Hope everyone had a great New Year’s Eve. I thought I would share with you what we have been up to over the past month. It’s funny; it has been so cold here and with all the humidity in the air we had to purchase a few dehumidifiers for the boat. I can’t believe how well they work.

Bryce took the bus home to Michigan to see his mom just before Christmas and brought back the Trail Blazer.  It has helped us out a lot having our own vehicle.   He said the bus trip was nothing like the old Greyhounds.  The 1000 mile Express trip took 24 hours and had only 8 stops every 150 miles or so.  Many stops had 24 restaurants right inside the terminal.  The bus had WIFI, electricity to charge devices, bathroom and comfortable reclining seats that were much better than planes.

With so much spare time on our hands waiting for the engine, we have been doing some maintenance. I have to laugh.. before we left home back in August, we wanted to paint our top deck. But we ran out of time. We forgot to bring the paint with us. Now to make this a short story; Bryce brought the paint back with him and it has done nothing but rain and the temps are 30’s to 40 and in the teens at night. We were able to replace the front hatch and the aft water tank.  They say its been the coldest here since 20 years.

Here, Bryce is putting on the new hose attachments on the new aft water tank. On the old tank, you can see the dark spot where we tried to seal it.  It did not work well.  We have since found that 3M makes 8005 specifically for polyethylene.  Virtually nothing sticks to this plastic.  No sure it would fix this huge crack in the old tank though.

You might be asking yourself why did we replace our hatch.  Not that I like to spend money…LOL The answer to that question is. We had already reseated it once and the darn thing just kept leaking.  Heavy waves and rain washing across the bow would make its way through.  So we replaced it with the much more rigid Ocean series hatch.  The Ocean Series is used on the newer boats. It is so pretty. The funny thing is now I want to replace all my glazed hatches.  But this is the only one that has issues. The top photo is our old hatch and the bottom port (left) is our new hatch, The other two show Bryce working hard cleaning off the old sealant and getting ready to seal in the new.     

One of the advantage of having our Trail Blazer here is the freedom it offers to explore the area.   We took a drive on New Years Day and had lunch at Tacky Jacks in Orange Beach AL. As you walk in to the restaurant can take a piece of duck tape and write your name or a message then stick it anywhere you want to inside outside. On the floor, wall, celling, anywhere you want. It was a fun place with good food.

I received a few Christmas gifts that I would like to share with you. Cynthia & Bryon I can not thank you enough for the Christmas gifts.  Cynthia made me a beautiful Christmas Tree that I hang from my wine rack.  Bryon made me a beautiful bracelet. I will treasure them. Thanks so much for the perfect gift.

Roger and Chris what a great night we shared with you on Christmas and New years Eve. Thanks so much for the shrimp and fantastic margaritas.  Roger; so far I keep flipping the pages. Roger is the Author of Fayal Roads. I just started reading it; but so far I can’t put it down. I love the Julia’s spunkiness.  She was born in London. The oldest daughter of Admiral Jonathan Langston. I remember my grandmother telling me if a women wasn’t married by a certain age she was known as an old maid. But Julia finally decided to marry Mr. Reston Howe and move to Washington State of New York. Not a marriage made in heaven. This is a tale of History in the war of 1812. Roger said the sequel is in the making.  I find it so far a good read.

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Well, We have been here nearly a month now. Our new Beta Marine engine has been ordered. They say we should expect it mid-January. I am bound to keep a smile on my face no matter how long it takes or how bored I get. I am waiting for the weather to warm so I can get my swing out. Yesterday was pretty nice but the breeze was chilly. I saw all the snow our family and friends are getting back home in Michigan. I cannot say I miss it. I think snow is beautiful; but most of all, I hate driving in it. Be safe out there to all our family and friends and everyone else.

We have had a small get together here on our boat. Tom , Lili and Jim and Shirley came down for cocktails one night. It was a ton of fun.

I received a text from Karen one of the couples we meet in New Orleans saying they were in Orange beach. So on Christmas eve we drove up to see them. It was such a lovely place. They were staying at the Wharf. We went out for a delicious dinner. I ordered Oysters they were magnificent tasting. However, later that night, I once again saw those oysters coming out the way they went in…. what a bad night it was.

Our wonderful bartender David.. He was very pleasant. 

After our dinner we took a walk around the Wharf. The lights were beautiful.

The following afternoon we meet up with some of our new friends to celebrate Christmas at Turner Marine. We had such a wonderful dinner. It was a smorgasbord of food.

Pauline & Greg left, Roger & Chris on top, in the center we have Bryon and Cynthia and Paul on the right.

Tom, Shirley, Chris & Jenn

Well, Christmas arrived and passed now its  time to think of the New Year’s.

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What a nice weekend cold and all. Enterprise has a great weekend special; Three days for $46.00 dollars. Bryce said it was time for us to get a way for a few hours. We drove in to Mobile on Friday evening after receiving the car. It was wonderful just driving around for a few hours. While we are waiting for everything to settle down here with ordering the new engine and all, we might as well enjoy the sites.

Saturday we drove over to the Alabama Air Craft Pavilion. Due to the snow and ice they weren’t allowing tours to walk up the ramps, so we walked the grounds.

The Battleship Alabama is moored here.  There was also a B52 bomber named “Calamity Jane”!!

This is the first time we have actually seen a sub out of water.  There were also a number of tanks and armored personnel carriers displayed.

Afterwards, we drove along the eastern Mobile bay shore and stopped at Shux On the pier for a bowl of soup and a beer.

It was chilly out had to put on the winter coat. This is called the Fairhope Pier. The first Fairhope Pier was built in 1895 it was used as a commercial dock for the bay boats. In 1968 they built the first concrete pier and it remained opened until she was hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She reopened in 2006 after renovations.

There is a small marina off the pier but really needs some repairs done to her.  A few broken docks. The tide is down in this photo.

Sunday we took 5 loads of laundry into the laundry mat. We then decided to take a drive to Dauphin Island.

I think this Heron is waiting for the fisherman to catch his lunch.

Do you notice anything different? Yes, Bryce colored my hair. Sometimes I just need a change.

We stopped and had a lunch at Jt’s Sunset Grill. What a nice place. Susan the Bartender is magnificent; so much fun to talk to. When we walked in we were greeted with hellos from these two couples. They are RV’er and are staying at a nearby RV park.  It was really nice to talk to them.  Sorry I did not get their names.  The near couple is from Iowa.  The far couple is from Indiana.

OM!! we were coming out of a tunnel and right before my eyes a semi truck didn’t look at the clearance of 12 feet. We saw pieces of his truck or tunnel land on the ground. I was very happy to get past  the opening. The bottom photo is tunnel number 2. it was really cool. I love the reflection.  These two tunnels go under the Tombigbee River that dumps into Mobile bay.

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After many hours of hard diligent work on the head gasket, fuel injector, hone of the cylinders, and much more The Little Red Engine said no more.  After 21 years, she passed away at 9:16 on December 8th. It is sad but It is also a celebration. She has sailed/motored the great lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean. Now we wait for the new arrival of her predecessor. 

This is the cylinders after hone; aren’t they pretty.  Deck is very clean, pistons de-carbon.

Putting the engine back together.

It’s funny the poor guy keeps trying to resuscitate the little red engine.  Here, we try to boost the crank speed with an electric drill.  The engine is getting fuel, air and now a bit more compression. She chugs every other revolution, but will not quite start.

We had a get together with some new friends, a few days ago. I am sure they are all getting restless and ready to set sail. It’s funny we are all from Michigan. There is at least 4 other boats here in Mobile Alabama from Michigan.

Grace the young lady on the starboard side with the long hair also stored her boat at Sailor Cove for winter storage with us.  It’s a small world. LOL..  Grace is next to Emily.  Then there’s Todd on the left.  He is headed to Panama.  And Mark and Linda are in the back.

Good food with good guests.

Look at the snow… We are in the south and it snowed. Mother Nature didn’t want to deprive the people from Michigan of snow. LOL

George is covering his eyes from the lights. LOL

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Waiting for prices on parts and engine prices seems to take a bit of time since most places aren’t open on the weekend. Bryce continued to clean the head and block on the Little red engine. I am very positive that she will over come her sickness and we will be on our way soon. We have been taking walks and found 3 more marinas right next store. There is also a West Marine here at Turner’s but they were closed on Sundays. On Saturday evening we went down to the end of the dock and we watched a parade of Christmas lights. It sure is nippy in the evenings here. Bryce pointed out that we haven’t seen spider webs. I think it’s to cold for them.

I was so bored I make cookies for Bryce..  His favorite is oatmeal raisin.

Bryce putting together his list of things needed. Along with measurements of this and that for the new engine.  He has also priced parts to repair our little red engine.

After cookies I made bread…Little bread maker with purple lid

One problem! Now that I made this bread and cookies they have to be eaten. LOL

I liked this one best! They drove the boats close to the sea wall and tossed out candy. 

2nd best. These guys tossed out bags of candy with a glow stick in the package so the kids could see where the bag was.. Awesome idea.

The two Queens on the bow of this vessel where tossing out beads to the kids.

My 3rd best..Loved the lights… Santa had a lot of helpers on this sleigh…..

This pontoon looks like it was transformed into a 60’s motorhome… Kinda cool..

This cruiser was the leader of the pack. Full of Ho..Ho…ho’s.. and dancing animals on the bow.

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This is the continuation of my story The Little Red Engine that huffed and puffed. As most of us know it takes time for a doctor to make his diagnosis after he receives all the test results. I believe this is also true when collecting or looking for reasons why anything stops running. My thoughts are  The Little Red Engine is Beauty’s heart so we must carefully look for reasons why she has been spitting out quite a bit of blow-by.  Here at Turners Marina they have a vehicle we can use to get things we may need. We took a trip to Harbor Freight to collect a few tools that we did not bring with us.

After we arrived back, the testing of the Little Red Engine started right away. I feel like a cheerleader. LOL I stood by watching Bryce hard at work while he (unbolted) I would say unbutton her covering. I handed him tools as needed or just plainly stepped out of his way.  

The burgundy Trail Blazer is the Turner loaner car. We are back from Harbor Freight  

Now I must tell you, Beauty is a bit shy… She doesn’t want to be seen naked; but has agreed to let me show you her heart. Bryce is undoing her Buttons and bolts and looks pretty happy at the moment…LOL

Glow pugs show a bit of difference between cylinders, but nothing bad.

Compression test is a key test that must be performed.  Normally, this test must be run on a warm engine.  However, Bryce is only looking for differences between cylinders.  Dry compression is 120,120,280,60.  Wet compression is 200,200,500,120.  Bryce is expecting all cylinders to be close and over 400 when warm.  Looks like only #3 is good.  Other three are low.

Okay looks Like he has collected antifreeze out of the engine. It looks a bit brown.

OM…Look It’s her main artery (her cylinder head) and the test results came back fabulous; NO Blown head gasket … that’s good and bad. Now we must look deeper into her. I am afraid she might need exploratory surgery! Are you sure doc? I asked. Without a thought…So lets see…..

Now look closely… you might have to zoom in with me…Now during the compression check the top piston was not firing well at all.  Her compression was only 60 you can see the brown that looks like rust right?  It is not rust, it is extreme glazing.  It is the source of the low compression.  The next one down had great compression, it is only glazed near the top.  The two bottom cylinders are low in the 100’s and show glazing at different parts of the cylinder and places not shown in this picture.

Well, I found out that the brown and black is called glazing.  But this glazing isn’t so good for pistons and rings so I am told.  These Dirty artery’s (cylinders) have to be cleaned.  Bryce says they only need to be honed and any stuck rings need to be unstuck.  He says otherwise the cylinders are like new.  There are no ridges at the top and some original hone marks can still be seen.  This engine has nearly 3000 hours on it.

Now, we really must make a decision… There are so many reason that we should say just clean her, put her back together and see if all is well.

Okay This is me Jane… I am not normal… see I understand saving money and I don’t gamble. Matter of fact every time I gamble I loss my twenty dollars!  No joke. The stakes are too high to gamble here for me.  I need to be able to depend on Beauty’s heart. I have lost faith in this engine. We were very lucky coming down the Mississippi that this didn’t happen. With that said my vote is to replace her engine with a new heart. I am not sure the out come yet. But I will keep you posted.

Do we look tired? The young man below Mark took this picture of us after we settled in at Turner’s Marina. 

I am sure Bryce wants to clean her cylinders/rings and verify by compression all is ok. Darn why can’t I feel that way   I am so mad at myself…We had oil leak issues caused by the blow-by and that concerns me.. What happens if we are in the Gulf or the Atlantic and the darn thing won’t start again.  I told you I am not normal.. so we will not stop… We will figure this out together and keep going. I think I would suffocate if we went home. LOL

Ok back to the bright side.. .

We have meet some great people here already. Mark and Lynda Arman.. We have to laugh.. a young girl by the name of Tamara reached out to me asking me if I had meet her parents on the river. She told me what boat they were in and their names I believe. but they were behind us. I told her if I saw them I would tell them I had spoken to her.

Mark and Lynda helped Tow boatUS and the deck hand help us come in. Our conversation started when they asked about me posting on FB..I said yes that’s me. We all started laughing.. Mark said they had followed our trip down the Mississippi. It’s a small world. Get this…Are you ready… They are from Michigan too. I believe there are 5 boats here right now all from Michigan doing the loop. 

What a great couple looking forward to a few more glasses of wine with them. The boat name is Alice

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This is my story of our little red engine that huffed and puffed and just could not reach it final engagement point to turn over. Along with the sails, it is the heart and soul of Beauty.

We were sailing in Mobile Bay sailing early afternoon towards Turner Marine.  The winds were awesome perfect 10. Dolphins serenaded us buffing air through their snout and conversing with a high pitch sound.   It was as if they were talking to each other.

I lost count there were so many playing around us

They looked so in love…..

Then it happened !!! We lost our wind and had to start the engine. He tried and tried we both looked at each other in disbelief not a word was said between us for a few moments.  Beauty was moving at 1 mph under sail. Bryce tried it again but it would not start.  I took over the helm while Bryce took her cover off (Engine cover). I don’t think anything was left uncheck. Bryce checked the glow plugs, fuel, filters and even tested an injector.  Nothing seemed wrong. Everything has checked out great. It sounded like it was going to start just couldn’t reach the final engagement.  Earlier the morning, it started fine as we left the anchorage and raised the sails.

Bryce suggested that he tow Beauty with the jetski.  I did not want to steer into Turner.   It was time to call Tow BoatUS. We took the sails down and Bryce put the engine back together. It was a sad moment. In the 30 plus years of our boating life we have always been the one to help tow boats in. Now it happened to us.!

Mark from Tow boatUS came to our rescue.

It was a beautiful calm day.

Beauty glided easily through the water at about 6 knots.

After we arrived in front of the marina Mark pulled his tow boat on our Portside to push us in to the docking area. It ended up being less complicated than what I thought. 

Mark friend Capt. came along and handed Mark a helping hand for a few moments.

Now in Turners Marina.  Bryce wanted to warm the engine to help it start.  The following morning Bryce he figured out how to warm the engine.  “You know how it pushes out hot water to heat the water heater when the engine is running.” I nodded yes, “I am going to pump the engine coolant to put hot water into the engine to heat it up.” I know what you mean like reverse cycle air conditioning! Anyways that what came in my thoughts. LOL

After heating the engine, it still refused to start.  After thinking about it Bryce is suspecting the head gasket.  He replaced the head gasket about 5 years ago.  It seems to be one thing that could explain the sudden failure.

Here is the steps Bryce did to heat the engine.

Step 1 heated up the water tank

Step 2 remove the belt

Step 3 he used my head band for a tiny belt

Step 4 he used a drill to spin the water pump

Step 5 find something to hold the drill using my pink step stool.

Step 6 should be ear plugs due to drill noise.. LOL

Step 7 wait..wait.. wait.. drink coffee..; wait…wait…  Bryce continues to work..

Step 8 results? failed

Does Beauty need a engine Transplant? To be continued…….

Time to make a decision on fix engine or new engine

While we were anchored in Biloxi a photographer by the name of David Salters took this photo of us anchored out. It was sent to us by a friend of ours on Facebook Nick Gault. Thanks to you both for sharing this amazing picture with us.

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It’s so funny, I have to stop and think about where I left off. Crossing the open waters, doesn’t offer for a great photo shots. After leaving SeaBrook, we anchored near Half Moon Island. It was a nice place to anchor but we had to keep our eyes out for crab pots. The following morning we headed to Biloxi MS and found a nice sandy Shoreline to anchor near. It was perfect for the northern winds that blew in. When morning arrived, we pulled up anchor and headed towards Aux Herbes Island near Mobile Bay Alabama. Today we will head to Mobile Alabama. It is suppose to be a great day for sailing.

We were amazed at the smoothness of the Mississippi Sound today.

One of our daily entertainments are still watching Tows & barges passing by us.

I know you can’t really see them, but two dauphins were dancing next to the boat. 

Here they are coming towards us. I smile every time they come near. It never gets old.

The Mississippi Sound…How beautiful she is with only a ripple of a breeze.

Bryce is being funny taking a photo of me stretching on the bow.

As we were pulling into Biloxi I noticed these birds resting on the number 5 buoy.

Coming into Biloxi we could see the battering the waterway also took from hurricane Katrina. Very sad. Perhaps they need to add floating docks.

Apparently, Biloxi is known world wide as one of the largest processors of shrimp and oysters in the world.

When we left early morning this vessel was gone out looking for his daily catch.

After leaving Biloxi we headed towards Aux Herbes Island. Looking at WindAlert it alerted us to the North east winds that were to get pretty strong during the night so we protected ourselves snuggled up to this island. It was perfect.

During the night a fisherman anchored near us. His vessel looked so pretty all lit up.

When daylight arrive I took this photo of him. I think his favorite color is green.

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On Friday the day after Thanksgiving Bryce and I decided it was time to continue on. Beauty was complete with all her maintenance. We had two ways possible ways to head out to the ICW. We had heard that with the water depth on Lake Pontchartrain was low and wouldn’t be a good route.  So up until Friday we were going the industrial route to the ICW. Bryce got on Active Captain and his CPN and found out we had to give one of the bridges a 4 hour notice before they would open the bridge. We didn’t want to have to wait so we went through Lake Pontchartrain.  It seems much of our trips are often decided in a brief instance.  We wanted to visit with some friends in that area but on a Holiday weekend we were not going to intrude on them and their family. I was really looking forward to seeing them too.

We did go out with some other sailors for dinner on Thanksgiving and really enjoyed it. Starting on the Port side, Russ, Tammy from Iowa, me, Bryce and Dave. Fair winds to all of you. It is awesome meeting new friends.

This is a really pretty house we saw decorated for the season.

After we passed the the bascule bridge headed into Lake Pontchartrain, we immediately started seeing crab pots. Thanks for the heads up Ross, Tammy and Dave. But this pot looks like it needs a fishing pole rod on it.  lol

These are two bridges that had to be opened. The train bridge stays open unless a train is coming and the car bridge we had to call and request an opening. It was great; we didn’t even had to wait.

Bright green trawler sure is pretty looking.  She was coming through the bridge from the other direction.

Look at all the warm clothes everyone is wearing. It might be sunny but it sure was chilly.

This bridge had a clearance of 70 feet.  A bit higher than our 60 foot mast.

This was a cool pelican sculpture in the bridge support.

This was a really cool paddle wheeler that passed us.

I think these are really interesting homes. I wonder what they do in hurricane season. 

This bridge says it has a 65 foot clearance but it had at least another 5 feet with the low water. For some reason in this area the water level was a bit low it set off our water depth alarm.

It seems like some people really like to fish right at the bridge opening.

This guy was cleaning his boat after a long day of collecting his crab pots.

Our last bridge was this train bridge. It was really nice not to have to wait for bridges to open.

We started to see crab pot vessels come back in after hard day a work.

Finally, we get to see the dolphins again.  One day I’ll be able to capture the face of the dolphin.

After nearly 2000 miles we were able to put up the head sail.

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Finally….I mean finally we are done with the maintenance on the boat!  We had the boat hauled out of the water and hung in the slings over night so Bryce could replace the dripless seal on the prop shaft.  I am always amazed with his ability to repair everything that needs to be done.  After over 2000 miles oil needed to be changed (again, once in Memphis) of course many other things. Enough of that stuff. We have meet some really great people here at SeaBrook Marina. I can’t believe it’s getting the Holiday seasons already. Where has the time gone.

Ron and Karen getting ready to leave SeaBrook they are headed to Texas for Christmas with their family.

Bye…..Have a great Holiday You three….

Look Santa Clause is traveling with Ron and Karen.

We had to get a few tools in case he needed them to help remove the dripless seal. First was a puller and a cutter just in case. I said Happy early Christmas. Should I wrap your gifts…LOL just joking.

Beauty is out of the water!! Boy she looks really good too.

The crew here put a ladder up so we could get up and down. It’s 3 p.m, we will be sleeping in the sling tonight.

We were able to see the underneath of the jet-ski lift.  We also inspected our rudder, prop, shaft and cutlass bearing.  Everything survived the trip down the Mississippi without incident.

So the work begins. Bryce used his new puller to help get the coupling off.  It really worked.  The dripless seal has survived over 20 years with no maintenance by us.  And we have put 25000 miles on this seal.  So I guess that is quite good!  The muddy Mississippi made kind of a mess where the seal leaked.

I know you can’t tell but the coupler is moving….

OM…..He is actually reading the instructions. 

It’s off. Time to clean up the shaft and put new seal/bearing on.

This is amazing; he is done and it only took 3 hours. Most of the time was spent just getting off the old parts.

At 7:30 a.m.  The guys were here to put Beauty back into the water.

Bryce gave Beauty a quick Mississippi smile bath before they put us in.

We meant Dave our first night here. He is a great guy. You can see his sailboat behind them.  Its a 52 foot Jeanneau. Dave owns his own company building enclosures and repairing interior on boats. He is planning on heading to Puerto Rico to sort out his business down there.

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