first you dig a hole........

Electrolysis

Definition: Chemical decomposition produced by passing an electric current through a liquid or solution containing ions. (Not the hair removal kind).


We've had problems with zincs disappearing from all the boats and once the zincs are gone any other metal on the boats will start to disappear as well.  Dirty Girl appears to be the culprit.

To save the other boats:

dig a hole and plant Ramblynn's old propeller shaft:

get a well-trained mason (or Gerry) to fill it full of cement:

attach a green wire to the shaft, dig a trench, bury green wire:

 strategically attach said wire to the electrical box by a certified electrician (or Les):

and voila,

Covered the pole with this globe that floated into the bay and put a solar light inside.

Dirty Girl is separately grounded from the other boats which should solve their zinc problem. It also and excellent place to get another line on the boat. Hopefully some day soon we'll figure out Dirty Girl's electrical problem. Any thoughts and/or suggestions are welcome.

PS
It's not just work around here we do have fun too:

Lunch on the beach at Banana Bay with Les and Chris. So sad their trip was cut short  :(

Festival Noel (fundraiser for the National Parks) with Doreen and Richard

Back to Port Lucaya

All week Windfinder and Passage Weather (I've learned not to rely only on Windfinder) have promised that Sunday would be a good day to cross over to the Bahamas, winds were not supposed to pick up on the Florida coast until after 4 and would be OK near Freeport. Once again wrong - they were already strong at 11. We had little choice as the next week was supposed to be really windy and we've been in Florida 28 days. After last minute shopping for perishables we cast off at noon and made our way up the ICW to West Palm. We were lucky we didn't waste too much time waiting for bridge openings but it still took us 3 hours motoring (with our almost brand new motor) right into the wind.

Exiting the channel.

I have come to accept that when I make this crossing the wind report will be wrong and the seas will be high but did mother nature really need to throw in rain? And was that wave that launched itself right over our heads into the cockpit like a giant wall of water necessary? The 3 or 4 other large ones only came to our shoulders, the rest were only 6-8 feet and didn't make it into the cockpit just crashed over the bow and sides. Needless to say we were wet and chilly for most of the 15 hours it took to get to Port Lucaya. 

Around dusk we heard a boat calling the Coast Guard. There were four men in a 31' Contender. They reported that seas were building, waves were stacking and crashing over their boat and weather was turning nasty. They sounded scared. So I'm thinking 4 men making 10 mph, 17 miles off shore are scared - should I be and just too dumb to know it? The Coast Guard kept calling them every 5 minutes, I guess so they'd know what time they sank or something. It was never made clear whether they actually wanted to be rescued or just wanted some hand holding. At any rate they sent a helicopter to keep an eye on them. I wonder how much that cost the taxpayers? I've since found a photo of such a boat and I can see why they could have been a tad nervous - it's a wide open center console fishing boat. We were much safer in Ramblynn.

Just before midnight we passed a cruise ship just sitting in one place, they do that at lot.  I don't know if it was the same one or another but less than an hour later there's a Royal Caribbean coming at us, fast, and apparently intends to kill us. They have the whole %#@*ing ocean and they're on a collision course! I woke Gerry up (why does this sort of thing always happen when I'm on watch?) and he decided we should slow down so it could cross in front without taking us out.

The rest of the night was kind of boring until of course we tried to find the sea buoy (couldn't, I don't think it has a light on it) but finally found the correct red marker (of course there's no light on the green one) to guide us into the channel. Once again confirming that coming into port in the daylight is oh so much more preferable.

A nice surprise in Port Lucaya - customs and immigration was just one person so check-in was pretty quick. A not so nice surprise - cruising permit price has doubled (to $300) since last year! That's the way they do it here - business is slow so they raise the prices to make up for it. I can't believe they don't realize that doing so will more than likely worsen the situation - duh!

Only 2 hours and $20 later (at the laundromat) everything that got salt water on it is now nice and clean, too bad the rest of the boat isn't - yet.

and we're still here.............

Will the madness never end? OK that's a bit melodramatic. The engine is finally in, the boat is in the water (today) and everything seems to work (knock on wood). The boat is in complete disarray, cockpit lockers having had to be emptied (into the main salon), aft cabin likewise and a goodly amount of supplies/groceries had just been dumped on the V-berth and any vacant floor space not near the engine, not to mention the items we were taking back to Ontario from the Bahamas. I didn't have my camera with me today or there would be photos of the carnage.

We began to put the boat back in order, which included putting the jib sail back on its roller. A simple job yes? No. We had sent the sail out for repair and reinforcing but the professional sailmaker didn't take into account that when he put a patch over the part that goes into the track it cannot be thicker than the track will allow. We discovered this just as the sun was going down today, Friday when we darn near killed ourselves trying to winch the sail up. The repair shop is not open weekends so I had to take the patch off with a razor blade while Gerry held a flashlight. Either that or delay our trip (again) on the off chance that someone could patch it without increasing the thickness.

Instead of rushing around like idiots trying to leave tomorrow we're aiming for Sunday.

Many many thanks to Jean and Rick for putting up with us for so long!

Once again... the glam side of sailboats

Still waiting for mechanic Bill to show up so decided to do what we could to get the project a little bit further. As far as I'm concerned this project was misrepresented. I heard "Hey honey can you help me push a hose through?"  There was no mention of the other 2 hoses, where they were situated (in the bilge!), nor that the 3 old ones had to be pulled out before the new ones went in.

If this space looks like a large accessible area - you are oh so wrong. You have to either kneel or lay on your stomach on this hard hardwood and watch you don't hit your head on entry and exit.

So here I am trying to pull out a giant exhaust hose while Gerry pushes from the other end. This thing has been in there for years and is wedged in and around a myriad of other hoses, wires, etc.  and does not want to come out. A quick job was turning into a long long job and disgustingly filthy, but there is more filth to come. We finally get it out and he now tells me there are 2 others. These are smaller but equally wedged and equally stiff. One good yank gets one out of hole but no one had told me it had "stuff" in it and the "stuff" sprayed all over the place - all over my arms and face - good thing I was wearing black. Needless to say I was much more careful with the last hose. Time for a break so I get cleaned up as best I can without any water and spy a big box of disposable gloves - why didn't I think to put a pair on? 

Back to work, wearing gloves. Gerry once more in the back locker me in the bilge - thought I had graduated from bilge rat. All 3 new hoses had to be pushed through the hole that Gerry could not see so it was quite the trick getting them all through. I carefully fed the exhaust hose up the middle of the bilge but the smaller ones needed to go up one side. I swear I did this carefully - I did not want to be blamed for something getting pulled off or broken and yet suddenly there was liquid gushing and the smell!! A hose connected to the holding tank was putting water into the bilge - just great!  Such a lovely smell and of course it's a T fitting right between the openings under and to the right of the white pipe you can see in the photo. Just barely accessible but Gerry got it fixed, we think.

Gerry trying to find exactly which of the T connections is leaking.

So what should have been a quick half hour to hour job took half the day.

Medical Costs in the USA

After suffering with an horrendous cough for over a week Gerry finally went to a walk-in clinic. One visit - $95. The doctor (in training) decided he needed a shot of antibiotics ($75), a lung treatment to ease his breathing (which made very little difference and was probably just a cash grab) $85 and a chest x-ray (she thought he had pneumonia). She prescribed antibiotics and an inhaler and trotted us off to a diagnostic clinic. Fortunately nothing showed on the x-ray so he probably has bronchitis.  Off we go to the pharmacy and have first hand experience of why Americans complain about their medication costs. Ten, yes only 10 antibiotic pills - if you got the name brand - were over $500. We insisted on generic which were $168, and inhaler $45!  We have insurance so will be reimbursed for all of this. The diagnostic centre accepted our insurance as payment so we don't know how much that cost but hope some day to find out. Searching on line revealed maybe $250.

Over $700 for just bronchitis - can you imagine how much it would have been for something more serious? Do not - I repeat, do not ever travel without medical insurance and if you're Canadian think twice (at least) before you complain about our health care.

We're still heeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrre

Thursday, November 1 the old engine came out with promises of new engine going in Friday. That was not to be, still waiting, Bill keeps going to other jobs that I'm sure pays more.  Those who know me well probably feel sorry for Gerry right now. I'm sure by the time it's all done the window for sailing across will be closed, isn't that the way it always goes?

Coming out

Engine compartment from above.

Old engine

Amazing it still ran, sometimes.

Shiny new (almost) engine.

Fantasy Fest 2012

Don't need too many words, the pictures say it all. My 6th Fantasy Fest, the first one where we weren't sweating to death, temperature was perfect, could have done with less wind - kept blowing my witch's hat off.

Can't put the painted ladies on here without changing my blog rating to restricted so you'll have to go on-line and search for them yourselves. Be aware some of them are gorgeous and some shouldn't be allowed out in public.

Costumes that Jean & Rick bring down every year.

Friday's attire

The real Johnny Depp

Saturday's costumes

Bird women

Big and bigger

Cat stayed in the buggy all evening!

Conch lady

Another conch lady

Super heroes?

3 are better?