Slow Boat

Yup! We started this trip with many systems still undone. Some are no big deal. Some are, well, mission critical.
In the "no big deal" department: Before we left, we replaced the trademark red canvas stern canopy (shown at left and right) with solar panels, but we DIDN'T fill in the gaps left open when we placed those rectangular panels on a half-round frame. The gaps let in the rain!

Cap installed white plastic panels to fill those gaps yesterday morning, literally while we were underway. (Don't worry, the crew was at the helm while he was up on the roof drilling holes in the support bars.)

Fifty Percent More Solar from the Roof!

The new stern canopy doesn't have the charm of the old one. It decreases the likelihood that bystanders who see us approaching will exclaim, "That boat looks like a giant floating box of Animal Crackers!"

But the new panels boosted our solar capacity from 1400 watts to 2000 watts (a nearly 50% increase!)

Bigger Better Motor Controller!

Now for the slightly more mission-critical stuff that's getting bolted onto the plane while we cruise at altitude.

• Cap has a new motor controller yet to install. This is a device that shuttles 48-volt DC power from the battery to the motor. Once it's in, we'll be better able to control the speed of the motor, which is super useful for fine control of the boat when approaching a dock.
• Bill will also install a 48-volt inverter-charger. This not-so-little device ca n not only 1) charge our propulsion batteries and  2) move power from the generator directly to the motor, it can 3) produce a 120-volt current. 

Item  #3 is a particularly big advance. On our Great Loop trip, we used our solar power only to move the boat through the water. Once the inverter-charger is in place, we'll ALSO be able to run the "house systems" on solar power--our LED lights, the water pump, the fridge, etc. That means we can anchor out--the boater equivalent of wilderness camping--a lot longer.)

Busted Battery

Did you try Boat Finder today? Did you notice we are still in Lyons? That's because one of our propulsion batteries had a meltdown.

It's a long story why; Cap has a bead on the problem and a new battery on order. Let me know if you want more gearhead details, or if you're just waiting for the "What IS It" quiz to start back up.

What do you think of our sleek new look?

We're in Morehead City, NC, approaching the dreaded Pamlico Sound today. (More on that anon).  A friend asked recently, "Why are nuclear plants so often sited on coastlines?"  The answer is simple: When you need a whole lot o' cooling power, only the ocean will do.

Landmark event: Repairman on deck!

We've been thinking about the cooling power of water the last couple days, because Dragonfly narrowly avoided a meltdown.  OK. I joke around a lot. The situation in Japan is no joking matter.  I tell our story in the spirit of, "This adventure gave us a tiny insight into the horrors of  'not enough cooling power.' "

When the wind or current is strong, we have to use our diesel engine, which is water-cooled, using whatever water we are driving through at the time.  Water is sucked in; it flows through a counter-current exchange system--much like your car's radiator--and it's returned to the environment, getting rid of excess engine heat.

Late last week Cap noticed a sharp drop in our coolant reservoir.  There was no obvious coolant in the bilges. So apparently the system wasn't leaking.  Where was the coolant going?

He ran over the engine plumbing with a finetoothed comb.  No clues.

This was a serious situation, because we're crossing some big water, and if a boat engine gets too hot, well, it's like a nuclear power plant. You can have a meltdown.  No radioactivity.  But total annihilation of your power plant, for sure.

So, after internal resources were exhausted, Cap acted like a prudent head of state.  He invited help from an expert.  He ALLOWED A REPAIRMAN TO COME ON THE BOAT.

Readers are invited to AMA. Miles Johnson asks, "What have been your top five favorite places so far?"  Impossible to limit to five. But I DO have a new favorite place:  The Waccamaw River, a meandering, mostly unspoiled river that makes up about 30 miles of the ICW north of Georgetown. Click HERE for photos.

Thought we'd seen every kind of bridge there was. This is a gondola across the ICW

After an idyllic day on the Waccamaw, the next day was a shock. The ICW cuts north in a narrow, straight,  man-made ditch, with crumbling, scalped, and rubble-strewn shores topped with gaudy, oversized houses of recently construction.

And lots of bridges.  Which gave our noble boat the chance to demonstrate once again, that, as Cap'n Mikey said, back in Georgetown, when he pulled out his wallet and offered to buy her on the spot, "This is the Ultimate Looper Vessel."

Near day's end, we approached the Little River Bridge, a swing bridge with a clearance (when closed) of 7 feet.  Radioed the bridge operator, who said, "Sorry, bridge is out of order.  You'll have to wait. We've called the electrician."

Dark was an hour away . . .  as was the next safe anchorage.  Now, Dragonfly's height, from the waterline to the very top of her scalloped red canopy, is 9 feet.   Cap started scrabbling in his toolbox for a wrench.

Note:  This is a guest blog from Bill

This is our "on-board self-tensioning weight training system" . . . I mean, the lighter of our two anchors

The gracious mansions in the Charleston neighborhood south of Broad Street. (People who live here are called SOB's)

Dragonfly docked Friday in Charleston, on the "MegaDock" at the city marina.  Spotting that name in our guidebook, we said, blah, blah, advertising hype, everything is "Mega" these days, Mega Millions lottery, Megabus to New York . . .  It's a DOCK! How big could it be?

Well. You could dock an aircraft carrier here. Land a small plane and barely hit the brakes.  I think you can see the curvature of the Earth.  In other words, BIG.

Rub-a dub-dub, give the canopy a scrub!

Sunday was sunny, and warm. Carpe Scrub Brush. Time to tackle a chore too long postponed:  Washing and re-sealing the canvas canopy. 

Managed to unsnap the darn thing without breaking any snaps, falling off the railing, or getting spiders on my face (they hide under the edge of the canopy and jump out when you pop the snaps).  

Laid the canvas on the dock, hosed it down, and scrubbed away the mildew and the bird poop and the spots of lichen (yes, lichen).  Had to make an emergency trip to West Marine for enuf canvas sealant to finish the job.  But now:  Let it rain! Who cares?

Why name your boat "Electric Fisherman"? Going after electric eels?

From Manatee Pocket, our next stop was Fort Pierce, a town that's invested lots of money in a tastefully spruced-up downtown that, for all its colorful stucco buildings, felt like a ghost town. An exuberantly modern city hall, loads of public art, and . . .  no one to enjoy it, except the handful of homeless men basking on waterfront park benches.

Leaving the next morning, we spotted the boat at right. My first guess:  Homage to the 70s movie "Electric Horseman" (you remember, starring Robert Redford as a washed-up former rodeo star riding around in a light-bulb-studded suit that lit up like Liberace?) Second guess: Going after electric eels? Third guess: This guy invented some crazy electric-powered fishing rod. 

Then I wondered: Could  Electric Fisherman be an electric-powered boat, like ours?  No, said the guy on the dock who was hosing down the hull.  It's just that the boat used to belong to a guy who was an electrician.

There IS a guy in Florida who's famous for his electric boat. A fellow Looper, Allan Goode, told us about Rueben Trane, a Miami-based boat builder who designed the "Island Pilot DSe Hybrid" (that's cool-speak for "diesel-electric hybrid"). Trane is known for his luxury cruising boats, but he got the idea to go solar back when fuel prices went crazy in 2006.

Click this link to check the boat out.  The parent company, Island Pilot, uses the slogan "Let the Sun Set You Free!" to bill this luxurious trawler as "America's First Hybrid Yacht Using Solar - Diesel - Electric  Drive. (Clearly the marketing department had not heard of SlowBoat, which is also an innovative diesel-electric hybrid. And we're told that since Dragonfly is more than 40 feet long, used primarily for recreation, andeach berth has its own head, we also earn the luxury designation of "yacht!")

Florida is the only state in the nation with no snow today.  Good thing, because SlowBoat is still in Fort Myers. And the Captain is still in the engine room.

One of today's projects--new stuffing for the stuffing box. That keeps the prop from leaking water into the bilges

The issue is engine mounts--the four little devices that keep the diesel engine (a honkin' big heavy chunk of iron) firmly in place.   


Last week, Cap noticed the gears which form the interface between electric motor and prop shaft were out of alignment. 


He also noticed the prop shaft  leaking more water than usual. (It's normal for a little water to come in when the prop turns. But not a lot).  


Cap finally diagnosed the problem as a broken engine mount. Once a mount breaks, the big ol' engine shifts its position, which pulls the prop out of position, and, well, everything's connected!

Desert islands are nice . . . but the engine room is MY native habitat

When your desert isle has no dock, you need a dinghy

I DO have more photos that will wrap up our trip down the Tenn-Tom Waterway. But first, a digression.

The hundreds of soldiers stationed at Fort Gaines during the Civil War shared this 10-seat latrine. A channel to the sea provided the flushing action.

Pack o' pre-teens checks out SlowBoat at the town marina.

Last night we stayed in the marina in Spanish (yup, that’s the name of the town), where a crowd of children goozled the boat.

Slow Moving vehicle

Slow-moving vehicle

Lock tender at work