Monthly Archives: July 2015

Another party on D Dock

7/31/15
Southport NC
Posted by Bill

One of the things we do about every couple of weeks or so, is have a dock party. We pull a grill out of storage, everyone brings something to grill and at least one side dish. It is usually a blast. We had one last weekend and the food was really good. Of course, the friends were really good too. We have made so many friends, some that live here in Southport and others that just come in for the weekends from locations further inland. It was really a good time!

Check out the spread!!
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Lots of good stuff on the grill:
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Everyone gathering to chow down:
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Friends Rick and Barb, who supply the grill and table:
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We will miss this, especially the people, when we head south again!

I know….I know….what the hell have we been doing?!

7/30/15
Southport NC
Posted by Bill

Some people are asking “are you done blogging?”. No, not really, there just hasn’t been anything of general interest to report on. We have been here in Southport since the end of May and will be here until the end of October, and we have settled into a routine of living in one place for an extended period of time. It has been pretty consistent with what we have been blogging about up until this post with the following exceptions:

We have had several family members visit the area and stay at the beach. We are within an hours drive of all of the beaches that are popular vacation spots in North Carolina and to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, so we have been able to have visits with people that are vacationing. Tricia’s parents, 2 of her sisters, and one brother-in-law, came and stayed for a week at Oak Island. It is only 8 miles from the marina, so we stayed at their beach house almost all week.
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The next week we were visited by her brother and family while they were staying at Topsail Island. They came down for the day and we took them to several restaurants, did some fishing, and took rides in the dinghy.

It was great to see everyone! If you are vacationing nearby and want to visit, please do!! We don’t have a car, so you will have to come here.

Our friends Mark and Jane, whom we met in Marathon in the Florida Keys, sold there boat and are building a house here in Southport. They also decided to reopen the Southport Inn, which is a small bed and breakfast in the middle of town.
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We helped them do some painting. If you need a place to stay here in town, it is an affordable alternative to hotels and is a nice place.

On top of that, we have been looking at a lot of properties here in town, both lots and homes. We think Southport would be a great place to have a “home base” while we travel, and a good alternative to settle down later. We just haven’t found the right place.

We are planning to make a trip back to Ohio in August and then back here in September to get the boat ready to move south again. The warm winter weather and beautiful water in the Bahamas is calling already!!
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Now I just need to get the air conditioners to remove the condensation water consistently before we leave the boat for an extended period!

Happy 4th of July

7/4/15
Southport NC
Posted by Bill

As I stated in previous posts, Southport hosts the North Carolina state 4th of July festival. We had every intention of getting the whole week-long experience, but there was so much going on at the marina that we got distracted, not to mention that it was so blasted hot! We ended up checking it out a few days during the week, but a visit from Tricia’s cousin Jane and her husband Bill helped motivate us to get downtown today.

Jane and Bill live just north of here near Wrightsville Beach. If you follow the blog you might remember that Jane and her mom came to see us on our way south last fall when we were in Carolina Beach.

We missed the parade because we were drinking Pain Killers on the boat, but we hit the highlights after that.

Tricia, Jane and Bill:
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The row of fair food vendors:
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One of the many bands, setting up for their set:
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A display of some really nice antique cars:
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The mass of arts and crafts vendors:
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And of course…the interesting people:
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We came back to party at the marina, who threw a customer appreciation party. They catered food from PTs, a restaurant in Wilmington, had an ice cream truck, and a really good rock band. We brought drinks from the boat, but all of the rest was free of charge, and the food and music was outstanding! Then the party started on D-Dock (the dock we are on). We had a great cookout and then sat on Rick and Barbs boat to watch the fireworks. The fireworks are shot off right next to the marina so we had great seats, and a good time was had by all!!

We had much fun hanging with Bill and Jane, and we were so glad that they came down to hang with us.

The latest maintenance project

7/1/15
Southport NC
Posted by Bill

Last week, Tricia was making some Mexican for dinner, and upon reaching in to the canned goods storage below the larger air conditioning unit, found around a gallon of water…ugh! So I pull all of the canned goods out of the storage locker and pump out the water. Next, I start to troubleshoot the source. Turns out, the condensation tray was overflowing into the locker (and had been for quite some time).

The air conditioners require water from outside the boat. Heat is transferred to this water and it is flushed overboard. Through the process, condensation forms on the cooling coils and falls into a tray to accumulate. In our installation, we have a valve called a condensator, that is installed in-line with the water lines that lead overboard. It uses the water flow to create a vacuum that sucks the water out of the condensation tray. This was the culprit…the lack of suck from the condensator. After further troubleshooting, I uninstalled the condensator and found a tiny piece of shell that was lodged inside, reducing the flow and the effectiveness of the condensator. 4 hours later, everything was back in service, and needless to say the condensator “sucks” (pun intended).

Here is a picture of the air conditioner…note the condensation tray and drain tube:
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The copper fitting in line with the hose is the condensator:
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Let me take this opportunity to whine about how much I hate hoses! The are never easy to get to which makes it nearly impossible to get enough leverage to pull them off of the hose fittings. Hose projects always involve sore ribs, black and blue marks, and cuts (not to mention frequent swearing!). FYI…heat them with a hair dryer. They are much easier to put on and get off.