S/V Free Spirit T-ShirtNext Level 3600 | Premium Ring-Spun Cotton T-Shirt
$26.99 Another month with more progress... again moving forward is alway to goal... We have a targeted "soft date" to launch on our adventure and this now leaves us with just a few months to get the "life sustaining" items completed and done so we can leave.
We started out this month with a huge list and started it off with a weekend of beach time with some friends who have been gone for several months and just returned. What a welcome home party that was! Work this month was extremely limited as Andy's girls had to come home for college and return 2 weeks later back into their dorms. That essentially took out 2 full weekend this month so we squeezed in what we could when we could.
A new fresh water toilet was purchased for our cabin (it's yet to be installed but on the list "to leave").
Andy finished the bushing that was needed for the Auto pilot and today (8/24) is working on the wiring of the auto pilot. Once this is done, we can calibrate while in our slip. We will do the full calibration when the engine is running again and we can get off the dock for our 1st true shake down voyage.
The engine is and continues to be an ongoing issue. As of today (8/24) the engine is still not running. We have had to replace the 4 injectors and now the pump appears to broken so the engine is not getting any fuel to start running. Anyway once the wiring is done on the autopilot, we can empty the aft head "garage" and move all items back to their storage location under the bed.
I have gone thru and updated the perishable provisions list... again... and just need to get some filler items to top off. My goal this weekend is to get this boat ready to leave by next friday for the shake down cruise and fully test this girl out to see if we will need more time to make more repairs or if we are able to leave as planned.
Andy did get the GPS unit installed which goes to the navigation system and auto pilot. So once again, baby steps, it's all a move forward in the right direction.
Hum... what will this month bring us project wise and how close to making the needle move for us to be able to leave???
We installed an outlet in the cockpit so it makes it easier to grill and use that outlet to charge electronics when out there. That was a nice surprise for sure!
We got the shore power switch for the generator installed so now we can just click the dial and between shore power and generator use to turn it on. And we actually got the generator started and fully functioning, yeah-rah!
We had an amazing 4th of July! There was ton of food and plenty of time spent with Friends. We are so grateful for this life and the people we are around. I made some delicious corn bread for the feast and some blueberry cobbler which I was told was not to be shared! It was gone with just the immediate and super close friends. We ate until we were stuff and then sat outside with cocktails in hand and watched the fireworks show put on by the City of Clearwater. Not much else got done this weekend so it was really a weekend off for us to play and relax.
This past weekend we got so much accomplished and wow, does it feel good to start making the progress again. Andy is on a mission to get some items ticked off the list and who am I stop him? I let him take over when he's ready and will and stuff gets done. We were left alone to our own devices this weekend (no kids/no dogs) so we can focus on getting stuff done.
We got sponsored with Kemimoto Fenders! What a game changer with these new dinghy fenders! We did a review of them and hope to do another follow up video soon once we have had some more use out of them but so far and by far the best thing we have received for review. They are very well made and hold up well to the ruggedness we have at the various docks with sharp objects and things that poke out waiting to destroy your dinghy. We absolutely love these fenders and can't speak more highly for them. Get yourself a set, heck get 2 they are just that awesome!!
Well live is difficult this month and we don't have very many weekends this month to get work done. In fact, we will be on vacation for 9 days which wipes out 2 solid weekends. So we decided to make this month filled with fun and enjoying the boat as much as possible without the pressure of trying to get things done on a schedule.
