Still at Bluewater Bay Marina.
Readers have asked two questions which I shall endeavor to answer. First, whatever happened to My Way the boat that blew a turbo in Mobile Bay and had to turn back? Second, will I tell the Kool Aid story?
My Way is owned by Wayne and Francine who are French Canadians and they have the Portuguese Waterdog named Skipper. They purchased Skipper at 8 weeks old in Traverse City, Michigan while on the Loop. When we first saw him at the Looper Rendezvous he was 4 months old. Now he is 5 months and growing rapidly. A beautiful and smart dog and Wayne lavishes much time on his training. We last saw them as they sadly turned back when a turbocharger that had just been repaired at Eastern Shore Marine apparently blew up and enveloped the stern in thick gray smoke
We have remained in touch and the situation just gets “worser and worser”. First report was it needed another turbo as the one installed was defective. Then it needed a head gasket as this had blown when the turbo went. Now it needs a new head, drill one cylinder out that got damaged and install a sleeve. Let me tell you we are talking some bucks here and I am not sure who has to pay. Wayne will be sorting this out for some time. Right now they are telling him January 6! Can you believe the bad luck? So they are renting a car and going to their winter home in south Florida until it is ready. I would be having a stroke or giving the repair yard a stroke.
To more pleasant matters, the Kool Aid story. Before we left on the loop our dear friend Jim Peeler stopped by the house to talk about the trip. We were discussing saltwater and the problems with keeping up a boat in it. Jim keeps a boat on the Georgia coast and was in the Navy during the Vietnam conflict. He gained distinction in that theater for his unique method of inventory control of surplus items.
Anyway Jim said he would share with us a secret for dealing with salt that they used onboard ship. Each afternoon they would issue each man assigned to swab duty a 5 gallon bucket, a mop and a package of unsweetened lime Kool Aid. They would pour the Kool Aid in, fill with water and mop the decks. The Kool Aid would dissolve the salt crystals. I figured my leg was being pulled big time. I told him our boat would be lime green and attract bugs. He said no that it was so diluted by all the water that there would be no stain but not to use cherry or grape just in case. Being unsweetened, bugs were not a concern. We laughed so hard and continued to make jokes about it.
The next morning he sent an email suggesting that if you look up salt and Kool Aid on Facebook you would see that it works. There is an amazing video of two boys using it to unstop a clogged pipe and the water shot 10 feet in the air. I also spoke to another Navy man, who shall remain nameless, and he said they used it on the Enterprise to keep toilets open. You see the uric acid reacts with the raw saltwater used to flush the toilets and with 5000 men aboard they got a lot of use. So they poured Kool Aid in every few days and it cleaned them out. This was due to the fact that the Kool Aid changes the pH of the salt and melts it. A commercial product to do the same thing sold at marine supply houses costs an arm and a leg.
So before we left I purchased five packages of Kool Aid Invisible Kiwi Strawberry. It is colorless. When we got to Orange Beach and were covered in salt we had to wash the boat. Out came the Kool Aid. Put it in the bucket, add soap and wash away. It worked like a charm. The boat practically glistened and smelled like strawberries. Fascinating. Plus when we finished there was a little left in the bottom of the bucket so we drank it. Waste not, want not. Tasted a bit soapy but we are on an austerity program here.
I have written this up for the AGLCA website and there are many doubting Thomases there but we are sold on it.
Today we took the courtesy Jeep and drove to Destin where we bought a number of items including a Glomex TV antenna for the radar arch. Jan spotted a nail place and went to get her toes done.
You should have seen me this evening climbing up on that radar arch to mount the antenna. We should have made a picture. Oh, you are thinking we still do not have a camera but today a 48 foot Kady Krogan named Muddy Waters pulled right up to the dock and the Samway family handed me my camera. I told you last night how they found it. My father used to say that I was the only boy he knew who could fall into a barrel of horse manure and come out smelling like a rose. Pray that luck continues to stay with me.
As soon as we get a decent WIFI I am going to use a blog to load them all up to date with captions rather that trying to go back and fit them in. Now I think I will get a glass of Kool Aid and go to bed early.
Readers have asked two questions which I shall endeavor to answer. First, whatever happened to My Way the boat that blew a turbo in Mobile Bay and had to turn back? Second, will I tell the Kool Aid story?
My Way is owned by Wayne and Francine who are French Canadians and they have the Portuguese Waterdog named Skipper. They purchased Skipper at 8 weeks old in Traverse City, Michigan while on the Loop. When we first saw him at the Looper Rendezvous he was 4 months old. Now he is 5 months and growing rapidly. A beautiful and smart dog and Wayne lavishes much time on his training. We last saw them as they sadly turned back when a turbocharger that had just been repaired at Eastern Shore Marine apparently blew up and enveloped the stern in thick gray smoke
We have remained in touch and the situation just gets “worser and worser”. First report was it needed another turbo as the one installed was defective. Then it needed a head gasket as this had blown when the turbo went. Now it needs a new head, drill one cylinder out that got damaged and install a sleeve. Let me tell you we are talking some bucks here and I am not sure who has to pay. Wayne will be sorting this out for some time. Right now they are telling him January 6! Can you believe the bad luck? So they are renting a car and going to their winter home in south Florida until it is ready. I would be having a stroke or giving the repair yard a stroke.
To more pleasant matters, the Kool Aid story. Before we left on the loop our dear friend Jim Peeler stopped by the house to talk about the trip. We were discussing saltwater and the problems with keeping up a boat in it. Jim keeps a boat on the Georgia coast and was in the Navy during the Vietnam conflict. He gained distinction in that theater for his unique method of inventory control of surplus items.
Anyway Jim said he would share with us a secret for dealing with salt that they used onboard ship. Each afternoon they would issue each man assigned to swab duty a 5 gallon bucket, a mop and a package of unsweetened lime Kool Aid. They would pour the Kool Aid in, fill with water and mop the decks. The Kool Aid would dissolve the salt crystals. I figured my leg was being pulled big time. I told him our boat would be lime green and attract bugs. He said no that it was so diluted by all the water that there would be no stain but not to use cherry or grape just in case. Being unsweetened, bugs were not a concern. We laughed so hard and continued to make jokes about it.
The next morning he sent an email suggesting that if you look up salt and Kool Aid on Facebook you would see that it works. There is an amazing video of two boys using it to unstop a clogged pipe and the water shot 10 feet in the air. I also spoke to another Navy man, who shall remain nameless, and he said they used it on the Enterprise to keep toilets open. You see the uric acid reacts with the raw saltwater used to flush the toilets and with 5000 men aboard they got a lot of use. So they poured Kool Aid in every few days and it cleaned them out. This was due to the fact that the Kool Aid changes the pH of the salt and melts it. A commercial product to do the same thing sold at marine supply houses costs an arm and a leg.
So before we left I purchased five packages of Kool Aid Invisible Kiwi Strawberry. It is colorless. When we got to Orange Beach and were covered in salt we had to wash the boat. Out came the Kool Aid. Put it in the bucket, add soap and wash away. It worked like a charm. The boat practically glistened and smelled like strawberries. Fascinating. Plus when we finished there was a little left in the bottom of the bucket so we drank it. Waste not, want not. Tasted a bit soapy but we are on an austerity program here.
I have written this up for the AGLCA website and there are many doubting Thomases there but we are sold on it.
Today we took the courtesy Jeep and drove to Destin where we bought a number of items including a Glomex TV antenna for the radar arch. Jan spotted a nail place and went to get her toes done.
You should have seen me this evening climbing up on that radar arch to mount the antenna. We should have made a picture. Oh, you are thinking we still do not have a camera but today a 48 foot Kady Krogan named Muddy Waters pulled right up to the dock and the Samway family handed me my camera. I told you last night how they found it. My father used to say that I was the only boy he knew who could fall into a barrel of horse manure and come out smelling like a rose. Pray that luck continues to stay with me.
As soon as we get a decent WIFI I am going to use a blog to load them all up to date with captions rather that trying to go back and fit them in. Now I think I will get a glass of Kool Aid and go to bed early.