STILL crankin', STILL workin'

Unbelieveable....it is the third full day of winds over 20-25mph.  Today, we had rain showers pass through several times all day long.  It was just enough to ruin our planned afternoon at the pool.  Tomorrow seems to be the last of the wind and rain.  Sadly, we have a big beach bash planned for tomorrow that may get messed up. I hope not, I'm jonesing for an Edie burger!

The upside of this weather, is that it has kept Mr. Fix It busy down below with boat projects.  Well, I suppose that really isn't an upside for him, lol.  With all of the wind we have been having, we have been perplexed by the functioning of our Air-X Marine wind generator, aka Windy.  She's been spinning like crazy, and at times we have seen the volts go up a few tenths or so.  We're just not sure what kind of input we are getting, and if the batteries are really working well. The battery load test yesterday seemed inconclusive, so over breakfast it was decided that we needed to call an Air-X Marine technician with some pertinent questions, before we jump into today's projects.  Armed with new information, Donnie decided he needed a return trip to West Marine for a 0-25 ampmeter, to accurately measure the input of the wind generator.  While he was there, he got a lesson in changing the CO2 cartridges in our life vests, and he bought replacement Skyblazer flares for the 'survival' life vests.  Parentals and children...no need to worry; we are taking every precaution to ensure a safe passage, and safe cruising in unknown countries!

Donnie decided that he needed to take off an extra 4-5 feet of wiring on the wind generator that was coiled up in the belly of the boat.  It might have been causing some resistance.  Kenny and Paps came over to offer their support and two cents worth, hand tools, and such.  It was much appreciated.  While Donnie was discussing his load test/battery dilemma with them, Kenny suggested pulling out one of the batteries and taking it town for further testing.

Kenny asked Willis if we wanted to go for a ride in the
truck...he was not at all interested in a truck ride.
(I love how Kenny calls him 'Wiwis' like the girls do, lol)

Turns out, that was an important step in solving the battery mystery.  Mystery solved.  The batteries are shot.  Donnie and Kenny went down to Driftwood Marina and Boatyard to the Battery Shack, and lucked into finding our size of 6 volt golf cart batteries.  The guy worked with Donnie, and gave us a good deal- all four for $480, which is about half of what we would have paid at West Marine.  We killed two birds with one stone and settled on our decision to store Marquesa 'up on the hard' when the cruising season is over for us in May.  Last year, we kept her on a canal behind my sister in law's home.  While boats are meant to be in the water, they are meant to be USED in the water.  Just like it is hard for a home to sit vacant and unused, the same is true of boats.  After much discussion, we decided that up on the hard we can disconnect various systems, and perhaps she will better weather the blistering sunshine and heat down here in the Keys through the summer.  As with anything, there are positives and negatives to each and every situation, but for us, to pay $100 more a month, seems to be a good investment...especially for all the work (and money) that has been put into her to prep her for cruising.  If all goes well in the Bahamas, as we are planning, I suspect that we will return to Banana Bay for a much shorter time with friends and family, and then head to the Caribbean for more islands, and more adventures.  It's so exciting to think about, really :) We just keep inching closer to living out our dreams.

Don't they look pretty?!  When I think of what I could really spend $500 on,
in the end, the security of knowing we no longer run the risk of sitting dead
in the water, no lights, no refrigeration, no fans...it's totally worth it.

By the time the batteries were installed, we caught a glimpse of the
sunset, such as it was.  The days go by so quickly in paradise :/

With Marquesa torn all to pieces, and the wiring job still left to do, I made an
executive decision and went and got a pizza tonight.  As I write this, he is
STILL working away at wiring the ampmeter, a start/stop switch, and
the wind generator.  I don't think he's giving up until the job is finished.
God love him...he's had a ridiculously long day for a guy that's retired.

What have I done all day?  I washed the jeep between rainshowers.  I found my flipflops and promptly lost them again within thirty minutes (the wind blewn them off the dock- again).  I got groceries and gas.  I finished setting up both sets of life vests, and repacked the ditch bag. I also untangled the anchor line, spread it out on the dock, and marked it in 15 foot increments, so we can let out the right amount of scope, depending on the anchorage we find ourselves in.  First Mate-y managed to cross off a few things of her own on the to-do list. To done!  Now I'm just waiting on my hubby to wrap things up so we can go take a hot tub and call it a night.  G'nite y'all!  

No hot tub...it's 10pm, the pool is closed, and Cap'n is STILL hard a work.  The guy deserves a day off tomorrow, for sure.