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| The new Lagoon II kayak |
We left the BVIs and went to St. John, St Francis Bay to
relax, snorkel, kayak, and swim. Oceanwings traveled with us and we had fun,
but realized out kayak was a bit tippy and slower than Oceanwing’s kayak, so we
tried theirs. Leslie really liked it so now our Sea Eagle is for sale and we
have a Lagoon 2 kayak, it’s not a catamaran.
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| Our old Sea Eagle |
When Carl checked our starboard engine for the weekly
maintenance there was water in the engine room. It was coming from the raw water
pump and after many checks he localized the problem to the pump’s shaft seal.
The pump is only 2 years old! So we headed to Brewers Bay, where it is usually
calm, to do repairs. We bought a new pump and replaced it, and then bought a
new shaft seal and after some serious work to take it apart, no one mentioned
the nut to remove the shaft was left hand threaded, he replaced the seal and
put it in ready reserve.
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| All put together |
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| The new rail installed |
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| We are ready to cook! |
While there Carl put up the barbeque rail he and Eric had
designed and fabricated in St. Louis. The post angle turned out perfect and it
works great!
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| The hard top arrives |
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| All the hard top hardware |
We received word our new hard top was in to replace the
bimini, so we went to Crown Bay marina for 3 days to get and install it. They
delivered it from the warehouse and we opened up the box of parts to discover
there were no installation instructions. We called the installer and he said
yes there are no instructions as he would walk us through it. It took a dozen
calls and 3 days, although we didn’t start until 2 PM the first day and had to
deal with rain showers the other two days, and the help of Tom, off Lone Star,
and Gordon, off Oceanwings, to get it installed.
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Tom and Carl debate the support
placement |
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| Gordon and Carl add the aft supports |
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| Hard top and solar panel installed |
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Suzanne, Gordon and Leslie all
decked out for the party! |
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| The girls had a ball! |
While we were there was a Mari Grai party at the Marina
Bar, Tickles, so we went and had a great time.
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| The Mountain men band |
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A pirate ship arrives at Crown Bay
they unloaded it and we never
saw it again |
We left the marina $500 poorer and anchored to wire up
the solar panel to the controller and batteries. Suzann, off Oceanwings,
birthday came so we went to our favorite restaurant, Island View, for a dinner
celebration.
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| We celebrate at IslandView |
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| The way it was! We wanted to reclaim it |
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| Leslie made all the baskets |
We wanted to reclaim the starboard forward cabin, which
has become the tool room, so Leslie was inspired by Suzanne’s solution on
Oceanwings. Suzanne showed Leslie how to make screen baskets, so she made a
bunch of baskets and Carl put up shelves in the hanging closet. We labeled each
basket and it provided storage for all the tools.
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| Carl installed the shelves |
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| The new tool storage |
Then Beagle Knot showed us their storage shelves, so Carl
made shelves in the cabin and more stuff was removed from the cabin bed. It is
almost sleepable now.
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| The new shelf It worked well so we put one on the other side too |
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| Kids activity area |
We saw a poster for a Jazz in the park party so we went.
It was fun! There was a kids activity area, food venders, craft booths, and of
course jazz bands. We endured a short shower and had to leave early to catch a
Safari back to the boat before they stopped running at 8 PM.
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| Leslie meets a local at the Jazz |
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| The music went late |
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| The new selector switch |
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| One of the failed batteries |
The projects continued with installing a selector switch
so the solar panels can charge either the house batteries, or the start
batteries. The new solar panel adds 250 watts of power to our other solar
panels of 180 watts. The old panels charged our batteries, on a sunny day,
fully by 2 or 3 PM, but we could only go for 3 cloudy days before we had to use
the engine to charge our batteries. Now with so much solar power we decided to
increase our house bank from 270 Amp Hours to 380 Amp Hours by adding two
batteries. Carl installed the two batteries, but when he went to move the
negative lead off an old batter, the negative post came off the battery! We
went and bought a new battery and he installed it. When he checked all the
connections another old battery negative post came off! He went and bought
another new battery and installed it being careful not to touch any of the old
batteries!
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| The new battery bank |
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| We go to the show |
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| The cast |
We saw a poster for a show at the performing arts center
called Hover Space. Dancing using a hovering platform so we and Lone Star and
Oceanwings went to see it. It was interpretive dancing and Carl didn’t get the
theme, but enjoyed the dancing.
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| the solution the extended hatch |
Carl complained about the new sliding hatch not covering
the instruments, so Leslie and Suzanne studied the problem and came up with a
fabric cover to fit on the hatch and fill the area. It came out really well!
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| The Bride, Nancy |
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| The groom, Ron, on left |
Friends of ours invited us to their wedding at Honeymoon
beach on Water Island. We of course accepted! It was a lovely wedding and a lot
of fun. They had only met a little over a year ago and had bought a boat and
lived on it off Water Island for almost a year. They decided to get married,
sell the boat, and do some other traveling. We will miss them! They became good
friends very quickly, and now they will be going as the boat has been sold.!
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| The cake |
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| The pot luck dinner |
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| The happy couple |
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| The runway |
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| The minister |
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| The ceremony |
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| The married couple! |
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| The toast |
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| They eat the cake |
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| The band and dance |
This edition is going out and new adventures starting. Hope spring and warm weather are heading your way as we deal with 80 degrees and a swim off the boat everyday.
