Saturday, 25 August 2018 - Having gotten the hardware for the davit cables at West Marine the other day, I spent a little while stripping the cables in preparation for fabricating the eyes on the new dinghy, but a bit of rain made me decide to put that off till another day. I did, however, get a new support bracket installed in the new dink for the required 360° light at the rear of the dinghy. I just drilled through the aluminum transom and attached a 14" long piece of PVC pipe that will let me slide a smaller post into it easily to facilitate quick removal and installation of the light.
                    On this morning's Cruiser's Net, I proposed a dinghy drift, but didn't get many responders. Rain has been forecast for much of the day and that's probably the reason. If it happens to clear up near sunset, maybe some boaters will show up to drift around the bay in our dinghies, have some snacks and "adult beverages", and socialize. If it clears, it should be really pretty. The moon rises 15 minutes before the sunset this evening, which should make for a pretty site, indeed.

Sunday, 26 August - Well, unfortunately, last night's moonrise was obscured by clouds, so the dinghy drift was a bust. I was the only one to show up, but I did get to watch a beautiful sunset and eat a bunch of fresh pineapple I had brought along to share.
                    This morning and throughout the day, I switched the engines on the two dinghies along with the gas tanks so I'll have the new engine on my old dinghy in order to sell it. I hate to lose such a nice, new engine, but it's just too heavy to be hanging on the davits. I also took a bunch of pictures of the old dinghy and the new engine so I can post an ad for their sale on Craig's List.

Monday, 27 August - It must have rained harder last evening than I realized. My old dinghy that is tied to the side of Island Time, had about 4 inches of water in it this morning. The new dinghy is on the davits and has the drain plug removed, so all the rain just drained out of it. I bailed the old dinghy out and readjusted the temporary davit lines on the new boat, replaced the screen on one of the three portholes on the transom of Island Time, then spent the afternoon taking pictures of the old dinghy and posted a "for sale" ad on Facebook's Boot Key Cruiser's page and on Craig's List for the old dinghy and new engine.
                    I'm happy to say that I've already had three people express interest but I'll not count my chickens before they hatch. The dinghy looks pretty good in my photos, but on closer inspection may not make the grade. If someone, however, can patch the leaks, they'll have a great runabout for the price.
                    Another happy note, occurred today, too. I had registered the new dinghy the other day and assumed that I'd have to remove the old registration numbers and replace them with new ones since there was a change in ownership. I just noticed today they gave me the same numbers. That saves me three of four hours of work. All I have to do is stick on the new label for the year. Yahoo!

Tuesday, 28 August - I stuck that new registration label on the dinghy and attempted to patch the small leak in the new dinghy. I left it uninflated all day to cure, then inflated it in the evening to see if it holds air tonight. Time will tell. After patching the dinghy, I worked on preparing the davit cables for installation, but still didn't start installing them. Instead of installing them, I'm merely stalling. I know it won't be easy. In the afternoon, I organized all the paperwork for the boat and dinghy, getting everything, titles, Coast Guard registration, state registrations, bills of sale, FCC radio license, passport, etc., all into one, easy to access, folder. That will be handy anytime I'm inspected by the Coast Guard, Florida Wildlife Conservation, National Security or Immigration, or need to check in at a foreign port, etc. That's one of those things that I should have done long ago, but never got the "Round-to-its."

Wednesday, 29 August - There was a bit of excitement in the harbor last night about midnight. Someone spotted a kayaker paddling from boat to boat in the east end of the harbor and trying to get things off the decks of boats. Several people on that end of the harbor responded to a call on the VHF by getting in their dinghies to search for the thief, but without success. It sure would have been nice if they'd caught him. It inspired me, since I merely have my old dinghy and the new engine tied at the side of Island Time, to rig an alarm, made from a cow bell, so that anyone releasing the lined would unknowingly release the bell onto the deck to wake me.
                    Yahoo! the new dinghy is as tight as a watermelon this morning. My patch worked. Why didn't it work that way with the old one? It's still leaking air and water.
                    I cut and installed heat shrink tube on the half of the thimbles I've made up for the davit cables and added some information to the two adds for the old dinghy on Facebook and Craigslist.
                    I went to the library this evening to see a movie. Since the weather is so unpredictable here, I always close all the hatches as I leave. After the movie I headed back, but could see on radar on my phone that a squall was headed this way, so I decided to wait it out by having dinner at the Overseas Restaurant. Just as I got there, lightning and thunder started and as I ordered, a real deluge began, obvious by the roar of rain on the roof of the building. No problem. I'm dry, although a bit cool because of the air conditioning, which I'm not accustomed to, and the boat's all buttoned up. By now, you probably know where this is headed. I checked the radar on my ID (Information Device, also known as an iPhone. It does WAY to much to be called merely a phone), and the coast looked clear, so I headed back to the marina. As I started the engine on the dinghy and headed out of the marina, it started to rain, but not hard. I sped up a bit since it's about a mile back to Island Time. As I increased my speed, so did the velocity of the rain. I must be living right. I checked the big pocket of the under-seat storage and found I actually had replaced my rain gear there. I donned the rain suit and...of course, the rain subsided. Upon arrival at the boat, I raised the dinghy on the davits and opened the hatch in the forward companionway. As I did, I was hit by a cool rush of air. That could only mean one thing; a forward hatch was letting air into the cabin. Yes, I had left the large starboard hatch over the settee and my tool bucket open. Everything would be totally drenched and the settee cushions would take days to dry. I flipped on the saloon overhead light and, lo and behold, it looks like the pouring rain was so localized that all I got here on the boat was a light sprinkling. Thank you Lord. A quick wipe with a sponge and the floor was dry and I'm sure the rest will dry tomorrow.