With the Pirate Festival behind us, we turned our attention to getting Orion Jr ready to travel north to the Erie Canal. In between boat projects, we managed to do some volunteering, enjoy some family time , do a little racing on Steve's boat, and put the sewing machine to some good use. Soon, we'll be underway again.
Jr has been stripped of her mast and dinghy Turning Orion Jr into a power boat
A sailboat without her mast and sails is kind of a sad thing to look at. But we didn't have to go farther than the familiar refrain from the Erie Canal song ("Low bridge, everybody down") to know we wouldn't do any sailing on this waterway. As a matter of fact, the bridges on the western part of the canal are so low, that many power boats have to strip their upper decks and flybridges to make it under. So, rather than haul a 25 ft aluminum albatross along with us, we wisely decided to leave it behind in Va. With no mast, there were other things Jr no longer needs. Certainly don't need a boom. Or sails. We could offload the stackpack and gin pole. And traveling down a narrow canal, there isn't much need for a dinghy. So the Portabote got jettisoned, along with its outboard. The boat should certainly be lighter now.
Even a sailboat turned power boat can't completely abandon the need for a mast. The mast holds up some important stuff – like a VHF antenna and an anchor/steaming light. What to do about those?
A sailboat without her mast and sails is kind of a sad thing to look at. But we didn't have to go farther than the familiar refrain from the Erie Canal song ("Low bridge, everybody down") to know we wouldn't do any sailing on this waterway. As a matter of fact, the bridges on the western part of the canal are so low, that many power boats have to strip their upper decks and flybridges to make it under. So, rather than haul a 25 ft aluminum albatross along with us, we wisely decided to leave it behind in Va. With no mast, there were other things Jr no longer needs. Certainly don't need a boom. Or sails. We could offload the stackpack and gin pole. And traveling down a narrow canal, there isn't much need for a dinghy. So the Portabote got jettisoned, along with its outboard. The boat should certainly be lighter now.
Even a sailboat turned power boat can't completely abandon the need for a mast. The mast holds up some important stuff – like a VHF antenna and an anchor/steaming light. What to do about those?
Dave fitting temporary mast We had a little experience with this in Marathon when the mast came down. Using some PVC, some other plumbing fixtures and a sour cream container, Dave jury-rigged an anchor light for the couple of days before we hauled out. However, we plan to do some more exploring that will require the mast down, so he wanted a more re-usable solution. The masthead light and Wind Indicator (aka Windex) were mounted together on a bracket that was attached at the top of Jr's mast. The regular VHF antenna is mounted directly to the mast, but on its own bracket. Ideally, we wanted to simply unplug the light from the top of the mast and move it on the bracket with the Windex from one mast to the other. Since the VHF antenna unplugs at the base of the mast, it made more sense to buy another antenna for the shorter mast.
Top of new PVC mast 0751 New mast mount with light
Unfortunately, the bracket for the light did not survive the road trip north. And the Windex had fallen off over a year ago. So, we needed a new solution. Using some 1" aluminum stock from the hardware store, Dave bent it to fashion a new mount that would fit either mast, supporting the all-around light and our new Windex. He decided to stick with the 2" PVC for the support, capping the top to prevent water intrusion and adding a T at the bottom and eye-bolts for shrouds at the top to give it some stability fore and aft and side-to-side. With the wires running down the inside and out one of the legs, the antenna and light would simply plug into the sockets already in place in the deck. Pretty slick.
Unfortunately, the bracket for the light did not survive the road trip north. And the Windex had fallen off over a year ago. So, we needed a new solution. Using some 1" aluminum stock from the hardware store, Dave bent it to fashion a new mount that would fit either mast, supporting the all-around light and our new Windex. He decided to stick with the 2" PVC for the support, capping the top to prevent water intrusion and adding a T at the bottom and eye-bolts for shrouds at the top to give it some stability fore and aft and side-to-side. With the wires running down the inside and out one of the legs, the antenna and light would simply plug into the sockets already in place in the deck. Pretty slick.
Replacing the friction piece in the Nissan's throttle Our "power boat" was getting pretty close to ready. But given the amount of motoring we faced, it was time to do something about a persistent problem with the outboard's throttle control. It no longer stayed put at the rpm's the helmsman chose. This made docking and un-docking frustrating, since it was necessary to ensure your hand was always on the throttle if the speed was to remain constant. Although our electrical tape fix worked better than nothing, it was time to address the root cause, which was a bad friction block in the throttle arm. When we first had Blake look at this a year ago, the throttle arm wasn't able to be disassembled, meaning an expensive replacement of the whole thing. But on our latest visit, he was able to free the components, making the repair much less expensive and easy enough that we decided to tackle it ourselves. Blake gave us guidance on the parts to order and some tips about approaching it. Sure enough, it was a pretty straightforward fix. Hopefully, it will do the job and the throttle will stay put when we want it to.
And, after all, every power boat needs a reliable engine.
And, after all, every power boat needs a reliable engine.
More Boat Stuff
To get back on the road, we needed to get the trailer licensed and inspected in Virginia, which required moving it for the first time in 6 weeks. To travel on the canal, we needed to write to NY State to get a canal permit, which added to the colorful range of stickers on Orion Jr's bow. (This one's blue.) Can't forget the truck, which also needed its annual inspection. We ordered canal guides, subscribed to the NY State Canal authority's notice to mariners and plotted lots of routes. Dave discovered that many sections that don't follow a natural waterway ( and therefore have no marks) aren't even charted.
To get back on the road, we needed to get the trailer licensed and inspected in Virginia, which required moving it for the first time in 6 weeks. To travel on the canal, we needed to write to NY State to get a canal permit, which added to the colorful range of stickers on Orion Jr's bow. (This one's blue.) Can't forget the truck, which also needed its annual inspection. We ordered canal guides, subscribed to the NY State Canal authority's notice to mariners and plotted lots of routes. Dave discovered that many sections that don't follow a natural waterway ( and therefore have no marks) aren't even charted.
These parts made up the old sink drain We managed to get one project done that had been put on hold until Jr was out of the water. The sink drain was leaking with some regularity. However, the combination of a very small access door, some pretty complex plumbing and the risk of breaking a thru-hull had us putting off addressing it until we were safely on the hard. Once Dave removed the old fittings, he wanted to simplify the run, removing the 3 90 degree fittings to one or 2 connections. Thanks to some creative problem-solving from a local plumbing supply store, he was able to transition from the 1-1/2 drain opening to the 3/4" sea cock with only 1 piece of hose. It looks much simpler and doesn't appear to be leaking. Of course, we can only be sure about the thru-hull when we get back in the water.
New sink drain
Troy collecting trash on the shore Cleaning The Bay
We volunteered to be zone captains for a small section of the Hampton River near Joy's Marina. Leading a small crew of boaters from the marina, we hauled out bits of trash and managed to accumulate 12 bags of garbage. There was a lot of debris we could see, but not get to, but we managed to get quite a bit out of the water. As an unexpected treat, Taylor and Troy stayed with us the night before and were able to join us and do their bit in the clean-up. Afterwards, we celebrated with other volunteers with some good food and good company at one of the one leader's home.
We volunteered to be zone captains for a small section of the Hampton River near Joy's Marina. Leading a small crew of boaters from the marina, we hauled out bits of trash and managed to accumulate 12 bags of garbage. There was a lot of debris we could see, but not get to, but we managed to get quite a bit out of the water. As an unexpected treat, Taylor and Troy stayed with us the night before and were able to join us and do their bit in the clean-up. Afterwards, we celebrated with other volunteers with some good food and good company at one of the one leader's home.
Taylor and Troy pose with some friends Fun Times
We met up with Bonnie and the kids at Busch Gardens for a beautiful day that let us explore the park with few lines and cooler weather. The kids came back to the boat with us and spent their first night on the boat, which was a treat for all of us. As we enjoyed the party after the bay clean-up, they were surprised to look up and see mom and dad in their fishing boat pull up to the dock at the house. By the time the day was over, kids and grandparents were ready to crash, but it was a happy exhaustion.
We met up with Bonnie and the kids at Busch Gardens for a beautiful day that let us explore the park with few lines and cooler weather. The kids came back to the boat with us and spent their first night on the boat, which was a treat for all of us. As we enjoyed the party after the bay clean-up, they were surprised to look up and see mom and dad in their fishing boat pull up to the dock at the house. By the time the day was over, kids and grandparents were ready to crash, but it was a happy exhaustion.
Later that same week, we traveled to Jarratt and joined Taylor's class for 2 days of field trips -- first to the zoo and next to the beach. The zoo was lots of fun and kids loved feeding the animals – except the giraffe. They weren't too sure about having that big, black tongue lick their hands, so grandma and grandpa got the honors there. As for the beach, it was a lot of bus riding for very little beach time, but Taylor had a blast letting the waves chase her. Fun to see.
We returned from Jarratt in time to join Steve for the Cock Island race. There was more wind than last year, so we actually managed to do the whole circuit and finish the race by noon. That was a big improvement for this crew's performance. As for our standing, let's just say we didn't come in first, but we were in the top 10 of our class.
Ready to Move
So, we're just about ready to head out. We just need to pack our stuff up from Orion and get it ready to put on Jr. Just before leaving, Cathy managed, with Dave's help, to squeeze in the construction of a stackpack for another friend on the dock . There's more work when she returns, but for now that's on hold as we travel.
Ready to Move
So, we're just about ready to head out. We just need to pack our stuff up from Orion and get it ready to put on Jr. Just before leaving, Cathy managed, with Dave's help, to squeeze in the construction of a stackpack for another friend on the dock . There's more work when she returns, but for now that's on hold as we travel.
