Panama City

Haven't had any updates in a while, so here is the backlog:

Jun 26: We left Tarpon Springs to cross the gulf. The gulf was much smoother than the last time we attempted to cross. We hired an experienced boat captain to take us across. He will be with us until Panama City. He managed to steer the entire day, which was quite impressive. Normally we take shifts, but he drove for 12 hours, with only periodic smoke and meal breaks. We anchored out about 5 miles from shore. Seas were a bit rougher over night. The moon was full, so everything was lit up really brightly.

Jun 27: We arrived in Carrabelle, FL, after spending 2 days out on the gulf. During the day, we saw lots of dolphins. Five or six swam with the boat for a few miles. You could hear them bump into the hull every now and then as they swam in front of the boat. They would turn and look up at us as we watched them. Pics in the next post. The Carrabelle marina was very nice. Specifically, there was Internet.

Jun 28: Arrived in Panama City. Part of the trip today went through a forest named "Impenetrable Swamp." It was far enough removed that we lost cell phone coverage for most of the route. It rained today, which brought in much cooler weather. We spent time sitting out on the deck today, for the first time in a long while.

குலப் அட்டெம்ப்ட் நம்பர் ஓனே அண்ட் அதர் adventures

On wednesday night we tried to cross the gulf but had to turn back after we felt the waves were too high and we were taking on water. The boat was rocking back and forth a lot and things were flying everywhere as food spilled off the table and things fell out of cabinets. We have hired a captain to help us make it across. We most likely will not be doing a straight shot crossing as weather is only going to get worse on the gulf. Also this will be my last post as I am getting off early and am leaving tomorrow morning.

We're now in the gulf ICW. Yesterday when we docked we met a guy that worked for the company that built our boat for a few months, small world i guess. Anyways, tomorrow we will hopefully cross the Gulf of Mexico, it is a long 160 mile stretch that will have to occur at least in part at night which will be fairly exciting.

அட்வேண்டுறேஸ் ஒன தி இச்வ்

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. The last few days have been exciting to say the least. Today we had our prop replaced. We had to because when we were docking a couple days ago, a chain from the dinghy got caught in the prop.Originally we thought we had simply bent it but it turns out the chain tore a blade completely off. I’ll post pictures of it, as it was fairly shocking considering the prop still ran fine for the most part. In other news, today we entered the Lake Okeechobee waterway. When we actually enter the lake there will be a series of (hopefully open) locks that we will have to cross, if not we have to go all the way around the southern tip of Florida. This would add another 4 days to the already behind schedule trip.

Success!

We made it to Daytona, without having the engines quit on us at all. Covered 84.7 miles today, in a little over 10 hours.

Funny quote: "This is the bridgemaster to the boat passing under the bridge: Did you need the bridge lifted?"

We also saw dolphins and (I think) manatees today.

Repairs Update

The rebuilt injector pump has been installed, and the engines run. Lets see how far we get tomorrow.

Pictures?

Mechanical Problems: Part 2

We successfully made it to Jacksonville, Florida. We are still having trouble with the port engine when docking, however. At the moment, the diesel fuel injector pump is getting rebuilt, which will hopefully solve the problem. We should have the part back by tomorrow afternoon, and we should be able to leave on Friday. We will try and make up time by running for 12+ hours a day instead of the planned 8-10 or so.

We are currently docked in a huge marina. There is a large warehouse type building near our slip where they keep boats on shelves. There is a giant forklift which they use to transport boats to and from the warehouse. We'll see if I can get a picture of it up.

On our Way:

So we made it without any major problems, unfortunately however, I haven’t been able to post pictures. I’ll post them as soon as I figure out how to though. Yesterday we made it fairly far, and had a massive dinner of seafood when we stopped at the dock. Also we saw alligators in the water right by the dock. It was fairly exciting and I surely will post a picture of the alligator. Today we started at 5:30 in the morning and will hopefully make it all the way to Jacksonville by the end of the day. We are making fairly good time I’ve been told so maybe we will arrive home earlier than expected.

Day 2, Take 2:

We left a little after noon, and theres lot of hope now that we got the engine to work. Hopefully we will be on our way soon thanks to Terry, Dave,and Clyde among others. Florida looks really nice but its blazing hot when at 9 in the morning, one is grateful that its 90 degrees inside the boat. So far on the test run, we've made it well past where we broke down yesterday, also today I'll be posting pictures of the trip so far, but they're not in full resolution as that would take up too much bandwidth.

Mechanical Problems: Part 1

Hopefully this doesn't become a regular series of posts. But given our luck with all things mechanical...

There appears to be a leak in the port (left, for you land locked folks) engine's fuel system. The leak lets in air, the air bubbles block the fuel, and the engine shuts down. Currently, the dock mechanic, along with Reynolds and Clyde, are disassembling the fuel system, piece by piece, and checking for air leaks. It's exactly as tedious as it sounds. If that doesn't work, then we may need to order a new fuel pump. Best case scenario, they will find the leak soon, and we will be able to leave tomorrow. Worst case scenario, they spend 2-3 days putzing around withthe fuel system looking for leaks, and it ends up being the fuel pump. The new pump would take a few days to come in.

We will keep you posted on how the repairs are progressing.

In other news, I need to pester my brother to post some pictures.

take one: first attempt to leave

Ok, we got up early, for the summer at least. All are hopeful, we were about to leave a day early (which was fine by me, considering that meant i get home earlier). but soon after we left, our port engine cut out. People from the dock came and helped us get running, but it took about 2 hours. Finally, BOTH the engines roared to life again, and we were able to start chugging along again...for about 30 seconds until the same engine cut out again. This time after more dogged attempts to find out what was causing the problem, it was decided that we should come back to the marina in case we needed a new part. Once we returned though, people were in surprisingly good spirits as we then proceeded to make almost a feast, with baked potatoes, grilled corn, zucchini, squash, and ribs. All of it was very good. We all went our separate ways after that and leave the problems of our boat until tomorrow...to be continued hopefully