Tag Archives | Nordhavn

Stock Island

By on July 24, 2016 in Istaboa

 Stuck on Stock Island —

Easing out of Marathon and pointing toward Hawks Channel, we were enjoying smooth seas and clear skies. We settled into a nice quiet 1200 RPM and slowly made way toward Key West.
No hurry, it was a short day.

Mel had read good things about Stock Island Marina Village so we thought we’d check it out for a couple of days before going to Key West.
We eased into Safe Harbor, hailed Stock Island Marina, and backed into a nice new floating dock.
All good.

Surveying our surroundings, we see a gritty industrial area with fishing boats, research vessels, boat yards, and in the middle of all this is a little oasis of a marina, Stock Island Marina Village.
The marina was teeming with seemingly bright young folks, standing by with smiling faces, and eager to help catch lines.

We like the authentic, no nonsense, feel of Stock Island, it’s not at all busy like Key West Bight and  we’re thinking it’s our kinda place.

There’s a funky more Keysian/Conch side to the marina.

Walking down the road at Coconut Row is interesting. This is the Conch Republic and probably the last bastion of that lifestyle left in the Keys. Of course, gentrification rules just like everywhere else so…

After looking around Stock Island, we think this is gonna be alright.

Then I go down to the engine room…

Before leaving N Palm Beach I had replaced a keel cooler hose and lost coolant. Slowing topping that off to the appropriate level, it’s not unusual to add small amounts of coolant till the engine finds it’s happy spot. Add too much and it spits it out; that’s messy.
You can probably tell where this story is going.
The coolant level had dropped out of sight and I was concerned so I made a call. A knowledgeable buddy told me to check the engine oil. “There could be an issue with the oil cooler or something and it may be dumping coolant into the oil pan. Probably not, but check” my learned friend advised.

Surely not, I reckoned.

I reckoned wrong.

There on the dipstick, to my horror, was an extremely high oil level.

In my mind I was nervously sorting through all the possibilities: Cracked block, Head gasket, exhaust manifold, turbo… oh shit… large amounts of money… oh shit… stuck in the Keys, at their mercy… oh shit… oh shit…

I call my friend back and he validates my thoughts and fears… oh shit… oh shit… oh shit…

How could this be? We had such a nice run, the engine was humming like always, not overheating, no high oil pressure alarm, reading normal on the gauge, how could this be?

The next day I manage to find a John Deere authorized mechanic… things were looking up. (Thanks, Next Dance)
This guys shoots down the oil cooler diagnosis and leads with the more ominous and expensive causes. “You’ve got a serious problem”, he says and he says it in the flat monotone voice of an oncologist.
But, if there’s a bright side, he’s right next door and he can have a guy over the next morning.

So to make a long story shorter, it wasn’t any of the really bad things, it was the coolant/water pump. A relatively quick fix and inexpensive ($1200) part.
Istaboa doesn’t have cancer.

Now for the rest of the story:

I’ll tell it with emotional bullets:

  • Relief that the problem wasn’t catastrophic
  • Surprised that they could have part shipped overnight and start fix the next day
  • Happy to see the mechanic early the next morning
  • Patient when he says he’ll have some new hoses shipped overnight to replace old ones.
  • Peplexed when he doesn’t show the next day.
  • Annoyed when he doesn’t show the second day
  • Anger when I call Key West Engine Service and they tell me my mechanic won’t be back for two more days because he has to work on another boat 
  • Indignant – What’s wrong with my boat and all the overnight shipped parts sitting, waiting?
  • Frustrated when the power keeps going off at our slip
  • Weary from lack of sleep because I must go out on the dock to reset GFI breaker at all hours of the night
  • Exasperation when the seemingly bright young marina folks tell me the power problem is my boat and my fault, not the GFI. “Use your generator”, they say.
  • Elation when the mechanic returns, installs pump, and coolant problem is fixed (fingers crossed)
  • Respite – We move the Istaboa to another slip with good power (Obviously Istaboa’s not the problem)
  • Comfort – All ACs work in all room
  • Relax – I’ve slept all night without resetting a GFI or starting the generator.
  • Guarded optimism – The whole ordeal is over… we hope

So that’s where we are now. It’s Sunday and this all started 9 days ago.

We’ve spent much time in the Bahamas and we’ve done a lot of work over there. We understand Island Time.
The Keys operate on a completely different style of Island Time.
In the Bahamas that’s the way the islanders were raised … in the Keys, people from all over the world come here to get away from something… not work. And, for the most part they don’t or if they do it’s at their pleasure, not yours.

Kinda like New Yorkers with an island attitude. (Not fair to all New Yorkers, sorry.)

In the Bahamas: It’s de islands, Mon
In the Keys: It’s the Keys, asshole! Get over it. We’ll get to you when we get to you.

We did find a nice fellow who fixed a head pump.
The Head Honcho
305-923-7861
kwheadhoncho@gmail.com

Oh yeah…  the fritz list after a week on Stock Island?  Vacuflush Head Pump, a dead, (brand new), TV, and our poor generator just got older while at the dock.

Bad timing or a black hole? Don’t know.

We did find a few nice restaurants. Shrimp Road is a food truck with a bar that’s a cool place to hang out. Roostica has great pizza and other Italian dishes, Hogfish Bar and Grill is exactly what it sounds like with good fish and a good hang.

So today we’re booked into Conch Harbor in Key West Bight where we hope things will return to normal. We know we’ll have better WiFi; that’s something we control.
It’s rainy today, that’s nice for a change, and the forecast temps are going to be in the upper end of the 80s.

So, all good? We hope.

Adios,

Nordhavn Exumas Abacos Bahamas trawler Caribbean Pickwick Boat dogs
Memphis Downtown

Stock Island

By on July 24, 2016 in Istaboa

 Stuck on Stock Island —

Easing out of Marathon and pointing toward Hawks Channel, we were enjoying smooth seas and clear skies. We settled into a nice quiet 1200 RPM and slowly made way toward Key West.
No hurry, it was a short day.

Mel had read good things about Stock Island Marina Village so we thought we’d check it out for a couple of days before going to Key West.
We eased into Safe Harbor, hailed Stock Island Marina, and backed into a nice new floating dock.
All good.

Surveying our surroundings, we see a gritty industrial area with fishing boats, research vessels, boat yards, and in the middle of all this is a little oasis of a marina, Stock Island Marina Village.
The marina was teeming with seemingly bright young folks, eager to help catch lines, and standing by with smiling faces.

We like the authentic, no nonsense, feel of Stock Island, it’s not at all busy like Key West Bight and  we’re thinking it’s our kinda place.

There’s a funky more Keysian/Conch side to the marina.

Coconut Row

Walking down the road at Coconut Row is interesting. This is the Conch Republic and probably the last bastion of that lifestyle left in the Keys. Of course, gentrification rules just like everywhere else so…

After looking around Stock Island, we think this is gonna be alright.

Then I go down to the engine room…

Before leaving N Palm Beach I had replaced a keel cooler hose and lost coolant. Slowing topping that off to the appropriate level, it’s not unusual to add small amounts of coolant till the engine finds it’s happy spot. Add too much and it spits it out; that’s messy.
You can probably tell where this story is going.
The coolant level had dropped out of sight and I was concerned so I made a call. A knowledgeable buddy told me to check the engine oil. “There could be an issue with the oil cooler or something and it may be dumping coolant into the oil pan. Probably not, but check” my learned friend advised.

Surely not, I reckoned.

I reckoned wrong.

There on the dipstick, to my horror, was an extremely high oil level.

In my mind I was nervously sorting through all the possibilities: Cracked block, Head gasket, exhaust manifold, turbo… oh shit… large amounts of money… oh shit… stuck in the Keys, at their mercy… oh shit… oh shit…

I call my friend back and he validates my thoughts and fears… oh shit… oh shit… oh shit…

How could this be? We had such a nice run, the engine was humming like always, not overheating, no high oil pressure alarm, reading normal on the gauge, how could this be?

The next day I manage to find a John Deere authorized mechanic… things were looking up. (Thanks, Next Dance)
This guys shoots down the oil cooler diagnosis and leads with the more ominous and expensive causes. “You’ve got a serious problem”, he says and he says it in the flat monotone voice of an oncologist.
But, if there’s a bright side, he’s right next door and he can have a guy over the next morning.

So to make a long story shorter, it wasn’t any of the really bad things, it was the coolant/water pump. A relatively quick fix and inexpensive ($1200) part.
Istaboa doesn’t have cancer!!

Now for the rest of the story:

I’ll do it in emotional bullets:

  • Relief that the problem wasn’t catastrophic
  • Surprised that they could have part shipped overnight and start fix the next day
  • Happy to see the mechanic early the next morning
  • Patient when he says he’ll have some new hoses shipped overnight to replace old ones.
  • Peplexed when he doesn’t show the next day.
  • Annoyed when he doesn’t show the second day
  • Anger when I call Key West Engine Service and they tell me my mechanic won’t be back for two more days because he has to work on another boat 
  • Indignant – What’s wrong with my boat and all the overnight shipped parts sitting, waiting?
  • Frustrated when the power keeps going off at our slip
  • Weary from lack of sleep because I must go out on the dock to reset GFI breaker at all hours of the night
  • Exasperation when the seemingly bright young marina folks tell me the power problem is my boat and my fault, not the GFI. “Use your generator”, they say.
  • Elation when the mechanic returns, installs pump, and coolant problem is fixed (fingers crossed)
  • Respite – We move the Istaboa to another slip with good power (Obviously Istaboa’s not the problem)
  • Comfort – All ACs work in all room
  • Relax – I’ve slept all night without resetting a GFI or starting the generator.
  • Guarded optimism – The whole ordeal is over… we hope

So that’s where we are now. It’s Sunday and this all started 9 days ago.

We’ve spent much time in the Bahamas and we’ve done a lot of work over there. We understand Island Time.
The Keys operate on a completely different style of Island Time.
In the Bahamas that’s the way the islanders were raised … in the Keys, people from all over the world come here to get away from something… not work. And, for the most part they don’t or if they do it’s at their pleasure, not yours.

Kinda like a New Yorkers with an island attitude.

In the Bahamas: It’s de islands, Mon
In the Keys: It’s the Keys, asshole! Get over it. We’ll get to you when we get to you.

We did find a nice fellow who fixed a head pump.
The Head Honcho
305-923-7861
kwheadhoncho@gmail.com

Oh yeah…  the fritz list after a week on Stock Island?  Vacuflush Head Pump, a dead, (brand new), TV, and our poor generator just got older while at the dock.

Bad timing or a black hole? Don’t know.

We did find a few nice restaurants. Shrimp Road is a food truck with a bar that’s a cool place to hang out. Roostica has great pizza and other Italian dishes, Hogfish Bar and Grill is exactly what it sounds like with good fish and a good hang.

So today we’re booked into Conch Harbor in Key West Bight where we hope things will return to normal. We know we’ll have better WiFi; that’s something we control.
It’s rainy today, that’s nice for a change, and the forecast temps are going to be in the upper end of the 80s.

So, all good? We hope.

Adios,

Nordhavn Exumas Abacos Bahamas trawler Caribbean Pickwick Boat dogs
Memphis Downtown

Crankcase Pressure

By on July 23, 2016 in M/V Dirona

Our main engine now has more than 8,000 hours, so increased oil leaks are more or less expected. But up until recently it has leaked almost nothing and the change to leaking more happened quite quickly, so we decided to dig deeper. Oil seepage can be caused by loosening bolts, tired/old gaskets and seals, and…

THE MANI REGION OF PELOPONISSOS

By on July 23, 2016 in Envoy
Envoy is currently anchored at Ormos Manganari on the south coast of Ios Island in the Aegean.

A few days after Chris departs our Kiwi friends Kevin and Diane join us at Kalamata Marina for their fourth visit to Envoy. Kevin and Diane have been boating for many years, own a sailing yacht in Auckland and Kevin has been active in all sorts of other boating activitiess ranging from a long association with Auckland Coastguard (of which he is a former President and current Patron), to boating education and writing books on knots.

Kevin repairing a splice in our Dyneema RHIB hoist

Kevin and I visit the Port Police to have Kevin and Diane added to our Crew List – this is necessary whenever new crew join a boat cruising in Greece.

First thing one morning I ask Kevin’s Diane if she’d had a good sleep and she answers with a laugh “yes I had several good sleeps”.
This is a very good point to ponder as sleeping on a boat is quite different to home. There’s nothing as great as sleeping on a boat is there? Well maybe!
Firstly very few anchorages here are perfectly calm, in fact even most of the marinas and harbours have some surge. So you’ve got constant movement to some degree and this causes various noises – a creaking of the hull, a groaning of the anchor rode, a rattle in a cupboard, a drink can rolling in the fridge, the sound of the sea outside the open porthole, the occasional wavelet on the hull and in most places fishing boats and ferries moving around during the night making exhaust noise and causing small wakes. Then you have wavelets lapping against the RHIB moored alongside or astern. In a boat fresh water is circulated to the sink taps by a 12V electric pump which makes a humming noise every time any tap, shower or head is used as well as periodically for a few seconds even if not in use. We have four sinks aboard Envoy and three of them make gurgling noises as the boat moves to wave motion. In nearly every anchorage (but not in marinas) we use a GPS anchor position alarm to warn us if Envoy moves from her originally anchored position. It’s quite normal for a boat to move around a bit with wind changes but we do want to know about it so the anchor alarm beeping is yet another noise to add to the list. Often we can hear tavernas playing music until the early hours and this is worse in harbours often continuing until 0300 plus the traffic noise, particularly motor scooters with their loud exhaust. So Diane is spot on with her assessment that what you get is a series of short sleeps.

NIGHT CRUISING
With Kevin and Diane we retrace our steps to show them Koroni and Methoni and then with about nine hours cruising eastwards ahead of us to reach Porto Kaiyo we decide on a night cruise. Although Diane and I have done night cruising several times it’s much easier with someone of Kevin’s experience aboard to share the watches and Kevin was also keen to do this.
So what’s so special about night cruising? The first is safety and nobody can go for’ard of the Portuguese bridge after dark – it’s extremely difficult to locate a man overboard at night. If it were necessary to go for’ard the person would need to wear a life jacket with strobe attached and be under observation the whole time.
Other main issues are navigation and avoiding other vessels. During daytime it’s easy to see approaching vessels and their courses and to take avoiding action in plenty of time. By night we pick up other vessels first on radar and plot their course on screen to determine if they will come too close – if so a course change may be required to maintain a safe distance (see an upcoming Posting with more detail on this).
Another issue is that while it’s easy to leave your current familiar location in darkness it’s not so easy to arrive at a strange location by night, so we choose to leave Methoni after dinner at 2100 hours to arrive at Porto Kaiyo in daylight at 0600. It’s important to conserve your night vision by having very dim lighting (Envoy has red interior lights for night cruising) as if you inadvertently shine a bright light in your eyes it takes up to 30 minutes for good night vision to return.
Most days I enjoy a beer and wine or two after Envoy is safely anchored but when we cruise during the night we become a dry ship. We enjoy a smooth, uneventful but enjoyable trip under a full moon with the two Dianes sleeping all the way and Kevin and I standing 1-2 hour watches with some rest in between. We only see one sailing yacht, several fishing boats including some with no navigation lights, and several large ships at safe distances away.

THE MANI REGION
The central of the three peninsulas of the Peloponnisos is called the Mani, and the local Maniote people are very hardy, independent and isolated, and claim to be direct descendants of the Spartans. Historically many of them were pirates, operating from the region’s many hidden coves, riddled with caves. It’s from the Maniotes that our words mania and maniac derive.
The Manis have different clans who used to live in fortified castle-like houses with large central towers from where they conducted clan wars from the 17th century. Many of these are still used as hotels or Greek holiday homes.
Porto Kaiyo is a quaint small hamlet with a horseshoe-shaped bay providing reasonable shelter and several tavernas lining the shore.

Kevin and Laurie at monument to Maniote pirate and freedom fighter, Katsonis at Porto Kaiyo

Porto Kaiyo

An intriguing assemblage made from driftwood. This tavern owner was really friendly and helpful

 

Stellwagen Bank

By on July 22, 2016 in M/V Dirona

Stellwagen Bank is an 842-square-mile federally-protected marine sanctuary about 25 miles east of Boston that is famous for whale-watching. A 19-mile plateau there rises to within 100 feet of the water surface, compared to the surrounding waters that are 300 to 600 feet deep. The steep sides of the plateau cause deep-water currents to rise…

Downtown Boston

By on July 21, 2016 in M/V Dirona

The city of Boston has done an amazing job in revitalizing their waterfront and downtown while featuring their historic buildings and venues. Long Wharf in particular has been transormed from a failing commercial center to a thriving cultural and recreational destination. And Bostons’s late-20th-century “Big Dig” moved the Central Artery below ground, restored the close…

KALAMATA AND THE HILLTOP FORTRESS OF MYSTRAS

By on July 19, 2016 in Envoy
Envoy is now anchored at Ormos Milopotamou, Ios Island in the central Aegean Sea.

We made a conscious decision to use our Yanmar wing engine more this year as last season only used it for about two hours in total.
Engines must be used regularly and for periods of an hour or more so they reach full operating temperature. It is our emergency engine so we do want it to start easily if required. It’s called a “wing”engine as it’s installed to the port side of the main engine and has its own propeller shaft and folding prop. With such low power it only pushes Envoy along at a sedate three knots or so, but being not in any hurry we’ve now completed several short bay-to-bay trips under the wing engine alone with the Yanmar’s alternator charging the battery banks and powering the inverter.
It’s not suitable for rough weather due to its low power and the fact that only the main engine drives the hydraulic stabilisers, but it’s perfectly OK in calm conditions.

We move on to the village of Koroni, again dominated by a Venetian fortress. It’s an interesting village to wander around in with plenty of friendly locals to talk to and not over-spoiled by tourism. The water is superbly clear and we can easily see our anchor and chain seven metres below with a few small fish swimming by.

View of Koroni anchorage

We enjoy exploring some still operational churches and a monastery in the castle grounds, and one of the small churches is built on the site of an ancient temple where we can see the foundations and remnants of marble pillars.

Old church and monastery

Chapel with ancient temple pillars

Inside the chapel

An excellent use for an old boat

Castle at night viewed from Envoy at anchor

This “Quality House Construction” sign took our fancy

We spend one night anchored off the small village of Petalidhion and going ashore for dinner notice ominous black clouds looming before dusk. Later we just get back to the boat before a 20 knot squall and heavy rain descends on us. This is no problem for Envoy but would have made a tough trip for the three of us in our smaller RHIB.

Rain clouds loom in Petalidhion

Market day in Petalidhion

Chickens destined for the table in the market

From here it’s a short cruise to the marina at Kalamata, a large town where 50,000 Greeks live and work, with little tourism and which of course is famous for olives. The town centre is about 20 minutes walk from the marina through a park containing a museum of old trains. Kalamata has a hilltop castle too but little remains of it and it’s not worth a visit.

Laurie and Chris play engine drivers

An old hand-operated rail crane

This rustic taverna caught our eye

Here we rent a car and visit the World Heritage fortress of Mystras, near the town of Sparta, named after the legendary, militaristic Spartans who dominated this entire region from around 850BC, although little remains to be seen from their time.
We pass through the spectacular rugged Langada gorge, about 50km long, climbing to 1,524m, where the Spartans are reputed to have left any children too weak or unfit for military service to die.

The Langada gorge is extremely rugged with many caves

The Mystras fortress was built much later in 1249 by the Frankish Principate of the area, William 11, although the Byzantines took it over soon afterwards and ownership passed back and forth between them and the Turks. The castle looks impregnable, built upon the steep, craggy, natural fortress hilltop of Myzithra and in times of attacks the villagers living outside the castle and farmers tending the fertile valley would move inside.
We visit many castles like this and on hot days its exhausting enough walking up to them in shorts and t-shirts as we wonder how did soldiers walk the same steep paths laden with weapons and armour and avoiding spears, arrows, stones and hot oil poured down on them by the defenders.
Like Koroni the site has churches dating from the 13th or 14th centuries still in use.

Mystras fortress

The fertile valley that supported the populous with produce

The Despot’s palace currently being restored

This 14th century church is still in use

Laurie points out a recess used for heavy wooden beams to secure the main gate against attackers

As Envoy only uses about 8 litres of diesel per hour we don’t refuel often but Kalamata Marina was a convenient spot to do so as a tanker comes right up to the boat, so we take on 400 litres of diesel.

Here Chris departs for further travels leaving us grateful for his excellent company and tremendous contribution to Envoy’s maintenance, only a small part of which has been detailed in the Blog.

Fishermen repair the hull of their boat pulled up on rollers at Ormos Kitries

TECHNICAL
For navigation we use a Toshiba laptop loaded with MaxSea C-Map, receiving a position signal from a Raymarine GPS. In case of a problem with the Toshiba we have a spare Compaq laptop, but this has not been working properly. On screen is an icon in the shape of a boat representing your position and pointing in the direction of travel. On the Compaq the icon was pointing to the north rather than the direction of travel and our course over ground (COG) and speed over ground (SOG) wasn’t being displayed. So Chris takes a look at this.
On pulling the spare computer from storage we find another more physical problem – it must have somehow got crushed by something heavy in storage, the hinges were damaged and the screen won’t open. So first Chris spends several hours pulling the case to pieces to remove the hinges. I confess there were so many pieces of the computer on the table I wondered if it would ever be in one piece again, but Chris’s patience and expertise together with Supa-Glue and epoxy prevails and he rebuilds the case. After a couple of attempts to resolve the icon issue Chris changes a setting to resolve it, so it’s now comforting to have a spare navigation computer that works properly.

Our dismantled Compaq laptop spread over the saloon table

One of our two engine room ventilation blowers had failed and while in Kalamata we remove it and Chris dismantles the motor and determines that one of the motor brushes was badly worn. Kalamata’s only chandler doesn’t have a replacement so I ask them to use their local knowledge to find an electrical shop to replace the faulty brush. “Oh no my friend you can’t repair these” is the answer (in Greece and Turkey conversations often start with the opening remark ‘my friend’). I say very politely something like, “my friend let me tell you that virtually every town of this size in the world has electrical repair shops that can replace brushes on electric motors, all we need to do is find one. Please help me by finding someone who services auto starter motors and alternators.”
A few days later the unit has been repaired for 30 Euros (about NZ$50) and the chandler is delighted he now has someone to use for marine electrical repair.

Deer Island Treatment Plant

By on July 13, 2016 in M/V Dirona

The Deer Island Treatment Plant is the second largest sewage treatment plant in the country, treating 350 million gallons per day with a peak capacity of 1,310 million gallons per day. The $3.8-billion plant is the centerpiece in the successful Boston Harbor cleanup effort. The plant’s unusual egg-shaped digesters are distinctive landmarks on entering Boston…

Marathon

By on July 12, 2016 in Istaboa

Like coming home.

We left Miami early in hopes of catching favorable currents that would put us into Marathon before closing time. And, we made it. At exactly 5:00 PM we were greeting Dennis, Marathon Marina’s manager, and tying up. They gave us a great slip.
I’d already finished desalting Istaboa and we’d walked the boys, just in time to catch a famous Marathon sunset. We’ve forgotten how pretty this spot is.

Over the years we’ve spent much time here. Faro Blanco Ocean Side Marina was shelter in our early days of cruising, it’s long gone now. Nothing left but the bones of what was once our offbeat hideout in the Keys. 

Faro Blanco was homeport to some of the most interesting folks we’ve ever met. Live-aboards from all walks of life and different parts of the world inhabited this weathered old marina.
The official Happy Hour on the dock started everyday at 4:30 and ended when the sun disappeared behind 7 Mile Bridge. -BYOB- It made no difference if you were old, young, rich or poor; or if your boat was sail or power, big, little, —new (like our fancy SeaRay) or old and barely floating. If you cared to sit and drink and sincerely get along you were made to feel welcome.
Almost always ending with a discussion about the mythical Green Flash and “Happy Days” was the final toast as the gathering dispersed.

I think it was Hurricane Wilma back in 2005 that destroyed much of the marina and finally lead to it’s closing. By chance, we happened to be there for their last week as many of the long time live-aboards were sadly moving on.
Not, “Happy Days”.

But not all has changed. The skeletal remains of an old wreck still lies in the shallows just to the west of the marina; it’s the gathering place for the many Cormorants and Pelicans, who like those at the  Faro Blanco happy hours, seem to casually coexist.

We’re, once again, TCB and enjoying our surroundings while we do. The Keys are fairly sleepy this time of year. The large groups of boaters have all migrated back north leaving The Keys quieter and friendlier. Local folks aren’t so busy and have time to breath and enjoy themselves so the vibe is definitely more laid back.

Though it’s mighty hot, we find pleasure in the peaceful summertime at Marathon.

Key West is up next — So much for peaceful.

Happy days,

Nordhavn Exumas Abacos Bahamas trawler Caribbean Pickwick Boat dogs
Memphis Downtown

Boston Harbor

By on July 11, 2016 in M/V Dirona

During our second weekend in Boston, we toured Boston Harbor from the water and the air, got a few boat projects done, and met some locals and friends from out of town. Trip highlights from June 23 through 26th follow. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location…