Success in St Augustine

 We arrived in St Augustine at 930am.  We managed to drive straight through with Paul doing most of the driving.  He maneuvered through New York and New Jersey traffic (not too bad) and then Washington.  I took the witching hour shift 2-6am,  through South Carolina construction, heavy truck traffic and even a high speed chase that certainly got my adrenaline peaked (and helped keep me much more alert!).

Our first stop - the office for our key card!  While they processed the card, we found a neat cafe - The Blue Hen.  Definitely worth a repeat visit if we come back!  

                                                            Yup - she's right where we left her.

With rain predicted for the entire weekend starting at noon tomorrow, we got right to work.

Task #1 - the windlass that pulls the anchor up and lets it down slowly.  It was slipping so bad, I was having to pull the 50lb anchor plus chain up by hand!  If we needed parts, we wanted to order them immediately.

                    Problem solved!  Paul found gunked up grease preventing smooth turning.  Re-greased, tested and task #1 DONE!

Task #2 - The air conditioning ducts.  We had concerns that they were either moldy or super dusty.  If we needed to replace them, we wanted to know before a trip to Home Depot.

                    After taking the drawers out and the cabinet apart, we had good access to the duct.  No mold and minimal dust that wiped clean easily.  Task #2 - DONE!

Task #3 -  The winch that assists in pulling the dinghy up and the halyards on the sails kept coming apart during use.  Not good.  Paul took it apart, turned a nut and problem solved!  Task #3 - DONE!

Task #4 - The threads on our isinglass looked like they were starting to deteriorate in the sun and salt.  Less than 2 years old, Paul contacted Kelly who said bring them in and she will take care of it.  When Paul took a closer look - the shredding threads - the old ones that Kelly sewed right over.  The new threads are still intact.  Task #4 - DONE!

Task #5 - the boom brake stuck in the tight position.   The brake prevents the main sail from accidently gybing.  We really need it to work correctly.  Paul took it apart and lubricated it.  It now works!  Task #5 - DONE!

Task #6 - the green slime and dirt on the exterior of the boat.  Somehow in our sweaty rush to leave town we forgot to hire someone to do monthly cleaning of the deck and hull.  Ugh! 

When we left the boat for the last time, I was wiping our last footprints and left a towel on the back sugar scoop.  It harbored lots of debris, green slime and a family of frogs!

Here is one hanging out by the jib sheets under the isinglass.  Cute but find a new home!

            Back to the marina office for referrals for cleaning.  Jennifer will be out on Monday morning to assess!  Task #6 - as done as we can get until Monday.

Task #7 - the dinghy tarp.  Apparently the tarp is only good for one year.  We found it shredded and the interior of the dinghy filthy.  Ugh!

After a trip to Harbor Freight, the dinghy now has a larger, newer tarp that hopefully will stay put until we return.  (No picture since we finished in the dark.)  Task #7 - DONE!

We are sweaty (temps in the low 80s and high humidity) and tired (no naps?!?!) but feeling good about completing all our tasks.  Knowing we will be able to put her right back in the water after the holidays - priceless!

The plan - sleep on the boat (shhhh no one can know) and then head back to RI in a much more leisurely manner than our trip down.