Tommy, our meticulous, Swedish-American, smart and honest, Rybovich mechanic is back on Nancy Lu. One of the reasons we stopped here in West Palm Beach was to get the valves readjusted as a preventative measure on our refurbished generator. He got on the boat this morning to do that, but due to finding out that we only have 36 hours of use on the generator and the time consuming hassle of getting things to a place where he could actually do the work of adjusting the valves in the cramped working space in our small engine room, he suggested that we should call the generator manufacturer and see if they thought the readjustment was really necessary. Well, they said, "Don't do it, yet." However, it's a good thing that Tommy went down there and meticulously inspected things because he found some other things that weren't right. Long story, short: preventative work was done, just not readjusting valves, and it took a lot less time than readjusting the valves! As usual, Mark worked as Tommy's gopher and learned a lot from his tutelage. I was entertained the whole time by Tommy's commentary and philosophizing--a wise man doing his calling rather than just his job!

Another tidbit about the upkeep of Nancy Lu: Mark came up with the idea of hooking our electric water heater to the battery inverter so that we will be able to kill two birds with one stone by heating the water while we run the generator to charge the batteries. This will cause the generator to run harder, which it likes. He accomplished this in Brunswick with the help of a fellow cruiser and electrician, Clyde.

Tidbit #3: Mark hooked up Sirius Radio so now we have music out on the open ocean, which is a nice addition to our long passages.

Tidbit #4: I'm proud of myself for explaining all the Nancy Lu upkeep in my own words, AND it ALMOST passed Mark's proofreading without any editing!



Tidbit #5: Mark helped hang some art that Claire and Ethan did a few years ago while they visited Grandmom Nancy Rae, my mother, who is one of Nancy Lu's namesakes (Mark's mom, Lunell, is the other namesake). BTW, I came up with a GREAT name for our dinghy--RaeNell!!!!



Now about our last days in Brunswick besides the Nancy Lu work I've already shared: Grocery shopping, stowing,



a couple more ZUMBA classes,



Mark joined the weekly Friday night dominoes game in the marina lounge, more shopping and stowing, getting my hair cut and colored, a little last minute trip on a cold but sunny day to the much acclaimed St. Simon's Island for the BEST fried shrimp I've ever had at a restaurant called Iguana's (I picked up a tourist brochure there and learned about a 900 year old oak tree called "Lover's Oak" that was not too far from our marina. Just think, it was here in the year 1113. Think of all the history it lived through--WOW!



I talked Mark into stopping by Lover's Oak for a visit before we went on yet another Walmart run.

I love impromptu sightseeing expeditions like that!!), getting the kid's valentines mailed early (not to be opened until February 14), laundry, and lastly, covering the Suburban with a tarp for it's long winter's and spring's nap in Brunswick Georgia!



The passage to West Palm Beach was actually pretty enjoyable! We were so ready to get on with our sailing, but it always makes me a little melancholy to leave a place where we've put down tiny little roots. Putting down those little roots is one of the things that make this lifestyle rewarding, but it is also a little painful when it's time to uproot.



It was a coldish sunny morning. We got off about 30 minutes after two boats that we buddy boated south with, "Early Out" and "Rhapsody In Blue". It was nice to communicate with them off and on by VHF radio along the way. The first day during my watch while Mark was taking a nap, I saw a HUGE sea turtle heading in the opposite direction swimming at the surface. His head was almost as big as mine (although, that might not be saying much). I wonder how old it was! The watch plan we used worked pretty well for us. Mark would nap for an hour or two during the afternoon and I would go to bed early (about 9:00 pm) after a very rolly shower (thank goodness for the small shower stall to catch me when I would lose my balance). Mark would wake me about 1:30 am and I would watch until around 6:15am. Mark would take over again while I slept until around 10:00. Then we started over again! We were so thankful for the full cockpit enclosure that we put up during the passage. It kept us cozy all night long the first night and kept the rain out the second night! We had an exciting second day.



We got 3 different visits from dolphins!



On one visit there were about 15 of them. They seemed like they were having a blast, swimming at our bow and jumping straight out of the water! Sometimes we see dolphins and they're busy feeding or doing other dolphin things while they ignore us, but other times they're ready to play!




Timmy noticed them for the first time ever on this passage. He barked at them like he does anyone that he feels is threatening his territory. Our second and last night, we followed our watch plan except I woke Mark up at about 4:30am as we were approaching our last waypoint. After taking down our cockpit enclosure, we motored into an anchorage close to Rybovich Marina, where we're docked now, and dropped the hook. It was about 5:30am when we climbed (literally) into bed. We slept 'til 8:00 then requested an escort into the marina from Tow Boat U.S., which is stationed there. The channel is tricky and there are high spots that shift.



They were happy to offer this service--glad for our membership! It felt like coming home as we docked here! Surprisingly, we didn't take any naps all day. My nesting instincts kicked in and I cleaned all day. Mark took care of scheduling different things including a vet visit for Timmy, Tommy the mechanic's visit to N.L., and renting a car. He also looked into applying for Local Boater Option, a quick immigration procedure for when we come back to The States from The Bahamas

Tommy just left and as Mark was walking up to the marina office with him, he saw some boat carpet cleaners and had them stop by to clean ours!! He's the BEST captain EVER!! Our friends Greg and Luba from "Rhapsody In Blue" just arrived by dinghy from their anchorage not far away so we're going to eat a late lunch with them while the carpet cleaners do their job. (They will clean the carpets out on the dock and let them dry in the sun.)

Life goes on....on Nancy Lu!!

See the photo gallery for more pictures.