March of the 423 Zombies

 Zombies - you've seen them in the movies, mindlessly marching on, implacable, unthinking, terrifying, intent on their destination with no thought of what's around them.
The Undead. Much like many of the new boaters heading south on the ICW in fact - unthinking and intent on getting south with no thought of what's around them.

It's said that one of the best reasons for learning to sail is that at the end of the world, you're safe on a sailboat, because zombies cannot swim. I don't know the truth of that, but I do know this - zombies can sail. I've observed them many times on the Intracoastal Waterway, following their predetermined path with no thought, no eyes, for anything but that blue line on the screen they are staring at.

I saw two of them today in fact, motoring one after the other down the ICW in southern Georgia. There they were, at least 75 yards out of the charted channel, following the path that the 423 Zombies are mandated to follow, no matter where it leads, Aids to Navigation be damned!

I am speaking of course of those boaters who have joined the Cult of Sherer, the AquaMaps people,  the 423 Zombies, who believe that their leader, Bob Sherer, can do no wrong.

Now in this case, it might also just be that these followers, these sailors, being Canadian, were reaching out desperately for whatever assistance they could find on their trek south to the sun that long ago deserted the Great White North.

Let's face it, it's a long way from the Great Lakes to south Florida.

The photo shown here is purported to be their demonic leader, but since I have never met the man, I cannot personally attest to that. However, considering the stranglehold he has on their navigational sensibilities, it would take someone this starkly evil and demonic.

I'm told that in a past life, their leader was a corporate executive, so I suppose this picture could easily be one from before he became the leader of the 423 Zombies. Living life as a corporate executive has been known to do strange things to people. Ask any wokester!

By now, most of you have figured out that I'm trolling the sailors who travel the ICW using what have become known as Bob Tracks, a creation of GPX routes by Waterway Guide cruising editor Robert Sherer. 

Essentially, what Bob has done is take a recording of his route along the ICW and transferred it online, making it available for download to his social media group. Once these folks have downloaded the tracks, they can transfer them to their AquaMaps app on their phone or tablet. They then simply follow the charted route. 

Like zombies, never wavering from it.
Now don't get me wrong. For someone entirely new to the ICW, this has some advantages. They don't have to bother learning how to navigate for one thing. I mean, really, who needs to deal with issues of set and drift, plotting, getting a fix, or how to use dividers or understand what all those tiny letters on a chart actually mean? 
It's SO much easier to just follow the blue line laid out in front of you on your tablet.
For those of us with a lot of experience on the ICW - I'm now somewhere around 50 transits - this can be entertaining as you watch a line of boaters follow a path that sometimes takes the long way around, or that avoids an "obstruction", or shoaling, that isn't really an issue.

The other day, I watched one boater directly in front of me go well outside of the channel at the Carolina Inlet to avoid what he was told was a shoal there. I continued on straight, knowing that the "shoal" was at least 8 feet deep at MLW and there was no need to change course.
Here's the chart for this area, with Bob's Tracks in blue. 

As you can see, staying in the middle of the channel will keep you in a minimum of over 8 feet of water at MLW. At high tide, that will be over 12 feet of water, the tidal range here being 4 feet. There is no need to wander outside of the channel, and you would know this if you simply looked at the chart.
Is anyone hurt by diverting as this boater did? No, and if you feel better or safer by mindlessly following someone else's track in this way, go for it.
But as sure as God made puppies, there will come a day when two boaters going in opposite directions are going to meet at that diversion and someone is going to have to do some actual thinking about how and where to navigate their boat to avoid a collision or going aground. 
And this isn't a joke. The outline to using the Bob Tracks discusses this exact scenario, advising boaters that they must pass port to port, that the regulations REQUIRE them to do so. The problem is, if you're so clueless about navigation that you have to use someone else's tracks to get where you're going, you're very unlikely to know the rules of the road.
So if that's all there is, why am I bitching about this? 
Well, today I watched two sailboats coming down the ICW approaching the Kings Bay Naval Base in southern Georgia. That's the base where they keep nuclear submarines, in case you didn't know. The naval patrol boats that guard the base are extremely watchful, and if you come anywhere near the base - as in within 500 feet, they come out to greet you with a sailor standing on the bow manning a deck mounted 50 calibre machine gun. They are not kidding around. When a sub is moving out, all traffic on Cumberland Sound is stopped by the USCG. You're ordered to move to the far side of the channel and if you refuse, as one sport fisherman did years ago, you're pulled over and taken off your boat in handcuffs. 
I was holding my position, waiting for two boaters from my Sail to the Sun ICW Rally to catch up. One had been having fuel problems and was moving very slowly with another of the group covering him. The two zombies were ahead of my two. At one point, the zombies moved out of the channel, leaving two red channel marks to port to avoid a shoal, as noted by the red arrows.

What could go wrong?
These boaters didn't know they were moving into a restricted area. But, they would not have been in that restricted area had they not been following Bob's Tracks. And fortunately, the patrol boat was at the far end of his patrol area when this happened.
Notice, there IS a shoal there, but by staying to center channel, as noted by the green and red markers, you're going to be in over 12 feet of water at MLW. We were an hour off high tide. I was sitting just outside the channel in 18 - 22 feet of water.
So I hailed the zombies as a courtesy to let them know they were out of the channel. One of them called back, Zombie-like, and said, I kid you not: "There's a shoal there and I'm the captain of my own boat." Well, I guess he told me, didn't he?

My response isn't worth repeating verbatim here, but it did involve telling this boater that a captain would have used his intelligence and stayed in the channel since it presented no hazards.
What hazards? You can generally be sure that the marked channel contains no hidden hazards, no sunken boats or debris from a hurricane that hasn't been removed. Outside of the channel, you have no guarantees. I have hit underwater debris when moving outside of a channel, fortunately not doing any damage. I've seen boats damaged in this way. My point is, that garbage is there and presents a hazard. Why push your luck by venturing outside of a marked channel when you don't have to?
Part of this attitude about honouring navigational marks comes from learning to sail, and then becoming a charter captain, in Lake Huron's Georgian Bay and North Channel. In those waters, the bottom is not mud, it's granite, as in "rock hard granite". Make a mistake there and you sink your boat, so I tend to honour navigational marks with a religious fervour. 
The 423 Zombies, and I've seen this in person, follow their leader's tracks exactly. Given that the actual serious problem areas on the ICW number less than a dozen, and then only at low tide, with a very small bit of planning, that's not necessary. You can get by simply by approaching these problem areas at mid to high tide.
That's what I do. Rather than risk a grounding, I plan my approach to places like Little Mud River, Jekyll Harbor, Brown's Inlet and others so that I pass through with lots of extra water under my keel. That gives me a margin for error just in case I fail to pay close enough attention and drift off the deepest water.
An example will be useful here. The Sail to the Sun ICW Rally went through Little Mud River two days ago. Little Mud shoals to about 4 feet at MLW, making it impassable for most boaters.
The day previous to getting there, we ended our day five miles and an hour early, anchoring in Crescent River beside Creighton Island. Got the afternoon off to relax, soak up some sun, do some reading.
We started the next day a bit later than usual, so on arriving at Little Mud River 90 minutes after low tide, we had 2.5 feet of extra water underneath us and a rising tide. Our deepest draft vessel was five feet, leaving a good margin of safety. 

This tactic also brought us to Jekyll Creek, another challenging area, later that same day at just after high tide, with 8 feet of extra water to safely get to the marina.
Planning is the key to comfortably and safely transiting the ICW, or any body of water. Take all the factors into consideration, and then time your passages to avoid problems, even if it means knocking off early the day previous. Running into the sunset until you can barely see before stopping is for delivery captains who know what they're doing, and fools who think they know.
I've been a delivery captain and run late when I had to, but I ain't no fool. And yes, I do take a look at Bob's Tracks, just as I check the online NOAA charts and other information in difficult areas to be sure I've not missed anything. I just don't follow the tracks religiously. They simply aren't that vital for all but the aforementioned problem areas on the ICW, and then, largely for newbies to the ICW.
Here's another thing I've noticed, and I'm quite surprised to see it.
My B&G chartplotter is in for repairs, so I've been using AquaMaps (without the tracks downloaded) in its place. I usually only use AquaMaps for planning purposes, as I like a properly designed chartplotter at the helm.
Why you ask? A tablet or phone will shut itself off if it gets overheated in the sun and won't restart until it has cooled down. 

Imagine that happening while you're in the middle of navigating through a difficult area - suddenly, no charts! I've had my phone shut down while using it at the helm for music, leaving me having to sing to entertain myself. If you've heard me sing, you know that's not a good thing!
Anyhow, AquaMaps is quite the nice program, and I'm impressed with its features, including the ability to download hydrographic charts of the bottom so that you can be aware of shoaling and make plans for it. 
Another feature are the Waterway Guide anchorages that can be downloaded to the charts, allowing you to find a decent anchorage at the end of the day. But - and this is a problem - I've noticed that several of the anchorages shown are in marked channels. If you've been boating for any length of time, you know you aren't supposed to anchor in a marked channel, such as the one in this photo shown by the arrow.

What these "reviewers", whose names I've redacted, seem to be unaware of is that at the end of this river is a fleet of shrimpers out of Darien, GA, who use this river regularly, day and night. And clearly, whoever chose to put this anchorage up isn't paying attention to the details either.
This is not a proper anchorage, it's a marked channel in which anchoring is not permitted.
And it's not the only one marked like this, so be aware.

Do I use Bob's Tracks? As I admitted above, yes, I do. I review them as I do all the available information in order to plan my day's passage, because smart boaters use every little piece of information they can get. I just don't get all Zombie like over them, and neither should you, and I don't refer to them at the helm because my planning doesn't require that.
If you don't know or haven't learned how to navigate, contact your local Power Squadron, Coast Guard or sailing schoool and learn how. It's not all that difficult, and it gives you an incredible burst of confidence to know that, should your chartplotter ever fail while underway (it's happened three times to me!), you're fully capable of finding your way to your destination safely without it.

(Full disclosure - I was a cruising editor for over ten years for Waterway Guides. I have never been a zombie and the only dead flesh I eat is a medium rare strip loin!)

Engine Install Update...Day One.

Here's what's happening.... I picked up a low hours 3GMF from a friend in the Keys, complete with transmission. It also comes with a Balmar alternator and smart regulator worth nearly what I paid for the engine.
The engine's mounts are in good shape, so that's $500 I won't need to spend.
An instrument panel came with the engine, but not the proper wire harness, so I'm looking for that - the same harness is used on these engines: 2GM, 3GM, 3GM30, 3GM30F, 3GMF, 4JH2-DTE, 4JH2-E, 4JH2-HTE, 4JH2-TE, 4JH3DTE, 4JH3-HTE, 4JH3-TE, 4JH-DTE, 4JH-E, 4JH-HTE, 4JH-TE, 4LH-DTE, 4LH-HTE,4LH-STE,4LH-TE. If you have one, please get in touch with me, thanks! 
This is a fresh water cooled engine - the old 2QM20 was a raw water engine, so hooking it up will be a little different, but not a lot as the inlet is in the same position on both engines. Same with the exhaust.
I will change impeller, oil filter and thermostat before putting the engine in the boat, since it's much easier done on a bench. Fresh oil in the engine and transmission. The antifreeze is clean and doesn't need replacement. The oil filter looks new, but for $8.72, what the heck. Live large!
Yesterday, I started on removing the old 2QM. The toughest part was getting started as I don't really like greasy, dirty work - note the look on my face
Two of the four engine mount bolts came off with minimal issues. The third is proving to be a problem - I needed a second 15/16th wrench or a 15/16 socket and a swivel. I'll be on the hunt for those shortly. The fourth mounting nut came off today as easily as the others. And naturally, it's that third one that's hardest to get at.
What's left after all this is unhooking the throttle and shift cables, water and exhaust hoses, and the electrical connections. All easy stuff and all done except for the alternator and the shaft coupling, which I've loosened but not fully removed yet. (Note to self: take lots of photos so you know what goes where later.)
The old mounting system I built 20 years ago will come out to be replaced by a new one. I made a few mistakes with the old one that I now have a chance to correct, simplifying engine alignment.
Next, remove the old engine, clean out the engine bay, install new soundproofing, tidy up wiring and remove old wires that aren't needed. 
I'm looking forward to the install, since it won't be all grease and dirt, the engine space will be clean, the bolts will be fresh and new, not rusted - and coated liberally with anti seize against future work. Being a smaller engine, the new one won't be as difficult to work with for tightening up bolts and attaching cables, etc. All in all, other than cleaning up, the worst is over with. I hope!
I'll share photos of Yanni once I get him out of the boat. If anyone is interested, I'll send him to a new home for you to rebuild. He comes with a nearly new alternator and starter, stainless steel exhaust elbow, new oil filter and fresh oil, new alternator belt, new impeller and if you want new mounts, I've got brand new aftermarket mounts as well at a wholesale price. I can also include a spare starter and an 80 amp alternator that I've got in storage. 
Now, back at it. Enough playing around!

Announcing the Passing of Yanni the Yanmar...

Hi everyone - it's been a couple of years since I blogged here, and sometimes, as any writer will tell you, you need to break away, get a fresh vision, and that's something I've been working on.
Now that I've got that, I've been looking for a good place, a suitable "event", to start writing this blog again. This current event ought to get us off and running!   

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All good things must come to an end... now before anyone panics, I'm not buying a trawler! Relax, let me tell you what's going on.

My unstoppable, tough little Yanmar 2QM20 that has been powering me between four countries and over 40 trips on the ICW, has passed on. Bit the dust, made its last passage, thumped its last thump. History, done for, fini. After well over 50,000 miles, it has sipped its last ounce of diesel.

And of course, it failed in the worst possible location, halfway between Beaufort SC and Charleston SC - with NO marina for miles. Heck, there was no human life for miles.
Fortunately, there was a cell signal, so I call my insurance company to send out a towboat. Because of the distance to the nearest marina, they asked me to sail further north to meet the towboat .... leaving me to explain the realities of sailing on the ICW on a completely wind-less day.
Let me check with management about that, Anna (the gal on the phone with me) says. Ten minutes later, it's organized.
The problem now is to find a marina. Every Charleston marina is full up, and even if they weren't, they won't accept a boat arriving under tow.
At this point, I actually thought my problem was with the starter. I didn't realize until yesterday that the engine had seized up. So I explained to the dockmaster at Bohicket Marina, about 14 miles away, that I would only be there for one to two days depending on how fast the new starter arrived.
"Nope", says he, not a chance. So - although I've actually been to Bohicket Marina before and it's nice, they are off my list of recommended stops because they showed no courtesy to a boater in need.
Another marina, one who was more polite about things, suggested checking with Ross Marine (https://www.rossmarine.com/), a boatyard a few miles to the south of Charleston, and that's where we went, to my great good fortune. It's a boatyard, and they've just decided to accept DIY boaters at their facility. More about this later, but if you need to know now, contact them and ask for Tom.
So the lovely lady at the other end of the phone at DB Electrical, who I admit I sweet-talked something awful, got my starter to me the next day, despite taking the order at 4:30. Astounding service!
I installed the starter, and got the same problem - CLUNK-click - but no "whirrrr" and then the sound of the diesel firing up. Clearly, something else was wrong.... I went below, cleaned up the grounds and connections, hit the button - CLUNK-click again.
Went below, had a wild thought, pushed the decompression levers down and tried to spin the engine, which should have been easily done by hand.
Nothing. Wouldn't budge. That meant my problem was much worse than I had thought. That clanking noise I heard when the engine shut down was not the starter self destructing at all. I wasn't leaving this place in the immediate future, at least, not in Gypsy Wind.
So, to fast forward to now, I've put out feelers for a new engine and have several good possibilities turn up in the last 24 hours.
I plan to remove this engine over the next few days while I decide on the new one, clean up the engine bay, tidy up wires and plumbing, install new soundproofing, redo the engine mounts to correct mistakes I made on the original installation and then fit in the new engine.
Shouldn't take more than a few hours, maybe a day? Sure, that sounds good.
So stay tuned here, I'll keep everyone up to date on this latest adventure.
In the meantime, one of the engines I came across, which won't work for me because I want to go to a more modern, lighter and smaller engine, belongs to Kimberly House, in central Florida.
It's a Yanmar 2QM20 and it's too big for her boat's engine space. She needs to sell this engine before she can get a different one, so if you can help her out here, please do so.
I will say this for the 2QM20 - they are a fabulous engine and as long as you're ok with the size and weight of it compared to a more modern engine, they will go virtually forever. Mine has easily over 15,000 hours on it and has only ever needed to have a fuel line repaired in 16 years.
That's because they were originally built as a tractor and industrial engine, so they were built to be bulletproof. Someone will buy my old engine to rebuild it and likely get another 15k hours of adventuring out of it.
There's a part of me that says, yes, just put in another one, and that's tempting because it would be so easy to do it that way. But getting more space in the engine room and losing about 100 pounds from the back of the boat is a strong incentive to switch. Besides, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I never do things the easy way! That would be, well... too easy!
Stay tuned to this space for updates on the new Yanni  Jr. installation. And someone please buy Kim's engine from her! Contact me via email or messenger for details.