Steve can now reclaim his yard as Orion Jr leaves Hampton for the winter With only a general idea of our departure date, we set about the task of prepping Orion for the winter and Orion Jr for her trip south. There was enough to do to keep us busy. As plans came together, we finally pulled out of Hampton on Friday, November 7th. By Monday, we were in Florida, just ahead of this season's first "Polar Vortex". Good timing.
Dave test fits the new anchor light mount on top of Orion Jr. Boat Stuff
There wasn't much new on Orion's checklist – another coat of Cetol on the wood, wax the hull, wax the upper deck, clean and polish the enclosure glass, clean the interior, top off the batteries with water, and update the inventory. It was just a matter of getting it done. And there was nothing like a deadline to make that happen. It's always ironic that she starts to look the best just before we leave her. In addition to prettying her up, we also had Jake dive on the boat to clean the hull and change the zinc. For added protection against galvanic corrosion, Dave replaced one of the 2 hanging zincs that was almost gone with one that was much heavier. That should last a while, especially since we unplug Orion for most of the time we're not there. The only time she is plugged in is if it is expected to get really cold. Then we run some work lights that will give it a little heat to raise the temperature above freezing.
The final tasks waited until our last couple of days. We removed the canvas enclosure and stowed it, winterized the water, A/C and head, and packed up our stuff that would make the transition to Orion Jr. By late Friday, the 7th, we were ready to walk down the dock at Joy's for the last time in a while.
There wasn't much new on Orion's checklist – another coat of Cetol on the wood, wax the hull, wax the upper deck, clean and polish the enclosure glass, clean the interior, top off the batteries with water, and update the inventory. It was just a matter of getting it done. And there was nothing like a deadline to make that happen. It's always ironic that she starts to look the best just before we leave her. In addition to prettying her up, we also had Jake dive on the boat to clean the hull and change the zinc. For added protection against galvanic corrosion, Dave replaced one of the 2 hanging zincs that was almost gone with one that was much heavier. That should last a while, especially since we unplug Orion for most of the time we're not there. The only time she is plugged in is if it is expected to get really cold. Then we run some work lights that will give it a little heat to raise the temperature above freezing.
The final tasks waited until our last couple of days. We removed the canvas enclosure and stowed it, winterized the water, A/C and head, and packed up our stuff that would make the transition to Orion Jr. By late Friday, the 7th, we were ready to walk down the dock at Joy's for the last time in a while.
Orion Jr sports her Hampton VA hailing port For Orion Jr, there was also some waxing to do and the batteries needed some water as well, but there were a few improvement projects that we had in mind. One on Cathy's list was adding the hailing port to the transom. We ordered one from Signspecialist.com and it now displays Hampton VA proudly from the stern. Dave had more ambitious projects in mind. He wanted to upgrade the road lights for Orion Jr to more durable LED lights, with more permanent wiring. He found some lights online and wired them into the boat's batteries. By connecting a fuse on the stern, we can turn them on for travel at night or in questionable weather. Having used them working our way down the road to Florida, they've served their purpose well.
New ice box cover One of Cathy's other projects was to turn the loose Reflectix insulation on the ice box into more a permanent solution. So, she sewed the insulation into a vinyl sleeve with a "hinge" that matched the hinge on the top of the ice box. After a couple of re-stitches, it now fits perfectly. Meanwhile, Dave was studying the waterways north of Clearwater, since we had decided that would be our planned cruising area before Christmas. He planned a number of routes and loaded them into the chartplotter for the trip.
The truck's new back-up camera Eyes in the Back of the Head
The truck and trailer needed some attention before we headed out as well. Dave had been considering the possibility of getting a back-up camera ever since we hooked up the trailer for the first time back in the Spring. He finally decided on one for the truck, which he purchased in 3 components: the monitor, a wireless transmitter / receiver pair and a camera. The camera was designed to mount over the license plate, with a wire that ran to the wireless transmitter. Dave positioned this under the bedliner on the side of the truck bed. (Our original choice was on the inside of the tailgate, but Steve quickly pointed out this was very likely to get stepped on. Oops.)
The truck and trailer needed some attention before we headed out as well. Dave had been considering the possibility of getting a back-up camera ever since we hooked up the trailer for the first time back in the Spring. He finally decided on one for the truck, which he purchased in 3 components: the monitor, a wireless transmitter / receiver pair and a camera. The camera was designed to mount over the license plate, with a wire that ran to the wireless transmitter. Dave positioned this under the bedliner on the side of the truck bed. (Our original choice was on the inside of the tailgate, but Steve quickly pointed out this was very likely to get stepped on. Oops.)
The back-up camera monitor The monitor was connected to the wireless receiver and had a DC plug. Dave rigged an "elegant" mount that sits in a cup holder in the center of the dash, with the cords and its wireless receiver hidden inside the container. When he needs to use it, we simply plug it into the DC outlet and it lights up. Perfect. With the trailer sitting in Steve's backyard, we practiced using it to line up the hitch ball mount with the trailer. This pointed out the need to angle the camera down a little more. Since then, Dave's had a few opportunities to use the camera -- both to connect the truck to the trailer and just to back the truck into tight spaces. It's proving to be a valuable tool.
But Dave didn't want to stop there.
But Dave didn't want to stop there.
Orion Jr's back-up camera Wouldn't it be useful to see behind the boat when it's on the trailer? Sure would. So he installed a 2nd camera on the boat's stern, tucked inside a dorade cowl. With a 2nd wireless transmitter attached to the new camera, he just needed to connect the 2nd wireless receiver to the monitor. Unfortunately, it turned out the transmitters worked on the same frequency as the first pair. Since the truck's camera is closer, it is always the dominant feed. So now, he's working to see if he can change the frequency in the transmitter, so the monitor will display the feed from the boat's camera. Once this puzzle is solved, it should be a valuable tool when backing the trailer into tight places.
While Cathy's hand motions are not obsolete, Dave is starting to rely more and more on his new set of "eyes".
Food and Fellowship
Between chores, we made time for some visits with friends and family, especially since we wouldn't be seeing our Hampton neighbors for several months once we hit the road. Dave's parents and sister were traveling to Richmond on the spur of the moment, and we met them in Richmond for a few hours. Instead of handing out candy on Halloween, we met Steve and Sue for dinner at a Tucano's, a Brazilian steakhouse in Newport News. And our last night in Hampton, we spent at Steve's roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a roaring bonfire. As the temperatures plunged, it started increasing our motivation to get to warmer climes, countering our regret to be saying goodbye for so long.
While Cathy's hand motions are not obsolete, Dave is starting to rely more and more on his new set of "eyes".
Food and Fellowship
Between chores, we made time for some visits with friends and family, especially since we wouldn't be seeing our Hampton neighbors for several months once we hit the road. Dave's parents and sister were traveling to Richmond on the spur of the moment, and we met them in Richmond for a few hours. Instead of handing out candy on Halloween, we met Steve and Sue for dinner at a Tucano's, a Brazilian steakhouse in Newport News. And our last night in Hampton, we spent at Steve's roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a roaring bonfire. As the temperatures plunged, it started increasing our motivation to get to warmer climes, countering our regret to be saying goodbye for so long.
Hooking up for the trip south Time to Go
As usual, by late October, we weren't the only cruisers sitting in Hampton preparing to go south. Although most of our neighbors were making the trip by boat. This was the 2nd year of Hampton's Snowbird Rendezvous, which filled the Public Piers and the anchorage for almost a week before they started their trek. It was followed a couple of weeks later by Sail Magazine's first ICW Rally, which was using Hampton as its starting point. In one the first blog posts, Wally Moran took a picture of some of the participants, which just happened to have Orion sitting in the background. However, you had to know that that green canvas in the far left of the picture across the water was Orion or you would probably (definitely) have missed it. Then the Salty Dawg Rally (which takes off on an outside run), left a couple of days later. We were getting the message.
So, on Saturday, November 8th, we hooked up the trailer and pulled out of Steve's yard. With a stop in Emporia to see Bonnie and Taylor, we headed on down I-95. Before pulling out of Emporia's truck stop, we had a chance to weigh the truck and trailer again. You may recall, we had been stripping all unnecessary weight off the boat after our last weigh-in on our trip back from the Erie Canal. With the mast, boom, sails, dinghy, gin pole, etc back in place, it was going to be a toss-up. Did we get her under the limit? As we waited to get the result from the cashier at the truck stop, there might have been just the faintest of drum rolls . . .
And the number was: 6960. 65 lbs under the trailer's capacity. Whew! We just made it.
Let's hit the road.
As usual, by late October, we weren't the only cruisers sitting in Hampton preparing to go south. Although most of our neighbors were making the trip by boat. This was the 2nd year of Hampton's Snowbird Rendezvous, which filled the Public Piers and the anchorage for almost a week before they started their trek. It was followed a couple of weeks later by Sail Magazine's first ICW Rally, which was using Hampton as its starting point. In one the first blog posts, Wally Moran took a picture of some of the participants, which just happened to have Orion sitting in the background. However, you had to know that that green canvas in the far left of the picture across the water was Orion or you would probably (definitely) have missed it. Then the Salty Dawg Rally (which takes off on an outside run), left a couple of days later. We were getting the message.
So, on Saturday, November 8th, we hooked up the trailer and pulled out of Steve's yard. With a stop in Emporia to see Bonnie and Taylor, we headed on down I-95. Before pulling out of Emporia's truck stop, we had a chance to weigh the truck and trailer again. You may recall, we had been stripping all unnecessary weight off the boat after our last weigh-in on our trip back from the Erie Canal. With the mast, boom, sails, dinghy, gin pole, etc back in place, it was going to be a toss-up. Did we get her under the limit? As we waited to get the result from the cashier at the truck stop, there might have been just the faintest of drum rolls . . .
And the number was: 6960. 65 lbs under the trailer's capacity. Whew! We just made it.
Let's hit the road.
