Feeling my way around Florida Catch-up 3/27/17

Along with trying to learn the new layout and systems aboard the “new to me boat” my friend DENNIS provided a great distraction with the “something I want to show you” item.   My buddy who was “done boating” took an interest in this.

Two weeks later he owns a 76’ Nordhavn.   So much for “done boating”.  We were both aboard this boat in Mexico on the 2013 FUBAR Ralley.  Named Spring Day then it’s a whole other level of boating.   Yachting in my view.  It’s massive.   Weighing well over twice WORKNOT, powered by Detroit 60 Series and drawing over 7’.  Everything is bigger, lines, fenders, anchors, fuel tank (5,000 gallons) and operating expense.

First Haulout Catch-up 3/6/17

Haulouts are ALWAYS stressful.   The entire vessel lifted from its natural habitat by 4 slings.   Less than 5% of the hull surface area supporting it all.   The minute or so when the boat is half over the water and half over the concrete edge as it’s wheeled to the blocking area.   Just writing about it gives me the creeps.

Usually when purchasing boats of this type a survey including out of the water inspection is done by a professional surveyor.   Many deals are broken by the disagreements between buyer and seller.   A good surveyor finds that balance between the parties and deals work out, some surveyors view their job as proving their worth by finding every defect possible.   A friend had a $1mm+ boat surveyed for purchase, included in the pages of notes was condemnation of the dinghy anchor light as it was a few inches short of the required height.  The light was the installed by the OEM boat builder when the dinghy was new 10 years ago.  

WORKNOT was not surveyed when I purchased so this was the first time I saw it out of the water.   There is plenty to be “wrong” under water.   Fortunately no big surprises on this haulout.  

Maiden Voyage Catch-up 3/4/17

AND SO IT BEGINS, a “new to me” boat, same age and engine hours as the old one, from the same builder.   Today is the first voyage where I’m the Captain and she’s really ours.   Have been living aboard with the good friends Dennis and Julie on and off for past month as I shuttle between Mexico (suporting sale of N50) and Old Port Cove Florida preparing N57 to return to Mexico via Panama Canal.  

Dennis is a vertern cruiser, owned more boats than I’ve owned cars and crossed most oceans.   More importantly Julie and he are good friends.   It was a little awkward buying a boat to live on and having the previous owner stay involved, let alone live aboard in the master suite.  However, true to his nature, DENNIS kept fixing things while I was gone.  Should have let them say longer.......

Take a look at the picture on the top of the blog, the water stream is used to washdown the anchor chain.  It’s from a large hydraulic driven pump that delivers several hundred gallons an hour of seawater.   Testing this in the dock at Old Port Cove almost got us evicted.   WORKNOT was clearly on the small range of boats at this West Palm resort and the big boys do NOT appreciate saltwater blown completely across the dock, across their power pedestal and half way up the side of their boat. 

Getting a boat ready to cruise is all about mechanical prep and loading supplies including spares.  Dennis sold us the boat declaring “is my last boat” (keep that thought as it recurs often) and so all the onboard spares, tools and the contents of his 20yr+ storage locker came with the boat.  Just sorting out stainless hardware is a job. 

The journey to the boatyard was only a few hours but it included a lock and a few narrow bridges.   Great way to start the maiden voyage.  Reached River Forest boatyard without any major errors where I said goodbye to Julie and Dennis as they were leaving to go find a condo on the west coast of Florida.

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WORKNOTATLAST BLOG Restart (again)

Those of you who were following my blog know it has not been updated in almost a year.   While there are many excuses there are no reasons.   Mary, Keela and I are just as committed to cruising as before and have been actively traveling between Florida and Nova Scotia CANADA.

Since buying Nordhavn 5715 in February of 2017 we have logged 1155 engine hours.   Conservatively averaging 7 kts/hr yields 8,085 nautical miles.  5 gallons of fuel an hour average consumption equates to about 6,000 gallons.   My fuel logs indicate we purchased a bit less but WORKNOT had more than half of her 2,000 gallon capacity on board when purchased. (Thanks DENNIS)

Our original plan was to bring this boat back to Mexico and we were actually on the way just after purchase.   Fate interviened (more later) and we decided to cruise the east coast for a season.   Well this will be our second season here and still have not seen 20% of the available ports.

With over 1,000 hours on N57 WORKNOT I’m glad we took the risk and made the effort to get another cruising boat in order.  While it has been a major task, expense and had its moments of wondering “WHY DID I CHANGE BOATS?” It’s been a great improvement in comfort.

A few quick facts on the difference: N57 is only 7 feet longer than N50.   N50 weighed 80,000#.   N57 just under 120,000#.   N57 enjoys a flybridge that N50 did not have.   Twin generators assure A/C power when the other genset is down.   N50 with a single genset means you will fix it now in a hot, rolly and more cramped engine room.

This is one of my favorite pictures of WORKNOT.  At anchor, at peace, sun rising on another day and ready for what comes next.   This one was taken in Nova Scotia last year.

Over the next few weeks I’ll recap some of the highlights of our past seasons cruising and work to return to real time updates.  Tonight we are a little ahead of the southbound migration fleet here in Brunswick Landing Georgia.  For the Nordhavn crowd there are 2 other N57’s, N55 and N46 at the marina.   

Change comes to WORKNOT (N5017 for sale but there is more)

It has been too long since we have updated our blog and I'm attempting to catch up.  Reasons for not posting include not doing much exciting over the summer as we stayed in Ensenada for most of the summer of 2016.   We buddy boated to Los Cabos with our friends on Duet N50 as they make their way to New Zealand.   Our travels seem tame in comparison.   Ron and Nancy have a great blog and it tells the story of the trip south in detail.   http://www.mvduet.com/2017/01/29/Shelter-Island-Boatyard

Mary and I enjoyed a very peaceful crossing to Puerto Vallarta and settled in for the holidays.   About a dozen times we remarked how happy we were with N5017 and had it in the cruising condition we dreamed of.    Hull painted, interior revarmished, electronics updated, bottom painted, prop balanced and on and on.  

Even with all this done we still looked at the damned "YachtWorld" app suffering from 7'  ITIS......      .

Sooo, a cruising  buddy simply sent an email asking if we would want to buy his Nordhavn 57.    The dual walkaround, 2 stateroom, dual genset, full hydraulic package 57 footer we had been lusting after that recently disappeared from YachtWorld.?     Yep, that one.  

Plane trip to Florida, whirlwind of details and just that quhickly we are two boat owners.  One on each coast no less!  107 foot of Nordhavn luxury seperated by 2000 miles and an international border.   What could go Wrong?

Fast forward to today, WORKNOT N5017 is in Ensenada, listed with Jeff Merrill, the west coast trawler specialist www.jmys.com.    WORKNOT N5715 is in Stuart Florida being looked after by my friend Dennis awaiting my arrival end of the month.   The plan is to bring her to Mexico on her own bottom via the Panama Canal this spring.    Details of the trip and blogging to follow.    4200 miles and more borders than I want to think about.  

This is what the "ITIS" disease makes you do.....

WORKNOT AT LAST BLOG RETURNS!!

We last updated our blog in April of this year with our trip to the Copper Canyon.  Please check out our April 9th posting and earlier for a view of life on a cruising powerboat. 
Our trip from Topolobampo to Isla San Francisco was uneventful and we almost made the anchorage before dark.   We traveled with our friends Salacia N40 again.  The trip took 13.75 hours. with beamy swells in the 4-6 foot range.   Winds peaked at 22 kts making for a wet but safe ride.  It was a relief to get into the lee at the picturesque Isla San Francisco….
Our neighbors at Isla San Francisco-

Salacia on the hook as well-

Weather remained outstanding so we got some kayak time in (Keela seems to adjusting)  along with a little baking….

These were just as good as the ones we got in Myers Chuck Alaska (see previous blog entry) .   Warm weather helped too..

This cruising thing takes a toll but the crew of WORKNOT is up to the task…

Box score:  13 hours…94 miles 57 gallons diesel



Now that we are back cruising again plan to catch up on the blog and keep more current.  Thanks for hanging in there during our summer sabatical......

Copper Canyon MX by Train March 2016

The plan when going to Topolombampo was to use the town as jumping off point for a trip to the Copper Canyon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Canyon

Our friends on Salacia agreed to watch Keela if we would return the favor by watching Chewy.   Dogs are not allowed on the train from Los Mochis to the Copper Canyon area and this will limit our time in the canyon.

Chewy and Neil charting a course…


Copper Canyon, in northern Mexico, is a series of massive canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. Popular for hiking, it gets its name from the copper-green hue of the canyon walls. The famous Chepe (Ferrocarril Barrancas del Cobre) train connects the region via over 80 tunnels and nearly 40 bridges. Divisadero, a frequent stop on the line, offers views into Urique Canyon.
Our journey started with an early morning taxi ride from Topolombampo to Los Mochis.  (Last city El Chapo was captured in).  We arrived about half an hour early 6 AM for the train planning to buy our tickets at the counter.  This after being assured by many travelers this was the best plan.  Well, plans and Mexico often don’t go as planned.
Translation-as of a few days ago NO TICKETS sold at the station for the first class train to Copper Canyon.

 Dissapointed,  we were about to head back to the boat when the conductor got a call.  After some tortured Spanish to English work on my behalf he agreed to let us pay cash for tickets assuring us we could buy a return ticket on-line. We boarded the train and now the real fun began.  We were leaving cell phone coverage behind and the webiste for tickets says all tickets require 72 hours advance purchase.  We planned to return in 48 hours………I’ll make a long story shorter but by a bit of luck we got return tickets worked out and printed about 4 PM that afternoon.  Internet coverage came and went and everytime we got coverage another step was advanced.  Thanks to Neil, the guy at the hotel and an agent who was supposed to go home at noon but stayed to help we could at least return without having to wait the required 72 hours.  Did I mention the hotel we were staying in  (1 of 2 available) was completely booked for the following week?

The train ride averaged about 30 MPH as it wound its way up steep grades and sheer cliffs.  The cars were old but clean and the staff showed a great deal of pride in passenger service. 
 
Decent food in the dining car and great views made it a pleasant trip worth the effort.

At one of the stops along the way local women approach the train selling handmade baskets and baked goods. 

Creative chicken coop with a bridged access to protect the hens from coyotes.


View from the balcony of our hotel.


Amazing carved front door at the hotel lobby.  Both sides match!

An incredible tram (our choice of transportation) ride gives great views of the canyon.  Next to the tram is a world famous zip line….said to be the longest in the world.
Length: 8,350 feet
Vertical Drop: 1450 feet
Average Percent Grade: 17%
Two cables side by side
Top Speed: 65 mph
Flight time: 2 minutes 20 seconds



Our trip home started here and was equally a breathtaking as the ride up the mountain.

At the train station about 10 of these stoves are set up.  Best use of a 55 gallon drum yet.  A simple wood fire is built in the upper section and the plate on top allows for a variety of cooking temperatures.  Oddly, all of the vendors were serving the exact same thing.  No variety what so ever……..


Mary has a new friend as we prepare to leave.  Dogs, kids, elderly and disabled people all played, walked and hung around the active tracks clearing out just as the trains (freight and passenger) arrive.  
Recommend this trip for anyone who enjoys the outdoors and wants to see Mexico in a different light than the typical beach resort.  Our only disappointment was the food quality was pretty poor.   A real change from our usual results in Mexico.   


Mary has a new friend….