Friday, 1 December 2023 - After pickleball today I returned to the boat, got out the boatswain's chair and tools I would need at the top of the mast, then climbed to the top using carabiners to attach to each mast step above me as I went. I had been thinking that I could get all the way up by myself but there should be two more steps at the top, one to raise me higher and the other at the same level. That would allow me to have my feet side by side at the top instead of having one 1 1/2 feet higher than the other with all my weight on one leg. I couldn't get high enough to see the top of the mast and remove the light, so I climbed back down. Attaching the metal carabiners to the hollow aluminum mast as I go up is quite noisy so it drew Jeff Gordon's attention on the boat next to me and he was watching. He commented when I got down that it sure was a quick trip and I said, "Yes, because I didn't get to do the intended work." and I explained that I can't reach the top by myself and asked if he could help me. He came over and I rigged a safety line so that he could raise me up the last two feet. I climbed back up the 50 foot mast and removed the light but couldn't figure out how to remove the anchor light bulb. The anchor light bulb and the trilight steaming bulb are stacked one on top of the other so closely that the bottom one didn't seem to be able to be removed, so I removed the whole fixture and came back down. Back on the deck I realized that the top twilight bulb had to be removed first and that in doing so the springs that hold it in place raise its socket up just enough to remove the lower bulb. Duh! Why couldn't' I figure that out at the top of the mast? After removing and inspecting the anchor bulb I realized that I don't have any spares for it but since I had removed the whole top of the fixture, the terminals were exposed and, if it rained overnight, damage might be done, so I went back up the mast for a third time and replaced the fixture to seal it up after having taken photos of all the parts so I can determine what I need to order.

Saturday, 2 December - We had our monthly nautical swap meet today. As usual, I sold nothing, and brought home more goodies. We had a good turnout today and one fellow in particular, an electrical engineer by trade, had a lot of tools and electrical components to simply get rid of. He set up a table on which everything was free and had lots of takers, me included, although I didn't take much. Also, as the day was winding down, several people, upon realizing that their items weren't going to sell started another "free" table rather than throw good items away or take them back to their boats. Many of the hand tools were quite rusty but there were some power tools that seemed almost new, including a nice saber saw, a rotary buffer, a radial saw, and a small shop vacuum. I suggested that any tools left be donated to the cruiser's workshop and they were. After the meet, I went to the shop to find suitable places to store them. I am amazed and totally disappointed in how boaters are so unwilling to realize that in having free tools to use that the least they could do after using them is to clean up the sawdust, filings, shavings, etc., especially when a shop brush, dust pan, and even two vacuums are right there. The place was a mess so I spent about three hours cleaning it up and sorting out the tools. I brought several rusty hand tools, including pliers, wire cutters, and lots of ratchet driver tips back to the boat with me and put them in a 30% solution of white vinegar that will remove all the rust in a couple of days. A couple of the pairs of pliers couldn't be opened but it a couple of days they'll be almost like new. I'll rinse and dry them, oil them, and return them to the shop in good working condition.

Sunday, 3 December - I defrosted the freezer again today since I'm going to need to grocery shop soon. Since the weather has been cooler this week there was only about two inches of frost since last Monday's defrosting. At six I met Roland, Leta, Gary and Marsha at Dockside. Susie decided that since she has to get up at 4AM tomorrow to take a shuttle to Miami to fly to Ohio for the family's business, Akron Rubber Developement Laboratory, she'd better pass on having the evening out.

Monday, 4 December - I'm surprised that we aren't having more pickleball players. We only had 12 today. I guess we'll get more after the holidays have passed. Sunset is at 5:30 these days. I'm ready for longer day again already.

Tuesday, 5 December - While playing pickleball this morning I must have pulled a muscle. My left biceps started hurting shortly after starting my fourth or fifth game and got worse quickly. Games are to 11 points but you have to win by two points. This game finally ended by us winning at 17 to 15 and I could barely swing my paddle. This evening, after grocery shopping and having set a new personal record for money spent on groceries in one day at $290, my arm hurts by just raising it. I doubt that I'll be playing in the morning. Perhaps the timing is good. A friend of Mark and Pat Becker's just texted me at 7 o'clock, well after dark, that he's just coming through the Seven Mile Bridge and want advise on where to anchor for the night. I'm sure he'll want more information tomorrow. There is a thirty boat waiting list for mooring balls in the harbor so he'll need to find a place to anchor out until his name comes to the top of the list.

Wednesday, 6 December - My arm is still very sore so I spent all day cleaning up the tools that I've had soaking in vinegar for about three days. They all look pretty good and all the pliers are back in working order. I had to rinse off all the rust which had turned soft and black, dry each piece, then give them all a coat of oil to keep them from starting to rust again immediately. Since I had caused such a mess, I decided to oil some of my tools, too. I oiled everything in my tool bucket, then thought I might as well do the tools in one of my tool boxes. When I finished that I thought I might as well do one of the tool bags, too. I finished that just in time to go next door to Jeff and Sheila's for a wonderful dinner and a couple of margaritas along with some good conversation.

Thursday, 7 December - I went to the marina today to take the cleaned up tools to the workshop and to check my mail. My masthead lights came in as did the 200 feet of 3/8" single braid polyester rope that I'm going to replace the 1/4" nylon line that I have on the davits. The larger diameter and softer braid will be easier on my hands as I raise and lower the dinghy every day.

Friday, 8 December - I doubled the 200 foot rope that I got yesterday, cut it in two, and melted the ends to keep them from fraying. Next, I lowered the dinghy, unclipped the lower blocks, then removed the blocks and tackles from the davits. I removed the old falls and rove the new lines back into the blocks. Currently, I have one set of blocks for the bow of the dinghy that has one quad block at the top and a triple block at the bottom and the back davit has a pair of triple blocks which I will soon replace with a new pair of quads. If those seem to work out well I may order another quad with a becket to replace the triple on the front davit, making that a pair of quads, too. When I finished, I raised the dinghy about halfway up to see how it felt on my hands and there was a significant difference. However, about an hour later it rained for a few minutes, then when I headed to the marina later for the cruiser's Friday night happy hour, the new line of the falls felt pretty slippery. I hope I haven't made a mistake with this purchase, but I suspect it won't be long before the strong Florida sunshine removes some of that slipperiness.

Saturday, 9 December - When I opened my new container of oatmeal on Tuesday, I discovered about 50 bugs on the top surface so no telling how many are hiding throughout the full container so I took it back to the store and traded it for a new one. I assumed they'd want to look into the container but warned them against opening it inside their building. It should actually go directly into a fire without opening. This evening the annual Christmas Light Boat Parade made their way through the harbor. I think there were quite a few more participants this year and more boats with fancier decorations and more lights.

Sunday, 10 December - This morning we had the monthly Cruiser's Brunch. The winter snowbirds have arrived from up north so today's pot luck brunch and Friday evening's happy hour were both well attended. The food today was great, too, especially the shrimp grits and the pineapple casserole. I met Roland and Leta at Dockside this evening for cocktails and musical entertainment.

Monday, 11 December - The cruisers here in the harbor annually donate funds to buy bicycles for the disadvantaged kids here on the island. The sheriff compiles a list of the kids sex and ages and the marina arranges for the bikes to be delivered to the marina office. Today we assembled about 25 bikes for the kids. A couple of years age we assembled nearly a hundred. Thinking back, that must have been in at least part because of Covid 19 and its effect on the restaurants, hotels, rental homes, etc. I hope the difference is a sign that the economy here is doing better.
                    Susie returned from Ohio this evening at about 8:30 and wanted to go to Dockside she's so excited to be back. Ty Thurman played there this evening but by the time Susie and I arrived he was putting his equipment away. It's 66°F out tonight and blowing about 15 mph so it was too cool for people in the open bar and restaurant. Susie actually beat me there since I came by dinghy and she had ordered a glass of wine for herself and a rum and Coke for me so we watched Ty pack up his equipment and leave the bar to us as the crew cleaned up the bar and closed up. We finished our drinks and left about 10:15.

Tuesday, 12 December - I have an upcoming annual health checkup and am now required to get an annual security check performed at the Naval Air Station Key West so that I can be allowed onto the VA health campus in Key West. My last one had expired so, during the Cruiser's Net this morning, I asked if anyone was headed to Key West and, if so, could I ride along. Jeff Gordon immediately volunteered to drive me down, wait for the security check to be performed, and bring me back. I couldn't refuse an offer like that. We went to shore, drove to the ail station, and were back by 1 o'clock. My Fluke multimeter has been of the fritz lately and I can't really find anything wrong with it so I called my brother the electronics technician to see if he had any ideas on it. He suggested that I put in with rice to let the dry rice draw any condensation out of it. It is now half buried in my rice container and will be there for a few days. The weatherman is predicting rain and high winds for the next few days so I reattached the tubing to the pre-filter on my water catchment system today, Maybe I'll be able to top off my water tank again. About 7 pm I met Susie at Dockside for some dancing and Wyatt Hurts, a musician that migrates south for the winter and performs here occasionally, joined us at our table for the evening.

Wednesday, 13 December - The rains didn't start until this morning but it's blowing 15 to 20 mph now and expected to increase to 20 -30 with gusts to 40 Thursday evening so I went on deck during a lull in the rain and wrapped one of my spare halyards around the mast and roller furled mainsail to keep the sail from banging against the mast and to keep the wind from getting between the layers of sail and opening it up. Last night Susie said she's made arrangements for us to go to Key West Friday to ride the trolley around the island and see all the fancy Christmas lights on display in the evening and then spend the night at a hostel that we've stayed at before so we don't have to drive 50 miles back to Marathon after imbibing on the trolley. This should be lots of fun but I'm told I need to get some "Christmassy" attire for the trip.

Thursday, 14 December - This morning I defrosted my very frosty freezer. Also today, Roland and Leta Kok, along with about 50 other friends celebrated Roland's 87th birthday with music by Four Sheets to the Wind, Lady A, Rick Azara, Kenny the Skinny White Boy, and others at Dockside from 3 o'clock until 6. Cake was served to everyone there along with a skit performed to "Little Red Riding Hood", Sam the Sham's old song, by Susie (Little Red Riding Hood, Kim (her grand mother), Me (the Wolf), Roland, and others. It was fun and funny. I think we saved the day for the bar because it was windy, raining, and pretty cool (for here (72°)). The bar and restaurant would have been almost empty without us, I'm sure. When we left at 6:15 there was supposed to be another duo starting at 7 o'clock but there were only about 5 people left in the place.

Friday, 15 December - Susie picked me up at the marina's dock at noon and we headed for Key West to see the Christmas lights in the evening. We checked in a few minutes early at the NYAH (Not Your Average Hotel) Hostel then walked down the street and had a very late breakfast omelet. We met a group of friends at 6 PM to ride the trolley to see the lights then headed down town to meet everyone again for dinner. Susie and I were the last ones to arrive because we drove around for about 30 minutes looking for a place to park. We were still in time to order dinner with everyone else and had a geed time. Back at the hostel Susie and I, even though it was raining, got in the 104°F hot tub about 11 o'clock and stayed for about 30 or 40 minutes before heading to bed. I say hot tub but really it is about 15 feet square and there are three other pools of varying temperature and size at the facility, too. It's a really nice facility and inexpensive, too.

Saturday, 16 December - Susie and I headed down to have the hostel's morning brunch just barely in time to get any food. We checked out then toured the Key West ECO Discovery Center. It is a very nice, free museum with movies, dioramas, and active participation displays about the flora, fauna, sea creatures, and history of and around Key West and the reefs of the Keys. Well worth the visit. I had been there about 5 or six years ago but they shut down for three years to remodel and update the displays so it was all new to me, too. While we were there Roland Kok called to ask that I check on his boat since it has been raining so much and so windy, so upon return to the harbor I did just that. I went aboard their boat, looked into their bilges, checked on their battery levels and refrigeration, and found everything seemed fine. They hope to get back on their boat sometime this week.

Sunday, 17 December - I thought since this is the first sunny day that we've had in several days, I'd quickly install the davit blocks that I recently received. I started on those about 10 AM and finished around 4 PM. I had thought I'd be able to quickly find how to reave the blocks in my dad's copy of the Blue Jacket's Manuel or for sure somewhere with a Google search. Neither covered anything over triple blocks and my new ones are quads, so I had to figure it out on my own. I also had to mount them and take them down several times to get the rotation of the blocks right. I'd thought that just freeing the swivels would work fine but that didn't work. I had to lock the top one in place at the right angle. When I finished that, Jay and Tami from S/V Avigna came to Island Time and returned the 8 hp Evinrude outboard motor that they had borrowed and Jay helped me re-install it on the mount on the rail of the boat. We had had so much rain on Friday and Saturday while I was in Key West with Susie that I was sure my water tank would be filled to overflowing but, no, it was only about half full. I determined that one of the rain catcher pockets was leaking like a sieve so I made a quick, temporary fix on its outlet connector, but will need to do some minor sewing on it. I also need to find out if I can use Flex Seal Rubber Sealant on the inside of the pockets. I'm not sure it's usable for potable water containers. In the evening I met Susie at Dockside to dance.

Monday, 18 December - I did some electrical triage on my mast top wiring this morning to determine why the anchor light won't work. The wires headed up the mast have about 13 volts on them so later I talked my neighbor, Jeff Gordon, into assisting me while I climbed the mast to check out the light at the top and to install the two new LED bulbs that I recently purchased. Unfortunately, new bulbs didn't resolve the problem even though a test showed that I have over 12 volts at the top of the mast, too, so I brought the whole fixture back down to inspect it closer. I had to go back up the mast again to cover the fixture base with a plastic bag because it would be exposed to rain. On closer inspection I see that one of the prongs in the upper fixture has the slightest amount of corrosion on it, so little that I would be surprised that that is my problem. I cleaned that but assume that the female portion of the fixture needs to be cleaned, too. That will have to be done another day. While at the top of the mast I have to stand in a very awkward position on my right leg the whole time so I don't last long up there. I'm really surprised that one more step on the mast wasn't installed with the others that would be at the same height as the highest step on the port side so a person could stand on both feet at the top. Unfortunately, adding a step probably needs to be done with the mast unstepped, which would be very expensive.

Tuesday, 19 December - I thought Jeff and I were going to go help Anne on S/V Meherio go up her mast this morning but never heard from Jeff. Since I didn't hear from Jeff until later in the day, I assumed that he either realized that I wasn't needed and went alone or that the whole thing got called off, so I defrosted the freezer. It's only been five days since I defrosted but there was about 2 inches of frost on the evaporator.

Wednesday, 20 December - I got up at 6:15 AM so I could meet Susie at the dock at the marina so she could take me to the VA outpatient center in Key West so I could have blood drawn for my annual lab tests. My appointment was at 9 AM but we left two hours early because we never know if there might be an accident on the highway. Since there's only one road through the Keys, if there's an accident, there's no detour around it. You just have to sit on the road until the accident clears. Today there were no accidents so we made record time and arrived an hour early at 8 AM. I went in and there was no waiting line so I walked out in about 10 minutes and we went and had breakfast before heading home. Even though it's a federal highway, it's a pretty and slow drive looking out over the water most of the way and the top speed is 55 mph.

Thursday, 21 December - I arranged for my dinghy's bow light that recently got water in it and quit working to be replaced and washed a few clothes by hand here on the boat. It will probably take at least 2 days for them to dry hanging in the cockpit since the humidity is so high here, plus it's been overcast almost all day, threatening to rain and I think tomorrow will be the same. Susie had to go to Miami today for some medical tests and when she got home we went to Skipjack Resort to dance to the Rick Leiter band, actually just a man and wife duo, but they are very good.

Friday, 22 December - I had totally forgotten about the Friday evening meet and greet but was walking by so I stopped and traded a few stories with others.

Saturday, 23 December - I went to the marina to have them print out a return address label and return merchandise authorization for the LED lights that I need to send back. They needed me to email it to them but said that it may take up to a day for the email to come through. It's a good thing I'm not in a hurry.

Sunday, Christmas Eve - Jeff Gordon came by the boat this morning and borrowed one of my kayaks to go paddle through the mangroves with a visiting friend. I was really wishing I could go with them but my left arm is still hurting too much to paddle a kayak. In fact, my right arm has been hurting again recently. I met Susie at Dockside for dancing at 6:30.

Monday, 25 December - Christmas Day - Susie picked me up at the dock at 10AM to go to her house. She cooked a wonderful dinner of turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, and broccoli which we ate in front of the TV binge watching the first several episodes of a Netflix series called Outer Range, parts of which were shot on the San Cristobal ranch in New Mexico where my father ran away from college to live with his grandparents and be a cowboy. The show isn't exactly what I was expecting of a western. It's a sci-fi western starring Josh Brolin.

Tuesday, 26 December - After returning from Susie's I had a great leftover turkey sandwich for brunch. Just as fog, rolled into the harbor, which I've only seen here once before, I had Jeff Gordon handle my safety line as I climbed the mast to reinstall the anchor/trilight, fully confident that both were going to work using my backup incandescent lamps while I weight for the new 60 LED replacements to arrive. I was, again, disappointed. The trilight works fine but the anchor light still didn't light up. Dang, this is frustrating. Also, later in the day the supplier for the new lamps called to let me know that there will be a two week delay before the bulbs show up.

Wednesday, 27 December - This morning I paid my 2023 property taxes then went to the marina and picked up my replacement dinghy bow light that had arrived. Now I can be legal at night again. We're not allowed to put our dinghies up on a plane here in the harbor but if a dinghy is even capable of going over 7 knots it must have red and green, port and starboard, navigation lights at night. That light is only a few months old and got water in it during the last, blustery storm. Luckily, the company, Mantus, stands behind their products. They sent me a new light but also warned me that this model has a leaking defect so I spent a couple of hours sealing the top of it with silicone caulk and did the same for the old one, hoping that I can get it dried out to use as a backup. That may not be possible. Today was a beautiful, warm day and this evening a huge, full moon rose over the harbor. More rain expected tomorrow along with much cooler temperatures.

Thursday, 28 December - When I went aloft the other day and then came down, I forgot to secure the halyard that I used as a safety line. The forecast for this morning was for rain starting about 7AM and winds of about 15 mph. At seven I heard my phone alarm saying that it would start raining in about 15 minutes so I got up and decided to wrap it around the mast and mainsail. It started raining as I did and I strapped the dinghy tight against the davits, too. My timing was only slightly off and I barely got wet but was soon very glad that I had gotten up. Rain came down in sheets and winds reached almost 40 mph. At least one boat broke loose but was soon under control. Another boat, Surface Interval, about an hour later, started sinking and called for help. The first thing he should have done was find out where the water was coming in but he didn't. He had no big pump onboard and his portable generator had fallen overboard, again. He called for help on the VHF. It took awhile for people with generators, batteries, pumps, wiring, hoses, etc. to arrive and by the time they did the boat had settled further into the water, about a foot and a half within the first hour. As a boat sinks the hole that water in coming in through gets lower in the water and the water pressure gets higher, making the water come in faster. By the time they had pumps going the water was coming in faster than they could pump it out. The owner finally got in the water and searched the outside of the boat checking the through hulls. I guess he finally determined that the water was coming in through the exhaust and luckily someone had called the Coast Guard and they showed up just in time to save the boat with a big pump. I'm typing as the situation occurs and the Coast Guard has taken their pump off and, apparently, will let it sink. The owner has neglected the boat so long that the growth on the bottom is so thick that when he went into the water to inspect it, he couldn't even find the through hulls. Chuck Henderson, on S/V Cool Change, just announced that, even though the wind has backed off a bit, two boats on the opposite end of the harbor have had their ground tackle tangled up and may drift through the harbor now. Life on a boat! They've given up on the sinking boat after only pumping for about an hour.

Friday, 29 December - I decided to remove the photoelectric switch from the anchor light wiring totally this morning and, in doing so, discovered that although I have a wiring schematic illustrated for when the photoelectric switch is in the circuit, I don't have one for when it is not, so I created another for that, too. In the process I rechecked all the connections and turned the anchor light on. I can't see it at the top of the mast from the deck so I decided to go to shore to pay my rent, check the mail, take the trash in, etc. On the way I took binoculars to view the mast top but the dinghy was bouncing around too much to focus on the light. By the time I returned it was only about two hours till dusk and I thought I would be able to see it after dark. I returned to shore to participate in the Friday tiki hut gathering and upon returning from that after dark, I could easily see that the light was not on. This is getting more and more frustrating. I ate a bit of dinner then dove back into the lighting problem, rechecking wiring and cleaning connections. Up until now I just haven't been able to really discover anything that could cause the light no not come on. Everything seemed fine. At nine o'clock, and I hope I don't jinx myself, I think, hope, believe that I may have finally discovered the problem. I have been working on the starboard side of the base of the mast. At nine o'clock I followed the wiring around to the port side with my fingers and felt a very rough spot on the positive wire to the anchor light where it exits the mast at the base. I think that will prove to be either a complete break of the wire or at least broken strands. I can't see it from the starboard side so tomorrow I'll open up the flooring on the port side and work from there.

Saturday, 30 December - I started working on getting the masthead anchor light working again this morning about 10 o'clock and finished at about 7:30 pm but I finally got the light to come on and the dusk till dawn photoelectric switch to work, too. If I ever get another paying job it had better be by the hour. I'd never make any money working by the job. I started where I left off last night by opening up the port floorboards and finding the broken wire. I cut it, spliced it back together and put heat shrink tubing on it, then put plastic, flexible wiring tubing over it and the other wires where they exit the mast so it can't get cut again. I removed the wiring for the photoelectric switch and tested the light. It worked! Next I had to study the wiring diagram for the new photo switch which doesn't conform to American standards and is very unclear as to which wires are positive and negative. I finally called my brother, Mike, and got some ideas. I tested the switch for resistance and got the same readings. Mike indicated that I should expect higher readings if I reversed the positive and negative probes. I finally just guessed and wired it up. By that time it was dark outside, enabling me to see if the light came on. Amazingly, it worked. I shined my flashlight on the photo sensor and the light went out. All is good. I created wiring diagrams in an illustration application on my computer and now have diagrams for the system with no sensor, and for two different switches that look identical but have to be wired differently. Thank goodness that's over. I've had enough of climbing the mast for a while and I'm sure Jeff Gordon can use his time on things other than assisting me. Oh, I do have to go up the mast at least one more time when the new, brighter, LED lights are delivered but that's not until next year. :-)

Sunday, 31 December - New Year's Eve - I spent a couple of hours today cleaning up and sewing up the starboard water catchment pocket located at the back of the bimini top and started to spray it with 303 water repellant spray but, upon reading the instructions, I realized that I have the wrong 303 for that job. I have 303 Aerospace Protectant which is for hard surfaces, not fabrics. I need 303 Fabric Guard for this project, so it will have to wait. To finish off the year Susie and I joined Roland and Leta Kok of S/V KoKoMo and Gary and Marsha of M/V Mas Tiempo over at Dockside until just past midnight. Happy New Year to all!