Our Adventures
Heidi-Ho
The Beginning
We purchased Heidi-Ho in January 2025 at River Dunes, in Oriental, NC from Robert & Julie Parry. They owned what was then “Robes” for 14 years and kept her well-maintained and improved. Heidi-Ho is a 1985 Kadey-Krogen 42.
Brian and I left Massachusetts on my birthday (end of January) and stayed on the boat at River Dunes provisioning & learning the systems. The weather was cold and nasty. It took us a few days to figure out the heating system. We didn’t want to keep bothering Bob; we needed to figure out the workings of the boat ourselves. Thankfully, once the heating system was up and running, we were nice and cozy. One day we couldn’t get off the boat because the boat & docks were iced over. We weren’t going anywhere anyways, so… The previous owners were on vacation and when they returned, Bob was going to go thru the boat with us answering any questions or concerns we may have. Once Bob & Julie returned, Julie was diagnosed with COVID. Bob decided to stay away until she & he were no longer contagious (thank you). Almost 2 weeks later, Bob joined us aboard and help us navigate the boat out of the slip, over to the fuel dock and then out of the marina into the Pamlico Sound and on our way to Sailcraft Service where we would be for several weeks getting some work done. We’ve always owned sailboats and when I was behind the helm, I could see 360. This trawler is entirely different and more difficult to learn how to operate. The bow is angled upwards and the beam is a bit wider than we are used to. When I’m behind the helm, it is difficult for me to see how close I am to the docks. It will get figured out. We bought headsets, so that we can talk to each other when I’m navigating and Brian is tending lines, fenders, etc.
We drove back to Massachusetts April 16 to see family, medical appointments, touch base with our tenants, etc. It took us 14 ½ hours to make the trip – we should have stopped for an overnight. The ride was exhausting and stressful. I ended up with a migraine for several days – not fun. While we were at home base, Brian also built a cabinet to enclose my new washer/dryer unit. The unit will be set up in the salon as the area it would normally would have been placed was full with a lithium-ion battery system. Bob made some absolutely wonderful upgrades to this boat and we are so grateful.
When our boat was dry-docked in order to change the name, we met a young couple – Stephanie & Luciano. She’s from England and he’s Brazilian; they boat name is Matusadona. Once their boat was ready for launching, they were heading back to England via New Foundland. After the name change on our boat was done & boat was put back in the water, we invited Stephanie & Luciano along with Mark from Sailcraft Services over for a visit – it was a pleasant evening and interesting conversation.
Sail Craft Services: Mike & Jennifer Pawlikowski, owners. They our friendly people and have talented people working for them. We highly recommend their boatyard.
Mark – electronics expert. Mark has been doing most of the work on our boat with Mike working on the engine. Roy from Sea Coast Marine Electronics is updating the MMSI & AIS numbers. Brian is doing as much work as he can, not just to cut down on the costs if we farmed out the work, but it also gives him a chance to better understand the workings of the boat.
March 22, 2025
Headed back to Oriental with a rental vehicle filled to the brim with the dismantled pieces to surround the washer/dryer unit, new shelving for under the sink in the galley, clean laundry, lots of reading material, non-perishable food, cleaning supplies, etc. I think Heidi enjoyed laying on top of the pile in the back seat as it gave her a great vantage point. It took us exactly 12 hours to get back. The traffic wasn’t nearly as horrible as it was when we traveled north, though it made for a really long day. We got just about all of the car emptied out that night except for the wood pieces.
March 24, 2025
Woke up to pollen covering everything; even the water was coated – the ‘locals’ say it will be with us for weeks. Thought I’d list out all the work that was being done on the boat, So, here we go …
New galley sink drain hose, Brian built a shelf and a pullout shelf for under the galley sink, flushed & changed anti-freeze in the engine, took off heat exchanger & chemically cleaned and installed new zinc, put stabilizer in aft fuel tanks, installed carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors, installed a macerator pump for the holding tank, tightened engine valve cover and cleaned the engine with non-chlorinated brake cleaner, changed boat name, purchased new auto pilot remote, purchased and uploaded new charts, installed new Garmin 12” chart plotter on the upper helm, purchased and installed new chart plotter on the inside helm to show rear view camera, installed Splendide washer dryer unit, build new cabinet to surround the washer dryer, installed new windlass switch, installed new hydraulic ram for steering then bled the hydraulic lines, installed life line around upper deck, replaced all wiper blades, made and installed shelving for refrigerator and freezer, installed Star Link system, had the MMSI & AIS numbers changed on the electronics, stalled 6 new cleats, installed line holders, purchased new fenders and fender lines and docking lines. Need to replace the boom hoist line because it’s too thick & worn, had upper helm canvas repaired, made new fender boards, purchased new dinghy & outboard, had all water lines replaced, installed faucet under outside ladder for fresh water wash down, replaced missing heat shield in oven, replaced 2 overhead lights, replaced the rusted clevis pins for the standing rigging on the mast, bought new captain chair for upper helm and Installed pressure gauge on propane tank & checked for leaks.
Today while Brian worked on the cabinet for the washer dryer, I took Heidi for a walk and met up with recent acquaintances, Leah & Paul Jordan and their pup, Sandy. They live a few houses down from the boat yard. Leah gave me information regarding a harness for Heidi and they gave me a tour of their back yard which abuts the Neuse River. They have deep water dockage and a sailboat tied up to their own dock. They property is about ¾ of an acre – lovely yard. It looks good that all the work we requested to have done may actually be finished tomorrow or by Wednesday. Our rental car gets returned tomorrow. Hopefully, we will start on our journey by Thursday at the latest. The only hold up may be the changing of the MMSI & AIS numbers.
March 25, 2025
This morning Mark finished all of the work involved with our waste system. Mark wanted me to run a load of laundry to make sure the unit was working properly. I used a laundry sheet for wash cycle – the water started coming out of the vent, so that was a no no. Need to get the correct laundry detergent. Another issue came to light when I tried the drying cycle. The machine made such a racquet, like a piece of metal scraping the drum as it rotated. We called the Spendide manufacturer and explained the situation. We were given a contact for service, except they guy is over 3 hours away and wasn’t interested in driving that far. We will check first thing in the morning to see if there is a reputable service (appliance tech). If we can’t find anyone to come out soon to look at it, we will start our journey north anyways and ask at the next stop. Mike, the boat yard owner, finished working on the engine. He requested we take the boat out this afternoon for about an hour. We called Bob Parry to see if he wanted to be a calming soul for me as I’m still learning the workings of navigation. He was planning on stopping by this afternoon anyways to check out what changes and/or improvements we had made to the boat, so it worked out well for us that he was willing to help out. So glad he was, as it seemed to me a great deal of pandemonium in trying to dock the boat. The issue was, the boat handlers were all talking and shouting at once – too much. Bob said I did just fine, but my gut told me otherwise. Mike will stop early morning to check the coolant for the engine. Brian returned our rental car this morning and spent the rest of the day doing odd jobs that kept him busy the rest of the day. Also, Roy from Sea Coast Marine Electronics was able to finish setting up our MMSI & AIS this morning, now we are officially complaint with the FCC regulations. Woohoo!
March 26, 2005
Mike (owner of Sailcraft Services checked our engine first thing and topped it off with anti-freeze. All is good and we are good to star our journey. Left the yard at 9:00 am and journeyed 6 hours to Bell Haven Marina. Winds were pretty steady all day with occasional gusts of about 14 knots. Boat handled it just fine, until we had to cross the Pamlico River. The winds picked up and waves were broadsiding us which made for a rather uncomfortable ride. Poor Heidi was freaked – I could hear her panting behind me, while Brian held her to calm her down. When we first left this morning, we discussed turning on our gyroscope in case we hit weather and waves broadsiding us and, of course, decided not to turn it on. It takes about a ½ hour for it to warm up before it kicks in. Well, when we started across the Pamlico River, it was too late to get it up and running. Lesson learned (Bob); from now on it gets turned on especially if we know we will be in large body of open water, knowing the winds will not be light and which direction they are coming from on that particular day. Other than that rough patch, it was a good first day on the Loop. At Belhaven, we wanted to pump out the waste tank and plug in to electric. We were told which dock to tie up to. Winds were still about 14 knots and pushing us around a bit. There was also another boat already tied up right in front of us. We used our headsets and Brian talked me through everything – how close or far away from the other boat and dock I was (it will take me a while to get use to the bulk of this boat & lack of sight lines). Got in with no issues and tied up. The pump out didn’t work, as there was absolutely no pressure from the machine and the electric hook up also didn’t work. Oh well, we don’t have a full waste tank and can use the marina’s facilities and we have a generator if need to charge. We met the owners of the boat in front of us – Iron Marriage (Rick & Jennifer). We all toured each other’s boats – had a nice visit. Last night we walked into town and had dinner at the local Tavern. Our waitress was from a sailboat anchored out in the Pantego Creek – had a lovely chat with her. Iron Marriage left about 7:00 am this morning and we watched them get their boat off the dock and turn it 360 to get out of the channel, because we would be doing the same. After they left, I told Brian I wanted to get the boat turned around right away, while the winds were minimal and hopefully no one was watching. It was a new challenge for me to turn the boat 360 in a limited area. Headsets were used, and we did just fine and apparently there was another captain watching us who said I did a great job! Whew! A big "thank you" to Bob Parry for teaching me the back and fill technique - worked like a charm Took a walk into town and had breakfast. After breakfast we moseyed over to another short channel and met up with 2 other boaters and talked and told stories and the boating experience.
We are excited to have our new boat and know that we have a step learning curve with all of the systems on the boat. The litheon/ion phosphate battery system makes us aware of how technically unsavvy we are.