A Solo Sail for the Soul

This is a video that I shot some months ago. But since we are a bit removed from the good sailing weather here in Howe Sound, may I present to you A Solo Sail for the Soul.

We have a Better Solution for You

With my rudder jammed and the clock ticking, sleep didn't come easy for my skipper- Corleto

After a tasty and somewhat relaxing supper on the waterfront, we walked back to Corleto. She was tied up at the very end of the dock, to the stern of a massive power cruiser. She was the smallest craft along S Dock.

With a full belly and a tired and fatigued body, I thought sleep would come easy. But with the events of the day, the log strike images swirling around in my head, it would not. Again I tried to think of solutions. All of them seemed too complicated, too physical, too wet. I don't know when I finally dozed off, but at around 1 am I woke up with a start and a solution in my head. I checked my iPhone for messages as I always do when I wake up in the middle of the night.

My man Kinc had sent me a message and strangely enough he had thought of a solution as well. As I read his suggestion, it was evident that we both thought of the same thing. It would involve a half haul and a cutting tool to remove about a centimetre of the top of the rudder. It made perfect sense at 1 in the morning and with that thought I quickly went back to sleep and slept well.

Waking up, I was excited and nervous about what had to be done. I told Charlene what my plan was. She was not convinced that cutting was the answer. But she patiently listened to me explain the rational behind my idea.

When the boat yard finally opened, around 8 am, I made the call. I spoke to a man who had heard the rather lengthy message I had left after closing last evening. I explained my predicament. I asked if I could get Corleto on the travel lift and if he could rent me a cutting tool. I explained what I planed to do.

The voice on the other end of the phone said: "I think we may have a better solution for you sir."

He did not explain any further and told me he could get me on the travel lift as soon as I could get the boat over to the boat yard.

Corleto still could not steer. So I got in touch with the folks at Sea Tow Nanaimo. It was not long before their vessel pulled alongside Corleto and tied up.

A serious looking skipper as the Sea Tow Boat comes along side

With care and expertise, the crew from Sea Tow guided Corleto off the slip and into the channel. In the conversation with one of the crew, he had told us that they had heard my call to Victoria Coast Guard the previous afternoon and they were loading up to head out to us when the call came that we had accepted a tow from a "vessel passing by". He also told me the area that we had our misfortune was notorious for disabling boats as they navigated either to or from Dodds Narrows. Oddly that did not make me feel any better about my situation, but it did take the sting out of the experience.

With skillful pilotage the tow skipper brought us into Stones Boat Yard dock. Its very narrow and there are plenty of large expensive boats to potentially crash with. But with the confidence of Capt. Highliner, the skipper brought us in gently. And with my thanks and my credit card slip he was on his way.

Corleto patiently waits her turn for the travel lift at Stones Boat Yard

The Boatyard foreman told me that he had 3 other boats before me to haul out, so if we wanted to go for a bite he recommended two nearby establishments. I felt much better now as I knew that the worst case, the boat would stay on the hard and we could take the nearby ferry back to Horseshoe Bay. We decided to go for a meal. It was just about 11 am as we ordered food and watched the goings on next door at the boat yard. Just as I finished my meal, I noticed that the Yard Crew were positioning the travel lift to Corleto. I jumped up and asked Charlene to tell the waitress that I wasn't dining and dashing, but wanted to supervise the lift.

Secure in the travel lift and being moved in the yard to get the rudder free

They moved Corleto into the work area and a man who was the shipwright came over to have a look. He asks me if this is my boat and then tells me what his plan of action is.
"We are going to bend your rudder pin by using a strap and a "come-a-long" anchored to the yard's fork lift."
I answer: "You sound like you know what you're doing sir."
He answers : "This is not my first rodeo,,,, I do about three of these a week"

This man goes on to explain to me the risks involved in such an operation. Things like breakages and hull damage. I said well if theres breakages, then at least she's on the hard. So lets get 'er done.

It might be hard to see in this picture, but the rudder is pinched into the back of the hull

With his watchful eye, his crew positions the forklift and come a long strap. Another climbs a ladder and boards Corleto.

"Tell me if you hear or feel anything on the tiller." Says the Shipwright. His crew very attentive to his instructions.

One of the workers begins to tension the strap.

"OK! Give me three clicks." The Shipwright commands. "Two more,,,,,, hows the tiller?"
"Good" Replies the lad on the tiller. "Tiller's free!"

The Shipwright answers and then eyeballs the gap between the rudder and the hull. He carefully checks all sides. "One more click" he asks

The come a long makes the distinctive click sound- "Good!" says and then asks the lad up top to run the tiller through the entire arc of travel. "Any obstructions?" The tiller man says no.

The Shipwright looks at me and says "Thats it, you're done."
I thank him and the rest of the crew for looking after me so quickly and professionally. And since Corleto is in the sling, I ask for the bottom to get an unexpected power wash.

"No problem sir."

With a clean bottom and a rudder thats now free, Corleto is returned to the water

As I turn around to go and settle up my bill, a man whom I had not noticed during the "fix" was standing behind me.
The man says "You don't recognize me do you? "
All at once I realize this is the man who came to our aid less than 24 hours ago.
I said "Forgive me, I did not see you there as I was zeroed in on the crew fixing the rudder."
"I went down to the dock where we left you guys yesterday, to see if there was anything you needed and I saw you were gone. So I thought I might check the boatyard and here you are."

I again thanked him for his kindness and for coming down to see that we were ok. The kindness and willingness to help from this stranger was deeply moving to both me and for Charlene. Again he would not accept payment for his troubles.
We had a short conversation and I wrote his name and phone number as well as the names of the rest of his crew. He told me they were from the Nanaimo Sailing Co-op and that they sail weekly at the club. I asked him where they go after their sailing evenings to sit down and have a drink. He pointed to an establishment that was right beside the Boatyard and adjacent to the Sailing Club.

I went over to that establishment after the man left and bought a gift tab for him and his crew. "A Thank you to the Crew of Santa Serena from the crew of Corleto Murray and Charlene."

I left him a voice message that there was a gift card in his name for he and his crew and " They could enjoy some libations and tell the bar of their daring High Seas rescue. And to embellish the story as he saw fit and that the crew of the Corleto would back up every word."

Charlene happy that we are finally on our way home

By the time I returned from the the bar, the boat was back in the water and we were soon on our way. It was just after 1 in the afternoon and we set out for our home port of Horseshoe Bay. It was a long passage and as we left Nanaimo, we both knew that we had been very fortunate to have had our troubles where we did.

I couldn't help feel that we were richer for the experience and the wonderful helpful people that we had met.

From Charlene and Murray -Thank You SV SANTA SERENA and her crew

The Tow of Shame

"It seems that every sailing vacation I have taken aboard Corleto has an "Oh Shit" factor.  This one was to be no different." -Skipper Murman as he began to regale his latest adventure to his work colleagues.

"Victoria Coast Guard Radio, Victoria Coast Guard Radio, this is the Sailing Vessel Corleto,,,,,, we are at position,,,,,,,, and have struck a log and are disabled, Over"-Thats a radio call you don't want to make.

Yes I know, its been a while since putting thoughts to words and words to blog, but this is a story that needs telling. 

This sailing season began early for me and involved a few "Firsts". First solo, first encounters with dolphin riding bow waves, and first use of my gerry rigged headsail downhaul of which I am particularly proud. But it will be the First Vacation Cruise of the 2016 that will define this sailing season for me. 

It began simply enough, the usual packing, repacking of supplies and provisions for what we hoped would be a week of trouble free sailing in and around the waters of the Straight of Georgia. Our confidence with anchorages and mooring balls, with passages and passes was high. We had decided we would let the "wind take us in whatever direction it happened to be blowing".  It was blowing from the NW, so south we would go to some of our favourite places. Gabriola Passage, Montague Harbour, and Thetis Island. We like to always experience something new or go to somewhere we haven't been before so I thought we would add Newcastle Island off Nanaimo to the list of places to go. This would take us through the fabled Dodd's Narrows, somewhere Corleto had been before, but instead of Kinc and his brother this time it would be with her Skipper and Mate. Two Dodd's newbies.

It all began, after a two night stay in Plumper Cove we had set out to cross the Straight and hit Gabriola Pass during the slack. That in itself can be a tricky piece of water to time, to hit it at the "sweet spot",  from that distance (24NM). Usually when travelling that way we spend a night at Silva Bay and then hit the Pass on the early slack the following day. On this occasion however, the slack was to come just before the noon hour. So we wanted to hit the slack and time our departure from Plumper to be no later than 07:00.

Charlene piloted Corleto as we slipped our mooring ball and headed west through Shoal Passage. We were 15 minutes late but underway none the less. 

It was good to be on the move. There was little wind as we left but we could see ahead that darker water and choppy seas as we progressed. Surely the wind would be there. With Corleto's mighty 11 horses pushing us along at 4.5 kts, I figured we would hit the Pass just about at the end of our window of opportunity. I decided to hoist the main as we began to feel the Northwesterly wind. The angle of the wind improved and suddenly we gained a bit of speed. Up went the headsail and it filled with a snap and Corleto came to life. I put the engine in neutral and watched the speed log. She was now going 5-51/2 kts,,,,,,, 6, 6.4,,,,,, We were sailing with speed and right on course for Gabriola Pass. 

Charlene watches ahead as we begin our transit of Gabriola Pass

We hit the pass a few hours later right on the sweet spot. It was a satisfying passage under sail. Quiet and tranquil, not too bumpy, comfortable really. We doused the sails and then transited the pass with little drama and collectively decided to head down Trinomicle Channel to Montague Harbour. It was surprising how the time seemed to fly by. We tied up to a mooring ball in Montague Harbour and we looked at our watches and it was 15:40. We realized we had been on the water for 9 hours and had travelled some 44 NM. It turned out to be a First- Our longest passage and our greatest distance travelled in one shot. I was particularly pleased, and Montague is one of our favourite anchorages. We would stay for two nights. 

Skipper Murman mid transit of the pass.

By the time we headed north to Thetis, the winds and the weather looked like it was gonna change. Rain clouds and South winds. But those south winds pushed us along northward with a following sea and an average speed of 6.2 kts. It was a relatively quick passage to Telegraph Harbour and one that was entirely under sail. The Gulf Islands either have wind or they don't or so I am told. They certainly had it on this day and we and the boat were grateful. 

One of our very favourite anchorages- Montague Harbour

But it was the passage to Dodds Narrows and the route to Newcastle that would define this trip. Once again, neither of us had ever been this way before. So this would be another "First". Again southerly winds would help us as we travelled our 13 NM to Dodds. We had to be there for 15:15 to catch the slack. I would check the plotter every now and again to check our ETA- we seemed to be on target. But the clouds to our west coming off the mountains of Vancouver Island, looked foreboding. 

Charlene heard thunder. A few minutes later I saw a couple of lightning strikes. This would be another "First". First Thunderstorm while underway. I thought for a minute. I was so enjoying the sail aspect of this passage and we were making decent time. But I also knew that this storm cell could create chaotic winds, so I decided to douse sails. We just got them in and it began to rain. But we pushed on. All the while I'm thinking about the lightning rod of a mast sticking up from Corleto's
deck.

Bad ass thunder clouds baring down on us

It wasn't long before we found ourselves with a number of other boats headed for Dodd's. Our timing was a bit off as we arrived about 30 minutes early for a boat my size and power to transit. So we began to orbit with a number of other boats as we waited for the tide to slacken the current. Then with navy like precision, the group formed up in single file and began the passage northbound though Dodds Narrows. We followed another Catalina 27 giving her some distance as we entered this very narrow piece of water. Another First--- a successful transit with little drama. Just the kind I like. 

The approach into Dodd's Narrows

Happy Skipper just after the Transit

I was feeling pretty good about our day what with the sailing, the thunder and lightning and now a successful navigation of one of the most legendary pieces of water in the Gulf Islands. It was now just a matter of time before we found ourselves on a mooring ball off Newcastle Island. Charlene had gone forward and made herself comfortable and found herself dosing off after the excitement of the storm and the Pass. I began to set waypoints for our final leg to Newcastle. All was right in the sailing world of Skipper Murman.

Feeling good and looking forward to our next anchorage

I looked ahead when out of the bottom of my vision I catch a glimpse of a log that is so close it is just about to go under my pulpit. It happened so quick, I had zero time to react. Corleto hit it right smack in the middle. Suddenly THUD!

I looked out the back as the torpedo surfaced. It had a rather large blue streak thanks to my bottom paint. Suddenly the Otto (The Autohelm) went crazy trying to regain her course. I disengaged it and tried to turn the tiller. It was jammed. 

FUCK. 

I tried to force it, it would not move,,,, shit,,,,, perhaps a piece of wood was jammed and causing my heart rate to climb. 

The thud had woken Charlene. She immediately came inside the cockpit to see what she could do. I throttled back to slow as suddenly I saw that we were now headed for Gabriola Island and the log booms that were moored there. It was then I knew that Corleto was disabled and I was going to need help. 

"Victoria Coast Guard Radio, Victoria Coast Guard Radio, Victoria Coast Guard Radio, this is the Sailing Vessel Corleto Over,,,,," 

Charlene remarked to me afterwards how calm I sounded on the radio. 

"Victoria CoastGuard Radio, this is the sailing vessel Corleto, I have struck a log and am currently disabled, rudder is jammed and I cannot steer, My current position is,,,,,,,,,"

The CG Radio Op asked " Corleto, how many person's on board and are you in immediate danger. Over" 

"Victoria Coast Guard Radio, I have two persons on board, we are not taking on water so not in immediate danger, we do have an anchor to deploy and are currently drifting towards a large log boom about 300 yards away, standby,,,,,,, have reversed engine and am now drifting away from log boom Over. 

Now before he could get a message to All Stations, another voice cracks over channel 16.

"Victoria Coast Guard Radio, this is the Sailing Vessel Santa Serena, we are about 5 minutes away from the stricken vessel Over." 

CGR Operator relays that message to me that help is on the way and, to stay with him and report when I have made visual contact with the Santa Serena.

Time begins to stand still for a bit as I scan to look for the incoming vessel. Then at once I see the stout 27 for Catalina's bow headed in my direction. Now within a boat length, the skipper yells "We heard your call, we can tow you to Nanaimo,,,"

He organizes his crew and heaves a line to me. I cleat it on Corleto's bow. I toss one of Corleto's lines to him. Before long a second boat, a larger fishing boat speeds into the picture. "Do you need a tow?" I answer that we should be good, now that the Santa Serena has us tied to her and I thank the Fisher skipper for his quick response. He tells me that if either boat needs help as we go he can be reached on Ch 16 and with that he goes back to his business.

Sailing Vessel SANTA SERENA pulling us towards Nanaimo Harbour

Santa Serena now begins the long pull towards Nanaimo. Her skipper and I speak on working Ch 9. He asks if I have any preference to where he will tow us to. He begins calling on his cell phone to see where their might be room for a stricken sailboat with no steering. It turns out the folks at The Nanaimo Harbour Authority would take Corleto for the night. I call Victoria Coast Guard to update them on our situation.

Along the way, all I could think about is how I missed such an object lurking in the water. I was pretty angry at myself. Charlene was doing her best to make the best of the situation and reminded me that we were safe and that it could have been a lot worse. She was right.

I was trying to figure out a "fix" . I figured the rudder was jammed because of a wedged bit of that freakin' wooden torpedo was stuck in the gap between the hull and the rudder. Charlene thought that it might just be bent back into the hull. I decided to rig the GoPro to a boat hook and have a look for myself.

After reviewing the file, Charlene's diagnosis was correct. The rudder had been jammed back into the hull. Fortunately it was almost amidships so we were not causing too much problem for our tow boat.

With us now on the approach to our dock for the night, Santa Serena slowed to a crawl. This docking would be tricky with a number of very large power boats nearby already tied up. But with skill and precision, the skipper gently brought us alongside the dock and we tied up, breathing a sigh of relief and a feeling of overwhelming gratitude to the crew of the Santa Serena.  I offered payment, but the skipper refused.  "That what we sailors do, we help each other out." he said.

After we said our good byes and thank you's, both Charlene and I sat down to decompress. I was overcome with emotion that several strangers had come to our aid, others had offered and none wanted any form of compensation for their trouble. I took a moment to call Victoria Coast Guard to close out our file and to thank them for their assistance.

I was deeply humbled. It had been a hell of an afternoon. As I walked to the Harbour Authority Office, used my "Phone a Friend" option. Dialed up my buddy Kinc. His mind for problem solving would certainly point me in the right direction and at the very least just talking it out would help me work the problem. It did just that and it gave me the confidence that had been so shattered earlier to solve this. Kinc was Houston to my Apollo 13.

Charlene and I decided to get a good meal, purge ourselves of the calamity and begin to think of solutions to get us back on our way. The solutions would wait until morning.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

"My skipper looks after me, and in turn I look after him"- Corleto

We were finally away and our heading was to places we had not been to before. This was part two of our summer on Corleto. As we slipped away from the dock at Horseshoe Bay, there was a certain relief that we had managed to pack everything without too much fuss.

As it was after 6 and with a prawn trap to collect as we departed, it occurred to Charlene that daylight would be fading soon. After hauling two dozen prawns we at least knew that our meal when we got to our anchorage would be fresh seafood.

With Charlene at the helm and me at the anchor locker on the bow, we arrived and set our Danforth with little fanfare. Both of us now ready for a taste of our catch, relieved that we managed to get to Plumper Cove before dark.

After our late supper, we decided to take a swim around midnight. It was the first time I experienced "luminescence" in the water. Stars seemed to shoot out of my fingertips, my arms and my legs. That was pretty neat. All in all, we were off to a good start to sailing adventure part II.

Charlene doing some Yoga before setting out from Plumper Cove

The second leg of the journey however was to have its challenges. The weather had decidedly cooled. The South East wind was now 20- 25 knots, but since we were traveling north, we would have the wind and waves to our back. I decided that we would motor as Charlene was having some difficulty getting her sea legs.

Another Yoga position- Downward Facing Sea Dog

With a following sea and a strong tail wind, the boat surfing along. Corleto was managing a pretty constant speed of 6 knots. Charlene by now had retired to her "recovery" position on deck as I manned the helm. Gotta say there were a hell of a lot of caps, I just hoped that wherever we were to drop the hook, it would be protected enough to allow Charlene to recover.

Trying to keep a steady helm 

It was just after 2 pm when we entered Welcome Passage. I assured Charlene it would not be long before we would be out of the chop and into an anchorage. We decided on a place called Smuggler's Cove just at the north end of Welcome Passage. The entrance was narrow and shallow, but it seemed to fit the bill as a protected area to duck out of the wind and the waves. We motored our way through and observed several boats already anchored and stern tied to the shore. We continued further into the cove, transited a narrow shallow S turn into the back basin of the anchorage. There were already 4 boats there, but we found a place and dropped the hook in 18 feet of water. Charlene was looking and feeling better already. Both of us pleased we had found this little gem. There was a red shore "eyelet" for us to stern tie to the shore.

The calm of Smuggler's Cove

Stern Tying is an anchoring technique I had never attempted before. I studied how the other boats were fastened to the shore and the position of their respective anchor lines. I noticed all of the boats had a yellow "floating" line as the material of choice for this method.

All I had was my prawn fishing line, it was 400 ft, but it did not float. So I went scurried to shore and ran the line that I had, through the eyelet and then back to the boat. Funny thing about an anchorage, everybody's watching you, silently judging and critiquing your anchoring skill or in my case LACK THERE OF.

There was lady whom was out for a row around the cove. She was a crewmember of a lovely 35 footer from Seattle. She came by and struck up a conversation with Charlene. She said " It looks like you got it right" and so with that endorsement, my confidence was high with our anchor set up. I went to bed later that evening feeling good about what we had accomplished with a method that was totally foreign to me.

It was shortly before zero dark 3 am when THUD. I woke up like a shot. Charlene awoke too.
I noticed that there was a tree just off the port quarter about 15 feet away.
"We have bottomed out!" I said "Get me my life jacket" and I immediately started the engine.
I quickly checked my trusty "AYE TIDES" app to see what the tide was doing. It was falling and the low tide was not for another 2 hours. I know that we need to do something and fast. The wind is now coming up and with the pitch black, I am surprised just how calm we both are. No yelling, just urgency.

Charlene returned like a shot with my life jacket. She had her's on as well. I went overboard to the dingy to survey the situation.
Charlene reports "Murray, I cannot move the tiller"
"OK don't force it we don't want to damage the rudder." I reply.
I get myself and the dingy wedged between Corleto and the rock. Then there is a bit of a surge.
Charlene reports "The tiller is free."
After hearing her report, I jumped on, grabed the tiller, put the engine in gear and hit the throttle.
And just like that we are floating and Corleto glides away from the rocky shore. A wave of relief come over the ol' Skipper as I handed the helm to Charlene. I quickly tossed the stern lines overboard and then scampered to the bow to attend the anchor.

We reset the main anchor in the middle of the cove. We are able to swing with the wind and are far enough away from the other boats that our swing radius will not present any collision issues with any of the others.

Charlene stops the engine. We look at each other and then embrace with a reassuring hug.
"We're ok, the boat's OK. "
Needless to say neither one of us slept for the rest of the night.
Daybreak was a welcome sight.

Where it went THUMP in the night. This shot taken the next day after we went to Secret Cove to get some floating stern line.

I recovered my prawn line later in the day. In doing so I was able to figure out what had happened. The original anchor set was right on the margin. We should have anchored just a bit further out from the shore. The stern line allowed us to swing about 30 degrees and combined with the fact it did not float, it wrapped around submerged rocks as the tide fell. When the wind shifted in the night the stern line now entangled around submerged rocks now forced the boat to take the wind broadside. That pressure on the boat and the anchor tackle, it forced the anchor to drag. The next thing you know,,,, THUMP!

I did snorkel under Corleto's keel and rudder to find no damage. She may be old but she took care of her crew while teaching a valuable lesson.

She's a good boat.

Bart

I knew I had things growing below my water line, but above? That's a new one for me- Corleto

With the summer cruising season in full swing, we wanted to take Corleto and her newly painted bottom on a bit of a shake down cruise. I ended up with a nice week of holidays and we decided that we would get away to one of our favourite anchorages, Montague Harbour Marine Park on Galiano Island.

We wanted to provision in such a way, so as to have a number of prepared meals that would only need reheating when we were at anchor. We cooked like mad chefs the Saturday evening before our departure. Three Cheese Mac and Cheese, Shepard's Pie, Artichoke Dip and Slow Cooked Ribs just to name a few. There was of course fresh vegetables, breads and salty snacks. Water, beer, G2's and a bottle of wine. We were indeed well provisioned for our week long shake down cruise.

Charlene had this idea that she got from either the Cruising Women web site or from one of our dock mates to bring an herb garden with her so as to have fresh herbs to add to our culinary delights when at anchor. She opted for a Basil plant.

As we loaded up Corleto before departure, it became apparent that the plant was rather large for such a small craft. But undaunted Charlene proclaimed that we would need a "bigger boat". We both had a nice laugh about her rather large plant, she even gave it a name - Bart

Charlene and Bart the Basil Plant, "we're gonna need a bigger boat" she says

From then on Bart the Basil plant was one of the "crew", mascot of the galley. Posing for pictures and occasionally sacrificing a few leaves to flavour up whatever Charlene whipped up at anchor. Bart was more than a pretty plant, he proved himself to be a tasty addition to Corleto's crew.

Bart enjoying the view after the voyage across the Straight of Georgia

Bart provides some fresh leaves to earn his passage on Corleto

Bart enjoying a sunset at Montague after donating a few leaves. 

Prawn Chasers

If you will remember, one of the things on the boat bucket list is to go and catch some spot prawns. It had actually been on the list since the beginning of my boating adventures, but it was something that always seemed to take a back seat to other more pressing Nautical tasks.

This all changed earlier this year when I attended the Vancouver Boat Show. I was not going to leave without a Prawn Trap. After walking around BC place and finding a vender with traps, I arrived to find that they had sold their last one. But I did get a deal on 400 ft of trap line, so all was not lost. A few days later I got myself a trap at the boat show price and all I needed now was the proper licence and I would become a Prawn slayer.

The prawn season opens in my area on April 1 and I of course was anxious to get the trap in the water and fish me some of those sweet tasting bottom dwellers. 

Not so fast young skipper. 

I had never fished or hauled a trap in my life, so I thought I should seek out some solid information on just how this delicious past time could be successful for a first timer. 

Of course the Nautical Yoda Richard, our boat neighbour at the Marina, had some great tips and a couple of suggestions on where to set the trap. I felt I had a good foundation. But some great advice came from an unlikely source, at the Helicopter hangar, from two of our pilots. Both were born and raised BC boys and spent a good deal of their respective youths on and around the coastal waters of the province. One of the lads had a buddy whom was a commercial prawn fishermen. He gave me tips on what bait was best. Strangely it was a particular brand of cat food and not fish heads or prawn bait pellets. The other bit of advice came in the form of potential hot spots to set my traps. 

So armed with this bit of information, I set out to score some prawns. Rigging the trap was a bit messy the first time, I ended up getting smelly bait juice all over me and the dingy. But I felt I was setting it in deep enough water, 230ft or there about I figured. I had marked the 400 feet of line with a series of red and green tape markers to indicate 10 foot increments with special marks of the 50's and the 100's. I dropped the trap into the water with great anticipation and with the hope I would at least catch a few. Only time would tell.

According to my "pilot" experts, the trap should soak for at least 4 hours and ideally be set on a rising tide. I started the little 3.5 outboard and headed back to Horseshoe bay. Back at the dock there were many boat chores that needed to be done, not the least of which was a good deck cleaning. Surprisingly the cleaning and some other minor chores melted those four hours away. In the meantime, Charlene joined me at the dock. I think she was worried about me being out on the dingy haulin' a trap without anyone with me.

The first haul

With a wave of anticipation and excitement, we shoved off from the dock to check our trap. Before long we were alongside my marker buoy and I began the task of hauling in the 400 ft line, hoping not to tangle and create a massive rats nest of the rigging.

Hand over hand. Heave ho, the task seemed great. I counted the taped markers down in my head to make the chore seem more tolerable. As the markers counted down, our excitement grew. God I hoped there would be at least two in the trap so we each could have a taste. Finally one of the clip weights came to the surface.

"Only twenty feet left" I said.

By now Charlene was peering over the side as if to use her magic powers to will a decent catch. Then all at once we could make out the frame of the trap beneath the surface. As it drew closer, we could make out that wonderful orange colour and movement of those little critters.

Success!

The first Catch!

I could not wipe the smile off my face. We ended up with 18! All a good size. Not too bad for a first timer.

A little garlic butter

There would be Spot Prawns on the menu at Chez Murman tonight.

Hey save some for me Charlene!

We have been out several times since this first catch. Some soaks successful, some,,,,, well,,,, not so much. But Prawn Chasing does add to the joy of our boating adventure and we can hardly wait to go and fish some more.

Cooling Off

"My young skipper has learned and adapted well to all of the issues I have thrown his way. I know now he's the real deal." -Corleto

There had been that over heat incident of last summer with the Brothers Kincaid. I figured the issue was the new screen raw water strainer. That same strainer also began the chain of events that resulted in the "Hot Flash". It has so restricted raw water flow that it ultimately burnt the electric raw water pump out. The pump would have to be replaced. With the pump down,  I knew that it was likely a good time to give the entire cooling system the once over.

I wished I could tell you the simple replacement of the Flo Jet Raw Water Pump was easy, but with all things Corleto, she teaches me new and exciting combinations of profanity. In the end, I realized that I needed either a third hand, or a second elbow, but settled for a new power tool, a small Impact Driver. The new wonder tool got the job done and I was able to install a new working raw water pump.

However, there is more that just a raw water pump in the cooling system. There is a mystical metal unit located at the back of the engine that is an after market modification, the Heat Exchanger. Removing anything that seems to be in good working order goes against my nature, but I needed to be 100% sure that it was working to its maximum potential. I took pics with my iPhone and labeled the hoses. This is so when I would reconnect, it would be as I had found it. Everything came out surprisingly easy, which to my suspicious and sometimes active imagination, made me a bit nervous.

The Heat Exchanger

Getting the copper /brass heat exchanger in the shop was a good thing. It was covered in oxide and it seemed to rattle with bits inside the chamber. I carefully took apart the bottom cover bolt to expose a series of tubes, bits of sand, sea shell bits and a rather massive zinc deposit right around the opening for the pencil zinc bolt. I looked at it and realized that was the reason I could not get a pencil zinc into place without severe modifications to the new zinc. 

First things first, I flushed out the unit with water and then used a coat hanger wire cut to size to ream out each of the tubes. I filled the exchanger with some CLR cleaner. It immediately foamed so I figured it was getting rid of any build up inside, dissolving the crud I could not ream out with the wire. As I was letting it soak in the mixture, I read the label of the CLR bottle, to my horror the words, DO NOT USE ON COPPER jumped out at me. Shit. I began to flush out this stuff with lots of fresh water. When I checked the tubes again with my wire reamer, the tubes were now clear and free of obstructions. So the harsh CLR worked. But I am glad I did not soak the exchanger over night. A new heat exchanger was not in the budget.

I still had to remove all of the zinc build up, so I got the Dremel and removed the build up with the help of one of the Flight Engineers at Talon, Norm. It took a bit of patience, but between the two of us we got rid all of the old material and re tapped the threads to the bolt head.

Norm- Flight Engineer at Talon, re tapping the zinc bolt head

With the unit in pieces I figured I should also clean up the outside and give it a new paint job. First cleaning off all of the oxide and loose flakes of old paint with the Dremel tool. Then I sprayed a coat of primer and later two coats of paint. You would think I had a brand new part when I was finished. 

I was able to insert a full pencil zinc into the unit now that all of the old build up had been removed.

In the upper right you can see the full pencil zinc installed

The only thing left to do now, was to reinstall the exchanger to the cooling system of Corleto's engine. Before filling the unit with coolant, I thought I should check the impeller. Turns out it was on its last legs, so I installed a new one and began to fill the heat exchanger with a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze coolant.

New impeller- Check!

All painted and hoses re attached.

The test would come when I fired up the engine and ran it under a load for 30-40 minutes and watched the TEMP gauge. Everything indicated normal.

Nominal TEMP

I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and enjoyed my victory.