We pulled anchor and headed out of the anchorage. We took a different route out since we had bumped bottom on the way in. We made it to the ICW and turned northeast, following the markers. We found the cut called Whale Harbor Channel, and cautiously turned south and made our way toward it. Since we are now out of the ICW, we have to be careful and hope the charts are accurate until we get to the channel. We made it in and through the pass without incident and came out to the Atlantic Ocean. We followed the channel out to deeper water and turned northeast again. The rest of the trip was not too bad as the wind and waves were somewhat minimal.
I called the marina om our way there and they told me how to enter the river where they are located. “Stay to the right as to avoid the rocks on the right side of the channel when entering, then when you get to the mangroves a little ways upriver, stay to the left to avoid the shoaling there.” OK- a couple of navigational hazards to avoid, no problem. This didn’t help our stress level, but we made it in without incident. The dock master was waiting for us as we came to the end of the river where the marina is. He was pointing to our slip and we pulled in with a little assistance, avoiding a large cigarette boat docked on the ‘T’ right next to where we were directed. Once we were secured and settled in we took the bikes for a ride around town. We ended up at Snooks Restaurant and Tiki Bar. We got to watch another amazing sunset as we enjoyed some appetizers at the tiki bar. Once the sun had set and we were done eating, we made our way back to the boat. Tomorrow will be a day to do some shopping and I will attempt to make a repair to the engine. We have had an oil leak we have been able to contain, but I clearly to need replace the gasket- the problem is I cannot find the specific part I need. When we were at Marathon, our new friend Jimmy told me about using a cereal box as gasket material, so I will be attempting to do so.
Day 2- We had our morning coffee and walked Frank, then we had to get to work. Lauren researched and made an appointment for Frank the next morning as he needs his ‘pet passport’ and proof of shots within 48 hours before arriving in the Bahamas. She also did some shopping via Publix delivery service. I had stocked up on oil the night before, so I went to work on our oil leak. First I drained the oil, then I fought hard with the bolts on the cover I was trying to remove but finally won. Once I had the bolts free, I removed the cover and the last of the oil drained out. I had a bunch of towels and an oil pan ready to catch anything that spilled out. Now it was time to make the gasket. I took a cereal box and cut one side of the box for my first attempt. I pressed it up against the cover and tried to get an idea of how to cut it. I traced it with a pencil and then went to work with a knife. Once I had that completed, I put it up to the opening and retraced with pencil again, using oil smudges as a second guide to where it needed to fit. I then used that as a ‘master template’ and cut another from the other side of the cereal box, fine tuning where I had missed before. Once that was cut I placed it again and made sure I was not blocking any edges or curves of the cover. I fine tuned a few edges and figured this was as good as I was going to get it. I then used Permatex to seal the edges of the homemade gasket. I re-assembled the pieces and hoped for the best. I wanted it to dry for as long as possible before seeing if it worked, so tomorrow when I start the engine for departure will be our first test. Once the mechanical fixes were completed, Lauren assisted me in cleaning up the engine room and the bilge. We used a shop vac and tidied everything up. Soon after we finished this project, Lauren placed the order for groceries to be delivered to the marina. This was our first time trying this and it worked out pretty well. If the ‘shopper’ couldn’t find an item, they would text giving us a replacement option or we could just say never mind. We got a few items like this and then waited for the delivery. That too kept getting pushed back by about 30 minutes at a time, then finally everything arrived! We met the delivery driver in the parking lot and loaded up our cart with the items and proceeded back to the boat to unload our supplies. Soon it was dinner time, which we enjoyed while also finalizing our plans for tomorrow, our last day before we take the big jump across the Gulf Stream!