Thursday, January 7, 2016

1/7/16    Thursday   Stuart, FL....still

We're waiting for mail and packages that will come to cousin, Kathryn's house, probably Sat. or Monday. So we're here for more than a week. Not a bad place to be but we're now getting a bit antsy to move on.

Lovely, gentle day. In to marina via dinghy to dry our clothes. That rain storm last eve. Read, finish, my book Dirty Blond and half- Cuban. Terrific view of Cuba in 2005-ish. Great to recognize some of the places described in the book. Then back to the boat where David and Amelia took naps. I made a curtain...by hand...no machine...well, scissors are a machine, I guess, but all hand stitched. I even found a way to attach the hooks that attach to the ridge for hanging. I should take a photo but it's dark. Off to bed soon as I didn't get a nap this afternoon.

David's taking over:

Today may have been recovery day from the stress culminating with yesterday's day of work on the engine alignment and "motor mounts." Previously, there had been discussion of a haul out, pulling shaft, etc. to fix vibration problem. Yesterday we had a mechanic come to do an assessment and decide on a haul out, etc.

Godblessem! He concluded the fix was possibly doable right at the dock. {"Let's give it a try.")

MOTOR MOUNTS
We had recommended to us, and hired, (luckly) one great mechanic who was practical, efficient, fun and funny. He had never seen this type of motor mounts before (i warned him there had been much cussin about them on the Nauticat owners forum) but, he figured out how to fix the alignment and got it done.

For those who do their own alignments,  we have a Vetus flexible shaft coupling device to reduce shaft vibration between shaft and transmission, that allows for some mis-alignment, and protects the transmission, but alignment between the shaft and the face of the transmission should be less than .020" measurement. We found the alignment off by >.043" (3X what is OK) and believe that is why the boat vibrated so much, the shaft vibrated so much and the stuffing box was leaking.

With normal motor mounts, normally one would use a wrench to micro adjust the alignment of the engine. Ah, but our  our Ford Gustavson has motor mounts on which you must use a pry bar to adjust. (Holy Moly! ten thousands of an inch with a pry bar?) We watched as Rick replaced bolts and pried and sweated and brought alignment back to about .014" . (Think the thickness of a match book cover.)

Then after he turned off the clock and gave us a very reasonable bill for his work, he proceeded to make suggestions and recommended fixes for us to do about a number of things. A genuine good guy.

So, if ever in Stuart FL and needing boat help, call me for his number. You can count on my having kept it!

FURTHER TRAVELS
We are studying charts to make a passage across Lake Okeechobe, then south across the Gulf side of the keys. Very shallow but doable if you pick your weather.

The Eastern side of Florida is easier but we want to see more of the Everglades and I grow weary of the noise and development on the East Coast. We will see the East Coast soon enough when we return from the Keys in the spring, when we are heading North.

UPCOMING MAINTENANCE:
It seems, from this blog, that my life is occupied with only mechanical things; but truly, I enjoy watching the changes in the weather, the various birds, the unique places we pass by and what we watch at anchor. None the less, I got the message regarding this blog, "more about the boat" so I am trying to comply.

The Gustavson Ford is due for a change of the transmission oil cooler. I have received this new cooler and plan to replace the oil cooler in the next few days. Stuart is a good place to do this, because if one of the hydraulic hoses needs to be replaced, replacement is nearby.

The oil filter housing is also to be changed from antique oil cartridge to spin on filter (look back at blog about the last oil change that took almost eight hours including clean up of the bilge due to oil spilled.)

SOLAR PANELS - HELP:
We are not getting enough input from our solar panels to offset even nominal usage. I need to determine what the problem is. Any suggestions or direction will be welcome.

I understand that moving a house (our boat) thousands of miles down the east coast will require some maintenance of the various systems and parts. Staying ahead of unexpected events is the purpose of maintenance.

FOLDING BIKES
Everywhere we look, it seems folks are riding folding biles. We looked at several today. The two we saw advertised were not for us. The two we liked were too expensive. We continue to look for one more bike so Nancy and I can both go exploring.

All the best,
David



Wednesday, January 6, 2016

1/6/16    Wednesday  Stuart, FL

We are experiencing that famous Florida liquid sunshine...aka, RAIN. Heavy, chilly rain.

We've just returned, through 5-7 blocks of "just walking - running - in the rain". Finally, we got to see other cousin, Kathryn, and meet her husband, Lew. They took us out to dinner in the old part of Stuart. Lovely time chatting and catching up. So glad to see Kathryn as our paths don't cross very often. We were thinking we'd leave Stuart tomorrow but it turns out that we're expecting some packages to be delivered to Kathryn and Lew's house in the next couple of days. So here we are until then. Good. Another chance to see Kathryn.

Finally, today, Rick the mechanic ( a connection and recommendation came through above Lew), came today and repaired our engine - gave it a chiropractic adjustment. He and a helper, Henry or Harry, and David worked for about 3 hours on the dock here at Sunset Bay Marina where we're moored. Excellent! No haul out charge. No additional "yard" charge. Just a half day on the dock. We also filled our water tanks and pumped out the toilet holding tank. Then took the boat for a spin. All good.

And, we'll go tomorrow morning to look at another folding bike...for me. Notice on the bulletin board that there are 2 at a nearby consignment. Crossing fingers that they (or one) is exactly (or close enough) what we're looking for.


1/5/16    Tuesday  Stuart, FL

Cousin, Patsy Stewart's Birthday!

Gentle day. Continuing to wait on our Sunset Bay mooring. Bicycled over the "low" bridge - the bascule, opening bridge - to have a goodbye lunch with Wendy and Dan who leave for Nova Scotia tomorrow. Missing them already but expect to see them again in the Keys.
exploring Frazier Creek, Stuart, FL 
Then continued bicycle ride to the food store, back to the boat for an evening of reading and a bit of planning. David spoke with Rick, the mechanic, who said he'd come over tomorrow for a look-see at the engine and make a plan. Meanwhile, Sheldon who helped David discover/identify the alignment issue has offered to come and help us DIY. Hmmm. Appreciating the offer but don't think we have the tools, maybe the know-how, for a DYI/Ourselves.

Delighted to hear that our President is doing something about gun control with an executive order. Distressed that what I consider a lawless group have taken over a federal building in Oregon, a group associated with the Bundy Family who decided that paying the fee to graze cattle on Federal land is oppressive. Appreciating our government's restraint and questioning our deep seated racism. If these people were of color - black, Native American, or Asian - I wonder /hope we would be as restrained...and doubting it. Wondering what else I, each of us, can do to change this harmful way of thinking.

Monday, January 4, 2016

1/4/16     Monday   Stuart, FL

I finished my book this morning before breakfast. Got coffee but couldn't wait to read through to the end. It is not a "thriller" but really a page turner, characters are well developed, I think, and the narration through the eyes of a young boy in the plains states in a household of dad and children is compelling - Peace like a River. I've passed it on already.

Post reading we had breakfast and David had a long conversation with the man, Rick, who we hope to hire as our mechanic to realign the boat engine, and we hope to hire him to do the work tomorrow...since it didn't happen today...or hire him tomorrow to do the work on Wednesday. A firm commitment is DESIRED. I mentioned yesterday that we were action oriented humans much more than contemplative oriented ones.

Did a bunch of beauty and order, and deep cleaning this morning, new ways to get more cat hair off the upholstery (wet fingers and scrape with your fingertips). Only marginally got to FCP but will do some more work on that tonight. The problem is that my computer needs to be charged and that drains our boat battery. Need to get to shore to do a really good charge....tomorrow morning.

Wendy and Dan who are harbored about 1 mile away, back under the bridge for US Rt. #1, came over. We took our dinghy, too, and went on a discovery adventure with them which entailed going up Fraisher Creek, under a low bridge (we didn't exactly have to duck but), into a narrowing creek with mangroves squeezing in from each side. Finally, we stopped because the canopy the tree branches made was too low. Well, here is a tree that Dan can tie up to, get out and walk to the tailor's shop. Done. Then David discovered there was a public tie-up exactly across the little creek - one dinghy length away from where Wendy was waiting in their dinghy. She got in our dinghy and came over "to our side" and the three of us went to the Thrift store, leaving a message for Dan to bring their dinghy across the creek and join us. Done. David and I bought bicycle helmets for ourselves and beer cozies. Back in the dinghies we headed back toward the town park - a town park as there are many - to tie up and go into the more historic shopping part of town. Lunch first at Hog Snappers. Great. Then a walk and a short tour of the Lyric Theater. Beautiful, old, renovated 500 seat proscenium stage space. No wing space and no back stage crossover until very recently we were told by Ki who just happened to be walking by in the lobby as we were snooping. Sweet space. Great afternoon w/our friends who leave Wednesday for 2 weeks back home in Nova Scotia.

Home to Grace before sunset. Nice to be in a clean space!

Sunday, January 3, 2016

1/3/16   Sunday  Stuart, FL

Really great game....until the last half of the last quarter...when Pats lost to the Miami Dolphins. Painful falling apart of the Pats' defense and the Dolphins were so organized. Some amazing playing and so sad that the Patriots clutched so badly that last quarter.

Meanwhile, we got the laundry done, walked to the "green market" which was more crafts (very good crafts) than greens but the walk was good, and I'm reading a terrific book Peace like a River by Leif Enger. Easy to just keep reading and reading and reading.

Tomorrow, now that we're "after new years" David will start the talking to and negotiating w/boat yards and mechanics to determine how to deal with our engine misalignment issue. We're both nervous....about how to determine who to trust, about the potential complexity of the issue, about the potential cost of repair, about the potential cost of staying in place for an as yet to be determined amount of time. I'll be checking out Air BnB either later tonight or tomorrow, just as a back up.

I've also been procrastinating regarding my FCP responsibilities. I'm in a kind of limbo of holidays, displacement, lack of the familiar. On the positive side - kitty seems to have finished her throwing up bouts and I've finished my vertigo bouts AND the heat has subsided and AND David and I still love each other. David is bearing the brunt of the boat angst. About all I can do is be a sounding board, lend moral support, ask questions and cook dinner. But the waiting to have information and options from which to choose is all about waiting and is disconcerting - action being the element we both are most comfortable in. Hopefully, we learn a great deal tomorrow and our options become obvious with the best option crystal clear. Prayers, meditation, waiting and weighing....oh my. I'd love my energy to be focused and productive...and productive in a way that is obvious to me. Okay. Doesn't have to be obvious to me as long as it is productive. In Biblical parlance...I'd like a clear sign....several clear signs that don't conflict with each other.  I'm remembering that I can ask my ancestors and spirits for help...that will require putting my book and my worry down and devoting some time and energy to the practice of calming, listening, asking, listening.  And, I have remembered that I can get that spiritual/spirit plane help, a source I'd forgot about until now. Thanks, All, for the reminder.

The wind is rocking the boat tonight and it has been spitting rain for several hours. We're snug here. And have clean sheets.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

1/2/16    Saturday   Cooooooler.  Stuart, FL


What a difference a day....and 20 degrees....make. The oppressive heat and humidity as dispersed and disappeared and with it our discomfort, malaise and lack of any energy. Kitty only threw up today because she ate tomatoes, I'm pretty convinced, and she is eating her own food again.

Great sleep last evening and expecting the same tonight in the cool air. We slept late then had cereal and coffee on the aft deck. Amelia came out to join us briefly. She likes moorings and anchorages better than docks. Less noise. Less visual clutter close at hand.

After breakfast I got into a deep-cleaning groove, literally! Took the sliding doors off the galley cabinets. Got my tiny knife and narrowest screwdriver. Cleaned out disgusting grime and sticky stuff that I know has been there since way before we owned the boat. Gross. Totally. And sooooo rewarding! I'm sure I was channeling Harriet Lutes who used to clean the corners of her kitchen w/a toothbrush. My Ram Island Dance buddies will appreciate that memory. I lived w/Harriet and her family when I first moved to Portland, Maine. Harriet danced some and was a sponsor of RIDC for many years. She was a delight and a model...more a model now than when I lived there. She is one of several people I admire(d) and want to be like as I age. Sigh.

Anyway, upper cabinets cleaned and vinegar-ed for the mildew, on to the bottom cabinet! Got rid of some stuff as well as dirt and mildew. Always good to get rid of stuff. Then David and I left Amelia snoozing (her favorite activity), dinghy-ed into the marina-land. I checked on some on-line payments and discovered I had made them, only a couple days late. But the bills ARE paid. Thanks, Shannon, for the alert,though. Left my computer to charge and went for a short bicycle ride on the loaner bikes.
Saw houses, birds, lots of traffic.      
Ms. Ibis was not afraid of us on our bikes and came into the road where we'd stopped to look 
This ibis was one of many we saw today. A group of about 10 were huddled, sunning themselves on the grass. They looked, were shaped like, guinea hens - big bodies and small heads, when you couldn't see their beaks. After the bike ride we took a little walk and saw an egret sized/shaped bird that was a blue charcoal color. It was "wading" on rocks and catching bugs w/a quick dart of its head. Watching it's feet as it stepped was amazing...how it's long toes grasped the contours of the rocks. It didn't look where it was going to step, just adjusted the footfall as it encountered the shape. We found a little bit of town which was fun. I'll go back there tomorrow for the "Green Market" which I assume and hope is something like a farmers' market.

Back at the boat dinner was an Italian-ish stew of eggplant, onions, tomatoes, green pepper over pasta. Tasty. First time in about 4 (hot) days I've felt like cooking. Domesticity was clearly winning today! Lots of music tonight from the New Years restaurant next to the marina.
love the reflection of pink

nearly gone







Friday, January 1, 2016

January 1, 2016   New Year's Day

This was a bit of a lost day. Slept late after an evening of dancing at the restaurant that is on site at the marina we've been gifted. Great band and we lasted through the set ending around 11:00 PM. Decided to make our way back to our boat while we were still able. Dancing on concrete, even for an hour, in sweltering heat can really take a toll. David was us a bit earlier but I didn't see outside until nearly 10:00 AM...and it was already hot.

Breakfast. Wash the deck (David did that part) and we left the slip for a mooring where we'll be for another 3 nights. Moorings are less expensive and the slip was free for only 2 days. Once on the mooring we both...all three, actually....took naps again. The heat is oppressive, unusually hot here as it has been unusually warm in Maine. In my case, too, my atlas/axis has been a bit our of alignment - I'm taking after our engine - causing headache and low energy. So, a bit of stretching and pressure point work...and sleep. B

By 4 PM we were on borrowed bikes (free at the marina where we still have "privileges") and off to the grocery store. Complicated to ride bikes with coaster brakes (in the petals as in the olden days) rather than having hand brakes. I'm not sure why it is more a feeling of risk but, for me, it is. We made it back with our groceries and our selves in tact.

Dinner - chicken on the grill and cold bean/veggie salad - on board, a little t.v. on the computer and I'm ready for a bit of reading and bed...maybe to do some more neck stretching before sleep.

The weather is supposed to break to more seasonable temperatures tomorrow and even tonight it is much cooler. And I'm feeling a bit more energy. I might be getting tired of traveling, wanting to "settle" somewhere for a bit. Or I might be anxious about the up-coming maintenance that we're (David is) planning for next week, knowing it will be expensive and not knowing who to trust to do the work since we're out of our home element. And this is totally David's negotiating/managing area of knowledge. I can only listen and ask questions but have no information to add.

2016, here we come.