We're still anchored in Little Sabine Bay and without an outboard for our dinghy. We thought we'd be getting it back today but those hopes were dashed this morning, the mechanic is "still having some trouble with it." It's not really a problem other than when the wind is up the short ride to shore and back in a dinghy with only one oar can be a struggle.
So what have we been doing with our time? Good question. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we dinghied (is that spelled right?) to shore and walked across the street to Pensacola beach for a swim, walk on the beach and to people watch. After our swim on Friday and Saturday we stopped at Sandshaker for a Bushwacker. Only one on Friday but on Saturday we met a fun couple, Brad and Selina, at Sandshaker and had a few more before we then went to another place (Crabs) that had even better Bushwackers. We had a blast with Brad and Selina and laughed a lot through the evening.
But it isn't all about playing on the beach or bouncing from one bar to another. We are actually doing some "work" most days too. Before we left Kemah we bought a roll of solar screen material (like you would make window screens from). At one of our previous stops we made a screen that goes all the way across the stern of the boat to block some of the afternoon sun when you're heading east. We put grommets in the bimini and screen and looped some cord through them to hold the screen up. This week, with the arrival of more grommets, we built one of the side curtains to go with it. It really knocks down the heat of the sun in hottest part of the day. Even more grommets are on order so we can do the other side. 100 pieces means 50 grommets it seems.
Remember the sea grass we're having to clean out of the raw water strainer for the generator? We've now worked out that if we clean the strainer right before we go to bed, as soon as we get up in the morning, and one other time during the middle of the day we can avoid the generator shutting itself off. I can do it in my sleep in under 5 minutes now. Here's a picture of how much grass I got out of the strainer and line from the seacock the last time it was completely clogged. Notice the strainer is full and all that on the floor was the rest I pulled out.
The last couple of days Susan and I have been working on installing the water maker. The water maker is made by Echo Tec in Trinidad. I now have a tax id number with the US government for importing goods from another country. This was the customs issue that got us a late start at the Naval Aviation Museum.
Here is a look at most of the equipment involved in putting this water maker together, laid out on the aft berth. The biggest piece, the high pressure pump is missing from this picture.
Under the sole plate in the aft cabin we installed the sea strainer (that I hope I never have to clean sea grass out of) and a boost pump to help get the sea water through the filters and to the high pressure pump.
The pre-filters (one 20 micron and one 5 micron) aren't in place yet, they'll be going in a storage space beside the bed. The high pressure pump and the vessel that holds the reverse osmosis membrane went under the bed. Before we left Kemah we modified the storage space under the bed to make the opening bigger so we could get the membrane in and out easier. Glad we did that while sitting at the dock.
I thought we were done for the day but now Susan is looking for the drill so I guess not. Better wrap this up.
One other event of note was we went onshore for dinner the other night. We have pretty much been fixing meals on the boat three times a day. It's all part of the plan. Do this cheaply and we can do it longer. But we splurged the other night and went to Peg Leg Pete's for dinner. Selina recommended it and it was outstanding. The fried grouper was amazing.
That's all, I give up.
Take care.
Brian
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