Thursday, 30 March 2017 - Winds lightened this morning so I dropped the mainsail to the top of the bimini, then broke out the Dremel Tool and cut off one of the two ferrules that I installed on the cable behind the thimble when I replaced the cable. I'm pretty sure the second ferrule was causing the problem by making the thimble protrude out far enough to catch the lines at the top of the sail. As I was pulling the sail down, I also noticed several short rips in the sail, probably caused by premature aging from the sun's rays. The sail has a sacrificial strip that runs 22 inches wide along the leech or trailing edge, and 11 inches wide on the foot or bottom, but sometimes, as it is furled the sacrificial strip doesn't cover the whole sail, giving it a "candy cane" or "barber pole" appearance and exposing the sail material to the destructive UV rays of the sun. I think that may be what is weakening the fabric since all of the rips are just inside the sacrificial strip.
                  Around 7 o'clock, Robert Dahmer came over and I mixed up a few margaritas and we sat and talked till about 10:30 on a nice, calm, warm evening in the cockpit.

Friday, 31 March - I looked through all the rolls of tape that are onboard and found two that I thought might be sail repair tape, but on closer inspection, I decided that although both were coated fabric and very tacky, neither one seemed to have the strength needed for the job, so I decided to look into repairing or replacing the sail through a professional sail loft. The clincher was another cut or tear at the very top of the sail caused by the rotation of the sail as it rubbed the ferrule or thimble. This is something that I believe will need to be sewn through about 1/4 inch of multiple layers of sail cloth and two layers of webbing, which I can't do; it's as hard as a rock.
                  At four o'clock, Robert called and said this the last day of lobster hunting so let's go. Again, we went out but didn't catch any. The water is still very murky from all the winds we've had recently. We saw a few and he caught some, but they were all too small to keep. Now we'll have to wait until August to try again. Dang! I was sure hoping to have lobster for dinner. We got into some very shallow water near the end of the day and I was surprised to see a large species of sponge so near shore in a populated area. They looked like urns sitting on the bottom about 1 to 2 feet in diameter.

Saturday, 1 April - April already? Is it just my imagination, or is time accelerating.
                  What a great day! Robert Dahmer and I took his sailboat "Christi" out to Sombrero Key Sanctuary and Preservation Area and Lighthouse to do some snorkeling. Sombrero Key is only about 5 miles from Boot Key Harbor and is a very popular dive spot. When we arrived, we were the only sailboat out of about ten or twelve boats, but before we got out of the water, there were a couple of sail catamarans that had joined the group. It was a beautiful day with light winds, but unfortunately the water was a bit turbid, apparently from all the winds we've had recently. I hadn't ever been to this reef before, but in 1971 I dove on Looe Key, which is about 15 miles away. Much seems to have changed. This reef didn't seem nearly as colorful or have nearly as many species of sea life. Most noticeable was the lack of urchins. I saw none. Much of the coral has died off and Robert says that, actually, it was a lot worse a few years back and seems to be making a slow comeback. Very few live brain coral here and many of the larger ones seem to have died off on top, leaving the sides, but with the top caved in. I don't recall seeing any anemone either. Also, the beautiful purple fan corals are mostly brown. So Sad. Still, it was nice to get in the water and see rays, and a good variety of fish; grunts, trigger fish, barracuda, one of which seemed to like my bright blue camera, parrot fish, butterfly fish and others.
                  After about a two or three hour dive, we got out and Bob suggested that since this area is a totally protected, no fishing area, we should move over to another shallow area and try to catch some dinner. We fished in about 35 feet of water and between us caught 5 grunt, a blue and yellow striped fish that schools around the reefs and makes a grunting sound when you pull them out of the water. They are beautifully blue and yellow striped under water, but lose their color out of it. When we got back to the harbor, Bob dropped me off at my boat to unload my gear and get the margarita mix, then I dinghied the 50 yards to his boat to enjoy a dinner of rice and fresh fish, followed by a perfectly, clear, warm, windless evening on his boat under the stars. We wrapped it up about 11pm and I headed home. It's hard to beat a day like that! People actually pay big bucks to do that, and we did it virtually for free. Yahoo!

Sunday, 2 April - A pretty lazy day onboard Island Time today. I did spend some time fiddling with the SSB (Single Sideband) radio today. I'm still disappointed in how poor the reception on it is.

Monday, 3 April - I tried raising my friend Marcus Libkind at Conception Island in the Bahamas again this morning and we could hear each other, but not well enough to have a conversation at all. After that, I dinghied my mainsail in to the marina to ask a fellow that works on sails there if he could repair the damage at the head of the sail. He said no and that his sewing machine wouldn't sew through that many layers of sail material and webbing. I tried three others in town before I found one that said he could sew it, so I called Bob Narley Taxi Service and took it to Caribbean Canvas Company to be worked on, so that means I'll be here a little longer and a lot poorer.

Tuesday, 4 April - During this morning's Cruiser's Net, a fellow asked for some help lowering the mast on their trimaran called "Try-Umph" in preparation for loading the boat on a trailer and heading north for the summer, so I joined them on their boat at 11am, lowered the mast, then joined them for lunch.

Wednesday, 5 April - I got a couple of nice photos of the boat next to me at sunrise this morning, then the folks on "Try-Umph" ran into strength problems again while trying to fold the amas, or pontoons, on their trimaran up to load on the trailer, so I, again, went over to help. As I returned I got a couple of pictures of "Island Time" and that large schooner next to me, a beautiful ship called "Yankee". Right after I got back aboard, a big aluminum power cruiser called "Cochise" pulled in and anchored next to me. I can't tell how long it is, but I'd guess about 60 or 70 feet. I think it's probably the largest in the harbor right now.
                  I guess I'd better get this posted on my website, so I'll call it quits for this week and see you all next time.