East Coast Travels

12/16 to 12/?? 2007

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 01/06/2008

12/16/07 - Sunday morning was quiet - Ruth and I read. It was windy with showers. In the afternoon I got together with Miles and John to mount the base of the second wind generator tower. Next step is to get the bracing frames in place. 12/17/07 - Miles and I worked with John on Our Way during the morning, getting the first tower brace in place for his second wind generator. Progress is slow as we are fabricating the components out of stainless steel tube. We had to get a pump-out and some diesel. We passed 4 marinas before we found one with a working pump-out. Four hours later we were back in our slip. And they wonder why some boats discharge? Miles and Laureen took John, Nell, Ruth and I to dinner. Have a nice meal in a place called Fifth Avenue. Worthy of revisiting. We closed the evening with coffee and cookies in front of a cozy wood fire in Marina Sol Bu's living room. Very nice! 12/18/07 - Got jacked up via e-mail this morning for a long lapse in publishing. Seems my brother reads this drivel. Miles and Laureen head to Wisconsin today... hummm, even geese have enough sense to fly south for the winter. John & Nell's daughter-in-law volunteered to get Miles and Laureen to the Lauderdale airport. Ruth and I worked on the frame for replacing our bimini. We've been hauling the materials around for 18 months... time to get moving on the project. We got the frame all reworked so I can start sewing while Ruth is in WI. We heard good news from Sampatecho! Their engine problem turned out to be bad bearings in the alternator. Quickly repaired in Miami and heading back to the Bahamas. 12/19/07 - Ruth said goodbye to Buddy and Barry before heading to the Lauderdale airport and her long trip to Wisconsin. She's scheduled to get to Appleton after 11pm - long day considering she left Marina Sol Bu at 9:15am. I went to work on AA's bimini frame, getting the holes tapped for the straps. Then on to Ariel, talking to tech reps and tearing out the diesel heater for shipment to Seattle for a good cleaning. While it's out I'll relocated the fuel pump - putting it where it should have been in the first place. I helped John remove the blocks, etc, we'd put in the wet bar as part of the process of drying the floor. Then we put down a drip sheet and re-plumbed the ice maker. Hopefully we have that problem solved. Got a lot of tasks to complete while I'm ruthless. 12/20/07 - White stuff on the ground this morning... seems a flowering bush near the boat dropped a lot of petals. T-shirt weather today. Hopefully it won't get as hot as yesterday - sweat city. Buddy keeps looking at the aft cabin, waiting to catch a glimpse of Ruthie getting up. We talked with Ruth this morning on the speakerphone. Buddy was looking all over to find where her voice was coming from. The trip to WI went smoothly, house was still there and warm - though empty. It will be a long month! The day turned rainy... however I have a number of sewing projects and some parts to scrounge up so I stayed busy all day. 12/21/07 - Awoke to rain. It's like Florida has been crying since Ruth left. Talked to her last night and she's getting settled in but doesn't yet have internet (Our Road Runner has a habit of kicking out and needs to be reset by the cable company). Whoops, just got an e-mail from her - she unplugged all the cables and reinserted them, getting her e-mail to work. Got an SkyMate report from Sampatecho, they arrived in Nassau this morning. Perfect timing as their son arrived there today. The weather cleared late morning. I worked on AA, Ariel and Our Way all day... developing sore muscles from crawling into tight places. Making progress on all three project lists. I want to have Ariel done when they return as I'll have another week to work on AA before Ruth arrives. 12/22/07 - Cool out this morning. Parts run the first thing - fasteners for Ariel. Then re-bundling the wire harnesses after tearing them apart to get to the heater fuel line. Next the headliner length had to be adjusted to prevent one panel from bowing down. Worked with John on his boat for a couple of hours followed by laying out and cutting cockpit shades for Ariel. Hey, Saturday is a workday, right? Ariel is in her native state, floors opened up, hatches off, wiring exposed... like normal, eh Miles? 12/23/07 - A hot sunny day with occasional showers - big difference from the blizzard Ruth is experiencing. Worked part of the day on Ariel, sewing a pair of rain shields to keep the rain from running into the cockpit off the dodger overhang. Also worked with John on a propane and gear stowage box for the aft of Our Way.  We've been running all over Boca Raton for parts for my projects and his. 12/24/07 - Hot and sunny... must not be WI. Buddy got a shower and loved it! I mounted the rain shields and line stowage bags on Ariel. After using a hose to confirm the rain shields worked I tackled a drawer that had sheared off its slides. Made a fastener list so I can buy the bolts necessary to remount the slides - the builder glued them on - dah. Then I traced the solar panel circuit and figured the materials needed to install a cut out switch in the circuit. Got the switch mounted before knocking off for the day. Hey, it's Christmas Eve. Even boat gnomes get a break today. I'm looking forward to calling Ruth tonight while she's at the Benjamin's traditional Christmas Eve. 12/25/07 - Merry Christmas everyone! Hope Santa was good to you. Talked to Ruth late last night - she had a great time with extended family. Almost ran out of gasoline on her way home while talking to me. Whoopsie. Rained hard after midnight. I woke to clearing skies, a wet dock and wet boat. Planning on taking the day off - I have a dinner invitation from Nell & John. I spent most of Christmas Day sewing a surprise for Ruth. She'll never guess what it is... but she wanted one... just has to wait until she gets back to Boca. No Ruthie, it's not the new bimini though I did get quite a bit done on that today also between running the iguanas off the dock (they are really quite pesky and messy). Talked to Ruth several times today after visits to Tom & Amy's and to Patty Angell's. She's enjoying the chance to re-bond with family and friends. I had a great Christmas Day Dinner with the Van Blois... great company, excellent turkey dinner with all the trimmings - won't have to eat for a week. 12/26/07 - Partly cloudy, mainly sunny and hot. Today was for AA, getting a good start on the new bimini. I took the old one off - boat looked so different it was unbelievable. The skeleton for the new bimini is in place. Ruth helped me set it up before she went north. I have the bow pockets sewn and the 3 panels that will make up the top are joined. Next step - fit up the top, cut to size and sew in the bow pockets. It's a funky design because I have integrated it with the stern arch... hope it works. John and I finished roughing together the aft deck box that will hold a hoist motor for a dinghy lift, a propane locker and miscellaneous gear. It's looking very nice and will make their propane storage much safer while dressing up a nasty storage area. 12/27/07 - It poured early this morning - woke me up! Usually our bimini keeps the rain from hitting the deck above our berth so we barely hear it. With the bimini off the rain was drumming fiberglass 2' above my head. Rolled out a 6am and had coffee and a bagel for breakfast while I planned my day. Wasted effort as John and I spent most of the day driving around Boca picking up parts for Ariel, Our Way and AA. Spent time tracking down Ariel's diesel heater and confirming that it was on the test table in Seattle (diagnosis tomorrow). Got back just in time to bend some PVC for a bimini bow during no-see-um time (nasty little critters that collect more blood than the Red Cross). Ruth called last night to make sure I was eating right... fending by myself. Okay, today's menu: breakfast, coffee and bagel; lunch, vending machine hot dog - not doing so well? Dinner? How about a rack of bar-b-qued pork ribs, buttered mashed potatoes and a tossed salad with raspberry Chablis vinaigrette dressing? I'll waddle off to bed after my rum and coke. 12/28/07 - A beautiful FL day. Buddy decided that I'd been punished enough for Ruth's absence. He started the morning by calling peek-a-boo while I was in the head (bathroom)... playing with me for a few minutes. Then he broke into "Good morning, good morning, good morning" and went through the rest of his vocabulary. I talked to Ruthie and told her all is well with Buddy (she was feeling guilty about leaving him behind as it was messing with his head). Today was primarily an Ariel day. I made a pair of solar screens that can be moved about the cockpit to protect folks from the sun. While sewing I phoned the electrolysis tech and the heater tech to keep those projects moving along. The heater tech confirmed that the heater was way too small for a vessel the size of Ariel - but that didn't cause the problem... fuel did. I also worked with John a couple of hours on Our Way, starting the dinghy hoist. Tomorrow will likely be an Ariel day as I work down the punch list. Won't be too long and Miles and Laureen will be back an anxious to get to Miami. 12/29/07 - Sunny and warm with a little too much breeze for working on AA's bimini. I finished the sun screens for Ariel's cockpit, fixed the slides on a drawer, pulled the wire for the heater pump and started tracing and marking the solar panel wiring. Then off on a parts hunt with John. Man can you burn up a day running around Boca. Everything is 25-45 minutes away. Three hours is gone before you can blink. Talked to Ruth today. We had a showing this afternoon so she was shoveling and cleaning in preparation. Then she heads off to Bill & Jill's for the evening. Ruth, Bill and Jill called early evening. It was great to talk to them and plan for their joining us in the Bahamas as guest aboard AA. Ruth fell in love with their new kittens and wanted to kidnap them. 12/30/07 - Woke up to sunny but windy weather. Got an early start and finished adding overhead windows and covers on Ariel's bimini by noon. Another item off the punch list. The wind let up and I was able to fit the fabric for AA's bimini and mark it for cutting and sewing. I'd like to get the bimini up soon as it protects all the varnish in the cockpit. With the old bimini off, Buddy hasn't been able to sit outside as he can't handle a lot of direct sunlight - he's designed for jungles. Ruth, Susie and Frankie called tonight to say Happy New Year... that led to giving me Laura's phone number so we could catch up after 20 years. Time sure flies! Hey, nice going Packer's! Now comes the big time. 12/31/07 - Dewy sunrise quickly quickly turned into a hot sunny day. The light breezes were enough to be cooling yet gentle so I could work on fitting AA's bimini. I was able to get a good trial fit. A little adjustment on the forward zippers and I'll be ready to fit the aft bow. Weather permitting I'll do that tomorrow so the bimini is ready when Ruth returns. Received a call from Sure Marine, Miles heater is repaired and test run over the weekend. They are blue label shipping it back today so I can have it ready when Miles and Laureen return. It will be a busy Weds - Fri campaign to have Ariel ready. With the bimini test fit in place Buddy got a chance to get a bath (shower), He loved it and commence to go through his entire vocabulary. The folks by the pool could hear him though he couldn't see them and get shy. I dressed the ship in flags for John & Nell's New Years Eve party. John liked the look. I borrowed a tie and sports coat from John to "civilize" me for their guests... they said I still clean up nice. Ruth called a midnight (east coast) and we did the count down together. Nell's daughter April took a photo of me on the cell phone, saying she finally got a picture of Ruth talking. All said it was an enjoyable evening; got to meet a lot of John & Nell's friends.

Ruth dressed for winter Time to head out Off to the airport and da tundra Ariel in her native state Lines cockpit - before New line bags and rain shield - after No more line clutter or rain runoff My dock buddy Propane locker project Revised bimini frame on AA Aft view thru Ariel's new sun screens Screens rigged for quartering sun Ruthie found a new rug for Christmas

Visit earlier portions of our 2007 east coast travels...

Boca Raton to Charleston, 4/1/07 - 4/15/07	Charleston to Elizabeth City, 4/16/07 - 4/30/07
Elizabeth City to Deltaville, 4/31/08 - 5/15/07	Deltaville to Barrington, RI, 6/12/07 - 6/30/07
Barrington RI (Ariel), 6/30 - 7/14/07	Barrington Boatyard Blues, 7/15 -7/29/07
Barrington to Salem, 7/30 - 8/14/07	Salem, MA to Rockland, ME, 8/15 - 8/30/07
Rockland to Salem, 9/1 - 9/14/07	Salem to Baltimore, 9/15 - 9/29/07
Baltimore to Solomon Landing, 9/30 - 10/13/07	Tangier Island to Elizabeth City, 10/14 - 10/29/07
Elizabeth City to Hilton Head, 10/30 - 11/15/07	Hilton Head to Titusville, 11/16 - 11/30/07
Titusville to Boca Raton, 12/1 - 12/15/07