2009 Log
12/15 to 12/31/2009
This is the current period of our log for 2009. At the bottom of the page are links to this year's pass weeks; our earlier voyages are in Prior Voyages.
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Updated on 12/20/2009
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12/1/09 - Chestnuts roasting on the fireside, Jack Frost whipping at your nose... somewhere, not here for sure. It's hot and humid. I helped Bradd install the remaining 3 ports on Sampatecho, then we worked on John's gate. Ruth and I took a walk to Balzer's hardware for more fittings for the watermaker installation... I think I'm down to finding 3 more and I'll be ready to start putting the beast together. 12/2/09 - Woke up in the middle of the night with a severe case of vertigo. It was totally disorienting. I went back to sleep only to have it re-occur when I rolled over in bed while trying to get up in the morning. Any rapid or significant movement of my head resulted in body spinning vertigo and loss of balance. We think it is BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positioning Vertigo), an age related inner ear abnormality. Ruth found an exercise on the net that seems to help. She's given me three treatments so far. We did get John's custom gate installed though... thanks to Ed and Bradd's efforts. Looks very good. 12/3/09 - Still dizzy this morning though not as bad as yesterday. I can't really accomplish anything that involves moving my head. When I ducked under the bimini to exit the boat I almost fell overboard. A one foot movement of my head was translated by my brain into a twelve foot lunge with very interesting results. We rode with Bradd & Maeve to Lauderdale so they could pick up replacement lifelines for Sampatecho. I also bought two more fittings for the water making system (still looking for 3). Later in the day we went to Chuck's new place to help him rewire and move 3 ceiling fans. Bradd did most of the work while I held the ladder. Great to get a chance to reward him for all he's done for us. Ruth took her metal detector to the beach for the first time finding some coins... thirteen cents. Hey, it's a start! 12/4/09 - Ruth has her holiday travel plans in place. She flies to WI the 13th and returns to Boca January 9th. Buddy and I will be left to our devices until she gets back. I'm getting really fond of Thanksgiving and Valentines Day as I get to share them with my mate. Today was medical services day. Ruth to the dentist in Pompano twice for a temporary crown, the two of us to Quest Diagnostics in Boca for blood testing. Yup, we both still have blood. Ruth's second visit to the dentist for a temporary crown left her exhausted. It was apparently a real workout for her and the dentist. Sampatecho headed toward Miami at noon. We may see them again before Ruth heads to WI, if not, I'll see them later in the month before they head to Cuba. 12/5/09 - Heavy rain proceeded dawn. We pretty much laid low the whole day. My dizziness is subsiding so I can move around unhampered. It was a good day for a walk for brunch and for reading. Ruth made a butterball turkey breast with stuffing and mashed potatoes for supper... delicious! After eating we watched the making of the movie The Aviator, the story of Howard Hughes life. 12/6/09 - Humid and cloudy. John is home from knee surgery but confined to bed for a few days. Pretty extensive operation from what we hear. I dropped Ruth off at the beach so she could do her glassing and metal detecting thing. She found a nice large copper earring and three heart beans... having a lot of fun in the process. Well, she did have a close encounter of the personal type with Fire Ants! She learned that she could get the ants off by rubbing her skin with sand VERY quickly! Hurt like hell! Meanwhile, I played with the watermaker puzzle trying to fit 20 lbs of gear in a 10 lb space. I'm gaining on it though. We watched the second Aviator DVD, the background behind the movie on Howard Hughes. It was very interesting. 12/7/09 - Happy Birthday Amy! Wow-you are now a perfect 38! Well.....Thank god you don't have the problems with strap digging and sagging! You are a beautiful, wonderful woman and we miss you! It's a beautiful morning, sunny and warm. The temperature is in the high 70's heading for the 80's. We dropped off lab samples and picked up fasteners for mounting the watermaker plumbing. We stopped to visit John for a short while. He doesn't do bedridden well... his mind is churning over the details of projects he has underway. After lunch we had to return to the lab as they had under-billed us and needed the additional payment before they would process our samples. Interesting how their mistake became our problem. We will be meeting with our Doc on Thurs or Fri to find out the results of our yearly tests. Fingers crossed..... 12/8/09 - Sunny and warm. Spent some time measuring PVC boards so John can order the material to finish his fence and build an entertainment center. We worked on the design so I'd be familiar with the project. Watermaker day. I got the unit mounted and finished the layout for the support components. Tomorrow I'll mount them and start the hose runs. Ruth is realizing the true scope of the project. 12/9/09 - Another bright morning, large puffy white clouds scooting overhead... no snow in sight. Worked about 6 hours on the watermaker... all the major components are mounted and most of the hoses are in place. Still need to find a couple of fittings to take 15mm tube to the 3/8"npt fittings on the charcoal filter. That's my scavenger hunt for tomorrow. Why didn't the USA go metric in the 60"s as planned? Next I need to run 12V power from our panel to the junction box I installed for the pump and watermaker. Sampatecho is anchored by Flagler Island south of the Venetian Causeway in Miami and Ariel is in a slip just north of the causeway. Another Adventure is and will be in Boca Raton for the next few weeks. 12/10/09 - Another day in the high 80's... both the temperature and the humidity. I worked on installing the final hoses and fittings for the watermaker. Ruth and I had to shop a few pieces but thought we had finally found two final elusive couplings for the filter we want to add to the existing pressure water system. You can't imagine my disappointment when I found they were too small (English parts in a metric system). Aaarrrrggghhhh! At least all the watermaker components are in place and connected. Now I need to run the power from a breaker in our dc panel to the junction box by the watermaker. John came aboard to check out my work. I didn't think he should be boarding boats yet but he's a hard man to hold down. 12/11/09 - Ruth heads to WI on Sunday. She'll be gone a month due to lack of available frequent flyer flights around the holidays. Buddy and I will remain in Boca fighting off the barnacles. Ruth & I did our Doctor visits today... everything looks good. Got our med prescriptions... eat all those and who needs (or can afford) food. Actually we're in very good shape, especially considering the mileage on me - Ruth's still a low mileage unit. Bought the last of the watermaker fittings at Lewis Marine in Lauderdale and they are installed. All that's left is to run the power to the junction box... halleluiah. 12/12/09 - Windy and cloudy this morning but still very warm. Even in this secure little waterway we could feel the boat heel as gusts hit it. Tomorrow at this time Ruth will be in Newark. Today we picked up a few more fittings to get a better assembly at the seacock we will be using to pick up seawater for the watermaker. Last night's dream about the boat sinking prompted me to revisit and discount the connectors we had. That part cleaned up I tackled the wiring. By the time I had the 14 foot lead in place I'd removed two floor panels, an access under the navigation table and two electrical panels. I still have to remove the third panel to connect the ground for the circuit. We went to John & Nell's for a sundowner so they could wish Ruth bon voyage. No sunset though, it was pouring out. 12/13/09 - My alarm is one of those devices that works too well... up at 3:00am for the run to the Miami airport and Ruth's flight home. I dropped her off at 4:40am for a 5:40 boarding. They should pay her to fly at that time of the day! By 5:40 I was crawling back into bed. By 8am I was up again to greet a warm sunny day at a more civilized time. After taking the car to fuel it and picking up some components I completed the watermaker wiring. By the time the Packers and Vikings had their respective games won I had test run the watermaker pump and supply pump. The final steps will be connecting the sea water supply tee and a system test run with Bradd. By gull, I do believe I deserve a little white vino to celebrate the system completion. 12/14/09 - Overcast morning when I woke, soon it was misting... by the time I finished breakfast is was hot and sunny. I took advantage of the sun and walked up Federal a couple of miles for a haircut. The combination of the heat and my new meds put me out for a 2 hour nap this afternoon. Doc said it would take about 4 days for me to adjust. Hope he's right as I'm sure not going to get much done napping. Did get one big job done - I defrosted and cleaned the freezer; reorganizing it so I knew what's in our inventory. 12/15/09 - Woke to the sound of water running off our deck; it was a heavy downpour. By 7:30 the sun was out... typical Florida morning rain. Miles & Laureen are WI bound this morning. They have the need for a cold fix and a little skiing. Hot and humid. Worked for an hour and a half in the sun before noon... that was all I could take. Went inside to help Nell on a couple of projects and to escape the heat. Also spent some time with John troubleshooting an electrical problem. We came to the conclusion he has a shorted cell in the house batteries as we read a high of 135F on one cell. Next step will be to get the beasts out of the boat and back to West Marine.
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The gate is finally in place... it's looking great!
Ruth's beach treasures from the Delray area. $0.13 was the day's yield for her metal detector.
Ruth's second attempt at beach combing with her metal detector. The copper earring at the top is her best metal piece to date. The teak grating has her wondering where the rest of the boat is. The heart beans are refugees from Africa. Watermaker project photos The watermaker is installed complete with a charcoal filter we put in our existing pressure water system to remove chlorine from marina water sources (chlorine can cause damage to the reverse osmosis membrane in the watermaker).
This view shows valves, filters and pump mounted on the back of the under-sink cabinet.
On the right side wall we've installed the watermaker, an additional filter and two valves...
All those components in place and the garbage can still fits in place. Who sez you can't put 10# in a 5# bag.
Finally, the Stack-pac for The Great Catsby is finished.
The fence was straight before it was bombarded by falling coconuts... they kill more people than lightning, sharks and wild elephants.
Ruthie put up some Christmas decorations to brighten my holiday.
She even got me a tree
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