It is time to leave Vero Beach........also named Velcro Beach!!

September 23rd 2008

Two Pelicans will be sailing south to Miami South Beach in company with Marilyn and Stewart aboard Union Jack,their Nauticat 33 pilothouse Ketch. We will be anchored behind South Beach until November when we plan to cross the Straits to The Bahamas.
I will be spending the Holidays in Nassau !!
I decided against a haulout and have a diver scheduled 7.20am on the 23rd to clean off the barnacles and replace the Autoprop zinc.
A new engine starting battery was installed yesterday and all other systems checked out fine.

September 28th 2008

Two Pelicans is now safely anchored just off The Miami Yacht Club . A 15 minute dinghy ride to Publix etc at South Beach.A 2 minute dinghy ride to the Yacht Club dinghy dock and then a local Miami/Dade County bus ride into Miami or to South Beach.
A great place to get organised before crossing to The Bahamas..
My crew is joining on Tuesday 7th October.
November 1st 2008

Two Pelicans is still anchored off Miami South Beach.
It became apparent last month that the holding tank,constructed of plywood and fibreglass had had its day.As you can see from the photos...it was no longer "holding" ts contents....eeeeeuk!
Much surgery in the fwd berth area finally allow this monster to be hoisted out of the V berth through the deck hatch. It will be silently buried one dark night .
I have been putting off this job for some time(read 8 years) and with good reason.
Now the new tank is safely installed I will soon forget the 4 weeks work that went into this project!! Please look carefully at your next boat...especially tanks......and how they might be removed!
I am now left with the relatively simple job of reconstructing the berth,sans drawers,as there is no room above the tank.Funny how that works eh?
Of course the next project was born out of this one.....to extend the berth at bunk level right across the cabin,thus making a huge berth and allowing lockers drawers etc to be constructed in the old foot well and underneath the bunk where the 'Vanity' used to be.
A cut out piece will allow access to a berth now athawtships measuring 5 feet by 9 .5 feet.
Needless to say the "fleshpots " of Miami havent been frequented too much......most trips ashore have involved trying to board Miami/Dade city buses with huge pieces of plywood and tons of paint and epoxy etc!!!
At the same time I glassed in the 3 inch "drain" hole the previous owner of TP had deemed necessary to cut thru the bottom of the chain locker bulkhead allowing a foul mixture of seashells,mud,oooze, sea creatures and volumes of sea water to flow into the main bilge.
The bulkead is now a "collision" bulkhead again. I must now design a pump out system to flush and pump this locker out.
All this work has been accomplished with minimal self inflicted injury.......oh forgot the wind generator blade that walloped my right eyeball while I was adjusting the tether.Thank god it was only windmilling at a slow rate. I have a bright red eye......I am told will take weeks to return to normal. Ah well, it is Halloween isnt it?
While the old very rusty anchor chain sits on deck I have been tempted to buy a new chain.
At West Marine yesterday,buying parts for the Groco EB head I bought on EBay......I wus offered 200 feet of 3/8th G4 High Test at $3.00 per foot by a nice store owner who used his Port Supply card !!! Me thinks this item will soon be on board once I figure out how to get it here!!
The weather is not cooperating ....winds are NW,N,NE etc so I have time to finish these projects and dream up new ones. Hopefully I will make it across to The Bahamas before Christmas!!