Not the Easter Cruise we had planned

Friday, April 11, 2020

This weekend was supposed to be the Easter Cruise to the Beaufort, NC docks BUT, that got canceled because that town doesn’t want us.

So instead of that, we’re doing some maintenance that’s been on my list for a while, namely replacing the coolant pump on the engine.

Everyone that’s ever worked on a boat will tell you that everything takes twice as long as normal.
Well, when the town your boat is located in is on a Covid-19 lockdown that prohibits non-residents from basically going into town, that makes things even more challenging.

Fortunately, everyone in the boating community in Oriental is awesome and willing to help as they can. So we can still call businesses, place an order, give a CC number and they will deliver to your slip! Shout out to Pat, Lori and Teresa at IWPC, and Jim at Bow to Stern Boating!!

The front of the engine had some surface corrosion and missing paint, seemingly from leaking coolant at some point in her past. While the pump and belt were off, it seemed to be the right time to wire brush and enamel paint those areas. Walmart was out of Yanmar Grey engine enamel so black will have to do.

Deciding to do this certainly added a lot of time, but it was worth it since everything was accessible. I also wasn’t thrilled using a spray can inside, but we opened some hatches, turned on a fan and it was fine.  Given the challenging work conditions, it came out pretty good!

Diesel engine after replacing the coolant pump(teal) and painting the front of the engine

With the engine back together, I turned in just past midnight (Sue was already sound asleep), with the plan to refill the anti-freeze in the morning.

Saturday, April 12, 2020

We slept in until about 9 and then I started to get back at it.  It turns out the anti-freeze I had delivered was some red specialty fluid that would require me to fully drain and flush the cooling system. Not a task that I could take on at the moment.  I got that swapped out with Jim’s help, and then got another gallon delivered when I ran short of enough to fill the reservoir.

That process took hours.

But, Betelgeuse was put back together and we were ready to leave the slip for South River, where my friend/ex-coworker/Cary neighbor Reynold and his wife Cathy would be heading for the night. For some reason they are on a friend’s boat, Fannasea.

We left Oriental Harbor Marina in very light winds, which picked up when we got further away from land. The wind was variable and a little gusty, but we sailed the entire way through the channel and to the anchorage. We reached 6.6 knots out in the river which is pretty close to top speed.

We found Reynold and Kathy in the anchorage and after a brief sail-by chose a spot about 100yds to their South.

A picture of SV Betelgeuse taken by Reynold

SV Fannasea: Reynold and Cathy were helping their friend get out on the water. 

The winds died down and it ended up being beautiful!

I counted 10 boats at anchor within South River and most were well beyond 6’ apart.

After the “All-Clear Beer” (when the anchor is secure) we started dinner; ribs I had smoked at our house earlier in the week. The Magma grill on the transom of our boat gets hotter than expected in the blowing wind, so the ribs heated faster than expected and ended up with a couple charred spots, but still delicious.

Forward Facing Sonar, showing our anchor chain at the bow of the boat (need to adjust an offset; it should be at 0 feet)

This was one of the first times we were able to use the new Lewmar Folding steering wheel we installed.  Very helpful for our cramped cockpit.

Sunday, April 13, 2020

We got up and made a nice Easter Breakfast; breakfast burritos, fruit salad and coffee.  We recorded a Happy Easter message to our friends and family

Our friends on SV Fannasea pulled up anchor an hour or so before us and headed back to Broad Creek, directly across the Neuse River from the South River.  We found out afterwards that they ran the whole way there with only the Jib out and were hitting 7-8 kts the whole way.

We pulled anchor after finishing breakfast and picking up. Here is a time lapse video of us pulling the anchor and unfurling the jib, which is all it took to get out of South River and back into the Neuse.

During the trip out of South River, we barely missed hitting two Pelicans.

(Because sailboats are so fast)

Once we were back in the Neuse River, we were able to keep just the jib out for quite a while until we had to turn to the West and we were on a Broad Reach or Close Reach back to the Oriental markers.

Genoa only and moving along quickly and smoothly

We decided to pump out the holding tank, which required a quick stop in the Oriental Marina.  It was gusting in the 20's out on the river, but the harbor's protection made it not too bad to back up to the pump out dock on the starboard side.  A catamaran owner was further in on the same dock, with his dinghy tied behind his sugar scoops, but was kind enough (worried) to move it out of the way, so we could back into position on the 15 - 20 feet of dock left.  Not sure why he was worried, there was at least 5 feet between his davits and ours by the time we tied up secure!

After the fun of pumping out, we untied and headed back to our slip, steeling ourselves for the nightmare of pulling into our slip in the gusty conditions.  We were very relieved when Jim Edwards from Bow to Stern pulled aside of us in their runabout on the short trip back with his family.  They asked if we could use a hand.  The key thing to remember, is that if someone capable asks you if you'd like help during docking, you should probably take them up on it.  When it is a family that used to live on their boat, the answer is even more obvious.

Instead of two of us, we had 6 and tying up was still nerve-racking, but went A-OK.

We considered staying another night mainly to get a few more things done, but Monday promised horrific weather with gusts in the 50 knot range, rain and the possibility of tornadoes.  It was actual forecast to be worse back at the house, but it would be in a house.  So, we packed everything up and headed out of Oriental, NC around 9pm and got back to home around 11:30pm.

Again, not the trip that was planned, but any chance I get to spend out on the water with Sue is a good trip!

Until next time,

Mike