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We are Stacey and Dave and we are
​Aboard Stinkpot

Captain's Log: A Generator for Stinkpot

6/12/2022

2 Comments

 
Just a little update to keep you all current. We are still in Hopewell, Virginia. Still in the same slip loaned to us by our pal, Robert. What's changed? A few things, really. 

1. We have a generator! A gift from Robert now purrs beneath Stinkpot's cockpit deck making power from diesel fuel. I will not bore you with the hows and whys, but suffice it to 
Picture
Lunch with Robert and Paige in Smithfield, Virginia during a lovely day outing.
say it is an engineering marvel that it happened at all. The generator weighs 505 lbs. and needed to be lifted into the boat, laid on its side, moved over two feet, and then stood up into position by rolling it 90°. Robert owns a welding shop and made a makeshift, Stinkpot-sized gantry crane out of scrap steel that performed flawlessly. Everyone should have a friend like Robert!

​2. I'm the father of a college graduate. My son completed a bachelor's degree with a major in film making from Lesley University, which I traveled north to witness. No sooner had the wheels of the plane hit touched down, my phone rang with the news that he had just tested positive for COVID-19 and would not be taking part in his own graduation ceremonies. I visited with friends in Maine and Massachusetts, as planned, and drove my own car from Maine back to Virginia to give Stacey and me wheels for the summer. 

3. Stinkpot continues to show her age, and we continue to stay on top of systems failures as they happen. What have I fixed recently (other than installing our new-to-us generator)? Well, air conditioners. Both of them. We have managed to keep cool and comfortable during the warm weather, but it required that I add HVAC technician to my list of skills. In this case, it was a failed start/run capacitor on our salon A/C unit and a corroded connector on our stateroom A/C unit.

4. We have become adept at ordering from Amazon without an address, using "Amazon Lockers" and "Amazon Hub Counters." We've been using a counter at a RiteAid Pharmacy nearby. Strangely, there are some items on Amazon that we simply cannot order here, which we've found enormously odd. We had no idea that geography was an issue when ordering from Amazon, but apparently it is. 

5. Stinkpot is DIRTY. We are in a covered slip, which keeps the sun from baking us, but I have never in all my days seen so many spiders and other insects in one place. Fortunately, there do not seem to be a lot of biting insects, but I have been pressure washing weekly, and within a day of doing so, she's covered in webs again. It's a nearly pointless, perpetual pursuit. The worst part is the spider poop. It's harder to remove than gull crap, leaving the captain to frequently utter, "This is bull****!" 

Other than that, we are status normal and just waiting for a few upgrades to be complete—the generator is functioning, but we still haven't connected the remote start and gauges. Once everything is done, we'll be scheduling our departure and figuring out how to relocate our car to wherever we'll end up next. If you happen to be somewhere in southeastern Virginia and want to help us move our car, drop us a line….

​Our next post will come after we've arrived at our next stop. Stay tuned!
​
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Captain's Log: Hopewell, Virginia—The Sequel

5/2/2022

7 Comments

 
Seven months ago today we arrived here for the first time. Our host, Robert had been following our travels on Facebook for a while, and when we were coming south, he invited us up the James River to visit his berg, which we did. It was then, with the help of the generous loan of his well-loved Jeep that I attacked a major repair/upgrade to Stinkpot's engine room.
Picture
Stinkpot arriving in Hopewell, Virginia, Nov. 2021. Photo Credit: Robert Walker.
Both of our alternators had failed, so we were very dependent on our little Honda EU2000 generator to keep batteries charged, as daylight (we also charge batteries with solar panels) was getting scarce for the approaching winter. I knew I'd need to upgrade and rewire while I was replacing the alternators, which would take a lot of back and forth to auto parts stores and chandleries (marine stores), so I put it off until we had ready access to wheels, and as it turned out, that was here.

Picture
At the Theatre.
We stayed here for eight days. I installed two alternators, fuses, and some big, beefy wire to handle the current that the 150 amp port alternator supplied and the 200 amp starboard alternator (for house loads) cranked out. We had a lot of fun getting to know Robert all those months ago. He took us out to dinner and even bought an extra two tickets for us to the see the Tab Benoit concert that he and his lady-friend, Paige, were going to at a nearby, historic theatre.
Ever an enthusiastic, attentive host, Robert invited us out for an afternoon on his boat, the Lauren Leigh, Stinkpot's sister ship and named for his daughter. He told us that he had ordered a new generator for the Lauren Leigh though the existing generator still worked. We gently asked him what he planned to do with the old generator, hoping we might be able to buy it from him, and his answer was "giving it to you," though he made it clear we'd have to wait until the new one arrived in the spring. ​
Picture
An afternoon cruise on the Lauren Leigh. Robert gave both of us a try at the helm. So much like Stinkpot, and nothing at all like her—very surreal!
Picture
The Lauren Leigh's old generator being removed.
​So here we are. Seven months later. Full circle. We are readying Stinkpot for the installation of Robert's generous gift: cleaning out, throwing away, preparing wiring and plumbing, repairing/replacing old or worn parts on the generator itself in advance of installation. Cutting access hatches into the deck to mimic those on the Lauren Leigh to make maintenance of this specific generator possible.

​You'd think, being nearly identical boats, that this would be a simple "drop in," but in fact, the one-model-year difference between Stinkpot and the Lauren Leigh happened at the very time that Bayliner changed
from Westerbeke generators (original equipment on Stinkpot) to Onan generators, and that difference means modifications. So here we are, buying and borrowing tools, ordering parts, and making the most of Robert's genuine and generous hospitality.
Picture
Robert and Paige setting off to move the Lauren Leigh to her new slip.
Just this past weekend, Robert moved his boat to a different marina near Norfolk. He wanted a change of scenery and to locate the boat nearer to the waters he wanted to cruise for a while. Following his instructions, after he cast off on Saturday, Stacey and I moved Stinkpot into his now-former boat slip, which she will call home for the next month or so. This month of May will see us install the generator, and attack some (more) deferred maintenance,
after which I will be flying back to New England in a couple of weeks to watch my son, Kieran, graduate from Lesley University.

​To wit, the plan is that I will leave Stacey here at the boat, fly one-way, into Portland, Maine, where my good buddy, Steve, will pick me up at the airport. I'll spend a day or two with he and his wife, Leah, while I get my car, which has been parked in their garage all winter, ready for a trip south. I will then drive to Medford, Massachusetts to impose upon some other dear friends, Jeanne and Charlie, for a few days whilst the graduation and other related (and unrelated) festivities happen. Finally, I will put myself behind the wheel for the long trip from 
Beantown to Stinkpot back here in Hopewell, at which point we'll decide what's next for Stinkpot.

As of this writing, we plan to be cruising Chesapeake Bay for the summer. I might play some gigs here and there, and there will also be some online concerts from the boat as we go. Where around the Chesapeake Bay region would you like to see Stinkpot drop anchor? Let us know in the comments. 
​
Picture
Hopewell, Virginia sunset. Photo Credit: Stacey Guth.
7 Comments

Welcome to Our New Corner of the Interwebs…

4/29/2022

3 Comments

 
Picture
As we have been sitting here in Hopewell, VA, enjoying our time, doing boat projects, hanging with our friend, Robert, and just generally relaxing, in between projects we came up with this wacky idea to create a website. Twenty minutes later, and this little oasis appeared. It's absolutely a work in progress, and we're sure with time it will become an indispensable part of our online presence. If you have any thoughts about it, the comments section is here for you. Just please keep it cordial and kind—that's all we ask. There will be more to come. Watch this space. 

​-Dave and Stacey
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    Stacey and Dave are nomadic explorers who travel the waters of the eastern United States aboard their Bayliner 3870, m/v ​Stinkpot.

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Aboard Stinkpot

Living life on the water, enjoying each sunset, embracing serendipity, and loving every minute….

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