The Captain's Post #5 - Catching Up

Post by Larry McCullough

It has been many months since my last post, mainly because Jamie does such a good job and I am intimidated, but we have gone many thousands of miles. During those miles many things come to mind and that’s what this post will concentrate on.

The crew at the Demopolis boatyard did a great job cleaning the hull of the Independence

Nice to our props were in great shape after all we had gone through (the stabilizers were fine as well)

The Rivers! The rivers after we left Demopolis Alabama were something I will never forget. Hopefully one thing about this blog is we don’t just tell the good things. but we also bring up the negatives. Yes, there have been many times when there has been pictures of us out having a cocktail or two, meeting new people and we fail to mention the hangover that ensued, but there is only so many gigabytes allocated to a blog. But those rivers were something to remember.  The Tombigbee and the Black Warrior Rivers were brutal, flood stage for miles, debris everywhere, submerged channel markers, no place to comfortably spend the night.  To say that I was happy to be done with the rivers is an understatement. The thought of the wide-open ocean was very appealing. I must say though; glad we dd it, glad we had the experience, glad it’s over and most importantly, glad we had no damage to the boat (see Jamie’s prior post).

Bentley sleeping after playing with ball Larry had given her

Not letting a trying experience go to waste we met some great people who I hope we stay lifelong friends with, Rich and Connie and their great dog Bentley.

After the rivers it was our first night crossing with just Jamie and I. The crossing was going great, beautiful sunset and calm water. Jamie couldn’t sleep so I decided to try to get some around midnight and after a few minutes there were the dam crab pots! 30 miles from shore, unbelievable, so much for sleep, Jamie on the bow with the spotlight. Mile after mile, hour after hour.

Larry, Steve and Jim at ‘Captain Tony’s Saloon’ in Key West, FL

We flew home for the Holidays and while home I kept Amazon and other companies busy ordering filters, spare parts, a pair of spare props, and many other things. Most of them were shipped to our friend Marilyn Bradley whose entry way became packed with boxes. The props which weighed around 150 lbs. each were shipped elsewhere.

The boat was ready to go, to start making our way to California through the Panama Canal. We picked up some friends, Steve and Suzette Grant, along the way and anchored in Everglades National Park, with our new Rocna anchor. It got to be tested that night when a storm came and did not want to leave. Lightening for three hours, I had never seen such a show, especially so close. The things that go through your mind during such times: unplug the handheld VHF radio in case we get hit; the insurance ends at midnight and the new policy starts at midnight, if we get hit…

Off to Marathon, Florida where a year earlier we started the Great Loop, crab pots everywhere, I thought I will never eat crab again. Great time in Marathon, great food, so much for never eating crab again.

Key West was the next stop, were getting closer to the big crossing. Suzette leaves and a college buddy comes aboard, Jim Lennon. We spend time exploring the fine cultural aspects (bars) of Key West waiting for a weather window. It comes, we plan on leaving at 5AM the next morning. I can’t sleep past 3AM, the boats untied and away from the slip at 4AM, good thing. The cruise ships start coming in the Key West Channel at 6AM and we did not want to meet them mid channel in the dark. It turns out we appreciated that extra hour 38 hours later pulling into Isla Mujeres at Sunset.

You just can’t tell by the photo, but the chop was about four or five feet…not too bad at this time

Steve grabbing some sleep after his turn at the helm

Leaving Key West, we had some moderate waves that made for an uneventful day, until I made one of my engine room checks. Before leaving Key West I had checked the Racor fuel filters and drained them to make sure there was no water or debris. They are awesome, as they have a clear plastic casing, allowing you to see any debris or water that has gotten into your diesel tank. At the bottom is a screw that you can undo and drain it of sediment, debris and water. Well, now we are north of Cuba and there are all kinds of debris in the filter. My guess is months of relatively calm cruising allowed growth in the tank along with other contaminants that get pumped in, which were now being shaken loose in the rough water. I knew what had to be done, I didn’t want to try it in these rolling seas, but I had to.

The engine room where you can stand upright

The Racor fuel filter

When mechanics or other boaters see Independence’s engine room, they comment how they love it. I am not experienced like those mechanics, but I must say I love that engine room. You can move around the engines with ease and there’s plenty of room to stand upright. I explained to the crew the game plan: turn off each engine one at a time; Steve would come into the engine room with me, he would turn off the fuel supply to the engine that I would work on and I would unscrew the plug at the bottom of the Racor and try to drain the water and debris. All went well and I had to do this once more to each engine. With diesel engines not all the diesel that goes into the engine is burned, it flows through the engine and back into the main fuel tank. While doing this it acts as both a coolant and lubricant. What also happens is fuel can go through the Racor filter system many times cleaning the fuel. By the end of the crossing the fuel in the Racor was without any visible debris.

The night was relatively calm with the protection of Cuba, once we got into the Yucatan Channel, I was glad the fuel was clean because I did not want to be laying on the engine room floor dealing with fuel and a little screw. As the day progressed so did the waves. When we were within 25 miles of Isla Mujeres a squall appeared with wind, rain and even bigger waves.  I could not believe how bad our fuel economy was at this point. We were fighting a fierce current along with the waves and we were only making about 6 to 7 knots. The Stabilizers on the boat had been doing a great job and working very hard with the waves that were coming from our port side. I wanted to get inside the reef, via the channel, before sunset so I put the throttles down even more. Seconds later the starboard engine temperature alarm sounded. I eased the throttles back and it went off. The Stabilizers work off the starboard engine and after 39 hours they had been working hard. In hindsight I should have turned the stabilizers off and let the added speed stabilize us. We made it with some light to spare to find the anchorage and refrigerator for a much-needed beer or two.

Larry and Chris at The Buccaneer, French Harbor, Roatan, Honduras

The new version of the dive boat that Larry & Chris were on twenty plus years ago here in Roatan

We were joined by Chris Adams in Isla Mujeres as Steve and Jim left us for home. Chris was now on his third visit aboard Independence, we love having him. Chris spent close to a month with us as we cruised down to Belize (an overnight trip) and then to Honduras. About 25 yeas ago Chris, I and another friend visited Roatan and went scuba diving. At that time, I bought a nautical map of the islands. I remember thinking “I think I will be coming back here some day in my own boat, I might need this”, it has come in quite handy having it here on Independence.

The map Larry purchased (and has currently been using) when he first came to Roatan twenty plus years ago