Tuesday, 2 July 2019 - I cleaned the hull of the boat and cleaned out the through-hulls on Island Time today, then rinsed the dive gear and tools and will let them dry overnight before putting things away.

Wednesday, 3 July 2019 - I picked up the printed circuit board for the mast-top wind transducer at the post office today, then returned to the boat and put away all the dive gear and hull cleaning equipment. Later, I went to see a movie at the library and to the Hurricane Bar & Grill for dinner and music. While at the Hurricane I also made contact with the owner to sell them advertising space on the bags that we'll distribute to the new arrivals to the harbor for the next year.

Thursday, the 4th of July - Independence Day - I put away all the dive gear this morning, then headed to West Marine to buy 50 feet of 3/4 inch twisted nylon rope to make a snubber for the boat. A snubber is merely a line inserted part way up an anchor chain to soften the shock on the bowsprit and cleat that holds the chain as the chain constantly tightens as the bow yaws and pitches due to wave action. Without a snubber the hardware can really take a pounding since the chain can't stretch. The nylon line stretches quite a bit and absorbs all that energy. I also wanted to buy a new stainless steel chain hook to install on the snubber, but they didn't have one in stock, so I ordered one for delivery next week...I hope.

Friday, 5 July - Most of today was spent making two eye splices in the 3/4 inch rope I bought yesterday for the snubber for the boat. On the end that will attach to the anchor chain, I made a tight splice around a stainless steel thimble that will keep the rope from waring through as the boat moves in the water with the wind, waves, and current. That end will have a chain hook and shackle attached to it. On the other end, I made a large eye splice so that it can be quickly attached to a cleat on deck. Right after lunch I dinghies over to S/V Hot For Teacher. The owner of that boat is a software specialist and has said he'll take my database and convert it into an app, which will keep me from having to rely on and renew FileMaker each time they come out with another new version as I have in the past. I'm curious to see how what will work out. If it is successful, it could save me a lot of money in the long run.

Saturday, 6 July - Last Sunday we had a meeting for the Boot Key Harbor Cruiser's Net Controllers to organize some activities in the harbor. The net controllers are simply moderators for the morning VHF radio program that we use to keep people informed and try to build a better community here. As far as I can tell, our Cruiser's Net is one of the most active and most well known in the nation, but we still have vacancies to fill when our controllers sail away, especially in the summers when so many sail north to their summer homes. I volunteered to fill the Sunday slot, but was asked to fill in for one of the other moderators at the last minute this morning because he was having radio problems. It's pretty hard to be the moderator when your radio isn't working. Filling in today means I get to do it two days in a row. It's pretty fun, not much work, and it's a great way to get people to know you...or at least your voice.

Sunday, 7 July - Just before running the Cruiser's Net this morning I called Tom Krueger to see if he would belay or tail a line on a winch for me so I could climb my mast today and he agreed. I had to go up twice, once to retrieve the wind transducer so I could install the new printed circuit board and the second time to remount the unit. He came over after the net about 10:30 and by the time we finished, it was lunchtime, so I took him to lunch at the Overseas Pub and Grill.
                    This evening I watched a movie on my laptop called "Appaloosa" that, during the credits, I noticed was, at least in part, shot on the ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, to which my dad left college to be a cowboy. He had found a fantastic example of a Tewa Indian stone axe on the ranch and had kept it all his life. On my way to look for a boat, I visited the ranch, the San Cristóbal, to return the axe to where it originated, but the foreman convinced me that the axe would be better off at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico where many people might get to see it since the ranch gets almost no visitors. I took it there and talked to the curator. She showed me the other axes they had, almost 200 of them, and we both agreed that the one we had was the most perfect specimen of the bunch. She postulated that ours was so well formed and had such a nice polished finish compared to the others, that it was quite likely used for ceremonial purposes. Here is a link to more information and some photos of the axe.

Monday, 8 July - I had intended to go up the mast again today, but lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and it rained here almost all day; not heavy all day, but I think this was the rainiest day I've seen since I got here. I used the time to catch up on some reading. I also got to spend some time on the phone with my long-time good friend and roommate, Tom Vance, who lives in California and now has six grandkids. It was great to hear from him.

Tuesday, 9 July - With the help, once again from Tom Krueger, I headed up the mast and ran the test on the wind vane and it seems to be working just fine now. While there, I also plugged a hole that was in the masthead that, although only about 3/8" in diameter, was surely letting in some water when it rained and the less water intrusion the boat has, the better.
                    Later, I headed to shore to check my mail for a package that I'm beginning to believe isn't going to show up. It was due about two weeks ago via the post office. As I looked around just before leaving, I surmised that, even though there were rain clouds about, I wouldn't get very wet and there was no need to close everything up on the boat. I closed the main hatch in the saloon and both companionway hatches, but didn't roll the windows on the dodger down and zip them. Needless to say, by the time I finished the five minute run to the marina, I was soaked. No mail. Luckily, there wasn't much wind with the rain and it was about 84°F., so I stayed quite warm. With the humidity so high, however, I never did dry out even though I rode the bike a couple of miles after the 20 minute downpour. Again, luckily, I don't melt, dissolve, or rust.

Wednesday, 10 July - I spent a couple more hours today on the phone with my internet service provider trying, once again, to figure out why I can't send mail with my iPhone. No luck there. West Marine called today to let me know that the chain hook that I'd ordered was in so I headed over there to get it before the movie at the library started. I picked up the hook, but when I got to the library, they said, "No movie tonight because of the maintenance that was being done. I killed a little time, then headed over to the Hurricane for dinner. While headed that way, I got an invitation from Adam Bilik of the sailing vessel Tapestry to go sailing with him tomorrow. He grew up around sailboats and has raced a lot too, so I'm sure there's a lot to learn from him.

Thursday, 11 July - Up early to go sailing with Adam and his friend, Erick. Unfortunately, it was a bit rough out there today and Erick got seasick early on. He spent a couple of hours down below trying to quell his stomach to no avail. Adam finally had mercy on him and we headed back. We got back just in time to run into another squall just as we needed to pick up the lines on the mooring ball, but with three of us, it went easily anyway.
                    Back on Island Time, I read through some emails that my ISP sent me and tried various email settings, many of which I am sure I tried previously and finally got one of them to work to be able to send mail from my phone again.

Friday, 12 July - The "fix" that I did yesterday to enable my email apparently only worked once. This morning I was right back to square one, so I fooled with it for several more hours today. I even went so far as to delete the mail program, download it again, and reinstall it. After several more tries and after having to reset all the parameters in the program, I got it working again and have sent several emails out now and gotten them back. Maybe it will stick this time.

Saturday, 13 July - At ten this morning there was a meeting of the harbor cruisers and representatives of NOAA, the sheriffs office, the Coast Guard and others at the marina to discuss preparations for this year's hurricane season. This year, as in previous year's meetings, it was very informative and a good reminder of how vulnerable we are and that we should already be preparing and making plans in case a hurricane visits us again.
                    This evening we had what was supposed to be a harbor wide pot luck dinner, but it wasn't very well attended.

Sunday, 14 July - I had a pretty good turnout on the Cruiser's Net this morning where I was the net controller or moderator. During the summer slow season the net frequently lasts less than thirty minutes and sometimes as few as ten. Sundays do typically last a little longer because many of the people that do work, don't have to work on Sundays. We went almost an hour today. I was beginning to think it would be short because we had no new arrivals or any boats leaving the harbor. Nor did we have anyone that had any thing to say in our "Comments, Questions, or People Needing Help" section, which is pretty rare. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if my radio was broadcasting properly. Just as I was about to ask for a radio check, someone came in on the "Buy, Sell, Trade, Give Away or Lost and Found" section, and it really picked up with some good questions and guesses for our Trivia section.
                    Odie O'Donoghou had needed help with some information about his 15 horsepower Yamaha the other day so I've been trying to reach him via phone, VHF, and email because I have that information, but couldn't make contact. He finally got on the radio again this morning and I made arrangements to meet him for lunch at noon. We had lunch at the Hurricane, then sat and talked for almost four more hours.

Monday, 15 July - It was hot, muggy and threatening to rain on us every once in awhile today, so I went to the library for a bit, then went to dinner and drinks with Adam from S/V Tapestry at the Hurricane.

Tuesday, 16 July - I don't know how I can lose anything in this small space, but I certainly have misplaced a cheap little vernier caliper that I use frequently. I looked for it for a couple of hours today to no avail. After giving up on the search, I cleaned the bottom of the dinghy as it hung from the davits. I can just reach all of the bottom of it by hanging onto a rope tied to the aft pushpit and leaning way out over the back end of the swim platform; holding on with one hand and scraping with the other.

Wednesday, 17 July - I took Island Time out sailing today and invited Adam Bilik out with me. He was very helpful in assisting me recalibrate my auto pilot. There are so many steps involved that I usually lose track while trying to read, find the right button on the right menu, etc., and fail the calibration. Calibration involves making two very slow 360 degree turns, then setting the autopilot to take over the steering and make about 8 or 10 turns to starboard and port while it learns how well the boat responds to the rudder. This time it went without a hitch.
                    We sailed out of the not so clean harbor water to beautiful turquoise water near the reef, and then on to the deep blue sea. It sure is pretty out there. Since there are still no lobster and crab pots, Adam was able to troll a fishing line, but because there was quite a bit of seaweed floating on the surface, he had no luck catching any fish. When we got back, we headed over to the Sunset Grill for a couple of cool drinks by their pool and a late lunch.

Thursday, 18 July - I used to have a pothos ivy onboard Island Time that Mother got about the time I was born, but hurricane Irma just got too much saltwater on it and it perished in the storm. I also had an aloe vera plant. Since it apparently absorbs water more slowly, it survived Irma and, in fact, recovered so well that I needed to get rid of some of it. The pot I had it in was also too big for the spot I keep it in, so today, I took it to the Cruiser's Garden at the marina and traded my many aloe plants for merely one in a smaller pot. While ashore, I paid for another month on a mooring ball, then returned to the boat and defrosted the freezer again. In the process, I also replaced one strip of the sealing insulation on the refrigerator's lid that seemed to be letting in warm, moist air.

Friday, 19 July - A fire onboard is a mariner's worst nightmare so I have plenty of fire extinguishers onboard. I have two that are mounted inside flush-mounted cases, one in the engine room, one mounted by the companionway to the saloon, and today I mounted three more. I've had three that hadn't been mounted, so I did that today; two that had been sitting on the floor by the refrigerator and one more that has been sitting on the floor in the aft cabin. Those three occasionally fell over when sailing or if they got kicked. Now, they are, if not totally out of the way but accessible, at least fixed to the bulkheads where they won't fall over and roll around on the floor.

Saturday, 20 July - It's the weekend and I just couldn't motivate myself to do much today. I did make a trip to the library, then visited with some of the other cruisers at the tiki hut for awhile, but that was about it.

Sunday, 21 July - I worked on the water maker again today briefly. I have now verified that the high pressure pump on it is getting electricity to it and that its clutch is engaging. I even got a trickle of water out of the sample spigot at the galley sink. One of the connectors at one end of the membrane tube sprang a leak. I can't imagine why, but the connector on the tubing at the exit end is made of plastic and has stripped. For that reason, I was afraid to turn the valve to increase the pressure, so that part of the testing will have to wait until I can find a replacement for that part. The only other reason that I can imagine for water not passing through the system is that the whole system has set too long without being used and is clogged with algae.
                    After working on that, I decided to fix the door latch to the forward shower. The spring in it hasn't been strong enough to keep the door from opening for awhile. When I took it apart, I realized that the spring wasn't installed right. I disassembled the door locks about a year ago to polish them and am sure that I put it back together right. The only reason that I can think of that it was in there wrong is that someone must have sneaked aboard Island Time while I was away or asleep, ignored all the valuable nuts, bolts, screws and other valuable trinkets I have laying around, and disassembled that lock, turned that spring around, put it back together quietly, and snuck out again. On the way out they must have taken my brass polishing cloth, too. I can't find that, either. Boy, if I ever figure out who it was I'll make them walk the plank!