The Birds of Oconto

We winter our boat at Hi Seas Marina in Oconto, Wisconsin. It is located directly across from the Oconto Marsh Trail, a vast habitat for birds. We love hiking in the marsh and watching the sky for sightings of migrating feathered friends. On one of our walks, we stumbled across a shy Sora Bird, sneaking through the reeds. Soras are known for being heard rather than seen as they move quickly through the cat tails. I tried to grab a photo but didn't even have time to focus the lens before he'd slipped back into hiding. Here are some of the other birds that have crossed our path this spring.

Marlo the Canvasback

Canvasback ducks are rare in this area

Cardinal hiding in the brush

Downy Woodpecker landing

Downy Woodpecker looking for bugs

Purple Finch visiting nest on a boat

Finch nest, these are NOT finch babies!

Doves visit us every day

Nest Building Robin

Her nest on the bumper of a truck

Kildeer

Northern Flicker Singing in a tree

Northern Flicker

Greater Egret

Geese in the marsh

Mama goose with baby

Grackle

Cranes in flight

Crane peeking out of marsh grass

Hiding Crane

Small flock of cranes in the marsh

Female Red Wing Black Bird

Red Wing Black Bird Pair

Swallows on a back stay

Pelican

Flock of Pelicans

Dove

Cow Bird

Purple Martin

Purple Martin

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

Rail, sneaking through the tall reeds

Rails are very shy

Bilge Pump Saga

We were scheduled to launch at 1:00 on Sunday, June 7, a little late going in compared to previous years. We'd wrapped up all our boat projects by noon. While we waited for Brett at Hi-Seas to prepare the Harbor Hoist, we went through all our systems one last time. Wouldn't you know, we found an issue.

Dave had been messing around in our bilge a few days earlier, just cleaning things up and looking for structural issues. He found the pump hose was cracked so he shortened it enough to reattach it securely. I'm not sure why, but I asked him to test it again before we launched, which was a good thing. It was no longer working properly. The pump would run but it sounded different, like it had an air bubble.

It was an hour before launch. Dave began the process of troubleshooting. He unhooked the pump from the hose and dropped it into the water in the bilge. It kicked right in so the pump was not the problem. Dave took the check valve off to inspect it and found that it was very worn and appeared to have a bad valve in it.

Bilge pump with float

Since the hose was old and already showing wear, we picked up a new one, along with a new check valve. The repair didn't take long but getting the new hose in place was tough! We left the old one as our guide and ran the new one up, over, and behind small spaces until it reached the exit hole on the port side of the quarter birth. 

New check valve and hose

The new hose was more flexible than the old and kept crimping at the anti-syphon loop. Another visit to Menards and we had a PVC condensation trap that fit perfectly and guided the hose smoothly around the curve. By the time we were done it was 4:00 pm, too late to make the sail to Menominee.

Anti-syphon loop

The bad news is we are still on the hard. The good news is Mystic is in great shape and we've tackled some big repairs this spring. We'll try to launch after making a trip home to Minnesota. We're going to be a month late but we're not complaining. We've enjoyed spending spring in Oconto at Hi-Seas Marina.

Amazing sky

Beautiful sunset at Hi Seas Marina

Mystic under the flag pole

The Soft Cockpit Deck Repair

We've known about the soft spot in our cockpit since we were on the Great Loop. A crack developed around the rudder post. Dave covered it with epoxy a couple times but it kept returning. It was time for a permanent fix. 

Crack around rudder post

After some research and gathering of supplies, we were ready to take on this project. We chose Total Boat epoxy because the reviews were good and the dispensing pumps made measuring easy. The mix is one pump to one pump, a ratio of five resin to one hardener. Each resin pump is measured to match each hardener pump in the correct amount.

Dave started by drilling holes in the deck to get to the balsa core. He used a pick to pull out the soft wood. It was quickly apparent that the water intrusion was worse than we thought. Once the moisture got in, it couldn't get back out. The floor would have to come up. Dave began cutting out the area of drilled holes by connecting the dot pattern. The entire area underneath was wet and the balsa was completely rotted. He continued to extend the opening until the area needing repair was about a 2x2 foot section. Luckily, there is a solid fiberglass support beam running across the cockpit which kept water from getting to the rest of the cockpit floor. The repair area was big but could have been much worse.

Holes Drilled to Reach the Balsa Core

Cut out area
Crack at base of rudder post

Rotten balsa core

 Repair area ready for epoxy

Luckily, Menards carries the marine grade plywood we used to replace the old balsa core. We only needed a little, (2x2), but had to purchase an entire board sheet, (4x8). Marine grade plywood is not cheap! Dave cut and fit the plywood, then drilled little gullies on each side so he could get the epoxy to flow around and under the wood, filling any cracks or voids. The plywood was held in place by a fiberglass mat and epoxy layer. We let that dry then added a second coat that covered the plywood and  filled the entire area up to just below the floor. Unfortunately, we ran out of epoxy. Our Amazon order would take only a few days but it ended our forward motion, slowing down the project. We shifted gears and worked on other things while we waited.

Marine plywood with fiberglass mat underneath

First coat of epoxy under plywood

Second coat of epoxy over plywood

The epoxy arrived on Wednesday, one day later than expected. We were eager to get back to the project. Dave had already sanded out the second coat so it was prepared to receive the next. The sun was high over the cockpit. The weather was finally warming up so Dave used a laser infrared thermometer to check the temperature of the floor. It was 106; much too hot for curing epoxy safely. We rigged our sun shade over the work area and waited for it to cool down. I mixed epoxy while Dave added a coat over the entire area then filled in with 5 or 6 layers of fiberglass cloth. He wetted out, or soaked each layer of the cloth with epoxy to build the repair area up close to the level of the floor. 

Next he mixed up a fairing or finishing compound of epoxy and silica made by Total Boat. It made the surface smoother and filled the gaps. It took one last coat of fairing compound to fill the remaining low spots. Dave sanded before priming the area. His last step was adding two top coats, the first with non-skid added to it. The final coat extended over the repair as well as the rest of the cockpit floor. The damage is no longer visible and we have a bright and clean cockpit.

Ready for top coats of paint

Fiberglass cloth shows through
the epoxy

First coat with non-skid

This project was a major one that, at times, looked and felt daunting. But it's like everything we do, it wasn't so bad taken in steps. Patience and diligence got us through. In some ways the weather hindered our work but it also kept us in the yard long enough to take care of the repair. One of the things that draws us to Hi Seas Marina is being able to work on our boat. Boat yards are a great place to hang out and get stuff done! We've been in a lot of marinas throughout the US. Hi-Seas is one of our favorites!