Sept 13
We picked up my son, Chris Jr., at Stewart Airport in Newburgh a little before noon. He had flown over night from Phoenix to Philadelphia, then on to here this morning. We took his stuff to my brother's house, had lunch, and then went over to his grandmother's house where the family was. We visited for a little while, then left Jr. there while Barb and I went to check on the boat. It has been raining for the last two days, so I'm curious to check our voltage since there's been no sun.
We found the voltage still above 12.20, but decided to run the motor for an hour or so anyway, since the forecast is for steady rain for the next three days. I started the motor and watched the battery monitor, and saw that we didn't appear to be charging at all. I opened the engine compartment so I could see the voltage regulator, and it's lights were all on, as if it were still in the initial turn-on mode. I wiggled wires but nothing made it change. I had Barb shut the motor off and turn the key back on while I watched the lights, and it acted the same. I then had her start the motor, and I ran a hot wire from a battery to the field terminal of the alternator to tickle the circuit and make sure the alternator was putting out, and it was. Back to the voltage regulator, I tried to reset it manually. While activating the switch made lights blink, nothing they did followed any pattern that was in the manual. With the motor running, it would charge for a while, but at the float rate instead of the bulk rate, then it would stop, then it would come on at the bulk rate for a bit. A then while it seemed to stay in bulk mode, the lights danced randomly. I bought and installed this Balmar ARS-4 smart regulator last year while we were here. I got out the manual to check what the warrantee was and found it was one year. I dug out the receipt and found that I purchased it one year and two weeks ago. On the hope of good will, I called Balmar's customer service number. I explained what was happening and the guy agreed it sounded broken. I explained when I bought it and he said they were not going to dicker over a couple of weeks. My options are to send it in for them to test and replace if bad, or have them send a new one, charge me a core charge, I'll return the old one and assuming it's bad they'll refund the core charge. We went with option two and the new one should be here Friday.
Later we went back to pick Jr. up and returned to my brothers'.
GPS N 41-36.488 W 073-57.609 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 6315.
Sept 14
The day dawned cold and rainy. We didn't do much all day, and attended the wake in the evening. I saw lots of old friends and family that I have not seen in many, many years.
GPS N 41-36.488 W 073-57.609 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 6315.
Sept 15
The funeral was this morning. It was pouring rain again well into the afternoon. I was one of the pall bearers, and actually wore a suit. (Those of you who know me well will probably me surprised I own a suit, let alone wore it.) We held the funeral at the Catholic church she attended regularly, did the graveside service, and then went back to the house until well into the evening.
GPS N 41-36.488 W 073-57.609 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 6315.
Sept 16
Today we are going to drive down to Scarsdale to visit my daughter at her house. She did not bring her little kids to any of the funeral stuff, and Jr. hasn't seen the kids in a couple of years. It's about an hour and a half drive from my brother's to Scarsdale. We got there a little after noon, had lunch with them and visited until late in the afternoon.
GPS N 41-36.488 W 073-57.609 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 6315.
Sept 17
Today is my sister-in-law Kitty's birthday. We are celebrating by going to West Point, to the Hotel Thayer for their Sunday brunch. The Hotel Thayer is a historic hotel overlooking the Hudson River. Back before 9/11 the public could drive on the grounds of West Point openly. Now, there are security check points and everybody has to produce ID, and you can only access the hotel and it's immediate grounds. The Sunday brunch there is renowned and I had been there once, many years ago. We were not disappointed, although we did seem to think it wasn't quite as good as years past. That's not to say it was in any way bad. But there were a few items that used to always be on the buffet that were not there this time. One thing that had not changed was that champagne, mimosas, and Bloody Mary's are included in the price of admission.
After brunch, we drove a little further south to Bear Mountain. We came under the Bear Mountain Bridge on our way up the Hudson. We have a friend who last year walked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail non-stop, and Bob & Kitty wanted to show us where the trail comes through Bear Mountain. The road from the main highway up to where the trail is has many turns through the woods and is very popular with motorcycle riders. As we neared the top of the road where it ends at an old fire lookout tower that has great vistas, we were stopped by several bikers who had parked in the road. Turned out a bike had gone over the edge up ahead and a flatbed tow truck was winching it back up to the road, so the road was blocked. From what we understood, the rider was ok. We waited about fifteen minutes and the road re-opened. We got to the top, and took a walk around the tower area and saw the trail. We can now say we hiked the Appalachian Trail - about ten feet of it. We headed back down the road and were almost back to the highway when we came across a police car blocking the road. A few hundred feet ahead was a hairpin turn and another bike had been dropped going around the turn. We could see the bike still laying in the road, and the officer said they were awaiting an ambulance for the rider. We had to turn around this time and go about ten miles around the mountain to get back to the highway and head back home.
After leaving Bob & Kitty at their house, we took Jr. over to his grandmother's house to visit with his aunt and uncle. We went down to the boat and I installed the new voltage regulator. It worked perfectly. We ran the motor for about an hour to get a little extra charge. We went back home, watched football and had a very light dinner since we had so much food at brunch.
GPS N 41-36.488 W 073-57.609 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 6315.
Sept 18
We are just hanging around my brother's house today. My son and daughter are with their aunt and uncle figuring out estate things. My brother has five beehives that he keeps as a hobby. We noticed this morning that someone or something had knocked two of the hives over. He had a bear knocked one over last year, but this time the racks inside the hive are not damaged, so it wouldn't appear to have been a bear. At any rate, he needs to stand them back up and reassemble the sections. He put on a double layer of clothing and his screen hat/veil and went to do this. Barb and I were on the screened in porch doing other things. A few minutes after Bob went out to the hives, he came running back swatting and yelling. A bee had gotten inside the veil and stung his ear lobe. Normally honey bees are docile and will not sting. But, once the bees feel threatened they attack, and once one stings you, they can smell the bad guy and everybody tries to sting you. He had several hundred following him, and at least a hundred stung his clothing. As he ran, most of them gave up the chase, but a few were determined. He got near the back porch and grabbed the hose and started hosing himself off. Normally he would have jumped in his pool, but it is already covered for the season. I went out to help and swatted bees on him with a heavy leather glove. We probably killed a couple dozen before we were able to get inside the screen porch. Once inside, as we took off his layers of clothes, there were still angry bees in the folds. We swatted them as we found them and finally had them all gone. There were dozens outside the screen though who could still sense the smell from his clothing. Once he went and showered, and took his clothes to the basement to wash, they went away. An hour later, he redressed in double layers again and we went out to get the veil from the backyard. This time we are going to duct tape it to his shirt so there is no chance of one getting inside. As soon as we were outside, a bee started to harass me. I must have gotten some of the scent on me when I was helping him swat. One bee got in my hair and was hard to get rid of, but I got him off me and got back inside without getting stung. Bob got the veil brought it inside, and I helped tape him up. He then went back out and this time smoked the hives, which distracts the bees while you work. He was able to get the two hives reassembled this time with no further incident.
Later in the afternoon, my son and daughter came to my brother's house. We had dinner and Bob & Kitty got to see the grandkids for a while. They enjoyed being able to run around the large yard, play the slot machine, and everybody except Tyler enjoyed playing with the big friendly dog.
GPS N 41-36.488 W 073-57.609 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 6315.
Sept 19
We took my son to the airport about midday. We said our goodbyes and he went on through Security to the gates. We ran some errands and went back to the house. We got a call from my son to tell us that his flight was being held in Newburgh for an hour due to weather in Philadelphia. Luckily, he has a three hour layover there before going to Phoenix. Later we found he barely made his connection, but got home ok.
My brother has a 1954 Massey Ferguson that hasn't run in five years or so, that he wants to resurrect. Today we did some internet searching and ordered a few parts. Should be interesting.
GPS N 41-36.488 W 073-57.609 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 6315.