Thursday, 16 June 2016 - Steve borrowed my bicycle today to go get his mail and I headed over to the boatyard and inventoried the tools in the center settee compartment. I'm definitely making progress, but still have a ways to go. One of the first things I did today was call the insurance claims department to see what the holdup was on clearing the repairs. It turns out that the fellow that was in charge of my claim went on vacation, so no one knew anything about it or followed up on it. The boat yard had ordered the rudder, but was reluctant to progress any further without confirmation that the figures they had proposed for the work was okayed. The insurance company called back and said that a check should be cut and sent out either tomorrow or Monday. I'm betting on the latter. Everybody's skeptical when I ask for mail to be sent to the post office, General Delivery, but that saves several days as opposed to sending it to my mail service and then them having to forward it to me at, again, General Delivery.
                  This must be a very expensive rudder. the bill for the part of the work they are paying for, the rudder and the paint job, is over $10,000. I'm glad I had insurance!
                  I have a lot of tools even though I got rid of lots in the estate sale before I left Salt Lake City. I knew I couldn't bring them all, but it was a guessing game as to which ones to keep or get rid of. I saved as many as I could, but am soon going to need one of the ones that I hadn't used in 20 years, a clamping ammeter. I'll be needing one to take some readings on the electrical system. A clamping ammeter lets you take current readings without having to cut a wire or even open the insulation on the wire. It will also allow you to read several wires at one time, which I will need to do to check for leaks in my electrical system. I don't know that I have this problem, but the condition of the heat exchanger, some of my sacrificial zincs, and through hull fittings lead me to believe that either my boat is leaking electricity or that boats near me in the marina at Palmetto, where I was for 6 months, were doing so. I certainly hope it's the latter, but I need find out for sure which it is.

Friday, 17 June - Off to the post office this morning to pick up the fuses for my Fluke multimeter at the beginning of the week, then over to the boat in the boatyard. I noticed that they had sanded the hull and propeller this morning before I arrived. The ladder had been moved away from my boat, so I went to the office to see if they had heard from the insurance company and they had, so they had a call in to Pettit Paint to order that. I had stopped it at the yard office yesterday and they had given me a couple of the Pettit Paint brochures and I looked them over. They must have twenty different hull paints and the brochure makes each one sound like it is the perfect paint for the job. I called the paint rep for some clarification and he said that he too thought their brochures were a fiasco. He said the paints need to be broken down into geographic areas because of the differences in salinity and water temperature. I decided to stick with the same paint that had been used last time, hoping that either the application was poor or the batch of paint was. I am getting a little lighter color, however, not that that will make any difference in its longevity or effectiveness.
                  Back at the boat, I put the ladder back up and went aboard just in time to hear a worker say that since they had sanded, they would need to wash the boat. I made sure everything was closed up and went below. Thank goodness it didn't take them long, the boat turns into an oven when it is all closed up. They finished and I opened the hatches...just as the wind picked up and it started to rain. It rained hard, but only for a little while. I managed to inventory two more compartments on the boat and consolidate or combine to batches of cable, thimbles, and shackles into one location.
                  At 6pm, I returned tho the boat for dinner and Steve Luta and I headed over to Times Square and were later joined by Steve Monaghan to listen to the music group "High Tide." It was an absolutely perfect evening with the temperature at about 75°F. and a 10 - 15 mph onshore breeze. For some reason, the crowd was a little bigger this evening than most and the band played a little longer than usual.

Saturday, 18 June - Most of today was spent on the boat trying to figure out why my 12vdc refrigerator won't run properly, without any success. Around 4pm, I returned to Steve Luta's boat, "Asilomar" for dinner, then the two Steve's and I headed to the south end of the island to hear one of Luta's favorite bands at the Tiki Bar at the Wyndham Hotel. They were, indeed, very good, playing mostly 60s and 70s rock and pop. When that band quit at 9 o'clock, we moved to the bar at The Cottages and finished off the night.

Sunday, June Teenth - Despite having stayed out way too late last night, we got up at 6:30 to go to the 3rd Sunday Boater's Swap Meet. Steve Luta wanted to wait for his family to call about breakfast for Father's Day, so I went over to pick up Steve Monaghan. We arrived at Bonita Bills, where the flea market is held, only to discover that the swaps are not held during the summer. Bummer. I took Steve back to his boat, went and got my computer, then headed to Island Time where I, again, tackled the refrigeration problem. After having checked out all the electrical system and the water cooling system, I've about decided that the problem is with the compressor. That will, I'm sure be the most expensive to repair or replace because it will, I assume, entail removal of the unit and drawing the vacuum down on a new one to replace it. I spent $600 on the refrigeration just about three months back and suspect this will be at least that much again. I don't want to leave any stones unturned, so I posted on the CSY Owner's Forum to see if I could get any input about the problem, but it being Sunday, I may have to wait awhile for some answers.
                  It's 3:08pm and a cold front just hit here. The wind just picked up to about 30kts, is shaking the boat a bit and the temperature dropped, too. The cool feels nice. I expect rain any minute, so I'd better close up the boat. That will negate the temperature drop.
                  Later...Well hardly a drop fell, just enough to make me close up the boat...and no lightning. I was expecting lots of both, as was everybody else.

Monday, 20 June - Off this morning to get some cash from the bank, then stopped at the library to update all the apps on my iPhone. After that, back to my boat. I was hoping to find out the status of my rudder today, but all I could do was leave a message twice. No news. They didn't return my calls. After lunch, I did find a book onboard that may lead me to a solution for the refrigeration problem I have, I didn't get enough of it read, but it at least looks promising. The best information I've found yet, a Nigel Calder book on the mechanics of a boat. Most of the books I have merely tell you what to look for in the features on a boat; this one tells you how to repair stuff. That's what I need.
                  At 5pm, I returned to "Asilomar" to join Steve Luta in a last trip to Bonita Bills before he heads north to take his boat out of the water before a trip to Colorado to join his girlfriend. Pierre and Jessy Sorriaux joined us shortly after we arrived.
                  We had another great night of music. The first guest performer was a fellow that had won the Florida Blues Music Festival competition's trip to go play up north. I think that if you're a blues fan, you'll probably be hearing more from this guy, Johnny Allende. He plays a wicked guitar and has a deep, gravely voice that just doesn't fit his face. His voice was a total surprise. Others that played tonight were an inductee into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, drummer Doug Johnson, and fellow member of the band "Chicago Mob", Cat Stevens. That is a rather unusual name, but I assure you there is more than one Cat Stevens.
                  Again this week, there wasn't much dancing going on on the floor. The blues just doesn't get people out on the dance floor like rock and roll does. Still, a good night of music.
                  Tonight had a rare occurrence. This was the first time in almost 50 years that the June full moon, which is called the Strawberry Moon because it signified to the Algonquin Indians that it was time to harvest strawberries, fell on the day of the summer solstice. It sure looked pretty on the way back to the boat. My photo doesn't do it justice. That's "LOL", Pierre and Jessy's boat in the photo, taken from "Asilomar." It's a beautiful night for typing out my blog under the full moon with not a cloud in the sky, a 5 mph breeze, small ripples lapping at the sides of the dinghy behind the boat, and a temperature of about 77°F.

Tuesday, 21 June - Not my normal day. Steve got up a little earlier than I did, which is normal, but then he headed into the cash machine and hardware store for something. Back at the boat, I had gotten my things ready to depart and Steve made last minute preparations, then proceeded to raise the anchor. His electric anchor winch isn't operating properly, so it had to be raise by turning the winch by hand and, sometimes, by hauling the chain in by hand as I moved he boat forward with the engine. His propeller seems to be pretty encrusted with barnacles, too, so even when the anchor cleared the bottom, we didn't have the power to overcome the wind and tidal current to turn the intended direction, so we went the other way, passing fairly close to the boat next to us, but with no further problems. I guided his boat out as he continued to put away chain and get the anchor secured, then I boarded my dinghy, which we were towing along side, wished him well, and cast off. He has high expectations for a visit and long term plans with his girl friend in Colorado and I certainly hope all goes well for that relationship. It seems like a good one. He's been a great friend, guide, helper, and host to me on his boat.
                  As soon as I was off, I headed over to Moss Marina where Steve Monaghan has his 45 foot boat and has very graciously invited me to stay until my boat is ready to go back in the water. I contacted the rudder repair facility and another delay has developed. All the work wasn't done on the rudder stock, so it has to be returned to the machinist. Most of the rest of the day was spent going to the grocery store for a couple of items, relaxing in the boater's lounge while I did laundry, and settling into Steve's boat. He's really gone out of his way to accommodate me, as did Steve Luta. Steve Monaghan has a day job in town, so he won't be back until Friday afternoon.

Wednesday, 22 June - I took the opportunity today to catch up on some of my email and paid my next years boat insurance. They raised my payment by $500; no surprise there, I guess. I also relaxed in the boater's lounge and tried to catch up on some reading. I had intended to head over to Bonita Bills for dinner and entertainment, but it just started raining. I think if I'm patient, the rain will pass. I guess I'd better finish this up and get it off.