Originally posted at www.svsweetescape.com
Attentive readers know that we had been planning a shakedown cruise across Lake Michigan with daughter Erin and her friend Ryan for the weekend of July 6th.
They will also recall from previous posts that Sweet Escape had been on the hard for most of the month of June for bottom painting, maintenance and various other upgrades. We actually got her in back in our possession on July 4th.
One of the maintenance items that had been done at Riverside was the scrubbing of our 52 gallon diesel fuel tank. Riverside reported that the tank had been badly fouled on the bottom and that while the tank had been full they were only able to salvage five gallons of clean fuel. It makes no sense to clean the fuel tank and then fill it with dirty fuel.
On Tuesday July 3rd we stopped at Riverside and spoke with Technician Scott who was working on our tank monitoring system. He was attempting to calibrate the system and was having trouble because there was only the five gallons of fuel in the tank. There was some discussion about the yard taking the boat for fuel. Since we needed Sweet Escape finished by the end of the day we left him to his work.
The following day - july 4th, we arrived at the boat at 10:00 A.M. We needed to go to the fuel dock to take on fuel and have the waste tank pumped out in preparation for the cruise to Michigan on Friday. But of course, we wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. We had forgotten about the Racine 4th of July parade which took the Main Street bridge out of service until 1:30 P.M.
When we finally are able to leave Riverside we motor down river to the fuel dock at Pugh’s. There, we are unable to get any fuel into the tank. In fact, the tank spits fuel back at us when attempting to fill it acting as though it is already full. A check of the tank monitor shows the tank full. A visual inspection of the top of the tank which is under our bed in the master stateroom seems to also show the tank is full. Great, Riverside must have filled the tank in order to calibrate the tank monitor.
We leave Pugh’s and motor out into Lake Michigan for a pleasant but quick spin around the Racine Reef before returning to our slip.
Daughter Jenny along with son-in law Cory and grandson Cameron are coming to watch the fireworks show from our slip at Pugh’s which is very close to where they are launched, providing an excellent and very close view. We are supposed to provide dinner for them but are running very late. This particular July 4th was the hottest on record in southeastern Wisconsin. At one point the always reliable outside thermometer in our car was reading 107 degrees. We had spent most of the day outside in that heat and we were both exhausted. Thankfully Jenny agreed to bring the food and we all enjoyed a nice evening and a great fireworks show.
The next morning we met with Service Manager Marc Elsmo at Riverside to pay our bill and go over the work they had done during the haul out. We asked about the full fuel tank and Marc assured us that the tank is not full and in fact only had five gallons in it. We explained our inability to add fuel to the tank and Marc was adamant that Riverside had not added any fuel to the tank. He also said that the tank monitor had not yet been calibrated because it must be full to do the calibration.
At this point Brian emphasized that we were headed to Michigan the next day and needed a full fuel tank. Marc sent Scott over to Pugh’s and together we went back to the fuel dock where we were still unable to get much fuel onto the boat until Scott removed the vent hose from the tank. Once that hose was removed the tank filled easily and we took on 57 gallons of diesel. It appears that the vent hose is plugged internally somewhere and will most likely have to be replaced. Until then we’ll just burp the tank by removing the vent hose.
Lucky we did not run out of fuel the previous day as we were out on Lake Michigan motoring around oblivious to the fact that we had an almost empty fuel tank.
Preparations for our crossing continued Thursday afternoon. We had purchased the previous owner’s smallish 2006 Achilles RIB along with his Tohatsu 5hp outboard. The dinghy and engine had been stored at Riverside and we needed to move the dinghy and engine and get it mounted on Sweet Escape’s davit system.
The dinghy and engine were moved to the river on a forklift and then set in the water. Immediately the inflatable began taking on water. Brian checked to make sure that the rubber plug was installed and it was. Out of the water the dinghy came. The boat was then filled with water from a garden hose to help determine where it was leaking - but no water was leaking out. Now wait a minute. The boat holds water in just fine but can’t keep water out? That makes no sense. The plug is removed and the garden hose water is drained from the tender and the boat is put back into the river. Not a drop comes in. Oh well, best not to question success.
The engine started on the first pull and Brian took the Dinghy down the river to Sweet Escape’s slip while Judy drove there in the car and met him at the boat. The dinghy davits were then rigged with lifting slings and the engine was winched up onto the engine mount on the stern rail. The dinghy was then attached to the davits and raised into position on the stern of the boat and with that we were ready to cross Lake Michigan.
So how did it go? For the answer to that question you will have to wait for the next chapter in the continuing saga of the good ship Sweet Escape.
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