A Little Art

Engine Departs

T

Mickey loved all the action

they had to reposition the hooks

Another beautiful morning in Columbus. The sun is shining, not a whisp of a cloud in sight. The temperature is another matter, however. At the moment it’s 41F or 5C with the highs soaring to 59F/15C. I never travel without warm clothes and lots of blankets. The hull has an Airex core which is a good insulator and we have a little heater to make it easier to get out of bed.

The engine was removed on Tuesday. Seems like we’ve entered the twilight zone and can’t find our way home. A new engine is not advisable or affordable, but Chris is confident that once the work is done the engine will be like new. Probably better, for we’ll be diligently caring. We’ll also be mostly sailing for that’s what this Southern Cross was meant to do.

I think that lovely as the name is, it’s time to give her a name that truly makes her ours. We'll let you know when we find the right one.

An interesting bit of data about Columbus. This town was not far from Shiloh and many of the wounded men, both Northern and Southern soldiers, were treated in the homes all around here. H.M.Stanley of Stanley and Livingston fame found himself as a 21 year old, fighting for the south in that most awful battle.

 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/shiloh.htm

Saturday in Columbus

what to do when you can't go

Jacob and Josie, aboard Time and Tide

where "Teasa" is now that's where we'll be when the crane comes. A lovely Brazilian couple have been cruising for 5 years.

"Wanderer" from Saint John

two boats had to come back to the dock as a priority barge was locking through, probably carrying LPG

Dear friends

Sorry I left you with such a dramatic message in the last post. Here’s the scoop as we understand it. Chris, the tall drink of water (:D) who is our mechanic, came on Thursday to personally deliver the bad news as he didn’t think it right to tell us on the phone or get it third hand from T, the marina manager who has been helping us. Right now, he is certain that the problem lies with the #1 piston. Either a bearing or a wrist pin, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudgeon_pin has come loose or is broken. Chris has a personal opinion about what caused this to happen but he won’t know until he gets in there. The engine will be removed by crane, taken to the shop and given the best treatment she’s had for some time. Right now, we won’t need new parts which will keep the expense down. Some consolation since the bill is steep enough. The good news is that Chris has promised us that the engine will last us for years. All this will take 2 weeks and then its another 2 weeks to Tarpon. But the last week we’ll be sailing!

As you’ll see in the pictures, we had a beautiful day for Thanksgiving with Christelle and Gary. She cooked a lovely turkey feast and Gary took us for a spin in their dink. The weather is changeable, sunny and warm, then cold and wet. 

Thanks for all the prayers and good vibes you’ve been sending our way.

Miss you all, sure could use some hugs, especially those good, tight hugs Gail always gives me.

VERY BAD NEWS

Troubles are not in the head, so now the engine must be removed from the boat and taken to the shop to be overhauled. Most likely a piston. I'll get more details later but right now stomach is a-churn and the expense, the time and effort involved.

Still Waiting

the mechanics, and T, the manager  in the red shirt, he's been awesome

the mahogany kayak

our engine

Woke to a Thursday foggy morning. Several boats came in the night before, most will leave again the next day. A couple traveling by kayak spent two days here, making an interesting contrast to the trawlers and cabin cruisers that are ubiquitous on these inland waters. They were concerned that there wouldn’t be any where for them to camp, now that the Recreational Areas are closed. The one here won’t even let me walk through the park. Still, Barb and Gene are pressing on. They started at the head waters of the Mississippi and are traveling to Mobile. They’ve done 1700 miles already and dislike the thought of giving it up when their goal is so close. You can get more info at www.paddleforapurpose.net.

Of great concern to us is the word from the mechanic. He arrived an hour earlier than we expected and after a couple hours of delving into the engine found that the problem isn’t as dire as he first thought. Chris removed the head and found the cylinders to be fine, but he took the head to a “head shop” where further testing will be done to ascertain the problem, perhaps an unseated valve. Not as costly a job, but we must wait. My brother Andrew has been emailing us advice which has helped a great deal.

We also had propane problems. The solenoid switch died and we are waiting on a new one. Of course it died when we were getting ready to cook curry for Christelle and Gary. We cooked it at their boat and the evening turned out just fine.

The next day we went to Dowdle Propane with our tank to have it filled, but no joy there. The woman refused to fill our tank because of the rust and she offered very little help for getting a new tank. We hunted hi and lo but no one had a tank small enough to replace the one we had. Finally, we went out to an RV dealership, way past Columbus Airforce Base and while they couldn’t help us, the wonderful lady there did everything she could think of to find us a solution and that was M&W Butane, and I’ll tell you what, Mr Charles and his merry band were amazing. They inspected the tank, said it was fine, offered to clean, paint and fill our tank. Just like Mississippi version of  Hank Hill of propane and propane accessories. We picked it up yesterday and with Don’s help we are now once again cooking with gas. Don and Rosie are next to us on their 50’ boat, “Just Rosie”, see www.cruisingwithjustrosie.com. They are just swell. Don is a soft spoken Texas gentleman and Rosie is most welcoming. Not sure about her taste in movies though :), last night she loaned us "Kill Cruise", a film I'm sure Jimmee Ehrlich would just love :) But I like some quirkiness from time to time.

Well I’ve taken up enough of your time. Hope everyone likes to read the blog. Keep well

Update

the shoreline at the dock

sunset at an anchorage in Bay Spring Lake

Maggie through the dodger

“Miles from nowhere 

I guess I'll take my time 

Oh yeah, to reach there “

That song kept going through my mind as we settled into Columbus Marina here in Mississippi. But, Columbus, the town is not nowhere, fortunately. We have the services of a fine diesel mechanic who came out to diagnose the problem and who comes Thursday to put us right again. It’s a big expensive job and that will be hard on the cruising kitty, but it must be done.

Frankly, we are somewhat glad for the break in the travels, we’ve been going long and hard since we sold the house in August. This time lets us get familiar with the other systems on the boat and gives the cats a much needed break as well. We’ve met some super good folks. Canadians and Texans, some of our favourite people :)

We have the use of a car and I’ve already found the nearest movie house, so off to see Rush and Gravity. There’s a lovely Recreational area within a few minutes walk where I can do a little Tai Chi. And because the government is shut down, no one is there. The weather which was rainy all day Sunday, the dregs of TS Karen, has turned clear and cooler. Definitely Autumn weather.

Love and miss you all, I know you are sending us good vibes. 

Another funny cat story: Juan and Jack and Ridley, on the first night here, went walking down the dock to the shore which is lined in clumps of water hyacinths and lily pads. Juan was so anxious to get on land, he couldn’t wait for the gate to open. He now knows the perils of mistaking clumps of water hyacinths for dry land. Yup, he got another soaking. All in all though, he’s having fun.

Journey stalled again

at almost every lock a heron came in to find the unlucky fish who got caught in the gates when the waters went down.

a real creatures from the black lagoon area

Traveled all day to get to Blue Bluff Landing for an anchorage that was described in the guide as peaceful and quiet, with a T dock to tie alongside and a landing place for taking cats ashore. We got to it at dusk and we're making our very slow way into the marked channel when we quietly hit a mud bar from which we could not escape. Mississippi mud is like 5200. Jack put out the Danforth to try to kedge us out, nope, called a nearby marina but no tow. The owner kindly came out with his pontoon boat and after much effort we got off but not without cost. Larry from Aberdeen Marina did not charge us but the engine developed a clacking sound. Anchored where we were as it was safe and the marina was too shallow for us. Had a nice evening and left early to go through the Aberdeen Lock and get on our way. Unfortunately the clacking sound persisted so after we left the lock we anchored and called Boat US for a tow. T Caldwell, manager of Columbus Marina came out to get us. A 40 mile round trip for him. Such a great guy. He put us at a dock and called the experts who are arriving any time now to diagnose the problem. We pray it is easily fixed, if not we are here for 2 weeks at least.

At least we have missed whatever nastiness Karen is bringing to Gulf Coast. If we had kept to the schedule we would have been making our way through the ICW to Florida. The fates knew what was best for us.  Columbus marina is a pleasant place to be for all of us while problems are solved. Night Music is after all a sailing boat. 

Well, closing this post now and will keep y'all updated as best I can.

Three Locks done, Nine to Go

It’s amazing to me how cats can keep their heads dry when they fall in the water. That’s two times for Juan, none for the other three this trip. His second fall was at the dock in Aqua Yacht Harbor. We were on one side of a long dock, with several trawlers and motor cruiser on the other side, most of them stern to, several of these slips had been enhanced with a deck added to the end of the slip, so these boat owners had a sitting out area complete with outdoor kitchens, dining sets and TVs. Not sure how Juan fell, I left him playing with Maggie. Fortunately, some of those cruisers have low swim platforms, so he got himself out, and wetly crept home.

Anchored in a lovely cove at Daymark 414 after a cold, wet run down from Aqua Yacht Harbor. Sun came out and the warmth came back. Then woke early, got in a shore leave for Juan then journeyed on. Three locks (nine more to go) and no good anchorage for 20 miles, so spent the night at Midway Marina. Neat place. Got groceries, did laundry, had a lovely shower. Trailed after Juan so he wouldn’t go missing. Rudder post needs attending to then off we go again.

This just in, Mickey has now been christened. The docks here are wood as they don’t need to be floating docks. So we surmised he was able to climb the pilings. Jack is tracing his wet paw marks.