Trip Day 6

September 28th, got up about 6:15 am and went through the usual routine. Warmed up left over coffee cake to have with my coffee. Just as good as fresh! Later had cereal and toast for breakfast. Got my kit together to go kayaking while the wind was light. 

Sand Bay Kayaking
(Distance 1.6 nm, ave. spd. 2.1 kts, max spd. 2.4 kts)

Departed about 9:15 and got back by 10 am. Wind was coming up a little and it was rocky and rolly coming home. Almost got stuck on a rock in the waves on the way out, so I was gun shy! Scary to be on a rock in waves, very easy to tip over. Overall the jaunt was enjoyable. Partially sunny, cool (low 50's) but nice. Will move on to the Brown Bay boat site and try to do some hiking later today, if it doesn't rain!

Departed Sand Bay around 10:40 am and arrived at the Brown Bay site at 1215. Hustled to get the boat tied up as the wind was rising and I was afraid it would go sideways on me as it had at Sand Bay! 

Trip Day 6 -Sand Bay to Brown Bay
(green dotted line)

Satellite Track - Day 6 - Sand Bay to Brown Bay
(Distance 5.4 nm, ave. spd. 3.4 kts, max spd. 4.8 kts)

Made a quick snack of nuts, jerky, chocolates and some red wine. Looked like rain so decided to take a nap instead of a hike. Tough decision! Got up after an hour or so and the sun was out which warmed everything up. Walked around the boat site and took some photos. Will make an early dinner as usual in the next hour, or so. Took some photos of the interior of the boat and various features for future boat building ideas (see below).

Brown Bay Boat Site

Bow Tie and Gangway Plank

Some boat sites use tie rings, I did not use the one at this site, preferred the trees

The heater needs ventilation to get rid of the interior moisture build up. The boat steering is a nightmare, one of the worst I've ever seen! It will simply not track a straight line and there is so much slack in the steering you simply wander back and forth and back and forth. Wears you out and hour or two is about all I can take at the helm. I'm not sure if it is the fact it uses the out drive for steering or not? I know the shanty boat in Florida had similar poor directional control characteristics, but the steering was at least tight. Steering should be by rudder, not solely by engine, in my opinion.

Helm Station, USB cables connected to a cigarette/USB 12 vdc adapter, with added switch. Recharging both tablet and phone. Binoculars are broken but I still use it as an ocular.

Propane 3 Burner Stove w/Oven

Large Propane Fridge w/Large Freezer

Propane Catalytic Heater

One surprise is that there is a double and single beds in a cramped low cabin area below the living room deck.  This is not shown in the brochure and no one ever mentioned it. Puzzling? Technically, there is also a twin fold out love seat in the living area and the regular double I sleep on, so this boat can sleep six, though a max of four would be best.

Lift out stair cover, double to left, single to right. About 4' height. A bit smelly with mildew down there!

For dinner made spaghetti with rolls and red wine. Chocolates for desert. T-storms approaching from the west, good thing I didn't go hiking! Washed dishes and was enjoying desert when the storm hit. Winds gusting high (20-25 kts) and the boat was moving back and forth. The worst was the skiff though. It was taking water over the stern and filling badly! I quick put on my rain gear and rubber boots and went out to turn the stern toward shore. It was already full of water and will take a long time to bail with no large pails on board! I will wait out the rain and begin that project when it stops. The stern on the skiff is way too low for this lake.

Pulled stern up on shore to minimize water intake during storm. This photo was taken after removing most of the water.

After bailing most of the water out. Tank was full but floating. Water was almost halfway up the seats all the way to the bow.  The transom was flush with the water level.

I searched on board for something more efficient to bail with and found a small basket in the head that will work better than the makeshift thing they have in the skiff. It will help move larger amounts of water. The rain stopped and the wind backed off so I went out and went to work. The full gas tank was floating and there was water in all compartments bow to stern and the transom was almost under water!  I am guessing I moved around 100 gallons of water 1.5 to 2 gallons at a time with the basket. The problem was the skiff was knocking against the boat which, was not good, so I needed to stop that.  However, I did not dare pull the skiff into shore bow first again, could be another T-storm with repeat flooding of the skiff. 

Finally I hit on the idea of using a rolling hitch to tie to the port mooring line to keep the skiff away from the boat but bow into the waves. But after I finished tying it off, I got out of the skiff and thought now how am I going to get the skiff back close enough again to untie and leave! So I got my walking stick out which would reach the boat and used it to pull out one oar which could reach the skiff when it comes time to depart. Whew! What a mess! Now it is 5:15 and I'm ready to go up top to listen to music and sit around the fire ring and maybe sip some wine as a reward for all this hassle!

Not very clean! But it is a rolling hitch with a half hitch for security, tied to port mooring line.

Here was how the skiff laid to the wind and waves after the rolling hitch solution. Worked great!

Got chased in again by rain! So I set up the music and listened inside for awhile. Decided to try the love seat twin tonight to see if it is more comfortable to sleep on. The double was terrible, like sleeping on a board!  Foam is shot.

Went out and tightened all the mooring lines before bed time to ensure everything was secure. Changed the boat's bow line tie because the bow was working to starboard. Hopefully, the new tie off will prevent further movement. The skiff is riding well with the new tie off to the mooring line.

Moved aft to the bed now converted to lounge area which turns out to be very nice! Took some pictures of the sunset and listened to John Gorka, very mellow guitar music and song, while I sipped wine and generally enjoyed the view out the aft windows. Very nice! Too much wind to set up top anyway. Getting dark so may hit the sack early. It it now 7:30 pm but I suspect I will be in bed by 8 or so.

Almost 8 but I'm having too good of a time, watching the dark approach and the light buoys flashing in the northwest, up in the narrows. Very relaxing. The nap I had in the afternoon makes me more awake the usual for this time of day, plus the music is fine. It was starting to get cool as I had turned off the heater earlier. Had to get my fleece throw out to keep warm while I listened to music.

View from stern lounge area.  Good place to relax in stormy conditions.

Batteries on the BT sound system went dead so I guess it is time for bed. 8:15 pm and not really tired. May just put some batteries in the system though and keep going.  

I did put all 16 AA batteries in!  It is now 8:45 pm, so I am really staying up late tonight. Will listen to music a little longer and hit the sack soon. Finally time to go to bed (9:15 pm). I've stayed up later than normal for this trip. 

Dark and cloudy again tonight. Another sprinkle late in the eve. No stars tonight! Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so I hope to hike in the morning. Wind is up and pushing the boat against the shore again. May be a rough night! The weather for this trip has not been good. I have worked with it, but it could have been so much better with more sun and less rain.

Some sign of the sun at sunset, but it didn't last!