It Sucks

Boating with a vacuum cleaner is a necessity for us, especially since our dog Merlin learned to swim ashore and back to go potty.

At home we have a battery vac with a beater bar...Shark - 18 volts.

Sometimes we forget to recharge it, but that doesn't matter because we have 2 other battery vacs we can pick from...well 3 others if you count the stand up Dirt Devil Quick.

Why so many? Because you can't always count on your battery vac to get the job done.

The battery vacs boast about their volts - with the assumption that more volts is better. So for the boat we only use those with 120 volts -- that's right, the plug in kind, and we have 2. The smallest wet/dry vac we could find. Great for sucking up water/sand that dogs and other swimmers bring aboard.

And a small unit that doubles as a hand held and stand up vac with beater bar that always works when you plug it in, and works without compromise.

The little Eureka takes up almost no room when not in use, is used as a stand up vac for the carpeted floors and as a hand held for upholstery, and is of course bagless.

Merlin doesn't shed, but our daughter's dog Kasey does...really does. The Eureka makes quick work of his lost fur in both configurations.

Laid Back Cruise

With the upgrade to solid state ignition and new coil, and the new propeller with less pitch and the manual trim set to one notch more bow down, I was dying to get Big Duck out on the water to see what she'd do. Also, I'd had enough experience with help, that I was ready to try a splash solo.

It was a perfect day - expected to be sunny in the 60's. We left home for the 80 mile run to Lake Keowee a little before 1pm. There was little traffic on I85 & I26 and almost none on the HWY 11 50 mile part. The Duck is so well behaved behind the van that there is never a concern towing and with the electric brakes on the trailer stopping is outstanding. With the anti sway bar and load equalizing hitch we are seldom affected by passing semis and mountain road handling is superior.

We'd scouted all the ramps on Keowee without the boat on an earlier trip. Out of 8 or 9 ramps on the lake, there was only one ramp that looked good and it looked perfect - two lanes with a floating dock between them.

I still get a little flustered backing up the long trailer, but in a couple tries I had the trailer just above the water on the ramp. We prepped there as there was only a single empty trailer in the lot. About 15 minutes later, I backed her into the water enough so I could grab the docklines off the boat and tie her to the dock. Then back up to the van and a little farther in she goes. I walked through the van and unhooked the strap and safety line then back to the dock and pulled her off the trailer with the dock lines. Piece of cake really...

All systems performed flawlessly but even though our RPM's were up to 4,400 with the new 'less pitch' prop she still wouldn't climb out of the hole and only made 17 mph. We've got some work to do here, but this wasn't the time to worry about it so we just headed out onto the lake. It was a wonderful day for a cruise and everyone settled in.

The lake was a pussycat so I just kept her about 1800 and explored. My crew didn't last long with the soothing gently motion and inviting sounds of the water against the hull.

We knew we'd run out of daylight, but pushed it because things were so pleasant. We got back to the ramp just a little before sunset.

Getting her back on the trailer was a little more challenging than the launch. Tying up solo wasn't a slam dunk. It's easy to jump off the bow with a dockline, but keeping the stern close enough in the process took a couple tries. Then after putting the trailer in the water I realized I could pull Big Duck up onto the trailer with the dockline, and did, but before winching her up, I needed to raise the outdrive but I couldn't get back aboard - she was too far away from the dock. I walked through the van and out onto the trailer and was able to attach the winch strap. 'Got her up far enough on the trailer so I could get aboard over the bow and raised the drive. 'Winched her up the rest of the way and up the ramp  and off to home we went.

It's a little much for me doing a day trip, but this one was not only a joy but full of encouragement for future solo outings.

Now on to fuel tank extraction/replacement...

Downsizing

My wife picked out the microwave - 1000 watts, 1.1 cubic feet. It sits on the counter.

I wanted the counter space back, which meant relocating the microwave. But this one was sooo big and heavy. My sister got me an early Christmas present, a smaller unit. It strapped in on a homebuilt shelf above the dinette in otherwise unusable space.

I'm thinking this 600 watt job will be all we really need, but if not, I can always fill up the counter again.

I prefer the windup mechanical controls over the electronic ones - and there's no clock to set every time the power comes up.
I drilled a hole in the bottom of the locker above the microwave to send the plug to an outlet there. That area is 1/4" thick - solid glass!

And speaking of layups, this is a piece I cut out for an outlet in the dinette seat.

Scissors

I hesitatingly spent $16 on a pair of scissors for my wife... But darn are these things nice. They are actually called garden scissors and come with a sheath that has a built in sharpener. I liked them so much I bought a pair for myself.

I was rewiring Big Duck's batteries by using 2 gauge jumper cables (much cheaper than spool wire or welding cable). I used a hacksaw to cut the battery clips off one end to pull the wires through the bulkhead and rather than try the hacksaw again in close quarters I grabbed the scissors and easily cut that #2 cable to the correct length - much easier than the hacksaw or dykes.

I just might get another pair for the boat!

Throttle Confusion

When manuvering Big Duck in close quarters I generally like to leave the throttle alone and just work the steering and shifter. Big Duck has one handle to shift and one for the throttle. The trouble is I'm a little dyslexic and with the throttle at idle and the gearshift in reverse both handles are in the down position and more than once I have grabbed the throttle and shoved it up expecting her to go into neutral. I've had some close calls with the boat lurching backward instead of going into neutral.To add to the confusion, the handles on the flybridge are opposite to the handles below. Sooo, I put some fuzzy velcro on the throttle knob so I'll know as soon as my hand touches the handle, that I've got the wrong one.

Manatee Madness

Does this length include the bow sprit and swim platform or dinghy davits? 

Manatees are taught from birth to stay this side of marker 13 and 21.

Who decides where the channel is?

When you cruise these waters you need to keep your calendar handy

Caution Possible Wake Area

And would that be for the entire remaining ICW?

Where's my ruler? Are these national holidays or local holidays? What's with the white out?

OK, so if I'm pulling a skier with a single engine and I'm under 21' I can go 35, otherwise, slow speed minimum wake? If I have twins is it OK to leave one of them off?

Can you smoke seagrass?

Is that 50' from shore at high or low water?

I couldn't find 'Buffer Zone' in Chapman's.

I doubt I could even read this sign if I was 1000 feet from shore and does this include daylight savings time?

Florida waterway signs are for the birds.