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.