Thursday, 22 February 2018 - After running out of gasoline in the dinghy about 10 times last evening and rowing home with the help of the breeze, I decided that today's chore would be to determine why the outboard engine wasn't getting any fuel. I've had trouble with it before and suspected clogged fuel filters in the fuel tank. I removed the fuel lines in two tanks and attempted to clean the filters, but they were remarkably clean already. In the process, I filtered about 5 gallons of gasoline that was in the tanks through the Baja filter, which removes not only solid particles, but water, too. Then, after removing the connectors at the engine and the tank, I blew through the whole fuel line with no resistance, proving that both the line and the primer bulb were not clogged. In other words, there's nothing wrong with it except it doesn't work! Maybe there was something in the line that I blew out, but I doubt it. It was getting dark when I finished, so I didn't get to test drive the dinghy. Tomorrow.

Friday, 23 February - Well, today's test drive of my newly "fixed" fuel problem was a total failure. The plan was to go buy groceries today, which I did, but not when I intended to. I started the dinghy's outboard around 1 o'clock and let it idle for a few minutes, cast of from Island Time...and the engine died. Within a couple of minutes, while I was trying to get the engine restarted, I blew downwind about 100 yards. I quickly realized I'd better get back to the boat to work on the fuel problem again, so I rowed against the wind for about 10 minutes to get there. I double checked to make sure there couldn't be any pinched fuel line and thought that about the only thing that I hadn't checked or replaced was the primer bulb in the fuel line, so I replaced it. Not the problem. Next, I opened the cowling on the engine and checked the fuel filter. Clean. After that, I switched the connectors on the fuel line end to end. The connector on the engine end of the fuel line didn't seem to want to go on properly, but once it did, the engine ran well and I headed off to get groceries around 3:30. Since the engine had been sucking the primer bulb down flat, the problem seemed to be that the engine was sucking, trying to get fuel that it couldn't because of some kind of blockage, so that connector couldn't have been the problem, so I'm baffled as to what the problem was. I hate it when I fix something but don't know how I fixed it and I didn't actually diagnose the problem. As I said yesterday, "There's nothing wrong with it except it doesn't work." Now it works, but I don't know why. I feel like it could quit again any time and I don't know how to fix it. Arrgh!

Saturday, 24 February - I only had four simple things I needed or wanted to do today. The first, and I thought very easy to do ate up most of the afternoon and kept me from getting one of the other three done at all. I need about 10 small, cheap carabiners to clip onto my fuel jugs so I can quickly switch tags identifying which jugs have "No Oil," or oil mixed at a ratio of "100:1", or "50:1". I went to five different stores looking for them and ended up with none. Perhaps I can find them at the huge nautical swap meet in Islamorada tomorrow. I barely had time to go get some notices about my spare mainsail that I want to post at the swap, and I didn't have time at all to fill my water jugs at the marina. I barely had time to return to the boat and get cleaned up to go to the Carolina Shag dance lessons at the country club, but made it just in time. I picked up Patty Williamson on the way and had a great evening. I do think it would help to learn this dance if they offered the lessons more than once a year.

Sunday, 25 February - What a great day! It was off to the nautical flea market this morning over in Islamorada where Bob, Patty and I spent most of the day, each buying a few things for our boats, then we headed back and stopped at Lorelei Restaurant and Bar and had a drink. After one drink, we went into a sporting goods store there on the same property. It's mostly fishing gear and clothing and has a boat made prior to but identical to Ernest Hemmingway's sport fishing boat, Pilar, on display. Next we headed across the street to the Keys History and Discovery Center which is a museum about the history of the Florida Keys. Unfortunately, we got there only thirty minutes before closing, so we decided not to go through it. Back at the Lorelie Restaurant, we wanted to watch the sunset and hear their band play; mostly country music and very good. It was two old codgers and one of their sons who is a very good song writer/singer. Very enjoyable. There was a boat parked at the marina there than looked just like a pink, stretch limousine and called the Nauti Limo, and I got a couple of pictures of it. See the link below. The band played in the open air under a tiki hut and the area must seat at least 300 people outdoors, but has two large bars and an indoor restaurant, too. A very beautiful setting on the water with the marina on one side and the open bay on the other. Absolutely the nicest bar and restaurant I've seen down here yet...and it has a dance floor, very enthusiastic diners and dancers, and it all made for a wonderful evening.

Monday, 26 February - I took eight water jugs to shore today, put rocks in two of them to shake and clean the grunge out that they accumulated while floating in the harbor, then filled the other six with water and headed back to Island Time just in time to head out kayaking through Boot Key to some of the lakes, then out Whiskey Creek and Sister Creek and back to Island Time, arriving, again, just in time to shower and go to a "Dinghy Drift" through the harbor. We probably had about twenty dinghies that participated, all tied together just floating around at the whim of the breeze and tide for about three hours. Everyone brought something to eat, drink, and share and you get to meet lots of new friends. It was a beautiful, cloudless night with three quarter moon, a very light breeze and about 75°F. out on the water. It's hard to beat days like the last two.

Tuesday, 27 February - I spent almost all day today repairing and cleaning up three water jugs using white vinegar to dissolve calcium deposits and Clorox to disinfect them, and a hot glue gun to plug some holes. I also emptied all the jugs I filled yesterday into the water tank and brought the kayak back aboard that I'd left tied to the back of the boat last night. It was another beautiful, windless day to be on a boat.
                    Now that the wind has quit blowing 20 kt. everyday, I'll have to start being more conservative with my use of energy on the boat again. Boaters in the harbor had started to complain about the constant wind, but it's been nice to not have to start the auxiliary generator for the last month, and without the wind, we'll soon be complaining about the heat. We had a high of 82°F. today and 69% humidity. Not bad for the end of February.
                    Bob and I are going out snorkeling tomorrow so I think I'll get this out a bit early.