Fun, Stress-free Weekend - Almost

Wife and I used to love sleeping on our little Stingray cuddy-cabin: 20' boat, port-a-potty, 1 battery, and no privacy and we slept out 4 nights a week just north of the Key Bridge in Washington, DC, taking the metro to work. After having 3 kids our Stingray was just to small to afternoon on, let alone overnight, so we sold it and bought a 2007 280EC. Mercruiser 496, a 5ecd genny, HVAC, and a nice tri-axle trailer. We slept out on in Fathers Day but the 5-year old batteries couldn't power the TV, fridge, etc. The AC didn't cool. We didn't bring a DC fan, and it was a hot, Spartan night on the boat. Tired in the AM I broke my wrist getting the boat back on the trailer - the winch handle caught me by surprise.

Over the next 3 months we upgraded to TPPL Batteries, fixed the thermostat in the fridge, fixed the generator, replaced the HVAC, and burned some movies to DVD. It all paid off Saturday, when we spent the 2nd night on the hook. Saturday morning I picked the boat up, replaced the anchor light, finished wiring in the new chartplotter, and loaded the fridge with beer and milk (3 kids under the age 4 still). We grabbed some fishing/shrimping gear and a paddleboard, and took off for the water. We live 3 miles from the ramp, so in 30 minutes we were floating the Stono River, looking for trouble. We found it!

We're running 32 MPH down center of the channel, at low tide, when the motor hiccup'ed and stalled. @%#$!! It started right back up, but stalled anytime I put it in gear. I raised the Bravo 3 and checked to see if the blades would turn by hand - they did and no crab lines. I dropped the anchor - and it didn't sink. Hmm. Why is the anchor sitting on top of the water? The new chartplotter (Simrad GO5) is networked to the VesselView7 over NMEA2000. The legacy GPS antenna is also on the NMEA2000 network, but I couldn't get it to register at home. I guess it worked that out, and somehow the GO5 was confused by multiple signals from the two antenna's and adding a 100' offset to the given position. We'd hit a shoal - 3' of sand/mud bottom in 20+ feet of water, without stirring up any mud. We checked for bilge water and slowly tested the drivetrain out - one blade has a slight cup to it, but I'll have it reconditioned this fall when I get my Hill Marine 4x4's.

We made it to a pretty spot and dropped the anchor - it sank this time. We watched the sunset over John's Island as we ate some KFC. I soldered the remaining connection on the GPS and reviewed all the settings, comparing them against Navionics on my cell phone, while the wife snapped a few pictures:




We motored to a pier near the St. John Yacht Club to walk the dog, and 5 minutes later security showed up. The pier is private, although all the signs stating such were brown on black and and impossible to read in the dark. Getting back to the boat I hoisted the 4 year old onto the swim platform and the dog fell in the water between the boat and the pier! I grabbed the first thing that moved (it was dark) and handed her to my wife. She got a warm bath while I pushed us off the pier and back into the channel. It was now 9pm and awfully dark out - when my sister called. Her and her boyfriend were at the ramp hoping to hang out a few hours - so we ran 9 miles in the dark back to the ramp to get her. GPS worked much better now, as did our remote controlled spot light - we avoided many crab trap buoy's.

Around 11pm we dropped the sister/boyfriend at the ramp and motored a few miles before finding a protected anchorage. We dropped the anchor, set the alarm, and the wife put the kids to bed while I checked over the boat again. I sat for a minute to check my Facebook and fell asleep - wife woke me up around 2am to join her in the v-birth (her and the kids fell asleep in the mid-berth). In the AM we took off for a bit of cruising. We stopped in a delta to throw the shrimp net, and the engine cut out! It refused to start, despite having strong spark (ouch) and fuel. Reading the PO's posts on here - looks like he's had the same problem with it previously. After fishing for 15 minutes it fired right up and never presented those symptoms again, so I'm not sure what's up with it. We ran it another hour, past the ramp, to find another pretty place to anchor and eat lunch. The girls watched a movie on their tablet while mom and I relaxed on the swim platform - until the wind picked up. Suddenly, despite a 0% chance of rain, it was raining! We cleaned up a bit, then weighed anchor and motored back to the ramp. I managed to get that big, single I/O boat against the pier without damage in 20 MPH winds, and onto the trailer the easiest I've ever done it. We dropped the antenna and anchor light (lesson learned last time we slept out) and drug the boat home, where I cleaned it in the rain. It's back in storage for the week (boo) and after 24 hours on land I've stopped rocking.

Comments

  • reneechris14reneechris14 Member Posts: 3,134 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sounds like a exciting weekend bet you can't wait to do it again.
    2005 Rinker FV342  Pawcatuck river,Ct
  • Dude_HimselfDude_Himself Member Posts: 596 ✭✭✭
    We're looking at Granite Gear bags that are about the same size as the interior cabinet areas... we'd each get one and no more. That way we don't have all the extra stuff along for the trip. That and SpaceSaver vacuum bags for sheets/towels so they're already on the boat and ready to go. Working to turn the boat into a weekend retreat without all the work.
  • randy56randy56 Member Posts: 4,083 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice sunset, hope ya get to relax a little next time. 
    Boat Name : 

  • LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,505 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow, you had a good month of boating this weekend!
  • J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,054 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ran NINE miles back in darkness? Holy cow man, I put more than 350 miles on my boat this summer but 9 miles on a river with no light... that sounds like something I wouldn't attempt, with 4 kids and wife too! You're a tougher man than I am. 
  • rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The only answer I have found for storage is I bought several containers that are all the same size and stackable- I put them along the wall in the mid berth and they stick out maybe 16" so for the little ones, they can deal with it! I have run some at dark but slowly! Was maybe 5 miles...wife says I need to get familiar with running in the dark- I tell her I'm good not doing that.
  • Cableguy GregCableguy Greg Member Posts: 5,011 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I run at night all the time. I usually go 6 miles from the "Point" in Pittsburgh to my slip. It isn't that bad if the river is nice and not loaded with debris. I just stay in the middle of the channel.
    2008 280 Express Cruiser, 6.2MPI, B3, Pittsburgh, PA "Blue Ayes"
    Go Steelers!!!
  • Handymans342Handymans342 Member Posts: 10,375 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ever been out in a full moon? Its awesome in the Gulf of Mexico
  • Dude_HimselfDude_Himself Member Posts: 596 ✭✭✭
    Full moon November 4th - we're going to watch it rise over Ft. Sumter in the Harbor (weather permitting). I hope it's a nice calm night - we'll run out the harbor and play around the ocean in the moonlight.
  • LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,505 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I love cruising at night - especially with a full moon, or with low clouds that reflect the light pollution.  I also loved night cruising before I had a radar, but radar makes it even more relaxing.  
  • rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Full moon is awesome on the water...
  • Dream_InnDream_Inn Member, Moderator Posts: 7,552 mod
    Full moon is great!  Two years ago I did a "blue moon" cruise.  Our river is basically east/west direction.  I took a group of dock mates out for happy hour.  Left right at sunset behind us and the blue moon rising in front us.  Cruised real slow so everyone could have their drinks.  Amazing and something I'll never forget!!!

    Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express

  • Michael TMichael T Member Posts: 7,227 ✭✭✭✭✭
    .......I can only imagine how some of those trips went!!!!!
  • Dude_HimselfDude_Himself Member Posts: 596 ✭✭✭
    Had to be sober enough to IronMike that boat up the ramp. Seriously - that was the hardest part - timing the tide so we could physically pull the boat out.
  • StodgeStodge Member Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭✭
    Had to be sober enough to IronMike that boat up the ramp. Seriously - that was the hardest part - timing the tide so we could physically pull the boat out.
    Are you referring to the Iron Mike statue on Ft. Bragg?

    2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX

  • Dude_HimselfDude_Himself Member Posts: 596 ✭✭✭
    No, we called the boating cycle IronMike... it usually involved running, swimming, and biking (well, the front half anyway).
  • Glassguy54Glassguy54 Member Posts: 588 ✭✭✭
    I would have LOVED to have been a patrolman coming upon a couple of guys schlepping a boat and trailer around by hand in the middle of the night!!! What a riot. @ Dude_Himself, any pictures by chance? I know we'd all love to see some!
  • Dude_HimselfDude_Himself Member Posts: 596 ✭✭✭
    We were stopped early on - we had a flasher relay connected to the trailer brake lights, powered by the boat's battery. That was all we needed legally. Being on a full AF scholarship with a military ID we got away with murder honestly. I bought a Jeep YJ and pushed it 6 miles to the dorms at 2am.

    Here's the path - 9/10ths of a mile. That place was called "The Compound". It's surrounded by razor wire and and a 10' fence and every room had loaded weapons hanging on nails on the wall. Owner was a dirty cop, narcotics and prostitution sergeant, that would rail lines of coke off the hookers he brought back.

    The boat before we added the bicycle front end:



    A pretty Marine that loved to be on the water (in this boat). The flywheel exploded this trip, and a piece about the size of a hot dog came through the carb door on the front of the cowling and lodged itself between us on the dash.



    Trying to pry the flywheel off to replace it the puller shattered and took 2 segments off my finger. Again, no 4 wheeled vehicle, so I used a length of paracord on the clutch back to my left shoulder to shift:


  • Glassguy54Glassguy54 Member Posts: 588 ✭✭✭
    Geez, you should write a book!
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