Well, there is air out there at 0Dark30…

Hit the hay early last night, 2100. Very early considering I normally run 8 hrs out of phase with the rest of the world, and don’t hit the sack until about 0300. Got a good nights sleep, was up at 0430, and down at the boat by 0600. We were supposed to be off the dock 45m before our anticipated haulout, but we got off a bit late. Even so, it took them til about 0830 to get the first one out of the water and on it’s cradle properly.

My friend Boden and I spent the better part of an hour and a half motoring around in a holding pattern, while they got things sorted out. Even so, it wasn’t wasted time. We checked the turning circle radius, ran the engine from 1000 rpm up to 2000, tried reversing and steering in reverse. All things considered I am pleased with the way she handles with the new cable and chain steering. It should be even better once the rudder brake is  permanently installed. There is definitely feed back on the wheel with this set up, which was missing with the old hydraulic system.

One thing we noticed was an issue with the engine panel. If the rpms drop below 1100 or so, the panel goes dark, the tach stops dead, and the power and battery lights flick on and off. Not sure why this is, didn’t notice it yesterday but then I had it upwards of 1200 revs all the time. I’ll have to check this out, could be another poor connection. It might also have to do with the fact that there was only one battery hooked up, as the house battery is not yet on line (or even close to being online :p. Right now it makes a  really awkward paper weight).

We checked the hoses, through hulls, drip-less shaft seal and all the rest of it several times and not a drop that I could tell. Upon haul out, the bottom was not too badly slimed, most of it came off during the hour or so of running in circles. There were however, a lot of zebra mussels on the shaft, and the anodes. Some came off with the pressure wash but the rest will have to be scrapped. A job for  Monday. I’m staying away while the yard is full of trailers and boats. Hats off to John and the yard crew for putting me in a nice spot to work on her over the winter.

Monday, I’ll get started on winterizing the engine and filling the fuel tank right up full. I also need to set up the solar trickle charging panel.  Today, it’s time for a hot rum toddy.