Sunday, 1 October - I had planned on ripping off a leaky patch on the dinghy and replacing it today but a 10 AM shower and more possibly on the way kept me from doing so. Instead, defrosted the freezer, then I opened up the Yamaha outboard and adjusted the idle speed up a bit. It has been dying on me as I throttle back to make an approach to the dock, meaning I have to coast in with little steerage control. While I was at that I replaced one of the lines on the lifting harness that the sun has deteriorated. This evening I'll be headed back to Dockside to meet Susie for some dancing.

Monday, 2 October - The weather was better this morning than I expected so I tore off the last leaking dinghy patch to replace in and wan surprised to see a 1/4" hole under it. I thought I'd find a scratch or abrasion spot. Maybe that's one put there by the previous owner. Anyway, that called for a different technique to patch. I cut a one inch circular patch, took a needle and ran a thread through the patch, applied glue to it and shoved it through the hole. I used the thread to pull the patch, now inside the tube, up against the inner wall of the tubing and let that set up for two hours before I applied a new 4" patch on the outside. Doug Boyle, one of my next door neighbors, came over in his canoe and borrowed a manual bilge pump from me, then returned it about an hour later.

Tuesday, 3 October - I added another patch, or rather, anti-abrasion pad, to the dinghy this morning. Where the painter comes across the bow it is starting to abrade the outer layer of the hypalon and I thought that this time I would get ahead of the game and patch it before it starts to leak. Earlier this season I installed an ATN Genoa Sleeve. It makes it impossible for the genoa to unfurl in high winds because it is literally a closed sleeve that slides over the sail while the sail is furled. It was well designed and serves that purpose well. However, we've had 15 to 25 mile per hour winds for the last three days and nights and that cover is not a tight fit over the sail. In the past I had wrapped the sleeve with the tail end of its halyard, but that wore holes in the sleeve. This time I tightened the built in lines that are supposed to tighten the bag, but there are still loose spots and they cause the whole genoa stay, furler, and all the associated rig to resonate and it shakes all the other rigging and even the boat, so this afternoon I removed it. The darned sleeve cost about $650 a couple of years ago but I'm afraid the vibration that it causes is going to prematurely wear out all the standing rigging on the whole boat, which would cost many times what the sleeve did.

Wednesday, 4 October - It's finally cooling down enough here that it's comfortable to work outside and to sit inside without but one fan blowing on me...and I didn't need a fan in my sleeping quarters last night, either. I covered two patches on the dinghy with another layer of vinyl today to keep the retaining strap that I use to keep the dinghy from swinging on the davits from rubbing and abrading the tube. I also inspected the "repair" that Eric Myrmel of Shoreline did to the joint where water is coming into the dinghy. Some of it is already coming off. All he had done was run a bead of some sort of silicone along the crease where the edge of the metal hull is attached to the hypalon and it didn't adhere well. No wonder it is still leaking. I think that may turn into a two or three day repair job, but I think I'll wait for more predictable weather to do it. The only thing I think I need to do on the dinghy for now is to re-adhere the port oarlock that is coming unglued.

Thursday, 5 October - A bit of early rain kept me from working on the dinghy today so I went to Publix and bought groceries, For me, buying groceries is just about the most frustrating and least enjoyable activity I engage in. The keep moving everything around so you'll shop longer and buy items you hadn't planned on, but it doesn't work for me. I shop longer, but when I can't find things, I leave without them, so I spend less. That, and they advertise "Buy One, Get One Free", but they're out of many of those items. It seems to me like they would be better off not playing games with their customers. I know I'd enjoy shopping more.

Friday, 6 October - Okay, today I tore off and reattached the port oarlock on the dinghy. One end of it was loose, but that was all. It wasn't easy to rip off with my hands. The problem, however, was that with the oars in place much more leverage was placed on the oarlock and I didn't want to, on the unusual occasion that I need them, suddenly find that it was unusable, and me stranded. Once I got it off, it was easy to clean up and reattach.

Saturday, 7 October - Each morning this week the Cruiser's Net has been promoting the monthly Nautical Flee Market on the first Saturday of the month, then, this morning, Erin, on M/V Wait & See suggested that we postpone till next month when more people are expected to attend. I think he should have suggested that at the first of the week so people could have made other arrangements or not turned down other opportunities so they could attend the swap meet today. It did, however, allow me extra time to defrost the freezer. It had about an inch and a half of frost since I defrosted Sunday. Susie and I went to dinner then attended the local playhouse's performance of "Rocky Horror Show."

Sunday, 8 October - Susie and I went out to West Sister Rock in my dinghy and met and floated around with several others for the afternoon.

Monday, 9 October - I completed several small projects on the boat and put away most of the gear that Susie and I took out to the island yesterday.

Tuesday, 10 October - This morning I reinstalled the small staysail that I had taken down prior to the last big wind we had the day my mainsail tried to come unfurled. Today I had to unwrap the two ends of the spare halyard that I had wrapped the mainsail in after that incident, install the staysail and then rewrap the main with the spare halyard to keep it from banging on the mast and/or unfurling again. I also unplugged a stopped up scupper on the port side of the deck and replaced a deck light on the aft. It had been very weak lately and I had replaced the rechargeable battery in it about a week ago, but that wasn't enough, so I just replaced the whole thing today. Later, Susie and I met at Dockside for some dancing.

Wednesday, 11 October - It rained pretty hard the other day and I noticed that an unusual amount of water was pouring out of the tops of the two rain catcher pockets at the corners of the bimini top. This morning I disassembled and cleaned the filter housing and replaced the filter.

Thursday, 12 October - I spent almost all day today organizing the photographs in my phone and laptop and I still didn't get but about halfway through them.

Friday, 13 October - I occupied myself going through more photos today and also trying to track down a posting that I'd seen on Facebook awhile back so I could answer some questions about sailing and post a link to my sailing page there so others can have access to it.

Saturday, 14 October - I opened the engine room and inspected and photographed the refrigeration lines for the third time. Although the refrigeration system is working, something just doesn't seem right and I can't figure out what it is. I rechecked the wiring and disconnected the water line for the cooling pump once again just to make sure the water was flowing well, which it is. I could find absolutely nothing wrong with the system, as usual. This afternoon I cleaned up all of the hex drive tips that I have. The markings on them have gotten so rusty that I couldn't tell what the sizes stamped into the were.

Sunday, 15 October - I got an early start defrosting the refrigeration today thinking I could move on to other projects. That didn't happen. As usual, I decided that I had one more idea that might cure the problem of too much moisture and frost in the freezer compartment. The usual one to one and a half defrosting session turned into at least four hours. I used up most of my aluminum foil refrigeration tape sealing the joints where the wood meets formica in tho freezer. Maybe that's where the moisture laden air is entering the system. Only time will tell. Since I had quite a bit of food in the reefer, I couldn't totally dry the wood out even with a fan running for several hours, so some of the tape didn't stick well, but it should significantly slow the ingress of moist air, IF that is where the moisture is entering the system. In the evening, I met Susie at Dockside for some dancing to the Dockside Open Mic Night session with Randy and the Boys, Candice Widgeon, Glonn Harman, and others, but no Popeye, who we always enjoy.

Monday, 16 October - I went to the marina community room today and updated the software on my laptop and iPhone, then checked my mail. I typically get about one letter a week and today was no exception. This afternoon I dug through the port lazerette and got out a 75 foot length of 1/4" line to use as an anchor line for a 5.5 lb. collapsable anchor that I recently acquired. I've been using a fixed grappling hook type anchor, when I remember to put it in the dinghy. The problem with it is that it has sharp tines that could easily puncture the tubes of the dinghy so I don't leave it in the dinghy. This new one folds down, doesn't have any sharp points on it and takes up much less space.

Tuesday, 17 October - Holy Mackerel! Summer suddenly turned into winter! Days have been in the upper 80s lately and nights in the lover 80s. Last night cooled off and I had to actually get under the bed sheet instead of on top of it, then, about 5 AM, I actually had to throw a blanket over me for the rest of the night. It got down to 65 degrees about then. TD Ameritrade, where I have my stock trading accounts, has been purchased by Charles Schwab so I took the time to set up an account at Schwab today before the funds will be moved on November 6th and my TD Ameritrade account will no longer exist. This afternoon I headed to the city park next door and practiced picklebll against the wall my myself for about an hour then returned to the boat to clean up before going to Dockside to meet Susie to dance the evening away.

Wednesday, 18 October - I received a couple of dehumidifiers in the mail today that I plan on swapping out alternately in the refrigerator to control the moisture and, hopefully, the frost accumulation. They may not work, but I'm getting desperate. They don't use any energy while absorbing moisture, but have to be removed and dried out while plugged into an electrical outlet. I hope my solar and batteries can handle one at a time. Install one tomorrow and see how long it takes to fill and then see how long it needs to re-dry.

Thursday, 19 October - It's been about a year and a half since I tore something in my rotator cuff pulling on the starter cord on the Evinrude outboard. Today, for the first time since then, I ventured a short way into the mangrove trails in my kayak. That shoulder still hurts but I was determined to push through the pain. I'm glad I did. I didn't go too far; just down Sister Creek to Whisky Creek, then up a side channel. That channel splits and I first took the left channel. I think I got about 2/3 of the way to the dead end when the going got tough. I came to two channel blockages, both caused by fallen trees. The first of which I managed to clear a path under the right end with my loppers after about a half hour. At the second location I had to break out my portable saber saw and I had to make so many cuts that my battery died and I had to admit temporary defeat after only getting through about half a cut in the 4 inch log. I backed up, turned around and paddled back to the "T" in the channel and took the right channel, but, again didn't get far. Too many fallen trees and the channels are getting too overgrown. If other kayakers don't start doing more trail maintenance all the trails in the mangroves in Boot Key will disappear within a few years. I'm surprised that the commercial guides don't seem to be doing more maintenance. Their livelihood depends on it.
                    At one point in the mangroves I came upon a blue heron that must really be unused to seeing humans. It let me get to within about 5 feet of him twice, The first time he just let me pass without fleeing and the second time I bumped the kayak with my paddle causing him to fly.
                    As I mentioned earlier, the buzzards have returned to the island. That's locally considered a sign that hurricane season has come to an end. I hope that's right. Not only are the buzzards back but this afternoon I saw a large adult bald eagle.
                    I also got great news while paddling back to the boat. My phone rang and I managed to get it out of my dry bag in time to answer it. The call was from my insurance agent for the boat with excellent news. He had quoted me too high a price for insurance and I'll be getting a refund of $900. Good news indeed!

Friday, 20 October - I spent most of the day researching ultrasonic antifouling systems to see if one would useful on Island Time and save me money on hour-outs, hull painting, and hull cleaning. I think I'll try to see if the local hull cleaner, Tom Crank of Dependable Dive Services, thinks of the systems. He probably cleans hulls for some boats that have the systems installed. Later, I met Susie at Dockside and Mike Wagner, Bev Fowers, Phil and Carol Vachon, and Karen joined us to hear The Ty Thurman Band play.

Saturday, 21 October - I headed out again today in my kayak and spent another 5 hours reopening the two trails that I visited on Thursday. The first one is truly a dead end that terminates at a very unusual mangrove that reminds me of McDonald's Golden Arches. I believe it may have originally connected with the Burdine's Trail but now is so totally overgrown that trying to reopen it would be hopeless. On that trail there is no way to turn around at the end, you have to back up about 75 feet to a point that I had made a turnaround a couple of years ago. That turnaround was already getting new growth in it so I cleared it out again, otherwise you'd have to paddle in revers for several more hundred feet bumping into roots and stumps as you go since it's so hard to see behind you in a kayak. The second or right fork of the main trail I was able to totally reopen and made a bit of progress to extend it a very short way. I still have hopes that it might be extended all the way through to exit right into the harbor at mid-tide levels. At lower levels it will be too shallow to traverse and at higher levels quite a few living mangroves would have to be cut because you couldn't get under them. I almost got trapped in the trail yesterday. I had gone in on a rising tide and when I headed out there were three mangrove trunks that made me slither my feet past the foot pegs in the kayak and lay so low that the only part of me above the cockpit was my head which I had to turn to the side to pass through. The first one on the way out was the closest fit and I didn't think to take any pictures, but I did on the next ones. Extending that trail clear to the harbor would be a wonderful shortcut. Currently, it's necessary to paddle about a half mile to enter the trails from the harbor but extended, I could be in the trail about two minutes from my boat.
                    After cleaning up the kayak and myself back at the boat I headed back to Dockside to meet Mike Wagner, Bev Fowers, and Susie. Bev and Mike had never see Popeye and The Easy Street Band perform. They are Susie's and my favorite local band so we had invited Mike and Bev to join us since the band was scheduled to play this evening. Unfortunately, that didn't happen because although Popeye was here, his band was not. That's a shame because his girl singer in really good, too. It was still a very enjoyable evening with Popeye leading and the house band filling in on the other instruments.

Sunday, 22 October - One of my drill motors was acting like its life was over so I opened it up, cleaned it a bit, put a little lubrication in key places, put it back together and it's running fine again. After that I defrosted the freezer again. I thought the dehumidifier that I put in there would probably absorb enough overnight to turn the silica crystal from orange to green but it's been in there for three days now and hasn't changed color significantly at all even though the evaporator is covered in two inches of frost and the inside walls and inside of the lid are dripping wet. I can't imagine why the crystals aren't soaking wet by now. I had been afraid I was going to swap the two dehumidifiers out daily. They require about 14 hours of heat cycle to dry back out and I don't run the inverter nearly that long each day.

Monday, 23 October - I headed back to the harbor end of what I had hoped might be a shortcut to the other trails in the mangroves today. It's really overgrown on this end and there are lots of downed trees, too. The hardest downed trees to deal with are those either at, below, or barely above water level because I can't use the electric saw for fear of getting it or its batteries wet. I worked about 3 hours and got about 50 feet on one possible trail and maybe 75 feet on another. Going any further on either one will be even slower. According to the Navionics app on my iPhone I'm only 371 feet from the closest point that I got to today's trail end on Saturday but there may be days that I can't make even 20 feet of progress, if that. In fact, if the water gets too shallow or if the growth and fallen trees get too dense, it may become impossible to connect the two ends.

Tuesday, 24 October - It's been quite breezy here lately. I decided to spend one more day in the mangroves where the wind can't penetrate. I went back to the same channel that I worked it yesterday and, as I predicted, didn't make much progress. There was about a one foot difference in the tide level from yesterday and all the cuts that I'd made yesterday were sticking out of the water by about 6 inches so I had to recut them lower. It about two hours I got about 10 feet further and could see that going forward would be even slower. I gave up on that channel and explored three others, two of which I had been into before but at different water levels. The third shows to be closer to my destination but also looks like a real challenge. I returned to the boat, cleaned up my gear and kayak, took a shower, then made a quick run to the marina to pick up a package and a couple of letters. When I got back to the boat I had a quick dinner and headed to Dockside to meet Susie.

Wednesday, 25 October - I got down in the engine room today and changed the sacrificial zinc in the reverse gear heat exchanger. While there I also exercised the three through-hull valves by opening and closing them each several times. They are left open all the time. One is for the galley sink drain, another for seawater to cool the engine, and the third is for the cockpit drainage. If they are not exercised occasionally, they get impossible to open and close.
                    It's very breezy again today and we just had a brief shower, and by brief, I mean very brief. It rained hard for about five seconds. More to follow, I'm sure, but very sporadically. I could use the water for my tank. My boat is out of trim and listing to starboard since the water tank on the port side is almost empty.

Thursday, 26 October - Another rainy, windy day. Good for working onboard. I planned on exercising the rest of the through-hull valves today and thought it should take a couple of hours an mast. Wrong. As usual, one project developed into another and another. I quickly exercised the two on the starboard side in the engine room and then the one in the hallway that is the intake for the forward head. Next on the list was the intake for the aft head but I wanted to vacuum that area first. It's under the aft companionway ladder and there are several items stored there and I don't get in there very often so I don't vacuum it very often either. When I opened that compartment under the ladder which is also an access to a section of the bilge, I discovered that my 21 lb, breakdown Fortress anchor has been sitting in a small amount of bilge water that drips in through the rudder post. The rudder post is supposed to drip a tiny bit. I had to clean up the anchor and its shackle and then add a false floor to that section of bilge to get the anchor out of the water and support two hoses that run through that section so the the anchor passes under them instead of laying on them. With three valves to go I moved to the aft and forward head exit valves. The aft one was easy. Since I'm in the mooring field and am, of course, not allowed to pump the toilets into the harbor, this and the forward head are locked closed. The aft head would dump right into the harbor if used, so I can't use it although the sink and shower go to a tiny holding tank and then get pumped into the ocean. I cut the lock (cable tie) off, opened and closed the valve several times and put another cable tie on the closed valve again. I moved to the forward head. The arrangement is different there. This head has a holding tank and a Y-valve that gives the option to switch between the holding tank and the ocean. The Y-valve is locked in the holding tank position and there's a separate valve to go outboard. The through hull valve doesn't need to be locked since the Y-valve is, so it was easy to open and close. I cut the lock off the Y-valve, but it's been too long since I exercised it. It was very stubborn and since it is plastic, not bronze like the others, I chose not to break it trying to get it to move. I'll deal with that when I actually need to open it. My two hour job turned into six and a half, as in normal.

Saturday, 28 October - I, once again, defrosted the freezer since it had about an inch and a half of frost on it and because it was a blustery, rainy day, then, this evening I met Mike Wagner and Bev Fowers at Dockside. Little did I know that Susie had baked me a birthday cake to share with our friends...and, of course, had the band sing me the obligatory "Happy Birthday" song. Two of the local band members, Tony Napoli and Mike Vee, would be playing their last set locally tonight and moving on in their lives, so many of the local musicians came to pay their respects and perform with them, including Mike Wagner, too, so it was a great evening for all of us...and the hunter'l full moon was awesome over the water.

Sunday, 29 October - I haven't been successful at collecting rain with my water catchment system lately so I devised a plan and acted upon it. I went to the marina three times yesterday and brought back 50 gallons of water each time and pumped it into the tank onboard, filling it. My plan worked like a charm; it rained hard last night.

Monday, 30 October - My 75th birthday. Susie picked me up at 2:45 this afternoon and we drove about 40 miles up-island to the History of Diving Museum in Islamorada. Susie wasn't exactly inthralled about going there but wanted to please me for my birthday. Neither of us had very high expectations since Islamorada is such a small town and we haven't heard anything about the museum. However, we were both very pleasantly surprised and I believe Susie was as fascinated as I was at all the displays. The museum truly covers all aspects of diving from the free diving of Japanese pearl divers of centuries past to open bottomed helmets and bells, facemarks to seventy pound deep sea helmets and suits to space suits. Also, snorkels to scuba, hookahs, and rebreathers. They even have a couple of decompression and recompression chambers and hundreds of models of old and new diving helmets. They have a diving helmet from every country that has ever produced helmets; and the helmets aren't reproductions either...and pumps, they must have at least fifty early air pumps of all different configurations; most of them hand driven. Since Susie had to work part of the day she had called ahead to see how long it would take to tour the museum and was told that most people spend at least an hour. Since I like to see all the exhibits in a museum, I said it would probably take me about three or four hours. They close at 5 pm and we arrived at 4:15. The ran us out at 5:30 and gave us a pass to come in the next day. We later had dinner at Lorelei and spent Monday night in a motel and returned to the museum and spent about another two and a half hours trying to see all that we had missed. It still wasn't near enough time. To say that we were impressed by the museum would certainly be an understatement.