Cape Marina

10 -30 May

I have been busying myself with a few jobs on the boat, watching sunsets, sunrises and watching the Toronto Reptiles play some ball and get learnt how to play some ball..

Full Moon

 Red sky at night and the following day was a delight ;-)

 Another sunrise..

This area is a major cruise boat terminal, this is giant Rodent lines..

 The pelicans hand around the fish cleaning stations and will gobble up any offal thrown in the water..

Pelicans waiting for food. 

Boat jobs undertaken..

• Replace engine blower and install pilot light in cockpit- the original one had burnt out some time, a lot cooler in the engine compartment and the cabin as a whole.
• Soundproof the water maker and add bleed line (get rid of air in filters)
• Check fuel tank sensor, it was dirty
• tighten all fasteners on boat
•  install 120V power for battery charger - boat is wired for 220v and only needed electricity to charge bateries.
• sound proof engine compartment properly, close to the stairs, there was no insulation and around the access hatch there were large gaps..
• reduce engine noise in cockpit (without turning off the engine ;-)) - changed the air inlet for the engine to the aft section of the hull, so with the engine on, air would be drawn through the two aft cabins.. 

The original plan for staying here would be to perform the above maintenance and to meet up with Andy and see a rocket launch..  The Space X  rocket launch was supposed to be on Thurs 26, a week before the launch date, the launch event disappeared from the interwibble, leading me to believe that the launch had been cancelled. On the 26 May, I heard on the wireless, that the launch was going ahead... So I grabbed a beer, and found a good lookout and waited for the launch.... It got postponed to the Friday- there was an issue with and actuator in the upper stage motors, which meant I wasn`t going to see it..

I showed up on Thursday to the car rental place (as I had cleverly reserved a car ) only to be told that I had booked the car in a week's time - DOH!!!! Fortunately they had a car and other than looking like he monkey that I am, no harm...  I arrived at Andy's and was warmly greeted by Ruta and Bianca as Andy was still at work (last time I visited Andy and Ruta was 10 years ago, before Bianca was born)..

On the Saturday,  Andy kindly organised a trip to his work - he is Chief Engineer of the CH53K, which is a nice *BIG BURD*.. As they are still involved in testing I wasn't allow to get too close - it was still pretty impressive to see such a big helicopter up close.. 

Picture from the internet - this thing has MTOW 88,000lb

After ogling the nice toy out, we went carting, the high performance version, you could get up to some nice speeds on those things.. Andy having done this before, deftly demonstrated how it should be done, he lapped me 2x - it's about taking part (been supporting Reptiles and Maple Loosers for too long ;-)).

Me in my racing sled

Afterwards we had some lunch, a beer or two and lounged by the pool... Then we went out for dinner... On Sunday we woke up and Andy and I went for a short (30km) ride on a mostly flat (the overpasses throw in some hills). First time I have been on a *REAL* road racing bike and it was nice.

Ready for the ride..

 At the half way point - no prises for guessing which one of  us does this regularly..

Panting like the dog, wot I is..

After a hearty brunch, I headed back to Cape marina to prepare to depart today.   

Thank you very much Ruta, Bianca and Andy for great company and OK'ish hospitality (I'm going to have to go back just to make sure ;-)).

This morning, I decided to postpone my departure, till tomorrow as Tropical depression Bonnie hadn't moved from Charleston(next port of call) and I didn't feel like a further dose of humility from mother Nature.. The latest forecasts are much more favourable and tomorrow, I will be heading north.