Michael has been reassembling the steering - had the pump
out for work on the seals. There had been some leaking.
When he tried to reinstall it, he realized that it had been
put back together backwards, so he had to borrow Lynne's
car to take it back. Today, he bled the lines, so there wouldn't
be any air in them.
I sat in the cockpit at the wheel turning it back and forth while
Michael was below making adjustments. I seems good-to-go,
but the real test will be when we leave the dock.

The engine is reassembled as well. Heat exchangers are now
rebuilt and reinstalled.

The toe rail is ready for painting. We are waiting for the right
weather. Seems we are always waiting for the right weather!!!!!

I've been provisioning: Jekyll to Panama and also 'deep bilge'
provisioning: Panama to Polynesia - just some basic supplies
that we really like and I'm not sure I'll get in Panama.

I've put a barrier under all our beds to keep the moisture away
from the mattresses. While the beds were out to air, I washed all
the bedding. Whew. Two big jobs done!

Michael installed an inner forestay and we are now in the
process of mounting the tracks on the cabin roof. We have
decided to use Bytol (a sort of sticky putty) instead of caulking.

It has been great to see some things being crossed off the list!

S/V Shiver arrived here a week ago and our mutual friends: Mark, Josie and kids: Sepp, Anna Claire and Anton, came for a visit for a few days.
We went to Driftwood Beach, the tree swing and of course, the bakery at the Jekyll Island Club. We had a camp fire and the kids came and went between games of 'manhunt'. They were so happy to see each other again and played wonderfully.
Josie spent her whole first afternoon helping me label, catalogue and stow all the provisions I had stacked up all over the salon of the boat. It was a huge job and I was totally overwhelmed by it. Thanks, Josie!

The kids are progressing on the their school work. It is difficult though, as there have been so many kids here to play with. Bit by bit, they are sailing off so I'm hoping that in these last few days here, we will get lots done so there will be less pressure while we are underway.

That's it for now. I'll try to post some pictures soon.