Wednesday Afternoon, 27 July 2016 - I sent last weeks message out early and still had work to do, so I'll pick up where I left off, exciting or not. I was cleaning up the bottom of the dinghy with it hanging from the davits over my head while standing on the swim platform, so I could only access one side of it well enough to remove the barnacles on the side nearest me. Eventually, I lowered the dinghy and swapped ends on the davits, which put the opposite side near me so I could reach it. I continued until I had removed part of all the barnacles. I say part of all of them because there is no way that I know of, other than sanding the bottom, to get all of all of them off, which I will have to do eventually, then repaint. After cleaning the bottom, I lowered the dinghy back into the water so I could climb in and get the critters off the transom, then raised the dinghy back onto the davits for the night. By raising it each night, the barnacles have a hard time surviving and growing because they tend to be out of the water too much of the time and dry out before they can really get established and create a shell. Once they have built a shell, they can survive out of the water for two days or more. I hadn't had a problem with them on the dinghy until I had "Island Time" out of the water but still needed the dinghy to get around in. I had nowhere to let it dry out at night, so the barnacles ran rampant. I must admit, I was surprised how thick they had grown. I know now I should have been dragging the boat onto a beach on at least a weekly basis, flipping it, and scrubbing the bottom. A costly mistake.

Thursday, 28 July - While Leon Moyer was on my boat helping me move the anchor Tuesday, I had suggested that, if he'd like, I'd take him out for a day of sailing today, and he'd jumped at the chance. He's on a much smaller boat and, in fact, has never sailed on a boat this size before. We raised anchor about 10 am and headed out of the channel to the Gulf. Winds were light, about 4 - 5 knots for the first couple of hours, but picked up to as much as 9kt. in the afternoon. We had a nice sail clear to the south end of Estero Island, which Ft. Myers Beach is on, then, since we could see thunderheads to the south and east starting to build, we headed back. Rain never reached us, but got awfully close. We re-anchored about 5pm, then I talked him into helping me lay the rope rode on my second anchor back into the locker in the bow. It takes forever when I do it by myself because it has to be laid in neatly by hand or it won't all fit. It would have taken me hours and many trips back and forth from the deck to the forepeak below decks, but with his help feeding the line down the hole, it only took about 20 minutes. After that, we re-installed the foredeck awning and I took him back to his boat in my dinghy. It was a really nice day on the water, we both learned from each other, and I got the anchor rode put away; a great day of sailing.

Friday, 29 July - Last night, before going to bed, I looked at the weather forecast and it predicted rain during the night, so I closed up the forward portion of the boat and most of the cockpit, but since there was very little wind, I left the companionway hatch and two overhead hatches in the aft stateroom open so I wouldn't sweat all night. At 3am, I awoke to the rain coming in and quickly closed up the rest of the cabin. Only a few things got a little wet. This morning was beautiful, but with very little wind. Hot and muggy. If the wind doesn't pick up this afternoon, I'm sure I'll need to run the generator for an hour or so to recharge the batteries. We didn't run the engine long enough yesterday getting out to the Gulf and back to the anchorage to top the batteries up. I took it easy in the cockpit and under the awning in the shade and used the opportunity to catch up on some reading for several hours after breakfast. At one time while reading, I looked up and saw a disturbance in the water. At first, I thought it was one large or several medium sized rays, but when I reached over, got the binoculars and looked through them, I realized it was one rather large manatee. One of the things that made me think it might be rays was that I had seen the edge of its tail break the water, which you don't see often. It had several very light, in fact, pink patches on its skin. I don't know if that is from age or maybe they are healed or healing cuts from propellers. I watched him parallel the edge of the shallows for about 10 minutes, then continued my reading.
                  At 4:30, I realized that the batteries weren't going to be charged enough to last the night, so I started the Honda generator up to top the batteries off. Actually, I didn't run them all the way to 100%, but close enough to last overnight. I'll hope for better wind to charge them tomorrow.
                  The refrigerator is doing better than I had thought it might since the water is so warm, near 92°F. I had thought that the hull might be warmer in the water than it was on dry land, but that obviously isn't so. It's still not freezing anything, but is keeping the space near 32°F., although to do so it is running constantly. I guess it's not a freezer anymore, just a refrigerator, at least until cooler weather arrives.
                  We had a beautiful sunset.

Saturday, 30 July - This morning I raised the top of the wind generator off the post, inspected and re-lubricated it, then re-installed it. I didn't really find anything wrong with it, and I'm not sure the grease I put in it did much good. It still doesn't swing around to face into the wind as freely as I think it should, so I'm still contemplating extending the tail on it, but haven't figured out the method I want to use to do so. It won't really be hard, but I don't want it to end up whistling or vibrating.
                  Just at sunset a lightning storm that I had been watching intermittently on radar changed direction. I saw that it had split and thought it was going to miss me, but instead, it fooled me. Before I realized it had changed directions, it started raining lightly and the wind started to pick up. I rushed on deck to lower the awning, afraid the winds might get too strong and rip the material. I got it tied up before I got soaked, but not well enough. I decided I'd better finish the job, so, since it was now totally dark except during lightning flashes, rather than get my semi-dry clothes soaked, I just took them all off, went on deck and finished lashing the awning, then, when finished, I dried myself off and put my clothes back on.

Sunday, 31 July - Up at 7am for breakfast, then started doing inventory on yet another compartment in the forward stateroom that I thought I had done previously. I guess I had merely gone through everything in there before, but, at the time I probably didn't have FileMaker, so I didn't do the inventory. Now it's done. I did find things in there that I didn't remember, including a hammock, so about 2 o'clock I went on deck and rigged it under the awning, got in it and rested for about 45 minutes. After that, I decided to go to the beach and fly my two string kite for awhile. As I was about to leave, I noticed that Steve Monaghan was on his boat, so I went over and visited with him for a few minutes. He had laundry and other things to do, so I got my bike, which was still there at the marina and headed on over to the beach. I flew the kite for about an hour, then realized that, once again, storm clouds were quickly approaching, so I refolded the kite and headed back to the boat. This time I got back in time to lower the awning and bundle it up before I got wet. As the storm passed, there was a full rainbow in the east as the sunset in the west, so I took a couple of pictures.
                  The wind generator barely kept up with the energy being used today, and since the refrigeration drained 20% of the energy in the batteries overnight, leaving only 59%, I need to run the generator. It is, however, raining and I really don't want to run the generator on the deck in the rain. I may have to turn the refrigerator off tonight before I go to bed, then recharge in the morning. Or, better yet, I think I'll leave it on until about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, then get up and shut it off. The batteries should last that long and the down-time will be shorter. Maybe I'll get lucky and the wind will blow a bit tonight to keep the wind charger charging the batteries.
                  It's dark once again and I can see a heck of a light show going on over at Cape Coral to the northwest of me. They really get pounded by these storms, way more than we do here.

Monday, 1 August - Yikes! What happened? It's already August? I decided to turn the refrigeration off last night, so as soon as I had breakfast, I started the generator and turned the refrigeration back on. The refrigerator was up to almost 40°F. this morning. Most of my day was spent creating a tail extension for the wind generator. The lubrication I added to the generator's post seems to have had no affect on its ability to stay turned facing the wind. The refrigeration needs all the energy I can supply it with to run all day and if the wind generator isn't facing into the wind, it can't produce the needed electricity. I salvaged some thin plexiglass at the boatyard that the sheet metal guy said they'd be throwing away. I should be just what I needed to make the tale and my design should almost triple the surface area of the tail, making it respond to even the slightest shift of the wind.
                  I ran out of time. I had literally just climbed the radar arch, to which the wind generator is mounted, when the front edge of a squall hit the boat. I thought the wind was going to break the new tail before I could get the first screw into it. I had to abort, dismount the arch, take my tools quickly down, and run for cover from the rain starting to pelt me. I closed all the hatches and zipped all the windows of the cockpit enclosure just as the lightning started. If I hadn't reacted within about 15 seconds of that first strong blast of cooler air hitting me, I and all my tools would have gotten drenched.
                  That happened about 4:30 and the storm was dying off by an hour later, so I had just enough time to take a shower and head over to Bonita Bills for their meatloaf dinner and some good music. Their music trivia contest wasn't going my way. I knew a couple of the answers, but couldn't think of the names quickly enough. Finally, when they only had three bandanas left, I instantly knew the answer to the question, "Who had a hit with the song ---" Oops! I've forgotten the question and my answer, but, hey, I got myself a brand new bright orange bandana. I think that's about a dozen so far.

Tuesday, 2 August. - I decided I needed a couple more pop rivets to mount the new tail on the wind generator, so off to the hardware store I went via dinghy and bicycle. I also stopped by the post office to see if there was another check from the insurance company for the boat repairs, but I guess it was too soon. Nothing there. I returned to the boat and mounted the new tail. It looks pretty good and withstood today's afternoon thunderstorm just fine, although today's storm wasn't much of a test. I don't think the winds exceeded more than about 20 - 25 knots. After having finished the tail, I felt the urge to organize the pop rivets I have on hand. As usual, the collection was a conglomeration of Rick's, the previous owner, and mine all thrown together. After sorting them all, I had twenty two different kinds and sizes. Most people, if they know what "pop rivets" or "blind rivets" are at all, assume that a pop rivet's a pop rivet, but there all kinds and sizes. I have ones made of aluminum, brass, aluminum/steel, and stainless steel; three different diameters and about five different lengths, some that are water tight; and one that, upon closer inspection, looks like a pop rivet but is actually designed to be hit with a hammer to spread the head on the opposite side. You'd think that with 22 bags, I surely must have every type and size I'd need, but I had still come up short...so I bought more. My sorting and organizing didn't include counting the pieces, but at least now, once I've determined what style and composition I need, I can quickly find out if I have enough of them on hand without digging through several mixed bags to find the ones I need.
                  On my way back from the hardware store I discovered something I thought interesting. I ended up on a dead end street, but was curious to see what was at the end of it, or to see if, by chance there was, indeed, a way out. There was no exit and nowhere to turn around, but ended at a boat ramp marked "Welcome to Public Access". These small islands are so stingy with their land that here was a dead end road that ended as a narrow, one lane boat ramp; no dock or anything else, bordered by two houses that each have signs that say "No Trespassing". That means than once you launch, there's no where to tie the boat up. Not only that, but to get there, you'd have to back your trailer around a corner two blocks away, then back your vehicle and trailer the two blocks to the boat launch. It didn't look like it gets much use. Duh!

Wednesday, 3 August - I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find that my batteries had about 10% more charge on them than I'd expected. I don't know if it was breezier last night than most, or if my new wind generator tail really made the difference. I certainly hope the latter. I'll probably know for sure in a few days.
                  I had a small project in mind for this morning. The traveler on my mainsail roller furling outhaul tends to jam as I outhaul the sail to unfurl it when I sail. I think that is because the clew is higher than the tack and as the sail is furled the clem rises. The outhaul traveler follows it along the boom, but as the clew rises, the angle of the outhaul line changes, eventually pulling down more than out. That doesn't matter as it is furled, but certainly does when I try to reverse the direction when unfurling the sail. Since it is pulling down more than out, it jams and I have had to leave the cockpit several times to go to the mast and break it loose. I noticed the exact same thing occurred on a Hunter sailboat that I sailed on in the Houston area with the same outhaul setup. There has been a screw screwed into the outhaul track to stop the traveler from moving too far forward as the sail is furled, but I think that stop is too far forward. By moving it aft, the line will be pulling back on the clew, not down. I didn't want to put anymore holes in the boom, so I rigged a clamp out of two bent washers, a carriage bolt and locking nut, that will ride in the boom's track and will be easily adjustable without creating more holes in the aluminum boom if the location I've chosen isn't in exactly the right position.
                  I just heard a lot of yelling going on near my boat. I went on deck to see what it was and it turned out to be two Coast Guard vessels doing training for approaching a vessel and taking it under tow. I also happened to spot a large manatee grazing past my boat. This time it was quiet enough that I heard him exhale when he surfaced. I frequently hear the porpoises, but this is the first time I've heard a manatee. They sound quite different. The porpoises make a "Pwoosh" sound as they open their blow hole, and the manatee makes more of a "Whoosh" sound as they exhale through their nostrils. They are also harder to see, since the only part of their body they need to stick out of the water is their noses. They usually get their eyes above water, too, to look around and sometimes their backs and tale clear the water as they dive again, but that's not the norm.