The days are flying by as we work towards leaving the dock and heading south. The jobs are also quickly getting either completed or completed enough to get underway. We start each day with a list of things to accomplish and so far we’ve been meeting our goals!
It’s a good sized list of jobs we’ve managed to check off our list since moving over to the pier. The first unexpected job was to get the water heater working. After a bit of trouble shooting, Mark discovered that the heating element in the water heater wasn’t working so it was replaced! He also spent a bit of time flushing out the tank which was greatly needed. All water maker parts are secured in their new homes. We removed our old safe – that was a heavy job!! We used the main halyard to hoist the thing from inside the boat over to the pier. Mark has completed all the engine checks (tested the new fuel pump, changed fuel filters and oil, etc).
We’ve also done some outside jobs. The Bimini (top) of the enclosure has been waterproof – something we haven’t done for many years. All the sails are in place after a huge struggle with the jib which was supposed to be a quick easy job! It wasn’t. For some strange reason, the halyard (which attaches to the swivel head that leads the jib up the forestay) kept twisting as we hoisted the sail. We’d get about halfway up and the line would become so tight around the forestay that the sail couldn’t be hoisted any further. We tried so many different tricks to get the line to stop twisting and none worked! Finally for the last trick, Mark used a slip knot with a long rope attached to connect the spinning shackle to the stationary shackle on the furler swivel. That worked and we managed to hoisted the jib to the top and then furl it tightly around the forestay! And the dinghy motor has been mounted on the dinghy transom and the motor started well!
Another big job was to figure out all the hoses, connectors and special parts we need to finish the air conditioning and water maker installations. Mark spent several hours measuring and drawing out the installations so he could create a list of all the parts we would need. We then headed to ACE hardware and Home Depot to purchase all the bits and pieces!
Lastly, we spent today (Nov. 20) provisioning for our 5 month trip! This is the longest we’ve had to buy for and our freezer is bursting! We couldn’t buy all that I had planned because we just couldn’t fit it all in! We went to 4 grocery stores – Costco, Aldi, Publix and Winn Dixie and of course the ABC (liquor store). It’s one happy boat right now!
We still have things to do before we can cast off but we’re hoping to be heading down the St. John’s river by this weekend. It’s all coming together nicely.
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 