Heather repairing the mizzen cover...New Years Eve, 2007. We really know how to party!
Say you are well, or all is well with you, and God shall hear your words and make them true.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
~Robert Brault
Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
~Maurice Setter
We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon.
~Konrad Adenauer
The new year is a time for “spection.” Introspection of ourselves for the coming year. Inspection of onboard systems. Retrospect of last year. Expections of the coming year. And of course it is all circumspect.
We begin 2008 with all systems ready. We have a cold front racing across the country and already we have increasing winds and quite gusty from time to time and will have low’s in the low 20’s here in central Florida. Conditions after the front passes look quite nice so this coming weekend we will meander upriver and begin our trek south.
Our plan is to cross to the Bahamas from Lake Worth to West End then south to the Berry’s and Exumas. If we can make it to Martinique then work awaits there. We’ll see. Nothing is ever written in stone.
We’re very happy with what we’ve accomplished in this month of down time:
*The alternator/charging system was still giving us fits so the alternator was tested onboard and passed both field and full field tests. Since a local parts store does free bench tests of alternators we went on a field trip and it came back with a clean bill of health. The next step was to remove the old wiring harness to the voltage regulator and replace it so it was re-wired from end to end. Four hours after deciding to “take a preliminary look” everything was re-assembled and working as it should.
*The spray dodger has been repaired, new zippers installed on the visor/vinyl.
*Lazy jacks on the mizzen have been repaired
*Our stern navigation light had ceased to function so it was removed…a bit of corrosion was found and the fixture was no longer usable…the bulb fixture, at least…the lens and case were fine. Well, at the SSCA flea market in Annapolis, MD I found a Aqua Signal Series 40 tricolor light for cheap and bought it because that morning I had cracked the lens on ours while replacing the bulbs with Dr. LED bulbs. So I pulled out the naked lens-less masthead light, removed one of the bulb fixtures, and engineered the Hella case to accept the Aqua Signal fixture. Re-wired it, waterproofed it as much as possible, and it’s working fine so far. We now have a Hella Signal light.
*Heather has been working miracles provisioning and making sure said provisions have secure homes. She has also been keeping a wonderful inventory and log or everything onboard…quite impressive. Several sewing and repair projects have kept her busy as well. She’s become quite the seamstress.
*Most of our lockers, cabinets, storage areas, lazarettes, drawers, and cubby holes have been re-organized, neatened up, and we have cleared out a good bit of room. However in the food storage areas there is no room…we can fit neither green beans nor fruit cocktail. The food hammocks are full…by process of evolution they have segregated themselves into food groups per hammock (I just noticed this as I am writing so it was not on purpose) One hammock has cereals and breads. Another has fruits and vegetables - a nice contrast of red apples, orange oranges (duh), yellow lemons, green limes (as well as an errant roll of white paper towels.) A third has comfort foods…tortilla chips, munchies, peanuts, only to mention a few of the snacks waiting, no, begging to be opened. Thankfully we’re not big snackers so we have many months worth here.
All is well in our world. 2007 was quite the adventure including cruising the Chesapeake for the first time, pounding through 15 foot seas and 30-40 knot winds for hours upon hours, making new friends…just looking back through our pictures and past blogs is amazing to us. We are both excited about 2008...our first trip to the Bahamas (and beyond?), new horizons with sunrises and sunsets that are better than any imagination or special effects could create, and whatever comes our way we will deal with, making the best of what life sends our way. | 