Taking a Break & Happy Memorial Day

bI have been complaining alot lately (to my family) about constantly being under a state of construction  - not only at our home, but  now, again, on the boat.  For those of you who do not know my husband Rick, he is a type A personality and he is not complete unless he is busy doing something mostly construction or landscape related.   My sister told me to stop complaining - "look on the bright side, all of those construction projects have gotten you a beautiful home and boat!!"  Ok, I will stop whining - for now anyway.    

I forgot to tell you in the midst of all the hole cutting the other day, our crapper took a crap - something about the duckbills?  I don't understand all the details, but I do know that parts were needed, kah-ching and the holey place in the stateroom floor was open for several hours.  What a guy - he even smiles while working in the area where the crap flows. On a side note,  I don't feed him much, that way he can fit into these tight spots.

This is the before picture of the next area to go under the saw blade. 

To remove everything and get the hole cut took all day - very frustratingt for the worker bee .   That little round hole is where our new outside faucet will go.  

Can't believe it, but during our morning coffee Saturday morning, Rick announced it would be a good day to take a break and go to the Norfolk Botanical Garden.  Yeah!! 

So off, we went - we love gardens, sorry to bore you with these, but here goes - get ready to de-stress.

  Entrance to the gardens.  

Hey what a great idea for our grandkids outgrown rain boots! 

Couple of nice Bonsai specimens  - and more from the Japanese Garden.....

Wow, he's actually relaxing! He's probably figuring out in his head how to design a garden like this back home - it never ends.

The Hydrangea Garden - my favorite.

Before heading to the Rose Garden we caught sight of these two

A pair of Bald Eagles - at times like this I wish I was lugging along my big camera, a 35 MM  Digital SLR with it's telephoto lens - I've gotten lazy - it's alot to deal with, but would have been worth it for this shot.  My little Panasonic Lumix normally handles most shots and better yet, it fits in my purse.   

Lighting was better on this one.

Rose Garden Pics

Orange & Lemon Rose. 

Taking Time to smell the roses.

Purple Iris

I could not resist this Magnolia flower.

This guy/gal showed up on our window screen the other day.  Rick thinks it's a dragonfly - I googled it and could not figure out what it is. Can't believe the flag signaling kit it carries with it. 

The traffic heading north has slowed down - could be because of the holiday weekend.  Sunday morning, new friends that we met at the marina, headed north in their newly purchased Krogen 58 (formerly Sea Fox)   named Seamantha.  She's a beauty!  Safe Travels, John & Paulette.

The only other exciting boat moving thru here today was a 1939 Trumpy - Enticer.

 A Big Hello from Izzy. (That is sun on her face - she is not turning brown).

Construction projects are nearing completion, the end is in sight. At least until the next project.

Happy Memorial Day - one of my favorite Memorial Day quotes is from Joseph Campell - "A Hero Is Someone Who Has Given His or Her Life  to Something Bigger than Oneself."

Please Honor our Heroes

On this day our special shout out goes to our Niece Major Erin Eike and her husband Major Loren Todd, thank you both for your commitment to this country.

Warning - Construction Zone Ahead

During the two week trip north from Stuart, FL in April this year, we were experiencing extreme high temps in the engine room.  We have always had somewhat of a high temp problem and it has always been one of those frustrating problems for Rick.  This last run was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back.  After 11 years of cruising he decided it needed to be addressed ( Rick's quote "slow learning"?). Rick made a call to and had several conversations with Tom Button (Vice president of Operations/Stuart, Kadey-Krogen). From that he learned they are using Delta T Systems, Riviera Beach, FL equipment (fans, vents, etc). Tom further advised which fans were being installed into the 44's. A call to Delta T and some calculations later (Rick's comment: Eric at Delta T is great to work with.) determined the engine room was significantly under ventilated. Rick's take on this: When the 42's went to wide-bodies (which is the model we have), the port side vent was eliminated, at least on Broulee. A small vent was installed through the cockpit, but was undersized. Broulee's vents were 4 X 6 inches from the cockpit and a 4 inch round vent from the starboard side with a fan. Together they provided about 32 square inches with the fan producing 300 cfm. Delta T calculations said there should be 2 vents of 144 sq in. (288 sq in total) and 2 fans of 700 cfm (1400 total) plus 300 cfm for the engine! So, 32 sq in currently vs 288 required and 300 cfm currently vs 1000 required. Maybe we understand why the engine room gets warm/hot and why the engine tends to leave soot on the hull (not enough combustion air). Now an aside: Back in 2003 Rick realized there should be more air into and out of the engine room so installed two 320 cfm, 220 volt fans, one blowing in and one out. The soot and temps came down a bit and another passive 10 x 5 vent opening was cut. A little more improvement. Again Rick's comment: Guess I'm sneaking up on what should be there. Ok, so long past time to take on this project! Here goes;

Cockpit becomes the workshop, again.

Old 4 inch vent with a new larger cut out (12 in x 12 in).

12 x 12 vent opening on starboard side. Gotta love cutting bigger holes in a boat!

Inside of the boat - new air intake to be installed behind the trash bin cabinet (the old 4 inch was here).  Rick has promised that the trash bin will fit back in here.  There had been some discussions  about the possibility of routing the duct work thru the cabinet that the pots and pans are in - NO! Well then maybe take some space under the kitchen sink - NO!  Looks like there was some dead space behind the trash bin that will work - once again, marriage saved.  

New duct work being built, a few wires to be relocated.

Epoxied and painted ductwork

Info on the new super dooper fan.

Lil' Champ fan installed on completed ducting.

New grill on the starboard side. One more to go,

and here's where its going replacing the small 4 x 6 with a 12 x 12 in the cockpit.

Foggy mornings and....

daily thunderstorms, have been the norm here.

Broulee at tje tie along dock on the river - makes for a ringside seat to watch the northern migration of boats.

Got a chuckle out of this cruiser attempting to pass the barge so he could get to the lock first.  Sorry buddy, barges have priority passage everywhere.  

Total of twelve boats passed thru the bridge at the 1:00 opening.  These three brought up the rear.  Popular transiting time is 8:00 opening thru 2:00 opening.  Still seeing 60 to 75 a day heading north. 

  

The bridge at Great Bridge.  The Battle of Great Bridge was fought here on December 9, 1775.  Lots of history in this here parts, another google moment.

Liberty from Boothbay, Maine pulled into the dock for FUEL.  I would guess so - at 25mph cruising speed. It's a marina to marina lifestyle.    

80 feet and launched in1996 - she's a beauty.

Built by Hodgdon Yachts  - next pic is another one of their beauties.

Now more stuff heading north.

Grumpy I am guessing only because of fuel prices, or, because they really wanted a bigger boat!

Just to add some fun to the day - the Nina and Pinta showed up. We waited for Santa Maria. Maybe she hit a reef. Google it kids.

Amazing for us northerners - the Magnolia tree.  It just doesn't get any better.   

Mature and newbie.

It is a beautiful day - enjoy!

We're Baaaack!!!!

We are back, both on the blog and on the boat.  Stuff happens, plans change, yada yada, whatever.  Catch up time.  The day after we got back to Minnesota, Mr List Maker made his list.  We knew we had a short time to get alot of things done, so this was probably a good idea.  (List dated April 18, 2012) 

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Everything but the the bathroom soffit trim detail and build one storm window got done, so not too bad of a job.  But did you see this on the list?

I came home from the grocery store to find the old Kubota tractor uncovered and Rick in the middle of sandblasting the mower deck.  We've talked about this restoration project, but no way was it to be on the shortlist this month.  

Hmmmm, see the pontoon boat behind him - that's supposed to be in the water.  Ok, so he got a little distracted for a day or two.  He'll get re-focused??? 

Izzy can't believe how much fun she is having with her sister.  It's hard to get a still picture of the two of them, three year old labs don't have an off button.

Before school in the morning - Cooper helping pops to get the tropical plants out of greenhouse storage.

The weather turned nice and we got some rain so the spring gardens went nuts.

Then Deb got the call that her Mom was having some back issues, just when they were scheduled to close up their house in Arizona and drive home.  Didn't even have to think twice - Deb hopped a plane to AZ, helped close up the house and helped her Dad drive home - 1600 miles.  It's been awhile since I have been on a road trip with my parents - gotta say, it was kinda fun, especially without my sisters.  No fights over who gets the window and not once did I have to say "Mom, she's touching me."

I did, however, have to share the backseat with Max, their nine year old Shitzu.  We had an understanding right from the start - that was his window and that was his space, no further discussions. 

Superstition Mountains, near their home.

Sunset night before we left.

And some sights along the way.

The mountain drive between Queen Valley and Salt River Canyon. (Sorry a little blurry, taken from the car).

Salt River Canyon

New Mexico

Wow, pretty serious hooker problem in this town.  

Then it was back to yard cleanup, spending time with grandkids and their friends and then taking a quick trip up to the cabin to open it for the summer.

Little house in the bid woods. Winter shutters are off, water is turned on and yard is cleaned up.

Yeah, someone already put the dock in!

One of the things, not on Rick's list, but definitely on mine was getting the Christmas lights down from the front porch.  It didn't need to be on his list because I reminded him everyday.  See that green extension cord - it's connected to the icicle lights.  Looks like our Christmas decorations will now become our 4th of July lights.

Momma Robin and three of her four babies peaking out.

All four babies looking for Momma.

MOMMA!!

The babies the day before we left - getting big and growing feathers.

P.S. We snuck in while Mom was out looking for food and got the lights down - the extension cord will have to wait.

So it's time to head back to Broulee, list done or not.  We left on Friday morning the 18th and did 1300 miles in two days.  I did learn a thing or two during my road trip with my parents - stop to smell the roses and once in a while take roads off the beaten path.  We decided to give it a try.  You never know what you might see.

Yup, it's a pink elephant with an eyesight problem.

Rick and Izzy picked wild flowers to make our motel room homey.

We also decided to take a detour and travel on the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway - awesome.

Wild rhododendrons along the parkway.

 Mom and son enjoying a picnic lunch at one of the many scenic overlooks.

Enjoying a romp in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Stopping to smell the flowers.

When we arrived at Atlantic Yacht Basin Saturday night our plan was to get our boat out of the storage shed and take a spot on the dock.  However, they had put a boat in the shed behind us.  Lucky for us, the owners happened to be on board, doing some work.  They graciously agreed to back out of the shed and allow us to move out to the front dock.  The boat was covered with spider poop and cobwebs, but it sure felt good to be back on her.  Sunday was a day of cleaning inside and out.  Rain moved in during the morning and continued thru the rest of the day. We are now keeping an eye out for Tropical Storm Alberto,  and watching the migration of boats heading north.  Our marina is just south of  the Great Bridge Bridge and Lock - only one lockage per hour in each direction is permitted, in order to synchronize with the hourly openings of the bridge. We estimated 50-60 boats on Sunday and close to 75 today.  

Sunday, seven boats heading north passing thru the Great Bridge Bridge.

Fun parade of boats.

Projects have started - update in the next day or so.  We maybe here thru Memorial Day - no plans.