Well, I've done it again.

Doesn't look like I will be posting any pictures for a while. The other night I left a hatch open for ventilation all night and didn't hear the rain. The laptop was sitting almost 2 ft away, but the rain that night blew in and soaked it. Water was dripping out the laptop bottom. Fortunately, I had shut it off instead of putting it to sleep, so there was no power on, but for the charger. I have had it sitting about, in different positions to drain/air out since then. Today, I fired it up, after discovering that I do NOT have a hair dryer aboard, just a heat gun, and that is a bit too extreme, and I got a major boot failure. The hard drive, with lot of saved stuff on it may be fried. I don't know at this point. So I am using the old IBM that I bought online and used, for the sole purpose of SSB communication and maybe, navigation. It is a bit old. And has no slot for the card from my digital camera. I bought an adapter/reader a long time ago, but doubt if I brought it along or if I could find it anyway.

I should add that, just before departure, I bought a little notebook/laptop called an Acer. Is supposed to be enough for web and email, only, with a smaller keyboard and screen, but handier for me to take ashore to use WiFi when I get south. Smaller, less power, and I think it even has a camera built in. But I have never taken it out of the box, and didn't expect to until I reached the Carib. So, I will do that sometime soon, and then see if I can load the Verizon software on it so that I can use this phone card, and should be able to post pictures again.

The good news is that this morning, I loaded the dink with the jib, all folded and tied up, and took it into the sail loft for re-stitching the UV cover. It is a tattered mess for about half of the sail. God only knows what it will cost, and it was suggested that I certainly could do it myself, just sewing by hand, new thread into the old holes, but I don't really know anything about sails, and don't want to learn the hard way. It appears that the sail itself is in fine shape, and seems to me to be very heavy cloth, which in this case is great. I had the help yesterday of Drake and Erin, 2 new friends. I mentioned Drake in another post because, he is also single handing, and is the man who towed in a yacht in distress during the same mess I was caught in. A collision, caused by the other boat not standing watch for a few minutes, while Drake went below, has caused about $5k of damage to his boat, and the guy wouldnt even pay him for the fuel he used. They will be departing this week, probably, and are also headed for St Maarten, so maybe I will see them again. Very nice to come out and give me a hand getting the jib down and folded. (I had never done it before.)

I also walked up to the hardware store and have purchased the copper tubing and fittings to repair the steering and will go to work directly on that. It is all stuff stocked by any hardware store, and for only $50 I bought enough tubing - 8 ft - and a handful of fittings - Bermuda prices! Wow. I only bought enough to repair the bad spot that blew, rebuilding about a third of the plastic with copper. I even walked back to the store and bought a Bermuda courtesy flag, for only $30! But, these people have been fantastic to me, and I am so grateful that the island was even here, that I feel that I should show the typical respect that a visiting boat should display.

It is customary, if I understand it completely, when a vessel approaches a foreign port, to display what is still called a quarantine flag - plain yellow. Has been this way for over 100+ years I believe - maybe 200, and in the old days, it meant just that - Stay Clear - The boat was quarantined for some disease. And after you have cleared their customs and immigration, while you still fly the flag of your own nation at it normal place, you fly a small flag of the host nation, on the starboard side of the ship - referred to as a courtesy flag. I have about 25 of them aboard for different countries I hope to visit, but never thought I would ever be stopping this far north, so I bought one today and hoisted it, out of respect.

The other bad news is that, after clearing the thru hull fitting of whatever had clogged it, I ran the generator this morning, and it appears that I have chewed up the blades of the cooling pump impeller. It is a job that I dread tackling, as it took me over a day last year, to figure out where it was, how to get to it, and how to repair it, and then, I lost one bolt holding it in place to the bilge somewhere. As I have said in recent emails, the pump is waaaay over there, on the far, bottom corner, in the most difficult place to reach and get to on the generator, meaning that I have to stand, bent over the generator, and work on the far bottom corner of the unit. Tough on the back, and tough on the patience. I have since learned that it is probably easier to remove the pump (4 or maybe 5 hard to reach bolts, and 2 hose clamps, I think) and replace the impeller on a table top, and then put the pump back into place. Easier than trying to squeeze the impeller into the place with the pump in its correct running position.

So, going to get as much done on each of these projects as possible today and tonight. When I run out of something on one, I move to the next, and when I run out of something on it, then I go to shore and buy stuff.

The queen of England comes here tomorrow about 2pm, I think. The soldiers were coming into town as I walked back from the hardware store towing artillery pieces, and piling out of their trucks, and practicing their drills. And painters are finishing up the little stand they have built in Town Square. It looks like I may be able to stand within 20-30 yards of her, if the crowds are not too big, and my impression after talking to a few is that they could care less. I don't think I would stand to see any American politician, but the queen of England is something special to me, for some reason. I hope I have a good seat and can get a picture or two. I will shower in the morning, and shave, and find a shirt with a collar, brush my hair, remember my passport, just in case, and go in about noon, ignoring the remaining chores, and see if I can get close. Maybe I can get a photo with her... How cool would that be! ha!

So that is it for the current situation here in lovely Bermuda. It is hot enough that you sweat but still cool, as well. Very nice place. Just too expensive.

Saturday Morning

The wind has finally stopped, although there is still a halyard tapping up there somewhere in the main mast, and peace has come to St. George's Bay. Calm. Phew, I needed that. Unfortunately it has brought rain, instead of sunshine, but that will pass soon enough. At least it is not blowing any longer.

So now I can begin my chores - getting the jib down, and folded, ready to take ashore - ANOTHER thing I have never done before, plunging the drain in the propane locker so it doesn't fill with water at each rainfall, I want to re-arrange some things on the stern so that I can travel with the outboards on the OUTside of the rails, as they interfere with the mizzen boom and sheet, and it is time to pull in the rode some, and get the boat anchored correctly. But must start with my normal morning routine, and get the batteries charging, and the reefer temp back down.

And then to shore. Cabin fever is at a fever pitch. Too long cramped here, with only an occasional venture out on deck, to be almost blown down by the wind gusts. And I will have to re-learn to walk on terra firma as well. I get a pretty bad case of sea legs, or so it seems so far. I look like I am drunk the first time I return to shore, staggering and tripping, and doorways and the like seem to jump AT me suddenly. Any of you who have spent tme on a boat, know what I mean, although it affects some more than others. (At least the seasickness that got me in the first few days out subsided, and, now should not return.)

Last night I opened the first can, of this entire trip, of my Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans, which I love - a taste left over from dating a certain vegetarian Canadian - and made ginger ale with the Soda Club - all this thinking about Dark and Stormy's had me thinking ginger, I guess. With some crackers and cheese, and bread, I really enjoyed the simple meal. It made me drowsy, and I napped a bit, and then was into a bag of beef jerky, and ate the whole thing by bedtime. Woke up with a bad case of dry mouth about 4am.

Speaking of time, I have just learned that Bermuda is -4 hours UTC, not -5 hours, like the east coast of the US, so now I even have a clue about time, not that it matters much, but could in the future. I know I mentally threw the calendar away, too soon, and haven't worn a watch for months and months, but had better get with it now. I might need it sometime, like when a shop or business office opens or closes. Another thing learned.

If you follow this blog at all, you will notice a new box at the top. I searched online for a counter of some kind, to determine if this thing is worth the time and effort, although, I guess it is anyway just for my family. And, what better things do I have to do anyway, right now? But most of these website counters are for commercial applications so business can see and categorize website visitors. This one was about the simplest I found. It was not important to me where the people were located and it is not like I should expect an international following. But now, I feel like I am spying on others, collecting info on them. So much for privacy, right? I just wanted a simple counter! The worst part is that I have added it, but cannot find it located on any of the blog guides, formats, or HTML listing, to remove it if I wanted to. (I wanted to MOVE it to the bottom, actually, and have no idea how to find it at all now.) So, that is the story of the counter. Well, then hi and welcome to the American, Canadian, and Bermudan viewers!!! I am sorry I took your privacy away.

So, on to my little routine, a few chores, and then into town for some kind of fellowship - at the laundry? - and a real meal, sometime today, as well. I hope to try the restaurant at the Dinghy Club for a change, but have never walked into the place so don't know what I will find.

An aside

I just received a Thanksgiving email from an old family friend. They were next door neighbors when Mom and Dad moved (back) to Rosslyn Farms, just after I was born. Uncle Harry was a family doctor who made house calls (they had the first answering machine I ever saw - about the size of a suitcase if I remember correctly), and Harry, Majorie, and later RoseBud, were sort of like cousins, or the like, in those early years. Even more so for my brother who is older. ( I found out years later that Dad and Aunt Rose planted a garden on their lot on Winthrop Circle and carried buckets of water in the car trunk each night to tend the garden. Didn't know Dad knew anything about a garden until I heard that story.) We bought our house on Alden, and they eventually built a beautiful home on Winthrop, so we stayed neighbors and close friends for all these years. In fact, the 2nd to last time Dad was hospitalized, his room was back to back with Aunt Rose's and they were neighbors one last time.

So today, Rosemary writes me that she follows this blog, and likes it, but hates the title - The LAST Adventure (says it should read 'greatest' or 'life starts now" ) So I wrote back to her:
Well, it IS the last, but it is funny you say that. A few weeks ago, I did a pretty poor job of getting the thought on paper, but if you look back, you will find a picture of Mom and Dad's marker at Arlington, and picture of Denise's kids, Anna and Andrew Foster. I TRIED to say, that that day was a turning point for me, mentally, to look to the future more and not the past so much. When I started the blog, that was where my mind and heart were- in the past. Somewhere in my writings, there is mention that I have had a great life, with very low low's and some great highs, but I look at the whole 56 years as a series of adventures; getting to make decisions that others with wives and children, perhaps, were not able to choose. And doing stuff that was too risky for the average guy in similar shoes. I built a home from scratch which could have been a disaster, financially. I flew airplanes and bungee jumped and started businesses that failed, and moved around a bit. Bought a small nightclub on a whim. Got into the rental business without much forethought, and perhaps, for the wrong reasons. Think of your friends who are married or with children and what freedom you have that they don't. Maybe their Christmas mornings are a bit more full of cheer, but we single, with no kids, people can make choices that they cannot, or perhaps, if prudent should not consider at all. So, yes, it is my last adventure. If God takes me right now, then I am fine, because I got to "go" - to start the adventure. (My biggest fear this summer was getting sick, or injured, preventing me from that actual departure.) When I was chasing women all the time, (years ago, of course, not now!) I used to say, taking an expression from hunting, that sometimes the chase was more fun than the kill. In this case, I HOPE that preparing for this was the work, and now I get to enjoy the fun part. Will have to hold off on saying whether that is true or not, but that is my expectation.
So, here I sit. Broken down. In one paradise. Not mine, yet, but it is out there waiting for me. And I AM living my last adventure. Now, how great is that!

And since it is apparently fast approaching, Happy Thanksgiving to all. Every day is Thanksgiving now, for me.

After My Last Post, It Occurred to Me

At the bottom of the page (if you scroll all the way down) are some pictures of AF. They are part, I believe of the photos that Mike took for selling her on the internet. Well, I was accused, sometimes directly, and sometimes subtly, of overloading AF, prior to my departure. Since I was leaving with everything that I owned, save a couple of containers gone to NC for storage, yes, it was loaded. (Truthfully, I watched the water line carefully, and also knew something others didn't: There are several storage spaces - some big spaces - with nothing in them, that I know others have packed full on their Morgan 46's). But I thought it might be appropriate to show you what she looks like inside, right now.

Below is a photo, looking aft, of the aft berth (you can compare it to the one at the bottom of page). You will see the folding bike strapped securely to the ladder to go up to the back porch(Anna and Andrew liked to climb it when they would visit), and below it you can make out the silver diving tank that I just purchased in Norfolk. You can see the white plywood mattress platform raised up- it has some cutouts that are a bit confusing in the pic, and the white pipe going up is not a stripper pole, but the emergency tiller, coming down from the deck above. There was plenty stored on the starboard (on your left) mattress and the center mattresses before my troubles started, and there were 2 blue mattresses filling the space as well, and I had to tear it all apart when the hydraulic line failed, throwing stuff everywhere, to get that plywood raised up. On the left is a large brown box with ONE of my new 12 volt fridge systems, and underneath that is a box with 2 solar panels. BTW, this is after I cleaned up some.

Below is the salon, looking forward with the ladder to the cockpit at your right shoulder and nav station on the left. I have a bag for trash hanging in the way, but you can see the floor filled, as I placed easy to eat food in a laundry basket there, as well as changes of clothes - both for cold and warm weather- in case I had to change quickly en route. Looking forward you can barely make out the door on the right, open into the forward head and the V-berth.

Below is the V-berth and the door to the head is cracked open (and will not close because the stuff has shifted and is pushing against it) You might make out that it is piled about shoulder height. As is the v-berth, which contains the other 12 volt fridge system, enough canvas to re-make all of the bimini and more, a box of rolled up charts, my keyboard and a beer case of music. Jeeze, what else? The new wind generator is there and oh, the SPARE radar external unit is also boxed up in there. And lots more. Hiding behind that hideous green striped cushion, you would see a cargo net over a very large pile of 'stuff', firmly lashed to some small cleats I installed before leaving.

So, that is a look of AF, underway, and with all these systems un-installed. My niece claims that they are coming to visit someday soon, so I will have to get busy and get these things installed, to make some room for them.

An aside: The earliest I can ever remember going to Rehoboth Beach for vacation, I remember my mom making toast over the gas burner on the stove. I didn't give it a thought. And last year at this time, Joyce made toast many mornings for me for breakfast, while we were en route to St Maarten on Paul's boat. So tonight I thought I would try it. Well, my hat is off to you, Mom and Joyce, for your patience and care. It was not so successful for me.

More later. Time to eat - cake.

Bermuda - Overcast but still beautiful and 76 degrees again today

So, I said I would post a couple pics here today, and even with overcast skies and this wind, it is pretty nice here. I have not left AF since this blow started, although earlier today, I decided to take the risk and leave while it was more calm, but winds are back up and I will sit still and tend anchor watch instead. I am learning this stuff slowly, or rather, getting USED to this stuff slowly, and don't know yet what to feel confident about and what to worry about. But surely do not want to come back out in the dink, to find my home and all my possessions run aground and pounding on some rocks down wind, so caution is my prime thought these days.
Below is a home in the anchorage area here, and their front yard is where AF would be found most likely if she dragged anchor.
And looking this direction, you can see where I would LIKE to be anchored on the right, and the little town is in the left half. Govt House and a couple restaurants, grocery, and Bermuda Dinghy Club with restaurant and laundry. They are cleaning up the square, have built a little platform, and are painting the main buildings for the queen's visit in a week or so. Guess that will be my Thanksgiving.

Below is a pic of my anchor set up. The line on the right, going over the bow, is the snubber and it should be way out there down taht anchor chain instead of knotted so close to the boat. Note the other chain, on the port, left side, awaiting, should I start to drag. I will drop it and let out line as fast as possible, and do the snubber knot correctly.

And, for Erik, a pic of the jib situation. I wound it up too tight when I started moving the other day in that ordeal, and now there isn't enough line on the spool to reel it all the way in, so I have this bit of sail out there helping me swing back and forth in the wind. I can fix it, but choose to wait until the winds and waves are more calm, unless it becomes a real problem.

Today, I cleaned up the aft cabin, (I think I will have to move the folding bike onto deck in the future. It is strapped well to the aft ladder, but really gets in the way all the time.) and removed a fitting to take to shore when I can, as well as writing a list of parts needed. I let the wind generator spin and looked at its wiring, and think that possibly the blocking diode is blown, letting current flow backwards, shutting the genny down even when it is blowing 25 knots. Next, I am going to tackle re-stowing the forward head, which is piled to my shoulders with stuff. I need to find the flaring tool and some others at the same time.

Wondering what to make with these old bananas. Probably banana nut cake or muffins, but who knows? Banana pudding sounds good, if I can find one of Mom's pudding mixes.

Getting by just fine. Had a great, and helpful email from a fellow I met back in Baltimore, who drives a schooner boat with a big pointy piece of log sticking out the front. Thanks Mike. It was a big pick me up. And I talked with Paul a bit this morning for some advice on getting the jib down and folded when this blow stops, so I can take it ashore to the sail loft.

Winds are starting to gust, and knock me around a bit, so time to go forward again and check things out.

There are worse places to be broken down than Bermuda

After making it in here the other day, fried mentally, and physically exhausted, from the 24 hour straight, no sleep, challenge to hand steer AF with the emergency tiller, I am finally recovering. On top of the rigours of 8 days at sea alone, my hands stayed swollen for 3 days from grasping the lines on the tiller for 24 hours, and my side was bruised from leaning into it to steer. I am feeling so much better, and ready to get to my repairs, and now the weather has turned bad again. Predicted up to 35 knot winds until Friday. (One good thing is that I don't really know what day of the week it is anymore, so Friday could be tomorrow or 6 days from now.) When I arrived here, with limited maneuverability, they asked me to anchor in a quarantine area, and that was fine with me at the time, as there were only 2 other boats here, and no chance for me to clip someone trying to anchor. But, it is the least sheltered area from the wind, and I will take a beating here for these next few days.
When I arrived, I had to get the dink off the deck, and so I put the little 4hp engine on her, and went in to clear customs. It is so slow, but I can lift it and handle it without help, but I decided later to winch down the 15 hp engine and exchange them, so I could get around faster. Of course, I have only done this a couple times, each time avoiding some disaster, and no different this time. As I swung the motor out over the dink, the lifting strap slipped and the engine dropped 2 feet, but stayed. I am starting to think that the Harbor Masters get their binoc's out when they see me on deck, just to what calamity I am going to have next. But the big engine is on and boy, does it fly. The dink only weighs 100 lbs or so, and when it planes, you have to back off quickly on the throttle, or you will be thrown out of the boat when it hits a wake or wave. 2 nights now, I have gone in to town for dinner and drinks and had a blast flying the little dink around the harbor in the dark, particularly on the ride home, with the aid of a few beers or cocktails. That makes it ALL fun, even getting out of the dink and climbing into AF.
I may have mentioned in the previous blog that within an hour of arrival, some fellow was banging on the side of the boat. He had seen me come in. Dale was crewing on another boat to the Carib that broke down in the storm, but he owns a Morgan 46 like mine, newer though, back home in Minnesota, of all places, and is working on his in the back yard, effectively. He is a very nice guy, who came back yesterday, and we rigged some lines so he could raise me up to the top of the mizzen mast to retrieve my lost halyard - a very, amateur mistake. We had a few beers afterwards and did what I do best - just sat in the cockpit and talked!
His captain came to pick him up later with an invite for me to have cocktails aboard another boat, the owners of which were wonderful hosts, and run a charity from sea to get school books to poor Carib. island kids. He wrote/published/edited in the sailing magazine field all of his life, and had some great stories about interviews he had done all over the world. His wife made me my first Dark an' Stormy, a local traditional drink of the local rum which is black colored, and ginger beer. Another guest was a young man who is also a single hander like me, who towed a broken down sailboat (There were a LOT of boats broken in this storm as well as many who just turned tail and went home.) 140 miles here to Bermuda. I look forward to spending more time with Drake, to see how he has boat set up and what he might suggest for me. And I want to see his wind generator setup, as his are the same as my new one sitting in the box in the bow berth. When I departed their boat, I rode into town and had some supper and a couple more, and came back out to AF. Climbed in, and was settling down, when - bang bang bang - it was Dale again - Let's go into town for a couple. Back into the dinks for a bit of racing at 11 pm across St George's in the dark! And a couple more Dark an' Stormy's. When I got back after closing time, I did some checking on the anchor system and made a change or 2, and boy did I screw that up, all with the aid of the rum. Hence, my apprehension tonight about dragging anchor or damaging the boat in this wind.
There is a device called a snubber, which in various forms performs the same thing - to put some spring or stretch into the anchor line, so that the force of being blown backwards is not all put on the chain or the windlass. I screwed it up last night. Tied it incorrectly, and it fell off, and the windlass was not tensioned properly, and almost every inch of rode is out now. That leaves none to put out if I start to drag. I haven't anchored like that since last year, and then, only once, so had just forgotten the correct knot. AF came with 2 other versions of the snubber that are bought commercially, but wanted to do it 'the right way'. Goofed it up good. I have the 2nd anchor now sitting to properly deploy if the anchor alarm goes off, meaning the anchor is dragging and I have drifted too far from my original position.
It was 75 here today, the sky was blue and partly cloudy even with this wind howling. I am staying aboard, to anchor watch, until this blow is over, and that makes it a bit boring, but I feel good enough now to get to work on the aft berth, to start the take off for the hose and fittings, and start to clean the mess up. There is hydraulic fluid everywhere. It even squirted into my hair that morning, when a wave bumped the rudder and it moved the ram. I was in such a panic - not the right word really - to find the trouble at first, that I used anything handy to clean my hands or wipe the fluid up, and it is on the sheets, the mattress, and I think I ruined a couple of my best T-shirts as rags.
Tried to cheer things up today with a decent home cooked meal, something which I am incapable of producing, but I thawed some chile, and cut up some apples that were pretty bruised from the bouncing we took, and baked them with raisins for an apple cinnamon desert. And I even made some 'Coke' with the Soda Club drink machine. Beats the baloney sandwich and cold coffee I had for lunch.
It looks like I will be here when Queen Elizabeth visits in 2 weeks, for the celebration, I think, of Bermuda's 400th year as Britain's. I have been told that when she visits Bermuda, she likes to play a certain poker machine over in the corner of the bar where I have been eating and also kicks butt on a trivia machine (I saw ER as top scorer - could it really stand for Elizabeth Regina?), so maybe she can buy me a drink or 2, if she wins. Not sure that is true, but we shall see.
The government here will allow me to stay 2 weeks here, with 2 more weeks possible. So, all in all, even with the tension of getting thru this blow at anchor (every gust sends AF coasting back and forth and rocking about.) and facing the repairs I need, there are a lot worse places to be broken down than Bermuda.

Will try to snap and post some pictures tomorrow if it is not as bouncy and windy as today. I was almost blown off me feet a couple times today while out on deck.