Saturday, September 23
Today we went to the Working Waterman's Festival held at the New Bedford State Pier. There were tugs and commercial fisheries and food vendors. The food court was all seafood vendors. We went to the longest line since we figured that would be good. We both had fish and chips which are THE BEST fish that we have tasted. While waiting in line we talked with the people ahead of us. He had worked for 28 years on a scallop boat that was open for touring We notice that on the menu there were clam cakes. We know what a crab cake is but didn't know about clam cakes. We asked the wife and she said it was made with quahog or hard clam. Barbie was interested in this, so ordered a small serving. It turned out clam cakes are similar to hush puppies but have chopped quahog in the batter. They were OK but we don't care to order them again, too much flour and not enough clam.
Barbie touring commercial scallop fishing boat
Enjoying Seafood in New Bedford
Sunday September 24
Even though we know Aisling was going to get the larger seacock on Monday we decided to use the boat and sight see in Buzzard's Bay. Maybe the engine would not overheat.
We asked the bridge tender for the 8:00 AM opening and powered through the bridge and out the Hurricane barrier. The weather today was beautiful -- clear and calm.
The engine was operating OK at lower RPM. We determined that any engine speed of 2740 RPM or less was stable, with the temperature remaining at 214°F or less. However any RPM over 2740 was not stable, with the temperature continually rising!
So travelling about 10 miles per hour, we continued to Woods Hole - about a 14 mile trip. Approaching Woods Hole we were passed by a fast ferry boat "SeaStreak". That in itself was exciting. However getting into Woods Hole was also exciting since the two channels that intersect there made the aids to navigation a bit confusing. Where we were to go between the red and green looked like we were going over rapids! And there were rocks that we KNEW we didn't want to run into on either side. Aisling performed beautifully going through the "rapids". Jeff was rather familiar with this navigational area since navigation exercises and tests that he took when a Coast Guard Auxiliarist used charts of this area. After surviving the entrance to Woods Hole we had a very narrow, one lane bridge, "Eel Pond Bridge", that would open at 10:00. We "treaded water" for about 15 minutes
After clearing the bridge we traveled slowly through the moored boats and tied up at the town dock. It was nice that the summer busy time was over so there were fewer boats. We walked the town with our dogs and found a small store to buy post cards. We returned to the boat and hurried to make the 11:00 bridge opening.
In the channel outside Woods Hole, we encountered very swift current. We were very happy that our engine was running well.
Aisling passing under Woods Hole Eel Pond Bridge
After clearing the bridge we traveled slowly through the moored boats and tied up at the town dock. It was nice that the summer busy time was over so there were fewer boats. We walked the town with our dogs and found a small store to buy post cards. We returned to the boat and hurried to make the 11:00 bridge opening.
In the channel outside Woods Hole, we encountered very swift current. We were very happy that our engine was running well.
Tidal rips at Woods Hole
Our next port was Cuttyhunk Island, about 13 miles distant. We entered Cuttyhunk's narrow inlet and it opened up wide into what is called Cuttyhunk Pond. In the pond, there were boat moorings, but we chose to anchor. We had not anchored since some time last June -- so we needed practice.
We launched the dinghy and went to the dinghy dock at the "Fish Dock". There are several small stores there. However only the famous Raw Bar was open. Jeff got the last 5 oysters that were there. People after us had to wait until the fisherman came back with more oysters from their oyster farm.
The Raw Bar farms their own oysters
Back on the boat, we raised anchor and returned to New Bedford, a 14 mile trip. We were back in New Bedford after getting the 5:15 bridge opening. We had travelled a total of 50.5 miles and operated the engine 7.1 hours.
Monday September 25
This was the day of the scheduled work, and Brad Niemiec had said he would be at Aisling at 7:30 AM to drive it into the work area to be hauled on land for the work to be performed. We hurried to make our breakfast and get all of our stuff ready -- we were going to do the laundry while we had the whole day to ourselves.
After doing the laundry, we were at lunch when Brad called with the update on progress. The update was that the work was nearly done, but they had found that not only was the through-hull undersized, but it was TWO sizes under sized. To do the job properly, we would need a 1.5 inch seacock instead of the proposed 1.25 inch seacock to replace our 1 inch seacock.
We authorized the work for the larger unit, but because of the extra work and parts needing to be ordered, they would need another day to finish the work. We could NOT stay on Aisling because she was on land and the work area would be locked. We returned to the boat yard, collected some necessary items like the dog's food and our own things. We stayed at a LaQuinta Inn because they welcome dogs.
Tuesday September 26
We visited the Mystic Seaport gift shop and then traveled back to the boatyard, arriving about 11:00 AM. The workers were still busy installing the equipment. We saw the new sea-cock which was large, but it fit well into the space for it. However, we also needed a new sea strainer. This one is ENORMOUS at two sizes larger than the original. The workers had found a good place to put it in the crowded engine room -- quite difficult, but they made it work well.
By 3:00 the work was finished and Aisling was being launched back into the water. Brad did NOT want to have us staying in a motel another night. Jeff and Brad ran her for about ten minutes and checked for leaks. All was well. Aisling would need a long sea trial the next day.
Wednesday September 27
This morning we woke up to dense FOG -- we could barely see 200 feet.
The fog lifted some so we left the dock and caught the 10:00 AM bridge opening. Near the bridge was the fuel dock. We stopped and filled the tank with diesel fuel.
As we left the fuel dock, the fog had thickened. Suddenly we heard a very loud horn blasting near to us. We looked around and through the fog we could barely see that there was a barge headed right for us. We got out of the way, but now we wondered if we could safely navigate in this fog. We followed a tug boat who was heading out of the harbor. We could see his stern if we couldn't see much of anything else! Once we were safely out the hurricane barrier we found a place out of the channel and anchored at 11:30 AM.
We ate lunch and waited about three hours -- until 2:30 PM.
By now the fog had mostly lifted and we were able to safely navigate. Jeff wanted to practice using the radar -- supposedly a great navigational aid in limited visibility. Fortunately, we tried something new to us -- radar displayed as an overlay onto the chart-plotter. We could see the radar "blobs" at each navigational buoy around us. Blobs that appeared in places where buoys were not plotted were other boats. In previous radar units all we saw were confusing blobs.
Now, finally THIS was the moment of our Third Sea Trial. We increased the throttle to 2740 to compare the former temperature -- it had previously been running at 214°F -- it was now running at 203°F-- 11 degrees cooler than before the new sea-cock!
Previously speeds over 2740 were impossible because of overheating. Now we could run the engine at speeds above that -- as the engine was designed to do:
Hurray -- Aisling's engine had finally passed her sea trial!
We went to Cuttyhunk,14 miles, and docked for a few minutes to take the dogs for a walk.
From Cuttyhunk we called Brad Niemiec and reported our successful sea trial
Went back another 14 miles -- all was fine.
Back in slip we had operated 4.3 hours today
This was the day of the scheduled work, and Brad Niemiec had said he would be at Aisling at 7:30 AM to drive it into the work area to be hauled on land for the work to be performed. We hurried to make our breakfast and get all of our stuff ready -- we were going to do the laundry while we had the whole day to ourselves.
After doing the laundry, we were at lunch when Brad called with the update on progress. The update was that the work was nearly done, but they had found that not only was the through-hull undersized, but it was TWO sizes under sized. To do the job properly, we would need a 1.5 inch seacock instead of the proposed 1.25 inch seacock to replace our 1 inch seacock.
We authorized the work for the larger unit, but because of the extra work and parts needing to be ordered, they would need another day to finish the work. We could NOT stay on Aisling because she was on land and the work area would be locked. We returned to the boat yard, collected some necessary items like the dog's food and our own things. We stayed at a LaQuinta Inn because they welcome dogs.
Aisling's larger seawater inlet strainer
Tuesday September 26
We visited the Mystic Seaport gift shop and then traveled back to the boatyard, arriving about 11:00 AM. The workers were still busy installing the equipment. We saw the new sea-cock which was large, but it fit well into the space for it. However, we also needed a new sea strainer. This one is ENORMOUS at two sizes larger than the original. The workers had found a good place to put it in the crowded engine room -- quite difficult, but they made it work well.
Aisling's HUGE sea water strainer
By 3:00 the work was finished and Aisling was being launched back into the water. Brad did NOT want to have us staying in a motel another night. Jeff and Brad ran her for about ten minutes and checked for leaks. All was well. Aisling would need a long sea trial the next day.
Launching after seacock install
Wednesday September 27
This morning we woke up to dense FOG -- we could barely see 200 feet.
The fog lifted some so we left the dock and caught the 10:00 AM bridge opening. Near the bridge was the fuel dock. We stopped and filled the tank with diesel fuel.
As we left the fuel dock, the fog had thickened. Suddenly we heard a very loud horn blasting near to us. We looked around and through the fog we could barely see that there was a barge headed right for us. We got out of the way, but now we wondered if we could safely navigate in this fog. We followed a tug boat who was heading out of the harbor. We could see his stern if we couldn't see much of anything else! Once we were safely out the hurricane barrier we found a place out of the channel and anchored at 11:30 AM.
We ate lunch and waited about three hours -- until 2:30 PM.
By now the fog had mostly lifted and we were able to safely navigate. Jeff wanted to practice using the radar -- supposedly a great navigational aid in limited visibility. Fortunately, we tried something new to us -- radar displayed as an overlay onto the chart-plotter. We could see the radar "blobs" at each navigational buoy around us. Blobs that appeared in places where buoys were not plotted were other boats. In previous radar units all we saw were confusing blobs.
Now, finally THIS was the moment of our Third Sea Trial. We increased the throttle to 2740 to compare the former temperature -- it had previously been running at 214°F -- it was now running at 203°F-- 11 degrees cooler than before the new sea-cock!
Previously speeds over 2740 were impossible because of overheating. Now we could run the engine at speeds above that -- as the engine was designed to do:
- We increased the throttle to 3200 -- it was running at 212 °F.
- We increased the throttle to 3400 and it was running at 214 °F
- We increased the throttle to 3600 and it was running at 217 °F
- We increased the throttle to 3800 Wide Open Throttle (the maximum the engine could possibly go) and it was running 219 °F
Cruising in fog -- the new engine is finally not overheating
Hurray -- Aisling's engine had finally passed her sea trial!
We went to Cuttyhunk,14 miles, and docked for a few minutes to take the dogs for a walk.
Walking the dogs at Cuttyhunk
Marina at Cuttyhunk
From Cuttyhunk we called Brad Niemiec and reported our successful sea trial
Went back another 14 miles -- all was fine.
Back in slip we had operated 4.3 hours today
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