by miami | May 27, 2014
Our thoughts now turn to leaving. This means changing the way we think about things like stores.
We have been very spoiled to have Home Depot just a couple of blocks away and a Publix grocery not much further. An easy bike ride and walk.
This is not normal in the cruising world.
Sometimes we will have to bike five miles for milk! And Home Depot? Good luck with that.
In addition, we have had the marina to ship things we order – like Amazon.
All that goes away this Saturday. We will not have an address to ship to until probably Wilmington NC – at least a month away.
So we are trying to look ahead and get er done now.
Today we got our new flooring. And we got it installed. How cool to have floors again.
What do you think?
This stuff is perfect for is right now. It is foam puzzle pieces with a wood grain finish. Soft on the feet, has some texture so it is not slippery, and is very inexpensive and easy to put down.
I ordered another thermostat for the refrigerator. The thermostat for the freezer is working well and keeping things down around – 8 degrees Celsius. Not quite freezing ice cream, but definately ice.
Now I need to get the milk cold for the cereal. That is the metric. Cold milk for cereal.
Tomorrow, our friend Dr Tribuno lends us her car to take Sam and Ryan to the airport in Key West for Ryan’s first plane ride. They head back to Atlanta until we pick him up in Ft Lauderdale on June 9.
It will be just Shelly and I until then. I am really looking forward to it. I think Shelly is already having empty nest syndrome.
No one has come to visit and stay, except Sam. Funny how everyone said we had better make room. I guess it is easier to want to get away than do it…
We sure are glad to be away.
But we still miss our friends. Y’all come, hear?
Goose has enjoyed having Sam around!
by miami | May 25, 2014
After three months of sitting on a mooring in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon we finally took off for Memorial Day Weekend.
The Universe responded with the most perfect weather in three months.
Our good friend Kyle brought Ryan's buddy Sam down for a few days and the boys have getting to see what cruising is about.
Speaking of Memorial Day, please, please recognize this day is for those living in the free world to remember we owe that amazing ability to those that died serving in our armed forces to keep us that way. No matter your beliefs about war, and the military, think about this: In my adult lifetime, American forces have helped (or tried to help) in Vietnam (I was there), Haiti, Panama, Kosovo, Somolia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and all the places special operation soldiers go that we never hear about. And men and women die doing it. Never forget. And always honor them for their sacrifice.
Ok – back to sailing. 😉
Last we left you, the port fuel tank was still leaking and had been repaired a second time and I was a bit depressed.
Turns out that the tank was not really leaking, only that so much fuel had leaked out previously that it had soaked the foam underneath the tank and was coming out where I had cleaned all the fiberglass away. Whew!
So now the other fuel tank got cut into, and it has been epoxied. I only need to drill and tap the new cover and bolt it up to fill it with fuel for our northbound trip that starts next week!
We are excited.
The really cool part is that it will be just the two of us, since Ryan and Sam are flying to Atlanta and we do not pick Ryan up until June 9 in Ft Lauderdale. This will be the first time Shelly and I have spent 9 days together since Ian was born in 1991. Whatever will we do with ourselves?
Another huge project completed since we last spoke is the refrigeration. This has been a want to get done since we bought the boat. The old unit was top of the line – in 1984! It costs about $6,000 at that time and worked incredibly well if you ran your engine twice a day for two hours.
For the compressor, all the copper tubing, and the two stainless steel cold plates, the recycler gave me $19.55 in cold hard cash.
The new box is just an evaporator plate bent to fit in the box, with a very small compressor mounted in a cabinet close by. It is awesome and frees us for having to run the generator to get things cold. We actually have a freezer now with ice for the rum!
Our next update will show new floors. They are going to be very cool – and much different than most…
So back to today. It is Sunday morning, the sun is coming up and we are about to get underway for Sombrero Reef to do some snorkeling and see if we can spear some fresh fish for dinner.
The bottom of the boat has been scraped of three months of marine growth, and the engine and generator are all running well. We hope for a breeze today so we can put up some sail.
Oops. I almost forget to show the renovated bow pulpit that was Ryan's project. It looks awesome!
Until we meet again!
by miami | May 13, 2014
On Mother's Day, it is critically important to remember what is truly important.
It has been a tough week or two.
But, I think it is easy to forget where we actually are and focus on what is not going right instead of keeping things in perspective. We start with realizing we are in a pretty cool place, certainly a thousand times better than where we could be going through the same stuff.
And we have Moms. Without Moms to bring us, love us and raise us, (and for them to be there to be loved) all this would not be here anyway. Thanks to my Mom Marjorie gone for too long already, and Shelly's Mom Sally (our last remaining parent) for all your efforts!
And – we (I) have to remember that we bought a boat we knew needed a lot of work to make it a true cruising live aboard vessel, and that the initial price was simply a deposit on the full price of such a boat, and that we were choosing to make “payments” through sweat equity and parts when cash flow allowed.
It still can be depressing.
We have leaks in one of the two fuel tanks under the floors. This is not good as fuel in the bilges tends to get pumped overboard and the authorities and our neighbors do not like that at all.
Before I could get to the tanks I had to get under the hot water heater (that I hate) again. I decided to go ahead and move it and found a great place under the galley sink. Of course the sink had to come out, and all the plumbing and wiring redone. One full day and a half later, the tank is in a new place (yay!) and I have a nice open place to access the bilge and the generator.
Start pulling the floors.
Pull the hot water heater.
It is out!
Take out the sink, and the stove, build a shelf behind those wood drawers to the right of the sink, but inside the cabinet.
Heater is in. Now plumb and wire it. Easy! Then back to the problem. Day 2.
Next day – clean the area, and get all the fuel out of the bilge, and figure a way to find this damn leak.
First, I cleaned up all the wiring and plumbing lines, then built a sump in the bilge to run the shower drains so I could get the bilge dry. Plus I cut a few extra access hatches in the floor so I can run lines and plumbing.
Then, lay a nice white oil absorbent cloth in the clean, dry bilge and see where the fuel drips from… Voila, the port tank is leaking.
We pulled up all the wood floors in the salon, and cut an access into the top of the fuel tank. I could see pitting in the aluminum tank, and after much deliberation decided to use epoxy and fiberglass tape to try and seal the tank.
It was a pain in the butt! And two weekends of work…
Finally, yesterday, we started the fuel priming pump to force fuel from the starboard tank through the filters to the newly repaired port tank. About 5 pm the last three 5 gallon jugs of fuel were poured in to make sure the tank was full, and the new cover was screwed in place. Success!
The circle in the floor is where the table legs go so I had to not cut there!
The plan this morning was to mark the access for the starboard tank, cut it, clean out that tank and epoxy it just to be safe.
However, when I checked the bilge this morning I almost cried when I saw fuel. Apparently there is still a leak somewhere.
Today we moved 50 gallons of fuel back out of port to starboard, opened up the tank again, and cut out the outside fiberglass trying to ppinpoint the leak. The tank does not look good on the outside but to take it out means some serious work. In the boatyard cutting a lot of fiberglass work. Yuk.
I ended up laying much more glass and epoxy in the tank, and praying that I have covered where it was leaking.
Tomorrow will tell.
Then for Mother's Day Shelly rode up and rented the second Hobbitt movie and we watched that. She also fixed a very nice supper to enjoy with the rum to help with the depression. We just try to move on and try to figure out what the good is in this situation…
Time is again flying by. It looks like Ryan's friend Sam is coming to visit, then they are flying back to Atlanta for a vist before we pick Ryan up in ft Lauderdale first week of June. I have promised to work for the shop here until June 1, and we still have refrigeration to install. And of course now the generator needs looking at since I have access with no hot water heater in front of it.
3 weeks. Plenty of time.
We sure are looking forward to moving again!
We hope all the Moms had a great day! Until next time…
by miami | Apr 25, 2014
We finally did something other than work, and it turned out to be quite the adventure…
Easter Sunday we worked in the morning as we normally do. There are multiple projects under way, some serious, some fun, and all helping to make the boat look better, operate better, and easier to live on.
After lunch, we packed the dinghy with Ryan's kneeboard, some water and suntan lotion and headed out Sister' Creek Channel towards the ocean. With the wind out of the northwest and a little stiff, the ocean should have a been a little protected but it was a bit choppy. We were looking for a smooth place to pull Ryan on his board.
Our little dinghy loaded with two adults and Goose dragged Ryan around and around until he got tired!
Then it was off to the mangroves. If you didn't know, most of the keys are simply mangrove islands, with these fast growing bushes that can throw new roots out into the water and reproduces like a huge water weed.
The kayakers have cut a long trail through the mangroves. We had heard it was a nice little trail so we pointed the dink in toward the tunnel and crept in.
For the first 30 minutes it was kinda cool, that is until the tunnel became narrower to the point we had to work to get though. And then it started to become a bit worrisome as the sharp ends of the branches where they had been trimmed began to try and puncture the dinghy!
In several places, it took all three of us to force our way through. Working on the boat was easier!
Finally we broke through into a small, very shallow lake in the middle of the mangrove swamp.
Then we got lost.
Just as I am thinking someone will find a dinghy floating around with three desiccated bodies, two kayakers showed up with a map! But they were lost too.
Together we found the entrance to the return channel from hell. The first one was a cake walk compared to this one. We made it obviously, but it took some ingenuity with rope and knots and breaking branches and hoping the dinghy wouldn't pop to get out. When we finally broke out at the other end, it was like we had been freed from a nightmare.
What a fun Easter Sunday outing! Then we had the joy of coming back and cleaning the debris from the dinghy. And rum.
On other fronts, work continues. The new refrigeration is on order and will be here this coming week. We are now discovering a fuel seepage into the bilges which was sort of expected from talks with other Irwin sailboat owners and forums, but it would have been nice not to have to make it a priority.
The batteries are making a big difference in the captains comfort level, and attitude as the concerns of going dead are no longer valid. We can actually go three days before we have to charge.
Shelly's canvas work continues to attract attention. People go by in their dinghies and stop to tell us how amazed they are at the transformation of the boat. We are now all blue, with all new canvas and Yume really does look like a new boat!
The cooler doubles as an extra seat at the dinner table when we have guests, and the wind scoop behind it funnels air down on top of our bunk…
The rain cover over Ryan's hatch helps draw air and allows the hatch to stay open in the infrequent rains..
She made an awning for the cockpit that really helps keep the boat a lot cooler, and it lets us stay out in the shade as the days get warmer.
The nice (cool) spring we had is now changing to a much warmer weather pattern and temps are climbing up into the 80's soon to be 90's.
I will be working for another 4-5 weeks to pay for all the new stuff. The down side is my weekends are now spent trying to get everything done on our boat, while weekdays I work on other people's boats. Sometimes the days are long and hot, with a couple of hours before and after work spent on paws4people stuff, and other web clients.
I really don't know how I used to live like this all the time and am really glad there is a end in sight where we will actually start moving again. Every day we watch a couple more boats drop their mooring and head out – either heading south to the islands or Mexico, or even Cuba, or north up the coast to cruise the Chesapeake or points further up.
Our turn will come!
Thanks for all the comments and emails. They are appreciated!
by miami | Apr 11, 2014
It is amazing how the Universe twists and turns our lives. Not to say that we are at the whim of some powerful being that plays with us, but then again maybe we are…
One of the age lessons both Shelly and I have hopefully come to understand is that when things happen there is a reson for it and it is best to embrace, cherish and work with it.
So I am back working.
On the morning we were prepared to leave the harbor, with charts laid out, the boat ready for sea, and everyone all excited about new adventures; we rode up to the grocery stor for last minute milk etc.
I had never noticed a little marine services shop across the street, so we stopped in to ask if he knew anyone who might want to buy our old radar and walked out ten minutes later having been offered temporary (a moth or two) work to substitute for a technician who was leaving for a delivery to Maine.
Going through the grocery store was a torment as the very last thing I wanted was a job – much less to stay in Marathon even as nice as it is.
But when the Universe speaks…
So here we are and every morning I get my tool bag and bicycle off to work on other people’s boats.
Our goal is to make use of the contact to upgrade the refrigeration, batteries and a couple of other projects in this time.
Now we are reconciled with a delay in our plans, and excited about the possibility of being that much closer to a self sufficient (not so dependent on the generator) home.
The projects continue while I am at work and on the weekends!
Most of the canvas in complete. The dodger (protects the cockpit and companionway from spray and wind) has been rebuilt. Shelly did an awesome job and even added a sharp, eye catching blue trim!
And a new bike bag…
This image looked much nicer in person showing the new sail overs and dodger!
Now we work our way around the boat to change the last of the burgundy paint to blue. The paint stripe at the deck level is called the sheer stripe, and the starboard side is now blue while the port side remains burgundy…
The yellow circle on the transom will have the Japanese lettering for Yume painted soon! Then, someday that same yellow will be used for a thin stripe just above the waterline blue. That must wait until we haul out again.
Anyone notice that Yume seems to be listing a bit to starboard (to the right)? That is because the port fuel tank and the port water tank is empty. You can really feel it when inside the boat and gets fixed quickly when it happens!
Shelly is working hard to keep up with our internet work, learning more about website management than she really wants. She is helping keep up all our customers sites as well as the paws4people foundation work.
Ryan is becoming famous (as he continually tells us he will) in his online world, having now created revenue for himself with his animations. I say – go for it!
You can see what he is doing here.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pC4Sq_Ky6sE
Saturday nights are fun as we join other boaters in the harbor dockside for a potluck and a jam session of local boater musicians. The crowd is very attentive and appreciative – besides being our age and older they know all the songs!
That is all the updates for the week from paradise. It is funny how things change. We are promising ourselves to try and take some time on the weekends to get the boat out of the harbor and enjoy the Keys some.
And Goose is ready to go in.
by miami | Mar 30, 2014
The unknown is exciting. As the day comes to leave Boot Key and Marathon (our home for the last five weeks) we are both excited and apprehensive. Where are we going? What might happen? What if something goes wrong?
On the other hand, the questions can be different. What new people will we meet? What cool new places will we explore? Where will we be in a month, this summer, this fall?
Answer – who knows? But the not knowing makes it fun!
The list of things to do before we leave has been whittled down. Of course the list is never done, but we feel good about what has been completed.
Shelly's canvas has made the boat look very spiffy, with a new mizzen and main sail cover, and new bike bag. She is knee deep as we write with the dodger in pieces sewing in new canvas. This is by far the most challenging canvas job on a boat and the locals are jealous of her skills… I just take her for granted!
The engine oil dipstick had broken inside the tube and required the removal of the starter to access. This job was put off as long as possible until there was no more procrastination left available. After two days, we have a jury rigged repaired dipstick tube and stick, the port side of the engine cleaned and painted, wiring fixed and cleaned up all the way up to the panel (this needs lots more work) and the bilge inaccessible without removing the starter now sparkles.
On Friday at 4 while finishing up this job the generator stopped running. The problem was tracked to a bad salt water pump impeller which had to be replaced for us to have power and cold beer. That is the problem with “stuff” as it tends to break at the worst of times.
Two hours later, with some less than ladylike language, and blisters on both arms from a hot engine, the beer was cooling down again.
The most fun jobs are the ones with instant gratification. We have all been working on the hull for a couple of months scraping the old nasty paint off so we can get to the original gelcoat finish to wax and polish. Just this week the last of the paint was removed and Shelly was able to paint Yume on the transom. It looks great!
Just wait until she paints the Japanese letters. That is going to be cool!
It is easy to see from the stern the burgundy stripe still to be done on the sides, and the blue that is finished on the transom.
This image shows the white paint we scraped off and the creme colored gelcoat underneath…
But our stay here has not been all work. We are sort of sad to be leaving our 3x a week softball game, but since Most people leave Marathon for the summer and go north, the season is ending anyway.
Shelly rode her bike out to Piegon Key on 7 Mile Bridge and took a couple of nice pics.
The old highway bridge is the pedestrian and bike walkway out to the key. She says she the wind coming back was blowing so hard she had to get off and walk!
We would have liked to get out to the reef, but there was only a day of two of the five weeks here the wind lay down enough to go and we just couldn't get it together.
We hope to make up for it on the way north. We are in no hurry. The next planned stop is to be in Atlanta May 8 for the paws4people/Heroes First golf tournament. We will probably leave the boat in Savannah or Hilton Head Island for a few days to go there and then maybe on the Biloxi and visit Ian.
Ryan made a cake for the old guys softball team we play with for the last game. Shelly joined us and impressed everybody!
We are all ready, including Goose!
As always your comments (even the sarcastic ones) are appreciated and welcomed and will be answered in kind…
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