One more day!

Sanderling is just about ready to depart. Everything is aboard except for our personal items and food. We still have to hurricane-proof the house, but that is just a matter of picking up everything that is outside and moving it into the garage, or other areas indoors. Our house-sitter will take care of things if a hurricane invades the area.

We'll be departing either Thursday afternoon (the 29th), or early on Friday (the 30th). We'll have to watch the shuttle launch while underway north of Daytona, Florida.

Ready to Depart Boat Yard

Everything has been completed as far as the fuel tank replacement project is concerned. The generator was connected to the fuel line and run this morning. The "shark skin" that had been protecting (with some success) the saloon deck has been removed. The sand and small pieces of gravel cleaned up.

The final item was to haul Sanderling to check her bottom, cutlass bearings, and zincs. The bottom only had a bit of slime, and there was a small amount of growth (worms and small barnacles) on the shafts and wheels which were scraped off. Two shaft zincs needed to be replaced; the remaining zincs were still in good shape. Sanderling was out of the water for no more than 45 minutes.

Now she's lying against the dock. I reconnected the starting battery and ran the engines for a short while as I was checking out the various electronics, inverter and Link 1000 electrical usage monitor. We ran the generator so we could check out the heat pumps and charger.

Now we need to clean and dust, and put things away. We should finish cleaning tomorrow (Sunday) and then we can take her down to our marina on Monday, and load items we need for our trip north on Tuesday and Wednesday. With any luck we'll be on our way north on Thursday.

Good news!

Good news - both engines are back in the engine room (along with new tanks)! The port engine is all hooked up and ready to run for the first time in over three months. The starboard engine is resting on the stringers, but not yet fastened in place with the engine mounts. That will be accomplished today, along with reattaching all of the hoses, lines and cables. With a little luck, the generator will be placed in the engine room today.

After reconnecting the electrical system, starting the engines, and making sure that everything is operating properly, the only thing left to do is to haul Sanderling for a short while (keeping her in the slings) to clean the bottom and replace any corroded zincs. Then we'll be out of the boat yard and back in our marina.

Still in the boat yard

Sanderling is still undergoing repairs at Banana River Marine on Merritt Island, Florida. Earlier this spring her generator, two diesel engines, and fuel tanks were removed in order to replace the fuel tanks with new ones. In the process, the entire engine room and bilge was cleaned and painted, and all hoses and impellers on the engines replaced.

Work has proceeded slowly, as the yard is short-handed and has been repairing other boats while Sanderling's work took a back seat. On June 9th work started again after a month of inactivity. As of today (June 14th) the 900 pound engines are being lifted into place. In a few days they should be connected and running again.

Following completion of the yard work, we will take Sanderling back to her marina at Patrick Air Force Base and begin the task of getting her ready for the cruise north.