Off to th Bahamas....Not!!!!

Today was a good weather window so up at 6:30 AM to head to the Bahamas....within 2 miles of pulling anchor, approaching our first bridge, Esperanza decided to have a hissy fit and had talked with the Bow Thruster....they decided to mutiny!!!! Suddenly, all steering was lost...OMG....beautiful yachts all around and a bridge,  and 2 knot currents pushing us to bridge we weren't sure we would clear! Dropping anchor in the middle of the channel. and calling Tow Boat US and placing a security alert to Channel 16 that we were blocking the bridge and channel. Keeping the boat in reverse, our Skipper tried to maneuver the boat to the nearest dock or Bridge Fender. Ruth dropped Boat Fenders, just instinctively, having never been in this situation before! Ruth's ballet came in handy as she leaped to the fender with a line in hand, managing to hold this vessel against a 2 knot current while Skipper Scottie tried to attach a spring line to the fender.
Tow Boat US was 15 minutes away......when we finally got lines on, we ended up ripping the light off the bridge fender....while Ruth politely apologized to Bridge Keeper, Chris, and with very little damage to Esperanza. We had a scary tow up narrow waterways and Ruth could not believe we didn't hit another Yacht or Bridge..."me nerves were rubbed raw"!
Arriving at our final destination: the Riverbend Marina and Boatyard...where we are currently living  - lol....we decided to have ALL repairs done so the Bow Thruster and Steering would not mutiny again!!! We met a lovely lady, Lori, in the office there who invited us to join her for the Winter fest events this Saturday, if still here, and a Pig Roast at her Brother's....most people are sooo nice...life is good!
Skipper's Note: after 1 week, Ruth has become a very valuable First Mate. Very calm under stressful situations and handles everything very well. We will let you all know when repairs are completed and heading out again. I still want to show Ruth the beaches and waters of the Bahamas.

Bah Humbug Bow Thruster

Ruth arrived last Wednesday. Picked her up at West Palm Beach Airport in a black convertible...yahoo! Had an enjoyable ride back with top down....scenic route after getting lost few times. Lol. Made it back to the Marina in Stuart.
Before Jim left, he took Bow Thruster battery to NAPA and it was good....so I decided to take Bow thruster motor out and have it tested...seemed to be fine. Next, I had Diver John (according to Ruth a cute, young thing) come out to boat - he cleaned the bottom and the dreaded Bow Thruster. After the cleaning and hours of work, still no improvement in Bow Thruster performance.....Bah Humbug!!!
Donald and Susan - "Old Sam" - were planning on leaving Stuart for Lake Worth on Saturday so we fueled up and joined them. Anchored in Lake Worth expecting to leave for Bahamas Sun. AM but before we managed to raise anchor, new acquaintances from Trawler: "Time & Tide", Gary and Christine, radioed that they had started at 4:00 AM to cross to West End Bahamas but had to turn around due to "beam sea". Susan and Donald continued on and had a rough trip but arrived safely!
So, Monday AM we attempted to leave with our New "Buddy Boat" - Time & Tide, and after about 7 miles our predicted 2-3' seas, were 3-5' - making very little headway, we decided to turn around and come back. We all then travelled down the Inter coastal Waterway to Lake Boca Raton where we dropped anchor for the night. Ruth is becoming very good at steering the boat, reading charts, and helping with lines, etc.
Today we continued South down the ICW to Fort Lauderdale hoping it will make for an easier crossing from here. With the Gulf Stream pushing us along we hope to leave tomorrow AM for the Bahamas.
Ruth cooked a beautiful curried shrimp stir fry tonight that was interrupted by a dragging anchor and fellow boaters yelling at us....
My new nemesis is going to be the Bow Thruster...spent all morning working on it and talking to the factory to no avail so..."Bah Humbug Bow Thruster" and off to the Bahamas tomorrow...cross your fingers!!

This pic is just before turning back - 1st Gulf crossing attempt.

Breakfast on Esperanza.

Bow Thruster

On Thursday before leaving Jim took the bow thruster battery to napa thinking it was bad. They tested the battery and it is fine so reinstalled and tried the thruster again. It was still doing the same thing after 10 seconds it was losing torque like the battery was going dead. While operating it Jim noticed sparks at the top of the motor could be bad brushes. So today i removed the motor and took it to a motor rewind shop. They put it on the test stand and it ran fine so back to the boat and reinstalled and you guess it its running fine god knows what i did. but I now no how to take apart a bow thruster.
so Feet up and relax for the rest of the day, and off to don and sue boat for dinner

Off we go

Finally Sunday Morning Jim, Rae, and I are ready to go great day sun ,warm flat seas, the boat seems a little slow the bottom will have to be done. Arrived Fort Myers about 5pm and headed to the city of fort Myers marina. I was told that it was just pasted the second bridge on the port by the big Texaco sign.
Well it was not after the first two bridges it was after the sixth bridge and guess what is was on the starboard. So much for getting instructions before leaving.  haha. Well going up the river in the dark was bad enough but when i send Jim down to get big Bertha{light} it fell apart. After three weeks of working I never picked it up. O-well have extra lights. will miss the old girl. Into the marina the bow thruster battery goes dead again. Will get new one tomorrow morning well guess not NAPA is 3 miles away and will only delivery new battery's not ones under warranty. Will get one in Steward.
The next morning we head out for More Haven Glades Marina nice marina very friendly and 1.00 per ft.
Next Morning have a great breakfast at the local grill {gulf cart provided with slip} and then off to Clewiston to Roland Martin Marina a short day but we need a short day. again $1.00 a ft. good food and entertainment.
Up Early and across the lake to Steward. arriving 5.00pm another great day.

Sea Trials

After three weeks of work lugging 150gallons of diesel 15 gallons at a time we are ready for a little trip. Left the sea wall the bow thruster seemed sluggish will check the 11 month old battery when we return.
Well got the engine up to 1200 rpms and the black smoke just started pouring out of her. I could only get 2000rpm under full power. so keep it at 1500 rpm then went into the engine room and it was full of smoke so shut down engine and investigated. I turned out that I had spilled oil when changing oil and it was burning off. Started engine again but black smoke still pouring out. We started heading back home after about 45 minutes and it started to clear up and despaired in about 15 minutes. Guess it was a stuck injector. Checked the bow thruster battery the terminals good so i put on charge over night.
So supplies some food last of tender repairs and plan on leaving South Gulf Cove on Sunday.

sunny Florida

Well I arrived in sunny Florida on Nov 4th, Jim was at the airport to pick me up and off to South Gulf Cove.
It was dark by the time we got there so it was the next day before I visited the boat.
The boat was dirty, with some mold on the inside but generally in good shape.
Generator would not start and house battery was dead and the engine would not start. Placed the generator battery on charge and started clearing out all the stuff stored inside. Washing and cleaning the walls and ceiling. Next morning tried the generator and still would not start so off to NAPA i go for a new battery while there pick up all spare filters etc. $275.00.
Change oil in both engine and generator install new battery and connect inverter and start the generator.
IT"S running and charging.
But still cant get the engine started so off to Harvey's for a 200anp battery charger (someone in Jim's family will have what ever you will ever need to keep a boat going} Put the charger on and still the engine would not start. We tried jumping the started and everything else to no success. Determined that it has to be the house battery the big d-8 heavy, heavy. Thank god the the young fellow Greg was still working on the outside on the boat and was able to help me get it out. So back to NAPA I must go. NAPA to southern boaters is like going to Canadian tire haha.
With the engine now working, Its time to install the new motor in the front head {you all now about how i love working on heads) well the job went well and its working.
Decided sense i had everything out of the bilge that I would paint it and the water tank. Well in the middle of that job I had to go to the head so the closes was the new front one flushing I was shocked to see all my shit coming out the bottom of the toilet on the floor.Cleaned it up and back to my painting.
Well the next day out with the forward head for repairs. Just a seal but had to take the complete toilet out.
Next came the leaking taps galley sink well had to take the sink out to get at the taps off to home depo for parts.
Tried the holding tank, whale pump and you guessed it a clog somewhere well another two day in shit on my newly painted bilge. Off to west marine for a new pump.
Solar panels arrive and Jim and I spend the next two days installing them and there are working good.
Now to the tender spend the next for days gluing cleaning and patching and put the new motor on and off to the lake to test it. Everything worked great just two small leaks which i repaired and everything seems to be great.almost ready for test run.

Martin River Regatta

The long weekend in Sept. was rhe Martins River Regatta. I was great racing again. With co-skippers Donald the pink pussy cats took first place in ceol-cat-rata.
A great meal and party to follow.

Great to spend time old and new friends.