At the end of our last writing we were waiting for Marine Technical Services of Deale, MD to make the 120volt connections for the Boost, High Pressure pumps as well as the control panel.

MTS did an excellent job with an exceedingly neat and organized installation. You can see the terminal box located near the membranes. After a successful test we configured the water-maker to add pickling solution to the system. The pickling process protects the system when it is not being utilized on a regulars basis. Since we will not really be using the water-maker until we head for the Bahamas we went ahead and pickled it.

If you think this “Part #2” was a long time in coming you should be on this end!!! Truthfully a big project but on the other hand, I have not been killing myself either! The great motivator as always, the calendar! With less than a month to go before we start the fall migration it was time to finish this job up! Back to the beginning first though.

Essentially the water maker is made up of the following components. (TL clockwise). Control Panel, Boost Pump, Charcoal Filter, HP Pump, Membranes and Raw Water Filter.  A VERY quick water maker theory class, the boost pump receives raw seawater and pressurizes to about 30psi. The seawater is sent through the 20 and 5 micron filters before being fed to the HP Pump which pushes the seawater into the membranes at 850psi. The output of the Membranes is a salt-free drinkable water at about 30 gallons per hour.

The first exercise was to locate a place on Magnolia where to install the equipment? The ideal location would be: 1) Near an existing thru-hull to receive the raw saltwater. 2) Near the fresh water tank. 3) Location where the filters are easily accessible. 4) A location with good drainage to the bilge for inevitable spillage when changing filters. 5) Accessibility to a A/C 20amp breaker.  In the case of Magnolia I think we scored exceptionally well with perhaps accessibility to the the filters for easy changing.  I will let you know in the spring after we live with the system for a season.

In the case of our Morgan 44 the ideal location is under the forward berth. The water tank is under the berth (18 inches away, there is a thru-hull directly aft of the berth and the location is directly over the forward bilge.

The location currently contains 3 VERY shallow drawers. To make the space accessible we need to remove the drawers and replace them with cabinet doors. We stopped at every consignment shop along the east coast on our way north last spring. The “Lucky Duck” finally scored in Hampton VA at a cost of $10.00 a piece and they match just about perfect!

The first action was to install a shelf on which to mount the High Pressure Pump

I took the opportunity to fully replace the sanitation hoses for the forward head which made the job significantly larger than initially planned. (That is ALWAYS the case on a boat so no real surprise there)

It was then just an exercise to install largest components first. Note: The string is only used during installation. Its not permanent.

I did tons of measuring and thinking before the installation began but it was not until a component was installed that I was able to determine if that was the best choice. To illustrate you might notice the filters were re-positioned in the below pictures. A subsequently the black 3-way valve was also relocated.

Eventually the configuration ended as seen below.

The final component is the 48lb high pressure pump.

The control panel has all of the lines connected and ready to go. The mounting has been dry fit and should work out nicely.

The system uses Magnolia’s 120volt service which is similar to how a house is wired but since this “house” sits in water I am having a professional come in and make the final electrical connections. Hopefully that will be done this week. We will keep you apprised!

Annette and I have been aboard Magnolia full time for nearly 2 1/2 years and have never been away for more than a couple days. We have not been up to visit Michigan for a number of years so it was a time to go! It also gave us the opportunity to get out of the hot and steamy Chesapeake Bay Summer! On the bad side my picture taking NEEDS to improve! We get yacking and I forget to start snapping…not good!

First stop was downtown Detroit for lunch with my niece Janine at a fabulous bar-b-que place call Slows. Highly recommended mostly because we yacked and ate for a couple hours and they did not toss us out!

Later in the day we met up with few people from the gang I grew up with, literally, like kindergarten!  We laughed and talked the night away, terrific time and so happy to see everyone…thank you for taking time out of your schedules!!!

A very special thank you to Bill Mazarra who could not join us from his home in Texas but did indeed send a bottle of wine…here’s to you Bill!!!

Next day was a stop at my bother Jimmy’s house for a visit with him, Angie and their three terrific kids. They are all doing and exceptionally well and it was a real treat catching up with all the goings on….and there was the brunch to die for…thank you Jim & Angie for making us feel so welcome.

(along the shore of Lake Michigan)

It was off then to Canadian Lakes MI to visit and relax with my parents at there place. We gabbed for about 3 days straight, did a little touring and stopped in for a visit with Mrs Carpenter (Dean) who lived two doors down in Detroit. It was a wonderful visit and very relaxing, hopefully we did not make too much work for mom and dad!!!

Long time readers will recognize Frank from Eleanor Q whom we spent much of our first season cruising with. We met up with Mary Marie who took us over to Franks office. We caught him in the midst of a high powered staff meeting! We had a terrific evening visiting and catching up and look forward to looking off Magnolia’s beam to find Eleanor Q nearby!

Next stop was the traditional Steinke Family reunion near Lima OH. As always great to catch up but especially so with my godson who is growing up so darn fast! I also have to say quite the young gentlemen as well!!!

On they way to Virginia was a breakfast stop with Ted & Tina Tennar, my friend Jacks brother. We have been crossing pats for the better part of 30 years and always so much fun to catch up.

After the long drive back to Arlington, Annette and I crashed one last time at our condominium. The next day we closed the deal to sell so now we really are house-less! We are really at home aboard Magnolia.

Next time water maker installation!

Let me say first off, Magnolia does NOT NEED a water-maker. This is completely a peace of mind convenience level of modification. Magnolia carries 135 gallons of fresh water in our main tank and another 25 on deck for emergencies. At our 6 gallon per-day consumption rate (which includes a daily hot refreshing shower) that takes us right to 3 weeks. That does not allow for any fresh water deck wash-down other than a good rain fall nor fresh water in in the heads (salt water is not the best thing choice for flushing) but is available. Previously we needed to pull into a marina or I haul jugs it in the dingy as below in the Bahamas. It is a fair amount of work to haul 135 gallons or 1035 lbs of water……

In terms of water-makers there are essentially two types, high-power/high-output (120volt-AC) or low-power /low-output (12volt-DC).  Since Magnolia is equipped with a Westerbeke 8.Kw generator we opted to go for the high-power/high-output unit made produced by Cruise RO.  

The unit is broken down into individual components to accommodate many different mounting configurations in many different boat layouts.

In Water-Maker Part #2 we will commence with the actual installation of the unit and configuration in Magnolia. We me luck, because at this writing we have not begun as of yet!!!!

We cannot believe how fast the time is going by and its good we are being good task maters on getting our chores done or we will be here forever!!! We have made some time for fun though. Three days after our return to or homeport was the Pentagon Sailing Club Memorial Day celebration. We took on our crew of Patricia & Brian and headed out. The first day was and anchorage in the Rhode River. The boats without dinghies rafted up.

Day #2 of the adventure found us in Rockhall, MD for a picnic at the local marina. When we first started planning “the adventure” our friends Greg & Marie (SV Second Sally) gave a us Bahamas courtesy flag to remind us to stay focused and fly when we finally arrived. I thought it was a great tradition and one we should share with our friend John who would like to head out cruising someday.

The crews of SV Magnolia, SV Exuberant and SV Eleanor Q were reunited at Mary Marie and Franks new home in Annapolis. It was a great fun evening and look forward to catching up underway once again!

A number of boats stop along the “migration route” at Annapolis on the way to New England and beyond. It was great fun catching up with the gang. We also met up with SV Journey and again missed the picture with Drena and JR!

Another time when the camera did not get out….Annette’s nephew Byron & friend Alex came out for a visit and the only picture I got was the blessing of the fleet at the local river festival. Nuts!

Just to prove “some” work is being done…we are replacing the fwd head sanitary hoses before we start on the SEPARATE water-maker project. Never been happy with the installation so it was time to get too it. Not fun job, but certainly rewarding!

One of the jobs we have lined up during our stay is servicing our through-hull valves. In preparation for the work to begin I removed a couple of hoses. I was surprised to find water in the bilge from a leaky valve. A little un-nerving but not the end of the world.

Magnolia will be pulled out of the water next week to have a number of maintenance items accomplished so Annette and I will be living in a nearby cottage…living ashore will be REALLY weird!

I know instead of getting better at being consistent in my writing I am getting worse…I know, I know! The fact of the matter is we are just being way too social…at least beyond the norm!

I liked the below picture because I think really captures quintessential North Carolina coast.  One of those appreciate our life moments….

Back to being social we met up with our friends on LoopHole who are doing the Great Loop

The Admiral bringing Magnolia into the Dismal Swamp

The beautiful Dismal Swamp, I think the pictures speak for themselves.

A friend once referred to me by the below…and here my nickname is on the bulkhead of the South Mills Lock in the Dismal Swamp.

For those not familiar the history of the Dismal Swamp can be found here. The Dismal Swamp Canal is actually about 8 feet above sea level so Magnolia needs to be lifted as we enter and lowered as we depart the canal. Here Magnolia is in the South Mills Lock being raised to the level of the canal.

We stopped at the Dismal Swamp Visitor Center and took crew aboard for the transit to Portsmouth. Connie Boggs and I worked together years ago in Dahlgren. Last fall on our trek south she mentioned how she always dreamed of seeing the Dismal. I promised we would try and make it happen. Everything aligned and she and her son were able to join us aboard. 

Passing through the Deep Creek Lock at the north end of the Canal.

Connie and Sam departed Magnolia at Portsmouth VA and the next morning we woke to a heavy dose of fog though it did burn off in time for us to have dinner with my niece Lori and her husband Adam. As often happens talking surpasses picture taking so I have no pictures from the event! 

Next stop was Hampton Virginia for a Mothers Day visit with Annette’s relatives there.  See the paragraph above as too why there is no picture….

As we continued up the Chesapeake Bay we met up Marcia and Dan from SV Cutting Class who is on their way home to Mystic, CT. 

Magnolia made a port of call visit to Tilghman Island, Maryland.

My my fellow GenIV cousin Jimmy MacAndrew’s and friends were running a half Marathon in the area. They invited Annette and I to come and join the weekend fun. Tilghman Island is such a historic waterman’s town we just had to go!

The gang hosted Annette and I for a lovely dinner over at the nearby home they rented for the weekend. After the race and some recovery time they all came over to Magnolia for a visit.

We really enjoyed our time and look forward to spending time with Kaitlyn and Jimmy soon!

I stole this picture from FaceBook because I thought it was just so good. My nephew Billy graduated and is pictured with his grandparents. Great picture and congratulations to my nephew Billy!

We have had a wonderful couple of weeks catching up with friends and relatives along the coast of North Carolina.

After departing Southport NC we initially ran into some “skinny water.” Normally we are referring to depth but in this case we are referring to width of channel.  There are places on the ICW that have shoaled in so much that boats can hardly get through!

We anchored and spent the evening at Camp Lejeune.

The Marine Corps provided a bit of an air show for us in the anchorage.

Here is a picture of Magnolia underway proceeding along the NC ICW.

We stopped in Swansboro NC to visit Annette’s cousins Beth, Val & Becky.

We were rewarded with a true southern boil..yum!

We made into Morehead City, NC

and visited with our friends on Amici whom we met last summer in Block Island. (Picture via Amici’s Travels)

This is what we call heavy traffic!

Next stop was Oriental, NC on the Neuse River just up from Morehead City.

This stop was scheduled in so we could meet with fellow Pentagon Sailing Club members Roger and Leslie Hammer who have recently relocated to NC. I guess this would be the Mid-Atlantic outpost of the PSC!

Also pictured is MareEllen from a boat named “Looper” based out of Holland MI.

They are doing the Great Loop Route aboard  their Ranger Tug. Always meeting such interesting people out here!

I know my writing comes and goes and this time is worse than most…must mean we are having TOO MUCH fun! We arrived from the Abacos right into Port Royal SC just down river from Beaufort.

Beaufort is one of our favorite stops but its even better now since the neighborhood has some new residents! Specifically Pentagon Sailing Club members Jerry & Winnie. Also known as PSC South!

After a couple of days in the “Low Country” of South Carolina it was off to Charleston!

We took the back roads up the coast and enjoyed a spectacular anchorage in a marsh in the middle of no-where! As we arrived though the weather was not as nice has we could of hoped for….

None the less we visited with our Mims & Vickie. Vickie was even kind enough to drop a car off for our use..very very kind! Transportation gave us the opportunity to go and visit Fort Moultrie which is the sister fort to Fort Sumter

We enjoyed our stop in Charleston but it was time to head off for Southport, NC. The weather forecast was going to be a little sporty but we wanted to push ourselves a little .

Boy did we push ourselves…well actually the wind pushed us….really really fast! We arrived Southport after an overnight trip, took a little nap and then met our friends Joe & Christine for dinner. Not only that but we conferenced our mutual friends Jack & Kathy in as well.

We rode favorable currents all day today as find ourselves anchor in Mile Hammock Bay which happens to be part of Camp Lejeune. We have Marine helicopters flying around and if its like last time here we will have some poor grunt swim past the boat tonight and check us out!

Tomorrow we continue on to visit Annette’s family in Swansboro, NC. Always something going and yet we are having more fun and more challenges than any couple deserve!

Our last stop in the Bahamas was Hope Town Abacos. It is the easiest place for us to be in all the Bahamas. Mostly because though the water is a little prettier here than the Florida Keys but that is the biggest difference! 

Magnolia was here!

The Admiral is very happy in Hope Town, not just playing bingo!

But it was time to go so below was the plan.

Magnolia completed her longest passage to date of 456 miles.

A picture from the “office.”

Ok, perhaps the weirdest picture ever of this blog. I was brushing my teeth and looked out the port in the Head (bathroom). I just said this is amazing, below is the view out of the Head’s portlight.

We are in Port Royal, SC and have caught up on chores. We are looking forward to a visit from Pentagon Sailing Club friends, Jerry & Winnie, tomorrow. We will be getting underway Tuesday to be in Charleston next weekend and South Port, NC the following week! Vessel and crew are well. 

We have been in Hope Town Abacos going on 3 weeks now. It makes my head spin thinking we have been in one place for such a long time! Hope Town is the easiest place in my opinion to be of any where we have gone. The weather is perfect, water outside the harbor is spectacular. Provisions, nightlife and secure moorings are all right here. What not to love? In addition it is a great place to catch up boat chores like sorting screws on a Sunday morning while watching the talking heads on TV. This is one of the few places we get television, well we get it sometimes here…welcome to the Bahamas.

It was also time for fresh lines on the anchor bridle. Those are the hardest working lines on the boat and now that I think of it the most important so deserve a freshening up from time to time.

Hope Town it seems also where I get caught up on my teak maintenance. It does not show very well but there is before and after. None the less Hope Town Harbor is not a bad place to take care of maintenance.

Then there is always cleaning too!

But then again its not all work! We enjoy a good home made dinner. Here is the bread dough coming out of the engine room after a couple of hours

Here is the bread off the charcoal grill…has to be charcoal for the best flavor!

and of course the main course….

There is time for beach walks.

An occasional happy hour….

Dinner aboard Magnolia

Even bunny gets out to occasionally rock the boat but like us, he is ready to start moving…

We have a weather window opening up this week so we are going to make our longest offshore passage to date, just over 400 miles up to South Carolina. We have a couple different bail out ports we can go into if our window closes expectantly.

See you on the other side!!!