Dec.29-30

December 29-30

So on the 28th we went to get our exit permit and once again the last few things we forgot. When we got back the cowling was off the dinghy motor and long-story-short: it had to go back.

In the morning of the 29th the service guy picked up the motor and the replacement we were expecting never materialized. I already ranted about this on facebook]. Many of you kind friends told me not to take a bus back to Ontario, and Jeanne gave me some particularly helpful advice which I tried.

Last night around 5 pm we got the call: there was nothing wrong with the motor - final word from the service department. This morning it came back. We were already anchored out and Rick rowed against the 20+ knot winds [luckily the tide was coming in] to pick it up. I had visions of him having a heart attack on the dock but he survived...

So guess where we are NOT?! In Riverside!!! We got under the bridge, fuelled up and pulled into the anchorage just past the South Causeway Bridge...okay so we only went three miles but, hey...we anchored in daylight!

Good thing, too, because we went aground in this anchorage!! And the dinghy pushed us off the sandbar!

 [I know some of you think I make this stuff up...but I don't. If there were ever two people who should just quit while they're ahead...]

But hey, the winds have died... well, maybe not ...we are sitting behind a bank of high rise apartments,  beside a trawler that just pulled in called Loose Goose from Midland Ont. The sunset was spectacular and we are eating hot soup and drinking tea. And we might even make it to where C-Soul is anchored for New Year's Eve. Life is good...again...for now...

Goodnight, stay warm and safe! HUGS

going to get motor

one bridge down...

two bridges down

don't I look happy??

end of day!

December 25-28

December 25-28

This has been an interminable week...oh, wait...only 3 days...see what I mean?

Christmas Day was fine...we spent the morning trying to start the motor...no luck. So we left and met up with C-Soul. The movie was great - Rogue One- so sad about Carrie Fisher. [ I took the Star Trek / Star wars test...I am either Spock or Leia depending on what galaxy I am in]

26th we talked to Tim about returning the motor. He said to take it to a repair place that was Honda certified. In the meantime he looked at it and made some more adjustments...and it ran for him...grrrrr.

27th ...okay it runs...every time Rick starts it. So either we're morons when it comes to mechanics [I don't believe that] or we're cursed [ closer to the truth of it].

We picked up or spark plugs, spent the morning with _Soul and came back to move the boat. Decided that we needed a source of internet and spent the evening searching [by car] for the proper plan to add to our unlocked phone to give us the maximum coverage for the best price. Everyone one was sold out!!!

Today we leave the Marina proper and anchor outside the channel. We will slowly head south after we get fuel, water and our exit permit. We will be in Lake Worth by Monday. We will head out between midnight Monday and 6 am Tuesday morning and should be on the Bahama bank by Tuesday night. At least, that's the plan today....

December 24

TO all our family and friends; thank you for all your thoughts , well-wishes and advice.
First: we bought it new from a dealer (through the Marina). Reputable dealer.
Mark Fischer came back yesterday and between him and Rick they fixed the problem...slight adjustment to gas ratio/ start vs slow idle set-up and several other tweaks that I'm not sure I want to know about.

So now it starts...several times ...after letting it sit, or running it, and we are confident that it will be a good motor. It may take awhile for me to get the hang of starting it, but I learned how to start the little Yamaha.

It's Christmas Eve and we have just finished a great dinner of smoked turkeys, smoked ham, green beans, lima bean soup, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, cheese, buns, pickles, cranberries and tons of pies and apple crisp with whipped cream. The Marina people put this on and we brought side dishes. It was great. Mark and Gail came over too. Not a traditional Christmas Eve for us, but nice.

Tomorrow we are going to meet Gail and Mark and go to a show then have dinner at their Marina. After that we are going to set out and I will be without internet on a regular basis until we cross over to the Bahamas and get our internet set up.

So if you don't hear from us for the next while, we are fine. we hope you all have a great Christmas and Happy New Year.

Take care; be kind to each other. May the Universe provide you with what you need. And be happy. There's no fun in being anything else.

December 22

December 22

We are still at the dock. The last chore is propane before we park the car and head off to the ICW, and anchor out. We have been invited to Christmas Eve dinner here at the boatyard, and we aren't sure if that means we can stay at the dock for a couple more days or what...

We could go out to anchor, but the new dinghy motor is a learning curve. I read the manual to him and he ignores it. So needless to say, he has a hard time starting it.

I still can't get used to getting up and having nothing to do, or at least no rush to get anything done. Sorry for all of you who are still working and trying to keep to a schedule.

It rained here last night and cooled off here considerably. So it's maybe 72 and gray.

Our last chore ashore is to get the propane tanks filled. If we move out to anchor we will lose the internet access until we are over in the Bahamas and get our Bahamas phone activated. I am not ready to cut myself off yet.

Okay, neither of us can start the new motor. What a good deal!!! Where is that god's eye? Maybe we need to get it back!

December 20

December 20

It's not feeling a lot like Christmas here...it's friggin' hot and we are getting frazzled...still stuck here. Tomorrow we hope to get our boat papers. That 4 feet of snow is starting to look not so bad.

Gail  [C-Soul] has been sick in hospital for three days...we are visiting her in hospital tonight...a bit of an infection from a bite, possibly. Hopefully she should be coming "home" tomorrow and we can plan our crossing.

On a different note, Sue H, I've had just about all I can handle from the Universe, so I hope it backs off a bit!! We had to find a bigger charger for our batteries and we've been charging for 2 days. Thank god for shore power. The small trickle charger bit the dust and while investigating the type and source that we needed, we found that a trickle charger will kill deep cycle batteries...funny, that information didn't turn up last year when we were trying to get them fixed!

Today, after 3 days of battling with the 8-hp motor that got 'fixed' in Tobermory, and finding that there are NO parts for 2-stroke Yamaha engines available in the USA or Canada...they aren't sold here anymore, and screwing around with jury-rigging 4-stroke parts, we finally had to bite the bullet and buy a new Honda 5-hp motor. It should be here tomorrow... Merry friggin' Christmas!

Hope yours is looking better!

December 18...Another day ...

December 18

Another day of running around...Rick's drill bit the dust so we needed a new one. Looked for a car cover; there's no place to leave the car inside...only boats and RV's. Rats!

There was a manatee swimming around us this morning but the water  isn't clear enough here to get pictures.

We can't get the dinghy motor started...what a SURPRISE!! Rick spent the very last day in Canada working on it, with a mechanic "supervising" but they never tested it. Sam, the motor guy will be in tomorrow so maybe he will have time to help.

However, we saw the peacocks today on our way to Home Depot, and managed to get a picture!

Oh...Home Depot... a new Ryobi drill with 2 batteries for $99.00 and comes with your choice of another Ryobi tool!!  And because we couldn't get a Home Depot card [it wouldn't accept a Canadian SIN number, they gave us another $10.00 off!!! So that was his Christmas present.

So another day of stupid little chores, and hopefully the weather window will hold on Thursday...we only need 12 hours of good winds and clear skies!

FYI - For those who have not seen them, these are the stained glass windows my brother, Joe made up from my logo. Love them!

December 16

December 16, 2016: In the Water

Wow, it took awhile to get sea legs back. I am still bouncing off the bulkheads trying to move from one room to the other.

We are still floating in the slip. It was so dark and late last night that they didn't want us to move down to a dock; besides, there isn't one ready for us yet. We will move out to anchor when we have finished the laundry, provisions and sorting the workshop.

We didn't check the bilges when we launched, partly because Rick wanted to move the car out of the way of the travel lift and over to the boat. So an hour later I went looking for him...he was helping them set up another boat. He was covered in mud and needed a shower so by the time we had dinner it was 9 pm. Anyway, we don't have wet floors so w must not be leaking!

There are still big fish in the channel here, not sure what they are but they sound like whales. They chase small fish around body-slam them into the boats to catch them. Sounds like we are being invaded!

The little critters here didn't take long to attach to the boat, either. There is a crackling noise all the time, with these little shrimp-like organisms chewing at the boat...either they are cleaning it...not likely; or they are eating the bottom pain...more likely.

There was a beautiful purple ibis standing on the floating dock behind us this morning, but I couldn't get the camera out before he left.

Today we rig the sails, sort the workshop, fill the trailer with stuff we don't need right now but might need when we come back. We are floating a little low on the port side...200 pounds of t-shirts, art supplies and the tool shed will do that but there is no way to balance off the load according to Rick, "we aren't bad"

Mark and Gail, C-Soul, are waiting for us so we can cross together. We are going to try to get to the Abacos to meet up with Diane and Andy on Windreka for Christmas Day. Our problem is that we have to get our documents from Homeland Security and then we have 48 hours according to the last officer we talked to. Our weather window isn't until next Wednesday, 21st...Cutting it a bit close...

We did the final provisioning today. Got our frozen food and some more peanut butter and coffee.  It was a very long day.

When we were ready to move out of the launch slip [because they were going to drop another boat on us] we headed down to the dock Tim had picked out. Sam [Tim's assistant] came with us because the winds were 20 knots into the channel and we had to make a right angle turn into the dock space. We didn't fit and the wind drove us against the ends of the other boats. This place is unbelievably crowded. 

We stayed wedged in the slip while Tim moved another boat out of a wider slip and we are now parked right beside the launch slip. Bonus...I can access their internet from the boat without going into their office ...at least on the I-pad. My stupid Acer computer, from which I blog, can't do it.

Anyway, we can get over the humps! It's not snowing here!

 

In the water [in the morning]

Burning the sugar cane fields