trim

Stainless and brushed nickel finished

Concealed lighting

Teak decking in the cockpit and swim platforms

Tiling on the floor of the heads and back-splashes

Will approves of the Regal 44 SC Mid-cabin

So, armed with those mental notes we perused the rest of the show. Lots of cool things but we refrained from going on a spending spree. We did but the Navionics chip of the Great Lakes for the E80 and Nat bought some fender line adjusters.

Back home I started to look at how I could update the interior based on what we had seen. Soon I had sketches galore showing new lockers, and doors etc – big projects – perhaps reading too many articles where people with lots of time and money and warm indoor storage take on huge re-do’s. But as I thought about it more and made a trip or 2 up to the boat to look at what was practical some of these big ideas fell by the wayside. But the main plan was formulated.

Hardwood flooring

Wood accents

Nickel finish hardware

Sounds simple enough…………….

End of the 2009 Season

The lakefront basin in Bayfield takes quite a kicking in late season storms. There are basins all down the river and once a few boats had hauled out we decided to move to the east basin which is the “power-boat” basin and more sheltered. At least it saved us beating the boat up in the swells and surge out by the lake. And others on the floating dock stopped grumbling that we were too big, too heavy and too much windage and were going to destroy the docks (such drama).

Haul out day arrived way too soon. It was cold, very very windy and pelting down rain. Moving the boat to the haul-out (launch) well was going to be challenging in these winds. I had been slowly getting the hang of maneuvering the boat but was still not comfortable in strong winds and these were well over strong. Ron agreed to help. With the wind on our beam pushing the boat onto the dock it took 3 yard staff to push her off enough to maneuver away from the dock. We got her out without incident and power-washed the bottom. We decided to have the yard shrink-wrap the boat. This was the first time we had gone this way – usually tarping previous boats. But, in the interest on protecting our investment we went this way. Ron actually moved the boat into his shop and I built the frame in there. Being inside I could remove the canvas and he could shrink-wrap at his leisure regardless of the weather. The result was an extremely nicely wrapped boat that worked great all winter. It remained completely dry regardless of the weather. And I mean dry enough to pad around in stocking feet and stay dry. Now we had to settle in for another long Canadian winter………………

Nice shrink-wrap job by BMS

In Ron's shop getting Plan B ready to shrink-wrap.