"Nothing works on an old boat..except the Captain"

Maybe you have heard that saying.

Actually, Le Reve, a 27 year old Californian, is working well beyond expectation. But I thought that might be a good lead in to a day in the life of Captain Bob.

The alarm sounds at 7 am, unless I am awake already and turn it off first. In about 40 minutes I can S/S/S, dress, dry the dew from the bridge windows, wipe the cobwebs from the railings, swab down the bow and companionways with a mop and/or shamie, short tie the boat for easy departure, ready the helm, warm the engines and depart from the dock or an anchorage, and be on our way before 8am. Actually, I only shower and shave about every four days, immediately following a comment from the Chief Stew on the order of 'what is that awful smell'.

I am at the helm from about 8 until we arrive at our destination, usually about 4-5 hours, but we have had some long 10-12 hour days dealing with long stretches between marinas and multiple locks with long delays. This gets us in at dark thirty instead of the desired mid afternoon arrival time. Not according to plan!

                                                               Captain Bob at the helm

I follow a pre-determined route to our destination that keeps us in sufficient water depth and avoids hazards. The route is automatically developed by the Navionics program I have installed on my tablet! All I input is starting and ending points and let the thing think for a couple minutes. Kind of like if you know what order to push the buttons one can be a surveyor these days with all the electronic gismos replacing the trig, but I digress. The following is an overview and detailed photo of our route tomorrow from Clifton, TN to Harbor Beach Marina, just below the Pickwick Lock, a total distance of about 50 miles. This will takes 5 hours plus the lock time, which can be anywhere from an hour to 6 hours.





The Chief Stew prepares breakfast and lunch which we both eat on the bridge while I am tending the helm, occasionally adjusting our course with the autopilot course adjustment dial.

Upon arrival at our destination we both work to tie up along the dock, connect 50 amp electric cable to shore power, connect to fresh dockside water, turn on the boat A/C to cool down the cabin areas, pay the marina for our slip and sit down for a cool one...me Pepsi, and the Chief Stew...well you get the picture.

In the afternoon/early evening I check all the fluid levels in the two Caterpillar diesel engines and the generator (if we ran it). I often need to add oil to the Cats, but they run exceptionally well in spite of this.

In the evening after the Chief Stew and I enjoy a dinner she has prepared aboard Le Reve, or often dining out uptown from the marina, I will sit down with my tablet and plan the next days journey (by pushing the buttons in the right order), set the alarm for 7, enjoy an episode or two of West Wing with the Chief Stew in our stateroom and retire for the night by 9pm (also known as Looper midnight).

On days that we are not afloat I have a running list of projects to complete to maintain and/or improve Le Reve. Things like...sand/varnish teak in the cockpit, replace shower sump float switch, replace a faulty light in guest stateroom, change engine oil/filters....etc.

I recently changed the oil in both engines, both gear boxes (transmissions) and the generator, along with the filters. I will do this every 200 hours, or about 2,000 miles. I used the automatic oil change pump that I installed a couple months ago, which consists of a manifold of valves that is plumbed to the oil pans of each engine, generator, and gear boxes. Just open the right valve, pump the waste oil from the engine in to the waste oil can, reverse the pump direction and fill the engine with new oil from the new oil can. Works slick. I even use it to top off the oil levels daily instead of dealing with quart bottles, funnels, etc. Whole thing saved me around $600 over hiring a marina, more than paying for the oil changer installation in the first oil change. And, I got to know my boys (CATs) a little better.

375 HP Caterpillars

Oil Change System

We look forward to times when we can lay up somewhere nice for a few days, such as Green Turtle Bay Resort that the Chief Stew has written about. It refreshes us so we can get back on the water. I have even re-read five of the books in author Robert Macomber series about fictional naval civil war hero Captain Peter Wake. Check it out at www.robertmacomber.com...well worth the read. I intend to stop in to see 'Bob' on Pine Island, Florida when we pass by this winter. Thanks, Madeline, for giving me the first book! I am hoping my number 1 son can determine if we are related before then.

That is all from Captain Bob for now, I need to plan our route for tomorrow.

Captain Bob