June 19th... Oriental, NC

Three or four of the boats in our anchorage left this morning so after coffee we moved over to a little better position. I replaced the old impeller with the new one and then fired up the Honda for a shower. The temps here are forecast for the upper 90's for the next few days but there is always a breeze on the water so it is usually bearable.

We headed to shore to visit Steve and Kim and maybe ride along with them for some shopping. On the way we stopped to visit some folks anchored next to us and chatted for a while. As we passed "Sapphire" on our way to the dinghy dock we noticed a line hanging.

We always tie our dinghy up for the night with two painters one of which floats. Before we re-anchored, I had tightened up on of them to keep the dinghy away from the exhaust when in reverse but forgot to snug up the other line. When Kathy backed down on the anchor, the non-floating painter wrapped around the prop and broke. We continued on to shore and visited with our friends but returned in a few minutes to dive on the prop.

This is the second time that we've had this problem and since Mark is not around make the dive I got my gear on and went over the side. The water so dark here (but it's warm) that I had to work by feel but is wasn't hard to unwrap the line. I was finished in one dive.

I showered again and we returned to shore. Steve stayed home to wait for his new dinghy to be delivered while Kim, Kathy and I headed to New Bern to the Walmart.

We had a few stops to make and we didn't get back to Oriental until abut 3:00. I ran our purchases out to the boat and then returned to shore for a late lunch / early dinner.

Back at the boat we read until dark watching boats come and go through the little harbor.




June 18th... Cape Lookout to Oriental, NC

We hauled anchor at 8:30 and had a nice sail in the Ocean for abut an hour. As we entered Beaufort Inlet with the wind coming in, the tide going out, a tug towing a barge behind us, and every one and their brother fishing in the channel.... we passed "Scandia" heading out to Cape Lookout for the weekend. We met Arnie and Bev last year but hadn't sailed this winter. We had a nice chat and promised to look them up on our way south in the fall.

The trip through Morehead City and Adams Creek was uneventful except for some hard rain at times. The engine was fine, we saw lots of playful dolphins, and we arrived at Oriental at 1:30.

The anchorage in Oriental is small and we ended up way to close to a bridge to be comfortable but the holding was good and we had no choice. I went to shore to get rid of garbage and to order a new impeller. Steve was at the dock on my way back and I ended up running some errands with him.

We were invited over for dinner and ordered up a pizza as the TV guy attempted to figure out their system.

We returned after dark, watched some video, and went to bed.


June 17th... Cape Lookout Bight, NC

After some coffee and a bite to eat, I disconnected the checked the exhaust elbow to check for blockage and found none. Next I checked the impeller and found it in pieces with one our two vanes actually making contact. Usually we carry two spares but I had replaced it just before we left the Bahamas and was planning on picking up a new one in Oriental. With no spare however, I had the foresight to save the old one as a backup even though some of the vanes were beginning to tear.

I ran over to "Fine Lion" to borrow Steve's impeller puller and in a few minutes the job was done. Actually, it took three times the time to locate the old impeller than it did to make the switch.

While I was in the engine, I decided to change the filter in the bottom of the fuel pump which I had forgotten about when I replaced fuel filters the last time.

When Kathy fired up the engine it ran fine but there was still no water coming out of the exhaust. I did however hear water flowing in the engine compartment. I quickly moved our mattress to shut the through hull water for the engine and then reattached the water hose to the exhaust ... dumb, dumb, dumb. After bailing the water out of the engine tray, we tested again and, low and behold, there was water finally cooling our engine and exiting correctly. Unfortunately, about that time the engine started to sputter and died.

After a moment of deliberation it was apparent I hadn't gotten all of the air out of the fuel system. It only took a minute to bleed the system and we were ready for another test. Finally, everything seemed to be working.

In the afternoon we went to shore to hike the beach with Kim and Steve. It was empty for miles... but that was soon to change. As we were securing our dinghies, a large Catamaran pulled in and dumped off about 50 passengers, each with their yellow shell collecting bag. We had a nice walk anyway.

In the evening we had snacks on "Fine Lion" who were working on getting rid some food from the boat. They are only one day from home and what we eat they don't have to haul ashore.






June 16th... Cape Lookout Bight, NC

Today was overcast and rainy. The wind held steady at about 20 knots and we had waves in the Bight of about two feet. Our day was spent mostly reading, working on puzzles and putting together meals.

The forecast called for more of the same tomorrow so we'll probably wait another day here before heading to Oriental.

The only event of note came in the late afternoon when we started the engine to top off our batteries. There was no exhaust water leaving the boat which means there is a blockage in the sea water side of the cooling or the sea water pump isn't working. We have been experiencing some overheating at higher RPM for the last two or three weeks which seemed to be worsening with time.

The only things I could think of that would produce those symptoms were a build up in the exhaust elbow where the water is mixed with the engine exhaust or a faulty impeller. I decided to wait until the morning dive into the problem but slept in the cockpit to keep track of the wind and the possibility of anchor drag. Without an engine, I needed to be able to deploy a second anchor quickly.