Sailing Miles

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The chainplate project is coming along. It's almost a bummer to cover up all that shiney stainless steel. Good thing, too. We FINALLY have an ETA on our new mast to be delivered. Whoo-hoo! We may lay eyes on it at the boatyard just after the Fourth of July holiday. Of course we then need to attach all the goodies to the mast, then put it in the boat, then turn it a few times. It's nice to not continue wondering, though.

How fun! Our quick photo of Miles won Waterway Guide's "photo of the month" award in July of 2020. We found out that the same picture won "photo of the year!" Cindy actual took the photo, not me. However, it was my idea. I guess we can share the credit. God gets the glory, though. 

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...

Bahía Honda Key anchorage was the closest we have stayed to a beach. The swimming area was only sixty yards away! However, it was 67° with 28 kts of wind. That comes to a wind chill of nah, nevermind. So we set our sights on Marathon,  Florida, and enjoyed our sunset anchorage off Vaca Key. https://bahiahondapark.com/

We made it to Key West! We are getting provisions, doing repairs, and planning for our Bahamas crossing. I also challenged Cindy to a "campy" photo contest. She's winning, with a video of a floating tiki bar going two knots through the channel. Here's a few, so far, along with some random flower photos. I'm not sure why GoogleMaps thinks we sailed down US 1 for a while. "Uhm, yeah. I'll take the Mullet. To go. Customers waiting for a table. I winked back. Is that flirting? We love this tree. It's like its own eco-system. I think a parking ticket on the window would add. Sponge Bob? We picked up a few boat items... Key West Social Club? Their recruiting departments have different approaches.

Buying a large boat, and learning all the systems, can be nerve-wracking. Especially if she is an older boat, and many of the "learning experiences" involve repairs or upgrades. Our trucking experience has taught Cindy and I to be vigilant about changes in how things work, a change means something may have broken. For instance, if black smoke suddenly starts billowing from under the hood, something may be amiss. That visual clue is a message that we need to check something out. The changes also include if a new sound pops up. Neither one of us could abide a new rattle while we were on our sleeper break. That noise had to be discovered and stopped! It might be simple, like a zipper tapping on a plastic closet door, or it could be serious, like a chain slipping of the chain-hanger about to go under a drive tire. The worst-case scenario is what keeps us up, I guess. We can even sleep with a sound going on, as long as we know what it is. When we got to Florida in our 1989 Ste...