ROAD TRIP!

We were up at 4:00am to pack a cooler of sandwiches, snacks, and drinks for the day.  AIS was 4:30am (which is like getting up last night, for me) and we were bound to get off the rock today.  We had a crankshaft, head, and block to deliver to a machine shop up in Miami.

We made good time, and just caught the beginnings of rush hour in Miami.  We got to the shop at 7:20am, just as the employees and catering truck was arriving.  They were expecting us, and to our surprise, they said they should have the work done by lunchtime.  What the what?!  We didn't even have time to go to the beach!

Cap'n Donnie was like a kid in a candy store walking through the shop.  In his 'former life' he spent 30+ years working in machine shops and as a journeyman tool and die maker.  He would have stayed and hung out with these guys, if they had let him.  I want you to notice the crankshafts standing up on end in the pic above.  Some were 3-4 feet tall.  Ours is about 15 inches long, on a good day, if you hold it just right in the light.  Bessie was like having a preemie infant in a preschool of big kids. God love her, I've always been a sucker for pipsqueaks and underdogs.

Our Bahamas cruising buddies, Matt and Karie are staying in Pompano Beach, only about 30 minutes north of Miami, so we decided to pay them a visit.  We had a great time catching up; the morning flew by.  They have also had engine troubles and are late getting started on a return trip to the Bahamas.  Two weeks has turned into two months, and now the weather is not cooperating.  The wind looks as if it's going to continue to blow out of the north through this coming Wednesday, so they will be staying put for another week. Better to be safe than sorry. It was so good seeing them again.

I snapped this pic of their lazy jacks, which catches their mainsail.  We have the pulleys and line, now we just need to build them for our Marquesa.  Add that one to our list of to-do projects.

This is Juan Vargas, another Cuban-American that worked on Bessie.  He's explaining to Donnie what was done to the sleeves on the block.  He said Bessie passed the vacuum test, no problem.  She did NOT have a cracked head or block.  That was extremely good news!  He got a thank-you hug from me, too :)  Crazy green-eyed American chick.

Take a look at the size of these heads and blocks ready to go out.  Then look at our wee little block (all 75 lbs of her).  The huge hoist at the loading dock was a bit of overkill, don't you think?  Carry it to the car- heck, I will!

So, here you have the cleaned and polished engine block, head and crankshaft.  We're one step closer!  I wrote a check for $400 (it would have been double that in the Keys) and we were back on the road by 1:00pm!

We got back to the Yanmar shop in Marthon to Luis a little before 4:00pm.  He seemed as excited as we were when he got the news that there was no cracked head or block.  He received all brand new parts from Kubota yesterday, and he plans to reassemble the engine tomorrow.  By Friday, he will do a test run and call us to come listen to Bessie to be sure all is well.  They will then paint her back to the original gold color.  By Monday or Tuesday they will bring her back to the dock at Banana Bay.  With Mike's help and his electric winch, we'll save ourselves another $300 by lowering it to the engine room ourselves.  We'll simply use the boom again, and do the reverse of what we did to get her out of Marquesa a few days ago.  They will then complete the installation, connecting hoses and wiring, and calibrate the shaft.  When all is said and done, I will quiet my heart and hands as I write the final check, and we should be back in business and out sailing a week from today!!!

In the meantime, we have to bring our A game on this list of projects.  I will continue to tackle the teaks and hopefully finish the topsides tomorrow.  From there I will move to the cockpit companionway and refinish the cocktail table.  Donnie plans to install the new hour meter (since this NEW Bessie will have ZERO hours on her) tomorrow.  He also has to fix the dinghy yet again.  Sad face.  The patch he installed yesterday held just fine, but apparently there is is leak elsewhere, as she was half-deflated by the time we got home this afternoon.  Also, we got our blade in the mail today for Windy, our wind generator.  If the other two projects go well, he may get to that tomorrow, too.  At any rate, tomorrow and Friday are work days for sure.  We are energized to get crack-a-lackin' knowing that Bessie will soon be up and running and back in her rightful home.

As for Willis T, since nobody showed up to catsit, he was more than ready to be sprung once we got home today.  He made a mad dash for the mangroves the minute he woke up from that all-day nap of his.  Dern cat.

We joined Max and Mandy, and Danny and Biddi for a celebratory libation on their boat, as we all filled each other in on the events of our day.  After that, it was time to hightail it over to the theater to see Lincoln.  The show started at 7:00pm, but folks line up starting at 6:00.  The theater serves beer and wine, and the usual theater snacks, and you mostly sit at cocktail tables.  It only seats about a 100 people, and as usual, they had to turn folks away.  Kenny and Fran saved us in the nick of time, otherwise we would have missed out.  It was a great flick, but long....especially since we had been up since 4:00am. 

Aren't my boys sweet?  Bed feels mighty good right now; not gonna lie.  Cap'n has already nodded off, and Willis has taken his usual spot between us on the Vberth.  It's time for me to turn in, too.  G'nite, y'all!