Enough is Enough!

08 March 2020

The windlass has been an adventure - It took a lot of man hours to dig it out of the deck, but the actual installation of the new one went fairly smoothly until we ran the anchor out (on land) and discovered that the link connecting the 100 feet of anchor chain to the 200 feet of rope was too big to fit through the mechanism!! 

Jim Getting Ready to Lower the Anchor on Land

Apparently we should have anticipated this, but after doing some research we found that it was a common problem and the solution was to splice the rope onto the chain rather than use a shackle.  I figured this was something I could do and thanks to youtube, Jim's ingenuity of hooking up a work station for me inside, and two tries I was able to get it done!!  It turned out to be quite fun.

Work Station for Splicing

Almost Done

Finished Splice

The first time we tried to pull it through the windlass, it was a bit stiff, but after a few times it worked perfectly.  Jim wanted the option to operate the windlass manually (in case we had some sort of power failure) and that required buying another part which was rather irritating, but we did it and now have that option.

About a week and a half ago, we made the 100 yard move into the water and are still tied up at the dock.  It's not a bad spot to be if you can't be out sailing.  This is where we have things checked out that need water to operate:  engine, generator, air conditioning and heating.  We hire mechanics to do this.  And this year, it was a good thing.  Our generator had a pin hole in the exhaust mixing elbow which we would probably never have spotted.  We rarely use the generator, but when we do, it is for heating or airconditioning and we tend to have the boat closed up.  Not to put too fine a word on it, an exhaust leak into the cabin seemed like a very bad idea!!  Part ordered, departure delayed, part received, generator fixed.

Jim Learning from the Diesel Mechanic

The engine passed all tests with flying colors!!  So did the air conditioning and heating.  (And there were a few nights where it got down to 40 degrees and we were very glad to have heat!)  

This week we were so frustrated with the plugged up head, that we decided we needed a break.  We took a day to drive to Port St. Lucie on the east coast to visit a friend from my days at Pan Am. 

Cattle Egret who Jumped on our Hood and Enjoyed a Short Ride

We figured it had been over 40 plus years since we had seen each other.  It was an absolute delight to get caught up and I think we could have kept talking for days!!  Because in his work with IBM Jim had worked at the  Pan Am office he was vaguely familiar with some of the people we were talking about and only occasionally rolled his eyes.  

Reminiscing with Anne about the Good Old Days

We are hoping to take off early next week and have been making lists again - things to do before we can cut the apron strings.  We are almost beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and the water at the end of the lock!