Second Lesson on Boat

It was a beautiful day on the water yesterday.... hardly any wind, sunny & warm. Definition of this for our Florida friends: 69 degrees!

When Captain Lenny let us know he would be free to do more training I immediately started fretting knowing it would be “my turn” at being captain... piloting the boat! The night before I had a headache and in the morning tried to talk Walter into going without me. But I knew I had to do this even though most of the time Walter would be in command I would have to know what to do in an emergency. I actually thought Lenny might skip me taking the wheel but all hope was gone as he called me “Captain” when I boarded the boat. My stomach was now cramping!

I started off on the deck learning to undo lines for departure. Last time Captain Lenny had to stay on the bridge with Walter but this time he was on the deck with me. The main instruction was on the “spring line”.. a very important rope that is attached first when coming into your slip making the boat stay mid-slip while all the other lines are attached. I think I have finally learned the over or under deal on the lines.. they must be done UNDER the rail so as not to pull the rail... I know you are thinking, “well duh!” but when you are actually THERE (& your working with a 71 yr old brain!) it seems confusing....I made the mistake yet again but caught myself the second time and did it right. Hurray! And getting the lines off those piles was so much easier with the “boat hook”! Okay, WHERE was this wonderful gadget when I had to do this last time?????!!!!

First we did anchoring... on our trip we will be “On the hook” most every night so this is important to learn.... what a muddy job! The Neuse River has BLACK mud on the bottom. Prior to yesterday I had pictured myself in one of my many pairs of WHITE capri pants working on deck as we get under weigh.... I don't think so! My hands were black and pants got some mud also.

Once the anchor was down I had to tell Walter when to stop his backing up as the anchor set. There is a certain amount of rode (chain) that must be let out when anchoring over night so the boat will swing in the wind safely. We still need to tape or mark our rode. Having not brought the head sets we invested in we could not hear each other so I tried to do hang signals... seems I can't balance on deck with one hand in the air!.....I am beginning to think that this is like learning to roller skate but the rink floor is moving! It might be a good idea for me to wear a life jacket on deck ALL the time.

Then I was on the bridge when Walter leaves and throws a life jacket in the water yelling, “I have fallen over board!” He stays away and there I am left wondering what to do. I realize I will be in a panic if my husband really falls into the water but I was totally surprised to find out how easily this boat pilots! Captain Lenny was there to show me what to do first... cut the engines back to idle, kill the auto pilot and the thingamabob that slaves both engines together so I can maneuver the boat using only the two gears. I turned the boat around... finding out it keeps moving if you over do this move!... In a panic I will probably be spinning the boat!! I got some practice redoing my turn... had to keep going to side window to see where the bright orange life jacket was located... but I managed to get to it and Walter was “saved”! WHEW!

Back at the dock we practiced getting into the slip without hitting the boat on the dock. Apparently most of the damage to boats happens during this time. Everyone is so nice at this marina... a neighbor was working on his boat and saw us and quickly came over to help us dock... but Lenny shooed him away telling him we needed to practice alone.. oh JOY! We did this several times and I now realize my back is going to hate the deck operations.... lots running aft & forward to grab lines.... lots of bending over to cleat the lines and PULLING them tight. Know any chiropractors that want to crew with us?

Capitan Lenny signed us off to solo next time..... good news and a bit scary but with practice we are hoping to get better and I do have more confidence now that we WILL get more proficient one day.

The neatest thing happened before we left the dock. I met a lady from TX who with her husband lives on a boat at our marina. They started doing the Loop last year but someone in the family got sick so they had to return to TX. They have a home there but stay on boat until January in New Bern and then will come back in the spring and may travel north with us. They came over to our boat just before we left and gave us a “boat card”. This is something a lot of Loopers do.. print up a business card with the name of their boat and info like their cell phones, blog address, etc. But this card was different.. it had a scripture reference on it! I immediately asked her if she knew the Lord... she shook her head yes. How exciting to meet two new friends who love the Lord! We will be getting together with them next week. They have 4 years experience on their boat and we are sure they can tell us many things that will make our adventure nicer.

Training/Maiden Voyage

We met our trainer/Captain Lenny at the boat around 11a.m. yesterday.  We asked lots of questions and so did he!  Searching our  brains for what we learned in boating class and gaining new knowledge in about one hour of Instruction from Lenny.  THEN we   departed the dock...Oh! How I wish there was nothing more to say about the initial exiting of a dock!  Lots & lots of ropes.. oops, proper name: LINES, to get off the piles... each had to be wound up correctly and put out of the way... no I do not yet have the hang of that wrapping of lines! And I discovered the hard way a big square object in the middle of the fore deck... a hatch window for our guest V-berth that sticks up and one can easily trip over it.  And before we were away Walter also tripped backward and fell but recovered quickly unharmed.  I was left alone to take off the last rope from the Pile after the LINES were taken from the aft.

This is no easy job as the lines sit down on those piles not on top... I think I heard the guys yelling to put some slack in the line as I repeatedly flipped/whipped the line to get it off the pile but at last it did come off.  Of course by now the boat was moving and GA did not have her sea legs as I stood trying to wind up the line......About then I heard my name being called and looked up and saw that our friend, Thea, was video taping this departure. Good grief!  So now we have proof of the clowns on the deck!

In the channel of the Trent River things were going great with Walter in the pilot seat and Lenny close by. But then the wind came up after going under highway 70 bridge & the rudder was not seeming to work right... so Lenny took over.  Now when would be the perfect time to have an emergency? NEVER of course but otherwise when a licensed captain is on board.  Suddenly we lost all the steering!!!  Best bet Lenny said was to go slow piloting boat just using engines to direct us..when going slow you can't use wheel anyway.  This is when it is wonderful to have TWO engines!  Lenny didn't let the opportunity go by as we were asked what we would do... call BoatUS to tow us?... best towing company but Lenny had another idea.  He headed for the railroad bridge near the Hilton Grand Marina..... he was going too far to one side as the tender began to open the train bridge so he turned around and gave it another shot all the while teaching us that you go slow and if not lined up right back up and try again.  I was beginning to think he arranged this emergency for our benefit!!

I wanted to call the marina as instructed in class but when you are with someone who knows everyone you just go right in there and dock on outside pier all the while calling your friend, "the best mechanic around", who just happens to be working right near where we docked...see what I mean about thinking Lenny planned the whole thing?!  

The mechanic came aboard along with "John" who works for Lenny selling boats...the man was a ER doctor but hated his job and always wanted to sell boats! huh?  And he is very successful at it.  I was beginning to feel like we might just fit into this motley crew of boaters.  :-)

Walter had already been down in the hole where the engines are located and now more hatches were opened including one under our queen bed in Master Cabin... that is where the large fuel tank is located!...under our bed?!  Wonder if is sloshes at night when we might be anchored out?  :-0

They all thought it might be that the steering had no fluid.... but as embarrassing as this is to tell you, the problem was not that at all!!  It was that Walter had accidentally pushed the button for Auto Pilot and, of course, you loose the steering!! Although Lenny was kicking himself not to have thought of this and Walter felt bad also we were both elated that there was no real problem with the steering in the boat.  

After spending some time on the widest river in the USA... did you know that about the Neuse River?  I always thought the Mississippi was the widest.  We then headed for the Northwest Creek Marina at Fairfield Harbor to practice some docking.

The shoaling around the entry is less than 3 ft in places so we had to go past it and then return up a deeper channel...scary to me but I guess we will get used to this as some of the channels on our Loop trip will be shallow.  Walter called the marina...took a few times for them to respond but they did and came out to fuel our boat. Now this is the embarrassing part for me.  Walter wanted to stay on the fly bridge to watch Lenny as he backed the boat in the fueling slip... it was left to me to handle the lines! WHAT?!  So I thought it best to admit to Dawn, the very nice dock master, that I had never done this before...of course she had no clue prior to my confession, yeah, right!  Then began the exchange of  "Under"? or "Over"? first under then over?....... for the line to one of the dock piles.  I am still confused on that... but when she said to throw her one of the lines I wound that baby up over my head and heaved hard thinking it will surely fall in the water and come short of the dock.  It didn't!  but nearly knocked her over!  

While Walter filled the large tank (two tanks, one smaller than the other) I was asked several times to check the tank's gauge (were they just trying to keep me busy?) which is also under the queen bed.  I slid off the mattress and only had to take off one tiny 6" square piece of wood to see the gauge.  I know the boat is big because I got lost once and found myself in the forward V-berth looking for the fuel gauge!  The wind was blowing, the boat was bobbing... and you better not be laughing at me!

Then it was Walter's turn to practice docking as we left for our slip just a few spots away from fueling dock.  Of course he had to be up on the fly bridge with Lenny watching him. This left me alone again to handle the lines... thank heaven for the help on the dock!  I want to get good at this but can an OLD dog learn?  

Walter did great and Lenny said he would sign us off to "fly" solo after one more day of practice.... we will do some anchoring out and some man-over-board practice.  Whoopee!  

I am a shade gal who likes to hike in the mtns so I am just as surprised as some of you to tell you ....that THIS has to be THE COOLEST thing I have ever done!  I love it!

Measurements

We decided to go down to the Trent River (here in New Bern) to the boat owner's house and take some measurements inside for new fabric, etc.  We are awaiting a hurricane here that is about 800 miles wide... in other words we will feel it!  We left about noon.  We arrived with the wind blowing and the rain coming down.  Heavy overcast skies here.

The owners were away but had given us permission to go any time.  I was surprised that the very nice boarding ladder was not in place on their dock.  Walter said no one wants to take the time to put it up if you are planning on going any where any time soon.  And of course we hope to close on the boat soon and move it our the reserved slip at Fairfield Harbor.  Walter just leaped to the swim platform... I stood on the dock with my mouth OPENED!  But I did as instructed.. held the double rope in my hands and pulled like crazy... well, he didn't tell me to pull... I was trying to get the boat closer to the dock!  It was tied mid slip between the piles so it wasn't gonna move... but I refused to believe it and continued to pull hard.... when I finally realized that I would have to jump.... I told Walter in kind of a whisper,  "I want to go home!" Can't believe I said that!  But I was so scared... I knew that water was cold and I didn't want to fall in!  Worse I had worn my slippery tennis shoes instead of my new boat tennies.  

Finally, I made the leap which was really a huge giant step onto the swim platform which by the way has shrunk since we first saw the boat... Walter says it is wider than most.. NO WAY!  I was so thrilled to discover I had made the leap without feeling more water than the cold rain on me that I hugged Walter and wouldn't let go. But then I realized he was saying something to me and his voice was getting louder. He was saying, "LET GO.. DON'T HOLD ON TO ME!"  Was the man nutz?!   I now know that there is very little, IF anything, to hold on to on the swim platform....until you walk far enough to hold on to the ladder that goes up to the sun deck... only a few feet away from me but seemed a lot further today.  Can you imagine how slippery that stainless steal ladder was in the rain?!... it was then that Walter suggested I take off sun glasses!  Oh yeah!  Made a big difference.  

I made it to the sun deck but as I was going down the three steps to the salon.. holding the hand rails provided.. I let go toooo soon...slipped & fell on bottom step hitting my hip.. praise God it wasn't my back!  My shoes might as well have been greased for all the traction I was getting with them.  Then proceeded the next lesson (lecture) on ALWAYS holding on in a boat EVEN at the dock!  I know the poor man was at this point having serious concerns about his first mate! AND ONLY crew member for most of the Great Loop!  But wait, it gets worse!

While I was bending over measuring the sofa I didn't notice that Walter had opened the engine hatch.... a big hole in the middle of the salon floor.  I stepped backward as I stood up and the major part of one of my feet was mostly over that hole with just the toe of my shoe on the floor next to it.  Praise God again that my weight was still on other foot OR some of you would be getting a phone call from our hospital.. that is IF the paramedics could have gotten me out of the engine room!!  

Getting back off was even scarier. Walter says I will have to do this to get on the dinghy... what? well, maybe so but I pictured sunny skies... this is going to be embarrassing at a marina!  I told him he could go for groceries on rainy days and I, as Galley Slave, would stay on the boat!  

And so the Grand Adventure begins!