Arrival at the boat

Location: Newcastle, NH - Wentworth by the Sea Marina

We've been in Newcastle, NH at the boat for about 10 days now.  We arrived on Friday, June 15th and unloaded all of the gear (or "stuff") that we brought with us from Houston and the farm.  It is amazing how much "stuff" we think we need, and for the last few days we've been on a buying spree getting "important" household items, tools and supplies.  Our main goal during the last 10 days and for the next few weeks has been (is) to get the boat de-winterized, get the spring maintenance done and get the boat ready for cruising.  The work list has been something like this: 

• Day 1:  Refrigerator/Freezer (complete and working):  Replace the zincs, connect the hoses, make sure salt water cooling is working, wait for them to get cold. 
• Day 1:  Batteries (complete and working):  Install the main engine starting batteries (4), the gen set starting battery and the VHF radio battery.  No problems.
• Day 2:  A day of rest - We spent Father's day up at Pete and Cathy's (Dave's brother and sister-in-law's) place with the family.  Beautiful day spent outside.
• Days 2 and 3:  Fresh water system (complete and working):  Make sure all hoses are connected, reassemble pressure set, fill fresh water tank, pressure up the system and get the air out of the lines, look/listen for leaks.  Found one - behind the washing machine--very tight quarters and not much space to work around.  Find a plumbing supply store and get the parts, go back and get more parts, repair and reassemble and try again.  Whoopee!  It works!
• Days 4 and 5:  Air Conditioning (complete and working):  This was high on our list when we left the Houston summer weather and slipped down a few notches when we arrived in NH and dug out our winter fleeces on the first day here.  It moved up the list again when summer arrived here and temperatures climbed into the 90s.  There are five units aboard so we checked the drain pans on each and ran some bleach down the lines, then checked to make sure the hoses were connected correctly.  Found one system with the supply and return lines reversed.  Oops, broke a connection... Back to the favorite plumbing store for more parts, always buy a spare... Of course this plumbing repair is also in a very tight space and I am learning some new vocabulary words.  Fixed!  Re-tape some vent hoses and then test all of the systems and whoopee!  They all work.  We sleep with the AC running (and haven't turned it on again since... the weather is back to jeans and hoodies)
• Day 5 and 6:  Main engine (complete and working):  change the fuel filters, check all hoses, oil levels, antifreeze levels.  Open the sea cocks, turn the engine over a few times and then fire it up.  It starts first time and sounds great.
• Day 7:  Gen set/Get home engine (complete and working):  similar to the main engine, changed the fuel filter, check the fluid levels and it started up with no problems.
• Day 8:  Check the steering system, the bow thruster and main engine forward and reverse propulsion.  The marina manager has asked if we are de-winterized and ready to move to clear our slip for their regular summer customer, so we fired up the systems and moved the boat to another dock.  Everything is functional and working which is good news.

Most of the mechanical systems are now up and running so our focus has changed to the other systems on the boat and to getting things stocked and stored.  Dave's dad came down to the marina yesterday and helped us put up the flopper stoppers (the passive stabilizer system).  Today we have a diver cleaning the bottom and checking the zincs on the hull.  So far everything looks good and we won't have to replace the main hull zincs this time.

No photos this time, but will post some from the drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway and arrival at the boat in the next post.

Journey to the Boat

Location:  Asheville, NC, USA

We're in retirement Week 2 now so time for a quick update of what we've been doing since leaving Houston.  The last day in the office was Thursday, May 31, basically a quiet day, finishing handover notes and saying goodbye to the wonderful people I've been working with for the last 3-1/2 years.  Thursday night was dinner with good friends at one of our favorite Houston restaurants, Spaghetti Western.  We had moved out of the temporary apartment we were staying in on Wednesday night and were staying at a hotel in the Galleria area.  Friday morning we were unpleasantly surprised when we got out to the parking lot.  Our truck had been broken into and they took a duffle bag full of summer clothes plus our GPS.  The good news is they saved us another trip to GoodWill.  The bad news is the quilt that was hand made for me as a going away present was in the bag.  If anyone sees it at GoodWill or Salvation Army, please pick it up for me.

We left Houston Saturday morning and drove to Biloxi where our luck changed.  We walked away from the casinos on Monday morning with more money than we donated so things were looking up.  We drove to the farm, near Gantt, AL, and spent the next week finishing the cabin electrical, hanging the porch swing and getting things ready for the insulation guy. 



Cabin Front Porch at Dusk
(Porch swing on left side)



Cabin Master and Guest Bedroom Lights

Here are some photos of the cabin at dusk and after dark with the lights glowing.  Finishing the cabin electrical was a big milestone and clears the way for us to get a lot of other things in... insulation, walls, flooring, etc.

 We're traveling with our two cats, Doofus and Puddy.   Here is a picture of Puddy sitting on the front porch of the cabin looking at the cotton field.  Both are familiar with the farm and our fifth wheel trailer and came out for fresh air every afternoon.  We think they'll do well when we get to the boat after a day or two of adjustment.



Puddy on Cabin Front Porch

Monday we drove from the farm to Asheville, NC and we spent today touring the Biltmore estate and enjoying the cooler weather.  Tomorrow we're back on the road again with plans to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Virginia.