Florida, Green Cove Springs – Still here and still working on the boat

I am sorry I have been neglected to update the blog.  I have been very busy supervising the humans working on the boat.  Then there was so much to tell you, well to tell you the truth, it becomes a ‘pig’ to write.  But I am going for it!

As you already know, to save money the humans have put the boat in the river just off Green Cove Springs Marina (which is not a marina, but a working yard) and used it as a base to work from.

A list of just a few of the jobs they have completed, under my watch, have included:

-New foot pump in the head (toilet).  Important to save water, have water if electrics go down in the head and to have water when the humans rip the galley (kitchen) apart.

-New counter top in the galley.  Varnished all the wood work there too as it will be the only time it will not be in use.  They also throw out the microwave (as we have not used it in 2 years) and built a cabinet there instead.  You can never have enough storage on a boat.

-Repaired the genoa track.  A track that runs down the side of the boat that helps us steer the forward sail (pictures later).  It was getting very old and some of the bolts, holding it down, had sheered completely off.  It was already starting to lift in places off the toe rail (side of the boat) and any further neglect and it would need to be completely replaced.  It was getting the 71/2″ long bolts and access, often in the back of lockers and behind walls, that was the hardest part.

-Colean the toe rail.  We had neglected to put any coating on the teak rail that runs the exterior of the boat.  It gets a bit beaten up by fenders and crashing into docks.  But as we spend 99% of our time on anchor, and the wood is drying up and cracking a bit, it was time we covered it so it matched the rest of the teak on the boat.  Lots of sanding to get that baby ready!

-Fitted ‘kick boards’ in the saloon (living room).  There was a bit of ‘chipping’ at the bottom of the teak veneered walls.  Replacing the entire wall would be very costly.  Instead the humans found some 4″ high thin teak strips.  Cut to size and shape, then varnished, they blended in nicely with the walls and made the whole saloon look much tidier  I am a little shorter then the humans and I was always had it in my face.  Nice to see them get that done.

-New lid for the steer storage box.  That poor box has taken a beating.  Storage for our dive compressor, drogue, extra lines and flammable liquids we would prefer the contents remained dry.  Rain and washing up water, after we clean a fish on the cutting board top surface, could get in now that the sides of the lid had crumbled.  The humans made new sides from plastic and replaces the two small hinges with a long robust piano hinge.

*Special note- America is the ‘land of plenty where you can find almost anything you need to complete a project.  But on our budget, the used market and shops like Sailors Exchange and Monkeyfist have made these repairs possible.

-New porthole (side window) to replace the broken one in the ‘tardis’.  We use our master cabin head as a storage locker, and if you are familiar with the TV show Dr Who, you will understand how it got it’s name.  Do not ask me what broke it, but thankfully it has not leaked yet.  Friends lent us a car, and we were able to get a new replacement cut in 2 hours.  It took a lot more then 2 hours to get the thing off!

-Replaced the sealant in the chain plates.  These attach the rigging to the deck.  Rigging supports the mast.  So quite important that they do not fill with water and corrode.

-Wire the ‘dump’ from the solar panels into the starter battery.  I do not know why we never did this before.  We have never been ‘totally energy balanced’ until we bought that last 250W/24V solar panel in Sint Maartin.  We were either running the generator or the engine regularly, so the starter battery was regularly getting topped up.  Now that we have not gone far here in Florida the starter battery was getting low.  Do not ask about the battery chargers.  Not using them for 2 years, they have just stopped working.  We are not going to bother with the expense of replacing them as we are so rarely hooked up to shore power.

Here is the proof I have worked them hard:

 

But it has not been all hard work, just mostly.  We did take some time out to socialize or have fun.

Of course my idea of fun is running about in the grassy fields that surround the area.  The humans have gotten into the habit of taking along the fields that border a golf course.  There is a nice mixture of country road, fields and dirt tracks for me to play.  Here are some picture during a rare foggy morning.

 

Our morning walks brought us in contact with a lovely local named Jay.  He had traveled the world in the service and felt our visit of Florida would not be complete without coming to a Southern (lowcountry) boil.  He invited us to join him and his friends for a feast in town.

A Southern Boil is a mixture of seafood, sausages and potatoes all cooked together with spices.  When we showed up Jay would not let us open our wallets and treated us to a assortment of delicates on top of the boil including corn on the cob, fried fish, salads and fresh oysters.  The oyster table was new to me.  A bar height table was set up with a hole in the middle and a waste bucket below.  Fresh oysters are piled onto the table with clothes (to protect your hand) an opening knife and hot sauce.  Everyone just stands around chatting and cracking shells and eating.

The whole evening was a true joy.  We were very fortunate to be invited and treated to such hospitality.  I am just sorry I did not bring my camera and get you guys some pictures.  I will get some snaps of Jay when he comes over for dinner later.

You would think that with all this ‘sailing around’ our world would be getting ‘bigger’, but instead we keep being reminded how small the world is.

Meet Ed and Cathy.  We met them in Ortega Landing this summer.  They had just purchased their new boat ‘What If’ from friends we made last summer in Grenada.  ‘What If’s’ previous owners, Chis and Dean, had sold up to head ‘back to land’ for a break and to let Derek do some high school.  Ed and Cathy are just finishing up working and hoping to ‘head away from land’ soon.

They were a bit naughty though.  They had bought the new boat before selling their old one.  Now they have two.  With the hurricane season ending, they wanted to get the ‘old’ boat to the dealership in St.Augustine and continue south, to the Floriday keys, with the ‘new’ boat.  Life would be easier for them if they had ‘deck crew’ for the leg down the ICW from Jacksonville to St.Augustine.  I volunteered my humans.

I figured the human may need a helping hand, so I came along.  It is a long trip so we were up and going with the early down.

We connected with the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway) just before the St.Johns river meets the sea.  This waterway, marked by red and green marker posts, runs parallel with the coastline, but in sheltered waters inland.  No longer a important route for industrial trade and transport, it is a favoured route for pleasure crafts travelling up and down the east coast.

 

 

 

Before we knew it we were passing the Spanish build inbattlements that protect the historic city of St.Augustine

A last bridge to request entry though and we had both the boats settled at the shipyard for the night.  Ed and Cathy continued south while we headed back to Green Cove Springs and more boat jobs.  The really cool thing is they lend us their pickup truck while they made their trip to the Keys.

For the next few weeks we did not have to beg a lift to hardware stores or spend half the day cycling into town and back for groceries.

Hurricane season is coming to a close.  The hot humid summer weather is over.  October, most Florida natives favorite month, was the most pleasant and settled, and we got the most work done each day.

Then November came and the days got noticeably shorter.  The first of the cold spell made it way far enough south to affect us and we had a week of socks and jackets.

The weather may have improved, but it is time to get the boat work finished and start heading south.

So we brought the boat into the yard to be lifted out of the water so we can work on the bottom.

Once she is clear of the water she is driven over the land and lowered onto a trailer.

Then they drive her into the yard and park her up with everyone else working on their boats.  It has been two years since we have done any work on the bottom.  It is embarrassingly dirty compared to the ‘snow birds’ we have as neighbors.   What is a ‘snow bird’?  Well a the yard is known as a very economical place to store you boat, so it is full of part time sailors.  They sail their boats all winter here in the south and then have them lifted and stored for the summer, returning to homes further north.  The majority are from Quebec and French is the dominate spoken language.

But they are a great and sharing lot.  If they see you working on a project they often offer you helpful advice and even the loan of more effective tools.  No sooner did we lift out then another cold snap blew through.  This one included a night time temperature that dropped to -1’C.

We can not complain too much as we need to grind off some paint and prepare the hull to raise the waterline.  Something we really should have done before we left England.  At least with the cooler weather in the day the protective suits are not uncomfortably sweaty.

Even with the protective gear the humans still manage to get covered in it all.

And they still manage to get stuff in their eyes.  One of my humans had to walk around looking like a pirate after she scratched her eye.  At least we still had the truck to run around the shops in.

You got to love BIG American vehicles and BIG American roads.

With the ‘official’ end of Hurricane Season approaching and the occasional temperature drops we are all itching to get moving south.  We still have a lot of work to do on the bottom, so I better stop typing, and get back to supervising the human work.  You know they will goof off if I do not keep an eye on them.

Update you again soon.