Some Work Finished Last Week

So, we learned how to blog yesterday, and that puts us off and running. Even learned how to post pictures to the blog from the iPad. On the Loop trip, we will try to use the iPad wherever we can. We have the model that has both wi-fi and the AT&T 3G wireless. Hope this will let us use the Internet when we are not in wi-fi range.

We spent last week on the boat in JAX. We had a long list of things that we wanted to complete in preparation for departure. We are so fortunate to have a great go to guy named Rodger who owns Boating Camping and More in Jacksonville. He has done most of our maintenance and electronics work since we have had Blue Moon. We first met him when he came to us in Daytona Beach to replace our main engine raw water pump that failed on our trip up from Stuart when we bought the boat.

Rodger had replaced our batteries in mid February, and last week he replaced the terminal connectors on the battery cables. We got a new 8D starting battery to replace the old one that was three years old and had developed a bad cell. We also decided to replace the golf cart batteries that make up the house bank of batteries. These were also three years old.

Last week we also added a 2.1 cf freezer to the salon. It is an AC freezer and Rodger will add an inverter to let us run it on DC power while away from shore power. The freezer fit nicely on the side of the cabin where we have two director's chairs. We swapped the two side chairs that came with the boat for the smaller director chairs and this change has given us more room in the salon. On a 34' boat, it is all about maximizing all space.

Our pets that travel with us also add requirements that take up space. The cat's litter box presented a space problem, especially after we added the freezer. We found a litter box cover in the form of an end table cabinet that allows the box to be put in the cabinet. The front of the cabinet has a entrance for the cat to get in and out. The cabinet fits nicely next to the couch on the port (left) side of the salon. We also found that this cabinet concept keeps litter from getting on the floor.

I am a firm believer in the "belts and suspenders" theory of being prepared; therefore We took the Blue Moon about a mile up the Ortega River from our Marina last Wednesday to Huckins Boat Yard to have the boat pulled out of the water for a bottom and running gear inspection. Everything checked out for our trip bottom wise. We had three zincs replaced and the bottom washed.

Zincs are important because they serve as sacrificial anodes for the metal parts of the boat. The less expensive zincs will corrode before the more expensive metal thus saving significant repairs. We have zincs on the transom, the trim tabs, the thruster shafts, and the prop shaft.

While we were at Huckins, we pulled the anchor chain out and had it inspected. The anchor chain had never been deployed since we have had the boat. All looked OK with the chain, and we marked the chain at 25' intervals. We will talk a little more about Huckins tomorrow. Thanks for reading!