Hello, and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I know I did!
Well not too much has happened since I last wrote in this Blog. Let me catch you up to where I am.
After December 14th, 2008, I took Arima to another boat yard where they lifted Arima in a travel lift, just high enough to work on the boot for my drive shaft. The outer boot had slipped off of the inner boot and developed a slow leak. So the boat yard fixed that. However, when the boat yard completed that job, the tide had gone out so they couldn't let Arima out of the sling. Arima and I had to spend the night in the sling.
The next morning Arima was released and I headed west down the Miami River to Hurricane Cove. There I rented a slip and put Arima in her new home for the next few months.
I also met with a broker about selling Arima. That was hard to do, but necessary. On Wednesday I rented a small U-haul truck. I then drove the truck to my hand doctor's office where he changed the bandages on my two bad fingers. Boy they looked scary, yet so much better than before.
All day Thursday, I removed all of my personal gear from Arima and put it in the truck. That was a long day. Also hard to move all my stuff with one bad hand. However, by 1800 hours I managed to complete the job.
Thursday evening at 1830 hours I was driving the U Haul truck out of the parking lot and heading for Knightdale, NC. I drove until midnight, then puller into an Econo Lodge motel, where I sent the night. By 0900 hours on Friday morning I was back on the road. I pulled into my brothers driveway around 1830 hours Friday evening. What a trip. Just think, what took me about 2 weeks to sail down from NC to Miami, i drove in 2 days.
spent Christmas with my brother's family. My mother flew in from Texas. So it was almost a family reunion for Christmas. I had a great time. Visited Mike's tree farm in Beaulaville, NC. Saw a bunch of movies, did some Christmas shopping and opened Christmas presents. One of my sons even called me on Christmas Day to wish me a Merry Christmas! How KEWL is that!
On December 29, 2008, I rented another U Haul truck, loaded up my stuff and drove to Frisco, Tx. I left around 1400 hours, 12-29-08. I drove pretty much straight through. I did stop at a rest area and slept for three hours. I arrived in Frisco Tx December, 30th around 1400 hours.
So now here I am in Frisco, Tx trying to get my database business back up and running. That really has been a blessing in more ways than one. I contacted three old customers.All three were happy to hear from me. Each one gave me some work to do. I also contacted Theresa at Alpha Software. She too has generated some leads for me. So things are slowly buy surely starting to fall into place. I met with the local Alpha Five User Group in Dallas. That went well. I also met with my ole' developer friend Kevin (who Hosts this site for me free of charge). Kevin may even have so work lined up for me in March. Friends are the greatest asset!!!!
I have a lot to be Thankful for! (Ha, and it's not even Thanksgiving) Last year was a GREAT RIDE!!! I bought a sailboat, and fixed her up. I helped deliver a boat up the ICW to Annapolis, MD. I helped deliver another boat from Beaufort, NC to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from there to Dingle, Ireland. I got to sail down the south eastern coast of North America.I met oh so many people and made so many new friends, for which I am Very Thankful! Overall it was a great ride.
Do I miss the sailing life? You Bet! Will I be out there again? Boy I sure Hope So!!
I will have more to say in another Captain's Log.
Have Fun! I am!
12/13/2008
Saturday and Sunday
Saturday morning I woke up and after breakfast I tried to clean up Arima a little. Every time I lowered my right hand I was in pain. So I stopped cleaning, and layed down holding my hand up. I ended up falling asleep. What a nice nap.
Pretty much the rest of the day I just relaxed and took care of my hand.
Sunday morning I went for a walk. I left around 0900 hours. I just needed to clear my head and think about my situation. I also needed to reflect on this past year.
The walk was good. I walked through little Havannah, part of downtown Miami, and along the Miami River. The walk was a nice change of pace. Gave me some time to take in the sights as well as think.
I need to keep my hand (wounded fingers) dry for the next month. I also need to use my right hand as little as possible while my injured fingers heal. My money situation is pretty grim right now. The transmission issue cost me a lot of money. The finger issue as well... with hospital costs and the doctor fees. I can't be a bartender for at least a month, since my finger have to stay dry. Man life comes at you hard sometimes. Got to keep a smile and a positive attitude no matter what!
You ever hear the story about the homeless guy in the streets begging for some money. He asks one guy for some change saying he is Broke. The guy answers saying, "You aren't broke, your even! I'm Negative, I owe on my house, my car, and have credit card debt. I'm Negative and you are Even. Be Thankful!"
Well I am Thankful but the truth is I am also Negative. So I need to make some changes.
Any way after my walk, I decided to get the leak in Arima fixed (yeah well DUH), then put Arima in storage in Miami. While Arima is in storage I will put the boat up for sale. I don't do debt very well. Selling Arima will solve all my debts quickly. If Arima doesn't sell by April, I will have to probably move her up north. Maybe back to Bock Marine in Beaufort NC. Just have to play it by ear. Who knows maybe by April I will have my debts paid off and have some extra cash as well. Then I just may continue n with my sailing journey.
As for now, I will drive to Raleigh and spend Christmas with my brother, Greg and his family. My mother is flying in as well so it will be a nice family Christmas.
After that I will move back to Dallas and try to find work. I will start looking for some clients for my database business, but I also will sign on with some Temp Agencies. And I will try to get some bartending work as well.
Life can be challenging but it is best when you rise to meet those challenges with a positive attitude and decide to get out there and play head on! So onward I go! Sailing down life's road.
12/12/2008
Find Arima
After I woke up this morning, I ate a nice hospital breakfast. Scrambled eggs, and pancakes. It was pretty good.
Around 0930 hours Dr. Gingold came by and told me to see him next week so the dressings could be changed.It would also be about 4 to 5 months before my fingernails would grow back. He also told me to keep my hand dry and that I wouldn't be able to use my hand for the next 4 to 6 weeks. He gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him if anything happened or I started to experience a lot of pain. The Doctor then signed my release form.
Now the interesting thing is I came off of Arima wearing blue jeans and my ski vest. So I had no shoes and no shirt. Leaving the hospital is going to be interesting. I mentioned this to a couple of nurses and to the security guard. Wouldn't you know it, the security guard came by later with a hoodie sweat shirt and a pair of size 13 shoes. Man that was nice.
So I put my hand in a plastic bag and took a shower. Then I got dressed. Now my shoe size is 10 so I got some newspaper and shoved some of the paper in the toes of the shoes. That worked. So I was able to walk out of the hospital dressed half way descent.
I called my voice mail to find out where Arima was. Luckily Tow Boats US called my voice mail and told me Arima's location. So I took a cab to Arima. Arima was at the Tow Boats US dock on the Miami River. After I arrived at the Tow Boats US Dock, they told me Arima had a leak. At this point I didn't know whether to cry or scream. But I held it together. I went aboard Arima with JC the manager at Tow Boats US. He said the leak was coming from the drive shaft. I looked and saw that the outer boot had slipped part way off of the inner boot. Luckily not that big of a deal however, I will need to get her hauled out again. I could do the job myself,however, my hand prevents that, so I need to get some one else to do the job.
Back to the phone and my book on Miami Marinas. I found a couple of places that could do the job. The cheapest place can't do the job until Tuesday. Like everything else here in Florida marinas are busy and they are not cheap.
I spent the rest of the day just relaxing and holding my right hand up. When I drop my right hand even for a few minutes, my hand will hurt for an hour or so.
And That was my day!!!
12/11/2008
Bad Morning
Well after trying to sail due east I found myself actually moving northeast. The current was just too strong and the wind wasn't helping. I could sail in towards land while gradually heading south. So that is what I did. The wind is supposed to shift around to the west this evening.
So I figured I would get close to shore, then drop the anchor and wait out the wind. Around 0630 hours I dropped the anchor. The waves were 3 to 5 feet which is not comfortable. Arima was taking a beating as well. After an hour or so of this I decided it is just better to pull up the anchor and try to just drift and ride out the wind until conditions get better.
Wouldn't you know it the anchor wouldn't come up. Like a dummy I grabbed the chain and pushed the electric windlass button. That's when it happened! I smashed two fingers in my right hand. My middle finger and my ring finger. I was in terrible pain. My glove tore open where the two fingers were smashed. I pulled the glove back over my ring finger (the finger with the most pain) and nearly fainted at what I saw. Just below the finger nail on my ring finger the top looked like it was ready to just fall off. Blood was dripping everywhere. I jumped up and went below and put a bunch of guaze over my ring finger.
I then called Tow Boats US and told them of my situation. Tow Boats US dispatched a boat to come get my boat, and called the Coast Guard to come get me. About an hour later Tow Boats US showed up, and 15 minutes after that the Coast Guard arrived. The Coast Guard bandaged my hand up and got me off Arima. Tow Boats US had Arima under tow and towed her off to someplace I would have to find out later. Tow Boats US had to cut my anchor to free Arima. So I just lost my plow anchor and 250 feet of chain. Oh Man! At least I am on my way to safety!!!
The Coast Guard zoomed me to a dock where an ambulance was waiting. The ambulance took me to the emergency room at Adventura Hospital. I spent most of the day in a room answering questions, getting X-rays, getting the bleeding to stop, getting a pain pill, and talking with two doctors. Luckily a hand specialist was there today. Hand specialist Dr. Gingold looked at my fingers and thought he could save my ring finger. He had a busy day but he said he could squeeze me in.
Around 1800 hours they finally wheeled me into the operating room. That is all I remember until I they woke me up at 2230 hours. Boy was I groggy. My fingers were bandaged up and Dr. Gingold was there starring at me, wanting to make sure I was okay. He also arranged for me to spend the night in the hospital.
At 2200 hours I was finally wheeled to my room. I didn't have a thing to eat all day, and boy was I hungry. I asked the nurse in the recovery room if she could get me something to eat. When they wheeled me up to my room, the nurse from the recovery room gave me two turkey sandwiches and some cranberry juice. After I got settled in my room, I wolfed the sandwiches down. Man they were good. Shortly after that I dozed off.
What a Day!
12/10/2008
Out of here
I got up and started thinking of everything I needed to do before leaving. Naturally I needed to let the Marina I was leaving today. I needed to get an oil absorber for the bilge, just in case I get an oil leak. I needed to stow everything possible to make sure nothing breaks with the rolling sea.
Finally around 1430hours I started to head out the New River in Fort Lauderdale. Four bridges needed to be raised as I headed out. There was a lot of traffic on the river, but fortunately everything went well. By 1630 hours I was heading out to the Atlantic Ocean.
The sea was rough. The wind was blowing 15 to 20 knots from the south east. The current was also trying to pull me north. So I kept the motor running and tried to make my way south. I motored through the night. Really getting nowhere. What a battle. Finally around 2 o'clock in the morning I turned the engine off and tried to sail due east. I set Otto and off Arima went.
That was pretty much it for me on this fine day!
12/09/2008
Gear shift toubles
Juan showed up at 0755 hours. He started to work. Everything was going well. We got the engine started around 1100 hours. Yippiee!!!
Then it wouldn't go into gear. The gearshift cable keeps hitting a hose. The hose is about 3 inches in diameter and goes down into the bilge. Juan tried to rig up a special bridge to go over and around the hose, but it wouldn't work.
After lunch Juan and I decided to trace the hose and see where it went. We found out the hose did nothing. It was just sitting there. Juan spent all that time trying to get around the hose, and we (he) could have just pulled it out and made things so much easier. Although it took Juan about a whole hours to get it out of the bilge and clear of the shift cable. That hose is really costing me time and money! Anyway around 1730 hours Juan finished the job, and everything seems to be working.
I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up my bilge. Some oil spilled into the bilge and I had to use a couple of oil absorber mats to get it all up. The whole process took me nearly 3 hours. After that, I took a shower and went to bed. I was beat. What a day!
Hopefully I am out of here tomorrow (Wednesday). I hope to be in Marathon in 4 more days!
12/08/2008
Sunday and Monday
Sunday morning after breakfast I decided I would NOT go into town and see a movie. I need to conserve my cash. So I did little things on the boat.
After that I walked up to the grocery store to buy some more food for my soon ( I hope) journey to Marathon. I also bought myself a nice steak.
After getting back to Arima I grilled the steak and man was it good.
Monday around 0900 hours I called Juan to see if he had found a radiator/heat exchanger for Arima. He did indeed!! It is a used one, but he did find one. Yeah man. Juan still needed to do a pressure test. No sense putting it on if it has a leak. Juan asked me to call him back around 1400 hours to see if it passed the pressure test.
After that I decided to do my laundry. After 2 hours I finished my laundry. Then I made myself some lunch.
Around 1400 hours I called Juan. Success!! The radiator had passed the pressure test. Juan told me he would be here at 0800 hours tomorrow (TUesday) morning. Oh man, I may be able to get out of here by Wednesday??
Have fun everyone! I am starting to get psyched again!
12/06/2008
Beach Day
This morning the temperature was 68 degrees, the sun was bright, just beautiful. I decided today is the day to climb the mast and put some fishing line down the outside of the port side mast steps.
So I put on my harness and grabbed my safety line, fishing line and a pair of line cutters. I climbed the mast to the top and started threading the fishing line from the top step on the port side to the step below the top step. Then on down to the next step below that and so on. By putting a line down the outside of the steps I am preventing the Main Halyard from getting fouled in the mast steps. I had previously done this to the steps on the starboard side, just never did the port side..... until now.
That took me about an hour. After that I hosed down Arima's deck and cleaned up a little. Cleaning probably takes up an hour of my day, each day. I am amazed at the sand and dust Arima collects over the day.
After all that I decided to just go to the beach and lay out, catch a few rays. So I headed off for the bus stop and off I went to the beach. I took my book and read a few chapters on the beach. Then I took a nap on the beach. After that I strolled along the beach. I had a pretty relaxing day.
When I got back to Arima I pulled out my laptop and walked to where I knew I could get a wi-fi signal. I had to see if East Carolina beat Tulsa in football. THEY DID!!! Final score was 27-24! Way to go Pirates!
Have fun everyone! I am!
12/05/2008
Movie Day
Juan told me yesterday he was not able to come by today as he had prior commitments, plus he was hoping to be done with Arima yesterday. I too was hoping Arima would be able to be heading towards the Keys today.
So in the morning I did some cleaning. Then after lunch I headed out to the movies. I went and saw Madagascar 2. The movie was very entertaining. A nice way to get away from it all, laugh, and just relax.
After the movie I gave Juan a call. Juan asked me to call him later in the afternoon about my radiator. Juan did a pressure test to confirm his hunch about the radiator/heat exchanger having a leak. So around 1530 hours I called Juan and he confirmed the radiator had a leak. The next issue is trying to find a similar radiator. My engine is 23 years old and Kubota stopped making my engine 15 years ago. So now Juan has to find one that will work for my engine.
After I got back to Arima, I made supper and watched some TV. Then off to bed. Hey the weather is nice!! High of 76 degrees and a low of 64 degrees. At least I like that!
12/04/2008
Good News Bad News
Juan was here at 0800 hours and started work right away. Just before lunch Juan asked if it would be possible to splash Arima this afternoon.
Boy did I get excited. I told Juan I needed to go find out. So I hurried off to the office and asked. They said sure, they would splash me at 1500 hours. GREAT!!
Juan finished everything up at 1430 hours and at 1500 hours we splashed Arima. Everything looked good. No leaks. Then we tried to start the engine. Juan was a little puzzled. Then he checked the glow plugs. I had coolant in the cylinders. Bad News!!! Juan asked me if I had this problem before. I replied nope.
Juan grabbed his tools and removed the glow plugs. All three cylinders had coolant in them. Juan told me that usually one or two cylinders would have coolant in them if the head gasket blew. However since there was coolant in all three cylinders, he suspected the radiator/heat exchanger had a crack. So he removed my radiator/heat exchanger and took it to do a pressure test. Juan won't be able to come back to Arima until Saturday. So I am going to be here through the weekend. Man I hope it is just the radiator/heat exchanger and not the head gasket!!
What a day!
Before I got the bad news I called down to Marathon. They have plenty of mooring balls available as a big crowd hasn't arrived yet in Marathon. Hopefully I will be in Marathon by next Friday! Oh man I hope so!!!!