Making Ourselves At Home

  If you own a boat, and you are not busy, you are not taking care of it. I don't mean you have to be doing something every minute of every day, but finding at least something to do for a couple of hours a day should be easy to do.

  The picture above is one of our gray water sump box, and installing the deck plate on the cover of it was one of my little projects I did lately to make life easier on the boat. Even though doing boat chores is necessary, I'm always looking for ways to make the chores easier.
  The gray water sump collects the water on our boat from three sinks, two showers, and the condensate lines from the two air conditioning units, and then when the float switch detects enough water in the box, the pump kicks on and pumps the gray water overboard. This eliminates extra through hull fittings on the side of the boat.
  The sump box needs to be cleaned out regularly, because the liquid soap we all use goes down the drain as suds, but eventually turns into little hard bars of soap, clogging up the pump, or making the float switch not operate properly.
  Since we have owned Swing Set, I've replaced the original switch with one that is free floating, (the original switch was one of those that operate inside of a little blue box, and the box always gets gummed up with soap residue and the switch won't float.) I've replaced the pump because the original just quit, and I've replaced the Plexiglas cover with a Lexan cover. The Plexiglas cover cracked because Plexiglas is more pliable than glass, but not as forgiving as Lexan. I also replaced the cover gasket, and exchanged the 12 nuts on the cover screws with wing nuts, making it easier to remove them to service and clean the box.
  But I was in the engine room of a 52 foot Sea Ray recently and noticed that the sump box on that boat had a screw in deck plate on the housing cover, and I liked that idea, so when we were in West Marine last time, I saw this see through deck plate and decided to install it in our sump box cover.
  Last week I removed the cover, held the float switch up to pump out as much water as I could, then used our wet vac to suck out the rest of the water and all the hardened soap scum from around the switch and the pump. Then I scribed a circle around the deck plate after placing it where I wanted the hole to be, used my jig saw to cut the hole, then drilled the holes for the screws to mount the deck plate. Once I put a bead of silicone around the hole and inserted the screws, I installed the cover screws and wing nuts and my job was done.
  The deck plate unscrews from the frame and has an o-ring to keep odors in. (The sump box stinks.) Next time (usually every six months) I have to clean out the sump box, it'll be an easier job.

  If you've been reading this blog, you do know that it's not all work for us. Neal and Cindy had some friends down visiting from Tennessee and we all met at Dante's one Saturday afternoon.
   Holly is relaxing under her own shade umbrella, just like the one we bought in George Town last summer when we were in the Exumas. One of the locals we have been seeing at Dante's on a regular basis gave this umbrella to Holly as a gift when he noticed that we were having some difficulty keeping her in the shade during our visits.
  We've been riding the 4.5 miles to Dante's on our bicycle on the weekends to enjoy the pool there. It's a pretty flat ride, but when the wind is blowing in from the East like it has been, the ride back to Stock Island at the end of a long afternoon at the pool is taxing, to say the least.

  Speaking of the bike, here's our final generation of our mounting system. The brackets are nearly invisible. I used the rods from two Magma Grill bow rail mounting units. We can turn the bike upright, hook the front wheel onto one rod, and then swing the back end of the bike up and place the frame of the bike right onto the other rod, which is positioned at the top of the "triangle" formed by the frame, shown just up and behind the crank in the photo. An Ancra tie down strap will be used when we are in transit, and pieces of cut "pool noodles" keep the bicycle frame from getting scratched on the flybridge rail.
  Last Sunday the wind had died down and we took the dinghy on an exploration trip of the bay side of the keys. The waters just north of the lower keys is full of mangroves and little islands, just waiting to be explored in a little boat. You have to use a little boat because most of the water is too shallow for anything but a small boat. We were looking for a beach just off the tip of Snipe Point, about 14 miles to our northeast.
  I was using my iPhone to navigate and we found Snipe Point with no trouble. We were at a rising tide, and the beach was under water, but as we approached the point, we saw what appeared to be some dinghies floating in the trees along the shore. When we got closer we got a whiff of a terrible stench, and then we realized that we weren't looking at dinghies, but instead were seeing the carcasses of three or more small whales, rotting away.
  We found out later that it was against some law or another that the carcasses couldn't be removed, and had to just sit there and rot. We won't be making any more trips to Snipe Point anytime soon.
  We took a circuitous route back to Stock Island, only getting lost once, maybe twice, but eventually finding the A1A bridge we had to go under to get back to our side of Stock Island.

  Like many parts of the Florida Keys, anywhere you have a free anchorage, you usually have derelict vessels. The eastern side of Stock Island is no exception. I took about a dozen photos of some of the worst looking vessels we saw in a "managed anchorage", and there were dozens more that I could have taken photos of. In my opinion, these people are just bums that just happen to have a "home" that floats. It is not an unfair assumption that most of the vessels in areas like this have no means of propulsion. How would our highways and roads look like if car owners could just abandon their vehicles wherever they happen to break down? This topic deserves more coverage than I'm willing to devote to here.

  Last Tuesday we finally got our new generator installed! Here is Mark de Jong, owner of Marine Diesel of the Florida Keys, directing the fork truck operator over at Oceanside Marina as he gently slips or long awaited new Westerbeke generator into our engine room without a hitch.
  The generator has been delivered for a while now, but since we had to wait for the wind to die down, last Tuesday was the first day that wasn't a weekend, that we could take Swing Set over to Oceanside, and it was still a little blustery out.
  Mark agreed to let me install the control panel in our salon, run the wire harness for the generator, mount the coolant overflow bottle, and install a new anti-syphon valve, saving us quite a bit of labor costs, so we aren't planning on hooking up the new generator until after Christmas. But that's OK, it is a small worry off our shoulders just getting the new Westerbeke sitting where it belongs, since we had paid for it weeks and weeks ago.
  Stock Island Marina Village continues to fill up. Last night a boat just like Swing Set came in and the owner came over to see our boat. His boat is two years newer and he and his wife just got it. They sold their home in Georgia and are going to make Stock Island Marina Village their new home. We have plans to get better acquainted soon over some cold, frosty beverages, and discuss some of the improvements we have made to Swing Set that George and Donna may want to make to their 1998 model.

  As boats come in, and reservations for slips mount up, I knew our chances to change slips were diminishing, so for a variety of reasons, we moved Swing Set to a new slip two days ago. Our cockpit faces the east now, instead of the west, and the hotter afternoon sun isn't beating into the cockpit at the time of day when we have usually had our fill of sun, so that alone makes the move a good one. We also are now in a dock sitting right between the laundry and the showers, but between the two we have a view of the ocean from our flybridge. Our bicycle is also in a bike rack just at the top of the dock ramp. I think we're going to like this slip better.
  Stock Island Marina Village is having a holiday party this Sunday and all the boaters are invited, food and beverages are free. How could we miss that?
  We may also have some friends visiting over Christmas. They are on a cruise and when their ship returns to Miami, they just might drive down and spend a day or two with us and we'll be happy to see them. (Don, Kris, and their daughter Katie visited us in Marathon last Spring.)
  In early January, Rosie's two cousins and their husband and wife will be staying at one of the "boatels" here at the marina for a week and we can't wait to see them. Rosie's cousin Rose Ann and her husband Denny have been close friends of both of ours for a long time.
  If you are so inclined for Holiday Greetings, or Merry Christmas, here it is coming at you from both of us, the closest thing to a Christmas card that we'll be sending out.
  We can't believe we are nearly at the end of our first full calendar year of living on the boat. Hope we have many more.

An Eventful Week

  Swing Set is just about in the center of this picture. The marina is slowly filling up, a big rush will take place just after the holidays, so we're happy so far with our choice of slips. We are on the end so we don't get much foot traffic, and the end "T" is extra wide so there is a lot of room between our boat and the boat on the outside of the "T". Eventually we'll have a boat right next to us as these are double wide slips, but we could get lucky and have a skinny boat in there.
  The new laundry is just off of our dock, and there is a huge bathroom on the end of the laundry building that has a shower big enough for a party. We can only dream.
  Our new bike is locked to a bike rack not too far away, (We can see it from the boat) and we have a nice cover for it. We had to buy a motorcycle cover to find one to fit, and it took an extra large cover to do it, but it fits just fine. We should be able to keep our bike looking nice.

  Holly got a new haircut on Monday, in between various other chores. Grooming Holly ourselves saves us a lot of money, plus the groomer is just one more place we don't have to travel to. No telling what kind of riff raff Holly may have to associate with at a groomers anyway.
  Late on Monday afternoon we got a message that our friend Marco and his wife Deby, along with their daughter, Danita, were on their way to Key West for a couple of days. It was too late for us to consider going out once they got settled in, so we planned an outing on the boat for the next day.

  The family showed up right on time. It was to be Danita's first boat ride and it was her birthday, one year old. Holly wasn't used to Danita, and Danita hadn't been close to a dog before, so there were protests from each of them, but it worked out for the most part.
  We took a slow ride over to Key West Bight to show Marco and Deby the downtown area from the water. We came back late in the afternoon and then rode over to The Hogfish Grill for a late lunch.
  The next day we loaded up Holly on the bike for a ride downtown to the library. We wanted to get some new movies because it will be a while before the cable T.V. is operating here at Stock Island Marina Village, and going to bed at 8 o'clock is getting ridiculous.
  Holly has a pet carrier that we bought in case we need to fly back to St. Louis, or take a car somewhere, so we put her in it, and strapped it to the bike so the carrier wouldn't go flying out if we crashed. But I made a mistake. I left one of the zippers open on one end of the carrier so Holly could stick her head out and enjoy the ride.
  We were pedaling towards A1A on Cross Street when we came over a little bridge over a canal and I saw a guy on the side of the road next to a bike laying on its side. The guy was struggling to get up, and he was in pursuit of a dog, judging by the fact that he was calling it.
  As we got nearer, and we were going at a fair clip, I could see that he hadn't had an accident, but he had just laid the bike down in order to attach the dog to a leash, so in passing I asked him if he was OK. When he answered that he was, Holly spied the dog and went nuts, barking and trying to get at the dog. In doing so, she squirmed out of the opening on the carrier, and I didn't notice it.
  The following sequence of events happened in just split seconds, but in retrospect, they seem like they were minutes apart.
  I heard what sounded like a block of wood hitting the pavement. Rosie yelled that Holly had fallen out, I saw that Holly had fallen out, and we both heard Holly yelp in the most disturbing manner. It's the sound no pet owner wants to hear, either from their own pet or another's.
  I quickly stopped the bike and Rosie was off in a flash. I turned to see Holly on her feet with a car coming in her direction, but Rosie was waving for the car to stop and it was indeed slowing down, but there was traffic coming from the other direction too.
  I put the bike on the kickstand, not believing now that I took the time to do so, but what I didn't do was panic. Think about it; would an ambulance driver arrive at an accident scene and jump out of the ambulance while it's moving and let it crash into a tree or go off of a cliff? No. The ambulance has to be in one piece in order to get the victim to the hospital.
  Rosie was scaring Holly by yelling her name and telling her to "come here". Holly was shaken up and was dashing around on the street. The cars were stopped, but you never know when someone will get inpatient and try to dodge around the stopped cars.
  One command that Holly understands, and will invariably listen to, is the command to "sit". I stayed as calm as I could, given the circumstances, and told Holly to "sit", so she sat, and I picked her up. Rosie and Holly were both shaking as we searched Holly's body for an injury and we didn't see anything. We then checked her teeth and didn't find any damage to them either. Once we got to a safe spot, we walked her around and decided that Holly survived her fall from the bike without a scratch!
  Whether she likes it or not, Holly's rides in her pet carrier will be done with all of the zippers closed completely. We cannot believe our good fortune that Holly was not injured.

  At mid-week, Rosie and I took the dinghy out to explore some more. In the photo above, we are anchored just off of Boca Chica Key. Some local boaters gather there on the weekends, but even on the weekdays, Jet Ski tours stop there to give the riders a breather, or maybe just to eat up time, as they promise a two hour ride.
  We found a nice quiet spot to anchor in the mangroves just between Stock Island and Boca Chica, and we know there are many more neat places to explore on the "bayside" of both of these keys, and around the keys just to our east, or as most people think, to our north, because A1A is considered to run north to south, but isn't so on our end.
  We've been in contact with our generator guy. The generator is in, but the marina where we need to go to get it installed is full with boats along the sea wall where we have to use a big forklift to install the 400 pound generator. We are in no hurry, but we'd like to get the installation behind us, and get our expenses for the matter put to rest, as we have other work to do on the boat that will affect our budget.
  Meanwhile, we're getting used to our surroundings little by little, organizing our dock space, and waxing, waxing, waxing the boat. The little chores never end.
  One of the chores is grocery shopping, and we made our first trip to the grocery store on the bike. We kept filling up the grocery cart, and I kept saying that we were getting too much stuff, and once we got everything bagged up at the checkout, I knew we were in trouble.
  I stuffed two big bags into the basket over the front tire. (This basket is attached to a better place on the frame, not the handlebars.) We had our one pannier full and Rosie had our knapsack on her back, stuffed to the gills. We for sure had exceeded the total weight limit for our Yuba bike, and I could barely steer it home. Next time we're going to fill our bags while they are in the grocery cart so we know where we stand right off.
  Last Friday night we took the dinghy over to Hogfish for a few beers. We barely putted into the harbor over there and was tying up when some guy comes up to the dinghy and tells me to go a little slower next time coming into the harbor.
  I laughed, because I thought he was kidding, as we were going slow enough to not have a wake. He said there was people sleeping and we were keeping them awake. It was 6:30 in the evening! I finally said, "Are you serious?"
  He said he was, but had a crazed look on his face, so I just said, "OK, thanks pal", and he left.
  I do know this: A lot of the local fishermen around here have an axe to grind with the owners of the new marina where we are docked now, and it doesn't take too much sense to figure out that anyone coming in at night in a dinghy is from the new marina, so I think this fella just wanted to take his displeasure out on us.
  We left like church mice, and we'll be in stealth mode in the future as well, but if he wants to make an issue of our presence some other time, it may get ugly.
  The Hogfish has a reputation as being a bit "shady" and being a "rough and tumble" kind of place. We've been there enough times to realize that it's true, but I have news for them. We're from Fenton, Missouri, and we've been in Joe Clarks on a Friday night. Enough said.
  On Saturday we took the bike downtown to Dante's to use the pool and just hang out. We had a nice afternoon. The place was crowded and the weather was great. We spent four hours there, and were going to stay and watch the SEC football championship game, but there was no way that that was going to happen and I was going to pedal our bike back to Stock Island. We made the sensible decision to leave before the game and got back to the boat before dark.
  Some folks we met last year in the Dry Tortugas had their boat at A & B Marina while we were there for the last two months, and they moved it over to Key West Harbor Club last month. Neal and Cindy called and said they were coming down and wanted to have dinner.
  We met them on Sunday night over at the Key West Harbor Club. It's a very nice place. The rent over there is similar to the rent here, but there is nothing nearby to go to in the dinghy if the weather is bad, or on foot for that matter. We may just be rationalizing, but we think the members may be a bit stuffy for us over there.
  But Neal and Cindy aren't stuffy. We had a little dinner and then joined them on their 58 foot Sea Ray Sedan Bridge for a nightcap. We don't get on many boats of this caliber, and this one is a beauty. At ten o'clock we went back to Swing Set and threw rocks at it.
  On Monday I did some more waxing and we took Holly to the dog park here at the marina. They have two fenced in areas, one for large dogs, and one for small dogs. We're pretty sure which area Holly would pick, but we took her to the small dog area anyway. It was funny seeing her walk in the grass because she doesn't get to go on grass much. We tried to get her to run around, but she mainly wanted to be picked up and held. Our buddy.
  While at Dante's last Saturday, I was talking to a restaurant owner and we were discussing ways to cook on the boat. We both like to prepare our steaks in a cast iron skillet, and he told me about a method he uses to make a demi-glaze sauce for his steaks.

  I grilled our steaks while Rosie baked some potatoes and steamed some corn on the cob. Once the steaks were done, I put them in a glass plate with a lid, and then threw a stick of butter in the skillet. On top of the melting butter I poured some red wine, about a cup, and let it cook down and thicken. Once it got thick enough, and before it could burn, I poured it over the steaks for a mouth watering topping. I've been cooking with beer too long!

  This morning I perfected our bike mounting system. I used the Magma Grill mounting rods that we bought last week, after I had covered them with clear hose, and clamped them to the rails on the aft end of our flybridge. You can see the finished product in the picture above.
  The rods from this angle are invisible and as sturdy as can be. The bike slips straight on them and one holds up the front wheel at the rim, and one is placed at the top of the triangle formed by the center post and rear frame, just behind the crank. We think it will work great if we ever travel on our boat again.

  We had lunch today over at the new location of the Shrimp Road Grill. The Grill trailer has been moved over to the Tiki Hut. The hut is huge and there is about eight big picnic tables to eat on, and ceiling fans provide a nice breeze.
  There's going to be a bandstand built and most of the walking areas are paved with multi-colored bricks. Oh, and the food is moderately priced and delicious!
  Rosie is posing next to the Christmas tree under the Tiki Hut. It will be the closest thing to our own Christmas tree that we'll have this year, but as I write this, Rosie is decorating the boat with little Christmas type crap that she has smuggled aboard. This is something she likes to do and I don't discourage her. I may even look around the salon when I get done with this blog and tell her how nice it all looks. Yes, I lie when I have to.

Stock Island Marina Village

  During our last week or so in Key West Bight, at A & B Marina, the change of seasons was evident as the temperatures dropped into the brisk 60's at night, and generally were in the upper 70's during the day. Absolutely horrible.
  We had some wind too. Gusts were in the mid 30 m.p.h. range and not many boats were venturing out. Even the tour boats were staying in port for the most part, but there were a few unscrupulous operators happy to take their customers money and plop them into the ocean for a few minutes for "snorkeling". Load them up with rum and shoot the canon off a few times, and the tourists come back happy.
  Last week we went to the Tropic Cinema to see Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks, a story about the hijacking of the container ship Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia. The movie was riveting, and should get Mr. Hanks another Oscar.
  Although we didn't feel threatened at all during our Bahamas trip, I may revise our weapons arsenal and get something with a longer range. But, then again, maybe not. I can just imagine blasting away some poor fisherman approaching the boat to sell us some lobster or something.
  Going to the show is a nice diversion, something we didn't do when we lived in our condo with a nifty home entertainment system. But now that we're more or less settled in one area, we like it, especially when the theater is as nice as The Tropic.
  Thanksgiving Day started out rather blustery as Key West standards go. We began our day with a lumberjack breakfast and were lounging around reading our books when Chris from Eaton Bikes called and said our new Yuba bike was ready to be picked up!

  We walked the bike over to the parking lot of a school near Eaton Bikes to practice riding our bike. Because Rosie basically just perches herself on the seat behind me, I wasn't sure how the bike, or me, was going to handle the weight. I needn't have worried. We both took to the bike like ducks to water, and we cruised by Eaton Bikes where most of the staff was waiting for us to go by on our inauguration ride. I shouted "We're on a NEW bike!", as we rode past. They seemed to get a kick out of that. Probably thinking, "There goes a nut job".
  We gave the bike a good trial, riding to the eastern end of Duval Street where I took the picture of Rosie above, with more clothes on since last December, in Marathon.
  Notice her helmet. We both have them. Yes, I know it looks dorky, but we believe in bicycle and motorcycle safety, always have. We'd rather look dorky than suffer from brain damage from an accident. We're struggling with what we have as it is.
  We got back to the boat and Rosie started cooking our Thanksgiving dinner. Some boat neighbors invited us to a potluck dinner of sorts on the dock, but we had already bought all of our groceries and were looking forward to a nice quiet dinner alone.
  We had a cheap bottle of wine, roasted turkey breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, asparagus, and cranberry sauce. Rosie did another great job of roasting our turkey in the convection oven. It only took 45 minutes to roast, and it tasted delicious! We didn't have desert, and didn't want any. It was an early night for us.
  On the day after Thanksgiving, we loaded up Holly in her new pet carrier and placed her in the huge basket mounted to the frame on the front of our bike and went on a long ride over to Stock Island Marina Village.
  They had us on their schedule as coming in on the middle of the month for some reason, so we're glad we popped in. We also picked a new slip, a bit further back into the harbor by one dock. I wanted  the finger of the dock on our port side as we back in, and I wanted to be on the end slip, but not on the outside, so we picked what turned out to be D20. Look for us.
  By the time we got back to A & B Marina, I only had a severe cramp in my right calf muscle, and my ass felt like someone had been using it for a punching bag. Rosie said she felt fine. Sure, she only has to sit on the back and squawk like a parrot occasionally, I do all the pedaling. It's safer this way, though. Trust me. Rosie has the bridgework to prove it.
  But our ride was a success. Holly rode with her head poked out of the opening in her carrier and she got lots of comments as we made our way down Duval Street. At various stops, we also got inquiries about our bike, as unusual as it looks, and obviously designed for a passenger that is not required to pedal. The women seemed to like this part best. One guy took a picture, just of the Yuba name, so he could order one. I think we're going to like our new bike.
 

  We had good weather, albeit with a slight breeze, for our four mile cruise over to Stock Island on Sunday. In the picture above, we are entering Safe Harbor.
  The yacht just off our bow is "Platinum", said to be previously owned by Mick Jagger. The yacht has seen better days, but someone is working on her. I think it's now owned by Oprah Winfrey. May as well start that rumor.

  Due to the northerly breeze, we got Swing Set snuggled in with just a bit of difficulty, but with the assistance of  a new dock neighbor, we did so without major incident.
  Swing Set fits just right in her slip. We have enough room behind her to drop the dinghy, hopefully with enough room to squeeze between us and a neighbor when we get one. Otherwise, we'll put the boat in bow first. Using the dinghy is a priority.
  You can see how I've mounted our bike on the aft railing on the flybridge. When we bought the bike, I ordered some aluminum brackets for holding ring buoys on a bow rail, with intentions of holding our aluminum bike, as it weighs less than 40 pounds.
  I don't like how the ring buoy holders work, and I'm already on my third generation of a bike mounting plan. I've ordered two new holders that are used for mounting Magma Grills. They attach easier to the rails and are more solid. The rods are 1/2" stainless steel and are beefier than the aluminum ring buoy holders and won't bend. I'll cover them with vinyl tubing so they won't mar the paint on our bike. I'll post pictures of that setup when I get it done.
  We got settled in and visited the office to check in. There is a sailboat on our dock and the owner has a large Labrador Retriever that was roaming free, and I asked about the policy on leashes at the marina. Might as well get any unpleasantness out of the way with the neighbors right off the bat.
  The policy is that dogs must be on a leash, plus there are two dog parks here for letting pets run, and Monroe County has a leash ordinance. The girl in the office said she would speak to the owner of the dog about keeping it on a leash, but as we passed him on our way back to Swing Set, the opportunity arose to discuss his dog.
  Claude, (pronounced "Clode", like in "rode") is a very nice French Canadian fellow and he totally understood about the leash law. In fact, as far as he was concerned, the law in the total United States says that all pets be on a leash at all times, and he only had his dog "Rosie" (go figure) roaming on the dock because no one else was around. I told him that it did not matter to us as long as Rosie (his Rosie) stayed down by his boat. I just wanted to make sure he knew what the rules were. I also let him know that I knew that people didn't come to Key West to adhere to a bunch of rules, and that we could work it out. We are just concerned that Holly, not being the most social animal, wouldn't be on the receiving end of a dog bite because another dog was running free. Pets not on leashes has been our biggest bugaboo in Key West since we've been here. I've had "discussions" with dog owners two other times. They did not go well.
  Back to the boat, we had a little lunch, and then dropped the dinghy in the water for a dinghy riiiiiiiide!
  We had a slight chop just off the southern side of Boca Chica Key for a five mile ride to Geiger Key. We wanted to visit Geiger Key Marina, a little hole in the wall that is home to a pleasant tiki bar restaurant, fish camp, and RV park.
  We spent a couple hours there, meeting some locals and getting some tips about the veterinarians in the nearby area. It was a very nice experience and we can't wait to go back.
  It was nearly four o'clock when we got back to Swing Set. One of the staff was making rounds on the docks. We met Mike and learned some things about the marina that we weren't aware of, one being that the cable wasn't working yet. That was a bit of a disappointment, but not the end of the world.
  We had a great dinner of leftover Thanksgiving vittles and turned in early with our beloved books, and spent one of the most quiet nights we've had in a while.
  There is a Navy airport nearby and we've heard some loud jets a couple of times, but overall it's quiet here at Stock Island Marina Village. One thing we won't miss here is the loud music played all day long in and around Key West Bight, especially the guy over at Schooner's Wharf. Having some music in the background during the day is not too bad, but this guy over at Schooner's plays every afternoon and he is terrible. Imagine a fella that is still playing music two years after he has been pronounced dead, and you'll have an idea how this guys music sounds.
  I've stalled around long enough. Rosie is out washing the boat, and I have chores to do too.   We're also waiting to hear from Mark at Key West Diesel. Our generator should be coming in today and we'll try to get it installed this week some time. Once that is done, I have to address the issue of our port engine that is still overheating.
  We have time, though. We don't need to get in a hurry because this is a pretty good place to hang our hats for a while.