Haul-out Plans

Inevitably at some point around this time of the year we have to acknowledge that plans have to be made for haul out – even though it only seems a couple of weeks ago that we launched. At the conclusion of our mechanical maladies Sean (the mechanic) drove me to their marina (Rivers Bend Marina) just up the Pine River from the St Claire .Harbour. He gave me the low down on the place. After paying the bill I asked about their rates for winter storage – indoors but not heated. The rate I got was $3.15 per sq. ft including haul out, launch and pressure wash. Hmmm, that’s not too bad.. I got a tour of the facilities with the owner – Ed and shown the storage sheds. Nice buildings with access all year, 120V power all year and its OK to work on the boat as long as the job is not making any kind of mess – so no sanding the bottom, spray painting, grinding etc. Ed is an offshore boat owner / racer with a string of national and world titles. He showed us his boat – a sleek lime green beast with 2 hulls, a cockpit canopy and 2000hp. They do all the engine work themselves so I was getting even more confidence in the mechanical evaluation of our engines.

Eds race boat - all 2000 hp of it

Anyway, once back in Sarnia I got the costs from Bridgeview for the full season and also summer only dockage. Then I did the math;

Winter storage indoors at Rivers Bend $1880

Savings to not winter store at Bridgeview $ 550

Estimated shrink wrap costs
(Bridgeview marine - $18 linear foot
of material used – estimate 52 ft) $1057

Winterize main engines
(savings at Rivers Bend) $ 60

Total savings $1667

Total extra-cost to store indoors $ 213.


Ok – I could save about half the shrink wrap costs if I do it myself. Issue is the work, the time and the need to have decent conditions (no rain, no wind) and have that occur on a week-end when I can get help since it is far from a 1 person job. Even with getting the shop to do it I still need to co-ordinate since I have to remove all the cockpit canvas to get the frame up and would want to get the frame up and wrap done the same day. Remember, in 2009 we did this in Bayfield where Ron brought the boat into the shop. Last year we reused the cover so we could get the frame up and the boat covered quickly.

So the decision was made to store Plan B at Rivers Bend this winter. I am looking forward to what should be a relatively stress free winter storage ritual and the luxury of being able to work on the boat in the winter inside. Being un-heated I still have to winterize so I am making lists of what I need again – referring to my notes from last year.


Winter Projects list


As ever there is a list of things to work on once Plan B is away for the winter. And, as before I put them into 2 categories – repairs and update / upgrade projects.

Repairs / Maintenance:

New V belts on the engines
New oil lines on the engines (these ones are starting to drip slightly)
Wiper motor repair or replace
Master head deck hatch – remove and re-seal.
Replace port-hole screens
Salon hatch screen – needs screen to be replaced – OceanAir parts.
Upgrades:

LED lights in the cockpit
Blue LED underwater lights – investigate at least
Head / shower floors – add tile.
Wood blinds in Master cabin.

The Season Winds Down

August has flown by and now we are past labour day – that only means the season is coming to an end – like it or not. Most of August was spent having people up to the boat – friends and neighbors that we had not managed to get plans in place earlier in the season. For that reason virtually every week-end was taken up entertaining. Not that I mind this but it was a bit intense every week-end.

Some times it just pays to stay home

So, one of the above mentioned visits was with our next door neighbors – Terry and Patty. They (or rather Terry) have been very interested in buying a boat – Patty has been the hold-back. So, in an effort to help things along we suggested they should come along for a week-end and get a taste of the boating life. We made transient slip reservations at Saint Clair Harbour which is ½ hour run down the river. So, to try to keep the story brief we set off Saturday afternoon, got down to St Clair and moored without incident. We relaxed and enjoyed a dinner out at Pepper Joes on the river. Sunday morning it was windy – and I mean windy – blowing at 50 – 60 kph out of the north. Anyway, it was just a quick run up the river. We got some fuel at the fuel dock and then tried to hold position on the Pine River waiting for the bridge. Even being relatively sheltered the wind made this tricky. Finally the bridge opened and we got out into the St Clair River. With the north wind the river was kicked up pretty bad – a good 2 ft waves and an insane current running. We hugged the shore waiting for a freighter to pass and then throttled up to cruise speed. There was lots of spray and a bit lumpy but easily manageable. That was until the port engine dropped to idle all by itself. This puts all the load on the starboard engine which dropped about 500 rpm. I did a quick assessment of the situation. One engine down – reason unknown but there was no throttle response at all. A ridiculous wind and a dangerously strong current. I could press on with the one engine but it would be slow in these conditions. And what if the issue that effected the port engine got the starboard one (like bad fuel?). We would be drifting in the river at the mercy of a strong current and wind. Chances of anchoring were slim if we drifted that quick – the anchor would likely just bounce along the bottom. And if we did manage to get an anchor down and it happened to be out of the main shipping channel then what……?
So, I decided the prudent thing was to get back to St Clair Harbour. Issue was that the bridge would not open for another 25 mins and I did not think I could maneuver on the main river in these conditions with one engine. I radioed the bridge master and he immediately agreed to open the bridge as soon as I got to it. We got into the Pine River and secured to the fuel dock with no issues in spite of the tricky maneuvering on one engine with the wind. I shut the engine down and opened the engine room hatch expecting to see oil everywhere or something. Nothing – everything looked OK. I poked around looking for some obvious reason for the issue – nothing. I started both engines up and they ran great. At idle they revved freely. Hmmm. However, I did not want to chance the river run again without getting them checked. So we put Plan B back in a transient slip (both engines responded to throttle etc). Some people on the dock were heading back to our marina and offered a lift which we gladly accepted. I got the phone number of a trusted local marine mechanic and we left – Sea Ray Girl and I on a 31 ft Carver (with Sea Ray puppy) and Terry and Patty on a 29 Ft Sea Ray Amberjack.

As a side note I don’t suspect this helped convince Patty that boating was a fun and stress free pastime!!

Monday I got in touch with the mechanic who was down checking the boat by noon. That afternoon he reported nothing seemed untoward so he suggested a sea trial. He also checked all the fuel filters and there was no water or dirt. I was on vacation starting on the Tuesday through to after Labour Day so we drove over the boarder and met the mechanic at the boat. We had a 45 minute run on the river with the engine room hatch open and the Mercruiser diagnostic computer hooked up – first to the port engine and then the starboard. Every reading the computer checked was perfect. Sean (the mechanic) crawled all over the engines looking for issues but they ran flawlessly. Back at the dock he could only guess what happened. His best guess was related to the high pressure fuel pump reservoir float that may have shut the fuel off and not until it was re-started would it re-set. I was hoping for a more concrete answer – this is the broken part and here is the new one – fixed. Sean believed it will be virtually impossible to duplicate the conditions that caused this. Ok………..

We stayed on the boat Tuesday night and planned to get back to Sarnia Wednesday. Originally we planned to go down to Lake St Clair with the kids for the week but frankly the experience and the mechanics bill of over $400 to find nothing damped our enthusiasm to carry on. Just to add to the misery on Wednesday morning Sea Ray girl dropped a coffee mug on the stove top. The $3 mug was fine – the glass stove top was on about 20 pcs. Great.

So, vacation trip cancelled – cooking on board down to the microwave. We got Plan B back to Bridgeview with no issues- the engines ran strong as ever and just relaxed around the marina for the rest of the week.

I got a new stove top ordered from Kenyon - $250 dollars!

Labour Day

We went across to Port Huron with the George and Jen for the Saturday and Sunday. It was hot and humid with showers and thunderstorms on Saturday night. We took the dingy and explored further up the Black River. Dinner was at the Quay Street Pub. Sunday was overcast and humid. We trekked to the local greasy spoon for breakfast and headed back to Sarnia in the afternoon.
Monday was a relax day.

Monday morning William turned the wipers on to clear the morning dew – and the starboard one didn’t work……..wow – we are on a role with breaking things.

This last week-end I investigated and the shaft that connects the motor to the wiper arm has sheared. Hopefully I don’t need them this season any more and I will have to figure out how to access the motor in the off-season. It is not immediately apparent how to get to the wiper motor. In true Sea Ray fashion it is buried.