Friday, 15 June 2018 - I spent several hours today getting the rust off three tool boxes full of hand tools. I've discovered that the small packages of desiccant used for absorbing moisture off of or out of packaging has an up side and a down side. If you don't dry them out frequently, they gather so much moisture that they rust up anything they come in contact with. The ones I'd put in my tool boxes really wreaked havoc, so I've decided I'm actually better off not using them at all.
                    This afternoon I headed a couple of miles down the road to the Marathon Grill and Alehouse to listen to the duo Fiddle Rock for a couple of hours, then headed back to the Overseas Bar and Grill to listen to Ty Thurman sing while I had dinner.

Saturday, 16 June - I inventoried one of the tool boxes in the starboard lazerette today as I unloaded the lazerette to discover why I smelled wafts of fiberglass resin. Apparently two things happened concurrently. I don't know which happened first, but it really doesn't matter. The bottom of a gallon can rusted out and started leaking the polyester resin out and the bucket it was in, just in case that unlikely thing might happen, had its bottom break out. The bucket was supposed to catch any possible leakage, but simply let in run out into the second and third levels down in the lazerette. Thank goodness it was in the middle compartment, not the upper level. It made plenty of mess as it was. I spent the afternoon cleaning it up with acetone. I'm pretty sure I lost a few brain cells while I was down in there cleaning it up. If my nitrile gloves are any indication of what was happening to my brain and lungs, I'm in terrible shape. The chemicals ate through several pairs of the gloves as I cleaned the mess up. I needed a bucket to put the bucket in, so I headed to the mangroves near my boat and found three. Unfortunately, one was full of "Liquid Nails," and will go to the trash. A second was filthy, but intact, and is perfect for the job. The third one has a watertight lid, had gotten stuck in the mangrove roots at high tide and was high, dry, and clean, other than the fact that it contained some dry powered coal. I'm not sure what people would have used that for here.

Sunday, 17 June - Not much going on today. I did do a small repair job on a spot of the toe or cap rail on the gunnel of the boat. Now it will need to be sanded and painted with Cetol a few times. There are a few other spots that need a new coat of Cetol, too.

Monday, 18 June - We had a bit of a downpour here today. Unfortunately, I wasn't expecting it, or quick enough, so I missed out on collecting about 10 or 15 gallons of rainwater. I didn't have the bimini top clean or the hoses deployed to capture the rain, and by the time I realized it was going to rain hard enough, it was too late. It really only rained hard for about 5 minutes; time enough to get the hatches and dodger closed up, but not the hoses installed. I didn't even get soaped up for my good bi-monthly shower bath. Maybe next month. ;-)

Tuesday, 19 June - Juneteenth - I wonder how many of my readers even know what Juneteenth is. In doesn't seem to be celebrated much any more. I celebrated Juneteenth by freeing the air trapped in my dinghy and adding more 3M 4200 adhesive to the starboard tube. It's holding more air now that it has been in the past, but still had some very tiny leaks. I, also, greased the valve for that tube, which has been leaking even more than the leaks in the tubes. I'm in a quandary about how to fix that valve. I think its biggest problem is that the spring on the valve is too week. Still, it shouldn't leak. The internal air pressure should seal it closed, but doesn't. I'll air it up again tomorrow and see how successful I've been today. I always think today's fix will be the last, but I haven't been right yet and I've been working on it pretty consistently ever since hurricane Irma, 7 months now.

Wednesday, 20 June - I defrosted the refrigerator again today, then headed ashore to pay for another month of dinghy dock access at the marina and then to the grocery store. After returning to the boat to put away the groceries, I headed back to shore to shower and go to the library to see "Guardians of the Galaxy II".
                    Back at the boat I got a notification on the phone that it was about to rain. The skies had been clear when I came home at 9pm, but sure enough, a squall was headed this way. I deployed the water hoses to catch water off the roof of the bimini top and turned off the generator and covered it, then waited. Nothing. I checked the radar on my phone and it looks like the storm slid between the islands at the Seven Mile Bridge and missed us. Its bark is worse than its bite. Lots of thunder and lightning, but no rain. Oh well, maybe we'll get some rain later tonight. I paid for forty gallons of water at the marina today, but will get it tomorrow, even if it does rain tonight. I need about 100 gallons to fill the tank.

            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