Friday, December 31, 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

One more year is passing and another being born on the stroke of midnight tonight. Today is New Year’s Eve. It’s a time of letting go, remembering, and looking forward. You can’t blame the past for who you are. You can learn from it – if you’re lucky, take responsibility for your own actions and move on. The past can’t be changed but the present, and future? Ah, well that’s what a new year is about now, isn’t it. Each sunrise is a fresh awakening with new possibilities, each New Year a time of growth and exploration - of your life, and, of the lives around you. It’s a chance to start fresh if you want, if you can… a fresh start to let go of the anchors that hold you back from being whom or what you want to be. I hope you do. I hope you can. Each year seems to get shorter until one day; there will be no more years left.

I was reminded of that this evening. Axel, Mary, Wayne and I went to dinner at a nice little place on the corner yesterday and tomorrow. Somewhere, stuck in yesterday and today, a man was trying to take his life. When we got to the restaurant there were police there with the man and his dog. While we watched the drama unfold with the arrival of a fire truck and rescue truck, we learned that the man had taken 90 some pills, was toting a gun and was a regular to the restaurant. He never drank. This evening he was drinking and, packing. The restaurant called the police and in looking at his phone discovered that he’d taken a lot of medication through a text message. The holidays are a very sad time for a lot of people. He, evidently had enough and was at the only place that probably knew him or gave a damn about him (or that may have been his perception). They strapped him down and took him to the hospital for help and probably for observation. His dog was left behind, whining, barking and straining at its leash as they took the man away. Someone at the restaurant was going to keep the dog for the man, but the dog only knew that something terrible was going on and that it was being separated from it’s only companion. I hope that the man will be able to realize a fresh start from this old year. I hope that he can survive the scars inside that he can’t seem to overcome on this the last night of the year. After he’d left, all had returned to normal as if he’d never made a ripple in life. Except that I could still see and hear his dog whining for him, wondering where he’d gone…

The dog was replaced with pirates and revelers for the evening. Yes there are pirates in Florida. They collect here for the time between the old and the new. It was wonderful to see them all collecting for their festivities. In talking to them, they do this each year and seem to relish this time in their lives. It was wonderful to see them enjoying themselves and each other.


After our dinner it was nice to sit around and chat and watch all the people wandering about. We walked down to the beach then down the boardwalk. One place had a wonderful Latin guitar player and Flamingo dancer. It was fun to clap and cheer them on. One young lady from the street went up and danced and had a marvelous time. We clapped in time to the music and dancing and she was a great sport when he kept playing and playing.

After mocha café lattes and decadent chocolate cake it was time to head back to the boats and leave the partying and the rest of the night to the revelers. It was a busy day of provisioning, taking care of things on the boat and joining wonderful friends for dinner on the last day of this year. I hope the New Year is good to us all, especially the man and his dog.




Happy New Years to all… I hope we all can find peace inside of us.



Thursday, December 30, 2010

Almost the end of another year!


Our jaunt into town found me “needleless” still. I still need to replace our heavy-duty sail repair needle, but I’d say there aren’t many places that carry them at the shopping center. We did get some carburetor cleaner and a few items in town and I got to go into Blue Water Books. Wow – what an incredible bookstore with all things nautical! I loved it! I could get lost dreaming in all the charts and books they have. This is the place to get charts if you need them.

Once back at the boat Wayne worked on the dingy engine and the generator. Both appear to be working now, unfortunately with nothing but bad gas probably still in them (I guess “stabile” doesn’t work to good over the hot summers in Florida) we’ll probably need to keep the cleaners close at hand. It’s nice to be able to hear the generator running. It’s been windless today in the anchorage – at least for us. I’m not sure why but our wind generator doesn’t seem to spin like the other Kiss generators in the anchorage do. So we now have recharged batteries again as our little Honda putters away!

Cuban sandwiches for dinner tonight in the cockpit as we watch the sun set. It’s nice to be able to sit up top without freezing tonight. Those Arctic blasts just aren’t supposed to come down to south Florida!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Work day...

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

What a beautiful day today. Temperatures climbed back to 70 and the sun was out warming everyone’s soul. The Christmas vacationers were out strolling across the bridge and sitting in the park. I imagine the beach is full today, but I’m not going ashore. Today I’m finishing the last 2 splicings for the lazy jacks and I must say, I feel accomplished! I borrowed a needle from Azaya and didn’t break this one (laughing). Now if the lazy jacks just work like they’re supposed to in theory! The E-line that I’m working on is a new addition to our old design (that’s as old as the boat I think). That line will let us retract the lazy jacks out of the way of the sail when we raise our sails. I hope it works!

Wayne worked in the battery compartment and on the Honda generator all day. It appears that our little generator is gunked up. It wouldn’t start for all Wayne’s coaxing and pulling on the cord - but it does has a spark. It looks like the carburetor jets are probably varnished over with old or stale gas (according to everything we’ve read). We’ll have to go to the auto supply and see if some carburetor cleaner will help things along. It appears that these newer models have very tiny jets that get clogged easy and our new gasolines don’t help. They break down a lot sooner to foul things up. I won’t be surprised if Wayne has a sore arm tomorrow!

Spaghetti for dinner then it’s time to hit the showers and check out the weather. Aurora was considering leaving today or perhaps tomorrow. They’re also heading down to the Exumas but continuing on to Guatemala. Harry (Aurora) is the fellow that saved the fellow boater from the water a couple days ago. I think they’re getting antsy sitting here and mentioned perhaps waiting in Miami for a weather window. It might not be a bad idea, but it’s not all that bad right here either – I can think of worse places. Definitely.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Brrr another morning of cold with dripping ports to wake up too. Is there anything better to wake up to than the drip, drip of ice water in the face ?

Mary & Axel on our walk
After coffee and making omelets I still didn’t feel like working with my hands again today. My thumbs feel painful this morning. The idea of sitting topside splicing, seizing and whipping the last two sections of line for the lazy jacks in the cold didn’t sound to appealing so, I thought I’d call Mary & see if she’d like to take a walk to some of the stores and along the bridge. Yep. After hearing that Axel wouldn’t mind a walk, Wayne decided that maybe working on the electrical could wait too. So we all took a stroll along the boardwalk. I don’t know why, but I thought that maybe I could find another whipping needle at one of the stores along the beach. Rigggght…. What was I thinking? They’re all tourist stores. I broke my heavy-duty needle on the last pull through the rope yesterday and need to find another one. I may need to wait until I can find a fabric store or until the next time we go to West Marine. One interesting note on our trip through the stores, I discovered that they sell the conch shells that we find for free for $24.99 at the CVS. Wow! Kill holes and all. If we set up shop outside along the beach and sell them for $20 we could make a profit and the tourists could save $5.

I feel bad for all the Christmas tourists that came down for warmth. You can see them on the beach, die-hards, trying to soak up the sun. It’s strange to see them in shorts and bathing suits, laying in the sun and strolling the beach while most people are bundled up. The thought of them paying all that money to come down to 27 degrees at night and 50 during the day has got to be frustrating. I know they came down for the warmth.

We stopped at the coffee hut so Mary & Axel could grab some breakfast ($5.99 buys a nice breakfast) then continued our walk south to the dock where the yachts and mega yachts are. I wonder what it’s like to crew on those? I know you have to be certified (okay maybe in both meanings of the word) to crew and stand watch on them. After meeting some of the people that rent them out, I doubt that it would be much fun. Maybe on the super cruise ships like the “Love Boat”… seems like that might be a good way to travel around if you’re a younger person.
Our wanderings ended with a walk over the bridge where we could look at our anchorage. Of course I had to take pictures of Kolibrie and Azaya! On the other side of the bridge, at the edge of the park, we noticed a painter. He was painting something in the anchorage or the houses on the other side of the anchorage, so we wandered over to see what he was painting. Wow! At first glance I was flabbergasted. On second glance I was in love with the painting. It was a veritable masterpiece - a beautiful water/landscape of a boat docked in front of the villa, with palms and bougainvillea in bloom. The artist had captured the essence of beauty in the way the light played off the colors and scenery. The painter told us that he could paint our boat if we were going to be around for another week. Wow. I got a picture of him and his painting but I fear it was all in shadow. I couldn’t help but tell him what a great eye for color he had. Looking back, it was one of those “Duh” moments… I’d gotten his card from him and once back at the boat looked at his web page (www.Tsar-Art.com). Mr. Valery Tsarikovsky was quite a noted artist! And, I told him what a terrific eye he has! He’s sold paintings to Donald Trump, Stevie Wonder and Oren Hatch! He’s been interviewed by CNN, and various magazines. From the looks of his paintings and the prices he can command for them, I’d have to go back to work in order to have a painting of his. But his painting did take my breath away… Tsar was blessed with a special eye and a talent for translating what he sees to canvas! He was able to translate depression to beauty with the stroke of a brush!
Mr. Valery Tsarikovsky and his painting - See more at: http://www.tsar-art.com/ 
Tonight for dinner is apple/cheese stuffed chicken breast with broccoli, and the last of the pumpkin pie.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Monday, December 27, 2010


Wow did it get cold last night. All the ports are dripping as the humidity in the cabin condenses on the windows and metal frames of the ports. I did not want to get out of bed this morning to make coffee. Unfortunately, Wayne couldn’t be coaxed to do it either… so I finally got up and put the coffee on and threw some sweet rolls in the oven for breakfast too (two bonuses – sweet rolls and heat from the oven). That ‘modified’ arctic cold front that came ripping down from the north yesterday has cooled things off to subfreezing – isn’t this Florida??? Brrrr….

I don’t know if it ever reached 60 today or not, but I was shivering up top making my splice for the lazy-jack. Lines A-D are now up and tomorrow I’ll try and finish up the E lines – two more splices. I broke my sail needle while whipping the eye splice. Oops! I’m hoping that it will be warmer tomorrow but since it’s supposed to get colder tonight then last night I may put off the E line until Wednesday when it’s supposed to start getting warmer again. The E line is the retractor for the lazy-jacks and isn’t really necessary but we figured since I was doing this, it would be a plus to be able to haul the lazy jacks in when we don’t need them (less wear and tear on them and the sail).

We had the last of the turkey tonight with salad and that yummy pumpkin/pecan/strussel pie! Now it’s time to hustle my butt to bed & under the covers for some warmth. Now where’s that towel for the dripping ports!

Sunday, December 26, 2010


It started sprinkling in the early hours of morning when it’s quite dark and the birds are still sleeping. I had to get up to close the hatches and ports then couldn’t get back to sleep. I sat up for a little while watching the moon play peek-a-boo with me between the clouds. It was like the clouds couldn’t decide whether to rain or not. The winds started whipping up and it looks like the cold front is moving in faster than predicted. This made me think of Jesse and Tanner. I’d talked to my grandson Jesse yesterday and learned they were driving down with their dad to Florida. I hope that they’re not driving straight though. With the artic front pushing down, it could be treacherous. The good news is, the wind generator is spinning and charging our batteries. The bad news is – more sub-freezing weather is going to be moving into south Florida! Hope the boys are packing snuggies!

With the winds roaring, it wasn’t a good day to leave the boat. The wind against the strong tidal current here really had the waves kicked up into some very rough chop. This was reinforced while I putzed around straightening things up. I heard a low “help!’ and didn’t think anything of it until I didn’t hear anything more. Sometimes couples yell at each other for help on something or another abord their boats and the sound carries. After listening further, and not hearing anything else, I went topside to look around. As the boat next to us swung around, I could see what I thought was a man trying to climb onto his transom ladder. He wasn’t having much luck, and I thought, what the heck is he doing in the water, especially with these conditions. Then I noticed his dingy was turned over and he couldn’t climb aboard his boat. I went for the key to the dinghy and was trying to figure out how to get the dingy next to me to get in when the guy next to us got in his and got it going. His wife and I made eye contact like oh no…. but her husband made it over to the guy in the water. I’m not sure how, maybe adrenaline helped him, but he was able to haul the guy aboard his dingy, and grab the other dinghy as they started drifting out into the channel. He was able to get his dinghy started and get the other guy back to his boat safely. With the wind and the waves kicked up so much, the guy was lucky that anybody heard him. I was greatful that the other guy was able to get to him. After watching the two, I’m not sure I would have been able to haul the guy aboard our dinghy by myself. Time to take a look at our setup I think!

After settling down and glad that Wayne was asleep in the V-berth, I continued sorting through things and I found some DVDs. I’d never heard of Watchmen but must have picked it up at the swap when I’d gotten 4-5 DVDs. It was a good afternoon to get lost in one so after searching for and finding my headphones enjoyed an early evening movie. It’s nice to have the wind generator spinning – I like having power on the boat for the computer!

Dinner tonight was going to be turkey and salad, but it really started getting cold so I heated up the left over stuffing and turkey and had that with corn and pumpkin, pecan, strussel pie (no kidding – that was the pie & it was mmmmm yummy).

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas Day

Life under the bridge… 
I was going to post a pic of the man under the bridge but it felt to invasive
It’s a beautiful morning. Temperatures are in the lower 60s. The sunrise is filtered through puffy clouds coming in off the Atlantic. With my coffee in hand I sit up top watching the world wake up from the anchorage alongside the side of the bridge. Watching the water rush under the bridge through the pilings, my eyes follow the water to the shore where the bridge ends. I can see under the bridge to the other side and notice movement and a couple of bikes in the grass. It occurs to me that people have spent the night there.I watch a couple of people bundle up their belongings and hide them in the bushes. I catch myself wondering who they are, why they’re there, what led them there and how long have they been there, doing this? Two people huddle off after stowing their stuff from view, but another person is still there hunched in the grass, next to the cement pilings of the bridge. I wonder what had made these people lose their anchor in life? Are they living a vagabond life by choice? Circumstance? Did they know that this was Christmas morning? Was there even anyone that cared if they were alive or dead??? I briefly wonder if I should make sandwiches and leave them in their hidden belongings? Do I have anything of value that I could leave them that they might be able to use? Would it be an affront? I don’t know… If these are homeless people, sometimes they can be quite proud. I don’t want to insult them. I can’t keep my eyes away. Right now we also are living under the bridge, but under totally different circumstances. I don’t know what theirs is; I’m not sure how either of us came to this place and time. I do know that I have a few people that love me. I hope that they do too.

Life under the bridge.
The air smells sweet and feels cool as I inhale, appreciating the morning, the coffee and the man sitting next to me in the cockpit on this peaceful morning.

While I miss loved ones at home, I love this morning.

I’m here. I’m glad to be alive.

It was nice to be able to chat with my family this morning. It was weird though because when I tried calling Steph I got a busy signal twice (an hour apart). I didn’t know cell phones did that. I always thought that the call would go immediately to voicemail. Wayne figured that all the circuits were busy (made sense). Lonnie’s home for the holidays and it sounds like all is right for my sis with him home and Steph going over there! I reminded Pen to take a picture of the two of them for me – it feels good thinking of them together for the holidays!

We took a walk along the beach this morning with Mary & Axel. I can’t believe how clean it was. They evidently clean it up for the tourists! While there was some small man-o-war washed up with flotsam, there was a lack of shells, debris and what I was in search of, sea glass. I was surprised to see that most of the businesses were open on Christmas day. I’m so used to everything being closed on Christmas. I guess since this is a tourist destination, they stay open. We stopped at one little place that had advertised “fish tacos – 2 for $6” and were the only patrons there. This was a little German place, off the main strip, and the tacos were wonderful. Kind of a different kind of breakfast for me – Mahi tacos! After strolling the beach and people watching it was time for a shower, and to get the turkey breast in the oven.

I thought I might try something a little different with the stuffing this year. I used coconut water to make it and it was actually kind of tasty! I wasn’t sure how long it would take my little alcohol stove to come up to temperature for the turkey, but after 2 hours (I’ll bet Laura’s oven was faster than mine), the turkey was ready to take out for transport over to Azaya’s for dinner.

It was wonderful to share Christmas dinner with Mary & Axel, a regular Christmas feast! We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes with gravy, and sweet potatoes with cranberry and pecans, green beans, and pecan pie. Wash that down with some wine from Cherry Creek Vinyards, mix in great company and conversation and it was a wonderful day culminating with an awesome dinner!

Merry Christmas.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

I’m having a hard time believing that tomorrow’s Christmas. When I’m on the boat, I don’t see much in the line of T.V. advertising “buy this, buy that” and we don’t hear much news. But going to the grocery store in town on Christmas Eve was a definite reminder! It was wall-to-wall people, all buying their last minute items. All the people were bustling about and it was good to see most of them smiling and saying Merry Christmas! I wanted to take advantage of the free trolley on Fridays (they drop you off and pick you up at the grocery store – the bus does not) but it cost $.50 today (perhaps because of the holiday?). Oops – didn’t have my money out! Even if it were the same cost as the bus, I’d rather take the trolley. It’s just more pleasant and clean. I learned that this year they only run the trolley Fridays – Sundays. In previous years they ran all week except Thursdays. In talking to the Trolley driver I also learned that the bus system, taxis and trolley were all trying to work together. Our driver only works the trolley for the three days but works Monday to Thursday for Fed Ex (12 hours/day). Friday to Sunday (on the trolley) she works 13-hour shifts on those days. Wow. Not much time for a social life!

Wayne dropped Mary & I off at the dinghy dock and went back to the boat, and Axel had his hands full trying to figure out why they had so much water in the bilge. I guess their bilge pump isn’t working so they had quite a busy morning.

When we were done shopping, Wayne picked us up in the dinghy, in tandem, first Mary then he came back for me (us plus the food didn’t all fit). When he got back to pick me up, the dink wouldn’t start again. He ended up taking the spark plug out and cleaning it off – same problem as last year – and it worked again. The dink just has a mind of it’s own. Axel thinks it might be a carburetor adjustment. I just think it’s frustrating to have the same problem again as last year. When things get older, they don't work as well, but it’s not conducive to my taking the dink out alone somewhere.

Axel was able to find what he needed at the hardware and West Marine today so hopefully the new bilge pump will work. I decided to try ours and discovered that it was in the “off” position instead of on automatic. It was good to see that it worked though!

I got Cuban Sandwiches for dinner tonight and tomorrow I’ll cook up the turkey breast and make some stuffing to take over to Azaya’s for Christmas dinner.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

mass transit and deals

The weather forecast still has a small craft advisory for us but it looks like it’s a beautiful day. After putzing about the boat, we caught the bus with Azaya into town and went to Sailorman and West Marine. It was nice of one man to tell us where we wanted to get off the bus. He was an interesting fella that seemed tuned in to every conversation on the bus. Mary got the idea that he had the bus route down pat – each stop. He reminded us of the movie “Rainman” where the autistic gentleman could do anything with numbers. It was fascinating to watch this man process all the conversations around him and keep track of us and where we were along the route too. Right before our stop, he pulled the cord and told us the next stop was our stop and where to go once we got off the bus. I’d love to have had more conversations with him.

Deals were to be found at both Sailorman and West Marine. Mary Clare managed to get 4 large fender covers at Sailor Man for $40 (they wanted $50) which was a deal – thick terry type material – for $10 each . We got a spring line, blocks and lead sinkers that were much cheaper than at West Marine. After refueling our bodies with a pulled pork sandwich, we walked over to West Marine and the deal of the day there were 2 cruising guides to the southern Bahamas. We saw them sitting out and one had loose pages from the back index that had fallen out, the other was a 2009 edition. The one with loose pages said “revised” and was a 2010 edition. After talking to Sam (who turned out to be the manager) Mary got the revised edition for $20 and I got the 2009 edition for $10! Wow! Sam said Merry Christmas ladies! I guess so! The girl at the checkout couldn’t believe I was getting a $60 book for $10 and after looking at the note Sam wrote for us to take to the check out, started leafing through the book to see why he would do such a thing. I, simply, loved it! I also picked up a waterproof bag for my camera and phone. Mary Clare pointed out the ones she uses, so after getting my camera soaked while kayaking this summer with the grandsons, I was all to happy to see these bags. Baggies just don’t cut it for me after the kayaking trip

Back at the marina we stopped by Arturus, the kids boat – and told them we were here for dinner! Jimmy held up a bag of Doritos and said “this is dinner” . We actually wanted to see if they’d like to join the 4 of us for Christmas dinner (hated to think of them by themselves, away from their folks in a strange town). Dennis is heading home and returning after Christmas, and Ryan, Jimmy and Julie are renting a car and heading for the Keys, so it sounds like they’re all set.

I can’t believe how sore my legs are. Not used to walking so much! All day walking about after sitting on the boat is probably just what the doctor ordered! So why does it hurt so much? My hands are sore from splicing, now my legs and hips from all the walking. Hopefully I’m getting toned up – hate to think it’s old age creeping up on me LOL

I made some chicken salad for dinner and had a nice cold Yuengling to go with it and wash it down! Mmmmmmmm…..

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The weather still looked good to head towards Ft. Lauderdale so we hoisted the anchor and left Lake Worth at 6:45am. What a pretty sunrise/moonset this morning. We motor sailed all day to make sure we could get in before 3pm. It was a beautiful day all along the Atlantic Coast, 72 degrees, sunny with a west wind pushing us along – it was just picture perfect. I finished the splice I’d started the evening before, and then made tuna sandwiches for lunch. Normally the moorings fill up between 3-5pm. Between the wind from the west, the engine cruising along at 2000 rpms and the Gulf Stream Countercurrent closer to the coast, at times we were moving along at 8.28 knots – excellent! We arrived at the mooring field at 2:30pm and had drinks aboard Azaya. 
Azaya as we approach the inlet

The dock master came out checking the boats on the moorings & we waved at him so he knew we were over on the next boat. He told Wayne, hey I know you! Funny because I recognized him from the last time we were here. After drinks, we checked in at the marina then went for some much appreciated hot showers! Ahhh, is there anything better - how delicious to luxuriate in soft, hot water! After showers we all decided to take a walk along the Atlantic walk and had dinner at one of the restaurants – Margarita Cantina (fish tacos, Mahi BLTs, and a crab salad). It was nice to get out and walk along, chatting and sharing time with Mary & Axel again. It’s funny how it can seem so long ago that we’d seen them but at the same time like it was only yesterday when we were traveling with them. The night air was cool, but not cold and I thoroughly relished it. It feels more like Florida should feel on a winter’s evening. I’ll take the 50s over the 20s and 30s, mhmmm!

Back at the marina we ran into 4 young people that had been traveling down on a 27 foot Pacific Seacraft – Orion (Arturus). They’d taken a month to come down from North Carolina to head to the Bahamas but needed to be back the middle of January so thought that Miami might be their final point this trip before heading back. It was great to sit and chat with them (Dennis, Jimmy, Ryan and Julie); quite refreshing to see their camaraderie and openness to share some of their life with us and take the time to learn about us too. It sounded like quite the adventure getting down here. Dennis had bought the boat in May and I guess they’d never realized that the boat had never been pumped out (the holding tank). It had decided to erupt under the V-berth and even with all their cleaning; there is a persistent odor. They evidently draw straws to see who sleeps in the V-berth. The only recommendations we had for them (they’d washed and put the cushions out to dry) were to a. replace the cushions, b. sprinkle with baking soda or c. vinegar. Hopefully next year they’ll make it to the Bahamas. I do hope that they continue to explore their world and the people that they’re sure to meet and fascinate them as they journey though life.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Winter Solstice!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010


Well the winds did die down last night! It probably would have been a nice evening to cross & a few boats did disappear from the anchorage as well as come in. It was a good morning to work on the lazy jacks. The water was calm and we managed to get the “A” line up and the “D” line through it with an eye splice to boot!

Wayne got the dinghy down and we went over past Peanut Island and over to the Riverside Marina for lunch and to use their ATM machine. Wow - $3.95 per transaction with a maximum transaction of $200. I’d say they have a moneymaking operation there! We had their ribs (on special) and they were tastey, then headed back to the boat for some more splicing.

Mary Clare and Axel called at the inlet right after dark and we could see their running lights in the distance. I grabbed the radio, flashlight and conch horn and went to the bow to signal them via light, where our position was in relation to the Red 6 marker. I could see her signaling back – Yay!!! As they got closer I blew the conch horn. Man was it loud! It echoed all over the anchorage LOL. In Hawaii they blow the conch horn to herald the coming of the king. In Georgetown, they blow it at sunset. Here, it was just to welcome back old friends from Alaska! It was so great to see Azaya’s silhouette with a full moon behind her! We had drinks aboard Kolibrie and got a chance to catch up and discuss heading down to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow. The weather for tomorrow looks like a good day to make a run down the outside. We can hook up our autohelm, test our equipment, pump out make sure things are working before crossing for the Bahamas.

Monday, December 20, 2010

After looking at charts yesterday, we were going to head to another anchorage today at daybreak, but last evening the Coastguard, then NOAA put out a small craft warning. The Gulf Stream is only a couple of miles off shore from here now and with north winds blowing a steady 20-25 the waves were steadily building 7-10 ft. We talked to Azaya yesterday & Mary & Axel are in Vero. Tomorrow they’re going to head over here, so we’ll both move on from here (weather permitting). It’ll be so nice to see them again!

The winds howled all night and I laid there listening to the wind generator sound like it was gearing up for take off as the halyards kept slapping the mast. I found it interesting that with all the winds, I didn’t seem to worry about us dragging. Hmmm… The winds continued all day today but with the sun out, somehow things always seem better.
We attached the new line with the eye splice in it to the old lazy jack line and while carefully watching our balance on the rocking boat (high winds) and keeping an eye on the lines, we got the new line that will act as the control line up on one side, then I spliced another ring and eye section for the other side and we managed to get that one raised without much problem. Remind me why my hands are sore tomorrow! This splicing “eyes” takes some tugging and milking of the rope! I was going to start another section, but thought my hands could be better served by making dinner (sausage and egg noodles) and then working on the computer. I may make another eye splice later if my hands are up to it. I have 4 more rings to splice but 2 will have to be done on deck in nice weather since the rope has to go through another ring before adding the last two to the lazy jacks.
I hope the winds die back tonight. Then I can work on deck. There’s a full lunar eclipse tonight – lovely!
Pre-lunar eclipse. The darker it gets the less photos I can take on a moving boat!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Splicing eyes & rings - Lake Worth Anchorage

Unbelievably good reception here for the broadband card! I love it! The winds are merrily generating electricity for my computer, I have Internet access, AND sometime during the middle of the night, I had a brain fart to use a coat hanger as a fid. As I went to retrieve a coat hanger, a fly swatter caught my eye, so I grabbed that. With a little bending I was able to flatten the handle and EUREKA, I was able to get the core of the rope through the casing and the casing through the core! My first braided splice - eye and ring! It looks like I’ll be able to make new lazy jacks! We measured the rope into equal halves and Wayne plotted measurements on a diagram of how the lazy jacks should look. Unfortunately with the weather, today is not conducive to going on deck and working on getting the line up to the blocks on the spreaders.
My first braided splice showing the eye and ring :)
It’s been raining on and off all day. Most of the boats are gone I’ve never seen this place so empty! I was catching rain and watching the storms roll in off the horizon. Beautiful! I used the rainwater to help clean up the cockpit areas that still had ash from the cane and if it keeps up, I’ll use any extra water for coffee and tea. The water in our tanks is hard water. I’m hoping to purge the tanks once over in the Bahamas and replace it with R.O. water.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Lake Worth Anchorage.

Not as cold today.
I brought my coffee topside and watched a morbid ballet of little silver fish dancing along the top of the water. It was morbid because while it was a beautiful and synchronized display, I knew what was causing them to leap out of the water running across the surface! Literally hundreds of the silvery little fish were dancing across the water next to, around and under the boat as larger predators were hunting the little dancers as their breakfast. It was fascinating and hypnotizing to watch this display and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the spectacle. I never did see what was hunting them. After things calmed down, I decided it was time for breakfast.
After fried egg sandwiches, I spent the day trying my hand at splicing old double braid rope into eyes with a ring attachment. Without much luck I might add. Our old lazy jack lines are just to brittle or old and rip or just won’t give. It’s almost like the fid is too big for the rope. My hands feel raw trying to maneuver the fid through the core and outer casing!

Talked to Mary Clare (Azaya) today – she’s on the road back to the boat. It was so good to hear her voice! It looks like we’re not ready for crossing tomorrow and they have a bit to do too. So, if they are able to get their stuff done and we don’t have a window to cross for a while then we may be crossing together. I’d really like that (smiling)!
Wayne was going to work on the dinghy today and see if he could get the voltmeter working (battery monitor). Nothing seemed to work to get the readings from the battery to show up on the meter. Dinghy will have to wait for tomorrow.
I found directions to get to the bank from the Tiki Restaurant but the waves are kicking up. It’d be a very wet ride if we took the dink to shore. We were hoping to meet up with Axel & Mary at the Tiki. They were going to drive over in their rented car. Without the dink or the water taxi (they used to have a water taxi here) it looks like we’re staying put and Mary & Axel will get to unload all their provisions and work, work, work instead of joining us  for drinks and a meal. Laughing! The good news is that they’ll have more time to work and get ready to come down to Lake Worth sooner!
Hot beef sandwiches with corn and Aunt Nel’s cabbage for dinner. I’ll try my hand at splicing the double braided rope again tomorrow. What I really need is a long crochet hook!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Hobie Sound to Lake Worth


Start: 9:20am under sunny skies. Temp: 38 degrees Winds nil
Peck Lake anchorage 27 06.881 x 80 08.555 Depth: 9.8 ft
End: 2:30 pm sunny skies
Lake Worth anchorage 26 45.501 x 80 02.603 Depth: 10 ft
Distance traveled 23.76 miles in 5 hours

It was a wonderfully calm night last night. The temperatures were still sub-freezing and it felt it without our little heater! There weren’t many boats in the anchorage with us – one sloop and 3 catamarans. I’m thinking that most that were here, skidaddled to Lake Worth. Listening to the weather forecast, sounds like Saturday will be a good day to cross with south winds forecast. It’s nice to sit and watch the white and black tipped seabirds fly and hit the water as they fish for breakfast. Some just dip into the water and come up with a fish! Pelicans sit on the water watching all this activity quite intently. Some of the little fishing birds are so white that when the sun lights them up, they almost hurt the eyes to watch them. Their white color is so blinding! It’s still briskly cold as we watch first one, then the next and next catamaran pull out of the anchorage - All of them heading south. We hoisted anchor at 9:20 am and headed south too. It feels like a migration pattern, just like the geese from home, we head further south, a great migration of snowbirds.

We had 7 bridges to open between Peck and Lake Worth. I’d forgotten how fun that is to time the bridges! We had one that we’d just missed so had to wait a half hour, then heading toward the next bridge we got hung up behind a barge and had to pour on the speed to a whopping 6.5 knots to get to the next bridge. We probably wouldn’t have made it but the bridge tender saw us and actually held it for us (holding up traffic 10 minutes). Normally timing is everything! I hope Santa is extra good to him this year. When we got to Lake Worth and dropped anchor (2:30pm), there were very few boats here. It must look like an armada heading across to the Bahamas! We’re going to see if the weather window holds out like the prediction says. Saturday still looks good so If Azaya is ready by then we’ll have some company if we cross. It’d be nice to see them again! It looks like 4:30pm is the time to leave today – three boats picked up anchor and headed out the inlet.

The learning curve starts anew. Windlass on, radio off, change batteries, instruments off, anchor alarm set, wind generator on and charge computer batteries on the way from place to place. Oh yes, don’t forget to turn on the anchor light!

Lucaya is roughly 81 miles from Lake Worth. If we travel at 5 knots an hour we should be there in a little over 16 hours, say 17 to be safe…

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

On to Peck Lake

Start: 10:10am under sunny skies. Temp: 38 degrees Winds NW 7-10
End: 3:55pm sunny skies Peck Lake anchorage 27 06.881 x 80 08.555 Depth: 9.8 ft

Today started off with a bang. I got up at 6:30am and went online to see how much money was in our account because we need $300 to check into the Bahamas. I saw a negative balance!!! How can that be? So the morning didn’t start out well at all. After coffee and talking to the bank I’d discovered that transferring money from my account to our account, caused a bit of a problem. After figuring out WHAT the problem it was time to move on…

We settled our account with the marina and did all the last minute preparations. Tried to tighten the radio hookup in the cockpit (that didn’t work) then tried to start the engine before we severed our electrical connection and lines to shore. The engine took a few promptings before starting but finally started at 1000 rpms. Time to release the lines from shore and cast off. I called the marina for a radio check but never got a response. Oh ohh… I looked around for the alligator I'd named Elvis but didn’t see him anywhere - so said a silent goodbye to him wherever he is. He sure is a big gator & I’d have liked to have had a last look at him.
The rest of the day was better than the start of it. While the temperatures were brisk, the sun was out. We started out with sub-freezing temps and it probably didn’t get up to 60 degrees today, so the sun was a welcome touch of warmth in the cockpit. When we approached the lock and it opened for us, a father and son watched us from the gated area.  It reminded Wayne of the kids on the Erie Canal that were so excited to be able to tour our boat. Wayne was wishing that he could have let the youngster experience the lock with us, but there was no way we could have let him from his positon behind the fencing.  This is all like starting over again – have to remember that locks listen to channel 13 and the bridges listen to channel 9 in Florida. Once back on the ICW, red to the right and green buoys to the left. How quickly we can put things out of our mind when we don't live them every day.
We’d cast off at 10:10am and reached Peck Lake to dropped the hook at 3:55pm in 9.8 ft of water in front of the danger sign. It was interesting to see how our speed slowed up as we approached the St Lucie Inlet. You could tell the tide was coming in as the boat slowed from 6 knots to 5.1 knots while we were at our cruising speed of 2500rpms. Once past the inlet we sped back up to 6.8 knots. I’m going to have to learn to monitor tides again and adjust to a slower traveling pace. We traveled 29.11 miles in about 6 hours. Opened one lock and one bridge. Tomorrow we have to transit 6 bridges (if we go tomorrow). My battery’s running low so it's time to put the computer away.
Dinner tonight: mashed potatoes with beef/mushroom/onions in gravy. The temperatures are still dropping but it’s quite still out at the moment. I can hear the waves from the Atlantic crashing onto shore on the other side of Hobie Sound.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Brrrr.... I think it's about time...

Monday was a work around the boat kind of day. Wayne tried getting the windlass working and another pin broke off the control after he got it going and de-corroded… Not a very good design.

I wanted to run over to Publix for a few odds and ends and checked to see if Diane (Sharpie’s Dream) wanted to come along so we both ran up there and did some shopping. I found Cuban bread and sandwiches there! It’s so nice to have a car! The temperatures are going down to 26 tonight (actual temperature) and I checked to see what the temperatures in the Bahamas are too. The lows are in the 30s for the next couple of days and the highs there are in the 50s and maybe 60. I’m thinking that the Exumas definitely sound better than the Berrys!

Wayne working on the windlass
Today (Tuesday) Wayne got the windlass re-wired and I believe I've finally caught up on the blog for now.
The water tank is filled, holding tank pumped out, and we're about ready (except for the last minute stuff) for departure tomorrow. Mary Clare flies in tomorrow and we're hoping that we can meet up with Azaya somewhere soon. Sid (Quest) and Jon (Kasidah) were in the office this afternoon and they're heading for Lakeworth for the weather window on Thursday/Friday to cross. We'd also like to make that weather window but I don't know right now. We'll see. The plan is to head to W. Palm Beach tomorrow, then Lakeworth the following day. If we catch the weather window - good. If not, we'll get the next one!

We're not dressed or prepared to handle to many of these nights in the twenties

It's time to be moving on....
Bowsprit done and dressed in the Christmas Spirit!


Tis the Season...

We finished packing everything away and straightening up the boat in preparation for departing the marina tomorrow but according to the weather forecast, there’s a hard freeze warning with gale force winds tonight and tomorrow (from the Arctic Blast that’s pervading S. Florida). After checking with the office to see if there was still room for us at the dock, we decided to stay. Why worry about dragging all night in strong winds and stronger still gusts, when we can stay at the dock and have heat too!?! I don’t think many people will be moving in the next couple of days but sometimes they need the dock space for the boats that are moving out of the boatyard and into the water. Luckily, we were told that we still had the dock space. Yay!

We put up our little Christmas tree and Wayne hung the wreath we brought from home on the bow of the boat. Then we went to do the grand tour of the Bayfield’s here. There really was quite a difference between the two B-32s. Wayne could actually stand up in Sharpie’s Dream but not in Buckshot. That was a surprise. It was wonderful to be able to see both boats and the alterations that had been done to them. I’d never been in a Bayfield 32 before so it was a treat to visit them and to have them visit us. While ours has more storage space than the 32, theirs had a more “open” feel to it, similar to the B-40. The 40 ft has both the open space and more storage.
Back on the boat we lit up our Christmas tree. What a nice homey feeling when the lights of the little tree are turned on. They glow with warm color in the cabin. It never feels like Christmas on the boat. With the lack of snow and no large pine trees, it just doesn’t look like Christmas when the palms are decorated in ornaments, lights, and tinsel. It’s never felt right without snow.
But looking at the little tree glowing with warm light on our table brought me a pang of Christmas’s past.
A bittersweet pain of memories flooded through my brain and throughout my body in the matter of seconds. I missed the special memories of love and family that I always felt at Christmas.
Always at Christmas.
That was a special time for family - at least my family. Somehow that little tree, shining through the dark transported me, for a brief moment, to a place in the past that is now gone. While a painful moment. It was also a wonderful moment filled with an appreciation that I could recapture a moment lost in the past. Those who made the time, to share their love and time with me, for all those Christmas’s – I’m remembering you with much love right now. Thank you for the love, thank you for the time.

It’s not the presents under the tree, or the amount spent, but the gift of love, patience and effort. Thank you for the lessons learned in life.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

3 Bayfield Boats for the Potluck!

We ran into Stuart and picked up the zincs for the dinghy motor at the Mercury Dealer, then over to Home Depot and Lowes to check out their braided line. It’s cheaper than the line at West Marine (by far!) but it was solid braid and I haven’t tried my hand at solid braid rope yet. We compared Lowes and Home Depot then ended up back at West Marine. They were running a 15% off sale if you bought 300 ft or more but we only needed 250 ft. The assistant manager only had 242 feet but gave us the discount anyways Yay! We theoretically only need 240 ft if I don’t make any errors (according to Wayne). Can you say pressure?
Guess I'd better practice some first!

After West Marine it was time for some last minute provisioning at Publix (love that store) where I found the stuff I couldn’t find at Sam’s Club or Wal-Mart. By the time we got back to the boat I barely had time to put things away and finish making a macaroni salad for the potluck at 5:30pm

We found Dave & Jerri (Buckshot) sitting in the enclosed Patio area and Pat & Diane (Sharpie’s Dream) were just getting there so we had our own little table of Bayfield owners. Steve did another wonderful job of grilling up the chicken and sausage and there was a delightful selection of salads and side dishes once again. It felt like a we were at a high-end smorgasbord with the assortment of shrimp, crab dips and wonderful dishes that everyone brought!
Wayne, Diane & Joe (Sharpie's Dream), Dave and Jerri (Buckshot) at the Saturday night Potluck. Bayfielders unite :)
It was a cool evening and the mosquitos were in full swarm tonight but it was a great evening. I loved hearing about the differences in our boats and I was surprised to find there were quite a bit of differences between the two B-32s. With only 2 years difference between Sharpie’s and Buckshot I was amazed that they’d changed the design so much. One boat has more storage than the other (which has more open space).

Friday, December 10, 2010

Sitting in a sea of gas

Well the bilge pump kicked on at 5am but hasn’t kicked on since.
Wayne say’s it’s probably due to all the rain we’ve had or it might be that the packing needs to be tightened (we had the cutlass bearing replaced last year).

The sun decided to greet us this morning.
You could see the rays reflected in the windows off of the rigging. It was a cool morning. We got off to a slow start, but the sun quickly warmed the temperatures back into the mid-seventies and we broke out a sweat getting the sails up and covers on. Things seem to go a lot slower here than other years when we’ve gotten the boat ready for the water. I don’t know if it’s the warmer weather or getting older, maybe both. Next season we need to see about getting the staysail fixed. It’s getting more difficult to get her up. It has a wrap around configuration that has a zipper on it. The zipper has deteriorated at the top fitting and bottom and each year it’s a struggle getting it going. The only time we think about it is the beginning of the season when putting it up. Fighting that zipper, to get it started, is vexing.

So we need to see about fixing the stern light, deck light, and windlass.
Everything else seems to be in working order.
We took measurements along the boom (176” or 14’8”) and up to the spreaders from the deck (23’1”) so we can get some braided rope to make new lazy jacks.
The lazy jacks are a system of lines forming a cradle. The mainsail falls into when you lower it. They basically hold the mainsail from falling all over the deck.
The sail cover also needs replacing, but that will have to wait until next summer when I have access to my sewing machine again. I think I’m going to make a stack pack to fit the lazy jacks. This will replace the sail cover and will protect the sail the sameway that the sailcover does. It will be a much easier system to use. The stack pack is material that covers and surrounds the lazy jacks. When the sail lowers into it, you just zip it up! Wella, we have instant protection from the sun’s rays. So it looks like the sails stack to a height of 43” at the mast. That seems kind of high, so I’ll measure that again to make sure.

A2+B2=C2
It’s been a while since we’ve used the Pythagorean theorem (since the house addition) but with a height of 23’ and length of 12’3.5” I think we came up with roughly 26’ to complete our triangle from the spreaders to the end of the boom where our current fitting is for the old lazy jacks. We have a 4-line lazy jack system that we want to adapt so that we can raise and lower the lazy jack lines from the cockpit. This will make it easier to raise the sails (we seemed to catch the battens in the old ones) if we can get the lazy jacks out of the way. There’s also less chafing on the sail if we can do this.

After putting up the sails and boom/mast measurements, it was time to go below and enjoy a sundowner and reheat last night’s spaghetti. It was just after dark and a sport fisher boat came by to tie up into a berth for the night. We didn’t think anything of it. Probably a local keeps their boat here. It wasn’t until later that we learned otherwise. The 3.4 million dollar boat was actually someone sneaking into the marina to stay for the night and not have to pay. Can you imagine? Anyone having that kind of money could afford a night’s dockage fee.

Around 6pm it smelled like someone was varnishing something. The strong smell of solvent came wafting through the cabin. It must be the boat behind us, I thought. It kept getting stronger. The smell was so thick you could cut it with a knife before it clicked that what I smelled was gasoline. I figured someone was getting gas since we were at the fuel dock. Then I hear voices outside talking about the strong smell too and someone mentioned that maybe there was a fuel leak from one of the tanks or a boat. Holy crappola! No wonder the smell was so strong! We’re right next to the fuel tanks and pumps.

Wayne and I were up out of the cabin in no time flat looking for the fuel leak! Several people were milling around talking about how strong the smell was. Particularly near our boat! I thought, that’s not possible. We’re a diesel engine. Then I thought about the outboard motor on the dinghy. The smell we were smelling was way worse than anything our dinghy could emit. I grabbed a flashlight while the guys were looking around the dock area and at the other surrounding boats tied up to the dock. We were all diesel powered except for our dinks. We searched up and down the dock area but could see very little in the dark. The smell seemed strongest by our boat. We were parked right in front of the fuel tanks on the gas dock. The smell was so strong by us, it burned our lungs. Somebody nearby was smoking. I asked them to please not come by the boat. We checked out the fuel tanks and nothing seemed to be leaking above. We flashed our lights in the water and you could see a film on the water. Steve (the painter) sprayed some chemical on the water and it dispersed from that area. He went along where it smelled strongest and it was obvious even in the dark that there was gas floating all around. It was all over the marina basin but the fumes seemed worse by us. Dave from Buckeye said – it’s a shame too because you got that boat looking so pretty, now it’s going to blow up. Of course he was being funny.
Of course I didn’t take it so funny!
Oh crap!

Someone said that the smell seems to oscillate, like when a bilge pump kicks on and off. Strong, weak, strong, weak. Whoever said it was correct. It seemed very cyclic. People had smelled it in the parking lot, in the main part of the marina, by the fuel dock, and in the courtyard and kitchen/lounge area. The consistent smell though was our boat in front of the fuel dock. Don’t know how many times I checked around our boat, dinghy and fuel tanks? But we couldn’t see a source of emanation. The fumes were still thick and rank and somebody else said their throat and eyes were stinging. Several people were smoking near the lounge and patio area. One of the guys said want me to help look? Not with that cigarette in your hand. Oh! Ha ha ha…

This shows our boat docked at the fuel dock for a perspective of where we are and where the gas tanks are.

Eric showed up and started investigating our boat, dinghy, gas can in the dinghy. Nope. On to the next one, gas can laying down. Nope, that one never had gas in it yet. And on, and on. I was glad our fuel cans were all still in the car. Next after checking all the boats along the fuel dock and hearing where the smells were coming from at various times and how the fumes seemed to oscillate, Eric asked if any boats came in after the office closed. It seemed like someone must be dumping gas into the water from the boat but we were all diesel engines along the docks and in the slips. Nobody remembered any boats coming in. Then someone recalled a large sport fisher coming in and said it was listing to one side. Nobody had remembered that until that moment. We all thought that it was a local but it turned out on further investigation that nobody was onboard. All the ports and doors were open, the bilge blower was left on and there was gas all over the bilge. When the bilge pump kicked on as the gas level built up in the bilge, it was purging the gas in the bottom of the boat into the marina basin. Eric or Steve tried to find the guys that came in on the boat & couldn’t. Then they turned off the bilge pump and tried to locate the people that had come in on the boat in the lounge & kitchen area. They weren’t anywhere on the premises. Someone said they came in looking for food and a restaurant. They were told that this was the kitchen and they were welcome to use it, but it wasn’t a restaurant. They wanted someone to cook them a meal. It sounded like they were drunk.

On further investigation, someone who had just come back from the local Italian/Pizzaria restaurant said they saw a couple guys there. The restaurant had picked them up from the marina to come to dinner. Eric asked if anyone knew them? Nope. Someone said they had the restaurant number in their cell phone because they’d called for pizza so gave Eric the phone. He called the restaurant and got a hold of the two guys from the boat.

The one sided conversation went something like this:

Sir, you need to come back to the marina.
Your boat is leaking gas all over.
I know you’re there to eat dinner, but your boat is dumping out gas into the water.
Do you understand what I’m saying?
You need to come back to the marina now!
Did you know that your boat was leaking gas all over when you left it open with all the ports and doors open and the blower running?
Why didn’t you contact someone?
Sir, I understand you’re having dinner.
You need to come back to the marina now!
Sir, how long before you can finish your dinner and get back to the marina?
Your boat is pumping gas out into the marina and you need to get back here as soon as possible.
You are putting other boats and the marina in danger.

Whoever Eric was talking to on the phone was quite belligerent with him.
I thought Eric was very calm and cool talking to him.
When Eric hung up the phone, he then threw it across the lounge into a chair. Then with a look of horror realized what he had done. Someone was nice enough to let him use his phone and he just threw it!
Yikes!
I was glad they found the source and was hoping the jerks would get back quickly.
In the mean time I wasn’t about to fire up the stove to make dinner. After a lot of discussion and milling around, Moose asked where my shoes were?
I don’t know?
On the boat somewhere…
The fumes in the boat were still pretty thick and with puddles of floating gas coming back and forth surrounding the boat, there was no way I wanted back on the boat for a while.
We went for Italian.
We’d just missed the culprits.
I guess it was a good thing because they were drunk as skunks.

The pizza was good and our lungs got a chance to clear out before we headed back to the boat.
When we got there, a firetruck and one of those trucks with the equipment to remover water from fuel was there. They were pumping out the gas from the bilge and the gas tanks into another tank. I heard that their gas tank had leaked and according to one of the guys that work at the marina, that the guys had filled up at the last marina. They have a 300 gallon tank and had either still had 100 or 200 gallons remaining in the tank that they had been purging into the marina water.
That means that they’d dumped at least 100 gallons into the waterway and marina basin, then left the boat to continue pumping out gas and had opened up the boat to air while they had callously gone to dinner! He had endangered not only their boat, but every boat in the marina by doing this. Then when they came back, they were drunkenly belligerent still, so Eric called the police and the fire department. Steve was surprised that the fire department showed up because this was a maritime matter. The police couldn’t arrest the guys because there was nothing on the books that they could find to arrest these guys for. How about public endangerment of life?!?!?! I guess the guys got irate because somebody had the gall to go on their boat while they were gone, without permission. Can you imagine?!?! Just let the gas spew out into the waterway?!?!? The guys have balls. They’re lucky the marina didn’t call the Coastguard on them. I believe there are Federal Laws about dumping hazardous stuff into the lakes, streams and territorial waterways.
The stinging odor of gas had dissipated while we were gone so we were able to go back onboard. It’s been one longgggg day.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

It's cold but we're finally in the water and she floats!

Brrrrrr….. This is Florida?
Low temperatures in the 20s and this morning – cold andddd raining for launch day LOL.
There must be 3 Abens in Florida! As much as I didn’t like the prospect of going out in the cold rain, I really wanted a shower so at 6:30, it was time to find my way in the dark, to the coffee pot, perk some coffee while listening to the rain hit the deck, and then head to the showers in my flip-flops and sweats. Wayne wasn’t far behind me because we wanted to make sure we were back at the boat when the guys started work (don’t want to miss having Kolibrie put back in the water). Di & Joe were supposed to come out to the boat today, but with this miserable weather, I’d have stayed home too! A 2-3 hour drive here, then back again. Yep. I do hope they get to get out to the boat one of these times though.

I’m not sure what’s going on with our phone, but it seems to be in silent mode. I’d have never noticed if Wendell hadn’t called on the other phone. Axel (Azaya) called last night and I never got the call. This morning when I looked at the phone I had 3 messages! After putzing with it, I think I have it set correctly again. Don’t know how it got on silent mode! We called Axel back; it was good to hear his voice. He’s over at Vero Beach and Mary Clare comes in on the 15th. Hope we can meet up with them somewhere.

We watched the rain a while then I finished adjusting the bimini.
I was glad that I put the middle section in last night; it helped to keep the cockpit semi-dry for me to work in. I got the radar up and chart plotter installed but think I’ll wait until it’s a bit drier to put the antenna up. After a few false starts (hearing the boat lift in motion) we finally were able to get the boat launched and in the water again!
The guys got to the boat while I was chatting with Steve (he’s the painter and Saturday potluck cook).
He was cleaning up the shed and getting ready to take a bunch of brass fittings to be recycled and I was going through some of them seeing if I could use any of them.
Oops!
Time to hustle back to the boat!
What a dreary day here, but I’m glad that the boat is finally making it out of the boatyard and into the water. I had to run to the office to settle up our bill and missed them putting the boat in the slings. By the time I got finished, Kolibrie was halfway through the boatyard. Once in the water, after a big YAY! and making sure we weren’t taking on water anywhere, we breathed a sigh of relief when the motor started up. After sitting all summer, she needed a few cranks in order to start.
She kicked out some black smoke, but did start like a charm with a powerful vroom!
The marina’s a little crowded so we’re tied in front of the fuel docks. I don’t really care as long as we have power. Once we leave here, I’m not sure where we’ll be headed and shore power and running water won’t be consistent. But what a wonderful feeling! We’re one step closer to escaping the winter chill that seems to have invaded Florida! I can’t believe that an artic air mass can come this far south.

Hmmmm…
4pm and the bilge pump kicked on…
hmmm…

It’s getting colder again. Time to close up and I think that spaghetti is on the menu for dinner tonight. Mhmmm. Something to warm us up.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Are we ready yet???

The last two days have been a blur of shopping and work.
Monday we ran into Stuart for bolts to finish up the bowsprit, extraneous parts for the boat, gas, and provisions. By the time we got back we had an hour left of daylight.

Yesterday we were working on the boat, stashing stuff and trying to raise the wind generator again.
Why is it the last bolt is always the one that fights you the hardest?
So we gave up at sunset.
Today we’ll have to take off the bracket (that’s not fun working blind under the helm seat) and try to put the bracket back after attaching the bolt to the bracket while it’s off.
We ARE scheduled to go into the water tomorrow!!!

After getting the bracket off and attaching the back support of the wind generator to the stern, it was time to get the anchors out of the locker, reverse the chains (this prolongs the life of the chains due to rust), dump the old water from the tank (looks like we’d left quite a bit in the boat last year), put new water in the tank, tighten bolts and shrouds, scrub the dinghy slats, the dinghy, attach the motor to the dink and get it raised to the davits, put the dodger and bimini up, sand and vacuum.
We tested the lights and the stern and deck lights don’t work. Wayne discovered that the windlass is not working and had to haul the anchors and chain on deck the old fashion way (brute force).

My sentence for the evening:
“Okay, we can get her hauled over to the water tomorrow!”
as we watch another pretty sun, set to the west of the work yard.
My hands are stinging, burning and aching – too much screwing and applying force the last few days.
Oh, to have Wayne’s muscles.
I think both of our bodies are quite sore but she's ready enough to go into the water!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Still working on our boat :)

Morning Vistor on a mast
Work, work, work… are we having fun yet? Little by little, the boat is coming back together. Today we maneuvered the pulpit back into place and spent the rest of the day attaching it to the bowsprit and platform. It was a battle to get each bolt in place and to be honest, we’re still not done. We have 2 more to get in and bolted down but we need to replace those and the hardware store is closed today (Sunday). So next we tried to get the forestay hooked back up to the sprit. Yikes. That wasn’t fun either, but after loosening all the shrouds and the backstay (the standing rigging) we were able to get the forestay reattached to the bowsprit. Next the lifelines, this should have been a snap. Except for the right and left hand turn fittings, which caused many tightenings to be loosenings, and vice versa we finally got them all back up.

We tried out the water filter that Pam & Glen (Blue Pearl) recommended and it makes the water here drinkable. After washing down the slats to the dinghy I put some water in the tank and filled a couple of jugs to try out for coffee in the morning. It’s nice to have some water onboard again. I made hot pork sandwiches and corn for dinner tonight.

It was a long day and now time for a rest…

Saturday, December 4, 2010

The crack of dawn and we were up and raring to go?
After coffee Wayne started working on plugging the boltholes on the front end and trail board, then sanding them down. The Trailboard had to be bent back in place. It started to straighten out again after being off for the duration of the bowsprit removal.

I was kicking myself for signing up to bring pineapple pudding to the potluck tonight because I’d never gotten to the store to get the requisite vanilla wafers to make it so it was going to have to be made today for this evenings meal. Hoping that it would set up in time and have enough chill time, I went to the store, then got back and got to work on it.

Then, it was time to finish up varnishing the top part of the sprit and woodwork on the bow and rub rails.

Wayne started working on the wind generator. He’s taking the brackets apart that connect it to the deck to put silicon and rubber washers on them. Hopefully we can stop some of the vibration that seems to run through the boat. At night, I have trouble sleeping when it starts up and shuts off a lot. Theoretically the extra rubber will isolate the wind generator from direct contact with the deck.

Steve was the official chef for the potluck. He was in charge of the meat (which the marina supplies) and everyone else brings the side dishes. It was an impressive spread and the food wasn’t completely set out yet but everyone was in line and making haste to try out all the tempting tidbits and salads and sides before someone chastised everyone and covered all the dishes with tablecloths. I moseyed over to the grill to see how Steve was doing. He was busily pulling apart pork and cutting up sausages. He asked if I’d like a sample.
Silly question.
Of course!
And it was quite tastey.
He rattled off the spices that he used, such as alligator dandruff, dog fleas and hawk droppings (kidding). I truly can’t remember the spices but they weren’t ones that I’d ever heard of. I’ll ask him again Monday when I see him because they’re ones that they use down here that we don’t have up north.

Wayne and I joined Dave and Jerri (Buckshot) at their table for dinner and we had a lovely evening with terrific food in spite of the cold weather. It seems that this place always has terrific food.



Friday, December 3, 2010

The saga of patience in the work yard :)

What a day.
Hurry up and wait.
Patience…

The original plan was to get the sprit up in the morning and go shopping for supplies in the afternoon.
Silly girl…

We wanted to make sure we were ready when Eric showed up today to help us lift the sprit to the bow of the boat. So after coffee it was down the ladder and refit the hardware to the bowsprit. The new holes for the nose plate didn’t quite line up with the backer-plate so we had to alter them a little and fill in the old holes with filler, and work the 5 ½ inch bolts through the platform and the sprit. Then Wayne sanded and put the teak plugs into the ones that he could. I went down to the boatyard office to seek out Eric and see if he could get us some help to get the bowsprit back up to the boat after the guys got back from lunch.

“We’ll see”.
“Okay, you said yesterday anytime tomorrow”.
“Okay.”
Then of course I had to pet the boatyard dog that’s been there since being deserted after the hurricane (she’s such a loveable critter).

We waited, then about 1:30pm Wayne napped and I did some computer stuff and decided around 2:30pm to finally splice the anchor snubber together. I thought for sure that would bring someone to the boat (once I got into braiding the rope). Well, I successfully spliced our new 3-strand rope around the thimble, and then whipped it. I thought I did a good job if I do say so myself . Now if it just holds together! That will be the test!

3:45pm.
Hmmm…
Don’t they quit work at 5pm?
Isn’t this Friday?
Off I go in search of Eric again.
He’s nowhere to be found. So I stop and chat with Sharpie’s Dream (when did they move over from the boatyard?), another Bayfield 32. I can spot those Bayfield lines :) so we now have 2 Bayfield 32s across from us. Sharpie’s Dream is 3 boats down from Buckshot (the other B-32 here). While chatting with Pat & Diane (Sharpie’s) I saw Eric pull up so went over to the office. He’s having a baaaad day & everyone is after him (but I think that’s always the case – after all he’s the boatyard manager). I asked if he had forgotten us? “No…everyone wants everything now…”
“I haven’t forgotten you.”

By 4:30pm while I was worrying, trying to figure out a safe way for us to get the bowsprit up to the boat on 2 ladders via the halyard to hoist it up, Eric and a helper showed up with a boom (I’m grinning now).
Eric said
“I didn’t forget you Pat”.
In under an hour we had the sprit raised, bedding compound in place, holes drilled and the bowsprit lowered and bolted to the bow.

Yay!
Tomorrow we can re-attach the pulpit, whisker stays, forestay, trail board, anchor rollers and lifelines.
Then finish the rub rails, trail board, refinish the bowsprit and deck trim on the front of the boat, then we can put up the wind generator, canvas, and on and on…
Think we’ll get in the water on Monday?

The cold front that came through has dropped the temperatures at night back to the upper 30s. I did manage to find our little portable heater from last year. One of our better investments evidently… $8 and some power and welllla! Heat.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

The word for the day: "Patience"


The word for the day – Patience.

Headed over to the IGA for some supplies after coffee this morning. I figured that once I got dirty from working on the boat, I wouldn’t feel like running into town. I couldn’t believe how cool it got here last night and this morning. It dipped down into the 40s and I had my sweats on to run to the store. Brrr, we needed the heater last night but who’d have thought in southern Florida that you’d need it?

After getting a few needed things from the IGA it was time to switch back into my work cloths and get to work. Wayne drilled the new holes into the sprit to hold the hardware and the plan was to have the boatyard help lift it to the bow so we could place then attach it. but the drilling and mounting of the brackets took longer than anticipated. So we decided to try and get it hoisted up tomorrow. One thing I think all boaters learn is “Patience” with a capital P once work begins in the boatyard. The boat “Strange Bird” (the boat in front of us in the boatyard) has been put in and out of the water 3 times now. The first time when he went in, the boat started taking on water where the centerboard drops down (Tartans have a keel with a centerboard); the second and third times they found other leaks in the fiberglass then hose links near the thru hulls. Each time they move you with the boatlift it costs money, so...
“Patience” with a capital P.

While Wayne was working on the hardware to the sprit, I put the bottom paint on the hull and got one side of the keel and part of the other side of the keel done before I ran out of paint. The boat looks good on one side but not the other. Wayne said it would be fine. No one will see it as it will be underwater and the ablative paint from last year will work to keep the barnacles off.

Patience…

The bowsprit looked good. We decided since we were going to wait until tomorrow to have it lifted to the bow, I’d put a couple of coats of varnish on the topside. That way when we fitted the nose plate to it, it would have varnish beneath it to help to protect the wood. After that, when the nose plate was fitted to the bowsprit, we discovered that the holes that were drilled, using the old sprit as a template, didn’t line up with the nose plate.
Oh, oh…
We’ll have to re-drill the holes!

Patience…

The hardware store is open until 5pm so I ran up to see if I could find some wood filler (after discovering that the only stuff they had here was a can of it 3 times the size that I needed). I guess I was longer than I thought because when I got back to the boat, Wayne came down the ladder and gave me the biggest bear hug I’ve had in a long time. He’d heard an ambulance and fire trucks come roaring down the main street and had been getting worried because I’d been gone so long (½ hour). He was ready to send out the Calvary to find me. He had…

Patience…

I’d found two kinds of filler; one came in a tube that you could snip off the end and squeeze it out so we thought “that would work well”. “Lets just squirt it into the holes to fill them in.” Well first - it wouldn’t squeeze out of the tube. Then it all fell through the hole, so I guess the hole was to big as well as being 5 ½ inches deep. Anyhow it ended up all over my still tacky topside. When we tried to brush it off, it stuck quite tenaciously to the newly varnished topside.
Sigh…

Patience…

It was now time for dinner and to call it a day.
I’m done working in the boatyard for the day!
Halfway through grilling the pork chops, Wayne ran out of propane.... mhmmmm... Patience...
We did find another canister and the BBQd chops and coleslaw for dinner was wonderful.

The temperatures are supposed to dip into the low 40s again tonight, and did I mention? Laughing…
The heater doesn’t work.

“Patience” with a capital P…