This year we invited Wayne's sister, Judy, and our brother-in-law, Doyle, to share Christmas dinner with us on the boat. The meal was excellent, if I do say so myself - homemade turkey breast and stuffing in our boat's little oven, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, Publix rolls, ambrosia, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, and pumpkin and apple pies. It was quite a spread that filled our little aft table and a nearby counter top and left almost no room for the feasters. We all dug in and then, about twenty minutes later, I remembered that I had wanted to take a picture of it all. Oh, well, here you have the decimated remains.
Wayne and I both enjoy his mother's recipe for ambrosia so much that I made a batch for New Year's too, after Judy brought it at Christmas. It seems that every cook in the South has his or her own way to make this treat. Here's ours:
The Thrailkill's Ambrosia
A bag of Florida (NOT California!!!) oranges (about 15 oranges)
2 cans of fruit cocktail
1 jar of maraschino cherries
4 or 5 bananas
About 2 cups of orange juice
Peel and sectionize the oranges, squeezing out the juice after you have cut out the plugs. Yes, it's a messy job but the resulting flavor is worth it. Drain and add the fruit cocktail and the cherries. (Save the cherry juice for something else. It does not improve the ambrosia.) Peel and slice the bananas into half slices. Gently stir this all together and then add the orange juice.
Store in a one gallon container in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving. It keeps well for several days and just gets better and better.
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| Colleen's close friend, Marla, loaned us dessert cups for Christmas dinner. These are part of set that belonged to Colleen's mother. We have the rest of the set at home. A very thoughtful sentimental offering for Christmas |
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| Our boat all decked out for Christmas |
Friends Visit
Christmas and the holidays brought us several visits with old friends.
Colleen's friend from grade school, Lani, visited with her husband, Don, and daughter, Tina. We last saw Tina as a baby and now she's 20! Too many years between visits.
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| Colleen and Lani We first met in 1959. |
Family
We also got together for a restaurant meal with Howard and Donna (Wayne's oldest brother and his wife), sister Judy and brother-in-law Doyle, and brother Harlan and his wife Patty.
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| The siblings - Howard, Judy, Wayne, Harlan |
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| Lunch at Tony Roma's to celebrate Howard's, Judy's, and Harlan's birthdays |
More Friends Visit
Another visit was from long ago boating friends, Jim and Shaula and Pam and Richard. We had multiple escapades and adventures with these two couples during our Orlando boating years. We have travelled together on both the Atlantic and Gulf intracoastal waterways, the Kissimme and St Johns rivers, various Florida lakes, the Keys and the Bahamas.
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| Shaula, Pam, Colleen at Milliken's Reef restaurant at Port Canaveral |
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| The guys: Jim, Wayne, Richard |
Another day Colleen fixed a ladies' lunch on the boat for Marcy, Marla and yet another grade school friend, Mary. Mary and Colleen have done some family tree research together. We both have family roots in Montana and she has been trying to track her father's time in the service during WWII.
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| Colleen and friend Marcy in Merritt Island, Harbortown Marina docks Sorry, Marla and Mary haven't arrived yet. |
Of course, much quilting is taking place aboard Cool Change
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| I'm not sure who will be getting this one. I just saw the pattern and liked it and it was super easy to make. The quilting will have to wait until we're back in North Carolina with more space to spread out. |
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| Marla's Christmas gift |
Can you believe the size of these hibiscus flowers? That's an adult hand beside it. We found these at Harvey's Fruit Stand in Rockledge, FL, the same place where we picked up the delicious ambrosia oranges.
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| The new observation tower and museum at Port Canaveral |
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| Our travel legs to date - about 400 miles by water. We have also traveled 2100 miles by car since leaving home in mid-November |
We left Merritt Island on January 10th and experienced an uneventful one day trip to Vero Beach. The weather warmed some with light fog and light sprinkles along the way.
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| It was not a pretty day but we were eager to get back on the water again |
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| We are still trying to get a great dolphin photo but they are too quick for our camera. They are one of the most common and welcome of the sights we see along the water |
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| Arriving at the Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach |
Repairs, repairs and more repairs
Wayne always has a to-do list handy and he decided to whip out some of the jobs during the month we were in Merritt Island. He finished A LOT, as you'll see as you read on.
1. Install on / off switch for navigation computer
The heart of the Raymarine navigation network aboard Cool Change consists of a nav computer that integrates the radar, GPS, and Autopilot. The nav computer also integrates the fluxgate compass and the rudder angle indicator to the Autopilot. All but the GPS is vintage 1997. I recently found that the computer was hard wired to the 12 volt system and was ALWAYS ON 24/7 since 1997. It is a miracle that it has not been damaged. In checking the installation manual it was confirmed that a on-off switch should have been incorporated originally. Sooo, I drilled into the dash panel and installed a good switch for the Nav computer and autopilot.
2. Moved GPS antenna
For the 3-and-a-half years that we have owned Cool Change we have gone without radar because after 15 to 20 minutes of use the GPS would lose satellite acquisition. Being as the GPS was far more useful than radar, we shut down the radar. Over the past 3 years, I made a number of attempts at a cure. In October we finally decided that we really wanted to have radar so we had a technician aboard to solve our problems. After 7 hours at $75 dollars per, the problem was pronounced solved. The unfortunate situation was that we did not make time to do an on-the-water check-out before our departure. Of course, the problem was still there when we got underway in mid-November. A call to the GPS manufacturer received the standard reply: "we have never heard of this problem before". Well, just go to the internet and you'll find that it is a common problem for many boaters, Mr. Manufacturer.
I have finally decided to move the GPS antenna and so pulled out the GPS wiring leading to the radar arch and re-installed the GPS antenna on the front cowl over the front windshield. This solution moved the GPS so the radar beam could not hit the GPS antenna with its RF (radio frequency) signal. The internet conversation on this problem finally led me to try this - and, surprise! The GPS and radar have operated together for almost 20 hours without any further problem.
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| Changing GPS mounts |
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| Finishing up the move |
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| GPS antenna at its new home |
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| Ahh. Radar AND GPS |
Our stove burners would sometimes not warm up. The solution was to jiggle the burner element in the socket. Suddenly that no longer was working and all three burners refused to heat until they were repaired correctly.
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| Colleen says GET IT FIXED! |
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| Connector was disintegrating inside |
4. Installed more lights in hardtop
We had two recessed LED lights in our aft hardtop. They were not quite adequate for our needs so we added two more with the help from Doyle, our brother-in-law.
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| Brother-in-law Doyle is an electrical and aerospace engineer as well as an accomplished do-it-yourselfer. Goody. Goody. |
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| Oh I hate to put a hole in good fiberglass! |
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| Always great when a clean cut happens. |
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| I think I did this right! Red to red, correct? |
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| I will caulk if you will install. |
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| Why does it always take so many tools to do a simple task?????? |
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| Reward for a job done well! Bring me a beer please. |
5. Removed old Ray Marine GPS
The original Raymarine GPS was no longer being used. It was disconnected from the Nav computer wiring harness several months ago when the newer Horizon brand GPS was connected. The old GPS had occupied a position mounted into the dash. The auto pilot was mounted on a bracket on top of the dash. I removed the old GPS and installed the autopilot into the dash mount frame and removed and discarded the old top mount bracket and the old GPS. Cleans up the instrument panel area nicely
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| New mounting spot for the autopilot |
6. Pulled new 12 volt wiring for GPS
Doyle and I determined that the GPS should be on a power circuit of its own. The distance from the flybridge console to the main switch panel is about 8 feet vertically. But we had to run 35 feet of wire from the steering console along the side of the flybridge, then down to the engine compartment and along the wiring traces forward and over to the main switch panel. A piece of cake and 4 hours of work.
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| Pulling wire from flybridge |
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| Fishing wires inside wiring traces |
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| Doing the checkout |
7. Cleaned up wiring mess behind console
I removed about 25 feet of excess wiring, removed multiple splices in many wires and bundled every wire that I could. I also replaced about half of the terminal ends at the positive and negative buss bars. It is hard to see much difference in the before and after photos but there is a lot of improvement there.
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| Before |
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| After |
8. Sealed the bimini top
With time acrylic fabric loses some of its ability to repel water. A good coating of $50 per gallon waterproofing stops water that drips at the bows and the stitching. It also stops the splash through in pouring rains. Rolling from the underside is completely effective. The sealer dries in 10 minutes and does not smell once it dries.
9. Replaced horn mounts
The rubber mounts for our horn were deteriorating and leaving black rubber streaks on the deck. Doyle and I removed the horn, replaced the mounts with thick rubber gasket material and re-installed the horn.
10. Replaced the cabin door latches
We have been concerned for some time as to the security of the cabin door locks. We have now replaced the aluminum slide locks with heavy duty stainless steel versions top and bottom of the doors.
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| Removing the old locks |
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| New slide locks |
So, here we are two months into our four month winter and the boat is in perfect shape, right? Guess it's time for Colleen to find something else to break so Wayne can stay happy fixing things.
