Road Trip - Miami Boat Show

All six of us were in the van and ready to go by 8:15. The ride up to Miami was about two hours and took us all the way up the Dixie Highway through much of south Miami. We arrived at the AA Arena where we were able to park in an underground garage just a short walk from the Water Taxi that would take us to the Strictly Sail (in water) part of the Boat Show. (a lot more fun than the school buses that take you from the Navy stadium to the Annapolis show!) We were surprised that the number of sailboats didn't come close to equaling the numbers we've seen in Annapolis. There was a small tent of vendors to pass through on the way to the docks, and we browsed a bit before heading to the Catalina dock to see who and what was there. Gerry Helldorfer met us there and we also were happy to see Yachta, Yachta friends Lyn and Paul Erb manning the Catalina store booth. We had decided not to try to stay together (likened to herding cats) for the day, but we did all get together to share a lunch with Gerry and swap tales.

After lunch we spent a little more time on the docks and happened to run into Erik and Marti Lostrom (my godson and his wife) who were down from Kent Island, MD to check things out and meet with some of their vendors, kind of a working vacation. We also made sure to visit the Presto 30 called Thorfinn because an old friend from my Maine days, Ben Emory, had told us he and his wife Diana are buying #7 and his son, Thor, has #2 which he raced in the Ft. Lauderdale-Key West race last month and come in 2nd. It's a very interesting design, worth googling. We missed Thor, but got to look her over. We then took the shuttle to the Miami Convention Center for the indoor portion of the show. WHAT A DEJA VUE experience that was! We walked in and stopped and looked at each other. The atmosphere was exactly like the good old days at what we always knew as THE boat show - at the Coliseum in NYC. We were a little disappointed at how much of the indoor show was taken up with smaller power boats, engines and fishing gear. We still managed to make a complete day of it and didn't get back to Marina del Mar until 8:00 pm where we headed to Sharkey's for their famous Friday Fish Fry. A little too noisy, but the fish was excellent. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

The water taxi whisked us quickly from the parking garage to the strictly sail portion of the show.

This is what greeted us when we headed over to the Miami Convention Center for the indoor portion of the show.

Busy day in Key Largo

We had an early start today because the tide was high a 7:53 am and we wanted to take a spin outside the canal to test the adjustment Dan made yesterday. Everyone (except Pete who had a 7:15 conference call) joined us for our morning run and we set off a few minutes before 8. We are so isolated from the real world here at Marina del Mar that we forget that there are strong winds once you pass the jetty at the entrance to the canal. It is also hard to imagine that Rt. 1 is only 500 yards away in the other direction. Anyway the wind was pretty strong out of the east as we headed out, but it didn't keep us from reaching 7 knots - - - this time we made it up to 26 RPMs - - - still not what Westerbeke and PYI would like to see, so Fred wrote this evening suggesting a further 4 degree adjustment. Dan isn't sure whether to do it here or wait until we get across.

We were back in the slip by 9 and got a call from Enterprise saying our mini-van was ready and we could pick it up any time. Long story short, John and I walked up and waited over an hour outside the office before finally getting the van. We came back and picked everyone up for a lunch excursion. Candi, the dockmaster, suggested Gilbert's Raw Bar and Grill about 9 miles north and on the bay side. It was a great place and lunch was good. We stopped at a farm stand on the way back and got some fruits and veggies. We also hit Publix hopefully for the last time and I got permission from Candi to freeze all my meats in her chest freezer when we got back.

Tonight was dinner and a movie. We ordered pizza and Joy and Dean (from Saskatchewan) who live aboard all winter down here brought African Queen for us to watch. What a treat. Tomorrow the Miami Boat Show. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

What a loyal bunch, everyone got up early to join us on our morning test run of the new propeller settings.

The invasion is moving into Port Largo Canal. We went through a fleet of Portugese Man of War jellyfish on our way out this morning.

Our lunch excursion to Gilbert's was a nice change. It gave us a good look at the Florida Bay side of the Keys plus a good lunch. We liked the name of the Catalina 36 we saw moored off the restaurant.

The wait continues

Well at least we are getting all our ducks in a row while waiting! We spent an hour on the veranda Tuesday morning signing over 50 different pieces of paper as we finalized the refinancing on the house. The notary was also a real estate agent and said she'd be glad to sell us a home if we were interested! One house is enough.

Dan was feeling much better, but not quite ready to go diving again. He had been in contact with Fred at PYI about re-setting the spring on the Ecowind and Fred told him to use the two screws he had included in the box with the prop. That was news to us, we hadn't seen any small baggie with parts when we unpacked the prop. When I took the box up to the front desk on Thursday to ask where to dispose of it, the manager said to leave it in the office because they liked to have one around for mailing stuff. Luck was with us, the box was still there and the baggie was in it! The prop work was done today, so we are taking a little jaunt tomorrow morning to see how the adjustment worked.

We've been here long enough that the regulars (fishing boats for hire, dive boats, etc.) are getting to know us, so when Andiamo's neighbor came back with a good catch yesterday, he offered them some yellowtail filets. John cooked them on the grill and they were delicious. We were looking forward to fresh fish in the Bahamas, didn't expect to get it here. We have signed up for a rental car for the next two days, hopefully for our LAST provisioning trip before we leave and also to go to the Miami Boat Show on Friday. I know, what could we possibly need!? We'll see. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Diving Dan does it again. The hex set with the tiny set screw was just one more bit of his great mastery

Coconuts, the restaurant on the corner has been sporting the dilapidated canvas awning since we were here two years ago, it finally is getting a facelift. We haven't eaten there because we have been enjoying our veranda dinners too much.

Sun/Mon here we still are

The weather may be better,( still too windy from the North but sunny and warmer ), but poor Dan is under the weather. We aren't sure what hit him, but he's been laying low all day. Chicken soup for dinner didn't do the trick, I hope more sleep will!

Yesterday we did a short "sea trial" with the new propeller and could definitely tell the difference. We headed out mid afternoon (on a rising tide - a necessity for getting out across the shallows at the entrance to the Port Largo Canal) and were definitely doing at least one knot more in speed even with the engine only at 2200 RPM. That actually was our top RPM, so Dan will be going down under again to adjust the pitch of the prop.

Between yesterday and today I got both Grandma's and our taxes done - hooray - and with the carryover credit from putting in geothermal heat last year, we will be getting everything back! I clicked "send" about 8:30 tonight, what a great relief. Tomorrow we are meeting with a Notary to "close" on refinancing the house - Chase offered us 1/2 % less than we currently are paying with NO costs of any kind, so we jumped, and luckily it is all coming together before we "leave the country!" Next we just need the weather to fall into place. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

My first attempt at macrame - had to keep busy while Dan is sleeping.

Cold Front hits Key Largo

Brunelle and Pekabu III's crews were the only ones to brave the north winds and chilly temps and eat on the veranda today. Everyone else ate in the lobby or aboard their boats. It was jacket weather, but still much better than snow! After breakfast Dan still had work to do on getting another wire up through the hollow table leg in the cockpit to get more juice to all the electronics. He also wanted to find a home for the old propeller down in the port lazarette. This entailed taking everything out of the lazarette and Dan climbing down into it. Not an easy feat. I ended up lying on the cockpit sole to try to work the wire up through the maze of wires already there. Soap and a very skinny leader string finally did the trick.

Dan had sold me on the idea of the new prop partly because PYI the Max Prop dealer offered to buy back the old one. After yesterday's installation, Dan called PYI and asked about sending the old one back, with the hesitation that he isn't sure just how well the new one will work. Fred from PYI told him he wouldn't head over to the Bahamas without having the old one as a spare and would wait until we return to make the trade in deal. Thus the need to find it a home.

That took all morning, so after lunch we began to work on taxes. Sam has been collecting our mail and had what we needed to get them done, so that took all afternoon. It is amazing how fast the time flies here! We keep thinking we'll go stir crazy sitting here waiting, but all of us agree that the days are flying by. Nothing looks good for most of next week, so here we still are.

Tonight was dinner and a movie. I had made a pot of chili and cornbread and we gathered on Andiamo (down below) for a hearty meal and movie. We all actually stayed awake past 9:00 pm! ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Here's Dan - - in a compromising position, and here's all the stuff that has to be removed for him to be able to wiggle down in the lazarette. His struggling to come out made me think of the yellow headed jawfish (see Super (Bowl) Sunday post for pix) that digs a burrow and pops up and down waiting for unsuspecting prey.

Any movie buffs know what we watched?

Out with old and in with the new.

Our day began with a bumping sound coming from the bow. The manatee pictured a few days ago was back. Dan went topsides and spotted his "swirl" a few slips over and we figured he was heading back out of the lagoon - - we forgot him for the moment and headed to the veranda for breakfast. Ed Dooley joined us and we discussed the proposed changing of the prop, among other things. I headed up to the bathrooms after breakfast and by the time I returned there were several people aboard Brunelle ready to help with the procedure.

Dan had it all worked out in his head how he wanted to do it, and as impossible as it seemed - pulling off the old three bladed prop(that comes apart when you take off the hub) and getting it back to the surface without losing any parts - it went like clockwork! He took a weighted bucket down with him, got all the pieces in the bucket, the three blades resting on the top of the bucket and got it to the surface where we got all of it aboard without incident! Just to add to the excitement, the manatee returned while Dan was down working on the removal, but luckily he wasn't inclined to leave his grazing along the bulkhead to check out the project! We were prop-less, but proud. This "we" is sort of a royal we, as ALL the credit goes to Dan!

The ONLY part Dan didn't remove is #2 - the shaft!

We took a break, had a lovely lunch prepared by John, waited out a rain squall and prepared for step 2 - the installation of the Ecowind. Luckily the Ecowind does not come apart, so it had only two major pieces, but HEAVY! John added a bit of muscle to help lower the new propeller down to Dan. Dan had a tether on it to help him pull it over to and onto the shaft. The "beast" was so heavy he had to put his line around the skeg to get enough leverage to pull it into place. It was almost 3 pm by the time the job was completed, but what a job! Tomorrow we'll take a little jaunt out into Hawks Channel to test it out. Betty and I took a bike ride to check out a few restaurants for tonight and finally decided on Bogie's, right here at the Holiday Inn. We had a great celebratory meal and early to bed. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Clockwise starting lower left: Kathy attaches Dan's hookah regulator to the back of his weight belt. A curious visitor doesn't stop the project. A very heavy precariously laden bucket is safely aboard. A blade from the old 3 blade prop is compared to the new 4 blade one. I hand Dan the last set screw that completes the installation. And there it is - all shiny and new and ready to roar.

Have Propeller will travel - - - wind permitting.

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.