JULI-IV's Final Cruise

So we departed Quantico Marine Corps Base Marina on Wednesday morning at 0700.  This was the final view of the marina.

The Potomac River was pretty rough because of wind, but fortunately (not) the temperature was 34 degrees.  As the day wore on the waves subsided and on the enclosed bridge, with the sun shining through the isinglass, the temperature at times soared to 84 degrees.  We stopped at Point Lookout Marina, where we had stayed on the way up river in August.  We added just enough fuel to get us to our final destination. No point in giving the next owners any freebies.  The on-site restaurant was closed (winter hours) so we dined in.  We got under way at 0645 this morning.  The course was 7 miles out the Potomac River, then 60 miles up the Chesapeake Bay.  Once we entered the Chesapeake we were heading into 2-3 foot waves and were taking quite a pounding.  Temperature by 0900 had risen to 38 degrees and no sun. Around 1100, the waves settled down and it was a balmy 46 degrees.  We arrived at the Mears Point Marina at 1500 and the broker had us circle around in front of his position so he could take pictures of JULI for the sales brochure.  We then were directed into the tiniest hard to get into slip that we have encountered on this whole journey.  Once in the slip, I checked out the electrical connections and discovered that there was only one outlet and we needed two.  I called the broker and told him, and he said that we only needed one since the boat was just going to sit there for sale and there was no need for two power inputs.  I reminded him that we were still going to be on the boat for several more days and needed the second power supply to run the heaters.  He moaned and groaned and said we could move several slips over to get more electricity. So we fired JULI up and I maneuvered out of the slip. About halfway through all this maneuvering, I lost the use of the port engine, engine was still running, I just had no propeller output.  We got into the nearest vacant slip without incident and tied up. I determined that in the shallow water of the first slip, someone had left a crab trap complete with line, and that as we were pulling out the line snagged on the prop and wound up bringing the metal trap into contact with the propeller, keeping it from turning. Ultimately, I got down on the swim platform with a boat hook and started poking around the propeller and rudder. Sure enough, there was a crab trap hanging there and it would not budge. So, pulling harder and harder against it, the boat hook slipped loose and I did a slow roll off the swim platform into the 56 degree water. Quite shocking. It is hard to tell, but here Joe is laughing at my misfortune as I am completely soaked.  Quite amazing, after cruising JULI over 5000 miles, that in the last 100 feet of our partnership this happens.  We have a diver coming in the morning for only $100 to undo the mess.

Soaking Wet

 Into the hot shower to warm up, then over to the new boat to make a plan.  We had a fine dinner and went back to JULI for Thursday Nite Football and sleep.  We start switching stuff over to Maggie Mae in the morning.

Tuesday, 19 November 2013 - BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Today, Beth, Joe and I flew to Baltimore and completed the purchase of our new Loop Boat!  She is a 1988 Carver 3807 Aft Cabin Motor Yacht.

"Maggie Mae"

Her name is "Maggie Mae" and we will keep the name.  After completing the purchase, we traveled by car down to Quantico, VA where JULI-IV is currently berthed.  Tomorrow morning we will depart down the Potomac River and up the Chesapeake Bay to a marina in the vicinity of Annapolis, MD to begin the change over of our stuff from JULI-IV to Maggie Mae.  This is quite an upgrade for our cruising style.  More later

Sunday 25 August 2013

We arose around 8 and made preparations for departure back down the Potomac.  Jason and Jonathan were joining us for the trip down river and would take a taxi back home at the end of the day.  Jonathan showed up with enough food for the four of us for a week.  Much appreciated.  Our first stop was at a nearby marina to top off with fuel.  As Jonathan was lacking in nautical experience, we started him off with dock chores. 

Once under way, Jason declared that he was only going to bask in the sun and relax, no boat chores for him. 

 One of the stops we made going down the Potomac was at Mount Vernon, home of the late George Washington.  The dock facility was a little rough, both wave wise and price wise.  A lot of large tour boats come into this dock to disgorge tourists (I guess we are tourists also) and they create very rough water and the dock we were tied to offered no protection from bouncing around.  It was only $64.00 for two hours, plus the price of the tour.  

However, it included a golf cart ride to the top of the Mount.  We toured the property, which was very pretty, and  then paused to rest.  

  Once rested, we went back down the hill to the dock and departed.

Since Jonathan now had 1 hour of cruising under his belt, I began training him for advanced duties. 

   Here he is studying the electronics to determine his course, I told him it was not "brain surgery". 
We arrived back at the Quantico Marina, had lunch and Jason and Jonathan departed back to Maryland in their taxi.  A most enjoyable day.  Beth and I prepped the boat for a several month unattended stay over.  Now stay tuned for a BIG announcement next week.

Saturday, 24 August 2013, Washington, D.C.

A couple of additions to previous Blog Postings, when we were at Point Lookout Marina, another maintenance issue popped up.  This was the marina where there were thousands of Jelly fish in the water.  When we returned to the boat from the swimming pool, I noticed that we were not pumping any water through the air conditioner outlets, sure enough, when we got inside, the air conditioners had tripped their breakers.  I reset them and checked the water flow, but no go.  Dreading the worst, I pulled the sea strainer for the air conditioners and it was jam packed with sucked up Jelly fish.  It was extremely disgusting.  Anyway, I cleaned them out thoroughly and in the process of blowing out the water line with the shop vac, I blew nasty pieces and parts all over myself, mmmmmm.  Once completed all was well.  Also, in my reading of the Cruising Guide, I had read ahead to the Washington D.C. section and discovered that to operate a watercraft (boat) on the waters of the District of Columbia; the Operator (driver) must possess a Boaters Safety Course Certificate.  Under the current laws of Kansas, only people born after a certain date have to have this certificate. (And I was definitely born before that date) Researching the Safety Course Information on-line, I discovered that for only $29.95 I could enroll and take the course on-line.  This course is designed so that you cannot test out of it.  Each section has a timer and you must take the minimum amount of time before you can go on to the next section.  It is fixed so that no matter what you do it takes about 8 hours to complete.  So I began.  After two late nights taking this valuable course, I graduated and am now certificated.

Now back to today.  It is Saturday, 24 August, the city is packed with attendees of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, and we have to go sightseeing.  But, before we could go, it was discovered that we were out of fresh water.  Well , we were not out, it just was not in the water tank, it was in the bilge.  We had heard the water pump cycling off and on at odd times during the last two days.  After refilling the water tanks and powering up the pump, the leak made itself known.  One of the original "tees" in the water line had cracked and was emptying our tank.  Now, this water line fiasco, has been plaguing us for over a year.  I think this is the last piece of original water line left in the boat.  So it was off to the Washington Marina, which fortunately was open on Saturday mornings.  Of course they only had three of the four parts I needed, so I had to reengineer the design and buy about 10 more parts.  Amazingly enough, putting it back together was simple and it worked.  After repairs, we are off to Arlington National Cemetery, which I had never been to before.  It was very somber.  We visited the Eternal Flame of JFK, the Battleship Maine Memorial, and after huffing and puffing up the hill, made it just in time to observe the changing of the guard at the Tomb of The Unknowns.

Then off to lunch at the Pentagon City Shopping Mall Food Court.  Hooray for Chipotle.  Then back to the boat to prepare for dinner.  We hopped on the Metro, and rode over to Crystal City to meet Sue and Bernie Kozosky at The Famous Hamburger Hamlet.  After drinks we headed over to the Blue Indigo Restaurant which is waterside with a great view of the Potomac and aircraft landing at Reagan National Airport.  A great dinner and conversation.  We were going to ride the Metro back to the Marina, but Bernie cautioned us that we would probably not make it from the Metro stop to the boat in a serviceable condition, so they drove us to the marina doorstep.

Friday 23 August 2013, Washington D.C.

We departed Quantico Marina at 0805 after dropping off our slip contract with Phil at the marina office.  We have about 33 miles to go today to get to Washington D.C. and the Capital Yacht Club.  Weather was forecast to be rainy but it was clear when we started.  Travel up the Potomac continued to be scenic. Places passed today were George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, Fort Belvoir Army Base, Old Town Alexandria waterfront, Reagan National Airport, 

Bolling Air Force Base, and Anacostia Naval Base.  About the time we were passing Mount Vernon it began to rain.  After we came around the river bend just upriver from Mt. Vernon, the Washington Monument came into view.  Stirring view. Here we are passing under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

 We needed to top off with fuel and attempted to do so at the Bolling Air Base marina, but it must have been their furlough day as no one answered either the radio or telephone.  Instead we stopped at James Creek Marina, on the mouth of the Anacostia River.  The dock attendant was more than happy to stand out in the rain while we refueled.  Once fueled, it was only another mile to the Capital Yacht Club.  This marina is located as close to the National Mall and all other tourist attractions as you can get.  Once the rain stopped we went sight seeing, sort of.  Debbie, of the Capital Yacht Club, told us that we might get a rain poncho next door at the Washington Marina. To get to the Washington Marina, you walk through the waterfront wharf fish market. 

 Smells great.  There must have been about 20 or so seafood vendors selling all kinds of stuff (seafood related). A particular delicacy that Beth was interested in were the Tuna heads.  On to the marina store.  Of course there were many other items we bought, in addition to the rain suit, which now required us to take back to the boat prior to continuing the sight seeing.  Off we went and went and went.  After a couple of wrong turns, we were off.  Went in the front door of the Smithsonian Castle and out the back onto the National Mall area.  Then it was down the mall towards the Washington Monument,  

then a right turn to head to the White House. 

  The President, nor his dogs were sighted. Since we were so close, 1 mile, it was off to the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial. Prior to getting to the Reflecting Pool we toured the World War II Memorial, neither of us had seen that before and it was very impressive.  

While walking down the side of the reflecting pool, I noticed that preparations were underway for come kind of event. 

 I thought it was some Hispanic event as there were playing Santana music on the loudspeaker system. On a boat you are really out of touch with current events. I “googled” the event was pleased to discover that it was a multiday celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of the Civil Rights March on Washington.  It begins on Saturday and climaxes on Wednesday.  Notable speakers such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Travon Martin’s family and such. Unfortunately for us we will be elsewhere. The White House needs to start serving more goose meals to its visitors and there were many at the Reflecting Pool, crapping everywhere.   After milling around the Lincoln Memorial,  

we decided to go even further away from the boat and see the Viet Nam Women’s Memorial. 

 Now that were at the farthest point possible from the boat, it was time to return. On the way back, we passed through the Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. 

 On the way back to the boat we passed by the Jefferson Memorial.

 I was about to die from walking forever and hunger.  We passed through the Wharf Fish Market and I crumbled under and bought a pound of jumbo spiced shrimp, mmmmmmm.  Back to the boat finally and we collapsed. My son Jason lives in the D.C area and he and his friend were going to stop by after work and we were to eat dinner at the Phillips Flagship Seafood Restaurant which was about 50 feet from where we were tied up.  They arrived about 9:00 P.M. and we all selected the “all you can eat” buffet.  After stuffing ourselves and making additional plans we said good night and really collapsed.  More sight seeing on the schedule for Saturday.

Thursday 22 August 2013, Quantico Marine Corps Base Marina

We were up and out of the Marina by 0700 as we are still 95 miles from Washington D.C. and we will not get there today, but we will go as far as we can.  Beth and I have determined that travelling with only two people on board does not allow enough time to accomplish much when you are off shift.  We need Joe back and soon.  I had been studying the Cruising Guide that we had purchased in Portsmouth and about noon or so I returned to the bridge and asked Beth where we were.  She pointed out on the chart where we were and I told her that I thought I remembered something in the Guide about a Naval Firing Range somewhere about where we were and we were supposed to ask permission to enter the area.  Sure enough, we were a mile or so short of the range, so I called the Range Control Boat to request the Range status and find out what we were supposed to do.  The Range Boat replied that we needed to move over to the Maryland side of the river and follow the course that he was prescribing.  I jotted down many notes which at the time did not make much sense, however it all worked out. About every 15 minutes or so we heard large naval guns firing but could not determine where the projectiles were falling.  This impact area was about 8 miles long and as we got to the upper end of it they announced that they were done firing for the day.  It was now 2:30 in the afternoon.  I then called the Quantico Marine Corps Base Marina and asked if they had any transient slips available for the night.  He replied that they did but I needed to get there before they closed at 4:30 to complete necessary paperwork.  We were then 22 miles away so we sped up to 21 mph for about 30 minutes to ensure that we got there in time.  We made it with 15 minutes to spare.  We were still trying to decide where to leave the boat when we went back home and I asked the Marina if they had any space available for the next month or two or three.  After much discussion, they decided we could stay and provided us all of the government paperwork to turn in when we got back on Sunday.  It was an excellent deal for only $176.00 per month.  Sure beats $500.00 per month that we had been paying.

Wednesday, 21 August 2013 The Potomac River

Departed the Doziers Regatta Point Marina after 0800 so we could get some of the free coffee and donuts from the Boaters Lounge.  Today we are headed to the Point Lookout Marina which is located about one mile up the Potomac River from Chesapeake Bay.  There were several large ships heading to and from the Port of Baltimore but they stayed away from us.  This is "Smith Point Light" a lighthouse marking the Smith Shoals, looks like an interesting place to live. 

Once again, the waters of Chesapeake Bay were smooth, almost glass like.  We entered the Potomac River about 3:30 in the afternoon and headed into the Marina.  It was very surprising to me that a mile up the river it was still 7 miles wide.  We encountered crab pot markers by the hundreds; we had not seen any for a couple of hundred miles, now they were everywhere.  We pulled into the fuel dock to refuel and noticed thousands of Jellyfish swimming everywhere. 

We enquired of the Dock Man and he said, yes indeed they were the stinging variety.  So much for a refreshing dip in the water.  We moved into our slip and headed up to the swimming pool, as there were no Jellyfish in it.  After cooling off, we dined at the Marina Restaurant. We turned in early as we had quite a distance to go on Thursday.  We also stocked up on fuel filters at the parts department.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Our view from Ocean Marine Marina.  

JULI-IV in the picture, behind is the nTELOS Wireless Pavilion



The USS Iwo Jima in Dry Dock
(Amphibious Assault Ship)

 Arose all ready to meet the marina people at the fuel dock to top off fuel.  The starboard engine would not keep running.  (A result of the ethanol fuel we had put in two months ago and not burned all of)
Once at the fuel dock we refueled and I changed the fuel filter on that engine.  It now began running properly but the fuel flow sensor was corrupted and would not read anything at all. Oh, well.  Underway by 0800 we departed the Portsmouth/Norfolk area.  We barely got in front of a Navy ship that was being escorted by 5 tugboats down the river to another location. 

Quite impressive.  As we rounded the Navy base, we encountered a huge containership coming into port making 17 mph.  We stayed as far away from it as we could, but even then its wake when it hit us was huge (8 feet).  Heading up the Chesapeke Bay, conditions were amazing.  The water was like glass, no waves or ripples anywhere and it stayed that was all day. 
We arrived at “Doziers Regatta Point Marina” in Deltaville, Virginia around four o’clock. 

A very nice place, well landscaped and maintained. The marina had a courtesy car, but it had to be returned by close of business, which was 5:00.  However, in their welcome packet there was a list of dining places in the town and luckily the pizza place would deliver, so that was dinner.  Somehow we had generated another load of laundry that needed to be done so off to the laundry we went.  
 This was the date of the famous "Blue Moon" and here was our view of it:

Monday 19 August 2013

Up early to do laundry (our moldy closet stuff) and finalize bills with the marina.  Once laundry was done we walked downtown to eat lunch at Roger Brown’s restaurant.  Since we were so close to the grocery store, we decided to walk to it and have our transportation take us back to the boat. 
(A semi-poor decision)  It was about a mile to the store, would have been a pleasant walk except it was raining.  Someone (Tim) had decided to not bring the umbrella).  We had Helen from the Port Transportation place come pick us up at the Food Lion Grocery Store because we did not want to carry our store purchases back to the boat by foot.  Once we got in the cab, I told Helen that we needed to go to West Marine to pick up a Cruising Guide Book.  It was only 8 miles away.  Traffic was terrible, after 30 minutes, we had not made it 2 miles and the meter on the cab was at $30.00.  Once we got thru the traffic jam all went well until we arrived at West Marine.   They did not have the book we needed so we bought a hundred dollars worth of other stuff.  The return to the marina was uneventful.  (Cab bill: $50.00) After putting our stuff away, we walked about a half mile away to another marina, which of course, had the book we needed.  Then a stop at the Dollar General Store for new hangars and we were set.

Sunday 18 August 2013

Departed Kansas City flying to Norfolk, Virginia.  We will arrive at Norfolk around 9:30 P.M..  We are having Helen, of Port Transportation, pick us up and take us to the marina.  Once we got in the van she told us that the tunnel under the river was closed on weekends and we would need to take a extra 5 mile detour.  Once at the marina, we moved back onto the boat.  All was well, except;;;;;. The entry way into the cabin has a foot well with a drain.  The drain had become clogged with stuff and with all of the rain that had occurred, water had overflowed the entry door into the boat, running down inside our hanging locker (closet) and soaking all of the clothes and other stuff that was in there. Shirts that were on non-vinyl coated hangars had rust stains on them.

Nothing But The Facts

A brief summary of the journey:

116 nights spent on the boat;

4282 water miles traveled;

Also check out the new item on the Blog Page, top right, The JULI-IV Journey Map.  It shows all stops and dates thus far of the trip.

See you all later in August.

20 June 2013 – Thursday

Our task for today is to cruise to the Chesapeake Bay.  This is about 15 miles away and we would pass the Norfolk Navy Base.  Many of our proud Navy ships are home ported here. 

A Billets Ship that the crew lives on while their ship is in repair status

The USS New York, Its bow was cast from salvage steel from the World Trade Center

USS Abraham Lincoln in drydock

USS George H W Bush

Once we got to within about 3 miles of the bay itself the water got too rough to continue so we headed back to the marina.  There we washed the boat and made her ready to be abandoned for a month or so.  During our visit downtown, we had noticed a movie theatre that looked interesting.  Beth checked it out and it turned out to be a “Dinner Theatre” which was showing this evening “Man of Steel”.  Now our daughter Jessica had reported that this was a great movie.  Beth and I got on the bikes and headed downtown to purchase our theatre tickets.  It was a fun ride.  Once we had the tickets we rode around for a couple of miles checking out the sights.  There are several museums that we will tour when we return to this area.  We returned to the boat and got Joe ready for his “Dinner Theatre” experience.  We walked to the theatre and dined on fine chicken strips and such.  The interior of the theatre was very well done with a couple of great historical murals on the side walls. 

 
The movie began and for those of you who have seen it, you recall that it is non-stop explosions and other loud noises.  On the walk back to the boat I tried to leap into the air and fly several times.  It did not work well.  Tomorrow, 21 June, we will be picked up by a cab and delivered to the Norfolk airport for our flight home to Kansas.  See you all later.