What went wrong this month:(

FUDGE!

That's the nice rated of my mood right now.

Getting ready to leave Marathon, Florida when the fresh water cooling pump went South when we tested the engine. A new one is on order from the U.K.

Today, the wife and I decided to work on the roller furling, there is always something acting up with it. I am not a huge fan of roller furling to start with. Well, it was a bitch to unfurl, and a bitch to furl. More so than normal. The cherry on the icing on this turd cake was the halyard, (rope that hauls the sail up to the top of the mast), parted and the metal end of the sail passed through my wife's hair, but missing her skull, thankfully.

Depressing as it is, the good news is that I a officially retiring the whole roller furling system and going back to the old school Hank on sails. We have two spare ones:)

That is a lot of sail we are not going to use. I must learn to use the sewing machine. There are a lot of projects on the back burner; outboard motor cover, two bicycle bags, winch covers, windlass cover, hatch shades....the UV down here is murderous, gear has to be protected.

Now anchored in Sisters Creek, in Marathon, on Boot Key, Florida, waiting on friends.

Anchored in the Gulf of Mexico, just off Naples, Florida. Very rolly.

A long time since blogging.

Wow, it's been a while. A fair bit happened like, well, Hurricain Irma for starters. A failed starter, and a hostile West Coast of Florida.

We left Vero Beach after repairing our blown gearbox, motored South along the Intracoastal Waterway, and anchored at Jenson Beach (around a mere 10 mile trip). We like this anchorage as there is absolutely no flying critters!

Went to start the engine, nothing but a click. Did the usual checks, all wires seemed good, battery fully charged , power to the solenoid confirmed.

Called TowBoatUS and got towed back to Vero Beach City Marina. Back to our mooring ball. 3 days to Irma.

Secured the boat, took down all sails and boom and put them below.

Quadrupled the lines to the mooing ball.

Spent two nights in a Hurricain shelter then back to the boat. Everything hunky dory.

Took a week to straighten out the boat, and two more weeks before I even looked at the starter, I was kind of shell shocked over this.

Removed the starter and sent it away, there was a huge short in it. Installed it and....nothing.

I admit there was some choice words thrown about, and maybe a tool or two. I was mad.

The starter did not have easy access.

But before I went at it, cooler minds (the wife) prevailed. So we took out the ignition switch to see if a wire parted company there. The switch was partially melted from the short. Don't ask me why, electricity is not my bag, among a lot of other things.

Surpringly, we had good luck here, there was a brand new starter on board!!!!!!

Install switch and vroom, diesel starts right away.

Divide to leave the mooring ball and anchor in the mangroves for a couple of months to save up money...ok, ok, I was still shel shocked and had to get my mojo back.

Had word that our sailing buddy has engine problems in Cape Coral in the West Coast, or the Gulf Coast of Florida if you prefer. And the sheriff was hassling him almost daily and the Tarpon Marina dock master wouldn't even grant him dinghy dock privileges.

So we upped anchor and set out once more.

Again we anchored at Jenson Beach. No problems.

We turned into the Okeechobee Waterway....strong current, but in our favorite:)

Did the usual locks and bridges, moored on Dolphins which are huge wooden pilons lashed together with another set 60-70 feet away. You tie a bow line to one then reverse and tie a stern line to the other the adjust the lines and Bobs your uncle.

Well, seeing as I can't revers this pig of a boat backwards if my life depended on it, I used our dinghy and brought the line to the second dolphin. Now Bobs your uncle.

Now we are tied to the Dolphins outside of Clewiston. Now, we read up on Clewiston and we were told it is crime ridden, dangerous and just plain mean, these are the reviews we read from other sailors.

Rio Dulce (Sweet River), Guatamaula, our eventual destination

http://www.cruisingworld.com/rio-dulce-more-than-hurricane-hole?bW46sCTyexgjIVfz.01

Broken Gearbox and a stolen dinghy.

While sailing in the Abacos, our tranny broke. Badly. We felt it would be better if we did our repairs in Florida where parts would be more accessible. Almost two (2) months later I have the last part and am ready to install.

Our dinghy was stolen the other day. A bus driver, Lyn, says she drops the homeless couple off at a park every day where they sleep. BTW, the buses are free in Vero Beach and the homeless use them as shelter (A/C) against the inhumane summer heat and humidity.

So we went looking and lo and behold, there it was, A power boat was broken into and I suspect these two used our dinghy as a get-away vehicle.

That's it, Police have awesome security pictures of them.

I will publish more on the tranny later.

In the Bahamas

After many months of being locked out of my own blog, I am finally back in...on our second day after reaching Freeport, Bahamas. We are docked at Ocean Reef Resort. Retirement agrees with me.

This is our Quarantine flag, awaiting release from Customs and Immigration.

No Gridlock and new to her tender. Life is good.