Thursday, 19 November 2015 - I returned to the boat works today to discover that they had actually done some work on it yesterday, even after saying they wouldn't. The bottom of the keel had been fiberglassed over and later in the day they put a coat of priming paint, but that's all.

Friday, 20 November - This morning, I arrived at the boat around 8:30 after having tried to track down some nylon plugs for the seacocks. After having put zerk fittings, then removing those and replacing them with brass plugs, I've discovered, with the help of Gary Powers, a sailing friend of my parents, that nylon plugs would not only keep the water out of the boat just as well as metal, but not have the corrosion problems - ever! Now all I have to do is find them. The worker soon showed up and started removing the seacocks. He determined that the hull is so thick that backing plates aren't necessary, so the ones that are bad, he'll just remove and not replace. That should save a little time and a little money. The bad news is that a couple of the seacocks need to be replaced totally at about $120 each + removal and installation.
                  About 2:00pm, I got a call from a fellow that had previously called about the trailer. He was two hours away, but by 5:00pm, he was driving away with it attached to his pickup truck. I was very glad to get what I paid for it and get rid of it, too. I thought it would go faster than the eight days since I put it on Craigslist. Now, when I get the boat back in the water, I can move the last of what I have in the motor home onto the boat and sell it. It would be wonderful if the motor home sells as quickly.
                  I'm starting to feel like I'm running out of time for a pre-new year departure date, but getting rid of the trailer really lightens the load, even if only mentally. I was starting to think selling it could drag on and on. That could happen with the motorhome, too
                  Since I had to leave the boatworks early, I have no idea how much progress they made today. The motorhome sure feels light and agile now. The trailer weighed about 4700 lb. loaded and 1500 lb. empty, plus it added about 18 feet to my length. It was necessary, but I won't miss it much other than to realize how nimble the motorhome seems without it. No more fear of having to back up.

Saturday, 21 November - The weatherman prognosticated so much rain this weekend that the boat yard decided, even though they've been working weekends to catch up, to shut down for this weekend. I didn't know that 'til I showed up at the gate at 8 o'clock this morning. Now it's mid-afternoon and I haven't seen a drop of rain yet. Since I can't access the boat, I returned to Walmart, did some grocery shopping, then headed out to empty the holding tanks on the motor home.
                  2:00pm - Without the boat to go to, or someone to do something with, I'm bored. I think I'll ride my bicycle over to a nearby museum and see if it is open. Than ought to make it rain!
                  The museum was closed? On Saturday? Yes. Well, it's a small town...but there was a band it the park next to it, so I rode over there and saw a blood donor bus there, so I gave blood for the first time in many years. I used to give blood about once a month, but they realized that I was arriving / departing on a motorcycle so they stopped me from donating. I might fall off my motorcycle after donating, I suppose. I guess the helmet was some kind of clue. Anyway, it finally drizzled after dark at about 6pm. I think today was the calmest day I've seen since I arrived in Florida. Absolutely no wind ALL day. As I look out on the Manatee River tonight, it's a shimmering mirror full of near perfect reflections of the lights of the city of Bradenton on the south river bank.
                  I think I'll go to the boater's lounge and watch one of the all-time best auto chase scenes in Hollywood history on TV tonight - in the 1968 movie "Bullitt" with Steve McQueen.

Sunday, 22 November - It was about ten degrees cooler today at 74°F and rained lightly off and on all day. Light breezes again, too. I spent much of the day reading and studying charts on two of the charting programs, MacENC and OpenCPN, that I have on my laptop to compare them. Of course, I'll be doing my navigation with the Raymarine charts on the boat, but I sure wish I could plot routes and waypoints on my laptop and see them on the Raymarine charts. To put routes and way marks on the Raymarine charts, I have to stand at the helm to do so. I'm sure I'll get more standing than I wish while sailing. That is one drawback about this boat that surprises me. You stand to steer unless you turn on the autopilot, and that eats up battery power. I'm surprised that none of the previous owners came up with a seat of some kind for the boat. I guess it's up to me.

Monday, 23 November - I woke up at 6:00am to a strange sound in the motorhome, just audible and not loud enough to frighten me into total awareness. It took a minute...then I realized it was...the heater. I hadn't heard that in a long time. Last night a cold front came through dropping the temperature to 50°:F. I guess winter has finally arrived in Florida. I wore long pants to the boat for the first time ever.
                  There were two to three workers on the boat most of the day painting the hull, reinstalling seacocks, and then painting the inside of the hull around each seacock. All the seacocks are back in the boat now, with only two of them needing total replacement. With only two days left, I don't think I'm going to get the boat back by Thanksgiving and they'll be taking a four day weekend; so without access to the boat, I'll really be wishing I had my windsurfing gear back. This last two days were pretty boring, four days in a row will be at more than twice as bad. I was really hoping they would finish so I could use the long weekend to start putting the boat back in order and moving the last items off the motorhome and onto the boat. If they don't finish, the days will seem totally wasted to me.

Tuesday, 24 November - This morning one of the workers, not the one that created the problem, has dived in to tackle the anchor locker drain problem. He's having to use pneumatic and electric grinders to cut out the filled in area, then will epoxy a new through-hull type connector and hose in the bottom of the space. That will allow a removable screen to be installed permanently over the drain hole.
                  3pm - That done, we emptied out the aft stateroom in order to gain access to the rudder stock try to determine if I really need to have the stuffing box on it destuffed. The fellow looked at it and said that, as far as he can tell, there is still quite a bit of adjustment left in it and suggested that we actually look at it again after I'm back in the water.
                  4pm - The yard foreman came by the boat and, lo and behold, said they'd be putting me back in the water tomorrow, All that is left is some welding on the radar arch, which will be done on the way to the water, and some repairs to the stanchions for the safety lines, and the stuffing box. I had thought we be welding the stanchions, but he says there's a newer, simpler way to repair them now. Simpler doesn't always mean better, so we'll see what he has in mind tomorrow. I may just pass on repairing them for now. I don't have to be out of the water for those to be repaired, just at a pier where electricity and a welder are available.
                  They've been emptying the boat yard out in anticipation of the four day weekend, so that also has freed up more men to work on each boat. I hope that works out to get me back on the water tomorrow early enough to make it back to Regatta Pointe Marina before dark. If not, I'll have to anchor out in the river.

Wednesday, 25 November - I arrived at the boat yard at 8:00am and started readying the boat to go back in the water. A few minutes later, I heard the 75 ton lift approaching the boat. They moved it over to where the welder could do the welding on the radar arch and a couple of hours later that was finished. Next, they put the boat back in the water to check the stuffing box on the rudder and, sure enough, it was leaking about a drip per second...too much. Next we started checking all the seacocks that had been replaced or polished. Two of the polished ones were leaking and deemed irreparable, so the boat was yanked out of the water and put back on blocks. They stopped leaking if the nut was tightened, but then you couldn't open and close the valves they were so tight.
                  They'll spend the afternoon replacing the two seacocks and, if there's time put me back in the water and I can stay here in there marina for the night if it's too late to get to Regatta Pointe. This evening, the tides would definitely be in my favor, but the winds are blowing at 20 knots right now and expected to do so for the rest of the day. If I stay overnight, I might be able to get up early and get to the other marina before the wind starts to blow too strong again, but the tides will be below normal so I will not be able to get in until around noon, so the winds will have picked again. Getting back to the marina isn't the problem, but the low tides and trying to get into the slip in an 20kt beam wind is. I think I'd definitely be better off if I can get out and to the other marina tonight. I'll just have to see how fast they can get the work done. The foreman also said if they can't get me back in the water this evening, he'd come in tomorrow morning to do so. I'm sure he doesn't want to work on Thanksgiving, so I think there's some incentive to get me back in the water this afternoon.
                  They were certainly motivated. We actually put the boat back in the water about 4:15pm and I motored out into the river to reset my fenders and fender boards, and prepare my lines for docking. I had hoped to get back to the marina in time to have the help of one of the dock crew, but I was going to be running a little late, so I started calling the marina about 10 minutes to 5:00. I hailed them numerous times, but to no avail. I guess they started the holiday a little early.
                  I hadn't ever made the 270° turn into my slip before, so I was very determined to do so this time...but I still didn't make it. I had to put it in reverse just in time to keep the bowsprit from hitting the outside piling, but slid right in as the bow cleared. An "almost perfect" single handed docking. I quickly tied my boat up, then embarked on my bicycle for the five mile ride back out to the boat yard to retrieve the motorhome, racing the onset of darkness as I went. I arrived just in time to see the full moon rise.

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, November 2015 - Today I need to get this sent off, then head back over to the boat to put some things away, get cleaned up, and go have Thanksgiving Dinner with a nice Italian couple from Boston across the pier from me living on a large powerboat.
                  That said, I wish you and all your family a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and a wonderful holiday season.

            Until next time,

                                          Rick