Three Boat Flotilla, 1 Mantus Anchor, and 30 Knots of wind

Three boats, One Mantus

Yesterday, we had a couple friends come into the cove to visit.  The conditions were calm, so our friends rafted up to Banjo creating a cool three boat flotilla to spend a nice Saturday night.  Around 04:30 this morning, we awoke to significant wind gusts only to remember that we were the only boat anchored of the three.  The wind gusts were in the low-mid 30-knot range.  We found ourselves in the situation of a three boat flotilla all sharing one Mantus anchor. The specifics of the three boats were…

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Bacon Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese

Bacon Jalepeno Cheddar Cream cheese

Discovered my new favorite thing today at Carolina Bagel Co & Deli in New Bern, NC, in the form of a toasted & buttered Everything Bagel covered with Bacon Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese.  We usually elect to have our cream cheese on the side so we can apply it ourselves.  But you can see for yourself, this cream cheese is not for the faint of heart.  Also pictured is the Carolina Scramble with salsa. You get flavors consisting of a slight Jalapeño spice, TONS of bacon, sharp cheddar and smooth…

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Perkins 4.236 Engine Repair: Raw Water Pump

Perkins 4.236 Marine Engine Raw Water Pump installation

I received a call from Chuck first thing this morning. He had been thinking about our engine and the possible locations where water could get into the crankcase.  Although the most obvious answer to the problem is a blown head gasket, Chuck made a recommendation to check our raw water pump.  By ruling out the raw water pump first, we could potentially avoid the costly head gasket replacement. What is a Raw Water Pump The raw water pump on Banjo is responsible for pulling sea water into the engine as…

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Post-Hurricane Michael Sunset

Tonight’s sunset literally had Shannon call me out of the rack to come see.  After being up all night on anchor watch during Hurricane Michael’s passage through North Carolina, and our visit by Chuck Courtney (EDIT: 2019Jun25 PLEASE SEE THIS POST FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS TECHNICIAN), I was beat tired.  Shannon was down cooking up some dinner and she hollered, “You have GOT to come see this!” Our first sunset since Hurricane Michael did not disappoint.  We have seen many spectacular sunsets since bringing Banjo to…

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Banjo’s Thirsty Thursday

Thirsty Thursday Last Thursday was a “Thirsty Thursday” kind of day aboard Banjo.  I suppose Thirsty Thursday can take many forms.  This Thirsty Thursday’s line up was a bath, about 100 gallons of water, wine AND champagne. Bath Time We started out the day with a bath for Banjo.  Since we knew we were planning on filling the water tank Shawn jumped in the dink and gave Banjo girl a much-needed bath.  So fresh, so clean, so happy! 100 Gallons of Water Although Banjo was a fresh, clean, and happy…

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Tropical Storm Michael, just in time for Halloween

Tropical Storm Michael

We aren’t out of the woods quite yet.  It’s time to hunker down again.  Tropical Storm Michael is anticipated to be a Category 2 Hurricane, as of this writing, when it comes ashore in the Florida panhandle.  NHC is indicating the potential for tropical storm force winds for New Bern, NC.  Below are the NHC graphics from Mon, 08Oct2018 at 09:30 EST. Hurricane-Force Wind Speed Probabilities 50-Knot (58 mph) Wind Speed Probabilities Tropical-Storm-Force Wind Speed Probabilities Earliest Reasonable Arrival Time of Tropical-Storm-Force Winds Most likely arrival time of Tropical-Storm-Force Winds…

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