Leaving the Glades Boatyard

12-12-17     Yesterday was a challenge for me since the part that would allow Mango to be splashed hadn’t arrived. The part “Split Shaft Flange” which should’ve been delivered Friday per UPS 3 Day Priority arrived shortly after 8:30 PM. I was very happy to see Mr. UPS especially knowing that shipping was free since they missed their imposed 3 day delivery window. Boatyard local’s lectured me on the virtue of patience as I paced the quarter mile working yard in circles hoping that Mr. UPS would arrive early so I could install the part during the night and be splashed first thing in the morning. No luck with that but Karen and I started first thing in the morning with the help of two fellow boatyard members.

I checked the part and verified it the proper size and all machined holes lined up properly. I coerced the British guy to assist me by tapping the prop shaft while I lined things up in the bilge, Karen sat in the cockpit relaying information on when to tap and when to stop. Things were going OK when we realized we needed a bigger hammer, #10 or more would be great. Ray had a hammer which came near our needed specs but the handle quickly broke and the head spun out of control into Ray’s leg. Fortunately he was not seriously injured and now has matching bruises on each leg. The Brit had an idea. His wife Diane purchased a 15# kettle ball for exercising. He thought that it was ridicules to have a 15# lead weight aboard a small sailboat with no real boating function. Well, we now know its function. Trace (the British guy) used the kettle ball to hit the shaft which quickly drove the shaft into the flange and soon I was putting things back together waiting for the  travel lift to drop Mango in the water. 

Trace with Kettle Ball in hand after assisting me
in seating the transmission shaft flange.

Fresh shrimp and 2 Blue Moon's make me feel
better after the wrong part arrives.

The Glades Boatyard is a great place to meet wonderful people. These people are from all walks of life and many varied experiences. They are always willing to help anyone in need regardless of the circumstances. I’ve met a few gun toting Trumps fans as well as Bernie liberals but everyone seems to get a long without issue.

The travel lift slowly made its way towards Mango and she was lifted in the air several feet with Karen on board up high waiting to install the locking nut which holds the rudder in place while I lift the rudder up into its proper location. Maybe I’m getting old but I remember the rudder being lighter 16 years ago. Many thanks go out to Procter and Greg for assisting me in placing the rudder, Karen soon had the bolt in place and scurried down the ladder as she didn’t like swinging on top of Mango in the building wind.

Mango's rudder lying in wait

Mango's new Marinekinectix wind generator
installed.

Mango getting ready to splash.

Trace with kettle ball in hand.

Mango slowly made its way to the launching well aboard the travel lift. The workers softly lowered her into the brown water of the Caloosahatchee while I boarded and examined Mango for possible leaks. Everything turned out great and Mango’s motor started and ran without any issues. The wind was really blowing at this time and the new wind generator was quietly producing over 10 amps power. The only downside was the refrigerator / freezer seemed to be acting up but that was put on the back burner. Karen and I felt relieved to be in the water and cleaned her up a bit and took showers. Afterwards Karen enjoyed an Angry Orchard and I a few fingers of Captain Morgan Private Stock.

We sat in the chairs near the office and enjoyed the company of other boaters shooting the breeze discussing the sexual preferences of weatherman. FYI it appears that many weatherman are gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Trace made Bhel Puri for us and it was great,
even Karen enjoyed it.

One of the required ingredients of
Bhel Puri.

ML crowded in back seat kindly giving us
a ride back to Mango.

12-16-17     Since I entered my last thoughts of the day into the computer Karen and I managed to motor Mango west on the Caloosahatchee to the town of Labelle. Labelle has a free dock that includes water and electricity and a nearby library for internet if needed. We stopped by there a few years ago and really enjoyed the piece and quiet (not including the nearby bridge loaded with traffic). This day the location had all 8 slips empty, only 6 of which are suitable for Mango. Even a non-boater would be able to see that our docking skills need some practice although Labelle’s docks compound the difficulty due to the piling locations. I’m not complaining, especially for the price. We got all tied up without Mango adding scratches of missing gelcoat so it was a success.

During the short trip we found “George” our somewhat trusty autopilot seemed at times to have a mind of his own. I performed some troubleshooting and came to the conclusion that George had the same malady that afflicted him during our 2015 Bahamas trip. A day later I contacted George’s maker Garmin, who quickly confirmed my diagnosis. Needless to say I was not happy until the Garmin Guy gave me a birthday present by informing me that he would send me a $250 external rudder sensor for free. This sensor will need to have a mounting location fabricated and installed which is made more difficult by the small area and surrounding wires and hoses. I feel confident that we can make this happen without too much issue. We also found that the refrigerator/freezer is continuing it’s issues from late last year. A new filter/drier ordered and being sent along with George’s rudder sensor to Fort Myers Beach for pickup next week. Time for a walk and some relaxing today. 

Karen visiting on the docks of Labelle.

This boat is stopped hard aground. This is
what happens when you're on the wrong
side of the channel.

Water skiing down the Caloosahatchee in
December.

Boat puke while working on the autopilot.

Next morning job number 1 was giving Mango a good bath to wash off the many layers of Glades Boatyard limestone and sand. The job was made easy because of the heavy morning dew that loosened any stains or mold on Mango’s topsides and my bare feet enjoyed the warm water coming out of the hose verses the 48 degree air temperature. I have to say that Mango looks very good and with a bit of wax on the topsides will be like new.

Labelle’s free dock seemed to fill up quickly after our arrival as we were soon joined by a very nice Canadian couple (Al and Ellie) along with a couple from Michigan and a single hander from Michigan also. The next day we welcomed the arrival of 2 more sailboats and a local man I’ve been told to expect. The British guy told me to expect a visit from Lance while we visited Labelle’s dock. I was told that Lance will remind me a biblical character which made him very easy to identify. Lance seems to be a great guy but does remind me of Charleton Heston’s Moses character from the 10 Commandments wearing flip flops, Hawaiian shirt, jean shorts, big beard.

12-18-17     Today we leave the now crowded town docks of Labelle. We loved our time here but our feet have been itchy since Friday, we chose to wait in Labelle rather than be hassled with Fort Myer’s weekend boat traffic. The morning was sunny and gorgeous aside from some lingering heavy fog and several boats were prepping to leave as S/V No Gridlock backed out of her slip. We said goodbye to boat neighbors and Lance showed up giving me an ocean fishing rod and reel. Lance would not take any money for the pole but assured him that I will bring back fish on our return trip.

Todays trip went great as we chugged along at 5.5 knots clearing through bridges and finally passed through the Franklin lock into salt water. We passed the city of Fort Myer’s deciding to anchor near the Cape Coral Highway bridge on the Northeast side in 10 feet of water. The anchorage was a bit bumpy due to power boats zooming around but we felt this would end once the sun started to set. We were happy to be joined by Bob off of S/V Christinaki as he was looking for a place to rest for the night. Bob set his anchor and brought over 3 beers and joined us eating and watching the sunset. His words rang true “Nothing could be better than good friends, good food at a beautiful sunset”. He helped be break open a bottle of Appleton Rum and soon the stars appeared and the water turned into a flat mill pond.

Stowaway from Glades. I'll find him some
day and relocate to land.

Fort Myer Beach morning. Seems like a lot
of this lately.

Birthday gift from Fracas. Wrapped in
shop towels with painting tape bows.
You guys always know what I want.

12-20-17     Over the past 2 days Karen and I have been busy installing the refrigerator drier and autopilot rudder sensor. The refrigerator part installed perfectly and went very well but somehow I created an electrical bug. After a nights sleep and me uttering “Son of a Bitch” countless times I found the bad connections and made them conduct electricity properly. I have to send cudo’s out to Coastal Climate Control for helping me verify the refrigerator problem and quickly sending the drier to us.  Next came the Garmin rudder sensor which should be another item that would install quickly, however any of you that have been crawling around in the stern area of a small boat know that uncluttered real-estate is hard to come by. We started out by moving items out of the stern storage area and lazarette. I then climbed down into the lazaretto and Karen contorted herself into the stern storage area to hold the shelf I made while I took measurements to verify proper operation. Afterwards Karen and I switched our confined spaces and installed the shelf and other associated parts. In the end everything appears to work but a sea trial will be the real verification. 

After two days of hot sweaty work in tight quarters we decided a meal and drinks onshore was sorely needed. We found ourselves at Bonita Bill’s for happy hour where a large pitcher of beer and 2 BBQ rib meals cost $24. The food was excellent and so were the patrons as I interjected myself into a conversation that an older gentleman seemed to be having with himself while watching President Trump on TV. The gentleman’s name was Jim and he was from New York and made the statement that nobody can get “Obamacare” for less then $30,000 a year and then you face a $10,000 deductible. I couldn’t let that fact go unchallenged as Karen and I both pay far less but we do have high deductibles. The conversation devolved into how Bill Clinton and Obama have ruined America. After over 40 minutes Jim and I eventually agreed to disagree and wished each other Merry Christmas. He went on his way and several older people at the bar bought Karen and I more beer, we were bloated with Miller Light. During my political discussion Karen made friends with a gentleman who played football with Nick Saban at Kent State and was a Dallas Cowboy for a year. We had a great time but it was getting dark and time to leave.

After leaving Bonita Bill’s we took the dinghy across the water to take quick showers and I had Karen cut my hair, per usual she did a great job even though I had to clean things up a bit. Probably should have cut my hair before drinking beer, maybe next time.  

Karen’s perspective….he is only saying great job because we have at least four more months on the boat and many more haircuts.