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$26.99 Another eventful month! Where to begin.... So let's start with Labor day weekend... We finally should have Frankenstein (the enginge) completed and ready to go for our 1st shake down cruise however, due to another delay with the mechanic, this was not possible and the trip that we had with friends for that weekend left without us. So dishartening and upsetting for us as we keep getting delay after delay. Additionally, we had a power cord fail on us so off to west marine on a holiday weekend we went to get parts needed to remove the burnt plug and put a new one on. Andy also made some cable ends with his new spify cable crimper and so we start to work on getting prepped to finish off some additional projects that are needed for us to be able to get off the dock and get going.
We did finally have enough boat work and needed off the boat. We new where generally speaking our friends were so we packed up and off in the dingy we went... We found them and had a great day on the beach with them and then enjoying a meal on Viscaya for the day. We then come back and take the puppies for a play at the beach.
We get some items in that we ordered a while ago and were on back order from Ray Maine. So we get Brad with Paradise Yachts our to install the new wind sensor and climb the mast to get it installed.
We finally get the generator running this month as well. Hooray!! We finally have both a working genrator and Frankenstein is back to life! We have plans to sail to Sarasota with some friends in Oct so wish us luck this will all be ok and we can go....
Sept 26th ~ What in God's green earth is happening here... Hurricane Helene is coming for a visit and is slated for a direct or new direct hit to Tampa Bay. Not good boo! She needs to go somewhere else... We had record water surge of 10 ft in the intercoastal. The marina was less than a foot from coming over the pilings. There is water everywhere and there is no way that you can even get to the marina. We finally make it there to check on things and there is just mass flooding and devastion everywhere. The dock is taking on water and water has come up to the parking lot and crested over the walls and up to the steps that lead to coachman park. Park of the ramps are under water as well. All we can do is hope for the best and there we will fair ok. The boats are all bouncing and there boats that broke loose during the storm and just bouncing out there. I am so glad that we didn't stay on the boat like we normal do. Because this was to a very near direct his and predicted storm surge we decided to just stay at the RV and hope that we don't get flooded there either.
We get back to the boat once the water has receided and the marina is accessible again, we intially do an inspection and all seems ok.... but we can't do a complete inspection of everything as it will take time but upon 1st look, she's still floating. We can hopefully bring the portable coolers back that we took off and get the boat back into working order. We did notice at 1st some small items like some gel coat scratches, some torn canvas and one of the aft chaft grards that were screwed into the hull was completly torn off as well as the engine hoist was bent and came off it's holding points but overall everything apears to be ok....
We take the dinghy out and the devastation is beyond anything we have seen personally before. We attempt to do our part to help people get their boats moved and pick up debris where we can. Restaurants are closed and anything on clearwater beach that was under water is now closed and no ETA for when they will allow people to come back yet alone start the repairs and then.....
10 days later it happens again.... stay tunded for October updates to see what happens
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!!
