Saturday, February 27, 2010

Moving Day!

Of a sort! We didn't exactly move far, as we only moved to a different slip here at Romora Bay. Our previous slip, although closer in and quite convenient, was exposed almost stern-to to the worst of the winter winds, so, with the upcoming gale warnings for the weekend and next week, we opted to move to a slip farther out in the marina where our bow is facing more northwesterly. We're already sitting more quietly than we were before, but once again, we've put out extra lines and spider-webbed ourselves in the slip so that we'll be secure if the winds do pick up significantly. 

New view from the pilothouse after changing slips

Ron went back to the hardware store again in search of hoses....and came back with what they had, a "light-duty" green hose. We figured we could use our white one for the dock water, and use the green one for washing down the boat, but as soon as Ron hooked up the hose to the boat water spigot, the hose swelled and burst!! It's not like the boat has some awesome pressure behind it...we've found that dock water pressure is usually greater than the boat. So...once again, Ron biked back to the store and replaced the defective hose, this time getting two. AND...as soon as the new replacement hose was hooked up, it burst its fitting!! Ron was fit to be tied in frustration!! He finally rearranged all the hoses, hooking up the third green one to the dock water, where it seems to be working all right, and returned our boat hoses to their original positions. Just one of those days where even the simplest of things aren't easy!  :) 

The new replacement hose, moments after hook-up.

Then, because all work and no play makes Ron absolutely crazy, we went out diving in our tender, Tingum, along with a couple from Canada, Greg and Karuna, who are aboard another boat here at Romora Bay. Ron took Greg to a dive sight called "The Arch", an enjoyable 100' dive and quite pretty (according to Ron) while Karuna -- recently certified and with only one shallow dive to her credit -- opted to stay aboard with Karyn. It was a relaxing afternoon, and the day was a pretty one. We're glad to have gotten out and enjoyed it! The men were happy with the dive, having seen a southern ray down in the depths, and Ron pointed out some flamingo tongue mollusks to Greg, who hadn't seen them before. Ron noted that visibility was less than fabulous, though, but was what he expected after the rough weather that had just moved through.

Of course, boating wouldn't be boating if something didn't go a bit awry...and with the way the day had gone with the saga of the green hoses, we should have expected nothing less!! We had a "check engine" alarm on Tingum's starboard engine go off on the way to the reef,  and while the engine appeared to be running well, with all the initial checks (oil, raw water cooling) being normal, it turned out that we'd gotten some bad fuel the other day. Apparently it's a common occurrence in the islands, as there was water in the fuel/water separator. Thankfully, there wasn't much water in the filters, but enough to make the alarm sound. Ron double-checked with the service guys in Florida, and they confirmed it right away and how to deal with it...nice to have them as a resource, since the boat is new to us!  So...after we came back in from the reef, Ron and Greg tackled the job of changing out the filters. The engine gauges that came with Tingum are too rudimentary to give us much information, so that is yet one more thing to add to the punch list for when we return to Florida, upgrading to better quality gauges for more detailed monitoring! Oh, yes, it's a boat...! 

The afternoon was spent refilling tanks, and prepping dinner as we'd invited Greg and Karuna over for a simple meal of Spaghetti Bolonese, salad and garlic bread. I attempted to make a couple loaves using internet-recipes with Bisquick (since time didn't allow for regular yeast-bread to rise, get punched down, and rise again), but...I only ended up with a couple of brick-like dough creations that were inedible!! (Not that I was surprised; I don't normally use Bisquick except for making pancakes!) So, making do yet again, I toasted a few slices of my wheat bread, and brushed on butter and garlic, before a topping of grated parmesan done under the broiler. Greg and Karuna brought over a lovely Caesar salad, and after a tour of the boat (neither had been aboard a trawler before) dinner ensued and the wine flowed! Aaah, a relaxing evening after a long day....finally, something going right!

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