She's Ready to GO

With the help of Rusty and Karen, we fixed the fresh water system today.  The problem:  sediment at the base of the tank.  It was no easy task.  Lots of sweat, good-wholesome-cursing, and a few threats against Satan and humanity, and it was fixed.  Actually, we disconnected the line to the bottom of the tank, which was very hard due to access, stuck a saw blade into the tank an banged it around until the water poured out.  Then blew out the main line (also harder than it sounds) and then the water flowed.

Tomorrow we will pour a little bleach into the tank, run the tank nearly dry, and refill it.

Also, Erik Nordenhaug built us a sweet table that slides right into the wheel pedestal.  It is a simple peice of plexiglass that holds itself in place.

Wind Mistress is Home

We sailed her home on her new bottom. She is very fast. We had the fat three bladed prop replaced with a thin two bladed prop. That change, the new bottom and the new mainsail all seemed to have a positive effect on her performance. Under motor she reached 6 knots at about 1200 rmp's. Under sail she reached 6 knots with only a light breeze.

 We completed the Sail Harbor to Coffee Bluff trip in 2.5 hours, and that includes the 30 minutes we spent at the dock at Island of Hope Marina getting fuel and ice. This typically takes us 4-5 hours.

Other completed repairs:
 >Aft potty fixed.
 >Steaming light replaced - though I don't think this one will last long.  It really sticks out and his hanging on by two tiny screws.  The previous light was far stronger and was torn off by a flapping jib sheet.  When this one goes, we may just operate sans steaming light.
>Solar panels mounted, hooked up and charging the batteries. 

Last task:
>Repair the fresh water pump. We have until June 2nd to fix it. If we can't fix it, we sail with bottled water.