This is what we work all winter for

 After almost a whole month at the dock, on June 8, we finally untied the lines and headed down river. Our plan was to visit our old friend Ellen who lives in Southold, Long Island. We try to do this every year to celebrate her birthday.

Normally, we'd tie up at Greenport but there was some kind of boat show going on so we called Picozzi's Dering Harbor Marina on Shelter Island for a reservation. Shelter Island is just a short ferry trip to Greenport.

For once, we really got an early start. It was a beautiful day and we headed down river in a cool breeze from the south. As we approached the submarine base in Groton, one of the patrol boats that we always see on duty there, picked up speed and shadowed us all the way past the base. That's pretty unusual and of course, Frances had to get a picture of our escort.

Once our escort left us and we entered New London Harbor, we noticed three Coast Guard boats leaving Station New London and heading up river toward the sub base. We suspected that a sub was going to enter the harbor and we soon heard on the VHF radio the warning to maintain at least 500 yards distance from the incoming U.S. Navy warship.  We've seen this "event" several times and it is impressive but today, we cleared the harbor before the sub arrived.

Once out in the Sound, we turned to 220 degrees and began to enjoy what we can only dream about during the winter.

The Cross Sound ferry seemed like an old friend.

With absolutely calm seas and very little wind, we cruised along at about 16 mph so it wasn't long before we passed Plum Island and then Orient Point Light.

For those of you who don't know our area, Orient Point Light marks the channel between Plum Island and the north fork of Long Island. Here we exit Long Island Sound and enter Gardiner's Bay. Between Plum Island and the light can be a bumpy ride for about 500 yards since, depending on the tide, there can be a rapid current over a shallow, rocky bottom. But not today. In no time, we were again heading west now in Gardiner's Bay with Long Beach on our starboard side.  Frances took the opportunity to get some nice cloud shots.

The western end of Long Beach is marked by another lighthouse, this one called the Tea Pot by the locals. We've taken many pictures of this lighthouse but what's one or two more on such a nice day?

A couple of more turns and we were in Greenport Harbor but instead of going there, we turned left into Shelter Island's Dering Harbor. There, we tied up at Picozzi's Dering Harbor Marina. It was pretty quiet due, we suspect, to the fact that the school vacations hadn't started yet.

Here's where we were.

The view from our slip was really nice. In a couple of weeks, there will be lots of boats here. This is really sailboat country.

The view from our port side included a rather distinguished neighbor (if you are really into boats, as we are). That's a Huckins, perhaps 60 feet or so. It's made of wood and then sheathed in fiberglass. This one was probably made in the mid-1960s and was in impeccable shape. Huckins is still in business and if you Google the name, you can read the company's fascinating history that includes design work on World War II PT Boats. This particular boat was named "Moira" and if you look carefully, you can see just a little PT Boat in its lines. We'd never seen a Huckins before so it was particularly interesting for us.

It became a little cloudy Friday afternoon but that was fine since we didn't have to bake in the sun.  We treated ourselves to a very good (although expensive) lunch at the Pequit Inn.  Nothing like sitting outside under a big tree enjoying a view of the harbor with lunch.

Picozzi's doesn't have floating docks so we had to deal with exiting the boat onto a fixed pier. It took us a while to get the hang of it again, but we did.

Although we didn't know it at the time, this was to be our last cruise for almost  two months.

May 12 and our summer has started

We've never been at our summer slip in Norwich, CT this early. Thanks to the mild winter and the complete lack of a spring freshet on the Connecticut River, we arrived last weekend and now it's time to find, reconnect and reinstall all the stuff we need (or think we need) for great summer on our boat.

First off the weekend was greeting our old dockmates and meeting the new ones. Then we began to unpack the things we took off the boat last fall and wonder where some things went. "Did we bring that home last fall?" was a frequent question, followed by "I can't find ______!" Bear in mind that we're not new at this. We've been doing it for years. Still, it's fun and we're sure we'll find everything eventually.

Saturday was an early night after a great dinner cooked by Frances at home. We were both pretty tired and hit the v-berth just after it became dark. Pooka, our boat cat, was on board for the first time and seemed to take up exactly where he left off last fall.

We had a bunch of things to do on Sunday morning but it seemed better to sit down and have an extended chat with our dockmate John, who has almost as many hours running our boat than we do. Then it wa time to get down to work, We installed the Sunbrella cover over our front windows that cuts the air conditioning load when it get really warm.  Note the characters and other things lined up inside the lower windows ready to go for another season.

We love those little RV type water filters and we installed one on our water line. We don't drink dock water but it's nice to know that what comes out of our faucets is at least free of marina water line scum.

Our Christmas present to the boat last winter was Taylor-Made boarding steps. It  took a while to attach the railing and get the thing screwed down in the right spot, but what a pleasure to be able to walk three steps and then step onto the boat.

Our nice big tan fenders were only in the water for a few days when we went in the water in Portland, but they needed a good scrubbing.

Note Bill's new short summer haircut.

The boat received another Christmas present, a ship's bell and of course, that had to be mounted. It's engraved "ACT THREE," and it's a Bevin Brothers bell, made right here in East Hampton, CT. Bevin Brothers has been making bells here for 179 years. Frances always buys the perfect present and we think that we and ACT THREE will enjoy hearing this bell ring for many more years.

The foiled-by-the-coil caper

Time to leave Portland, CT, the place where we have spent most of the weekends over the past six months and head for our summer slip in Norwich. 80 miles. We've done this trip many, many times before but this year, we have many new things on the boat. Exhaust system, cooling system, fuel lines and carbs and lots of rewiring.. Everything is new and while an 860 mile trip might be the best place to initially test everything, that's what we were going to have to do.

Saturday morning (after doing the car drop-off routine on Friday night0, we fired up the engines at 9:00 AM. Nice how the engines start almost instantly now. Off we went on a very cool, damp morning and for about 12 miles everything worked perfectly.  Then, entering Haddam, the starboard engine stopped as though the key had been turned off. We tried to restart it but it simply wouldn't. As we turned around to head back to the marina, Frances took over the helm and we went below. Not easy to steer on one engine but Frances did a great job.

It soon became apparent that we had no spark at the starboard engine. We tried to see if we could draw a spark from the coil but it was dead. We chugged back up the river and some kind folks at the marina took our lines. We docked almost perfectly, due in part to our skill but maybe a little bit more due to the lack of wind and current in the river.

It took us 10 minutes to swap the coils and as we thought, the former starboard distributor was stone dead.  We headed off to a nearby NAPA (that happens to run by a boat guy) and as we walked in the door said, "Mallory distributor. Not good. We have replaced dozens of them." Our two Mallory distributors are exactly 11 months old and probably have no more than 50 engine hours on them. Apparently, Mallory sells them but doesn't manufacture them. That takes place in China with what would appear to be very poor quality control.

Armed with a new coil, we went back to the boat, installed the coil and fired up the engines. Our trip to Norwich would have to wait until tomorrow.

Sunday morning, we shoved off at 8:50 AM. It was still very cool but the river was running out slowly, saving us a knot or two. There was still some debris and small longs in the river so we had to keep a careful lookout, even though we were the only boat around.

 Bill got colder and colder and finally had to borrow a pair of very stylish gloves from Frances.

Frances took a brief cat nap.

We were cruising at 12-12 mph and in a little more than an hour, we were at East Haddam. Someone must have told the bridge tender that we were coming because for the first time we could remember, they opened the bridge for us!

Well, not exactly. It seems that there was a small sailboat that asked for the opening. Made us feel important for a minute or two anyway. We have to admit that we can pass under the Haddam Swing Bridge without opening it.

In another 90 minutes were were in Old Saybrook and admiring the inner lighthouse. I think we take this picture every time we enter or leave the river.

Then one more picture of the outer light and we were into the Sound.

Directly ahead was Plum Island on the horizon. Visibility was nearly unlimited.

We had expected an east wind at about 10 mpg but it was the from the west instead. The seas were 1-2 ft. as predicted. We turned east and made the 15 miles to New London in about an hour. Love it when the tides work for you.

When we entered New London harbor, there was another pleasant surprise waiting for us. The railroad bridge over the Thames was also open!

You can't beat that welcoming sense you find in Eastern Connecticut.

As we went up the river, we passed all the spots we have gotten to know so well. But here's a question for you. (We ask this every time we go up or down the river.) What is this building? All we know is that it is in Groton, just north of the bridge.

It wasn't long before we were passing familiar sights.

And, of course, Eastern Connecticut's economic engine (kinda, sorta).

Lots of our dockmates were working on their boats when we arrived in Norwich and with their help, it only took us three tries to back into our slip.

HOLD IT!  STOP!  COME ON BACK!  After six months of winter storage, those words are music to our ears.

If it wasn't for the weather...

...we'd be in Norwich, tied up to the dock. Over the last week, the weather deteriorated to the point that it got cold and pretty windy in Long Island Sound. We decided to stay put and make the run to Norwich next weekend. Before we head out, we normally visit our summer marina and put out the fenders and dock lines that we'll need when we finally get there. It was fun to take a little road trip and visit Norwich today.

Our friends John T, Bob, and Louie and Janey were on the dock as a welcoming committee. Nice to see them all again.

Unfortunately, a former dock mate didn't return this year, so we moved up one slip. This summer, we get to look at the other side of Lou and Janey's beautiful Four Winns. We put out our fenders and electric cable.  All we have to do now is make the 50 mile trip to Norwich.

Our boat is running fine - all fluids checked, cooling fluids full, new steering working and no leaks from the many new exhaust parts we renewed last winter. We're looking forward to starting our summer!

Finally, some rain

This weekend we continued to clean up the boat and get ready to leave. It was nice to get back on the bridge and start the cleanup. If you've read earlier posts of the blog, you may remember that the helm on the bridge failed all by itself some time after the boat was put into the shed for the winter. "Failed" means that the seals stopped sealing and that let about a pint of hydraulic fluid drip down onto the floor. Over time, it slowly ran down across the floor and out under the side of the bridge itself. We got down on our knees and applied our favorite cleaner, "Magic Roll Off" and it allowed us to wipe up the hydraulic fluid up immediately. Good stuff.

 Today (Sunday) it finally rained, which turned the very dusty boatyard into a very muddy one. Despite that, we vacuumed the inside of the cabin, put all of our tools away and got things ship-shape. There is no electricity on the docks yet but we used our little Yamaha generator to power the vac and the battery charger, which showed both battery banks to be fully charged.

The weather is going to be pretty bad over the next few days but that won't last forever and soon we'll be out of here.

 There are no floating Aids to Navigation out yet on the upper Connecticut River and that can be a cause for concern if you don't know the river well or if you don't pay close attention to your chart plotter. On Saturday, a 52 ft. sportfisherman left Yankee Boat Yard (next door to Portland Riverside, where we are) and drove over Mouse Island Bar. Luckily, he wasn't going too fast and only took out the props and shafts. We've pointed a little red arrow at the rocks on the bar in this chart. Red "86" normally keeps you off the rocks but not at this time of year.

The rocks are just below the surface and they are well known to just about everyone who boats in the upper river. Well, almost everyone. At about 3 PM on Saturday, a 48 ft. SeaRay left Portland Riverside and guess what?  He also hit Mouse Island and did some serious damage to his props and shafts. They towed him back in.

That's the boat and unfortunately, it's going to be around Portland Riverside for a lot longer than the owner thought.

April 19: In the water!

This must be the earliest we have ever had a boat put in the water. I think the folks at Portland Riverside cut us some slack this year considering how late we got in last year.

We learned on Monday that Act Three would go into the water on Wednesday, April 18. We always like to be there when they launch our boat so we showed up on Wednesday only to learn that there had been a problem with moving boats around and we wouldn't get in until today. Knowing that and the "flexible" schedule that Portland Riverside usually has, we didn't show up today until about 1:00 PM.  When we did, the first thing we saw was our boat being towed out of the shed. Once out, the guys posed for a picture.

 

Since the TravelLift won't 't fit in the shed, they have to use a hydraulic trailer to get the boat outside.  Then, they position the lift over the boat and slowly pick it up.

Then they drive the trailer out from under the boat and it's off to the river on the TravelLife slings.

Once in the water, the crew tows the boat to an open slip. The outboard on the tow boat was acting up for some reason but they got us into a slip without a problem. These guys have probably done this a thousand times.

Once tied up, we decided to start the engines. We had brought a small amount of gas with us to prime the new carbs and fuel lines. It took a couple of tablespoons of gas, but they both fired right up. But, nothing goes right the first time. The fittings that adapt 5/8" ID fuel hose to carb inlets leaked gas on both engines. We shut them down and will now have to find better fittings. Why should connecting common 5/8" fuel line to a new carb be so difficult?

Anyway, we are in the water and as soon as we get this latest problem under control, we're saying good bye to Portland.

Time to touch up the bottom paint

We always leave the bottom until last because it is such a delightful job. Actually, it's not that bad. Two winters ago, we stripped all the old bottom paint off the boat (almost 100 lbs. of it) and applied a bright green barrier coat. Over that we put on a coat of black ablative bottom paint. Wherever the black bottom paint has worn off, the green shows through. Pretty neat. Our bottom doesn't need much paint but there are some spots.

We did about half the bottom before we quit on Saturday. It will take us an hour or so to finish it up.

Our new anchor has given us a small issue. We didn't have an anchor shackle quite big enough to connect the anchor to the section of chain rode. We got one during the week but the pin (which is supposed to be 5/8") is just a little too big to fit through the anchor shaft. The anchor shaft is cast and it looks like we'll have to clean up the hole by running a 5/8" drill through it a couple of times.

 

Today we moved up the date that the boat will go into the water from May 23 to May 19. Knowing the precision scheduling at Portland Riverside, there isn't much chance that the boat actually will go into the water on that date but it just might make it a few day earlier than we originally thought.

Given the mild winter and lack of rain, the Connecticut River is as docile as we've ever seen it at this time of year so if we do get in the water, it should be a pleasant cruise down the river. Before we go, we'd better remind the yard to remount our starboard prop. Kinda forgot that we had that taken off to repair the little dent we put in one blade. 

 

It will be good to get the hell out of here. We took a few weekends off over the winter but we spent the rest of them working on the boat. Looking back over the past blog entries, it's gratifying to see how much we accomplished and to us, it was time well spent. But as much as we enjoy boat work, we're getting tired of it.  Once we get to our summer slip, our lives change completely, Instead of freezing our butts off and crossing off one more thing on our "to do" list, we can relax and enjoy ourselves, our slip neighbors and being on the water.

New anchor won't fit

On Sunday, we drilled out the mounting hole in the shank of the new plow anchor, fastened the shackles and chain and pulled everything up with the windlass. The shackle on the new anchor was too wide to fit in the hinged guide that is supposed to hold the anchor in place.

Time to give up on this project.  We attached the old anchor to the new line and pulled the anchor up in place with the windlass. Our original goal was to replace the 32 year old anchor line and we did that. Now we have all summer to figure out how to accommodate the new anchor and still have the windlass stow it properly.

Realizing that this may be our last weekend to get things ready, we finished spot painting the black ablative bottom paint and cleaned the scum off the boot top. Then we began disconnecting the many extension cords and lights that we needed during the winter and packed things away in the car.

Then we put out dock lines all around so that if the guys do put the boat in the water without telling us first, everything they need is ready. The boat is very dirty but we'll get a chance to hose it off, once we are in the water.

Before we left the boatyard, we took a look at the river on this beautiful spring afternoon.

 

It appeared to be low tide (there's a little more than two feet of tide even this far from the Sound) and the water level was really low.  This is going to make it difficult to launch larger sailboats but a powerboat our size can go in even when the well looks like this.

Boats are launched bow out and we don't start our engines until we have been towed to a slip. That's not the case with the larger powerboats. There are probably half a dozen boats 48 feet or more in length to be launched and because they are too big for the existing slips, they have no place to go once they are in the water.  We've seen owners jump on their boat as soon as it's floating, start the diesels and let them run for half an hour and then take off. Many, however, putter around on their boats for two or three days and when that happens, boat launching stops.

We're scheduled for Thursday, April 19 but if this is like past years, we'll have at least one more weekend to wait.