Kerm here. Sorry we haven't kept up with the blog but we've been busy and got out of the habit. We're currently in Marathon Key in Florida with our next stop Key West. From there it's to Lake Worth where we will disembark for the Bahamas.
So what have we been doing? We were in Hudson Marina for a week or two then to Pasadena Marina for just over a month where son Dan keeps his boat and then on January 17th we headed south.
During our time in Hudson had a great Christmas and met up with old friends from the area and started to refill our ships stores plus took care of some maintenance items that I had been putting off. After Christmas, Chris headed back to Minnesota for some R and R as to give her bursitis a rest and probably a much needed break from the crabby captain.
My to do list for these weeks went something like this: replaced delaminated bulkhead by water heater, while there replaced the water heater, new zinks in cooling system, changed oil in everything, new switch for windlass, new anchor, new bigger dinghy which is now a RIB. Replaced some caulking and dowels in teak decks, all new septic hoses along with diverter valve, thru hull valve and pump, new hinges on transom door, new fuel fill and vent hoses, new turnbuckle on shroud that was bent, automatic fire system with diesel shut down, teak grab handle on outside of rear door, rebuilt portions of rear hatch, replaced exhaust elbow and associated hoses. Mattress pad for mid berth, remount grab handle by nav area (came off during crossing), drain holes for ladder pads up to fly bridge.
With the Bahamas on the horizon I probably am doing more than I normally would do but without decent services there I want to make sure that all is up to offshore or remote area standards. It's like with the dinghy. The old one was great for an errand or a little exploration but in the Bahamas it's your main mode of transportation to town from anchorages which can be quite a distance in waves and significant current. Now with the new larger dinghy the old motor won't cut it and our lifting boom can't handle the weight or size. So now it looks like a new larger outboard and we have new tip up transom davits on the way for storing the dinghy.
More later.
