Well, this morning opened on a much less than positive note. The internet connection, which is always iffy and dropping, this morning wouldn't even make a connection. I know that it's "free" or rather it comes with the docking fee. And I know that the rate here is very reasonable, but this is one of those things that in this day and age you come to expect and when you lose it, its loss is keenly felt.

Ah well. Let me think of better things. Chris and Taunya's arrival is getting a lot closer. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then at one thirty Thursday afternoon Chris and Taunya will be arriving at the Tampa airport. I am beginning to think that the rental will know its own way there by the time we leave the Bay area. We are really looking forward to having them here.

Last night the heavens opened and it poured, albeit for a short time, but it did do a lot for cutting back on the humidity. Along with the rain the wind picked up a bit. We were very sheltered here and everything was battened down so you can imagine my surprise when I heard a sail beating itself to death. A quick trip topsides confirmed that it wasn't one of ours but across the marina I could see another boat with its roller furling jib partially unfurled from the centre. This owner had it unfurled during the day for some reason and I guess he hadn't furled it under pressure so the rolls were very loose and the wind was able to get under an edge and unwrap the middle part. I was just about resigned to the fact that there was going to be a racket all night when someone came up from below and made the sail fast. I was about to cheer.

I had to wait 'till everything dried out before I could start boat chores today so we went into the village and did yet another laundry. While on the road we made yet another trip to West Marine, this time for two purposes: firstly, I am planning to do away with my continuous running preventer. This is the device of my design that had a four part pulley system on both sides of the boat fixed to the midpoint of the boom and having the line running back to the cockpit and then still in one piece running back forward to the other side. The advantage was supposed to be that there would always be a preventer on the boom which would also double as a vang to flatten the sail while on a reach or run. The problem, since first installed, has been that the friction in the pulleys, remember that we are talking about 12 separate sheaves here, plus the fairleads back to the cockpit and forward again, prevented the boom from freely moving back and forth across the boat. Wait a minute, isn't that what it's supposed to do? Well, yes, but not all the time. Tacking to windward in light airs had become a huge chore with some crew member dedicated to doing nothing but taking in and playing out the line. After pricing the cost of hydraulic vangs and boom kickers, I have decided to stay with the good old fashioned topping lift, but I will split the continuous line in half and add a snap shackle to each of the block systems. That way I will use the leeward pulley system as a preventer when I want to but when beating to windward with multiple tacks one after the other there would be no lines attached to the boom. Barb is happy with this solution as it will mean less lines cluttering the cockpit and I am happy as the sailing will be easier and best of all the cost of the solution is two snap shackles. Oh, and the other purchase from West Marine is some fasteners to attach the dingy oars to the dingy when not in use - Velcro and eye fittings - simple!

I am having to wait for the wood to dry out before I can finish the fuel filter install project but I have other things to do.

Funny, I just realized that we have been here in Gulfport for a month and it's time to renew the car and the dock rental! We'll be staying a little over two weeks more and then heading out and I must say that I have been looking forward to shaking the weeds off the hull. Our plan at this point is to head out to De Soto Park the day after we drop off Taunya at the airport. We have been doing some research and have found a small cut and an anchorage where we will likely be able to set the hook. The only proviso is that we'll have to go in at high or near to high tide and come out at the same time. This means an early morning departure from the marina, bit on the plus side it will give us all that day in the park. We are hoping that Cliff and Lee will be able to bring Prairie Star out to raft up with us for the evening. Right now he is in that power cruiser problem area of waiting for engine parts. We'll see what happens. High tide will be in the morning again next day so we'll have to leave then, or late in the afternoon. Come to think of it, the planned trip will be an overnight sail, with us arriving at Punta Gorda in the morning, so it would be better if we took the later bus so to speak. There is an inlet that we have to traverse and then a bit of a trip up a long bay that I would prefer to do in daylight. That will give us all that day to visit with Duane, our host in the area before setting off the next day, weather permitting for Dry Tortugas. That will be a 24 hour trip so we'll leave at 9 in the morning after breakfast and get in at the same time the next day.

In summary then, a pretty lazy day; I'm a little ashamed at getting so little done on the boat regardless of my excuses. Tomorrow I'll have to really buckle down and get at 'er.