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!

Living On The Hard

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post, but we have been living on the hard (the boat is on land) for three weeks now, and this life isn’t nearly as interesting as life on the water.  Not only are the planned repairs taking much longer than expected, but Keith’s body is still playing pinball machine with his kidney stone ringing up a lot of points as it bounces through his system...ding, ding, ding!! Our fifth trip to the urologist’s office, in Tallahassee, is scheduled for Wednesday...where the stone is scheduled to be removed...yippeee!  

Fortunately, we did enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with family.  We rented a house for 5 days, the week of Thanksgiving, and my daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters traveled from Charleston to join us.  We were concerned about Covid exposure, but we were comfortable with the precautions and protocols they strictly follow.  It was wonderful to see them, but sad to realize that Maggie (who turned 5 while visiting us) doesn’t remember a time without masks and social distancing.   Both girls take it all in stride and they will quickly announce “mask up” when we arrive at our destination!

During the last leg of our journey to Carrabelle, we passed a boat yard that builds Staten Island Ferries.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, FL suffered extensive damage from hurricane Michael in 2018. Glad to see they have recovered, and are rolling out the ferries. 

Right Hand was hauled out on Nov. 24, which was a day later than originally scheduled (due to an emergency haul out for a boat taking on water) so we were in a hurry to get her settled and head to our rental house on that Tuesday afternoon.

Grandmom was prepared with lots of holiday crafts to make with the girls.  Here we are making our own snow globes...how cool is that...and it actually worked, they don’t leak🤞YET!

This was a great house for our gathering! If you are ever in need of a rental in Apalachicola, FL go to Vrbo and check out property #909150.  The owners, Tracey and Michelle are fabulous!!

We took a nice long walk on the beach after eating our huge Thanksgiving dinner.

And, of course, we made sure to squeeze in some kayaking time.

It’s so sad to say goodbye to our girls, but it is time to get to work on the boat!

This was something on Keith’s wish list...raise the exhaust ports so they aren’t underwater.  The bottom hole was for engine exhaust and the top one was for the generator.  The engine exhaust has always been partially submerged, but when we moved onboard full time the boat settled a little lower in the water🤷🏼‍♀️.  You might also notice how dirty the hull is, with the brown water stains creeping up the white side.

The fiberglass guy was very good!  Clearly the exhaust port was too low to begin with...thank goodness we were able to fix this 41 year old problem😉. You might also notice the shiny white hull in this pic.  The boatyard guys turned me on to a dollar store toilet cleaner that works like magic to remove water stains on a boat.  We will be leaving with a case...maybe we should have put the exhaust a little higher!

Keith installed a new hot water heater in this very tight location!

Preparing to install new thru hauls and valves.

I have been cleaning and painting interior storage lockers and cabinets.

And this is what it looks like when my job and Keith’s job come together to compliment each other!  New thru hulls and valves installed in the freshly painted locker under the stairs.

The primary reason for this stop...needed new strut bearings.  Of course special tools are required to take out the old...

WOW...that new bearing is beautiful!  You will also notice a shaft on the right side of the picture.  After close inspection of our 41 year old shafts, everyone agreed it would probably be best to replace them with new 2 inch shafts.  The new shafts are being machined (tapered and threaded) as we ‘speak’, which is one of the reasons this repair layover is taking longer than expected.

Keith has been working to install a new alternator and serpentine belt kit to replace the old vee belts.  He needed to have some machining done to make the components fit, but everything is coming together nicely!

Enough project pictures for now...

We did leave the Whaler in the water so we can explore when we have some free time.  This poor guy is new to boating, and had some anchor drag problems on a windy night.  Luckily, he was able to get towed off the shore during the next high tide.  We stopped to check on him, and offered a little advice regarding anchor drag alarms.  The next day he offered to hire us to help him take his boat to Galveston, TX.  Sorry, but we are not currently for hire!

Finally, I know I shouldn’t complain about the weather (especially considering that many of our readers live in the northeast, and they are preparing for a snow storm this week), but it has been cooler than we expected.

Last week, our early morning trip to Tallahassee was slightly delayed.  Note to self:  rental cars in Florida do NOT come equipped with ice scrapers!  Thankfully, that cold air was gone by noon.

Hopefully my next post will have us back in the water, and stone free!

Return to Salt Life

Hurricane Eta finally decided to stop harassing the Gulf coast, and we were free to proceed south.  If we ignore a near collision, a serious medical scare, and numerous mechanical failures, it’s been a great week!  

Our last day in Demopolis was spent taking a nice long walk through the park to stretch our legs, with a bonus opportunity of getting rid of all trash onboard.  This park had a dumpster...we love to find a dumpster!  Once we leave this beautiful anchorage we will have 4 straight travel days, with questionable anchorage areas, until we reach Mobile.

When walking through the woods, I always ask Keith to lead the way so he can act as the human spiderweb sweeper.  He usually shakes his head and rolls his eyes, and generally thinks I’m being silly about avoiding a web across my face...until now!  Luckily, this spider built about 4 inches over Keith’s head, and he walked right under it.  However, he must have caused vibration, which caused the spider to move, which caught my eye...yikes!  It may have been a mistake to call him back and show him what almost wrapped around his face😬 hopefully I didn’t scare him out of the lead position on future walks.  Note: things in this picture may appear larger than actual size, this spider was approximately 1 1/2 inches across.

On the morning of Thursday, Nov 12 we pulled anchor at 7:00 am and headed into Demopolis Lock.  We had been anchored less than 1/2 mile from the lock, and now understood the noise we had questioned for the previous 6 days.  This is our first attempt at using the panoramic feature on the camera, so please ignore the misaligned picture (we’ll practice).

The morning was grey and misty, but we were happy to be moving again.  Keith had first helm duty on that morning, and the next two hours were uneventful.  There was a lot of tow/barge traffic on that part of the river, but we had probably met/passed close to a hundred tows during our 5 months in this river system, and we regarded all captains as friendly and helpful...UNTIL we met ‘Terah Huckabee’.

Our AIS (automatic identification system) allows us to ‘see’ oncoming vessels on our chart plotter, long before we can make a visual contact.  Normally, we radio the oncoming tow to ask which side of the channel they would like us to be on when we meet.  On this morning, we could see Terah Huckabee approximately 2 miles down river heading in our direction around a very sharp bend.  Keith attempted to make radio contact using channel 16 (specifically designated for hailing and distress).  After several attempts with no answer, he switched to channel 13 (bridge to bridge) and attempted contact again.  After several attempts he finally got a reply, but to our shock and dismay the reply was, “you shouldn’t be using this channel, stay on 16.”

What??? Keith returned to 16 and attempted contact again, but received no reply. Alright, maybe there is a problem with the radio??  We were quickly approaching the bend, and decided the safest bet was to stop forward progress and hold station on the inside edge of the channel to give the tow use of the entire channel in the bend...so for 10 minutes we did not move.  We watched the tow move closer on our screen, but still had not been able to put eyes on her.  Finally, we saw the first row of barges peek around the bend.

If you’ve never been on the water, let me explain that in this type of situation it always looks like the other boat is heading straight for you. However, once they are able to straighten out from the turn the ‘lanes’ become visible again and it is easy to proceed...but that did not happen!  He kept heading straight for us, and Keith kept asking me...’when is he going to straighten out?”  It quickly became clear that he had no intention of straightening out.  At that point he made radio contact to tell us that we were in his way.  With a wall of barges heading straight for us, Keith had to give full throttles and aim for the river bank.  At that point we were concerned about running aground, but that fate was better than definite death if we didn’t move quickly.

Thankfully all 240 horses responded and moved us in time to avoid collision, but if anything had gone wrong in that moment the outcome would have been very different.  I am convinced he intentionally tried to kill us.  But he wasn’t done...he actually had the nerve to come back on the radio and say, “I don’t know where you are from, but around here we have the right of way!”  At this point of the story all I can say is it is a really good thing Keith was at the helm and had the radio in his hand, because my filter was gone!  I am very proud to say that Keith responded in a calm but firm manner and informed him that none of that would have happened if he had simply communicated with us...kudos to Keith...I would still be cursing the guy!

That night we squeezed our girl into a tiny creek, only about 50 ft wide, and tied off to trees to avoid anchoring anywhere near the channel.  The next day we covered a wonderfully uneventful 60 miles to tie up at Bobbie’s Fish Camp.

This is ‘Terah Huckabee’ passing us, while we were tied to Bobbie’s dock, a day after the ‘incident’.  

Bobbie’s is a single pier at a small camp ground where local fishermen and hunters keep their trailers.  It is located in the middle of no where Alabama, with the nearest town of Jackson being approximately 40 miles away.  We had to pay to tie up there because there is absolutely no place to anchor along this stretch of the river.  Within 2 hours of tying up, Keith was in his recliner doubled over in pain.  Earlier, he had complained about a little ache in his lower back, but the situation changed quickly.  I ‘diagnosed’ a possible kidney stone, since we had been in this exact situation about 20 months ago. Time to line up resources...just in case.

After administering drugs (left over from the last kidney stone) I walked around the campground until I found a person, and asked about the nearest medical facility, taxi/Uber services...etc. The answers to my questions (40 miles, no/no) were not good, but this woman agreed to drive us to the hospital in Jackson if things got worse.  Our options were very limited, as we knew from experience that the hospital (after hours of waiting) would just give him pain meds and tell him to contact a urologist.  Since we had the meds onboard (and limited transportation options...how would we get back to the boat) my priority was to get him to civilization, but we were still two days away.

Our last lock!! Thanks for the picture, Blondie!

My plan was to keep him drugged while we traveled for two days to Mobile.  There I would be able to dock at a marina and rent a car.  The only down side to this plan was the final lock (Coffeeville) we were scheduled to transit the next morning.  The thought of single handing through the lock was stressful, but doable if necessary.  I went through the procedure (in my mind) a million times that night, and felt confident that (while it might not be pretty) I could handle it.  

Fortunately, he woke feeling better, and he was able to stay at the helm for 90 minutes before the pain returned, once again pain meds to the rescue while I took over the helm.  Thanks goodness we made it through the lock before the pain started. While he did start feeling better that afternoon, he couldn’t return to the helm with narcotics in his system.  Once again we anchored in a swampy area that required passage through a long narrow entrance just wide enough for the boat to pass through.

That evening Keith informed me that he needed to change the oil in the injector pumps.  I knew he was feeling better at thatmoment, but what if the pain came back in the middle of the job? Two major concerns immediately came to mind; how would I get him out of the engine room; and how would I get the boat out of the swamp the next day, with one engine, if the pain came back in the middle of the job?  Keith convinced me that I would be able to put the engine back together and get it running if need be...so down to the engine room we went for my lesson.  I videoed his explanation of the whole procedure, which led me to agree that I could indeed get everything back together.  Luckily, my new skills were not required.

The next morning we wanted to get an early start, because we knew it would be a long day.  We slipped out of the swamp without a problem, but after a few miles we came upon a pretty dense fog.  Within a few minutes I heard Keith say, “oh no...Terah Huckabee is three miles downriver and heading our way.”  At this point we were both loaded for bear, and just wanted to get out of this river.  However, before we got within two miles of her another boat heading downriver hailed ‘Terah Huckabee’ on the radio, and we waited to see how this would play out.  Almost immediately a very happy young man answered with the normal reply, “meet you on the one captain”.  Hallelujah, Terah Huckabee had a different captain on this morning, and we too met him on the one (which means ‘leave you to my port’) without incident.  Our jubilation was replaced with ‘oh crap’ the minute the guages on our port engine went crazy!  

I took the helm, while Keith went below to analyze the problem.  A fuse, coming off the alternator, had melted (we think a nut came lose causing too much heat).  Thankfully, there was nothing flammable close by, because this looks like it could have started a fire.  Keith was able to bypass that fuse, since there is another fuse at the other end, and we were back in business...and still no pain today👍

Finally, welcome to Mobile, but what should we do? We hadn’t planned to stop in Mobile before the pain started, since Keith was not in pain at that moment we decided to keep moving.

Crossing Mobile Bay, a little rough, but happy to be in wind blown waves!

It felt great to be back in the land of the pelicans!

In an attempt to get as close to Pensacola as possible, we traveled until the last possible minute before anchoring in the southeast corner of Mobile Bay.  

I was at the helm the next morning, and as we prepared to pull the anchor I lost the port engine. After several failed attempts to restart I called Keith off the bow.  Once again, a trip to the engine room was in order, and he quickly determined there was air in the injection line.  After bleeding the line, we were back in business.  At that time we didn’t know how the air got in there, but eventually we would find out...

Hello our dolphin friends! Swim with us to Pensacola.

Our happiness for being back in saltwater, quickly turned to somberness for the people who have been hit so hard this season.

We saw a lot of roof damage, but thankfully most houses seemed structurally sound.

There was a lot of boat and pier damage.

We found all of the missing piers.  There was a mile long stretch of coastline piled with lumber.

We anchored in Pensacola Bay near the north shore to get protection from a strong north wind.  There was a fabulous park with docks, pavilions, and walking trails.  We took the Whaler in and walked a mile to Publix to restock on fresh fruits and veggies.  Upon our return we were watching a windsurfer enjoying the strong breeze in the bay. Apparently he wanted a better look at the boat and decided to sail right behind us.  Well, if you have ever been on a windsurf board you know that as the wind pushes/pulls against the sail you must lean back in the opposite direction to balance the force.  He came so close to our boat that he lost his wind (because it was blocked by our boat) but he was still leaning back...so...splash.  Too funny! Thankful he didn’t hit his head on our swim platform...he was that close!

And here we are today, Wednesday, Nov. 18. Three more travel days to reach Carrabelle. However, at 11:30 we were looking for an emergency anchorage, because the port engine kept losing power, spitting and sputtering. The first time it happened, Keith changed fuel tanks and attributed the problem to a clogged vent line.  Everything seemed fine for about an hour, then the same problem...port engine.  Keith decided it was time to change the fuel pump.  With the wind being strong and conditions a little rough we decided it would be better to anchor than for him to attempt to work while I ran on one engine.  This picture is our beautiful repair anchor spot.

Good news!  After the fuel pump change, the port engine ran like a champ the rest of the day, but Keith actually believes that the fuel pump was good.  He discovered the line coming into the bottom of the pump had a slightly lose fitting, which might have been allowing a little air into the line.

Bad news! Keith’s pain has returned and once again I am worrying about how to get him off the boat should he require medical attention in the middle of the night.