Compression check

The elusive weak starboard engine continued to plague us. Last weekend, we decided to have the carb rebuilt and dock mate Dick Jankowski  gave us the name of a local guy who knew what he was doing when it comes to carbs.  We took the starboard carb off and Dick very kindly took it to "Nick," the go-to guy in carb rebuilding in Norwich.

On Saturday afternoon, we met Nick, got some words of advice, exchanged some cash and came back to re-install our newly rebuilt carb. The engine started up OK and seemed fine. Somehow, during that process, Bill managed to get a minor cut on his leg. Just in time, Frances arrived and stopped the bleeding.

Saturday evening was very nice. Just some time to sit and chat.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to see Frank coming back to with a beautiful striper. He cut us a nice fillet, which we took home to have for dinner..

Frances cut up that fillet because we couldn't possibly eat the whole thing at one sitting. She arranged it on a sheet of tinfoil and we fired up the grille.

We had cocktails and some boating related conversation and before long, dinner was ready.  Boy was that fish good!

Golden Hour

When TV commercials are shot in an outdoor setting, many directors like to wait until just before the sunset to get the most dramatic lighting.  It's called "Golden Hour" and this is what Golden Hour looked like on Saturday night on A-Dock.

The weather was remarkably dry and the sky was a deep blue. It was almost cool enough to require a sweater. A perfect afternoon on A-Dock. At 5 PM, the horn sounded and cocktail hour began.  Frances cooked Bill's absolute favorite meal (meatloaf) and added baked stuffed potatoes.

Earlier on Saturday, Bill installed the new fuel pump on the starboard engine and the newly repaired alternator on the port engine. On Sunday, we ventured out to test the new fuel pump (after making a shockingly bad exit from the dock where we actually collected some small branches on the starboard rail. Bill needs a lot more practice at turning into the fairway leaving A-Dock).

Anyway, the starboard engine still acted up, although not quite as bad as before.  We made several runs past the casino and that engine still popped and lost power above 2000 RPM..

Back at the dock on Sunday, where it was now 85+degrees and very humid, there wasn't much we could do to further diagnose the problem. Given the fact that we have work obligations over the next few weeks, it seemed prudent to call in some expert assistance.

Fuel Pump

We needed to find out why our starboard engine refused to go over 1800 RPM and we found the cause.

Wouldn't you hate to see one of these things creeping across your bed in the middle of the night? Actually, it's just a run-of-the mill Carter marine fuel pump.  John H on our dock suggested we try NAPA for a replacement and they had it. We'll bolt the new one on this coming weekend and take a test ride.

Staying at the dock at American Wharf is never hard to take.  We are surrounded by nice people all of whom have a great sense of humor. Bill doesn't stay up very late but Frances does and there is always a gathering of boat people on the dock.

And of course, everyone's favorites, Ron & Sue. It must have been a cool evening!

Breakfast on Sunday morning was courtesy of Rob and Carol Ann. We think this is why we spent so many cold winter days on the boat. We always thought that summer would be like this.

I see a sink and dirty dishes.  Now what do I do?

Greenport - June 5-8

The weather in Greenport wasn't quite what we had hoped for. While it was sunny most of the time, Sunday dawned cool and windy. Mitchell's Marina was almost empty and being this early in the season, the village was also free of the usual summer crowds. But that was fine with us.

We were docked behind another Silverton, this one a 1999 33 ft. Sedan Bridge named "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere," which has to be one of the best boat names we've seen. We got to know Pete, the boat's owner (and his dog, Bella), and discovered that he stores his boat at the same place we do, Portland Riverside.

Late on Saturday, our friend Ellen Creighton arrived and a major catch-up chat ensued. Bill hit the bunk early, as usual.

On Sunday, we puttered around and generally enjoyed being on vacation. In the afternoon, Ellen returned and we were prepared to celebrate her birthday, which we try to do every year.  Cocktail hour began on time. Sorry about those white sox. Certain members of the crew need to be inspected before appearing on deck.

Frances prepared a great dinner after which, the birthday cake and candles appeared.

Ellen has been a good friend for a long time so even these silly pictures mean a lot to us.

When Bill woke up on Monday morning, he noted that Frances not only cooks wonderfully, but also knows how to make things ship-shape even in a small galley.

Our plan was to leave Greenport on Monday and head out to Block Island but the Block Island Sound weather didn't look good so we stayed in Greenport for another day and relaxed.

On the way out on Saturday afternoon, we had an engine issue at about mile 32, just entering Plum Gut at Orient Point.  Our starboard engine sputtered and refused to go over 1800 RPM or about 10 miles per hour. That was fast enough, and getting into the dock at Greenport wasn't an issue. But on Tuesday morning as we passed Orient Point, we decided to head back to Norwich instead of going to Block. Better find out what's going on with that starboard engine.

There is something to be said for 10 miles per hour on a boat during a beautiful day. Frances came up to the bridge and took pictures.

Frances took the wheel as we headed up the river.

So, our first trip on Act Three wasn't quite as long as we had intended. Early on, we dubbed this our "shakedown cruise" and laughed every time something didn't work the way we expected. We'll fix the engine problem and head back out soon.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was beautiful except for some brief rain early Saturday evening.  Most of the A-Dock fleet is back and there was lots of washing, polishing and loading up all the stuff we'll need - or think we'll need - over the summer.

Act Three has settled into her new dock location and Frances has moved in and carefully stored more stuff that I never knew we had. However, it all fits and although our waterline has crept up an inch or so, I'm sure we'll be fine as long as I can find the vodka and orange juice.

 Lou worked up a sweat polishing his beautiful Four Winns (note the cool black gloves)

While Joel prepped his new outboard for its first sea trial.

Bob and Diane weren't with us this weekend since they had a wedding to attend in Newport.  Not having them there was odd and Carol Ann suggested that we all invade their boat and send them our best wishes. Here's CA's cellphone production...

By Monday afternoon, the work had slowed and at least part of the A-Dock crew could be seen discussing just about anything from their perch at the end of the dock.

It's great to be back among these folks who have become our friends over the past few years.

Weather permitting, we're off to Greenport next weekend and then to Block Island for another five days or so.

A great weekend on A-Dock

 Preparations for the weekend began mid-week with a message from dockmate Diane suggesting a pot luck supper on A-Dock. The responses came in fast and by Friday, virtually everyone had volunteered a dish. For Act Three, Frances offered up a dish or two while Bill monitored the messages to make sure that the minimum nutrition requirements were met. Hey, someone has to do it.

Food aside, we got lots of small things accomplished. On Saturday, the cockpit was cleaned thoroughly with the thought that PolyGlo could be applied on Sunday. In between cleaning sessions, we started the engines and the twin sisters came to life without complaining.  We let them come up to temperature and then shut them down.

During another break from scrubbing the gelcoat in the cockpit with a ScotchBrite pad, we went up to the bridge to see what we could do to get the Standard Horizon GPS Chartplotter to talk to the Furuno radar. Both had worked fine independently but refused to interconnect. We finally resorted to the documentation for each of the two units and discovered which NMEA sentences the radar needed to display a waypoint or a complete route as set on the chartplotter.  After the few minutes needed to change to data being sent by the GPS, the radar lit up with exactly the info we needed. Cross that problem off our list.

Saturday night offered a wonderful dinner contributed by everyone on the dock. Good conversation plus good food has become what we associate with A-Dock.

Sunday morning was a little cool and damp but Frances decided to cook us a real breakfast, knowing that this would be the first time we had used the stove and the toaster oven, which she had contributed to the boat.

I waited, ready for one of Frances' award winning cheese omelets.

Small Galley? Yes, but it didn't stop Frances!

Time to let the chef dig in! Everything works, so now it's time to get ready for Block Island.

Good to be home again

We arrived at the boat on Saturday, a beautiful but cool and windy day. It was time to begin unpacking and putting things away. Sounds boring but was fun, especially filling all those little cabinets and drawers that we never had with our old boat.

A number of our dock mates were either already there or arrived a little later on Saturday. Everyone was doing the same thing: cleaning, packing things away and catching up after a long winter.

We fired up the fridge, which amazingly, worked just fine. The hot water heater made hot water. The AC heated the cabin and switched to cooling when it was supposed to. In fact, just about everything worked as it should.

We spent some time on the bridge to continue to learn more about our Standard Horizon GPS chart plotter. Works fine but we'll need some more time underway to get comfortable with it.

About 4:30 PM, the dock mates began to assemble on the dock. After a while, work stopped completely, the chairs were drawn up and the wine and cheese appeared. I sounded the air horn at 5 PM but cocktail hour was already underway. Eventually, we all had dinner together at the marina restaurant, which was pretty good.

Thanks to Lou & Janie, Bob & Diane and John H for being very entertaining dinner companions. After dinner, we headed back to Act Three and had a wonderful night's sleep in our very comfortable v-berth.

On Sunday, we really got down to work. We stowed the fenders and extra shore cord, mounted towel holders in the head, hooked up the cable TV and installed a wood post to hold our hose and shore cord.

At this point, we think we're about ready to begin enjoying the summer!