Snowballs on the Boat

The only time we had actual snowballs on the boat was that cooooold winter in Chattanooga when we had 7 inches of snow on the dock.  But the "snowball theory" of a maintenance project is alive and well aboard "Fruition".
So, we're sitting right at the boatyard for 2 months while Sue recovers from surgery, and I'm thinking "Y'know, I've always wondered if the engine heat exchangers had ever been cleaned by the previous owners.  I certainly haven't inspected or cleaned them in the 5 years we'ver owned the boat.  Maybe, since we have time now, I'll have the yard take a look-see." 
So the $100/hr "marine mechanic" (anything with the word marine in it will double the price) pulls the first exchanger and finds it so fouled with scale, silt and barnacles that it's a wonder any water was passing through it!  And that's when the snowball started rolling downhill.

Fouled Transmission Oil Cooler -- note bottom edge of the
plates is fouled by the UPC paper label from a zinc anode.
You're supposed to remove the paper from the zinc!!

Since the raw water (usually seawater) flows through 3 heat exchangers on each engine, we start pulling the other exchangers and, as Murphy's Law states, they we fouled also.  And the snowball continues downhill....  The common method of cleaning the exchangers is to take them to a radiator shop for acid cleaning.  Of course, the transmission oil cooler cannot be cleaned that way...........it must be replaced with a re-built cooler.  So the maintenance cost goes up exponentially. 
And the snowball continues............  The two large nuts that hold the transmission oil cooler together are so corroded (salt water against mild steel is not a good combination) that they cannot be re-used.  And Caterpillar factory and distributors nationwide have no nuts in stock.  May be months before CAT has some made up.
So I'm lamenting my story to our good good friends in Chattanooga, who say that a machine shop close to them can custom manufacture new nuts.  Sue & I are headed to TN anyway to take care of Sue's mom, so we carry the old nuts to be used as a pattern.  The machine shop comes thru with flying colors in only 2 days, so we can now re-assemble the cooler.
But the snowball continues.........  Our marine mechanic notes that many of the water and oil hoses are old and cracking.  It becomes obvious that previous owners of the boat had never cleaned these exchangers or replaced hoses.  The boat is 27 years old, and these items should be checked every 5-10 years.  So, my credit card received a really good workout this past month.  And hopefully, the snowball has finally melted!

April 8, 2013
Just to prove that "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!"
Yesterday we took the boat out to Lake Pontchartrain for a sea trial, and when we got back, we noticed that oil or fuel was coming out of the port engine exhaust!  We didn't know if the problem was due to the recent work on the coolers, or whether we had developed major engine problems.  This morning, the mechanic came back aboard & determined that the re-built transmission oil cooler from CAT was defective, and was leaking oil into the cooling water, which is dumped into the engine exhaust.  Luckily, CAT had another cooler in stock, which the mechanic installed this afternoon.  Problem solved, but not without skipping a couple of heartbeats!  We're planning to leave in just 4 days!

Passes with Flying Colors

The Admiral had her medical check up this past week - the first follow up since her surgery - and passed with her colors flying (or was that her underdrawers flying?).  She is recovering nicely, becoming strong and fiesty, and getting antsy to do something besides sit around.  If she's not careful, I'll give her a mop & a bucket to start swabbing the decks!

While we're in New Orleans for another month, we're getting some additional work done at Seabrook boatyard.  Having the engine raw water/jacket water heat exchangers removed for cleaning & pressure testing.  Having the anchor windlass repainted.  We're making slow progress in fixing the water leaks into the bow chain lockers.  When the windlass is painted, we'll re-bed the thing on the pulpit & hopefully stop the rest of the leaks.


After the medical check up, it was time to drive back to Cleveland TN to care for Sue's mom.  I guess we also needed to feel the freezing weather & possible snow later this week.  Winter is still hanging around up here.  Speaking of lousy weather, the AGLCA website has been reporting on the offshore weather for crossing the Florida Panhandle, and for the last 4 weeks, there has been only 2-3 weather windows for crossing (most boats need 12-20 hours to cross).  So, if we hadn't returned to New Orleans last month, we would have been stuck in Carrabelle FL for weeks, waiting for a weather window to cross.

"Admiral Sue...................Arriving!"

My Admiral was "piped aboard" her ship yesterday at noontime (us Navy
pukes still fall back on Navy terminology -- whenever the ship's
captain or admiral came aboard, the bosun's mate would "pipe" them
aboard and announce it throughout the ship). Sue was released from
the hospital yesterday morning, and climbed up the boarding ladder
onto the boat exactly 24 hours after having major surgery!

Sue had robotic surgery Tuesday morning, and that minimized the number
and size of incisions, compared to "traditional surgery". This
dramatically improved the recovery time. Yesterday after coming
aboard, she hit the rack (went to bed) right away, primarily because
she didn't get any sleep that one night in the hospital. Her "pain
medication" is consisting of only naproxen (Aleve ingredient) -
nothing stronger. Well.........she did take a large dose of medicine
last night -- a huge bowl of ice cream with fudge topping.

She walked slowly down the pier yesterday, right up to the boat, and
started climbing up the vertical ladder even before I had pulled the
boat all the way against the dock. I had to hurry just to keep up
with her! She's been going up & down the ladders (stairs) on the boat
slowly, but steadily. This morning, she's getting antsy just sitting
around & already wants to help me wash the boat (well.......not
really). When you couple the marvels of modern medicine, with
numerous prayers from many friends & family, plus one really tough
redhead lady, you get a successful surgery with a quick recovery!

New Orleans happenings

We returned a couple days ago from a week in Tennessee taking care of Sue's mom.  Sue is still spending 5-6 days a month at her mother's, giving the live-in caregiver a week of relief.  Sue's been doing this every month for about 4 years now.  All I can say is that TN is way too cold for us.

In New Orleans, everything is getting ready for the Superbowl this Sunday.  Our boat is docked close to Lakefront Airport on Lake Pontchartrain, which is where many personal and corporate jets are landing for the weekend.  Every 5 minutes or so today, all day today, a jet would land at the airport.  And DirectTV had their blimp flying around dodging the landing jets.  There must be so many planes at the airport that they are parking them out in the swamp!  Who says that there's no money associated with sports?

Also in New Orleans, Carnival season is in full swing, with Mardi Gras on Feb 12.  (For those who don't know the 4 seasons in New Orleans, they are shrimp season, crawfish season, Carnival season, and hurricane season).  Parades have started, and King Cakes abound.  The Superdome downtown is lit up in purple, green & gold lights for the run-up to the Superbowl.

In our world, Sue has a date for her surgery this coming Tuesday Feb 5.  She was told by the surgeon initially that the earliest date for surgery would be Feb 20, but Sue sweet talked her into finding an earlier date.   Sue was told that she may be released from the hospital the next day, and to expect a 4-6 week recovery period.  What might be interesting is our previous plan to go to a Mardi Gras parade on Feb 9.......I want to see how well Sue bends down to pick up all the beads that the floats will throw!

On a more serious note, we're not sure how easily she can get up the ladder to board the boat after she is released from the hospital.  The floating dock is very low & there are about 5 steps up the ladder to the deck.  If we have to, I plan to borrow a "bosun's chair" from a sailboat friend.  The sailboats use this sling chair to haul themselves to the top of the mast to do repairs.  If Sue can't climb the ladder aboard, then I can rig up the bosun's chair to the dinghy davit, and hoist Sue from the swim platform up to the sundeck. Gotta admit..........it's real interesting living on a boat!!

Of note in Biloxi

As we spent 10 days in Biloxi, we of course tried to single-handedly spur the local economy with our tourist dollars.  The casinos are back in full swing, having fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  The visitor's center along Beach Blvd on the west side of town, next to the Biloxi Lighthouse, has been re-built and is very nice.  Several museums have also been rebuilt and are nice.



 There remain many vacant lots for sale, where buildings and homes used to stand before Katrina pushed a 25 foot mountain of water across the land.  In particular, the 150-year-old mansions that used to line Beach Blvd are only memories now.  A lot of history was lost when that bad girl came ashore.

Additionally, there used to be 150-year-old oak trees lining the road that became US Hwy 90,  After the hurricane, the city tried to keep the memory of the trees alive by having a "chain saw artist" carve sculptures out of the remnant tree trunks.  I think the sculptures are impressive, so we drove along Beach Blvd to take photos.

Where are we today??

So, this past Saturday Jan 19, we leave Biloxi harbor at sunrise and point the bow of the boat in the direction away from the sun.  We are heading back to New Orleans to take care of Sue, and have selected Seabrook Marina since they offer month-to-month rates, and only 14-day notice to leave.  Our boat was at Seabrook twice for haul out & maintenance work, so it know the way there.

We have a good trip westbound with 1-2' seas dead on our stern, bright sunshine above, and making as much as 11.5 mph (who says we have a "crawler"?).  Takes right at 5 hours to get to the Rigolets, and then another 3 hours in the ICW canal to the Industrial Canal.  Lots of towboats in the canal section, that we have to work around.  Good thing we have experience passing the tows from a couple years ago when we cruised the inland rivers.  Had an interesting landing at the dock when Sue's deck ape failed to read the wind correctly.  But, as the airplane pilots say, "Any landing you can walk away from, is a good landing".

Mississippi River paddlewheel boat "Natchez"

Our son & our fantastic granddaughter meet us with a car, so we can then turn around and drive back to Biloxi to pick up the car that we left there, and then drive 2 hours back to New Orleans.  Made for a rather looooooong day.

The next morning we see who is docked right across the Industrial Canal from us.  The Natchez comes here each January for maintenance.

And then, on Sunday, we pack the car to drive the 8.5 hours to Cleveland TN so we can spend our week this month caring for Sue's mother.

Sometimes you just need a scorecard to find out where we are today!

Two steps forward, one step back.......

Y'know, some folks like New Orleans so much they just can't leave!  Every time they try to depart the city, some magical force grabs them and yanks them back.  Well.............it's happened to us.

We are heading the boat back to New Orleans this Saturday, and postponing our cruising for about 2 months.  I could blame it on this really lousy weather we've had since we left 2 weeks ago, but the real reason is that my Admiral needs to have some surgery to correct her internal plumbing, and that is WAY more important than any traveling.  Besides, I need her shipshape so she can drive my boat (remember, I'm just the deck ape that handles the lines & fenders).  We have our medical insurance through Ochsner (her former employer), so we need to have the surgery done in New Orleans.

We'll dock the boat at Seabrook Harbor, on the Industrial Canal, for the 2 months.  That's the same place the boat was exactly one year ago (and also 3 years ago) when we hauled it for bottom work & other maintenance.  When we went to Seabrook today to see their new floating docks, the manager recognized us right away & shouted  "you're back!".  He lives in Luling LA, close to where our house was, so we're both "from da bayou".

So, this means that we'll HAVE to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras this year.  I know.........tough to take, but someone has to do it!  Plus, we'll have 2 more months to spoil our only granddaughter, and then turn her back to her parents!  And maybe, just maybe, the weather might be just a little bit better when we go cruising again in April!