Friday Oct 16

Friday Oct 16

Wow time flies!  This morning is a bright red sky...not sure what that means but I hope it means a cooler day.

I finished sewing the screens for the rear ports. Quentin added the snaps and installed it with drill and screw driver. Now I have to finish the rest of them. We found a great garden sunshade that will protect the boat but it might also affect the solar panel output so we need to check that before we go ahead with it.

Yesterday Quentin learned to set up his own blog...painfully slow. His computer has some sort of virus that will not delete the pop up ads and will not let him hook up to internet properly. My computer recognizes my websites and thought I had forgotten that I had one so it wouldn't let me create a new website for him.  These things really are a curse! Finally we managed to get his set up and he spent the rest of the morning trying to insert pictures and post the pages individually. His new BlogSpot is;  QRSFC.blogspot.com [Quentin from Canada] He's a bit hyper right now and it comes through in his writing but hopefully we can revise that.

Of course he picks up on the oddest things...he figured out how to find out what search engines people view his blog from and where on the continent they live! I think he's more interested in how many views he's getting rather than what he's saying!

Rick got the drive apart and found our oil leak problem. The sealant we used [on the advice of Georgian Shores mechanic] had completely disappeared and there was nothing between the two sections of the drive housing, so every time we lifted the drive the oil dribbled out. |There was only a few metal filings in the bottom of the drive which we are going to assume came from the bolt when we chewed it up in the Trent last year  [see chapter on "Stuck in Trenton 2014"].

We went to Homeland Security office yesterday. We were going to drive to West Palm but decided to look up Fort Pierce since this is an inlet as well. Oh look, there's one here! We spoke to a really friendly man through a glass window [probably bullet proof] who reminded me of a character from a '70's TV show but I can't quite remember who...it'll come to me...anyway. He told us to go to the airport ?? and speak to Homeland / Customs & Border Protection there. We got the airport address and headed out...oops ...forgot to get the directions. Which way? Quentin spotted a plane that looked to be landing so we followed it. GOOD guess!

The fierce looking agent there [very large man with a very dark uniform and a very large gun] said, and I quote:

"Don't worry about it. When you are all ready to leave, come back and see me and we will give you an exit permit. Then you can get a new cruising permit when you come back."

Ok, how easy was that?!?!?

Today Quentin and I will work on the bottom while Rick fixes the lights. We should be able to be painted by next Monday or Tuesday.

I want to say thanks to all the cruisers who passed on my facebook message about helping in the Bahamas. My friend there , Cordell Thompson has arranged for trees to be imported from Jamaica to re-plant on Rum Cay and Long Island that were stripped by the hurricane, but needs help getting them over there. The people are also looking for small sundries like flashlights, razors toothbrushes etc. I linked up Cordell with the Waterway Guide so they will pass the message, and it's been great to hear the responses from everyone!

The Cruiser's Regatta organizers have also set up a facebook page Cruising for Relief.