Work Day

Lightkeepers  Marina
Little River, SC
12/03/14

Today was the first of many work days in preparation for the trip South

For anyone that doesn't know, the plan is, in the company of Mark and Judy Handley on s/v Windbird, to sail to Ft Lauderdale, then around to FL west coast, and then over to the Bahamas for a few weeks before returning to LR sometime in the spring.

We are working to get both Windbird and Sea Turtle in shape for the trip. This is a greater project on Sea Turtle since M&J have lived on Windbird for years before and after their 6 year circumnavigation.

We started the day with coffee and donuts onboard Windbird while comparing ToDo lists. Two big projects on Sea Turtle are to enclose the cockpit with canvas and to install a rack off the swim platform to hold solar panels and a wind generator. We plan to install the wind generator here and the solar panels when we get to Ft Lauderdale. Today we talked to Jack who is doing the canvas and Doug who is the welder that is building the rack.

We took a break for lunch with Judy and Lynda joining us at Asian Fusion. After we made a swing by Judy's sisters to pick up chairs we had loaned them for their Thanksgiving family get together. Then by our storage unit to pick up a propane tank that will attach to a Mr. Heater to warm Windbird. Back by the Post Office and then our daily obligatory trip to West Marine. Can't get by a day without that. They would probably close the store without us.

Mark got a 12 volt lighter plug outlet to replace one that had corroded. Back at Windbird we had to remove a ceiling panel to access the back of the outlet. Finally got it installed and working.

On Sea Turtle we planned where to install the inverter that will convert DC power to AC to operate 120 volt appliances when not attached to shore power. We also decided where to mount the switch and monitor for the wind generator.

That pretty well consumed the day. It was after 5 when I got home and time for a dram of rum. Life is good.