Actually it probably will not get much better than this.
Although we are working hard, and not truly enjoying as much traveling as we will someday, the sense of adventure, and the change of pace and recent memory of the stables makes this time special.
Enough of the gooey stuff.
We have been anchored in Miami Beach for a week and working on Yume between cold fronts passing through.
We took apart the cockpit steering column so Shelly could strip, sand and get four or five coats of varnish on the teak table and all the trim. This takes a lot of sanding and makes a mess. The sanding dust gets everywhere and of course between the boys and Goose the varnish is really hard to get dry without getting fingerprints or dog hair in it.
We took the Avon dingy aboard to scrape and sand the bottom, patch some gel coat dings, and other misc repairs and maintenance.
All the rubber had to be cleaned and a softener/restorer applied.
Yume has a second spare dinghy which is a soft bottom Zodiac Zoom we had never even unpacked. Ryan dove deep into the lazarette (a deep locker aft where we store all the 'stuff') to pull out the floorboards and oars. That outboard is an original Honda four stroke that is standing upright to show you how deep that goes…
And Ryan pumps away! Ready to launch…
So we ran around for two days in our pretty blue dinghy, then spent three more hours to clean it up and pack it away again…
Other projects have included rebuilding the capstan (raises the anchor chain), setting up all the rigging that supports the masts and lots of small jobs.
We do get out a bit in Miami Beach as we have to go ashore at least twice a day with Goose. We try to combine his needs with required trips like laundry and grocery runs. Doing laundry is a whole new experience when you have to find a close laundrymat, carry it all in the dinghy, and carry it to and from after you are done! We are trying to find a really good old fashioned wringer that can stand up to salt water environment so we can start doing more of it on the boat. If you happen to have one hanging around…
As I write this, Shelly and Ryan are on the boat on their own while I fly to Va Beach for a two day meeting. It is strange to be leaving them on the boat but I know they will be fine. I'll be freezing but they will be fine.
Last night another front came through with a roar, with the wind going from nothing to 30 knots from the NW in an hour, which makes for a noisy night!
At the end of the month we are looking forward to meeting some boating folks we only know by internet (Sir Charles from www.pricedingold.com) in Ft Lauderdale, the Miami Sailboat Show and then our good friend Dr Angel in Marathon Key.
As always Goose is ready to go!
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