December 8th, Monday... Vero Beach, Fl


That's the Windbugger in the rigging, and a smaller, more modern wind generator in the background.

Today Kathy was feeling fine so we were off to return our rental car by 8:30. On our way back to the boat we stopped to chat with Berry and Susan and to ask if they could drive me back to West Marine this afternoon. It was a nice morning so I decided to get our mast steps out and get some work done aloft.

I went up the mizzen first to remove the old Ham radio antenna that had been tied off for a year. I also tore down the lazy Jacks ( a system to gather the sail as it is lowered) which we never use and are just in the way.

Then it was up the Main. There is a splice in the wiring of our anemometer up there and it hasn't work for a few months. It's not really that critical, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." But it's a nice feature when sailing.

Anyway I was up there wiring for about 2 hours and finally got it working. I also permanently tied up our ssb antenna to free up a halyard. When I climbed down and checked the wind gauge, it wasn't working. I must have broken one of the tiny wires in the process of putting the top back on the mast.

I left the mast steps in place with the idea of going up again tomorrow.

After some lunch, I cut the fuel line, took some measurements and a few minutes later Barry stopped by to take me back to West Marine. Returning with the proper parts, I began what should have been a simple installation. It really wasn't too bad getting it mounted but getting the air bled out of the system proved to be a little tricky. It took me about an hour and I was soaked with gasoline. I was just finishing when Barry and Susan showed up with snacks.

I baked some chicken breasts in orange juiced for dinner but we were so full decided to save them for tomorrow.

We really had wanted to be gone from here by now but the weather isn't cooperating. There are two fronts going through this week with squalls and high winds. Then over the weekend and into next week the high pressure will bring us north winds at about 25 knots for a few days. So we'll just stick around here until we see a possible window.








December 7th , Sunday... Vero Beach, Fl


Kathy woke up feeling horrible and spent the morning sleeping on the couch. In the afternoon she remained on the couch but graduated to reading. After coffee, I put the wind bugger together and hoisted it to its working location in the forward rigging. We didn't have much wind but there was enough to prove that it was working correctly.

Then I went to shore to ferry the groceries that we purchased yesterday out to the boat. It took two trips but eventually everything was aboard.

Getting everything there was easy, finding a place to stow it all took hours. First I took everything out of the lazarette and was able to get a few cases of beer back there.

Next, with Kathy's help from the couch we added everything to our manifest and double bagged all the smaller items.

Then I emptied the garage (starboard berth) and repacked it with our new purchases. Paper products are very expensive ... so we take two large packages of paper towels and two of toilet paper....not much weight but lots of bulk.

By the time I finished it was afternoon. I cooked some lunch and then drove to West Marine to purchase a water separator for our dinghy. Since I didn't know the inside diameter of our fuel line, I'll have to go back tomorrow after I cut it.

Back at the boat we spent some time talking to our family and then listened to the Spartans.

We baked some ham and sweet potatoes for supper and watched a movie before bed.