Wired

Today's agenda was to tackle a few wiring projects this morning.  The stereo wires have been loose from day one, and Dean gave a temp fix while he was here.  We were down to only the cockpit speakers working.  Not having music in the head anymore, was just not working out!  (Seriously, who puts speakers in the head?!  The former owners did :)  That was a relatively simple fix...98.7 Conch Country was blaring thoroughout the boat before 10am. 

Next project was to finish the one started yesterday, and that was to add a DC outlet in the cockpit.  There are lots of uses for having one out there, and it's been on the "to do" list for quite some time.  No more; it's to done.  Last wiring project was to hard wire the GPS and mount it to the binnacle on the helm.  This was certainly needed on the trips to the Dry Tortugas, as previously, if the GPS was not on batteries, it was plugged in by the chart table with the cord hanging out in the cockpit.  Invariably, people (me, paps, willis, etc.) would trip on it, and inadvertanly unplug the dern thing...which lead to the howling and nashing of teeth by the Captain.  (Ok, so maybe I embellished a little on that one....but he has been known to get a little excited, as it requires flipping through several screens to get back to the proper one he was on.)

Tah-Dah!  Also to done!!  And we found this handy teak box that
conveniently holds it right at eye level.  Hopefully we will have a
busy and successful summer, and by next winter we can spring
for a nice chartplotter which will mount in place of the handheld GPS.

While we were getting wired, Ed had a wiring project
of his own going on...one that required a rigger to
go up his mast.  Paps looked sickly just watching the guy!

Last on the list today was to follow up on the lead for some free half inch boat line.  Remember the guy from Alaska we met in the hot tub last night?  He's working on a boat that he's selling and pulled out 300 ft of line, chain, and anchor that landed in a junk pile.  Donnie called Paps for a ride out to the boat yard to pick it up.  Sure enough, we got it for free.  One can't have enough spare line on board in the event of preparing for a hurricane.  So, with our intended projects for the day done, we went poolside to order a $5.00 pizza for lunch.  (Emily, you're going to love the cheese pizza...it's the cheesiest, ever!)  Afterwards, we carried ourselves to some lounge chairs and promptly passed out.  The remainder of the day was spent swimming, reading, and relaxing by the pool.  It felt really warm today...maybe near 90?  About 4:30pm, we were both feeling a little cooked, and we had to get ready for a beach party at the marina.  Many people have left already, and most of the remaining boaters are pulling out within the next week or so.  Time to bring the rest of the gang together...

Donnie and I borrowed Ed & Barb's paddleboards for a little trip around Banana Bay.  Didn't have any pictures to show, but suffice it to say that I remained dry, and Donnie did not.  Reminded me of the time he tried snowboarding and spent the better part of the hour landing on his head; this time it was in the water.  It suprised me actually, as he is a far better skier than I could ever hope to be, and paddleboarding seems to be alot like snowskiing. I take my small victories where I can get them.

We had a weenie roast over a campfire, but these are nothing like
the weenie roasts back home...these are gourmet get togethers- yum.

Barb and Donnie were discussing the finer points of...weiners?!

All the action stops to watch the sun go down...it's a nightly ritual.  We
haven't seen the green flash in several weeks.  It's interesting; the sun is
much more red at night now, and often there are low clouds or a haze on the
horizon.  Apparently the conditions aren't perfect for the elusive green flash.

We really enjoyed visiting with everyone tonight,  It's funny, of the twelve
or so that were there this evening, six of us are from Indiana...who would
have thunk it?!  It was really fun getting to know Ed and Barb better,
until we heard of their horrific rat tale of keeping their boat docked
in a canal...yeah, you got it, coming back to a rat infested boat. I was
feeling sick just thinking about it...kicked my OCD-ness in high gear!

When we got back to the boat, well after dark, Willis was parked at the top of the ladder when we opened up the companionway hatch.  I think he has now resigned himself to being a guard cat, which is fine with me, so long as he keeps the vermin away!

And as I'm laying on the settee updating the blog, look who's right
next to my head.  Is he not the sweetest boy?!  Besides Simon, of course.

Tonight we followed up on some leads on vehicles, so it looks like we may be getting off the rock tomorrow to go SUV shopping.  Then again, who knows?  All plans are written in sand around here :)   G'nite all!