Sunday, 19th April 2009 I’m baaaaaaaaaack!!! Not that I have anything exciting to report but I think we have had enough of that for now, don’t you? Running a boat is never without a dull moment though….David and I were talking last night and remembering... when we first acquired Soli, how so much more sophisticated her systems were than our previous boat…it was actually quite bit intimidating. Now a few years down the road we are intimately acquainted with all of her and although we do not have the expertise to handle and fix all her “issues” we have learned to do quite a bit by ourselves… Do you remember I said “ it’s always something” ….first the auto pilot did not want to work because the knot meter was not operating and they are all linked …the knot meter is like the speedometer in your car, except it is a small wheel with paddles on the bottom of Soli’s hull and little aquatic critters love to lodge in there and prevent it from turning…we cleaned it as well as we could without actually diving on it, but to no avail…so David found a way around it so the pilot would work…it actually cleared itself as we were crossing…guess all the marine life in the cavity were dislodged or jumped ship…is it any wonder! Then a couple of mornings ago as we were ready to get underway…no instruments at all!!!! I had removed the cover of the network tack display and the whole thing came out with the cover…David replaced it but some connection was loose, so out it came again... D had a fiddle with the wires and voila fixed!!!! Then yesterday morning as I went to do the breakfast dishes , no fresh water anywhere on board , since we had already changed the water pump (ourselves!!!) in Hope Town …it was very disheartening. David was driving, as usual, and said we would look at it when we arrived at the marina….I then by chance opened the locker that hold our water heater and saw that everything in there was wet, after investigating I found the culprit, one of the hoses from the rat’s nest of hoses that live there had come loose from the T fitting and of course we had lost all pressure in the system…I reconnected the two and tightened what my husband loves to refer to as a “jubilee clip” just to confuse everyone at Home Depot and is merely an adjusting clamp. The system was then able to repressurize itself after much spitting out all the air that had gone in….and I could do my dishes… One of the most loved gadget on board is a head lamp…I use it constantly when working in cramped dark areas where I need both hands….we actually have 2 , one was given to us by Andre and Louise and the other one we brought back from Joan’s house, probably a thoughtful Xmas gift to her from a smart member of the family….thank you whoever you might be!!! We spent a couple of days in St. Augustine, as there was a refrigeration technician who had come highly recommended …he changed a couple of parts in our Sea Frost, the pressure valve and the dryer…I had been doing battle with it all winter, it was having to choose between draining our batteries with our amps guzzling fridge or loosing our food as it would have gone bad….it seems to be working well now and we have decided to install a digital thermostat for next season so I will keep my hands off the calibrating screw…it will no longer be there!!!Last evening we stayed at a different marina, Amelia Island Yacht Basin, we are trying new places all along the way just to give David a little more challenge and so far not succeeding, he has been docking like the pro he is…although I always tell him “This is not the Queen Mary!!!” Today is our grandson Jack’s birthday….Master Jack is a very grownup seven years old and although I have tried to call him several times I cannot get to talk to him …So herego Jack cyber wishes and hugs …we’ll see you soon!! Tonight we are staying at Golden Isles Marina instead of Jekkyl Island…another thing which I have had to master is working with tide tables…today for instance we had to leave early in order to get through the channel back to the ICW without going aground and we will have to kill a couple of hours before we go through the very shallow channel, north of Jekkyl Marina…we will probably fuel there and have lunch while we wait for the water to come back up to a more hull friendly level. I still remember last year, David leading the way at a very cautious speed and Heinz fuming behind us as he wanted to plow through it all, as he could have….Ah the difference between fin and wing keels!!!! There you are up to date…we are now passing Cumberland island, which is famous for its wild horses…David always promises me that we will stop and anchor there “next” time….this is our sixth time passing it ….seven times lucky!!! We saw “For Pete Sake” anchored by the island and had a chat with Robert over the radio….maybe I need to jump ship if I want to explore! Sorry if this posting was not as exciting as the last one….we’ll try and do better next time….NOT!!! Oh, I forgot to tell you, last evening as we were having a chat after dinner below in the cabin, David interrupted me with “oh a grey cat just went by on its way to the v-berth”…could not believe it…we had been boarded by a cat (better than a rat, as L’Equipe had experienced in Westend) …anyhow after investigating with our dock neighbours we were told that her name was Port and she was one of the two marina cats…you guessed it …the other one was called Starboard And they board your boat, inspect and leave…I guess we passed as she left without chewing on anything!!!! She was back on deck this morning as we were preparing to cast off and it was all we could do to invite her to step off as we did not want a stowaway cat However cute she might be …bye Port!!! By the way I have a horrible cold, the works, red nose running non stop, eyes tearing, sinus headache and cough….just hope D does not catch it… I keep washing my hands with Purell …don’t know where I picked it up..guess it’s time to return to the Abacos!!!!