Trip 1, Day 1, Leg 1
Trip Day: Tuesday, July 27th
0830-Departure from Forest Lake. MN. 269 miles to Ash River Launch.
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| I'm Off! (Click to Enlarge) |
1430-Arrived Ash River Visitor Center, Voyageurs National Park. Parking was a fair walk to the ramp, and I wanted to check out the facilities before I did anything about launching the boat. The ramp is at the end of a long steep decline to the lake with docks on both sides. The better dock was on the east side. The down side was that the ramp is not adjacent to the dock so the boat will be too far away to reach. I chose to tie a long line to the boat and use that to pull it over to the dock once launched.
It was over an hour of prep just getting the roof top solar panels mounted, the galley ware back into position and the grill mounted on the stern rail (all removed for travel). Uncovering the winch, connecting the power cord, and setting up lines and fenders. Putting in the drain plug, taking off the engine brace, removing the hold down straps. Loading my extra propane tank and fire ring, and on and on!
1630-Finally launched and got away from the dock. Getting the boat off the trailer was no problem but it is a hassle to get the kayak off the pickup, because it is so high up. But, I got it off without hurting myself and tied it behind the boat using my tow rig.
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| At the launch - Ash River (Click to Enlarge) |
Almost immediately I ran into my first glitch! I started the motor to warm it up and there was no water coming out of the cooling system! It had not been that long since I just put in a new water impeller! I knew it was likely mud daubers that had plugged the hold so I pulled out an awl and went to work on the miniscule outlet and was able to clear it. First problem fixed!
So I motor away from the dock a couple hundred yards, or more, and noticed the engine was not running correctly! I pumped the primer again and it just collapsed! It was brand new, so this made no sense! I tried several things but nothing worked.
I finally determined it had to be the hose connection to the tank. It was simply not getting fuel from the tank. So, I played with that connection and finally determined the hose was not fully engaged in the tank fitting. I was then able to prime the engine properly. Nevertheless, it still did not seem to run at normal RPM's and at faster RPM the prop would cavitate. All of this completely puzzled me, but I kept going anyway.
I limped along to the boat site at Long Slu (K15). Engine ran okay, but at slower speed. Tie up was routine.
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| Day 1, Leg 1 Google Earth Track (Click to Enlarge) |
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| Nautical Chart Track (Click to Enlarge) |
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| VNP Site Map - Long Slu (K15), First Night (Click to Enlarge) |
Began dinner prep: grilled halibut, mashed potatoes, hot ciabatta roll, salad, and white wine. Afterward on the aft deck I had some more white wine along with ice water, since it was still hot!
I felt dirty so I took a swim in spite of some algae on the surface of the water. Felt really good!
Later, I had some Baileys and chocolate covered almonds for dessert while listening to tunes on Pandora. Sat on the deck and watched the sun set. I'm very tired and should sleep well. T-storms are expected the morning. Temp in the cabin after dark was 78F, 73F outside. Needs to cool off some before I can sleep!
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| Enjoying Dessert Watching The Sun Set (Click to Enlarge) |
2200-Will listen to an audio book and try to get some sleep as soon as it cools off some more.
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