We're Back in Florida

This is one of three picture that was taken on our trip to Washington and Alaska. It was taken by Grace, which was a nice surprise. She is a good friend from Fairbanks who just happen to be in Wasilla for her sons basketball game.  We took the camera but forgot to take pictures. These are our grandniece's Lily and Natalie. It was a wonderful quick visit. The weather was cold and snowy, the next time we return it will be in summer:) Now it's time to get the boat ready to sail.  I decided to look for a used out broad motor, and found one first try. I looked on Craig's list and found one in Weeki Wachee that's a town about 60 miles from St. Pete's. It had just been listed a few hours before I started looking, a good price also..(a Johnson 15 hp--1995 low hours)  Now that's a blessing!

Just to let you know it's COLD here too:( 

Warren is reworking the battery box, the hot water heater needs to be readjusted. Not to interesting and I didn't think he is having a good time. Well my waters hot for my cocoa, time to warm up!!!!

Low Low Low Tide

How Low, you ask? Well, today Warren needed to check a fitting on the bow. First he needed to get in the water, for this he needed a ladder just to reach it. He could've jumped but then he wouldn't have been able to get back up. The water has been so low that the only thing holding up the boat are the dock lines.  We sure are having fun....HAHA

Still Working

Today it's raining so we are working on the front bathroom (the forward head). Replacing the old counter top, faucets and fixing doors. I'll take a picture when it's done:) We put the new sails up yesterday. Boy are they nice and crisp. We also learned everything you don't want to do when putting up the main sail. IE...... make sure all the other halyards are out of the way, put the line on furler so it rolls the right direction and don't hit your head on the boom. We hope to try them out soon, but we have to take the truck to Washington and store it at my Aunt Sandy's.(which we are very thankful for)

We are going back home for Thanksgiving so we have a lot to do, we want to head on down to the Keys by the end of Dec.

The Arch

The arch is on, but we still have a few more things to get welded on to it, outboard engine mount, gps mount, gate eyes and the solar panels. Most will happen next week, Warren is still deciding on what size for the panels. We also have to finish the wood work on the toe rails and the lazerette hatch covers. The hatch cover  will be our first go at spraying on gel coat(that's the paint that's on the deck):) We also have about 1000 other projects but we still hope to get out of here in Dec. Oh, we also had to order new sails. I bet your thinking we are crazy! But when we are cruising in that clear blue water in Bahamas with dolphins swimming along side us and I post that picture you might think differently:)

Baby Manatee

Today while working on the back end of the boat we had some visitors. This is the first baby manatee that we have seen. Soooo cute!

We are taking off all the old hand rails and the dingy davits, our new arch should be done next week. Now we have to buy some solar panels.

Today we also decide to take off the wood trim that is just for decoration alone the blue sides of the boat. It's to hard to keep them looking nice. Now we have to fix the screw holes and repaint......one more project:(

A VEIW FROM ABOVE

We had to do some more work at the top of the mast so we took some pictures. We also found two more things to fix, one step forward two back:)

Also here is a picture of me to prove that I am working too. Warren decided to finally take a picture.

THE RADAR IS FINALLY UP!!!!

This radar was quite the challange, if the weather wasn't making it hard then the wires with the big connectors on the ends were.  We tried everything to get that wire down without cutting off the connector

but alas, the connector had to be cut. We just had to buy a special tool to reconnect it. Warren is getting good at climbing up there. The wind instrutment is up and so is the new LED tri color/anchor light at the top. Now we just need to get them all connected to the Nav station. In between the trips up the mast we are doing wood work. It sure is looking good. :) We will be getting the arch built for the back of the boat this coming week. It will hold the solar panels and dingy. We should be able to take the boat out for a test drive soon.

We are having a good

time here. The sun and the 90 degrees are worth getting use to.

Its so much better then a few weeks of summer and then hello winter. 

JUST WORKING

It's July and several things happened this month.  Warren finished the front head, he got the new water pump back in and worked the sewage device through twice and everything works. But, in between  finishing the front head and testing the sewage device the front air conditioner quit blowing cold air and the refrigerator quit pumping water through the compressor.  They were getting to hot and he thought that it was freezing up from running all the time but the people who install them said that it was calcium build up in the condenser.  So he had to get some dissolver to run through the systems.  It took a whole day for each one.  But they now run like they are suppose to.  He's also been working on the plumbing for the showers.  He got the plumbing done(what a hassle) and had to plumb 2 lines into one through a plastic "Y".  Needless to say, it leaked like a waterfall so now we are hunting for one we don't have to jury rig.  Next comes
the starboard water tank.  It has a crack and leaks water. The tank is so long he had to make 2 more access ports.  The tank is built into the boat and we where going to try and take it out and replace it with a plastic one. But because it has such a complicated compound shape Warren decided it would be easier and cheaper to fix the crack and re coat the inside. When they made the tank they used to much gel coat and it was so thick it cracked in dozens of places and made hundreds of blisters so he had to sand them all. He sanded for 3 1/2 days on it. The cracks and blister were not so bad but algae and mold were growing in them.  We found a food grade coating for water tanks.(which is the only full time food contact coating there is right here in St. Petes) He will tackle the other tank later. Hopefully he will get back up the mast and get the radar going in the next week or so.

4th of July

It rained (lighting and thunder) for four days, so this weekend we didn't get much done.  Warren has the front holding tank and the waste treatment box in. We are having the local dealer do the wiring, just to make sure its done right so there is no problems with the warrenty. We saw another CSY that caught fire,and we sure don't want that to happen to us!!!

This was a FULL double rainbow really vivid. Gods Promise:)

Up He Goes

He made it half way! Now he will try everyday to make it up to the top. It takes time to get accustom to all the gear. It's a good thing he lost 20lbs, I think he wants to lose more really soon:) 

Climbing the Mast

Warren decided to get some instruction before climbing the mast.  We looked on the web and found Vertical Ventures. He took a 2 hour lesson from the co-owner Chris which covered safety, equipment usage, repelling and ascending. Chris is a really good climber and made instructions simple to understand  and look easy!  Warren could get hooked on climbing, but he has to much boat repair to do to even think about it.

A Day in Pompano

Saturday we decided to take a break and go to a bead show in Pompano. Pompano is up the coast from Fort Lauderdale, which is on the East coast 266 miles away. The bead show was not that great but of course I did have to buy a few beads.:)
They do have nice beaches.  We arrived right after the Hands Across the Beaches idiots had demonstrated for no more drilling for oil, I guess they want to walk and give up their cars.
 We think the beaches on the Gulf Coast are better, the sand is finer and the water warmer.

The only thing that they have in Pompano that we could see besides condos and beaches is this Light House, it's on the property of a private yacht club. We took this picture from across the inlet. There is a small park and we could see all the boat traffic going though the draw bridge. Which makes me not want to go to Ft Lauderdale, to many bridges!   

Finding all the leaks

This isn't Warrens idea of hide-in-seek, this is Warren finding a small leak that you can't even see.

He decided to grind and sand the area and re-fibeglass it. When they put the lazerette in, it was a separate part of the deck. All these years it had a tiny hole that leaked. The wood on the inside will have to be replaced some day, but its not that bad.

That's a job for later after we have sailed for a while.We have been working on the windless, which lead to the chain locker which needs to be revamped. Which, lead to the  holding tank which was cracked.  So this now leads to a new project.  One step forward, three back!!!  To the right is the old tank  the new one is below. We found this tank that was made for a power boat 8 years ago and figured to give it a try.  So we bought this tank for 30 bucks which is a really good price, as a matter of fact it's a steal.  It fits the inside bow of the boat like it was made for it. But it needed a bigger hole for the exit. Which is why we took a trip to Lake Wales, a small town in central Florida. Warren was so happy to find the manufacturer for this tank right here. They cut the hole and added the new fitting for free. News on Lake Wales at eleven. :)  Now for the rest of the story........one of my friends wrote me a email telling me about a sewer treatment system that is Coast Guard, class 1 approved for the treatment and release of treated sewage within the 3 mile limit.  And it just so happened that the manager of the yard we are in had one sitting in his parts shed for a couple of years, brand new never used.  He gave it to us for another steal.  Now you know what this means don't you?  That's right!  No holding tank needed!!!!  CRAP!  So we'll keep the tank just in case the electroscan goes out and we need a back up. Now we are putting a new sewer treatment in,
what fun:) 

Now, the news at eleven: 

Lake Wales is a small town that made turpentine and grow citrus trees in the 1920s. It has a historic district in downtown with a few shops but the economy has hit here too.  They are also known for Spook Hill,  stop at the sign which tells you to pull up to the white line. Turn off your engine at the bottom of the steep hill, put the gear into neutral and your car will appear to roll back uphill! We didn't have time to do this but we think it's interesting.

They built a hotel Originally named the "Dixie Walesbilt," the building now known as the Grand Hotel, a ten-story "skyscraper," stands as enduring testimony to the spirited optimism of the Great Florida Boom Period.
  Here is a now and then-

It was a nice drive.

It's time to clean the hull

  Warren decided to clean the hull himself, you can hire someone to do this, but he wants to give it a  try. During the winter the water was clear, now that its warm its clouded up and algae is growing like crazy. Once we get  moving and in the Bahamas we won't have this problem, moving is the secret. We are wiring the windless and waiting on climbing gear so we can go up the mast and install the radar, so why not do some cleaning while we have time:)

Wood Work before & after

We had the winches rechromed, and the wood work took three weeks with 9 coats of varanish. We still have more to do:)

A Visit to Sarasota

Well, this weekend we traveled to a bead show for Kathy to stock up on beads and semi-precious stones. The prices are great so Sandy (Warren's sister) wanted us to get some for her too. The bead show was in Sarasota so we figured that we would say something about this nice town. It has beautiful beaches, water front hotels and marinas. Also this big statue of a sailor kissing a nurse(Victory) in celebration of the end of World War II. What follows here is an excerpt from Sarasota's history:

In 1885, Sarasota was promoted in Scotland. Many families sailed to America expecting fields of vegetables, housing, and citrus groves. They found only a stump-filled Main Street and most of the colonists left.
Scottish influence remains evident through the annual Sarasota Highland Games and Festival and the Riverview High Kiltie band, which wears authentic kilts and features bagpipers and Highland dancers. Sarasota began attracting wealthy Americans in the 1910's as it does today. John Ringling, of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus fame, made a mark on the community of Sarasota in various ways. In the 1920s, he and his wife, Mable, built a magnificent Venetian-style estate on Sarasota Bay named Cà d' Zan. Then they built an art museum for their collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens and other 17th-century Italian and Flemish art. http://www.canvasreplicas.com/  In addition, John used his circus elephants to help build the first bridge from the mainland to St. Armands Key, which he developed as a commercial and residential center. The circus' winter quarters were moved to Sarasota in 1927, thus creating a new identity for Sarasota as a "circus town." Now Sarasota is known as the "Circus Capitol of the World" and is home to many circuses.

The Windless

With the Taj Mahal of mounting blocks finally finished, an inch of fiberglass laid up over the wood and a gel coat over it, then another inch and a half of fiberglass added to five square feet of the underside of the forepeak to level the area for aluminum backing plates, special bolts ordered twice. The windlass is finally mounted.

What an ordeal. Oh I forgot, the 3M 5200 that seals out water, it's a permanent adhesive and a royal MESS to work with when things don't go as planned.(I have a new name for it) We knew that the required amount of 5200 would be large in places. So I figured these out and applied the goop from Hades. In areas where so much wasn't needed I went light, I thought. After putting down the windlass, putting up the metal plates from the bottom, slipping the bolts through their proper places we started tightening the bolts. Kathy up on top of the deck and me under lying on a board facing up. Well, it kinda reminds me of a time when a fuel flow transmitter from a jet engine hit me in the head while changing it from the bottom. Only this time I expected a little. What I got was pretty much a rain fall of white death (my new name for 5200) None dropped on me but the board caught enough and then got in my hair, on my ears, neck and wherever else it wanted to go. Lucky for me I still use hairspray so it just washed out, but I went through about a quart of acetone to clean the rest of me. And I still missed some. Oh well, "all's well that ends well." Now the cables! Oh, what fun!!:)

We have shade!!!

We have been working on the dodger on and off for 3 weeks and I'm glad it's finally done. Now we don't get to wet nor to hot. Warren is going to put some LED lights under it so we have light.  Here are some pic's of us working on it.

Saturday Night

We have become good friends with this guy at the boatyard by the name of Scott.  On Thursday afternoon he invites us up to some town that his band "Going South" was hired to play for. They have a town street festival once a month. Now, we see Scott everyday in his baseball cap, t-shirt and blue jeans so this is the main way we identify him. So on Saturday night we take off and drive 65 miles northeast from Tampa and get to this little, little Podunk town called Fort Meade. We walk around a see the band and we’re not sure if that is Scott in the hat. We never notice the mustache before. Low and behold it’s Scott and he can sing. :)

Now we have said how quaint this town is, what you see here is the entire street festival. All 100 feet of it. From the trailer to the yellow blow-up jumping inside thing for the little kids. Everyone here knows everyone else and everyone knows everyones business. They are friendly and will just stop you to talk and tell you about their little part of the world.  It is very nice to meet such nice friendly people. This is "Phosphate" country and all the mines except one have shut down. The depressed economy has hit Ft. Meade and the surrounding area hard. It is almost all older retired folks living here.
 

Here Kathy is introducing herself to General Meade.  He thought her a little forward for someone who has never been properly introduced.  :)
Of course the town was named after the General. It was the last site of the war with the Seminole Indians in 1856. It is also the oldest city in this county (1849). Present  pop. 5500.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And here is an example of one of the streets of this little town.  All the streets are lined with these trees covered in moss.  It is very pretty.
 
More next time.
Warren and Kathy

A Beautiful Day

Still working on the windless!!!!

We thought we where getting close to putting the windless on. But when Warren was preparing to bolt on the metal backing plates he discovered the deck had to much of an arch. Now he has to add more fiberglass to make it flat. One step back...

Easter on the Beach

Its Sunday and this week we walked along St.Petes Beach.
Lots of people and a very beautiful day and about 80 degrees.
The one thing we noticed is how many women wear bikinis that shouldn't. Will stop there!!!
 And all you back home will notice Warrens long hair, and soon he'll have a pony tail. He just left so I added the tail news.:)

Easter is about Christ resurrection and our great joy.  So I just want to say THANK YOU LORD FOR YOUR SON, JESUS.

Views from the boat

I thought I'd show a few views from the boat so you can see what the area looks like.

This is our view from the boat to the boat yard. Not many boats in the yard anymore and times are slow, which works out great for us.

This is looking east from the deck of the boat. Yesterday we had this bird visiting and we are not sure what it is, but it's not too afraid of us and will come within a couple feet of us.

This is off the bow, today we have a manatee sleeping. I also think he's waiting to see if he can get some fresh water. I was spraying the deck off and he was looking for the over spray.