STILL HERE!

Well, we’re not ready to leave today. Dave told a friend in an email last night ‘maybe Tuesday’, and we’ve started having anything we order sent to the Keys instead of here. We have made a lot of progress in the last week.

The first thing we did was cut Dave's '3 Major Projects To Complete' down to 2 by putting off the head bolt issue til we get to the Keys. Dave's friend Jim (another CSYer) has volunteered to help him pull the head and re-tap the one bolt that has the garbled threads.

I got all the food stowed yesterday (except the cold stuff, which is still in the house freezer). Provisioning is all done except for the last trip for fresh veggies and eggs. We have just one more prescription to pick up at the pharmacy today, and the medical stuff is done (I even got the sutures I’ve been whining about from friend, Donna from ECSA, who's a nurse. Plus she gave us some 'Dermabond' so we don't have to SuperGlue our cuts.)

Dave's first project, to make sure he has all the pieces parts for assembling a new watermaker when we get to the Rio Dulce, is nearly complete. One more stop for a couple of small items at Advanced Water Systems will finish this task.

Dave got the 2nd cold plate installed in the fridge in yesterday, and he was smilingas he finished up. Today’s job is to swap out the freezer plate (with a bigger one). He thinks this will be the easier of the two jobs. (but we probably won’t know until we turn the whole system on). Then we have to pump the refer system down and check for leaks and let it stabilize out. Then we can load it with all the food I bought. And then leave!

While we’re waiting for the freezer to freeze, we have to mount the wind vane and get the 15HP motor aboard. And I have to collect up all my electronic bits and pieces laying all over the floor and stow them.

I have a date with the insurance man this morning (insurance for my 2 rental properties, which have been non-renewed by USAA).

No more going away parties allowed! I think they’re bad luck at this point.

One final thing we're worrying about is the water level in the Indian River. Our mast height is 64', meaning we just barely fit under the bridges when the water is 'normal'. A few weeks ago the water level was low and we cleared easily. The last 2 weeks of wind has pushed the water level up about 18" higher than it was... it is within 1 inch of our 'no clearance' level, and we are holding our breaths and hoping it will go down soon!! (but it hasn't much in the last few days).

FYI anyone who knows Tom and Jean on our sistership Jean Marie... they have been getting ready for their circumnavigation (via the '5 Great Capes') and Tom and Dave have collaborated and commiserated on many projects.. (and Jean has given me lots of sympathy and advice)... they pulled out of the Dragon anchorage 2 days ago and are up in the Cocoa area ‘waiting for weather’. Tom wants something mild and ‘not North’ for the first day—to get across the Gulfstream. Their path is east and south, with a first landfall in Guadeloupe (and ultimately Trinidad for a haulout). Yesterday would have been a good one, but he had ‘one more project to do’. (sound familiar?)