12 December 2020 Southport, FL
Sadly, we still see the horrendous
rampage of the Covid-19 pandemic going unchecked in our country because
Americans will simply not take the well-publicized basic precautions; however,
the first vials of the newly approved vaccine are being shipped this weekend. Hopefully, by June 2021 most of us will be
vaccinated with us older people getting or vaccinations by February.
As for Mary and me, we are fairly
well isolated now and will be more so once we head out for the Tennessee River
to pick up Mrs Patricia.
More email exchanges with Scott
the seller have given us a better understanding of the boat’s equipment and operation. He sent along .pdf versions of the manuals
for the and the Crusader 7.4 liter V-8 engines and the 8-kilowatt Westerbeke generator.
Upon arrival at the park marina,
the first thing we will have to deal with is the winterized freshwater system
which means there is a pinkish colored antifreeze in the water lines. It is not poisonous but will have to be
flushed out. The water heater is decommissioned
and empty for the winter and bypassed; so all the valves involved in that decommissioning
will have to be reopened and electric power supplied to the heater once we know
it is full of water.
The fuel tanks are nearly empty,
and the marina fuel dock is closed. The information
we have is a request for fuel made at the front desk of the nearby lodge will result
in a ranger responding to the fuel dock.
We will probably be taking on nearly 200 gallons of gasoline. Hopefully, we will be able to convince them
to de-winterize their waste pump so we can empty the 100-gallon sewage tank which
is currently about ¼ full.
Unique in my experience, the two
120-gallon fuel tanks are not connected which would allow the fuel load to be
equalized of to use fuel from the opposite side of the boat if an engine were
out of commission. Nearly all
diesel-powered boats have a leveling line with a valve at each end connecting the
bottoms of the fuel tanks, but that arrangement with the much more dangerous
gasoline where all fuel is drawn from the tops of the tanks via a long pipe
sticking down into the tanks (standpipe).
I think Frank will eventually install a spark-protected fuel pump between
the tops of the tanks to correct this deficiency.
We will be using a calibrated
dowel rod to sound the aluminum gas tanks as we go along, but we will have to
use a strong flashlight against the plastic freshwater and waste tanks.
The Mrs Patricia is not well
equipped with installed navigation equipment.
It has a remotely operated spotlight, depth sound and a compass, but the
GPS-based chartplotting will be provided by the two laptop computers we are
bringing, each loaded with Coastal Explorer charting software, all the charts,
and their own GPS antenna. There is no
radar nor Automatic Identification System equipment. AIS would be helpful to identify the unseen
towboats around the corners, but on the rivers with their mile markers about
every 5-10 miles, navigation is not a complicated process.
On the housekeeping and comforts
side of things, there as a smallish apartment-sized AC/DC refrigerator (meaning
the battery system keeps it running when we are not plugged in to shore power),
and an otherwise normal galley with sink, stove, microwave, etc. There are three full-sized beds on the boat,
two in a small guest room below the forward part of the cabin, and one all the
way aft in the “master” cabin arear where the head with shower stall, vanity,
and commode are.
Most of our piloting will
probably be accomplished at the lower helm behind the big forward windows which
look out over a covered forward deck, but there is a flying bridge which we may
need from time to time such as when entering a lock or marina.
Between now and departure from
home on the day after Christmas, we have a granddaughter Emma’s wedding here in
our area on 19 December. We are
providing the heat at the barn-sized reception venue with a couple of large
umbrella-like propane heaters we bought at SAM’s Club. It’s a good thing we will have daughter Lynn
and husband along with her large sized teenaged son Alex here to help with
transporting the heaters and propane tanks back and forth. Social distancing and masks will be in
effect.
Meanwhile, we are collecting items
need for this vessel delivery even though the purchase will not be complete
until both in-water and out-of-water surveys are completed with satisfactory
results. The in-water part has probably
been done, and the out-of-water survey will happen on Tuesday, 15
December. As we have considered the
large pile of gear involved in equipping this bare boat (possibly including a
40-inch TV and two anchors), we came to the expensive conclusion that a “premium”
sized SUV (Suburban) will be required to get us to the boat.
