Day 0: Delayed a day for good reason
17 May 2012 | Stuart, FL
Sunny, 85F
So it is finally time to sail again! Yippee!
First, we just wanted to say "Thanks" mom and dad for letting us crash at your place for the last couple months... It's been great and we'll be visiting soon!
So onto leg number two...or at least the days coming before it...
Soul Purpose had a few weeks on the hard getting some tender love and care from Hinckley and from us. She underwent an acid wash and wax, sail drive flush on both sides, a new engine baffle, a couple new thru hulls to accept a new fish finder and an air conditioning unit (we even have heat now - not that we need it in FL, but it sure would have been nice in October in RI!). Soul Mate, our dinghy, even got a new 6hp motor which is 30 lbs lighter and has an on board gas tank, so in total it is down 50lbs making it possible for me to finally lift the dinghy's stern when we hoist it onto the boat davits! And D probably thinks the whole boat is faster too :). So, the boat was put back in the water Monday the 14th of May and we pretty much moved back on board to test all the systems, new and old.
We were debating when the next leg would start, but it was a chance meeting with another couple sailing their catamaran "Luna Sea" that pushed us toward a Thursday departure...Thursday was only a few days away, so we started putting the boat back together ~ it's amazing how discombobulated a boat can become when its being worked on...I've been through every cabinet and sorted through nearly every nook and cranny slowly filtering out the "stuff we just don't need" which was a second round of cleansing after the move to FL, but it was overdue as we had way too many blankets, books, etc on board. So as the boat came back together, we had to do a sea trial, replace our topping lift rope, provision and have the rigging checked. We needed to wait a few days for the boat to retake her shape in the water vs. sitting on her keels on land (it affects how the rigging pulls/pushes/etc). So Wednesday, Florida Rigging was scheduled to come aboard. It was great to have experts aboard that could answer all the technical questions that "Sailing for Dummies" couldn't several years ago ;). So all was good, only a few rub protectors for the cross-stays and some recommendations to replace a few lines was required. After the "experts" departed, we thought we'd be off to the races in the AM...
It was a calm afternoon so we decided to hoist the main while the boat was at the dock to ensure nothing had been messed up while she was stored away (we did have a bird nest in the boom afterall just days before, yuck!). After dropping the sail, I was zipping the sailbag and took a quick look at the main halyard block (pulley) and was very upset to find out it was cracked! Probably the most important block on the boat and Florida Rigging missed it! Derek's following up with them on the HUGE miss...regardless of how that turns out we couldn't ignore it and of course it was too late to hit West Marine for parts...guess that means we've got another day of preparation ahead of us...luckily Luna Sea called and the weather condition (T-storms) pushed us all back a day. Looks like a Friday departure now.