Renne' and I have been working hard to have JonNe' ready for our planned departure around the 1st week of March. We have decided to head back to the Bahamas again this year. We will be joined by our friends, Ed and Claudia Davis, aboard their boat "Door Into Summer". We met Ed and Claudia a year ago as we were headed north to Charleston, SC for hurricane season, and we spent the last days of October transiting south from Vero Beach together.
Actually, this years preparation has not been as grueling as in past years. We have had to work on two major issues: bad fuel in the Bahamas and a bad storm that tore up our jib in the Exumas (Bahamas) on our last trip. I finally got the fuel cleaned and transferred to one of the other tanks, then opened the access panel and manually cleaned the tank out. That was not fun. The jib and staysail are in for badly needed repairs, and will be back to us by the end of the week.
We had a major provisioning trip today, and spent $250 today, $150 yesterday. We were at the Miami Boat Show and bought a pair of "voice-activated" radios they call the Marriage Saver, so I can work out on the deck with the anchor or handling the sails without yelling anymore. I also anticipate it will be an excellent addition for being out on the deck at night. Communications are the first thing we have to make sure works well.
I have to change the oil in the water maker, reinstall the secondary bilge pump, re-seat a metal gasket in the exhaust loop, and repack the V-berth. We will be storing lots of winter clothes in the car! I also plan on going through my tools to see if I can leave some here this time.
Rene's sewing machine is in for a checkup today, and we hope to get it back this week as she is hoping to make a cover for the life raft and outboard engine.
Other than those items, I think we are pretty much ready to go, so we have two weeks left!
So before we leave, if you want to catch up with us on the docks for Sundowners, you are always welcome.
Jon and Renne'
Have a wonderful journey. We think of you often.
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