I dreamed about winches last night - winch parts, grease, finding yet one more winch on the boat :-) That's probably because I spent most of yesterday taking apart all four winches, then cleaning, greasing and reassembling them. Both Rick and DJ decided that not only were all of my winches in terrible shape, but that I must learn to service them myself - and needed to do so before I went sailing again. Was that ever hard work! I was thankful to have the opportunity to learn - but DJ is a perfectionist. It took me about 2 hours per winch to get them clean to his standard. I must say though that I had no idea they were in such terrible shape - it was an amazing transformation that will make sailing much easier. After doing 4 of them I'm pretty confident I could do it again - which with any luck will be a year from now :-)
While taking a break between winch 3 and 4 it was decided that I need to learn how to clean the prop. These guys are tough! DJ had noticed that my boat was vibrating too much when under power and suspected the prop was dirty - even though I just had it cleaned a few weeks ago. So I had a quick lesson on how to use my new snorkel gear. I REALLY did not want to get in that water especially since I nearly caught another shark right next to the boat the day before!
Still it had to be done - and I was thankful to have someone show me how. I am very claustrophobic and the idea of having this big boat on top of me was terrifying. I did manage to get under there far enough to see that it really was in horrible shape. Stuff was all over the propeller and shaft. It nearly put me in tears. Lucky for me DJ was my hero and cleaned it for me - although he did make me at least stay in the water and watch. He then held my hand while we went around the boat under water. I tried diving under a few times and managed to get as far as touching the propeller - but that was it. I'm committed to getting the courage to do this - so I'm going to practice each day until I can manage it. Somehow they manage to gloss over this part in all those books I read about cruising!
Last night I made some delicious homemade pizza on the grill - using a clay tile for the pizza stone. It was wonderful - crispy thick crust - very yummy.
It was 98 degrees in thPort St. Joe yesterday. Thankfully I had a very nice breeze all day at the anchorage and it was actually quiet pleasant. I had to come into Port St. Joe today to take care of a few things, pump out, ice, laundry, and grocery shopping. I had been putting it off since Saturday - but finally had to do it.
I arrived very early this morning. The Port St. Joe marina has the reputation as being the nicest and friendliest marina on the Great Loop. I can already see why. The entrance channel - while narrow was very well marked. A dock hand was waiting for me at the fuel dock - where despite having a very small space I made a flawless landing. Got to admit I was proud of myself on that one - especially since about 20 people were watching! After a pump out and filling my gasoline jugs, they helped me tie up in a nice slip. Thankfully I have a wonderful breeze keeping it nice and cool so far. They have 3 wheel bicycles with large baskets for a trip to the Piggly Wiggly. I'll head over there tonight hopefully after it cools down.
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Thursday night, my friend DJ, agreed to go sailing with me out in the Gulf. I really wanted to have the opportunity to do some sailing while having someone with experience on board. The seas were just a little bit more than when I sailed on Saturday - this time 1 to 3's with an occasional 4 footer. If I had been alone those 4 footers would have terrified me, but as it was I was only just a little scared. DJ tried to teach me how to judge the wave height by using the boat but I'm not sure I get it. I was too busy having a death grip on the steering wheel! I managed to sail for about an hour before the wind - which had been steady all day - died down to almost nothing. Still I was thankful for that one hour - as I'm trying to take baby steps increasing my comfort level one step at a time. The sunset at the Port St. Joe anchorage Every morning I wake up with good intentions of leaving in the late afternoon, but then end up thinking - why not stay one more day :-) Really, there is no hurry and this place is so incredible. It's hard to top the most perfect day but I'm giving it my best shot! Yesterday I was absolutely lazy and did nothing of value. I decided to take the dinghy to the beach for a walk in the late afternoon. I didn't make it very far when the clouds began to look menacing. Of course, I'd left everything open on the boat, so my leisurely walk quickly became a full fledged run:-) I made it back just in time to get everything closed up tightly before the wind picked up and then the rain started. I was still hot from my run so actually stayed outside on the deck and enjoyed the cooling rain for awhile. The storm passed quickly and I headed back to the beach to resume my walk. This time though it was very calm and those little pesky bugs were back making it a bit unpleasant. It turned out to be a short walk and then back to the boat to put in the screens :-) Thankfully the no wind bug thing only lasted about an hour and then a nice breeze kicked in. |
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January 2019
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