Captain's Blog

  Clearwater Sunrise     This is the part of the trip I probably don't need to post each time we go, so this post will be short (but the ride was long). There were a few eventful or noteworthy things that happened, and none had to do with catching trap lines or the inner bowels of the boat.     We rolled out of the berth early knowing a very long ride lay ahead. We had decided that we absolutely had to be moving by 7 am. and we made that timeline with a couple minutes to spare.  We quickly did our pre trip checks & duties, untied the lines and cruised out of Clearwater Beach Marina. We got to see a nice sunrise this time. Weather Forecast     I had been keeping an eye on the weather and the forecast remained perfect all week so we knew that at least wind & wave wise it would be an easy trip. We have yet to be caught in nasty conditions in this boat. We have certainly been there before in other boats and though I would like to know the capa...

    We had a decision to make. Stay here another day or make a slight move North to either Caladesi Island or Tarpon Springs which put us a little closer to home & give us a change in scenery.  In the meantime I ducked out of the boat & headed to the shower. There was a huge parade of crows flying north all squawking to each other. Not sure what they were doing or where they were going but in either direction they were as far as they eye could see. When I exited the shower building they were still going by but there numbers had dwindled.     Always something to fix. I decided to take a look at the stove gas control. One of the controls froze when making Thanksgiving dinner. The stem would push up & down but wouldn’t turn. I researched parts thinking I would need a new control. I went to YouTube and watched a video on a similar Force 10 Stove.  It was a different model but the main parts were the same. The controller can be taken apart & ma...

Panoramic View - Marina on Left - Clearwater in the Center - Caladesi to the Right     Perfect, yes a beautiful morning. On most days you just can’t beat living in Florida, especially fall & winter. November always seems to be the last best chance for longer range boat trips. The fronts start coming in about every 7 days or so, starting out weak & getting stronger as the winter comes on. This entire week has been great & it looks like the weather will hold through Saturday which is our planned departure for home and the portion of the trip that we need calm seas. Fingers crossed.      Well, it’s Thanksgiving Day & based on where we are, what we are doing and who we are with, we are grateful to God for allowing us to be here. That cannot be overlooked despite screwy elections, COVID-19 and who knows what lurking around the corner in this information overloaded world.  Weaver Park Pier     We started the day with a walk down Victoria...

Dunedin, FL     The day dawned with a little breeze and another “damn toilet won’t flush” apparently I didn’t fix it. Let’s try something else.  Obviously there is some type of obstruction. This time I started on the tank side. I disconnected the vent hose & back flushed it, water came out the vent so good there. OK, I know where I need to go next, I disconnected the inlet from the head, shined a flashlight in the hose, sure enough arteriosclerosis. The crud was blocking the inlet. I had removed some before so now was my opportunity to get it all. I improvised a rooter and broke it up. Reconnecting the hose was tough as the hose is stiff but a little silicone grease & some muscle got it back on & double clamped. A few flushes & success! I know I got it this time. Breakfast time...NEED COFFEE! Checks done & off back North to Dunedin. Casting Off     Easy trip to Dunedin. We had a slip reserved for 2 days, this is one of our favorite little pla...

      The first order of business, after breakfast, making engine checks, storing & straightening was to move the boat out of the slip and over to the pump out on the outer dock.  A Pretty straight forward operation. The tide and light breeze made for an easy starboard side tie up.   We got the tank pumped out, flushed & re-pumped. Hopefully we are good (fingers crossed).     We shoved off & headed South to Indian Rocks Beach/Harbourside Marina. We have stayed here before and there is a ton of stuff to see & do. We called ahead & were informed they weren’t taking any transients & the restaurant was closed due to COVID. Crap. We continued to head South anyway. I decided anchoring up near Belleair and having lunch would give us a chance to call around & find somewhere else. During lunch my Communications Officer realised she had called the wrong marina. She called Harbourside (this time the correct number) and left a message. ...

Ready for Action     What would boating be without a little SNAFU? Just another day on land.  First thing in the morning Beth says “I hope I didn’t mess this up” “What?” I reply. “The Head, it’s not flushing” now anyone with any boating experience and a marine head never wants to hear those words uttered. Since the beginning I have been fighting a battle with the head that I thought was won. To be delicate, there was some ancient, super fossilized let’s call it Crud Mountain in the holding tank that seemed to stop future deliveries. I made a flushing device with a hose connection & a small diameter tube I could use to flush out the line. I was able to remove chunks of crud on a couple of occasions and all seemed fine. It wasn’t. What a way to start the day, elbow deep in _______ you can fill in the blank. I was able to get it cleaned out after some sad looks and frowns from my first mate and some choice words from me. This whole adventure set us back a little from ou...

    Boating With Friends   Finally, after doing so many projects, it was time for another “shakedown Cruise”, every cruise is a shakedown. Our plan was to travel South to the Clearwater area with our real intended destination to be Dunedin for Thanksgiving Day. The girls would drive down on Wednesday and we could have dinner on the boat.     We departed one day later than we wanted to because of weather and it was certainly worth the wait. Sunday was gorgeous! One of those perfect boating days where There is just enough breeze to be pleasant and little or no wave action. For this part of our journey that is always important because it is the longest, and far longer than we usually travel in one day. 7 hours and 54 minutes to be exact, 68.1 miles. We have found that a maximum of about 45 miles is the most comfortable and at an average of 8.5 mph that is still pushing 5 hours . Screen Shot from NEBO App     The ride out of our home port in Crystal ...

     We have been waiting patiently for Thanksgiving Break so that we can take a week on the boat.  In spite of Covid-19 we have had tons of construction projects & our real estate market is going crazy, all of which has made it difficult to spend much time playing on Pau Hana. I did find time to do a few small projects to make our trips more enjoyable.     I installed some LED lights the previous owner had left us. I mounted them around & underneath the lip on the flybridge.  I also created a switch panel on the CNC for the LED (Courtesy lights) and the two new LED Flood & Deck lights I installed to replace the old battery wasting Halogen lights.  Next to that a USB port in place of the old Cigarette lighter.     I love seeing what other Camano owners have done with their boats & I stole this boat hook mounting idea from someone (thanks whoever thought this up).       The center Captain's Chair was wa...