I finally got the boat in the water and put it through its paces on Wednesday and Thursday. I launched in Oriental with the help of a former C-Dory owner named Rolf who was bicycling through the state boat ramp and kindly offered to give me a hand launching. His help was much appreciated as two people make launching a much simpler affair than doing it single handed.
Things went fairly well considering this was the first time I'd launched a boat since 1998. The only mishap was starting the engine before lowering it into the water. Hey, I was excited. Rolf reminded me that the motor hadn't been lowered into the water and I quickly remedied that. Thanks Rolf!
As I was preparing to leave the dock a Bluejacket 24 named "Liz" that I'd seen on the internet was pulling in. I'd appreciated her good looks from photos online and liked her even more in person.
Liz: http://bluejacketboats.com/boats/bluejacket-24/
I quickly learned while motoring at low speed out of Oriental in the narrow channel to deeper water on the Neuse River that it didn't take much wind to push the C-Dory sideways like every other flat bottomed boat I've owned. No surprise. The labeling on my fuel tank selector was a surprise though. About half way down the channel the engine cut off and wouldn't restart. I went aft and checked the selector valve to be sure I'd set it to the port tank as I thought I had before launching. The valve was set to the port tank but the primer bulb to the engine was sucked flat indicating fuel starvation. I quickly switched to the starboard tank and the primer bulb slowly reinflated. I gave it a few quick squeezes to get some fuel to the engine and it started right up.
Item one on the to do list, check for kinks or blockages in the fuel lines from the port tank to the selector switch.
Once I reached deeper water I ran the boat at low speeds taking the mostly 1' waves at different angles to see how the boat reacted and drifted at times checking for leaks and trying out the few systems on the boat to be sure everything was working. I also tried to draw fuel from the port tank again with the same results each time, the engine would run a few minutes (low RPM's) before sucking the fuel priming bulb flat and shutting off from a lack of fuel but would run fine with the fuel selector valve set to the starboard tank.
Eventually I worked my way across the Neuse and entered Adams Creek where I intended to spend the night at anchor. I ran down Adams Creek at varying low speeds just looking about since I hadn't been there in over 20 years. I turned around just short of the canal to Beaufort and worked my way back north to find a spot to drop the hook. Crab pots were everywhere along the ICW and I had to thread my way between them to find a spot where I could anchor and not have to worry about fouling any pots during the night.
I dropped the anchor in 5' of water with plenty of swing room at the same depth and let out 50' of rode. I'd only have a short haul of anchor line in the morning to be underway. I always anchor in shallow water when I can leaving the deeper holes for deeper draft vessels, and too, I almost never have to worry about anyone swinging into me during the night.
My view from the back porch:
I debated pulling the panels in front of the fuel tanks and trying to figure out why my port fuel tank wasn't getting fuel to the selector valve but decided I didn't really want to pull any fuel hoses and deal with spills in a boat I had to sleep in that night. I decided to make do with just the starboard tank for this trip. As I thought about it I seemed to recall a post, possibly on this site, about a fuel selector valve that wasn't labeled correctly. I resolved to test that theory out on Thursday.
Wednesday evening was spent looking everything over again for leaks or just to be sure it was working properly. I watched a couple of megayachts head north on the ICW and a barge heading south. I tried the fishing for a little while but didn't expect much as I'd never caught much in Adams Creek in the past. Just a few minor nibbles, no fish in the boat. After a dinner of PB&J, a few crackers and a bottle of water it was starting to get dark and I was happy to see how bright the LED anchor light was. When I crawled in the berth I wasn't happy to see how brightly it lit the berth up. Hmmm... Seems like there might be a Perko Glare Shield in my future.
I went to sleep listening to the ripples slap the hull and didn't wake up till several hours later because the boat was rocking. Since the sky was just starting to light up I figured the owner of the crab pots was coming through to work his pots. Not so, another barge had passed by on the ICW heading south. I stayed up and watched the sun come up. Listening to the weather report I realized that my hoped for three days on the water wasn't going to work out. The forecast had called for some rain and thunderstorms on Friday but the forecast on Thursday morning was calling for a tropical storm warning. Oh well, I knew when I left home I might have to cut the trip short. So, change in plans. Have to boat out of the water by noon and I shouldn't have to deal with any bad weather. That left me several hours in which to play with the boat a bit more.
As I got underway two boats passed by heading north on the ICW. The lead boat was a 25' C-Dory. I was switching out my GPS as they passed and I was going to write down the name of the boat because I knew I would forget it if I didn't. Well, I forgot to write it down and I have forgotten it. I did give them a wave as they passed.
I spent Thursday morning running back up Adams Creek to the Neuse River and out to the mouth of the Neuse at different speeds taking the wind and waves from different directions to get the feel of the boat. I also spent a short time drift fishing in a couple of areas where the fish finder said there were fish. A few nibbles again but nothing in the boat. Oh well, this first trip was really about the boat, the fish will come later.
Mouth of the Neuse River:
I did resolve my fuel valve issues Thursday morning. It seems the people that make the valve and the people that make the label don't talk to each other.
The valve, in front of the fuel filter:
I don't know the make of the valve but it has a circular label. At the top is "Off," at three o'clock it says "Gasoline," at six o'clock it says "Port," at nine o'clock it says "Starboard." I found that with the pointer at "Off," I get no gas. Pointed at "Starboard." I get gas from the starboard tank. Pointed at "Port," I get no gas, but pointed at "Gasoline" I get gas from the port tank. Go figure.
I had to boat out of the water a little before noon and the clock showed 5.2 hours on the engine. It had showed 0.3 when launched. I timed it right as I started getting rain within an hour of getting on the road home.
All in all, I had a great time.
Things went fairly well considering this was the first time I'd launched a boat since 1998. The only mishap was starting the engine before lowering it into the water. Hey, I was excited. Rolf reminded me that the motor hadn't been lowered into the water and I quickly remedied that. Thanks Rolf!
As I was preparing to leave the dock a Bluejacket 24 named "Liz" that I'd seen on the internet was pulling in. I'd appreciated her good looks from photos online and liked her even more in person.
Liz: http://bluejacketboats.com/boats/bluejacket-24/
I quickly learned while motoring at low speed out of Oriental in the narrow channel to deeper water on the Neuse River that it didn't take much wind to push the C-Dory sideways like every other flat bottomed boat I've owned. No surprise. The labeling on my fuel tank selector was a surprise though. About half way down the channel the engine cut off and wouldn't restart. I went aft and checked the selector valve to be sure I'd set it to the port tank as I thought I had before launching. The valve was set to the port tank but the primer bulb to the engine was sucked flat indicating fuel starvation. I quickly switched to the starboard tank and the primer bulb slowly reinflated. I gave it a few quick squeezes to get some fuel to the engine and it started right up.
Item one on the to do list, check for kinks or blockages in the fuel lines from the port tank to the selector switch.
Once I reached deeper water I ran the boat at low speeds taking the mostly 1' waves at different angles to see how the boat reacted and drifted at times checking for leaks and trying out the few systems on the boat to be sure everything was working. I also tried to draw fuel from the port tank again with the same results each time, the engine would run a few minutes (low RPM's) before sucking the fuel priming bulb flat and shutting off from a lack of fuel but would run fine with the fuel selector valve set to the starboard tank.
Eventually I worked my way across the Neuse and entered Adams Creek where I intended to spend the night at anchor. I ran down Adams Creek at varying low speeds just looking about since I hadn't been there in over 20 years. I turned around just short of the canal to Beaufort and worked my way back north to find a spot to drop the hook. Crab pots were everywhere along the ICW and I had to thread my way between them to find a spot where I could anchor and not have to worry about fouling any pots during the night.
I dropped the anchor in 5' of water with plenty of swing room at the same depth and let out 50' of rode. I'd only have a short haul of anchor line in the morning to be underway. I always anchor in shallow water when I can leaving the deeper holes for deeper draft vessels, and too, I almost never have to worry about anyone swinging into me during the night.
My view from the back porch:
I debated pulling the panels in front of the fuel tanks and trying to figure out why my port fuel tank wasn't getting fuel to the selector valve but decided I didn't really want to pull any fuel hoses and deal with spills in a boat I had to sleep in that night. I decided to make do with just the starboard tank for this trip. As I thought about it I seemed to recall a post, possibly on this site, about a fuel selector valve that wasn't labeled correctly. I resolved to test that theory out on Thursday.
Wednesday evening was spent looking everything over again for leaks or just to be sure it was working properly. I watched a couple of megayachts head north on the ICW and a barge heading south. I tried the fishing for a little while but didn't expect much as I'd never caught much in Adams Creek in the past. Just a few minor nibbles, no fish in the boat. After a dinner of PB&J, a few crackers and a bottle of water it was starting to get dark and I was happy to see how bright the LED anchor light was. When I crawled in the berth I wasn't happy to see how brightly it lit the berth up. Hmmm... Seems like there might be a Perko Glare Shield in my future.
I went to sleep listening to the ripples slap the hull and didn't wake up till several hours later because the boat was rocking. Since the sky was just starting to light up I figured the owner of the crab pots was coming through to work his pots. Not so, another barge had passed by on the ICW heading south. I stayed up and watched the sun come up. Listening to the weather report I realized that my hoped for three days on the water wasn't going to work out. The forecast had called for some rain and thunderstorms on Friday but the forecast on Thursday morning was calling for a tropical storm warning. Oh well, I knew when I left home I might have to cut the trip short. So, change in plans. Have to boat out of the water by noon and I shouldn't have to deal with any bad weather. That left me several hours in which to play with the boat a bit more.
As I got underway two boats passed by heading north on the ICW. The lead boat was a 25' C-Dory. I was switching out my GPS as they passed and I was going to write down the name of the boat because I knew I would forget it if I didn't. Well, I forgot to write it down and I have forgotten it. I did give them a wave as they passed.
I spent Thursday morning running back up Adams Creek to the Neuse River and out to the mouth of the Neuse at different speeds taking the wind and waves from different directions to get the feel of the boat. I also spent a short time drift fishing in a couple of areas where the fish finder said there were fish. A few nibbles again but nothing in the boat. Oh well, this first trip was really about the boat, the fish will come later.
Mouth of the Neuse River:
I did resolve my fuel valve issues Thursday morning. It seems the people that make the valve and the people that make the label don't talk to each other.
The valve, in front of the fuel filter:
I don't know the make of the valve but it has a circular label. At the top is "Off," at three o'clock it says "Gasoline," at six o'clock it says "Port," at nine o'clock it says "Starboard." I found that with the pointer at "Off," I get no gas. Pointed at "Starboard." I get gas from the starboard tank. Pointed at "Port," I get no gas, but pointed at "Gasoline" I get gas from the port tank. Go figure.
I had to boat out of the water a little before noon and the clock showed 5.2 hours on the engine. It had showed 0.3 when launched. I timed it right as I started getting rain within an hour of getting on the road home.
All in all, I had a great time.
