Frequent Sea's adventures

Thank you Harvey. I left all of my books and charts with Paul, for any C Brats to use during the winter.

We have to round out our adventrues with the last couple of days. We enjoyed a few hours with Chris Winn at Kalama, Oregon the night after we left Sequim. Last night we had a wonderful visit with Joe (Sea Wolf) and Cathy at their lovely home.

At this point, our trucking had gone without a hitch....At about 8 AM we were just about to turn Left onto the I 5 freeway, and the RV engine would not go over 1100 RPM and the RV would move at about 2 mph... I called the Transmission rebuilder and he thought it was stuck in 3rd gear. He was correct--we finally were able to get the engine reved up to 3000 RPM and about 25 mph....and worked out way to the Ford Dealer without stopping for any lights or stop signs (fortunately no cops caught us). There we were chastised for coming in the wrong entrance and the service manager informed us that they didn't work on /RV's--even though the engine and tranny were used in some of the trucks. I finally got one of the techs to run a computer scan--and all of the transmission clutches, were either shorted or out, plus the oxygen sensor was out. The tech was willing to crawl under the RV and look for a loose or shorted wire, but he service manager shooed us off the property....We got on the side street, but were not able to make the top of the hill to drive to a transmission shop.....we stalled right in the middle of the turn lanes (to swing wide)--and completely blocked the North bound lanes.....I called my tow service, and it took almost two hours to finally get a tow truck capable of towing us. By this time the local tranny shop informed us that it would be at least Monday (4 days) before they could even look at our rig--another tranny shop advised us to go to "Perry's Automotive repair)--The tow truck people were great Clayton'sTowing. Perry's got to us after lunch--and almost immediately found that the oxygen sensor positive wire had burned thru the insullation on the manufold and had shorted the fuse for all transmission circuits. A little tape and a few tie raps, and we were on the road--6 hours late, but still made our destination for the day. In retrospect, I probably should have crawled under the RV myself when the problem first occured....

Now, all we have to do is find a RV park, WalMart or other parking place tomarrow night before Frequent Sea is delivered to its storage facility in Dana Point. (Try and find a RV park or State facility which will handle a 65 foot length rig on a weekend in the summer!) So it will probably the Flying J on the Grapevine as our next "camping place".....Then a few days visiting with my children/grandchildren and back to Pensacola. Sure is more fun driving the boat, than fighting the freeway...even if the RV has 3 burners, a queen size walk around bed and a stall shower!
 
Interesting what we find a "convenience" on land that we can do without on the water.

Sorry to hear of your transmission problem, but so glad to hear it was easily solved. We know the frustration of breaking down in traffic with an oversized rig... and that anxious wait for a tow truck... and wondering if it will be big enough to handle the job?

Bob and Marie, we have really enjoyed your posts during this trip. This is our first summer in many years without the benefit of our (own) boat; following along on the C-Brats has certainly helped keep my mind in its "happy place." :wink: You two are a shining example of the spirit of C-Dory ownership. Thank you for taking the time to share it here with all of us.

Enjoy the kids and grandkids and we wish you safe travels home.

Best wishes,
Jim & Joan
 
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:50 am

And then I saw this, Sea Wolf Joe's post in the Sea Ray Liquidation Sale thread. My apologies to Jim, Joe is clearly the bigger insomniac! Joe, you need to go see Harvey!
 
Pat Anderson":37999us4 said:
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 4:42 am

Jim, what the heck are you doing posting at 4:42 a.m., bud? :lol:
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Hey Pat... we're visiting my Mother right now; she's in the Central Time Zone. So, it says "6:42" on my time stamp. Hell, I had already been up for 45 minutes, fed the cat, and made coffee from the Blonde. I'm retired - I have no schedule. :D Mornings are a good time to check out the C-Brats, watch some news, then go for a walk.

Can't let a perfectly good day go to waste. 8)
 
Culver City, CA. A little more excitement (not the type we want) two days ago. We towed from Santa Nella (Anderson's Restraunt area) to Valencia. It was over 100 degrees in Valencia, and the Walmart parking lot was not suitable. I needed some RV supplies and so stopped at Camping World--and asked about staying the night---no problem, just park in front of the store. We decided to fill up with propane, since the refigerator was acting up, and the propane was getting a little low. After the fill up (it took over 20 minutes of letting "air" out of the tank, we took 10 gallons of LPG. But...the 110 Volt (generator) air conditioner would not re-start. Some little searching revealed that the 12 volt "furnace" circuit was not working properly (probably due to the grapevine pot holes--and cleaning the contacts resolved that problem. But the refigerator would not run on propane still. It had 12 volts to the module, but nothing out of the sealed control module. We ran the genset until about 10 PM--and it was cool enough to shut it down and sleep....During the night I got up, and low and behold, the 12 volts was working in the refigerator and the LP came on....but the battery voltage (4 Golf Carts) was 11 volts....I suspect that the module had gotten very hot and there was some thermal breaker in side of it, which reset in the evening cool.

But I digress. About 5 pm, Marie wanted some food from Albertsons, and she walked the 300 or so yards up there in the heat. She seemed fine when she returned, and I had the air conditioning going, so she cooled off. At 8 PM, we had been both asleep, and she woke up--saying " why didn't you wake me up sooner (I had also been asleep). She got about 3 feet from the couch to the galley counter, and "crash"--Marie's legs had collapsed, she was unconscious on the floor and hit her ribs and arms on the dinette table on the way down. I had trouble getting a pulse (Marie has had a pacemaker for over 25 years), and I got her back on the sofa, supine--as she slowly regained consciousness. By the time I got the blood pressure cuff her BP was 50/ 35 (should be about 120/80, and she had been on some antihypertensive medication, so hers was "normally" somewhat higher). We hydrated her and got some food with salt down--and by 10 PM the pressure was up to 97/55...enough that we were out of danger and she was able to walk to the bunk. I am quite sure that she had become both dehydrated and had some heat stroke causing the volume loss. But this is very frightening....

The next AM we drove the 120 miles to San Clemente, parked the boat in storage. and my son helped me replace all of the batteries. Problems solved--and Marie's BP has remained in normal limits. We visited Todd, stayed with friends in Long Beach--and are now back in our "street people" mode in Culver city, where my daughter and her family live.

Tomarrow we are on the moderately fast track to Penscola--2100 more miles to "home"... Thataway (the Tom Cat 255) is back in its lift, having towed the Mainship 34 200 miles. Hopefully the engine hours are equal in both engines (since part of the towing was with alternate engines--but when pulling the boat (vs towing "on the hip" it handled better with both engines (as predicted).

Still not sure if we are going to get back to do the Lake Powell trip. I am certainly not going to drive back across the country. We have a 1993 Dodge 3500 Road Trek camper we keep in San Clemente, and I am considering rebuilding its transmission to be sure that it will be capable to pulling the CD 25--and we can fly in, tow to Powell, then fly back.

I certainly enjoy driving the boat a lot more than the RV or trucks....plus it affirms my belief that the more systems on a vehicle/boat--the more likely that things are to fail!

Incidently when we got to the storage lot in San Clemente, the manager said we could have parked on the street for a day or so in front of the lot--something to remember if we cannot find a camp site at the state beaches.
 
Wow, Bob - that is quite a story, and we are all relieved it has a happy ending! Hope you can make it to Lake Powell, but if not, we'll hoist one for you and Marie! Sorry we did not get a chance to meet her.
 
Bob and Mrie-

It was great meeting both of you and having you stay with us overnight last week!

Hope Marie's problems are short lived and everything has returned to normal.

Have a great trip home across the southern U.S. and we'll hope see you again soon!

Joe and Cathy :teeth :thup
 
Dr Bob, Thanks for the loan of the charts. We are headed to Princes Lousia over Labor Day weekend and Would love to check the charts out of the "library" for the trip. Thank you.

Sure hope Marie is all OK now. Amazing what heat can do to the human body. Good thing you knew what to do and had what you needed for the treatment.

Your stories just go to show that the adventure doesn't necessarily stop at the dock. thanks for sharing, it reminds us all to be more mindful of even what seems to be small doses of that hot dry stuff.

Take care and travel safe going home,

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Thanks to all for the good wishes! We are in Van Horn Tx--only problem was loss of the refigerator on LPG for about 6 hours yesterday (109 in the Phoenix area). Today, with temps closer to 100 degrees, no problems. We are prepared to "cool" the electronics module with a wet cloth if necessary. Yesterday, just the "cool" of the evening (down to 90 degrees) allowed the 12 volt system to function...

We will visit friends along the way, and be home in a couple of days. At this point we are hoping to make the Lake Powell gathering. I'll have to fly out two weeks early and we will put a new transmission in the Road Trek and use that as a tow vehicle. We are not about to drive back across the US twice again in the next month!
 
Ah, lovely Van Horn, TX. If they were going to give this country an enema, it would be in that vicinity. :wink: West Texas is a LONG stretch. Drive safe, stop and smell a few roses, and keep us posted.

Best wishes,<br>
Jim
 
thataway":amiv6mzl said:
Thanks to all for the good wishes! We are in Van Horn Tx--only problem was loss of the refigerator on LPG for about 6 hours yesterday (109 in the Phoenix area). Today, with temps closer to 100 degrees, no problems. We are prepared to "cool" the electronics module with a wet cloth if necessary. Yesterday, just the "cool" of the evening (down to 90 degrees) allowed the 12 volt system to function...

We will visit friends along the way, and be home in a couple of days. At this point we are hoping to make the Lake Powell gathering. I'll have to fly out two weeks early and we will put a new transmission in the Road Trek and use that as a tow vehicle. We are not about to drive back across the US twice again in the next month!
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Ah yes, Van Horn, Tx that was a welcome sight when I was on my cross country scooter trip.. If you take Hwy 90 about 7 miles west of Valentine on the south side of the road, look for a farm building that sits about 200 yards from the road. Then see if the three legged dog is still there.. if so say hi for me... :). It will be good to have you guys back in Pensacola for a while.

Roger
www.rogerrockwell.com
 
Well, Van Horn Texas may not be up to Wild Blue Jims standards but my grandparents liked it well enough for many years and so do the hard working town folk there. I guess a cheap shot is easier than educating oneself about an area that may be different from what we know.



JT :roll:
 
JT":ljgrj7sq said:
Well, Van Horn Texas may not be up to Wild Blue Jims standards but my grandparents liked it well enough for many years and so do the hard working town folk there. I guess a cheap shot is easier than educating oneself about an area that may be different from what we know.

JT :roll:
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JT, my sincere apologies to you and your grandparents. Where we live is an area that people either love or hate... while my emotions are not that strong about west Texas, I dread that long drive across that area. Having made that drive many times, perhaps I should stop and smell... well, I don't know if they have roses there. My experience has been blowing dirt almost every time we've been through that area. And over-priced motels, campgrounds, and gas stations. A cheap shot? Perhaps. And if I offended you with my humor, I apologize. I don't feel that any place should meet "up to my standards", but I do know what I like and don't like. Our daughter lives in Phoenix, and I'm not a big fan of that area, either (too many people and you can call it a "dry heat", but it's still like being in a furnace). And don't get me started on south New Mexico.

Maybe I should keep my opinions to myself? You don't get to pick where you're from... we were from Iowa (but, I "escaped"). I was having a bit of fun; again, sorry I offended you. And for those from Iowa, New Mexico, and Phoenix, my apologies in advance. I spoke with the insurance company today... there are probably some of you nice folks who are involved in that field who I will be offending sometime in the future. Those who know me personally will tell you I'm not hurtful... I just don't know when to shut the hell up.

Dr. Bob and Marie - hope you have a swell time in Van Horn! :D

Respectfully and humbly,
Jim B.
 
We stop in the Van Horn KOA on almost every trip across the US--and we make at least one--often two a year--so 4 stops over many years. This KOA is decent and a good place to stop.
On 9/09/01, we lost a transmission here. The shop owner's father drove into El Paso at 3AM to get a replacement. During the time the rebuilt was being put in place, we watched in horror as the planes hit the World Trade center. Unfortunately the mechanic failed to put "loc-tite" on the drive shaft bolts and about 4000 miles later the drive shaft fell out on the Houston Loop...not the best experience we have had...but not the worse either.

I have been driving across West Texas since I interviewed for Med School in 1957--and have made some 24 hour trips (non stop) before the freeway between LA and Houston. I do agree that it is a boring drive, but this time it is green due to the recent rains from the Hurricane Dolly--as well as a spetacular thunder storm this evening....I would not live here. but we all have choices where we live.
 
We arrived "home" at about 2 PM on Saturday. Sunday and today were unpacking, reviewing mail, as well as fixing those things which broke when we were gone(Relitatives stayed in our house)--and finally internet time...

We spent one night at a friend's house on Granbury Lake, just South of Dallas. It was hot (105 degrees) and not a "C Dory" lake (high speed go fast boats and PWC's). Another Day's drive brought us to Jackson, MS. Again a place to rest for the night--semi parking lot type of RV camp ground.

In Pensacola, temp was 85 degrees--down to 80--and very pleasant outside on the water. We enjoyed a beautiful Sunset. Nice to not be bundled up in Fleece...

I got a chance to see Roger Rockwell's new C Dory 22 and its innovative top over the cockpit. Hopefully Roger will share photos of it--he is really on to a better design for the South and for fishing!

We are not up to another drive across the US in the next few weeks--maybe by Sept--but maybe we will upgrade our Road Trek to tow the C Dory 25 to Lake Powell....

I did add up the boat fuel costs--very close to $2 a mile. Expensive, but worth every penny. Lets hope that fuel costs are less next year! The costs of driving the RV are probably very close to the cost of running the boat over all.

So this summer's cruise comes to an end--with many happy memories and photos. Thanks to all who we met and whose company we enjoyed along the way!
 
Bob, thanks much for taking us along. Wished more would take the time to share with the rest of us. These kind of trips from folks especially as knowledgeable as you are not only enjoyable to read, but also extremely helpful to the rest of us planning on more or our first long distance towing and cruise events.

Really shows that the time on the water even if going to remote places is generally not as dangerous or as troublesome as time on the road. Anyway that's been our experiece and seemed to be the same with you.

Jay
 
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