Category: Boating Tips

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Favorite Boating Blogs

Thinking back on how this dream of living on a boat started, it all began when I started following other boating blogs. Business would be slow at our wine shop and the weather was miserable. Why not immerse yourself in someone’s journey? The unfortunate part of following other bloggers is that in some cases their boating journey comes to an end. I remember feeling a bit depressed, know that they had to be sad too.

Some of our favorite old blogs were found on Sail Blogs. Here you can search through the list of active blogs and read where they are in the world and what they are doing.

Our Favorite Boating Blogs Right Now:

  • Sailing Britican – This is a family of three on board their 56′ sailboat and they have traveled over 18,000 miles over the past three years. They share a lot of tips, lessons and advise on their blog.

 

  • Quit Your Job & Live on a Boat – Author Ed Robinson wrote his first book “Leap of Faith – Quit your job and live on a boat” which tells the story of how he and his wife left the rat race and are now living on their trawler in Florida. You can follow him on Facebook too.

 

  • Sailing Totem – This is a family of five on their 47′ sail boat, which left the Puget Sound in 2008. They are still cruising and both of them co-author many articles in 48º North and Sail Magazine.

 

  •  Lahowind – This was one of my favorite blogs to follow. Jereme & Kim from Florida decide to leave the rat race for one year onboard their 37′ sailboat along with their dog Oliver. They traveled all over the Caribbean, got engaged and returned home a year later. They sold their boat, married and had a child. Now she blogs about family and raising their baby. Kim is a professional photographer and her photos & videos of the Caribbean are stunning. Check out her photos & video of the pigs in the Exumas!

 

  • Jill and Jake Adventures – This couple started sailing in February 2015 from the East Coast down the ICW onto the Caribbean. Be sure to start reading from the beginning to really feel their adventure.

 

  • Sailing La Vagabonde – This is a YouTube blog following an Australian couple as they sail on their new Catamaran across the oceans of the world.

I am always looking for new blogs to follow, so if you have any favorites, please share with us!  Cheers! Scott & Ally

 

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Cleaning the Bimini Top

bird deterrant boats bird poop

Bird Poop!

When you keep your boat in a marina, you are going to have to deal with lots of bird poop! The bimini top on our boat is black canvas and it’s nearly impossible to clean the back end of it during regular washes. This is because we can’t reach it from the front and it’s too tall to reach it from the swim platform.

swim platform bayliner ciera

Scott and I knew we need to address this, as our neighbor’s boat in the marina was covered in heron poop!

The dirty job

We figured we could remove the top and lay it on a tarp on the dock to scrub it clean. In fact, we had purchased outdoor fabric guard by 303 Products, but it has to be absolutely clean and dry before you apply it.  Scott thought we just needed to remove one of the rods and slide it out and we would unzip the rest.

The highlighted area shows where the rod is attached to the inside of the bimini

Now what?!

The bimini had to be cleaned and so we decided to unzip the back of it, so the dirty part would hang down into the boat. Can you say “YUCK!”?

This is not “art”, but heron poop all over our canvas! So I moved the tarp into the boat and put a large beach towel on the floor right below where we would be scrubbing to catch any water. (I did take a photo of all of this, but I guess it didn’t take). Scott used a bucket of clean water,Mer-Maids Canvas and Vinyl Cleaner and a scrub brush to clean it.  We rinsed it with a bilge sponge with clean water. It wasn’t perfect, but it was certainly better than it was!

Once we were done, I wanted to figure out a way to deter the herons. All of our marina neighbors are laughing at us, as they say there is nothing we can do.  They say we just have to clean it regularly. Not giving up, we decided to put up an Inflatable Owl and Bird Repellent Scare Tape. Let’s see if it works!

If anyone has suggestions on what has worked for you. please let us know.  We’ll check on it in two weeks and give you all an update!

Cheers,

Scott and Ally

 

 

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Potable Water on a Boat – How do you know if it’s safe to drink?

bayliner ciera des moines marina

Do we have potable water on our boat?

Our Bayliner Ciera 3055 comes with a 35 gallon water tank. Every boater we have talked to uses the water in their holding tank for everything from washing hands to drinking.

I admit, I’m a bit of a water snob and I can only drink bottled or filtered water.  When we bought our boat, it had sat on the hard for over two years. This told me that the water in the tank had to have gotten stagnant. However, it never had an odor and was crystal clear. Perhaps it was bone dry?

When Scott and I took possession of the boat, our broker Eddie was cleaning it up and had filled up the water tank.

Friends of ours recommended that we add a tablespoon of bleach to the water tank each time we fill it up. In order to do that, we need to put bleach in a water bottle and then tip it down into the tank.  Since the side of the boat is at an angle, this is more difficult than you realize.

We fill up our water tank using a special micro-bacterial hose Teknor Apex Zero-G Hose . We also make sure that the opening of the hoses never touch the dock and when we are done, we connect to the two ends together to keep organisms out.  Be sure to drain your hose completely before storing.

antibacterial garden water hose

When you are filling up your water tank at the fuel dock, those are typically just garden hoses.  With that said, if we fill the water tank using the dock’s garden hoses, then I never put the hose directly into the tank because they are just laying on the dock. I let the water run for about 15 seconds and I hold it about 1″ from the opening.

So back to the question – is the water potable?

We do use our water for:

  • Washing dishes
  • Brushing our teeth (yet I still use bottled water for that)
  • Washing our hands and face
  • Boiling water for pasta and veggies

But I don’t use the water for anything we would consume. What does that mean exactly? Well, for coffee I boil bottled water (it’s a mental thing).  When I rinse food like veggies and meat, again I only use bottled water.  I don’t mind using it for boiling pasta as all of the germs would be killed and we also aren’t drinking or eating that water.

Recently, we grilled up Salmon and Veggies and I rinsed them at home before we left.

So the answer is really up to you and your comfort level. Since we use our water regularly, the water in the tank stays fresh. Keep in mind, that some marinas (especially around the San Juan Islands) don’t have “good” water and many boaters will avoid filling their water tanks.  In addition, many boaters do not recommend using bleach as it can be very harsh.  We have only put in about 2 tbsp total all summer long.

Our recommendation is to see if your water is clear and odor free.  If it is, then you decide what you are comfortable with. If it is not, then see a boating specialist for recommendations.

Scott & Ally

 

This post may contain affiliate links for products I mention.

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New Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

dull knives compact sharpener

Every Boater Needs Kitchen Gadgets

When you are occupying a small space on a boat, then kitchen gadgets come in handy. The first weekend Scott and I stayed on our boat Kokomo, we quickly learned that preparing food isn’t that easy.

I had bought a cutting board and a knife set, but the cutting board is either too small or it slides around.  The knives got dull very fast too.

 

Knife Sharpener

Soon I was looking for kitchen gadgets to help solve this problem.  Since I don’t mind chopping my own ingredients, I first looked for a knife sharpener. The one we have at home is electric and big – that won’t work on a boat. Then I found, this portable KitchenIQ Knife Sharpener on Amazon for only $5.99! Plus it had over 8100 great reviews! Guess what? We love it too. It’s small and fits perfect in the galley utensil draw.

However, when you are using a small cutting board, it’s difficult to chop a large quantity of ingredients as they tend to fall off and land on the floor.  That’s when this awesome gadget comes into play!

Onion (and other veggies) Chopper

The Vidalia Vegetable Chopper  by Müeller chops way more than just onions! It has two chopping sizes (1/4″ dice & 1/2″ dice) and it keeps all of your ingredients inside the container! It’s so easy and it works great! I ordered this on Amazon too for just $19.99

 

I do recommend putting round objects, like onions, tomatoes round side down on the blades for best results.

Here’s a quick video demonstration:

Order your Chopper Here!

Cheese Graters

This gadget does way more than grate cheese. It also slices and juliennes veggies. After you are done, simply store all of the graters and slicers inside the entire kit! This is one of my favorite kitchen tools for the boat!

As I continue to find items that work great on the boat, I will be sure to share them with you in our blog.  A few items we have already mentioned that we use regularly is our Xpress Redi Set Go Oven (which is now called Xpress Platinum Countertop Cooker) and our Magma Grill.

Cheers! Ally

 

 

This post may contain affiliate links for products I mention.

 

 

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Going through the Ballard Locks for the First Time

luxury charter yacht pnw locks

Ballard Locks

Scott and I didn’t want to finish the season without going through the Ballard Locks for the first time.  They are also known as the Hiram M. Chittenden locks.  We invited my college friend Jen and my sister Susan and her husband Kurt to join us as all three have been through them before.

We decided to go through the locks the day after Labor Day, thinking that it would be less busy. Friends of ours have their boat moored inside the locks and this past summer it often took them hours to get through. The weirdest part of the trip was that everything was “orange” as Western Washington was engulfed in ash and smoke from the fires in Eastern Washington.

Before you go through the locks, you do need to have on board, two 50′ lines each with a 12″ eye on each end. These are not cheap and luckily we had our rewards from West Marine that we used to purchase them.

Entering the Locks

As we entered the locks, we immediately saw a huge yacht in front of us. We slowly followed it and what we thought was a fire boat behind it. Turns out it was their tender!

Thank God we had Jen, Kurt and Susan with us, as we had no idea what to do.  There are two sets of locks. The large one holds many boats and the outside boats tie up (using your 50′ lines) to the cleats at the locks and then boats inside tie up to one another.  In the small lock, you simply tie up to the wall and go through individually.  As we got closer to the actual locks, we figured out we were probably heading into the large locks.

 

Once inside, the lock workers shouted down to us to tie off to the sail boat next to us.  We used our own line on their cleats.  Make sure your fenders are up high, as you will be locked in tight with the other boats!

Then a few minutes later, they had another 30′ boat tie up to us. Once we were all tied up you can see how tight we all are inside the big lock.

In this entire process, this huge M/Y Spirit, a 178′ yacht came in behind and next to us. She was coming down from Alaska for maintenance work at one of the shipyards. She sleeps 11 guests and has a crew of 13. It’s available for charter for just $270k per week during the low season.

Once all of the boats are tied up, they close the locks and they raise us up to the height of the locks, which is about thirty feet or more.

Our Lucky Day!

We really lucked out on our first trip through the locks as we literally came straight into the big locks without waiting, tied up and then waited a total of fifteen minutes before they filled up the lock. The sailboat next to us had been waiting on the wall for over an hour and a half! Overall, it took us less than an hour from the time we entered the channel to when we left the locks.

You do feel a bit weird having all of the spectators watching you. We felt like we should do the parade wave!

There is not a lot to see as you travel through the Fremont Cut. It is very industrial and there are a lot of large vessel shipyards.

We planned on having lunch at one of the restaurants at South Lake Union , but there was no transient moorage as they were setting up for the Boats Afloat Show next week. When you are at South Lake Union, you do have to be watchful to stay out of the fairway for Kenmore Air.

The crew decided to have lunch at Ivar’s Salmon House located at the north end of Lake Union. They have a nice long dock, with easy access.

Going back through the locks again

After lunch, we headed right back to where we came from. We had no idea if it would be crowded again.  As we approached the locks, there was only one small sailboat in front of us.  You will see a red or green light at the locks, which will tell you if you can enter or not. Within about ten minutes the green light for the small locks came on and we followed the sail boat.

The locks crew had us use our small lines to tie up to the moving wall. Again, make sure your fenders are up high, so you don’t rub on the wall.  After we were tied up, they closed the small locks and the two of us went down about thirty feet and off we went.

I have to say that this journey was one of the coolest things I’ve done in awhile! Originally we were going to moor Kokomo inside the locks. Can you imagine us going through these on our first day of owning and operating a boat?! Crazy. If you have the opportunity to go through them either on your own boat or someone else’s I highly recommend it.

Cheers, Scott & Ally on Kokomo

 

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Boating with our Golden Retriever Mac – Boating Journey

golden retriever begging for food

Boating  Dogs

Boating dogs are everywhere, but boating with a senior dog is not as easy as you think. When we bought the boat, we just assumed that our 14 year old golden retriever, Mac would love the boat as much as we do. We bought him a life vest and quickly found out on day one that he didn’t even want to get on the boat.

golden retriever life vest dog

There are many books about sailors and their travels with their beloved fur kids. We also knew many of them had challenges traveling long distances with their pets, but that was because they couldn’t go potty on land.  Come to find out, Mac just doesn’t like new environments at his age.

Mac has been healthy his entire life, but when he turned 14 in April 2017 he really began to slow down. Walks could only be on flat surfaces and this is because he has some nerve damage in his spine.  Unfortunately, our boat is about a quarter of a mile from the parking lot.

golden retriever boat dock

Scott and I found out early on, that since the walk is so long, that the dock has become Mac’s potty area. At his age, he poops a lot (TMI) and we always have doggy bags.  We know the importance of dock etiquette and we will use a bucket with water to clean up after him.

Sometimes he makes it all the way to the main land and Elliott Bay Marina is super dog friendly. They have potty stations everywhere and almost all of the dock dogs are super friendly.

golden retriever boating dog

On the boat, Mac makes himself at home, especially when we are docked. He socializes with everyone and of course begs for food.

golden retriever begging for food

golden retriever begging

And the cockpit table is just his height! Nothing gets passed Mac.  There are two harbor seals that used to taunt another dock dog, Chuck. He sadly passed away in July 2017 and now they have been coming down to our dock. Maybe they are looking for Mac?

Day trips with Mac

When we do go out on the water for a day trip, Mac does not like it. Perhaps it’s the movement or the sounds of the engines.  The first time, he jumped up on the cockpit cushions and I was worried he would try to jump out.

senior boating dog

After that, we started putting him down in the cabin for his security.  He finally found refuge in the aft berth.  The first time we put him down there, we didn’t think he would go under there and when he did, he had climbed over the barbecue and cooler to get there! Boating dogs has a cool ring to it, but it’s not Mac that’s for sure.

senior dog aft berth

The tough part for Mac is the steepness of the stairs down to the cabin. He needs help up and down.  He likes to sit in the entry way while I’m prepping food in hopes, I will help him down. But as you know, our galley is so small that there is not room for both of us!

golden retriever senior dog boating

At 14 years old (April 2017) it’s difficult to resist his sweet sugar face and I usually always help him down and work around him.

boating dog sweet golden retriever face

When we are relaxing on the deck, he usually ends of sleeping the entire time.  Notice how much hair is on the carpet! We did buy a Bissell Vacuum and it works great (I will share that info on another post), but we do bring our Dyson vacuum from home every few weeks to really clean the carpet.

sleeping old dog boat

As Mac gets older on the boat

Knowing that Mac doesn’t like to travel in the boat, we leave him with a sitter when we stay overnight outside of Elliott Bay. We know he doesn’t have much time left with us due to his declining health and we want to make sure that every moment he’s on the boat, he’s happy and comfortable.

Scott and I had another golden retriever, Maggie and we said goodbye to her Memorial Day weekend in 2014.  We just are not ready to say goodbye to Mac quite yet, but we also will make sure that we are not selfish this time. Maggie lived about six months too long. Mac deserves nothing but love and comfort in his final months and we will make sure of that.

Cheers,  Scott, Ally and Mac

golden retriever boat owners

 

 

 

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Prepping dinner in a small galley

kale beet salad

Galleys are much smaller than kitchens!

Galleys are kitchens on a boat. One thing you will learn very quickly on a boat our size, is that there is NOT a lot of room to make any kind of gourmet meals.  I love to cook and entertain, and I couldn’t wait to do that on our boat. Soon I realized things had to be very simple and pre-planned.
This is our “Kitchen”, which has a microwave, two burner stove top and fridge.

We have some cupboards and three drawers for utensils.

utensil drawer boat

With limited space, I’m always looking for efficient kitchen gadgets to make prepping dinner easier. One of my all-time favorite tools is my Mueller Onion Chopper . It’s fast, no mess and easy cleanup! Here’s a quick demo:

If you want to try it out yourself – ORDER YOUR CHOPPER HERE!

Local Shopping

Elliott Bay Marina, is located just down the road from Whole Foods and Wild Salmon Seafood Market at Fisherman’s terminal (great FRESH fish daily!)

We bought a Magma Cabo Adventurer Series Charcoal Grill that fits perfectly on the side of the boat and I’m amazed as to how much food we can cook on it.

Last week we bought “marbled salmon“, which I had never had before from Wild Salmon and it was fantastic! Because it has a higher oil factor, it stays moist when you grill it.  The grill does have larger grates, so we typically will use our lava stone or foil to keep things cleaner.

Since we are buying super fresh fish, you only need a few spices on hand. We simply used garlic salt, Italian seasoning and pepper with some olive oil for this salmon.

galley cooking grill

Pair it with a pasta and green salad, which you can make ahead and you have the perfect dinner for hot weather!
tasty kale galley salad
Sweet Chopped Kale Salad

 

premade pasta salad galley
Pesto Pasta Salad
Many  weekends, we’ll go down and stay on the boat on Fridays. Since we work on Fridays, we don’t have time to prep for dinner. That’s when we will swing by Alberton’s grocery store (they have the best fried chicken) and buy their six piece chicken dinner with the side dishes. It transports easy and there’s no cleanup!
take out dinner for galley
If you are searching for ideas, two of my favorite cookbooks for the galley are The One-Pan Galley Gourmet : Simple Cooking on Boats and Six Ingredients or Less. Simple and perfect for a boat!
galley cooking recipes
One of my favorite side dishes to make is our Corn, Tomato & Avocado salad. It’s easy to prep and very tasty!
corn salad galley recipe
When in doubt and it’s a hot day, you can always fall back on a fresh tomato salad with mozzarella! It only has four ingredients and tons of flavor!
galley heirloom salad
Heirloom Cherry Tomato Salad

Desserts

For those who know me well, I personally don’t eat desserts, nor do I make them. But when you are entertaining guests, dessert is a must. With limited fridge space and no oven, what’s a good idea for dessert? I love to serve different kinds of chocolates. Super easy and delicious!

chocolate bars & bark

Scott and I haven’t been entertaining that much this summer on the boat, since we have such a great restaurant at the marina, Maggie Bluffs. But as Fall arrives, we’ll be spending more time on it and we’ll share some of the great recipes with you!
Cheers, Scott and Ally #Kokomo

Recipes

Print Recipe
 Sweet Chopped Kale Salad with Roasted Beets Yum
The sweetness of the poppy seed dressing combined with tangy roasted beets is a perfect salad for summer time!
kale beet salad
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Passive Time 0 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Passive Time 0 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
kale beet salad
Instructions
  1. Mix all of the ingredients today with the dried cranberries and poppy seed dressing the salad kit comes with. Serve immediately.
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Print Recipe
 Pesto Pasta Salad Yum
This pasta salad can be served chilled or at room temperature and is perfect for a hot summer day.
zippy basil pasta salads
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Passive Time 0 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Passive Time 0 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
zippy basil pasta salads
Instructions
  1. Mix all the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve chilled or at room temperature. We transferred the pasta salad to a ziplock bag for easy storage in our small fridge and it kept perfect for the next two days!
Share this Recipe
 
Print Recipe
 Heirloom Cherry Tomato Salad Yum
This heirloom tomato summer salad only uses four ingredients and is perfect for boating!
summer salads
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Heirloom Tomato Salad
Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Heirloom Tomato Salad
Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing
summer salads
Instructions
  1. Mix and blend all of the vinaigrette dressing. Then add 1/4 cup of the dressing to salad. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Let sit for 15 minutes and serve at room temperature.
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Prepping for the big trip!

Prepping for our first trip to the San Juan Islands!

Next week, we are leaving for the San Juan Islands for a five night trip.  My brother, Ron and his wife Patsy are joining us. We’ll tag along with my sister Susan and her husband Kurt, who will be on their trawler.  We stayed Friday night on the boat last weekend to relax and then do some prep work on Saturday.
Friday night, we decided to eat at Maggie Bluffs restaurant, as we didn’t want to bother prepping dinner on the boat.  What a great spot to relax and enjoy the views!

 

seattle outdoor dining

seattle marina dining

 

shrimp cocktail seattle dining

 

Mac was once again a trooper. For an old dog, at 14+ years old, having to walk to the boat which is a quarter mile, he does very well.  But he doesn’t really enjoy “boating”. So with that said, he will have a dog sitter next week when we go to the San Juan Islands.

 

dogs at Elliott Bay marina

people pets marina boating

 

old golden retriever boating
Got any snacks mom?

I decided to relax on the bow, enjoy the sunset while catching up with my favorite boating magazines.

relaxing on boat

We had a full moon and once again, we find that this is certainly a great retreat after a long busy week.

yachts summer pink sky

Heading out on our own!

Saturday, was our day to take the boat out by ourselves – our first time!!! We wanted to measure how long it took us to get to Shilshole Bay at 7 knots.  It ended up taking us 30 minutes, BUT our boat cannot go that slow. The engines rumbled and were not happy. We were testing that speed, as that is how fast my sister and husband will travel in their trawler.  So on the way back, we increased our speed to 14-15 knots and it hummed happily.
This means we will be far ahead of them. With that said, we plan on leaving about an hour after them and catching up in Mukilteo.  We will get to La Conner a few hours before them, barring any issues. (fingers crossed!!!).
summer seattle sound
We were planning on having me practice docking the boat along our main dock where the yachts park, but we had too many rolling waves that were making me uneasy.  I want to practice in calm waters to fully understand what I’m doing.  I will say, that Scott is doing an AMAZING job operating / docking the boat.  He was my instructor!
Our next big test was to bring it back to our slip and this time docking with another boat next to us! I wasn’t sure if I should be on the bow to push off, or on the stern to jump off. I decided to stay on the stern and Scott brought the boat in perfectly, swung the stern to port and we tied off in less than a minute! Wow!!
boat slip neighbors

 

We spent the rest of the day, taking stuff off of the boat that we wouldn’t need next week, to make room for storage (under the seats, closets, etc).  Our plan is to go down for the day this Saturday, get gas, clean, load up anything we can in advance and get things ready.
In order to feed six people and have plenty of food and beverages, we knew our little galley fridge would not be sufficient. Scott and I bought a great cooler, Coleman 120 Quart Coastal Xtreme Series Marine Cooler from Amazon and when we are at port, we leave it on the swim step. Obviously, when under way, we bring it on board.
beverages cooler boating
We are scheduled to leave Thursday, July 20th no later than 10am after we load up! We are headed to the La Conner Marina for one night, then to Fisherman’s Bay on Lopez Island for one night, then to Deer Harbor on Orcas Island for two nights, then to Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island for our last night.

Stay tuned for the stories of the big adventure!  Scott and Ally

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Getting to Know Our Boat Part 2

bayliner engine well

Getting to know our boat, Kokomo – Part 2

Last Sunday was cloudy and damp in Seattle, but we still wanted to spend the day on the boat and do some housework.  Better to do that on a cloudy day and enjoy it on a sunny day we figured.  We left Mac at home, so we could move about easier and get things done.
When we arrived, we noticed we had another new yacht visiting. This time it was the S/V Georgia from George Town. This photo doesn’t do it justice. We found out from our neighbor that it is 159′ long and now is a charter vessel. The mast could be seen from miles away!

 

sailing yachts

Time for Chores

Scott and I had different chores – he replaced all of the spark plugs and I cleaned the interior carpets.  I also brought our Dyson Vacuum Cleaner from home, which made a huge difference both inside the cabin and in the cockpit. Something about walking around 17 year old carpet that someone else walked around, was creeping me out. At least I feel better now!  We ended up ordering a vinyl anti-fatigue mat for the galley too, to help make it better and we also bought a portable vacuum cleaner to keep on the boat – too much dog hair! LOL

 

Working on the engines was a tight fit, but Scott did a great job! And he only broke one spark plug while changing out all 16 plugs.

 

Next on the list, was (doing something with the dingy motor)….as you can see, I’m not sure what he was doing. LOL I can’t say he was mounting it, as it was already mounted….but it had something to do with drilling a hole thru the bracket and putting in a screw. Unfortunately his drill bit wore out.

 

We have yet to put the dingy down and take it for a run – but we promise to do that this weekend!

Next on the list – the anchor chain

Now we need to figure out how long our anchor chain is and spray paint it in 20′ lengths.  I was a bit freaked out running the electric winch as it was so noisy.  I kept going down to the cabin to see how much was left. In the end, we had almost 240′ of chain and looking at the chain, it appears the previous owner rarely used it. We also noticed that our winch is missing the manual handle, should it break down, so that’s on the “buy list”.

 

 

Scott fired up the engines and our Furuno radar – we’ve been told to do that every time we go onboard. Especially the radar as it can get “stuck”.  After a few hours work, we called it a day.  Walking down the dock, we ran into this fella, a Blue Heron.
If I saw him outside my stern entrance it would have scared me to death. He was so stealth like.
Scott & I are staying on the boat this upcoming weekend and entertaining friends each day.  Our goal is to take it out on our own and also with friends. Time to jump out of the nest I guess!  We still don’t have a slip neighbor, so who knows, we may get it all to ourselves this summer. Stay tuned! #KokomoSeattle

 

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Getting To Know Our New Boat

Getting to know our Bayliner boat, Kokomo

bayliner ciera des moines marina

Getting to know our new boat, Kokomo

It’s been two full weeks now that we have owned the boat and we headed back to Elliott Bay Marina to spend Saturday and Saturday night on it. We wanted to utilize this time to figure out all the ins and outs of the boat and also take my brother in law out on the sound with us for tips and practice.

The first thing Scott and Kurt did, was open up the engine hatch and check everything out on our two Mercruiser 250HP 5.7ltr engines. We had just had the oil changed this week by Monkey Fist Marine in the marina and all looked great there.  They said it really needed it badly. Remember, the previous owner hadn’t ran the boat in almost two years!

Kurt wanted to look at the spark plugs and instantly that one cracked. So off I went to West Marine to get a bunch of spark plugs and some other stuff, including self-repair tape for the “just in case” incidents.  They replaced a few that they had removed and Scott will do the rest of them when in a few weeks.

 

Off to Blake Island

Then we headed out to the sound, so Kurt could listen to the engines and make sure everything sounded great. To be honest, I got freaked out last weekend when the engines would make different sounds as we moved across the sound, so I wanted Kurt (who used to be a Chief Engineer for the Ferries) to listen to them.

As we pulled out of Elliott Bay, a bizarre wave came at us – it was absolutely HUGE and we took a 6′ nose dive. There were no ferries, no freighters  and no cruise ships. It was unexplainable! Let’s say it freaked all of us out.  Kurt wanted to head to Blake Island across the sound.  It was a bit choppy with NNW at 8 mph, but he wasn’t worried at all.
satellite map elliott bay
About 1/4 of the way of the trip, we were going full throttle when we heard and felt a huge “thug”! What the hell was that?!! Yep, we hit a log and thank God, it was not a big one. We were all okay, but now I was a bit white knuckled between the white caps and the log.  The key to the trip, was we were finding out that the “sounds” we were hearing was that there was cavitation (see below) in the engines as we were going up and over the waves.
Soon, we planed the boat and found the perfect RPM and we made it to Blake Island State Park in about 40 minutes.

 

They have 30 minute docks and overnight moorage. We pulled up to the 30 minute dock and walked around a little bit. We checked out Tillicum Village and then we had lunch on the boat. Of course, I had to get my photo with my Cougar flag (I do this in every new city).

salmon bake indian reservation
Soon, the park ranger came knocking on our door – we had stayed too long.  By now the winds had shifted slightly and as we returned back, we had to close up all of the cockpit, as we were getting sprayed everywhere.

 

What is Cavitation?

The aeration (bubbling) and boiling effect of water caused by creation of a low pressure area. Generally caused by a solid shape (propeller blade) passing through the water, in such a position and speed, that a low pressure area is formed due to the inability to move through the water in nonresistant manner. An example is, a propeller blade that has a rough edge would not cut efficiently through the water, thus creating a low pressure area. If the pressure drops below the vapor pressure, a cavitation bubble will form in that region. These bubbles will collapse when they reach the higher pressure region of the blade. This causes a rapid change in pressure and can result in physical erosion. You may notice burns (erosion) at some area on the face of the blade.

We finally got back to the marina!

By the time we got back to Elliott Bay, the winds were fairly strong from the north, at about 12 mph. We headed to the fuel dock and twice, the winds pushed us off of the dock. The staff at the fuel dock was super helpful and on the third approach we nailed it. It didn’t help that a 70′ yacht was sharing the same fuel dock! LOL

I’m always a bit nervous doing the “S Turn” back to our slip between 3 yachts, especially in the wind, but Scott did an amazing job.  We still don’t have a slip mate yet on our starboard side and so we have a bit of “room” when docking. This time, the northerly winds pushed us right into our side of the dock and he did great! We wouldn’t have even hit them if they were there. LOL  Mac was happy the ride was over too. It was a bit too bumpy for him! As you can see by the photo of the cabin – things went flying! Lesson learned – secure everything!

sweet golden retriever face

 

We then spent the next two hours cleaning all of the salt water off of the boat! It was a mess! We couldn’t see a thing out of any of the windows!

 

 

Relaxing after a fun day

The best thing we love about boating, is relaxing after a fun day, in the sun with gorgeous surroundings! This weekend, we had a new yacht neighbor join us “Invader”. It is one of the largest yachts in North America at 164′ and it is owned by a media mogul.

 

Super Yacht, Invader

Scott & I ended the day grilling steaks on our new Magma Gas Grill  – it works perfect for us! We just made a simple blue cheese salad to pair with it. Mac surely was tuckered out too.
Another thing we learned about the boat this weekend, is how fast we go thru water. I was prepping dinner, when I heard the water pump – we were nearly bone dry! We have an antibacterial hose, Teknor Apex Zero-G Hose that we use to fill the water tanks directly from our dock.

After dinner, we strolled to the west end of the marina to take in the sunset – Elliott Bay Marina really is a beautiful place.
Unfortunately, for the month of June we won’t get to spend much time on the boat, as we have trips or commitments. We will try and squeeze in a night towards the end of the month – but will definitely use it a lot in July and August. Until then……..

#KokomoSeattle