The repair of the hydraulic steering took longer than expected with shipping of the new part conflicting with the weekend, but the system has been repaired. A new mounting bracket had to be fabricated. However, with the help of a local machine shop and tools and parts that we provided, the actual replacement only took about 3 hours (see final install of the bronze cylinder at right)! We got to participate in the process of bleeding air out of the lines. Then we repeated the process again about 4 hours later at the recommendation of the technician. The process involves turning the two helms and running the motor for the autopilot. The last time we only had to add a couple of ounces of hydraulic fluid. No doubt more air will bleed out to the upper helm (the high point), but we should be good to go now. If desperate, we have filled the fluid reservoir while underway before.
My last post (Day 2-1770) covered our first full day in Cape May. To broaden our range, we then rented a car. Since then, we have been as far as Atlantic City, which is also our next destination by boat. We have also seen 5 movies at a 12 screen theater about five miles away. Additional "fun" included eating at 7 additional restaurants and browsing through many fun shops/stores, including four different marine supply stores.
It was not all "fun" things as we also did a number of maintenance and repair items as well. The Admiral (and I) has been trying to come up with some sort of boarding ladder to be used at high/low piers. Even some floating piers are very low and make it difficult to step over the side rails. We found an ideal solution (picture at left) at West Marine. It is "officially" called a boarding ladder, but most people use it as a swim ladder on small boats. It is an ideal height and folds relatively flat. We also did such jobs as re-sewing a seam on our nearly new U.S. flag, transferred fuel, cleaned filters on the raw (cooling) water intakes, etc. Not always fun stuff but necessary.
As you know, during our 7 plus weeks on the water this year, we have been chasing/following Spring north. The picture at the right shows what a good gust did to the pollen in a pine tree just 20 feet in front on Lucky Us. Yes, there is still yellow "dust" everywhere and a yellow scum on the water surface in the marina. It is a VERY good thing that neither the Admiral nor I have much in the way of allergies to pollen.
In terms of local interest we visited the Cape May lighthouse in the evening when it was nicely backlit by the sun. With the constantly changing shoreline, the lighthouse is presently about 150 yards inland and quite safe as well as scenic.
The southern end of Cape May is actually a mile or so further south. Near there we also saw a WW II observation tower. During the war it was used to search for submarines, and later it was used as a fire watch tower. Up close it is very plain and functional looking, but as we came through Delaware Bay into Cape May, this tower and the Cape May lighthouse were our first landmarks. This would also be true for mariners approaching this inlet from the Atlantic Ocean -
aka first sight of land. As you can see, the low sandy land area is well drained and very dry with a kind of scrub vegetation.
At the very southern tip of Cape May we also observed the remains of a concrete cargo ship. If you have ever taken the ferry from Galveston, TX across the mouth of Galveston Bay to the Bolivar Peninsula, you would have also seen the remains of another cement ship. These represent 2 of the 11 "experimental" cement cargo ships that were built during WW I. Both of these met rather sad ends after a failed experiment.
When we arrived back at Lucky Us after dinner last evening, we parked (as usual) only about 100 feet away from the boat. Then as we got our of the rent car, we noticed a Fire Chief Car, a Pumper, a Dive Rescue truck and a Snorkel Truck. There were no flashing lights or sirens so we did not panic, but we did instantly remember the pictures in the restaurant next door (proudly?) highlighting the 3 major fires that they had had in the last 40 years. We walked back to the clubhouse to use the restrooms, and when we returned, there was also a fire boat (picture at right).
Upon inquiring, the firemen said that this was just practice. The fire boat was docked two boats down, and it was pumping water to the pumper truck in front of Lucky Us. In turn, the pumper was sending water down to the empty dock next to us where firemen were practicing shooting water directly at Lucky Us. The near vertical white strip at the left side of the picture is one of the supports for the flybridge on Lucky Us.
With luck this is as close as we will ever need to get to fire trucks, boats, etc., but it is nice to know that they do practice...
Obviously, our 7 day stop in Cape May was much longer than planned due to the repairs, but Cape May is a wonderful area with lots of history, scenery and great restaurants. It turned out to be a great place for our extended stay!
The wind is suppose to shift over night from the northeast to the southeast and die down to about 8 to 10 mph. We will take a careful look at the predictions again in the morning, but if all goes well, we plan to head north to Atlantic City tomorrow. The trip via the Intracoastal Waterway is only 54 miles. However, there are 18 bridges, and we will have to have 5 of them open before we can pass through. So, it will be an interesting day with hopefully only short waits before the scheduled opening times for the bridges.
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