Leaving Florida

At last we are on our way, a stop at West Palm Beach just to make sure all the systems are working well and to pick up our crew member, Theron from Alaska.

Christmas on No Rehearsal

                                     

                                Christmas dinner!!     Delicious!                                      

A pensive moment at sunset in Warderwick Wells in the Bahamas,  our cat in the background.                                      

Theron and I took a long walk around the island, this is at the top of Boo Boo Hill, still lots of boat signs, but not many we recognised this time.

Warderwick Wells dock, the weather was not the best whilst we were there, but plenty of good skies.                             

A beautiful sunrise, and guess what, all the boats in the picture are catamarans, how times are changing.                    

So time to stock up and head south to the San Blas Islands.

Sea Trials

Finally we are ready to head out and test some of the new boat systems.

Daryl sets about removing the cheap air conditioning unit that has been running 24/7 since we arrived here, keeping us cool.  We did not want to run the expensive boat unit  for so long, and $400 at Home Depot was a great alternative.

Heading down the New River early in the morning with the sun rising in front of us.  So good to be moving.                    

                                                                                             Breakfast cereal at sea                                            

We are sailing!  At last the white things are up and we have a lovely sail down to Key Biscayne.                               

Calibrating the auto pilot needed a lot of space and circling around the large bay in the Keys was a great spot for it.

So, most of the systems worked fine.  The rig will need some tuning after this first sail and there are a couple of glitches that need to be sorted out.  Back to base at the noisy Lauderdale Marine Centre again after a wonderful quiet few days at anchor.

Back on board in Fort Lauderdale 2017

Still playing catch-up on this blog!

So last year on leaving the boat, I travelled home via Malta to see my sister and family and to celebrate her 60th birthday and be there for a surprise party that her children has organised for her.

Jane and I with the cake that her daughter had made, rather colourful to  say the least!

After a great six months in New Zealand we came back to Fort Lauderdale where the work on the boat was progressing slowly.  The next step was to lift the boat out of the water and replace the grounding plates for the fridge and freezer and the underwater lights etc. that were damaged in the strike.

Having a weekend break down in Key Largo at the Konai Kai Resort, glad we saw it before the hurricane hit, I doubt if there is much left of it these days sadly, it was a perfect spot.

On the hard, waiting for the mast to be delivered, we decided to have the crossbeam and the boom, stripped and powder coated to match the new mast.  Here are the riggers and Daryl re-fitting it.

Yeah!!  At last the new mast has arrived, made by Offshore Spars in Michigan, it took the truck three days to get it to Florida on a massive long trailer. 

A tense moment, finally stepping the mast.  We are actually beginning to look like a sailboat again.                                                                               

First, apologies for the lack of posts over the last year, I suppose I got rather discouraged after the lightening strike, which put us back a year on our plans.
We managed to get the boat back to Florida under our own steam, although the engine controls were not working properly and I had to be in the engine room changing the gears!

Tow Boat US provided us with a tug and tow to get us up the New River to Lauderdale Marine Centre to start the repairs and assess the damage.  It is a long way up the river, with several bridges and hairpin bends.  Wonderful to be towed, we could sit and enjoy the view.

Damage to the top of the mast was obvious and the mast was condemned by the riggers.                                            

So, the mast is cut up into small sections to be transported.                                                                                            

No Rehearsal in the marina at LMC, all quiet now and we now have to wait about six months for a new mast to be made and all the electronics to be replaced.  The insurance company was great and the work was well underway when we decided to go home for six months whilst the mast was being built.

We had met some great cruising Chileans in the Bahamas and were invited to visit them on our way home.  Here we are in Chile, in the mountains near Santiago, we had the most wonderful week with our friends before heading to New Zealand.

Bahamas

Finally we are on the move again.  We cruised down the coast to Port Canaveral, where we caught up with good friends at the yacht club.  Then on to West Palm Beach and then across to The Bahamas.

We checked in at West End, but soon realised that we were in the middle of the hurricane season and there were a couple of systems forming in the Atlantic.  So we decided to head for shelter at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club, stay there for a month and then haul the boat at Freeport and head home to New Zealand for a break off the boat, see the kids etc.

No Rehearsal on the quay at The Grand Bahama Yacht Club

So, we would work in the mornings and then after lunch head to the lovely pool for a couple of hours.  There were not too many boats on the dock and so we usually had the luxury of having the pool to ourselves, what luxury!

I am getting quite good at growing Basil, maybe I do have green fingers after all, I just need to remember to water them!

 Then, we had heard that there was some heavy weather due and we decided to put some more mooring lines on.  Daryl was in the dingy sorting out extra lines, when there was a huge bolt of lightening, the noise was horrendous and the water seemed to fizz around us.

By now it was raining heavily and we sheltered inside, when it stopped we noticed quite a bit of debris on the deck that used to live at the top of the mast, so it must have been a direct hit to the top.

These do not belong on the cockpit table!

More about this in the next blog...............................

Splash!

Finally, after about a year out of the water, and a major refit, we are ready to launch.  We have two new Yanmar engines, a new Northern Lights generator, a new Spectra water maker, a bigger washing machine, lots of new canvas work, new anchor chain.........
An expensive year, but the boat is looking great and we shall be ready for the long trip next year.

Fitting the rudders.

Here we go!  On the trailer and ready to be launched again.                                                                                                

And I thought that we had been out of the water for a long time, but this poor boat definitely takes the prize!               

Daryl putting the new lines on the boat, very smart.                                                                                                            
 

Retail therapy.
Yes matching yellow fleeces to  go with the boat,  and they were on sale, can't imagine why!

Lazy, not me!

I know it has been ages since I last wrote anything, and it is.  But we have been working hard on the boat and here are some photos of the things we have been working on.

Sewing new leather on the anchor to stop chaff.

Stripped the interior paint off the dingy, it's looking really smart now and much more practical.                                             

Taking the old lines off the boat, ready to clean and polish the hull. Trying to work in the shady side of the boat when possible.

  

Polishing the hull, just look behind Daryl, the master polisher at the wonderful shine on the hull.  


So, sadly, whilst we were busy working away in Florida, my mother's health started to deteriorate in Malta.  I flew back to see her at the beginning of April for a couple of weeks and had some good moments with her, but it was obvious that she was fading.  She passed at the end of April, and I flew back again to be with my sister for the funeral.  I was lucky that we were in Florida and I was able to catch the flight the very next morning.
My sister and I are now closer than ever, and we have laughed and cried together over the last few months, she has taken  such good care of Mum over the last few years, which I really appreciate.