The rain has continued to be relentless and there isn’t an end in sight. There is a tropical low stalled over Florida and we have been having pretty steady downpours for well over a week. As you might imagine it has seriously affected work on the boat. Scott did somehow manage to get the topsides done between downpours. They look ever so much better. I finished cleaning the inside lockers and have unloaded almost everything from them. We have taken two car loads down to the condo where we have been staying since the 15th. It’s been raining too steadily to open the boat up.
Yesterday we did drive up to to Stuart to check on her. Scott was worried about the dingy. The dingy is in the water tied to Light Reach and our side of the dock. He was concerned that she might be swamped with all the rain we have had. She also has a leak somewhere in one of her pontoons. The dingy was soft and full of water which Scott quickly pumped up (the pontoon) and out (the water). She’s definitely clean inside. The bottom not so much!
The real disaster was we had managed to leave the port open over the galley. OMG what a mess! We had a small pond on the galley floor, not good! Because we are starboard side tied the boat lists a bit to that side and the water didn’t drain into the bilge. The stove top was full to the gunnels and water had spilled over its sides and gathered underneath and then spilled out onto the floor. We managed to sop it all up but there was definitely some damage to the cabin sole and the locker behind the stove. I needed more projects. It will have to dry out more before I can give it a good assessment but I think there is some wood refinishing in my future.
The water had also infiltrated the fridge. I must have pumped a couple of gallons out of it. Fortunately there wasn’t much in it, food wise. I had cleaned it out pretty much before we headed to the condo for our extended stay. Still it was high enough to have flooded the freezer section of the fridge where it, naturally, froze. Gack! I emptied what remained in the fridge and we turned it off. It will need to thaw before we can deal with the remainder. The fridge was still working thank the Lord, fortunately the controls for the condenser are in the upper portions and didn’t get flooded. Touch wood when we turn it on it will work again or this mistake could get really costly. The plan is to go up tomorrow to take care of it. We’ll likely spend the night on the boat and try to get the dingy cleaned and up on the bow to start searching for the leak. We need to put new rigging tape on also. I want to get another coat on the teak if the weather cooperates. Those are the last of the chores before we will be ready to haul. We have a haul out date of June 5 at 2:00 PM.
The picture is of the Ocean Ave Bridge which is the ICW bridge closest to the condo. The walkway in the picture runs along the ICW and condo property.