Friday, 3 May 2019 - As mentioned previously, I checked out the 200 Amp fuse and it is, indeed, blown. I ordered two more at $45 each, but I really have to figure out what it is that is causing them to blow.

Saturday, 4 May - I replaced a hose clamp that had broken on the seawater inlet hose today and cleaned some connections on cables to the engine start battery, but still don't have any idea what is making the fuse blow. Later, just to get off the boat, I headed to the Overseas Pub and watched the Kentucky Derby. Luckily, I only had to watch about an hour of the preliminaries before the actual race began. It was interesting to see the first time in 145 years that the first horse across the finish line didn't win the race.

Sunday, 5 May - Cinco de Mayo - I checked to see if anyone in the harbor wanted to follow my lead through the Boot Key mangrove kayak trails and got no takers, so I decided to go to the latest, and last, installment of the Avengers movie instead. Tom Kreuger on the S/V Malaya said he'd like to see it, too. We met Mike and Bev of S/V Queequeg there by happenstance, and with their collective guidance, I tried to follow the plot and figure out who the characters were. It didn't help much. You need to have seen some of the previous episodes to know who's who and what has happened before. After the movie, I suggested we get something to eat. Tom said, "Sure." I wanted to go have a good Mexican dinner at the only Mexican restaurant on the island today to honor Mom on her birthday since she enjoyed Mexican food and margaritas so much, but when we got there, the building had a "For Sale" sign on it and it wasn't open. I guess it's out of business because of all the days to be open, the Cinco de Mayo would be the one. That's too bad. They had the best margaritas in town, even if they were from a bottle of mix. We ended up settling for a beer at the Overseas Pub.

Monday, 6 May - I continued to look for problem areas with the wiring causing the 200 amp fuse to blow and around 6:30 my neighbor on S/V Born Free came over to see if he could spot any likely problems. Marine electrical systems are his profession and he did, indeed, spot a couple of things I was overlooking. He determined that one of the studs on one of the cables was bad by feeling it, so I had him describe how it felt different, then felt it myself, and after him describing the difference, I could tell the difference, too. That's a lot better than just accepting his word for it and repairing it. Next time I'll be able to diagnose a problem for myself...I hope. We'll do the repairs tomorrow evening and he said he'd bring a circuit breaker to replace the fuse with so that if it trips, I won't have burned up another $45.

Tuesday, 7 May - Mark Brewer on S/V Born Free came by again this evening. After taking a closer look at the starter on my engine online, he realized that part of the problem was that two of the ground wires needed to be switched. He did that for me and replaced the lug on one of the cables that he considered to be bad. He's also convinced me that a 200 amp fuse is probably not large enough for the huge starter on this 92 hp engine and has suggested that with his professional discount, he can save me enough money to buy a circuit breaker/switch instead of the fuses. I probably won't save money, but definitely won't have to buy anymore fuses for that circuit anymore. If the circuit breaker trips, just reset it.

Wednesday, 8 May - We nixed the option of switching to a circuit breaker for the starter battery. The primary supplier of those circuit breakers doesn't make one that large because, they say, they can't warrant them in that size, so we assume the Chinese version won't hold up to the loads either. Mark convinced me to cancel the order for two 200 Amp fuses and go with 300s, so when I went to West Marine to pick up the impeller for the raw (sea) water pump, I cancelled the fuse order, although they had already come in. Mark will order the 300 Amp fuses for me with his discount.

Thursday, 9 May - I replaced the impeller for the raw (sea) water pump today. As usual, I thought it would take a couple of hours and it took all day. I couldn’t get the impeller out at first. I finally asked James on S/V Gracious Lady if he had any wisdom or tools that would make the removal easier. He had a pair of modified, long, needle-nosed pliers with tips bent twice to enable reaching into the impeller and gripping it about halfway up its length. Those pliers definitely did the trick, but it still took me a couple of hours to get it out. I was on the verge of giving up when I finally saw it move a little. Then, after getting it out, I couldn’t get the new one in. I finally wrapped the impeller tightly with sail thread to compress it, inserted it in all the way, then pulled the thread out to let the impeller expand. This worked pretty well, but I don’t look forward to doing it again.

Friday, 10 May - I called Tom Krueger today to see if he was going to be out and about in his car today. If so, I was hoping to get a ride to the hardware store to get a replacement shower head for my aft shower. While showering yesterday, the lever on the hand held shower head that controls the water flow broke off. He said he had no plans to get out but would take me anyway. That was pretty nice of him. Upon return, I went to the marina community room to update some of the apps on my iPhone and did an online purchase of FileMaker, my database program, which had quit working when I updated my operating system a few weeks ago. I'd been looking for a used or otherwise cheap copy with no luck until happening upon one last night. FileMaker charges $540 for an individual, full version of the program and $200 for an upgrade. I'm using version 13 and the latest version is 17 and you can't skip over two versions, so I would need to buy versions 15 and 16 or 17 if I bought the upgrade versions for $400. I couldn't believe it when I found a full version of 17, the current version for only $85 online. I had to ask a lot of questions of the seller before I was convinced it wasn't a scam, but I am now the happy owner of the latest version at an incredibly low price. Yahoooo! Finally, I have my memory back. Several times lately, I've spent an hour or two looking for something I could have simply looked up in my FileMaker database and gone right to. I was getting antsy to get the program back up and running because the longer I go without it, the more outdated the database gets since I couldn't put new entries in as I acquired things, used them up, or moved them from one location to another.

Saturday, 11 May - Here's why I need my FileMaker database. After having ordered and purchased two raw water impellers from West Marine and having to wait for a week for them to arrive, and after finally getting my new FileMaker Pro application installed yesterday, I discovered that I already had two spares in floor compartment three. I discovered it when I started to add the new spare into the database. I could have saved enough money to buy the new version of FileMaker. C'est la vie!

Sunday, 12 May - Obviously, there are plenty of things to do here onboard Island Time, but I felt like getting off, oops!, off the boat, that is, so I announced that, if anyone wanted to kayak the mangroves in Boot Key, I'd be glad to lead a trip. I immediately got a call back from Reuel and Pat Sample on S/V September Winds. We left the boat shortly after noon and had a great time.

Monday, 13 May - I spent most of the day today playing catch up on my database. I entered new things that I've acquired since I lost its use, removed or changed the quantities of items I've used, and changed the location of things I've moved; plus I had to put some things away that I'd been stacking on the galley table while waiting to upgrade the database, too. Later, I launched the dinghy to join Bob Wamble of S/V Windago for dinner, and when I pulled on the rope to start the engine, the rope broke, making me a couple of minutes late since I had to row the dinghy to shore.

Tuesday, 14 May - I replaced the pull cord on the outboard motor this morning, then, Catherine McCole on S/V Sweet Pea called me at 11:30 am. She drove me in her car to the other end of the island to the Chamber of Commerce visitor's center to pick up flyers for me to stuff into the Cruiser's Bags for boaters new to the area. She had picked up some last week, but not near enough. We got considerably more this time so she won't have to make as many trips. Back at the marina, I organized them, stuffed a few bags, and took them to the check-in counter so they can be handed out.

Wednesday, 15 May - I'm still waiting for notice that my fuses have come in for the starter battery circuit. I defrosted the freezer/refrigerator again today. In this warm weather, although it has to be done more frequently, it defrosts quicker, too. I went to the library at 5:30 to see the original "Magnificent Seven" and met Sharon and Larry of the S/V Spirit of the Wind, newcomers to the harbor, and we walked over to the Overseas Pub for dinner after the movie. Sharron is very interested in a trip through the kayak trails in Boot Key, so maybe there's another trip through in my future, too. I always enjoy it.

Thursday, 16 May - I need to clean the hull of the boat, but the next three days are predicted to have rain showers off and on each day, so I guess I can put that off a little longer. I don't want to get the auxiliary generator or air compressor wet. I woke up about 5:30 this morning to a pretty good rain, I got up and noticed a bit of water on the cockpit grates, which shouldn't be there. The starboard pocket on the bimini top was overflowing, not draining into the filtration system as it should, so I checked out the filter. I pulled it out of the boat's deck water inlet to the tank and it "burped." By that I mean air rushed out of the tank. Apparently, there was no way for air to bleed out of the tank as it filled with water, so pressure had built up, not allowing any more water in through the water catchment system. I drilled a quarter inch hole in the last inlet tube and that should alleviate that problem. The system caught about 40 gallons of water last night. That's the most I've ever caught at once. I had been about to have to haul water from shore because I was running low, but with two more days of off and on rain, I can wait a while for that, too.

Ok, time to get this posted.

            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