Friday, November 11, 2011

October getting ready for Cruise #3



Wayne ‘retired’ again on Sept 29.  I don’t think we have slowed down since!

Our haul out was scheduled for Oct 3 at 7:30 AM.  At 7:31 BTC was coming out of the water !  This was our 3rd haul out at Bock Marine and it will not be our last.  Kenny and his crew always do an excellent job.  Since we were there last they have added a very nice new boater’s lounge and bath house. 



Picture of Wayne watching our haul out, seemed funny to be wearing a jacket and jeans but it was chilly !

This haul out was the shortest and smoothest on record for BTC.  The bottom was sanded and painted. Hulls compounded and waxed. The rebuilt and new to us starboard sail drive was installed.  Engine exhaust was moved from between the hulls to the exterior. Exhaust used to billow under the dinghy and then come into the cockpit enclosure, so this is resolved.  Wondering why we did not make this change earlier !  Sail drive oil changed and the zincs, seals and boots were all replaced.

Our excitement from the great haul out was short lived.  The trip back to Northwest Creek Marina confirmed what we suspected, that Otto (our name for our autopilot), our faithful third crew member, was not working and our starboard engine that had been smoking, making excess noise and had been difficult to start was worse.

After further testing and following the trouble shooting manual it was determined Otto was officially dead.  The corepack and head would need to be replaced. Luckily the linear drive was still working.  Parts were ordered knowing Wayne could do the install when they arrived.
The starboard engine was another matter.  We had our local engine guy check it out and he determined it was more than he wanted to take on.  After calling the local engine people we decided to call Pat McCartin from Inland Marine Diesel who came highly recommended by George and Lynn on Sunspot Baby.  Pat could come to New Bern to work on the boat November 1.  This fit well with our schedule. 

We visited Brian and Almendra then both sets of our parents and were happy to spend two weeks at home in Florida working in our yard and enjoying floating in our pool. 

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