Miami-Bound 2/6/10

We leave Fort Lauderdale in an hour after a 2-week stay, the longest stop so far. But we got much accomplished:

9.8 Outboard motor fixed after 4 trips to the shop. This is the first time Bill has ever had anyone else work on a motor...or anything else for that matter...but the carburetor needed proper cleaning with a compressor, one of the few tools we did not have aboard. The initial problem with the carburetor came from ethanol in the gasoline, and we now understand more about "phase separation" in gas than anyone should have to know.

Rollerfurler bearing fixed after 1.5 weeks and 5 trips to the rigger.  A comedy of errors where the little balls that had leaked out of the furler—we’d been finding them on deck for weeks—were not delivered as promised 2 times, then the balls we got were the wrong size, so our attempt to repair the furler was thwarted.  Finally the rigger reassembled it and, again, Bill fretted over someone else doing the work.

Our new wifi antenna/booster leaked and burned out in the torrential rain we had the other day. This is the only unit to fail in that way, and is now repaired after only one visit from the installer/seller/manufacturer/inventer, Al Francone.

We bought a new dingy light at West Marine (aka Worst Marine or Wasteful Marine) after being cautioned by the Marine police that we need red/green navigation lights on our dinghy.  NO ONE runs a dinghy with those nav lights, but we're legal now, after only one trip back to WM after the light clamp broke the second time we attached it to the transom.

After much calculation and testing of our batteries, Bill remembered they were at least 5 years old and were due for replacement. Fortunately, the internet source for best battery prices is right here in Fort Lauderdale, so swapping them out was an easy matter.

Boatcards, mosquito net, small compressor, new credit card that Bank of America insists on replacing,

New SCUBA tanks are neatly lashed to the new boards installed on deck and our equipment has been inspected and repaired.

Social bonuses include several visits with Bill's sister Edie and Frank, who even dared a dinghy ride and big ladder climb to the famous sailor's hangout Southport Raw Bar.  My Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Bill live around the corner from our marina, and they invited us for lovely dinners, where we got to meet my handsome young first-cousin-once-removed, Tristan. Dave and Bicki from Nellie D, who we passed many moons ago, caught up with us here and we enjoyed another fine dinner at the Raw Bar. The fish feeding frenzy at the 15^th Street Fisheries, where a beefy jack fish bit Chris on the finger, was anther high point.

Today’s destination is an anchorage in Miami, where we’ll wait for favorable weather to cross the Gulf Stream to Gun Cay or Nassau.  We’ll travel with Felix and Tamrick. John from Felix had to go home for work for a few days, so Lorie and Heidi will sail Felix to Miami, while Chris (11) will crew for Bill aboard Act III.  You know we’ll be racing!