I picked up the new fuel tanks thursday after work and they looked great. I'm very pleased, but a tad poorer. At least I know I will enjoy having new tanks, particularly no engine-stopping sludge on the bottom, more on why this is important later. I managed to get the first tank in no problem, but the second tank required some jigsaw removal of the side wood which holds the tanks. I wanted to remove the minimum, but I had to remove a tad bit more than I would have preferred. Anyway this required an afternoon of crawling in and out of the hole and pulling the tank in and out. Anyway with a little grunting, kicking, and sweat the second tank fell into place, and I declared victory over boat once again.
This brings the next issue, which is plumbing up the tanks. How I wish I'd paid more attention to the plans. Why would I need 1/2" NPT for the fuel pickup, and 3/4" NPT for the return, and 1" NPT for the vent? All this means is I had to buy multiple adapters to bring the hole to something reasonable for a 5/16" fuel line pickup and return, and 5/8" vent. Anyway expensive brass fittings aside, there's now the issue of how to fill these new tanks. I have a 1.5" fill welded on both, but I haven't bought the deck fills, nor have I drilled the holes yet. So I improvised and used my engine's fuel pump to suck the fuel through the 2 filters and through the bypass into the return. This took forever but at least now I have about 10 gallons of very clean fuel in the starboard tank.
So I got all this set up saturday morning, and as you might imagine I'm rather fed up with working in the hole, so off we go to Destin! And I'm tired of constant motoring, so we raised the main and the stays'l and hauled ass towards Destin. I'm incredibly pleased with the sea comfort of the boat. In the Hunter we would have been on our ear and jumping around a good bit. The Pearson held a comfortable 15 degree heel and didn't rock too much, and we scooted at 6.5 kts or so. I'm still waiting for my inner forestay to part. The crack in the swage is getting bigger at least in my mind. So I really want to get my rigging replaced. Until then I'll just take it easy.
Also Rosa made lunch while sailing and I introduced her to the sea rails of our stove. They're basically small metal hands that hold your pots in place while sailing. Rosa immediately loved them, and having a boat that doesn't heel so much allows her to feel more confident cooking.
Once to Destin we see the tourism in full swing, with too many pontoon rentals navigating around foolishly. We arrived to see Craig's two derelict boats anchored in our favorite spot. What an annoyance, Craig is the last guy we want to see. So we anchored in a different area, and took refreshing showers which quickly led to a nap. We slept about 2 hours which was very nice, and when we woke up we noticed a 30' motorboat anchored a boatlength upwind of me. Of all places, why anchor so slosely to me. And the guy just kept eyeing me like I anchored too close to him. Crazy people.
We then took the dinghy to harborwalk, and I needed to get gasoline for the dinghy. The dinghy had about 2 cups of gas, and the RIB doesn't row so easily so we walked to the Destin Marina to buy 1 gallon. The rainclouds started to roll in, and we accidentally left the boat open, so we dinghy'd back to the boat, closed it up, and piddled for a few minutes. We then turned around but where were my sandals? I'd left them on the dock, and surprisingly they were still on the dock when we returned. By now Rosa and I were hungry so we went to Mc Guiars and got pork chops, an Ernie burger, and Irish wakes. Stuffed beyond belief, we waddled back to the boat for a satiated night.
Annoying things sleeping on the new boat! The anchor roller creaked all night long, a ticking noise audible throughout the boat. As the rubber roller rolled slightly over the stretch of the line it was just a plain annoyance, and this was exascerbated by the 25-30 kts of wind that was buffeting the boat around. I must say however, that Nadesico had the very annoying propensity to sail at anchor, sometimes becoming broadside to the wind. The whole boat would heel due to mast windage, and continue until the rode could take no more, and the boat would snap to the opposite tack. Boracay Star performs well here, with a very small angle of deviation and barely any noticable heel. Another annoying thing that necessitated sleeping in the saloon is that the v-berth gets inadequate flow due to the stays'l boom being directly foreward of it. This meant it was very hot, and the incoming breeze largely skipped the v-berth and scooted down the hall. Well, no boat is perfect.
Right now it's sunday morning and it's blowing a good stink. Also inconveniently the wind is from the exact heading we need to get home. I'd otherwise want to test my new boat's heavy weather capability with a reefed main and stays'l, but I don't want my rigging to come undone in this weather! The anchor is holding well, but we're nearer to land than I would prefer. Un-anchoring will be a little tense, but I feel confident in my motor and fuel system at least. Weather indicated 13-23 kts at Destin airport. It's going to blow pretty good today and supposedly calm down in the evening. I think I'll climb the mast...
Actually we decided to un-anchor, and it was super-easy. The windlass is my new best friend, and it's likely to give me stronger guns without hurting my back, unlike manually hoisting the anchor like I had been doing. I had read that if either you or the boat is over 30, then you need a windlass. We re-anchored not too far away, but not before we checked the height of the water, and we were trapped in Destin harbour! The water was above the fourth board, which meant no passage for either of our boats. Thus we resigned ourselves to another night in the harbour, and I couldn't go to work monday. Such is life, so we bought some royal red shrimp and beer and had a lovely evening.
Well actually, I could have got a ride to work, but as of sunday evening the weather forecast the tropical storm that caused the high water would turn to a hurricane by wednesday and make landfall about the same time, so I didn't want to leave the boat. Instead, Rosa and I checked the water height early monday, still no dice, and it was really rough in the bay. So we re-anchored and took the dinghy to the beach. This was short lived as we were sandblasted until we left. Then we lazily strolled along harbour walk, Rosa got a smoothie while I had a few beers while talking to a quite drunk guy who at least was knowledgeable of Destin tides. I took Rosa back to the boat so she could rest, while I bought 5 gallons of diesel. After slowly pumping the fuel in the tank I ran the engine to charge the batteries. However by 5pm the wind had subsided a bit, and we were ready to try the bridge again.
I once again raised anchor, (twice in a day of 30kt winds, love that windlass!), and we puttered out towards the bridge. What greeted us was a slightly rollicky area beneath the bridge, and 3 boards and a little light showing. The board indicated 48' at center, and I think this was about correct. We eased very slowly under the bridge, fighting current and wind as is preferable in such occasions. We got closer and closer and... well the mast didn't hit, but the VHF and wind indicator scraped. The windex is only 6" above mast metal, so this was close, especially as the windex was dragging severely and we were bumping in the waves. Well this was my license to punch it (to a full 3 kts) and get through the bridge.
After the bridge what endues was more 3kt motoring, and we really loved the way the boat handled in these nasty bay chop waves. It was pretty rough, and Nadesico would have been pounding and stopping. Our boat didn't pound once, but it did hit the waves and turn them into geyers that on a few occassions soaked the cockpit. What fun! But the dodger was watertight and behind it was safe haven. After only 3 hours of this treatment, we had returned home to our dock, safe and tired.
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