Daggers Down is finally going back into the water after a month and two days on the hard at Mile 533 Marine Ways. She is now gorgeous and has her official name and logo on the boat!
We spent the last month, eliminating all the Kilamandjaro name sites off every part of the boat. It took multiple coats of paint to remove the name from the underside of the chart table, but it was finally gone. We believed that one of the reasons, we have had so many problems was that this boat had been operating under two names. Her original name Kilamandjaro was still on the boat, but all her legal documents were under the name Daggers Down. In the sailing world, this discord is espoused to lead to bad Karma! Thus, once she was in the water, we pulled both the gennaker and jib out to black out the Kilamandjaro name on the sails. Now the original name was no longer on the boat anywhere as we had removed off the boat all documents with the old name. The new name was also covered.
The boat was now ready for the name change ceremony. We used the information by Chris Riley, Updated on April 23, 2020, Ceremony for Renaming Your Boat. We had bought methode champagne from California called Conundrum as this seemed to be appropriate for our difficult, puzzling boat.
The crew that was to assist in sailing the boat back to Kemah and a few other friends joined us in the ceremony. The crew consisted of Gary and Susan Clayton, Ron Sussman, Cuz John (of course) and Ben and Kitra Gray. In addition, Wendy and Paul Roach joined us through Zoom. We very ceremoniously followed all the procedures as we put the old name on a piece of medal with water soluble ink so that Poseidon could dissolve this name forever from the log of the deep. We poured champagne into the water to appease the Gods and all drank some for good measure. Once the original name had been absolved, we began the renaming ceremony, once again generously plying the Gods of Poseidon and the North, South, East and West with champagne, in hopes they will bless our new boat and allow for pleasant safe passages forevermore.
Afterwards, just to add to the luck, Paul offered a blessing to us from our God almighty and wished us safe passage. Wendy also had given us a decorated horseshoe that John and Ben had mounted in the cabin.
So with all this good Karma flowing, we were hopeful that the trip back to Kemah would be pleasant and uneventful.
With the motley crew assembled and the renaming ceremony completed, they prepared to ready the boat for departure on July 18, 2020 and head back to Kemah Boardwalk Marina.
I ran over to Popeyes for some fried chicken as it is a good protein that can be eaten cold if needed. Susan had assembled lunch meat wraps for everyone and we had made a donut run prior to coming to the boat. So, while the food might not be the most nutritious it should keep everyone going for the next 24 hrs. I sadly, was again, not joining the crew as I needed to drive the car home. So after getting the chicken and wishing everyone safe voyage, I hit the road.
Not long after they headed out, I got a text from Susan saying they were having an impeller problem, but it was decided that maybe it was just steam and the starboard engine was ok. So everyone settled in for a wonderful cruise.
They left the channel and Port Aransas behind.
Each crew member took turns at the helm station while others enjoyed the relatively calm seas by lying on the trampoline or sitting on the princess chairs.
The sky was a beautiful blue with lovely cumulus clouds and the wind was blowing around 10 knots. The only downside was that the breeze was mostly on the nose. So a large part of the journey was spent motor sailing.
Even though the weather was cooperative, the helmsman still had to be ever vigilant about the numerous oil rigs that posed a threat especially during the night. Several were not lit or even noted on the charts. So having two people on watch especially during the night was essential.
Until the point that the starboard engine went out around daybreak, the name change Karma seemed to have been holding. However, as the wind lightened, the crew decided to start the engines to make better way, but alas the ever-problematic starboard engine would not start. It was determined that there was a fuel blockage before the fuel pump as the primer ball was all the way flat.
So once again, the problem-solving team had to put their heads together to find a solution because getting into the dock with only one engine would be difficult. Meanwhile, they finally made it to the Galveston jetties and entered the bay.
The solution they finally devised was transferring fuel to a jerry can with the transfer pump.
Then they used a piece of tubing from the can to the engine, by-passing the blockage point (as unblocking this was not possible at the time). Ron basically had to sit in the engine room and hold the can while Ben maneuvered the boat down the ship channel into the marina. It was good they had formulated this fix because just as they were trying to dock a squall came up with rain and wind. So having two motors became very essential. Yay for the crew! They made it back diverting any disasters.
Once again the crew of Daggers Down has proven themselves worthy to take on anything that nature or mechanics has to throw at them.
Daggers Down made it safely back to Kemah in all its splendor!
