I finally made it to Tices Shoal. After planning to go for boys' weekend only to have overheating problems I went with the family the weekend after Labor Day and it took about an hour. The temperatures were in the 80's and the bay water was warm. The ocean might have been warm too but there was a strong breeze and the beach didn't look comfortable. We anchored 500-600 ft off shore so we'd have a lot of water around us. During the day there could have been 60 - 70 boats out there with us. At night most headed for home and only 5-6 other boats stayed the night.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves just swimming, eating, and drinking. We ran the generator for a while to cook and listen to music but the night was cool and we didn't run the A/C. We set the nav system to issue an alarm if the boat started to drift but found that running the computer for the evening drained the battery. Have to try another tact next time.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Boating Again
Kevie started talking to our neighbor John about their recent trip and we ended up in their boat drinking coffee and chatting. They're nice people and I took the opportunity to check out the houseboat. There really is a lot of room. Two berths, a big salon with a separate kitchen, and more space on the roof with a small patio out back.
Saturday afternoon we went to Seaside Heights and walked the boardwalk. Played frog bog, went on the carnival rides, and ate our way down the boardwalk. Chris went on the bungee jump trampoline. According to his expression he was uncertain about just how high the thing was going to take him but I know he had a good time. I want to try it next time.
Sunday morning we put the boat on the travel lift and poked and prodded gunk out of the intakes for both engines and the A/C. The covers that fit over the holes are shaped like clam shells and where the striations would be in the shells there are slits. I had screwdrivers to poke in the slits and when I'd removed the stuff that was hanging down thought I was done. Fortunately the more experienced around me (Dave and Jacob) had a better idea of what was needed and they dug inside with a putty knife and ended up using the power wash to force the stuff out. "Stuff" was a mix of dead and live eel grass and living barnacles.
Dave's advice is 1) Sand the bottom paint off the covers and never paint them again. He explained that the paint has metal in it that draws this stuff to it. 2) run the engines every week so that the normal suction can deal with the build up of gunk before it becomes too dense.
Needless to say that when the boat was dropped back in the water it ran at temperatures 40-50 degrees less than before. All is well.
We headed over to Tuckerton in the early afternoon to visit a boat up restaurant called Paninni Bay but when we found it the chart showed the water to be way too shallow and there was no marked channel. We chickened out and spent the afternoon at anchor in the bay splashing around and made our own lunch.
Got back to port in time for Sunset Marina's Labor Day festivities. The owners put out a nice spread and we all probably ate more than we intended. Sat with Bob and Alison and were surprised that they had just been through the same overheating problem and remedy that we went through. I guess I don't feel so singled out for abuse anymore.
Saturday afternoon we went to Seaside Heights and walked the boardwalk. Played frog bog, went on the carnival rides, and ate our way down the boardwalk. Chris went on the bungee jump trampoline. According to his expression he was uncertain about just how high the thing was going to take him but I know he had a good time. I want to try it next time.
Sunday morning we put the boat on the travel lift and poked and prodded gunk out of the intakes for both engines and the A/C. The covers that fit over the holes are shaped like clam shells and where the striations would be in the shells there are slits. I had screwdrivers to poke in the slits and when I'd removed the stuff that was hanging down thought I was done. Fortunately the more experienced around me (Dave and Jacob) had a better idea of what was needed and they dug inside with a putty knife and ended up using the power wash to force the stuff out. "Stuff" was a mix of dead and live eel grass and living barnacles.
Dave's advice is 1) Sand the bottom paint off the covers and never paint them again. He explained that the paint has metal in it that draws this stuff to it. 2) run the engines every week so that the normal suction can deal with the build up of gunk before it becomes too dense.
Needless to say that when the boat was dropped back in the water it ran at temperatures 40-50 degrees less than before. All is well.
We headed over to Tuckerton in the early afternoon to visit a boat up restaurant called Paninni Bay but when we found it the chart showed the water to be way too shallow and there was no marked channel. We chickened out and spent the afternoon at anchor in the bay splashing around and made our own lunch.
Got back to port in time for Sunset Marina's Labor Day festivities. The owners put out a nice spread and we all probably ate more than we intended. Sat with Bob and Alison and were surprised that they had just been through the same overheating problem and remedy that we went through. I guess I don't feel so singled out for abuse anymore.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Summer Vacation
Chris and Kevie arrived Sunday night after the guys had departed. The 3 of us spent the week at the beach and there were a march of days that were steamy hot made just for sitting on the beach and that's what K and C did. I joined them occasionally and really enjoyed swimming and playing around in the surf.
This season we bought beach tags only for C & K and I was never checked because I don't spend significant time on the beach. That's a $25 lesson for the future.
I asked Morrison's Marina to take a look at the boat over heating problem and Mike came on Thursday. He had the pump out in ten minutes and replaced the impeller shortly there after. He was concerned that there was inadequate water flow through the intake and made an effort to clean out what he could from the inside.
We took the boat out after he left and there was still a problem. So, I called Morrisons back to let them know the problem wasn't fixed and Jim suggested that we put the boat on the lift at Sunset and clean the gunk out of the through holes. Consensus on the dock is that this is reasonable but in the back of my mind I'm concerned that it won't be the final fix and that I'll pay 100's of dollars for the short haul only to have to take it to Morrisons for final resolution.
The boat problem took a backseat to just having fun so there was putt-putt golf, time in the arcade, and we took the SeaDoo out in the bay. Chris graduated from the ultra-slow speed pull toy tow to getting bounced around at planing speed. We get more adventurous as we get older.
Last night we ate at the Voodoo Steak House and it was good. It's on our list of places to go back to.
This season we bought beach tags only for C & K and I was never checked because I don't spend significant time on the beach. That's a $25 lesson for the future.
I asked Morrison's Marina to take a look at the boat over heating problem and Mike came on Thursday. He had the pump out in ten minutes and replaced the impeller shortly there after. He was concerned that there was inadequate water flow through the intake and made an effort to clean out what he could from the inside.
We took the boat out after he left and there was still a problem. So, I called Morrisons back to let them know the problem wasn't fixed and Jim suggested that we put the boat on the lift at Sunset and clean the gunk out of the through holes. Consensus on the dock is that this is reasonable but in the back of my mind I'm concerned that it won't be the final fix and that I'll pay 100's of dollars for the short haul only to have to take it to Morrisons for final resolution.
The boat problem took a backseat to just having fun so there was putt-putt golf, time in the arcade, and we took the SeaDoo out in the bay. Chris graduated from the ultra-slow speed pull toy tow to getting bounced around at planing speed. We get more adventurous as we get older.
Last night we ate at the Voodoo Steak House and it was good. It's on our list of places to go back to.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Boys' Weekend
This is the week to kick back. I've joined the ranks of the unemployed and Vic and Nadeem helped celebrate by joining me at the beach Friday night.
Victor and I drove down from Chatham and met Nadeem at what used to be Ott's Restaurant, now Theo's by the Sea. We had a nice dinner and afterward V & N got into a heated discussion about something. It sounded a little monotonous to me so I headed back to the marina and we all reconnected later that night.
Saturday morning the 3 of us piled onto the Seadoo to go for a ride. Twice we tipped the boat over and tumbled into the drink. Couldn't have been that we exceeded the weight limit.
The plan was to boat to Tices Shoal and anchor out Saturday night but as soon as we got under way the starboard engine overheated. I went into the bilge to check the trap but it was clean. I restarted the engine and a few minutes later it developed a terrific whine. I looked down into the open hatch and saw the intake valve was still closed. Good bye seawater pump.
We made it back to the dock and that night Vic prepared a gourmet meal with fixins that he had brought from home. I was hungry and it was delicious. Cudos! That evening we sat on the dock smoking cigars and Gary from across the way joined the conversation. It was good fun.
Vic was interested in extracting the pump and gave it a valiant try on Sunday but we had neither the tools or the know how.
Victor and I drove down from Chatham and met Nadeem at what used to be Ott's Restaurant, now Theo's by the Sea. We had a nice dinner and afterward V & N got into a heated discussion about something. It sounded a little monotonous to me so I headed back to the marina and we all reconnected later that night.
Saturday morning the 3 of us piled onto the Seadoo to go for a ride. Twice we tipped the boat over and tumbled into the drink. Couldn't have been that we exceeded the weight limit.
The plan was to boat to Tices Shoal and anchor out Saturday night but as soon as we got under way the starboard engine overheated. I went into the bilge to check the trap but it was clean. I restarted the engine and a few minutes later it developed a terrific whine. I looked down into the open hatch and saw the intake valve was still closed. Good bye seawater pump.
We made it back to the dock and that night Vic prepared a gourmet meal with fixins that he had brought from home. I was hungry and it was delicious. Cudos! That evening we sat on the dock smoking cigars and Gary from across the way joined the conversation. It was good fun.
Vic was interested in extracting the pump and gave it a valiant try on Sunday but we had neither the tools or the know how.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Blues
We got a late start to the Red Wine and Blues Festival at Tuckerton because I was working on the boat. I got tired of the bilge pump going off every couple minutes so I went down to see what was going on and tightened a loose fitting on the emergency intake.
The air conditioners had been kicking off so I cleaned the trap but the flow of water through the hull was still pretty anemic so we went for a cruise to sweep the eel grass out of the through hole. That worked but while we were out there...
Encountered some problem where the port engine would rev but it didn't seem like there was any power to the prop. Spent some time just floundering but the problem passed and we spent a half hour on plane with everything working OK. When I got back to port I checked the transmission fluid and it was fine. Hoping that the prob was related to the boat just sitting for several weeks. Time will tell.
Were hoping to boat to The Red Wine and Blues Festival but the kibosh was put on that when we found out we couldn't spend Saturday night there. There were not as many wineries this year but the music was good.
The beach newspapers list a boat up restaurant in Tuckerton called Panini Bay so we drove by just to check it out. It looks like fun for one of these weekends.
Sunday we took the annual dip at Thundering Surf. We had a small emergency when Chris cut his foot somehow in the Lazy River but eked out a good time anyway. When we were leaving I backed into a Toyota parked behind me and scratched the bumper. See what that does to our insurance premiums.
The air conditioners had been kicking off so I cleaned the trap but the flow of water through the hull was still pretty anemic so we went for a cruise to sweep the eel grass out of the through hole. That worked but while we were out there...
Encountered some problem where the port engine would rev but it didn't seem like there was any power to the prop. Spent some time just floundering but the problem passed and we spent a half hour on plane with everything working OK. When I got back to port I checked the transmission fluid and it was fine. Hoping that the prob was related to the boat just sitting for several weeks. Time will tell.
Were hoping to boat to The Red Wine and Blues Festival but the kibosh was put on that when we found out we couldn't spend Saturday night there. There were not as many wineries this year but the music was good.
The beach newspapers list a boat up restaurant in Tuckerton called Panini Bay so we drove by just to check it out. It looks like fun for one of these weekends.
Sunday we took the annual dip at Thundering Surf. We had a small emergency when Chris cut his foot somehow in the Lazy River but eked out a good time anyway. When we were leaving I backed into a Toyota parked behind me and scratched the bumper. See what that does to our insurance premiums.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
LBI
Took off for the beach on July 3 and saw the fireworks yesterday. They were squeezed in around the high winds and rain. So far we've had 2 nights of water noise (waves against the hull) and then the bay really gets rough a couple of hours before dawn. At 4:00 in the morning the bow of the boat, where we sleep, starts to bounce up and down and we're shaken awake.
Yesterday we found a place that sells live crabs here on the island so K had a feast. Rocko found some cast off crab shells and ate them. Dumb mutt!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Ch-ch-changes
Patrick D and Dwaraka S came to the office and asked Ramandeep and me to come to the conference room with them. Patrick told us that he was taking another job within pfe and that we'd be reporting to Dwarka from this point on.
He talked about the outstanding work and Dwaraka said that he'd catch up with details by reading the spec document that Ramandeep has put together. I got the impression that he won't be into the fine details the way that Patrick has been.
Doesn't seem like a bad thing just different.
He talked about the outstanding work and Dwaraka said that he'd catch up with details by reading the spec document that Ramandeep has put together. I got the impression that he won't be into the fine details the way that Patrick has been.
Doesn't seem like a bad thing just different.
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