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.