2022-06-18 Moving north - checking out boatyards - attack of the flies

Been a busy week, and unfortunately, we were quite lax on taking photos.

Left Norfolk last Sunday, and headed north, having quite a nice sail most of the 43 miles up to Deltaville.  Had to motor last 3 miles, and wind dropped to under 3 knots.

2022-06-12 Leaving the dock, travelling north, Harborfest show in Norfolk

We left the dock after our last packages came in on Monday.  Docks are sticky things - they are convenient, and sometimes hard to pull away from.  

Leaving dock.  Sojourn and What If still at dock.

2022-06-04 Still at the dock - more projects - and laundry

Well, we are still here in Oriental at our friends dock.  Have spent a busy week doing projects.   It can be frustrating to work for 3 days on a single project, and when it is done, you have nothing visible to show for it, but that is how it has been going.

We ran new wiring from our engine rooms to our battery cabinet.  We upsized the wire, as we are wanting our engine alternators to charge our lithium battery bank directly.  This means more amps coming in when running the engines, which means bigger wires needed.  The wiring for starboard and port are done, but unfortunately our port alternator did not arrive yet, so we will finish the last bit of the project later.

2022-05-29 What's in the frig?, Projects Projects

We are staying at our friends dock, and since this is such a  treat to have water and power, and a place ship items, we are taking advantage, and trying to order as many things as we need, and do projects.  We came back with a list of items to work on, or purchase.  A list of about 150 items.   Some are simple, like order some spare 3 amp fuses.  Some are more complex, like haul the boat and put on new bottom paint.  

One of our first projects to tackle was the refrigerator.  Since our friends at the dock had a somewhat empty fridge we could use to store our cold stuff in.

Every now and then we would see some brownish water/ice building at the forward inboard side of the frig, the side by the freezer.  

2022-05-27 Not a 3 hour trip - and again not a 3 hour trip --- 2 ocean passages in a row.

Well, the season in the Bahamas is over. Almost 6 months.  

Guess time to leave, flag is worn out.

2022-05-12 Treasure Cay to Green Turtle to Check out, finding lost anchor and planning trip of Bahamas to the USA

We stayed at Treasure Cay for a couple more days.  Had one night with an incredible lightning show.  It was great, because it was not near us, but many many flashes in a short time period.

2022-05-08 North to the Abacos, Hope Town, Getting ready to head back

 We left Harbor Town in Eleuthera, and had a bit lumpy, but not bad sail up to the Abacos.  Made good time, and dropped anchor at Tilloo Cay.   52.74 nautical miles in 7.5 hours, so averaged 7 knots, which we were happy with, as winds averaged 8 to 15 knots, out of the SE.

Next day was time for some projects.  We have been debating whether or not to pull the mast when we haul out in the fall - as it will cost around $700 to do so.  We would like to run a new wire in the mast for a VHF/AIS antenna, and cell phone antennas.   Someone suggested a method of running a new wire without pulling the mast, so we thought we would try it.

Dean up the mast

It did not work, so we are back to the debate on if we really need to pull the mast - do we really need to change the VHF/AIS antenna?  Do we really need better cell reception?    By the way - we both know we will pull the mast and do the work - just trying to not admit that we will spend the $700 to do it, as we will be depressed about the money.  Making the decision we know we will make last minute avoids all the up front depression about the money.

We also gave each other much needed haircuts, and I went for a nice kayak.   Not much to see, but good exercise.   Did see hurricane Dorian damage still quite visible.