Happy Days

This is our home today, Sunday, January 24, 2021. Ahhhhhhh...it’s beautiful here in Cayo Costa!

However, much has happened since the last post.

As mentioned previously, our new shafts arrived on January 5th and it was immediately apparent that the starboard side would need alignment work before the shaft could be installed. Luckily, the port side presented no such problems (we thought).  One of the challenges with this shaft replacement was that we changed shaft size.  For numerous reasons, we decided to upgrade from a 50 mm shaft to a 2 inch shaft.  The size difference is only 1/32 of an inch, but everything needed to be changed or bored to ensure a good fit.  

On January 12 all work was completed and we prepared to be launched the next morning.  As customary, the operator only lowered the boat far enough into the water to check for leaks.  Yikes...lift her up!  There were numerous leaks around the thru hull bolts holding the strut, and the starboard shaft thru hull bolts (just to clarify...none of the thru hull jobs Keith and I completed leaked!).  Since the temperature was so cold, it was decided the sealant should cure overnight...so we slept in this cradle.  With fingers crossed we attempted another launch on Thursday. Yikes...lift her up!  Again, numerous leaks, and another night in the cradle...UGH!!!

After serious frustration and a lot of ‘do over’ we were successfully launched on Friday, January 15, with a sea trial scheduled for Monday.  Since we were looking at a great weather window, to cross the northeast part of the Gulf of Mexico, overnight on Tuesday we didn’t want any surprises on Monday, so Keith and I decided to take her out on Sunday.  I was at the helm while Keith was below watching everything, and before we left the mouth of the river he told me to turn around, because the port shaft was overheating.

Eric, the owner of MS Dockside Marine, spent most of the day on Monday working to correct the problem with our port shaft.  Eric is a very nice, diligent, and hard working guy, but clearly has trouble hiring good help.  He personally made sure all problems were corrected, and presented a fair and reasonable bill.  In the end, we are happy with the work done there, but it was a difficult road to get to this point. 

AND...everyone had to drop everything on Monday afternoon when a boat caught on fire...

This sailboat was tied to the dock when we arrived, and had two people living onboard (luckily, they were not onboard at the time of the fire). However, a few weeks ago they experience a leak and had to be pulled from the water.  This boat was blocked on land a few hundred feet from where our boat spent eight weeks.  Everyone from the boat yard grabbed hoses and fire extinguishers in an attempt to put the fire out.  When they tried to open the hatch (door) three cats ran out, but the oxygen made the flames worse so they closed it and attempted to fight the fire through the portholes.

Just as the fire started to grow a fire truck and one volunteer fire fighter arrived.  He recruited the help from everyone in the yard to drag the hose to the hydrant and get it hooked up, while he focused the 300 gallons in his truck on the blaze.  Unfortunately, the hose was packed incorrectly and the end they were handed was the wrong end, so a quick switcharoo had to take place before the water was flowing.  Apparently, the water came on just in the nick of time, because the 300 gallons had just run out and the fire was growing again.

Also, as they were filling this boat with water the weight was clearly straining the jack stands so people were running around reinforcing the supports.  Once that was completed, they started drilling holes in the bottom of the boat to let water out.  In the end, the fire was contained without spreading to any other vessels, which was incredibly lucky.  Unfortunately, the lost animal count was quite high...1 dog and 10 cats perished in the blaze.

Tuesday’s forecast held and we are OUT OF HERE!

We left Carrabelle at 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon for an 18 hour crossing.  I had helm duty from 6-9pm so I got to see the last of the sun, out the starboard pilot house window, at 6:24 pm.  It was already very dark out the port side window.  We were lucky to have wonderful weather through the night with waves less than 1 foot for the majority of the trip.

I was also at the helm to see the first light at 6:55 on Wednesday morning.  This view is such a relief after a very dark night at sea.  Keith and I take three hour shift at the helm.  My duty times were 6-9pm, 12-3am, 6-9am so I was lucky to see the sunset and the sunrise.  We had the anchor down in Tarpon Springs, and I was heading for a nap at 10:00am.  Those overnights wear me out!  Keith seems to handle lack of sleep much better than me!

The next day we anchored in Cortez, FL (about 10 miles north of Sarasota).  I was very sad to pass Tampa without visiting my dad, but after all of the last minute problems with the boat launch, that required people to spend a significant amount of time on our boat, I couldn’t take the chance of carrying the virus to my dad.  We all agreed it would be best to wait until everyone is vaccinated. 😢

In Cortez, we missed the chance to visit this fish market when we passed in May, but this time we anchored in time to launch the Whaler and purchase some amazing seafood.

Sorry this picture is blurry, but I wanted to share the showroom in this type of wholesale fish house.  You have to look through the boxes of ice to find the fish you want.  They only sell whole fish and shrimp in 5 lb. increments.  We left with a beautiful red grouper and 5 lbs. of jumbo shrimp...YUM!!

Another beautiful day in the Gulf of Mexico as we head to Cayo Costa.  Sorry if you get tired of seeing dolphins, but I never get tired of seeing them, and this picture captures the amazingly clear water.

Cayo Costa is an island just west of Cape Coral that is a State Park.  This anchorage offers great protection, a dinghy dock, and a fabulous trail/road for easy access to the beach. It is only a .7 mile walk, but they also have a tram.  Our charts show very shallow water in this anchorage so we would have passed it by if it weren’t for our friends Eddie and Gail.  During their recent visit they were able to follow a ferry boat into the anchorage and sent us their track.  Keith was able to overlay their track on our Aqua Maps chart, and we followed their track to safely navigate the hazardous entrance.  There are a LOT of boats here, but it is a large basin.

A little fishing in the mangroves secured dinner last night.

This is our happy place...we plan to stay for a few more days!

Shaft Woes

Well, I was hoping my next post would be from the water, but no...we are still on land.  Thankfully our shafts arrived on Tuesday, but as usual...nothing can be easy.  What we thought would be a three week stop is now turning into seven.  On the bright side, we are completing a lot of projects, Keith’s kidney stones are gone, and Carrabelle is a pretty nice place to be trapped. 

Carrabelle is a quaint town with very nice people and apparently very little crime.

If you are a weirdo like me and like old boats, our new home contains some true treasures. This one is my favorite in the yard.  I wish I could find a picture of her in her hay day.  I would love to know where she has been, and what jobs she accomplished.

What is this?  I would not be surprised to see an enlarged version of this hanging in a building in Annapolis.  This is actually the bottom of the boat in the last picture.  Interestingly, I was just told the story of how water was shooting through the hull like small pinhole geysers the day she was hauled out.

This picture was taken at sunrise on June 1, 2020.  Keith and I were completing an overnight passage from Tarpon Springs to Panama City when we came across this beautiful scene.  I posted some of the pictures at that time, and also attempted to track down (without success) the owner of the boat to share the pictures.

Fast forward to Carrabelle.  We found the boat!

And the owner...this is Jerry.  The owner of our boat yard gave us Jerry’s phone number, and after a brief conversation Jerry agreed to meet us at his boat. He loved the pictures, and gave us a tour of his boat.

The white box is a freezer. Shrimp are put into the box with seawater and the temperature is drastically lowered so the shrimp freeze but the water does not, due to the salt content.  This boat had a very large hold to store the shrimp until the boat returns to port.  Jerry usually stays out for about 18 days.

This is a TED (turtle excluder device), which allows sea turtles to escape the nets unharmed. Jerry said, “anything over 4 inches can get out, and a lot of shrimp get out.”

Look at all those cables and lines.  The rigging on this boat is amazing!  We greatly appreciated Jerry taking the time to teach us about his boat!

Clearly, I have been very good this year, because Santa brought me a drone😁.

I haven’t named her yet, but since she will be an integral part of Right Hand I think Pinky would be appropriate.

Now we can step up our picture game and view the world from a different angle.  Also, this is much easier than me climbing up there to see if the solar panels are clean!

Okay, enough play...let’s get back to work.

  

That stabilizer fin on the ground is usually attached to the actuator shaft sticking out of the hull, but we figured this would be a great time to have the seals replaced.  If you are unfamiliar with stabilizers I’ll give you the shorthand description...there are fins on each side of the boat that move by gyrocompass driven hydraulic action to oppose the roll tendency of the boat during rough conditions.  We definitely want to keep these babies in good working condition!

I have been making good progress on my head (bathroom) remodel.  I started by removing everything...mirror, towel racks, sink, and faucet.  This will be my second faucet replacement this month, and I must admit I am not a fan.  Both experiences have made me realize there is a serious misalignment when it comes to the level of patience required to remove old rusty faucets (while crammed in tiny spaces) and the amount of patience I possess.  

Three weeks ago I decided to complete the easy job of replacing the galley (kitchen) faucet, I’ll spare you from suffering through the details, but after an hour+ of one handed attempts (in a very tight dark space) to loosen the faucet, I reached for the hammer.  When that didn’t seem to help I stuck my head into the engine room and asked a Keith to hand me the blow torch!  To his credit, he calmly said, “I’ll get you the torch, but do you want me to take a look at the problem first.”  As I explained my problem, and frustration, I realized a new solution that worked great (without the help of the torch).  In the end, the faucet installation went fine, and now Keith knows the code words.  If I ask for a torch...he needs to talk me down.

The removal of the faucet in the crew head started down the same road with rusty/corroded nuts, a lot of PB Blaster, busted knuckles, neck kinks, the hammer...guess what...the hammer actually worked this time!  The nuts were so corroded that they crumbled to pieces when hit with the hammer. Who knew...I never actually thought the hammer was a plausible tool for the job, I was just venting some frustration before asking for the torch.

I have sanded the walls (and painted three), re-surfaced the countertop (and the shelf above) with the tile that was left over from the shower rehab, and have been experimenting on some of the surfaces with wall paper.

Getting a lot done while waiting for shafts!

They’re here!!!!!!  The shafts arrived on Tuesday, and all hands were on deck for installation.  What do you mean, it won’t go in??  Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but nothing can ever be easy when it comes to working on a 41 year old boat!

After conducting a very high tech laser analysis of the path the shaft must take, to reach the transmission, it was determined that our strut was not properly aligned.

The sad part is that Keith and I had just worked to torque all of the strut bolts to 150 lbs. in preparation for the shaft installation.  While I did give a little blood for the tightening of those bolts I guess all is not lost...while removing the flooring in the lazaret (to gain access to the bolts), Keith discovered that many of the boards were rotten.  What a great opportunity to replace the flooring. Always look for the bright side😏 I know, I’m really stretching to find the bright side, but it’s all good...I always believe that we are where we are meant to be, so make the most of every day!

We are all watching the weather windows very closely!  Hoping to be back in the water on Wednesday, and planning to head south at the first weather opportunity.

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and adventurous New Year!