Optimist, thy name is Harvey

In my last post, (whiny though it was), I mentioned that we would be moving on the Misty Lady and my next post would come from her bridge.  Sadly that will not be the case, this post is still coming from our hotel room!

Seems the laying of floors in a yacht is different than laying floors in a house.  A subfloor must be installed and aligned, a layer of luan plywood (specially water resistant) is then installed and then a layer of moisture proofing compound must be laid down covering the subfloor. Finally the flooring is installed.  Not a one or two day affair.  Especially considering the almost 1,000 square feet of the Lady’s living area.

So we signed up for another week in the Bates Motel!

Lucky for us also is that Delyn Gruver, the diesel specialist will be here tomorrow to get started on the removal of the cylinder heads of our starboard engine. This will make a major determination as to the state of the engine overall.  We are hopeful that Delyn’s discovery will be positive and the length of time for repair will be short and timely.

Our electronics guru Mark Pringle, chief of Nautical Systems International, will be doing two installations over this next week.  The first will be to replace all the outdated control systems, computers, GPS, old no longer functional LORAN systems along with the old nonfunctional radar system, and replace them with highly efficient up to date electronic control systems, including a new GPS, Sounding Unit, VHF radio, state of the art Radar unit and an AIS system that will allow me to see all the craft around me for a 25 mile radius.  Included in these units will be a new digital chart plotter integrated with the GPS and RADAR that will compliment my IPad based system.  This unit will also connect to the new auto pilot.

Secondly, we will have a state of the art Satellite TV system, using DISH TV service, installed on the Misty Lady, which along with our new Internet/Web access system will enable us to communicate over the web, and have our favorite television shows available where ever we are staying.

Why are we doing all this one might ask, primarily because this yacht will be our home and hearth for a number of years in the future.  Obviously we want to have a home that we can be proud of, that our friends and family can visit comfortably and that we will be able to cruise the Atlantic coastal waterways in comfort and style.

I have temporary space for the Lady on the DC waterfront while the “transient” yachts are in town.  So we will have a place to berth the Lady and can enjoy the area around the DC waterfront.  Our hope is that the work will go forward with timely dispatch and we can cast off the lines, pointing her bows toward the Potomac River and home.

Next major task, mechanically speaking will be to have a specialist company come out and “polish” the diesel fuel that is currently in our tank.  See, unlike gasoline diesel fuel can continue to be effective and usable for years, long after gasoline has turned to solids.  The fuel in the Lady’s tank (over 500 gallons) has been in there for over 6 years.  So the polish process will remove the fuel, run it through a series of filters and treatment components and then the clean fuel will be returned to our tank and we can use it as if it were just fresh from a pump.  A bit costly, but far less than draining and refilling with new fuel by a long shot.

Two people have indicated a positive outlook with regard to the diesel problems, indicating that from their observations of our information about the trip and the shut down, is that the odds are very favorable that the engine suffered no catastrophic damage.  I can only hope that they are “smarter than the average bear” in this regard.

Once the flooring is completed, we will move on board with the two “sea cats”, Duchess and Penny.  Once we have an idea of the work effort for the two engines (I am going to have the port engine checked out just to be safe), we will start work on the other facelift aspects, and then have the Lady hauled out and the bottom painted with anti-fouling paint.  While she is out of the water a crew of folks will begin the process of doing a DETAIL of her structure.  Washing, scrubbing, polishing and buffing every inch of her fiberglass exterior.

The yard management and staff will then install our new appliances, including a stacked washer and dryer, a new refrigerator, a dishwasher, a new gimbaled stove (with a glass top), and a new ice maker for the wet bar.

Then when all these have been accomplished, and the old Captain has written the last check to our contractors, we will turn in for our last night aboard in the Edgewater/Annapolis area.  Very early the next morning we will cast off her lines, fire up her engines, start up the generator set and slowly move out of the slip, the harbor and head down the South River to the Chesapeake Bay.  We will then turn south toward the mouth of the Potomac River.  Then a 95 nautical mile run up river to the Washington DC waterfront and home.

Keep good thoughts ladies and gentlemen.  Even though it may sound like we are anxiety ridden, frankly I am having the time of my life and living a dream I have carried around for more than 40 years.

More to come

Author: harv1941

Just a summary, I am 84 years of age, retired in July 2013 and settled down to promoting the dangers of bacterial meningitis, which killed my beloved son, Mike in 2009. My wife, Charlotte, and I embarked on an adventure of live aboard cruising, aboard a large Blue Water motor yacht. While our beginning was rather fraught with hurdles, we continued to look forward to the day we moved aboard the Misty Lady and cruise the eastern seaboard and associated waterways. After more than four years of life aboard this Bluewater Motor Yacht, I developed an advanced problem due to interaction with medications and experienced rather frightening balance problems. Therefore, getting on and off the yacht was fraught with danger of falling between the docks and the boat's hull. Walking the docks was also problematic considering that our yacht club docks were all floating docks and my balance problem was a danger during the walk from our yacht's docking slip to the clubhouse or out to the DC Wharf facilities and our car housed in the yacht club's reserved garage. SO, we had to regretfully put the Misty Lady up for sale and move back on shore. We moved on shore, first into a condo apartment in Alexandria, then after two years there, we relocated to the city of Newport News, in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Our original desired location was in the city of Hampton, Virginia, which is the oldest English-speaking settlement in the United States having been established originally in 1610. My ancestors came to this country through this settlement in the mid 1600s and lived in that area for around 100 years before beginning a migration of one portion of our family toward the west. I looked forward to moving back to this area and exploring the roots of my family, both maternal and paternal ancestry, but we found a great house in the Newport News area and became ensconced in the terrific neighborhood of Kiln Creek. My wife, being still actively employed, received a substantial offer in a position with a government contractor firm back up in Northern Virginia. So we put the Newport News house up for sale, receiving and accepting an offer withing two days. We then relocated back up to the city of Alexandria and into another high rise condo. My wife reached a point where considerations for retirement were becoming very important. She indicated that she really didn't want to retire in Alexandria, so once again we began a house search in the Tidewater area, this time in the City of Williamsburg and in a community restricted to 55+ age owners. We found the ideal location, initiated the sale and closing for our retirement home. We then put our condo on the market. Alas, the market was not as robust as before so we had to change asking price a couple of time, but finally the Alexandria Condo was sold. Now we are set to enjoy the great locations found here in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, considering that we are history buffs and there are literally hundreds of historical sites in this segment of our nation. Of course living in Williamsburg is the epitome of history living life. So, now we are in our retirement home, in a great retirement type community. A great clubhouse with a fine dining restaurant, a grill/pub, an award winning PGA designed golf course and miles of walking trails. Looking forward to my wife's eventual full retirement and the two of us visiting all up and down the east coast historical spots. View all posts by harv1941