Tying up loose ends.......

As we sit here this morning we have our "new" (rebuilt) port engine and hopefully we can get off the dock for a sea trial later today.  The weather is iffy, there is another boat right behind us so we will see.  In the meantime we know we have two engines again, hooray!  First Mate Marine did a great job and they got the engine off Nati and back on without mishap.  If we ever need assistance again I think we will try to get back here.

 

Before

Heading off Nati

rigging up the boom to help

Over the lifelines and to the dock

Finally.....off to the shop

Our empty grimy engine room

Overhauled engine after we painted it up

A much cleaner engine room!

Ready to come aboard

Jim & Bo sliding the engine into the compartment

Finished!

You can see we had Nati protected as best as possible.  A Yanmar 3GM30F block weighs in at around 250-300lbs so you do the best you can to keep the walls and floors covered.

padding

Cardboard everywhere 

Another roll of tape..

While here we thought we were getting invited for cocktails by this boat.  It came in to the marina and just turned around.  It did not look like it would fit!

Hi there!

Turning........

This one on the other hand is one beauty!  When we researched m/v Justice we found out she is the best preserved commuter boat still in existence.  The boat was built in the 30's and served as a commuter for the owner from CT to NYC five days a week.  The boat would cruise at 20-30kts.

Turtle rescue.......a little green turtle was most likely injured by a prop and the marina staff along with a women from Turtle Rescue came to its aid.  They were able to capture it and will be taking it to Marineland, only a few miles south of here.

Lastly.......what do you think of this sunset looking east.  We got into the marina last Monday and this is what we saw.......This picture is not manipulated.

Almost ready to get a move on again.......

Florida ......... at last!

It good to have nice weather with us and just the other day we pulled into St Augustine, FL.  As long as we are here we are going to attempt to stop the hemorrhaging of the port engine.  Oil is not too expensive but we are now going through it like water.  Good ole "First Mate Marine" will do an overhaul so we are looking forward to have another "great running" engine.

Savannah was a great time.  Halloween in that town is lively and fun.  The food was fantastic also.  We even had our first episode with Uber.  We made it back to Nati but I hope we have learned a little more how it works.

Over 9 foot tides near Savannah

Guess what day it is?

After Savannah we continued down the inside since there was not wind and we had timed the currents so we were flying down the ICW.  We did a couple of 55+nm days and that is pretty good for  moving in the fall.  Daylight hours are greatly reduced so it's been up at 6am and on the road at 0630. We made it to Cumberland Island and after a nice night there we moved up to check out St Mary's, GA.

We finally found some cats in the hood!

The town is nice and quiet and there are a number of good restaurants.  Of course the wind and current made it uncomfortable to get off Nati so we skipped dinner on land and used some more of our provisions.

Sv Peacemaker

St Mary's waterfront

The next morning we caught the tide out the channel and direct sail right to St Augustine.  Again, another 55+ nm day but we rode the tide in and caught our mooring ball before sunset.

Sunset in St Augustine

Look who we found......Tyler & Holly

Heading back to the good ship "Renegade"

Now..........lets get the engine working right!!

Fleece......Flannel........who needs those stinkin' things? We are warm again!

Its been a couple of weeks and we have tried to be very productive during that time.  Productive being defined as moving the heck out of the cold and into warm weather!  Are we swimming yet?  NO...but shorts are back on and we haven't had to use the heaters for a while.

To recap.......

After we left the upper portion of the ICW we high-tailed it to Renate & Reiner's home for a couple of days.  Nati got to show off her new decor and the four of us had a lot of laughs.  It's not often that you become friends with people that sold you a boat but we have now done that for almost 4 years!  Time is really flying by......

The old south

which way to we go?

you  think we have high water today?

the dock is almost gone!

No diving at low tide

Sunrise over the Atlantic

With that completed we motored down Adams Creek, said hi to Duff as we passed by his home and then shot out Beaufort Channel and into the Atlantic.  It sure felt good to be away from land, buoys, other boats and all the other things that the ICW gives to you.  The sailing wasn't too good but we still put 266nm under Nati's bottom and had two good nights with a full moon.  We came back inside at Charleston, SC and continued down on the inside.  The anchorages we have been to have been really nice and right now we are a mile or so north of Isle of Hope Marina where we will go tomorrow to meet up with friends, Mark & Monika for Halloween.  Oh boy.......Savannah for the witching hour.......it should be lots of fun!

Super Moon in Factory Creek

We are still cold so we aren't stopping to enjoy!

October 13, 2015 is the date we departed Annapolis to head south .  Because of the weather we decided to attend this year's Boat Show.  We picked up a couple of things we ordered but can't say we saw any boats that would make us move away from Nati.  Now if a million bucks wasn't an issue......well, that is just something we don't need to bother with.

Sunrise in Annapolis

We really wanted to have a favorable weather window to turn the bows south but it wasn't to be.  Between rain, cold weather and current, we took the current and dropped the mooring.  Even though we left in mid morning we still made Solomon's Island for the night.  From there we made another long day to Deltaville and then on to Norfolk.  Because of work being done on the RR bridge we decided to go all the way to the entrance of the Deep Creek Lock so we can make the 0830 lift in the morning.

Heading out of Solomon's Island

Sunset at Deep Creek Lock

Locking was done with no issue and we made it to one of our favorite anchorages at Goat Island.  Nice and quiet with a couple of other vessels.  From there we wend down to Alligator River Marina to plug in (I said it was cold!) and then we had a run down the Alligator/Pungo Canal and into Oriental for a couple of days.

Heading into the lock in the morning

Making our way down the Elizabeth River (trail through the duck weed)

Right now we are having some laughs with Reiner & Renate at their home.  We talk about Nati and their boat, going on trips to Cuba and all sorts of things.  From here we hope to high-tail it on the outside to Savannah.  We are keeping our fingers crossed to have a fine weekend for following seas all the way down the coast.

Back in the Chesapeake after almost 2 months!

Last Thursday we were launched Nati back into the water.  Of course hurricane Joaquin decided to make a name for himself and for a short while it looked like we were going to be right in the way.  Thanks to the low that is hanging just off the coast, the storm took an exit stage right and we are out of harms way for the time being.  We always say that we'll take out luck on the water.....

We had a very long project list while on the "hard".  It included:

• Rebuilt engine injectors
• cleaned heat exchangers
• new seals in the lower sail drives
• 4 coats of polish and wax
• soda blasted the hulls taking all bottom paint off (Choptank Soda Blasting ..... great job!)
• 4 coats of Interprotect epoxy barrier coat
• 4 coats of bottom paint
• interior completely cleaned and updated paint
• floors cleaned of all glue
• new digital TV antenna
• new chart plotter
• rebuilt 1 alternator
• all interior Corian polished to a matte finish
• head hoses cleaned and rebuilt
• canvas cleaned, polished and waterproofed
• new boot stripe
• the list just went on and on and on!!!!!

You get the drift.........LOTS of work!

What mess?!?!

taping the whole cabin!

both new tanks are lighter than one old one

direct USB power plug

Once wet again meant we were out of the "sand pit" so it was time for Nati to get some new flooring. Anne worked with Diana & George from Carriage House Canvas and came up with some terrific ideas and you can see the results.  Nati has been catapulted into the 21st century!

main cabin .....before

With new flooring

a close up

hulls before......

with new carpeting

cockpit before......

with new flooring

much more comfortable

Flooring and driving cushion

Nati is set and ready to go!!!!!  Thanks to all the folks at Worton Creek Marina!

Heading for the water

And now..........almost time to get wet again!!

This morning we are getting packed and into the rental car to finish up our trip north to see Teagan & family.  We had a great time and just give"T" one more hug and kiss as she caught the bus to school.  We can't believe she is already in 1st grade......time goes too fast.  Also, BS&T are proud owners of a new boat for next year!  Yes, Teagan has already named it!!!!!!!

The O'Connor family with SHARKTOOTH WEDGIE!

"T" and friends at the parade

But we will be back at Worton Creek tonight and we'll prepare Nati for the last few days on the "hard".  As we predicted we have been working (almost nonstop) on her for 6 + weeks and we have been able to do a whole list of projects.  Most were on our list but we even had a few items come up that are now behind us.  I won't get into them on this post and will save them for the wrap-up on the next post.  All we know is that we are really ready to get into the water and begin our fall trek.

Besides all the work on Nati we have also been able to spend time with Amy & Evan.  He is getting bigger by the hour and is now off to Pre-K 1.  We expect him to be running for class president at any time!

"E" is off to school

Next was a good few days at Binnacle Island with Bob, Steph and Teagan.  We didn't have the crowds like we have had in the past but we had a great time.  The food was great, the weather behaved and swimming was part of each day.  It also gave us a chance to see Tom, Sue and Erika on s/v Ambassador, Larry & Carol on s/v Coral Wave and the Chief and "Jackson" showed up with food and drink.

As mentioned above, we have been really working on Nati.......



Both on the inside and out.....we can't wait to get out of the "sand pit" in order to get her vacuumed out one more time.  Just wait until we finish her off.....she will look great!!  In the meantime here are a few pictures of what we have been up to.

Injectors rebuilt

New anchor gypsy

rebuilt alternator

repair escape hatch

Nati soda blasted bottom

Anne's workout tools

The hull is shining

Dick painting in "dick crick:

"only a few more coast of paint!"

The Internet and phone coverage on the east shore of the Chesapeake is horrible.  That's one reason for the delay in posting but the real issue is that from morning till the whistle blows we are flat out working away.  It will be fun when we can take more that one day off......

NO…..we have not disappeared!

We know we haven't been keeping weekly updates but haul out has us working all day long and at the night we only have Internet near the marina office and the bugs will carry you away.  So………so sorry!

Right now we are wrapping up bottom painting and many other projects.  Perhaps this weekend some time can be allocated to doing an update but in the meantime …….back to work!

s/v Nati