02/11/2010, Thompson Bay, Long Island

February 10th, 2010 Thompson's Bay Long Island
The wind picked up to around 20 knots from the SW (where we have no protection) at about 4 a.m. and woke us up. I got up and slept a little in the cockpit as we hobby-horsed in 2-foot waves. The wind picked up a little after daylight and by noon when the front passed with a couple of minor squalls, it was blowing about 25. As the wind shifted to the north (where we have good protection), the waves diminished and we rode much more comfortably in the wind.
Our day was spent reading and cooking. I made a spinach/ham/feta Quiche for lunch and later worked on a mushroom marinara, which we had over some penne.
We put our books down after dinner and watched some video before going to bed.

February 9th, 2010 Thompson's Bay Long Island
After coffee we removed the sole areas that cover our tanks and I began cutting in a new access port with our jigsaw. The stainless steel proved to be a little tougher than our blades and I used up all three of our metal blades before I was half done with the cut out. I jumped in the dinghy and headed to the tool store where I found a package of 5 blades. Back on board I finished the cutout with two blades to spare and began cleaning and sanding the seam in question. After heating and drying the inside of the tank with a heat gun I applied the epoxy.
We had some left over beef stew for lunch and then headed into the Island Breeze for some internet. I also needed to hitchhike down to the bank 10 miles south to use the ATM. Kathy took a load of laundry as well.
The first vehicle that came along, a Batelco truck, picked me up and dropped me at the bank. After collecting a little cash, I walked back to the road and once again, the first car that went by picked me up and returned me to Salt Pond.
When we returned, I mixed up a batch of West Systems and applied a thin coat of epoxy over the exposed seams of each end of our water tank, going over the area that I had patched earlier. The leak was very slow and I am reasonably confident that we have solved the problem.
Another front was expected to clock through tonight.

February 8th, 2010 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
Our plans were to leave today and head up the north end of the island for some fishing and then over to Conception... but after listening to the weather with not one but two fronts expected this week we decided to remain in Thompson's Bay where there is some protection and excellent holding.
I removed a section of the sole to gain access to the water tank and found a spot where there appeared to be a potential leak. After a consultation with "Fine Lion" I decided to cut in a new access port, clean and sand the questionable area and then apply some underwater epoxy. The remainder of the day was spent running around making sure that I had everything for the job.
February 7th, 2010 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
After breakfast, Kathy went for a walk with Kim and Susan while I read my book. In the afternoon we listened to some Big 10 games. There was a super bowl party at Long Island Breeze and we had volunteered to head ashore early to help set up. Kathy took a shower on her return and I followed shortly after ... only to run out of water as I was attempting to get the shampoo out of my hair. Although our tank monitor is not working, we have been making water on a regular basis and should have been plenty. I was able to find a couple of water bottles in the refrigerator to rinse my hair and then we were off to the beach.
Mike had promised a shuttle service from the Resort back to the anchoring area in Thompson Bay so we beached the dinghies and walked out the Queen's highway where he picked us up.
At the Breeze we moved some tables around but the most important issue was getting a huge tv from Mike's apartment up stairs down to the dining area. With four of us it was moved without injury.
As 5 o:clock approached Mike asked to run the shuttle... which meant driving his truck back and forth to Thompson's Bay while he ran the bar. It was about a 3 mile run one way and in the next hour I made 5 trips.
There was a nice crowd. Steve put together two betting boards to keep things interesting. We've rarely watched a Super Bowl game from start to finish but this time we stuck with it to the bitter end.... I did make a shuttle run at half time to return those who had seen enough.
After the game Mike ran us back to the dinghies....


February 6th, 2010 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
I've talked about fronts before so let it suffice to say that one was coming through today. The forecast is for the wind to clock today from the south to the NW at 20-25 knots. The front itself should hit us in the afternoon with squalls to 30knots.
Our anchorage in Thompson's Bay offers good holding and protection the WNW to SSE. Unfortunately there is about 40 degrees where we are unprotected. We knew that we were in for a few hours of rocking and rolling but since it was going to happen in daylight we could at least see what was happening.
The front passed without any serious problems... and by nightfall things were back to normal.

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02/09/2010, Thompson Bay, Long Island

February 6th, 2010 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
I've talked about fronts before so let is suffice to say that one was coming through today. The forecast is for the wind to clock today from the south to the NW at 20-25 knots. The front itself should hit us in the afternoon with squalls to 30knots.
Our anchorage in Thompson's Bay offers good holding and protection the WNW to SSE. Unfortunately there is about 40 degrees where we are unprotected. We knew that we were in for a few hours of rocking and rolling but since it was going to happen in daylight we could at least see what was happening.

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02/09/2010, Thompson Bay, Long Island

February 5th, 2010 Salt Pond, Long Island
I took off in the morning to check email at Island Breeze and picked up some things we had forgotten at the grocery yesterday. Then returned to the boat and made pizza for lunch. Kathy spent the morning cleaning and most of the afternoon working on stainless.
We were hosting a party on board this afternoon so I put together some black eyed pea salad to use a dip... I made it a week ago for Bob's birthday and it tasted so good that I made it again for a new audience.
At high tide in the afternoon Barry and I joined Steve and Kim to take "fine Lion" to the fuel dock. It's about a three mile trip but there isn't much water near the dock and high tide is the only time sailboats can approach. We filled "Fine Lion" and Barry and I each got a jerry can or two to top off our tanks as well.
Barry came over a little early and helped me move our Nissan outboard, which we won't be using for a while up the port side anchor locker. It barely fit but by moving things around we made room.
Besides the regulars, we invited Doug and Sharon from "About Time" to join us and as always... ate too much and had a great time.

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