Yay, internet access! Hill and I are staying in a marina which has wi-fi, but it doesn't quite reach to the boat. I'm sitting on shore in front of the office as I type this.
To answer your first question: are we in the Bahamas yet? No. First, and most important, the wind isn’t coming from the right direction for a crossing to the Bahamas. It looks like Wednesday or Thursday it will be, so that’s our target. But – the boat has to be ready too, and we still have a lot to do to get it there.
The main thing holding us up is the electrical system. We hired a contractor to install new our house batteries and solar panels, and he overextended himself trying finish up work on our boat and another boat at the same time before leaving for vacation at the end of last week. He and Hill spent all day and evening on Thursday finishing the solar panel installation, but didn’t have time to test them before the contractor left on Friday. Unfortunately, he did not connect everything properly, so the solar panels and alternator were only charging our engine start battery, but not the house battery bank that runs all of the other systems on the boat (such as water, refrigeration, lights, stereo, and power for our phones and laptops). Hill spent most of Sunday and Monday troubleshooting them, and got the solar panels working properly yesterday, but was more hesitant to work on the alternator without help. So this morning we brought in an electrician to take a look.
Because of the problems with our electricity, we are behind on all of the other tasks we need to do before we leave. We haven't even taken the boat out for a sail yet, and we still need to test the watermaker, new anchor, dinghy, etc. It's really frustrating. I just want to get to the Bahamas, but Hill doesn't want to leave until everything is tested and he's sure we're safe. So unreasonable! I'm trying to not be grumpy, with intermittent success.
The good news is that the boat is in the water which is vastly better than sleeping in a boatyard. And, the weather is back to the upper 70s so we’re in t-shirts and shorts. Right now we are staying at the Riviera Marina, a nice, calm harbor in Riviera Beach (north of Palm Beach). The only downside is that the Tiki restaurant overlooking the marina has bad classic rock cover bands playing all day. If I hear "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw" one more time, I'm pulling out the flare gun.
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