2017-07-15 Only 10 Days? Week #01

Its been 10 days since we departed Annapolis and have to say we are feeling good about our accomplishments thus far. We spent July 4th evening, a wet and rainy night in Annapolis with friends Dudely and Cheryl (SV Belle Bateau). It was a lovely evening and a great way to kick off our journey…relaxed.

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First thing on the 5th we picked up a baby UHaul, dropped off our rental car and headed to Alexandria where our storage stall is/was located. We were blessed to have the assistance of Annette’s Sister Rochelle and my cousins Dan & Lori come help load the truck. It was a well oiled machine and we were off to Hampton VA. Our first stop where we were offloading half the truck into a much less expensive storage location than DC!

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A long day but we we got that “back half” offloaded. All because of the help we got on the front end! Thank you Dan, Lori and Rochelle. So much appreciated.

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We had a leisurely 2 day drive down to Stuart FL (listened to a great book ). We offloaded the truck, dumped the truck for a Ford Focus Rental (so happy to be out of a truck) and of course first stop was a visit to Magnolia-M. The Admiral looked right at home in her new Pilothouse.

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We spent the remainder of the weekend getting “old stuff” off the boat. We ended up completely filling the dumpster on day 3. It was pretty amazing how much stuff we were able to get rid of.

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All cruising boats, sail and power are equipped with tanks for restroom waste (Black Water), Magnolia-M captures all waste water (Grey Water) from all the sinks and shower. First order of business was to get a handle on how that system is all connected and configured.  This is going to be our life for the forseable future. How is system x configured and how does it work…

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Tuesday was Hydraulics day.  Magnolia-M makes extensive use of hydraulic systems aboard. The anchor windlass, bow thruster, stabilizers, get-home motor, aft anchor windlass and a hydraulic bilge but that in an emergency can pump water like a big city fire truck. We had JT from Industrial Hose visit and gave our Hydraulic System a thorough inspection. Each and every stainless fitting and hose connection was inspected. This is was one of those moments where the cash register could have run a real long tape. Luckily for us we came through the inspection un-scathed. Note: This inspection was about the “plumbing” it did not tell us about the conditioon of the “faucets, drains, washer and dishwasher,” that work is yet to come! In addition Magnolia-M received some pretty hardy comments for the good and solid design that was done on her at construction. All very good news!

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Similar in nature as Tuesday, Wednesday was electrical day. Steve our electrical surveyor went through and looked over the topography of the electrical system. One issue I want addressed is the start battery. We have 7 HUGE 8D size batteries (1575ah)  one of which is the start battery for the 145hp Lugger/John Deere and the 16Kw Northern Lights Generator. I want those separated with their own battery. We did get great news in that our Trace Inverter/Charger and the Newmar Charger were both fully functional. Going into the event I had serious concerns about both which we able to exonerate both devices. Great news and we have 200a charger available! All really great news. We also found a few things but all minor in nature, great news!!

Below is looking into the engine room from the salon sole hatch. Battery boxes off the port and starboard.

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Main engine, Lugger 145

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Admirals Bridge – Sunscreen on the outside ports

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Helm console

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A never ending stack on manuals and schematics to study.

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In addition to all the other things going on, the bench seat on the bow repair was started. The Teak seating had severely deteriorated. I was hoping to postpone this job till we got back to the Chesapeake but it could not be delayed. 

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Of course the teak was secured with 5200…the most overly used adhesive in the world.

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In addition to everything else, opened up the equipment console above the helm station. Just investigation at this point…

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Another ongoing job was flushing ALL the raw water loops with Barnacle Buster. As can be seen by this sea-strainer, maintenance has not been what it should have been for a while!

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Over this weekend I did get the bilge pump and switch removed, bilge cleaned and a first coat of paint down in the fwd bilge.

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It has been an amazing 10 days, can’t believe only 10, but we knew what we were signing up for. This is going to be the norm for the next couple of months but we are really excited that we will be getting Magnolia-M restored to the vessel she should be. Much yet to come..and BTW, Magnolia-S is still looking to be adopted.

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2 thoughts on “2017-07-15 Only 10 Days? Week #01

  1. Glad you’ve had mostly good news! And hope you’re not two boat owners for long! Can’t wait to hear about the progress on Magnolia M.

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