Its Here

The ship will arrive in Savanna at 9PM. I wonder if I go down to the beach, can I see my boat as it passes Fort Lauderdale? A major storm system is headed through Savannah, it should pass through before we get there. I pack up the rental car with a ton of stuff and head for Stuart to pick up Steve and Rick around noon. Steve says it is important to get there before the ship arrives, you don't want to piss off the longshoremen. We find the port around 5PM and they tell us the ship is already in, the 9PM time is the expected unloading time. We drive down to the ship and wait. There are puddles everywhere and the wind is still blowing hard. Only a foot of the bow can be seen behind a pile of containers on the ship. They are unloading anther container ship but one of the huge cranes is broken and they are running a bit behind.

Around 8PM they finish with the other ship and move the cranes to our ship. After removing a bunch of containers they rig a special lifting frame and lift Winim out and set it down on the dock at the bow of the ship. Customs inspects the boat and I think one of them was using a Geiger counter! When customs is done we cut the plastic wrapping  and load everything aboard. Steve connects the batteries and check that the engines start. For some reason the batteries are way down but enough to start the engines. I set up the GPS and plug it into the 12V outlet. It worked great in Ft Lauderdale but now it can not get a fix. I have a backup GPS but it also does not get a fix. Around 11PM they are ready to put us in the water. The crane comes back with lifting straps and puts us down in the Savannah river between the ship's mooring lines. The engines start and we are on our way. The batteries are still very low and do not seem to be charging from the engines. The third battery is at 12V so we move the battery switch to both and get enough voltage to run the GPS. It keeps asking 'are you here' and shows a map of our position. I answer yes and it keeps searching. Finally I answer no and in 30 seconds it gets a fix. The GPS and a spotlight are both connected to the 12V outlet through a 2-1 adapter and several times it gets bumped and the power goes out and we have to reinitialize the GPS and answer no when it asks if we are here.

We make it to Thunderbolt Marina just after midnight and tie up to the floating dock. We have not had any food since lunch and decide to try to get some food. We talk to the guard at the main gate and get a cab to take us to an all night diner.

The next morning while Steve and Rick put the mast together, I get a cab and retrieve the rental car from the port and bring back some groceries. During the rest of the day we put the mast and boom up and attach the sails. The port engine charges the battery but the starboard engine does not. Rick finds a loose connection under the engine cowling and both engines are charging. The head is also not working, it pumps out but not in. We make another shopping trip and pick up 4 gas cans and a load of groceries.

We have dinner just down the road at Tubby's Tank House and plan to leave next morning. The wind is still blowing pretty good and I hope it drops down by tomorrow. I return the rental car to the airport and get a cab back to the marina.

At dawn we head down the river and out into the ocean. The waves look enormous but the boat takes them without too much commotion. We set the double reefed main and jib and take off on a reach at 13 Kts. After a wild day and night it calms down somewhat as we get to Florida. During the night the reefing line chafed through where it is tied to the boom.

We go inside at Fort Pierce just before the sun goes down and make it to Stuart and Mariner Cay Marina around 10PM.

I spend 2 days at the marina to finish a few more tasks. I wire the GPS to reliable power and mount the depth sensor temporarily in a tub of water below the aft starboard bunk. I cut the bottom out of a plastic tub and used a bead of plumbers putty to secure it to the hull. It still had not leaked a week later. The head pump has a stripped screw. We can't find a replacement. The head is a Johnson but the pump has a Jabsco label, very confusing. With tape and caulk I can get the pump to work but it still leaks.

I set out early the next morning and follow several other sailboats out Stuart inlet. With a light SW wind I start heading South. Around noon the wind dies and I am motor sailing. An enormous cloud of insects descends and the boat is covered in bugs for about half an hour until the wind picks up from the East. To get sailing I push the traveler over to leeward and as I do there is a horrendous series of bangs. About 4 feet of traveler has lifted up, pulling 8 machine screws out of the aluminum cross member. How did that happen? I learn later that this happened to the previous boat they built and the holes may have been improperly tapped. I drop the sails and motor the rest of the way to Lake Worth inlet and anchor.

The next morning I head out at dawn and soon get back to familiar territory. Around 3PM I pick up a mooring at Las Olas.

The next morning I pick Dave up at Lauderdale marina and he helps me move the boat up the New River to a dock.

Rick  comes by a week later and replaces the traveler with the next larger size and retaps the holes. Steve locates a replacement head pump