Apparently enough is NOT enough!

14 March 2020

The "head" saga continued what seemed like forever!  Details are really not pleasant so I won't regale you with them other than to say that in desperation, Jim finally cut the blocked hose and pulled it out in  pieces.   We bought a new hose which went in so easily Jim wondered why he had waited so long to cut the old one out. When all was hooked back up again, he tried pumping the toilet to flush it and first it squealed and then water spurted out from the base!!  What next?  Turns out there was a crack in the pump assembly.  After some pondering we headed off to West Marine and bought a whole new toilet with pump assembly.  The good news was that it made a thorough cleaning of the whole bathroom easy once the old toilet was removed.  The new one was installed with minimum fuss and maximum fanfare!!  A few pumps and it seemed to work well, but not easily.  We should have taken note because we are now out on the water and it really is not yet working quite right.

Jim finishing up the plumbing 

Last year when prepping the boat for hurricane season, we removed both the genoa and the mainsail.  (Both are roller furling  - the genoa curled around a furling line and the mainsail curled up inside the mast)  We had a horrible time, neither sail would budge so called the rigger for advice.  He was baffled by the mainsail's inability to drop down when the halyard was released.  Finally with due apologies to our intelligence, he asked if we were really releasing the main halyard.  Well, that is how it was labeled, but in an act of desperation we untied the genoa halyard and the mainsail dropped down.  So much for  labeling!!  We had the sails inspected, cleaned and restitched as needed over the summer and this year the rigger came to put the sails back on.  It is not a job for the faint at heart and the winds were blowing 20 knots which did not help matters.  After installing the sails he scampered up to the top of the mast to make an adjustment to the furling mechanism to preclude it locking up, which it has done in the past.

Anthony, our rigger at the top of the mast

Pre departure rug scrubbing

Thursday afternoon Mar 12th we left the dock, made it through the hand operated lock and anchored near Hog Island in the northern part of Charlotte Harbor about 6:30pm!!  So nice to be "on the hook" enjoying the gentle motion of the boat.

Well, Why Not? heading down the canal

Our first sunset off Hog Island

We have a new anchor buoy this year:  vinegar bottle meets Margaret's artistic urges!

Our new anchor buoy

We have a two level copper basket in the galley.  We keep vegetables and fruit in it.  There is only one problem - it swings back and forth with every movement of the boat.  It is especially  noticible when we are at anchor and sitting in the cabin.  I cannot look at it or even catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye without getting slightly sea sick!  So it was either get rid of it, or stop the swinging!  A couple of cable ties holding it to the window latches has done the trick!!

Hanging baskets,  needed for extra  storage

Sunrise at Hog Island