Captain's Blog » Florida

Woohoo… boat launch, sea trials and transport…

Capn Scott — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:54:33 +0000

Finally, the boat is in the water. And, I can begin the sea trials.

I haven’t had a chance to connect up the sensors, but have my laser-guided heat gun in hand to monitor temps across the engine. I idled the boat most of the way to Boca Grande. Along the way, I did open it up for a couple of minutes and it promptly overheated. I caught it way before it could do any damage, but it puts a damper on the day. After I cooled it down a bit, I continued to idle all the way to Boca Grande. It became a long trip, taking 7 hours…

Capn Scott

In Florida again, working on the dive boat…

Capn Scott — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:36:39 +0000

I’ve been having a problem with hard starting on the motor. I’ve rebuilt the injectors, replaced the starter and lift pump. Did a compression test and it was excellent. Now, I will rebuild the leaking injection pump.

First I had to remove the raw water pump to get to the bottom bolts.

Have the pump off of the motor and ready to tear it down. Found some bad parts inside and took it to an injection specialty company for the new parts and reassembly. They bench tested it and gave it a clean bill of health. Unfortunately, it still hasn’t cured my hard start problem.

Prototyping a boat computer. This computer is read from any smart phone and gives so much more info. I can also set alarms on all of my sensors. It even monitors compartment temperatures and bilge levels. One of the unique things that I’ve been working on is real time apparent propellor slip. Yep, it even does that…

Capn Scott

Another day working on the new dive boat…

Capn Scott — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:26:05 +0000

Back down in Florida working on the dive boat. Have a long list of things to accomplish, and a short time to do them in.

Compressor at sunset…

Leslie is here with me working on his boat as well. I seem to be down here every other month, trying to get things done. I’m making great progress. We’ve moved our departure for Panama to October. I’m sure we’ll be ready…

Capn Scott

Dive boat closer to Panama…

Capn Scott — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:37:30 +0000

Moved the dive boat, and it is so big on a trailer. As typical, they always seem much larger out of the water than in…

I borrowed the truck from my friend Neal at Transmission Power in Jacksonville. He sold and rebuilt the transmission that is in it.

Getting closer to Panama by the day…

Capn Scott

USCGC Blackthorn WLB-391

Capn Scott — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:18:10 +0000

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 30 years since the Blackthorn sank. They had just arrived at their new home across the dock from the Valiant in Galveston. And, immediately they were off to the yards in Florida for an update. I hadn’t seen SNGM Barnaby since we were in boot camp together. He had the locker next to me. I was happy to finally have someone that had spent 13 weeks of hell with me in boot camp to hang with. We were all devastated when we learned that, as they were returning from the yards, they were hit by a freighter and sank instantly with most hands…

One evening, we were all sitting around in boot camp, and the question of “why did you join” came up. His answer was, “I’ve got a wife and a couple of kids, I got tired of washing dishes to support my family and joined”. Little did he know that his real job would kill him.

I remember the burial at sea, the 13 gun salute, and the casket, dropping into the deep. I saw his pregnant wife crying, along with her two children, as they watched it slip into the sea also…

I passed the memorial in Florida, and stopped to see it. It brought back old memories…

Via con Dios Randy…

“Mourn not for him, He sails with one more divine”…

Capn Scott