Beautiful Gifts

My friend Pam from our days in the Air Force found these brass plaques and inclinometer while running her estate sale business.  I got them all shiny and installed. The pictures really don't do them justice.  They add such a touch of class to the boat. Thank you so much Pam.  Now you and John just need to come see them in person.

Air Conditioning

Another 424 owner asked for pictures of our AC installation.  We didn't have it installed but we have enjoyed using it.  Here are the requested pictures.

Rear of unit located in V-berth

Front of previous picture. Main unit in cabin.

Rear unit over bunk in aft berth.

Controls on main unit.

Compressor installed under aft bunk

Boat Improvements

Since January we've done quite a bit to the boat, not all very visible.  One item that has made a huge difference is the Shaft-lok.  This is an ingenious design that holds the shaft from turning while under sail.  It easily kicks off when the engine is started.  This tremendously reduces the noise in the aft cabin which is great when the off-watch person is trying to sleep.  It took a bit of engineering but the man who makes them was readily available via email and phone to keep us on track.

Another thing on the wish list was a double sink.  This will help to save water since not such much is required to wash and then rinse the dishes.  It was much harder than expected to find one that fit the space plus was deep enough to be able to hold pots and would hold up to sea air.  Another 424 owner clued us into searching in the bar sink area and we finally located one that works for us.  It was another engineering feat but David proved up to the task.  This will make cruising so much better.

Very close tolerances for the pipe and the trash can

Not an easy place to do final install

All PVC and hoses had to fit perfectly

Dry fitting before final install

Getting the T together

 



Finished

 

 

 



Another important item on our list of improvements was sail visibility.  The bimini was solid canvas so we could never see sail trim without poking our heads out of the cockpit.  During the winter when we had the enclosure all zipped in this was a challenge.  The answer was to cut windows in the bimini and install isinglass.  In order not to be baked by the sun, covers were made and stay in place with Velcro.  This was a real challenge for me as I'd never sewn through isinglass and didn't take into account how it would change the overall shape of the bimini.  David had to adjust the bars to make all the enclosure pieces fit together.  While we had it all apart, I also replaced a few zippers and added some extra flashing around the pieces that meet around the mizzen mast.  It is not completely waterproof but greatly improved.  Overall my work is ugly but when we eventually have the work redone by a professional they'll at least know what we're shooting for.

First we marked exactly where we wanted to have the windows.  We chose large spots on either
side of the mizzen

Laying it all out on the dining room table.

Window and cover.

 

We also have replaced the TV antenna, have a Roku streaming stick and now we start to prioritize the next projects.



What's Next

We made it back to Fort Walton early enough to take a van load of stuff off the boat then retire to the lounge.  Several friends had come out to greet us and share a libation or two.  The past week has been a long process of laundry, cleaning the boat, putting away all the stuff off the boat, loading up the recycle bin with junk mail and dealing with the non-junk mail.  Payback is indeed hell but we are still glad we went and dreaming of our next trip.  David is the Vice-Commodore this year and committed to serving our club as best he can so no long trip for a while.  But once, he's served......

Homeward Bound

Since our alternate reality awaits us back in Fort Walton Beach, we had to say farewell to Crooked Island and start our last few legs of the trip.  Since we didn't want to bump along the bottom getting back into the gulf, we waited until high tide to leave.  This was in the afternoon so we only planned to go as far as the St. Andrew's Bay and drop anchor at the first protected spot inside the inlet to the bay.  We had a great sail all the way down.  Too bad it was only about 15 miles.  With the weather due to change, not for the better, we tucked as close to shore as possible at Davis Point. It was already past sunset so we were eager to get settled in the dwindling light. There was one other boat, another ketch, nearby.  We had the rest of the black eyed peas and turned in early since we were planning to be on our way by 6 in the morning.  The goal is to cover the 60 miles to our home slip before the weather turned stormy and cold.  The morning saw us socked in with fog.  With only 1/4 mile visibility, we ran under radar guidance for the first several hours.  Fortunately things cleared by noon and the tension eased.  The final 30 miles were in our home waters of Choctawhatchee Bay and we had a glorious sail all the way home.  Just in time for some really crummy weather!

This was a new one for us. We've seen a lot of boats

a few house boats but never anything like this.  We couldn't

see anyone helping this guy move down the ICW. 

It was a super cute house all decked out for the holidays.

I would love to know the rest of the story on this whole

set-up. 

Back to our own home bay.

 

On to Crooked Island

Another favorite spot (I suppose we have a lot of them since this is prime cruising grounds) in the Florida panhandle is Crooked Island.  It is extremely remote and one end of it is a bird sanctuary for several endangered species.  Since it is only accessed by boat, it is not overcrowded even during high tourist season.  The one major drawback is the narrow opening to get back into the protected waters.  You don't even see the break until you are only a few hundred yards off the shore.  You definitely never go in without prior knowledge, good sun and a good depth sounder.  Google Earth was also a help in seeing exactly where the shoal water versus deep water was located.  I wish I could overlay the Google Earth shot onto the chart plotter.  Hope that one is in the works for the electronics designers.  It took us a few attempts to get in but once in and anchored, we had the entire bay to ourselves.  For 3 days we had no other boats anchor near us and only a few fishing boats trying their luck.  We went to shore each day to walk, collect shells and just enjoy being alive and cruising.  New Year's was celebrated with champagne on the eve and black eyed peas on the day.  If the rest of the year is so glorious, it will be our best ever!

This was a washout area across from where we were anchored.

Obviously, the water comes over the island during storms.

The eastern end of Crooked Island.  You can see the

smoke from a controlled burn in the background.

David looking at calm water knowing it isn't always that way.

We found hundreds of starfish on the beach.  We're not sure why but

the gulls enjoyed the easy pickings for dinner.

We walked at low tide and the designs made in the sand

by the receding water were amazing.

We tried to rescue this octopus but he was too far gone.   David

found him washed up on shore and we took him out past the

surf line.  He just came back.

This poor little plant is tenaciously hanging on. The

stems of these shore plants make a myriad of designs in

the sand as they are blown back and forth.  Nature's crop circles.

The sun gave us a special show through the gathering haze.

Just a few of our treasures.  We didn't think we'd find much

so we hadn't brought a bucket.  We marked our trove with the

stick so we could find it the next day.  Turned out to be a good idea since

boats brought over about a dozen people to beachcomb.

Last sunset of 2014.

Good morning 2015