Back to Florida for our sixth winter on Cool Change
November 12th through November 23rd
We arrived in Merritt Island, Fl on Thursday and launched the boat on Friday the 13th. Everything went well from lifting the boat through the 300 yard travel to and into the water.
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| This is the second on-land placement of our boat. It spent 8 months parked about 500 feet away. It was moved to this spot a few weeks ago ($180 cost that we had not expected) for the bottom to be repainted to prevent the growth of barnacles and algae. |
Cool Change weighs about 34,000 pounds with all our gear and the fuel load aboard. This travel lift had no problem picking it up and carrying it to the water.
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| Up and away |
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| It is truly amazing to watch as the boat travels across the lot suspended from the crane. |
After sitting for eight months on land and not being connected to electricity, the batteries were kept at full charge by our onboard solar system. Both motors fired right up. We were concerned for the water pump on the starboard motor as we had a new seacock and hose installed on the intake side of the water pump while in storage. After launch and as we motored from the travellift over to our slip, my friend Roger noted that the port exhaust sounded loud and did not appear to have water flowing out. Unfortunately, he was right. The impeller for the raw water pump for that motor had failed, All twelve vanes of the impeller had disintegrated. The starboard impeller that we had some concern about came through just fine.
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| Port engine impeller. Where did the 12 three-quarter-inch long rubber fins go? We may never know. |
We hired a marine tech to do this job. Wayne replaced the impeller on the starboard motor two years ago. It took two hours and was readily accessible. The port impeller was located next to a fuel tank with only eight inches of room to work. For three hours Wayne passed tools and encouragement to the tech. The tools were Wayne's. The impeller was a replacement already in our spares on the boat. The tech brought only his skills and supreme determination aboard.
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| Hired mechanic doing the job, He knows that the water pump is there somewhere. He can feel it but not see it. |
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| Our view from our slip at Harbortown Marina |
We stayed at Harbortown Marina on Merritt Island for three nights. We spent two of those days just scrubbing and cleaning, both inside and out. Florida black mold had accumulated over 8 months and was all over the decks and side curtains. With bleach mixed with water and Fantastic,Wayne scrubbed all of the decks. The black mold seemed to be locked to the deck with a clear coating or something and had to be scrubbed off. That side curtains were mildewed both inside and outside. The entire second day was spent getting the plastic curtains to sparkle again We could not use bleach on the clear vinyl, just water wash down. Then all were cleaned with 303 brand vinyl cleaner and polished with dry towels.
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| Look carefully and you can see the mold on the clear side curtains.and the cleaning towel. |
Inside the boat Colleen was busy stowing clothes, kitchen supplies and foodstuffs, making the bed up with fresh sheets, setting out towels, vacuuming, Soft Scrubbing every inside surface and cleaning toilets and bathroom sinks and the galley. Of course, many sewing and quilting projects also had to be unpacked and stowed in a special basket I keep for them. My to-do list this winter includes six quilt tops, two wall hangings and lots of small projects that will be Christmas gifts for family and friends. We brought a large, new item onto the boat this year - a custom made bedspread that Colleen pieced with the help of some of her quilt guild friends. It was so large, it had to be professionally quilted and the stitching is really beautiful. This past summer it earned a third place ribbon at my guild's quilt show.
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A new queen sized bed spread custom made for our master cabin bed
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Deck Box Repair
The latch tore out from the front of the dock box that is located on our swim platform. The original design was rather flimsy and was set up for failure. A repair was made from starboard material and through bolted so that it will not fail again.
Wayne is making new window coverings that will allow more light into the cabin while still blocking sun glare and the view from the outside. The material used is a mesh fabric that blocks 80% of the sunlight. In the day we can see out but people outside cannot see in. Wayne made covers for the port and starboard side triangular windows. He will make a cover for the three-panel front windows soon.
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| Outside view |
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| View through the new mesh side curtain |
Repairs yet to do:
Dinghy leaking air - third attempt at repair awaiting dry weather
Starboard stuffing box leaking - for you landlubbers that is the seal around the propeller shaft
Anchor windlass is not working - we placed a backup anchor on deck should we need it in a hurry
Finally on the water again!
We got underway finally on Monday the 16th. We traveled only 7 miles south to Cocoa Village Marina. Our good friend, Marcy, took command for part of the trip. It was quite windy and she did a fine job of crabbing the boat in the wind and waves to keep us between the waterway markers.
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| "Captain" Marcy takes the helm |
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| Our view from our stern at Cocoa Village Marina |
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| View of Cocoa Village Marina. Note the weather overhead. Four days of wind and rain! |
Since our arrival we've enjoyed exploring the area around the marina. We are located right in downtown Cocoa, about a three-by-eight block area packed with good restaurants, a community theater, many gift and antique shops, a friendly local hardware store, ice cream shops, and art galleries. It's a perfect pedestrian-friendly area with a local library and post office and nice park within walking distance. Publix supermarket is only a mile-and-a-half away and movie theaters are close by too.
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| The marina office is straight ahead. |
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| View of the captains' lounge. Ken, dock master, and Kelly, office manager, are always cheerful and ready to assist any way that they can. |
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| Another view of the Cocoa Village Marina captains' lounge |
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| The laundry room is one very appealing amenity here at Cocoa Village Marina. We almost feel we could write a book about the very bad marina laundry rooms and bathrooms we have known. This is near the top of the good list. |
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| Cocoa Village looking north. There are many quaint shops in the Village. Antiques, collectibles, clothing, nautical decor and much more. |
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| The community theater |
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| Travis Hardware, here for over 125 years. Every captain must visit Travis. Their inventory is amazing! |
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| All we could want in the way of good restaurants |
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| Pizza Sunday evening at Ryan's in Cocoa Village |
We're familiar with Cocoa Village because of many trips we've made to the area but this year, there was a new addition. The Sugar Shack serves donuts and you have never seen donuts like these. The caramel with sea salt is Colleen's favorite so far but, depending on the mood of the baker, you can find donuts covered with just about every ingredient you can imagine - from red velvet cake to Reeses Pieces to - believe it or not - bacon!
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| YES! That is bacon on the donuts. |
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| The enthusiastic staff will give you a donut-by-donut tour |
While Wayne does repairs Colleen is quilting and crafting
| First order of business after we got settled - make a bunch of Christmas ornaments. Next job - making custom labels for quilts I've been sewing for my sisters-in-law. The third order of business is a bed runner for my daughter-in-law, Maria. There are lots of projects to keep me busy here. I've also managed to get a library card to use at the nearby public library. For fifteen dollars I have a visitor's card that's good for a year. I am so excited!!! |
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| Ornament making |
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This quilt is for my sister-in-law Patty and is meant to look like a stained glass window. |
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| Marcy and Colleen enjoyed a morning program at The Quilt Place in Rockledge, FL,a little bit south of Cocoa. |
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| A sign that Colleen found on her walk to the library |
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Until next time.
