Folly Beach - 2017

Jan 23 & Jan 24

--Blogpost written by Bob

This is our last blogpost from Folly Beach!  We've enjoyed our time here while our boat was being re-powered.  Now that the re-powering is complete we are anxious to be on our way down the ICW but we will be spending a couple days in Rockville SC before proceeding.

January 23

I accomplished three objectives today necessary preparations before continuing our trip south.

1. Changeout Propeller

When I arrived at the Marine Propulsions Inc. boatyard, Rainy Days was already moved to the staging area for haulout.  I watched as they jockeyed her into the travel lift.  It started to rain as she was being lifted.  

The new bushing arrived earlier than expected.  The special stepped key had to be cut a little shorter and some hand filing was needed to get a good fit up with the propeller and the shaft.  A special bronze spacer had to made (turned on a lathe by Anthony Black, the owner) for the trailing end of the shaft since the hub of the new 3-blade propeller was a little shorter than the old 2-blade propeller.   After a brief sea trial, Anthony Black observed that the boat is now slightly "over propped" and a good prop shop in Annapolis could probably adjust it when we return to the Chesapeake in the summer.

The new 3-blade propeller is noticeably larger than the old 2-blade
propeller.  I'm sure it will improve performance under power.
I hope it is not like dragging a bucket while under sail!

Putting the new propeller in perspective.

Our boat being splashed back into the water.

2. Repair Deck Wash System

In preparation for the task of repairing the deck wash system, I found a very thorough pump troubleshooting guide on line.

The symptom of the problem is that the pump does not stop cycling when the deck wash valves are closed.  Up until today, I assumed there was a leak somewhere in the pump discharge hoses, maybe caused by freezing while the boat was being worked on.  However, according to the pump troubleshooting guide, the first likely cause listed is an air leak somewhere in the inlet hoses--I just changed the inlet hoses.  So, I checked all the hose clamps in the inlet system first.

I just happened to notice that I had a small seawater leak coming from the raw water strainer (the one that I had thoroughly cleaned yesterday).  When the pump was operating, this water out leakage would convert to air in leakage--this was the problematic leak!  I took apart the raw water strainer and applied clear silicone sealant around the housing before reassembling the unit.  Then, it was a matter of getting all the air out of the lines and re-priming the systems.  I left the refrigerator running and it's auxiliary raw water cooling pump so that we can load it up with provisions tomorrow.

3. Repair Battery Charger

The remote readout for the battery charger just blinks and chirps about once every two seconds.  Since there was nothing like this symptom in the user's manual, I called the manufacturer for some troubleshooting guidance.  They never heard of this symptom either but thought it could be poor 110-volt power source.  I changed the 110-volt power source and still had the same issue.  Then they advised me to unplug the remote readout, and unplug the ground and wait 15 seconds before hooking everything back up.  This fixed the problem for about 10 minutes but then then chirping and blinking returned.  My third call to the manufacturer resulting in their advice to unhook the remote and try again without the remote readout--this last effort will have to wait until tomorrow or the next day.

January 24

Maggie arrived at Folly Beach at 10 AM.  We spent the entire day moving.  Since there was not much excitement to talk about today I thought it might be interesting to share something we have discovered while here in the Charleston area: Hatch chili peppers.

Hatch chili peppers are from New Mexico--not South Carolina but we discovered them while landlocked here.  We never heard of them before trying a dip (at Coastal Cupboard in Mount Pleasant) that contained them--it was about a week ago.

This dip & spread was our first exposure
to Hatch chili peppers.

We liked it so much after sampling it in the store, we bought one jar--after consuming the contents of the jar, we went back and bought three more jars to take with us on our cruise southward.


Our second exposure to Hatch chili peppers was by purchasing a slice of Yancey's Fancy Cheese, cheddar with Hatch chili peppers.

Yancey's Fancy cheddar cheese with Hatch chili peppers is
very tasty.  We found this at the Harris Teeter
grocery store along Folly Road.

From our perspective the Hatch chili peppers are not as spicy hot as jalapeño or habanero peppers but still have a zesty, smokey flavor.  Hatch chili peppers were developed by New Mexico State University in 1894.  They are grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico along the Rio Grande River.

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This was our last sunset in Folly Beach SC!

Summary

We moved everything except the cats and their paraphernalia, a clean change of clothing, our computers, and cameras.  We have to be completely out of our oceanfront apartment by 10 AM tomorrow morning.

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