Returning to Our Summer Home

After a long winter the time has finally come to make our return to our summer home at Boater's Beach! The first trip out is always exciting and having a perfect sunny day with smooth seas certainly helped to make it a great day. There is such a neat feeling returning to a place that you haven't seen for 6 months, but have thought about all winter long. Today is also the first time we will try to launch and retrieve our Sea Eagle kayak from the boat. It also gives us a way to get to the beach without having to wade through the cold 58 degree water.

A deserted Boater's Beach

The kayak measures 14 feet long by 3 feet wide, so inflating and launching it from a 26ft boat can be a little cumbersome. For the first attempt we used the bow of our boat as the launch area for Lil Pickle.

Unrolling the kayak

Even angled on the bow the kayak overhangs both sides of the boat. Inflating the kayak takes just a few minutes, but I really wish there was a way to transport this without having to inflate and deflate it all the time.I guess that's a small price to pay for all the cool new places we can explore with it and the ability of getting to shore dry!

Dana testing her paddling technique

Touchdown!!

It really shocked both of us as to how quickly we were able to paddle to shore in a 15-20 knot headwind! I knew the kayak would glide through the water on a calm day, but this thing really impressed me today! The seats still leave a lot to be desired, so we will try to address that before our big trip this summer.

Leaving our mark

After a great day on the beach and a successful launch of Lil Pickle, it was time to return to the dock and celebrate. It must have been a long winter because I forgot how delicious Dana's dockside dinners are.

I've missed this!

This is going to be a great year! See you out there!!

Seapickle Launch 2012

Due to the recent purchase of our trailer this years launch would be different than previous years. We needed to setup the trailer bunks to fit the hull of our boat instead of the boat that the trailer was previously used for. We arranged to have the boat yard use one of their boat lifts to hoist Seapickle in the air so we could drive the trailer underneath it and adjust the bunks to fit her hull.

Taking Seapickle to the hoist

Sliding the yard trailer out so we can slide ours underneath

Luckily our good friend Greg was available to give us a hand with centering the keel over the center bunks and making the bunk adjustments. It was interesting to see how differently the bunk arrangement was for our hull versus the hull of the Sea Ray 260 this trailer was originally set up for.

Greg keeping an eye on it as it's lowered

Slowly lowering her down

We made the major adjustments prior to sliding the trailer under the boat and after fine tuning the bunk placements we began to torque down 3/4 inch bolts that held them in place.

We had to use a couple of jack stands in order to properly place the bunk in between two hull chines that the strap was skipping over. Once everything was tightened down and the straps removed it was time to tow Seapickle for the first time! The distance of the tow wasn't much to brag about considering the launch was less than a half mile away but maybe it's best to start small.

Heading to the boat ramp!

This wasn't my first time towing but definitely my first time towing a boat of this size. The last boat we towed was our Four Winns 190 Horizon, but luckily for us the weather turned a little sour and we were the only boat at the ramp!

Backing down the ramp

Dana approves of a job well done!

Fog bank rolling in.

 Not long after we moved the boat down the channel to our slip, one of the worst fog banks we have ever seen rolled down the channel off of Lake Michigan. With near zero visibility we decided to postpone our shake down cruise for another time and instead celebrated the day with a delicious perch dinner at Marquette Yacht Club! (If you've never been there - it's the best perch ever! They're only open Friday nights for dinner.  - Dana)

A Rough Start to the Season

Last fall I was finishing up my winterizing routine when the engine on Seapickle suddenly died out and would not restart. At the time I wasn't too concerned, figuring I just flooded the engine while fogging it. Well what seemed like no big deal in the fall has blossomed into a big problem this spring. With our launch date fast approaching we needed to figure out what was wrong and fast.

 A quick test revealed that the engine cranked over fine but had no spark or injector pulse. I decided that the crank sensor was most likely the culprit so I focused my attention there. The test meter showed the sensor receiving the required power and ground from the ECU, but without my oscilliscope handy I couldn't perform an accurate test on the sensor output. With my patience wearing thin and a parts store in an almost too convenient location I decided it was worth a shot replacing the sensor.

Let the fun begin

Of course the new crank sensor made no difference and I found myself right back at square one. Armed with every wire schematic and test procedure I could get my hands on, I spent my evenings for the next 2 weeks testing and tracing wire after wire, and sensor after sensor. I finally concluded based on my testing that the engine computer, or ECU had failed. I decided this early on in the testing that this was the failed part, but when I say Volvo Penta is very proud of this part it is an understatement, and they have priced it accordingly! With the new ECU on order I decided to open the covers on the failed ECU hoping to see conclusive evidence of failure.

Evidence of a failure!!

I was actually relieved to see the potting jelly blown apart where the inputs for the crank sensor enter the computer. We waited anxiously for UPS to deliver the new computer and as soon as it arrived we raced up to the boat with only the computer in hand and a 6 pack on ice to celebrate our newly repaired boat.

Crank,crank,crank....nothing!! I ended up drinking the 6 pack that night, but I promise you it was NOT in celebration. I probably owe poor Seapickle a formal apology for all the nasty things I said about her that night.

Well back to square one again but my testing still showed a problem in the crank sensor circuit. Since the ECU and crank sensor were new, the problem has to be in the harness, but it had already passed all the factory recommended tests. I decided to start inspecting the harness inch by inch, and as luck would have it I found my problem less that a foot away from my starting point.

Wires unwrapped and placed to show original routing

Pinched Wires

When tracing the harness I found the wires were pinched in between the knock sensor and the engine block. Once I removed the electrical tape I found two of the three sensor wires badly damaged and the sensor power supply to the sensor rubbing on the bare block. I can only assume this direct short to ground is what wiped out the old ECU. I repaired the wires, she fired right up,and the celebration that ensued was epic to say the least!!

C'mon summer!

The Final Piece of the Puzzle

Back in 2010 when we first purchased Seapickle II, we took one look and thought there was no way we would ever tow a boat of this size. Now starting our 3rd season with our boat we have realized how much we want to explore new destinations, and purchasing a trailer for our boat is the only way this would be possible. Once we factor in the annual storage savings and the ability to find gas cheaper than marina prices, the idea of having a trailer makes a lot of sense and should pay for itself over time.

We started our search earlier this year looking at new and used trailers. When we couldn't find the right used trailer, we decided to go with a new custom built Loadmaster trailer. Days before I sent in my deposit for the new trailer, I received a message from our friend Cap'n Morgan on the Four Winns owners forum who had found the exact same trailer we were getting ready to purchase used for HALF the price! I couldn't believe what a rare find he had found and the good news the owner was willing to drive to meet us part way in Toledo, Ohio instead of going all the way to Cleveland, which saved us over 4 hours of total drive time!

Driving home with our new trailer!

Back at the boat yard

Ready for action

Introducing Lil' Pickle

We were searching for a dinghy to use on our up coming North Channel trip this summer, but couldn't find one small enough to stow. Our boat just doesn't have the room to comfortably stow a dinghy, gas can, and outboard motor so we needed something we could paddle easily, be rugged, and be able to inflate/deflate quickly. We decided on a Sea Eagle 420 Explorer inflatable kayak and, as luck would have it, found one posted locally on Craigslist at 1/3 the price of new!  It inflates in less than 10 minutes, fits in a custom carrying bag, and has a 900 lb capacity!

Dana picking her spot and practicing her paddling technique 

Unloaded and inflated in just a few minutes!

It may be January and the water only 35 degrees, but we couldn't wait til spring to sea-trial our new inflatable kayak. We stopped at two lakes prior to the marina to test our new toy only to find they were frozen! The marina has a switching current that keeps it from freezing a little later than other bodies of water.

While paddling around our marina we saw our friends from D dock Ron and Kelly, as well as Greg from B dock! This really came as no surprise to us considering we often take walks throughout the winter at the marina. I guess we do whatever we can to fight off this depressing time in a boater's life called winter.

The kayak tracks straight, paddles with ease, and feels unbelievably stable. We look forward to many hours of enjoyment from our Lil' Pickle.

Links:
Sea Eagle Inflatables

Planning Our Next Big Adventure

We are hoping 2012 will bring us another great summer and our next big adventure. We have decided to broaden our cruising destinations with the addition of a trailer for our boat! Although Lake Michigan still has a lot of places we have yet to explore there is a place that has peaked our interest for some time....The North Channel of Lake Huron! At first I was a little apprehensive about this trip because of the complete lack of civilization, detailed/current maps, and of course all those rocks to smack the prop on, but the more images and information we found on this destination the more intrigued we became by it's natural beauty and isolation from the outside world. The North Channel is considered by many to be some of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world!

For Christmas we received a copy of what many consider The North Channel's cruising bible, Well-Favored Passage, from Ben's parents Bill and Kathy! We had met the author Ralph Folsom at the Strictly Sail show in 2011, but didn't purchase his book then simply because we didn't think we would ever make it that far north. Ben's dad held onto Ralph's contact info and surprised us with a personalized copy of the new 37th anniversary edition of this legendary cruising guide! We are looking forward to meeting the Ralph and Pixie at their cruising the north Channel seminar at Chicago's Strictly Sail Show next weekend!

 A copy of Well-Favored Passage signed by Ralph Folsom and Pixie Haughwout.

 Planning a big trip like this is a lot of fun especially in the middle of winter!


We plan to stay at anchor the majority of the time, only going to a marina when needed to restock provisions and recharge the batteries. This is completely opposite of the type of boating we have done in the past were we would spent every night tied safely to the dock in a marina. Changes will also have to be made in the way we use our boat, and especially the way we cook. Instead of using our electric cook top and fired up our electric Mr Coffee pot in the morning we will be switching to using propane to cook everything in order to conserve our battery bank. We may also need to replace some of our halogen lights over to more energy efficient led bulbs.

The possibility of seeing the Northern Lights in person along with the chance to see a bear in it's natural habitat has us so excited. We plan to add a new photo gallery to this blog to help share all the pictures we plan to take on this trip. Of course we will keep you posted as details about this trip unfold!

Links:
Well-Favored Passage
Lakeland Boating Lake Huron Cruising Guide
A great blog with a lot of North Channel info

Hey we recognize that picture!!

We were pleasantly surprised recently when we were contacted by Christy Baughs from Lakeland Boating magazine in regards to a picture we had posted on this blog. She informed us they were looking for a picture to put in their Calender of Events section for the upcoming boat shows and loved the picture we had posted of our friends Bill and Mina. 

 See the original post here

 Shortly after the January 2012 issue came out we received an extra copy of Lakeland Boating with a personalized note from Christy thanking us for use of the photo! It is a real honor for us that someone from Lakeland boating found our blog. Can you believe we are actually listed as a contributor in the front of the magazine! We didn't tell Bill and Mina about the picture until we went to their house for dinner, so we placed this years boat show tickets inside the magazine and handed it to them. The look on their faces was priceless when they noticed their picture. Thank you Christy!