Dragging the bottom

It’s the day after Christmas and we are heading down to Fort Pierce for a haul out. I know, that’s a bit unusual for us but we had a bit of underwater issues. The centerboard on the Goose unwound its cable and the cable pulled loose and is laying on the bottom. This now gives us a 10 foot draft! Well, the ICW does not tolerate a boat with a 10 foot draft so, I went diving to pass a rope thru the board and then crank it up using the winches. I should be able to replace the cable with a new one and be back on the water again in a couple of hours (if everything goes correctly). Wish me luck!

How come the "Captain" always has to go diving?

The blue rope is holding the centerboard up.

Well, the board is tied up to the boat again now, it's a 10 mile trip to the haul out.

Installing the new cable.

Florida again

Here's a chart view of Cap Canaveral and the shoals

Coming in off the ocean at the Ponce Deleon inlet keeps us from having to go around the Kennedy space center (which sticks out into the ocean) and its shoals that extends another 5 miles further off shore. If you round the cape on the outside you are just about into the north flowing Gulf Stream… not where you want to be with a north wind behind you. So, we tuck into the Indian River. It’s a wide estuary behind the coast that extends about 100 miles north to south and provides a save enjoyable way south in this part of Fl. There are also some nice places to visit along the Indian River; Titusville, Coco Beach, the Kennedy Space Center, Vero Beach, and many, many nice anchorages to boot!

Nice sunset

 

We stopped into Titusville on Friday for a “cloths washing day” only to find out that the marina was having their annual Christmas day dinner on Sunday so, we satyed a few extra days, made a dish to pass and joined in on the fun. It was a great time, lots of food, friends and even Christmas karaoke! The palm trees and warm balmy breezes didn’t seem like Christmas to us Michiganders but the friendly spirits that we found sure spoke of the Christmas Spirit to us.




The dessert table after 50 cruisers had their way with it!

 The hurricane also was strong even down here in central Fl and the effects of it could be seen all around us.

 Oh, and if you don't know, Anna has changed the website over to wordpress and the URL to it is http://svsnowgoose.com/wordpress/

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to all!

 

 



On the waterway again

For once Anna is posting more than I am so, that leaves me with little to talk about plus, I have been really busy keeping the Goose working (maintenance), driving the boat (playing Captain), and all of the other stuff that goes into moving the Goose 1000 miles south.

Sun rise on the ocean

We have had a good trip down this time by breaking it up into 3 passages. Two Ocean passages and one good size chunk of the ICW. The Interesting thing that I found this year on the ICW was the amount of damage that the latest hurricane did to the property along the way and the number of boats that are sitting on the shore along the way. I’ve seen more that 30 boats that have been tossed up on shore during this trip. Here’s just a few more that Anna hasn’t shown you already.
 

 

We are now down in Fl and have slowed down a bit so, I hope to bring this blog up to date.

Everyone up north… stay warm!

I want to steal this old bus... it's so cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little work on the side

Instead of boat work this fall I’ve come into a bit of contracting. The house I’m working on (down here in NC) has a type of plywood siding called T1-11 which means that for every 11 inches of siding there is a 1 inch decorative grove cut into the plywood. This gives a nice vertical look to the house. The issue is at the bottom of the existing plywood, it was never painted and rot has developed.

The original siding

So, out comes the nails,,, hundreds of nails,,, (seems like MILLIONS of nails), each one put in with a nail gun and every single one a real bear to remove. The guy must have put over 30 nails per board!

Most of the nails had to be removed with a "crow's foot" and lots of pounding

 

The old comes off and...

 

The wall is stripped back to the blue board.

 

With Anna’s help, we installed new, primed siding and the wall looks great again. Now, it’s time to paint!

New T1-11 on, the windows trimmed out and everything primed ready for new paint.

 

Back at the old “grind” again

We made it to Deaton’s and the Snow Goose after our short detour to NY City. The old gal needed a bit of exterior work this year so out came the grinder and the epoxy and into the Tyvec suit went Rich.



We has some rust that had to be ground off and re epoxyed this year.

 After grinding the rusty spots a generous layer of fiberglass, epoxy and filler was applied. Then lots of sanding and refairing and more sanding before we could paint the boat. Soon, she will be repaired and ready for the water. In the spring I hope to give her a total paint job.

The rudder also had to come off for the outer coating of fiberglass had split.

The new fiberglass has been applied and a fairing coat applied now, all it needs is a good sanding and paint.

We will be down here at Deaton’s for the next month or so, if you’re in the area stop on by!

New York, New York

Cars, people and more cars. That’s what NY seems like. Parking here is like an over crowded boat where you can’t go to bed until another person get’s up. At first we had to park 3 LONG blocks away but a day later I found a place only 1 block away… this is no city to own a car in.

This is NOT normal (except once a week for street sweeping day)

Lot’s of things to see and do you just have to use the subway to get around. We went to “ground zero” and walked thru the “Oculus”. It’s the newest train station built after 911 and it’s the most sterile, bleak looking train station that they have here.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing building but it feels cold and impersonal to me.

Outside of the Oculus

Inside

One of the two fountain/pools built on the site of the old towers.

When compared to our next stop, the old Customs House, well, there’s just no comparison. The stone work and the grandeur of the Old Customs House will knock your socks off.

Inside stairway at the old Customs House.

A typical street in downtown NY

We stopped for lunch at a little Indian restaurant... Yumm

The obligatory trip to the museum of art was eye opening and after 4 hours and about 10% of the museum, we called it a day.

Inca gold

What the Spanish did to the inca gold. This crown went on a statue!

5 inch tall statue, it's 3,500 years old!

 

Walks around Brooklyn yielded so many great buildings to see and statues and arches that it’s just a visual feast every time you walk out the door.

The old small pox hospital on Roosevelt Island.

 

This arch commemorates the Civil War.

New York, a fantastic place to visit,,, I just wish I could afford to live there.

On the road again

It’s been a busy, long and great (weather wise) summer for us at the lake house. A bit too much contracting for my taste but there were several interesting projects that I did and over all an easy summer compared to the others. My granddaughter and I went on a big road trip out to Colorado and spent a week in the high country.

Megan and I climbed to the top of this mountain... Well, we drove to here and climbed the other 200 feet to the top!

 Anna and I flew down to Austin Tx and road tripped back to Michigan so the summer wasn’t all work and no play like the last few have been.

Anna relaxing in a garden in Austin, Tx

The leaves in the north are just iridescent this year.

Now, the trees are turning and it’s time to pack everything away for the winter and head south via New York City! We are stopping for a few days here in Brooklyn to see my sister before heading south to the boat. Should be there soon to wake the Snow Goose back up and plop her back into the water.

 

 If there's a castle, it must be New York!

 

 

 

Work at Deaton's

OK, I admit that I’ve been a bit lapsed in posting to this blog in the last few months. Between sailing up the east coast and arriving at Deaton’s we have been kind of busy. Then, Anna took the car and headed back to Michigan while I started work at Deaton’s for the next 5 weeks so again, no time to post. After that, Anna arrived back and it was time to take the Goose out of the water and head back north to the house (that hasn’t been lived in for 6 months) and my “fleet” of cars that need work. Needless to say it’s been a bit busy for several months.

At Deaton Yacht Service, I had many interesting jobs for me this year:


One very clogged heat exchanger

 And here's an interesting project: A teak storm cover for a sliding hatch.

First, buy the wood and build the frame

Then, build the top and fit it to the boat

Finally, varnish it up and it's ready to install

Our trusty Pink KIA with a 12 foot ladder and a 10 foot boat on top ready for the 1000+ mile trip back to Michigan... (Anyone want to buy a 10 foot walker bay with a full sailing rig?)

And when we got home??? Snow in May!



Well, another year has gone by, It wasn't the winter that I hoped for so, hopefully, next year it will be better.

Hope that your summer is a good one. See ya all next year!