Credit Cards again!

We had fairly good luck this winter with credit cards while we were in the Caribbean - two of our four cards were potentially compromised in a problem with the Card processing center in the US.  We dodged that and were able to keep the cards open till we got back to Florida.

Then on Friday I got an email from Walmart.com that my order had shipped (hadn't placed an order) so logged in and found that someone had placed an order for $5.32 (plus 5.00 shipping) for an item to be shipped to us and had also placed about $300.00 worth of prepaid phone cards in the shopping basket to be picket up at the local store!  I called the Credit Union and Walmart and had a nice discussion with the Credit Union but Walmart was no help at all.  I cancelled the Walmart account and will not order from them again and we already have our replacement card.

Again, no harm just inconvenience.  Finished processing auto pays to the new card this morning.

Now I'm working on a Leopard 39 helping with the commissioning - really amazed to see a 2012/2013 boat with an aluminum holding tank - at least the tank is easy to get to when it will have to be replaced.

Flying to Miami

We were sweating that the budget issues with the current state of government (or not) would impact our return to the US.  Had heard that the issue would create a serious delay because of the folks that would be on layoff (particularly Air Traffic Controllers).  What a shock, we were on time to Miami and then we found out that the real issue was with the folks that worked the customs and immigration counters.  Long story short - two hour delay getting through customs and we got our car and drove home...

More issues with credit cards, story for tomorrow.

Leak no more

We walked back over to Grenada Marine this morning and tested the leaking hatch.  Leak resolved.  We paid our bill at the Beach Bar and then walked back to La Sagesse where we are relaxing.

Back to Florida in the morning.

Rain leaking!

Yesterday afternoon we removed the topside canvas and stowed it away for the summer season.  Last night was unusually rainy and when I got to the boat this morning to finish a few small tasks I was not ready for the water leak that was apparent in the aft cabin.  I was shocked and after cleaning up the mess set out to quickly locate and repair the leak.  Water was dripping out from around the outboard edge of the trim ring around the overhead hatch.  I removed the teak bungs and screws holding the trim ring to the headliner and then pulled the thin fiberglass trim sleeve out away from it as well.

There was not a large puddle of water inside the headliner - so far so good.  I hooked up a water hose and started running the hose around the outside of the hatch and almost immediately got a good drip started that looked like it was coming from the inboard aft portion of the hatch frame.  I decided to go ahead and remove the hatch, clean and remount rather than trying a temporary patch.

I removed the hatch,  the old (5200?) and cleaned up both the hatch and the deck surface and then used a whole tube of Boatlife caulk and rebedded the hatch - will head back to the boat tomorrow and see if the leak has been stopped.

What a mess this would have been had we not had the rain last night!

La Sagesse

The season we are based out of La Sagesse Nature Center as we go about the daily chores involved with putting the boat up for the summer.  Besides an awesome beach the grounds are beautiful and the bar and restaurant are also welcome a welcome sight at the end of the day.

 

Pressure Cooker

Several days ago while we were still in Port Louis Marina Lesley made homemade dinner rolls and pressure cooker pot roast.  I took a few pictures and finally got around to posting them.

Dinner was awesome.

We use the pressure cooker for many different meals, sides like risotto, and some of the best cheesecake I've ever eaten.

Making progress

We got to the yard this morning about 9:00 am and started on maintenance and decommissioning.  I changed the oil filter, oil, and both fuel filters on the Yanmar and ran the engine for awhile using fresh water to flush the raw water loop.  Loosened the alternator belt and the engine is put away for the season.  I had serviced the diesel genset earlier but had not run fresh water though it yet so tried to start it - no luck.  Pulled the access panel and bled the injector and it started right up - lucky again as I was not in the mood to start troubleshooting the engine today.

We serviced all of the below waterline thru hulls and removed batteries from everything onboard!  Amazing how many items use batteries!  Luckily we only have to deal with AA, AAA, CR2016, CR2025, CR2032, 357A!  Did I say luckily!

We had our customs form completed for the items that we are bring home with us - makes reentry much easier and cheaper.  Those items are now packed in our luggage.

Lesley took the freezer and ice box apart and we still had ice in the freezer.  Was nice to have ice water during the day today.

I was able to get UV polish on 1/2 half the boat today and will finish that project tomorrow.

We got back to La Sagesse early this afternoon and after a nice swim and a shower are relaxing and waiting for dinner - the cook told me that the special this evening involves Lobster so I'm already licking my lips.

Tomorrow should be easier as we are putting things away, vacuum sealing  bedding, getting things ready for our return.  Perhaps another 2 days (1/2 day each and we will be able to kick back and relax) and we are close enough to the boat so I can run over and check on the last minute items that we might have forgotten.