It would be fun to say, “we left bright and early!” but alas, we had to play the tides so didn’t get underway until about 11:00 last Monday. After thanking all parties involved at A&J, we slowly began our “three-hour tour.” Fortunately, neither Gilligan nor “good ol’ Murphy” were aboard, and we happily headed NORTH!

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Upon arrival in Fort Pierce, we eased up to the Safe Harbor Harbortown Marina fuel dock, where the rearing and very dirty SaltyMare spent the night. Bright and early Tuesday morning she was ready for the lift literally 25 yards around the corner at Shearwater Boat Yard.

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As soon as she came out of the water, the answer was clear. The bottom actually looked great, but…

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The next day, she started receiving some much needed lovin’.
Point to note: dirty horses love a good rub down. And she’s earned it – 5 months in the Bahamas followed by three months in the muck of Manatee Pocket in Stuart, Florida, while having the engine replaced. Yuck.

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The two most important things we learned are:

1. Fouled propeller (all “experts” agree, this is the cause of not making WOT RPM)
2. For the first time in our history with the boat, the scales on the lift crane were working! Yeah! Given her state of fuel and tankage, she weighs in at a svelte 87,100 pounds (or a trim 43.55 tons)! Valuable info for the future. We now know we can indeed be safely hauled by the more common 50-ton lift. And we photographed the proof for future use:

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Now that she is in Ft. Pierce and our rented condo is in Stuart, our “commute” is more like 45 minutes. BUT this will be a short service-yard stay, and given a good quick schedule, we will make a few trips bringing our stuff back to the boat so we can return the keys to the condo.

And to help pay for the whole crazy “adventure,” a special stop along the way….

Every penny helps!

Okay, the floors are down and it’s safe to move (or dance) about the boat. But, lordy, how about that big hole in the roof and ceilings, and how about a galley, and good grief, do you remember all the wires?! Grab your flipflops and let’s get to work. First up, the “soft patch” or large removable “hatchy-thing.” Clean up all the caulk and sealant goo, and then reseal and bolt it back into place. Hopefully to never be used again!

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Oh boy, the wires…. We closed up all the other panels ourselves, but when it came to that mess that runs through the galley, we left that to the pros. Well, mostly. Long arms to the rescue!

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Remember that comment about “what else?” Well, in a preemptive move, we called in an outboard pro to service the last of the four engines on board and thereby impart additional maintenance knowledge to the captain.

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All of this just so we can move. Albeit to another service yard but move we shall! Tomorrow!

Since we all know what they say about all work and no play, we did toss in a bit of fun. With it being such a busy six-day work week (didn’t we retire?), cooking wasn’t first on our minds. So, we hit a local spot “where you can get anything you want…….at Alice’s Restaurant!” A friendly place in Jensen Beach that, among the freshly baked goods that morning, offered jalapeno cheddar bread. Yum-m-m! Had to buy a loaf of that to spice up those packed lunches. 🙂

At Alice’s Restaurant, you cannot, however, have your food delivered by Servie the Robot. For that, you have to go to TooJays Deli/Bakery in Stuart. That’s right, they have a robot that autonomously cruises out of the kitchen and over to your tableside. He/she/it? saves the server time and from carrying a bunch of heavy plates.

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More later. For now, it’s time to study routes, charts, and navigational warnings for tomorrow’s three-hour tour. Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…

To use the word again, “never,” as in… We never thought our girl would lose her heart, AND, once that happened, we never thought it would take so long to get her going again! But Friday was an amazing day! Everything related to the brand-new engine was all set. Boat/engine hours set at one, not zero, but one. Don’t ask; it’s all part of the process🙄. This is part of the final steps: hook the “all important diagnostic computer” to the engine, start her up, and take the boat out for a shake-down.

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Captain Todd bid farewell, and they were off, ever so slowly.

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The first mate/camera person/yours-truly (aka Susie), dashed to the car and headed down the street to find a vantage point from which to document the day. There was still that giant gaping hole in the floor and three men on board who needed to be able to get from the engine room to the helm. Didn’t need me in the way.

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Beautiful! Just beautiful! I can’t tell you how exciting it was to film our SaltyMare cruising under her own power. What a day!

SaltyMare returned to the slip, and we got her tied up. Success! Right? Well, almost. She sounds and runs beautifully. But just like raising kids, there is always more to the story.

Each engine, like ours, has a factory designed maximum RPM (they are actually made to run at that maximum setting all the time, 24×7, believe it or not). One of the many checks is to make sure at WOT (Wide Open Throttle) she is doing as she was designed. Well, she came up short. Why? The typical reasons are dirty (crap growing) bottom or some sort of problem with the propeller (dings or wrong pitch). Unfortunately, we are too heavy for this yard to lift us to check it out, so we have to wait to get into a yard that can. The area we’re in is very shallow and a dead end on the “bay,” hence not sure we could even find a diver willing to go into the water to check it that way. SO…. it’s good, but we are still in the PROCESS! More delay. Rats.

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All parties concerned feel strongly the engine is fantastic and the boat can be reassembled. What? That’s right! We can start putting the girl back together! No hesitation; come on, let’s first cover up the trap door!

So, there is once again “dancing room” in the salon – well, at least there’s a floor – but we’ve got a fair piece to go to get this girl back together, which we will work on while awaiting haul out. Remember, it’s a dadgum process…

in a million years did I think I’d say such a thing, but they started the engine today, and it was BEAUTIFUL! Ahh, the dulcet tones of a purring Cummins QSL9 ready for adventure. Sea trial tomorrow!

Or “Dog days of Summer.” It’s been a few weeks (seems like months) since we added a post, and we are starting to receive inquiries. Where are you? How’s the engine replacement coming along? Can you move yet? Etc. So, here’s a quick recap on what we’ve been doing and where we stand.

The sales guy said,”It’s straight-forward, just pop it out and put in another!” The technician said, “It’s a bit more than that; it’s, well, it’s a process!” There wasn’t a salesperson, but you catch the drift.

We’ve been working on so many “little” tasks (too many to list), going to the service yard six days a week (thank goodness they’re closed on Sundays). No picture postcard-worthy photo ops, there – just plenty of sweaty work. Our hard-working mechanic took some well-deserved days off, affording us the opportunity for a few days of R&R, as well. Susie, its R&R! Oh, okay, let’s go visit something!

First stop: the Elliott Museum right here in Stuart, Florida, where Susie picked up a fairly determined hitchhiker.

All fun until someone gets thrown from the running board! No-o-o-o!

The only one of its kind in an American museum, the three-story system holds more than 50 vehicles in climate-controlled storage. Each car can be lowered on a robotic tray to rotate on a turntable for museum guests to view. Pretty cool!

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During our short break, we just had to make a very quick road trip a bit north in Florida to meet the newest member of the Olsen clan, great granddaughter Crimson, and to surprise daughter Tracee and granddaughter Kayla. Ladies in the clan, even the brand-new ones, are quite beautiful!

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True to form, we always try to stop and look around at the wondrous world. Out behind the condo, this couple showed up one day with at least ten ducklings in tow. Amazingly, they are very noisy, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. The little gang jumped in, and over the next few days, they slowly disappeared. Mom and Dad, forced to jump in also, spent multiple days gathering the rascals. We choose to believe the little ones figured out how to walk out of the pond…

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It was fantastic to see family (and do some nature-watching), but all too soon, our break was over. We needed to return to work on boat projects. After all, we want to get the SaltyMare moving… even galloping (and out of Florida) ASAP.

One of the many steps, but probably the most important: running the new engine wiring harness. Oh, boy, what fun.

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On a side note, as we’ve mentioned, Murphy occasionally (often?) comes aboard. Completely unrelated to the engine “process,” our very stout windlass “conveniently” decided to demand some attention. Certainly, better now than later when we’re at anchor. Anchor? We think we remember how! 😊

In order to remove it for servicing, one of the technicians had to go completely INSIDE our anchor chain locker! (Todd claims he won’t fit!)

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So that’s what we’ve been up to: a bit of lighthearted pleasure, but mostly scrubbing, wiring, wrenching. You know, boat loads of fun! 😊