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…
by miami | Mar 19, 2014
Shelly has painted the Japanese symbols for Yume on the throw cushion we keep on the lifeline. She is practicing for painting it on the transom!
It is hard to believe we have been tied to this mooring ball for almost three weeks. The days fly by and we make jokes about how busy we are. And now we are getting short. We have less than 10 days before we leave. We are not sure why we are leaving or where we are going but we know it is time.
Softball three days a week, walking Goose twice a day, scraping and sanding the hull, and sewing all the new canvas are just a few of the things that take so much time.
Life is perfect though.
Shelly stepped right back into her awesome sewing skills without a hitch, and turned out the mizzen sail cover in a day. The main sail stack pack will take a bit longer but is coming along.
The new mizzen sail cover!
The other big project is stripping all the old paint off the hull, taking it back to the gelcoat, sanding with 320, 600 and even higher wet/dry paper, buffing and waxing. What a difference it makes! But it is a LOT of work…
You can see the old white paint vs the gelcoat even before the buffing and waxing. It will look nice when done.
Shelly got the first coat on our name on the transom yesterday. The front that came through last night has us waiting for the wind to die down before we can continue that task.
I got the guitar out and hit a couple of local places for the jam nights and we have made some new cruising friends. We met Paul and Linda on the catamaran Blind Faith and had a couple of fun nights with them before they took off for the Bahamas a few days ago. We were a wee bit jealous watching them leave the harbor and wish them fair winds.
Ryan continues to impress the local population with his softball and internet skills and all the retires have all adopted him.
This image of our two Exide 4d batteries is for our friend Bill who has the same boat in Texas and helps with advice. These poor batts are history I am afraid, as they have been abused both before we got here and since. We ran the generator 8 hours yesterday with an equalization charge, and the specific gravity barely budged. New batteries are going to run us $450-600 for 4 big golf cart batteries with as much amp hours as we can get.
The next big expense is replacing the refrigeration system. The old 110v Crosby compressor and the two holding plates, although working, are old technology and can be run much more efficiently, quietly, with much less hassle using a 12 volt compressor and evaporator plates.
Whether we can accomplish that before heading back north is yet to be seen.
Here is a question for you. How would your life be different if you had to replace all the water you used in your house in two 6 gallon jerry jugs. We do.
The requisite setting sun pic!
And as always Goose is (im)patiently waiting for you to show up here in paradise!
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