May 1, 2014

Spent the day working on the boat.  Dave serviced the generator today.  When we bought the boat, the generator had about 50 hours on it.  Which is awesome for a used boat that was 7 years old.  Dave serviced the generator before we left Alabama, since he didn’t know what the previous owner had done for maintenance.  Now there are 140 hours on the generator.  And since we recently had problems with it, he decided to service it today.  The new service kit he ordered will be for the next time he services it, which he plans to do every 100 hours. 

Servicing the generator means he changed the oil, water and air filters, changed the oil and added coolant  In addition, he checks all the hoses and belts and looks for any leaks.  Actually he did that part when he was trouble shooting when it stopped a few days ago. 

I spent the day cleaning.  What a change from the past 25 years.  It’s amazing how dust clings to the walls of the boat.  It’s probably because of the humidity.  I was told that a high percentage of dust is dead skin cells.  And since the walls of my bedroom are right at the edge of my bed, I notice it more here than in a house. 

In the afternoon, I loaded up laundry and my computer and the garbage and went to shore for a few hours.  Boy talk about humidity!  The laundromat has two doors and gets a nice cross breeze.  But near the end when you are pulling out hot clothes and folding them, it can get pretty bad.  Once you are back at the boat, you have a nice breeze again and life is good.  In the Marina, there is an actual mooring ball mounted on the wall.  I thought it was interesting to see how they are stabilized under the water.  So I included a photo of it for other people to see what a mooring ball is like.  Our boat is tied to the free end. 

We were able to pick up some avocados this week, so thought it was time for tacos.  Sitting in the cockpit after dinner, two guys from 2 neighboring boats stopped by and talked for a while on their way to a local bar by boat, Dockside.  One of them was about 30 and had worked on Tall Ships for awhile.  He was on a replica of the Nina.  They help move the boat and help with maintenance.  Then at ports, they help give tours.  We thought that sounded like something our son, Pete, should do.  Eric met Pete when he was here and thought he would fit right in and even said he would give him a recommendation.  OR maybe it’s something Dave and I could do to help pay for Dave’s dental work :)