Log 173; Day 483; Sept. 16, 2009; Tidewater Marina, Baltimore, MD.

On Monday afternoon we had the boat pulled at Tidewater Yacht Service to pull the props and have them checked

In this shot, you can not only see the props, but right in front of the prop is the line cutters I have mentioned.

When we inspected the rest of the boat, we discovered an issue with the bow thruster fiberglass.

It looks like, when they installed the bow thruster (at the factory) they did not do a good job of incorporating the thruster tube, with the rest of the hull fiberglass. I have been in touch with Cruisers (the manufacturer of the boat) and we are getting an estimate to have this repaired.

After pulling the boat, and taking off the props, they pushed the boat back into a slip, and we will be here until the props are done...hopefully on Wednesday afternoon.

While we were at Tidewater Marina, we rode our bikes to a local hot spot...Nick's Fish House...great lunch

Like so many places we go for lunch, there are not a lot of folks who are there, when we get there...as soon as they open. Many times we have had lunch, and are back at the boat, before the place gets crowded.

This is a picture of a ship that left the harbor a couple of days ago, the SS John W. Brown, it was built in 1942, and is 441 feet long. It is now a floating museum.

And finally...this is a picture of some of Deb's family, with Brad and Patti (center on the bottom picture) from Salvage Crew. They stopped in Ottawa, on their way down the Illinois River, and ended up meeting many of the locals, and having a great time. We knew they would.

Log 173
Day 483
Wednesday, September 16, 2009

8:30 AM EDT
Location: Tidewater Yacht Service, Baltimore, MD.
Weather: 67 degrees, and mostly cloudy...50% chance of rain today and a high of 74

On Monday afternoon, we moved the boat about 2 miles, from Anchorage Marina, to Tidewater Marina to have the boat pulled. The problem we are having, is that since we had the props done in July, the port engine has been using about 5% more fuel, so I wanted to take them off, and send them back to the folks who did them, to check them out. They pulled the props off, and we were back floating, and in a slip at their marina, by 4 pm. The plan is to wait until the props are fixed, and then lift the boat again, and re-install the props...hopefully today (Wednesday). While I am not sure who will end up paying for this (us...or the prop shop), I will say the guy (Bob) at the prop shop has been very cooperative, and at least that part has gone well. Some would argue that it’s no big deal, to have one prop a little off, but I disagree. I want to know all systems are operating correctly. If, when we put the props back on, the port engine uses more fuel, then we have another problem to deal with.

Speaking of problems to deal with, while the boat was in the air, we also looked at around the boat, and noticed that the fiberglass around the bow thruster looked funny. The pictures tell a better story, but the bottom line is, I sent the pictures to Cruisers, and they want to get an estimate to have the fiberglass fixed. As I write this, I’m not exactly sure what we’ll end up doing, but I do think we will get it fixed while we are in the Baltimore area. I am assuming (hoping) that this fix will be covered by Cruisers. To fix this right, will not be a cheap deal.

On Tuesday, while waiting for the props to get fixed, we took a ride to lunch at a local hot spot called Nick’s Fish House. The reviews (on line) were not very flattering, but we liked the place, and had a great lunch. On the way back, we stopped at Walmart for some supplies, and later that afternoon, I took a LONG bike ride to find a post office. Thank God for those bikes. At first, I thought they were a pain to drag along. Now I love them to get around with, and actually enjoy riding them. I wonder if I will ride a bike when we live on land again?

As I finish writing this log, I just got off the phone with the prop shop. The props are done, and will be here by 10 am. And...we also have a time to pull the boat at 12:30. If all goes well, we should be back at Anchorage by mid afternoon.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob