Back Aboard After Thanksgiving

Most of this blog entry will not be about boating but reflections on our last couple of weeks. We left the boat and drove to Sandbridge, VA to celebrate Thanksgiving at our first family reunion with my two sisters and their families. All together there were 35 attendees. We spent a week at a large house right on the beach, complete with an indoor pool. It was a great experience for one and all. Attendees came from Florida and New Hampshire, the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and California. A number had never met before. We walked the beach, watched dolphins just beyond the surf, walked trails at a local park, visited a zoo and a marine museum and flew kites...just a great time. With so many attending, mealtime could have been a real challenge, but everyone pitched in and it all worked out well. Sandra and I did most of the orchestrating ahead of time, so we feel good about the result. We look forward to the next time we can get together like this. We'll let someone else do the planning, though.

After leaving the reunion, we drove back south to St. Augustine, but not before picking up an additional crew member. We'd discussed this addition for some time, but never acted on it till now. The crew member is an eleven week old puppy, a Coton de Tulear. Most reading this haven't heard of this breed. It's not a common one in this country and is from Madagascar. We learned about it from Jennifer, who said it would be the perfect dog for our boat. It's small (3 lbs. right now), it likes to travel, likes to swim, doesn't shed and is hypoallergenic. So far she doesn't bark at all either. We've had her only a few days, but she's one our hearts already. Now added to my chores before we leave St. Augustine is putting up lifeline netting so we don't lose the dog overboard.

Can't end this without reporting on our engine. It has been replaced. We did a sea trial yesterday and after a bit of minor alignment adjustment, it ran real well. It's quieter than our last and has a bit more power. I'm hopeful that we'll be as happy with this as we were unhappy to have to make the change. After much discussion, we've come to the conclusion about at least part of the reason for the engine wear. It seems that the prop wasn't pitched properly for this engine, and I could never get it up to max rpms. Of course I was new to diesels and didn't realize that this might cause additional wear. As it turns out, this new engine has a bit more power and seems to be matched well to the prop. So we won't have to make a change there.

Getting back to the boat and to our cruising lifestyle is a real adjustment – so different from living on land as most people do. But we've already had a pleasant afternoon lunch and visit with friends we met on the St. John's River. We've been in touch with other friends we may be meeting with again soon. So in many ways we feel like we're home again...and that feels good.

More to come.

Captain Bob
Carpe Diem