Thursday, 17 November 2016 - I headed over this morning to NAPA Auto to get the V-belt that I ordered yesterday, however the one waiting for me was the wrong one. Since the plan was to sail tomorrow morning, I just got a refund and headed back to the boat. As plans go, I had a good one, but things change. Steve called and said that the project he's working on is going to take a little longer than he had assumed. We decided that with the delay, perhaps we'd better attend the marine swap meet at Bonita Bill's that is coming up early this Sunday morning, then go. So that's the plan now.
                  With the new departure date, I decided to go to the Ace Hardware store and get a refund for an overcharge that I realized when I checked the receipt for the last purchase I made there about a month ago. I had been told that the vinyl tubing that I bought would be $39 and got billed $45 for it. I hopped on the trolley and rode to Walmart, then walked about a mile to the hardware store. I had no problem explaining the overcharge with the receipt, and because the item is still plainly marked at $39, but of course, I also bought other items while I was there, so I still had to fork over some more dough.

Friday, 18 November - I started putting things away this morning in order to sail away and realized that one of the drawers I was putting some wire into hadn't been inventoried. I'm sure I'll never remember where that stainless steel wire is if I don't have a record of it. That's where my data base comes in. Of course, the input takes time, but will eventually save me many, many hours, I'm sure. Since that drawer wasn't inventoried, it meant that the other three weren't either, so I put all their contents into the database. Three of the four drawers were pretty easy since each drawer contained only one type of item; one, tape of all kinds, a second is full of sewing items, and the third one, cable ties. Actually, the forth was pretty easy, too. It's full of soldering tools.
                  I also spent several hours going over charts for the trip and comparing one chart against another. There are huge differences. Thank goodness the Navionics charts, which are the ones on my electronic chart plotter, are the most up to date and correct. Two other sets that I have are heavily based on NOAA's government charts and are horribly out of date. I noticed that some reference data from the 1930s. Down at the Dry Tortugas, the main channel filled in several years ago and the NOAA charts still show it as open. That would put you aground real quick!

Saturday, 19 November - At noon today, Mark DesErmia, the professional treasure hunter, and I went over to the beach and he explained and showed me how he does much of his metal detecting, then he let me try one of his totally waterproof detectors out. I only spent a couple of hours at it and didn't find much, but it was a good learning experience. I have a very good detector, but the only part that is water proof is the magnetic head, so I won't be able to search with mine in deeper water like he does. Mark does much of his hunting where boaters are able to pull their boats into water about three or four feet deep, then get out and play (and lose their expensive jewelry) in the water. He also does much of his hunting at night, but I really didn't think that was necessary for a first time for myself. As I said, I found very little and he says that he may go for days without finding significant treasure, but when you do, you really get hooked. One of the items he found paid for the power boat he lives on. Not bad!
                  When we got back, I went to my boat and got two of my propane tanks and went with Steve to get his and mine filled. One of mine is older, although in excellent condition, so they wouldn't fill it. It's still about half full and I'll use it with my catalytic heater if I need it, then trash it. It seems a shame to throw away a good tank. I don't think I filled that one more than once or twice at most. I only used it to heat my van on winter photographic trips to Jackson Hole Wyoming where it was about 20°F below zero at night.
                  The plan is now to go to the marine swap meet tomorrow morning at 7 am, then weigh anchors on our boats and head to the Dry Tortugas. Ponce de Leon named them Dry, because there's no fresh water there, and Tortugas because they found lots of turtles there. Most sailors of that era killed or captured all the turtles they could get because it was easily caught fresh meat. They could also keep them on board live to consume later.

Sunday, 20 November - Well, it's not really Sunday. It's Thursday and I've been so busy that I didn't get this typed up each day. I'll try to remember what's happened lately. -
Sunday, Steve Monaghan, Mark DesErmia and I went to the marine swap meet at Bonita Bill's. Steve did well. He bought a light weight, hardened aluminum anchor, some binoculars, and more. I don't think Mark bought anything, and I only found one tiny item I felt I really needed. After that, we went to breakfast, then back to the boats to get ready to sail. Steve's boat threw a drive belt when he started his engine, so we were delayed a bit, but it was of no consequence. He and I headed out of the harbor about 2 o'clock and headed south under motor for a ways, then raised sail and headed southwest toward Tortugas. My boat was sailing slow, so poor Steve was having to try to sail slowly, too. Dark beset us and the seas got pretty choppy. My auto helm quit working and I was having a heck of a time steering in the chop. The boat seemed to really oversteer and I couldn't leave the helm for more than about 15 seconds, hardly enough time to do anything. I motor sailed to try to keep up, but two warning lights on my control panel came on, low oil and voltage, and I had to shut the engine down. We tacked back southeast and the ride got a little smoother, but, since I'd awakened at 4:40 in the morning, by midnight, I was pretty drowsy, but fought through it and felt better and more awake shortly thereafter.

Monday, 21 November - We'd planned to sail all night, but by 4:30 am, I really needed some sleep, so I hove to by sheeting in the mainsail, tacking and backing the jib. For some reason, the boat wouldn't stay hove to this time and, since it was pitch black out, and I was so tired, I went to bed anyway. However, since the boat was tossing so badly in the 6 to 8 foot chop, I couldn't get to sleep. I did lay there until daybreak, however, knowing that without light, I couldn't do much.
                  Remember the reason I went to the top of the mast a few days back? It was to take a look at the main halyard. I thought then that it needed to be replaced soon, but thought surely it had one more trip in it. Well, I was wrong. When I got up at dawn, the mainsail was draped across the bimini top. It had fallen and, luckily, not washed overboard. The steel halyard had parted, but it was still tied on at the boom, so the chances of totally losing it were slim, but that would mean that I couldn't sail up wind at all. I tried to reach Steve on the VHF, but couldn't raise him. I don't know if he'd seen the mainsail fall and realized that my trip was over, then headed south, but he couldn't have helped anyway.
                  I got the sail lashed to the safety lines, then started to head out. However, the screen on my chart plotter was pitch black and I couldn't make the screen brighten, even though I could tell it was operating. I could hear it beep when I touched it, but without being able to see any icons or controls, I couldn't find the right spot to touch and drag. That's when I decided to abort the trip. I could sail south without the mainsail, but when I approached the Tortugas, which is rock and coral, I'd be it deep trouble without the plotter. I also must admit that, with the sleep deprivation I'd had, my decision making abilities, reaction time, etc., were greatly reduced.
                  I didn't know how far south I was, but knew that if I headed east, I'd eventually hit the western shore of Florida again. The wind was out of the north, so I was able to maintain a heading of 85°, almost due east. I kept trying to head further north, hoping to get back to Ft. Myers, but in vain. By noon, I was really sleepy again, so I tried to reach TowBoat US on the radio, but in vain. I couldn't even raise the Coast Guard until about 1 o'clock, when I finally could see the shoreline. I asked them where I was in relation to shore and she said I was still 30 miles out and about 20 miles south of Marco Island. I asked them to contact TowBoat US and request a tow for me. My reaction time was really lengthening and I was, again, having a hard time steering to my heading. Contact was made with the towing company about 1:30pm, but they said it would be about 2 1/2 hours before they could rendezvous with me. I was making pretty good time and, of course, the further I sailed, the shorter the tow would have to be. The Coast Guard and TowBoat US both contacted me about every half hour to track my position, and about 3pm, the wind had shifted further west, so I suggested to TowBoat US that I could finally tack further north, shortening the tow. They were all for that and finally rendezvoused with me at about 4:15. I dropped sail and went under tow for about 20 miles. We arrived at Marco Island in total darkness about 8:30 pm, I anchored, and immediately went to bed.

Tuesday, 22 November - I had hoped to be towed north to Ft. Myers so I could have the same boatyard do work on my boat that has previously, and I still may. TowBoat US says that will be about a 12 hour tow, but they'll do it, if necessary. In the meantime, I think I can resolve some of the problems myself. I arose about 8:30 am and contacted RayMarine about the chart plotter and was shown a solution for the blank screen, but by 10:30 I needed to catch up on some more sleep. I arose again a couple of hours later, added a couple of quarts of oil to the engine, but that put it over the top of the mark on the dipstick, so now I have to suck some back out. Then I dove into the engine room trying to make sense of all the switches, relays, senders, etc., that might be causing the alarms to go off. I found a disconnected wire on one oil switch/sensor, but that didn't make the lights or audible alarm go off. Boy, I wish I had a wiring schematic to make some sense of all these devises! I tracked wires trying to see what's what, pulled connectors, and finally was able to make the oil pressure light go off, but not the voltage light. I got out the owner's manual, shop manual, and parts book to try to identify the different components I was looking at. Unfortunately, none of these helped. In fact, the one I thought would be my salvation, the Parts Book, is perhaps the worst I've ever seen. One page has an exploded view of 20 parts, all numbered, but only tells the name of one. The next page has over 70 parts, all numbered, but identifies 5 of them. I can't find any of the sensors, switches, or relays in it. Not much help. I go through all the books page by page several times, then, lo and behold, I pick up the Customer Information Pack, which is a book that I assume is intended to be a sales brochure, and there it is...a wiring schematic, and Rick George, the previous owner has, thankfully, made notes about some of the unlisted parts, too!!! I really didn't think I had one although I must have seen it because I've been through all these books page by page numerous times, however I suspect, each time I was looking for something else and the schematic just didn't register in my mind, since that isn't what I was looking for at that time.

Wednesday, 23 November - Today was a repeat of yesterday, with the exception of having the wiring schematic in hand to identify parts. I cleaned connections and checked wiring, identified and marked parts and connections for future reference...and, of course, dropped a nut into the bilges that took me an hour to find. The alarms went away!....then came back on! I haven't a clue. Maybe it's the main power switch. That seems to be the only thing the two senders have in common. I'll look at that in the morning. In the meantime, I did find one wire that will turn off the audible alarm when I unplug it, and I'll just leave the other light on tonight. Cleaning the connections that I did today may not have solved this problem, but maybe it will avoid another down the road.

Thursday, 24 November - I spent most of the day studying the wiring schematics for the boat and trying to find information online about some of the parts, then I took the back off the control panel and tested the voltage on the main power switch. It has 9.6V power to it even when it is off, and 12.3 when it is on. I don't understand that.
                  I had BBQ from Angelo's BBQ in Fort Worth, Texas for Thanksgiving dinner. Yumm. Thanks, Mike.