Friday, 1 July 2022 - I ran the Cruiser's Net this morning on the VHF before going to play pickleball. This afternoon I tried, once again, to find boat insurance. I don't remember how many insurance companies I have contacted, but have been disqualified for some of the most amazing, to me, reasons. My boat is too long (over 35 feet), too old (built in 1977, even though boats built then were built much sturdier, especially the CSYs), I can't find a local surveyor certified by NAMS OR SAMS, I have the boat in Florida, and most astonishing to me, I'm a live aboard, which means I'm aboard daily to detect problems with the boat. One of the biggest reasons that boats sink at the dock is because some minor leak at a through hull slowly fills the boat and there's no one there to detect and stop it.

Saturday, 2 July - Susie and I had breakfast at The Wooden Spoon this morning then returned to her house so we could observe work being done on her seawall and patio. They seem to have made good progress and were working today but cleaned up around two o'clock and won't return until Tuesday because of the holiday. Dinner with Phil and Carol Vachon at Havana Jack's in Key Colony Beach listening to the Tye Thurman Band; Tye, Bob De La Torre, and Bob Jaeger.

Sunday, 3 July - Breakfast with Susie at The Wooden Spoon then back to the boat to get things arranged for sailing tomorrow while Susie worked at the consignment store. Later, dinner and dancing at Dockside's Open Mic Night.

Monday, July 4th - Independence Day - Susie met me at the dock and I brought her to the boat for some sailing. We got a late start, partly because of a zipper that I had to put back together on my ATN Genoa Sleeve that took over 30 minutes to repair. It was nice sailing today with about 12 to 15 kt. winds and only about 3 foot waves with blue skies. We got back around 5:30, cleaned up at her house, went to dinner at Faro Blanco, then watched the 4th of July fireworks that were being launched at Sombrero Beach from the patio at the city marina.

Tuesday, 5 July - I took Island Time back over to Marathon Boatyard at 10:30 and they lifted her with their marine lift, pressure washed the hull and rudder, and let the boat hang in the slings of the marine crane during their lunch hour so the surveyor could inspect her for insurance purposes. The surveyor inspected the hull visually, beat on the hull with a mallet to listen for "dead" spaces that might indicate water intrusion in the hull or rudder, and used a moisture detector to find intrusion of water into the fiberglass. Only minor problems were detected; nothing to worry about. When he finished, they put the boat back in the water and I headed back to my mooring ball. When I got back and moored again, I called the surveyor who was already at the marina, then went and picked him up to bring him out to the boat to finish his inspection of the deck, interior, machinery, instruments, and safety equipment. I'll have to wait for his report to be written up, but certainly don't expect any major problems. We didn't have to take the boat out for a sea trial so he didn't detect the problem with the auto pilot.

Wednesday, 6 July - I got turned down by another insurance company today and, although I thought being a live aboard was a truly bogus excuse, todays excuse really takes the cake. "All the windmills in Texas froze last winter and it cost us billions, so we're not insuring any boats in Florida now." What? How does that make any sense? Stop insuring windmills in Texas!

Thursday, 7 July - After pickleball today I bled and replenished the fluid in the auto helm's hydraulic system but it is still not operating properly. When engaged, it causes the steering wheel to bounce back and forth nonstop until I disengage it and when I was sailing on Monday when I engaged it, it put the boat into a turn instead of holding its heading.

Friday, 8 July - I hosted the Cruiser's Net this morning then headed off to pickleball. This afternoon I started reading the insurance policy that I intend to sign up for, but didn't finish, then made contact with the maker of the auto helm that I have on the boat about the problem I have. I had also hoped to receive the surveyor's report today so I could initiate the insurance policy, but did not. My current policy expires on Sunday. Later, at Dockside, Susie, I, and for that matter, everyone at the bar were reminded of all the weird people you might come across. There was a tall, slender, very attractive girl there that kept making very high pitched, loud wolf-like howls throughout the evening. The only reason I can imagine she was doing it was to get attention, however, I think she would have had no trouble at all getting someone to dance with her if she hadn't been making that horrible noise during the music.

Saturday, 9 July - Susie made us wonderful blindfolded eggs, toast, and fresh fruit for breakfast then we simply relaxed throughout the day. We met Phil and Carol Vachon for dinner and dancing to the Tye Thurman Band with Bob Jaeger and Bongo Bob De La Torre at Havana Jack's. It's a beautiful venue and we all like Tye's choice of music.

Sunday, 10 July - I read some more of the insurance policy, sent an email to the manufacturers of the auto pilot, Octopus, detailing what is occurring with the unit, and ordered a couple of items on Amazon.com. My Facebook account got hacked today and I think all my "Friends" in the account were notified that I died in an accident today. Later, Susie and I met Phil and Carol at Dockside. They had all eaten before arriving but I had not, so I had dinner there.

Monday, 11 July - I played pickleball this morning, as usual and hoped to get the surveyor's report today, but did not. I finished reading the insurance policy and, although there are some aspects about it that I don't like, there's nothing I can do about it.

Tuesday, 12 July - Pickleball again today, then I checked my mail at the marina to see if my replacement Discover Card had arrived. They cancelled the old one when I realized that an unauthorized transaction had appeared on my account because someone in California bought ninety seven dollars worth of groceries there. They FedEx'd me a new card. I did get the surveyor's report today and I was a bit disappointed in the valuation of my boat. There were no significant problems discovered during the inspection and I've seen numerous CSYs and would consider mine to be in better condition than most. The surveyor says my boat's worth about $65,000 but would cost approximately $425,000 to replace it with a new boat of similar type. There is a problem with that. They don't make new boats nearly as robust as the old CSYs. Everything about my boat is overbuilt and stronger than the new boats. Heavier, but sturdier.
                    The Boot Key Bridge, or "Bridge to Nowhere", as we call it was closed to all traffic today so no one could leave the harbor through it. It's been closed to auto traffic ever since I've been here and the middle, or bascule, section is missing, but they cordoned of the area around it today so the last car to ever traverse it could do so. Travis Pastrano, a famous motorcycle, auto racer and stunt driver sponsored by Red Bull jumped over a helicopter hovering in the gap. He did it twice so they could get more video footage so the bridge was closed for most of the day.
                    Susie and I met Phil and Carol Vachon and Karen and Ron Butler for dinner at Dockside and Karen brought cupcakes and candles to celebrate Susie's birthday.

Wednesday, 13 July - Susie had a very minor surgery today to remove a cyst on the back of her right shoulder. The incision is longer than either of us think it should be but there's nothing we can do about it.

Thursday, 14 July - We had a couple of ladies from out of town join us for pickleball today. One of them was very good. This afternoon I re-adhered the oarlocks on the inflatable dinghy. Rubber dinghies don't row worth a darned because, being soft, much of the effort in pulling on the oars is wasted as the tube compresses, but it's better to have the ability to row if I run out of gas or have engine problems, than to just drift away.

Friday, 15 July - Friday is my day to host the Cruiser's Net on the VHF radio so I was, of course, going to be quite late for pickleball. It rained during my broadcast so I wasn't sure how many, if any, players would show up. As soon as I got off the radio I called Phil Vachon to see if anyone had shown up. He said yes and that they almost had the court dried off. Now this should tell you how dedicated, or should I say addicted, we are. We played about 30 minutes and it started raining again pretty hard. Nobody wanted to leave the court and we all got drenched through and through. We even finished the game and another after that. It was pretty funny; the water got so deep on the court that the balls wouldn't bounce. They just hit the ground and rolled, cushioned by the water. We were splashing around like a bunch of little kids, laughing at every missed "non-bouncing" ball that was missed.

Saturday, 16 July - The seawall repairmen working at Susie's seem to be making good progress. They've worked the last two Saturdays, but not today. They've poured the concrete and now have to tie the dock back into the wall, set some replacement tile, and put her wood fence on the north side of the patio and the steel fence along the waterside edge of the patio that separates the dock from the patio.

Sunday, 17 July - Back on the boat this morning while Susie worked at the "consignment" shop, I ran a test on the Fluxgate compass that was suggested by Raymarine support. The compass appears to have passed with flying colors so now I've got to figure out what else might be wrong. I met Susie, Phil, and Carol for musical entertainment this evening.

Monday, 18 July - As usual, it was hot on the pickleball court this morning. Right after pickleball Phil helped me take one of my 20 lb. propane tanks a couple of blocks to be refilled by putting it in the cart behind his bicycle. The refills have gone up from $25 to $30 since I last filled the tanks. Both of my tanks were empty, but I was convinced that one was leaking a tiny bit so I didn't refill it today. Upon returning to the boat I spent considerable time using very soapy water to discover where the leak is, but couldn't, so I guess it's not the tank itself. After that I defrosted the freezer and put more refrigerant in the cooling system because I can't find the leak in it either.

Tuesday, 19 July - We had 7 players at pickleball this morning. I took my second 20 lb. propane tank with me to the park this morning then walked the block to Third Generation Plumbing to fill the tank when pickleball was over. I retested the tank with soapy water back at the boat then put it back in the propane locker. This evening I met Susie at Dockside, but the entertainment wasn't very good, so we left early.

Wednesday, 20 July - Just as I arrived back at the boat from Susie's, I got a phone call from on of the girls from pickleball. Her kayak had drifted away and she needed help to go find it. Fortunately, Phil, whose boat is only two mooring balls away had seen it drifting and snagged it and tied it to his boat. We had eight players show up for pickleball this morning. I played very poorly today. Most people have a hard time returning my serves but my play, in general, is very inconsistent.

Thursday, 21 July - After pickleball today I returned to Island Time and cut up three pair of recently ruined shorts for rags and removed the zipper pulls and velcro patches for future repairs. I also inventoried and entered the eight winches that I have on the boat into my database. I was writing notes on a scrap of paper on each one as I inventoried them and when I finished, I set the piece of paper down on the bimini top to replace the winch handle to its holder and the paper blew away so I had to start again. Aarg! At 7 o'clock I met Susie at Dockside to listen to "Lung", a duo, the girl from France and the guy from Britain. Because of the name, I had low expectations, but they were pretty good. They've traveled through 20 states performing, most recently from Utah.

Friday, 22 July - I controlled the Cruiser's Net this morning then headed to pickleball at the city park next to the marina.

Saturday, 23 July - We closed up hurricane windows at Susie's today in preparation for her departure on Monday or Tuesday. We had dinner at Fishtales, the evening entertainment at Havana Jack's with Phil and Carol Vachon listening to Ty, BoB, and Bob.

Sunday, 24 July - Susie and I had breakfast at the Island Fish Company near Susie's, returned to the house and went sunbathing in Susie's canal with fancy floats that I got her for her birthday. Susie cooked big, thick steaks for dinner, then we went to listen to Popeye and others at Dockside in the evening.

Monday, 25 July - My laptop's battery that I replaced less than two years ago is fading fast. It takes about 30 minutes to charge and 45 minutes to discharge. The original lasted 5 years. I ordered one from Amazon today and hope to install it when their "2 day Prime delivery" arrives on Thursday.

Tuesday, 26 July - I'm pretty disappointed in the valuation the surveyor came up with for Island Time. I know every boater thinks his boat is more valuable than it is, but today I started looking through the survey item by item and realized that there are several omissions and mistakes that should change the report. Among other things, he only listed one refrigeration system, whereas I actually have two. He left out a custom table that attaches to the binnacle that cost $4000 dollars and upgrades to the interior woodwork. He also left out my spinnaker worth at least $2000. I'm making notes in the survey and will contact the surveyor when I finish. Since Susie left for Ohio again this morning I skipped going to Dockside this evening.

Wednesday, 27 July - Our pickleball players are down to about 8 hard core addicts like myself. Occasionally we get 8 if we all happen to show up at once, sometimes only 4. I spent all afternoon again correcting the survey. In the process, I found out how little I know about the engine driven Sea Frost refrigeration system. It has, so far, run so perfectly that I've never had to fool with it. Simply turn it on and it works, but I needed to know what model it is for the survey. I have an owner's manual for it, but in looking at it, I realized mine doesn't look the same. I contacted the manufacturer and sent them photos. From the photos they determined that the condenser is mounted upside down, although that doesn't matter, and that there is another component that I hadn't photographed, the RFD (Receiver, Filter, Drier). I've had the boat over 6 years now and hadn't ever noticed the RFD tucked away up under some of the wiring and hoses. It is hard to see and has a sight glass on it. The upside down condenser also has a sacrificial pencil zinc on it that should be replaced occasionally. Since I was never told about it, I wonder if the previous owner even new about it and it is obviously WAY overdue. There's no way there can be any zinc left in it. The process of reviewing the survey also made me realize that I should have been entering many items into my database that I haven't already done, so that took quite a bit of time, too, items like the man overboard pole, Life Sling, winches, windlass, stove and oven, refrigeration, permanently mounted fans, fire extinguishers, BBQ, and others.

Thursday, 28 July - Six players showed up for pickleball today. I returned to the boat and waited for the postman to deliver the mail that is supposed to contain my new laptop battery that I ordered Monday with "two day Prime delivery" and was to come today. The tracking showed that it was loaded on the truck at 7 this morning but it must still be on the truck. It wasn't delivered today. The old battery is swelling a little bit more each day so I can't wait much longer for it to arrive. I contacted the marine surveyor today and arranged to meet him at 10am Monday morning to go over the survey with him.

Friday, 29 July - I ran the Cruiser's Net again this morning, arrived at pickleball about an hour late, then played pickleball for an hour. I swung by the marina and picked up the battery for my laptop, then returned to the boat, installed it and put the charger on it. I had planned on taking the awning for the boat to shore to replace a grommet with a ring and strapping, but unrolled the awning and realized I've already had that done.

Saturday, 30 July - Since I plan on buying groceries tomorrow, I defrosted the freezer to melt the ice buildup and make room for new groceries. I joined Carol and Phil Vachon in a ride to Havana Jacks to listen to Ty, Bob, and Bob and to have a few drinks. We took a taxi there and back.

Sunday, 31 July - I set a new record grocery shopping today. I spent $236 for groceries. Stowed groceries, then went to Dockside for dinner. I got there and the place was pretty full but I did get a table. Before I even sat down, Lisa, Slim Jim, and a visiting friend of Lisa's asked to join me. I knew that Phil and Carol would be coming too, but I said yes and we made room when they arrived. Eventually, people at nearby tables left and we pulled three tables together for our soon to be group of eight people.

Monday, 1 August - No Pickleball because I met with my surveyor to discuss omissions I had found in the survey. He agreed to retype the survey and get it to me by the end of the week.
                    Next I made a trip to Home Depot to buy 12 each of 1/4" bolts, fender washers, and nuts for the seat I'm modifying, then I went to the project room at the marina and cut the plywood for the seat so I can sit at the helm when sailing. My cockpit is so deep that while sitting behind the wheel, I can't see over the foredeck. This portable and collapsible seat will make that possible instead of having to stand all the time I'm at the helm. I was going to use the drill press to drill the holes, but someone has set the stops on the press, then when they reached the stop, kept cranking the handle until they broke the stop. This will make my two afternoon project three afternoons long.

Tuesday, 2 August - Pickleball in the morning, then I drilled holes for the seat I started to work on yesterday and bolted 3/4" plywood on, then cut foam for cushioning and non-slip padding for the seat. I finished that just in time to clean up and join Phil and Carol at Dockside.

Wednesday, 3 August - It's going to get harder to keep pickleball running. Players continue to sail away but we still had 6 players this morning. After playing, I returned to Island Time to finish gluing the cushions on the seat that I've modified. I realized that, over the last 2 1/2 years that I have announced pickleball over the net each day that I have missed one or two games per day because the net starts at 9 am and pickle ball starts at the same time, or earlier, that I have missed approximately 800 games. I wonder how much better I would be if I had played those games. It must be someone else's turn to announce the games on the net.
                    It sure is nice having a laptop battery that lasts all day instead of 30 minutes.

Thursday, 4 August - Only four made it to pickleball today. At 1 o'clock I picked Adam of S/V Tapestry in my dinghy and brought him to my boat to help me "swing the compass". Swinging the compass is a process of rotating the boat in two circles to let the compass calibrate itself. Doing circles is easy. The hard part is reading the multi-steps and pushing the right buttons on the auto helm without losing track of what step is next. Having someone to read the instructions as I enter the button sequence really helps. Adam hadn't eaten before we left so he wanted to stop at Burdine's for a burger. They have a fairly long dock but as we approached we discovered that someone was tied up right in the middle instead of leaving plenty of room for others. There was still just enough room if I parallel parked the boat. I slowly edged past the other boat then put the boat in reverse to stop. After that all we had to do was let the onshore breeze move us slowly sideways into the dock. Perfect! The swinging of the compass went well, but upon returning to the harbor I discovered that the fresh water pump was running dry and there was no water in the tank. I made three trips to the marina and got 150 gallons of water and will try to find the source of the problem tomorrow. There must be a broken line somewhere on the boat but the bilge doesn't look like the water went in there for the bilge pump to pump it out.

Friday, 5 August - There were only four of us at pickleball this morning, meaning we got no rest between games unless everyone rested together. We normally rotate in and out of games one or two at a time. It had rained just before we played too, so we had to squeegee the courts and that really raises the humidity level on the courts when the sun comes out. Whew! Hot! I spent the afternoon troubleshooting the disappearance of my onboard fresh water. I checked out filters, the pump, some of the lines, and finally turned on the pump and got down in the engine room. There I discovered that my hot water heater has ruptured and all the water had actually drained into the bilge, then pumped overboard. I shut off the ingress valve to the hot water heater and can now cook, drink, wash dishes and bathe again.

Saturday, 6 August - We were supposed to have our monthly nautical swap meet today but only three of us showed up and nothing was sold. At least I didn't spend more than I made this time. I returned to the boat and filled out another online proposal for boat insurance but have questions about some of the questions, or rather check boxes. The next to last statement is a verification that I have read and understood all the clauses of the policy, and I'm required to check the box. Of course, I haven't read it. It's not available until I submit this form and they okay my submission. Then they'll send me the policy after I've paid. The last checkbox is required, too. It states, "Check this box", but there's nothing to say what I'm okaying by doing so. I haven't submitted the form. I've got questions.
                    After dealing with that I went to West Marine to get a man overboard flag, two mooring lines, a replacement Life Sling rescue system, a throwable horseshoe life preserver, and a cone shaped day marker for the boat that the surveyor required me to get to qualify the boat as safe for use. West Marine had none of the items in stock.
                    I have a ball shaped day marker that signifies that my boat is at anchor when displayed on the mast but not a cone shape to signify that my sailboat is underway using sails and a motor at the same time. The only ones I see listed on Ebay, West Marine, or Amazon are $150 and there's only one person in the harbor that says they've ever used one. There are other day markers that are "required" including a diamond, a cylinder, but I've never seen one in use other than the anchor ball and that only once or twice. Another sailor in the harbor says that he's been sailing for over twenty years and never used, owned, or been asked by a surveyor if he has one. They may be required, but their use by non-commercial, small boats is almost unheard of and nonexistent. In fact, I bet most recreational boaters don't know they exist.

Sunday, 7 August - A fellow that has been trying to get with me for about a month came by today and bought a double cheek block that I've been trying to sell for about 5 years. I spent the afternoon trying to find some of the above items on eBay, West Marine's web site, and Amazon. I ordered the mooring lines from West Marine and put in a bid on Ebay for a LifeSling for up to $75 plus $25 shipping. They cost about $190 new. It's lightweight and shouldn't cost much to ship, but others want as much as $150 plus $100 shipping for a used one. Crazy.
                    It's a beautiful night out but there's just enough scattered showers to indicate it could rain, so I can't leave the hatches open overnight. I rarely can.

Monday, 8 August - Four showed up for pickleball this morning but got rained out after only one game. The rest of the day was spent trying to fill out PDFs for insurance an my laptop with no success.

Tuesday, 9 August - I got turned down by another marine insurer today. They are no longer insuring vessels over 40 feet. Then, I tried to print the paperwork for the one insurance company that I've found that will insure me...I think. Since I can't fill out the PFDs on my computer, I loaded the files onto a thumb drive and went to the marina to print it, but the printer only accepts SD Cards. The city library is only about two blocks away so I jumped on my bicycle and went there to get it printed. Their printer couldn't read my thumb drive, but the librarian assured me that if I would download Adobe Fill & Sign from the App Store, the app would let me fill out the forms. There was way too much typing to be done for me to do it on the phone so I downloaded a similar app for my laptop. That didn't work out either, so I loaded the files onto an SD card and will try again tomorrow.

Wednesday, 10 August - This afternoon I couldn't figure out how to make the "Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax Machine" at the marina print so I returned to the library and finally managed to get the PDFs for insurance printed out there and filled out by hand. After that I raised the dinghy on the davits and scraped barnacles and scum off all the hull that I could reach without reversing the dinghy on the davits. That's about 70%. I'll do the other side, hopefully, tomorrow.

Thursday, 11 August - At pickleball this morning we actually got rained out after one game. When it started sprinkling we got out our phones and looked at the radar and realized that the rain was going to last awhile, so we gave up. I returned to the boat and in the afternoon I finished scraping the dinghy's bottom. My throwable horseshoe's cover was totally disintegrating from sun exposure so I threw the whole thing away last week. That way it wouldn't show up on the survey as something that needed to be replaced soon but I ordered a used one on Ebay today for $40 + $28 shipping and $5 tax. Shipping is killing good deals.

Friday, 12 August - This week has been hot but breezy on the pickleball court except for yesterday, but today the wind quit and it got really hot on the court. Afterward, I stopped at the marina and was surprised to see that the mooring lines that I ordered last week had already arrived. I returned to the boat and cleaned the rest of the barnacles and grunge off the bottom of the dinghy then started looking for the short sections of firehose that I have onboard to use as chaffing gear on the new lines. If I'd already installed it, I wouldn't have had to buy new lines. Both my mind and my database failed me on this one. I know I have the firehose onboard but can't find it at all. I've searched all but one place at least twice. That one place is where I've finally stowed it after having it in the wrong place, but where I knew where it was, for years...and I didn't make the entry into the database.
                    I'm really tired of dealing with the insurance for the boat. I'm already out $1200 for the survey, the insurance will cost $4000, there's a $11,000 deductible and $22,000 deductible if damage is caused by a "named" storm, meaning that if the boat sank or was "totaled", I would be paying about half of its value myself, so I called my insurance broker today and told him all I want is liability insurance. We'll see how much that will be next week.

Saturday, 13 August - Phil, Carol and I had planned on going to Havana Jack's this evening but the leader of the band, Ty Thurman, has tested positive for Covid 19 so the band cancelled and so did we.

Sunday, 14 August - I raised my bid on Ebay for the LifeSling to $100 but still lost the bid. I'll find something else cheaper. I met Phil and Carol Vachon at Dockside for the evening's entertainment.

Monday, 15 August - We had a short term visiting tourist show up for pickleball this morning, making a total of six players. On the way back from the court I stopped off at the marina and paid my mooring fee for another month. My anchor light at the top of the mast hasn't been coming on lately. I wasn't sure if the bulb had burned out, if the photoelectric, dusk till dawn switch was bad, or just bad wiring, so this evening I rewired the system to remove the switch from the circuit. The light is fine and replacing the switch will be a lot easier than climbing the mast to replace the light.

Tuesday, 16 August - This evening the city park management and a lady that submits grant proposals to help the city get funding for parks projects had a meeting to get feedback about resurfacing the tennis, pickleball, and basketball courts. I don't think they promoted it very well. Someone in our group got wind of the meeting and five of us showed up to express our desires. Not including the park personel, there were a total of seven at the meeting and the other two gentlemen never said a word. Management sounded like they are willing to do all they can to get us more courts so that when the snowbirds from up north arrive this fall we'll have better facilities, but I'm sure nothing will happen until spring at best. They realize it is a very fast growing sport. The main thing that is keeping us from getting more space is the fact that the high school uses the tennis courts for lessons and competition occasionally.

Wednesday, 17 August - I've been on a buying spree lately and have ordered several items from Amazon and Ebay. A throwable horseshoe life preserver arrived today that I bought on Ebay. Unfortunately, it wasn't "as advertised". I knew it was used but it was supposed to be in near perfect condition. Either a D-ring or a strap had been torn off of it, rendering it unusable, so I called the seller and he agreed to pay for the return shipping. After thinking about it awhile I called him back and proposed that if he'll refund forty dollars to my account, I'll hand sew a strap on it and he won't have to lose the shipping or have to repost in for sale again. He agreed and I sewed a strap that I'd saved off an old life preserver onto it this afternoon. Win, win.

Thursday, 18 August - After pickleball this morning Phil and Carol Vachon invited me to go to Key Largo with them in their car to shop at a scuba shop and two marine consignment shops. They bough quite a bit of scuba gear and I struck out trying to find a man overboard flag for my man overboard pole, ten to 12 inch drogue for the overboard pole, and a LifeSling or LifeLink throwable life preserver and recovery system. Still, it was fun shopping and we stopped by Lorelai for a cool, refreshing drink on the way home.

Friday, 19 August - After pickleball today I tried to order a LifeSling Throwable Overboard Rescue System online through West Marine. I had checked for one at the local store last week, but they didn't have any. Since I couldn't find one at the stores yesterday I looked online today, then got an email from West Marine saying they are 25% off until August 22. Great! Only $142.50. That's cheaper than I expected to pay, including shipping, for one new or used. Online however, the discount code wouldn't register so I called their support line. The support fellow said that the LifeSlings weren't on sale even though I had him look at and read the email advertisement. I gave up on him and called the local store and talked to the manager. He assured me that they have three in stock and that if I come in tomorrow, I can pick one up and that, indeed, they are on sale. The LifeSling Company now belongs to West Marine.
                    I joined Phil and Carol at Dockside to listen to Popeye and the EasyStreet Band for the evening.

Saturday, 20 August - After having trouble ordering a online yesterday I went to West Marine and picked up the rescue system and mounted it on the aft rail. It's a shame to have to replace the old rig. The only thing wrong with it was that the nylon webbing had turned to dust, but to try to replace the webbing would be very time consuming. The flotation and line on the unit were fine. When mounting the unit was done I went to the marina and picked up two photoelectric switches that I ordered at the beginning of the week.

Sunday, 21 August - If I were to work for someone else on their boat, I would surely have to charge by the hour. It took me about 5 hours to replace the photoelectric switch today. Most of that time was spent trying to figure out the wiring. It would have probably taken an electrician about twenty minutes for the job. Oh well, I'm on Island Time, right? Later this evening I went out to see if the anchor light had come on and it had not. Even when I adjusted the sensitivity adjusting screw it failed to come on. I'll try again tomorrow.

Monday, 22 August - Today was the first day that we couldn't get as many as four players for pickleball so I started early to figure out why the anchor light won't come on. I unwrapped all the tape I had sealed it up with and ran some tests with my multimeters. Electricity was getting to the switch but it wasn't forwarding it on to the light so either the brand new switch was bad or there was a problem with the wiring, or both. I finally determined that the Chinese wiring diagram was incomplete. Luckily, I found a better diagram online and had to change all three wires. It runs the electricity in the opposite direction from its predecessor. It seems to be working now but since I can't actually see the light during daylight, I'll have to check it again at dusk while I can see the switch and the light. Yesterday a fellow had volunteered to come over and help me with the outboard motor but he never showed up.

Tuesday, 23 August - Tuesday is always pump-out day for me. The pump-out boat ties up beside Island Time on the mooring, opens a vent cap on the deck and literally vacuums the blackwater tank till it is empty. I decided to start on one of the books that my brother, Mike, sent me rather than going to Dockside tonight.

Wednesday, 24 August - I now have a NEW freshwater backup pump in case the current one in use fails. I realized recently that if that pump fails I would have no easy way to access my 200 gallons of fresh water that is stored onboard.

Thursday, 25 August - I spent most of today looking for tailboards, the fancy, carved decorations that are mounted under the anchor rollers at the bow, and chainplate drawings. All CSYs originally came with trailboards but in high seas when the bow dives into a wave, the waves can get behind them and the water pressure tends to blow them off. Mine were missing when I got the boat and I'd like to have them replaced. I have no idea how old the chainplates on my boat are. They may even be original although I doubt it. However, if one or more fails, the mast can come crashing down; a very expensive situation. There are drawings on the net for several different styles of plates. Mine are of the original, trapezoidal style on the inside of my hull and are hidden behind cabinets and teak stripping so they aren't visible. All the others are external to the hull, some rectangular and some round or oval shaped, but I like the internal, invisible, ones best.

Friday, 26 August - I re-rove dinghy davit block and tackle today so that the fall, the line you pull on, is pointed in the direction I'm pulling from better. That creates less friction because it isn't pulling on the side of the block, and I should have done it months ago. After that I defrosted the freezer.

Saturday, 27 August - The Berryman B-12 carburetor cleaner that I ordered earlier this week arrived today. I picked it up at the marina, returned to the boat in the dinghy and disassembled the Yamaha outboard carburetor and thoroughly soaked it in a pan with the cleaner then reassembled and remounted the carburetor. That done, I took the dinghy for a short ride and discovered...it ran no better than it had before. Back to the drawing board. Baffled once again.
                    Since Susie is still in Ohio I haver't been out much so I decided to have dinner and listen to Ty Thurman and his band at Havana Jack's in Key Colony Beach not to far from her house. While at Havana Jack's I realized that rather than taking a taxi back to the boat tonight I could walk to Susie's house, spend the night there, and clean up some of the mess that the contractors made an left when they finished her seawall, patio tile work, and dock on Sunday.

Sunday, 28 August - I got up an 8 am and started cleaning up the patio, moving plants, and, in general, putting things back in order. About four o'clock I realized that I needed more cord, string, or something of the sort than I could find it the house in order to the up some of the plants so they won't blow over in strong winds. I walked to the gas station/store two blocks away to see if they had some. No. I crossed the street to another. No. The storekeep there suggested NAPA Auto about a half mile away so I went there thinking I could probably buy 100 feet of parachute cord cheap. No para cord, but nice nylon 1/8" line for 43 cents a foot. Too expensive. I tried the bait shop next door. Nope. On the way back, I tried at a marina thinking they'd have a chandlery, but no. I ended up right across the street from Susie's at the ship's store at Spark'y Landing where they had 75 feet of terrible polypropylene line for way too much money, but I was out of options, so I bought it, went back and tied up the plants. By then it was 6 o'clock so I rested a few minutes, showered, and called a taxi to take me to the marina. I got in the dinghy, headed to Dockside to listen to their open mic night jam, have dinner, and meet Phil and Carol Vachon.

Monday, 29 August - In rained about 6:30 AM so there was doubt about playing pickleball this morning but the sky cleared, we squeegeed the court dry, and six pickleball addicts played until it got too hot to play any more. I ran into Diesel Don Schuler at the marina and asked him once again if he had any ideas on how to fix the Yamaha. I explained everything that I've done that hasn't worked and he said about all that's left is to check to see if the reed valves are possibly damaged. I'll try that, but not today.

Tuesday, 30 August - I took Diesel Don's advice today and removed and inspected the reed valves on the outboard today. They look perfect. Still baffled. Dockside for dinner with Phil, Carol, and the JibSea Cowboys.

Wednesday, 31 August - Susie's going to be back in town for a week starting Friday evening. Yay!