Northbound Adventure

Heading home again, after day sails to Rodriguez Key and Key Biscayne, we headed north  and  into the Gulf Stream. At about 9pm, we waved goodbye to Sand Castle and veered west to angle over to St. Augustine. We were sailing at the time, in about 15 knots of wind, with lightning on the horizon, and Cookie went down below for some sleep. At about 11, the boat suddenly heeled, throwing her to the floor, and then banging against the table in the salon as she tried to get to the cockpit. An unpredicted wind had gusted to the mid-twenties from no where. Guess who panicked and demanded the sails be lowered and who insisted everything was fine. These are the moments that sometimes occur, in the dark, on overnight cruises. It's not all smooth sailing.

We did make it to St. Augustine, motoring much of the last hours on perfectly flat water, not a ripple to be seen. St. Augustine is a regular stop for us. We love the town, we have family and friends nearby, the city has put in mooring balls that make life easier. We chose to dock at the municipal pier however, since we planned to have company on boatd, go out at night, and do lots of laundry. Paul and Manila Clough picked a great restaurant for a dinner together.

We also saw Cookie's cousin Suzette, husband Lee, and their two children, Sophia and Isabel. And of course toured again, this time a replica of the Golden Hind, the ship Magellen, sailed around the world, and also another interesting early house/inn from the 1700s.

Onward to South Carolina, where on the way, we passed Jacksonville, Florida, a port getting busier all the time. Passing the channel, we had within our sights, a Navy Warship, two anchored cargo ships, a cruise ship, a blimp, a tug towing barges, a couple of moving cargo ships, and a huge pod of 30 or more dolphins.



How to Replace Portlight Gaskets

Replacing portlight gaskets is a two man procedure.

Rick's job: removal, scraping, cleaning, cutting, gluing, struggling, straining, groaning, cursing, pushing, heating with hair dryer, calling manufacturer

Cookie's job: tool location, handing, holding, scraping, cleaning, sunlight blocking 

Time required:

Portlight #1     2 and 1/2 hours, including studying manufacturers poor drawings...no directions included

Portlight #2      16 hours counting 12 hours overnight when window doew not close.

Portlight #3.       30 minutes

Portlight #4.       30 minutes

Total Work time:  6 hours

Tools needed:   razor knife, manufacturers glue, small wooden wedge,  small scribe

Advice:

1. Remove old gasket and Clean slot with scribe and fingers

2.  Cut new gasket, slightly longer than old gasket.

3. Insert new gasket into slot, using scribe and fingers.

4. Cut excess rubber to fit window.

5. Glue ends of gasket together,taking care not to glue fingers to gasket (warming, this will remove skin from fingers).

6. Insert remainder of gasket into slot.

7. Push like hell to close window.

     7a. Heat gasket with hair dryer.

      7b. Push like hell again.

8. Wonder if you might have the gasket in backwards.

9. Repeat step 7.