Thursday, 14 December 2017 - Wow! What a waste of a morning for me. I didn't really have anything important or time sensitive that I needed to do today, so when a couple of people announced on the Cruiser's Net this morning that they needed help, I volunteered. One needed help assembling bicycles that have been bought for the local kids with money the boaters have donated, and the other needed help installing more markers in the channel through the underwater grass flats to guide the dinghies, especially it the dark. I thought I'd go help with the bike assembly until the fellow doing the channel markers arrived about an hour later. I went to the marina office to help with the bikes and there was no one there to help and no bikes to assemble. Ok, now I had an hour to kill. That turned into significantly more. The other fellow arrived at the dock at noon and still had to go to the hardware store to buy supplies. I told him I was going back to my boat and to call me on the radio when he was ready. I never heard from him, although that may be because I got busy on the boat cleaning up the canoe I had found the day before.
                    While at the marina, I had filled all five water jugs and before I arrived back at the boat, the dinghy had five gallons of fresh water sloshing around in it. My repairs on the jugs had held, but one of them sprung another, large leak by cracking near the base. On inspection, I determined that that jug wasn't formed right at the factory. It should be thicker at the base, but instead has some thin spots that flex and get stress fractures from doing so. I spent another hour repairing the new leak and beefing up the thin spots. If it leaks again, I think it's time to give up on it and replace it.

Friday, 15 December - A much better day for me. On the Cruiser's Net this morning I asked for help getting to the top of my mast to replace the wind instrument. Fred from the sailing vessel Otter Two came over and assisted with tailing the halyard as I climbed the mast. I quickly reinstalled it, had him turn it on and read from the instrument panel as I rotated the directional vane and blew on the anemometer. Everything operated as it should so I took a few quick snapshots of the masthead and the mooring field, then climbed down. Yahoo!!! It works again! I wish I'd had the use of it during the blow of hurricane Irma. Well, maybe not. It might have scared me to know what the wind velocity was. Actually, I probably learned more about sailing and reading the wind without it. Regardless, it will be nice to have it back. It tells me not only the wind velocity, but the true wind direction, apparent wind direction and how far off the eye of the wind I am sailing. It's not a necessity, but it sure makes sailing easier, especially since I can't see the top of my mast with the wind vane on it from the cockpit because of the hard bimini top that covers the cockpit.
                    This morning I stopped into the office with the intention of paying for another month's dinghy dock access, but their computer crashed, so I couldn't. There's a table with donated items whose proceeds go to the bike fund and on the table was a nice aluminum seat for a dinghy. I couldn't resist the price, a twenty dollar contribution. From one dealer they cost $250. I needed to cut off about two inches of its length and move the brackets, but now it's a perfect fit to replace the one I lost in Hurricane Irma.

Saturday, 16 December - Since my dinghy is still leaking profusely, I added a retaining strap to the seat that I shortened yesterday. The seat is merely held in by two straps, one on each side, and when the air pressure drops, there's nothing to hold it in. Now, regardless of how deflated the dinghy gets, it can't come off and go away like the last one did.

Sunday, 17 December - I finally got around to cleaning the bottom of the boat again today and it made me realize why I put it off so long. It is hard work, but the worst part is the preparation, cleaning up and putting things away. It took almost all day to do just over two hours of hull cleaning. All the dive gear has to be gotten out, the generator gassed up and started, the air compressor for the hookah dragged out and rigged up. Then when it's all over I have to rinse all the dive gear, dry it, and put it all away.
                    I am glad I got the hull cleaned today. Tomorrow I have to get another slice taken out of my back again, so I should stay out of the water for awhile, which would have postponed the cleaning for another week or two, and it was way overdue to begin with. I had thought the water was pretty clear today, but when I got in, I could barely see more than a foot, and the first thing I did was knock my suction cup handle off the swim platform as I got into the water and it sank out of sight. The suction cup enables me to have something to hold onto on the hull and resist being washed away by the current as I scrape the hull.

Monday, 18 December - I had Steve take me to the dermatologist's office this morning as he went to work even though it was an hour and a half early. They did the third biopsy on the skin cancer on my back, then I returned to the marina and helped with another land based cleanup, then joined the rest of the cleanup crew for a great lunch of fried plantain, black beans and rice (Dirty Rice), and Cuban Sandwiches.

Tuesday, 19 December - On the trip in to take Steve to the dock this morning, I took an 11' X 14' heavy tarpaulin over to the tennis courts to sweep it clean and re-fold it so it will take up less space on the boat. I made a fuel line up from spare parts that can be used on the dinghy Steve acquired awhile back, but hasn't used yet. We have everything now that we need to use that dinghy; my spare engine, gas tank and fuel line, and the floorboard. Steve said today that he's going to go to Ft. Myers Beach over the Christmas weekend, so I might rig the dinghy out and use it instead of mine so I can attempt to dry mine out and repair it while he's gone. Later this afternoon, I raised my chain and cleaned all the barnacles off of it and in the process realized that the chain needs to be replaced. Many of the links are worn to the point that only about half the thickness is left. Now I have to figure out how I'm going to get two hundred pounds of new chain aboard. I'll probably have to take Island Time to the dock to get it aboard. Nah, I'll just put a few feet into the dinghy at a time until it's all aboard, then do the same as I move it onto Island Time.

Wednesday, 20 December - Wow! I spent almost all day trying to figure out what type of chain I have on the anchor; BBB, HT, PC, etc., and what size gypsy is on the windlass. I finally found the size stamped into the gypsy, but am still not sure what type chain it is. The chain should have the designation stamped into it, too, at least every 4 feet or so, but I couldn't find any marking at all on it, so I emailed the previous owner, Rick George, to see if he remembers. I bet he will and he's been very helpful.

Thursday, 21 December - The first day of winter, the winter solstice, and the shortest day of the year. This morning as I came back from the marina I saw a beautiful blue Portuguese man o' war floating in the channel. I stopped to observe it for a few minutes and it lowered its sail appeared to look around, then raised its sail and proceeded on its way. I was amazed how quickly it could deflate and re-inflate its gas bladder, and because of the way it moved, it's hard to believe it is not a single being, but colony of animals.
                    Ok, I need 200' of 3/8" High Tensile Galvanized Chain, so much of the rest of today was spent trying to figure out where to buy the chain for the anchor. Prices range from $1400 down to $460 and shipping from $145 to $550. The big question is, is American made worth literally twice as much as foreign? I doubt it. They all, supposedly, meet the ANSI and U.S. military standards.

I guess I'd better sign off here and wish you a very Merry Christmas!