Boat work, boat work everywhere – April 18, 2022, St. Augustine, Florida

Sailing Hubby started with engine week.  Before we left, while the boat was still in the slings, he pulled out the sail drive sensor and got a two-inch geyser of water.  Guess it was a real leak and not just the sensor!  First thing he started this week was he immediately pulled the port engine and took it apart.  We needed to get our parts ordered as we had no idea how long they would take to come in.  As luck would have it, there was a Yanmar dealer close by to get everything we needed in a few days. 

When he got it all apart, it revealed not only had one of the seal bands broke, but the main seal had a huge crack about 1.5 inches.  The crack was much worse than we thought and should have caused a much larger leak then we experienced.   Perhaps we should purchase a lottery ticket?   

Day two he pulled apart the starboard side…this reveled a ½ inch hole in the secondary seal.  Oh joy, this news was not much better that the port side.  Ugh.  We knew we were replacing both sides anyway, but boy, we thank the sailing Gods for getting us back as we could very easily have lost both engines and neither of us can believe we made it home.  I think all those superstitious toasts to Neptune have paid off!  We were able to order all the parts and get them within a day which was fantastic and better than we could have imagined!  

Sailing Hubby put together the port side and it is all back together and, in the boat, again.  We have the starboard side still apart and waiting on one of the seals to come in on Monday.  Things are looking good on that front, but we are certainly poorer from this process.  It is a gift Hubby can do all the work himself.  Meanwhile, I have defrosted the fridge/freezer, packed up all the food and it’s in the Airbnb, taken all the clothes and linens home, and all have been washed.  The kitchen is clean, however, I am not making a huge cleaning effort since our next project is grinding fiberglass inside.  That stuff is like drywall and gets everywhere with the added bonus of making you itch uncontrollably.    This will keep me from doing the cleaning twice.  More boat work to go…

Whirlwind – St Augustine, Florida to Columbus, Ohio, April 9, 2022

Three Daughter’s, two sisters, and a set of parents in a pear tree later, we drove 3,000+ miles this week as we made our rounds to visit.  It was nice and we were both ready to see everyone and take a week off from the boat after our hellish crossing.  So off we went to Clearwater, Florida to see Daughter #3.  We had a nice dinner with her and met the boyfriend.  He was very nice and we were happy we liked him, Hubby forgot his gun after all.  It’s always a hard thing for a dad.  Sadly, it was spring break week and every hotel was $400+ per night so we started driving until we came to at least the first stop which was reasonable…two hours later.

We had decided to stop for a day to see my parents at Jekyll Island, GA which was only a 5 hour trip but after our two hours of driving, decided to stop and get some shut eye.  We had a great visit and we were glad we didn’t have to make a full day run from Clearwater to Columbus as that drive was more than we wanted in one day.  After a day’s visit we started out again.

The next morning, we made the long stretch to Columbus, OH and after a quick stop to see my sister, crashed in a hotel nearby.  We had a busy day planned to start at the BMV.  Ah, the smell of bureaucracy with a large cup of coffee.  Sailing (or is it now Driving?) Hubby waited the hour required to replace his license and I walked over to the nearby pharmacy where I had a prescription refilled to see if I can get it transferred to Florida.  We were both successful and had checked off items 1 & 2. 

Now onto see daughter #4 for lunch.  She is doing great at school, and we miss the girls terribly.  That night we had planned dinner with my sister.  I swear we did nothing this week but drive and eat.  But all was fun and hitting our favorite Mexican place didn’t hurt either! 

Ohio wasn’t finished yet, so we drove to Cleveland to see Daughter #2.  It was also my birthday, so it was nice to celebrate with her.  Her apartment looked great and the adulting process seems to be really taking hold!  The funny part of that trip was our lunch.  It was on the brink of rain and the place we walked to was closed so we ducked into the closest next option which was a Lebanese place.  Yeah, my meat-eating husband was less than happy (lamb is not his thing).  I was the only one happy there with my falafel and hummus, but we got a good laugh anyway.  That evening after dinner, we drove south outside of the city to avoid rush hour the following morning.  

The next day we drove to West Virginia to see Ron’s sister.  Bonus we got to stay in her camper next to her house.  Sadly, we woke up to a very chilly 27 degrees and even had to scrape the windshield.  I am glad we avoided the worst of this winter thing, and it is the closest I hope we get to snow this year.  We enjoyed our time visiting and we headed back to Jekyll.

The traffic could not have been worse getting to Mom & Dad’s.  What should have been an 8-hour drive was a 14-hour drive.  Spring break travelers were everywhere!!  We finally arrived and spent the weekend at Mom and Dad’s, resting and psyching ourselves up for the next several weeks of non-stop boat work.  They say the best two days to own a boat are the day you buy and the day you sell.  I guess we will see.  

We checked into our Airbnb that Ron had found through a cruiser’s forum, and we were pleasantly surprised at how great it was.  Two-bedroom, nice kitchen, washer/dryer, and 2.5 bath!  It was clean and the people seemed great.  They were spending 2 months in Europe, and I am glad they decided to rent out their space to us.  Nothing left now but to hit the hay and go to see our beauty tomorrow.

 It’s a Sad Day – St. Augustine, Florida, USA, 4-8-22

The mood on board of our boat was somber at best.  We sat the night before watching dolphins and having a beer for the last time.  It was time to pack it up and put her away.  We had a lot of work to do, friends to bid farewell, and family to visit.  It would be the first time we will try out our new life to see if it fits.  We have not been retired on land, not been homeless on land, and don’t have much of a plan on land.  Somehow this feels different.  Will we like it?  I don’t know yet but for now, that’s the most planning we can pull together.

Today is haul out day and we awoke to a less than cheerful 58 degrees in Florida.  Are you kidding me?  I want to go back to the Bahamas where it was 80!  Apparently, there is a wicked cold front passing through.  I guess we will fight the weather to the very end.  

This is always stressful since as a rule, putting your boat on the hard is hard on the boat.  We are starting hurricane season early due to our sail drive (I think).  Let’s face it, it isn’t what the boat was designed to do.  I give credit to the boat yard as they do have a lot of experience even with boats much larger than our small little cat, but it is still nerve racking.  Thankfully this paid off and all went well.  Ron whipped out the sail drive sensor and indeed he was right.  The port side was leaking quite badly so the good news is we didn’t come back for nothing.  She has found her new home for the next 6 months.  

As our home was safe and sound it was time to move to step two…we needed some wheels.  Ron had reserved a car and we ubered to pick it up.  Our uber driver was roughly 80 and clearly only driving as he was a bit lonely.  After being completely terrified and hearing his life story, we arrived.  Sadly, our car was not ready and there was an issue with the reservation.  They said to come back in a couple hours.  Now remember, Hubby has lost his wallet including his license.  So now I got to reserve the car, but I was not a member of the “supersecret car club” to get the awesome price he did.  Our new friend (the outwardly gay & half in drag employee at the car rental office) worked us a deal and said there were a few restaurants close by so, we decided to find some breakfast.

Now visualize this…we had just pas a pawn shop, gun store, tattoo parlor, and gambling establishment.  I think this lets you imagine the type of neighborhood we were in.  Two blocks away we found the only place open (it was only 10AM) and much to my delight…wait for it…it was a vegetarian restaurant!!!  It wasn’t even my birthday!  I am sure you can guess how happy Sailing Hubby was about this choice.  I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.  

After a lovely tofu scramble 😊, we packed up and headed to Clearwater Florida to see daughter #3 and meet the boyfriend.  As a father, this is always nerve racking wondering if this was a moment to ready the gun and shovel or, we may actually like him.  Good news is we actually like this guy, so this was a relief.  We had a nice dinner and it was great to see her happy.

After dinner we still had yet to book our hotel.  We had underestimated the hotel costs and quickly realized why.  It was spring break and not only was everything booked, but the cost was roughly triple.  A hotel in Clearwater was ~$450.  So, knowing that was not happening, we started to drive.  We were not able to find anything that was not 100% booked for about two hours and finally got a room about 9:00.  We almost drive back to the boat! 

A good night’s rest, a shower with as much hot water as I want without turning it off, and a magic toilet where all just disappears did us a world of good.  We took off the next morning to visit my parents in Jekyll Island, Georgia to spend a few days.  We were looking forward to being anywhere that seemed familiar and this will hopefully be it. 

Where It All Started– St. Augustine, Florida, USA, 4-7-21

We did some unwinding on a mooring in St. Augustine for a few days since we got here on Tuesday and were not able to arrange an early haul out.  Ron had some consulting to catch up on and it was nice to be back in a town we knew so well.

Sailing Hubby drove the intercoastal majority since it is the freeway of mariner traffic (a.k.a. insanity on a stick).  We saw boats aground, shallow shoals, sail drive leaks (only a little), people anchoring too close, with mega yachts & speed boats galore passing you at a moments notice (even under a bridge!).    It was crazy and stressful but it back to the starting when we got here, Sailing Hubby crashed…hard.  Even though we fought the weather the entire season, there was the promise of next season.  

Although it is weird to be back, it is starting to feel a bit more like home.  We had a chance to get our favorite tacos at Osprey and pizza by the slice at Pizza Time in Old Town.  We did some non-food stuff too but, hey, I like to eat!  Only 3 miles to the marina from here.