MARKER 21

On Saturday, the weather forecast was for 20-25 knot winds out of the North. We imagined that we would scream down the river, wing on wing, at unheard of speeds. Reality set in after we turned the corner at the 528 bridge. The wind was flukey to say the least. The wind varied from 6 knots to 20 knots, and changed directions from West to North East. We set our sails to run down the river and ended up back winding the main a few times. A preventer was definitely in order. At Eau Gallie we ducked in to pick up a passenger. After that we didn’t even raise our mainsail – just motorsailed with the headsail. Most of the way I caught myself humming Eileen Quinn's song "wing and wing, is a tricky point of sail. I try to balance my boat, but I always fail."

We arrived at the anchorage at about 2:00. The weather had kept the boats away – there were only 8 ECSA boats total that showed up. We anchored in the lee of the second island, and onshore, you wouldn’t even have known it was a windy day. We pulled our chairs over to the sunny side of the island and enjoyed the company of the ECSA members that braved the conditions.

Sunday the wind was coming directly out of the north (of course it was – that’s the direction we were all headed). Wind was blowing consistently at 20 knots with gusts at 25. Thank goodness for the dodger and screens. We were perfectly comfortable tucked under our canvas. We needed to put the hours on the iron genny anyway, as the mechanic owes us a 50 hour inspection/maintenance. We motored at 6.5 knots most of the way – despite the head wind. A big motor is a good thing when you are beating into the wind.

A well deserved break

We have been working on LaLeLu almost every weekend this year (2007) - getting things ready for our Bahamas trip in May/June. This past weekend it was time for a sanity break. We motored out to a nearby spoil island, just north of the power lines on the Banana River and anchored out for an overnight. The kids had fun playing on the beach, collecting shells - despite the surprise of finding many were home to crabs or snails. We had plenty of sun and the new solar panels were keeping the batteries at a full charge. Chris dove the prop on Sunday and was surprised to see that our zinc (a sacraficial piece of metal that protects the important metals) had somehow fallen off. Bummer - hope it hasn't been off too long. In the afternoon on Sunday we slowly motored back to harbortown. A boat full of coasties escorted us the entire way, and even went into the marina. We thought for sure they were going to board/inspect us, but surprisingly they didn't. Perhaps we were just lucky, but certainly slapping the correct/current registration sticker on while they weren't looking didn't hurt.

LaLeLu is sporting a new accutrament. We installed a Solarstick (www.solarstik.com) with 2 panels. The panels are 50 watt each, and they are self pitching in order to give max output. Manufacturer says they will give us 100 amp hours per day on a good sunny day.

Winter Sailing - Florida Style

We were sitting on the dock yesterday morning soaking up the sun and enjoying the nice breeze with our dock mates when someone says "man, what are we doing? - this is sailing whether!" The photos below were taken shortly thereafter. We headed out the Canaveral locks with another boat from our dock, boats loaded with everyone on the dock that was willing to skip their chores in exchange for a sail, and had a nice run south on the Atlantic. Winds were light - 10-13 knots from the east. Seas were 4-6, but with troughs spaced far enough apart to just give you that comfortable rolly-polly feel. We switched out our heading several times in search of speed but never got much more than 6.5 knots - felt good just the same. Took turns trying to pass eachother and flashing a ceremonious moon to the following boat. This day is why I love sailing.

Ever wonder what's under Castro's Uniform?

This year's Pinedaville answered that nagging question.

South of the Border meets Pinedaville

South of the Border was ECSA's annual Pinedaville theme this year. "Pinedaville" got its name because it is held in the N/E lee of the Pineda causeway. For us, the trip to Pinedaville was a 2.5 hour trip from our marina. The wind was very light and flukey so we opted to give the engine a workout. We arrived Friday morning and there were already 5 boats anchored. We picked a spot front and center, and as it turned out, right next to Nigel Calder's brother Chris Calder and his wife on their beautiful 40' Malo - brand new and fresh off the boat show tour in Annapolis. The official start of Pinedaville is Saturday at noon, but the early arrivals work together to erect the temporary city on the beach, compete with kitchen, outhouse, three fire pits and, of course, a band stand with DJ and Karaoke. By 3:00 pm, there were about 20 boats in the ancorage. Boats kept arriving all Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning. In all we had 53 boats crammed into the ancorage, and plenty more folks who arrived by car. When the conch shell blew at noon, all the dingys headed for shore driven by strangely clad sailors. (Some of the photographic evidence is below). The days events started with the costume parade, a conga line that snakes along the beach in front of last year's king and queen. After the new king and queen are announced and the costumes are judged, the rum punch ("Bahama Donna's" named after our commodore) is mixed and the party gets going. All day long we play crazy games on the beach, drink rum, dance, drink rum, eat, blow conch shells, drink rum, race dingys, drink rum, throw fish, drink rum...well you get the idea. By sundown the fires get going and the smores come out. Sailors started drifting back to their boats via dingy as the evening wore on. The die hards danced on the beach to Creedance tunes until the DJ made at least ten proclamations that "this is the very last song" and then finally had to beg the die hards to let him go to his boat. Finally, the beach was empty and all that was visable from the ancorage was the flicker of embers in the fire pits.

St. Pete Boat Show

The St. Pete boat show did not disappoint. After breakfast at Buddy Freddy's with the ECSA gang, we headed to St. Pete. We spent the day Saturday at the show, looking at boats and boat stuff. It was fun seeing so many of our sailing buddies there. I think that there was a 95% attendance by Harbor Town's D Dock. We met Pam, Ron and kids at the show right as they opened and hung out with them. Park joined Christen and Lauren - they were the 3 musketeers. Saturday night was the L&A party. It was a little windy and chilly, but as always, we had a blast. I met a few folks from the L&A bb, ate free pizza, drank free beer, and listened to free live music courtesy of Eric Stone. We stayed overnight at the Hilton. Not a bad way to spend a weekend.

Sometimes, the best laid plans...

Well..., you know the rest. So, we are on our way to Boy Scout Island to join ECSA for a weekend cruise. Feeling pretty smug because it is just a quick 2 hour sail from our marina, we slept in on Saturday and lounged around for a bit. Park had her friend Corina join us. With kids aboard we had all sorts of "fun" things tied to the boat to amuse the kids. On the foredeck was the inflatable kayak, the inflatable dingy was on that davits and the sailing dingy was in tow from the stern. We looked like a flee market special.

We headed out around 10:00 am. Winds were a bit brisk and from the north. We made it to State Road 3 draw bridge in good time for a 10:30 opening. After passing through the bridge, things deteriorated rapidly. Outside of the protection of the barge canal the winds picked up to over 25 knots. The Indian River / ICW was confused and choppy. No big deal - LaLeLu didn't even flinch. We headed for the 528 causeway via the main channel. Getting closer we noticed that there was work being done on the causeway, and there were barges and tugs blocking the main channel. We hailed the tug and asked for instructions on getting through. He replied that we should go under the next span West of the main channel. We asked for the bridge height and the reply was somewhere around 55'. We needed 56+ feet. After much consternation and bitching, we decided that we liked our mast well enough that we did not feel the need to risk it. In defeat we headed back to State Road 3 draw bridge. On the way through, there were three other ECSA boats headed to the 528 causeway. We hailed them and explained the situation. Two of the boats had masts that would allow them to get through. The other boat had a 57' mast and retreated along with us, in defeat. All was not lost - we headed to an island North of the Banana River power lines and hung out with the folks from other tall-masted boat. They had ten people on their boat so it was a ready made party. We spent the day on the beach chatting with them as the kids hung out on the island, played in the sand, and floated on various acutraments. Our new friends pitched a tent for half of their gang, lit a big bon fire and shot off firecrackers. We had a great time after all, despite being trapped in the land of the tall masts.

Shrimp - broiled and live in a baggie

We headed out Saturday at 9:00 am, North to Titusville for the Dixie Crossroads cruise. On board were Chris, Susan, Park, and her friend, Jamison. Winds were light and from the East at about 9 knots. We motor sailed all the way. Past the Addison Bridge we picked up a couple of dolphins and they played in our wake for about an hour. The girls hung their feet over the side and let the dolphins splash them as they went by. It was fun listening to them giggle. I think the dolphins enjoyed it too. They would turn over on their sides in order to eyeball the girls, then they would splash them with their tails. I am sure that there splashes were intentional.

We got to Titusville municipal at about 1:00 pm, tied up to C dock and plugged on the ac. Whew! It was hot, hot, hot. There were 7 other ECSA boats that were staying in the marina. We helped them tie up as they arrived, chatted a bit, then showered and headed to Dixie Cross roads for dinner. Chris and I both ordered the usual: two dozen rock shrimp, broiled. Yummm, just like baby lobsters. We walked back to the marina, stopping at a bait shop on the way. There we picked up 1/2 dozen live bait shrimp. The girls took turns holding the shrimp baggie. By the time we arrived at the marina the shrimp were nearly dead after being poked and prodded by tsquealinging ten year olds. We baited the girls' poles and after 1/2 hour of catching/releasing catfish they tired of fishing and we decided to go for a dingy ride. The water was lit up with fairy dust (bioluminescencense) and the girls hung their heads over and watched the sea life scatter underneath them. The trip back to Harbor Town on Sunday was uneventful. We gave the iron genny a workout by motoring the entire way. Our engine hours are now up to 11!

Trip to Eau Gallie

This last w/e we took the lovely LaLeLu from Merritt Island down to the Eau Gallie Yacht Club. Our friends, Ron and Pam (and kids Kristen and Lauren) who are members, invited us to a shrimp feed thingie. We left Harbor Town at 9:15 am and made the 9:30 am opening of State Road 3 Bridge. This is the first bridge hailing we have made since Easter weekend when all of our boat woes started. It marked the official start of being 'back in the saddle' or make that, back in the helm seat. We are gun shy about breakdowns now - every noise we heard sounded ominous. We found ourselves quite on edge at the start of our trip. The winds were light on Saturday morning, out of the East, North East at about 8 knots. The wind changed a bit more North and we thought about flying the chute. However, just about then the wind picked up to over 10 knots and we decided against a spinnaker. (It's a very light chute - really more of a drifter sail). We did pick up some speed and were going about 6 - 6.5 knots the 2nd half of our trip. Not an edge-of-your-seat sail, but fun just the same. We were just glad to be back on the water. We got to the Yacht Club at about 1:15 and end tied to a really nice transient dock. Our boat was front and center on the most prominant dock. Our friends were on the dock for our arrival. The kids went swimming in the club's pool while the adults chatted in LaLeLu's cockpit. On Saturday night we enjoyed all you can eat/drink shrimp and beer and then danced until midnight to 70's disco. We regretfully left the dock at noon on Sunday, and headed back up the river. Winds started out right on the nose (from the North). After about half hour of motoring, we got a bit of East wind and were able to raise sail. We were sailing really close hauled and still making 5.5 knots. Not too bad considering we were sailing at about 25 degrees off the wind. We left Eau Galle at about noon and got back in our slip at about 4p. It was a great weekend!

Flying High

Due to a little mishap that occurred while taking off the foresail in preparation for a hurricane, Susan had to go up the mast in the bosun's chair to retrieve the wayward jib halyard. She was the best choice for the job since she is lighter and not afraid of heights. Not to mention the fact that it takes quite a bit of muscle to haul dead weight 56' in the air using what is essentially a rope and pully.

Life is Good (again)

LaLeLu was splashed (again) on September 1, 2006 - just in time for the ECSA cruise to Banana River spoil islands. Marine Pro had two guys present for the sea trial (what's this, service after you pay - what a foreign concept!) and everything worked great. The new engine gets us to 8k WOT with at 3000 rpm's. We were actually throwing a wake! After the sea trial, we packed up the boat and headed out to the islands Saturday morning. 24 ECSA boats anchored out for the event. We had a wild storm come through Saturday night, causing two of the boats to drag.



Things calmed down around 9:00 pm and we ran around in our dingy for a bit marveling at the amazing phosphorescene. The dogs enjoyed hanging over the side of the dingy and watching the outlines of the fish as they scurried away from us. The rest of the weekend was calm and beautiful. We had the Vandaveers staying with us on our boat, and the girls had a blast playing in the water and hanging out.



It is such a weight off of our shoulders to have the "break down from hell" behind us. We are looking forward to making up for lost time.

What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been

It's been a long time since the last post. Depression does not make for good blog entries. The short version is: Joe Hall of Marine Medic, Cocoa Fl, improperly installed the raw water intake to our new Tides Shaft Seal (directly into the dry exhaust manifold instead of into the raw water system), which caused water to back fill into our cylindars and hydro-lock our engine. Joe Hall did not want to beleive that he had caused this problem, so the boat sat for 3 weeks with salt water in the engine, while we head butted him and finally found another mechanic. Marc Eiler of Marine Pro knew instantly when I explained the problem what Joe Hall/Marine Medic had done. The boat was hauled out again mid July and the engine was pulled shortly thereafter. The damage to the engine was extensive. Also, the running gear installed by Joe Hall was crooked and needed to be pulled/re-set. A battle against Joe Hall ensued, and it looks like we are now in agreement on a resolution with Joe Hall's insurance company. The big question now is whether to rebuild or put in a new engine. Both options have their pros and cons. With any luck, we will be back in the water in less than a month. (If you are listening, please, Gods! Take pity on us!)

Back in the Water - ahhhhh!

As of Friday June 23 at 2:00 pm est, LaLeLu is back in her slip at Harbor Town. I brought my camera, but was so excited that I forgot to take pictures. With any luck, it will be 2 years until her next haul out. Yea for us!

Baby's got new shoes

LaLeLu finally has her bottom paint. Drive train is scheduled to go in June 20th. It is almost time to start writing checks for our yard bills. (Since writing checks means LaLeLu's freedom from the yard, we are actually excited to do that). She looks so pretty. I painted the insides of the dorades 'Safety Red.' It matches our red halyards and looks really cool. Chris and I spent two days stripping/waxing & rewaxing her. Yesterday I crawled on my belly through the engine room and vacuumed and 'Spray-Nine'd' everything. There were a lot of metal shavings in there from when Chris sawed out that drive shaft. Looking at it now, you wouldn't even know we had a break down - Well, except the missing drive train might tip you off.

Some Assembly Required

Well most of our parts have arrived. We are just waiting on the new prop and the flixible coupler. With the glass work done, we now have enough parts that the mechanic can begin putting it all back together. We are waiting for a bid before we give "Joe" the green light to start the reassembly process. Above is a picture that shows the finished glass work.

The new time line is to have the drive train installed within 10 days, then bottom paint. Hopefully she will be back in the water in 2 weeks????????

Repairs underway

It is May 22 and the glass work is finally getting done. Our hopes of being in the water for Memorial Day Weekend are not realistic. Hopefully we can get the parts from Caliber and get everything done within a month - Just in time for hurricane season. Sometime life throws you a monkey wrench!

ECSA Boy Scout Island Cruise/Jones BBQ

Still doing time on the hard

The picture above is of Chris hack-sawing through our 1.5" solid stainless steel drive shaft. Unfortunately, we were unable to pull the shaft from the coupling, so ching, ching (that's a cash register), we get to add that our parts purchase list. Once we had the shaft, strut and other various/asunder parts of the drive train out, we loaded up for a trip to Clearwater, Florida. Caliber Yachts, the builder of LaLeLu, still builds our same boat in their factory in Clearwater. In fact, the very mold our hull was laid up in is still in use!! It was like getting to see our boat's womb - very cool. We met with George McCreary, the head honcho of Caliber, and had him look at our parts. He came up with the official theory #3 as to why our boat failed: He believes that the prop was too heavy for the strut/shaft length, which caused it to stress fracture and break. So now we have three theories: 1. Prop blade broke and then caused strut to fail; 2) electrolysis caused strut to fail and 3) weight of prop caused strut to fail. Sooooo, we may never know what really happened - I suppose it could even have been a combo of things. We decided the best thing to do was to go back to square one - return the drive train to its original design. We are going to go back to the original fixed blade prop. George said that the prop/shaft were tested and designed for the type and weight of the original prop. Changing the prop and or shortening the shaft is tampering with the unknown. We are now 3 weeks post breakdown and probably at least another month from being back in the water - maybe more. Arrggggg!

Strut/Prop Failure

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4-27-06 Update: We still don't know the exact cause of our failure. It is Marine Pro's opinion that the strut broke first, due to electrolysis. We are taking all our parts, pieces and photos to the manufacturer of our boat, who still makes the same boat, to see if they can determine what happened.
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Today we were motoring down the ICW on the Indian River - no wind, but a beautiful sunny day just the same. We were in between two other boats from our sailing club, middle of the channel, headed to an island to anchor for an overnight. I was at the helm, thinking more about hanging the hammock upon arrival than anything going on in the cockpit at the time. I was jolted back to reality by the sound of metal on metal. We coasted off the channel and dropped anchor. With the engine still running in idle, following his inspection of the engine, Chris shouts "shut `er down, there's black oil all over down here." He then dove the bottom and saw that the strut was broken in half.

Fortunately, we were able to get towed and hauled - which was no easy thing on an Easter weekend. There was no impact involved in this failure. The rudder, keel and bottom are very, very clean. We were in the middle of the ICW with 12' water. Also, there doesn't appear to have been anything fouling the prop. We were motoring down at about 2200 rpm - 6.7 knots.

From our preliminary inspection, it appears that the prop blade failed first, and the lopsided, unbalanced, remaining two blades under load caused the strut to break. From the last photo you can see that the prop has two inches clearance between the top of the blade and bottom of the boat. We think that the gash in the boat must have occurred when the prop blade was lifting (as it was failing) and thus elongated enough to reach the underside of the boat. We have folks coming to inspect on Friday, so should know more after that.