Pelican One(1) Bob Zero(0)

It wasn't mud!

Monday February 28th


Well, that pelican must be having a good laugh now.... We started out this morning, rather late because of fuel problems (but that's another story), only to find that the prop problem had not disappeared.  Turns out it wasn't mud on the prop like we had hoped. Looks like I am about to be on intimate relations with the marina down the way that hauls out boats.

The fuel issue is more gunk in the fuel.  I bought a boat that had sat for a long while and the cleaning of the tanks was a good and necessary thing to do, however as is often the case with a diesel engine, it takes a little time and some frequent changing of fuel filters to finally get things working smoothly.  However, we have gotten so good at changing 'em out that we can do it now in fairly record time.  These turns of events don't upset me too badly as I anticipated a certain amount of problems.  I think that's why they call 'em shake down cruises.

When we pulled into Pirates Cove, we were met by a covey of beautiful, sparkling white boats.  So now Wayne has the deck hands, Mitchell and Jeff, scrubbing down the Sea Me Smile and muttering something about living in the low rent district.  There goes the bleach out the door and they have taken apart the brooms for scrub brush handles. Well, turns out the boat is white, who'd a thunk it.

Our new temporary home

Yep, now it's Tuesday and we are currently out of the water at the A & J Boat Works, in Stuart, FL which has a very accommodating owner and crew.  There was another "Looper" boat in this yard.  They were here for six days for repairs... we don't think (hope!) it will take us that long.  The prop was indeed bent along with the shaft.  And the bearings were pretty shot in both shafts, however those are only sixteen dollars apiece.

Below are some pictures of the boat out of the water. They were kind enough to let us be yard security and stay in the camper, I mean boat, while it is hauled out.  Later today, I'm taking the rifle that I bought back to Wal-Mart.  It turns out that the damn pelicans are protected... can you believe it?!

Pulling the prop, which in the boat world is called a wheel

This device measures how bad the pelican bent the prop

Home school continues with a life skills lesson

Mitchell checking out the underside of the boat

Yesterday, Wayne and I worked at becoming proficient at putting in way-points and such in the Garmin navigation system.  With just a couple of questions for Gary, we were on track. We continue to scrub and fix and the boat is getting better by the day, that is, for a boat that is sitting "high and dry". 

So the props and the shaft are at the "prop shop" and we are going to spend the day doing some maintenance of our own that can't be done while the boat is in the water.  And we are going to use our land GPS to find a grocery store.

Well, it's still early on Tuesday morning and the yard is coming to life.  Wayne has cooked pancakes, bacon and eggs at Mitchell's request.  Stand by.... It was delicious!