IT has arrived! We saw on UPS tracking that our propeller had arrived in Miami around 6:00am and was out for delivery. It is the newest latest thing from MaxProp which makes EXPENSIVE folding propellers. Folding propellers are popular with sailors because they "feather" or turn to present the least amount of drag when you are sailing. Dan is feathering the prop in the picture on the bottom. This new one, called the Ecowind, goes one step better and feathers to vary the pitch of the blades depending on the RPMs of the shaft and the amount of thrust needed. Supposedly we'll save 30 % on fuel and be able to go faster! Sounds to good to be true, but we'll see. Dan hopes to dive down tomorrow and make the switch.
I hate to say how long we've been sleeping in the same sheets, you see we were waiting to wash them last thing before heading off, but as we're dragging on toward two weeks of waiting, we decided we'd better wash them. We thought it would be a good time to flip our mattress at the same time, but when we lifted Dan's side it was covered with mildew! We started pulling off all the hatch covers under the bunk and discovered there is a spot where a small amount of water accumulates and we can't figure out why or how to stop it. We cloroxed everything in sight and finally got everything washed and dried and back on the bed in time for Dan to crash.
While investigating the spaces under the bunk, Dan discovered a wire that he couldn't identify so that meant tearing up more floorboards and trying to wiggle each and every wire in the morass of wires behind the nav station. We were glad it wasn't our turn to cook, we barely could find the galley! We did find time to try the Holiday Inn pool for a brief swim and visit with Connie and Ed Dooley and friends of theirs who are camping at John Pennekamp Park. They all joined us for dinner, so it was 10 on the veranda tonight. That's twice that John and Betty have gotten stuck cooking for a bigger crowd! We keep watching the weather to no avail, so we'll be here a bit longer. We'd love to get across, but this is a great place to hang out while waiting. ~~~_/)~~~M&D
My underwater camera is nice and compact but the viewing screen is too small to work effectively underwater, so I'm trying to use the view finder from my old film underwater camera and figure out how to sight through the view finder and make it correspond with the LCD viewing screen. Dan was my unwilling guinea pig and I also tried a shot upwards through the water of the palm trees.
Ed offered us a ride to West Marine, and I couldn't pass up a chance to
get a shot of the boys, Dan, Ed, John and Pete in front of the "candy store".
Ten for dinner on the veranda. Pete, Kathy and Dan are digging in on the appetizers.
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