The MAN!

Weather: Windy – NE 20 knots gusts to 25; Sunny to cloudy with appearance of rain that never materialized, to partly sunny; temp range 75 – 78 degrees.

Comment: We were up at 0800 and ready to head out for Key West. The only thing standing in our way was a small boat project that Jim volunteered to undertake. SUNSHINE’s wind instrument (anemometer and vane) hasn’t worked since we purchased the boat. We had the instrument head and transducer serviced and after reinstallation found that the gauge was still inoperative. After further searching, we found the cable was severed. We ordered a new cable with mast head fitting, but haven’t met the right person to climb to the top of the mast.

Jim offered that he was in fact, the MAN! He spent last evening planning his strategy that included a make shift harness (made out of a dock line) and a foot hold. Gary and I hoisted him with the main halyard attached to the harness and the spinnaker halyard attached to the foot strap. With Gary at the port winch and me at the starboard, we winched Jim up about 49 feet over the water. For the better part of what must have semed like a week, Jim sat (in the harness), stood (in the foot hold) while his “boys” were getting real familiar with each other and the dock line which threatened to crush, sever or send them packing (depending on Jim's various positions in the makeshift harness). Okay, so it wasn’t really a week (more like an hour or two) but when the "boys" are slowly and methodically being squeezed, hours can quickly turn into weeks.

We fished the new cable through with no difficulty. The final procedure way at the top of the mast was for Jim to remove the old fitting, mount the new fitting and reattach the anemometer and vane. A problem arose in the attaching. The old fitting was much thicker than the new therefore the “old” screws were too long! To Jim, failure is not an option (it was certainly acceptable for us). He came down the mast with a little (very little) assistance from Gary and me. He sat down to let the “boys” separate a bit while Anna Marie and I searched the spare parts bins for appropriate sized screws. Once found, it was back up the mast for Jim. He took to the heights armed with the necessary tools, screws and calk. The screws fit just fine and he returned to the deck in just about ½ hour. The installation was complete.

It was now about noon, so we lunched before heading ashore. Much to Gary’s chagrin, we forgot all about the free buffet at the Overseas. It was too late for Key West. The SmorgasBoat stops running at about 1845 hours and we needed to ride it (or we wouldn’t be able to get back to the boat) because, if you recall, our inflatable dinghy lost a bout with a sharp underwater object yesterday.

We tried West Marine for a PVC dinghy patch (no luck) and a five pole fitting for the wind instrument cable (no luck finding the fitting, but I found a 6 pole bus bar that should work). We’ll wire it up next week sometime.

Our treat for the day was a trip to the Dolphin Research Center located on Grassy Key. The center dates back to the 50’s. There are 19 dolphins that live at the center and are the subjects of various research projects. I had a conversation wit one of the trainers. When I asked about training and background, he replied: “None, only what I’ve learned here.” I offered that there must be hundreds if not thousands of marine biologists who would love to work at the center. He countered that marine biology might be too broad for work at the center and that Psychology would be more appropriate to the kind of work he does with the dolphins. They way he described it, the males act like typical 8th grade boys (they have a tussle and forget it) while the females acted like typical 8th grade girls (they go to separate corners and don’t interact with each other for hours or longer)!

We were all awestruck by the words on a banner (and “T” shirt) of Baja Diumbe which are as follows:

“We can only conserve the things we LOVE;
We can only love the things we UNDERSTAND;
And we can only understand the things we are TAUGHT!”

Our trip to the center was capped off nicely by dinner at the Island Fishery, a place we discovered with Marje and Ed a few weeks ago.

After being dropped off by the SmorgasBoat, we were back on board by 1800 hours.