May 18th:Really?

Flint, Leslie and I planned to take the boat out this morning because the weather was again perfect. Flint helped me take the mast down so we could get under the seven mile bridge, 3.5 miles closer than going to the raised opening.







I needed to take the mast down to store the boat anyway. All went well. I used colored zip ties to label everything so I can put the cables back where they belong. We learned the hard way that they are not interchangeable. I used zip ties on both ends of the cables and where they are attached. This system has worked quite well.

Finally I thought, "The boat was in good working condition". I was kind of bummed out thinking that this would be the first time the boat left a dock without Linda at the helm. Thoughts like that just keep popping up. Then I thought, "Linda would want us to take the boat out and have a good time."

Went to start the engine. Typing this I'm thinking, "Does this sound familiar?" Started the engine. The engine alarm was going off. Could be low oil pressure, alternator problem? Checked the oil pressure gauge. Oil pressure was fine. Flint checked to see that water was coming out for the cooling system. No problem. The volt meter was bouncing around. Not good. Turned the engine off. Checked for any loose wires. Couldn't find any. No boating again today. Called Billie. He's coming tomorrow.

Seriously frustrated at this point. This is getting beyond ridiculous. Decided to get my hour of swimming in. I seriously started thinking, "The boat just does not want to go without Linda!" "Am I subconsciously sabotaging the boat?" "Why does this keep happening?" Ended up swimming an hour and a half. It helped. Sanity started to return. Hard to hang on to a lot of anger after swimming an hour and a half. By the time I finished I saw a lot of interesting birds flying around the pool. Very nice.

Went back to the boat and rested a while. Then I decided I might as well clean the stainless steel cables that hold the mast up. Its not a fun job but needs to be done and I knew it would make me feel better to get it done. I had an idea. Usually I use metal polish to clean the cables. Its a messy, labor intensive, time consuming process. I thought, "I wonder if Barkeeper's Friend would work?" Barkeeper's friend works great on stainless steel sinks. You squirt it on rub it around a little and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then you rinse it off and wipe it down with water. It worked great. I finished the job in a fraction of the time it usually takes. Things were looking up!

As I was reviewing pictures for the blog, a couple made me laugh. Skip on Slew Foot, is a practical joker and perpetual joke teller. You might recall, I related in an earlier blog that he has an electrical contracting business near Myrtle Beach and was asked to come home as soon as possible to wire some buildings for a make shift hospital. He and his wife Sharon left at the end of March thinking they would return after finishing the project to bring their boat home to Myrtle Beach.

Trouble became, they closed the Keys to non-residents, so he couldn't get in to get his boat. He spent a week contacting numerous county officials and finally worked out that if he had notarized documents, a certified captain, and driver's licenses for his crew, etc. he could get through the road block. An un-named person recognized an opportunity. That person printed some very official looking documents that were taped to his boat stating the boat was under quarantine for 14 days and no one was allowed on board. When he finally arrived and saw the notices on his boat he fell for it hook, line and sinker. But not for long. He quickly figured out he had been had. It's been pretty dull around here, so one must do what one can to provide entertainment. Skip and crew left two days later, still talking to us and telling last minute jokes.

Anyway, working on the blog was just not happening. Swimming was helpful but I can't say it was a lot of fun. I decided "If I want to be happy today, I need to do something fun." The water was dead calm. I decided to kayak out to the great snorkeling island. Its kind of far after swimming, but I could certainly handle it. And if I used the kayak instead of the dinghy I would avoid the work involved before and after to get the dinghy ready and put it away. I kayaked out and had a great snorkel trip around the island.

When I got back it was almost time for docktails. The group is getting smaller but still fun. I received much sympathy for my boat problems and the conversation was a lot of reminiscing about the good old days. Lots of funny anecdotes.

The sunsets seem to just keep getting better, or maybe just different. Here are a couple really nice ones.

Looking forward to Billie coming to continue working on our unending saga of boat repair.