April 10, 2019 Virgin ride in new Zodiac dinghy

It rained during the night, but I don’t think we had the storm that was predicted.  After having breakfast at the cottage, we made 2 trips to the boat to load all of our luggage, food and booze.

While we were getting things settled on board, Dave worked on transferring things from our old dinghy to our new one, like the fuel filter and can.  He also took off everything that was stored in the locker at the bow, like bilge pump, lifejackets, lights, etc., and removed the chaps.  Not sure the chaps will fit the new dinghy. 

new through hull with fittings to the shower pump and sink drain

We checked with R&B boatyard about selling the dinghy.  They said they would take it on consignment.  It is leaking air, so we left it up to Robert to decided what to sell it for or give it away.  I think Dave had a hard time parting with it.  After delivering the dinghy to R&B, we had lunch at the Anchor Snack Bar.  Then we took the new dinghy for a virgin ride out to Meeks Patch, an island about 2 miles away.  Someone put pigs on the island as a business.  People pay $200 for a boat ride out there to see them.  Go figure.  Well we saw them from out dinghy and that was enough. 

taking the old dinghy to R&B boatyard

The new dinghy moved very nice through the water with 4 people.  There isn’t a storage locker at the bow.  We’ll rig up something.  The floor angles to a v bottom.  Our other dinghy had a false bottom that was flat.  That will take some getting used to.  Your feet want to slide to the center when you get in.  And anything on the floor can get wet instead of the water going under the false floor.  The pontoons seem higher to step in or out of the dinghy.  But all these are things we can get used to. 

Back at the boat we had beer and appetizers for dinner.  We had decided to spend another night on the mooring ball, because the storm was still supposed to pass through our area.  There was an awesome sunset with the sky on fire.  We wish we had been at anchor outside of the harbor.  All of these photos were within 7 minutes of each other.  Just amazing.