R/V David Folger to be dedicated on October 20

The R/V David Folger will be officially dedicated on October 20 in a celebration at the Basin Harbor Club in Vergennes. College President Ron Liebowitz and his wife Jessica will be on hand to greet everyone. Refreshments will be served at 12:30 p.m., and the dedication ceremony will begin at 1:30. Hope to see you there!

Tom and I will be there to celebrate!


Hudson River to the Champlain Canal

After reaching Tarrytown last night, Tom and Bill had a smooth transition. Tom got back to Vermont by midnight. The crew now consists of Bill Lowell, Chris Goodrich, and Captain Richard Furbush. Today the R/V David Folger has made her way up the Hudson River and has started entering the lock system that will bring her to Lake Champlain. They passed West Point and also many historic bridges and lighthouses. They got as far north as Lock 4 today. Tomorrow they hope to reach Whitehall, NY. Watch the SPOT-GPS to see them traveling along.

The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse.

West Point

Cape May, New Jersey to the Hudson River!

Again weather is playing havoc with us getting the R/V David Folger up to New York City and to the Hudson River, as thunderstorms and intense rains are battering Cape May this morning. Originally the crew planned to be in port today, but they have since decided to try to push northward. So watch the SPOT-GPS  (http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02V91mYmVsJtckJrQC7usqhLa3ch6ROWV).  Because Tom has to teach next Monday, he will leave the vessel today. Bill Lowell will join the crew and is currently driving to Tarrytown, New York, where he will replace Tom. Tom will drive back up to Vermont tonight or tomorrow. We are still hoping that the Folger will make it to Lake Champlain by this weekend, but as they say… who knows! The crew made good time today and is now traveling up the Hudson River. Only about 200 miles still to go. Yahoo! Check out the video of the sea swells near Atlantic City. As always, Lady Liberty and the Freedom Tower were awe-inspiring.

https://vimeo.com/48981116

Freedom Tower

Delaware Bay – Day 16

The R/V David Folger left Summit North Marina this morning and is traveling down the Delaware Bay. The crew hopes to reach Cape May by noon and then assess the seas before traveling up the eastern New Jersey coastline. Besides Navy vessels in the Chesapeake region, they also have encountered some pretty large cargo vessels. Due to the remnants of Hurricane Issac, they had rough seas and only traveled 53 nm. They stopped at South Jersey Marina for the evening.

Today’s track

Chesapeake Bay

The R/V David Folger left Tidewater Marina this morning and is traveling up the Chesapeake Bay. The northward movement is going faster than yesterday, and we are getting closer and closer to Vermont. Being so close to Norfolk, the crew got to see some pretty large ships and a submarine. After traveling 189 nm today they stopped at the Summit North Marina near Bear, Delaware.

Navy Submarine in the Chesapeake Bay

Aircraft carrier near Norfolk

Alligator River Marina and heading north

Tom, Chris, and Richard

The R/V David Folger left the Columbia, NC region this morning, and the SPOT GPS shows them moving past Kitty Hawk. Work continues to get all the equipment functioning and the software up and running for our Fall courses. The sights and the people the crew have met at the marinas they’ve visited have been great. In fact, they have met up with the same boaters a couple of times as they have moved north. The crew traveled 75 nm today and ended up at Portsmouth, VA at the Tidewater Yacht Marina for the evening. This section of the ICW has numerous bridges that need to be raised.They waited over 30 minutes for one bridge to be opened and then went through a lock that raised them 6″.

Charleston City Boatyard – Day 3

Today the bearings, shaft, and propeller are being installed at the boatyard, and then the R/V David Folger will be put back in the water. However, it will take 24 hours of “soaking” for the hull to realign itself before shaft alignment and sea trials can be completed. If all is well, the Folger will be underway by noon on Friday (the 31st). Keep the positive vibes coming that this will happen!

In the meantime, we (Tom, Chris, and Richard) have all worked on other issues that we had already discovered, such as dealing with the dead band in the rudder assembly and the non-functioning water cooler, cleaning barnacles off the transducers, repairing the speed log (which mechanically measures boat speed through water), sending the malfunctioning Knudsen echo sounder deck unit back to the company, making modifications to the wheelhouse, and programming display parameters, just to mention a few. We will very relieved to get the Folger on the water once again.

Pat won’t be able to join the crew because she needs to head back to Middlebury for her First Year Seminar next week, so you’ll be hearing more from me as the journey proceeds.