Stats for October 31, 2018

Origin:  Zippy Creek anchorage

Destination:  Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, MS

Distance:  2 miles (big jump today!)

Speed:  5 mph

Time on the Move:  24 minutes

 

After relaxing for a quiet morning in Zippy Creek, the kids were anxious to get to Aqua Yacht Harbor and get the Halloween party started with their friends on Living the Dream and Have Another Day.  We weren’t quite sure what Halloween would bring, but the kids were in good spirits and seemed excited for the events of the day.  They talked quite a bit about what they would be doing if they were at school that morning, and I hoped this Halloween would not be a let down.

After exploring the marina for a bit, the boys decided it was time to get dressed as well.  Colin transformed into Harry Potter and Toby suddenly became a ninja turtle.  Mike was all dressed as a Captain, so I rummaged through the dress up box and found some leis and a parrot head.  It was a great excuse to break out my coconut coozie.

Now we were also on standby for a haul out that day, and of course, the service department was ready for us just as we were done getting dressed up, and the other families were relaxing on our sundeck.  But the service department was very busy and backed up with loopers having prop issues from traveling flooded rivers, so we couldn’t let them skip over us.  We got everyone off INNTW in a big hurry and watched as the workers drove her over to the lift.  The irony was not lost on me that Mike was all dressed as a captain and some other dudes were driving his boat away.  The kids went with the other families to start some mid-afternoon trick or treating while Mike and I went to watch our boat and our home get lifted out of the water.

 

We scheduled this haul out because we knew we hit (at least) 3 “things” on the rivers.  We heard 2 big thumps on the Illinois and 1 on the Mississippi, but we never saw any of the culprits.  I’m sure they were submerged logs or trees.  Eventually Mike began to notice a new vibration in the engines.  He was pretty sure it was the starboard side and he guessed we damaged the prop with a chip or something.  Over time, if that prop was wobbling it could cause further damage to the prop shafts or cutlass bearings, and we certainly didn’t want anything to get worse.  Mike also noticed that the starboard packing nut was dripping much faster than earlier in the trip AND our tachs weren’t synchronized anymore, so he wondered if all of these things were a result of the mysterious vibration.  He didn’t want to push the engines and run at faster speeds until we could get them checked, so there we were, hanging in a sling on Halloween.  I know exactly what all that stuff above means NOW, though before this trip, I wouldn’t have been able to follow half of it.  If I lost you above, just look at that picture of our house hanging from 2 straps and you get the idea.

 

We were all anxious to get under there and take a good look.  It has been quite sometime since we’ve seen the bottom out of the water.  I sure have thought about the bottom and all those metal pieces that stick out to steer us and push us and keep us safe MANY MANY times in the last few months, so seeing them all again was a relief.  A relief because they all looked PERFECT!!  No one could find a knick or scratch or anything wrong except 1 measly old zinc that had slid down the prop shaft.

 

We decided not to even take the props off and send them in for further inspection because they looked so good.  We felt like the luckiest boaters in the marina because there were boats everywhere waiting weeks for shafts to be sent from Europe or paying thousands of dollars to fix props or even worse.  And here we were, just going to inspect our girl, give her a bath, and get her ready for salt water.

 

We also had to replace the anodes to get the boat ready for salt water.  She had magnesium bars attached to her previously in fresh water to reduce corrosion on other metals that sit in the water all the time.  However, magnesium doesn’t work as well in salt water (I have no idea why…?!) so we had to replace these bars with zinc anodes.  If they help protect the bottom of the boat, zincs it is!!

 

And that was it.  After that small task, INNTW went back in the water and we resumed the Halloween festivities.  Our best conclusion about the vibration we were feeling is that it could be a result of the tachometers reading different numbers.  One of the tachs is right and one is lying and we just don’t know which one to believe.  This means Mike might have been running the boat harder than we thought, causing the vibration.  Eventually, we will have to figure out exactly why the tachs aren’t reading the same, but it isn’t a main concern at this point.  There is still a problem with the packing nut, but that most likely isn’t the cause of the vibration.  As long as we know we aren’t causing any damage by running at higher RPMs, we feel good about pushing it when we need to.

That whole boat haul out interruption really messed with my Halloween picture taking, though, so I don’t have many pics of our kiddos in their costumes.  Here is our INNTW crew in front of the boat all dressed up (minus my parrot head!).

 

By the time we were done handling the boat, the kids had already trick or treated through most of the marina.  We were surprised at how many loopers had candy and other special treats ready for us.  We were ready and had plenty of candy on hand to give to boaters that weren’t prepared for this huge influx of trick or treaters.  The kids also had a candy scavenger hunt around the common area on our dock, which they loved.

If you get nervous about your kids running around dark streets on Halloween, just imagine them running up and down DOCKS in long robes, masks, and sunglasses?!  Luckily no one went for a swim!!

The kids took a break from trick or treating and traded candy and ate a ton of it, I’m sure.  Then later in the night, we rented a movie for all the kids to watch while the adults decompressed on the sundeck of INNTW.  Just when we thought the Halloween excitement was dying down, we had a visit from a real mermaid, complete with bubble and fog machines and she easily doubled their haul.  It turned out to be a pretty great Halloween!!

 

While the kids were looking through their full candy bags, the adults joined up with the other loopers in the marina for the famous “Docktails.”  It was nice to chat with some new boaters, and hear about their river tales.  Hearing about all their repairs made me feel so lucky to have INNTW with a clean bill of health!!  Just look at this group of loopers!!

 

The next morning started off bright and early with Tobin asking for his monthly gift from his bestie, Eva, back home!!  You might remember that she sent a surprise for him to open every month while we were gone on our WHOLE ENTIRE trip.  What a good friend (with awesome parents)!!  Tobin loves these gifts and looks forward to them every month.

 

Mike challenged the older kids to sort their candy and make a graph showing what they got. That kept them busy for a few hours!!

 

 

It was another cold and rainy day and we are SICK of cold and rainy days.  So we packed up in the courtesy truck from the  marina and headed to the Corinth Museum.  We were actually very close to the Shiloh Battlefield, but that requires a lot of outdoor walking and with the rain, we were looking for history that was a little more dry.  Corinth turned out to be a great museum to help us understand the importance of the area for both the Union and Confederate soldiers.  There is a railroad intersection in Corinth, not to mention proximity to the river, that both sides of the war wanted to control.

 

Since we had the truck and a little time left before we had to return it, we went to Waffle House which was a first for the kiddos!

 

Then back to the boat for more chores for some of us, more reading and playing for some of us, and more candy eating for all of us.

 

Our last day at Aqua Yacht was another work day.  Mike had a mechanic coming to help him change out a thermostat for the port engine.  Since late summer, the thermostat has been running cold off and on, but lately it has been cold all the time.  Mike was worried about the damage that could result from ignoring the problem longer, he had the part, and he found a guy with ALL these tools to come and help.  It was nice to cross another chore off the “boat to-do list,” but I’m telling you, you cross 1 thing off and put 3 on.  It is ALWAYS something with the boat!!

 

Have Another Day was kind enough to let us run rampant on their boat for the morning while all this work was taking place.  Because of course the whole entire salon floor has to be opened for any real work to get done.  After a few hours of playing inside, we all met up with Livin the Dream for another playground climbing session.  We spent lots of cold, drizzly time at this playground.  Thank goodness for friends!!

 

Thanks for reading all about our adventures!!