Mike and Beth's Adventures

Sunrise on Upper Cook's Cutoff  November 14th, 2021 Today we travelled a rural and sparsely populated portion of the Tombigbee River from Upper Cook's Cutoff to Demopolis Alabama. We woke to temperature which were hovering near freezing.  Thank goodness for the Webasto heater.  It maintained very comfortable inside temperatures.  We were travelling with two other boats that wanted to get started right at sunrise.  Our alarm went off 30 minutes prior to sun up so we could start the coffee, check the oil, pull the anchor and fall in line behind Godspeed and Adventure Awaits.  It was a quick start to the day.  Breakfast would be prepared once we were underway.   It was difficult to focus on our departure tasks as the sun and morning river mists were creating compelling scenes meant to be savored.  I kept my camera with me so I could capture glimpses of the morning unfolding around us. Soon we were underway and in convoy with the other Loope...

I have come to the conclusion that trailering a boat is an quick and easy method to expose less than robust design decisions.  It has also reinforced that regular stops should be made each day to fully inspect the boat and trailer.  Today's excitement was finding that the rack which supports our solar panel and "rocket box" tried it's darndest to fly from the top of the boat. The day was quite windy. This combined with highway speeds created forces that the rack design could not withstand.  The verticals were restrained by a single set screw.  Vibration could easily cause the set screw to loosen and wind forces to have their way.  This combined with bouncing on rough sections of road resulted in the verticals popping out of their mounts. Our corrective action needed to be fashioned with items at our disposal.  But first, the stainless steel tubes needed to be bent into shape.  They had been "sprung" open.  I used a ratchet strap to bend the tube b...

  An essential and valuable piece of equipment decided to take a holiday.   This occured immediately  after my morning coffee if you know what I mean.   Yep, the head died just after a very moving experience.   Too graphic, well sorry, it was very distressing.   Suddenly your plan for the day gets reorganized.   First priority is to decide if an 8-year-old marine head is worth repairing or should it be replaced with a new unit.   I decided to defer that decision until I dis-assembled sufficiently to identify the source of failure.   The next step was to begin disassembly Disassembly began with trying to figure out how to empty the bowl.   Beth came up with the best solution.   Little wonder she is such a valuable member of Amy Marie’s crew.   Her suggestion was to motor to the pump out dock and use the pump out hose to suck the bowl dry.     Once the toilet was clean as a whistle, disassembly began.   First...