On Tuesday morning, Eric went back to the hydraulic store in Portsmouth to exchange the fittings. He found fittings with angles that would work better in the space we had. Upon return, he finished installing the transfer pump. Much to his aggravation, one of the fittings was leaking. It was too hot to keep working in the engine room, so he gave up for the day.
On Wednesday morning, Eric took apart, tightened and resealed both fittings on the fuel transfer pump. Since the transfer pump had fuel in it, it was messy. He captured the majority of the fuel in a bucket and used the oil pads (AKA diapers) to suck up the rest. In great news, it wasn’t leaking anymore! He started the transfer pump and it worked! Woo hoo!
On the passage, Eric had noticed an issue with the newly fixed radio: it was working fine, but it was complaining about low voltage. He spent Wednesday morning on the phone with the company who’d done the repair to troubleshoot the problem. Eric eventually figured out that there was a knob to adjust voltage on the power supply unit (which was behind the panel), and that knob was in a spot where it could have been easily bumped when the converter box was installed. In the course of the troubleshooting, the “expert” gave Eric some incorrect information, which really bothered Eric.
In between phone calls, Eric changed the generator oil and filter, drained the engine oil, and replaced the O ring in the oil drain hose for the main engine. We also went to the boat yard next door to say goodbye to the family that had been hauled out yesterday. They were a really nice family and we hope to see them again when they return.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025 – We felt draggy and off-kilter all day. Even though we had a lot of chores to do, we wound up accomplishing very little.
One of the perks of the marina was that it had a courtesy car that tenants could use between 0900 and 1600. We couldn’t go farther than the grocery store, and we were only supposed to be out for an hour, though they’d allow for more time as long as no one else wanted to use the car. They said they’d call if they needed us to return it right away.
We took the car and had lunch at a restaurant called The Galley. At the Galley, we realized we had no cell coverage, which made us anxious about the marina not being able to contact us should they need the car back right away.
The decor was nautical themed and cheerful. As the name implied, it was primarily a seafood restaurant, serving traditional Chesapeake dishes. However, the menu was big and they had lots of non-seafood choices, as well. Eric ordered a crab and lobster bisque, which was great. Keith ordered a barbecued chicken sandwich, which was served with hush puppies. Hush puppies are deep fried balls of cornmeal. Keith had never tried them before and did not care for them.
First thing in the morning, we said our goodbyes to Christy and headed back to Kosmos in North Palm Beach. This time, we took the Highway 70 back, which, for most of the drive was a two lane highway. The road took us through several small towns and a lot of farmland. It was a nice drive, with a lot more character and local feel that we’d gotten from I-75.
When we arrived, there were already workers onboard. On the exterior, there were people detailing the boat, one finishing up the waxing and one polishing the stainless steel.
Inside, someone was working on the VHF radios. We’d upgraded the radios in 2024, but there was a buzzing when the battery chargers were going, which interfered with our ability to hear/be heard. DC to DC voltage converters were installed.
Sunday, June 15 — Our trip to San Diego was wonderful because we got to see many loved ones. It was a reminder of how blessed we were in terms of deeply rooted relationships. The crazy part was that, even though we saw loved ones every day, we still didn’t get to see everyone that we’d wanted to.
And we have loved ones in Florida, too. In addition to Johnny and Joanne, we have two sets of very long time, dear friends on the west coast. Today, we drove over to the west coast for an overnight trip to see them.
While Christi unpacked and re-packed, Eric finished preparing for the workers to come on Monday morning. He removed the electronics panel and steering wheel, and moved stuff out of spaces where they’d be working.
We departed at 0915, taking the I-75, a toll-highway, across the state. it was dubbed Alligator Alley because alligators were known to wander out on the road, though we didn’t see any. In contrast to Southern California, Florida was flat, very green and had tons of ponds and waterways. With so much water around, it was no surprise that alligators flourished here.
We exited the highway in Bonita Springs and navigated to Scott’s house. Scott was a friend from college who we’ve stayed close with all these decades. We’ve been through so many of life’s ups and downs with Scott, and there are few people who know us better than he does. It was great to see him again! While we’d spoken on the phone with his girlfriend, Sheila, before we’d never met her in person, and it was lovely to get to know her.
