This trip has been on the calendar for quite some time. There were two reasons for the trip and neither was to go sailing. We have been very lucky with weather this season so far. Normally I would have all my regular annual maintenance done by May first but every time we have been at the coast the weather has been great. Who wants to work on a greasy diesel engine when you can go sailing? Maintenance needed to be done before we get serious about week long trip. Also, this weekend was the 35th Annual Wooden Boat Show in Beaufort, NC. I have more than a passing interest in wooden boat building and really wanted to go. Judy doesn't like to be around when I do engine stuff because I tend to get cranky and hard to get along with. She did want to go to the boat show, so I requested a vacation day so we could go to the boat show on Saturday and I could do maintenance on Sunday. Judy's Mom had some elective surgery on her shoulder on Wednesday that didn't go as well as we had hoped. Judy was not comfortable leaving for three days but she insisted that I go to see the boat show and get the maintenance out of the way.

Friday May 1. 2009
I left a few minutes after I finished work. The trip was uneventful except for some slow traffic due to an accident near Raleigh. I stopped for dinner and the trip took a little over 5 hours. I noticed an unusual amount of wind during the drive and when I arrived at the dock I found the water was very low. I was still able to move the boat around in her slip so I knew she was not hard aground but she was close. I turned in and slept well except for the halyards slapping the mast in the howling wind. It was really blowing. I would guess at least 25 knots out on the sound.

Saturday, |May 2, 2009
I got up really early on Saturday morning. I was excited about the boat show and I wanted to get there before the crowd. \I stopped by the Bean (coffee shop) in Bayboro for coffee and a muffin. I told the young lady that she didn't have her "open" sign on and she informed me that I was early, and her regulars didn't come in until later. I had to wait a few minutes for the first pot of coffee to brew, but it was worth the wait.

I continued on to Beaufort which is a little over an hour away. I must have been in a little too much of a hurry because the police officer who stopped me said I was speeding through Morehead City. I must not have been going too awfully fast because he just gave me a lecture about where the speed zones were located in Morehead City and let me go with a warning. I continued, paying special attention to the speed limit. I arrived in Beaufort in time to get a great parking place in a residential area about a block from the waterfront. I'm sure the residents hate it when tourists park in front of their houses but nobody objected and lots of other people were parked there too.

The boat show was about what I expected. There were wooden boats from a 24 foot cruiser down to a really nice strip planked canoe. Most were built by private individuals but some were from commercial vendors. I struck up conversations with several builders. I found their stories fascinating. In my opinion, this type of boatbuilding is more an art form than a craft. It's like fine cabinet making on steroids. Most of the little vessels were truly beautiful. They represented not only hundreds of dollars of materials purchased but thousands of hours of time. It is hard to describe the attention to detail and the beauty of these boats. I think the mark of a true craftsman is the fact that he keeps no secrets. He will tell you anything you want to know about how he did what he did. These folks were more than willing to share their knowledge and I took advantage of that willingness and had many of my questions answered. The wooden boats on display was my reason \for being there so I absorbed as much as I could without wearing out my welcome, then I moved on to other events.

The local lumber vendor sponsored a boat building challenge during the show. The idea is to build a boat, and race it against others all in a single day. There were probably a dozen boats being built under a big tent. When I stopped by they were in various stages of completion competing against the clock. The winner would be determined by speed of building, quality of building and how they did in the race. I personally don't see the point of even attempting to build a boat as fast as possible. I think I would prefer to take my time and enjoy the process. As they say, "different strokes for different folks".

There were to be sailboat rides as part of the festivities but the extreme winds made it difficult, even dangerous to take people out. The wind kept most of the small craft pinned to the docks. The best place for a sailboat on a day like that is tied up to a dock with the owner relaxing aboard.

I left the show at about 2 pm and headed back to Whortonsville. I stopped in Havelock for a late lunch, early dinner. The restaurant was named "Hams". The service was great and the food was so ok if you like overcooked fish. I am pretty hard to please when it comes to restaurants. I figure if they are in the business they should be able to cook better than me. Sometimes they do but mostly they don't. I am convinced that most people don't have any idea what good food tastes like. That's why there are so many mediocre restaurants.

The water was even lower than when I left. The boat was stuck in the mud and I could not move her closer to the dock. Getting on and off the boat was difficult. Walking on a concrete surface really wears me out. I had spent many hours doing just that so I was glad to get back to Ensign Harbor where I could get a shower and just relax. A passing shower sent me inside to close the hatches but it didn't last long. I took some Advil and turned in early.

Sunday May 3, 2009
My least favorite boating activity is what I fondly refer to as "pumping the crapper" when I pump the ship's waste tank into a portable waste tank and transport it to a sewage tank under the bath house at Ensign Harbor. This is a necessary evil and I do it because it has to be done. My second least favorite activity is changing oil in the ship's diesel engine. Changing her diesel fuel filters follows closely as activities I would rather avoid. Both were on my agenda for today but first, a quick trip to the Bean coffee shop in Oriental for coffee and a muffin. Can you see a pattern here? My personal system works much better if I have a very light breakfast. When my first mate is aboard we usually have coffee and something light, like cereal or bagels. While in town I checked my email and the weather forecast. It didn't take long and I really enjoy "high dollar" coffee once in a while.

When I got back to the boat I started my maintenance immediately. Luckily the water was up some so I could at least move closer to the dock. Changing the oil in a car is a simple matter. You just drain the oil out of the oil pan into a container, change the filter and put more oil in the engine. On an auxiliary sailboat it is not so simple. The oil pan typically sits at the very bottom of the bilge. There is no way to drain the oil without having it drain into the bilge and ultimately into the water. This is frowned upon by many including the US Coast Guard. The oil must be removed by pumping it out through the dip stick tube. I have done this many times. I have a hand pump that I use to pump the oil out into a container. It takes a while but patience pays off in this case. I got the oil out and the filter off with a minimum of pain. I replaced the oil filter with a brand new one and refilled the engine with about 4 quarts of Shell's "Rotella T" 15W-40, the little diesel's favorite.

Richard stopped by for a few minutes to remove a torn bimini cover from his Catalina 36. The wind had blown it loose and torn a couple of seams.

Next on the agenda was changing the fuel filters. Diesel engines are partial to clean fuel. On a typical sailboat, there are at least two filters. The first one removes impurities and any water that comes along and the second filter attached to the engine further filters the fuel to prevent clogging the injectors. The first filter is by far the most difficult. In the case of our engine, removing the filter housing leaves you with a glass bulb with about a quart of diesel fuel in your hands. This must be transferred to another vessel without spilling too much. The fuel in the filter or water trap must be emptied and a new filter installed. Then, the whole assembly must be put back in the filter housing so that it does not leak. The process is dirty and smelly not to mention the difficulty factor. This year I added a primer bulb to aid in priming the fuel system. It took only minutes and I think it will work just fine. After I was satisfied with the external fuel filter installation, I replaced the filter that attaches to the engine. With all that done, it was time to attempt to get the air out of the fuel system. Diesel engines do not like having air in the fuel lines. I used the bulb to fill the external water trap filter, then tuned the engines switch on to start the electric fuel pump. The pump ran and ran which means there is air in the fuel line. I opened the valves at two points on the engine, one at the filter and one at the injectors. When the fuel pump stopped clicking, I figured the air was out of the lines so I tried cranking the engine. She fired right up and I opened the throttle hoping any remaining air would pass while the engine was running. The engine ran for 15 minutes or so. If there had been any air in the fuel lines, it would not have run that long.

The next task was replacing the impeller in the raw water pump. The impeller is a small rubber paddle wheel that turns inside a metal housing. This turning action against the housing forces water from outside the boat into a heat exchanger, much like a radiator that cools the engine. This task went pretty well, except I discovered a leak in the water pump behind the impeller housing. This probably means that I need to call Roger.

I cleaned up the engine compartment and used bilge cleaner on the bilge. I cranked the engine again to check for leaks and warm it up so it would dry out quickly. Now it was time to clean up and find some dinner. I ate at the Tucan Grill in Oriental. The shrimp and salad was good. I returned to the boat and relaxed for a while in the cool evening. The wind was still very strong and the water was still down by nearly 18 inches.

Monday May 4, 2009
With my list of tasks complete I got up early and headed home. The wind was still howling and the water was still very low. Clouds were closing in so I packed and left by about 8am. I was not in a hurry so I took my time coming home. Judy was still busy with her mom. I stopped by a campground near Lake Jordan near Pittsboro NC, to check it out for possible future camping trips.

With the exception of an absent first mate, this was a great weekend. I learned a lot and accomplished a great deal.