My Shakedown Cruise

[RGrew176]

I was thinking that my boat was beginning to feel neglected since I have spent most of my time on the jetski. Not wanting to anger the boating gods I decided to take the boat out for the weekend. Since launching May 1st I had only motored from the launch site to my dock.

So, Friday (yesterday) I fired up the engines and headed out for my Shakedown Cruise 2020. I left Gibraltar Boat Yard and headed out onto the Detroit River. I could have gone upriver the short way through the Trenton Channel but I would have had to pass through 2 bridges so I took the long way cruising over to the Livingstone Channel and then up river.

It was 23.2 miles up the river from Gibraltar to Detroit where I had booked a slip at the William G. Millikin State Park Harbor. I pulled into the marina, called them to let them know I had arrived. I had reserved slip #30. By this time the wind had picked up quite a bit so docking was going to be a little challenging. I boat alone so its always a bit of a hustle to get at least one line secured. There were 2 gentlemen in the slip across from mine. They were just sitting there but neither one of them offered to assist me with my docking procedure so I just do what I normally do and got one line secured them.

Boat was now secured. I walked over to the office to register my presence. I then went back to the boat. Lunch time so I made and had my lunch. Since this was my first cruise of the season and the boat had performed flawlessly so far on the journey up. I started checking systems. I turned on my A/C and it worked as it was supposed to. Last season no A/C at the start as I had a bad card in the electronics part of the system. I checked the air temperature at one of the ducts and it's blowing out at a cool 48*, not bad for a system that was installed in 1997 and is now 23 years old. Fingers crossed it lasts a few more seasons. Checked the temperature inside the refrigerator and it's holding at 36* not bad for a 39 year old fridge.

Next I checked the 12 volt lights. No lights. Hmmmmm. I checked the fuse and it was good so I twisted the fuse in the holder to clean the contact points and then put it back in. The lights worked, yea. I then put in the fuse for the onboard fresh water system. Pump, no work. I tried the twisting to clean the contact points and reinstalled. Still no pump. I figured I would check it further Saturday morning. I connected my hose to the boat and the marina city water system. Now I have water.

Then I walked about the marina checking out the other boats. Besides me there were 4 other Carvers present. Then it was time for dinner. Prepared and had dinner. Back outside mingling with the others at the marina. Severe thunderstorms were predicted for the area and about this time the skies began to darken and then the storms arrived. There was a lot of lightning some winds that lasted until after midnight. I went to bed and did manage to fall asleep. Not sure when the bad weather ended.

Woke up today (Saturday) and prepared and had breakfast. Went and showered and now ready for the day. At this time I decided to look for the source of my non functioning onboard water system pump. I had an idea of what it was. I moved the sofa over across the salon and opened the port side engine hatch. I shined my flashlight down and I was a disconnected wire. I reconnected the wire closed the hatch and installed the fuse. Pump is now working. I proceeded to pump out as much of the remaining pink stuff from the tanks as the pump could reach. I will flush and fill them with freshwater probably next weekend.

Today, since I got a bit more sun yesterday than I planned I have stayed mostly inside. Have been watching Victory At Sea to pass some time. Going to venture outside in a bit. So far all is well. All systems operational and the first half of my journey is complete. We'll see how it goes tomorrow when I head back to my marina. Hopefully no issues.

At this point a good shakedown cruise.

[Benda515]

Very impressed you are able to dock by yourself I really want to try to do that

[RGrew176]

Source of the post Very impressed you are able to dock by yourself I really want to try to do that

I boat by myself 99.9% of the time. Had to learn how to do it alone or stop boating.

[Viper]

Source of the post...... Had to learn how to do it alone or stop boating.....

That's the kick a lot of people need!
Good on ya Rick

[RGrew176]

One of the reasons I went with an aft cabin model is that it's only a 3 step ladder down to the aft deck. I can handle that. A regular sedan could have up to 7 steps or more. I would not have been able to get down to handle lines by myself with a non aft cabin model. The other thing about an aft cabin is there is a lot of room inside for its size.

[RGrew176]

The trip home was uneventful. It was a beautiful day to be out on the waterways. All in all a great weekend. Plan to spend most of the remaining weekends of the season onboard.