On the way to get the boat hauled out, we ran into quite the convoy of power boats from the West Palm Beach Boat show that just ended. They had no quams about passing us on all sides. I guess 4 knots in a no wake manatee zone was just a little too slow for them.
The boat was hauled out on Monday as planned, what wasn't planned was that we were still on it as it was being lifted out of the water. They did finally let us off once the bow was even with the dock. We got to work right away. Steve was having a bear of a time trying to back off the nut for the triducer. Michele tried to help from the outside of the boat, but it proved quite difficult as the sizes of the wrenches we were using were crazy big! Michele could barely hold up the wrench she had (never mind lifting it over her head and readjusting it every time Steve turned the nut from inside). Steve's situation was even worse as his wrench was 10x heavier/larger, and he had to squeeze both arms along with the wrench into a small rectangular hole to access the bildge area, whew! The hot, humid weather didn't help either . . . sweat was dripping off in buckets (yah, yah, people up north have no sympathy for that, but 90 humid degrees is as bad as 20 freezing degrees.) Michele decided she would be more helpful collecting the 4 loads of laundry and walking over to the Riveria Beach marina to start the washing - not an easy task either, luggging 4 large bags of clothes 1/2 of a mile - in the 90o temperature. You think cruising is easy. Well, let me tell you . . . IT"S NOT! And, we still had to worry about reprovisioning and there isn't a grocery for miles.
In addition to the work we were doing, the Yanmar mechanic came from Jas Marine. After checking out the transmission situation, he proclaimed that we needed an additional part that he had to order as it wasn't in stock. It was looking like we would be settling in at the boat yard for a few days.
On Monday evening - even though we were both exhausted from a full day's hard labor, we still HAD to celebrate Michele's birthday - oh yes, I did mention in an earlier post that Monday was Michele's birthday, and oh what a day she was having!! No rest for the weary. After showering off the day's grime, we went to the tiki bar/restaurant next door. As we waited for the Murray's to join us, Michele enjoyed a most delicious marguerita and Steve a frosty brew while munching on fried calamarie. When the Murray's arrived, we all ordered and chowed down (Michele, Steve and Cameron all got prime rib! Leighia had a fish something or other as she doesn't eat meat and kids had pasta). A most delicious chocholate cake complete with a birthday candle and happy birthday song was enjoyed by all - especially the kids who ran around for quite some time afterward from the sugar rush). Since our bed was covered with all kinds of junk from the garage (the back berth which needed to be cleaned out while working on the engine), and the clean sheets had not been added yet, we crashed in the salon for the night. Another busy day tomorrow.
On Tuesday, we got to work straight away -although not quite early enough for Mr. Papile as Michele didn't get up until 8:30-ish. After discussing the situation with Cameron the night before, Steve thought of trying to use one of the boat stands to hold the transducer in place on the outside of the boat (because frankly, Michele was somewhat useless) while he turned from the inside. Alas, the nut came off. Now the real fun began for Steve. He had to rewire the new unit which meant disassembling the helm. Michele was relieved when Leighia called. She had access to a car all day and picked Michele up for a major reprovisioning. The Murray's are leaving for the Bahamas on Thursday so a trip to Costco was first. We didn't really need to buy too much in bulk at Costco, but still managed to spend over $100. Over $200 more at Publix, but hopefully we'll be provisioned well enough to get us home without having to buy too much along the way. However, since we'll be at least another month, we'll definitely be needing fresh produce and stuff along the way. It was a harried day and Michele managed to lose the $70 cash back that she got at the store. Very depressing! Steve handled it much better than expected. Michele can't seem to let it go though.
Yesterday we also had our main halyard picked up by Florida rigging. While we weathered the storms crossing the Gulf Stream, the line became chaffed and was nearly all the way worn through. So another $300 on that! When we got the line back today, it wasn't the same size either. The size is supposed to be 7/16", but they did 9/16". It's a little thick, but hopefully it will be okay as we have no way (or time) to get the line back to Florida rigging and replaced.
While Michele was out shopping yesterday, Jas Marine received the part for the transmission and got all that taken care of. The price on that is still out... but probably at least $600. This has been a very pricey stop for us (and I didn't even mention the price of the triducer or the haulout). But hey, which one hasn't been? So cruising is VERY expensive and a LOT of work. Michele's longing to be back in the Bahamas because at least we got to go swimming and snorkeling.
Okay, well break is over. Time to get back to work. We're splashing tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Still much to do!
No comments:
Post a Comment