Yahoo! All our boat issues have been solved....for now. Time to celebrate!
We left the comfort of our cozy mooring ball, and the company of our new found friends to test out our repairs. Yesterday we sailed (well mostly motored) from Georgetown to Long Island. The wind was light for most of the day and , naturally, coming from the direction we wanted to go but it was sunny, warm, and oh so relaxing. It was about a 6 hour trek and I am happy to report that everything worked great.
For those who want the boring details, Harley and I replaced the top bearing. The next day Harley, Pat and Andrew (on Abby Singer), were able to fix the bottom rudder bearing without hauling the boat. They fabricated a makeshift bushing out of some deralin material. With the aide of a hookah, they dropped the rudder and shoved this makeshift bushing in along with some Epoxy dough and pushed the rudder post back into place. Believe it or not, it worked great! Of course this is just a band-aid fix but it should hold until we get to Florida in the spring. We will be hauling Folly out of the water at that time anyway so we can do a proper fix then.
Today is another glorious day. We (more like I with Pat, Lynn, and Harley in tow) spent the morning combing the beach for sea glass and came back empty handed but no worries. It's just so nice to expore a new beach and a new island. At 4:00 we are heading back to shore to a local bar for happy hour. They are offering free hors d'ouervres so we imagine there should be a good crowd. You mention free food to cruisers and they show up! I'm looking forward to meeting more new people. This is the fun part of cruising.
The weather forcast looks good for a while so we will likely stay here for a bit. This island has much to offer in the way of sight seeing so it should be an interesting few days......but....
More about that...next time.
I am feeling so happy for you and enjoying this post with the good news, interesting story, fabulous photos, that I find myself scrolling down s-l-o-w-l-y so I won't get to the end so fast. Like reading a good book my friend. Two thumbs up and I know you will be finished the socializing at the local bar by now, but I'm smiling for you two. Love, N,x
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