by miami | Jan 2, 2014
This painting done by Shelly's father, now hangs in Yume. He painted it from a picture taken of our then new puppy Goose and I visiting Hilton Head Island two years ago.
We are back on the boat after driving 1500 miles and sitting in the car for 24 hours. At least it was a nice brand new Charger and we looked like state troopers running down the road!
Our visit to NC was bittersweet as we said goodbye to a wonderful man and father, but got to spend time with family. This is the third painting we have of Wayne's, and it is a very nice way to easily remember him often.
We sneaked this picture in at the service, (selfies are all the rage) after noticing the porcelain baby Jesus in the little manger scene was missing an arm. We thought that was pretty funny and helped amidst all the tears.
This morning we leave this private dock to go back to Riverbend Marina here in Ft Lauderdale. The two major goals are to haul and paint the bottom and boot stripe, and to replace the generator motor mounts, clean up the plumbing and wiring around the motor and bilge and then reinstall the generator.
Both of these are fairly major tasks. We hope to in and out of the yard in less that a week. We reserved a room at the motel 6 withing bicycle distance, and hope the weather stays sunny and warm!
After that we are really ready for some down time and might be heading further south for the keys. After all, isn't that what this is all about?
It was very nice to be back where we sleep with all the hatches and ports open, and the dress of the day is flip flops, shorts and tshirts!
by miami | Dec 29, 2013
It is cold in NC!
Blogging is not easy. If it were not for the readers who reached out to let us know they were readers, we would probably not do this… (Hint, hint)
We had a great time with Ian over the Christmas break, but it came to an end way too soon and events began crowding us again.
Christmas Eve day brought a beautiful calm morning. We took Goose into Peanut Island for a run, and headed back out to the boat with plans to go to the ocean beach on Singer Island. By the time we got there a cold front was beginning to roll in from the NW. A long ago lesson was remembered when we had walked halfway to the beach and begin to notice huge ominous black clouds rolling in. Since it was calm and nice when we left, every hatch and port was left open on Yume. If someone did not shut those and it rained hard, every bed, every settee cushion would be soaking wet.
So back I went, got the dingy and motored out to shut the boat up. Although it ended up not raining I felt much better about leaving this time. The wind had kicked up to 15 knots from the NW and it had become quite choppy in the anchorage.
I found the rest of the family at the beach park. We decided to eat and go on back as it had turned kinda yucky. A nice walk down the beach and back home ended our Palm Beach holiday.
We had been invited to a Christmas Eve party at Kathy and Jeff's house which meant a dingy ride in to be picked up and a dingy ride back in the dark.
In addition, due to previously documented issues with generator and charging problems our batteries were becoming very low, and the refrigeration was not able to keep cold. In the face of a weather forecast of rising winds and dropping temps, we decided to pack it in and find a marina for the night.
Of course finding a marina for dockage 5pm Christmas Eve is not easy! But like other things, the universe watches out for us and we were able to find the lake park municipal marina only a mile into the wind up the bay. By the time we got off the mooring and up to the marina entrance the wind was blowing 25 knots and it was a bit nasty.
The difference between motoring into a cold brisk wind and tied to the dock, plugged into power, with the refrigeration running, hot showers and laundry available made for a very pleasant evening.
We finished getting three loads of laundry into the dryers just in time to find some clothes other than shorts, and to be out on the street for our friend Sue to pick us all up for the party.
The party was loads of fun, with Ian and I having the opportunity to play some music for an appreciative sing along group around a fire! Great food (oh man those shrimp and pot roast sandwiches!), great people and the gift of anchor rode made for a wonderful evening.
It was also really cool to visit with the kids Ian had played with 18 years previously.
Christmas Day we motored before the wind back to Ft Lauderdale to an anchorage for the night. Then up and back on the road again at 9 for the final few miles up the new river again to a private dock on a canal behind a house where a family was kind enough to let us leave Yume safely for a week while we travel to NC for the memorial services.
I jumped on the bike and ran for a bilge pump switch, plus a plug for a shore power connector to make sure we could plug into the house. We got the boat all back together by 4 so we could pick up a rental car (upgraded to a charger!) and go out for a nice final dinner with Ian.
We were off by 830 Friday, dropped Ian at the WPB airport at 10, then drove through to Marion NC to arrive at 9pm.
Lot's of family here and as I write we are getting ready to head to the services then back here to try and make a dent in the food and drink that very kind people have brought.
We will be back on the road early Tuesday, and back on Yume that night.
Next project – haul out and bottom paint and get the repaired generator in the boat.
We would love to get Yume ready for some cruising so a trip to see friends in marathon in the Keys would be a possibility… Stay tuned to hear how that works out.
Everyone have a happy, prosperous and safe New Year!
by miami | Dec 27, 2013
Hello everybody! Ryan here, and today you will be reading my blog post. Recently, we noticed that our anchor only has 100 feet of chain. Which means we can only anchor in 20ft of water. (That's not very deep!) luckily one of my father's friend had 250 ft of anchor line at his disposal. So there we were, sitting around the table with our chain and the line. The gears in our heads were spinning faster and faster. We had to attach the line to the chain. Finally, it struck me like lightning as I stood up and shouted “We shall splice it!” (Everyone claps) Okay, it might not have gone quite like that. It was pretty close to the truth. Now it was up to me to attach this line to the anchor chain via splicing. I began reading the sailor books and watching videos on how to splice. Everysingle piece of information I found made it seem like a baby could do it. Let me tell you… This was a pain in the rear end. I'm not sure if it was the type of rope I had or just my general ignorance with following instruction. After 30 minutes of crying, frustration and sheer devotion I prevailed with the most beautiful splice you could possibly imagine. So the lesson of the day is. Buy a boat that has more than 100 feet of chain.
by miami | Dec 22, 2013
Ian arrived late Friday night. The cabbie was a bit surprised to be told to drop him off at the foot of the bridge!
We picked up the anchor Sat morning and headed the 7 miles north to Peanut Island at the WPB inlet to get some snorkeling in. Bridges made that trip much longer than necessary, but Yume ran well.
There is another small issue. As we have sailed it was clear the foresail, or genoa, which is on a roller furling system (instead of attaching and hauling up the sail) was not operating properly. It was very hard to roll out or in.
This can be dangerous In a strong wind, and leads to broken hardware and torn sails fron too much force used. So we dropped the sail to have a look, and of course found the sail torn at the top or the head of the sail. This repair cannot be put off as it will only get worse and cost more. Of course all the sail repair places are back in Ft Lauderdale!
The sail is now folded and stowed in a bag for sending to the sailmakers. The problem with the furling was insufficient tension on the forestay. When the sail was off it was easy to see poor maintenance and improper setup was easily remedied and could have been ugly…
The boys have all been in the water – snorkeling, jumping off the boat, and cleaning the bottom.
Saturday evening we motored in the dingy to Sailfish Marina to meet up with old friends Kathy and Sue. 19 years ago or so, the three girls shared the joys, trials and tribulations of learning how to be mothers at the same time and became very good friends. The reunion was emotional. The plan is to get together Christmas Eve when all the kids (who have not seen each other since they were three) together… Should be interesting!
As the holidays approach, we want to wish all our friends a very merry Christmas, a very happy New Year and the very best that life can offer. Thanks for your support!
Posted with Blogsy
