East Coast Travels

1/1 to 1/15/2008

Its definitely Florida, the weather fluctuates between too hot and humid some days and balmy others... rough to handle, but hey... someone has to.

We plan to post and update at least weekly. We move the older portions of the log to secondary pages accessible at the bottom of the page. Join our voyage!

Updated on 01/20/2008

1/1/08 - Looking back, 07 was a fantastic year! We've met a lot of great people, have explored many of the places that figured large in the development of our nation, and bought lobsta right off the fishing boat. It was a hot day, low 80's. I worked on the new bimini for AA - it is shaping up nicely. It is complicated so it's going to take a while. Waiting for parts for Ariel so I'm working to get other tasks done. 1/2/08 - Wow, cold out this morning. Survived in shorts... but only with a jacket. Felt like low 50's. I started my day with oatmeal and coffee. It was better in the sun but still too cold for a t-shirt. Talked to Ruth, she and Amy did some painting at the house.. spiffing it up a little. Worked most of the morning on AA. At noon the diver came to clean AA's hull and Ariel's. He also replaced the zinc anodes that slowly (quickly on Ariel) erode saving the propeller, shaft and other underwater metals. Ariel's heater was suppose to arrive today, but hadn't as of 6pm. 1/3/08 - Holy shades of Wisconsin, 38 last night! Where'd I pack those long wool undies?? Fruitful day, Ariel is going back together. Got the solar panel cut-off switch wired (a real chore to trace the wiring) - but hey, it works! The heater came in with a new fuel line and thermostat. Got the fuel line in and the fuel pump wired. Also started a couple of other small projects. A scheduled service tech for the electrolysis issue didn't show, or call, or return my call. Have to chase him down tomorrow. Interesting day, high winds, dark clouds and light showers. It slowly warmed all day. At sun down it was the warmest it had been all day. Bradd & Maeve stopped by for lunch with John & I. Their stories about the bountiful lobster spearing they experienced in the Bahamas made me want to cry. I've yet to catch one. They had a great experience and are now headed to Cuba. It pays to be Canadian. Well, time to make dinner... Buddy is already begging. 1/4/08 - Today is warmer, still cloudy and windy - but T-shirt weather. Busy day with Ariel. Got the heater reinstalled and wired, ready to test tomorrow; helped complete an electrolysis survey and started working on the outboard motor hoist. Doesn't look like I'll get the entire punch list done, however a major portion of it will be done. Laureen and Miles arrive late tomorrow. 1/5/08 - Today is son Kyle's anniversary of his birth. I almost said birthday - but that was 30 years ago. He's sailed with us a couple of times in years back, before he got a real life. Our most memorable trip was Fantasy Fest in Key West. Summer is back!  Warming up again... and raining. About 50% of the day was either showers or mist, the rest was sunny. I finished the outboard hoist and worked a short while on the salon cushions, adding velcro to hold them in place. Suspended that operation as the seat cover and adhesive backed velcro were too tough to push a needle through - even with a hand palm. The cover design prevents machine sewing and I couldn't locate my hand stitcher. Ruth and  I found it a month back and put it somewhere safe where we could get at it easily. Problem is neither of us can remember the easy place.  How can you misplace something on a boat? CRAFT! Talked to Ruth a couple of times today as she'd think of spots. I think I need her aboard to find it. Laureen & Miles arrived as planned. They related that the trip had been great - a real whirlwind of visits, dinners and events. Miles noted that back at the boat he felt like he'd come home. The Snow Birds return. 1/6/08 - Four days until Ruth gets back. As Buddy says "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy". beautiful morning heralded a fantastic day. Light winds, high 70's - Floriday weather. With Laureen's help we got the cockpit cushion hinges replaced (6 month life on the originals). Tried to start the heater, no joy. Bradd, Patrick & Maeve arrived with Sampatecho. Bradd's uncle had died and they need to get back to Canada tomorrow for the funeral and a couple of weeks settling his estate. I was glad to see them again, but not under these circumstances. We joined them aboard Sampatecho for dinner and drinks, a most enjoyable evening. Tomorrow Ariel will head to Miami, Bradd & Maeve to Canada, and Barry to tasks at Marina Solbu. 1/7/08 - We switched boats around just after daybreak, putting Sampatecho on the dock and rafting Ariel off her. We pretty much have the channel used up. John's a little nervous as they have a homeowners' association meeting next week and he doesn't want any problems. I worked with Miles troubleshooting the heater. Learned that one of the plugs in the wiring harness shouldn't be plugged in - go figure. Also had to end for end the fuel pump to get the discharge on the heater side. Got the unit running... nice an clean. John asked Ariel to move down to Lake Boca, about 3/4 mile away to open up the docks before he got complaints. Miles and Laureen were planning on an early start tomorrow for Miami so the Lake is actually a better jumping off point. I picked up another job before I leave, install a new bilge pump and switch in the sailboat immediately behind me. Maeve's son Patrick got a job today, Boson on a 2006 157' motor yacht. John and I drove him to West Palm Beach this evening so he could report to duty. What a beautiful boat. They plan on the Caribbean this winter, then the Mediterranean next summer, followed by the Panama Canal to Alaska next year. Nice job! 1/8/08 - Light sprinkles at dawn opened a beautiful day. I worked on our bimini most of the morning. Then I spent a couple of hours putting the new bilge pump and float switch in the neighbor's boat. Turned out to be more of a job than I expected due to a complex arrangement of two pumps that leaves no room to work. Arrgh! After lunch I worked on John's bimini and enclosure. Rotted seams and broken zippers took most of the afternoon. I did find time to sand and varnish our swim platform. I needed to get it done before it got worn to the point that I'd have to strip and refinish it. Miles called to let me know they had a great sail to Miami. They arrived when there were no cruise ships at dock, so they had no security issues. 1/9/08 - Great weather today. Mostly sunny with a few light showers in the morning. I worked on our bimini most of the day, helping John with a couple more zippers and remounting his bimini. Ruth was going to get together with Nikki, Tim, Walker and Kyle but came down with the flu and ended up in bed at Angie's. She may not be able to travel tomorrow. We'll have to see how she feels in the morning. Major bummer! Buddy is disappointed. 1/10/08 - While waiting for info from Ruth I got a call from the airline asking for a credit card for the charges for changing her flight. Later she was able to call to tell me that she was too sick to fly... flu. We had a bad connection as she was at Angie's and they are in a dead zone. I worked on AA's bimini (sounding like a broken record. Bob and Paula called in - they had reached Lake Boca and were anchoring. Planning on coming to visit by dinghy tomorrow. Got the lift in place on John's boat. Now he needs to hook up the hoist, pin the couplings and hand the slings for the dinghy. Another project nearing its end. Also sewed a couple of repairs on his sail cover. He's going to be good to go. 1/11/08 - Great day, no rain, sunny but not too hot. Worked on AA's bimini getting it done but for a half dozen snaps and 2 straps. Whoopee!! It is a big improvement with better visibility as well as zippers and velcro for side panels and sun screens. Just need to pick up a couple of cobalt drill bits so I can get the snaps in. Ruth arrived at 7:30 in Fort Lauderdale. Boy it was good to see her again. Big hugs! When we got home Buddy went nuts... think he'd given up on her. After renewing their flock bonds Ruth unpacked. Brought back some very nice gifts from the kids - items we can use, like new outfits. 1/12/08 - Another beautiful day in paradise. Sunny to partly cloudy, temperatures in the high 70's and breezes. I  have pretty much finished AA's bimini and John's projects are about done. Sunday we'll provision and head to Miami Monday - weather permitting. Ruth is feeling great and got the boat whipped back in shape after a month of being a bachelor pad. We joined John and Nell and guests Ed and Mike to watch Jacksonville try to beat the Patriots. Good first half - then JAX starting missing passes - end of story. Before that we'd watched the Packers sportingly spot the Seahawks 14 points, then proceeding to show them how it's done. Loved the game and the snow. Cool! 1/13/08 - Another sunny day in paradise. Ruth and I borrowed John's car and went provisioning. Five hours later we returned after hitting Costco, West Marine and Publix (food, hardware, food). I helped John finish up the dinghy lift project to the point of a test lift - success! We celebrated with a pair of beers... okay, two three beers. Our Way now has a powered dinghy lift. We said our goody byes to Nell and John, tomorrow we head south to join Ariel. 1/14/08 - 8am we threw the lines ashore and thanked John again for his hospitality. Another Adventure is again a traveler. We collected Fourth Watch at Lake Boca and headed south down the ICW to the Hillsboro Inlet where we headed out into the Atlantic for the trek south to Government Cut and Miami. It turned out to be a great sail with a little help from the Iron Genoa (engine) off Port Everglades (Lauderdale). A fantastic day on the water... Buddy was ecstatic. Late afternoon we entered Government Cut and were refused passage along the MacArthur causeway as there was 3 cruise ships at berth. Had to detour through the freight channel. We anchored inside South Beach, just off the marina where Ariel is spending the week. Next destination, Coconut Grove. Kewl! 1/15/08 - Spent the day at anchor working on the panel that fits between the bimini and the dodger. When I have that finished we have the same sun protection we had before Ruth left for WI. However, we are now set up for side screens which will protect us from reflected sun. It is so easy to get too much exposure traveling on a boat. Ruth worked most of the day trying to get something going with her biz. Frustrating yet there is always something on the horizon. Must be submarines... they disappear before she can tag them. We had Bob & Paula over for dinner. I did a marinated port tenderloin while Ruth did mash potatoes and corn. It was good catching up with them and their holiday travels.

Randy dives Ariel Miles tests new engine hoist Weak photo page Ruth brought back a lot of Christmas photos. Barry has to down load them from our older camera - if I could just find the cable. We'll make it up to you later - promise.