A Mobile Odyssey

The month is half over and we are still waiting for the part to show up all the way from England, and naturally the delay is blamed on COVID!

 During the down time we have kept busy with little jobs around the boat and perfecting our solar use!
Our boat is now completely independent of the Yard Electric and can even run the power tools. Also, we have slowly replacing ours with cordless ones. The first set was a Ryobi drill and circular saw set with 2 batteries and charger for only $100, and they work very well!
 
One project has been replacing the Main Sheet Storage Box and step with one from all composites. The old one was wood and developed “creeping Rot” and collapsed when stepped on!
 
We would dearly love to replace the engine with a newer one as parts are becoming rare, however at an estimated cost of $12,000+ minimum will keep our 1981 Perkins and struggle through. The engine is mostly used to leave and return to the dock and those occasions when we must navigate the ICW with contrary winds.
 
We have been spending our weekends at the boatyard and arriving Fridays and leaving Monday Mornings. Currently there is no more spaces for boats as the yard is completely full!  
 
The newsletter is late this month as not only have we been very busy but February is a short month and with all the issues we just did not notice the dates. 
 
One big Motor Home Project was replacing the awning for the slide out. After only 17 years the old one started to disintegrate “Shameful!”
The project took 2 days to take advantage of access to the top of the slide and rubber seals.
 
Another emergency repair was replacing the stop/turn signal bulbs. In the old days 3 screws were removed and bulb replaced.
Today it is an all day project! Remove entire unit wait for parts store to order new lamps from warehouse, replace units! 
 
The engine parts finally arrived and were picked up the last day of February. This delay cost us an extra $650 in storage fees as it was a 2 month delay getting the engine repaired. What caused the problem in the first place was the change in the diesel fuel.
The “Low Sulfur” stuff dried out and destroyed all the internal seals. The Injector Pump literally digested itself.

The greenies out there seem to forget not everyone can afford to buy new things.
My friend who is a sailor and an over the road trucker told me how trucks started breaking down when the diesel fuel was changed!
 
The shop sold us a special additive to prevent the same thing from happening in the future. Just another thing that adds cost to our daily lives while returning very little benefit to anything! Just in case you are wondering why the grocery prices increased!
 
Hopefully, the rest will go smoothly and we splash and take the boat to a mooring that will be provided by our friend Steve.
Then we will spend some time preparing and shakedown before the start of the hurricane season!
 
Everything is being sorted in preparation for mooring the boat. All storage hatches have been emptied and much consolidation has taken place.
Many power tool replaced with cordless ones. These take up much less space and battery packs are interchangeable.
 
It is going to be interesting as we have not been moored before. Traveling back and forth by dinghy will be as much fun as sailing the “big Boat” because the dinghy is a 10 foot “Sailing Dinghy” as well as the ability to row or use a small outboard.
Also, we now have a small kayak for each of us.
Wal-Mart just happened to have the size we have been looking for ---super cheap!
 
We are also using an additional 100 Watt Solar Panel to provide extra power while parked at the boatyard and for cloudy days!