Thursday, May 26th 2016 - Not a lot to do today, since about all I'm doing is killing time until the haul-out tomorrow. I recoiled all the bow, stern and breast lines and reset the fenders and fender boards for use as we dock tomorrow. We had another beautiful sunset and I got a nice picture or two of "LOL", Pierre and Jessy's boat and "Asimolar", Steve's boat with the setting sun behind them.

Friday, May 27 - Up early this morning to get ready to go to be hauled out. Mostly just breakfast and little last minute things to do. I picked up Steve Luta at 7:15 in the dinghy and brought him back to Island Time, then uped anchor and headed to the marina. We arrived at 8 o'clock and after only a minute or two wait, they waved us in. Getting hauled out and having the hull power washed took about an hour and a half, maybe a little longer. They have a huge lift that can lift both large and heavy boats, so I didn't have to back in this time. That was nice. Actually, we just pulled up to their dock and they took our lines and walked us about 100 feet to the lift. It took quite awhile to get the slings under the boat because they were using four slings instead of two, and the aftermost strap kept remaining loose as they lifted. It was lined up behind the keel instead of being on it like the other one of the pair. The ones on the front were just ahead of the keel and weren't a problem. They eventually got both of the rear straps on the keel and up and away we went. The surveyor came at about 11 o'clock and started her inspection. She said that the rudder has probably absorbed so much water that it would probably cost near $4,000 to fix it and that if they couldn't or didn't get all the water out, I'd have were problems down the road, or rather, across the water. It looks like I'll be getting a new rudder. The paint job that I had done in November really needs to be redone, way too soon. They suggested that I contact the previous painter and ask for a refund for at least part of it. I won't hold my breath expecting that to happen. Otherwise, everything went pretty well as expected. The big question now is how long will it take to get another rudder molded and how much this is all going to cost. It's not going to be cheap.
                  After the inspection, time was spent closing up the boat and getting electricity onto the boat. On the way back, we had to pass Bonita Bills, so I bought Steve lunch, and later had a short visit from Pierre and Jessy, then we went over to the island's Times Square and listened to some music and watched people and the sun set. Around 9:30pm we head back to Steve's boat, Asimolar, for a late dinner.

Saturday, 28 May - My expectations for the holiday weekend were dashed this morning when I went to the post office to pick up my mail which should have included a copy of Filemaker Pro, a database program that I am very familiar with to create an inventory of all the items on Island Time and where they are located, and the post office was closed for the weekend. Most post offices are open at least part of the day Saturday, but this one is not. I already have an inventory or some of the items onboard, but have avoided entering more data because the database that I am using is so inferior and less intuitive in comparison to FileMaker, that I just didn't want to waste the time entering more data. I have OpenOffice installed on my Mac, and supposedly, there are thousands of users, and even municipalities and states using it, but they must not have been aware of the ease of use and capabilities of FileMaker when they made their choice of databases. One of the downsides to Openoffice is their search capabilities for data. FileMaker far outshines OpenOffice in this aspect; much easier and faster, and after all, that's what it's all about.
                  After stopping by the post office and realizing they were closed until Tuesday, I went to the Ft. Myers Beach Public Library, which I had not been to before, to download large several file, among them updates for my phone, the laptop, my chart plotter and autopilot software, and my navigational charts. Thad done, I headed back to the boat. When I arrived back at the dinghy dock, a fellow was there that had broken his starter rope on his outboard, so I towed him, his dog, and his dinghy, back to his sailboat at the east end of the mooring field, then I raced back to 7/11 to get eggs for tomorrow's breakfast before a serious thunderstorm hit the anchorage. The thunderstorm missed us and I made it back to the boat dry, then several of Steve's friends came by on their powerboat to visit for awhile. The captain of the boat was quite inebriated, and in dire need of some male banding or companionship. He had three beautiful ladies with him, but offered numerous times to buy Steve and I dinner or cocktails if we would join them for dinner. Unfortunately, Steve and I had just finished dinner on the boat.
                  What a beautiful evening onboard "Asilomar"; light winds, incredible cloud formations, a great sunset, and moderate temperatures.

Sunday, 29 May - Steve fixed bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast, then I headed over to my boat to verify what my rudder post is made of. I was pretty sure that it is a two inch solid bronze post, but the surveyor was so absolutely positive that it is stainless steel that she wouldn't evetake the time to look at it. "Nobody makes them out of bronze," she said, "stainless steel is much stronger." Perhaps, but bronze doesn't corrode when it comes into contact with saltwater like stainless steel does. That's why mine is made of bronze. We may have a hard time finding a bronze replacement. While at the boat, I loaded the updated charts into the chart plotter and read up on some of the features. The chart plotter will certainly do a lot, but that makes it difficult to know all the features and how to implement them.
                  I returned to the boat, had a sandwich, then contacted Pierre and Jessy to see if they wanted to join us over at Bonita Bills far some entertainment by Two Hands One Man Band. When we arrived, Two Hands wasn't there, Chucky From Kentucky was standing in for him. That was just fine. He sounded pretty good today, too.

Monday, 30 May - Memorial Day - Steve Monaghan returned from a quick weekend it Key West, so Steve Luta and I went over to help him dock and tie up, then went to a restaurant so Monaghan could get his morning coffee. While we were at the marina, we witnessed something truly spectacular. A power boater out with his wife and daughter had just pulled in for fuel, but needed to back up a little at the dock. He put his boat in gear while leaning over the controls instead of being seated and lost his balance, causing him to give the boat full reverse throttle. The boat backed up about 10 feet before it hit another boat behind it and ran under the other boat, breaking the windshield on his own boat, then continuing back until it hit the dock and broke a telephone sized piling and the attached dock. We were absolutely amazed that no one got hurt and that the boat sustained absolutely no visible damage of its transom or swim platform, even as it broke up the piling and pier.
                  Then we went for a walk down the beach, which was very busy since this is the last week of the winter season here. Starting now, it is going to get very hot and humid, so people head further north.
                  Later, even though we invited several others to Bonita Bills for the Monday night jam session, none of them showed up, possibly because the weather looked very threatening, and in fact, did rain. Their loss. Great music, as usual.
                  I did get another bandana tonight, but not for the trivia contest. I only got one of the answers tonight, "Who shot Marvin Gaye and killed him?", but of course, everybody knew that one - "His Father," forty people yelled at once. I got the bandana for being a veteran on Memorial Day.

Tuesday, 31 May - Early, I called the marina and talked to the manager, Conrad, that I had just called the rudder repair/manufacturer that we had hoped would work on or replace my rudder and that I had found out that, of course, they are all on vacation this week and won't be in the yard until 6 June, so I can't even ask them how long the manufacturing process will take. That's my luck folks! We'll have to try to find another source. Conrad had talked to the surveyor, Ronnie, on Friday, and she had apparently indicated that she wouldn't sign off on a bronze rudder post on a boat this big and that I'd have to get a marine architect to ok it. What a bunch of baloney! I called my insurance adjuster and he said, "Of course we'll replace it if that's what was originally installed." I tried to contact the surveyor, but could only leave a message on her phone. She never returned my call.
                  I did contact another repair facility and he said he'd get me an estimate tomorrow. Tomorrow being Wednesday, I may still wait for the original facility to show up on Monday. They indicate on their website that they already have the molds for my rudder and this second facility would have to make a mold. That would probably eat up the difference in start time. We'll see what shakes out.
                  I made a trip to the post office today and picked up my mail and a new copy of FileMaker Pro for my computer so I could remake a database of the inventory of the boat's contents showing where everything is kept hidden away. I had started a database using OpenOffice/LibreOffice, but that database is truly inferior, slow to work with, and not, in my opinion, user friendly or easy to navigate. FileMaker is far superior. It's midnight, but I have it installed and just finished setting the database up in FileMaker and importing the contents of the LibreOffice into it. The new database will be soooooo much easier to re-sort and find items in. I had really been dragging my feet about entering the data into LibreOffice because it is so difficult to work with. Now, I can fly in comparison. I had had versions 4 and 5 of FileMaker Pro on my Mac and PC previously, but was told that those versions wouldn't run on my new Mac, so I had tried OpenOffice/LibreOffice. The newer version I purchased v.13, is not the latest, v.15 is, but every version since 6 will do everything I need. In fact, I was a little afraid that I might not be able to figure the newer versions out, but it is very similar to what I had. It just does lots more, especially with the web and formatting for tablets and phones, which I have no need for. I think I'll be very happy with what I have now. The biggest advantage will be that now that I have the new program, will be that I will actually use it, instead of avoiding using the old one.

Wednesday, 1 June 2016 - I got an email from the second repair facility that they think I'd be better off having the first one, Foss Foam, do the work. At least they got back to me quickly. I contacted Conrad at Gulf Marine Ways and he said he must have gotten the same email, so he's looking at a third facility. There are only two more working days now before Foss Foam gets back, so we'll probably go with them anyway. Unless another facility has a previously made form, they will probably still be quicker...unless, of course, they are so busy that they are backed up significantly.
                  Over at the boat, I gave up on trying to save the food in the freezer. To keep the freezer running, I need to keep a $250 extension cord out, and they run over it with their fork lift, trucks, etc. too often. I think I'll only run the cord out when I need to charge the batteries...and pray that it doesn't get ruined. They're removing the rudder today. It's very heavy, so they're going to use a fork lift move it, but they can't get the fork lift very close to the boat and they can't get the rudder to drop out.

            Until next time.
                        "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson

                                          Rick