Good Friday

Well, today didn't go as planned or expected, but then again, we haven't had an "as expected" day yet.  Hopefully tomorrow will go closer to plan.  

The plan now it to head the Hoot straight out of this channel and to another local marina, about 5 miles away.  We'll probably enjoy some sailing before we head to the City Marina where we'll be on a mooring ball for the first time...no electricity, no water, just tied up to a mooring ball.  

       

Last night we worked until 1:00 am with our friend DJ to flush the cooling system.  He took off almost every hose and flushed every line.  This picture is one of the things that came out of it.  It's a big chunk of liquid gasket that was sloppily used to patch something at some time.  Hard to believe that was inside our engine, but nothing surprises us now.  Thankfully it's gone now but we still aren't running cool enough to rely on the engine for more than an hour or so. But it has become reliable to start at least and we're planning another flush of the fresh water side of the cooking system.

 

This morning we woke to no water pressure from the fresh water pump.  I'm hoping it's nothing more than a poor connection. We'll figure that out tomorrow but fortunately we have lots of other water on board.  It wouldn't be the first pump we've had to replace on the Hoot and it won't be the last.  That's one of tomorrow's mysteries. 

       

We spent the day getting the final provisions on the boat.  More Gatorade and some steaks to celebrate with tomorrow night.....hopefully!

Ripple the dinghy is now back in the water after all her repairs.  She's solid for now but none of this equipment lasts forever. 

        

Ramble on Rose, the desert rose boat plant, is watered, tethered and ready to move as well.

            

The highlight today was getting to play with the manatee.   She surprised us both with how friendly she was and how long she hung out with us, at least an hour.  Amazing what a little fresh water will get ya.  She kissed our boat, farted, laid on her back to drink in all the fresh water from our dock hose and basically just relaxed with us. She even seemed comfortable when I petted her belly. Wow!

       

Chrissy finished scrubbing up the rest of the deck. In 2 days she's made the boat spotless.  And, she's really good at finding places to store lots of stuff inside the boat.  Downstairs is ready!

Chrissy is a happy girl and we are both excited about tomorrow.  Getting to the marina should be pretty straight forward so we're hoping for a smoothe sail and calm seas.

          

We enjoyed a nice pizza dinner, left over from last night.  Again the grill is proving to be very reliable which we are thankful for.

        

So on this Good Friday, when we remember that our Lord and Savior died on a cross for us, we have much to be thankful for. The Hoot is ready to leave this dock.