Thursday, 13 April 2017 - I got my mainsail back today. I had just headed over to the canvas shop when he called and said that he'd bring it to me and save me the walk because he had to take his son to a class. Unfortunately, that also made it so that he didn't have much time to help me inspect the sail. He showed me what he'd done and it looked good, so I paid him. He didn't have time to help me re-fold it, so he went on his way...then, I discovered a couple of small rips that he'd missed. It won't be worth taking it back to him for these; I'll tape them with sail tape. I'm sure that's a factor of his being a canvas shop, not a sail loft; not enough space to spread the sail out and flip it over for inspection.
                  I mentioned on the Boot Key Cruiser's Net this morning that I was hoping to find a small grapnel and, by golly, a fellow just two boats away responded that he had one and might trade it for the small, canvas sail I've been trying to get rid of. I tried several times later in the day to get him on the radio, but couldn't, so around 5pm, I went to his boat. It was larger than I'd hoped for, about 10 inches across, but did have a tripping ring and is very well made, so we made the trade.

Friday, 14 April - It's too windy to re-install my sail, but I did open it up and patch it with sail tape. It was only visible on one side because the spot happened to have two layers there. That done, I attached about 50 feet of 3/8" line to my "new" grappling hook and cast it from the top of my bimini top about ten times. Disappointment. All I came up with was a little bit of old fishing filament. I'm sure I'll have plenty more opportunities to drag up some treasure.
                  The same fellow that I made the trade with yesterday announced on this morning's net that he needed a chain wrench and since I have two, I offered him one for $15 dollars. Another done deal! I'm wheelin' and dealin' now!
                  Gene Ramos, whom I had met in Fort Myers Beach and had attempted to come down here with his trawler called today. He'd driven his truck to Key West a few weeks ago in anticipation of arrive here and attending diving school, but his plans changed. A woman happened along! Well, they're coming through here this evening to get his truck and return to Tampa, so they've offered to meet me and go to dinner. At first, the plan was to stop here before going to Key West to get the truck, but he was afraid that would put them in Key West too late to pick the truck up, so now they're headed there first, then back to here. I think dinner will be pretty late, but it's Friday night and I'm sure we'll find somewhere open late.

Saturday, 15 April - I went ashore today to meet with a couple of people that had expressed the intention of discussing sites within about 30 miles of here that would be interesting cruising to because they would have good diving, fishing, scenery, etc., plus, perhaps, access to points of interest, parks, food and ice. I had assumed that there would be three or four of us. On my way in, I stopped to give another fellow a ride in, and when I arrived there were about 15 or 20 people crowed around the table, making it hard to see the charts that were being discussed. Still, I picked up some good pointers. The main person disseminating information, a fellow called Diesel Don, a retired diesel mechanic and very experienced sailor, was a person I'd wanted to discuss my tachometer's problem with too, so after the group started to split up, I cornered him and discussed my problem with him briefly. Of course, other topics came up and upon hearing that Island Time has a hard bimini top, he volunteered to come to the boat Monday or Tuesday to troubleshoot the tachometer and see the bimini.

Easter Sunday, 16 April - Today was spent putting small items away that had been accumulating around the boat that hadn't been put back where they belonged or that I hadn't ever found a home for. There are still some left, but not near as many.
                  Today was not only Easter, but the closing day for skiing at Alta, my old ski haunt, so I called my favorite ski partners at the end of the ski day. True to form, Jean Labrie and Barbara Burkett were on the final run of the day, partying near the top of High Rustler before their last descent for the year. I'm sure the party went on both at the top of the mountain and in the parking lot until well after dark. They said that since the weather was perfect and it was the holiday, the crowd was big, lots of skin was exposed, and from the sounds in the background, laughter and fireworks, I think everybody must have had a good time in spite of the fact that I wasn't there.

Monday, 17 April - Off and on light to heavy rain showers today as several fast moving storms moved through the keys today. My plan to have Diesel Don come to the boat was foiled by the rain, as was the arrival of Robert Dahmer. Robert and a friend of his left Ft. Myers Beach yesterday and were planning on sailing straight through to here over night, but winds were not as predicted by the weathermen, so about the time I was expecting them to arrive here, he called and said they were just sailing into Key West instead. They'd had low winds, then high winds from the wrong direction along with high seas and rain. Because of that, they decided to change their destination and will come up here after getting some rest in a couple of days.
                  Between showers, the wind died off to around 10 kts., so I thought I'd try to get my sail back onto the mast, but just as I put the sail up on the bimini top, it started to rain again, then the wind picked back up, so I never got it done.
                  I've always wondered how some seemingly incompatible food combinations or otherwise horrible sounding foods that actually taste pretty good, get discovered; for instance, cabbage fermented in lactic acid - sauerkraut. Well, today I discovered a weird combination out of necessity. Because of bad planning on my part, or maybe just bad memory, I ran out of preserves and jelly for my PB&J sandwiches. Actually, I ran out yesterday, but forgot and spread the peanut butter on my bread today before I remembered. What to do? I don't want a peanut butter and peanut butter sandwich. Ahha! Not being a baker myself, I've been trying to figure out what to do with some mince meat that was left at the house from before Mother died. She liked to bake mince meat pies, among others, and there were a couple of jars and several boxes of mince meat left over. I brought them along, so today I had peanut butter and mince meat sandwich for lunch. I guess if you like mince meat, and I do, you'll like PB&MM sandwiches. Actually, the mince meat flavor is so strong that I really couldn't taste the peanut butter at all. I must admit, it didn't really sound all that good, so I approached it with a little skepticism, making only one sandwich at first, but it wasn't bad at all. After two, I think I'll be having more.

Tuesday, 18 April - "Diesel Don" Shuler came to my boat this morning to help me with the tachometer problem. His profession was rebuilding diesel engines, so there's no doubt he knows all about them. After climbing down into the engine room, running some tests, starting the engine several times and running more tests, he's convinced that my main alternator is not putting out enough voltage to trigger the tachometer. He's not saying that the tachometer is good, just that the alternator is bad. It's a little complicated because this system uses two alternators, one to charge the starter battery and the other to charge the house batteries, which power all the lights, the refrigeration, radios, etc.
                  It was interesting talking to Don. He's been a sailor for many years, but he's been a shooter all his life, so we had a lot in common to talk about since I started shooting at a young age and was on several rifle teams in the military.

Wednesday, 19 April - It's still blowing over 20 kts., so I won't be raising the sail today, either. I think I may have a spare alternator stored in the lowest level of my starboard lazarette, but to get there I need to empty the first two levels and climb down in there. I've been putting off doing an inventory on those spaces because there is so much in there. However, if I'd already done the inventory, I'd know if I have a spare alternator or not. Well, now's the time. I started on the inventory this morning and thought it would take all day. Most of the items in this level are paints, lubricants, and cleaners and their associated tools. Speaking of tools, I'm not even counting the approximately 200 pounds of small hand tools in that compartment. I won't inventory them since I have them pretty well organized in 6 tool boxes. It's now 7pm and I haven't finished with the first of the three levels. I'll be working until after dark just to finish this level if I hurry and get this episode sent off.

            Until next time.
                        "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson

                                          Rick