3 Weeks and All is Well, but Nothing Done

...things to come.

Monday will be three weeks here on Skylark. It's been an adventure in itself living on the boat with the heat the way it has been. Now I know it's August in Florida, but even the locals can't believe how bad it's been. For most of the week, the heat index was in the 110 degree range. OK, that is the last time I will complain about the heat, promise. But, I have not been able to do anything on the list, nothing. Especially as the tasks I had in mind for this trip were all above deck. Finishing the teak, painting the deck and just a good ol' scrubbing of the hull. You know what, forget it...all of it. The only thing possible out of the A/C is swimming and even that is tough when the pool temp is 97 degrees. No joke. A couple and their 3 year old daughter just came in from a  long cruise down in the Caribbean and Mexico. They pulled in next to Skylark before I got here, so it was a nice surprise to have new semi-permanent neighbors. Anyway, they were telling me that the heat here has been worse than anything they have run across in the last 10 years down in the El Caribe. I am just saying...

So all of us live-aboards stay hidden below until the sun goes down and then make our way up to the pool for some breeze and a quick swim after dark. Maybe even light up the grill and make some dinner. We have had a lot of fun with the kids all playing together. There are a few kids close to Zachary's age and they all get along well. I got really lucky with the folks in the marina, everyone is great and there have been a few new folks that are just as nice. It's great not to have to worry about things like that. I really hope it stays that way.

So for the weekend, I am hoping to get to the teak and just brave my way through it. I guess we will see, thank God for the bimini and the tarp. Without them I would never go out, but then again, I am not going to complain about the heat. :)

Is it me...

...or am I sensing a trend.

Guessing it will be hot and rainy the next couple of weeks. :)

Hot, Rain and a St. Augustine Cruise

The weather in Jacksonville for the last week and a half has been horrible. Very hot during the days, usually upwards of 95+, and then violent storms blowing through around 4:00 or so. We had 50 knot winds rampage the marina last Thursday and a new Beneteau 34 got hit by lightning, about 4 slips down from Skylark. Fortunately no one was hurt and the only damage known so far was a lost antennae where the lightning hit. Actually, we are having some what of a rough night tonight. A lot of rain and wind again. Also seems as if the river is picking up a bit. That's the life on board at a marina, you never know what you are a going to get on a day to day basis.

We did however great a break in the weather last weekend and took advantage by taking a cruise down to St. Augustine. My buddy Trevor offered up his Hunter 30 for the adventure and we left Friday morning with the tide. With the winds directly out of the south, we decided to motor down the ICW, about 65 nm miles total. We had a good weather all the way and got in around 8:30pm, about 11 hours after we left. Needless to say, we were exhausted and basically crashed early. We had our choice of mooring balls on the north side of the bridge and were right off the fort. A very nice view to say the least.

We stayed Saturday and took in some sights. St. Augustine is a really nice town and I would recommend it to anyone cruising the area. I will say though you must be very vigilant following the channel markers. Even a few feet off and you will run aground, so keep one eye on your position and one on the GPS.

Sunday morning, we dropped the mooring and headed for the inlet, only about a mile or so from the anchorage. Another great reason to make St. Augustine a stop over, easy access and great facilities.

We stayed in the channel to the third marker before turning north and the run up to Mayport. The winds were light, only about 5-10 from the east. We had the sails up right away and were making about 4.5 to 5 knots. Seas were about 2 feet, so all in all a nice sail. Unfortunately, we lost the wind about half way up and had to motorsail the rest of the way. Around 2:30 pm, we reached the Mayport inlet and rode the flood all the way back to the marina, never falling under 7 knots.

We had a great trip and I was happy to be out on the water.

Next time, it will be on Skylark.

Back at Skylark

So after a long time away, I am back on Skylark. Got in around 10:00 pm tonight and have everything nice and tidy as I type away while sipping on a beer. As usual, Skylark was sitting as she should be and all was well. Thought for sure I would have some mildew to contend with below, but there wasn't a speck anywhere to be seen. Really surprising as the weather from what I have been told was very hot and super humid for weeks. Skylark is a very dry boat, but I was pleasantly surprised regardless.

So I have a lot of things planned for this trip, including hopefully the installation of the engine. Don't exactly know how long I will be here this time, but it will be at least a few weeks or possibly more. I will keep good updates as a go along, but besides the engine, fuel tank and wiring, I am also thinking I will paint the deck, finish the teak, put up the jib and get the bottom scraped. If all goes well, I hope to get out for the first time since Skylark got here just over a year ago. Looking forward to that.

New (old) Atomic 4 Replacement Found!

Just a quick update on the engine situation. Scott (gotta love Scott :) alerted me to a good condition Atomic 4 for sale and the arrangements have been made. The engine will be picked up next Saturday the 16th and hopefully installed in the following weeks. Very happy how this came together, lets hope it all goes to plan for a change.
More to come...

July 5th, 2011

It's been a while now since my last post, sorry about that. I knew going into the summer that June was going to be a very busy month and I would not be able to spend much time at the boat. I mentioned in an earlier post that my son was going to spend June in North Carolina for a month long visit. We had a fantastic time here as well as a wonderful trip to New York to visit the family. I can't believe how fast that month went, but like life when you hit 40, everything seems to go fast now a days. :)

So it is now July 5th and time to get back to a bit of normalcy. I will probably be going back down to the boat sometime around the 3rd week of July. Have a lot to do to say the least. As a matter of fact, I woke up in the middle of the night and found myself writing out my to-do list for the rest of the summer before I forgot what I had been dreaming about. It's been on my mind a lot lately and I feel bad that I have waited this long to get it all done. But with the recent move, my sons visit and work, it's amazing I have even had time to THINK about it all much less do it.

Talking about July 5th, you might have noticed that 2 days ago, July 3rd, was the 1 year anniversary of moving Skylark to Florida. Talk about time flying. I look back at the year and I am pleased with at least some of the progress I have made, but cringe at the thought of the engine situation. To that affect, I have once again changed my mind about the re-power direction. I am not going to go into the months of thought behind this decision, but lets just say, I have decided to go with a A4 replacement...short and sweet, it just makes the most sense for me at this time. That's that. :) So Scott and I are back on track to finish this all up. I think we finally both have the time now to do it.

As you Floridians know first hand, the weather has been unbearably hot the last month or so, so to be honest, I am not that upset I have been up in the NC mountains. I am ready to get back though and hope the weather evens out a bit. But of course it's summer in Florida, and as I know first hand, it's hot regardless. I am very much looking forward to Fall this year as I know everything will be ready to go by then to enjoy perfect sailing conditions. In the meantime, I am lucky enough to keep up my sailing skills on my buddy Matt's Erickson 34 on Lake Norman, NC. We went out on the 3rd and had a wonderful sail. He has done an amazing job on the refurb and as soon as I get some pics, I will post them here.

That's it for now, thanks for checking in from time to time. I promise to have something worthy for you all soon. Fair winds to you sailors out there...and if you are in FL, stay under the bimini. :)

Busy, Busy...

I realized last night that I haven't updated the blog in a while. As far as Skylark is concerned, there really hasn't been anything new to report. Scott is still planning to get the engine done in the near future and finish up a few last items. The only new tidbit is the probability of adding a built in air conditioner to the list of things to do. Spoke with Scott about it and I think we are going to move forward with the install while he is futzing with the new gas tank and wiring. I will be looking forward to that for sure. When you are in Florida in the summer, you need AC at the dock without a doubt.

The bigger news lately is that Amy and Idid not renew our lease and decided to move. We are staying near Asheville, but will be about 20 minutes east in a town called Black Mountain. We found a great house on the mountain with tons of room, a huge deck, large shed, green house, etc, for less money than what we are paying in Asheville. We are both very excited. So you can imagine how busy it has been around here lately with all the packing and moving "stuff" that needs to happen. So when are we moving? Tomorrow. :) We have the movers coming Saturday morning, but we get the keys to the new place Friday and can start lugging over the breakables ourselves after work. No rest for the weary.

I will be back down at the boat the last week in May and will return to NC with Zachary for the month of June. All will be done with Skylark by then (right Scott :) so I will certainly be looking forward to some sailing. In the meantime, my buddy Matt got his boat done and back in the water so I am hoping we can get out a little here and there.

More updates to come. Thanks all.

Radio SKYLARK

For months now I have been perfecting Radio Skylark, an interactive online music station created on Pandora. It has a great balance of cruising, Caribbean and classic tunes going way back. I have had good feedback from folks, so I thought I would post the link and let you all in on it. Tell me what you think, what's missing or what needs to go. Enjoy!

Radio SKYLARK

Proud Pappa Moment

Been a busy week here on Skylark. Weather has been very hot so I have been moving slowly through the chores. I did manage to finish cleaning out the engine bed. There was at least a half inch of 42 year old oil, grease and dirt all baked together. It took some doing but I think it came out well and the boat lost that "enginey" smell already. Love it. It really is amazing how well fiberglass endures over the years. After scraping all the gunk off, the it looks brand new. It's incredible really.

So last night I was able to go to one of Zachary's baseball games. His team has been doing much better this year but he has been struggling a little with his hitting. Well last night, it all came together. He had a hit 3 of the 4 times at bat, made multiple plays from his second base position and caught a pop up that seemed to hover forever before dropping right into his mitt. He was also involved in the 9th inning rally that brought them back from a two run deficit to tie the game. And then, if it couldn't get any better, the coach gave him the game ball. I tell you, if there was ever a kid smiling from ear to ear, it was Zachary last night. And the best part of all, I was there to see it.

Happy Sunday

The winds have been nonstop since Friday. Been blowing in the 20 to 30 mph range and at times has been a bit uncomfortable. Sunday however is going to be a glorious day of 80 degree weather and a lite 5-10 mph breeze to keep things cool.

As usual, haven't gotten nearly as far as I had hoped. But, that's ok as Zachary and I have really enjoyed our time so far and that's really all it's about. Today though, I plan to get at the engine compartment and give it a really good cleaning now that the engine is out. Which brings me to the engine update...

After a thorough once over of the Atomic 4, it has been decided that the only future this particular engine has on a boat is as an anchor. 42 years of service is not a bad record and quite honestly, with a bunch of cash, it could probably be resurrected. But that's just not the way to go. In the end, you still have a 42 year old GAS engine that stinks up the cabin when running, is quite loud and vibrates the fillings out of your head. Nope, the end is here for the Atomic 4. I know, a bit disappointing but in reality, it's not that bad. So whats the solution?

Well, the Cal 34 was set up with a Vdrive system that saves tons of space by keeping a big engine and transmission under the cockpit and out of the way. Basically, the propeller shaft goes back under the engine and out of the boat (Like a V on its side or actually a < symbol) This system was revolutionary back in the 60s and was only used, from what I can tell, by Cal boats. Because of this, finding a new diesel engine that will fit the space and not take a huge amount of work is going to be tough. Don't get me wrong, it can be done and with enough money would be perfect, but at this point, the cost is to high.

So the plan now is to keep things simple and finally do some sailing. I am going to hang a 15 hp long shaft off the transom and have all the controls run to the cockpit. This gets the engine out of the boat and will give me plenty of power to do what I need to do. I will have no problem sailing this area, down to the Keys and even over to the Bahamas. I will leave the shaft in place from the old A4 in case I decide to put in something more permanent, but in the mean time, the OB will do just fine. And that's all I have to say about that.

Sorry for the Delay...

...but things have been crazy with work and I haven't had 2 seconds to update the blog. The good news is, I am packing as I write this and will be in Jacksonville tomorrow late afternoon. YeeHaw.

We have made some progress on the Atomic 4 nightmare so I will give you the update once I am there and have a minute to soak it all in.
As well, I am hoping to get a lot done this weekend with Zachary. Specifically, I want to finish sanding all the exterior teak and get at least a few coats of oil on. And if all goes to plan, I would like to paint the "White" part of the deck. Weather looks OK, so we will see. Pics and updates to come.