Thursday, 18 August 2016 - Much of this morning was spent preparing and waiting for a phone call from a refrigeration supply in California that never came. I was hoping they'd return my call. They returned my call last evening and gave me some procedures to run on my refrigeration. I ran them and was hoping to talk to their technician again today about the results. I finally gave up and decided to switch the engines on my dinghy again, but in the process I decided I might as well install a new zinc on the Evinrude before putting it up on the railing. There must be some trick to it that I don't know. I got the bolt out of this one easily, but the rest of the old zinc is apparently totally bonded to the casing of the engine. I had thought perhaps some penetrating oil would help break it loose, but that didn't accomplish anything except making a mess. I couldn't even dig it out with a hammer and screwdriver. I was chipping away at it and getting little pieces to break off, but started running out of time. It looked like I might have about an hour before the afternoon rains arrived. I needed to go to the grocery store for some bread, so I put the Evinrude back on the transom of the dinghy, grabbed some tools to make a quick adjustment on the gears on my bicycle, and headed over to the dinghy dock. I arrived just in time to get under the bridge as it started raining. It took me about 15 minutes to get here. So much for my prediction of an hour.
                  I had the bridge to protect me from the rain, so I proceeded to make my quick adjustment to the bike. About an hour later I realized that the reason it won't shift is because the cable has stretched out and I needed an allen wrench to make the adjustment. I have lots of them...on the boat.
                  The rain stopped and I went to the store for bread, then returned to the bridge and the dinghy dock. I headed to the boat and arrived just in time to see a wall of rain approaching from where I'd just come. I ducked inside the cockpit and had just enough time to zip a couple of the windows closed as it started to downpour.
                  The rest of the evening was spent splitting my ever lengthening maintenance log for the boat into about seven or eight separate logs. It was obvious one log was going to soon get too long to find related entries. I now have separate logs for the engine and transmission, refrigeration, the dinghy and outboard motors, electrical, plumbing, the hull and deck, etc. I think that will be easier in the long run.

Friday, 19 August - Boy! There's not much I like less than making a phone call and leaving a message, then having to wait around for them to return the call, and that's the position I've been in yesterday and today. The refrigeration specialist never returned the call yesterday after I'd left a message for him, so I called again this morning. I can't get started on many other projects, turn the stereo on, or take a shower for fear of missing the call, and even though I have a mobile phone, I can't leave the boat because I need to be able to access the refrigeration unit and my tools when he does call. The company he works for did do something unusual, they called to let me know that he's too busy to return my call, but they'll have him call as soon as possible. That still doesn't free me up to do other things, but at least I know I haven't been overlooked or deemed insignificant or unworthy of their time.
                  It's noonish, so while I'm waiting, I decided to have a gourmet meal, and boy was it ever. I know you don't need or want to know or see pictures of what I eat everyday, but this was so good I thought I'd at least mention it. I got out one of the hamburger buns I purchased at the store yesterday, spread peanut butter on each half, then slathered cherry preserves (expensive, but worth every penny) onto one. I slapped the halves together and consumed it all in about 10 bites, chewing each one about 30 times so I could savor the flavor. Man, it was good! As good as a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and probably slightly better for me. Then, when that wondrous flavor had faded from my pallet, I had a wonderful dessert of a handful of roasted and salted almonds. MmmmMmmm Good! Sometimes it's the simpler things in life that make life worth living.
                  I went over and joined Steve Monaghan for Boston Clam Chowder and a Margarita at the Matanzas Pass Bar, then we had a couple more drinks at the Mermaid, but called it an early night.

Saturday, 20 August - I, again, joined Steve Monaghan for breakfast on his boat, but returned to mine and replaced the sacrificial zinc on the Evinrude outboard motor. I had to spend about an hour and a half grinding away part of the old zinc before I could finally break the rest loose from the lower casing. The fit of the new one didn't look right to me, plus the old bolt wouldn't go into the new zinc. The head of the old bolt was too big, so I had to replace it with a phillips head screw. The only screw that I could find that was about the right fit was actually too long, so I had to cut it down. Nothing ever seems easy, but at least I have the parts and tools to complete most jobs.
                  I just spotted a yellow jacket wasp or a mud dauber here on the boat for a second time today. I'm surprised that one would fly all the way out here across the open water. When I saw it the first time, I thought it was just lost, but a second time hours later in the same day makes me nervous. I hope she hasn't found a place to make a nest. A very industrious mud dauber made a very sizable nest on the boat while I was at the boat yard, but when I left the yard and came out on the water, I destroyed it before any of the young could hatch. I haven't ever been stung by a mud dauber, and I don't want to be, either.

Sunday, 21 August - Much of today was spent catching up on sleep and recuperating from a night on the town, dinner, then too many drinks at the Mermaid, with Steve Monaghan last night. He chastised me for not mentioning the same thing last week, so I thought I'd better mention it this time.
                  I also got a surprise call at 7:30pm from the technician at the refrigeration supply suggesting one more test to run, after my telling him what the results were from the last time. I had just about given up on him and was certainly surprised to get a call this evening.

Monday, 22 August - I disassembled the refrigeration system again and ran the test he'd suggested this morning early so that I could get back to the technician quickly, hoping to catch him as he arrived at work on the west coast. No luck there. I had to leave another voice message and never heard back from him. I left everything disassembled just in case he returned the call. I also tried to locate one of the electronic controllers, just in case he confirmed that it is indeed the faulty device, but to no avail. I did find one fellow locally that has a similar unit, but spent hours on the internet looking for one just like mine or confirmation that one can be substituted for the other. No luck there, either.
                  I went to Bonita Bills for dinner and musical entertainment this evening, and my luck with the trivia was no better. I remembered two or three of the answers, but not quickly enough. The competition was tough...and fast!

Tuesday, 23 August - Again, much of my time was spent online trying to locate one of the controllers, plus, I called the technician again, but have not heard from him at all.
                  I also went to the bank, got water at the dinghy dock, then worked on my bicycle for about an hour and a half. I can't get the front derailer to shift gears. It won't move back and forth far enough, so it is stuck on the middle sprocket. I tried lubricating and flexing the heck out of it, adjusting the limiter screws in and out, even raised and lowered the whole assembly trying to make it shift without success. I even tried bending it a bit. I guess it could be worse. It could be stuck on the smaller sprocket, making me peddle like crazy, but getting nowhere; or in high gear making me grunt and grind to get going every time I stopped.
                  Later that evening, Leon, the fellow on the boat next to me stopped by on the way back to his boat from town in his dinghy. He said he needed to talk to me. I had given him several pairs of shorts that, since I have lost so much weight, don't fit me anymore. He asked if I had lost any money and I said I'm always losing money. He had found $94 and my small Swiss pocket knife in one of the pairs of shorts. A very honest guy!
                  This evening, I decided to go up on deck and read part of my current book while laying in the hammock to stay cool. As I read, as usual, there was a lightning storm nearby and I kept seeing it out of the corner of my eye. The rate of lightning flashes accelerated and finally got my full attention. The storm had already passed near here and was out, according to my phone's radar app, about 30 miles in the Gulf. The evening had grown dark enough that the stars were out and I could see most of the outline of the storm. It was small enough, about 20 or 30 miles across, I'd guess, that I could see it was almost round, but flat on top. Around it, the night sky was clear and I could see stars on both sides and above it glowing very brightly. Most of the lightning bolts were hidden within the clouds of the storm glowing yellow, orange and red, but ones near three sides and the top, I could see clearly and there were an astounding number of them. I was trying to count, but there were frequently two or three at once and rarely even one second in between two. There must have been thousands of strikes within the more than an hour and a half that I watched; a really fantastic light show put on by Mother Nature.

Wednesday, 24 August - Today, I was determined to find a controller for the refrigeration, but I've been using my data on my phone to surf the internet since I can't get WiFi out here at anchor and using a lot of my data up quickly, so I decided to give my Ubiquiti Bullet another try. I had given up on it and hadn't even tried to use it for months. I spent all day with it, but actually think I finally figured it out. Persistence does pay off. What works makes no sense to me, but I don't care. I have to actually move a cable from one port on the router to communicate with and configure the Ubiquiti control panel, then move in to another port to receive WiFi. It works...at least for today. I've thought I discovered the solution before.
                  As usual, I thought I'd get this out earlier, so I'd better get cracking.

            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