Thursday, December 15, 2011

Lake Sylvia


Yes, that is our sailboat, the one that looks like a dingy, on the right.  We rafted up to our friends, who were on a 45 foot ketch, named Even Song.  This was my first experience rafting up to another boat and it is a lot of fun being able to jump from boat to boat and not have to climb into a dingy, possibly get sprayed with salt water and/or get stuck out in the middle of the harbor with your outboard not starting (these have been some of our experiences so far!)  Nelly especially loved the extra space to explore and canvas to jump around on.  

Lake Sylvia is the free anchorage in Fort Lauderdale, a quiet escape from the busy city and mega yachts.  Here you can actually meet boaters on similar size boats as yourself.  We spent 2 weeks in Fort Lauderdale outfitting our boat for the Bahamas.  Boat life is a lot of fun, but it is not always fun and games, especially in the beginning!  So, if you think we are just relaxing in the warm 80 degree weather drinking gin & tonics (what other drink would we have, with a boat named Tanqueray!) with nothing to do, see the list that I've provided below of what we have done these past two weeks while at the dock in the Riviera.

1.  Bled the engine
2.  Installed new/working refrigeration
3.  Changed out all the inside lights with LED lights (energy conservation for our 2 small house load batteries)
4.  Installed an outdoor cockpit LED light
5.  Hooked up the auto-pilot
6.  Bought a spare anchor and anchor rode
7.  Strengthened the dingy davits
8.  Re-bedded multiple fittings
9.  Installed a new battery charger and inverter
10.  Fixed carburetor on dingy outboard
11.  Provisioned the boat with a year supply of food and supplies
12.  Stowed all the new supplies
13.  Bought several spare parts in case something breaks down in the Bahamas (i.e. fuel filters, oil filters, hose clamps, wire, hose, you name it, we have it!)
14.  Installed salt water pump (this is to help with conserving fresh water when doing dishes)
15.  Change fuel filter

So, don't feel too jealous of us just yet.  After Saturday when we cross into the Bahamas you can start feeling jealous!  

4 comments:

  1. Wow, you're quite productive! I did feel a little jealous during our 2 1/2 hour staff meeting today. Have fun on the open seas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm jealous...never mind all the work. There's still G&T's after sunset and t-shirts and shorts after dark.

    SAy what the hell happened to that big smear of lipstick colored paint I left around the bottom of the boat. It seems to have disappeared. All 4" of it gone. You guys really loaded her up!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I finally figured out how that darned cat gets on my comment section. I caught her, one day, snooping around in my papers. I think she memorized my password. I had a couple written down so I wouldn't forget them. Now I'm starting to see strange bank charges on my credit card. I'm sure I never ordered or received a case of KITTY KOOKIES, and it appears they were drop shipped to Florida last week.

    I better get some new passwords before this gets out of hand.

    ReplyDelete

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