Hello Friends and Family,
We hauled Blue Pearl here at Indiantown Marina in Florida last April after a legendary transit from Antigua. Just arrived back here on Monday, January 8 after a nasty journey from Abbotsford. A long time for a boat to sit in the elements.
Our plan is to escape the gnarly January/February weather at home and enjoy the brilliant, warm Florida weather. Hah! I shouldn't complain since temperatures at home have broken the bottom out of thermometer bulbs. But it's not that nice here either. It's cold. And it's rainy. When we wake up in the morning we are cold and damp. Sometimes it gets a little warm, but not often. That's going to change, right?
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| Glorious sunny Florida day |
We have some cleanup and a couple of glitchy things to fix after last year's 1400 mile trip so we've been sitting alongside in the Marina putting up canvas, clearing up and waiting for parts and service. Local tasks include new topping lift shackle, jib halyard snarl, reefing line snarl and auto helm repair. We had dropped off our autohelm unit to have some minor repair work done last April. Last week the mechanic dropped it off and said he couldn't fix it. Nine months to discover that! So there's that.
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| Stripped threads. Should be a simple fix, right? |
A young guy came in as crew on a boat on Sunday. Chatted about fixing boats. Conversation moved to climbing masts and presto... our topping lift shackle and jib halyard snarl were fixed. In exchange, we gave him a lift into Stuart to rendezvous with his rental car. I'm waiting for all the other problems to disappear as easily.
Murphy the dinghy is showing his age. One inflatable chamber is flat as a pancake. I've done 2 patching sessions. Will check result in the morning. Hoping to get at least one more season out of old Murph'.
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| Good Old Murphy |
Hoping to leave in a couple of days to secure a mooring ball in Stuart at the Sunset Bay Marina. Maybe a month? Our plan is to enjoy some respite from the winter weather at home and do some maintenance on the teak. Maybe tidy the old girl up (speaking of Blue Pearl, of course) for a possible sale!!!
We'll see.
Hope you are all well!
Thanks for following along.
Good to see your blog again... It started something in our house wayyyy back. What a lovely journey! So glad to see the crew and Pearl still at it!
ReplyDeleteHah! Great to hear from you. Will always remember our first crossing with you and Azaya. Walking on the beach at West End when you pulled out a celebratory bottle of Cava to toast our grand adventure.
DeleteGreetings from frozen Portland, Oregon. It's thawing today, the frozen rain is still thick. Still, I'm hoping you get out sailing soon.
ReplyDeleteWell! It’s a blizzard here today, blowing snow, poor visibility! We’re hunkered down at home with our books and coffee. Florida sounds pretty good from here!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the Blue Pearl jobs! We’re baby sitting the Hinds dogs right now, kids are skiing in the Kootenays. Dogs and Scott are curled up on all the couches and chairs around the fireplace.⛄️⛄️
Hi Pam & Glen
ReplyDeleteGlad you’ve escaped the snow in BC. The only regret I have is not seeing how our new snow blower works.
Weather here in BucerÃas is consistently in the mid twenties. We’ve settled into our regular routines of Wednesday and Sunday markets, walking every day, revisiting the fish market, and enjoying warm weather by the ocean.
Sounds like you’ve got lots of projects to keep you occupied. Hope the weather improves soon.
Mike tells me Steve Carlton is in Bucerias
Cheers Warren Manuel