Meet the new La Rea!

LaRea · September 22

It was great meeting @TonyG13 and his better half! They came over by bicycle, and even brought a tin of Chicago popcorn and some Malort! It's really cool meeting forum members on their home turf. We picked their brains on fun stuff to do in Chicago.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020499/uploads/editor/qb/142ai78dbpuh.jpg

LaRea · September 22

It felt great to get the oil changed yesterday. I changed oil and filters in two engines, two transmissions, and the generator. Also collected oil samples that I will send for lab analysis. The total was 27 gallons of Rotella T4. It took 4 hours plus two Uber runs to Walmart for supplies. Now we should be good to go until February-ish.

That Reverso oil change system makes it easy. The hardest part was just moving all those heavy 5-gallon buckets of oil. I should have taken pictures ... 27 gallons is a LOT of oil!

Formulaben · September 22

LaRea said:

That Reverso oil change system makes it easy.

I can't imagine doing any oil changes on the water, but especially multiple engines/transmissions with that much fluid without a Reverso or something similar.

It's so cool to see forum members meeting each other!

Ian · September 22

I want to know how many times you changed the oils for 121 gallons…

(Yeah, I read Diane’s blog!)

LaRea · September 23

Hah, bit of a typo on the blog! 27 gallons total. We were talking liters at one point in conversation with a couple from Canada.

Liberty44140 · September 23

Sorry about the platform troubles but it sounds like you have a good plan. Too bad it wont just hold in place and can be fixed for the rest of the trip. Nice work on the oil changes, the Reverso really does make it a lot easier. I always get the 5 gallon buckets of T4 and indeed they are clunky and heavy but SO much easier than trying to deal with numerous 1 gallon jugs. That would be a mess! Glad the trip continues to go well!

Grahamu · September 23

Grahamu said:

Lake Michigan is 3" lower than this time last year and we had no problem clearing with antennas down on Oct 09/23, If rainfall is normal the level will continue dropping.

Sorry that is wrong information, water level at that bridge is controlled. You can call Lockport Lock at 815-838-0536 for the latest clearance.

LaRea · October 10

I set up a new system for showing tank levels on my phone (which is handy when I'm on deck filling or pumping out). Fuel, fresh water, holding tank, house battery.

Gotta love the icon for the holding tank. It's a reeking pile of poo, complete with little rays of stink wafting out from the top.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020499/uploads/editor/dr/ixzprk26d46o.jpg

LaRea · October 10

The bigger picture is that I finally figured out how to connect the boat's N2K network (GPS, tanks, engine data etc.) to the wifi network and my laptop.

The laptop uses TimeZero nav software, which has cloud integration with the chartplotters. I plan routes in TimeZero on the laptop, and they get mirrored over to the chartplotters within a couple seconds.  I had that part working a year ago, but I could never see the boat's position in TimeZero until today.  Now the laptop shows my position, track, anchor circle, and AIS tracks of nearby vessels.

Here's a screenshot. The red vessel is me, anchored on the Tennessee River waiting for Kentucky Lock to finish a 10-hour repair job so I can lock up into Kentucky Lake. The two blue AIS icons are 1000-foot barges who are also waiting.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020499/uploads/editor/tw/1arhuc82qb7u.jpg

The tow at the top left has an interesting temporary mooring. They just bump the front barge into the river bank, and leave the engines in gear for however long it takes. (The one at the bottom right is tied to a federal mooring cell.)

LaRea · October 16

Today's project: added an antenna switch for the starboard VHF.

The main antennas are too tall for all those low bridges on the Erie Canal and Trent Severn Waterway. There are so many bridges that I ran almost the whole 300 miles using a handheld VHF and no AIS. Now, when I have to drop the main antennas, I can just switch over to the shorter auxiliary antenna. #geekinghard

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020499/uploads/editor/1u/cj05nge3itso.jpg

Ian · October 18

Sure you have enough spare coiled there?

Aqua_Aura · October 18

My boats diesels don't leak 😁. Now my truck is a different story 😭

davidbrooks · November 4

I was impressed till this guy raised the bar on doing the loop. Bay Welcomes Young Man Attempting the Great Loop by Canoe | Chesapeake Bay Magazine

rasbury · November 4

I didn't even have the guts to open that @davidbrooks. I did a 50 mile trip in the Dakotas as a boy scout- we had a week to do it and had to take all food, clothing and sleeping on the canoe. Thought I was going to get eaten by a bear....

LaRea · November 5

I didn't meet him, but we saw him in a restaurant in Canada. He's going the opposite direction from us (clockwise) so we might see him again next spring. A brave soul indeed. I hope he makes it.

Liberty44140 · November 8

Wait - So he is doing the loop in a canoe clockwise, as in going against the Mississippi current? Um..... why?

Aqua_Aura · November 9

Chuck Norris did it against the current with cement shoes doing the dog paddle.

LaRea · November 9

Yup - he'll be against the current on the MS. In a past adventure, he pedaled across the country -- on a unicycle.

Willhound · November 9

Aqua_Aura said:

Chuck Norris did it against the current with cement shoes doing the dog paddle.

Actually, Chuck Norris floated in place and the river reversed course to take him where he wanted to go....

captkevin · November 21

https://boattest.com/article/man-attempting-6000-mile-great-loop-canoe?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=334760699&utm_content=334760699&utm_source=hs_automation

LaRea · November 21

Interesting cat to say the least. When we saw him in Canada, we thought he was some sort of character actor. Didn't get a chance to talk with him, but now I wish we had.

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