How do I know it will be better tomorrow? The weatherman told me of course.
Just picked up 2411 liters, 637 gallons, of gas oil, a.k.a diesel. That’s 4533 pounds of fuel, added to the 400 pounds she already had. Dauntless now sits a few inches lower than before, but looks ready to go.
And the engine room smells as sweet as ever, with no fuel smell, just the smell of new batteries and cables.
Now you wonder why all the fuss? Isn’t re-fueling supposed to be easy and routine? Well, if you are driving a car I suppose it is. I’ve filled cars with fuel thousands of times. But on Dauntless it’s been less than 30 times and on Dauntless, nothing is ever routine.
A few of the shenanigans that have taken place while fueling:
Being showered by a volcano of fuel at the Portsmouth, NH fish dock. Luckily, no fishing boat was waiting as I showered and got out of my fuel soaked clothes.
Succumbing to the fear expressed by my friends about running out of fuel, I purposely overfilled the tanks by about 10 gallons before leaving Rhode Island. This was soon followed by the little fuel runoff coming from the port side tank, a few of those extra gallons soon were in the bilge.
The most recent leak last summer that lead to the New Ross Experience. Much like the Jimi Hendrix Experience in Seattle, but more expensive.
And after each debacle, the next fueling are filled with dread; what will happen next?
So, as you can see, I have every reason to be elated about smelling nothing in the engine room.
Best of all, the 637 gallons cost half of what I paid to fill the tanks two years ago in the fall of 2014.
Tomorrow, with a full fuel and water load, Dauntless is ready to take care of business as we head south for France, Spain & Portugal.
Dauntless faces the Brian Boru. Tomorrow they say goodbye for a long time; hopefully not forever.
I’m an eclectic person, who grew up in New York, lived overseas for many years and have a boat, Dauntless, a 42 foot Kadey Krogen trawler yacht. Dauntless enables me to not only live in many different parts of the world, but to do it in a way that is interesting, affordable, with the added spice of a challenge.
Dauntless also allows me to be in touch with nature. As the boat glides through the ocean, you have a sense of being part of a living organism. When dolphins come to frolic, they stay longer if you are out there talking to them, watching them. Birds come by, sometimes looking for a handout; sometimes grateful to find a respite from their long journey.
I grew up on the New York waterfront, in the West Village, when everything west of Hudson St. was related to shipping and cargo from around the world. For a kid, it was an exciting place of warehouses, trucks, and working boats of all kinds: tugs and the barges and ships, cargo and passenger, they were pushing around.
My father was an electrical engineer, my mother an intellectual, I fell in between.
I have always been attracted to Earth’s natural processes, the physical sciences. I was in 8th grade when I decided to be a Meteorologist.
After my career in meteorology, my natural interest in earth sciences: geology, astronomy, geography, earth history, made it a natural for me to become a science teacher in New York City, when I moved back to the Big Apple. Teaching led to becoming a high school principal to have the power to truly help kids learn and to be successful not only in school but in life.
Dauntless is in western Europe now. In May and June, I will be wrapping up the last two years in northern Europe, heading south to spend the rest of the year in Spain & Portugal.
Long term, I’m planning on returning to North American in the fall of 2017 and from there continuing to head west until we’re in Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, where we will settle for a bit.
But now, my future lies not in NY or even Europe, but back to the water, where at night, when the winds die down, there is no noise, only the silence of the universe. I feel like I am at home, finally.
View all posts by Richard on Dauntless
I thought I did.
Old age, they were at least 7+ years old and I didn’t understand the importance of getting them back to 100% charge asap.
So they were old batteries that all of a sudden had daily use.
Hey! Where are you? I have some days off coming on Sunday for the week. My friend And I would like to see if you wanted some adventurers to hang out with you all on the boat?
Dauntless at Sea 
Engage Mr Chekov…
Good luck and Godspeed! Can you share what killed your batteries?
I thought I did.
Old age, they were at least 7+ years old and I didn’t understand the importance of getting them back to 100% charge asap.
So they were old batteries that all of a sudden had daily use.
Hope the winds stay light and over the stern!
Hey! Where are you? I have some days off coming on Sunday for the week. My friend And I would like to see if you wanted some adventurers to hang out with you all on the boat?