For those you who would have no interest in the details of my just completed trip from North Carolina to Port Charlotte with my newly purchased boat, you might want to skip this message as it will be rather lengthy. Otherwise, hang on for the details of a wonderful trip! Having just purchased the 43 Vista Motor Yacht formally known by the name "Isle Be Back" now to be known as "Emily Rose" my wife and I rented a car one way from Port Charlotte, FL and made the drive up to NC on the 30th of October to close the deal and bring the boat home. As the boat had been sadly neglected for a couple of years prior to my purchase I had employed some of the local talent in Wilmington to both go over both of the 3208 Caterpillars and also to repair some broken items which included the forward head, the aft shower sump, the Sturdy Synchronizers, etc. I had also purchased a Raytheon Radar Chart plotter compatible with the Raytheon 41X Radar along with several C-Map NT electronic charts of the areas we needed for the passage home, more on this later. We departed Wilmington on the 1st of November along with Lenny Beck, the broker through which I had purchased the boat and also a licensed Captain, whom we took along for the first five days until my wife and I felt comfortable enough in handling the boat to go it alone. Lenny provided excellent training to my wife who had very little boating experience and claims that I "yell at her" when I am trying to teach her. It was worth every cent to have Lenny along to handle that part of the trip for after the four days he had her handling lines like a pro! The first leg took us from Wilmington to Charleston, SC and all went pretty well except that on this first day out the fresh water pump gave up the ghost. I hopped a ride over to the local West Marine and bought a new Jabsco PAR water pump (the only pump they stocked) and took it back to the boat. Sure enough, I could not find one single screw on the boat to mount the pump (the screws mounting the existing pump, an old Jabsco Diaphragm pump were too short). So, at 9:00 pm I was in the local Lowes Hardware buying four stainless screws. Finally got the new pump in and to bed about 11:00 pm. The next leg took us from Charleston to Savannah. This second day out the forward head that I had repaired in Wilmington quit again! It is a Jabsco Electric model and we had a new motor put on it before we left???????? The wife needed to do some laundry (the boat has one of those Frigidaire stack washer dryers) and we discovered that it discharges into the same sump as the aft shower which we had not used yet since we were showering in the marinas. You guessed it, the sump that I had paid the guy to repair up in Wilmington didn't work either! Oh yeah, the pump motor worked great, it just doesn't pump any water out. So, I spent the next half hour leaning down in the bilge bailing out the water so that it wouldn't end up in the bilge (not that I am sure it would have hurt anything). The next leg was from Savannah to Jekyll Island. We arrived to find the Jekyll Island marina full so we went down to what is referred to as the "Historic" marina and tied up there. Only problem here was that they do not have any showers or heads. The heads are located in a park up the dock. So, no showers that night! We discovered upon inspecting the engine room that we had developed quite a leak on the Port engine shaft stuffing box and no amount of adjustment would stop it. The water was flowing in a steady stream, but we figured the bilge pumps would easily keep up with it so didn't worry about it too much. Next days run was from Jekyll Island down to St. Augustine. We had been following the developments with Hurricane Michelle and had been prepared to take the boat up the St. Johns river at Jacksonville, but latest reports indicated that the storm was moving over the Bahamas and away from S. Florida, so we pressed on to St. Augustine. Arrival in St. Augustine was a real treat. The winds were NE at about 25 gusting to 35 and all the marinas were full as none of the boats headed south had left that day. Some poor fellow had misjudged the channel and his 40'+ Sloop was aground just inside the ICW taking a pretty good beating from the wind and waves. He was heeled over at about 45 degrees and was on his radio talking with SeaTow as we went by. We scrambled and located a yard up the San Sebastian River that agreed to let us tie up to their docks overnight. Actually worked out pretty well as we were away from the open water and wind and had a pretty peaceful night. The next leg was supposed to be from St. Augustine down to Titusville after a short stop in Daytona to let Capt. Beck off the boat. He had arranged for his wife to pick him up there as he planned to go on down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit his son. But, certain events changed things here. Just to the north of Daytona Beach I developed severe Angina (I have a heart condition) and I started popping Nitro to control the pain. After about three Nitro tablets the pain still persisted so my wife radioed Daytona Marina and informed them of my situation. They rolled the para-medics and they were waiting for us at the dock. By the time we arrived at the dock, probably about 20 minutes and two or three more Nitro Tablets later, the pain had subsided however they still loaded me into an ambulance and took me into the local hospital Emergency Room (ER). At the ER the Doctors examined me and said that I had some fluid build up around my heart and that was probably the reason for the attack. They insisted I remain in the hospital overnight for evaluation. Well, I have been through this before and spent several nights in the hospital over the years only to be released the next day, so I signed myself out AMA and went back to the boat. Lenny, who had remained with the boat until the outcome of my situation had been resolved had the foresight to have the leaking port stuffing box repacked and at least that problem was resolved. We remained in Daytona Beach for the night and I assured Lenny that I would be fine but that if anything further developed in my condition I would go straight to the ER! Lenny begrudgingly left us at this point. One more thing about this part of the trip for those of you who might have concerns. The Corps of Engineers is currently dredging along the Matanzas inlet and we found 6-7 feet of water there so it should be OK for a while. The next morning, having had no further reoccurence of angina, my wife and I departed Daytona alone for Melborne, Fl. Had a great day and no problems! However, once at the marina in Melborne I got my very first opportunity to back the boat into a slip. Up to this point we had always been tied up to a face dock. Brother was it UGLY! There was no current and very little wind, but I quickly learned that I cannot see the back of the boat from the bridge with its covered sundeck. My wife and the dockhand were both giving me instructions, Port....no Starboard, no stop..no go....I was so damn confused I didn't know what to do. Well, after several tries, I will say that I finally go the boat into the slip without taking out the dock or hitting the boats on either side. Boy, do I need practice at that manuever! The next day saw us on our way from Melborne to Stuart up the St. Lucie river as we approached the Okeechobee waterway. However, just south of Vero Beach I noticed a drop in oil pressure on my stbd engine. I throttled the engine back, had my wife take the helm and went to the engine room to take a look. There was oil everywhere under the back of the engine. I immediately shut the engine down and limped into Vero Beach municipal marina on the port engine. The Marina gave me the name of a good local mechanic and I attempted to call him but got an answering machine. So, I went next door to the marina where there was a marine service company and talked to them. They agreed to come take a look. There mechanic looked the engine over and told me that I had apparently blown the rear seal on the engine. His estimate to repair $2000.00! Obviously, I was not a happy camper. However, the other mechanic I had called, Joe Helseth of Helseth Machine and Marine Services showed up to take a look. I gave him the details and told him what the other mechanic had said and he dropped into the engine compartment to take a look. He said, "I have never seen a rear seal blow out this quick or loose this much (about six quarts) oil before" He said, "let me look further". Joe crawled over the engine for about twenty minutes with a flashlight an mirror and said "the oil is coming from the outboard side of the engine and I do not think it is a rear seal" He called in one of his younger, more agile mechanics and had him crawl over the engine. Then they found it. This should be of interest to anyone who owns 3208 Caterpillars. On the rear of the block, stbd side, just above the oil pan, is a machined hole that is obviously intended as maybe an alternate site to locate a dip stick. In that hole was a small cork. The cork on my stbd engine had fallen out and the engine then threw oil out of that hole. Now it is interesting to note here that when we pulled the cork from the port engine, we found a "blind" hole, but the hole on the stbd engine went straight into the crankcase. Joe fabricated a brass plug to fit the hole and tapped it into place. Oil leak stopped! However, further inspection revealed that I had a leaking raw water pump on that engine as well, so I had them change it out with a new spare pump I had on board. Obviously not only was the rear seal not the culprit, it cost me a whole lot less to get it fixed. I highly reccommend Joe Helseth if you are ever in the Vero Beach, FL area in need of mechanical help! Next came the fun part. I spent about two hours in the bilge with Oil Soak blankets and a bucket cleaning up the oil that had spilled into the bilge. Yuk, talk about a filthy job! After loosing half the day before and not getting underway until about noon due to waiting for the new water pump to be put on the engine, the wife and I headed out for Stuart and arrived there early in the evening. Spent the night at Northside Marina and had dinner at a place called Wahoos. What a great stop! Wife and I didn't want large meals so we each ordered Beef Dip sandwiches and a basket of Onion Rings. Best darn Beef Dip and Onion rings I think I have ever had. I mean they were to write home about! If the rest of their food is as good, they would be hard to beat! Next morning saw us making our way up the St. Lucie River to our very first Lock. Yep, everyone was right, going through the locks was a piece of cake. The lock attendents were very helpful and there really wasn't much to it. Don't know why I was concerned! Crossed over Lake Okeechobee, had about 12 ft of water and spent the night at Port Labelle Marina just outside Labelle, FL. Neat marina, got absolutely scads of turtles. My wife spent about half an hour feeding them left over bread. This led to a real funny incident. They had a sign on the dock that said "beware of Alligators", guess they do have quite a few in the waters. Well the first time my wife bent over to feed the turtles a fish from underneath leaped at the bread and jumped out of the water making quite a splash. I thought my wife was going to jump 30 feet it startled her so bad. Everyone on the dock just roared with laughter. She didn't think it was funny....... The following day we made our way down to Cape Coral and decided to stop in and visit with some friends before making our way home. No offense to those of you on the list who might live in the area, but for the first time since starting out we encountered the absolute worst boaters we came across on the entire trip. Around Ft. Myers we were waked constantly by large Sportfishers and other vessels, they were the rudest, most uncivilized boaters I have every encountered! After spending the afternoon in Cape Coral, we made our way home yesterday and arrived safely at our dock in the afternoon. Cost of the trip, I don't really want to go there, but..........cost in diesel (about 1800 gallons), dockage, meals and the Captain for the first five days at $200. a day, about $5,000.00. What did I learn about the boat? Well she cruises at about 11-12 knots at about 20 gph. Reaches a max of about 17 knts at 2800 rpm but will cruise 9-10 knots at about 8-10 gph. So, if you are in a hurry it gets expensive, but you can throttle her back to trawler speed and not get eaten alive by the fuel bill. Of course, we were in a hurry to get her home, so we paid the price. Diesel fuel along the route was found at a low of about $1.08 to a high of $1.50 + TAX and we averaged paying about $1.42 a gallon including the tax. We found diesel to be more reasonable at Municipal marinas and a "RIP OFF" at most private marinas! In the future I will plan fuel stops based upon price because it really makes a difference! Well now the boat is home and I have about a hundred things that need repaired, replaced or shined and polished. I am certain that I will be coming to the list plenty in the next few weeks looking for assistance with all the stuff I need to repair. Actually look forward to it, I just love to tinker! First thing I need to do is get power and water ran out to my new dock! Jim Alexander M/V Emily Rose 43 Vista

Welcome home Jim, The Tale of the Emily Rose was one you wont forget soon. That first "maiden voyage", so to speak, can be really tell tale. You've found, by now, most of the problems the prior owner didnt tell you about. But at least the engines are still running good, thanks to your acute awareness of your oil gages. And I suppose, you and your wife are still talking, thanks to the captain that went with you. We do tend to get a little out of sorts sometimes with our perfect crewladies. Bless them. They dont deserve such as us. Their better than that. Good trawlerin' docmoss > For those you who would have no interest in the details of my just completed > trip from North Carolina to Port Charlotte with my newly purchased boat, you > might want to skip this message as it will be rather lengthy. Otherwise, > hang on for the details of a wonderful trip! > > Having just purchased the 43 Vista Motor Yacht formally known by the name > "Isle Be Back" now to be known as "Emily Rose" my wife and I rented a car > one way from Port Charlotte, FL and made the drive up to NC on the 30th of > October to close the deal and bring the boat home. > > As the boat had been sadly neglected for a couple of years prior to my > purchase I had employed some of the local talent in Wilmington to both go > over both of the 3208 Caterpillars and also to repair some broken items > which included the forward head, the aft shower sump, the Sturdy > Synchronizers, etc. I had also purchased a Raytheon Radar Chart plotter > compatible with the Raytheon 41X Radar along with several C-Map NT > electronic charts of the areas we needed for the passage home, more on this > later. > > We departed Wilmington on the 1st of November along with Lenny Beck, the > broker through which I had purchased the boat and also a licensed Captain, > whom we took along for the first five days until my wife and I felt > comfortable enough in handling the boat to go it alone. Lenny provided > excellent training to my wife who had very little boating experience and > claims that I "yell at her" when I am trying to teach her. It was worth > every cent to have Lenny along to handle that part of the trip for after the > four days he had her handling lines like a pro! > > The first leg took us from Wilmington to Charleston, SC and all went pretty > well except that on this first day out the fresh water pump gave up the > ghost. I hopped a ride over to the local West Marine and bought a new > Jabsco PAR water pump (the only pump they stocked) and took it back to the > boat. Sure enough, I could not find one single screw on the boat to mount > the pump (the screws mounting the existing pump, an old Jabsco Diaphragm > pump were too short). So, at 9:00 pm I was in the local Lowes Hardware > buying four stainless screws. Finally got the new pump in and to bed about > 11:00 pm. > > The next leg took us from Charleston to Savannah. This second day out the > forward head that I had repaired in Wilmington quit again! It is a Jabsco > Electric model and we had a new motor put on it before we left???????? The > wife needed to do some laundry (the boat has one of those Frigidaire stack > washer dryers) and we discovered that it discharges into the same sump as > the aft shower which we had not used yet since we were showering in the > marinas. You guessed it, the sump that I had paid the guy to repair up in > Wilmington didn't work either! Oh yeah, the pump motor worked great, it > just doesn't pump any water out. So, I spent the next half hour leaning > down in the bilge bailing out the water so that it wouldn't end up in the > bilge (not that I am sure it would have hurt anything). > > The next leg was from Savannah to Jekyll Island. We arrived to find the > Jekyll Island marina full so we went down to what is referred to as the > "Historic" marina and tied up there. Only problem here was that they do not > have any showers or heads. The heads are located in a park up the dock. > So, no showers that night! We discovered upon inspecting the engine room > that we had developed quite a leak on the Port engine shaft stuffing box and > no amount of adjustment would stop it. The water was flowing in a steady > stream, but we figured the bilge pumps would easily keep up with it so > didn't worry about it too much. > > Next days run was from Jekyll Island down to St. Augustine. We had been > following the developments with Hurricane Michelle and had been prepared to > take the boat up the St. Johns river at Jacksonville, but latest reports > indicated that the storm was moving over the Bahamas and away from S. > Florida, so we pressed on to St. Augustine. Arrival in St. Augustine was a > real treat. The winds were NE at about 25 gusting to 35 and all the marinas > were full as none of the boats headed south had left that day. Some poor > fellow had misjudged the channel and his 40'+ Sloop was aground just inside > the ICW taking a pretty good beating from the wind and waves. He was heeled > over at about 45 degrees and was on his radio talking with SeaTow as we went > by. We scrambled and located a yard up the San Sebastian River that agreed > to let us tie up to their docks overnight. Actually worked out pretty well > as we were away from the open water and wind and had a pretty peaceful > night. > > The next leg was supposed to be from St. Augustine down to Titusville after > a short stop in Daytona to let Capt. Beck off the boat. He had arranged for > his wife to pick him up there as he planned to go on down to Ft. Lauderdale > to visit his son. But, certain events changed things here. Just to the > north of Daytona Beach I developed severe Angina (I have a heart condition) > and I started popping Nitro to control the pain. After about three Nitro > tablets the pain still persisted so my wife radioed Daytona Marina and > informed them of my situation. They rolled the para-medics and they were > waiting for us at the dock. By the time we arrived at the dock, probably > about 20 minutes and two or three more Nitro Tablets later, the pain had > subsided however they still loaded me into an ambulance and took me into the > local hospital Emergency Room (ER). At the ER the Doctors examined me and > said that I had some fluid build up around my heart and that was probably > the reason for the attack. They insisted I remain in the hospital overnight > for evaluation. Well, I have been through this before and spent several > nights in the hospital over the years only to be released the next day, so I > signed myself out AMA and went back to the boat. Lenny, who had remained > with the boat until the outcome of my situation had been resolved had the > foresight to have the leaking port stuffing box repacked and at least that > problem was resolved. We remained in Daytona Beach for the night and I > assured Lenny that I would be fine but that if anything further developed in > my condition I would go straight to the ER! Lenny begrudgingly > left us at this point. One more thing about this part of the trip for those > of you who might have concerns. The Corps of Engineers is currently > dredging along the Matanzas inlet and we found 6-7 feet of water there so it > should be OK for a while. > > The next morning, having had no further reoccurence of angina, my wife and I > departed Daytona alone for Melborne, Fl. Had a great day and no problems! > However, once at the marina in Melborne I got my very first opportunity to > back the boat into a slip. Up to this point we had always been tied up to a > face dock. Brother was it UGLY! There was no current and very little wind, > but I quickly learned that I cannot see the back of the boat from the bridge > with its covered sundeck. My wife and the dockhand were both giving me > instructions, Port....no Starboard, no stop..no go....I was so damn confused > I didn't know what to do. Well, after several tries, I will say that I > finally go the boat into the slip without taking out the dock or hitting the > boats on either side. Boy, do I need practice at that manuever! > > The next day saw us on our way from Melborne to Stuart up the St. Lucie > river as we approached the Okeechobee waterway. However, just south of Vero > Beach I noticed a drop in oil pressure on my stbd engine. I throttled the > engine back, had my wife take the helm and went to the engine room to take a > look. There was oil everywhere under the back of the engine. I immediately > shut the engine down and limped into Vero Beach municipal marina on the port > engine. The Marina gave me the name of a good local mechanic and I > attempted to call him but got an answering machine. So, I went next door to > the marina where there was a marine service company and talked to them. > They agreed to come take a look. There mechanic looked the engine over and > told me that I had apparently blown the rear seal on the engine. His > estimate to repair $2000.00! Obviously, I was not a happy camper. However, > the other mechanic I had called, Joe Helseth of Helseth Machine and Marine > Services showed up to take a look. I gave him the details and told him what > the other mechanic had said and he dropped into the engine compartment to > take a look. He said, "I have never seen a rear seal blow out this quick or > loose this much (about six quarts) oil before" He said, "let me look > further". Joe crawled over the engine for about twenty minutes with a > flashlight an mirror and said "the oil is coming from the outboard side of > the engine and I do not think it is a rear seal" He called in one of his > younger, more agile mechanics and had him crawl over the engine. Then they > found it. This should be of interest to anyone who owns 3208 Caterpillars. > On the rear of the block, stbd side, just above the oil pan, is a machined > hole that is obviously intended as maybe an alternate site to locate a dip > stick. In that hole was a small cork. The cork on my stbd engine had > fallen out and the engine then threw oil out of that hole. Now it is > interesting to note here that when we pulled the cork from the port engine, > we found a "blind" hole, but the hole on the stbd engine went straight into > the crankcase. Joe fabricated a brass plug to fit the hole and tapped it > into place. Oil leak stopped! However, further inspection revealed that I > had a leaking raw water pump on that engine as well, so I had them change it > out with a new spare pump I had on board. Obviously not only was the rear > seal not the culprit, it cost me a whole lot less to get it fixed. I highly > reccommend Joe Helseth if you are ever in the Vero Beach, FL area in need of > mechanical help! Next came the fun part. I spent about two hours in the > bilge with Oil Soak blankets and a bucket cleaning up the oil that had > spilled into the bilge. Yuk, talk about a filthy job! > > After loosing half the day before and not getting underway until about noon > due to waiting for the new water pump to be put on the engine, the wife and > I headed out for Stuart and arrived there early in the evening. Spent the > night at Northside Marina and had dinner at a place called Wahoos. What a > great stop! Wife and I didn't want large meals so we each ordered Beef Dip > sandwiches and a basket of Onion Rings. Best darn Beef Dip and Onion rings > I think I have ever had. I mean they were to write home about! If the rest > of their food is as good, they would be hard to beat! > > Next morning saw us making our way up the St. Lucie River to our very first > Lock. Yep, everyone was right, going through the locks was a piece of cake. > The lock attendents were very helpful and there really wasn't much to it. > Don't know why I was concerned! Crossed over Lake Okeechobee, had about 12 > ft of water and spent the night at Port Labelle Marina just outside Labelle, > FL. Neat marina, got absolutely scads of turtles. My wife spent about half > an hour feeding them left over bread. This led to a real funny incident. > They had a sign on the dock that said "beware of Alligators", guess they do > have quite a few in the waters. Well the first time my wife bent over to > feed the turtles a fish from underneath leaped at the bread and jumped out > of the water making quite a splash. I thought my wife was going to jump 30 > feet it startled her so bad. Everyone on the dock just roared with > laughter. She didn't think it was funny....... > > The following day we made our way down to Cape Coral and decided to stop in > and visit with some friends before making our way home. No offense to those > of you on the list who might live in the area, but for the first time since > starting out we encountered the absolute worst boaters we came across on the > entire trip. Around Ft. Myers we were waked constantly by large > Sportfishers and other vessels, they were the rudest, most uncivilized > boaters I have every encountered! > > After spending the afternoon in Cape Coral, we made our way home yesterday > and arrived safely at our dock in the afternoon. > > Cost of the trip, I don't really want to go there, but..........cost in > diesel (about 1800 gallons), dockage, meals and the Captain for the first > five days at $200. a day, about $5,000.00. > > What did I learn about the boat? Well she cruises at about 11-12 knots at > about 20 gph. Reaches a max of about 17 knts at 2800 rpm but will cruise > 9-10 knots at about 8-10 gph. So, if you are in a hurry it gets expensive, > but you can throttle her back to trawler speed and not get eaten alive by > the fuel bill. Of course, we were in a hurry to get her home, so we paid > the price. Diesel fuel along the route was found at a low of about $1.08 to > a high of $1.50 + TAX and we averaged paying about $1.42 a gallon including > the tax. We found diesel to be more reasonable at Municipal marinas and a > "RIP OFF" at most private marinas! In the future I will plan fuel stops > based upon price because it really makes a difference! > > Well now the boat is home and I have about a hundred things that need > repaired, replaced or shined and polished. I am certain that I will be > coming to the list plenty in the next few weeks looking for assistance with > all the stuff I need to repair. Actually look forward to it, I just love to > tinker! First thing I need to do is get power and water ran out to my new > dock! > > > Jim Alexander > M/V Emily Rose > 43 Vista >