Thursday, 18 June 2015 - This morning we installed a large awning that covers the whole forward section of the boat in front of the cockpit. That should keep the deck and, thus, the forepeak and saloon cooler when I'm anchored or in a marina. It has sides that can be lowered to two different levels, individually or together, depending on sun angle and wind conditions. After that, we finished up the bilge pump hose installation.
                  Around 5pm, Jerry Wheeler, the broker came by. Today is the cut-off for negotiations about the price of the boat and involving the items that need to be corrected or were suggestions made by the surveyor about items that are not working properly, but not necessarily needed, but that I want fixed. He and I went over to a 42 ft. catamaran to discuss what I wanted, then he went back over to Island Time to tell Rick George. I had asked them to accept $5000 less than our original number based on what Rick Shelley, the surveyor estimated for the value of the boat, and they turned me down. We all decided to call it a day.

Friday, 19 June - Jerry Wheeler called as I was headed out the door to go get things off the boat and said he'd suggest that I make another offer at $2500 more, a compromise that might be accepted and might let us both feel like we'd done better than previously. I agreed and he called Rick George. Rick agreed. Several things still need to be repaired, including o couple of important ones, so we'll continue the work while waiting for Jerry to prepare the paperwork. I returned to the boat and we finished installing the newly acquired anchor windlass switches and tested their operation, then measured the steering cables to order new ones. I got the paperwork, via email, signed it. then waited for Rick's copy. It didn't arrive 'til late in the afternoon, but he signed, so we have a deal. Rick's back is killing him, so we decided to take Saturday off.

Saturday, 20 June - I bought groceries, then went to the bank to get some cash. My phone rang and it was Gay George, Rick's wife, saying that they were going over to their storage shed and want to know if I'd like to go with them to be shown some of the items that will be included with the boat. Lots of backup items, sails, spare parts. etc. I met them at the usual parking area and we went and emptied their storage space, then headed back to my motorhome. Rick's back is really bothering him again, in spite of the fact that he got an epidural injection while they were in Tucson. We left the stuff in their van to unload tomorrow and they headed back to their apartment. They suggested that we sail the boat this week several days before they go visit some friends and relatives next week. We'll have to keep an eye on the diesel leak. There is a drip pan installed that will keep small amounts out of the bilge water, but we'll have to make sure it doesn't overflow into the bilge. I took advantage of the rest of the afternoon by cleaning up and rearranging my trailer to store some of this stuff to keep it out of the way while we work on the boat.
                  Jose Garcia, the new owner of our house, called to ask some questions about operating the pool. Apparently, he's just getting around to opening the pool and has let the chlorine level get way to low for way too long, so the water is so opaque that he couldn't see the plugs that seal off the water inlet pipes, so of course, he hadn't removed those plugs.when he turns on the pumps, nothing happens. He said he ran the pumps for 30 minutes, but could see no water moving. I hope he hasn't ruined the pumps by letting them run dry.

Sunday, 21 June - Gay called at about 7:30am and said that she was headed over, but I didn't have my phone on, so I called her about 8:15 to tell her I'd head over to the boat as soon as I could. She was without Rick, because she couldn't sleep in, but he could. She started unloading and had the three spare sails unloaded, along with some other things. We went ahead and unloaded everything that was going directly onto the boat, then took everything else over and put it in my trailer. I keep waiting to see the cargo hold than I am going to put all this stuff, and mine, into. I don't think it exists. Just as we finished at the trailer and returned to the boat, Rick George arrived and he and I started working on replacing the salt water intake hose for cooling the engine. Rick and I started on that about noon and Gay went home. Rick and I went to West Marine to buy the 1 1/2" hose that we needed, then returned to the boat. I got down in the engine room and started installing the hose. We had measured the hose and the lower connection that it went on. The upper connection was near and facing a corner, so I knew it wouldn't be easy to get it back on. It slid right on and I thought, "My God, can't it be that easy. I started tightening the hose clamps and tightened, and tightened. "Something's wrong," I said. Sure enough, the upper connector was 1 1/4", not 1 1/2". What had been on there to begin with was improper. Now we had a whole new situation on our hands. Two sizes of hose were needed and a step-down L. Even though the pieces could be simple ABS connectors, Home Depot and Lowes didn't have the L we needed. Ace Hardware was closed; it's Sunday. We decided to go with a regular 1 1/2" L and then a straight step-down connector. About 7:00pm we called it a day. We'll finish it in about an hour tomorrow and go sailing.

Monday, 22 June - At 8:15am Rick and Gay called. They were on their way to Ace Hardware and would be at the boat in about 30-45 minutes. I went to the boat, but since I'm locked out, all I could do was use the time to familiarize myself with some of the rigging, etc. I think it would take about 5 minutes or more to deploy the man overboard pole. Not good. They arrived about 10:00 and Gay went to work putting things away and Rick and I picked up where we left off yesterday. HOwEVER, even though I got most of it installed it the tight quarters, I couldn't force the last piece together down in the engine room in cramped and awkward positions. Plan B - take it all out and start over by pre-assembling the whole thing and screwing it in at the first connection. I got it out, we started reassembly, but realized that we couldn't rotate the first connector in the hose. After lots of grinding and sanding of the ridges on the connector and testing 3 different lubricants, replacing and refitting a couple of the other sections, we finally felt this could be done. It went right in. FINALY!!! So, our two hour job only took two half days. We went to lunch, then came back and removed some equipment and hoses from the engine room that are not being used anymore, and then labeled quite a few items so I'll know what they are later when Rick isn't around. Maybe we'll get some wind tomorrow and get in some sailing.

Tuesday, 23 June - My first real day of getting out to sail the boat with Rick and Gay George. Rick is a very good instructor for me. He is good at telling me not only how things need to be done, but why.
                  First, Rick took us out of the slip and into the middle of the Manatee River, then I took the helm. We motored out the Manatee about 6.5 miles, which all along here looks more like a bay than a river, so I could familiarize myself with running the engine, the steering, auto pilot, and get used to where to look when I need to know my speed through the water, the apparent wind speed and direction, engine speed, course, engine temperature, oil pressure, etc., and to learn how to navigate through some of the many computer screens of the Garmin Chart Plotter. Next, upon reaching some more open water, Rick taught me how to drop, set, and raise the anchor with the electric windlass. We set there for awhile enjoying the open water and light, but cool breeze, then, when the wind picked up a little, we weighed anchor, and set the mainsail, genoa, and jib for the return down wind back to the marina. Winds were still pretty light, so we enjoyed ghosting along at about 2.5 kt. We got about halfway back and I spotted a buoy that the Bradenton Yacht Club uses for their races, so we dropped sails in order for me to get some practice approaching and stopping at a stationary object like a mooring buoy or dock. I made several approaches, both in forward and in reverse. Some were not too bad, others were not too good. I think I got worse the more I practiced. I believe some of the hardest things to get used to about the boat are how slow it is to respond, especially at low speed, and how far it takes to stop a 38,000 lb. vessel, but I'll get it, eventually. Before I crush a wharf, I hope! I guess she's on "Island Time."
                  I also hope we get more wind tomorrow.

            Until next time,
                        Dream BIG, or Live Bored.

                                          Rick