My Trawler Odyssey

If I was to choose a word to sum up the circumstances and outcomes of the event associated with this boat purchase, “Ideal” would not be it. To be fair it was quite obvious looking back. From getting kicked out of the marina I was planning on staying at to the struggle of finding a place that would haul and store her and then the whole insurance fiasco. But wait, there’s more. When the boat arrived in Muskegon I wanted to get her on the hard as soon as possible. The bilge pumps were running quite often reminding me of the hull work needed to be done, and I was hoping to maybe get a jump start on some of that work before the weather turn to a steady state of winter. Of course I’m guessing I was probably the last person to schedule a haul-out with the marina, which puts me at the bottom of their to-do list. But I was hopeful and they said they would be able to get her out a day or 2 after she gets there. 2 days after the arrival, we were struck with a series of weather event that brought high winds across the area, shutting down all boat activity in the marina for roughly 2 weeks. Expecting the boat to be out no more than 2 day later, the dock lines were at the minimal set up. With that in mind, I head straight to the boat after work that 2nd day. The winds had pick up significantly and Odyssey was thrashing about in the slip pretty good. I reconfigured and added dock line to stabilize the motion. I then went back on board to do a quick system inspection and check the overall condition. I found that the primary bilge pump located in the engine room was not cycling causing the water level in the bilge to be higher than I was comfortable with. I gave it a tap with the handle of a screwdriver and it kicked off and emptied the bilge as it should. I watch it for several minutes and it seemed to be functioning okay now. Every day following I would make that my first stop on the way home from work to check the pump. Some days it was fine some it needed a little persuasion it get going again. After 2 weeks of thinking “It will be Hauled tomorrow.” and finding it still in the water, I decided give in and just to replace the bilge pump so I could sleep again. I bought a new pump, went down to the marina, and low and behold it was out of the water and out of danger of becoming a salvage operation.

I was now mid-November. I called the one company that was allowed to work in the boat yard for shrink wrapping to that scheduled ASAP. If you haven’t noticed yet, nothing has gone as planned so far, why should that change now? Sure enough, they were done scheduling job because the booked through the end of the season. Yep, sounds about right. No wrap this year. I do have a canvas cover that is usable condition that came with the boat. However it does need some proper framing underneath to prevent the weight of the snow from causing more damage that simply not having a cover at all. So, not having the time to build the frames she is going uncovered to my dismay.

Now that you are up to speed Lets talk recent news. Like the title states, it’s the small things that can keep you going through the winter and sustain the excitement of a spring and summer filled with making your dreamboat a reality. My little things started with removing the old tarnished nav lights and name placards. The previous own name the boat Amanah, which I did like. Its a Hebrew word meaning faithful and steadfast. I originally had plan on keeping the name, but one day Odyssey just hit me and I knew it was perfect. If nothing else, this boat is going to be an odyssey.

I think they are coming along nicely.

The past few day here in West Michigan have also been blessed with some traditional winter weather dropping around 10″ of snow in my area. Without a cover I want to limit the amount of snow melt that will happen when the weather decides to be spring for a few day in mid-January (welcome to Michigan). So last night I decided to go down to Odyssey and “shovel” my boat. Because the driveway just wasn’t enough. I have to admit, It was much more enjoyable than I would have ever imagined, peaceful, quiet and dark. Just being there, with something that usually is, for the most part, forgotten for a good three month and at least for me, never associated with snow. It was almost therapeutic. Another small thing that has reignited my enthusiasm for the up coming year that I know is going to be filled with a lot of hard work and I’m sure many trials and blunders to test my resolve in continuing this Odyssey.