Boat Maintenance and Grocery shopping

Boat Maintenance and Grocery shopping   …   Monday 19th Nov 2012

Well there's a title that I'm sure has you on the edge of your seats! The romantic vision of sailing south for the winter doesn't always match reality - not that I'm complaining. There were a few things we wanted to get done on the boat this morning. At the minute our water-maker (de-salinator) isn't up and running. The system needs to be run at least every other day or it becomes contaminated with dead marine micro-organisms, so if it's not being used it is left "pickled" in anti-freeze. We would like to have it commissioned for when we go to the Bahamas and so are trying to figure out how it works. . We have also developed a slight mechanical problem. Our propellor shaft exits the boat through a couple of bearings and a water cooled seal designed to stop water getting in to the boat. This has started to leak. There is a spare seal attached to the shaft (thank goodness) so we should be able to do the repair whist still in the water, but we spent some time this morning trying to work out how you take out the old seal and insert the new. Morris Yachts were very helpful in forwarding manufacturers instructions. Anyway, having spent the morning on the boat we were keen to get some fresh air and took our bikes to shore and cycled around the southern part of St Simons Island. We had an excellent lunch in Barbara Jeans restaurant where they serve good homestyle cooking - potato and cheese soup and salad for Gloria, chicken fried chicken for me. It was excellent and hardly any calories! On our way back across the island we stopped at the Winn Dixie and stocked up on groceries. Our backpacks weighed a ton as we cycled the last few miles. The Frederica river where we are anchored has very strong currents (up to 3 knots) and this morning the effect of wind and tide in opposite directions was creating quite a chop. However, this evening the wind has died and the tide turned and it's pretty calm. Tomorrow we plan to head over to Brunswick Marina a few miles away so that we can do the repairs to the prop-shaft seal. The theory is that if it all goes horribly wrong and we end up having to take more drastic steps (like hauling the boat out of the water to remove the shaft) then at least we'll be in a good spot. We'll fill you in on how it went tomorrow night.

Mike

31 10 10.6 N, 81 24 41.3 W

Male Grackle - St Simons Island Pier

Mike working on the computer at the Nav Station

Evening view from the stern - anchored in the Frederica River