Breeze On

While George is working on his list I have been working on sewing projects. Today I finished an outboard motor cover made from Sunbrella. When we were on our passage to the Bahamas last fall our outboard (dinghy) motor was splashed several times by large waves. Then, when we went to start it up for the first time, it wouldn't start. The person who repaired it said we had evidence of salt water inside the motor. After that we repurposed our rainman water maker cover for the outboard.  I used Sailrite's project video for instructions and thought it was an easy project.  It has a separate cover for the handle. Both covers are tied with a line that runs through a casing.  I added two lines on the bottom toward the back of the cover. We tie these together under the motor to keep it more secure.   

Our new dinghy, a  Porta-Bote , was delivered this afternoon. We used a hand truck to move it to the yard where we unpacked it and put it together. It took just 18 minutes to assemble it, a pleasant surprise since it was our first time. I think it will be a big challenge to assemble on the deck of Breeze On because of the limited space.         

It is project time. George and I have both been busy working on the list we generated when we were living on the boat. Yesterday's project was fixing the lazy jack lines. One of the plastic circles that is part of the system broke when we were offshore on our way home. George rigged a temporary fix that held up just fine but planned a more permanent fix. He found some "Shocks" on the defender website that should do the trick. They are small, aluminum sheaveless blocks that can have one line tied on the top portion and the other line run through the bottom portion. We believe that will hold up much better than the plastic rings.    George asks if this picture makes his butt look big. Hahaha.   

Now that we have been home a week I thought I would do a review of some of the gear that we were glad we had with us in the Bahamas. The list is in no particular order.   Water Maker  We purchased a  rainman  water maker for the trip. We recognize that it makes very expensive water but it was worth the added convenience for us. That said, it appeared that water was available throughout the Bahamas and it was often free. In some places you could fill your tank at a fuel dock but in other places (like George Town) you have to take jerry cans to the water filling area. It really is a matter of personal preference.  Solar Panels We were happy to have our 4 Renogy semi-flexible 100 watt solar panels but they did not keep up with our energy needs.  Honda Generator We purchased a Honda 2000i Generator and had it shipped to us in the Bahamas because our solar panels were not keeping the batteries sufficiently charged. Before we did that we were running the engine to charge the batteries while

I am so sad to say that this past week a very good friend, Christan Moran, died. Christan was a friend from Connecticut and the partner of our dear friend, Grace. Although we have known Christan for just six years it seems like much longer-but of course, it wasn't long enough. Christan loved to sail on both WindChime and Breeze On. In fact, Christan sailed on WindChime with us shortly after we first met. Although she was recovering from a double mastectomy she kept offering to help. So I gave her the job of putting the main sail cover on. It didn't occur to me that all of that reaching wouldn't be good for her. She readily agreed and didn't complain. She sailed an all-day across Long Island Sound race with us and was a great sport, even though she felt seasick. Having a positive outlook on life was very important to Christan and she was so much fun. She had the most infectious laugh and we always laughed a lot when she was around. Christan loved Friday nights at our yac