Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Out and about in Beaufort, SC

While we have waited on weather, mail,and our new canvas Tom and I have been keeping busy. Tom is going to put in a new faucet in the Galley sink. That is his project today, I am escaping the renaming of plumbing parts by doing last minute shopping. We celebrated early community Christmas with the live-aboards at Lady's Island Marina yesterday. I went in search of the perfect prime rib roast on Monday and found in at the Whole Foods Market on Hilton Head. 
We are waiting on the new AIS unit to arrive and for the Rain to move off and away. I know it isn't snow but really the high tide has our dock ramp going up and sticking the gate.  NOT SNOW, temperatures are still decent. 

I will post photos from Christmas and preparations to leave --- we see a weather window coming at the turn of the new year. 
For now
JOY and BLESSINGS
TOM AND LAURA
FELLOW TRAVELERS AT LADY'S ISLAND MARINA 


I just think the live oaks are so cool

this is normal tide

fog, rain, water water everywhere 



FINISHED --- NEW LOOK --- waiting on Holidays and weather

12/24/14
Cool Hand Too has her new dodger and full cockpit roof, we are now relatively dry. The work was done by Journey Marine Canvas and we can't praise them enough.Tom and I are still debating the "full enclosure" so wind and rain come in through the open sides. The crew of Journey Marine Canvas have worked around 4 days of adverse weather to complete the job before Christmas. 
We used Top Gun material, a high count woven polyester coated on both sides material. The specially formulated polymeric coating will not harden, crack or peel after outdoor exposure or extreme temperatures. This coating ads UV, mildew and water resistance and carries a 5 year warranty. We are hoping the random bird strikes will be easily cleaned off as well as adding longevity to the whole cover. 
When we leave we are heading for Fort Lauderdale and we will have a new Doyle sail cover made. Then off to the Bahamas (fingers crossed.)
Old Canvas leaked worse than a sieve and was tearing

tape was holding the glass together 

we could not see out of our sail window

Tom helping with the pattern making

almost all sewn up 

finished with covers.... Covers are Sunbella material. Top Gun is
not a good cover over the strata glass


fitting of dodger 


our new sail window has a cover that we can pull closed from in
side of the cockpit with a cord, like a roman shade
COOL 



almost as snug as a bug in a rug

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

SITTING AND WAITING-- PUTZING AND FUTZING

Hello from sunny Beaufort SC.   12/17
Yep we are still here  Weather really has not been outrageous like last year.Temps drop to high thirty's at night then climb to the high 60's in the daytime. I have actually put on shorts. Still knitting, however my new 'to do list' is getting things organized to leave for the  Bahamas. Following the rule "if you haven't used it in three months it's gone" I have decreased some of my kitchen clutter. 
Tom has ticked off several of his projects. He went up the mast to change the light and figure out what was going wrong with our wind vein. Both are fixed now. He installed new outlets at the bottom of our salon seat and we moved the portable cooler out of the aft cabin and in main salon. He also hooked up 12 volt so it can run while we are underway. 
Our AIS is still a work in progress, we returned one unit only to get one with incorrect connectors. The company is sending us a new unit.... again. Hoping that we will have that all tweaked and working by Christmas. 
The new canvas is coming along. Today they are fitting the Bimini and will measure for the connector... again hope to post photos by the end of the week. Next project will be a sail pack, but that will be in Fort Lauderdale.
Friends from Kemah are with us here now Tom and Joy... they are staying through the Holidays and we hope to leave together to find warmer weather.


pocket scarf finished 

we have had several foggy mornings. 

The first measuring and pattern making  for new canvas


packages all packed and ready to mail

it seems like everything thing that needs to be
fixed on the boat requires all the floor boards to
be taken off.  Shower pump working so can't
complain too much

At dinner with Tom and Joy.... I'm tired as you can see

Tom up the 63' mast

Tom and Joy coming in to their slip here
at Lady's Island

river otter tracks. Elusive creatures, but determined to get a
photo

Our neighbors ( our wind break) finally their paint job finished
and they left for Savannah


my unobstructed view now


Dolphin fishing across the way at low tide