May 20th.. Fernandina Beach

We will just keep patching the dinghy with duct tape and 5200 and see what happens!

We are thinking we will head out in the morning for Charleston which will be a two day-one night trip. So if you don't hear from us tomorrow- you know why.

The dinghy still was leaking this morning so I worked on it some more. Kathy went to town with Jim, Nancy and Beth (who still had a car, because you do need a car in this town) to run some errands and fax some insurance info. On her return we checked the dinghy again and ....surprise surprise, it was still leaking.

So.... I ripped off yesterdays patch with the pliers and started all over with better glue and a more professional attitude. It took a while, but before too long we had a new patch that at least looked better.

I called Jim (Solitaire) and begged him to take me ashore to top off our fuel tank before our planned departure tomorrow morning... He was there in a short time even though he knew that it was going to be a salty ride over and back.

A little later they... Jim and Nancy, came over for drinks and a semi- good game of reading trivial pursuit cards.

We bid farewell to "Madcap" who are here for a few days to complete some electrical work and hauled in one of our two anchors .... (which was easier said than done) before we relaxed with some garlic saut�ed shrimp and long-grained and wild rice for dinner.

May 19...Fernandina Beach.

Jim (Madcap) picked us up around 9:30 to taxi us into shore to locate some glue to attempt to put our dinghy back in one piece. After four days on the boat it was nice to walk around a little. Jim and Beth had a rental car and were kind enough to run us around town most of the morning.

On our return, we started on our repair project. First, Kathy sewed that tear together and then I cut out the patch. After cleaning and applying the glue ....we waited for the required two hours to check.

With dish soap and a spray bottle I checked the patch and found one set of small bubbles. The problem was that the tear ran right up to a seam. I cut some small right angled pieces of fabric to glue against the old patch and seam. Once in place, I added a third patch over the junction of the first two.

We worked on some other boat chores and in the afternoon and made plans for dinner with "Solitaire" who had just arrived in the anchorage, and "Madcap" who knew of a good Mexican Restaurant.

After a great meal, Jim and Nancy were kind enough to haul us back to "Sapphire." It was a great night with wonderful friends.