Our New Home for a Month - Fort Myers Beach, FL. - Day 158

February 18, 2016
Day 158

We were not in a hurry to get underway this morning since we only had about 25 miles to travel to get to our marina in Ft. Myers Beach.  Below is the picture from our SPOT device showing our stops across south Florida from Stuart to Ft. Myers Beach.

Jake likes to relax in the morning sun in the salon on top of the liquor cabinet.

 When we finally got underway we saw some interesting sights.  We passed this sailboat which looked a lot like a small Spanish galleon.

It was a very pretty day on the water and pleasure boats were out in force.

We passed this restaurant in the middle of the water.  There is no way to get to it except by water, and it was very busy.  I didn't see it until I looked at this picture, but it looks like there is a body hanging from the roof.

Here we are approaching the north end of Estero Island, a barrier island where Ft. Myers Beach is located.

Once behind the island on the way to our marina, we saw many pelicans and a huge shrimp fleet.  Hopefully, we can buy some shrimp right off the boat.

Arriving at Fish Tales Marina, we also saw many pelicans, herons, and other birds.

At the end of the day, we walked across the street to the beach.  It seemed that everyone in Ft. Myers Beach also migrated to the beach to watch and take pictures of the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico.  It was a memorable sight

I may not be posting every day for a while since we will be staying here for a month.  I'll blog as we find interesting things here to share.

Ft. Myers, FL - Day 157

February 17, 2016
Day 157

When we woke up in Moore Haven this morning the fog was so thick that we were unable to leave the dock until it lifted a couple of hours later.  While I cast off the lines, Sharon practiced her boat handling skills by taking the boat off of the dock, spinning us around 180 degrees and getting us headed down the river toward Ft. Myers.  The upper part of the Caloosahatchee River is very straight like a canal, and there were two locks that we had to transit to get down to sea level again.  Jake and Kimi enjoyed the breeze and the scenery.

 Eventually, the river began to wind a little as we went through Florida cattle country.  We still have yet to see any alligators although they are supposed to be abundant in this area.

As we approached Fort Myers we passed a power plant that is apparently a winter gathering place for manatees, but we only saw one swimming at a distance as we approached this railroad drawbridge,

Pulling into the Ft Myers Yacht Basin what should greet us but another PDQ Powercat.  They seem to be everywhere we go even though only 114 were made.

They were so glad to see us arrive in Ft Myers that they sent out a blimp to welcome us, then the marina threw us a dock party with hamburgers and hot dogs and all of the other boaters brought dishes of various food items to share with us.  It was a fun time and a nice greeting!

Here is "Building Our Wings" wedged between the mega-yachts as usual.

Cruising Again! Day 156 - Moore Haven, FL

February 16, 2016
Day 156


Last night we had severe thunderstorms in Stuart, but awoke to nice weather.  The weather window for crossing Lake Okeechobee appeared to be Wednesday, but the winds had died down sooner than expected, so we decided to give it a try today.  We left Stuart Yacht late, around 11:00 am, and headed up the St. Lucie Canal toward Lake Okeechobee.  The lake has been very high this winter due to record rainfall, so the Army Corps of Engineers has been letting water out of the lake in an attempt to lower the water levels before the summer rains.  We entered the first lock and were raised 14 feet to the level of the canal.  The whole way through the canal we had a current against us due to the water being released from the lake.  Below is a picture looking back at the St Lucie Lock as we were leaving it into the canal.

Most of the canal was just straight and featureless, but it did pass through some very pretty "old Florida" landscape.

At the end of the St. Lucie Canal, we approached the Port Mayaca lock which was wide open to Lake Okeechobee beyond due to the high water being released.

Our crossing of the 25 plus miles of open water on Lake Okeechobee went smoothly as the winds were low and the lake water was practically flat.  On the way across we saw about a half dozen smoke plumes all around the lake.  Apparently it is wildfire season around Lake Okeechobee and in the Everglades and this is a common occurrence in January, February, and March in Florida.

On the way across the lake, we saw our first white pelican.

Once on the other side not too far from Roland Martin's marina we saw a number of boats bass fishing the weed lines.

Jake and Kimi enjoyed the breeze and the scenery once we were near shore again.

Below we are approaching our last lock of the day at Moore Haven which lowered us down from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River.

 We arrived at the municipal dock at Moor Haven just beyond the lock at about 4:30 pm and the library sign across the street said it was 78 degrees!

The city has built a nice dock facility here with a park alongside to walk the dogs.  We tied up and paid our very reasonable dock fees for the night.  The dock has power and water which are included in the fee.

After arriving, we found out that the thunderstorms we had experienced last night in Stuart had generated a tornado on the way across Florida which destroyed some homes in Moore Haven.  I'm glad we did not arrive yesterday!

Boat Repairs and A Trip Home

December 14, 2015, through February 15, 2016

Since Stuart Yacht Harbour had to work us into their schedule for the fuel tank repair, we decided to leave the boat with them and go home until the repairs were completed.  We rented a car and drove home in two days to Gloucester, VA.  We came home to snow, ice, and cold weather, exactly what we were trying to escape by cruising to Florida for the winter.  However, the sunsets we get over the York River in our back yard almost made it worth chipping ice off of the front stairs for three days.

Gregg Burdick at Stuart Yacht kept me updated via email and pictures on the progress they were making on the fuel leak repair.  The first photo sequence shows cutting out the floor and seats on each side to expose the tank.

Once the tank was exposed and disconnected they lifted it up to remove it from the boat for testing.  You can see the fuel soaked foam blocks under the tank in this photo.  

The tank was taken to the shop for a series of tests.  Inspection of the tank revealed no obvious leaks.  The tank was then pressure tested again.  It passed.  Then it was vacuum tested.  It passed.  Then they vacuumed out the air and put freon into the tank and then pressurized it.  They found a very tiny freon leak at the fuel gauge sender unit.  They tightened a couple of screws on the sender and the freon leak disappeared.  Then they filled the tank with water and put three feet of head pressure on the vent and left it sitting for the weekend.  No leaks.

By this time, we decided that the tank was not leaking and with the extensive battery of tests that had been performed it would be safe to put it back into the boat.  The wonderful thing about pulling the tank out of the boat was that the leaked fuel underneath the tank and all of the areas where the fuel had settled, which would have been difficult to get to otherwise, were exposed for a thorough cleaning.  The next step was to retest all of the connections to the tank.  It was decided that the best way to retest the connections was to set the tank back in the boat and reconnect everything.

The next sequence shows the tank being set back into the boat, and all of the fuel lines being reconnected.  Then before testing the lines the area under the tank and voids all around the edges were filled with closed cell foam.  If any fuel should leak during the coming tests it would not be able to get back underneath the tank and could be easily cleaned up.  This also had the effect of sealing the exterior of the tank on all sides except the top so that if any leak should develop in the future fuel would not be able to leak out of the tank.

After foaming the tank into the boat, all of the lines were reconnected and tested.  The lines on this tank are fuel and return lines for two engines, a fuel polishing system line, and two transfer lines for transferring fuel between the forward tank and the aft tank (the one being tested).  Fuel was transferred back and forth between the forward and aft tank repeatedly, the engines were run for an hour, and the fuel polishing system was run long enough to polish all of the fuel in the tank.  No leaks were detected.

By that time, it was Friday evening and the crew locked the boat and went home for the weekend.  When they returned Monday morning it was discovered that there was a very small amount of fuel on the top of the tank around the fuel gauge sending unit.  It was also found that the valves for the fuel transfer lines on the forward and aft tanks had been left open over the weekend.

After all of the testing that had been done, the working theory became that when the tank was full, and a transfer valve was left open, that fuel draining back into the tank caused pressure on the tank and since the sending unit had demonstrated a small leak during the freon test, that small amounts of fuel were leaking from there over a long period of time.  Eventually, the small repeated fuel leaks saturated the foam blocks under the tank and then the leaked fuel began finding its way out of the tank compartment and into the port bilge, which is where I first noticed it.  A new fuel gauge, sending unit, and gasket were ordered and installed, and the closing in of the tank compartment began.  The previous owner and I had both been in the practice of leaving the aft transfer valves open after transferring fuel and closing only the forward valves.  I have instituted a new protocol that both sets of valves will be left closed unless I am actually transferring fuel.

The next photo sequence shows the carpentry work stages to reassemble the floor and seats.  When we came back to the boat I placed oil absorbent around all of the penetrations on the top of the tank and will check them daily as we cruise to make sure that nothing is leaking

The completed carpentry work is practically invisible!  Unless you were very familiar with this particular model of boat, nothing about the repairs would catch your eye.  We are very pleased with the result!

Below is "Building Our Wings" lying at Stuart Yacht's dock after repairs were completed.  Another PDQ MV-34, "Miss My Money", is just behind us at the dock and had pulled in the day before we were ready to leave for some repairs needed on his boat.  We'll be out of here soon!