Only 39 NM today so we had an easy morning, dropping the ball at about 9 AM. Weather was a bit of a mixed bag with a bit of wind and thunderstorms and as much as I wanted to con the boat from the Flying Bridge we ended up in the pilot house. We stopped in Ft. Pierce and loaded 550 gallons of diesel - ready for the Bahamas.
Arrived at Loggerhead at about 4 PM, just as a thunder storm was passing over. Jon and Bonnie were there to great us, and it was great to see them again. We had plenty to catch up on and chatted for a few hours over a couple of beers followed by dinner on Bon Voyage (grilled salmon, smashed potatoes and salad). Bonnie is a great cook, presentation is always 1st class and last night was no different. Home by 10 PM and I fell asleep on the couch.
Thursday February 6th, 2014
All I did today was wash and scrub hull and decks. Superstructure and windows tomorrow. Dinner on Bon Voyage
Friday February 7th, 2014
I spent 2 hours on the computer trying to arrange US Customs pre-approval for our return from Bahamas. Was a bit frustrating but eventually got it to work and arrange our "interviews" for Monday. While I was yelling at the computer, Deidre rented a car for the week and went to the Post Office. To celebrate the 4 of us went to Walmart and spent lots of money, followed by dinner on Bon Voyage
Saturday February 8th, 2014
Visit to the "Farmers market" in Ft. Pierce was fun, followed by "Produce Market" in Jenson Beach followed by more shopping. Dinner at home followed by Olympics and 3 episodes of "Revenge".
Sunday February 9th, 2014
Worked in the bilge all day and have scraped hands to prove it. Invited the people next door in for "afternoon coffee". Bonnie & Jon came over for dinner.
Monday, February 10th, 2014
More fun in the bilge. I opened up our holding tank and blasted the insides with the hose so that tomorrow's pump out has the chance to remove any accumulated sediment! I also mixed 6 gallons of cleaner (essentially muriatic acid) and rerouted some hoses so that I could repeatedly pump it thru the system to clean the hoses and valves. Also made and installed a new rubber gasket for the tank inspection cover.
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
Pump out man came on time and we are empty! We must now have the cleanest tank in the marina. Over the last two days I have also removed the ElectroScan AGAIN, this time so I can replace the electrodes. The system was working but not effective, so the last thing to change is the electrodes. The replacement set cost $350!
Bought some sheet type insulation and "wrapped" the freezer to try and reduce the sun effects. Later that day also discovered that the frig door gasket had failed as the frig was obviously leaking air. Found a replacement online and ordered one.
Wednesday, February 12th, 2014
We decided that we deserved a break today and so headed south in the car to Palm Beach. This is a really swish place and we took the long way along the coastal road, looking at all the fabulous houses. Walked around Worth Avenue looking at the shops (Cartier, Tiffany and the likes) followed by lunch at a swank place right on the beach. Back to the boat about 5 PM just as a series of big thunder storms rolled thru. The rest of the country is getting hammered by another big winter storm. At least we are far enough south this time!
Thursday, February 13th, 2014
Back to work. We have employed a "handyman" to do a couple of jobs on the boat and he turned up with his helper to spec out the work. The water maker man arrived on schedule and I spent an hour or two with him checking out the device and making water. We have never operated the water maker since we bought Tide Hiker.
Sea water is about 35,000 Parts Per Million "dissolved solids". We are up the St. Lucie river several miles and the water we are floating in is brackish, and about 16,000 PPM. The US standard maximum PPM for potable water is 500 PPM. Our water maker was only achieving 900 PPM and that number would increase when we return to sea water. So it seems that our reverse osmosis membranes are shot and need to be replaced. That will cost about 1.5 "boat units" and two weeks.
This is our last day with the car so we went shopping - again.
Friday, February 14th, 2014
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| Working on the ElectrScan again |
We seem to have a small leak in the stb stabilizer unit. The service company is in Ft. Lauderdale and we may need to call in there to get it resolved before we leave. In the meantime I sent him photos of the errant oil.
Returned the car. Read the paper in the sun on the aft deck - it was a beautiful day. Tidied up the boat in anticipation of Jon & Bonnie coming to dinner. Fun evening.
Saturday, February 15th, 2014
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| I was happy when I started! |
Dinner on Bon Voyage.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Flushing the toilet:
In a house on dry land flushing the toilet involves mains pressure water and gravity. In our boat it requires 4 electric pumps and 2 electric motors to work in unison:
1. Flush water requires the fresh water pump to operate
2. To move the contents to the holding tank requires the toilet macerator pump to operate
3. To move the contents from the tank to the ElectroScan (or overboard if we are off shore) requires an independent macerator pump to operate
4. To process the contents in the ElectroScan requires 2 motors (Mixer and Macerator) and a small pump to add salt water.
Most of these devices live in the bilge (under the floorboards). I try and keep the bilge clean and fresh, but it is a hostile environment for mechanical and electrical devices. Hence, the constant battle. The good news is that we have tested the ElectrScan today and it is working well. Just have to sort out the tank sensor issues.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Another perfect weather day. Jon and Bonnie leave Tuesday so we are having them over for dinner. So I spent the morning cleaning the bar-b-que and the boat deck. Deidre had given me a steel drum CD and I enjoyed being outside in the sun listening to the music.
Tuesday February 18, 2014
Another perfect weather day. First job today was to update the Furono software. There was some confusion (in my mind) as our setup seems slightly non standard but after a couple of calls we got it done. Then I sorted out a few issues with boat insurance and then health insurance for Deidre. Since it was such a nice day we decided to launch the dink and tootled around the area looking at marinas and ended up beaching the dink near a local spot where we enjoyed a beer. Back at the boat I started the engines to warm up the oil and Deidre and I pumped it out of the engines and transmissions and changed the filters. Some of the oil from the stb transmission looked a bit weird so we have collected a sample and will Fedex it for analysis tomorrow. Just another day in paradise
Wednesday February 18, 2014
Loaded the engines with oil this morning. It is a two man job as we buy & carry oil in 5 gallon drums and they have to be parsed into gallon containers to fill the filters and then the engine. As soon as that was done Deidre got on her bike and took the oil samples to the post office and picked up the dry cleaning. Received an email answer re the bar-b-que and so took it apart and ordered new burner and diffusion plate. The corrosion was so bad I had to cut the burner out with the dremel. Since I was on the computer my buying spree continued to include the "HI" and the "LOW" tank sensors and a one-way valve for the salt tank that I noticed was broken earlier this week.
We have three 2,000 gph bilge pumps (and a spare) and a manual diaphragm type pump that is operated by removing a deck plate and inserting an 18" bar that the crew pumps backward and forward. We need to test it once a year and today was the day so we "filled" the bilge with the hose and I operated the pump. It seemed harder than the last test so we will need to investigate further. In the mean time I think I will just buy a longer bar.
Thursday February 20, 2014
Our marina is located where the St. Lucie river narrows between two peninsulas. There are two lifting bridges and a new fixed bridge, and the walkway to the shore connects to land just under the new fixed bridge. The bridge is lit up at night and is quite attractive.
Friday February 21, 2014
Not much going on. Just trying to cross of the jobs. I rode my bike 2.6 miles each way to the drug store to pick up my Lipitor for the next three months. Met Deidre in town for a beer. Dinner out with Canadian friends.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Big shop today. Deidre and I walked the 1.6 miles to the supermarket and back with our collapsible trolley. We invited the people next door in for a drink. Fish for dinner.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Plucked up my courage this morning and tried to easy-out the stem broken off in the "Hi" level indicator. No dice. Tried the next size up, no dice. In desperation epoxied the easy-out in the hole and headed out in the dinghy to town where there was an Art Show and farmers market and music fest. Fun time. We were away for a couple of hours and I tried the easy-out on my return. No dice. Not sure where I go from here.
Monday, February 24, 2014
The bar-b-que parts arrived so I picked them up at the office and reassembled the office. While I was there I sorted out our issue with the marina WiFi service so now we should be able to use it. The bar-b-que went back together OK.
The new epoxy had 18 hours to cure so I tried the easy-out again and it did not work. Oh well, not sure to do now so I emailed the guy at Raritan and asked him. No answer yet.
Installed the automated release device on the emergency raft. Turned out I needed parts so rode to Home Depot. By the time I got back it was lunch and after lunch some Canadian friends popped in and we spent an hour or so chatting. I filled in the rest of the afternoon downloading charts onto the computer.
The water maker guy called and said he still did not have the parts he needed to overhaul it. The oil samples arrived at the lab but no results yet.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Another perfect morning followed by a beautiful day. Pump out man arrived on time. Finished my taxes and rode the bike up to the Post Office and mailed it all to my accountant. Deidre rode the bike to the gracery store.
Started to pester the oil analysis lady at lunch time but did not get the results till about 4 PM - all clear! Reloaded the transmissions with oil and crossed it off the job list. Epoxied the new 4G/4G aerial to the new aerial stand. Will run the wires in the AM. The bike has a flat tire - Deidre just headed of to the bike shop with the flat tire bungied to her bike rack. As usual I have a job list of "must do's". The list has 24 items, we have 9 completed and 4 underway. The big one is the water-maker. No call today.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Fog this morning. Rode our bikes a mile or so to "Steak and Shake" for breakfast. (What a deal - bottomless coffee, Deidre had a yogurt based parfait and side of toast, I had two egg and bacon breakfast tacos and a side of toast, all for $7.59 plus tip). Haircut on the way back - $10 senior special!
Good call this AM - the parts for the water maker are on their way. We have delayed our departure to Wednesday next week and that will give the contractor time to install the parts and bring it to the boat. I celebrated by sanding all the teak - Deidre will apply the varnish.
The Satellite TV guy came but could not sort out our problem. He said our controller was busted and that all he could do was give us a number to call. At least no charge. I cleaned and lubed the bikes. Next door neighbors came over for a drink.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Cooler day. Deidre varnished the rails and did a great job. I rode to Ace Hardware and the bank and the supermarket for milk and bread. The water-maker man called and said he could re-install the water maker on Tuesday. Cutting things a bit fine but works for me.
Spent a bit of time on the internet trying to organize a way to get the weather if we did not have internet. Not much progress. Got the sat TV file out and started reading the instruction book. After an hour or so Deidre and I had the sat TV working again. The repair man must have been a real bozo. There were several minor issues. Tomorrow I am going to rerun the co-ax cable as that was one of the issues. Nice to end the day with a win.
Friday February 28, 2014
Started running the cable but ran into an issue that required I ride 4 miles each way to the West Marine store. After that I did not do much. Will finish it tomorrow.
Saturday March 1, 2014
Completed the co-ax cable installation and tested the sat TV - it operates! Enterprise picked us up at 11 AM and we headed straight to Walmart or shopping. $500 later we were back at the boat loading the freezer and stores. Then a second run for a new RCA/RGB cable to hook the laptop to the TV and hardware for salt and some other bits and pieces. Back at the boat we now have local TV, sat TV, DVD TV and computer TV so we should be set for long lonely nights.
Drove to Palm Beach to my favorite salad restaurant.
Sunday March 2, 2014
More shopping and running around. Starting to look at weather for the crossing. There is a cold front approaching, but the associated winds have been downgraded from 20/25 kts to 10/15 kts in recent forecasts.
Monday March 3, 2014
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| Taking it easy |
Tuesday March 4, 2014
Replicas of Columbus' ships visiting Sunset Bay Marina
Wednesday March 5, 2014
We are listening to the test cricket in South Africa. Australia wins with minutes to spare. The water maker man arrives on time and quickly re-installs the machine.
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| My Jethro haircut |
We can leave in the morning. Thanks goodness, we are both a bit bored and anxious to get underway.
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| View from our table |
