Sailing Miles

 Cindy and I thought we would go for a snorkel.  The weather was toasty, the water was cool, and we had seen many people diving and snorkeling close to a nearby shore covered in mangroves.  As it turned out, maybe they were looking for lobsters! I think they might want to come to supper tomorrow. If you get tired of staying near the diver-down flag in the dinghy, tow it along. Many small corals lived on the sandy ground, among the sea grass. These spiny guys were under a lot of defunct corals.  Safety? Or parasitic? The rules on lobster harvesting are complicated in Florida.  We will have to study up on catch size and restricted areas before we decide whether or not to take the chicken drumsticks out to thaw in the morning.

Before going cruising on a sailboat, we heard amazing tales of sunsets, dolphins, and foreign lands. Now, after over 7000 nautical miles in just over a year, we are living the dream. Chainplates are large pieces of stainless steel that help hold up the mast. Kinda important. Before removing Miles' chainplates, we heard frightening tales involving power tools, pry bars, and Plan Cs that didn't work. Now, after a few weeks, we're living the nightmare. While our mast is being built, it's a perfect time to inspect all areas of our chainplates. As it turns out, they're so difficult to get to that if you pull out 32 year old chainplates that look perfect, you would probably want to replace them anyway.  Ours were not perfect. Half-inch stainless steel. The round part sticks up through the deck. Big shroud lines attach to the hole. Crevice corrosion makes stainless steel weak We are learning interesting rigging terms, like point-loading, crevice corrosion, elongated clevis...

After reading a lot of blogs and product reviews and attending courses in Annapolis, Maryland, called Cruisers University, we made a list of some fun things we wanted to have on board just to try them. One of the items was a little pricey, both in terms of cost and the amount of precious real estate it takes up. However, the only time we're not thrilled that we bought a sun oven is when we're trying to stow it or get it out to use it. When it's 82 degrees outside, and the last thing you want to do is heat up the salon by using the oven, you can just prep the food, stick it in the sun oven, and make sure to keep it pointing toward the sun. We've even heard you can't burn food in a sun oven, but I'm not saying we can't accomplish this feat given more time.