Month: October 2024

Four work days are done and we’re getting things accomplished. Mark’s first big job, removing the propeller shaft and the cutlass bearing,  went really well. Turns out if you lubricate bolts in the spring and leave them for 6 months, they turn quite easily. That work was done by mid morning and at the end of the day, Kyle (the go to guy at Holland Marine) came over to remove the propeller. The bad news from this job is that we need a new propeller shaft on top of the cutlass bearing. The shaft has to be sent to a company on the west coast of Florida who will make a new one for the boat but that job will take 7-10 business days. Earliest the new shaft will be here is Thursday, November 7th – our scheduled launch date. So if all goes well, the shaft will arrive and it plus the cutlass bearing will be reinstalled on Nov. 7th and we can be launched on Friday, November 8th. We’re super hopeful this will happen because we have to check out of our Airbnb on Nov 8th and we can’t stay in the boat in the yard.

Other jobs are being completed too. The deck and cockpit were washed. The enclosure has been put up. Sails were moved from the inside of the boat and the interior has been washed and is being organized for moving aboard. Mark has started polishing the hull and working on his newly built emergency rudder.

We’ve been making daily runs to the office to pick up all the parcels that have been arriving. It’s like Christmas down here!! Our Airbnb unit is filling up with boxes. Next week we’ll start bringing all these new items back to the boat. Right now there’s not really room for all the stuff because our normal storage area – the V-berth – needs to be washed and sorted. That’s my job for Friday (Nov. 1).

Tonight, Halloween, we’re going out for dinner with Julia and Brad. Thought we’d take a break and see what St. Augustine is like on Halloween. Should be fun!!

Our drive down to Florida was incredibly uneventful which is exactly what you want when driving straight down. Traffic was good for the most part and the weather also cooperated (with a bit of rain during the night). We left Kingston at 1:30pm Oct. 26 and arrived at Reynolds Park at 12:30pm Oct. 27th. After a short visit our friends Julia and Brad, we drove into the Reynolds storage yard (we got lucky – the gate was open because some contractors were working. The gate is supposed to be closed and locked on the weekends) and checked out the boat. We spent a little over an hour taking off the sun shade. After that job was done, we headed to our Airbnb, unpacked most of the car, and did a bit of grocery shopping. After the overnight drive we were in bed early!

First day of boat jobs – Oct. 28th!! There is much joy in owning an old boat. Crimson Kathryn has a lot of style and charm that comes with her 44 years. But she also comes with a long list of jobs!!! Some of these jobs are maintenance items that every boat owner must do, while others are improvements. This season we have a variety of regular maintenance jobs and repairs plus some new installs. The major items on the list are: New bottom paint (being done by Holland Marine), repair of the cutlass bearing, non-skid paint on the deck (to solve our slippery deck issue from last season), new water maker and 2 new air conditioning units. 

The bottom paint job was started the Friday before we arrived and the Holland Marine employee, Andrew, finished the work today. It looks amazing and it’s great to have that item crossed off the list. Unfortunately the first job for me today was to wash the deck and cockpit so the enclosure and all cockpit cushions could be moved back from inside of the boat. As usual we had a small amount of white mold on some of the wood surfaces and I easily cleaned those off with water and vinegar. Mark worked on taking apart the propeller shaft to get at the cutlass bearing. Not a lot of swearing went on so it seems like the removal process has been a successful job so far.

Ordered parts are starting to arrive at the Reynolds’ office. Today we picked up our air conditioning units and 2 other items. We’re moving all these new parts into our Airbnb unit for now – freeing up space inside the boat while it’s being cleaned and organized. Tomorrow the deck and cockpit will get washed so outdoor stuff can be moved and we’ll be able to work more easily inside the boat. The first few weeks are always the most challenging as things get sorted out.

It’s the start of a new sailing season folks. The summer flew by and now it’s time to make our drive south. This season will be our biggest and longest yet. The plan is to get the boat back on the water by Nov. 8th and hopefully leave the Reynolds’ pier by the third week of November. We’re planning to cross to the Bahamas very early in December – as soon as there is a window. We’ve booked our Christmas flights home from Nassau on December 22 – 30.

You may ask why are we in such a hurry to get to the Bahamas? Well this season the goal is to take the boat all the way to Puerto Rico. Mark has already booked a spot for us at a hurricane protected (as protected as can be anyhow) marina where we’ll leave Crimson Kathryn for next summer. This will be the beginning of our Caribbean adventure – cruising all the way down to Trinidad and Tobago (eventually).

So come along for the ride – it should be an interesting season!!