From Oro we made a two-day run to Helsinki, where we would stay right downtown for two weeks to explore the city and make trips to Tallin and St. Petersburg. We had wonderfully calm conditions for the entire run, enabling us to check out a couple of offshore lighthouses. We also passed a large fleet…
DELAY TO ENVOY’S LAUNCHING
We’ll add some photos to recent posts early next week.
We’ve met a NZ couple from Blenheim – Keven and Kerry who’ve recently bought a “green” motor vessel. It has an electric motor, good for about 20 miles cruising plus a VW diesel engine with a range of about 600 miles. They eventually plan to ship it home where the electric motor will suit cruising in the Marlborough Sounds.
We’re constantly reminded that many costs are still very reasonable in Greece. Last night we went to dinner at a nice restaurant overlooking the estuary and had a Greek salad, french fries, fried eggplant, mushrooms with cheese, bread, one bottle of water, one litre of house white wine and desserts of fruit and yoghurt for a total cost of 27 Euros – about NZ$47. In many restaurants at home we’d pay nearly that just for the wine. On the other hand petrol is nearly 2 Euros per litre – about NZ$3.48.
Preparation for Envoy’s launching had been going well and after 7 days aboard were ready for launching the day before it occurred. So last Tuesday Envoy was lifted from her chocks on the hardstand and put into the water. We always spend a few minutes checking for any sea water leaks before the travel lift operator removes the slings and we soon noticed a leak into the engine room bilge.
Regular readers of this Blog may recall we’ve had similar leaks twice previously, but they’ve stopped quite quickly after launching (although we were never able to figure out exactly why). However this time more water was coming in (at a guess about a litre per minute) and it didn’t look like stopping any time soon.
We had Sailand engineer Panos aboard for the launching and he suggested we allow more water to come into the bilge, then lift the boat out and hopefully see water coming back out from the inside.
So we did exactly this and after lifting back onto the hard were able to identify a small area of the keel leaking water .
Within an hour Sailand’s GRP expert, Raza, was on the job with his assistant and they used a grinder to cut back the GRP in the area of the leak. In doing so they found some de-laminated GRP and then a plug of sealant. Raza’s theory is that a previous owner must have had some minor impact damage, used sealant to make a temporary repair and then pulled the boat out of the water and glassed over it. This must have happened more than 12 years ago. When the boat was on the hard the sealant plug dried out and shrank so that when launched water could pass through until the sealant swelled a little to stop the flow. Anyhow this is conjecture and a fully professional repair is now being completed – first grinding back to solid, good condition GRP and then building it up again using carbon fibre and Kevlar cloth impregnated with West Systems epoxy resin and using presses to apply pressure during curing. They’ve nearly completed the exterior and today modified the interior of the aft bilge, pouring in Gurit’s Ampreg 26 epoxy resin to fill in previous surface imperfections and building up the bilge’s level by about 150mm to provide more strength and a smoother impervious surface finish.
Raza is working on Sunday to finish sanding, undercoating, painting and anti-fouling so we can launch on Monday.
Raza is working on Sunday to finish sanding, undercoating, painting and anti-fouling so we can launch on Monday.
All other work is now completed except that our large RHIB is awaiting a new regulator for its Yamaha outboard’s alternator – during servicing the mechanic noticed the battery is over charging. This part is due to arrive on Tuesday so we’re hopeful of starting our cruise on Wednesday.
Oro
Oro has been a restricted-access military base since the early 1900s, when Russia built a fortress here, and has only recently been opened to the public as part of Finland’s Archipelago National Park. After a century of military activity, the island is full of fortifications and ruins, most open and publicly accessible. And the park…
Kokar
In 1965, baron Goran Akerhielm purchased land on Kallskar, a small island on the edge of the Baltic Sea in the Kokar island group at the southwest extreme of the Aland Archipelago. There he spent 18 years building extensive gardens and a villa where he lived spring through fall until 1983. He later donated the…
Kumlinge
Kumlinge is a group of about 800 islands in the northeastern Aland archipelago. Besides the complexity of islands to explore, a major attraction for us was an old Finnish coast guard station, now converted to a resort and marina, with a 130ft (40m) observation tower that provides sweeping views over the area. Below are trip…
Fry Pan to Codville Lagoon
Fry Pan Bay to Codville Lagoon Leaving Fry Pan Bay, we decide to take the back route around Penrose Island and exit through a cut known as “ Slaughter Ally”. This is the site of a massacre in the mid-1800’s of the local Oweekeno by the indigenous Heiltsuk of Bella Bella. We scouted this route […]
Now Let’s Find a Place to Live
Let’s start with a premise. The number of people who live aboard their boat also own a home and, in some cases, more than one. We did not. So the decision to sell the boat required us to start the process of finding a place to live.
That process start…
Now Let’s Find a Place to Live
Let’s start with a premise. The number of people who live aboard their boat also own a home, and in some cases more than one. We did not. So the decision to sell the boat required us to start the process of finding a place to live.That process started …
Brother and Sisters
It’s been a hectic time for Mom and Dad. There was the anchorage with the million tiny bugs followed by hours of cleaning them up. The engine troubles as we headed up the Chesapeake Bay that ended in one engine going down. Dad’s first docking with a single engine. He did great. The gale warnings that occurred in the midst of said engine troubles. And even an infestation of frogs (OK, one frog) hiding onboard, most likely to eat the remains of the bugs.
Through it all the crew remained focused on their tasks. Sleeping and having fun. Sisters Dee Dee and Dora cuddled for a nap.
Dora helped brother Dylan keep watch.
Dylan and Dora found time to play.
The Red Head crew is now settled into Georgetown Yacht Basin. A Caterpillar mechanic was onboard yesterday to not only fix the engine problem but to show Dad how to do it himself should it happen again underway. Today Mom picks up a rental car. Tomorrow we head to a nearby dog park. Next week a Red Head will be hauled for maintenance work but today life is good.
The Red Head crew is now settled into Georgetown Yacht Basin. A Caterpillar mechanic was onboard yesterday to not only fix the engine problem but to show Dad how to do it himself should it happen again underway. Today Mom picks up a rental car. Tomorrow we head to a nearby dog park. Next week a Red Head will be hauled for maintenance work but today life is good.
May 22 – Keuka Lake Outlet Trail
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ―George Eliot
There are so many places to explore around this area and it seems like we’re finding new places all the time. Today we drove over to Pen Yan and walked part of the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail. The trail follows an old rail bed; previously a canal towpath (Crooked Lake Canal), that even earlier, was a pioneer dirt trail. The canal is now mostly dismantled or buried, but it can be traced by swampy ditches and crumbling locks. Along the trail you can see old factories and mill foundations. It was fun trying to envision what the area looked like hundreds of years ago.
The Keuka Lake Outlet is a natural waterway that drains the waters of Keuka Lake into Seneca Lake crossing over 8 miles and dropping 280 feet along the way. The first saw and grits mill on the outlet was built in 1790 and over the years there have been 40 mills in operation on the outlet. Now the outlet caters to recreation with a multi-use trail that offers access to the outlet waters.
Birkett Mills is the only mill that remains on the Keuka Lake Outlet. It’s has been in continual operation since 1797 and today is the world’s largest producer of buckwheat products.
Seneca Mill Falls is the most popular stop along the trail. The falls are a three-tiered cascade that starts as a small dam spillway and then crashes down two large limestone drops into a deep pool. The remains of the paper mill can be seen at the foot of the falls and above the falls you can see the rusty old mechanics that once harnessed the power of the outlet, and was a component of the electrical plant that took over the site after the paper mill left.
This is a picture of the falls and the Seneca Paper Mill built in 1884
Cascade Mill Falls is about half the size of Seneca Mill Falls, and definitely not the prettiest site, but the complex is made up of old mills, factories and oddities that are in an advanced state of decay. Most notable is the Baker Chemical Company’s carbon bisulfide plant, which resides right next to the falls, and the Kelly Tire building which reconditioned tires and relied on carbon bisulfide for rayon.
After hiking the Outlet Trail we stopped at the Spotted Duck Creamery for a little reward. This creamery makes their custard using organic local ingredients…much of it comes from their farm. They use duck eggs, enhance the name Spotted Duck. Why ducks…according to the own’s, they “make a far superior custard than chicken eggs; the increased yolk size makes a much richer flavor while the firmer whites are a better suspender, giving our frozen custard it’s signature creamy texture.” The farm was beautiful, the service from Dane was exceptional, the ice cream was very good and the flavors were fun.
We shared the Hollywood, which was a flight of four flavors….we choice: Raspberry Truffle, Maple Nutt, Emu Tracks and Real Cookies n Cream.
