Mast is up!
She looks like a real
sailboat again. The mast was re-stepped
today. All new standing rigging,
upgraded drum assembly for the old furler, new mast lights, and so far
everything seems to work fine, thanks to Julian at Sparmanusa. It pays to hire a professional.
We still have odds and ends
to do, but Barbara is seeing more boat and less clutter and is getting the itch
to clean. The poor old boat really
needs it. Being in the work yard means
lots of dust. However, mother nature
should help out ‘cause it is supposed to rain for the next couple days. We've seen lightning in the distance. Oops. Looks like it is hitting us now...not lightning, the storm. Could be an entertaining night tied to the pier.
Our modified mainsail should
arrive Monday or Tuesday and we plan to leave here the day after it arrives. It is still our goal to make it to the
northern Bahamas.
The new engine fired up first
try day before yesterday. However, the
folding prop was too much prop for it. For
those of you prop techies, it was a 16L X 14P.
For non-techies, it was taking too big a bite out of the water and the engine
could not reach its proper RPM.
Therefore, we had to haul the boat back out of the water this morning
and change propellers. All better now.
The office and yard staff
here at Green cove Springs Marina have been great. And neighboring boaters have been helpful
when we needed help or hit a snag, lending manpower for big jobs, or a better
tool, or advice, etc. Some neighbors
have gone on ahead of us. Others are
working hard to follow. Some seem like
they are here permanently.
Our delight at making
progress has been tempered by disappointment at the lot of one pair of friends
and recent neighbors. They left a few
days ago, but suffered a tragedy yesterday.
Their boat sank after hitting underwater obstructions.
Imagine your home with water rushing in and
filling it to the ceiling. Everything,
EVERYTHING is under water or floating about.
A hole 2’ by 3’ has been knocked in the bottom. You hardly have time to get out of the ‘house’
before it is totally full. You and your
spouse and pet have to be taken to shore.
Strangers offer you a place to stay for now. How do you walk back into your house without
being overwhelmed? See the link below.
All our best to Michael and
Diane.
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