In the last month or so I have not posted anything but there have been loads of things going on in the background.   The parish gave us enough money to by a RIB with an aluminum bottom.    We will name her “Little Jimmy” as this was one of the names our parish is known by; St. James the Less!   We have a 3.5 2 stroke Mercury that is undergoing some repairs and will be a good motor to start with.   Down the road (coast) I hope to find a 6 hp 2 stroke that might get us up on a plane!

I took our alternator off and found a cracked adjuster support and some mounting issues.   The belt was also the wrong size so I managed to find two the right size.     I also have ordered a spare alternator that was actually the original one specked for the motor.    It is slightly smaller in output but with 400 watts of solar now that will not be a problem.

The water maker is installed now with two stages of filters and pressure seawater feeding it.   Clearly it needs a new membrane but we may wait till Florida to get it, since that seems to be the best price.  It will not really be needed until we cross to the Bahamas so we will leave that expense for now.

I purchased 600 feet of 7/16 double braid to change out the halyards, main sheet and other lines as needed.     I have also a good supply of 3/8 for other running rigging.   Time to practice up on my double braid eye splices.   I did the one for the main halyard this morning.   Took about 45 min!

We have done a number of day sails and I have spent only one night on the boat but all systems seem to be working well as we approach our departure date of Sept 1