I haven’t posted a blog the past few days because I’ve been too tired: Not discouraged, just tired. We’re up and working the same as you, probably, but we’re in temperatures and humidities that we’re not used to having. We’re also doing a lot more physical work than usual.

Conni was up the mast today for 2-1/2 hours, working on a variety of tasks. She inspected everything, tightened machine screws, checked lights (anchor, steaming, and deck), and re-installed the wind instruments. I used to do all of that but she’s so much lighter that it’s easier for us if she ascends, and as an experienced climber, she has no hesitation or anxiety about spending that duration 65-feet from the ground. Luckily, today was cooler and overcast so she rather enjoyed being up there.

I finally got the bilge pump installed, after a lot of teamwork from Conni and me. Holy smokes, what an ordeal! Still, it does work and that’s what’s important.

I also got that SpeedSeal device installed. It’s a better mousetrap. As I mentioned, it allows rapid and hand-only replacement of the raw water impeller.

I got the windlass torn down, cleaned and greased, and re-assembled. It’s a very messy job but simply needs doing each year to keep in operating smoothly. It sits on the foredeck, drenched by every boarding sea, then is called on to retrieve several hundred pounds of anchor and chain. It deserves some TLC at least once a year.

I did the same for our propeller, a feathering MaxProp. Just like the windlass, it deserves a bit of TLC since it sit in salt water constantly and is then called on to propel the boat.

Conni has “Flitzed” most of the stainless steel on the exterior. Fritz is a German metal polish and speaks to her German need for cleanliness. Her mother was German and she’s inherited a need for it. Boy, am I glad!

Our starboard seat locker stores all of our liquid engine cleaners, outboard oil, and such. Yesterday, Conni opened it and found a witch’s brew of water and chemicals from rusted-out bottles. Most of the items had been ruined: the noxious liquid had even consumed some nylon straps that were stored there! The level of damage to metal items is far more extreme than could be explained by rust alone, so I suspect there were some nasty combinations that conspired to be especially damaging to metal. I donned some latex gloves and bailed for a while, removing most of the stuff. Several bottles and cans were ruined to the point of disposal.

Conni also masterminded the re-installation of the halyards. I hauled a new main halyard with me from home and we used that and the old jib halyard. Heavy wind had made a complete mess out of her carefully created messenger lines so she had to start by untangling those. We don’t like leaving our expensive halyards in the elements, so she pulls each and leave in its place a “messenger” of parachute cord. When we commission the boat, she attaches a halyard to the messenger and uses it to haul the halyard up the mast, through the opening at the top, and then down through all of the obstacles in the mast itself. She’s been doing it for years and rarely needs me help, but she needed it this time! From the mast head, she radioed to me what my next task would be and we eventually were able to wrangle both jib and main halyards into place. It did require a full 30 minutes on my part to fish the damned messenger out of the mast, but after that it went quickly.

We found a new supermarket today and were able to buy several supplies that we had dreaded finding. It’ll be our new place to shop. Another cruiser told us about a great hamburger place called “Tonton Burger”. In French, Tonton means, “uncle”, but I couldn’t help remember that creature in the Star Wars epic, “The Empire Strikes Back” in which an odd, cold-adapted animal called a tonton played an important part. Of them Han Solo said, “Oh, and I thought they smelled bad on the inside!” Perhaps it was just as well that Tonton Burger was closed.

We hope to have the boat in the late by midweek next week.

Tomorrow, I have to ascend the mast to the first spreader and re-drill and re-tap three machine screw holes that attach the radome to the mast. Drat.

Snore…..