So - here we are again, very soon after our last post.  We are getting closer to leaving Vero Beach and so the projects continue.  Last week, we traveled (on the boat) about 10 miles south on the waterway to Fort Pierce, FL.  We left on a rainy morning around 6:45, with the generous help of our friends Rick, Kay, John and Grace getting us out of the slip unharmed.  It was drizzly for most of the trip.  The town of Ft Pierce has several marinas and yacht yards.  There is also an outlet to the ocean here - a popular jumping off spot for folks going to the Abacos - the northern islands of the Bahamas.  So anyway - we spent a day and a half at Harbortown Marina where we had our mast pulled so that we could add a couple wires.  The staff at Harbortown was extremely friendly and accommodating while we were there and we enjoyed being in a new place.

The week before, we had taken our two foresails, the large genoa and small staysail, off the furlers (the mechanism that lets us easily wind the sail around the forestays, instead of dropping them on deck when not in use.) So - Dustin and Travis from Nance and Underwood (sail riggers) showed up around 10am to help us prepare to pull the mast.  These guys had been on our boat a few weeks before, trying to run the wires through the mast from top to bottom, without success.  The wires kept getting caught up inside.  Thus, the reason for the mast to be pulled.  The heavy cables (shrouds) that hold up the mast have to be disconnected, the wires that run through the mast that power anchor lights, spreader lights, radar, VHF, and the new cellular antenna have to be disconnected, and the boom (with the mainsail on it) has to be disconnected.  These guys had all this done by noon and then the crane moved in to lift the mast out of its step, up through the deck of the boat, and then move it off and lay it down on two sawhorses.  One real problem was that when we arrived we found that no one had ordered the crane!  Everyone thought someone else was doing it.  So, we asked around and found one, and luckily it was able to arrive within a couple of hours.  More luck happened when the haul out slip was available an hour early.  This all enabled us to get the job done in a single day, and not pay for techs another day.

This process from when the mast was ready to pull, to laying it on the sawhorses took about one hour.  Travis is the "monkey" in the photos who climbs the mast (with a little help from Dustin who cranks him up on the halyard), and puts the lanyard in place, which is what the crane ball gets hooked to for pulling.

Once the mast was out, they went to work.  The whole point of the wire was to add a cellular booster antenna to the top of the mast.  This should help us get a better signal for cell service when not so close to land.  In addition, we are going to upgrade our instruments next week and so a wire for the wind instrument was run, and we replaced our VHF wire which was pretty much the worse for wear.  There are three (way too small) conduits (tubes) that run down the inside of the mast.  The cellular wire is a thick wire and it kept getting wrapped around the other wires that were there and thus the reason they couldn't get it through when the mast was in place, as they were pretty much working blind. Besides those just mentioned, other wires that run through the mast include wires for lights - spreader or down-facing deck lights, an anchor light (the light at the top of the mast that you turn on when at anchor so other boats see you), running lights - so people see you when you are sailing at night and radar.  Considering the boat is 20 years old, there has been a lot of new technology since it was built.  Therefore, the conduits are probably undersized for today's standards, making it tough to add new stuff.  While the guys were dealing with the wires, Greg changed out the spreader lights, Sharon added flag halyards (this is where you fly another country's courtesy flag, or a yacht club member flag), bird spikes were added wherever possible (refer to previous writings to see these are only minimally effective) and replaced a couple sheaves (these are the pulleys that the halyards run through just inside the top of the mast).

Then, once all the work was done, the entire process happens in reverse.  The only delay in getting it all put back together was trying to run the wires inside the boat at the base of the mast when you had to go through this tiny hole.  Finally, we stepped the mast back on its bed (placed it back on the boat, through the cabin top, and onto a frame in the bottom of the boat) and paid the crane guy at 5pm.  However, that still meant all shrouds still had to be reconnected and tightened, the boom put back on and other various and sundry jobs that would take too long to explain on this already gone too long blog post!

Dustin and Travis are extremely knowledgable and did a great job.  And they had great attitudes.  Travis pretty much sang while he worked the entire time.  And we all took the occasional break to check out the dolphins fishing nearby, the pelicans landing in the neighboring bush and the large snook swimming around the boat.  We said a huge thanks to Dustin and Travis at about 6:30pm.  They still had a two hour drive back to Fort Lauderdale.  We still had to move the boat out of the haul out slip and back to the dock and finish up those loose ends.  The other thing about working on a boat is that it is always in some cramped space where you have to contort your body to get the thing done.  We were both wiped by the end of the day.  Greg is still nursing the cuts and scrapes on his hands. We spent two more days figuring out wiring, connecting it all, installing a mast boot (the thing that assures no water gets through to the inside of the boat), and doing general clean up.

The temperature that night was in the high 30's.  We were happy to be plugged in with the heat running.  We left Ft Pierce by noon the next day to travel back to Vero Beach.  The wind was blowing at 20 knots with gusts up to 25 and it was only about 50 degrees, without the wind chill.  Though it is nothing like what our friends are dealing with in the Northeast, we were happy to be back in the slip and out of the wind by 2pm.  All in all, a successful endeavor.  We will let you know how the cell coverage is when we hit the Bahamas.

So we have recently heard from a few friends that they are wondering what the heck we are up to and how come we haven't been in touch.  Therefore, here is an update.

We have spent the last six weeks, getting to know Vero Beach and traveling around the state of Florida.  Here are some highlights:

We spent Dec 30th with our friends Marilyn and Bob from Massachusetts.  They own a condo in Vero Beach and we shared the evening and a yummy dinner at their home.  It was great to see them and catch up on life, plus we got to see the Kennedy Center Honors on their big TV.  Marilyn stopped to see us again late January when she was in town with her BFF's.

Sharon picked strawberries in early January at U-Pick Hornbuckle Family Farms.  What a treat!  Fresh berries in January!!  (not anything like the ones they pick in California and ship across country)

We visited McKee Botanical Gardens in Vero Beach.  This has been here since the early 1930's and was a wonderful way to spend a sunny afternoon.  It helped us begin to learn some of the many varieties of palm trees.  There was a special Lego exhibit that was fun to see.

Lego Rose

Sharon's high school friends Peg and Allene visited during January.  It was great fun to share time together catching up.  Sharon also traveled to Ocala to visit Allene's home.  It was delightful to drive through central Florida, seeing all the orange groves, cattle farms and open land.  Very different terrain from the Northeast.  And seeing Allene and Kent's home and sharing time with them was a treat.

Garden Fest is an annual event in Vero Beach, where the local businesses in landscaping and gardening display their wares.  It is two days to enjoy all the natural and unique foliage and plants of the area.  We were sort of wishing we had some land to plant!

GardenFest 2015

We watched the Super Bowl at a really cool pool bar at the Vero Beach Hotel and Spa.  They made a special night of it and we were able to enjoy being by the sea.  It was a nail biter for sure and there was an even split of Seattle and New England fans.  It was great to be able to yell and scream when required!  Both of us are now sporting Super Bowl Championship t-shirts!

Super Bowl

We have also spent a lot of time (and money!) upgrading or replacing outdated equipment on Dream Catcher.  We have five new batteries - four house and one new start battery, giving us 500 amp hours. This pretty much guarantees us a few days of using our LED lights, the frig/freezer and keeping our phones, iPads and computers charged up before we need to recharge.  Thanks to Mike at Hartge Yacht Yard, we have a new and more powerful alternator, a cool new LinkPro monitor that tells us how our batteries are performing, and a new battery switch and combiner that allows charging to combine between house and start batteries without us doing anything.  We have had a wash down pump for our anchor so that when we bring it back up from the bottom of these muddy creeks, we can wash all the muck off of it, so that it doesn't go into our bilge.  Since we are heading for the Bahamas, and water is at a bit of a premium there, Greg switched that pump to salt water, leaving more fresh water for us.

Old Batteries

New Batteries

We hit the Miami Boat Show this past weekend.  It is something we always wanted to do and it was fun for Sharon to see Miami.  Greg was excited to be back to the area where he once spent a year as a young man.  We also got to see our friends Lori and Tom, who were vacationing in Boca Raton, and share Lori's birthday with her.

We spent one morning walking the "boardwalk" at Hollywood Beach.  (reminded us a bit of Ocean City, Maryland, except for the blue water and palm trees)

Later this week, we head south about 10 miles where a rigger will pull the mast in order to upgrade some wiring, install a cellular booster antennae and run new cable for new instruments.  Our wind, speed, depth and auto pilot instruments are original to the boat - 20 years old.  We got a deal at the Boat Show and are hoping to replace all of this within the next week.  Since the connections went out on us a few times on our way south, this will be a welcome comfort to us as we head offshore.

Next week, Greg's mom and sister will be visiting.  They are looking forward to some time away from the cold and snow in New England.  We have planned a full agenda for them while here.

The best part of being in Vero Beach has been our proximity to our friends John and Grace.  We met them while in a marina in Wickford, RI some years ago.  They are the ones who introduced us to Vero and convinced us to spend time here.  They spend four winter months here and we have loved sharing time with them.  John is trying to teach Sharon how to fish.  So far, she hasn't given it enough time and attention, so she has not been a very good pupil.  Though we have all been busy, we have spent as much time together as we can and have loved it.  We will miss being so close to them once we head offshore, but know that we will remain in touch and hopefully see each other this summer in Rhode Island.

We have also met tons of people who are living the cruising life.  Our neighbors here at the Vero Beach City Marina, Kay and Rick, are from Maine.  They live aboard a lovely trawler and we have been trading back and forth each time one of us prepares some special food item.  There are people from all over the east coast who are here or are passing through.  It is so cool to hear of their travels and destinations.  It has truly been a great experience living this way.

We will be back in touch as we head south to Miami in preparation for our crossing to the Bahamas.  Stay tuned!