Back in the water tomorrow

Matthews, VA

What an incredibly busy and exhausting two days! Grace's engine room has been gapping open which means stuff was everywhere. The transducer was not working. Discovered that hydraulic fluid from the automatic steering had been leaking (sometime in our distant past) onto the transducer causing the bedding compound to melt. Leak! Disgusting mess that also made it not work. So out with the transducer. Clean it up! Put it back in - 2 people at $85/hour, each. They did a great job. Wait an extra day for the bedding compound to cure, the extra day because it has been cold at night. Done.

Aah, the bilge pump is constipated - it strained (ran) but nothing came out. Laxative? No such thing. Take the bilge pump out, clean it out/up and the bilge, too. Another disgusting job. Is the back-flow valve broken, clogged? A kink or clog in the hose? I've neglected to ask BUT, we think it will work now - new valve and a screen with all its legs for the pump to sit on, thus keeping much ganer out of the pump, itself. David is a total trooper hanging down into the bilge.

Meanwhile, we've moved out of our lovely apartment and out of our lovely rental car and have stuffed all that stuff onto little 33' Grace. This stuff in addition to the art supplies friends have given us fo schools in the Bahamas. And, remember, David already had his stuff (clothes, toys, etc) on board from the previous month of sailing. And the Mighty Mender. And two long pieces of teak about 4" wide, trim for the head that David wasn't able to complete before we left. And the new sail covers still need grommets and hooks before we can use them. aaarrrgh! Stuff.

And there is Amelia and all her stuff - kitty bed for being in friend's houses, wet food, dry food, kitty grass, water, kitty litter!, litter box and rug, carrying case and leash... As complicated as traveling with a baby.Thankfully we've made use of a lot of "hidden" storage that we've previously used ineffectively. And the new space freed up now that we have a composting toilet...no holding tank!! Now all those spaces are stuffed to the gils. I'm surprised Grace isn't bulging at her middle.

While David did most of the mechanical stuff I did the moving out, clean the apartment, moving on the boat and organizing, consolidating, tossing. There will be a box to ship back to Maine when we arrive at my family in NC. Lots of food on board - not a bad thing - because of my duplicating some that David and Albert brought on board- but no bread.

Nearly time to sleep. Up early to catch the high tide.