Carrabelle and still holding

Kerm here,
We're still in Carrabelle waiting for a 20 hour window to make our crossing to Tarpon Springs.  There is a chance that the window will open on Saturday but it's probably not much better than 50 / 50 at this point.  After 3 days here and knowing that we may be here a bit longer has become a bit wearing but at least we have company.  There are 5 other boats that we know of that are also waiting for the window.  It makes for a nice 'docktail hour' but we need to get out of here.  We are the only ones that have made the crossing before so there is a lot of angst within the group about when to leave, what route to take etc, etc.  We are planning to go strait thru to Tarpon Springs and if the weather is good perhaps we will continue along the coast bypassing Tarpon.  We'll make that decision when the time comes. 

Carrabelle is part of what they call the 'forgotten coast' and probably has seen better days.  There are 3 or 4 marinas that have gone out of business on the Carabelle River and several shops are vacant. At least the hardware store is still open.  From what we have seen of river and coast towns if the hardware store leaves the town it's dead or close to it.  If this place was not on a major east / west highway I'm thinking it would already be gone.

All is well in the engine room.  I have been tackling the oil leaks and am down to one.  The valve cover gasket.  An inboard engine is canted to match up with the drive line.  Because of this there is always a pool of oil at the back of the head higher than the cover gasket.  Even the slightest abnormality with the gasket and there will be a leak.  I'm going to wait until Ft. Myers to replace it when I adjust the valves.  I also split the drive line to check the alignment and it was perfect.  Older boats can get a little soft and it will show up in drive line alignment.  I have been checking it regularly with no adjustments needed so it has set my mind at ease as far a having a soft boat. 

The next big project is recaulking the teak decks.  Being in fresh water like the St. Croix has shrunk the teak boards breaking away the caulking.  The caulking also was getting near the end of its life span and probably would have needed to be done soon anyway.  If the caulking is delayed for very long water will seep under the boards and water log the decks underneath creating spongy decks.  Bad deal.  I figure about a hundred hours for the caulking plus time for replacing any loose teak screw plugs. Teak decks sure are pretty but without regular maintenance they become a nightmare.

When I replaced the VHF / AIS  radio on the upper station we lost intercom abilities so I added an intercom accessory for said radio when we were at Dog River.  I didn't have time to do the programming before we left so got that done yesterday.  I have a gripe.  Why in the hell does everything need programming.  It's push this button down while holding that button then scroll thru the menu then push that button until this or that etc, etc.  Perhaps I should have just installed a pipe between upper and lower deck and we could have hollered back and forth just like the old ships.  Maybe make it big enough to pass a sandwich or diet Coke up.  Yup, that's what I should have done.