End of the Sail for me this season

I will be flying home today which makes the end of the season for me.  Brad is going to take the boat back to Marsh Harbor, Bahamas for long term storage with Mike another Catamaran Captain we met in our travels. It is with mixed emotions I go home, leaving Brad behind is discomforting.  My buddy is not going to be with me, I am lonely already.  Even though we have had our ups and downs this season; we have learned to work together to solve problems. Team Sail La Vie has concurred many difficulties; cone clutches, motor mounts, starter problems, window leaks, riding out storms at anchor - with our new anchor of course. We now have solar panels on the boat so next season we should not have to worry so much about the status of the batteries; if the solar is working ok we should be topped off by noon each day.  We also have the new anchor (Rocna) which is fabulous by the way.  The engine is now serviced and all leaks are fixed, motor mounts all changed, cone clutches serviced, various water pumps replaced on both engines and the generator, the heat exchanger manifold replaced and generator fine tuned.  Boat washed & waxed, the interior wiped down with a diluted bleach solution. Provisioning done for next season: canned food and tightly sealed packages only.  Open containers of food will be removed on last day of boating.  Boat cushions cleaned, life jackets cleaned & stored. Arts & craft supplies purchased for next season.  My clothes have been sealed in air tight bags with bounce sheets.  Exterior windows repainted. New custom helm seat made and installed. New DVD player installed.  New chart plotter card installed. New battery monitor installed. New speakers VHF and outside cockpit. New bathing suits purchased for next season. So many things were accomplished here in Stuart, probably left a few things out but as you can see, we have been busy.  After I leave, Brad with make the Gulf Crossing with Mike and then take the sails down for storage and button up the boat in Marsh Harbor until next season which begins in Jan 2018. Sail La Vie over and out for the season.  See ya next year.

Solar and Engine Work on the same day

Yesterday the boat was a construction zone with the Solar guys and the engine team both working on the boat at the same time. First no worker and then all of them at on one day.  Anyway, the solar is now installed and working, we think.  Well at least the battery is charged, the amps going in who knows and the voltage, very confusing, we need an expert to come and tell us whether all is working or not.  The engine was also worked on yesterday, cone clutches, engine leaks, motor mounts....  A bunch of stuff.  So we are getting there, we had to order a part of course so it will be another week to finish the engine work. The boat is getting fixed and that is what is important.  Today more boat chores, it is going to be 93 degrees plus humidity, should be a hot and wet day in Florida.
Terry at Sheerwater did the engine work.
and Eves at Trinity did the solar, both were good at their jobs and would be highly recommended for future work.

Sunset Bay Marina is a cool place to stay while doing our boat work!

Free bikes to ride downtown
Free movie night - last night we watched LaLa Land and had Jambalaya for dinner, supplied by local eatery
Cruisers lounge with lots of books to trade
Nice store with cute stuff
A great restaurant next door:Sailor's Return
Clean docks
Water & electricity
Friendly Office staff
Plenty of dock carts
Free shuttle to stores
Nice showers
Laundry room
Wow, I might just have to move here
The only negative thing I can say is the water here from the Inter-coastal/Indian River is the muddiest I have ever seen
No not swim in the water, lots of wild life does however, dolphins, fish etc.
Sunsets are also fabulous, with the afternoon thunder storms and clouds, the sunsets are often dramatic and very colorful!!
Sunset Bay Marina is a great place to get boat work done while in Florida

Sunset Bay Marina

Here for the past 7 days whittling down our boat chore list of maintenance, upgrades no repairs. 21 items on our 32 item list are done! S/V Sail La Vie is looking better every day.

Stuart Maintenance Stop

So far, so good with our maintenance repair stop.  Brad is getting his check off list done and I his able assistance is right there to help when needed.  We have ordered the canvas replacement for the helm seat.  The fiberglass work is halfway completed.  We have a solar quote and are just waiting for the work to be done.  We have also arranged the motor mounts and cone clutches to be replaced and checked out.  Yesterday we replaced several hatch covers. Today we are going to put in new fans on the guest side.  We still need to find someone to fix the wind indicator which may require going up the mast.  I am personally not interested in that job, too high risk hanging in the wind.

We have also purchased new dishes; coral and fish, very colorful.  And a new comforter for the master bedroom; seafoam green, so it will match the pillows we already have.  The boat is looking good, we also polished the stainless steel yesterday, today we will be doing the rust removal. Today is 5-4, so I have until 5-18 to help Brad getting ready to put the boat away. I am already semi packed, I have separated me clothes that I am taking home with the ones staying and the ones that I am giving away.  I have the rest of the clothes ready to be closed into their vacuum packed bags for the summer, it helps keep them fresh for when we return in Jan.

Cleaning the boat with vinegar will be another job that needs to be done before we leave.  Not sure all of our work will be completed prior to May 18th, if not Brad will stay here and complete the jobs and get someone to help him get back to Marsh Harbour.  God willing everything will get done and the boat will be ready and waiting for the next season in the Bahamas.

After that who knows sell the boat or go to the great beyond...BVI, St. Martin, Grenada, St Vincent...

This season has been a challenging one due to boat repairs needing to be done in the middle of nowhere without the assistance of professionals.  However, we have been very blessed to have had God watching out for us all the way.  Every time something happened, a person with a talent to fix it came along and took care of it within 1-2 days. Is it odd or God?  We are where we are and doing what we are doing by the grace of God.  Whether we keep the boat or sell it will also be God's decision.  We had several people interested in the boat this season and we decided that if it was meant to be sold then it would happen easy and without struggle.  As you can see it did not happen so we have an answer, we are keeping the boat, at least for the next season or so.  We are fixing it up to be ready for more cruising and away we go.

Stuart, Florida - Boat Projects 2017

We arrived in Stuart, Florida with a bang and I do mean bang.  We had a rough docking episode and hit the seawall pretty hard with our boat.  Well all I can say about it is that we won't be doing that same approach again, we were too close to a big fishing boat when coming in and tried to duck into the spot but of course got hooked on the other boat and had to fend off to keep from messing up their boat.  Thank God their boat was ok but ours of course got a little ding here and there.  Just another repair job for Stuart.  The marina here is great, it has laundry, showers and a Cruiser seating room to hang out in, plus a great restaurant next door "The Sailor Return", the food was delicious.  Now begins project central, here is a list of things were are doing or getting done while we are here:

Outside Vendor Projects:
Fixing wind speed indicator instruments
Generator Water Pump replacement
Transmission- Cone Clutches
Engine Service misc.
Helm seat reupholstering
Motor mount replacements
Solar panel installation

Brad's Projects - Do it yourself:
Add screen to port bathroom hatch
Starboard forepeak hatch lense replacement
Cockpit VHF speaker replacement
Cockpit radio replacement
Add fan to Master stateroom
Replace 2 port stateroom fans
Engine hatch soundproof foam reattachment
Rebuild barbecue grill
Front window frame repainting
Add 2 transom pad eye
Update chart plotter chip
Make 2 Fender boards
Test scuba regulator service
Rebuild starter
Fix Mainsail rip
Boot strip repair
Change engine oil
Service full filters
SUP repair or replacement
Shopping for new dishes, silverware and quilt for master bed


Today we did a variety of errands lining up things:
Rental car
45 min consult with Solar Electrician
Suba shop
Stand Up Paddle shop
3 Nautical junk yards
West Marine
Home Depot
Home Goods
TJ Max
Steinmart
Made fender board


Tomorrow: Church
Kristle to visit on boat
More project work

Chub Cay

Our crossing from Nassau to Chub Cay was one of the worst crossings we have done, 4-6 ft waves on the nose with 20-25 knot winds against us. Talk about getting beat up, it was a rough day fighting the elements.  But we did make safe and sound and were able to anchor in calm waters near the island.  The resort on the island was closed so there was not a lot to see or do there.  But we did get off and go for walks on the island anyway.  The resort looks like it will be nice when they get it back open, I guess it took some hits from the last hurricane.  Here are some photos from the island:

Palm Cay Marina, New Providence

We did the crossing from Exuma to New Providence (Nassau) to the Palm Cay Marina.  It was a pretty smooth crossing until we hit Yellow Banks where we had to dodge coral heads for the next hour and a half.  We hit the marina after 4 hours + of travel time.  7 knots most of the way with a Main assist.

Crossing the Gulf from Bimini to West Palm Beach

We stayed in Bimini for almost a week before we could get a good weather window for crossing, but when we did finally get a good done. 2-3 ft waves with 5-10 winds for most of the trip anyway. With 2 hours left for the crossing, we hit winds of 15-20 and seas of 4-6 with occasional 8-10ft, rough and more rough.  But we mad it to West Palm and then anchored near the channel which ended up having crazy currents which made all the boats turn in circles facing all different ways.  But we were too tired to care, we did shorten our bridle and that helped a bit but it was just something we had to get used to.  For most of the night our anchor was behind the boat instead of in front of it, oh well, the strong currents can do weird things to the boats as we have seen during other anchorages like Little Farmers.  Upon getting up in the morning we headed out for breakfast and to the Customs Office to get a new Cruising Permit.  It turned out to be a rude awakening to be back in the USA where people not only did not want talk to you, they out right just ignored your questions.  And rude big fishing boats would create big wakes and not care if they throw you up 5ft in the air. We made it all the way across the Gulf just to get beat up by a boater's wake, bummer.
So, anyway we did not find any place for breakfast and decided to get on the road towards our ultimate destination of Stuart, Florida, which is where we plan to get work done and solar added.
As we were leaving town, we decided to stop for gas, but there was a boat tied at the docks.  They took forever to move their boat to a different location.  After about an hour of pacing and waiting for the boat to clear the docks, we were getting ready to head in, when a small Ferry boat decided to cut us off and go to the docks ahead of us.  Needless to say we were pissed by then, how rude can you get.  Finally we docked, without any assistance of course, so I flipped them off and was on our way, thank you very much.  One thing I can say about the Bahamas is that everyone was friendly.  And cruisers helped other cruisers, no doubt about it.  Hopefully our stay in Stuart will be better.