Boat Projects while in Key West

We are making progress.  I had started changing the oil in the generator and engine.  With the little hand pump we have, we can move about 1/8th of a cup of oil per very slow stroke out of the engine.  Even with the oil heated it is a very slow project.  Got the oil changed in the genset, then emptied the oil in the engine only to find out I didn't actually have a filter for it.  So had to wait until today to head out by dinghy to find one.  Happens there is a Yanmar dealer about two miles away by water.  I was able to complete the project this afternoon.  Of course each project we begin begets another one or two we have to consider at the same time.  Tomorrow we have several things we have to accomplish.  The least of them is finding out if there will be a flight to Jacksonville this week so we can recover the car.

Renne' right now is baking double chocolate molten cakes with splenda.  The batter is great, but chocolate gets everywhere!  We received a few pictures of JonNe' as we were leaving Jacksonville Landing last week:

Renne' also got a great comment on her first novel, The Last Payload, The MECS Experiment today:  "Finished reading your novel quite a steamy romance and full of adventure I enjoyed it very much"  What a thrill for her to hear that.  Thanks Ken!

So here are the projects we have finished:

Install Watermaker

Install SSB

Replace block on mast

Move spare halyard forward

Inspect/Replace Voltage Regulator

Inspect/Repair Manual Bilge Pump

I/R Secondary Bilge Pump

Change Fuel Filter                                                Complete

Clean Air Conditioner Filter

Clean Hot Water Line in fwd head

I/R commode pump mechanics

Repair floor in aft head

Re-organize V-Berth

Install snaps on sun screen                                    Complete

Replace snaps on full enclosure

Repair Sail Covers

Replace motor-lift line                                          Complete

Replace dinghy lift lines                                        Complete

Make mosquito screens for hatches

Repair hatch arms

Replace all port-light seals

Install on/off switch to refrigerator fan

I/R sailing instrument switches

Replace aft navigation light

Seal water inlet to stop leak

Cut Spare 3/4" Dock Line

Copy Movies over to spare Disk

Install Binocular Holder

Move Music over to MP3

Clean Refrigerator

Add Diesel Treatment and Filter Fuel

Change Engine Oil                                               Complete

Change Oil in Generator                                      Complete

Reorganize Garage Area
Replace Bow Chock                                             Complete

See you at the dock tomorrow at sunset for Sundowners.

JonNe'

We are back in Key West

We were finally able to glide into the slip here in Key West last evening at 6:30pm. And this is how we entered:

Renne' was at the helm as we were making the turn off Hawk Channel, into the inlet for the marina at NAS Boca Chica, when I took this.  Followed by

Followed moments later by the first Green Flash I have seen since 1999 from Clearwater Beach, Fl.  I was so disappointed Renne' didn't get to see it.  She was concentrating on piloting the boat and I guess I was freeloading!

With those, however, let me digress to Lake Worth.

To say the least, Wednesday the 28^th of December was a bit trying!!  It was kind of a F__K-YOU day for both of us.  Neither of us was really in a good mood.  We hadn’t gotten much sleep at anchor in North Lake Worth.  I had not hooked up a snubber to the anchor chain, and it rattled and snapped all night long.  The wind was blowing a bit (25-30kts) and I was concerned about dragging the anchor if it got too much stronger.  That and Renne’s upper left arm is hurting.  Not sure what it is, so now that we are in Key West, we will have it checked out.  

We weighed anchor about 8am.  We had stowed the dinghy and cleaned up the deck.  As we were pulling up the anchor, I realized I had needed to get below the bed in the V-Berth to spread the anchor chain around a bit.  It has a tendency to pile up just below the hawse hole pipe and then I can’t get all of the anchor chain down the pipe and it sits up on deck.  I had had a problem with that so I had to dig out part of the contents of the V-Berth to get to it.  By the time I was done, I had already had it!!  The anchor came up and we were on our way.  Renne’ asked me to turn on the Autopilot as we were departing the Lake Worth Inlet.  When I told her I had already, we realized we had a problem with that too!  So checking some wiring, we knew we would be without the autopilot at least for the day.  I would not be able to look at it before we anchored for the night in Forth Lauderdale.

Transiting the coast between Lake Worth (North Palm Beach) and  Fort Lauderdale would have been a bit slow had it not been for the engine.  We threw up the asymmetrical spinnaker and had a wonderful motorsail down the coast.  Winds light, nice rolling following seas.  As we approached the inlet to Fort Lauderdale, I had to get the spinnaker down.  As it happened, the wind kicked up, and as I am NOT a spinnaker guy, I had a bit of a problem getting the spinnaker down, in heavier wind, by myself, trying to shout directional instructions to Renne'.  The spinnaker halyard jammed in the block (AGAIN - remember Charleston Harbor having to replace it??????) and I had to wrap it around the jib, wrap the lines around the spinnaker to keep it from flying again, and we transitted Fort Lauderdale up the ICW in less than attractive condition.

Let me tell you - there are some BIG yachts in Fort Lauderdale!

Even the REALLY BIG Yachts (first one) have BIG yachts as accessories!!  The last picture is a canal, and there are dozens of canals, off the ICW.  It is AMAZING!!

We had to take a slip at the Las Oslas City Marina.  It gave us an opportunity to pump out the holding tank, fill up the water tanks, and let me climb the mast to fix the spinnaker, a chore that would have been exceedingly difficult with the anchor out (I definately like using the anchor windlass to get me up the mast).

Thursday evening, we called our friend, Bill Olson (Captain or Dog Bill), and Linda andCarol, and we all got together for Sun-downers before dinner.

The autopilot turned out to be a fuse and two loose wires, so that got fixed before visitors.  The spinnaker waited until morning.  However, what I found, I didn't like.  I will have to get up again here in Key West to replace the broken block at the top.  Otherwise, I had to cut down that perfectly good halyard - AGAIN - and once AGAIN, we have shorter lines than we want or need!  As there are two spare halyards, sorry, now just ONE, I will replace the forward block with a better make, and move the other spare to the front of the mast and not spend the money to buy new line.

We said goodbye to Bill, Linda, and Carol - we did love seeing our home friends, and departed Fort Lauderdale with renewed enthusiasm.  Autopilot working, sails working, engine working, Renne's left arm still hurting.

We have been hugging the coast all the way down from Lake Worth to take advantage of the counter current.  The Gulf Current is pretty intense right around here.


The red on the east coast is the area around Lake Worth.  That is the reason we went in north of Lake Worth and exited at Lake Worth Inlet.  It can be very intense going south!!

The advantage however of being close to the coast or reef, is that all of the commercial shipping is 5-7 miles farther out, and we had NO visitors throughout the trip. Hawk Channel extends from Key Largo all the way southeast to Key West.  We were inside the reef, however, with all of the crab traps out, we felt like we were in a mine field, and we were continuously dodging the markers.  We actually would have felt more comfortable outside the reef.  I began to sense there was a challenge with the fuel system, so we shut down the engine and I changed the primary fuel filter.  That actually did not resolve the challenge, so as the RPM's began to drop, I was a bit worried we might drop the engine off line before we got to the slip.  We were still doing 5.5kts, and Renne', ever the optomist, was not as worried as I was.  Fortunately that did not happen, and we are safely in the slip today.

Our friends, Maury and Ginger Thompson and a few others met us at the dock to help, and we met the rest of the gang at "The Navigator" bar and grill last night for a couple of beers.  It was good to be there. 

So here we are, I have a list a mile long to complete in the next few weeks.  Renne' wants to get some sewing done, and get an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon on Monday to look at her arm.  We are concerned she might have torn the rotator cuff.  We will see.

In the meantime, meet us here for sundowners.  We really enjoy seeing our friends.

JonNe'

North Palm Beach

I thought I would share a few photos of our off-shore leg.  Now this is what we tend to do when we are NOT at the helm:

and this is what we are looking at - the reason we sleep in the cockpit:

We decided to head on down the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) yesterday.  We tried to leave the anchorage at about 8am.  As mentioned on our Christmas post, we pulled off the ICW at a designated anchorage completely neglecting that the tide around here is + or - 4 feet.  So when we had anchored, the depthsounder had +3.5ft below us.  When we turned on the instruments and pulled up the anchor, Renne' tried to move the boat and we weren't going anywhere.  I asked Renne' what the depth was, and she responded the depthsounder reads 3.5ft.  What we discovered, is when the boat is actually sitting on the ground, it doesn't read 0, it reads the last depth it read before shutting it down.  There is a statement on the screen that says LAST.  Now we understand!  Hmmmm, I thought I understood everything this boat does.  NOT!!!   We were very confident when we anchored Christmas day, but discovered we ALWAYS will be learning new things!!  For me, that can be so-o-o-o-o frustrating!

So we finally worked our way off that particular ledge, with the assistance of a few power boats going by creating a wake - have I said I would like to retire on a trawler that doesn't draw 6' of keel - and full sails out.

We had checked the weather off shore, and decided that 5-9 foot waves was not what we want to sail in if we can avoid it, we departed down the ICW again headed for Lake Worth or North Palm Beach.

Now, I don't understand something.  Surely all of those movies coming from Hollywood have to portray real life - Right??  I know that for sure!  Now, here is the scenario:  The movie camera zooms in on an incredibly gorgeous mansion.  The back yard is immaculately sculpted, the pool area is decorated by 20 or 30 somethings sunning in the tiniest bikinis consuming lavish boat drinks and normally a police officer or two speaking with the owner of the mansion.  Now we cruised by, perhaps, hundreds of these types of homes in Jupiter, Fl and North Palm Beach.  This is where Burt Reynolds, Jack Nicholas, and Loni Anderson live and play.  In fact, as it turns out, we motored right past Burt and Loni's house on Hobe Sound yesterday and we are anchored a hundred yards from Jack's house - notice that proximity permits me now to use just their first names!

So where are the BABE'S????  Not only were there NO BABE'S, there was NOBODY!  From the time we passed Hobe Sound until we anchored in North Lake Worth, we hardly saw a soul!  No, we didn't see a soul.  I was watching these houses go by, and even with binoculars - of course the women reading this would think I didn't need binoculars, but even with them, I saw maybe 4 families and one older couple (older than us).  I have been snookered!!  I have been falsely informed.  I was looking for BABES.  I am feeling so low!!

We did get a view of an eagle's nest in the trees - It was certainly special. 

We were having a great time, but leisure always gets interupted as we started finding all of these bridges that were NOT 65 feet high, so we would call and request an opening, only to be told to wait 15-20 minutes for the next scheduled opening.  So even in neutral, with the current moving us at a rate of 1.5-2.0 knots, it could be a challenge avoiding all of the boat traffic coming and going that could navigate under a 25 foot high bridge.  So it took us an hour longer than anticipated to get into the anchorage, but we are joined here by 30 other boats, and we have a very lovely view.  Of interesting note, this portion of Lake Worth is divided in half lengthwise.  Those on the west side of the dividing line are actually in the city of North Palm Beach, and in 1998, the city passed an ordinance to charge a fee of $20.  The east side of the dividing line has no fee.  So guess where everyone is.  Yup, on the east side.  I guess they achieved their goal, we are on Jack's side of the lake!

Last night, we dinghied ashore to meet our friends Linda (formerly Koepsel) Schoene (our next door neighbor when we lived in the Town House at Seagate in Seabrook, Tx) and Carol Stauter.  Renne' and I had inquired about a place to securely leave our dinghy, and we were directed to a very small sandy beach near the junction of Rt 1 and A1A.  We went out to dinner at a place called The Dive Bar in Jupiter and met some very enjoyable folks while we sat at the bar and ate sushi and clams and chowder.  Now there is something about being at a bar with 3 lovely ladies!  Men come out of the woodwork to talk with them!

Actually this pic was taken at our next stop, The Square Grouper.  Now the term square grouper comes from Key West, and it wouldn't surprise me if this bar is in the same corporation as the one down there.  But it refers to the square bales of marajuana that were fished out of the water during the heyday of the drug trafficking there during the 60's-70's before the feds came in to break up the corruption.

So Renne' and I were dropped back at the tiny beach to head back to the boat, and what was beached on a sandy beach when we left was in waist high water when we got back last night.  So I got wet walking out to retrieve the dinghy.  Now today, I have to clean the lock so it doesn't seize up on us.

We are staying put today in North Lake Worth.  It looks as though Thursday is our departure day for Key West.  The winds aren't bad, but waves are still pretty miserable.  We will head south on the ICW tomorrow and do some grocery shopping today.

So call us to meet us for Sundowners, we really enjoy seeing our friends while we are out here.  For now,

ARGHHHHH!

That is because I was trying to eliminate some of the duplicate tracks for this afternoon on the Spot Messenger and completely eliminated all of yesterday and today's tracks!!!  Doggone.

But Merry Christmas to all of our friends, fans, and followers.  Renne' and I spent the night offshore.  We left Daytona Beach and went out Ponce de Leon Inlet, about 15 nm south of where we stayed on Friday night.  Then spent all day and last night off shore.  We were listening to the local NOAA Marine forecast, and realized today and tomorrow was forecast with 5-7 foot waves, and Christmas is meant for relaxing, so we bailed and entered the Fort Pierce Inlet.  WOW, talk about a screamingly fast entries!!  We saw 9.9kts on the GPS.  So I had to take a photo of the event.  Didn't capture the 9.9, but 9.8 is good enough!

This is the view of the Fort Pierce Inlet.  I haven't seen this view in 15 years, when my friend, Frank Goldston, had to get back to Houston, and I was given the opportunity to replace him on a delivery with our friend, Ted Boudry.  Ted, myself, and another crewman entered this channel on a Gulfstar 54 to repair the autopilot which had died the day previously.  Brought back good memories.

Now this is the fastest this boat has traveled over the ground - EVER!  We entered the Inlet with both the current and tide on Max Flood.  In other words, the current was running in at the fastest it could and the tide was going from low to high tide simultaneously!  Combined was 4.5 kts over what we entered under power with.

We are basically in Port St. Lucie in an anchorage off one of the highways above and across the ICW.  How cool.  Renne' and I dinghy'd over to a restaurant and had the best mussels we've ever had and shared an Ahi Tuna steak. 

We are back aboard enjoying a glass of champagne and watching the sunset - oops, sun has set and I missed it!  Oh well.  We leave tomorrow - need to listen to the weather to decide if we will go offshore or down the ICW.

From here, probably down to Marathon.  Our friend, Linda Schoen would like us to stop by Lake Worth.  If we go down the ICW we will see her tomorrow or Tuesday.  Ortherwise we will look up our friends Jim and Linda Delany who are on the ball at Marathon.  Then on down to Boca Chica.  I can't wait.  This evening, however, felt like the first time, since leaving Key West that I felt like I was cruising again.  The rest has been just living aboard the boat and visiting friends and relatives.

So again, Merry Christmas.  We will be in KW for New Years, it looks like.  So come party with us then.

JonNe'

Seabreeze, Fl in Daytona Beach

Made a long run of 42nm today.  Left at 0700 this morning from St. Augustine this morning, but got stopped 20 minutes later for the first bridge.  The tide was at high tide and the waterlevel below the bridge allowed only 63 feet.  Now the mast to the waterline is 63.5 feet, so we would have taken the top of the mast off had we decided to go through.  We chose to wait until 9am to ensure we had enough space from the water to the bottom of the bridge. Didn't want another delay and additional expense.  So we were able to get under at 64.5feet and we felt better about it.  We docked at a small marina and they didn't realize we were there or didn't bother us.  One or the other.  The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful, which we REALLY like!!

So we arrived this evening about 1710, set anchor, and began preparing dinner.  We used our new pressure cooker, a gift of Renne's parents, and cooked beans.  When I lived in Lubbock in the 1970's one of my docs had a pressure cooker blow up in his face with severe steam burns, cooking beans.  So I was particularly cautious as we began.  However we had wine coolers, marinated Ribeye steaks, red kidney beans, and sauteed onions and bok choy.  We ate like royalty tonight.  There is a restaurant and bar across the ICW from us with a great band - we can hear it from here, so we got a great dinner and great music without the cost.  I think that is WAY COOL. 

This sitting at anchor or sitting on the ball is a great idea.  Sure beats the $80-$120it costs to tie up at a dock.  So we are resisting that expense as much as possible.

Tomorrow, we intend to head for Titusville - 54nm - and then out into the Atlantic on Christmas Day.  We hope to have dinner with Renne's Dad and Wilma, but not sure if they will break away from being at the ranch.  We will just have to see.  We expect the cold front to pass tonite and hopefully we will have northwest winds tomorrow.  Just never know.  It will take us 1-1/2 days to get to Rodriguez Key when we leave Canaveral.  We will have to see how we are doing to see if we want to stay there or head on down to Key West.

For right now, those are our plans.  See ya for Sundowners at the docks at Key West or at the Navigator Bar and Grill on Base when we get there.  For now, Merry Christmas to all of you, and return safely on Monday.  Our very best to our friends and relatives.  You are very dear to us.

JonNe'

St. Augustine, Fl

We had a short run today.  Renne' got up about 8:30 this morning and we lazed around fixing breakfast and getting to ready leave.  We left about 9:45 and made it into St. Augustine just as the Lion Bridge in St. Augustine was opening at 11:30.  Had we missed that opening, we would have had to wait for the next at 12:30.  The current coming south before arriving in the harbor had us moving at 7.0kts.  When we made the turn east at the St. Augustine Inlet, we dropped to 1.5kts bucking the outgoing tide from the ICW to the south.  I was reading the precautions in the latest Waterway Guide and I promptly ran us aground.  We were able to throw the jib out and get turned around - a bit embarassing in front of a couple of boats, but we handled it well - just a little red faced.  So this makes four groundings since we left in February.

Our plan is to head out in the morning for Daytona Beach, Fl and hope to get out Saturday morning into the Atlantic and take advantage of some Northerly winds for a change.  There is a cold front passing tomorrow night, so the temp will drop about 10 degrees for the nice 60's and 70's we are having right now.

This afternoon we ran into another Boca Chica resident, Ron and Leann who are on-board a CT-54.  Ron was at Key West while we were there.  We didn't get to know him well, but Renne' recognized him immediately.  He is getting married in May, and is planning to winter over in Cape Canaveral at the same marina we were in on our way north.

So tomorrow, we will probably be anchored in Daytona or perhaps a marina.  So if we stop there, we will be having Sundowners about 1800 (6pm), so see you then if you can make it.

JonNe'

We Are At Anchor Tonite

We are at Pine Island, north of St. Augustine, Fl, on the ICW.

We had a very pleasant motorsail - actually a LOT more motoring than motorsailing, but we arrived here about 1600 (4pm) this afternoon.  There was no reason to go any farther, as it got dark before we would have found the next anchorage.  As nice as the chartplotter/gps is, it is not completely accurate, and we found ourselves probably 60-100 feet off centerline today, and in an area where a few feet can mean the difference between 15' and 5 feet, we choose not to tackle the ICW at night.  It is okay for tugs with barges, as they are built to get off of a grounding easily - i.e., huge props and LOTS of power.

But this afternoon was virtually windlass, so we saw 36kts at some times and 5kts of wind at others.  This afternoon was almost windless.  Smooth water meant good travel.  We will leave the anchorage at first light tomorrow morning and hope to make the bridge in St. Augustine before 8am.  If not, we will pull in and perhaps top off the fuel and water.

So the anchorage at pine island is well protected. and it reminds me of the lakes in northern Wisconsin where we used to watch the loons at sunset and early in the morning.  I don't think we will have a haze on the water tomorrow, but it will be a close substitute.

The BIG EVENT today!  We were passing the McCormick Bridge - the beach boulevard bridge, and we noticed a blue sailboat coming north against us.  It was then I realized it was s/v LE'A.  If you look back, it is the boat crew Renne' and I watched the Christmas Boat Parade with in St. Augustine, from Houston, with Janet Cole and Dick Callaway as they are delivering LE'A to Annapolis.

I was a bit excited.  What you don't see is 5 seconds later, we take a sharp turn to the right and head for shore!!  Renne' had taken JonNe' off autopilot to pass them and you notice she is waving too.  We did recover before running aground, but it would have just been another joyous moment in the eventful trip! We had not heard from them is a week or so, and we decided they had already left.  Here, 1,200 miles from home, we passed them on the ICW.  It is a VERY small world! Wish we had thought to get a picture of them.

So we had a glass of wine tonite, no I had two glasses of wine tonite, Renne' decided she had to cut back.  So I got hers.  We are making some ice, and I will have a glass of Jack Daniels before we hit the hay tonite.

Hope to see you soon for sundowners.

JonNe'

Wednesday Morning Decisions

Last night was very enjoyable, and we are glad we stayed.  As you probably remember, we spent several months in Boca Chica Marina at the Naval Air Station in Key West.  Sometime after the first month there, a sailboat came in after a single-handed crossing from the Rio Dulce.  The boat was named Reboot.  So yesterday, while finishing up the dinghy, a gentleman stopped by to chat for a few minutes, asked us where we were headed.  We mentioned Key West. The more we talked, the more Renne' realized he was the sailor who had come in to Boca.  He didn't recognize us, but it was a surprise to run into Retired Navy Captain Roger Jones, and formerly meet him in Jacksonville.  He was walking by all of the boats arranging for a dinner last night somewhere with all of the boaters.  We thought it would be a great idea to get together with them.

So last night at 1900 (7pm) we all gathered at the Christmas Tree

and rode the ferry over to the other side of the St. John's River.

So, not a good photographer, but I wanted to get a feeling for what the dock looks like at night.  So we took the ferry over to a local brewery for dinner with Roger, Ed and Claudia Davis (turns out he is a recently retired Marine LtCol and Fed/Ex Pilot abrd s/v Door Into Summer), Ken Smith (abrd s/v Loon), and Sarah Southworth and Bill (abrd s/v Moonlight Serenade).  Now it turns out that Roger and Ed/Claudia are buddy boating down to Key West also, so we are excited that we should see them there, just before we leave for the Bahamas.

This is the view from the other side looking at "The Landing" where we are all docked.  Beautiful view isn't it!  And all FREE!

Renne' sold a couple of Nighty Night books to Claudia and one Last Payload to Bill last night.  It was interesting to see the response from Claudia.  Apparently, she has been looking for this type of a book, designed for kids that introduces the concept of sailing in a gentle, but interactive manner.  She was extremely excited, and it re-invigerated Renne''s enthusiasm.  It was a good evening for her.

So our decision this morning is to leave and probably head down the ICW (Inter-Coastal Waterway) to St. Augustine and then look at the weather on Friday.  Right now we will be slogging into southerly winds at 10-to-15kts with waves 3-6 feet out of the east.  Not a good combination.  But the winds are due to shift by Friday evening, so that looks like our window to get a few day offshore.  We don't have to be anywhere for Christmas, so it looks like we will be on the water.  We will leave this morning with the change of current - about 0930 - Gads, that is just about an hour from now.  So I will close this out with pics of Renne' working in the cockpit yesterday and my new addition -

by the way, Ed, the retired Marine/Fed Ex pilot has started growing his hair as of his retirement also.  Neither he nor I have ever had the experience of longer hair.  And you know how I HATE haircuts!  It's still a little shaggy, but it will grow out.  LOL!

So keep track of us in the column to the left (Where Is JonNe' Today) and watch our track down the coast. We will probably be at anchor tonight, so no Sundowner's this evening.  We will let you know where to meet us for our next dockside cocktail hour.  Until then,

JonNe'

Another Night in Downtown Jax

Renne' and I made an executive decision this afternoon - we ain't going no place this afternoon.  this morning at 0800, I was picked up by Renne's nephew, Fletcher, and we went exploring for replacement parts for the genset.  We found the NextGeneration Power Engineering company, the manufacturer of this particular unit.  As I talked to the guys in the front office, I discovered I probably should replace the zinc sacrificial rod and get a few more spare parts, especially as we are leaving the country.  So $450 later, I walked out with a cruising kit, including several new belts, some electrical parts more fuel filters, another oil filter, some socks, pants, and other things they could throw in the bag!!!  Holy crow!  Now Renne' would have killed me if I had originally bought those items without needing them, but now that we do, she was accepting of the expense.  So to work I went on replacing the items.

Actually the impeller went in very nicely.  I found the centering slot with not problem, then I tackled the zinc.  I unscrewed the old one and tried to insert the new one, but no-go.  So I got an awl out to figure what to do, stuck it in to the old slot and voile' discovered a bunch of junk from the old zinc and the remains of the old impeller right there.  Got my handy dandy forceps out (you can tell I was in the medical business) and removed all of the junk in there.  Promptly inserted the zinc and it didn't seat very well.  Another call to NextGen and found out I had to cut the zinc shorter.  So out came the saw and I tackled that one.  Started the unit and it worked fine for about 20 minutes.  As it shut down, I realized I hadn't turned the electric pump on, so after several aborted tries to start it again, I had to re-bleed the genset.  With that and a total of three hours of labor, we had the genset working. 

While we recharged the batteries, the laptops, the internet point, got the refrigerator to look like it had ice on it again, recharged the camera battery and turned on the A/C to dry out this place, I undertook launching the dinghy.  It has been sitting on the foredeck for a couple of weeks, so I had to wrestle it out from under the staysail boom, rotate it on it's side, and using the foot pump, inflated it so it wouldn't sink when I got it over the side.  By now we had 4-5 onlookers who were interested in how I was going to get this 10' dinghy in the water.  So, using the spare halyard, I attached one end to the dinghy and the other to the electric windlass, and voile' again, was able to hoist it up over the lifelines and into the water.

Then the final test of the new weld modification was performed.  I attached the dinghy to the davits, and wouldn't you know, we were able to lift the dinghy all of the way into the slot, we were able to insert the locking bolts, and put the tie-down straps on, without cursing/yelling/screaming at the boat/dinghy/Renne'/and the general audience.  In all, it actually appeared to the audience that we knew what we were doing.  Which in reality, we have found it is a guess and a bit of luck every time we do some of these things. 

Anyway, by the time we were done and ready to go - 1430 (2:30pm) the current had turned and I was too tired to get underway.  So Renne' made the executive decision to stay one more night - FREE - and start out in the morning fresh - about 0600.

So Hooter's is right across the dock from us.  We will enjoy a beer and some chicken wings tonite.  So come join us for Sundowner's before we go over - let's say meet us about 1700 (5:00pm).

JonNe'