Weekend projects

Saturday, Phil and I went shopping in the morning.  I got him 3 pair of convertible nylon pants and a couple spf/wick dry T-shirts.  We also bought on clearance the Spot GPS Messenger.  This is a device that will let you know where we are using Google Maps.  It will enable us to contact 10 pre determined people Phil and I select to notify them by email or another method with a pre-created message when we have reached our next location, or if we need help but not an emergency.  It also enables us to call 911 and have search and rescue come and assist us.  I will put in the blog a window which will let you know where we are using this device.  An example is on the Missing Link Blog.
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After we got back we did cut the back of the Feruk off and sewed a zipper to it and the front of the Bimini to connect the two.   Of course, we had to do it in HOT and HUMID weather.  :)  But it is done and looks good.  We have saved the 2 back pieces to sew onto the zippers on the side of the bimini.  Sorry but no pictures yet.  It's nice to have the entire height under the bimini open.  Saturday evening we got dressed in our Key West attire and attended the GRYC Rendezvous. We had a great time visiting, eating, and dancing.  As we had a long day, we were very tired and called it a day by 930pm and bed by 1030pm.

Sunday was a day for more projects to get done.  I had an enjoyable time working on making and attaching the binding for the V-berth quilt. It's all done, except for me doing the hand sewing part, which is relaxing for me.  Our slip mates, Marty and Margie of S/V Minnie, along with Phil kept me company chatting through the morning and sharing a light lunch as they have been kind enough to let us borrow their picnic table on many of an occasion.  Then after they went to the beach in the dinghy, we spent a couple hours vacuum sealing instant milk powder, though we did want to follow them on Changes.  In the previous posting, I showed you the 2 huge cans of instant whole milk Peak Powder I ordered.  I also had bought 2-10# cans on instant non-fat milk powder.  It turns out the I really didn't buy enough of the nonfat milk powder.  Phil and I decided to seal the milk powder in individual packets to fit the 3.6 cup size Lock-N-Lock containers - which turns out to be enough powder to make a gallon of milk, which we'll make 1-2 qts at a time.  We did a lot of figuring, but in the end we were able to work out the formula to make 1% milk, which is what we prefer.  We got about 12 or more packages of 1% milk powder sealed, and then had more of the whole milk powder left, which we also sealed into about 5 packages.  Phil will be able to us that for cream in his coffee.  We still have the other  can of whole powder milk yet to be used.  It lasts unopened until 2013, so we have to decide whether to take it with us or leave in storage. I think that will be decided as a last minute entry.  The end result is that when we can, we will buy milk and save the instant milk powder packets for the Bahamas.  I had thought about buying 2 more cans of the instant non-fat powder milk, but didn't as I thought that might be overkill, I don't want Phil to strangle me, AND I don't think that we'd have a place to store it on the boat.  As it is, most of the milk powder is stored under the V-berth.  Our goal is NOT to sink Changes with everything we are putting on board.

Last but not least, our weekend ended with having dinner over at our friends Phil and Terri.  We had a wonderful time and a great dinner.  Thanks to them for their hospitality!!  They have chickens and guinea hens, which are interesting to watch and we got to see the improvements made on their new (to them) RV before they leave for their first camping trip. 

Tonight we actually cooked supper, and also worked on bedding the starboard stern rail with dolphinite, a substance that never hardens completely but is designed to keep out the water.  Next is to do the Port side, which is much harder in that Phil can't see what he's doing as he has to reach it from inside the back of the quarterberth inside the boat with me on top holding the screwdriver.  A job for another night.

It hard for me to believe that I have 2 1/2 weeks of work left.  Time is going by fast!  There are also last minute details to take care of.  I'm waiting for some special long underwear to come, which is suppose to keep me warm and wick and evaporate water, also my next text book for College.  Phil's working on getting a new driver's license, getting mail at Virginia's, ordering water jugs.  He's getting 4-2.5gal and 2-5 gal jugs so we can get 20gal of water at a time (that's half of the size of the water tanks).  He's joking that I'll be carrying the 5 gal jugs - I say that even though he's older than me, he still has all the muscles.  We're getting the kind Lin and Larry Pardey recommend.  They are a couple who have cruised for years on a sailboat without an engine and have written many books.  I still have to look at my clothing and decide what I will take and what I will leave in storage; Need to work our arrangements for storing my van. Phil's working on what to do with his car.  I'm also working on ordering the last refills on mail order medications.

We are also looking on finding a marina that is close to West Palm Beach, Florida that has a reasonable weekly rate.  If there is anyone that has any experience in marinas in the North Palm Beach to Lake Worth, FL area, I'd welcome feedback and information.  I'm still hopeful that Katie will be able to join us after seeing her father over Thanksgiving.  We feel certain that we'll be able to get down there in plenty of time so that it won't be a problem being able to meet up at a time and place convenient for all involved, unless there is a severe storm or hurricane.   So many details, that I'm sure will be worked out in their own time.

Last but not least, there is also discussion of a Bon Voyage Party, which if there is one, we would like to have on Saturday, August 28.  Nothing has been worked out yet, but I will post as soon as I have any news.

Route of trip that we are taking to Georgetown, Bahamas

We've had a request to talk about the route we are planning on taking to get to Georgetown Bahamas - so here it is.

We leave Saturday, Sept 4 to sail to Ashtabula Yacht Club
Then go to Erie, PA  and then to Buffalo.
We are going on the Erie Canal to the Hudson River - hopefully meet up with Chet Sladinski close to Catskill, NY or somewhere else (open for discussion) then taking the Hudson River to New York City and to the Atlantic Ocean to Norfolk, VA.  We will need one person to travel with us down the Hudson River to Norfolk, VA so if interested, let us know.  We hope that it will be a 4-5 day trip unless we stop a day for sightseeing in NYC.

Once in Norfolk, VA we plan to take the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) until we get to Charleston, SC where we will go outside on the Atlantic Ocean down to Florida to St Mary's River.  We are skipping Georgia because half the time your are going North to go South and it's buggy (lots of insects).  Once again, when we go outside on the Atlantic Ocean, we would like to have one person travel with us so if you are interested in joining us, let us know.   The beginning of December we will be picking up my daughter, Katie, close to West Palm Beach, FL after visiting her dad and Grandma O'Callaghan for Thanksgiving.  She'll be traveling with us to the Bahamas during her holiday break from college.  Our launch off place to cross the Gulf Stream will be Key Biscayne, FL.  We will go across the Gulf to Gun Cay (pronounced Key) Cut; across the Bahama Bank down to Nassau, Bahamas.   It depends on the weather and what Katie wants to do whether we will try to Georgetown, Bahamas or stay closer to Nassau.  I would like to get to Georgetown before I start my nursing online classes Jan 3, 2011.

We plan to stay most of the time in Georgetown, Bahamas and also want to leave early enough to visit Key West as I've never been there and there is a hospice I would like to check out.

All of this is subject to change as we go along.  For those that are wanting to visit us we just want to let you know that you can pick the place or the time but not both as it can be very dangerous when picking both.  We have to go during the weather windows, and as everyone knows from last winter, they can be few and far between or frequent.  Also the weather window can open anytime of day, so even if it's in the middle of the night - when the weather is good - that's when we go.

Now onto another topic - Provisioning and Milk.  Phil and I have decided that we will stock up on dry milk powder instead of buying milk on the trip.  We have bought Peak dry whole milk powder from Holland - tried it out in a small can first - and bought 2 of the 5.5# cans that have 104 servings each.  They arrived the other day and are the cans BIG.  Please see below photo of me holding them.

So now we have to find a place to store them!  I know - in the quarter berth!!  only kidding.  We have been saying in the quarter berth for everything we don't know where to store.  I have also purchased from Emergency Essentials 2 #10 cans of instant nonfat dry milk powder (72 servings each) and a special pitcher to mix it in.  I haven't tasted this milk yet, but from the testimonials, it's suppose to be good.  My idea is to mix some of dry whole milk powder with the instant nonfat powder to get an in between fat content, about a quart at a time.  Why are we doing this??  Because milk is heavy to carry when we're in the states.  In the Bahamas, milk is expensive and you have to worry about it going bad.  I really don't like the taste of the long life milk either.   We are also planning on vacuum sealing amounts of the powder that will fit into containers we plan to use from on a regular basis and store the rest under the "L" cushion of the starboard settee, which should be a cool place being under the water.  Time will tell if this has been a good purchase and decision or not.  We also have a Lock N Lock pitcher to use to keep it in the refrigerator and not spill.

This weekend we plan to go through the belongings and look at the clothing with a critical eye of what to have on the boat.  I also want to put the binding on the V-berth quilt and got some fabric out of storage with that in mind.  Also got my grandson Calvin's quilt pieces out of storage in the hopes that I can work on it to give it to him sometime before he is 20.  lol