emeraldCs

We left our anchorage feeling good. The seagrass problem was solved! I failed to mention in earlier blogs that there are literally 1,000s of crab/lobster pots everywhere-like mine fields this time of year! We had never traveled at this time, so we're oblivious! You feel like you are in the midst of an obstacle course dodging them constantly-while is no easy feat for a sailboat! You've probably guessed, one pot got us and of course, Vicki was at the helm! We started taking on water by the shaft. We could get the water to stop as long as we were in neutral, but in forward or reverse, water poured in! Not a good scenerio! So, once again,we sailed into the protection of Lower Manacumbe-a little closer to our destination, but not much! Rick went over the side again, could not see anything messed up under the boat, but fely that the crab pot probably caught the shaft and pulled it. We called tow boat U S ( wonderful service) and 2 ladies came out. They towed us into Islamorada to Coral Bay marina where they immediately put us on slings and hauled us out! This was not exactly the way we planned to get to our destination but if it had to happen, it couldn't have happened at a better time or place. They were not busy at the time and could take care of it right away-and they are located right behind a grocery store and near everything we could possibly need. They worked on it all afternoon, and allowed us to slee on it that night, since it is our "home". We went to a wonderful restaurant with live music and a beautiful sunset-Lorilei's. The next morning, they determined that the Dripless stuffing box had not been burped when it was installed( I'm not making this up) and between that and the crab trap, there was a small gap whereat the water was coming in. They were able to fix that and while we were out anyway, we changed a battery and repaired our swim ladder.