1) Bottom job and hull waxing- Rhonda
a. Beautiful, two coats of black ablative anti-fouling accomplished about Jan 10.
b. Her crew cleaned up the keel, treated, epoxyed and barrier coated preparatory to bottom paint.
2) Electrical clean-up Tom Chockly.a. Panel improved
b. Inverter installed
c. Switches at panel installed and labeled.
d. Jumper from house battery to start battery installed in battery compartment.
3) Davit repair and improvement- Kato Davitsa. Welded fitting in place of broken fitting and old fitting on the davits- thanks John.
b. Re-installed davits on stern.
c. Ordered stabilizer bar from Kato
4) Solar panel mount and install
a. Purchased 3 x 230 W panels from SanTan Solar last summer, initial attempt and mounting failed.
b. Discussed panel mount design with Tom and he has experience and we hired him to build ours- $350.
c. Installed mount and panels, hooked everything up, have solar!
d. Full sun generates 40+ volts through our charge controller and has our batteries topped up by noon. We’ll live with the system before deciding on further expensive upgrades.
5) Mechanical- A to Zinc<p> a. Changed oil, engine and generator
b. Checked alignment and tightened wires to Alternator
c. Tried to start engine- no luck. He said it looked like a job for Tom
d. Tom diagnosed a dead starter battery. Put it on a charger and everything worked as it should.
Mon., Jan 18, 2022
Splash Day. Cold, we’re all bundled and looking for more clothes. Better day weather-wise than yesterday, but the plan is ICW today as the gales from yesterday have big waves offshore. Rocky got the crew moving in the early morning to make the high tide about 9 am. Dinghy up on the davits, lines organized, deck organized, if not strictly ship-shape. How will it go?
In the water with our friends Birgitta and Bill from Summertime coming to the event. Nice people from Winnipeg who are back on their beautiful Bavaria 40 CC for the first time in 20 months thanks to COVID restrictions. Had cocktails last night and talked boats, sailing and the Bahamas.
Engine started flawlessly, water out the exhaust, no instruments, not a huge problem, but Tom was contacted and willing to meet us in Jax to try to figure it out. Later in the day, Kath did her magic switch flipping and they came on! Tom is on our speed dial, but not needed this time. Down the St. Mary’s River, passed Fernandina Beach about 10:30. On to Jax, everything working well, no need to stop this soon, continued on down the ICW ogling the fancy houses with Kath Zillowing the addresses posted on the docks- $800,000-$10,000,000. Anchored about 4:30 in a lovely anchorage west bank of the ICW north of St. Augustine- good day.
Tues, Jan 18, 2022
Awoke to a mirror-like anchorage at Nocatee Landing, a nature reserve north of St. Augustine. As calm a night as we had on the jack stands in St. Mary’s. Left the anchorage about 9 am to move south a bit before my class at 11. Anchored just north of Mike’s Place, hotspot worked fine and had a full zoom lecture from the boat on the water for Bio 181! Great attendance- Chemistry and water topic.
Discussed navigational options and decided we would do an overnight offshore to try to get closer to Jeff’s arrival in West Palm on the 20th. If we do an overnight and stop tomorrow afternoon, we could make Stuart easily, a second overnight would get us into West Palm/ Peanut Island anchorage.
InReach is sending out our map to the several friends and family. Confirmed Charlie, Ginny, Jeff and Marc have all gotten it working, so we’re known!
Weds., Jan 19, 2022 (Charlie’s Birthday).
Beautiful sunrise, just off Kennedy Space Center (11 miles), sailing course 182. Motor-sailed until about 6 am when we checked our timing into West Palm and realized we had about 6 hours to slow down to come in to Peanut Island in the early am. Trimmed the sails and nosed around for the wind a bit, with initial zephyrs moving us about 3 knots. In about an hour the wind filled in, we were able to sail our course at 4-5 knots! We’re SAILING!
Kath is napping in the cockpit. The autopilot performed flawlessly last night (now moving for 16+ hours, planning on another overnight and arriving in West Palm sometime around 8-9 am on the 20th. Jeff arrives in the evening, so I will try to have the dinghy working to pick him up at the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina.
Gracie doesn’t like the noise in the cabin when the engine is running, she was shaking in bed with Kath during the first watch (7-midnight).
