Dinghy upgrades

New Dri-Dek flooring, and a set of rod holders. She's starting to look like a new boat! Finally, we can set bags of groceries on the floor and not worry about them getting wet. And I don't have to worry about my rod tips getting stepped on and broken any more. :)

Good weather?

We are keeping our fingers crossed for good weather next week. The marine forecast looks good through Tuesday. The extended forecast shows rain on Friday, so that may be a good day to make our way back to the dock. It appears that we will have enough food aboard for at least a dozen people, or a cruise to Mexico for four! We are excited and looking forward to a great time with daughter and son-in-law!

Busy, busy....

We spent three days at the boat, getting lots of small projects done. Finally got a fuse panel installed on the dinghy, so we now have a functional electrical system. Installed navigation lights, as well as moved depth finder and bilge pump power feeds direct connection to battery over to the new fuse panel. Also, I finally fabricated a mounting block for the depth finder, so it does no live tie-wrapped to the handrail any more. Hard to believe this took Friday and Saturday to accomplish.

Sunday was spent painting the freezer, and areas of the engine room. Also installed new mini-blinds on the salon doors, something Paula has been asking me to do for months (years?). Tried to get the door to the forward stateroom to close more securely, but I just made the problem worse. Finally ended up just putting it back the way it was.

Since Alison and Scott are coming to spend a week aboard for Thanksgiving, I had to address some lighting issues in the forward stateroom, too. Remove one old 120v fixture, and repaired a 12v light that was broken by workers six months ago, while they were removing teak decks.

Diver down

Had a diver over the boat today to clean bottom and replace zincs. Both were much needed. It has been 2-1/2 years since the last bottom job and zinc replacement. Too long for the zincs. Diver (Bob) said the bottom was not too bad, a few barnacles. But the running gear was heavily encrusted. It took him about six hours to get the entire job done. That included about an hour break to warm up, as he was getting pretty cold in the 65 degree water, even with a 7mm wet suit. Bob also found a spot on the port side, near the a/c water outlet, that appears to be some kind of delamination. It will have to be looked at on our next haul out in the Spring. As will the props, since they were a bit dinged up. Bob said the vis was nil, so most of what he did was by feel. So he is not sure just how bad the props really are.

It is always something.

More boat projects!

Spent the weekend getting Microship updated with new nav lights. Replaced port, starboard, and stern nav lights with new Hella Marine LED lights. The LED stuff is a little pricey, but they sure look nice. And, hopefully I will not have to fool with them again for a looong time!

Also re-installed the windlass motor. It had died again last weekend, the first time in use after having it repaired by a local shop. I tested it by lowering and raising the anchor while in the slip and had no problem. I hope it does not die again, requiring me to haul the 90# monster anchor in by hand.

Installed the re-welded guard rail for the starboard engine. Managed to whack myself in the head with it during installation. Ouch! Nice goose egg on my forehead now.

Beach time

We arrived at Cat Island after dark Friday night. Got held up at the RR bridge at Bay St Louis, so did not get to our anchorage until almost 8:00 p.m. There were already two boats in Smuggler's Cove, and a sailboat arrived just a few minutes before us.

Saturday was just warm enough to be comfortable, with a nice breeze for sitting on the beach. We got there around 10am, before anyone else. Setup our canopy, chairs, and cooler, then sat back and enjoyed the beautiful weather and waves lapping at our feet. Max had a great time digging in the sand and chasing birds, butterflies, and horseflies. We stayed until around 3pm, when other folks started arriving and setting up camp near us. Time to pack up.

After we went to bed Saturday night, the wind really kicked up. I slept through it, but Paula was awakened by the hobby horse motion of the boat. She told me the next morning that she thought she was going to have to tie herself in the bed. I can vaguely remember (too much beer) getting up around midnight and letting more anchor chain out, and lengthening the snubber lines. By Sunday morning it was all over, and the calm had returned.

We elected not to go to the beach Sunday as Paula had gotten a bit too much sun yesterday. So we just hung out on the boat and read. Max was having a fit to go back to the beach, so I took him for a quick romp before we hoisted the dinghy. Then back to Microship and head for home.