It's All Relative

Day 229  |  Palmetto   

With rain in the afternoon forecast, we started early on Part 2 of our dinghy project. The epoxy had cured overnight so first step was to drill pilot holes and install the chocks, each one taking six lag bolts. We repositioned the dinghy and confirmed that it was sitting squarely in the proper position. Finally it was time to rescue our new outboard from the trunk of the rental car. The lifting harness was attached and then we loaded it in the dock cart for the long roll to our slip. Just as planned, we attached the lifting cable, winched it to the upper deck, and attached it as a crowd gathered on the dock to observe the process. Sorry folks, no drama today.

The final step was to install the stabilizer fins, which was done by standing on the caprail. Our new 9.8 hp outboard is a huge upgrade over the 3.5 hp unit that came with Crossroads. It will let us move about faster and safer while anchored or on mooring balls. Especially in the Bahamas, it will allow us to explore more remote areas that the mothership can't reach because of draft restrictions. All buttoned up, we enjoyed a few hours soaking up the sun. I finally finished my book in progress, setting the stage to start and enjoy several that I received for Christmas.

The clouds steadily increased and the breeze stiffened as the front approached. That was our cue to go knock out our errands at the bank and post office. Its a nice treat to have SunTrust branches here in Florida. On the way back to the marina, we stopped in at the Bradenton Convention Center where a small boat show was being held. Today was opening day and with two admissions for $5, we couldn't really go wrong. Our excitement over our "huge" new outboard was quickly tempered by all of the huge ones we saw, most of the time in multiple installations. This 350 hp model was bigger than me. How much horsepower is enough? It's all relative.

We saw some brands we recognized (Boston Whaler, Cobia, Beneteau) but, thankfully, we have no interest in fishing or pontoon boats. Foot traffic was light and we spent time speaking with a dealer about cruising itineraries for The Keys. His local knowedge alone was worth the price of admission. We returned to the marina as the sky turned dark. Soon the bottom fell out and the rain came down hard for thirty minutes. We checked the flybridge and the status of our instrument reset from yesterday. The water was pooling nicely around them, but more importantly, there was no sign of water intrusion in the galley. Fingers crossed that our leak problem has been resolved.