Boating the Upper Chesapeake

DBreskin

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
799
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

We'll probably launch from Bay Boat Works.
There is a lot more discussion on the group Facebook page.
 

Blue Crabber

Ensign
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
966
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

~~~~~~~ BUSTED ~~~~~~~

Well, I think that I was busted last night :facepalm: I had kept all of the documents for the new boats (slip agreement, insurance paperwork, titles, state registration, etc.) all together, and I think my wife found them all last night! The chances of her not looking through them and discovering what the papers were are slim to none! I guess the show ends here :( I want to get the papers today and they are all gone!

I was soooo close to the ultimate surprise too. Everything was coming together for next weekend. Train and bus routes mapped out, float plan almost finished, routes in iPad, (need to enter into Raymarine unit yet.) Launch tentatively planned for next Thursday or Friday, weather was just starting to look good for next weekend, (still early) Just 8 days away!!!!!

Oh well, I tried my best for the big surprise and failed! On the other hand, I have been so anxious to tell her about it for the last couple of months, so maybe its better that its all out. Will find out tonight I guess.

So, depending on how she takes this, I might need a deckhand or two for the return trip :rolleyes:

Think it will help that today is my birthday? After all, the boat was a birthday gift to myself :D hmm, this isn't how this was supposed to happen.

Hopefully I will be back to post the outcome soon...
 

Blue Crabber

Ensign
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
966
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Deep Breath, Deep Breath, Deep Breath....

That may have been a false alarm, maybe. Just spoke to my wife and she told me right where all of the paperwork was and didn't mention anything at all. Luckily, it was mixed in with some boat flyers and other stuff. She put it with all of the misc. paperwork, brochures, magazines, etc. from recent boat shows so I think she saw an item or 2 and assumed it was all of that stuff.

The surprise still goes on for now anyway. We will see what happens over the weekend. I will be sure to keep you guys informed! I am proceeding as this is still a surprise!
 

bowman316

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
1,822
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

i bet she was just cleaning up, and did not look at any of the papers.
 

Blue Crabber

Ensign
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
966
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

i bet she was just cleaning up, and did not look at any of the papers.

Looking like thats what happened! I was so positive that she found out about it! Surprise is still on, come on next week! Keeping my fingers crossed that all the stars align to bring the boat home next Saturday and Sunday!

I will keep updating :D
 

lime4x4

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
1,040
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Off topic here. Anyone know of a place that sells boats stands? I need to remove my searay from the trailer to correct a hook in the hull. Was thinking boat stands would probably be safer then blocking..
 

bowman316

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
1,822
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Looking like thats what happened! I was so positive that she found out about it! Surprise is still on, come on next week! Keeping my fingers crossed that all the stars align to bring the boat home next Saturday and Sunday!

I will keep updating :D

Once she finds out, she is going to insist that she knew the whole time. Even thou she prob didn't. lol
 

DBreskin

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
799
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Yeah, I appreciate that, but I asked on this forum.....

And I answered you on this forum. I've been more active on FB because iBoats disabled tapatalk and I can no longer access the forum easily from my mobile device. I'd guess the same holds true for others. The frequency of posts here is way down although that may be partly because Scott was banned.

I've changed plans and will launch from Rogue's Harbor today. I hope we'll see you on the water!
 

SuperNova

Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
1,455
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Once she finds out, she is going to insist that she knew the whole time. Even thou she prob didn't. lol
Of course, she would never want you to think you could pull hte wool over her eyes. Make sur you get pictures at the big reveal!!
 

DBreskin

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
799
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Keeping my fingers crossed that all the stars align to bring the boat home next Saturday and Sunday!

I will keep updating :D

Did you bring the boat home, or did the weather force you to reschedule?
 

Blue Crabber

Ensign
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
966
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Of course, she would never want you to think you could pull hte wool over her eyes. Make sur you get pictures at the big reveal!!

LOL. I really think she still doesn't know. I am sure that she will say she was suspicious and was wondering. Guess I will find out soon. Will definitely take lots of pictures!

Did you bring the boat home, or did the weather force you to reschedule?

Not yet, looking at this coming weekend hopefully! I did have the boat launched last Friday and got to run her around for a little bit. Awesome!! I am going to try and upload some pictures and video later today.

So, anybody going to be out Saturday/Sunday?
 

Philster

Captain
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
3,344
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

If the weather is nice, we'll have the whole gang out either day (Me, wife and four kids).
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

I'm going to watch the weather for a possible trip down to the bay on Sunday.
 

Philster

Captain
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
3,344
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Sunday might have a fighting chance. Gotta say that it has to be 70's or better to get me out and about on the bay in the Check.

If it is cooler, the boys and I will be fishing on the tin boat in some odd spot.
 

Blue Crabber

Ensign
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
966
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

BIG UPDATE!!!!

The boat is in the water!!!! WOW, what an awesome day Friday was!!!!! So, here is how the day started:

Left the house at 5:00 am. Got to Ottens Point Marina in Wildwood NJ around 7:45 am. The boat was already on the hydraulic trailer and in the slings. According to Gus, the marina owner, there is about a 6' tide swing and there was only enough depth to launch at high tide, thus the early morning departure as high tide was about 8 am on Friday morning. This is what she looked like when I got there. The new paint was applied on Thursday.

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Now, I have got to admit that I was a little bit nervous about this old crane picking up my boat and putting it in the water. It literally looks like it hasn't moved since the 1960's. Amazingly, the crane fired right up after sitting all winter with just a shot of ether.

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I held my breath as she was picked up out of the trailer, swung 90 degrees and dropped into the water. Shot this video with my iphone so I apologize that it isn't the best. Plus, I was a little nervous during this whole time! Click on a picture to watch the video!!





We pushed her over to the empty fuel dock and tied her up so that I could start going over everything. Here is how she looked by 8:30 am.

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So I started to crawl all over her and make sure that she wasn't taking on any water. Opened up the new seacocks that I installed and all was good. No leaks, so far so good.
 

Blue Crabber

Ensign
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
966
Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Next, I turned on the blower and let it run for a good long time. Started up the port engine and she purred right to life and getting the carb primed with fuel. (Had them rebuilt over the winter.) Next was the starboard engine and the same thing happened, came right to life. Checked the exhaust of both engines and they were pumping lots of water out, good sign. By this time I had a huge smile!! Everything I had worked on was turning out to be working good. New spark plugs, wires, distributor caps, belts, raw water pumps, seacocks, etc.

It was time to take her for a spin and actually see how everything was running. Shoved off and headed 5 mins over to the next marina to take on some fuel. (Ottens Point doesn't have any fuel yet.) The price was $4.16 a gallon. I thought that wasn't to bad for mid-grade on the water. Only put about 20 gallons in each tank to see how everything would go. Good news, Docking went well for the first time!

I idled out for about 15 mins through the no-wake zones and then tired to put her up on plane. As soon as she climbed up on planed she leaned very hard to the port side and started turning towards that side. I was on the flybridge and it caught me way off guard. Pulled the throttles back and took a deep breath. Put both trim tabs all the way down and then tried again. Same thing this time. Okay, enough of this, and I headed back to the marina. On my way back, the port engine started misfiring, so I shut her down and went back on one engine and pulled up to the empty fuel dock.

Now since I was tied up securely to the dock, I started to do some investigating. I could not get the trim pump to run with the helm controls (flybridge or lower). Took a tape measure and measured the tabs. Starboard tab was down about 2" farther than port. No wonder she was leaning over good. Took off the hydraulic lines to try and get both tabs to retract all of the way. Port was, but Starboard wouldn't come up any further. Not sure what is going on there but guess I won't get it figured out until next spring. So I went to the NAPA store and made up some jumper cables and started bypassing the helm switches and jumping power right to the motor connections. Them solenoids both fired and the motor ran in both directions! Thats a relief. So I ran the port tab down to match the starboard tab. Good enough for another try. Also changed both fuel filters to make sure that wasn't part of the misfiring problem. Headed back out again.

This time, the port motor was much worse. Would idle okay but as soon as you gave it any throttle, it misfired badly. Limp back to the dock again. Open up the Port engine hatch and the problem was easily spotted. The clamps on the distributor cap were off and it was barely sitting on top of the distributor. Pulled it off and saw the rotor was loose too. Straightened and tightened the copper strip in the middle of the rotor, bent the tabs and secured the clamps back on the cap. All good now and time for another run.

3rd try is a charm. Went out and the Port motor was sounding great. Started slowly increasing throttle and she slowly climbed up on plane! No leaning, no misfiring, just running good! Ran here up to 4000 rpms for a little bit and she sounded great. After about 15 minutes, headed back to the marina and tied her up in a slip. I was so happy, she was running great!!! All secured in the slip for the weekend as I decided to postpone the trip home due to the weekend weather forecast.

Here are a few pictures from idling around the marinas and no wake zones.

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Then I left Wildwood and headed to North East MD where my wife had planned an evening kayaking the North East River. I was so close to telling her all about the boat, but decided only one more week, I can make it. I am never doing this again!!! If I didn't have you guys to share this with, I would be going crazy!!

Some photos from kayaking. It was a beautiful night.

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So far the weather this weekend looks to be okay for bringing the boat home. Have the train and bus schedule all figured out. We will be leaving Lancaster Friday evening right after work and will arrive in Wildwood later that night. Will sleep on the boat at the marina that night. Then we will head out first thing Saturday morning for hopefully a wonderful ride up the Delaware Bay with an incoming tide. Plan to cruise to Chesapeake City Yacht basin and anchor for the rest of the afternoon evening. Will probably dingy in and eat dinner at the inn. After spending the evening at anchor, we will head to HDG city yacht basin first thing Sunday morning. We will have to leave by 11:30 to be back for my birthday party with family. Just want to make sure that I have plenty of time to secure her in the new slip before heading out. Let me know if anyone else will be out and maybe we can say hi. For now, hail "Empty Pockets" on 16. That name will be changing soon!

I am headed back to Wildwood tomorrow for the day for a longer test run and final cleaning up of the boat for the weekend!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my "book"
 
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