S/V Sjokolade

Intermittent thoughts on my Journey to the Deep Blue Sea.

Vessel Name: Sjokolade
Vessel Make/Model: 1982 Morgan 383
Hailing Port: Bayfield, WI
Crew: Rolf Peterson
About: Departed August 22nd, 2015 for Annapolis MD via L. Superior, Huron, Erie, Erie Canal, Hudson River, NYC, and Atlantic Ocean. Currently stopping in Pensacola for awhile.
Social:
23 October 2017 | Masonboro
21 October 2017 | Cape Henry
21 October 2017 | Cape Henry
19 October 2017 | Chesapeake Bay
15 December 2016 | Pensacola
11 July 2016 | Bean Compound
09 March 2016 | Pensacola
29 February 2016 | Matecumbe Harbor
27 February 2016 | No Name Harbor
25 February 2016 | Dinner Key Marina
31 January 2016 | Dinner Key
28 January 2016 | Fort Pierce
27 January 2016 | Indian River
22 January 2016 | Georgetown, SC
21 January 2016 | Little River Inlet
16 January 2016 | Beaufort, NC
12 January 2016 | North River (near Kittyhawk!)
07 January 2016
04 January 2016
08 December 2015
Recent Blog Posts
23 October 2017 | Masonboro

Visiting bird

7:00pm Monday, October 23 - we arrived at the Masonboro Inlet about 730 this morning, anchored, had a huge bacon, eggs, hash browns, and bagel breakfast.

21 October 2017 | Cape Henry

Cape Hatteras

7:00am, Saturday, Oct 21 - We have just departed the Chesapeake Bay outside of Norfolk VA. There is no wind and the swells minimal, though we are rolling a bit. There is a lot of traffic on the VHF, particularly the clear broadcasts of the young men and women aboard the Navy vessels leaving and entering [...]

21 October 2017 | Cape Henry

Cape Hatteras

7:00am, Saturday, Oct 21 - We have just departed the Chesapeake Bay outside of Norfolk VA. There is no wind and the swells minimal, though we are rolling a bit. There is a lot of traffic on the VHF, particularly the clear broadcasts of the young men and women aboard the Navy vessels leaving and entering [...]

Travelling on Entre Nous

19 October 2017 | Chesapeake Bay
Rolf /. Sunny, no wind
I am once again on Mike and Gwen's boat, bringing it to Ft. Pierce, FL. We are currently on the Chesapeake, heading south out of Spring Cove Marina in the Solomon's where I spent three months two years ago working on my boat. Our plan is for an anchorage tonight, a marina at the bottom of the bay, then 48 hours offshore around Cape Hatteras in little to no wind, arriving in Masonboro Inlet in the early morning hours on Monday. We wish we would get a West wind, but it looks more like no wind.

We have been delayed by a cantankerous stuffing box, the tube that the engine drive shaft goes through from the engine to the propeller. This tube contains a stacked series of fat waxed strings that lets just enough water into the "box" to cool the shaft. The box was heating up as high as 203F and we returned to the marina three times to get re-stuffed, and investigated, until it was finally determined that the rubber tube was not well aligned and with some pushing and pulling, it seems to be staying at a decent temperature of about 110F.

The dilemma seems to be re-occurring in the boating would: A problem comes along and the traditional fixes don't work, so the move to a slowly incrementing series of trials, tests, and retests, along side a growing set of smaller bills the sum of which we are continually comparing to a "replacement" cost begins to naw and wear on our otherwise good nature, modest pocketbook, and brave expectations of others expertise. In the boating world, it appears to be a better approach to these dilemmas to never look at the bill, just hand over the plastic and think about a good day ahead, or another gone by.
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Journey So Far
Sjokolade's Photos - Main
Projects I've worked on while in Pensacola
9 Photos
Created 15 December 2016
19 Photos
Created 9 March 2016
Photos taken along the ICW from Solomons to ?
8 Photos
Created 21 January 2016
These are pictures of the projects I am attempting to complete in the Solomons.
23 Photos
Created 10 November 2015
Pictures from the Trip from Bayfield, WI on Lake Superior to Annapolis, MD on the Chesapeake Bay, via Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, the Erie Canal, Hudson River, Atlantic Ocean.
8 Photos | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 1 September 2015
Pictures of projects done or contemplated
11 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 20 May 2015
8 Photos
Created 20 May 2015