It's great out here on anchor off the marina. The wind is blowing and the wind generator is having a great time spinning like mad. Heck, it might actually be making some volts for the batteries. It was making some strange noise a short time ago so when I checked it, I found it was rotating backwards. The head of the generator was set up in a fixed position so it wouldn't rotate. This way, with the wind holding the nose of the boat into the wind, you get the most out of your generator. What was happening here was current versus wind. The current had far more influence than the wind on the direction of the boat so we ended up with the boat facing the current and the wind hitting the boat on the stern making the prop turn backwards. I can't blame it for being noisy. It doesn't like to go backwards. I released the generator head unit and now it's facing into the wind(the stern) and the bow is facing into the current. We've run into this from time to time. The first time was clear back in Mexico. It took us a while to figure out what was happening.

We spent this morning on a few more projects. We need to be ready when we make the jump to the Indian Ocean and it's getting down to crunch time. We'd put a few coats of fiberglass and epoxy inside the cubby compartments in the cockpit. Now that we've sanded them sort of smooth, it was time for one more coat. I had Tracy go out and inspect and make notes on places that I'd either missed the first time, or places that needed extra attention. With those notes in hand, we mixed the epoxy and with a nice cheap brush, we set about putting down another layer of the sticky stuff. A quick job as this stuff sets up quickly and once it starts "going off", it puts out smoke and starts getting real hot. Hot enough that you can't really hold onto the plastic bowl you used to hold the epoxy. We put down another coat trying to get everything covered one last time. Now we need to give it a quick sanding and then paint the boxes so the cats won't come away with any fiberglass strands when they sit in them. When we motor, it's the favorite spot for them to stay. It's nice and closed in and yet, they are out here in the cockpit with us. We've got the paint, now we have to wait a bit to do the final part of the job.

I spent the rest of the morning working on our "new" Tohatsu 18hp outboard. Made in 2008, she's not had an easy life. According to the man we purchased her from, she was originally bought in Australia and used by another cruiser that bought a smaller motor for a smaller dinghy. We've replaced all the anodes(zinc chunks) since they were all shot. We figure the last owner towed his poor dinghy with the motor attached from place to place. We always bring Puff and her motor on board, no matter how far we are going. We towed her just once, clear back in Washington state and I was continually worried that she would break free and we would loose her. It just became the "norm" to haul her on board every night. Much safer and we know when we get up in the morning, our dinghy and motor will still be with us instead of some crooks house. I pulled the spark plugs(bought a replacement set just incase)and they were fine, checked the fuel lines and tried to inspect the fuel filter but I couldn't get it apart. Cleaned out all the oil residue that was inside the engine and used a steel brush on any rust I found. It's going to take some time, but we will get her back into proper shape. When we were in town at the Tohatsu dealer, we even bought replacement bolts to replace the rusted ones that hold the bottom of the motor to the top of the motor.

Late in the afternoon, after having our delayed Christmas dinner(roast turkey lump--some white and some dark meat all tied up in a nice lump). Perfect for our small oven and we each got what we wanted. Tracy like the white meat and I love the dark so we were both quite happy. Tracy pulled out a pouch of mashed potatoes that you just add water too and voila, you have a nice bowl of mashed potatoes. Well, the pouch was only a year out of date(yes, we have some old stores on board) and well, lets just say that they were well past their prime and never hit the table. But, we did have a nice dinner of Turkey lump with home made gravy and there is plenty left for the next day as left overs.

We launched our NEW Puff this afternoon and put on the Tohatsu outboard and took off on a test drive. With all the playing I'd done on the engine, she didn't start on the first pull. Probably about 10 to get her running but once she was started, she ran fine and we zoomed along faster than we ever have. Oh, this is going to be so nice when we hit the Maldives and want to go exploring the atolls. In the past, with our Mercury 8hp motor and a heavy Caribe(126 pound) dinghy, we didn't go that fast. The new Highfield dinghy weighs in at 106 pounds and is a foot longer. The difference is the Caribe had a fiberglass hull while the new Highfield has an aluminum hull. The Mercury 8 weighted in at 96 pounds and the Tohatsu 18 is just 86 pounds. The difference is one is a four stroke and the other is a two. Lots less to carry around and it showed. We were zooming all over the place. We made sure to time our arrival at the marina this afternoon to be just as a nice big rain storm set in. We were quite soaked when we climbed out of Puff at the dock. We needed to drop off some trash and turn in our "key" cards that get us through the gates at the top of the ramps at the marina. We got soaked again on the trip back out but at least we got back quickly with the new outboard.

Tomorrow, we will be pulling up the anchor and heading for Krabi on the far side of the bay for a few days stopping at some of the small islands along the way. New Years in Krabi, Thailand. It should be fun since New Years in Thailand lasts for not just one day, but FIVE!! These folks know how to party. I'll let you know what happens. Stay tuned.