Moonrise

Hey friends....how are things going in your world?

Life is good here, and getting better every day. An oppressively hot Florida summer has recently started to give way, and for the last few weeks we've enjoyed open window nights and windbreaker mornings. It only took a few nights shivering under just a top sheet for me to realize it was time to track down last year's blanket stash....

With the cooler weather I've been able to spend more time on Everlasting Moon, and the sailing has been great. The winds have been reliably easterly, which is perfect for sailing the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. Katydog and I have enjoyed a few overnights on the hook in the quiet up at the north end of the lagoon, and several happy evenings dockside here at the marina. The snowboat crowd has started to drift back in, and it doesn't take long to get caught up in conversation about their trips and adventures as they get settled in. The couple two boats down arrived from Boston last week in a 30 foot express cruiser, and they are great story tellers with an abundance of adventures from this trip and a dozen others to recount. There's also a sailing newbie a couple of slips the other direction that sold his house in Ohio, bought a boat online, and sailed it around Florida from Tarpon Springs. His enthusiasm for life in general and boats in particular energize everyone who walks past his slip.

Spending time in the marina and with the boating crowd has, of course, led to much daydreaming about carefree days on remote island beaches........and much deliberation about what really needs to be done to get Moon ready for extended cruising. My plans for a comprehensive refit have been dormant for almost two years now for a variety of reasons, but it feels like now is the time to get back to work on making the dream of sailing away.

The boatyard hauled Moon for me this morning, and this week she'll get treated to a new bottom job, installation of new depth transducer, and r&r of a couple of her original seacocks. Over the next few months will come some upgrades to the safety equipment, installation of a new dodger and bimini, installation of a solar panel and charge controller, replacement of the refrigeration system, updating the ground tackle, etc. etc. etc.......no timeline at this point for when everything needs to be done, and at this point I'm just focusing on enjoying each new improvement project as it comes.

Here's a short video of Moon in the slings.......

There were storm clouds building as the yard guys were getting her pressure washed and blocked up, and it was starting to rain as the yard manager came over to give her a quick inspection. Before running for cover we did have time to see that there are a few blisters that need to be repaired and there's a crack in the fiberglass covering the strut that holds the propeller shaft cutlass bearing . I don't think either of those things will be big issues, but they'll check'em out tomorrow and let me know what it will take to get them fixed.

That's it for now. I'll catch up with you later.