Getting ready.....
Trip Start
May 07, 2007
1
8
28
Trip End
Jun 15, 2007
Ft Lauderdale,
Florida,
United States
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The more I work in the engine room, the more I learn about Dave. He must have 500lbs of tools alone. Two king sized tool boxes...every wrench, every pliers is organized. Then I stumbled on the bin of lubricants and it looked like he has every potion I have ever heard for at West Marine. Of course a vessel that plies the worlds great oceans has to have every tool and every lube. Sometimes, I forget this vessel has made thousands of miles on open ocean and in that time, you accumulate stuff. Luckily, the boat is big enough that he can store all these support items.
Yesterday, Dave ask me to go below and tighten the hose clamps. For those of you who are not boaters, hose clamps are one of the most important things on a boat. This vessel has three engines (propulsion, wing and generator) and over 15 big pumps for various tasks. Each is linked by hoses carrying everything from sea water, hydraulic fluid, fresh water to black water (poop tank). Each hose is held in place with two heavy hose clamps. My task was to find each and to make sure they were tight. At sea, a blown hose clamp can mean problems....even disaster. So for two and a half hours I looked for, found and tightened over 200 hose clamps. I learned a lot in the process and I was sure the vessel is now a measure safer.
Sue and I opened the MedBound office. The fellow who organized this event has done a fantastic job of pulling together all the details of this trip. He has organized legal issues, dockage in three countries, safety checks, social events, speakers, more. He has worked for months on this. But in some areas, he is little over the top. We have to collect signatures on a dozen legal and operational documents, collect fees, sell T shirts, advise folks about dock age and generally administer the project. Its all working!
By Friday, half of the the 10 vessels were in port. One by one these big vessels come into the marina and we get a chance to meet some very interesting folks. Some have done this trip before in the 2004 Nordhavn Rally and are back for a second time. Most have done serious trips, but not Europe. But there are no rookies here. Each is headed up by a serious yachtsman or yachtswoman. Yes, there is one female captain of a Nordhavn 55. She brought her boat over from California via the Panama canal. Yes, she is a serious captain.
What kind of people do this? Most are between 50 and 65, are retired and have built/sold companies. One or two are still working, but doing this kind of trip takes time and substantial boats like these take a time commitment. Most have crews made up of friends. A few have hired or retained crew. A couple have paid chefs and plan on eating gourmet meals. One is "pak'en", but most travel unarmed.
We have had 2-3 mixers here at the yacht club at which we are guests. The food has been good but the facilities well worn. When Dave and I were in Key West, he kept saying "these people are strange"...I remarked, "they don't look that strange to me...but then I used to live in San Francisco". Now, after three nights at the yacht club here in Ft Lauderdale, I can say, " these people are strange". I wont put any details here on the web, but I will have a few stories for cocktail party chat when we are back in Scottsdale. :)
Today we had a all day long seminar on Lugger Diesel engines from "Lugger Bob". Bob works for the Lugger manufacture and is a "walk'en, talk'en" authority on these engines. Bob has pulled my fat out of the fire on my boat. He is amazing in that he will take your phone call at any time and at any hour. He is one of the most generous guys I know and really is an expert.
He talked for 8 hours on all aspects of the sophisticated power plants found on Nordhavn boats. After sitting there, I remarked to Sue that is is like sitting with a doctor for 8 hours talking about all that wears out in your body and what can go wrong. At the beginning you are feeling really good. But at the end of the day, you say..."you know, maybe I don't feel that good after all". Anyway, it was a great session and I took a ton of notes as I am still learning more about how keep my (relatively) modest vessel running.
Tomorrow we have another full day of seminars. Thursday is still depature day.
Comments
In Fort L.
What excitement, 200 hose clamps. That is also about the same number as I had on my V-12 Jaguer roadster. Of course, if it laid down, I could always call AAA.Can hardly wait for the inside scoop when you guys get back. Love to you both and smooth cruising. A&L