It’s a boat@#$&%**!

From Westport, Ontario, Canada.  Still on the Rideau system.

Since last writing, “WE” (a.k.a. Michael) have had to wrestle with minor and more serious boat issues. Michael was able to finally and totally repair our fresh water leak last Wednesday. He had onboard in his magic supply of parts the length and size of tubing required, YEH! We found the connectors at a nearby marina.  It is such a luxury to have (almost) plenty of water for showers and dishes. A treat for me!

We also identified the cause of a “ticking” noise in the port-side rudder area. We noticed this noise but had no vibration on the rudder shaft as we were crossing Lake Ontario earlier. Some vibration at low RPM on The Rideau from the propellers too. Lots of weeds we thought, and proceeded to clean these up. But the rudder noise was still present. We happened to know one of the lockmaster here who is also a diver. So Michael asked him if he would dive under our boat and check. Ian came prepared with his scuba gear and underwater video camera system. The camera picture can be viewed from up on deck while he is transmitting during the dive.  A real neat tool! Ian was under for no more than a few seconds when he pops back out and says:  “I think I found your problem. There is a huge rag wrapped around your prop. Give me a big knife.” After shredding the culprit, we saw that it was a LARGE plastic tarp with metal grommets and a line still threaded through…therefore the ticking noise. Ian checked for other issues, and found everything in great condition, except for a missing zinc (anode) on a shaft. One more repair crossed off THE list, YEH! And we did not have to spend hundreds of dollars either, YEH! YEH!

As soon as these 2 issues and repairs were addressed, Michael The Wonderful  tackled the electrical issue we have had this year. I have not mentioned this yet, because it was not clear as to what was happening.  We have been experiencing a drain on our inverter system batteries, to the point where only about 20% of the system’s capacity was available before it demanded to be charged again due to low voltage at the batteries. This meant either running the generator a lot, or plugging-in to shore power at a dock. Forget about anchoring for extended period of time, defeating the purpose of the inverter system (for our no- boater friends, the inverter allows us to run all our AC type of appliances on battery DC power, such as coffee machine, micro-wave, lights, and our3  refrigerators/freezers). Yes, we like our comfort and this is why we have the kind of boat we do. At any rate, after hours of trouble-shooting for a potential short or damaged batteries during the winter lay-up, it appears that we do have a short draining our batteries. But the short may not be with the inverter system at all (a RELIEF!), but rather with a faulty shore power connector.  Repairing either the inverter itself or having to replace one or more of the inverter batteries may have forced us to scratch our plan to travel through the Georgian Bay and the North Channel, a real bummer. Now the problem may not be as critical to repair since we have another shore power plug we can use until the faulty one is repaired. Michael will hopefully finalize his evaluation and conclusions in a few days. Right now, the inverter and batteries seem to be behaving as expected as we are plugged in at a dock using a “good” shore power plug.

And now for more drama…you did not think this was it, did you? We are spending the weekend at a boaters Rendezvous in Westport, a quaint harbor town on the Rideau. Our friends Dale and Wendy are here on their boat, as well as a few other acquaintances we have made over the past years boating these waters. We just happened to have 8 people over on the aft deck early yesterday afternoon (Friday) kicking off the weekend. The weather has not been the greatest, but who cares, right? Increasingly ominous clouds are making their appearance, teasing us with the threat of a thunderstorm. A few rain drops hit the waters, nothing unusual. All of sudden, 40 to 50 mph squall winds hits us broadside and we all yelled: ”the stern is loose” as we see the back of Sirocco moving AWAY from the dock at a rapid pace!  

The stern cleat had been ripped off the dock; fortunately, we had just enough other lines holding Sirocco that allowed for just enough time for the men onboard to jump on the dock to grab any line they could and yell for additional help. More men nearby came and in the end it took 7 guys and a few more quickly added lines to get Sirocco stabilized. Wendy went up front on the bow to fend off our anchor from our neighbors’ canvas…, all this during a North Carolina type downpour and a fierce squall. Everyone (except Annick…busy finding, tying and handing out additional lines) was drenched to the bones. What an experience this was! The real cause turned out to be a poorly installed cleat. It had been mounted with 2 inch screws instead of being properly bolted through the dock!

So the squall hit and went fast, our guests and rescuers left, and Annick gets set to do dishes. NO WATER PRESSURE! NO WATER PERIOD. What’s the heck??? Water pump is running like mad of course.  Water leak was fixed, right? Michael and I crawled down in the bilge, and immediately heard a not-to-be-mistaken huge water leak noise. Mister Wonderful skillfully diagnosed this leak as a NEW one, on the cold water side etc…found the right tubing at the little hardware store up the harbor, came back running with excitement at having found the right part, and fixed it. DONE!

Recap of Friday afternoon at quaint little Westport:  survived another fierce Rideau-type squall while ripping the municipal dock apart, and a drowning of a water leak. And boating is meant to be relaxing?  

Check the added pictures on Picasa.

Until next time,

Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco