November is here and that means Neverland is getting a much needed rest after covering 1,000 miles this summer!
On November 18th, I flew to Erie to take care of getting everything ready for winter. It was a cold and rainy couple of days, but the winterization process went very well.
First, the battery situation had to be dealt with. As you know, the webcam stopped working and while I thought it might be due to a lack of cell coverage in the area, the real culprit seems to have been a dead battery bank. I found that one of the bilge pumps had malfunctioned, keeping it in the “pump” position nonstop, so that kept the battery dead even though the solar would charge it during the day.
I then moved on to pumping RV antifreeze through all of the freshwater systems on the boat. This includes the head, galley sink and shower (including the water heater).
Last on the list was the engine. Neverland pulls in fresh water from the ocean/lake to help cool the engine, so in order to make sure no fresh water is sitting in the engine, the raw water intake is removed and placed in a large bucket of antifreeze. The engine is then started (she fired right up!) and the antifreeze is cycled through the raw water side of the engine.
While there, I examined the damage to the prop, which wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be. I also looked at the area were the mount to the stern tube is loose. I will need to do some research to make sure I understand how this repair needs to be made.
Neverland is set to remain on the hard in Erie until Spring, when we’ll have her launched back in Lake Erie for the next leg!