First, apologies, this happened September 2nd. Emotions and crazy travel prevented us from adding this post earlier.

Short version? Back in the water. Runs very, very well. Passed with flying colors! END OF PROCESS! Yeah, celebrations begin!

For those who want a bit more….

September 2nd: it was early on that cool, bright morning… HA! Nah, it was after noon and in Florida. Shoot – it was over 90 degrees! But who cares! We were put back in the water! Spiffy prop, fresh coat of bottom paint, and a nice hull detailing had the gal ready to go. With the Shearwater technician, Bobby, and Ron (the amazing engine guy) on board, we headed south toward the Fort Pierce Inlet. She felt amazingly smooth and raring to go! This time working up through 700, 800, 900 RPM, etc. felt easy, and she was digging in. With a slight outgoing tide, we “blazed” to 2100 RPM with what felt like no effort. Slowed down, turned around, and against the tide, she did the same. Smooth and strong.

She feels like herself again! Her engine now has 7 hours on it….

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After all that, we were off…….to Virginia…in a car. Say what? Ready to cruise but slight delay for family visits and doctor appointments. Huh? That’s right, it immediately got crazy. First dumped stuff and secured the boat for the evening. Then drove back to Stuart to clean the condo and put the owners’ things back in place using previously taken pictures. The next day, we put the last of our things in the car and handed the keys to the realtor before driving the 45 minutes back to the boat, where we worked our way around the piles of stuff yet to be put away to pack suitcases with clean clothes and clear the bed to spend the first night on the boat in nearly four months. Whew. WAIT! Bright and early the next morning we were off (driving) to Virginia for the annual medical visits that had been rescheduled three times.

It was great to see the family in Virginia! We were so brain dead, however, that we only captured a few shots. Sorry, Mom! We’ll do better in December.

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Not even the flat tire on the rental car out on I-95 (Todd changed it) and an extra day spent on the road could in any way dampen our spirits. We are finally back home on the SaltyMare, all healthy, and all chomping at the bit to get going again. Heading out tomorrow!

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!