Today was far less exciting than yesterday - in a good way. In fact, yesterday was so exciting I left out some minor, but entertaining details in yesterday's entry that I'll put here to ensure active readers see it.
While we were in the sand yesterday, after learning that we were at high tide and would be progressively more boned as time went on, we realized we needed to repoint the bow in a good towable position. I may have mentioned that last part, but I didn't mention how we did it!
Shawn and I both got in the water and pushed the bow while the other moved the anchor. When we first dropped the anchor to ensure we didn't get any further in the sand, we didn't realize how effin strong that anchor holds. It got in that sand and it wasn't moving. For anything. It took a lot of effort to get the anchor out and move it around, and sometime during this process the anchor actually bent. It currently doesn't fit snugly in its housing.

Anyway, I didn't expect to be pushing my boat or hauling an anchor through the sand - but I did it. We did it. That thing is HEAVY.

Also, we couldn't find a shower nearby where we were docked so we ended up using the shower onboard - which ended up being far more awesome than expected. The engine (when it was running) heated up water and made for a delightful shower. Probably going to treat ourselves to the same tonight since we refilled on water during our stop.

Back to today though - we had a nice breakfast at a little hole in the wall kinda like Oh Biscuit back at home (called "The Whistle Stop" - had a train theme, since it was right next to the tracks) and Bob the mechanic came by to fix our engine. After hours of playing with fuel lines we finally discovered the issue - a very small filter that was added to the system by a previous owner and really shouldn't be there got clogged. The filter was also constricting fuel flow to the engine and so it was removed. Problem solved.

We learned how to bleed the fuel lines and the proper way to replace a fuel filter. It's kinda embarrassing it took this long, but we have new knowledge now! Hooray! Learning!
Mechanic also tightened a belt that was getting loose, thus averting a future problem.

$300 later (ugh) we could be on our way. But first, we picked up some boozy ice cream floats from a nearby bar. Gotta start a journey off right! Filled on fuel (only needed 5 gallons after motoring this entire time... Love the efficiency) and water. Wish we could've pumped out there too but oh well.

Continued along the ICW, wind still on the nose, grateful for the clear skies above us. It's hot, but at least it's not super windy or rainy. Trudged through muck whenever we strayed from the dead center of the waterway by 3 centimeters. They need to dredge this area better...

Still shooting for northern Keys right now, but may still make a Bahamian crossing if weather conditions improve over there. Nature is unpredictable. The weather could totally clear up tomorrow, who knows? Probably not. But we can hope, right?!

Loving this ability to charge phones during the day. May be able to use my phone to do some schoolwork. We'll... see how that goes.