Sunshine almost always makes me high! (John Denver)
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Final Days of Cruise 2012
Sunday - Wednesday, April 1- 4, 2012 Decommissioning Activities Continue
Recall that we are back in Indian Rocks Beach for a couple of days. We're visitingWillisand Lucille and we'll also attend the wedding of Erica Fritz before heading back to SUNSHINE and Titusville.
On Sunday, April 1, we joined Willis and Lucille on their Bluewater powerboat for a trip to Dunedin. We docked at the town docks (very rolly), walked the town and lunched at the Jolly Mon. It was another great day with the Gray's!
We returned to SUNSHINE in the evening.
On. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, decommissioning activities continued. Besides decommissioning, we started a list of projects that we'll do when we return to SUNSHINE. The list includes new stainless port lights, relocating the BBQ Grill, and putting new lenses in the hatches. The standing rigging should be replaced and new sails are in order, but we'll hold off on those items for a year or two.
Thursday, April 5, 2012 Engine Service!
BT Marine is scheduled to service the engines today. The tech arrived at around 1400 hours, went straight to work and completed his tasks by 1630 hours. He asked if I ever had trouble shifting the port engine into reverse. I described a minor situation to him. He made an adjustment after lowering the lower unit. He reported that it needed an adjustment. He said the previous service tech had left it about 1/4" out of adjustment.
Meanwhile, we worked nonstop all day, to complete SUNSHINE's decommissioning. I think we were finally finished by 1800 hours. Without a break, we hit the road to New Smyrna Beach. We had dinner and a visit with the Fritz's. We'll leave from their house for our rendezvous in Myrtle Beach.
Note: There were a couple of blisters on SUNSHINE's keel this year. I poked at them and pulled off some fiberglass only to find some moisture behind them. I contracted with Tom Musto, a fiberglass repair guy recommended by Rick, to do the repair. He'll peel the keels and some of the hull, dry the keels, apply three layers of glass and Interlux Interprotect Epoxy. We'll apply bottom paint when we return.
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What Happened?
Wow! I checked the blog and see that I never finished the log of this year's cruise! So, this post covers the last week of March 2012:
Saturday, March 24, 2012 Antique Car Show!
Lay Day: Vero Beach
Weather: mostly sunny in the morning and early afternoon, then partly cloudy to cloudy by evening, showers and a thunderstorm in the evening and showers overnight; high 83, low 65; wind SE @ 10 or less except higher overnight
Comment: Today was a busy day! It started with a bus ride. The beachside part of the route has been altered a bit. We got off at the West Marine where we bought a couple of items for the boat. We returned on foot, but took a detour to check out the antique car show. There were lots of antiques in the show, with many cars and trucks dating back to the 1920s.
Even though we plan to take advantage of the predicted 15 knot SW wind tomorrow, we didn't secure the dinghy. We thought we head back to the lounge in the evening. A late dinner and chores that needed to be done prevented our going ashore. We'll secure the dinghy and motor in the morning before departure.
Sunday, March 25, 2012 Gusty Conditions!
From: Vero Beach, FL AICW MM 951.7
To: Cocoa, FL. AICW MM
Weather: Mostly cloudy in the morning, showers before noon; high 85, low 65; West wind @ 15 knots gusting to 20+ knots
Comment: The destination for today is the anchorage at Dragon Point, although if the wind holds, we might try to make Cocoa. Reaching Cocoa would be helpful because the forecast indicates the wind will clock to the north on Monday, making it a motorboat ride into 15 knots. We'd rather do that for four hours from Cocoa than seven hours from Dragon Point.
We raised the mainsail while sailing in a northerly direction and partially unfurled the jib. Because of the gusty conditions, I opted to motor sail in order to keep our speed up through the lulls. Although I'd rather have shut the engines down, the choice allowed us to reach Cocoa by 1630. On the day, we traveled almost fifty-five miles in eight and one-half hours. That's the distance record for this trip!
Monday, March 26, 2012 Home?!?!
From: Cocoa, FL AICW MM
To: Titusville, FL. AICW MM
Odometer:
We arrived in Titusville by 1030 hours. After attending to some minor chores, we took off the rest of the day.
Tuesday - Thursday, March 27 -29, 2012 Decommissioning Activities I
Titusville, Fl. AICW MM
Decommissioning activities have been moving forward. Kieth (Custom Marine Canvas) picked up the Bimini. Repairs should be completed in a day or two. Arrangements have been made for servicing the Yamaha 9.9's with BT Marine. Service is scheduled for April 5.
Friday and Saturday March 30 & 31, 2012 A Weekend Break!
Time Out! Decommissioning activities are on hold for the weekend so we can celebrate my completion of another trip around the sun, visit our friends, Willis and Lucille in Indian Rocks Beach (again!) and attend the wedding of the Fritz's daughter Erica. She is marrying a really terrific young man, Jared Ochs.
We really enjoy hanging with Willis and Luce and they were so gracious to invite us to stay with them in Indian Rocks Brach for a couple of nights. It was especially nice because we got to visit with their son, John, who is home from son school. He's a geologist who is going to start graduate school this summer.
The wedding was stupendous... A great party with lots of fun. The blessing of the hands was unique; the exchange of vows was sincere and passionate; the best man made a magnificent toast to the newly weds and the DJ was awesome. The meal was tasty and we enjoyed the company of the folks seated at table 6!
It really was a great party!
Sent from my iPad
Saturday, March 24, 2012 Antique Car Show!
Lay Day: Vero Beach
Weather: mostly sunny in the morning and early afternoon, then partly cloudy to cloudy by evening, showers and a thunderstorm in the evening and showers overnight; high 83, low 65; wind SE @ 10 or less except higher overnight
Comment: Today was a busy day! It started with a bus ride. The beachside part of the route has been altered a bit. We got off at the West Marine where we bought a couple of items for the boat. We returned on foot, but took a detour to check out the antique car show. There were lots of antiques in the show, with many cars and trucks dating back to the 1920s.
Even though we plan to take advantage of the predicted 15 knot SW wind tomorrow, we didn't secure the dinghy. We thought we head back to the lounge in the evening. A late dinner and chores that needed to be done prevented our going ashore. We'll secure the dinghy and motor in the morning before departure.
Sunday, March 25, 2012 Gusty Conditions!
From: Vero Beach, FL AICW MM 951.7
To: Cocoa, FL. AICW MM
Weather: Mostly cloudy in the morning, showers before noon; high 85, low 65; West wind @ 15 knots gusting to 20+ knots
Comment: The destination for today is the anchorage at Dragon Point, although if the wind holds, we might try to make Cocoa. Reaching Cocoa would be helpful because the forecast indicates the wind will clock to the north on Monday, making it a motorboat ride into 15 knots. We'd rather do that for four hours from Cocoa than seven hours from Dragon Point.
We raised the mainsail while sailing in a northerly direction and partially unfurled the jib. Because of the gusty conditions, I opted to motor sail in order to keep our speed up through the lulls. Although I'd rather have shut the engines down, the choice allowed us to reach Cocoa by 1630. On the day, we traveled almost fifty-five miles in eight and one-half hours. That's the distance record for this trip!
Monday, March 26, 2012 Home?!?!
From: Cocoa, FL AICW MM
To: Titusville, FL. AICW MM
Odometer:
We arrived in Titusville by 1030 hours. After attending to some minor chores, we took off the rest of the day.
Tuesday - Thursday, March 27 -29, 2012 Decommissioning Activities I
Titusville, Fl. AICW MM
Decommissioning activities have been moving forward. Kieth (Custom Marine Canvas) picked up the Bimini. Repairs should be completed in a day or two. Arrangements have been made for servicing the Yamaha 9.9's with BT Marine. Service is scheduled for April 5.
Friday and Saturday March 30 & 31, 2012 A Weekend Break!
Time Out! Decommissioning activities are on hold for the weekend so we can celebrate my completion of another trip around the sun, visit our friends, Willis and Lucille in Indian Rocks Beach (again!) and attend the wedding of the Fritz's daughter Erica. She is marrying a really terrific young man, Jared Ochs.
We really enjoy hanging with Willis and Luce and they were so gracious to invite us to stay with them in Indian Rocks Brach for a couple of nights. It was especially nice because we got to visit with their son, John, who is home from son school. He's a geologist who is going to start graduate school this summer.
The wedding was stupendous... A great party with lots of fun. The blessing of the hands was unique; the exchange of vows was sincere and passionate; the best man made a magnificent toast to the newly weds and the DJ was awesome. The meal was tasty and we enjoyed the company of the folks seated at table 6!
It really was a great party!
Sent from my iPad
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