2025-10-12 A week in Bridgeton at the dock

Sunday we motor sailed 33 miles from our friend's place in Oriental to Bridgeton, NC.  Our friend Tracy had lost her Manta 38 catamaran in hurricane Beryl, and now has Phoenix Rising, a Manta 42.  She offered to pay for us to dock in Bridgeton next to her, in exchange for help with some needed upgrades on her boat.   Tracy is a single hander – and many of the jobs she needed to do required more than two hands.   We were happy to accept her invitation.

So all week we have been mostly helping Tracy with various projects, mainly focused on getting ready to install her new lithium batteries and assorted supporting items like solar controllers, chargers, inverters and DC-DC converters.   Like our boat, when we bought it, lots of old wiring to no longer existing items were left in the boat, so we spent a bit of time just pulling out old cables and such to clean things up before installing new.    

Tracy in her closet pulling out old wires

Tracy has a car – so lunches out while running errands has been a real treat for us as well. 

On Tuesday we got a treat – went to lunch with Tracy, but Dave and Toby on Jandals, a Manta 42 who are hauled out in a yard nearby joined us, and Duane and Karen of Sojourn drove up to join as well.  Great visiting with everyone.

Wednesday, Tracy was great help to us.  You might remember that our new jib from Doyle did not fit properly.   It was fairly calm Wednesday morning, so Tracy held the phone while we were on a video call with Doyle.  We put the new sail on, in the manner they wanted, and hoisted it.  Tracy wandered all over, showing them the angles and views they needed while we wrested the sail.  Happy to say, by the end of day Wednesday we got an email from Doyle saying they were building us a brand-new sail.  Way to go, Doyle - great customer service.

We still had to decide what to do about our camberspar sheave, which was all worn out - and decided that we will deal with it further south.

The sheave isn't totally gone, just wearing out and needs to be replaced

Since we are at the dock, we also have a place to ship items, so large Amazon and Walmart orders were placed to start stocking up the boat for the planned 6 months in the Bahamas this winter.  Friday we borrowed Tracy's car and while Kris and Tracy tackled projects on Phoenix Rising, Dean picked up the Walmart order of groceries.  Over $600 worth of food.

All those gray bags are full of groceries.

We found Amazon cheaper than Walmart for some items, so got plenty of stuff from them as well.

Amazon order.  Lots of food, and a roll of weatherstripping.

More food and sundries from Amazon

We did also do our own boat project of replacing the rear seal again. Yes, again.  Saturday was rain all day, so we tacked that project. Kris had done this job with much help from Dean when we were hauled, but as we motored south, the leak at the rear seal on the port engine was even worse than before we “fixed it”.  So while at dock we separated the engine from the sail drive once again, and replaced the seal – once again.   We did find the seal we just put in had a small nick in it, looks like the spring in the seal must have come out while putting it on, and got trapped under the seal a bit and tore it.   

Tracy came over to help out with the rear seal project, and admire our brightly lit engine room

Rear seal, you can see a small nick in the center rubber ring

Speaking of springs in seals, while putting the engine back together after putting the new seal on, Kris dropped her flashlight, and reached down to grab it, and felt something under her fingers – yes, the spring from the new seal.  It had fallen out when she was putting the new seal on, and she did not notice.  No way to get the new seal off without damage, so we just left the spring off and put the engine and sail drive back together. Kris is bummed to say the least. 😖

We ran the engine for an hour and no leaks, so hoping for the best, but may have to do it again in the future.  

It got cold and windy here the last couple of days, so quite happy to be at dock with power for heat.  Had over 2" of rain yesterday and today, looking forward to some sun and warm weather.  Should finish up Tracy's projects next week, so then it is just a wait for a weather window to head south.

 

Heading south – insurance, bears and engines – Oh my

We motored and sailed south from Annapolis area without issue.  Well, that’s a lie – one small issue, our starboard motor would not start.  Kris thought it might be the starter, and several light applications of hammer therapy seemed to do the trick, and it started.   After Kris though about it a while, she thought maybe it is just a loose relay – we think.  Kris will look at it more once we stop moving.  The engine starts for her, but not always for Dean.

Motor sailing down the Chesapeake

While we have been heading south, Kris has been emailing and calling about our insurance.  Our insurer we had for a couple of years – Jackline through Markel insurance –  was discontinued.  Markel offered a different plan but would not insure us as our lithium batteries were not made in the USA, and not installed by a ABYC certified installer.   So we found alternate insurance – through Manifest Marine brokerage – called Windsor Mt. Joy.   Had that for a year, then they decided not to cover any boats outside the USA – so no Bahamas.  Then Manifest found a couple options for us, but they were more expensive. 

Our friend recently got insurance in North Carolina through State Farm, so called the same agent located in New Bern.  They said they could not insure us because we did not have a North Carolina residence.  Called State Farm in Idaho – where our home address is, and they said – New Bern is wrong, call an agent where the boat will be physically located.  So called a different agent in New Bern, and gave them a physical address of the marina we will stay a bit in, and all was great until they said they would not insure boats that traveled in the Chesapeake Bay.    

So called a State Farm agent in Maryland.  Yes, they would insure the Chesapeake and Long Island sound, and part of the Bahamas, but only boats valued up to $200,000.  But only $1,200 a year.

Next called a State Farm agent in Virginia.  Great – they just asked if we were live aboard, and we said yes, and they would insure us everywhere, with some limitations of areas in the Bahamas.  Only $1,100 a year.  Woohoo – finally.     Anyway - insurance is sorted for the year.

The weather is slightly chilly, so jackets in order

We found a friend on the boat, when we raised sail.   Not the kind of friend we like, we threw them overboard.     We had seen mud daubers in the yard, but did not know they were building a home under the sail cover on our sail.

Mud dauber nest

We stopped for the night in the Solomons, and then early the next morning further south, stopped for the night in Deltaville.

Nice sunset in Deltaville

Next day, up early again and headed to Portsmouth.   We have been moving fast, as there are two hurricanes offshore making high winds, and we wanted to get somewhere protected before they made it to us.

Got into Portsmouth early enough, we walked down and got Guads Mexican for dinner.  Nice to get off and walk a bit.

Found a nice wall mural in Portsmouth on our walk

Next morning, we headed out of Norfolk, filled up with diesel, and headed into the Dismal Swamp

Sights on our way through Norfolk

Always interesting seeing the ships

Very industrial section of the area

Going through this bridge a bit of nerve racking, as the barge took up a fair portion of the width

Stopped and got pizza and groceries at Deep Creek bridge, and then continued on.   We were the only boat in the entire 20-mile canal.   Lock operators were surprised that there was not much boat traffic at all.

In the Dismal

In the Dismal we saw ducks, herons and turtles.  We stopped at the Dismal Swamp visitor center to wait out the strong winds from the two offshore hurricanes, Humberto and Imelda.  It was blustery, but not bad at the visitor center.   

Charm all alone at the Visitor Center dock

Kris went for a nice walk and saw some pretty bugs, flowers and lots of American Beauty berries ripe and ready to eat.  We did not pick any.  

Don't know what this was, but there was a bit of it, and very pretty

American beauty berries

Kris also fixed the relay issue, so should have no more issues starting the engine – remember that.

Kris is starting to feel like she spends way too much time in the engine areas

Working on loose wire in relay box.

On her walk, she also met another walker, who warned her about a raised spot in the trail.  He had tripped while jogging in his name brand neon green shoes, Nike apparel, cell phone in had and ear buds in.  He was going to complain because the raised spot did not have a warning sign.    Sometimes Kris just wants to move into the woods and avoid all humans for years at a time after encounters like that.

The trail Kris was walking.

The raised bump the guy fell on.

Dean took out our windlass motor and painted it, because as a condition of getting insurance, we had to prove that all items from the last survey had been taken care of.   On item on our last survey was rust on the windlass motor.  We don't worry about it because it will just rust again.   But Dean sanded and painted it so we could show the insurance company it was taken care of.

Rusty windlass motor

Painted up all nice

It got quite chilly moving south, so full sweats, slippers and sweatshirts for Kris.

Going through the south lock, you can see how high we are in the lock

After the lock is drained, you can see how far down we are.

Ran into some duckweed south of the locks, but no issues.

After the Dismal, we stopped for the night in Elizabeth City.  Gusty winds as we came into dock, and Kris did a bad docking job and crunched into a piling while docking.  Just scuffed the rub rail a bit, but she felt horrible, as the boat was so nice looking after the haul out, hate to mar it, even if it will clean up and not be noticeable.

We went to have lunch at Big Boss Burrito, a place we always go to in Elizabeth City, but it has closed.  So second option – but it was closing in 10 minutes.  So third option – OK but not a place we will go to again.  Will have to find a new place we like in Elizabeth City.

Friday we headed south across the Albemarle and down the Alligator River.  Had a nice sail, but we left at 6:30 a.m. as the bridge shuts down from 7 to 9 a.m.  It was cold cold – 59 degrees.  We made good time, averaging around 7 knots, so were able to get in 66 miles of southerly travel.    Part of the travel was the 20 miles of motoring down the Alligator Pungo Canal.  (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281271147_Sawyer_Roy_T_2008_Inland_waterway_canal_comes_to_the_Alligator_River_A_Chronology_Life_on_the_Alligator_River_Tyrrell_Branches_Vol_13_No_1_pp_30-41_Tyrrell_County_Genealogical_and_Historical_Society_C) 

Kris was on watch, and saw a black object in the water ahead, thought it was a crab pot float, but the object moved – she got out the binoculars – and it was a black bear swimming across the canal.   Called Dean up, and he tried for photos, but we were a bit far for really good pictures.

Black bear swimming across the Alligator Pungo canal

After the canal, we went to anchor, and could not get the starboard engine to start.   After 3 or 4 tries, it did, but then died.  After dinner, we changed the fuel filter, and that seemed to do the trick, and it started right up. 

Next morning another long day, but made it all the way to Oriental, and stopped at our friend's place.  Duane and Karen have Sojourn, a Manta 40.  Great catching up with them.

Had a nice evening with Duane and Karen

What If and Sojourn at the dock.  Couple of nice looking Manta's.

2025-09-28 Back in the water and headed south.

Sunday, Kris added some bracing to the stern step access hole repair, and Dean did some scrubbing.  The boat was filthy after sitting on the hard for so long.  It did not help that we were next to some large trees, who daily shed many leaves on deck.   Dean had a hard job, because where leaves had sat and gotten wet, they left a brown tannin stain he had to get out.

Giving the boat a good scrub

Sunday afternoon Kris did a couple loads of laundry of work clothes and such, and bedding that is large and a pain to wash in our little washer on board

Monday morning, they lifted the boat, and repositioned the blocks under the keel so we could paint those spots.  We hung in the slings all day Monday.  Kris did more laundry and cleaned the inside of the boat, and waxed part of the cockpit.  Dean sanded and painted several times during the day on the spots that needed it.

Tuesday morning by 10:00 we were headed for the water. 

Going back in the water

No leaks which is always good – and hurrah the engines started up and ran well – although the throttle for the starboard engine was off a bit.

Kris hates watching the boat move, so she wandered over and talked to some fisherman unloading the catch of Channel Catfish

Quite a load of Channel Catfish, caught in a fish trap

We got some diesel and headed out and motored the 33 miles into light and building south winds to Harness creek, near Annapolis, MD.   Good to be on the water, even if it was a motor trip, and the last 2 hours was a bit of pounding into seas. 

Wednesday Kris checked the sail drives and engine oil, and topped it off, as she knew it would need, as it does after oil changes.   She also checked for oil leaks and found the rear seal was still leaking.  We will have to do that job again.   Rather disappointing.   Still cheaper than hiring it done, and the leak is not bad so we can live with it for a while.  

Wednesday was also shopping day.  Even through we could order stuff from the local store while hauled, which we did, it was not the same as picking out your own food.   First we had to do some Amazon return, so we walked the 3.5 miles to the UPS store to do returns, then back to the Ace Hardware, then to McDonald's for lunch, and then groceries and then back to the boat.  Total trip was 6 miles, and we were tired and dragging a bit by the time we got back.

Our load of groceries

Thursday was cloudy with some rain with stronger south winds, so we just stayed put waiting on weather.  We had very bad internet and cell service at Worton Creek, so we did a bunch of computer catch up stuff.  Talked to the sailmaker about the jib, and made plans for later to work on that when it wasn’t rainy.  Also talked to our insurance broker.  Our insurance company decided not to insure anyone going to the Bahamas or Caribbean anymore, and gave us a whole 15 days notice.  So busy looking for alternatives.

We got the starboard throttle fixed, so now the starboard runs great.

Friday was very light winds, so we motored the 41 miles down to Solomons, MD.  Had a wonderful homemade pizza dinner and relaxed in the evening.

Saturday was rain, and rain and east to SE winds, so once again we stayed put.  Finally, a day of doing pretty much nothing.

We are trying to head south quickly, as we have a friend in New Bern, NC area we would like to help with some boat project, plus the weather is cooling, so south we go.

2025-09-21 - 7 more days on the hard

 

We are still on the hard, still working.  Dean has the hulls so shiny you can use them as a mirror, well it is shiny.  Let's hope it lasts a while.  The under side is all overhead and neck breaking work, only dolphins and turtles see it, but we don't want any complaints about it being dirty.

Dean is the master buffer and waxer.  3 coats on all the hulls.  Very shiny now

When Kris drained the sail drive oil, she found the starboard oil was slightly milky, not bad – but need to replace the seals.  In addition, we saw that the lower hole that the zinc attaches to on the sail drive lower bearing race and seal holders was elongated.   We ordered new holders.  This is the part that has the seals to keep water out and oil in, and also holds a bearing race for the propeller shaft.  After we ordered them and got them in, realized that each holder is dimensioned and shimmed so the propeller shaft gears properly seat.  We did not have the tools to do that, so we fudged a bit, and measured and compared the old holders to the new to make sure all would be well.  Think we got lucky, and no shimming changes needed, but time will tell.

Removing the hold parts was easy.  

Taking the seals and bearing race out of the old holders was not hard, but really was not worried about damage, as we were going to use new holders.   Putting the stuff back in correctly without damage – that is trickier.  Not having the “right” tools, we made some.  All worked well, and we hope no leaks.  We also took the old sleeves off of the propeller shafts and re-sleeved them.

Our homemade collection of tools to remove and install the shaft sleeves, seals and bearing race

We have an issue with one of the stern steps, with the access hatch in it for access to the steering quadrant.  The foam filler has detached from the top fiberglass, making the step around the hatch soft.   We put in a support underneath to stiffen it up, but the flexing allowed water ingress, and cracked the epoxy around the access hole.   So we ground a good bit of foam out, sanded and re-epoxied the area. 

Epoxy in, letting it cure.

We got the props and hubs painted and installed, had a bit of an issue as we painted before putting the prop blades into the hubs, which made the pins too tight to fit, so a bit of sanding off the new paint was needed.   Won’t make that mistake again.

Next time, paint after installation

The sail drives are sanded, primed and painted.  We went with green this time.

Green sail drive really stands out against the black hull

We took off some of the thru hulls on the underside of the boat, that have white rings with flappers for draining the anchor locker and the lockers adjacent to it.   It always seemed to drain, but leave dirty marks down the hull when it did.   So we installed the new flap holders with the built-in drip edge that our son Derek made for us on his 3D printer.   We will see how they work.

Hope the drip edge works, and no more ugly drip lines down our now very shiny hull

We also cleaned out the old sealant around the bow locker drains, and smoothed and faired with epoxy, and then put in new sealant.  Removed and installed new bow locker lid drain thru hulls as well.

Dean made some custom parts for the boom vang, there was a bit of slop in where it attaches to the mast that developed an irritating clicking noise when sailing and the boom would bounce up and down a bit.   Some stainless bearings, new bolts, and some drilling and fitting and no more slop, so hopefully no more noise.

We installed a new shower control.  The old one was original to the boat, and still worked, but the handle did not have much movement to go from really hot, to cold, and it was getting a bit still to move.   It was hard to find a new control, where you could adjust volume and temperature in one handle, but we did.  Of course, had to modify the supports for it to fit on the boat, so a 1-hour project became a 3-hour project.

We also got our new jib in – so excited.  Until we installed it, and found some issues, so will have to contact the sailmaker next week to see what is to be done about that.   Issue is with how it fits onto the camber spar.   We can work around it, but should not have to with a brand-new sail.

The front edge of the sail rubs on the forestay because the grommets for attaching the camberspar are set too far back.

We are scheduled to go back in the water on Tuesday – finally.   We are both feeling our age after 10 days straight of work.  It will be nice not to take the long walk to the bathrooms.  It's about 1000 ft to the steps, and then up the steps to the top of the hill to the bathroom.   Getting tired of those stairs.

Dean is about 1/2 way up the stairs to the top, where the bathrooms are.

The trip back down the stairs isn't as bad, if only the steps were even spaced and height, it would be even better.

2025-09-14 Leaving Boise and back to boat life on the hard

 

Sunday we went out to dinner with Deans brother and wife Edie.  Mongolian BBQ, where you select your own veggies, meats and such, and sauces, and they cook in on a big flat circular griddle why you watch.    Had a good meal and good visit.

Kris and Edie at Mongolian BBQ

Monday was our day to pack, do laundry, and hang with Derek.   Kris and Derek did manage to spend some time building some laser tag goggles and try them out.   

Derek and Kris goofing off with their fancy goggles

We had a very nice two weeks visiting family – and will miss them all.  Also enjoyed the convenience of land, and not really looking forward to life on the boat on the hard.  Boat in the water is good, boat life on land not so much.

Tuesday we flew from Boise back to Baltimore, MD, and then the 1.5 hour Lyft ride back to the boat.  Got in around 8:30 p.m.  Just enough time to put the sheets on the bed, unpack the 8 blocks of Tillamook cheese and put them in the refrigerator, and go to bed.

Wednesday the fun began – boat work.   Kris had partially finished the work on the starboard engine when we left, and the parts she needed had arrived, so she set to work putting the engine back together.

Dean worked on cleaning the hull and getting off all the stains and taping it off for sanding and painting.

The hull is clean, and the bottom is taped off ready for sanding and painting.

Thursday was a bit more engine work, and Kris drained the sail drive oil.  She did not like how it looked, slightly cloudy, so decided to change the seals.  She took off the props and zincs, and we discovered that the lower hole that held the zincs was elongated.  Don’t know why, but suspect that the spacer allows some play in the hub, and need to get rid of that as it may be the cause.   So Break Out Another Thousand (BOAT), and ordered new bearing covers for the sail drives.

Dean sanded the hulls.

Friday Kris finished up the engine work, did some cleaning on the props, and worked on installing a new hose on the stern shower.  The hose that comes with the stern shower kinks badly, and of course buying a new one is expensive since it is a "marine" part.  So we got one at Home Depot, and with a little modification, got it to work.  Kris took the Dremel to a small plastic part to get the new hose to fit.  That Dremel is one handy tool.

Kris modifying a part on the stern shower for the new hose.  

Dean got a first coat of bottom paint on.   The only color we could get in the paint we like was black, so that is what we are using.  Looks different from our normal blue.  

The mighty painter.   Always wear the correct personal protective equipment!

Friday evening Dean helped Kris bleed the starboard engine, and Kris was thrilled, that she got it started and it sounded good.  Always a worry when you disassemble as much as she did.

Friday was of course pizza night.  We ordered from Dominos - not bad pizza, really.

Saturday was Dean putting another coat of paint on the hulls, and then in the afternoon helping Kris on the port engine.  The port engine had a leaky rear seal, so Kris had to take the bed off, and the engine hatch covers, and then disconnect the sail drive from the engine.  Rig supports for the engine, so it could be pushed forward about a foot, to get access to the flywheel.   Dean had to help with removing the fly wheel, and other parts, and re-installing, as the flywheel is very heavy, and needs two people to remove, and re-install.

Kris taking out the old seal.

We are both dragging butt a little bit, as the work has been constant, but at least the weather has been very pleasant, with lows in the 60’s and high’s in the low 80’s.

We are hoping to get back in the water on Thursday, so still lots to do.