A quick trip, a VSC, and Battery/CO Detector Issues

We wanted a couple of weekends with just the two of us.  With that being our goal, we headed up on Thursday evening, and planned a day of working from the boat on Friday.

It turned out that it was a weekend of thunderstorms.  We saw them as we drove down to Rock Hall on Thursday night... we were marveling at the thunderstorm and lightning show in the distance.  As we drove closer we realized it was heading right to Rock Hall just as we were.  We arrived and got all the junk aboard with maybe 15 minutes to spare.  As Vicky went to work and I headed to bed the wind arrived and we spent the next 30 to 40 minutes leaning as the boat pulled against the dock lines.

We traded places (me working and Vicky sleeping) on Friday morning.  I had a series of conference calls in the morning with some training I needed to catch up on Friday afternoon.  As evening approached I glanced out the salon window to see an incredible display of clouds surrounding Seas The Day.  The storms arrived later Friday evening.

On Saturday morning we headed out for a walk before the heat really started cranking.  (We're in the midst of a significant heatwave... temps are expected to be in the 90s for the foreseeable future.)  We then headed out for a brief sail, but as you can see there was essentially no wind.  (We did stop at Gratitude for a quick pump out.) 

Then I used my new Navionics app to pick my way across the Swan Creek sandbar along the lines of a "shortcut" I had heard about.  This could save us time by avoiding the need to go all the way down to the green #3 buoy before heading out in the bay.  The iPhone app said the depths were fine, but my chart plotter and Navionics card said no go... so I trusted the app and progressed gingerly across at idle speed.  We had tide of about 1.5 feet so I felt safe.  We made it, but I will say I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with it.  There was a spot where I would only have 6 to 8 inches clear if the tides were zero.  I might have been in the wrong spot, so I'll have to keep looking.

Coming back to the dock was a hair-raising experience... we LOST OUR BOW THRUSTER!  This is a little propeller mounted sideways at the bow that swings the bow to port or starboard.  My controller suddenly had a mind of it's own - sometimes it would work and sometimes not.  Worse sometimes it locked on, then decided to pulse continuously in one direction.  I could turn it on and maybe get a thrust or two before turning it off, but clearly I had to dock Seas The Day without it.  

Fortunately, a friend warned me about these going crazy and I had been practicing getting back to the dock using the thruster as little as possible.  Still, I was not happy when I had to call Winter's Sailing about this problem.  I hope there's a quick fix.

We docked right around lunch time.  As soon as the AC was connected, I was ordered to head to Ford's Seafood so Vicky could have her crabs.

Vessel Safety Check (VSC)

After a quick nap, it was time for our yearly VSC.  This is a free service of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary that visits your boat and checks for all the safety items that the USCG would do if they stopped you out on the water.  The belief is that you do this voluntary safety check and get a sticker for your boat (at the top of this post) and the patrols know to look for it and tend to leave you alone and go after others.

Maryanne, a local Power Squadron member and a fellow B-Docker did my check.  Since we're in the time of COVID, I decided to photograph the key points and mail them to her.  This would allow a bit more social distancing during the meeting.

They check to make sure I have the required fire extinguishers.

  

She needed to see that my documentation plaque was permanently affixed.

She had to make sure I had the required life jackets and safety equipment.

She wanted to know that the required decals were in place.

 

She needed to verify that the head discharges were secured with wire ties.

 

 Finally she needed to double check my Documentation Certificate and verify that I had a waste plan for the vessel.

Once I sent all that, she stopped by, and filled out all the paperwork.  

We chatted briefly about the program, some safety topics in general and got to know each other a bit. Finally she had me turn on all the navigation lights for a final verification and I received the coveted sticker for my mast.  

Checking the Batteries

After having Osprey Point Bread Pudding for dinner!!  (I kid you not... I'm sure it was Vicky's way of bribing me to take the crab garbage out.)  The final boat chore for the day was to check the batteries.

I've been getting a bit of a bad reputation on B-Dock because my CO detectors are constantly going off at weird moments.  We live a bit more than an hour away and they always seem to go off when we can't immediately head down.  (A few friends know the combo to get in - so does the marina.)  People tell me they're not being bothered by them, but I know it would bother me if it were happening to my neighbor's boat... there's FOUR of them on Seas The Day for some reason.  This has been going on for about a month now and it's getting tiring.

From my safety training back in my Exxon days, I know you don't ignore these detectors, but I also have a bit of chemistry knowledge and realize that there is no way there's CO on Seas The Day when it is sitting at the dock.  The first time it happened we came back and double checked everything, but the engine wasn't running, the Generator wasn't on, and we were not cooking or throwing a birthday party.  So no sources of combustion... and therefore no possible CO.

It took a bit of research, but I found out that CO detectors can alarm from H2 (sorry, hydrogen) from the batteries being charged.  Seas The Day has a fancy charger that automatically switches from charging to maintenance charge and back as needed.  This has fortunately led to me paying much more attention to the batteries on this ship - especially since we run 12 V appliances (fridge and freezer) all the time this season.

While monitoring the batteries, I've noticed that they are taking a lot more water than my last boat.  Which is not necessarily bad, but I've also noticed that the battery closest to the companionway stairs (closest to the engine) seems to drink much much more than the other two.

So I finally spent the $12 for a battery tester (hydrometer).  The battery tester is a plastic container with a suction bulb.  You suck up the electrolyte and a black (of course it's black so it won't show up on the photos) needle reads out the specific gravity.  The blue "good" section has readings of 1.300 and 1.275, the grey "fair" section is 1.250, 1.2225 and 1.210 and the red "recharge" section has readings of 1.150 and 1.100.  

In a functioning battery, all the cells will have readings close to each other... generally within 0.030.  If one cell is very different, the battery is damaged.

The batteries on the old 315 were located under the settee and I hated getting down to service them, but they drank water slowly and only required a few teaspoons maybe twice a year.  On the 425, they're located below the floor.  Clearly, Jerry Douglas has much better knees than I when he decided to put them down there.  With a kneeling pad and a headlamp (so I can actually see down into the cells), I set about my task.

Here are the readings... clearly the top battery (the one closest to the companionway stairs) is damaged.  The other two batteries could use equalization (a sort of overcharging done to keep the electrolyte dispersed properly).

I guess it's time to call the dealer again.  I fear he's getting tired of hearing from me.  I'm certainly getting tired of having to call him (but that's another post).  I don't know if the battery is the cause of the CO detector issue (or if I also have bad detectors), but we can start with this.

After finishing with the batteries, I went out to fill the water tanks.  As I was putting away the hose, I noticed that we evidently have "B-Dockhenge" this evening!  (the setting sun aligned right with the dock).  

I checked my Photographer's Ephemeris (an app that calculates where the sun will rise and set at a given place and time) and realized that "B-Dockhenge" will actually be next weekend... I'll have to try and remember to get a better photo.

Sunday 

With no bow thruster, there was no way we were going out.  Our dealer indicated they will get a replacement to the controller by next weekend.

With no trip possible (I'm just not comfortable docking without it), I spent the morning watching John Lewis cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the last time (he died a few days ago), defrosting the in-counter freezer and cleaning the AC raw water trap (again).  We left right after lunch.

Comet Watch

This weekend was projected to be another time with temps in the low 90s an heat indices in the 100s, so we got lazy and decided to stay home Friday night and the most of Saturday.  We ended up going to the boat Saturday evening with the intent of heading out for a quick early morning sail on Sunday morning.

News reports said Comet Neowise was in the sky - passing a bit below the big dipper.  Remembering my old astronomy training from my time in the late 90s as a NJAA qualified observer, I decided to go out and hunt for the comet.  I knew it was below the big dipper in the NW sky... but boy my eyes have aged... it was much harder to see the stars.  Eventually I found the right spot in the sky and took a couple of photos to find the comet.  Only after knowing exactly where to look, I was able to catch it briefly using averted vision.  I then went over to the connector between A&B docks and captured the photo above (center of the photo, just above the one sailboat's jib).


Sunday was soooooo hot when we woke up that we decided to stay at the dock.  That turned out to be fortuitous as Vicky had a large number of calls from China (getting ready for a big presentation Sunday night).  While she worked on her presentation with her staff, I worked on boat chores including...

- Replacing the pelican clip that was donated to Poseidon
- Topping off the batteries with distilled water
- Blowing out the propane locker vent (water collected in the vent tube).
- Blowing out the water vent to improve water pressure.
- Checking and cleaning the AC raw water filter (again).
     - Which in turn required me to clean bilge scum off my iPhone.
- Cleaning and testing the bilge pumps
- Defrosting the refrigerator

It was a pleasantly busy morning... I finished just as the folks in China finally decided to go to bed.

2nd Vacation of 2020 - Part B (Fay, Jie & Tao)

Thursday, July 9th.

After Vicky finished with her meeting and had a little sleep, we returned to Rock Hall at mid-day on Thursday.  We immediately stowed the few items we brought (we're finally getting most of what we need onboard), and headed out for an afternoon sail.

Wind was nice... maybe 4 to 5 kts on our wind gauge (note... we're not certain this is reading correctly... we're frequently getting more boat speed (SOG) than wind speed, leading us to think that sometimes it reads low).  Vicky slept some more as I sailed west across the bay and back.

We heard that Fay is coming.  She's not a family member or a co-worker, but rather a tropical depression.  We knew that Friday may be iffy so on the way in, I got to Gratitude in time to catch a last minute pump out.

A  small sailboat was heading out just as we were returning.

Back at the dock, we had a small amount of chicken breast along with some fresh tomatoes from a roadside stand along with some fresh mozzarella.

Beyond a lot of rain, we were not certain what to expect with Fay Friday morning.  After dinner, I went out and filled the water tanks, double checked the dock lines and brought all the cockpit cushions inside.  The wind forecast didn't look too bad... 12 to 18 kts, but we are expecting to get 2 to 4 inches of rain.  We figured that most likely, we'll hunker down and watch some movies.  At worst case, we'll run for the car and head home.

Friday, July 10

On Friday morning, the rain started in the wee hours.  Now a tropical storm, Fay was out over the Atlantic Ocean, and in Rock Hall, it seemed like an extended gentle summer rain.  It was a little breezy... the wind gauge said it was about 12 knots.  Since it looked like the rain would abate a bit after lunch, we stayed at the dock so Vicky could get some sleep.

Later in the day, starting around Noon, the motion of Seas The Day became a bit unsettled and I have to admit that I actually got out the ginger gum and seasickness bands.  I guess it started earlier, but with the wind coming from the northeast, there was a fair bit of chop, and the length of time it lasted started getting to me.  Vicky was sleeping so she never felt it.  In the end it started getting better as the afternoon progressed and the storm moved north.

By suppertime I was able to cook.  We had salmon and stir fry vegetables.   Later, we curled up in the salon and I watched Fantasia while Vicky worked on her spreadsheets.

Saturday, July 11

Today Jie and Tao joined us for an excursion on Seas The Day.  They have been on board last fall and even sailed with me earlier last summer on our previous boat.  We started out planning to sail briefly to a place out in the bay where my brother Rob caught the fish during our earlier vacation.  (Go with what works, you know.)

I noticed that when they went forward, they sat in the right places (port and starboard) based on their shirt colors.

Our plans changed briefly once we headed out across the bay.  I was looking at AIS targets and lo and behold, there was S/V Delos!  They must have just started out from their recent repairs in Annapolis.

I confess, I altered my course slightly so we would approach closer, getting within a quarter of a mile.

From the iPhone photo (which I'm not showing) I could see a lot of orange up on the bow which didn't make sense.  I originally thought they may still have their orange edged jib flaked on the bow but it turns out that Brian was installing new orange bumpers on Maggie (their dinghy) and Karin was filming.  (That explains why they didn't answer my hail.  We did hear several other conversations before and after our passing.)

Our track for the day is on the left, Delos' AIS track during the time is on the right.  We encountered them just west of Rock Hall in the center of the upper bay.  After a quick tack back for another photo, we continued sailing southeast, letting the girls do some of the work and also folding out the cockpit day bed.

As we were approaching the fishing spot, I noticed that Tao was getting a bit "green in the gills".  She requested a paper bag which I overruled... I gave her my water supply bucket instead which would be much easier to clean.  Fortunately, it was never needed.

We had just broken out the fishing gear and Vicky seemed pleased with the new rod holders I installed for her.

So rather than give up fishing, we went back to Swan Creek to a spot to anchor where I've noticed people fishing before - just after Gratitude Marina.  We got the anchor down.  By the time I got enough scope out, we were uncomfortably close to the shallow marsh to the north, but hey it was a sunny no-wind day... what can go wrong, right?  

I decided to try the day bed and finish my sandwich.

While we were fishing, I used the portrait mode on my iPhone to get some nice photos for their dating profiles - bait of a different sort.

While looking at the portraits, I noticed that some of those gorgeous blurred backgrounds had a bit of darkness to the sky... and a glance to the west confirmed that there was a storm over Baltimore.  My radar app "future tracking" showed it fizzling out over the next 30 min or so, and staying well to the west.

Of course that wasn't the case...

We saw it moving closer... it would provide a more dramatic background for more photos.

Then I noticed a few boats racing back, which unnerved me a bit.

You can guess the rest of the story.  We were at anchor and the anchor was set well.  That being said, I was aware that I only had maybe 50 feet to react if we started dragging.  The squall came suddenly and it seemed like instantly, we swung on the anchor and started dragging across the channel.

I'm told I may have raised my voice slightly...

Vicky and the girls insisted later that it was simply a brief summer shower.  I experienced it as more like this.

(Jie took this... clearly I'm not happy, and Vicky is SHOCKED.)

I'm truly sorry for yelling, my dear.

Editors note:  During the car ride home the issue was raised that perhaps I was trying to be manly and impress our guests by yelling.  This couldn't be farther from the truth.  When I get angry, I tend to go silent.  There are many other and better ways to impress females.  If I raise my voice, in my mind, things are not well.  The best way to describe my state of mind at the moment was my inner 6-year old was overwhelmed emotionally and crying out for help.

(Not to excuse it, but my boat was drifting across the channel, one of my passengers was sick so I couldn't head out to the bay for more room,  and I couldn't enter the marina with those winds.)

Jie also captured this video that has more of the aftermath of my meltdown.  In fairness, the storm had already abated a bit by this point.

Of course as we motored in the direction of the marina, the skies cleared and Tao recorded this video of me docking under perfectly calm conditions just minutes after the most intense part of the storm.  The only way you know the storm happened is I'm soaking wet and there is so much water on the cockpit cushions that they appear glossy.

Once we docked and started drying off, I apologized repeatedly and invited my beautiful wife to enjoy a board game with her friends while I cooked a steak dinner.  Later, I tired to indoctrinate Tao and Jie into the magic of the Delos videos.

(They don't seem too thrilled...)

As sunset approached, I went out to fill the water tanks.  With three women staying on board for the night I needed the full 100 gallons!  That turned into a nice time on the foredeck watching the sunset and taking some photos.

After dinner, the competition got intense on the game.  (I think it was called Splendor.)  

Eventually we made up the bed in the aft stateroom for the first time.  

Shortly after that, I found myself in the middle of a pajama party and it was clearly time for me to head to bed.  I fell asleep to the wonderful sounds of laughter coming from the three of them in the salon.

Sunday, July 12

After waking up on Sunday morning, we had breakfast, cleaned up and then headed out.

I had the most stylish fishing crew on-board.

Vicky did manage (with lots of help) to get her new crab trap deployed.  Bait was week-old fried chicken.  

Of course we didn't catch anything.  (My entire life, I've never been fishing with someone where they caught something they could legally keep.  I swear fish can sense my presence on a boat.)

I do notice that she seems to be getting better and better at this.  Soon, I expect her luck will change.  Hopefully, I'm allowed to stay onboard to see it.  ;)