All I Lack is Finishing Up (Courtesy MS)

11 - 12 April 2018

On Wednesday I got the third rail masked and puttered around trying to reorganize all the crap in the main cabin. I started stitching up the last loose section of the wheel but ran out of daylight. Stocked with plenty of leftovers from the Red Cow BBQ I ended up not even leaving the boat. The Australian couple across from us was redoing their wood rail as well, but tag teaming it, with her in the dinghy doing the outside, and him on the boat doing the inside, with no masking that I could see. They went up and down both sides of their 40 foot boat in a little over two hours. I was impressed.

When I was up top something silver in the water caught my eye. As I got closer it was about a 10" fish with a dark band down its side. As it floated closer to the top I could see the dark band was actually the jaw of some sort of gar, about three feet long. I don't see how the gar could eat the fish, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let him go. Every few minutes the fish would struggle desperately to get loose. I lost sight of them as they floated off. It was hard to get a picture of under the water but here you go.

On Thursday I was out of time. I was picking up Heather at the airport that night, If I was going to get something done it had to be today. The Aussie couple was at it again, but it the cooler morning hours this time. Damn they're fast, and it looks great, at least from 60 feet. I moved things around the cabin some more, some of which I was pleased with, most of which I was not.

After checking the weather I bumped out our mooring stay two more days, slipped out dock reservation to the two days after that, with a plan to leave for Miami Tuesday, hopefully crossing early Thursday morning to the Bahamas, if this weather forecast holds. I picked Heather up at the airport that night, and we putted back to the boat in the dinghy in the dark. The picture below shows what it looks like at night when the water glasses out. It's been fun here but we're both excited to be moving on soon.

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We're Not in Kansas Anymore

09 - 10 April 2018

On Monday I did it again, touching up the second section of rail and stitching another foot of the wheel. After a shower I picked up another pizza, on foot this time. Compared to the concert the beach looked deserted.

Tuesday started out the same, with another full coat on the second rail and some more stitching on the wheel. The clouds looked more menacing than before, so I figured if I was going ashore I should get it done. I was in West Marine when the first tornado warning was announced. When that warning expired I went to a second store, where another tornado warning was issued and torrential rains hit. I waited out the rest of it at a BBQ place and an hour later the sun was shining again. The picture below doesn't really capture how impressive the weather was. When I got back to the boat it was fine. Well, it was actually a mess down below, but the same mess I had left in the throes of my reorganizing.

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More of the Same

07 - 08 April 2018

Saturday started with more of the same. The rail I had touched up the day before I scuffed all over with a red Scotchbrite pad, followed by a tack cloth then acetone wipe. I put a full coat of Cetol on the rail section and it was dry enough when the afternoon sprinkles started to threaten. I did another foot of stitching on the wheel leather at a slightly less glacial pace and with less objectionable knots at the beginning and end. Lots more to do but it no longer looks like it would fall off in a breeze.

I decided I did need to finally drive in the concert traffic. It took me about 10 minutes to go the first 400 yards. It was like driving through Mardi Gras. I needed more paint brushes from Home Depot Never seen one with a parking garage before. Must be expensive real estate for a big box store. While I was there I picked up an assortment of baskets and clear boxes for further organizing the boat. I'm starting to see how the previous owner managed to sink the waterline four inches.

A quick run through the pharmacy and grocery and I was ready to pick up a pizza at Anthony's. I approached the marina from the back way (over the bridge we're staying under) and managed to avoid the worst of the traffic. I got the pizza, the brushes, groceries, and maybe half of the containers in the dinghy. Pizza delivery in a dinghy by yourself is not easy, but I managed.

That night the music from the festival was somehow even louder. I couldn't quite make out most of the songs other than the classic rock they used during sound checks. I'm pretty sure being closer wouldn't have helped my name that tune abilities that much. I watched a movie that Heather would hate - Final Destination.

Since it looked like it could rain hard Sunday afternoon, that morning I started masking off another rail section. I stitched another segment of the wheel. I made a run to Jimmy Johns for some lunch, grabbing some ice on the way back, along with more containers for boat organizing stashed in the car.

The picture below is from outside the concert after a little rain had thinned the crowds some.

They even had cops on horseback for crowd control.

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All Work and No Play...

05 - 06 April 2018

I received my FCC radio license via email in the wee hours of the morning. I'm not sure a person actually laid eyes on it. Oh well, we're official. Deciding what to do about an Epirb is now on our list. We have an ancient one that is still registered to the previous owner and has a battery with an unknown status. Getting a new one sounds nice but then disposing of the old one without setting off an international incident then becomes an issue.

I taped off one of the sections of the top rail teak. We had had the front two sections on both sides done with natural teak Cetol in Brunswick but the back half of the boat was on me. Masking was not too bad except the ends and going around the cleat and rub strip.

For lunch had I a couple of grilled cheeses from the last of the sliced cheese. Paid some bills, read some, then grilled some hamburgers on the BBQ about dusk but only ate the small one. Ended up not leaving the boat all day. I tend to eat fairly lightly when left alone just out of shear laziness.

On Friday I did need to leave the boat, if only because I was developing a bit of an Alice's restaurant situation with the trash, and the ice was getting perilously low. One of my few habits that has carried over well from the house is when left alone, one of my first activities is to purge the fridge and freezer of all the stuff that has accumulated but will never be eaten (by humans).

I sanded down the rail I had masked in the areas that needed touch up, then wiped them down, first with a tack cloth, then some acetone. I touched up the areas with a chip brush because I had no intent of cleaning it when I was done. That went a little faster than expected, so I started working on the re-stitching on the leather wheel wrap. After watching a video on it I got maybe a foot done, but it's a start. I need to work on my knots for starting and stopping stitching.

I called Chelsea for her birthday then I headed to shore in the dinghy. First time off the boat in almost 48 hours. After a shower I decided to not drive in the Friday night concert traffic and stayed on foot. Quick hits of the french bakery, a pretty skeezy pizza parlor, and the liquor store I was good for the rest of the day. Back on the boat the Tortuga music festival was plenty loud for me. After dark I could see the lights from the stage.

The picture below is a sunrise from our mooring.

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Jet Airliner

03 - 04 April 2018

I finally submitted my application for a VHF license with the FCC. The bureaucracy and paperwork tied together with a very old school website (one ring to bind them!) had defeated us several times before. While technically I don't need one in the US, other countries still require a license, unless you already have one from your country. Since the FCC knows this there was no test, just $220 in fees.

This process also gives you a call sign (kind of cool) and an international MMSI number. This number gets programmed into your radios and EPIRBs. In the event of an emergency you push a button and your radio or EPIRB sends out a hail with this number, and hopefully your GPS lat/long location too. It becomes your zip code tying this hail to you and your contact information. You can get an MMSI in seconds from the BoatUS website but their database only works in the US. If the message is received by someone outside the US they go - huh?

We got the outboard propane tank filled, and the second galley tank at the same time. The outboard tanks lasts for about a month of daily usage, and the galley tanks even longer. With less than four gallons of propane to top them both up, this is definitely one of the more frugal aspects of boating. Also, I'd rather not have to look for propane while we're in the Bahamas.

We had dinner at Kelly's again, where Heather had the special of three Maine lobster tails for $20. They were certainly on the small side, but still a pretty good deal.

On Wednesday I pulled Heather's luggage out of the back cabin. She goes back to Arizona 3 - 4 times a year for some medical appointments, but this time I'm staying to work on the boat. She's staying with our oldest daughter Chelsea, and Friday just happens to be Chelsea's birthday. I'm sure they will find a way to have fun.

We had lunch at the Las Vegas Cuban food spot then did errands. I needed some supplies for a few of the projects while Heather was gone. When done with errands we still had some time and we ended up at a little Tiki bar off one of the canals. After wasting enough time we headed to the airport. While I've been to the FtL airport many times, I don't know if I've ever parked there, just returned rental cars. Well that was a whole different process, and involved a couple victory laps. We ended up closer to terminal 2 than 1 so we had a bit of a walk. Then Southwest counter was really bad. I'm no longer A-list (something about not flying in almost a year) so that didn't help. After an extraordinary amount of time to check one bag Heather was finally off.

I made it back to the boat in the dinghy by myself without getting wet, cooked some dinner on the bbq on the back rail, and fell asleep after a pint of Phish Food. An excellent start.

The fellow below, about three feet long, was sunning himself on the dock when I saw him. I must have gotten too close. Just after this picture he darted off the dock, diving four feet into the water, only surfacing when he was about 20 yards away. Not the sort of behavior I expect in a lizard.

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Easter

01 - 02 April 2018

On Sunday we celebrated Easter in the traditional manner - bottomless mimosas! I'm sure it's a tradition somewhere. If not, it should be. Anyway, after a brunch like that Heather had to drive home. Not much of note accomplished for the rest of the day. We watched the Rick Steve's review of all the different Easter traditions in Europe. Maybe a giant rabbit isn't as weird as I thought.

On Monday I checked over the house batteries one last time. They are all only a little over a year old and seem to be fine now. Being hooked up to shore power for a long time last year caused some sort of gradual degradation equivalent to the loss of one of our four house batteries. Recent usage and trickle charging from the solar panels seems to have taken care of whatever the issue was (maybe sulfation?). After checking the diesel engine oil I added almost a half a quart. I'm creeping up on full on the dipstick, but the total is still well short of the manual listed capacity. Hmm.

We had a late breakfast at Mother's again. They must own the building by now because how else they could stay in business? Given their prices they should be in the middle of nowhere. Conveniently, next door was an Ace Hardware. We needed some more oil change supplies since we had decided that all the oil covered tubing was a consumable. In addition, plastic tubing tends to go down the dip stick hole then curl up when it hits the bottom of the sump. The end of the hose assembly should be metal to prevent this.

I was looking for some brass tubing that would have been too expensive to toss each time, but Heather found a AC service kit with 25 feet of 1/4" soft copper tubing. Cheap and enough for years of oil changes - done. Along with some clear tubing for either side of the electric pump and a couple spare hose clamps and we were in business. After picking up a few more quarts of 30 weight we now have very few excuses for procrastinating on the next oil change. I'm sure we'll rise to the challenge somehow.

We went back to the same place that night for half-price burgers. I first went to Tap 42 for a happy hour after one of the boat buying class sessions with John K. The crowd is a little young for us, but that's true most places these days. The burgers were great and Heather actually ordered a drink. After about a third of it she declared a little too loudly that her lips were vibrating. So much for my designated driver. It was certainly my turn.

Below is a picture of the Fort Lauderdale beach. It's a very pretty beach, and it's always crowded with pretty people, good weather or bad.

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Oil Change

30-31 March 2018

On Friday we had more chores in preparation for the Bahamas. We had a Bahamas flag, a yellow quarantine flag, and even a diver down flag, but no US one. The previous owner, a great guy and Vietnam vet, would be appalled. We ordered a nice one.

We cancelled the Nassau legs of Heather's flights back to Phoenix and reserved her a rental car in Phoenix. We started the generator for the first time since last summer. It turned over for quite a while before it finally kicked over but was soon running smoothly. We need to start it every month or two even if we don't need it. We measured replacement diesel jugs. We bought the originals in Texas 18 months ago and the sun had already chewed them up. And we finished prepping for an oil change for the diesel.

After running around FtL for hours in their traffic (a toxic combination of inattentiveness and impatience) we went to the movies. We saw Ready Player One at the Imax in 3D. Despite neither of us being gamers we enjoyed it a lot. It was very pretty, sometimes a little loud even for me, and all the 80s era nostalgia was hard to resist for folks our age.

On Saturday we payed for our mooring thru Heather's return. We made not one but two trips to the French bakery between us and the beach, about a block away. After procrastinating as long as we could we got to the diesel oil change. The new electric pump worked fairly well but I should have warmed the oil up a little more. We didn't make too much of a mess, and it was way overdue.

I spent the rest of the daylight reviewing charts and guide books for the Bahamas. Heather made tacos for dinner and I ate way too much. A good day.

The picture below is looking southwest from our mooring before the last two were occupied. There is a music festival scheduled for the beach soon and every slip and mooring is now taken.

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Chores

28 - 29 March 2018

I finally found a touchless car wash locally and ran it thru. It got most of the last few weeks gunk off without removing the tape holding the side mirrors on. We made a quick trip to West for a new dinghy bow line and some more fuses for the peristaltic pump, which eats them in one or two uses. We looked at a chest type 12v freezer that we're considering to supplement our refrigeration.

I visited a place that allegedly services our propane outboard, and it turns out they actually do. Finally! But being one of the few places in the state that does they have a two week backlog. Have to work on scheduling that in when we're not on a mooring. Paddling or rowing an inflatable dinghy looks like a bitch. They also had spares, so I got a spare prop, since most of the paint has worn off ours and it's corroding at an impressive rate, and a brass cap to close out the one pound tank line, which should keep the thing from corroding like last time. After living in the desert most of my life the extent of corrosion in a saltwater environment still catches me off guard. Most recently, the zipper on a bag.

I went by Bluewater Charts and picked up Explorer charts for the near Bahamas, the Pavlidis guide to the Exumas, and a laminated placemat type general map of the Bahamas for us to keep on the wall for easy reference in our planning. When I got outside parked next to me was a Bentley SUV. I didn't even know they made them. Looked it up, and one is worth more than our house. Glad he was on the passenger side. I backed out slowly.

Thursday was kind of a slow day. We had lunch at Pei Wei, read, and grilled chicken on the sugar scoop for dinner. Below is a picture of the bascule bridge we're moored behind. We're kind of in the middle of town, and a couple blocks from the beach. The bridge opens twice an hour if needed, although the demand is less late at night.

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