So we spent the six days cleaning, fixing stuff on the "to do" list (see the new
faucet/showerhead in the forward guest head?), grocery shopping for 6 weeks, and loading all that stuff from storage (including 3 huge sails, all the cushions and foam mattresses, electronics such as VHF radios, single sideband, etc., dinghy, cruising guides and books, sheets and blankets. It seemed like 100 trips back and forth, each time hoisting a new load on to the foredeck and then down into the cabin. Being able to turn on the air conditioner while plugged into shore power really helped, and certainly contrasted with the snow and cold back in Frisco!We learned that the process of moving everything off the boat last spring and then back on this fall takes a lot of time and effort. We'll probably not do it again!
We moved aboard on Sunday and spent Sunday and Monday nights in our own bed. Today was "lift off", scheduled for 10am. But last-minute errands took longer than expected. Then as we were casting off the mooring lines and backing out of the slip I revved up the engine in reverse and noticed quite a disturbing vibration coming from the prop/drive shaft. At the same time a guy happened by to help with the lines. He turned out to be the diver hired by the guy who looked after the boat for us this summer to clean the bottom and keep the barnacles at bay. He informed us that he had not cleaned the boat for over a month (in spite of being told it was done last week) and the vibration was probably caused by too many barnacles.
He kindly offered to dive on the boat right then and did in fact clean a lot of crud off our propeller. Less than an hour later (12:00) we cast off again, this time with no vibration and good power. We think it must have been divine providence that guided Matt to our aid just when we needed it - so a big shout out to Matt (and the divine).
Once on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), we proceeded to have a great day cruising south. We anchored at the north end of Lake Worth (Palm Springs area) and dinghied ashore for a walk to the nearby West Marine store for a couple of last-minute items. That took about an hour. So counting all the delays, we only made it to Palm Beach today instead of 20 miles further. But the weather is nice and we're enjoying a quiet evening at anchor. Thanks to our wifi booster antenna, I'm able to post this blog from our boat using some kind soul's unsecured internet connection.
Tonight is supposed to be a record low temperature (50 degrees), but that's nothing compared to a year ago when we were fighting frost on the deck in the morning! The sky has been cloudless for two days because it's so dry with the large cold front. But the forecast into the weekend is for strong north winds which will prevent us from crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. It's such a relief to be "on the road again" after almost a week of preparations.
We will meet our Frisco buddy, Jim Powell, tomorrow in Ft. Lauderdale - a 43 mile treck at 7 MPH. We'll mosey on down to the Miami area and await winds from anywhere but the north.
It's an early start tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Hi from Jan who's into her new book Three Cups of Tea, and from our cat Samantha who's settled in quite comfortably.
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