February 9 - A slight change of plans
I have been intending to do more writing, but I haven’t been able to get myself into a routine. I think about it a lot, but that doesn’t get words on the screen (that doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the way pen-to-paper does). Fortunately, I have my new friend, Andrea, to encourage me. She assures me that people out there will find our adventures interesting. I am willing to find out. As a reminder, Dave and I (Lynda) are traveling on our Leopard 45 sailing catamaran with our three border Collies, Reece, Beau, and Moss. We set sail last March, and have since traveled from Florida to the Bahamas, Panama, Mexico, and back to the US. All of that travel came to about 4000 nm(nautical miles).
Today is February 9th. It has been just over a year since we bought our boat. The biggest lesson I have learned is that nothing will ever go as planned. Today has reminded me of how much that is the truth that governs our life. After a first season of sailing to the Bahamas, Panama, Mexico, and back to the United States. The constant through all of that has been to make a plan, adjust the plan, make a new plan, and move forward. I will try to illustrate this through the events of today. We have been back in Florida since early December, and back in Dania Beach since January 2nd. There have been numerous ups and downs since we returned to the US. The weather in the southeastern US made it impossible, or at least illogical, for Dave and I to spend Christmas together. A very sick dog meant that we wouldn’t spend New Year’s together. That same sick dog meant that we had to find crew to help Dave bring the boat from Key West to Dania Beach. Of course, there were numerous minute adjustments that had to be made at every pivot.
We are currently at Just Catamarans in Harbour Towne Marina in Dania Beach, FL. We have been having a good bit of work done to the boat. Most of that work has been completed and we are both looking forward to getting out of the marina and back to life on anchor. Living on the boat here feels a bit like living in the middle of a construction zone. There are lots of workers coming and going, making various areas of the boat uninhabitable for various periods of time. At the beginning of the week, we thought that we were going to be leaving tomorrow to head to Lake Worth. We had one last night of playing pickleball and after-game dinner with our new friends on Wednesday night. We said our goodbyes and thought we were ready to head out early Friday morning. However, this is boat life and nothing ever goes according to plan. It is often a change in the weather that forces a change; however, this time it was a mechanical issue.
One of the tasks that have been being worked on has been to get our heavy-duty alternator (Integral system) belt properly aligned. This is something that has been problematic since it was installed in 2022. In fact, we broke a belt just as we left the Bahamas last year. It literally broke on the first day of our passage. Fortunately, we have two systems installed (one for each engine). With the help of Integral, we were able to get new parts sent to us in Panama and Dave spent a significant amount of time getting new brackets, pulley, and belt installed. Unfortunately, alignment has proven to be a continuing issue. The guys at Just Cats have been working on this issue for the last few weeks, but we continue to signs of wear as soon as we engage the Integral system. As this is the way that we charge our batteries when the solar panels just can’t keep up, it is fairly important that this system works properly. Thus, we are not leaving on Friday morning. Frustrating? Yes! End of the world? No!
We will pivot and make the most of the time we have here. We will play pickleball with our friends, and join them for dinner and community time on the beach. More on that later. In addition, we will spend the next few days finishing projects that need to be completed so that we are ready to be more remote for the next few months. It is the type of work that isn’t especially fun or exciting, but it means that the days ahead will be more enjoyable and less stressful. I will work on getting the netting back up on the lifelines. The netting helps to ensure that the dogs don’t accidentally go overboard. This isn’t a really difficult task, but it is fiddly. However, it does allow me to rest easier when we are at anchor and the dogs are running around the weather deck. Dave will run a few errands. That seems like an easy task, but remember that we don’t have a car. We do have e-bikes though, so Dave will just take a ride on the bike to do what he needs to do. We will work on other odds and ends that need to get completed, plus typical life tasks: laundry, cooking, cleaning, filling SCUBA tanks, checking for water leaks, filling our water tanks, etc.
Such is life on a boat. You make a plan, the universe laughs at your plan, and you make a new plan.
